Miscellaneous Forum

Spare a thought for our VT members and travel visitors in Coff's Harbour.
The wonderful holiday spot on the North coast of NSW.
The early wet season tropical downpours have certainly been heavily downpouring. Severely affecting towns widely in that area.
Already inundated with the main north-south highway through the coastal city cut, (per weatherzone.com.au) "The total 24 hour rainfall for Coff's was an astounding 360 millimetres, making it the wettest November day in 66 years of records and in 45 years of any month ..."
Many more details on that site in 'weather news'.
Our faithful member 'unravelau' could be experiencing real trouble !?
Are you there Carole - or Grandchild ?? We're worried.

Rain drizzles, blurring sight and making the pavement glisten.

It is 9 am and quite abnormal for the atmosphere to be draped in so much grey.
The overcast turned the streets to bare building devoid of humans.
The rain blankets the noise from the occasional car.

Over my head 5 sparrows sit silently on a sagging power-cable.
I follow, with my eyes, a wet dog loping up the balustraded steps at the front of the church.
It moves its head, pointing its nose at vague washed-out smells, but never slows or stops.

I hear a flutter and look up.
Now they are 2.
One sparrow chase one other down he street.
The fifth is nowhere to be seen.
The one pair left shudder and fluff their feathers and close their eyes.

Perhaps I will not go on my regular walk today.
Perhaps I shall sit in the balcony and watch my world being showered, scrubbed and cleaned.
Perhaps I might sit down and read for a while.

So...what are you busy doing today?

Any VT'ers had the swine-flu yet? What were the symptoms, and how do you see the difference to a common virus?

It's pheasant shooting season here. That means the wretched things flee the farm across the street and hide in the gardens on this side. Helluva a clucking noise every morning.

Now a pair of owls seems to have taken residence in the tree outside my bedroom window - hooting at each other all night.

I may have to try the guest bedroom tonight.

Anyone else missing out on a quiet night's sleep?

PS Got my revenge in advance last night - dinner was pheasant with blackberry sauce - delicious.

SUSAN, YOU ARE GONNA LOVE THIS!!!

Finished work at 2pm, came home, had lunch, then started to tackle my ironing. Having always listened to "Bob" while ironing, this then became my perfect opportunity to play my new CD "Christmas in the Heart" (although not really looking forward to what I anticipated hearing!!!)

Let me put it this way, I am just glad that my $21.99 is going to 2 worthwhile charities - World Food Programme and Crisis!!! Yes folks, thats right ... its that bad!!! And I dont think Ill be playing it on Christmas Day - my familoy would run a mile!

Now ... any of you out there that know me, even slightly, will know that I absolutley love, worship and adore Bob Dylan. I also have quite a fondness for Christmas Carols, guess thats because I was forced to go to Church for 20 years and they were drummed into me!

However .... these 2 loves of mine DO NOT GO TOGETHER VERY WELL AT ALL! And it pains me to say this. The CD was rather disappointing, but was as I had expected it to be. Some songs took me back to Dylans religious period (Saved etc.) which I did not like back then and still dont.

The music itself is very traditional and melancholy, the background singers and harmony is very traditional also and angelic, BUT the mix of Bob's voice does NOT work at all. His voice is as it always is - rough, rugged and raw, and anything but traditional and classicly Christmassy! The whole concept and sound is quite simply "strained" and sadly ... not good!

So yes, Bob Dylan should indeed stick to what he does best :)

I just learned that one of the young men killed at Fort Hood, Texas, yesterday was the son of a friend of mine who lives in Utah. I know that Susan (Council14) has a close personal connection with some of the victims, but I definately wasn't expecting this incident to come knocking on my own front door. I know that some of you have recent experience in comforting grief stricken family members and friends, and any of your suggestions would be welcome. I am totally speechless and I don't know what to say to my friend. The young man was only 19 years of age, and should have just been starting his life.

My husband and I are interested in taking an Amazon River Tour.... any suggestions of companies and/or cruise lines to contact ....

Hello,
I have a prolem. Is it really so that my laptop keyboard is dirty and that causes the letters disappear?
The keys don't seem to get contact unless I press them very hard.
How can I clean the keyboard? I guess there's one of those aerosols available (pressured air, right, or something like that?).
It gets a bit annoying to hit the letters very hard! The problem started last week or so, nothing before that.
regards,Soili the lazy....

People - is there a French proverb that means this?

I am sure there is.

When it comes to pithy saying each langauge has their own twist it seems.

If you can help me - many thanks.

I've been considering volunteering abroad and have found this organization. They look good to me. They seem well established, have been around for a while, and have start dates all year round.

http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/

Of course they have volunteer quotes on the website, but I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with them at all. Thanks.

This time right here in downtown Orlando. News reports say 7 injured, 1 dead so far, but reports state the swat team still hasn't apprehended the suspece and there are still many people in the building.

A VT meeting in Venice is scheduled on november 21. If you are interested have a look at the events and meeting section.

Due to various factors, which I will not go into other than to say that additional taxe dollars is one of reasons, marijuana seem to be closer than ever to becoming legalized.

What do you think about this; good, bad or just plain old crazy?

Glen

Oh, please do not post complicated responses ;)

Much to the amusement of the regulars on the Norway forum, one person asked if the "Norway rats" were a big problem when hiking in the Norwegian woods. On that type of threads you can't blame people for posting a few funny answers lol

What is the most out of the place question you have seen on the travel forum?

ok another easy one ,right...

1 ) the castles of the loire are found in the region centre of France.

True

Not true

2) Henri II offered the castle of Chenonceau to its favorite woman Catherine de Médicis.

True

Not true

3) The castles of the loire are classify as world heritage site by Unesco.

True

not true

4) the castle of Chenonceau is the one bordering the river Cher.

true

not true

5) Azay-le Rideau is one of the great castles of the Loire.

true

not true


6) Cardinal Richelieu was the lucky owner of the castle of Chinon.

true

not true

7) the castle of Saumur is located in the department of the Loiret.

true

not true

8) we can count in the castle of Chambord 800 sculptures encrusted.

true

not true

9) the castle of Saché houses the museum of Balzac.

true

not true

10) the construction of the castle of Chenonceau was directed by a woman.

true

not true

11) the castle of Valençay is above all known for its decorated garden.

true

not true


12) the castle of Lude is located in the run of the river Loire.

true

not true

13) the castle of Chambord was born of the will and desire of Louis XIII.

true

not true

14) the castles of the Loire were built in the renaissance period.

true

not true

15) the castle of Chenonceau is found in the village of Chenonceaux.

true

not true

piece of cake folks.

A woman was walking down the street when she was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked her for a couple of dollars for dinner.
The woman took out her wallet, extracted ten dollars and asked, “If I give you this money, will you buy some wine with it instead of dinner?”
“No,” I had to stop drinking years ago, the homeless woman replied.
“Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?” the woman asked.
“No,” I don’t waste time shopping, the homeless woman said. “I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive.”
“Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?” the woman asked.
“Are you NUTS!” replied the homeless woman. “I haven’t had my hair done in 20 years!”
“Well,” said the woman, “I’m not going to give you the money. Instead, I’m going t o take you out for dinner with my husband and myself tonight.
The homeless Woman was astounded. “Won’t your husband be furious with you for doing that? I know I’m dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting.”
The woman replied, “That’s okay. It’s important for him to see what a woman looks like after she has given up shopping, hair appointments and wine.”

These VAs have been keeping me busy. Luckily they love Buswells hotel and had a Guinness or two in the lounge/bar soon after check in. And after the MEET an Irish coffee.??Have you guys had Irish coffee before?

The highlight was joining in with BillNJ who called a meet in Longstones pub. Besides yours truly we were joined by Krumel(Birgit) and Annemariebyrne of Dublin.
Bill arrived in the morn ,had a short rest,took an on/off bustour and arrived early for the meet. His first trip to Dublin but was he well informed..then off to Derry next day.
Birgit had an hour long bus trip home so did not join in with a bit of a late look around with AnneMarie. We ended up with Irish Coffee in Duke Street


So now we await the dancing week in Killarney. Hope the VAS can dance and have some gala clothes.

Just in case Purpleshade reads this ...there was a bit of a romance in Buswells with another lampshade. I felt this banging in my handbag and it was Purpleshade who managed to sneak in back in Australia!

This must be the most productive and enjoyable time in my life.

Having grudgingly retired at 53, I now find my, previous, desperate need to hang on to my Ego-boosting job a revolting thought!

Today I split my time with talents past-ignored for lack of time,
and people whose friendship was often misunderstood and dismissed as time-wasting in a busy life-style.

After years of needing to live for the day, at age 32, emotional-happenings caused me to start seriously looking at my life and providing for my retirement.

Now, in Mid-life, nothing phases my new appreciation of life.

I find that there is life beyond work.
That too much pain is caused by patriotism and belittling others.
Believing one's culture is superior makes one inferior.
That belligerence comes from fear.
Fear is fanned by those who want your vote to gather power.

Tell me your fears and consider whether that fear is real or perceived.
Or just give me your oppinion.

Every day could be be the first day of the rest of your life. :o)

Hundreds of roos and emus have descended upon Queensland in search of food and water! Anybody there? What does THAT looks like? Please feed those babies!

Have you ever bought and eaten food cooked right on the roadside in your travels?
If so, what have you tried and where?

Or are you a stickler for hygiene and would never even touch their stuff?

Yep, my little travel compadre is going to be 9!! I can't believe it. She was 3 when I started on this site. She now takes hip-hop, ballet(which she thinks is too slow)gymnastics, and Spanish as extra curricular activities after school. Mom's keeping her busy. She told me the other day she doesn't want to take one more class, until I reminded her she wanted to take drama so she could learn Shakespeare. She just sighed...lol. ~

Something great happened today (somewhere). tell us about it!

I am frequently amazed at what I learn her on VT. It may be a custom from a distant land, a new type of vegetable, an updated mode of transportation or it can be something about a people.
So many lives from so many vastly different places touch, if only for a moment, here on VT.

Today, I learned about Aung Suu Kyi and just a bit about Burmese history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi

What new or interesting thing have you learned on VT?

Not a question. I just wanted to share that I am very excited about the Hawaii trip starting this Saturday! I haven't had a vacation this year, yet, and can really use time away from work right now. I plan to do a total of 10 dives while I'm there. It would be nice to get out of this freezing cold Connecticut weather, too. :)

Nidal Malik Hasan , a 39 year old Muslim, shot and killed 11 people and injured 31 others at the largest US military base. Why?

...winter is coming on fast...I keep having various car problems...but my hair looks fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!

How seriously do you take them ?

How can the same hotel be so awful for one person and so good for someone else in the same month?

Could the breakfast really be inedible one week and wonderful the next?

Ditto with the staff, rooms, etc.

I'm asking this question today because I've been looking at some budget options in Amsterdam.

Inner Hotel: TA reviewers tell me it has bedbugs, filthy bedrooms and worse.

Art Galery Hotel, recommended highly on VT by Maria Joy, absolutely slated by most of the reviewers on TA.

And finally, is it true that bedbugs are fairly likely to share your bed in Amsterdam ?

Hithere,
Does anyone know of a few good places to go Salsa dancing in Salitun area in Beijing ?
Cheers,
J.

A pair of eyeglasses that translate language and sends it to headphones and also beams subtitles directly onto your retina?!? This is from the future! I never thought I'd see a gizmo like this in my lifetime.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8343941.stm

How would something like this change travel?

The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work. His electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start.
While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence.
On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked towards the front door, he paused briefly at a tall tree, touching tips of the branches with both hands.
While opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed with smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave the wife a kiss.
Afterwards he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.
“Oh, that’s my trouble tree” he replied. “I know that I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing’s for sure. Troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I get home. Then in the morning I pick them up again.
“Funny thing,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”