So I'm sitting out in the car waiting for Mariel to get off work. It's actually a semi nice day, so I have the window down while I listen to a little Death Cab on my Ipod. How very Hipster. Anyways, this guy walks in the vacinity of my car, maybe 10-15 feet away, and he reeks of cigarettes so bad it almost chokes me. Good Lord. I think I'd rather smell BO.
Folks, if you smoke, I'm sorry to say this, but you STINK. Seriously, one time Mariel and I were at Olive Garden in Florida and the server just freakin' REEKED. Like she'd go out and have a smoke every time she left the table. I'll take my meal minus the menthol and nicotine, please.
Bunch of savages in this town. Anyways, you should read your Bible, sirs. You'll find all types of weird shit in there. Like, did you know Jesus was a Jew?
In other news, pizza is good, I've got some U2 going on my Itunes right now, and damn I'm tired.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
My top 5 albums for the 1st quarter 2009
5. "Merriweather Post Pavillion" by Animal Collective.
Not sure how to best describe this album. Sure it's indie, and faily unique, but it's also a lot fun!
4. "Animals in the Dark" by William Elliott Whitmore
To listen to this deep bluesy sounding singer, you'd probably think he was a 50 some year old African American guy, not a younger white dude! Awesome garage type blues, my favorite track is "Old Devils."
3. "No Line on the Horizon" by U2.
Folks, for me anyway, U2 is BACK! In a big way too. After hearing the first single, 'Get on Your Boots' I was a little nervous, but when I heard the entire album, that track clicked right into place and it's not even the best track! This is their best since Achtung Baby. The song "Moment of Surrender" might end up being my favorite song of the year.
2. "Hymn to the Immortal Wind" by Mono.
I'm new to post-rock as a genre, but the weight, depth, and beauty of this album blow me away every time.
--And my favorite so far....-
1. "The Hazards of Love" by The Decemberists.
Yes folks, a new rock opera, and a great one, the more I listen to it, the closer it gets to being perfect. Their best since "Her Majesty," but they'll never top that album for me. This should be one of the best of the year.
See this list at my Rate Your Music Page
Not sure how to best describe this album. Sure it's indie, and faily unique, but it's also a lot fun!
4. "Animals in the Dark" by William Elliott Whitmore
To listen to this deep bluesy sounding singer, you'd probably think he was a 50 some year old African American guy, not a younger white dude! Awesome garage type blues, my favorite track is "Old Devils."
3. "No Line on the Horizon" by U2.
Folks, for me anyway, U2 is BACK! In a big way too. After hearing the first single, 'Get on Your Boots' I was a little nervous, but when I heard the entire album, that track clicked right into place and it's not even the best track! This is their best since Achtung Baby. The song "Moment of Surrender" might end up being my favorite song of the year.
2. "Hymn to the Immortal Wind" by Mono.
I'm new to post-rock as a genre, but the weight, depth, and beauty of this album blow me away every time.
--And my favorite so far....-
1. "The Hazards of Love" by The Decemberists.
Yes folks, a new rock opera, and a great one, the more I listen to it, the closer it gets to being perfect. Their best since "Her Majesty," but they'll never top that album for me. This should be one of the best of the year.
See this list at my Rate Your Music Page
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Cruising for everybody, part 1.
Cruising for the Newcomer:
What to do and know from booking, to boarding, to the end of a cruise experience.
I am not an expert cruiser, writer, or traveler, but being that I don’t know many other people who have been on a cruise, I decided to post this as a helpful guide that might help my friends select and enjoy a cruise at some point in the future. I’ve had the chance to go on two different cruise lines to two totally different destinations, and I’ll be using knowledge and insights from both of the experiences in what you’re about to read. Again, I’m not an expert, but after searching the internet for resources on cruising, I didn’t see much, so I decided to give this a shot and post it to my blog. I’ll be posting in six different installments. Part 1 will be about booking your cruise and planning what you’ll need to take with you. Part 2 will be about arriving at your cruise terminal and getting settled on your ship. Part 3 will feature daily life on the ship, while part 4 will cover ports of call and shore excursions. Part 5 will discuss the inevitable end of your cruise and disembarking procedures. The final part will reflect my impressions on various cruise lines and talk about some cruising resources on the internet. I hope you enjoy reading these little articles as much as I’ve enjoyed writing and thinking about them!
Part 1—Booking and Planning Your Cruise
There are several ways to go about booking your cruise experience. You can book yourself online, go through a cruise line representative via the telephone, use a travel agent, or go through travel sites on the web such as Expedia or Priceline. Of course, there are pros and cons to each of these methods.
Let’s say you’d like to book yourself through a cruise line’s website. Most of the major cruise lines have this option. The starting point is to choose your desired destination. Once you’ve done this, you’ll have to decide what port you’d like to leave from, and there may be one or more options here. For instance, if you wanted to go to the Bahamas with Royal Caribbean, you might be able to leave from either Port Canaveral or Miami, Florida. Usually once you’ve decided on this information you can peruse basic pricing for your cruise, though this is usually just the cost of the cruise itself and not transportation to and from the port. Make sure you read everything carefully. If you’re at all unsure about what you’re reading or what you are or aren’t paying for, contact customer service for the cruise line before booking anything.
What other information are you going to want to know besides where you’re going? Well, for one, how many people are going? Is it just you and your spouse, or are you taking the kids along? The prices on the cruise line websites are usually per person, so make sure you keep that in mind. You’ll also want to know WHEN you want to go. Most cruise lines sail to and from warm weather ports throughout the year. However, if you want to go to Alaska, you’ll need to go in the warmer months. If your destination is a warm one, you have many options to suit your schedule, however, it is often cheaper to go during the non peak season.
You’ll also need to give some thought to your meal arrangements. Are you planning on hitting the buffet every night, or will you partaking of the excellent service in the formal dining rooms? I’ll talk more about this in the life on board section, but if you want to eat in the dining room, know this, you might end up thrust into a table with people you don’t know as the seating in these rooms assigned and stay the same every night. If you’re a social butterfly and you want to meet new folks on your trip, this is probably ok. If you’re on your honeymoon or just want a quiet vacation with your spouse, you need to put in a special request for a table for two. More often than not, the cruise line is more than willing to accommodate this request.
However, if you will need special accommodations like dinner seating, you may want to consider using a cruise line representative to book your cruise. Yes, it might take some more time to do, and you might wait on hold for a bit, but this takes a lot of the unknowns out of the equation. The cruise line rep can tell you exactly what you’re getting, can assist you with all accommodations, can usually help you arrange port transport, and can answer any questions you have right on the spot. Honestly, this is my preferred method. When my wife and I were arranging our honeymoon cruise, I had a couple of different occasions to talk with customer service for Royal Caribbean, and I was impressed with them every time. These people are professionals in the industry and are ready for your questions and reservations, and they’re equipped to handle the first time cruiser. Again, this is a great way to go, particularly if you’ve never booked a cruise before.
What if you’re a budget cruiser who wants to make sure you’re getting the absolute best deal? Then maybe you want to go through a travel agent or a travel booking website. Some people think using a travel agent isn’t the way to go because they charge extra fees. Well, yes and no. Many times, travel agents make their money on a commission basis through the cruise lines, hotel industry, rental car agencies and such. So it might not cost what you think. However, particularly in this new economy, some of these companies are cutting costs, and often these travel agent commissions can be the first thing to go. So make sure you know up front what the agent is going to do for you and what the costs will be. The upside to this is that all of the transportation information is at the agent’s fingertips. He or she can readily help you decide on everything from destination, cruise line, port of departure, and transportation options. Then they can set it all up for you right there. They do it for a living.
However, if you’re still a do it yourself type, you can still use a travel website to book your trip. Expedia.com, priceline.com, hotwire.com, orbitz.com, and Travelocity.com all have options to let you book a cruise through their websites, often giving you a chance to save some money. So it might be a good idea to peruse these sites even if you are planning on using the cruise line or an agent to see if you can get a better deal. These are all reputable sites with customer service to back you up. Again, the risk here is not knowing what you’re getting as a first time cruiser. Make sure you have all your transportation to and from the port set up and make you know exactly what you’re getting. Read everything very carefully.
So now let’s say you’ve booked your cruise, it’s all paid up and now you’re looking forward to the big day. What else do you need to plan for? What do you need to take with you, what about basic medical care? These are all things you need to keep in mind and give some thought to before you head out to the port.
Probably the most important thing is to have your documents in order. After all, most cruises will take you to foreign countries, and in the post 9-11 world, moving from country to country can be a much different process. I really have only one major thing to say here: get a passport. By the time you read this, the United States will require passports to go pretty much everywhere outside of the country by any method, even if you’re only going to Canada or Mexico. Besides, having a passport is much easier in the long run than trying to carry a set of documents around with you. It’s a valid form of ID pretty much anywhere, and it’s the way to go. Another cautionary reminder here: don’t wait to get your passport until a month before your cruise. In fact, I would have it in hand before you even book. While the big rush to get passports has largely dissipated, it’s still not an immediate process, and speeding the process up might cost you more than your cruise ticket. Don’t leave this to chance and by all means don’t leave it at home. If you’re cruising to a foreign destination, you will have to clear customs and immigration when you board the ship, and you will NOT be allowed on board without the proper documents. My guess is the cruise line won’t feel much sympathy for you either. You, not the cruise line or travel agent, are responsible for having your documents in order. If you have any questions about the proper documents needed for your cruise, contact a cruise line rep immediately.
Aside from travel documents, what else will you need to bring with you? Well, the cruise line will of course send you tickets for the cruise, so you’ll need those. You’ll also receive information about the dress and theme evenings on the cruise. Make sure you look over this information carefully, it will help you plan and pack accordingly. For instance, most cruises have a formal evening where guests are encouraged to dress formally for dinner and other on board activities. Don’t be scared of this, they’re not going to confine you to your cabin if you don’t have a 1000 dollar tuxedo, but if you want to fully participate in the cruise experience, you’ll want to do this, it’s fun. I’ll talk more about this later, but be aware for most cruises, you’re going to need a formal dress for the ladies and a suit for the guys. There are also usually a couple of casual nights where jackets and formal dresses aren’t required, but it’s still nice to have some nice slacks and a button down or nice polo shirt on hand. There may also be theme nights. A cruise may have a Hawaiian theme night where guests are encouraged to dress in tropical attire. So again, read this information and pack accordingly.
Of course not every night on your trip will be a theme, and informal clothes reign during the day. So you want to make sure you pack comfortable and weather appropriate clothing. Bring the jeans for hanging out during the day and in port. Don’t forget those informal shirts and tops for the ladies either. This often depends on your destination, if you’re going to Alaska, you might need a heavier jacket even in the summer time. If you’re heading out to the Bahamas, a light windbreaker might be all you need. The best thing to do here is to be prepared. As my wife and I found out, it can still rain and cool down considerably even in the Bahamas. Don’t pack just shorts and t-shirts, and bring some kind of a jacket with you. The cruise line will have jackets and some clothing items for purchase, and certainly the ports will, but the prices might be kind of steep to pay when you’re kicking yourself for leaving your perfectly good jacket hanging on the hook at home. Be aware of the seasonal conditions in your ports of call, and keep up with the forecasts. Weather.com is a great place online to do this.
Don’t forget to pack other necessities as well, particularly prescription medicine. Make sure all of your scripts are up to date and labeled with your correct name. Don’t haul your pills around in a plastic bag, you need to be able to prove to folks what they are. Remember, all of your baggage is subject to search, just like on an airplane. Remember to bring enough, as you won’t be able to get most of this medication once you leave port. Don’t forget over the counter meds as well, thing like allergy medication and cough drops. While these are available on ship, they can be pricey. Just hit Wal Mart before you hit the port. Take all of your meds, and your travel documents in your carry on bag.
Other than that, take the things you’d normally take on vacation. Don’t forget your camera and plenty of memory for it. Bring the video camera as well. Bring things to keep you occupied during downtime. A novel, IPOD, or magazine will come in handy to keep you entertained while you’re waiting to board the ship. A deck of cards or a travel game or two will also help, particularly if you have kids coming along. Also don’t forget to check with the cruise line and airlines about luggage allowances.
Here’s a brief summary of what I took with me on my 4 day, 3 night Bahamas cruise.
Carry On-Bag
--Travel documents and cruise tickets
--Novel and Magazine
--Ipod
--Camera
--Medicines
--Jacket
--extra casual shirt for dinner.
Suitcase
--4 days worth of socks and undergarments.
--3 T shirts
--Sleep wear
--one pair jeans
--two pair slacks
--2 polo shirts
--2 button down shirts
--2 ties
--suit jacket
--dress shoes and socks
Finally, make sure you have a comfortable pair of shoes and a comfortable outfit for standing and waiting at the port. You’ll do a lot of it as you wait in line to go through security, ticketing, and customs. Trust me, you don’t want to be in new or uncomfortable shoes.
What about the port, getting on the boat, and those LONG lines….check back next time for part 2 on arriving at the port, boarding the ship, and getting settled.
Any questions, drop me a comment or an email. Thanks for reading!
What to do and know from booking, to boarding, to the end of a cruise experience.
I am not an expert cruiser, writer, or traveler, but being that I don’t know many other people who have been on a cruise, I decided to post this as a helpful guide that might help my friends select and enjoy a cruise at some point in the future. I’ve had the chance to go on two different cruise lines to two totally different destinations, and I’ll be using knowledge and insights from both of the experiences in what you’re about to read. Again, I’m not an expert, but after searching the internet for resources on cruising, I didn’t see much, so I decided to give this a shot and post it to my blog. I’ll be posting in six different installments. Part 1 will be about booking your cruise and planning what you’ll need to take with you. Part 2 will be about arriving at your cruise terminal and getting settled on your ship. Part 3 will feature daily life on the ship, while part 4 will cover ports of call and shore excursions. Part 5 will discuss the inevitable end of your cruise and disembarking procedures. The final part will reflect my impressions on various cruise lines and talk about some cruising resources on the internet. I hope you enjoy reading these little articles as much as I’ve enjoyed writing and thinking about them!
Part 1—Booking and Planning Your Cruise
There are several ways to go about booking your cruise experience. You can book yourself online, go through a cruise line representative via the telephone, use a travel agent, or go through travel sites on the web such as Expedia or Priceline. Of course, there are pros and cons to each of these methods.
Let’s say you’d like to book yourself through a cruise line’s website. Most of the major cruise lines have this option. The starting point is to choose your desired destination. Once you’ve done this, you’ll have to decide what port you’d like to leave from, and there may be one or more options here. For instance, if you wanted to go to the Bahamas with Royal Caribbean, you might be able to leave from either Port Canaveral or Miami, Florida. Usually once you’ve decided on this information you can peruse basic pricing for your cruise, though this is usually just the cost of the cruise itself and not transportation to and from the port. Make sure you read everything carefully. If you’re at all unsure about what you’re reading or what you are or aren’t paying for, contact customer service for the cruise line before booking anything.
What other information are you going to want to know besides where you’re going? Well, for one, how many people are going? Is it just you and your spouse, or are you taking the kids along? The prices on the cruise line websites are usually per person, so make sure you keep that in mind. You’ll also want to know WHEN you want to go. Most cruise lines sail to and from warm weather ports throughout the year. However, if you want to go to Alaska, you’ll need to go in the warmer months. If your destination is a warm one, you have many options to suit your schedule, however, it is often cheaper to go during the non peak season.
You’ll also need to give some thought to your meal arrangements. Are you planning on hitting the buffet every night, or will you partaking of the excellent service in the formal dining rooms? I’ll talk more about this in the life on board section, but if you want to eat in the dining room, know this, you might end up thrust into a table with people you don’t know as the seating in these rooms assigned and stay the same every night. If you’re a social butterfly and you want to meet new folks on your trip, this is probably ok. If you’re on your honeymoon or just want a quiet vacation with your spouse, you need to put in a special request for a table for two. More often than not, the cruise line is more than willing to accommodate this request.
However, if you will need special accommodations like dinner seating, you may want to consider using a cruise line representative to book your cruise. Yes, it might take some more time to do, and you might wait on hold for a bit, but this takes a lot of the unknowns out of the equation. The cruise line rep can tell you exactly what you’re getting, can assist you with all accommodations, can usually help you arrange port transport, and can answer any questions you have right on the spot. Honestly, this is my preferred method. When my wife and I were arranging our honeymoon cruise, I had a couple of different occasions to talk with customer service for Royal Caribbean, and I was impressed with them every time. These people are professionals in the industry and are ready for your questions and reservations, and they’re equipped to handle the first time cruiser. Again, this is a great way to go, particularly if you’ve never booked a cruise before.
What if you’re a budget cruiser who wants to make sure you’re getting the absolute best deal? Then maybe you want to go through a travel agent or a travel booking website. Some people think using a travel agent isn’t the way to go because they charge extra fees. Well, yes and no. Many times, travel agents make their money on a commission basis through the cruise lines, hotel industry, rental car agencies and such. So it might not cost what you think. However, particularly in this new economy, some of these companies are cutting costs, and often these travel agent commissions can be the first thing to go. So make sure you know up front what the agent is going to do for you and what the costs will be. The upside to this is that all of the transportation information is at the agent’s fingertips. He or she can readily help you decide on everything from destination, cruise line, port of departure, and transportation options. Then they can set it all up for you right there. They do it for a living.
However, if you’re still a do it yourself type, you can still use a travel website to book your trip. Expedia.com, priceline.com, hotwire.com, orbitz.com, and Travelocity.com all have options to let you book a cruise through their websites, often giving you a chance to save some money. So it might be a good idea to peruse these sites even if you are planning on using the cruise line or an agent to see if you can get a better deal. These are all reputable sites with customer service to back you up. Again, the risk here is not knowing what you’re getting as a first time cruiser. Make sure you have all your transportation to and from the port set up and make you know exactly what you’re getting. Read everything very carefully.
So now let’s say you’ve booked your cruise, it’s all paid up and now you’re looking forward to the big day. What else do you need to plan for? What do you need to take with you, what about basic medical care? These are all things you need to keep in mind and give some thought to before you head out to the port.
Probably the most important thing is to have your documents in order. After all, most cruises will take you to foreign countries, and in the post 9-11 world, moving from country to country can be a much different process. I really have only one major thing to say here: get a passport. By the time you read this, the United States will require passports to go pretty much everywhere outside of the country by any method, even if you’re only going to Canada or Mexico. Besides, having a passport is much easier in the long run than trying to carry a set of documents around with you. It’s a valid form of ID pretty much anywhere, and it’s the way to go. Another cautionary reminder here: don’t wait to get your passport until a month before your cruise. In fact, I would have it in hand before you even book. While the big rush to get passports has largely dissipated, it’s still not an immediate process, and speeding the process up might cost you more than your cruise ticket. Don’t leave this to chance and by all means don’t leave it at home. If you’re cruising to a foreign destination, you will have to clear customs and immigration when you board the ship, and you will NOT be allowed on board without the proper documents. My guess is the cruise line won’t feel much sympathy for you either. You, not the cruise line or travel agent, are responsible for having your documents in order. If you have any questions about the proper documents needed for your cruise, contact a cruise line rep immediately.
Aside from travel documents, what else will you need to bring with you? Well, the cruise line will of course send you tickets for the cruise, so you’ll need those. You’ll also receive information about the dress and theme evenings on the cruise. Make sure you look over this information carefully, it will help you plan and pack accordingly. For instance, most cruises have a formal evening where guests are encouraged to dress formally for dinner and other on board activities. Don’t be scared of this, they’re not going to confine you to your cabin if you don’t have a 1000 dollar tuxedo, but if you want to fully participate in the cruise experience, you’ll want to do this, it’s fun. I’ll talk more about this later, but be aware for most cruises, you’re going to need a formal dress for the ladies and a suit for the guys. There are also usually a couple of casual nights where jackets and formal dresses aren’t required, but it’s still nice to have some nice slacks and a button down or nice polo shirt on hand. There may also be theme nights. A cruise may have a Hawaiian theme night where guests are encouraged to dress in tropical attire. So again, read this information and pack accordingly.
Of course not every night on your trip will be a theme, and informal clothes reign during the day. So you want to make sure you pack comfortable and weather appropriate clothing. Bring the jeans for hanging out during the day and in port. Don’t forget those informal shirts and tops for the ladies either. This often depends on your destination, if you’re going to Alaska, you might need a heavier jacket even in the summer time. If you’re heading out to the Bahamas, a light windbreaker might be all you need. The best thing to do here is to be prepared. As my wife and I found out, it can still rain and cool down considerably even in the Bahamas. Don’t pack just shorts and t-shirts, and bring some kind of a jacket with you. The cruise line will have jackets and some clothing items for purchase, and certainly the ports will, but the prices might be kind of steep to pay when you’re kicking yourself for leaving your perfectly good jacket hanging on the hook at home. Be aware of the seasonal conditions in your ports of call, and keep up with the forecasts. Weather.com is a great place online to do this.
Don’t forget to pack other necessities as well, particularly prescription medicine. Make sure all of your scripts are up to date and labeled with your correct name. Don’t haul your pills around in a plastic bag, you need to be able to prove to folks what they are. Remember, all of your baggage is subject to search, just like on an airplane. Remember to bring enough, as you won’t be able to get most of this medication once you leave port. Don’t forget over the counter meds as well, thing like allergy medication and cough drops. While these are available on ship, they can be pricey. Just hit Wal Mart before you hit the port. Take all of your meds, and your travel documents in your carry on bag.
Other than that, take the things you’d normally take on vacation. Don’t forget your camera and plenty of memory for it. Bring the video camera as well. Bring things to keep you occupied during downtime. A novel, IPOD, or magazine will come in handy to keep you entertained while you’re waiting to board the ship. A deck of cards or a travel game or two will also help, particularly if you have kids coming along. Also don’t forget to check with the cruise line and airlines about luggage allowances.
Here’s a brief summary of what I took with me on my 4 day, 3 night Bahamas cruise.
Carry On-Bag
--Travel documents and cruise tickets
--Novel and Magazine
--Ipod
--Camera
--Medicines
--Jacket
--extra casual shirt for dinner.
Suitcase
--4 days worth of socks and undergarments.
--3 T shirts
--Sleep wear
--one pair jeans
--two pair slacks
--2 polo shirts
--2 button down shirts
--2 ties
--suit jacket
--dress shoes and socks
Finally, make sure you have a comfortable pair of shoes and a comfortable outfit for standing and waiting at the port. You’ll do a lot of it as you wait in line to go through security, ticketing, and customs. Trust me, you don’t want to be in new or uncomfortable shoes.
What about the port, getting on the boat, and those LONG lines….check back next time for part 2 on arriving at the port, boarding the ship, and getting settled.
Any questions, drop me a comment or an email. Thanks for reading!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Travel: The Bahamas
I've wanted to do this for awhile now, and now I'm going to do it! I'm going to share with you our experience on our Honeymoon to the Bahamas via Royal Caribbean. I intend to do a seperate entry on cruising some other time, this is going to mainly be about the Bahamas.
Our first stop on our trip was Coco Cay. This is a small private island owned by the cruise line for the pleasure of their guests. It was pretty much beach paradise!
There were various shore excursions available, but Mariel and I decided we just wanted to hang out at the beach. It was great, temps in the 80s, water temps also in the 80s! Mariel coaxed me into the water and we swam for quite awhile before returning to the beach and just chilling out on beach chairs. So nice, and we didn't even get sunburned. After our sun nap, we walked around the island and snapped some pictures before heading back to the ship.
That's me on the ship with the island in the background! No fat jokes! Check out the color of that water.
Anyways, after that our next day was in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas:
As you can see it was a bit of a rainy day, and our shore excursion was canceled. However, Mariel and I came up with our own shore excursion. We took a walk into the city and visited two historic churches. One was an Anglican church that dated back to the 1600's and the other was a Catholic church that was a little more than 100 years old. The rector at the Catholic church talked with us for a few minutes and let us in for an up close look at the old church. It was awesome.
The interior of the Anglican church.
After checking out the churches, we headed back through downtown for some shopping (Bahamian rum baby)!
What are my impressions of Nassau and the Bahamas? Well if you're not a beach bum, you might be hard pressed to find something that will really hold your interest. There's a huge shopping arcade just out of the customs area from the cruise port, and it's filled with what you'd expect, local folks selling their goods to the tourists. However, with just a couple of exceptions, we found the local folks to be nice and hospitable. I'd keep my hand on my wallet right around the docks though.
If you choose to venture out in the city, make sure you have some good shoes and be very alert of the traffic, though the streets are small, Nassau has all the traffic of a major city and it can be difficult at best to cross a street. The city itself is a bit on the dirty side, but no more than you'd expect from a large city, and honestly, out of the foreign cities I've been to, I'd have to say Nassau was one of the cleanist. There are several museums in the area, including a Pirate museum and an art gallery, If you head up to the art gallery, make sure you check out the Catholic church up that way. Overall, we had a good time, and really enjoyed our trip the Bahamas. If you're looking for a short, cheap cruise get away, I couldn't recommend the Bahamas any higher!
Check out our honeymoon travel photos on our photobucket!
Our first stop on our trip was Coco Cay. This is a small private island owned by the cruise line for the pleasure of their guests. It was pretty much beach paradise!
There were various shore excursions available, but Mariel and I decided we just wanted to hang out at the beach. It was great, temps in the 80s, water temps also in the 80s! Mariel coaxed me into the water and we swam for quite awhile before returning to the beach and just chilling out on beach chairs. So nice, and we didn't even get sunburned. After our sun nap, we walked around the island and snapped some pictures before heading back to the ship.
That's me on the ship with the island in the background! No fat jokes! Check out the color of that water.
Anyways, after that our next day was in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas:
As you can see it was a bit of a rainy day, and our shore excursion was canceled. However, Mariel and I came up with our own shore excursion. We took a walk into the city and visited two historic churches. One was an Anglican church that dated back to the 1600's and the other was a Catholic church that was a little more than 100 years old. The rector at the Catholic church talked with us for a few minutes and let us in for an up close look at the old church. It was awesome.
The interior of the Anglican church.
After checking out the churches, we headed back through downtown for some shopping (Bahamian rum baby)!
What are my impressions of Nassau and the Bahamas? Well if you're not a beach bum, you might be hard pressed to find something that will really hold your interest. There's a huge shopping arcade just out of the customs area from the cruise port, and it's filled with what you'd expect, local folks selling their goods to the tourists. However, with just a couple of exceptions, we found the local folks to be nice and hospitable. I'd keep my hand on my wallet right around the docks though.
If you choose to venture out in the city, make sure you have some good shoes and be very alert of the traffic, though the streets are small, Nassau has all the traffic of a major city and it can be difficult at best to cross a street. The city itself is a bit on the dirty side, but no more than you'd expect from a large city, and honestly, out of the foreign cities I've been to, I'd have to say Nassau was one of the cleanist. There are several museums in the area, including a Pirate museum and an art gallery, If you head up to the art gallery, make sure you check out the Catholic church up that way. Overall, we had a good time, and really enjoyed our trip the Bahamas. If you're looking for a short, cheap cruise get away, I couldn't recommend the Bahamas any higher!
Check out our honeymoon travel photos on our photobucket!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Tweet Tweet
Yes, I have now decided to do twitter. It's kind of fun, you can even update it easily from your cell phone! I can bitch about customers online, while I'm at work! You can see the updates here on my blog, on my myspace or at
My Twitter Page
Sweet......
My Twitter Page
Sweet......
Thursday, March 5, 2009
This is going to be ugly...
First off, read this article. If you don't, don't bother to read this rest of this entry.
So it seems some whacko Archbishop in Brazil has started waving his little magic shepherd's staff and excommunicating people who gave this 9 year old girl a medically necessary abortion. Here's the background: Pervo stepdad rapes 9 year old stepdaughter. 9 year old stepdaughter gets sick sometime later. 9 year old goes to the hospital. 9 year old girl is found to pregnant, with twins. Doctors decide that the small uterus of this 9 year old, 80 pound girl cannot hold up to carrying one child, let alone two. Doctors proceed to terminate the pregnancy. Archbishop gets his holier than thou panties in a bunch and starts excommunicating the people who saved this girl's life, including her mother. However, they don't bother to excommunicate the rapist. Weird huh? Then finally, religious whack jobs the world over start talking about how the church is right, abortion is murder, yadda yadda yadda.
So what indeed is wrong with this picture? First let me clarify my position on abortion. I am strongly pro-choice. I am not "pro abortion." I would never have one, however, I don't have a uterus either, so it's not really my deal. The choice of what goes on inside a woman's body is hers. I'm not a doctor. Outside of a few college biology and chemistry classes, I have no qualification to expound on at what point does life begin. Here's my thought though. A egg and a sperm are both human and alive in some respect, and the potential for a human life to begin certainly exists after conception. However, as many a woman who has miscarried (including my own mother) will tell you, it doesn't always happen that way.
It seems to be painfully obvious in this circumstance that qualified medical professionals came to the realization that in order to save this little girl's life, the pregnancy needed to be terminated. This girl did not choose to be raped. Period. Why should she have to die because of someone else's religious belief prohibited the perfectly safe medical procedure needed to save it. Does your God, Catholic church, honestly think that this little girl, with her whole life in front of her, should die to prevent an abortion from taking place? If that's the case, take your God and shove him where the sun don't shine.
Let's talk about God here for a minute. If every life is sacred to God, and no pregnancy should ever be ended before being brought to term, why does God allow miscarriages to happen? Is God not powerful enough to create a perfect fetus that will be viablee until birth for every conception? If he can do that, does he just think that some fetuses don't deserve to grow and become human, or is he just being a sadistic bastard and messing with the spirit of the miscarried child and the crushed parents? Take your pick. Feel free to impale yourselves on the horns of that dilemma.
Lets say the right wingers are indeed correct, and god so dispises abortion that this 9 year old girl and others like her should die rather than have an abortion. Well abortions are done in all corners of the globe everyday. What happens to the souls of those aborted children. Does God not give them another chance at life somewhere? Is God that much of a douchebag that he would tell this soul "Sorry, your mom had an abortion, you're just done now? Let me guess, then are angel mothers that live in heaven and nurse these aborted souls for all time and eternity. Doesn't sound like a God who values life to me.
The ultimate weirdness for me here is that it is the Catholic church who is standing against this. Ok, lets see, the church whose Pope, the Vicar of Christ, turned a blind eye for YEARS while pedophile priests were raping alter boys left and right? What is wrong with religion? How many of these lawsuits has the church settled, and how much of the money given by it's members has been thrown at the issue in hopes it would go away?
Let me now say this, I'm mainly comfortable in Catholicism. My wife and were married in the church, and I have even considered joining the church as I have been greatly touched by the beauty in this faith that has helped me overcome some difficulties in my life. However, it's hard to swallow this. I can't believe in a God who would act like this. I believe God would want this little 9 year old girl to survive and thrive despite the evil perpetrated on her. I believe God will give the souls of those children another shot somewhere down the line. I beleive that God has not appointed me to be a judge, and that if abortion is such a heinous sin, God will judge these folks in his time. I also believe God wants me to live the best life I can and help other people out, which is what these doctors were doing with this little girl.
However, I feel that if we continue to let religion dominate the way we deal with each other on a day to day basis, particularly the more negative aspects of religion, that we are indeed headed for a new Dark Age.
God help this little Girl that she can grow up and live the life she was meant to live, and God Bless the doctors who went against the grain and gave her her life back.
So it seems some whacko Archbishop in Brazil has started waving his little magic shepherd's staff and excommunicating people who gave this 9 year old girl a medically necessary abortion. Here's the background: Pervo stepdad rapes 9 year old stepdaughter. 9 year old stepdaughter gets sick sometime later. 9 year old goes to the hospital. 9 year old girl is found to pregnant, with twins. Doctors decide that the small uterus of this 9 year old, 80 pound girl cannot hold up to carrying one child, let alone two. Doctors proceed to terminate the pregnancy. Archbishop gets his holier than thou panties in a bunch and starts excommunicating the people who saved this girl's life, including her mother. However, they don't bother to excommunicate the rapist. Weird huh? Then finally, religious whack jobs the world over start talking about how the church is right, abortion is murder, yadda yadda yadda.
So what indeed is wrong with this picture? First let me clarify my position on abortion. I am strongly pro-choice. I am not "pro abortion." I would never have one, however, I don't have a uterus either, so it's not really my deal. The choice of what goes on inside a woman's body is hers. I'm not a doctor. Outside of a few college biology and chemistry classes, I have no qualification to expound on at what point does life begin. Here's my thought though. A egg and a sperm are both human and alive in some respect, and the potential for a human life to begin certainly exists after conception. However, as many a woman who has miscarried (including my own mother) will tell you, it doesn't always happen that way.
It seems to be painfully obvious in this circumstance that qualified medical professionals came to the realization that in order to save this little girl's life, the pregnancy needed to be terminated. This girl did not choose to be raped. Period. Why should she have to die because of someone else's religious belief prohibited the perfectly safe medical procedure needed to save it. Does your God, Catholic church, honestly think that this little girl, with her whole life in front of her, should die to prevent an abortion from taking place? If that's the case, take your God and shove him where the sun don't shine.
Let's talk about God here for a minute. If every life is sacred to God, and no pregnancy should ever be ended before being brought to term, why does God allow miscarriages to happen? Is God not powerful enough to create a perfect fetus that will be viablee until birth for every conception? If he can do that, does he just think that some fetuses don't deserve to grow and become human, or is he just being a sadistic bastard and messing with the spirit of the miscarried child and the crushed parents? Take your pick. Feel free to impale yourselves on the horns of that dilemma.
Lets say the right wingers are indeed correct, and god so dispises abortion that this 9 year old girl and others like her should die rather than have an abortion. Well abortions are done in all corners of the globe everyday. What happens to the souls of those aborted children. Does God not give them another chance at life somewhere? Is God that much of a douchebag that he would tell this soul "Sorry, your mom had an abortion, you're just done now? Let me guess, then are angel mothers that live in heaven and nurse these aborted souls for all time and eternity. Doesn't sound like a God who values life to me.
The ultimate weirdness for me here is that it is the Catholic church who is standing against this. Ok, lets see, the church whose Pope, the Vicar of Christ, turned a blind eye for YEARS while pedophile priests were raping alter boys left and right? What is wrong with religion? How many of these lawsuits has the church settled, and how much of the money given by it's members has been thrown at the issue in hopes it would go away?
Let me now say this, I'm mainly comfortable in Catholicism. My wife and were married in the church, and I have even considered joining the church as I have been greatly touched by the beauty in this faith that has helped me overcome some difficulties in my life. However, it's hard to swallow this. I can't believe in a God who would act like this. I believe God would want this little 9 year old girl to survive and thrive despite the evil perpetrated on her. I believe God will give the souls of those children another shot somewhere down the line. I beleive that God has not appointed me to be a judge, and that if abortion is such a heinous sin, God will judge these folks in his time. I also believe God wants me to live the best life I can and help other people out, which is what these doctors were doing with this little girl.
However, I feel that if we continue to let religion dominate the way we deal with each other on a day to day basis, particularly the more negative aspects of religion, that we are indeed headed for a new Dark Age.
God help this little Girl that she can grow up and live the life she was meant to live, and God Bless the doctors who went against the grain and gave her her life back.
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