Author: Andy

Bermuda – Day 4

Today we hit up Hamilton, the largest city and capitol of Bermuda. Getting there from St. George required us to once again hop on the #10. After 40 minutes, we were on Front Street. After a quick stop at Albuoy’s Point (see panorama), we did a walking tour that mixed points of interest with shopping. Hamilton is where you’ll find high fashion, cheap gemstones, and criminal corporations avoiding taxes (see Tyco).

We included several gardens, like Par La Ville Park, the city hall/art gallery, Anglican and Catholic churches, state houses, and other small attractions. The parks are well kept, and are the very same that Mark Twain visited while he was enjoying Bermuda. St. Theresa’s Catholic Church was an impressive building, as was the Anglican cathedral. These two were among the dozen or so religious offices within a few blocks. St. Theresa’s was on a corner by with a mosque, a bahai temple, and First Church of Christ, Scientist. I guess harmony is in the air.

After catching the bus (yup, the #10) back to St. George, and grabbing some lunch, we walked over the island to Tobacco Bay for some snorkeling. It was crawling with cruisers and locals, and the small bay was cloudy and barren. So many feet created very turbid water that was bad for animals and visibility. However, just outside the small bay was some great snorkeling. Plenty of reefs and interesting rocks, as well as a good variety of fish. I even encountered a gang of 8 spiny lobsters.

Michelle’s snorkel tube crapped out, so she enjoyed the sun and a book while I ventured up the coast. I probably went further than was wise, but it was gorgeous, the water was calm, and I wanted to see some fish.

We took our time at the beach then meandered back to town through small alleyways. St. George is a beautiful town whose charm only increases with the setting sun. Even into darkness, the streets are welcoming. We walked for a while after dinner then enjoyed some Guinness Foreign Exports on the top deck, overlooking the city. We tried to find a good tap in town, but didn’t have much luck.

Bermuda – Day 3

This morning we woke up early (7am), ate breakfast, and went to the deck to watch our arrival to Bermuda. We stopped briefly to allow a local pilot on board to assist us into port. The massive ship passed easily through The Cut into St. George’s Harbour, and docked in the town of St. George.

Michelle and I were some of the first off the boat and quickly hopped the #10 to Hamilton, then the #7 to Warwick Long Bay. We had a couple snorkel sites lined up along the southern end of the island. Warick Long Bay was dismal snorkeling, and as we were leaving for the next site, we noticed a sign explaining that it was an Unsafe Area.

Church Bay was much better snorkeling, and we saw a variety of corals, fish, and I even got inked by an unknown animal. (I’ve added a panorama too) There was a german couple on the beech too who pointed out a Portuguese Man-of-war that had washed up. We swapped snorkeling stories and tried to distance ourselves from the other cruisers once we saw the crestfallen look they gave us when we told them where we were staying. The were nice to us anyway, but we moved on because it was cloudy and the water was rough. Plus, we were hungry.

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Continue reading Bermuda – Day 3

Bermuda – Day 2

Monday is a full day at sea. We slept in as best we could, missing breakfast by a long shot. We didn’t need to wait long until lunch was served, partly because of the time-zone change. Lunch was good; its not every day that you get curried lamb shank as a mid-day meal.

We spent a fair amount of time up on the deck, resting in the sun, watching the expansive ocean. The Horizon is an incredible horizontal line around you. Someone noticed a shark near the boat. I saw it, but it looked like it was dead or something. A couple flying fish skimming above the waves and a solitary sparrow that forgot to disembark before departure were about the only signs of life.

Its becoming increasingly obvious that the number of New England accents we heard in the embarkation line wasn’t an anomaly. It appears that a fair number of people are from the Boston area. You can tell from across the boat. It seems that in order to misshape words in the cambridge fashion, you need to apply a fair amount of force.

I’m not able to read much because the ocean is hypnotizing. Its rather smooth too, and the boat seems to move through the water with some urgency. That’s fine with me because I’m ready to snorkel.

Bermuda – Day 1

These entries are appearing a week late – internet access was too pricey on the boat.

To celebrate Michelle finishing law school, and to some extent, my survival, we cruised from Boston to Bermuda. The draw to this cruise was the long period of time spent in port, which is one of the main complaints I’ve got with cruises. We took the red-eye to avoid having to get a hotel, and were quite pleased with how easily the whole process went.

I’m not sure how people sleep on planes, even without an entire middle school class on their way to see government in action. Poor chaperones. We did get to Boston on time, and quickly sired a cab to the cruise terminal. We got there a little early, and I called Apple tech support on my dad’s behalf regarding an upset iBook. They couldn’t help me since I didn’t have the laptop, and he doesn’t have phone access. It was somewhat confusing to explain to the support guy. I’m calling from a pay phone in Boston on my father’s behalf, who is in the cascade mountains, and his iBook is having the same display problem that hundreds of others have, and he doesn’t have phone access, and he needs it for his daily work, and on and on. It didn’t go well.

Waiting to board, it seemed that most of the people were from New England. We set sail at 4 p.m., the harbor and airways around Boston busy with traffic, and quickly entered the Atlantic Ocean. Our first journey into the Atlantic.

For dinner, we dined in a small French-ish restaurant on the boat. We decided not to worry where the food came from and take a hiatus from our normal dietary conscience. Michelle gets the french version of surf & turf; its the first beef she’s eaten in months. She was in heaven when the waitress removed the lobster from the tail. I ordered filet mignon. It had a glazing sauce made with veal & fois gras. Its the first and probably last time I’ll have either of those; but it was really, really good.

Law School, Schmaw School

Michelle took her last final, ever. She’s now done with law school, and is somewhat confused about what is next. She knows exactly what is next, but its so different from what’s behind that she’s disoriented. With as much reading, studying, worrying, and uncertainty, its no wonder. But you’ve made it. Congratulations, Babe.

For those of you thinking about law school – you are crazy. But you’ll be in good company. The other people in Michelle’s class were also bright, fun, and dedicated (and crazy). Congrats to all of you too. Its been fun.

Parents – teach your children to RTFM

Most of my work involves helping people with computer problems. I help them convert a word document to a PDF, format HTML for use in an online class, or figure out why something isn’t working correctly. I’m pretty good at it, and people wonder where I learned all this stuff. Well, I learned it by doing and reading.

Lately I’ve been getting a fair number of repeat requests from repeat offenders. Many should know how to do this stuff by now, and most of it is very simple. Now I hate to be harsh, but there’s a saying in the computer world; If you don’t know something – “Read the F*cking Manual.” Hell, the link for help is right next to the link for the thing you have a question about!

I’m starting to get the feeling that this idiom may be lost for the older generations, so we should start teaching it to our children. Right away. Its an important lesson that can be expanded well beyond the computer realm to other areas of life. If you have a problem with your VRC, your conditioner, or your azaleas, read the f*cking manual. There’s got to be one somewhere. Check your library, or the Internet.

I realize this may sound somewhat cold, and it is. I do enjoy helping people that I want to help. This includes friends and family ( at the appropriate time and hourly rate). And I myself have been known to ask questions even when the answer may be staring me in the face. Its nice to have someone explain things to you, but its also nice to socialize with people as well.

I thought about this all day yesterday, then a friend came over for help selling his returned engagement ring on eBay. I thought about delaying the post, but he knows this isn’t about him.

I still haven’t worked out the appropriate parody to “Mommas don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys.” It’ll take some time.

GM weirdness

I’m aware that the comment systems seems to be acting odd. I recently updated GreyMatter, and I’m not happy with the “improvements.” I think I’ll be moving the site to Moveable Type when 3.0 is released. Not that you care, but I thought I’d share anyway.

The futre (and past) of the GOP

During lunch I picked up NRDC’s OnEarth magazine because there was an article about John McCain and Global Warming. I find that I’m often in agreement with John McCain on very general terms, and he’s a very intelligent and humorous interviewee. I was pleased to read that he’s introducing a new global warming bill, even more aggressive than Lieberman’s recent failed bill. That’s quite a feat – especially for a Republican. But he’s up to the challenge, and knows it won’t be easy.

The article alludes to a strong Teddy Roosevelt connection, which is fine by me. TR left quite a legacy, and I’m quite fond of him. I’m all for McCain as the future of the Republican party. Hell, with comments like “it’s the No Lobbyist Left Behind Act” in reference to his own party’s Energy Bill, I hope he’s the future.

Oh, and there was some information on getting off junk-mail (postal, not e- ) lists:
http://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglistdave

To all the pety thieves..

My sister had all her camera equipment and music stolen recently. There were other small things stolen, but two of her most prized possessions, her professional Nikon camera and her bounty of CDs, were the biggest loss. The culprits are still at large, though their identity known. Insurance will replace the stolen goods, but the agent warned the agency would promptly drop the policy or raise premiums to regain the cost of the possessions quickly. Ah… piece of mind.

Ultimately, she decided not to make a claim on the stolen items. The thieves won, the insurance company won, and the wall of cynicism in our lives has had several more bricks added to it. Some solace can be had through caustic remarks.

My dad’s contribution:
“To the thieves; You can take my possessions, but not my soul. I can replace my possessions, but you can never replace your soul.”

We’ve all been slighted in some way, and its amazing how powerless it makes you feel. I really hope there is Karma, though it sounds like one of the culprit’s may already be booked paying off other karmic debts. Its f*ckers like these that give Yakima a bad name.