Last Night in Europe -- Munchen (Munich)

When American's think of vacation, they think of getting away from the busy day-to-day stresses of everyday life. Our four country European vacation has been great, but far from stress free. Some of it was good stress (i.e. 200 km/h on the Autobahn), some of it was bad (i.e. riding with the baggage on the TGV while holding a first class ticket). After London, we took a high-speed train to Paris and then took a shuttle to our hotel, Hotel Muguet. Paris was a lot of fun. The Arc de Triomphe was one of my favorites, along with the Eiffel Tower, of course. Our journey into the Catacombs was well worth it, as well as our walk in old Paris around Notre Dame. The most interesting part of it all was that I was expecting Parisians to be rude and arrogant; most of them were actually very nice. In fact, the residents were friendlier than most large Americans I’ve come across in larger American cities. Sure they were different from us, but most were pleasant when I made an effort to be the same.

Moving on to Germany… Our trip to the Bavarian region of Germany did not start out so pleasant. Without going into detail about the whole story, I can tell you that the second leg of our train trip (Stuttgart to Munich), aboard an ICE train owned and operated by Deutsche Bahn, was awful. We had first class tickets, and ended up sitting on the floor in the baggage area of second class. The staff was extremely rude, unfriendly, and unhelpful. It was one of the worst travel experiences of my life. Needless to say, it was not a good start to our German visit. Once we finally made it Munich, we picked up our 2008 BMW 525i. It was an exceptional rental car. Driving on the Autobahn was fairly efficient and fun. Maybe the US should take a note from the German system of motorways. After we left the station in Munich, we headed toward Neuschwanstein. As we approached the southern area of Bavaria, the mountains soon came into view in a breathtaking display of peaks and surrounding countryside. This helped sooth our train trip misery and reminded us of the blessing that we’d been given.

Currently, there is a crazy energy here tonight in Munich since Germans won the Eurocup 2008 semi-final game tonight. We are staying in the Platzl Hotel, and the noise outside my window right now is insane. I guess they love their Soccor (er, Fuβball). I wasn’t intending to wait this long to blog again, but the WiFi in one of the Bavarian Hotels we stayed in was not working, and the other charged ridiculous amounts of Euros to use it. So here I am in Munich on our last night, blogging goodbye. I will post about the rest of our time in Germany when I arrive back home in the states. Auf Wiedersehen and Au Revior.

Our First Day In Europe - London

Well, our first day in Europe is officially over. We landed at Gatwick airport in England around 8:45 AM local time. As you can imagine, we are exhausted after all the travelling and accompanying jet lag. I couldn’t sleep on the plane, which was a bummer. I got a good long nap, though, after we made it to our hotel. Once in London, after negotiating the rail system/Underground with our luggage (TIP: NOT RECOMMENDED!!!), I was impressed with the character and charm of the city. I already regret not having more time to spend here in England.

We visited the London Eye and took a trip around its half-hour journey. We could see all of London, which was nice to do so quickly. We saw parliament, the Thames, St. Pauls, Westminster, Buckingham Palace, and much more all from the Eye. We wrapped the day up with a nice diner on the Thames, followed by a walk back to the “Tube”. Our hotel is great so far, as well.

Tomorrow we will see a show that got its start in London (one of our favorites), ride a double decker bus, and even cruise down the Thames….

Justice... or not, as it were.

This is a really sad case. I'll let the articles speak for themselves. Bottom line: Tammy Skinner goes free after admitting to the premeditated shooting and killing of her own baby while in labor.

Richmond Times Dispatch article is here.

An excellent commentary on the situation by Kevin McCullough here at townhall.com.

Illegal Immigrants, Border Fences, and the American Way...

This topic of immigration (illegal or otherwise) seems to be going nowhere fast. Today was what organizers dubbed, "A Day Without Immigrants," where thousands of rallies and protests were held across the US. The multitudes of illegal workers were also encouraged not to work or shop for the day.

I can't help but feel frustrated that illegal (yes, by Federal Law this term is appropriate) immigrants can take to the free streets of America and demand that they be given amnesty. Remember, these illegal residents could be deported back to Mexico with the full legal authority to do so. Plainly put, I do not think they are in any position to demand anything. This demand for rights, amnesty, etc, is in fact un-American. Americans have historically worked hard for success and advancement. Now, I'm not saying that many of the illegal immigrants in this country don't work hard, but there is definitely an air of entitlement here among many of the protestors. Entitlement thinking is what helped create the welfare problem in America. And now illegal immigrants are suddenly entitled to and deserve citizenship! To the legal immigrants that have gone through the long, hard process of entering this country legally, I salute you. Our country is stronger and better for it. For those that have decided to take the easy way out -- the illegal way -- and entered our country without our society's approval, try being thankful that you are still here and less demanding of things you are not entitled to.

While we are on the topic, many Americans have been complaining that the Federal government has not done enough to protect our borders and landowners from the flood of illegal immigrants coming across our Southern Border. Instead of relying on the government for the solution (although border protection is a federal responsibility), several groups have proposed the idea of building a border fence themselves on private property.This website is a good starting point. Ranchers along the border have already signed on due to the property damage and dangers posed by the Mexican Military and border smugglers. This, folks, is the real American Way: not just whining about a problem, not just complaining that the government won't fix the problem (even though they should), but actually doing something about it despite the daunting task of actually accomplishing the goal! I applaud these Americans -- along with many legal immigrants and natural born citizens -- who are taking a stand to protect themselves, their property, and their fellow Americans.

County Highpointers

I stumbled across this website the other day: http://cohp.org/ . Taken from wikipedia.org, "Highpointing is the sport of visiting (and finding) the point with the highest elevation within some area (the "highpoint"), for example the highest points in each county within a state. It can be considered a form of peak bagging." County Highpointers is the "most prolific highpointing organization". Their goal as a club is reach the highest point in all 3,142 U.S. counties.

This all appeals to me as a (not so active anymore) backpacker and outdoorsman. In fact, I moved to an area of the country surrounded by mountains. I'm not quite sure why I haven't heard of the County Highpointers before, although the concept of trying to climb the highest summits is not foreign to me. I was definitely surprised, though, how detailed and organized their effort is.

Looks like a fun hobby.

Quote Change ^^^

QFT

Benji Builds a Computer

My family was -- as always -- very generous this year at Christmas. They gave me parts to help me build a new computer. While I was taking a break from the assembly process, little did I know that Benji was busy working on the motherboard.

Who could ask for more than a cat that helps you build computers?

Bids for the cat start at $10,000.

Are you Monk-ish?

Well??? Are you? Take the test and let me know how you score. http://www.usanetwork.com/series/monk/monkish/
Can you guess how Monk-ish I am?

The Miners' Tragedy

First things first... I'm not particularly interested in placing blame for the accidental dissemination of the mistaken information regarding the status of the 13 trapped miners in Tallmansville, W.VA. It wasn't done with any ill intent, and as long as a lesson is learned from it I'm happy.

That being said, I still can't help but feel so much sympathy for the family. If I had to guess, there was probably very little hope left that any of their loved ones were still alive in the mine. And then -- can you imagine it -- they receive a phone call that 11 of the 12 that were trapped had been found alive! The family and friends came outside and began to rejoice because of the misinformed miracle. The church bells ran...hymns were sung....tears of joy were shed. And then three hours later, the tragic news hit that only one person had survived and 11 were dead (12 including the one found earlier). The emotional ride that the families must have gone through is unimaginable.

All of this has reminded me of recent events in my family's history that have caused us a great deal of heartache, as well. Having a dangerous full time occupation myself, I am reminded of how fleeting life is, and how tomorrow is not certain. Thankfully, I have assurance and confidence in my eternal destiny. My hope is secure. This may not make the pain disappear, but the comfort it brings is inspiring. Indeed, where would I be without this hope?

My sincerest condolences and prayers go out to the family, friends and community of the miners who lost their lives in the accident.

My Log on the Web, My Weblog, My Blog?

So after scouring the web for different blogging alternatives, i.e. wordpress.com, blogzor.com, motime.com, xanga.com, presspad.com, etc. (you know, BLOGS!), I finally came back to the massively popular blogger.com. I have to admit, its quick and easy to get up and running. What's not easy, however, is any type of advanced template modification. Why? Because it requires you to get into the HTML and CSS style sheets. So for now I have decided to settle in here, and as my needs and curiosity expand, I will probably revisit some of those other blogging sites.