tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52982275711799556982024-03-04T20:13:44.459-08:00Let's talkA retired teacher shares her views of San Francisco and the worldUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-2918069072604087242019-12-02T22:31:00.003-08:002019-12-02T22:31:38.771-08:00It was all we had hoped for... and more...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today, our last dat before we dock at San Francisco tomorrow morning, was probably our busiest day of the two weeks! I'll do more of a picture tour of the day, and I also realize I haven't really shown what the ship looks like, so I'll try to give you an idea.<br />
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9:45 am: The Head Chef and his Mate gave a cooking lesson and told us a bit about the kitchen and what goes in to the food service and then we were given a tour of one of the galleys. It was quite an hysterical show with lots of drama. But here are a few trivia facts:<br />
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<li>They prepare 12,000 meals a day</li>
<li>They make 180 pounds of ice cream in different flavors/day</li>
<li>They clean 35,000 plates and 20,000 glasses</li>
<li>They bake 16,000 dinner rolls/day</li>
<li>They make 75 pounds of tomato sauce/day</li>
<li>There are over 500 staff connected with the service of food and drink on board - that's more than half of the entire staff</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKU7a95XBTIKUiV5HQxXiGwGKMj1ArHX8L0bPkjY74-94G4AzApk_NN_fbdUksWeJd1bg7HIe_dvnEaJod51E62Cwcz0gu_rx3XidcA_-ZPrgEuiqbLAKI42UyQqAIwIhJU3n0GT0lXF3V/s1600/IMG_9580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKU7a95XBTIKUiV5HQxXiGwGKMj1ArHX8L0bPkjY74-94G4AzApk_NN_fbdUksWeJd1bg7HIe_dvnEaJod51E62Cwcz0gu_rx3XidcA_-ZPrgEuiqbLAKI42UyQqAIwIhJU3n0GT0lXF3V/s320/IMG_9580.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L:Head Chef from the Philippines <br />
C: Second in Command from England<br />
R: Kevin our cruise Director from Canada</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO3mceudS_kfxyJJHlzo3pwFVjyH_jwmNgEnpUhUu4mVsK59khJDV6DZAveOqkoMw_Inugs4LU9c-piUZ6a-WgoAh5c-sbvSuPfhVlQR2LiGSU3y0INAPd4sMCtTnsSLCq1oqRB3MlELNz/s1600/IMG_9586.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO3mceudS_kfxyJJHlzo3pwFVjyH_jwmNgEnpUhUu4mVsK59khJDV6DZAveOqkoMw_Inugs4LU9c-piUZ6a-WgoAh5c-sbvSuPfhVlQR2LiGSU3y0INAPd4sMCtTnsSLCq1oqRB3MlELNz/s200/IMG_9586.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fruit & Vegetable Scupltures</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9P8AsBPwWQFrKy3fLUpVcCkwOEwD4zC9ziqN_0MRU_8KWm9IeZYuMiyZSRu9lK5a4AKhtLtNM0MLw7q4f3IYFZ8F5x4_cXUcg_YHVByEzlHWbyN73dj0wQBPeZ974vr0W68qdWxcx5Onb/s1600/IMG_9590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9P8AsBPwWQFrKy3fLUpVcCkwOEwD4zC9ziqN_0MRU_8KWm9IeZYuMiyZSRu9lK5a4AKhtLtNM0MLw7q4f3IYFZ8F5x4_cXUcg_YHVByEzlHWbyN73dj0wQBPeZ974vr0W68qdWxcx5Onb/s200/IMG_9590.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More of the galley</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHKwOsUhAXK0gTEozfoSut0ylTd2mThhMWcukG6SJfMdIaL-QKOauTp26GwteymAYFblSbtOmjN-a7XrehP_4pC-rbEH96CGlCsOJyS_zjawBuNyYD8b4lgxrR0GC-407e6CKp_dyEBbv/s1600/IMG_9589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHKwOsUhAXK0gTEozfoSut0ylTd2mThhMWcukG6SJfMdIaL-QKOauTp26GwteymAYFblSbtOmjN-a7XrehP_4pC-rbEH96CGlCsOJyS_zjawBuNyYD8b4lgxrR0GC-407e6CKp_dyEBbv/s200/IMG_9589.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some meringue cakes</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1pUPafdYI01VeGOi8uos88aqgcg44MELpxPfnuMKGhK_Lo5t5X3itPK5SWRHLCOXjTB55t8Xcmatq4FRkHQ_EEg1TZa909D-M93t3gEMPebbZ9t1sMycQuYj0E0TLWGBnnLxls5Cg22wj/s1600/IMG_9588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1pUPafdYI01VeGOi8uos88aqgcg44MELpxPfnuMKGhK_Lo5t5X3itPK5SWRHLCOXjTB55t8Xcmatq4FRkHQ_EEg1TZa909D-M93t3gEMPebbZ9t1sMycQuYj0E0TLWGBnnLxls5Cg22wj/s400/IMG_9588.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The galley is mammoth with different stations all around<br />
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At the end of the program, they brought out a large number of the staff and introduced them. Then they had a special treat. Hector, who works in the kitchen, wanted to sing us a song. Everyone was choked up.</div>
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10:00: Free Mimosas for all as the Captain bids us all a farewell</div>
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1:00: Rehersal for the Pop Choir</div>
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2:00: The Grand Princess Pop Choir Concert! We had a huge audience and the concert was fantastic. We started out with Here Comes the Sun, then sang Eidelweiss, followed by Blue Bayou, then Somewhere Beyond the Sea and we ended with Under the Boardwalk. I was in my glory!</div>
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After the concert we went back to the room and started to pack. We had to get out luggage out in the hall by 11:00 pm tonight and we have to be out of our room by 8:00 am tomorrow morning.</div>
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4:00: Dancing in the Piazza with a mariachi band</div>
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6:30: The final concert of the Grand Princess dancers, singers and orchestra. We have been so impressed with the quality and professionalism of this young people and they didn't disappoint tonight. The theme was "The British Invasion."</div>
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7:30: Concert with a Country Western/Flamenco Guitarist! </div>
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8:30: Our last dinner. Since we are wearing our casual clothes that we will be disembarking with, we went to the Harvest Court buffet instead of to a more formal restaurant. </div>
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10:00: ... we were going to go down to the Explorer's Bar for more dancing... but alas, we crashed!!</div>
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And now, here's a bit of the ship; I realize I didn't nearly cover the immensity and beauty of The Grand Princess.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcg1mpLUuirOtMdZAdsp5k29m_V3A1GZLIxl5GzNOhf1HmEneTndITMYF4vA2wyHAPKtNuPKqvUFbPtQolrKvA9d_gtcx83nOYa0jxJHU8ayw-0Y9_TeyS0pvf2aUwccROTWX-6arCa1Li/s1600/IMG_9575.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcg1mpLUuirOtMdZAdsp5k29m_V3A1GZLIxl5GzNOhf1HmEneTndITMYF4vA2wyHAPKtNuPKqvUFbPtQolrKvA9d_gtcx83nOYa0jxJHU8ayw-0Y9_TeyS0pvf2aUwccROTWX-6arCa1Li/s640/IMG_9575.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Princess Theater</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7wrA3RGLcUfXUtfkAoVvCorseIKJGzcwvw8xUUJ59uyg0ivj5C_WYfOiLJt63hY7e5Dp4qTZsY8-mu9h1GD3tAy4uHSUEeW3ypB_G4tiBA3pxJuYCo2Nu0DsqMx2a1RGJVI0ZyLUZJuGp/s1600/IMG_9546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7wrA3RGLcUfXUtfkAoVvCorseIKJGzcwvw8xUUJ59uyg0ivj5C_WYfOiLJt63hY7e5Dp4qTZsY8-mu9h1GD3tAy4uHSUEeW3ypB_G4tiBA3pxJuYCo2Nu0DsqMx2a1RGJVI0ZyLUZJuGp/s640/IMG_9546.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The roof-top pool on deck 14</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKmWo_L2pO2c8nQjA8hImYiSvojjQ7SzPmiy9hUKLkLEiiSQH973wBCq2bqZQcBuFokBpVUFtLjeNTwYYmOz9wXsD4LhnJhJDyY_7lIv-pP3rn6W8XKM0ppUBokk7tryZrhBYSyUpwocqb/s1600/IMG_9545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKmWo_L2pO2c8nQjA8hImYiSvojjQ7SzPmiy9hUKLkLEiiSQH973wBCq2bqZQcBuFokBpVUFtLjeNTwYYmOz9wXsD4LhnJhJDyY_7lIv-pP3rn6W8XKM0ppUBokk7tryZrhBYSyUpwocqb/s320/IMG_9545.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hot tub at the Neptune pool</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Neptune Pool</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Adult-only pool</td></tr>
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</a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib3isDZzkY1HdlZAXrleQTqyZkJ7RFlTGWzE6qazES1uv97o8j1g8fHnek0o3K2pGpJpZO1SVGOP00NK7j80ReCVu3F3XC8L5O7EM5XW6UahYKX0PPxWGuebx9-xTFk4Cc01gGCfyOkG0z/s1600/IMG_9544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying a walk on the deck</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful at Night</td></tr>
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We checked with the Captain, and we come under the Golden Gate Bridge tomorrow morning at 5:30, so we have set our alarm for 5:00 and plan to get up and go to the top deck at the front on the ship and experience it all. </div>
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We leave you with this picture which seems to embody our last two weeks: fun, adventurous, gorgeous, awesome, unpredictable, outstanding.</div>
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ww<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWG-fwRbcuIv_IPEkgRMAYjkGN_y3DxFNBSfkkg8Yfy8LMrzbVr7l3zes4dI3OzYajwIg_07cctyQfa-PT5KvDI9yGZ9Ul_yVfy6yLMQYR-3_O_r9B9ybWHQY2NvHXOe9D1omubH3P82dp/s1600/IMG_0697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWG-fwRbcuIv_IPEkgRMAYjkGN_y3DxFNBSfkkg8Yfy8LMrzbVr7l3zes4dI3OzYajwIg_07cctyQfa-PT5KvDI9yGZ9Ul_yVfy6yLMQYR-3_O_r9B9ybWHQY2NvHXOe9D1omubH3P82dp/s640/IMG_0697.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-9701983660803115832019-12-01T23:56:00.000-08:002019-12-01T23:56:01.452-08:00December 1st - RABBIT! RABBIT!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Can you believe it's December 1st already? Our last sea day is tomorrow as we wend our way from Ensenada to San Francisco. It's been a great two weeks, but both Luke and I are ready to get our feet on terra firma. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN0t5rx6j0zH028okxe-77d8USlcVvY06n-AYRweE-wcxW15pllzc4YUXgCn1cInV3R1mWjAg_oxupOI_0YhcxsvB_3A0u4WBpHaY6KHfo0YmKJXX1Ul167hbBPPyhmnjNhIt8Fnp3GD0d/s1600/IMG_9550.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN0t5rx6j0zH028okxe-77d8USlcVvY06n-AYRweE-wcxW15pllzc4YUXgCn1cInV3R1mWjAg_oxupOI_0YhcxsvB_3A0u4WBpHaY6KHfo0YmKJXX1Ul167hbBPPyhmnjNhIt8Fnp3GD0d/s400/IMG_9550.JPG" width="300" /></a>Today, after breakfast, we went in search of the fitness center which we hadn't discovered yet. That got us up to the top deck -16, where we found a cadre of in-the-know people who were sunning themselves on lounge chairs in a protected area. We decided to join them. Luke took his shirt off and was basking in the sun.<br />
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I took out my Sunday Times Crossword Puzzle book and was engrossed in that, when all of a sudden a loud noise was heard and a navy jet bomber - just like the Blue Angels - roared right by our ship. We hadn't seen ANYTHING on the big seas for the entire trip, and here were these fighter bombers looking as if they were attacking our ship! It was quite dramatic. But then the public address system came on and the Captain told us that it was the military doing some practice runs. We could vaguely see land in the distance and we figured maybe we were somewhere near San Diego where there is a military base. It was quite the drama for the morning!<br />
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After my Pop Chorus rehearsal, I met Luke in the Princess Theater for the finals of The Voice. It was a kick- They had the chairs that turned; they had the music; and the emcee, who was the cruise director of entertainment, was hysterical. There was some very funny banter going on and the talent was pretty good. There were sic finalists who each sang a song ad then picked a judge. Then each judge had to select one of their two to go on to the finals. Then the audience, who.was given an electronic voting remote, voted for the winner. Ralph won and he was awesome- He sang Don't Stop Believing and had everyone in the theater clapping for him. It was very cool.<br />
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We pulled in to Ensenada, Mexico around 4:00 pm and will be leaving this port at 7:00. This is a necessary stop because of some U.S. rule that says any ship, not made in the USA, must stop at an international port if they want to stop at an American port. </div>
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We didn't even get off, because Ensenada really isn't a very interesting place. Most of the passengers who got off, and there were quite a few, went shopping!!! There was a Carnival ship in port when we arrived. An ambulance was waiting for some passenger- we have no details about that, and there was a very large truck that we presume might be a gas truck filling up our tanks!<br />
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As we get closer to the end of our voyage, we feel a need to take advantage of as much as we can. Before dinner, we went to the Wheelhouse Bar and danced to an excellent trio. The singer was from Mexico and had a beautiful voice. There were a number of couples on the dance floor, and I just couldn't resist taking a picture of the 5" heels that a lady in her eighties was wearing. How do these ladies do that? <br />
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After a lovely dinner, we went to the theater to hear a very good vocalist. He opened with "I Will Always Love You" which I associate with Whitney Houston, but it was actually written by Dolly Parton! And he closed with a beautiful Josh Groban song. <br />
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But the night was still young. It was only 10:00, so we went to the Crooner's Bar to hear a wonderful singer/piano player who has quite a following. Thenwe went to the Explorer's Bar to dance some more to the Brilliantes - another great trio with an exceptional singer from Australia. They stopped at 11:30 and we called it a night!<br />
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I went out on the balcony tonight and I could see lights, so I guess we're staying fairly near shore- although the Casino was buzzing tonight, so we must be out far enough to be in international waters.<br />
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Tomorrow is our last day- it's been all I had hoped for and more...<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-25493896845137198362019-12-01T07:58:00.001-08:002019-12-01T08:15:52.699-08:00Another Wonderful Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Another wonderful day. The pace has changed a bit since we first started. I'm not sure why, but there are fewer things on the "Daily Patter" that we must do, so our days seem a bit more leisurely. Then again, we're staying up later and partying more at night.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEillYMOe_FdQ9qjyXspGExRGoQBzbTNTrG9OMhR7wmLQzHEDCRBpTbupEtdqpn0jd5337Ga4D65VIavif1r7rXf6dJ9b6MmNTIuJy-sR2hDPwqaHxaDBbQ8QDwStmvWdyOeM8K5J4SkVrFr/s1600/IMG_9518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEillYMOe_FdQ9qjyXspGExRGoQBzbTNTrG9OMhR7wmLQzHEDCRBpTbupEtdqpn0jd5337Ga4D65VIavif1r7rXf6dJ9b6MmNTIuJy-sR2hDPwqaHxaDBbQ8QDwStmvWdyOeM8K5J4SkVrFr/s320/IMG_9518.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXX6bdNz7XCAZUuzysJq3Qb9QLD-26WXrzg1WolLeQoIIjF-l0NPlECnvt7_sNSiZZZLfXH2SZHDM1FBW8LZqrhM5nfBHkAMkjZ-Su7ioXVUr_xflE7aU3o2QCgrCmrOHTv8avwJemnMc/s1600/IMG_9517.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXX6bdNz7XCAZUuzysJq3Qb9QLD-26WXrzg1WolLeQoIIjF-l0NPlECnvt7_sNSiZZZLfXH2SZHDM1FBW8LZqrhM5nfBHkAMkjZ-Su7ioXVUr_xflE7aU3o2QCgrCmrOHTv8avwJemnMc/s320/IMG_9517.JPG" width="240" /></a>We had a late breakfast, then went to the pool deck to play a few rounds of Bananagrams.<br />
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Later, I went to my Pop chorus rehearsal. We're doing so well with the songs that Jonny is adding some choreography to some of our songs which is quite fun. We give our concert tomorrow!<br />
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Then Luke and I went to the Princess theater to hear a talk by the Captain, John Smith and his first Engineer. It was interesting and we learned many things about the ship. "She's not a boat," the Captain reminded us. "A ship carries boats; a boat doesn't carry ships."<br />
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Do you know that they have desalination plants on board. It would be impossible to carry enough water for 3,000 passengers for 4 days at sea, so they make their own water! One time, they pulled in to a port that had been severely damaged by a storm and was without water, and the whole time they were at the port, they made water that was then carried off the ship by trucks and taken to the people on the island.<br />
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Another question posed to the chief engineer was about all the sewage and where did it go? Well they have tanks filled with sewage-eating microbes that eat the sewage and excrete water. They then filter this water and it is so pure you could drink it- but they don't, they put it back in to the ocean. <br />
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Someone asked about the gas mileage of this ship. Well, she actually goes 55 feet/gallon!!! BUT, the officer reminded us that she is carrying 3,000 people and 900 crew so when you calculate how many people she's transporting, it comes to 40 mpg!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Captain John Smith in the middle with his Chief Engineering Officer</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ukulele Players</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIKq0zFrgduRT2OO9iJYm35VOtJMRzjtV2rSw1Eha-67XflrjjleMk-PGX7ZkKhxFowi3BHYUwHX4RJ0f5nEfZbf8BTDyd-LIM8TR3GCpkD7PSXs4wUi0810X6PkEJWZCP933Ti8l10Hr/s1600/IMG_9526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIKq0zFrgduRT2OO9iJYm35VOtJMRzjtV2rSw1Eha-67XflrjjleMk-PGX7ZkKhxFowi3BHYUwHX4RJ0f5nEfZbf8BTDyd-LIM8TR3GCpkD7PSXs4wUi0810X6PkEJWZCP933Ti8l10Hr/s320/IMG_9526.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hula Dancers</td></tr>
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After our meeting with the captain, we went to the Vista Lounge to the hula dance and ukulele program. There have been Hulu dance and ukulele classes throughout the trip. Luke went to two hula dance lessons, but didn't stay with it long enough to join in the concert. But there was quite a crowd up on stage and they were quite good. A good part of the ukulele had never played the instrument before and it was really fun seeing them up there performing.<br />
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Tonight was another formal evening, so the sparkly jacket was donned and once again, Luke was the Beau of the ball. He had people asking if they could take his picture, and everywhere we went passengers and staff alike would ooh and ahh and make the thumbs up sign. It was really fun. Chet and Alice, who are Platinum Princess members, had an invitation to the Captain's Circle but they didn't want to go, so they offered it to us. We went through a receiving line and even Captain John Smith was awed by Luke's jacket. The elite passengers were recognized for their loyalty to Princess. There was a woman in a wheel chair that was celebrating her 102 birthday so we all sang Happy Birthday to her. She was amazing. The passengers with the most miles at sea were given a plaque and brought up in front. They had clocked 786 miles. It was interesting to hear that of the 3,000 passengers on board, over 1,000 of them were in the Captain's Circle. We're not sure what constitutes an Elite or Platinum or Gold member, but that's a lot of people who have done a lot of cruising. We have had a blast, but we're not sure we want to plan two or three cruises a year!! We met a man yesterday who took this Hawaiian cruise because he wanted to check out this time-shares on Kauai and Maui that he and his wife will be staying at for 7 weeks... and they're leaving for their time-shares in two weeks! So you take a 15 day Hawaiian cruise to go and check out your time shares that you'll be staying in in two weeks? Does that make sense?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jYQ8vGz66UdYPtKezP5hDLFG3CurEezjDHjJW8D3ernvwAMSko5llAggVso6oFQNZe0Rl7Z7hVN01YFodAnbbN60uYhJCJ5U0l7peEqfAiYxuIj7o3pFhbYEGQC8prvMgvHvPqXxrKh1/s1600/IMG_9531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jYQ8vGz66UdYPtKezP5hDLFG3CurEezjDHjJW8D3ernvwAMSko5llAggVso6oFQNZe0Rl7Z7hVN01YFodAnbbN60uYhJCJ5U0l7peEqfAiYxuIj7o3pFhbYEGQC8prvMgvHvPqXxrKh1/s320/IMG_9531.JPG" width="240" /></a>We went Dancing in the Wheelhouse Bar where the Princess orchestra played Big Band Era songs, then went to dinner. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmDW5cPXG3pqZzpMZ12ilX48AVbYN_RlqgxwdDgm5AHz2bfUJia0YuRLfAAXd0N8PQ1KTdEM1sJw_8B2iKXBwdVtI3C1OhjIDX1StBwO688Oip_iP8WibJ-FLkknRTI40u2f4a1BMjrSf/s1600/IMG_9532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmDW5cPXG3pqZzpMZ12ilX48AVbYN_RlqgxwdDgm5AHz2bfUJia0YuRLfAAXd0N8PQ1KTdEM1sJw_8B2iKXBwdVtI3C1OhjIDX1StBwO688Oip_iP8WibJ-FLkknRTI40u2f4a1BMjrSf/s400/IMG_9532.JPG" width="300" /></a><br />
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After dinner we went to the most amazing show called Born to Dance. It was so much fun and such high quality, we could have been watching a Broadway presentation. The singers and dancers were terrific, the music was wonderful as they traced the history of dance and the different choreographers over the years, and the costumes were fantastic. I was in heaven.<br />
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Then we went down to the Piazza where we closed out the disco dance band. What is so amazing to me is to see so many older people kicking up their heels. If you were to pass them on the street you would think their lives were pretty dull and boring. But to see them on the dance floor is a whole other experience. <br />
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Tomorrow we arrive at the Port of Ensenada. It turns out we are only there for three hours- from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm. We're not planning on getting off the ship because we don't want to buy anything, and Ensenada is kind of a nothing place. Hopefully it will warm up and maybe we can go for a swim in the pool!<br />
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Adios for now.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-4615164381824188062019-11-29T10:46:00.003-08:002019-11-29T10:50:22.111-08:00Luke's a Winner!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Happy Thanksgiving! The ship tried to be festive with decorations, but Thanksgiving on the Grand Princess just wasn't the same as sharing it with family and friends and smelling the turkey roasting in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong, we had one of our best days at sea- but it didn't feel much like Thanksgiving. There was a big turkey, cornucopia display in the Piazza, and turkey with gravy, stuffing and cranberry sauce was on the menu for dinner, but... just not the same!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Line dancing in the Vista Lounge</td></tr>
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But there was plenty to do. I went to another line dance class which I really like. After seeing all those young people up in the disco lounge last night doing line dance moves all together, I'm thinking I might like to try to find a line dance class back in SF when I return. </div>
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Then I had my Pop Chorus rehearsal. We're singing a whole new repertoire of songs: Blue Bayou, Under the Boardwalk, Edelweiss, Somewhere Across the Sea, and a Beatles song. We will have another concert on Monday evening- our last day at sea.</div>
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Then Luke and I went to a Cha Cha class which was really fun. We learned a routine with 6 different ChaCha steps in it. I wrote them down so we could practice!<br />
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We had dinner with two other couples, one of whom was from Iowa, so Luke had fun talking to them. They were from a small town wet of Davenport where they had 200 acres which they farmed with corn and soy beans. The farm is small and not self-sustaining so they had jobs in town. He worked in a manufacturing plant and she was an elementary school principal. They retired at 55 and have been on over 20 cruises!! Carolyn told an interesting story about her retirement. The school district was offering early retirement to the principals. Carolyn didn't know what to do so she prayed heavily. In the morning, she decided that if one other principal retired, she would also; she didn't want to be the only one. So she went off to school and a principal, whom she knew only slightly, met her in the hall and said, "I have something to tell you. I am going to retire." She went home and that afternoon her mother called and said, "I have been having a strong feeling all day that I needed to call you. What's happening?" Carolyn told her mother that she was thinking of retiring and her mother said, "You should definitely retire!" ... and she did!. <br />
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Dick, her husband, was a man of few words, but even though they are both retired, they still work the farm and love it. They have two children both of whom would like to keep the farm, but neither of the spouses are interested in farming. So they have put the land in trust and stipulated that they can do nothing with the land until three years after their death. That way they will have to think about it. The land is worth about $7,000-$8,000 an acre, so with 200 acres it's quite valuable. Once again here is this average couple from the Heartland who have been on 20 cruises. They do about two a year. They've been to Tahiti, Tasmania, Alaska- they've seen the world and intend to continue exploring! (Only in America!)<br />
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The other couple didn't talk much so I didn't get any thing interesting from them!!<br />
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After dinner we went to the Vista Lounge to see a Motown concert with the Princess singers, dancers and orchestra. They were really good with fancy lighting, amazing costume changes and a very talented routine.</div>
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Then, at 9:30, we went to the Explorer's Lounge for a Rock and Roll Party with a different band and the entertainment staff. It was a lot of fun as we knew all the old songs and there are some very good dancers on this trip. Some of the old people really know how to rock it! When the band took a break, they had a Hula hoop competition. Luke was picked out of the crowd to go up. He had three tries to keep the hula hoop off the ground. After the hoop dropped to the ground the third time, you were supposed to stop and strike a certain pose. It was so funny to watch, and HE WON!! He had no idea he had won, but I think the reason was that we took much longer to pick his hoop up off the floor each time, so he was the slowest and therefore the last to strike the pose at the end! They interviewed him and presented him with a bottle of champagne!! I was laughing hysterically!</div>
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We stayed in the Explorer's Lounge until the band stopped playing around 11:00. It was a very fun day. I wonder what tomorrow will bring!!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-52362896876846331652019-11-28T08:18:00.003-08:002019-11-28T08:18:54.690-08:00Heading Home<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Tuesday Night - November 26th</b><br />
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Before I write about today, I have to share our conversation with our last night's dinner guests. We were joined by Nikita and Victor. Victor only spoke Russian, but Nikita's English was quite good. They live in San Francisco having come from their homeland of Ukraine eight years ago. Their son lives with them in San Francisco, but their daughter lives in Ukraine. It is very hard for their daughter and 21 year old grand son, "Ukraine is a hard country." They are very anti-Putin and Nikita says he is trying to grab all of Ukraine back. I asked her if she liked the new president and she said no- he is a terrible man. Her daughter teaches Latin and Greek and her grandson is a baritone in the opera and is in the Netherlands touring with Aida right now and then will go to Spain. Her eyes lit up when she mentioned her grandson. We asked if her daughter might be able to come to San Francisco and she said no. "Everyone wants to come to America, but it is impossible." Then I asked "what about Trump?" and I sensed fear cross Nikita's eyes as if she didn't want to say anything about him. <br />
We asked if they liked San Francisco and they said, "Oh yes. America is the best country in the world." We also asked them if this was their first cruise. "Oh no, this is our 5th. We have been to Alaska, Mexico, The California coast and Hawaii two times." <br />
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It's fascinating to think Ukranian immigrants have lived in this country for 8 years and gone on 5 cruises!!<br />
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After dinner we went to hear an Elton John concert performed by an Irishman who was very good. Then we watched the beginning of the Voice of the Ocean auditions. There was a line of twenty or more people who are auditioning tonight and then the finals will move to the theater where they will have actual chairs that will turn around just like on the real Voice. It's really fun seeing older people enjoying themselves. The place was packed for the auditions! Stay tuned for the finals- apparently they even have judges in the swivel chairs!<br />
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<b>Wednesday- November 27:</b><br />
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OMG! IT'S THE PEOPLE STUPID! - Are you ready? . . . There was no free table for breakfast, so we asked if we could join a couple at a table by the window. They were from Bayshore, NY on Long Island - originally from Colombia. They both had thick Spanish accents, and but Blanco spoke better English than her husband. We asked how long they had lived in Bayshore and the husband, (I can't recall his name) launched in to an emotional story about how he got his house. They had originally lived in Queens, but they could never find a parking place in Queens and there is no restricted parking in Long Island, so the real estate agent brought them to this house. "My wife looked at this house and said, 'No! Oh No!'" It was falling apart and had been owned by an old lady who did nothing to fix it up. But when he opened the front door and saw the huge living room, he knew he had to have it. There were two dining rooms, and it was "beautiful" -even though there were leaks and paint peeling and it needed a lot of work. This was in 2002 and the price of the house was $380,000. He knew it would need about $100,000 to fix up, so he told the agent he wanted the house but could only pay $300,000 for it. The owner would not negotiate so they forgot about it. Then months later he gets a call from his agent, "Are you still interested in the house?"<br />
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"Yeah, I'm still interested in the house, but not in the price!" Well the owner will take his offer! He wsa so excited, but there he was with a house he couldn't move in to because he put $80,000 down for the downpayment to keep his payments lower and he didn't have any money to fix up the house.<br />
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But a friend told him that there was a bank that when you got a credit card, they would give you free interest for six months. Free interest for six months - why that's a miracle. I can borrow $20,000 and fix up the bedroom and move in, and that's just what he did. <br />
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Then a neighbor saw him fixing up the stairs and asked what he was doing. He told him he didn't have the money to fix up things so he was trying to do some of it himself. Why don't you just go down to the bank- they are giving loans- it's easy. When he went to the bank and the banker asked him how much money he wanted, he didn't want to screthe guy off so he said, $20,000. <br />
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"$20,000!! Why waste our time with $20,000. We make money when we loan to you, but you need to ask for more."<br />
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Well, what do you suggest, he asked? When the banker said, $100,000 he choked. $100,000- you will give me $100,000? Okay, Okay! So he took the $100,000 and paid off the free interest credit card that had come due, and used the rest to fix up his house!<br />
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He ended his story by saying, "Only in America! This is the greatest country on earth!"<br />
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Blanco and her husband have gone on a lot of cruises, but they don't go in the winter time because they have to stay home to shovel their walk when it snows. If they don't, they get fined. They have a young boy do it, but he does a lousy job, so they need to stay home from cruises in the winter to shovel their walk! (Only in America!)<br />
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After they left, we were joined by a couple from Southern California. She had been a librarian, So we got to talking about books and the changes technology had brought. He said, well I know the power of words and reading. He had gotten a $450.00 ticket for going through a red-light. He went to the library and looked up everything he could and discovered that the Town of San Mateo had not asked for the proper permit to install the cameras, and they had not notified the public when they installed them. So he told this to the judge and got his ticket erased. When he told this to a friend of his, his friend told him that he had used the 7th amendment to got out of a ticket. The 7th amendment states that if a fine is over $20.00, we have the right to a trial by jury. So this friend insisted on a jury trial, and his case was thrown out.<br />
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So who our breakfast mate got a second ticket for going through a red light, he used his 7th amendment rights and asked for a trial by jury. He was denied twice, but this guy persisted and resubmitted his claim for a jury saying he was being denied his constitutional rights and his case was thrown out. When I said maybe he should just stop when the light turns yellow next time, he laughed, but he was clearly proud of avoiding paying his first two tickets - and it was only because he could read and research that allowed him to do so.<br />
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Loren went off to a lecture about Picasso after breakfast, and I sat out on the deck and watched a movie. We met at the Crown Grill for an English Pub lunch where we had beer and fish and chips. We were joined by a Chinese couple who were from San Mateo, CA. They had been on cruises with their family, but this was the first they have taken by themselves. They don't like to fly, so they only take cruises that they can drive to- so they have been on this Hawaiian cruise four times! The British luncheon was very popular and we had to wait in line for about 15 minutes before we found a table. This couple said they don't usually share because they like to sample a lot fo the food and they need room on the table. She went on to order fish and chips and shrimp and chips. Since the food is "free" you are allowed to order whatever you want. I wonder how many other people take two or three appetizers, entrees or desserts just to try them. Seems incredibly wasteful, but...<br />
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We had dinner at the little pizzeria, then went to hear a new singer in the theater who was very good. Since we had been crashing around 10:00 or so every evening, Luke wanted to stay awake to see what the night life was like on the ship. We wandered the ship from fore to aft. There was Karioke just finishing up in the Vista lounge; The Crooners Bar was quite full as people sat in their lunge chairs and listened to a kind of Tom Jones look alike. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR4PbeVzEzfZthu79LXgzMWagihW8iNYNdoK_OpC20db6x4ka0AuN8oFyQx5QVM44sS1EZJZ7DRVrGolU1HkMQHJ93ipGuTeMeE8g3JV6j4dSzMJ5IEqOL7SH_ujlqliK7XNP-Fz5LGVYs/s1600/IMG_9502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR4PbeVzEzfZthu79LXgzMWagihW8iNYNdoK_OpC20db6x4ka0AuN8oFyQx5QVM44sS1EZJZ7DRVrGolU1HkMQHJ93ipGuTeMeE8g3JV6j4dSzMJ5IEqOL7SH_ujlqliK7XNP-Fz5LGVYs/s200/IMG_9502.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQp5hfKD1rIPOCSIhV6vDONtRjv2C4Y-Ff9C0rlwUXX_pme2rOc0gwK7sPDEi2evdFuAxIGXegn0rlrdQ2rAyK1Yt1QdkIxxxmInbTaIhxgLl5QKJTM7jf0h1RbyvDQSqfPdV_kfDNRPR/s1600/IMG_9499.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQp5hfKD1rIPOCSIhV6vDONtRjv2C4Y-Ff9C0rlwUXX_pme2rOc0gwK7sPDEi2evdFuAxIGXegn0rlrdQ2rAyK1Yt1QdkIxxxmInbTaIhxgLl5QKJTM7jf0h1RbyvDQSqfPdV_kfDNRPR/s320/IMG_9499.JPG" width="320" /></a>As we passed through the mid-ship, a few hearty souls were watching the Lion King under the stars in the outdoor pool area. A live band with a singer played in the Wheelhouse Bar and there were lots of couples on the dance floor. We talked with a couple who used to live in San Francisco - on Telegraph Hill. He owned a corner grocery store, but when he retired, they had to move because it was too expensive. They now lie in Fremont, but here again is an immigrant couple who ran a little corner store for their whole lives who are now on The Grand Princess on a 15 day Hawaiian cruise. (Only in America!). <br />
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At the 115 Lounge on the top deck at the stern of the ship there was a crowd of young people who were all doing a kind of line dancing to the various DJ songs. It had disco style lighting, and they all seemed to know the different steps to each song and it was fun to watch. <br />
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It was about 11:30 when I gave out, but there were definitely party revelers who had more in the tank! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I wonder what they'll do for that! Happy Thanksgiving everyone.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-9883020703345043882019-11-26T19:22:00.000-08:002019-11-26T19:22:13.934-08:00Maui - our last Hawaiian Island<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I got up around 5:00 this morning and went out on the balcony and say an island with some lights. It turns out we were just going by Molokoi on our way to Maui. When we arrived in Maui around 7:00 we saw a very brown arid hillside. It runs out that each Hawaiian Island has a wet side and a dry side. It was explained to us- something about the hot air brining the moisture up and then the winds blowing westward sends the rain over to one side. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqyh2E7Nih_QPlmgUzzGXmXRIVegtVnUmiYJC1pp0uI0E9CodPRDLBzhBD3FcLRJlsbju_7E3NmOw_POVHadqmVMsatHVi0RFKUkK0Nay0RFKvcgSnizAirITtSH8wgxHWIZaXd988ui-/s1600/IMG_9469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqyh2E7Nih_QPlmgUzzGXmXRIVegtVnUmiYJC1pp0uI0E9CodPRDLBzhBD3FcLRJlsbju_7E3NmOw_POVHadqmVMsatHVi0RFKUkK0Nay0RFKvcgSnizAirITtSH8wgxHWIZaXd988ui-/s320/IMG_9469.JPG" width="320" /></a>We anchored off the coast of Lahaina which doesn't have any piers, so we were shuttled to shore by launch boats. It is quite a procedure. We watched as the boats were lowered from the boat. We were told to go to a certain deck to receive a number and when our number was called we were to proceed down to deck 4 either fore, middle or aft deck to catch out launch. There was a notice we received which said, "Please note that with 3000 guests, water shuttles can only hold 50-100 persons at a time, so it will take about 4-5 hours to put the entire ship ashore. We suggest gibing yourself plenty of lead time for any plans you may have. The last water shuttle from shore is 5:00 pm.</div>
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We had planned to take an hop-on-hop-off bus around Kauai yesterday but got waylaid in the museum with Jim Jung, so we decided we would take one of these buses around the island of Maui today. We got on this bus with two young guys who seemed a bit disorganized. We paid $20.00 each and they told us they were going to four stops: The outlet, Black Rock, Whaler's Watch, and The Harbor. The full tour took an hour but we could get on and off anywhere we wanted. Sounded good so off we went. Well the first stop was literally at an outlet mall so we stayed on the bus. The second stop was at a Sheraton hotel where they told us there was a beautiful beach and we could watch the divers jumping off of black rock. We got out, walked through the lobby of the Sheraton, and went out back to see the beach. It was quite magnificent with the Sheraton hotel looming over it. The divers were jumping off black rock in the distance. About 10 minutes later we had taken it all in, and the bus didn't come back for us for an hour, so we took a local shuttle to the next stop which was Whale's watch. Well, that turned out to be another shopping center- with just rows and rows of stores. So we discovered that another city bus could take us back to the Harbor and we ended up leisurely walking along Front Street where there were more shops, but at least it was quaint. We had lunch at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company. Luke found himself another museum to prowl around in while I sat in a beautiful Banyan Tree grove and read my Hawaii book. So we spent $40.00 to ride 1/2 mile on a bus that seemed to only go to shopping malls. Oh well- maybe that means we'll just have to come back to Maui someday.</div>
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We took the launch back to the boat, got a refreshing mojito, and retired to our balcony to read. <br />
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I am getting a bit of a feel for the Hawaiian experience. I know we made some missteps along the way, and haven't really gotten a good feel for each island, but a large part of the culture here for tourists is sunbathing, eating, drinking and SHOPPING!!! In Hilo and Honolulu, there were shuttles that took you to Walmart, and they were filled with people. Walmart? Why would you come to Hawaii and go to Walmart? I asked some people and one said they had great, cheap Hawaiian material; most people just said, "Cheap." Then at each stop there were free shuttle services to the local malls. It just seemed very weird to me to take a cruise ship to Hawaii and go shopping. But by the number of bags brought on board the launch this afternoon, it is clear that the materialistic world is alive and well.<br />
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I must say that I am very happy our land excursions are over and I can just stay on board the ship and have a good time. We leave this afternoon and will be at sea for four days before arriving at Ensenada, Mexico. There is some regulation that a non-American ship (This one is from Hamilton, Bermuda) has to go to at least one international port in order to stop in the USA, thus Ensenada. But Ensenada is a tourist trap so we aren't planning to get off the ship for that stop.<br />
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Not sure what we'll do tonight- The entertainment is a comedian which doesn't really interest me. Maybe well do a little dancing after dinner. Aloha.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-51022078915459371282019-11-26T01:07:00.000-08:002019-11-26T01:07:44.135-08:00Kauai - The Garden Island<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I love waking up early and going out on the balcony to see how close to land we are. Around 6:00 there were lights in the distance and then by 7:00 we were entering the harbor of Kauai and were greeted by a beautiful, lush green uninhabited mountain. As we started to snuggle in to the dock we were serenaded by three ukulele players and a hula dancer. It was beautiful.<div>
After a leisurely breakfast we disembarked and decided to walk the 1/2 mile to the beach. Kauai apparently has the fewest tourists visiting it, and I think it's because there aren't as many beaches. Most of the coastline is very steep, but near the harbor is a lovely beach.</div>
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We decided to get on an on-and-off bus to tour the island and get a sense of the lay of the land. We were told to take a public bus to a certain shopping mall and get our tour bus from there. However, along the way, someone was getting off at the Kauai museum, so we got off to check it out, and we ended up staying there for over an hour. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqtPYWPcfPztSOQ5rTnHjPFCllhLNYqU6bD4jtfc8QbVda6m3QPso6IQrCSSaEWaczSHQC-O8b5cUjKI-930s9S0mLxsQluniUo5-XWRLqmLkcylMhzZ8g79p2zy47ov7A9VQ4LcyASF7/s1600/IMG_9446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqtPYWPcfPztSOQ5rTnHjPFCllhLNYqU6bD4jtfc8QbVda6m3QPso6IQrCSSaEWaczSHQC-O8b5cUjKI-930s9S0mLxsQluniUo5-XWRLqmLkcylMhzZ8g79p2zy47ov7A9VQ4LcyASF7/s400/IMG_9446.JPG" width="400" /></a>We met Jim Jung right away and when he found out we were from San Francisco, he said, "I have a San Francisco story for you." Jim had been a layer in Boston and came out to San Francisco to work with Melvin Belli. Melvin was known as the King of Torts. One day, Melvin met up with Carol Doda, a lady of renown known for her topless attire. For a long time there was a likeness of her in neon lights flashing along Broadway near North Beach. Carol poured Melvin a drink and raised her glass and said, "To the King of Torts from the Queen of Tarts!"<br />
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Jim ushered us in to a small room where he was giving a lecture on the Hawaiian migration and how the islanders got from Micronesia around 1100. He had a replica of a canoe that was used, and it was really fun for me to hear all about the early settlers because I had just finished reading about that time in my James Michener book, Hawaii. Jim was quite the storyteller. Another memorable phrase he quoted was from Christopher Columbus who said, "You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of land." And these early Islanders certainly had a lot of courage. Another interesting fact I learned is that the Hawaiian Islands are the most isolated land mass on this earth.<br />
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By the time we had finished looking around the museum, it was much to late to take the on/off bus, so we asked the gal in the gift shop if she could recommend a nice place for us to have lunch. When she said, Duke's Barefoot Bar and Grill, I knew that was where I wanted to go, so we got back on the bus and went over to the harbor where we found this great place. It was right on the beach and we sat outside under thatched umbrellas. I ordered car and macadamia nut won tons and a man tai, and Luke couldn't resist the Hula pie which was the biggest thing I'd ever seen!<br />
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We came back to the room and took a short snooze. When we woke up, the ship was just leaving. A tug boat was following along side, and we saw some beautiful condos, a golf course and two very picturesque light houses as we glided out of the harbor.<br />
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We really loved Kauai. It resembled our idea of what Hawaii should be - more than Hilo or Honolulu. We really didn't get very far, but what we saw was lovely. I'd like to go back sometime and explore some more. It's on to Maui tomorrow.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-24527027741662293802019-11-25T09:18:00.004-08:002019-11-25T09:18:46.049-08:00Honolulu<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It is such fun waking up and going out on our balcony to see lights of the next island twinkling ahead. The city of Honolulu is vastly different from Hilo with its hi-rise buildings. There were other ships in the harbor, but none the size of this mammoth thing that we're on! <br />
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We had to be aware of the time this morning as our tour for Pearl Harbor left at 8:00. There must have been over 25 different tour groups going to various places and the ship had it down pat. We were issued a sticker, ushered into groups and led to our particular van. We were first driven to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial where we got a head set and walked around to the various exhibits while Jaimie Lee Curtis led us on a tour. Her father, Tony Curtis, was on the USS Missouri when the peace treaty was signed with the Japanese. Afterwards we went in to a theater and saw a film about the fateful day of December 7th.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"> <img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-GtRj7WT9eGQdRHeKhxJESZaZh9rcamo3FmBFdpGrUGf1ZMqPNuSDGcemSysSvJJwMI1e1RUAzUxaWvktkBs00PJbqjN4IPEk4q65Kif1n1etISazW34LdJ6oriFSz5DYI6FJmqveFSX/s200/IMG_9408.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="150" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tree of Life - <br />a symbol that is prevalent all around Pearl Harbor</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">USS Missouri where the peace treaty was signed</td></tr>
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Then we got on a launch and were ferried over to the USS Arizona by two Navy sailors. The Arizona was one of only a few of the battleships bombed on December 7th that were not raised and repaired and brought back in to battle. When the Arizona was bombed it ignited the fuel tanks onboard and the explosion destroyed the ship. They have erected a very beautiful memorial over the wreckage, some of which can still be seen from the surface. The men that went down with her are still buried below and many of the crew who survived have chosen to be buried with their fellow sailors after they die.<br />
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We were then given the choice of touring the USS Missouri or going to the Air Museum. We had just seen the movie, Midway before coming Ono ur trip, so we chose to go to the Air Museum.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt</td></tr>
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Seeing those planes up close gave you a sense of just how primitive and dangerous it was compared to war today. I can't imagine dive-bombing enemy ships in these flimsy planes with open cockpits as the enemy guns are shooting at me. It was a long day, from 8:00-2:30 and we were very glad we went, but all in all I was under-whelmed with Pearl Harbor. I think I was expecting to be more emotionally moved and I wasn't. </div>
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We came back to our room and had a short turn-around time before we were to meet Luke's college friend, Phil, who lives in Honolulu with his wife, Liz. We met them at Nico's restaurant and had a wonderful dinner with non-stop conversation as the two men caught up after many years. Liz was born in Honolulu and remembers Pearl Harbor. She lived in what she called the Pineapple Camps, and the Japanese flew over and strafed her village with a barrage of bullets. Her family was Korean and they had no love for the Japanese, and she remembers her mother and father cursing the planes as they flew overhead. Phil and Liz drove us back to our waiting ship and we were both asleep before the Grand Princess left port. Kaua'i is next, we'll be pulling in to Nawiliwili around 8:00 in the morning. Aloha.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-83630209347032797402019-11-24T07:50:00.003-08:002019-11-24T09:06:28.093-08:00Land Ahoy!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was so excited to see how we would come in to port that I was awake from 4:00 on! We have had to put our clocks back two hours since we left San Francisco. I talk to my sister in Florida every day and now there is a five hour difference- that's hard to fathom! It turns out that we weren't due into Hilo until 8:00, so I needn't have worried about missing it. Around 5:00 am I could see lights in the distance.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdO05bwaJ6YC098ByTzEmsI9INUcMmtmND01_PAFxvSVrOYz-hcbEpfB17FWOqvjU1bzs2dQ2yzfuGo-OjbB32mM7jNBnUhpXMSPmuzlG87Qgi0UHXu3zgXcFq8td350S1yVixgBtYk3PS/s1600/IMG_9382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdO05bwaJ6YC098ByTzEmsI9INUcMmtmND01_PAFxvSVrOYz-hcbEpfB17FWOqvjU1bzs2dQ2yzfuGo-OjbB32mM7jNBnUhpXMSPmuzlG87Qgi0UHXu3zgXcFq8td350S1yVixgBtYk3PS/s200/IMG_9382.JPG" width="150" /></a>It was a very overcast, humid morning and around 6:00 it started to downpour. A large tug boat appeared off of our Portside balcony and we turned in towards the harbor. This ship is enormous, and she just slowly snuggled up to the dock as people on the land caught the ropes. There is quite an orchestrated dance that began after we were tied up. Two gang planks emerged with signs and awnings. The dock began to get peopled with tour agents and photographers and the disembarkation began.<br />
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We hadn't signed up for any tour, so we went back up to have some breakfast. Once again our system worked. We were joined by a couple from Oregon- Craig and Laurel. Once again they offered a lot of information about themselves: They have been on 27 cruises-Mexico, Panama Canal, Tahiti, Dubai, Bombay...etc, etc., etc. She has macular-degeneration and has been getting shots in both eyes for ten years with a drug that was affective for cancer but found to deter macular degeneration. They have very good insurance and only pay $20 each time she gets the shots which is every 5 weeks. They have one daughter, and just days after they retired, her daughter announced she was getting married. That put Mom into overdrive and she made all the bridesmaids' dresses from scratch. Then her daughter, who never liked kids, had a son, but the daughter wanted to go back to work, so Mom took care of the baby. Then the daughter announced she was having triplets! Needless to say, that upped the ante and the mother moved in with the daughter. <br />
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I asked the how they ever had time to take 27 cruises and they said that Laurel's best friend got breast cancer 30 years ago and was dead in 3 weeks. At that point, Laurel vowed she wouldn't wait until they retired to travel and have fun, so their cruise adventures go back a ways. Then, whenever her daughter could get vacation time, Mom and Dad went on a cruise.<br />
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We got all this, and guess what? They never even asked us where we were from! Luke thinks maybe we're not very interesting people so no one needs to ask... I think there are many people who are just interested in themselves.<br />
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Craig and Laurel left and we were shortly joined again by a mother and her daughter from Lake Placid. The daughter had been on about 8 cruises with her husband, but she left him home this time and she brought her mother on her very first cruise. The mother, who must have been in her 70's, was having a great time, although yesterday she fell coming down the marble staircase in the Piazzo. she was alright, and later in the day she received a beautiful, large bouquet of flowers from the ship with a card saying, "Hope you are feeling better." <br />
While we were having breakfast, the clouds cleared and it looked like it was going to be a lovely day, but when we got back to our room, it was raining again. Since we weren't in any hurry, we read for a while. <br />
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Around 11:00 the sky was clear again so we decided to venture forth. We found a free shuttle that took us to the Farmer's Market in downtown Hilo. We had been told that this side of the island is the "poor" side and the other side is where the volcano National Park is with luxury condos and hotels. The Farmer's Market was full of Hawaiian things like jewelry, t-shirts, dresses, flowers and shawls. There was also a section with just food and we saw some very exotic fruits we had never seen before.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0Piwg_g75L-ptumoZ1cdUxvKGX1mS6_t5VKQ6K0EaFVPOW47S81aEbwZ3vlvVThT2vT_JUwGKq2boTxFjQdzVGERPm8vHHRRsPD8g-HcuW-u-NWbjRLRVB2DOAqZBrlAHXadLc_0JyF0/s1600/IMG_9391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0Piwg_g75L-ptumoZ1cdUxvKGX1mS6_t5VKQ6K0EaFVPOW47S81aEbwZ3vlvVThT2vT_JUwGKq2boTxFjQdzVGERPm8vHHRRsPD8g-HcuW-u-NWbjRLRVB2DOAqZBrlAHXadLc_0JyF0/s320/IMG_9391.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="240" /></a>We went into a Ukulele store and asked if they carried Kamaka Ukes- this was the kind that Luke had been given from his co-workers when he retired and we were told it was one of the best ever made. They said they didn't have any Kamaka's in the store- They had ordered some, but they wouldn't be there for three months. Luke asked if they were indeed the best made and the woman told us that they were the oldest man-made company, but until recently when they re-toooled their design, her husband couldn't play one because the neck was too small. </div>
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We were going to go to the botanical gardens which sounded quite lovely, but the clouds rolled in again and we got back to the ship just before another heavy downpour which lasted for most of the rest of the afternoon. It was actually quite nice to go back to the room and read and relax.<br />
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We ran in to Sheri and Jon as we were leaving breakfast and made a date to meet them in the piazza at 6:30 and have dinner with them. I don't think I mentioned that Sheri is writing a book. She has a fascinating history- her father was a Grand Sergeant in a Motorcycle gang before both he and Sheri's Mom became born again believers- so needless to sa she had an interesting childhood. Then she trained to be an investigator, so she has a background in the crime world. She's writing a book called The Deliverer and she had the first 20 or so chapters bound and gave us a copy for us to read and give her some feedback. It is really very good- a kind of Criminal Minds combined with what reminds me of an English crime series. The evil in it is very deep and the main character is Kate who is a detective and we discover her mother had been brutally killed. It was really fun for us to be let in on the beginnings of Sheri's adventure and she is going to send us installments as she finishes them so we can see the story unfold- so long as we continue to give her feedback.<br />
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We had told Sheri and Jon that it was my birthday yesterday, so when we met up with them they told us they had made reservations at the fancy Crown Grill and wanted to take us there for my birthday. I should have revealed right then that it really wasn't my birthday, but I didn't think about it because I really feel this whole cruise IS my birthday. This is my birthday present and I'm still celebrating.<br />
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At any rate, we had a wonderful dinner, and I will be thinking of our conversation for a long time to come. Sheri and Jon run an educational training service for businesses and I can understand why they are successful. Sheri has a wonderful way of turning a topic of conversation into a lesson learned while telling a wonderful story. For instance, he talked about three levels of relationships; she mentions we have 22 states of emotions; and she said curiosity is the basis of love. There is so much of this dinner conversation that I want to revisit. And guess what? They were interested in our lives as well, so we felt a lovely two-way street of sharing. At the end of dinner, the waiters showed up with two cakes for Sheri and me and they sang Happy Birthday in harmony! It was so much fun.<br />
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Tomorrow we arrive in Honolulu which will be a very busy day for us. We have signed up for the tour of Pearl Harbor and we are also going out for dinner with Luke's college friend, Phil who lives here with his wife. Aloha for now.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-82598308390896516442019-11-23T07:49:00.002-08:002019-11-23T07:49:40.780-08:00Last Sea Day Before We Reach Hilo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm not sure that I'm looking forward to landing in Hilo tomorrow. Of course I am, but I haven't tired of being on this ship, and there's a part of me that just wants to stay on board and never get off.<br />
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But today is going to be a fun day. Before we set sail, Princess asked if there was anyone celebrating a special occasion. Since this whole trip was Luke's birthday present to me, we decided to say it was my birthday. We had to pick a day that we wanted to celebrate and we picked today. So as I was leaving to go get our morning coffee, I found a birthday card under the door and a big poster stuck on to the door wishing me a happy birthday. Very nice!<br />
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We have developed a little routine for breakfast. We like a seat by the window, so we walk along the aisle looking for an empty table, and then wait for a couple to ask if they could sit with us. This morning we were joined by Nancy and Randy, a couple from Oregon. They have just become Elite Princess Passengers having gone on 17 cruises. Luke asked what they got for their new status and they said their refrigerator in their room was stocked with wine, beer and champagne and they got free laundry service!! <br />
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We learned a lot about Nancy and Randy. They have two daughters. Randy used to ????? but then when his grandson was born with six fingers and six toes on each hand and no separation between his heart, he was so taken with the care that he received that he decided to train to become a pediatric pulmonary technician so he could make a difference. The smaller premie he saved was Joshua, who weighed 12 grams at birth. Joshua is now 20 years old and has seizures and is partially blind, but other than that he's doing okay. Randy also has lost 130 pounds since March. He had the gastric by-pass surgery and can only eat one cup of food at a time. A side effect of that kind of surgery can be that your gallbladder fails, and just before coming on the cruise he had his gallbladder removed because it was looking cloudy. He also has a pinched nerve in his neck and he went to an acupuncture class that was given by the spa here on the ship and they told him that pinched nerves respond very well to acupuncture. The course of treatment costs $1,400 and he's doing it daily and his pain is much less. His wife, Nancy, said, it is very expensive, but so worth it if it will take the pain away.<br />
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I am sharing all this information with you because Luke and I have noticed that for the most part, the people we have met are real talkers, but they mostly talk about themselves. Very few have been interested in us or asked us questions about our lives. <br />
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After breakfast I went to the line dance class. That is so much fun. We learned two dances, one to a Megan Trainer Song and the other to Footloose. It's a great workout and everyone is having a great time.<br />
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I came back to the room to collect Luke and found another birthday card and an elephant, created out of towels that Roberto, our cabin boy had made for me for my birthday. We say him later in the hallway and thanked him so much. We asked if he went to towel folding school to learn how to do that and he laughed. Luke asked him how long it took to make the elephant and Roberto said only 15 minutes! Amazing.<br />
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We hadn't been to a restaurant for lunch yet- instead -picking up a slice of pizza or sandwich at an outdoor kiosk. Today, Luke wanted to try our breakfast routine on the lunch crowd. We have both affirmed that the most fun on this cruise are the people, so we left for the dining room in search of some new characters. This time we didn't find an empty table so we had to shake up our routine a bit and invite ourselves to join another couple. Ceci and Carl were from Arizona and they were a really fun couple. When we said we were from San Francisco, Carl said, "I've been reading about your city and seeing it on the news, and it's not good."<br />
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When I asked him what he had been hearing. he cited the homeless problem with waste in the streets and used needles on the sidewalks. It's really too bad, because we have to own up to those issues, but the press makes it sound like the whole city has gone to seed. Homelessness is a huge problem, and I don't know the answer to it, but SF is still an amazing city and we feel very lucky to be able to live there.<br />
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Then Ceci asked, "Isn't Nancy Pelosi helping the homeless?" I really didn't know what to say to that question!!!<br />
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After lunch I went to my Pop Chorus rehearsal. It went very well and we're doing much better. Our Director says we are ready for our big public concert this afternoon. We are all to wear tropical, colorful dress. The lady next to me said she didn't have any tropical clothes. I asked her if she had anything with flowers on it. "No, I'm not a flowery person." So I said, "Just wear your brightest color." She was dressed in a brown/olive green dress and I can't wait to see what she shows up in for the concert!<br />
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... The concert was a smash hit!! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRp4uWms3SEDAvJ2LKn1yqAQujVHi84ywpWJsx8YiInGY4kMb613Zqv19OraS7O_L88c8jR4eWcd5ik5Vy06URDHz1SvVjSD2GPfgtVzSMtmdgCQN-jWVWjsyOOpNfLAuKPQo78TGz1cp2/s1600/IMG_0653.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRp4uWms3SEDAvJ2LKn1yqAQujVHi84ywpWJsx8YiInGY4kMb613Zqv19OraS7O_L88c8jR4eWcd5ik5Vy06URDHz1SvVjSD2GPfgtVzSMtmdgCQN-jWVWjsyOOpNfLAuKPQo78TGz1cp2/s640/IMG_0653.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Dqt_M7cvQazAT9-CkWmgYBufpLUFjn8lUlpUGHz4fcJZlhnuGnw7KefZxlq0aAQxwenCOFRUZ4BJvVqajnoldhAok4JVXqmJk55fF1-kuuWScSoFBNX6s_CU29uuqf2EYmlMguOV5fCa/s1600/IMG_0650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Dqt_M7cvQazAT9-CkWmgYBufpLUFjn8lUlpUGHz4fcJZlhnuGnw7KefZxlq0aAQxwenCOFRUZ4BJvVqajnoldhAok4JVXqmJk55fF1-kuuWScSoFBNX6s_CU29uuqf2EYmlMguOV5fCa/s320/IMG_0650.JPG" width="320" /></a>Our Director, Jonny, from South Africa, got the crowd going, and our first song, The Eye of the Tiger got rousing applause. Our next to last song was Sweet Caroline, but Johnny said it was our last. So then the crowd started yelling, "More, More, More!!" and then we sang The Love Boat!!- It was so much fun. We were given pins that say, "Princess Pop choir" on them, and were treated to champagne and mimosas in an adjoining bar. They are going to have another choir on the sea days on our way back. I'm definitely going to join and I'm going to try to get Luke to come too. By the way, the drably dressed lady is the one sitting in the walker in the front row on the right. I told her she looked lovely in her flower dress, "but I thought you didn't have any flowered clothing." </div>
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"Oh, she said, I bought this in the shop so I could look tropical." I told her she looked lovely and should wear more flowers! This might be the start of a new life for her!</div>
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We decided to celebrate the success of the concert and went up to the top deck and had a caipirinha and a margarita- the real thing. We had been drinking "Mock cocktails" up to this point, and I have to say I think I like the mock ones better!!<br />
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We went to the DaVinci restaurant for dinner, and Luke presented the waiter with a card saying that it was my birthday. Our waiter was very attentive and made me a turtle and a samurai out of dinner napkins! They also brought a beautiful chocolate cake with a candle and five waiters came to sing to me. It was all very fun, and I love that my birthday celebration continues from July- It's been quite a celebration.</div>
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Looking forward to our first adventure in the islands of Hawaii tomorrow. Stay tuned...</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-5346599707423310542019-11-22T07:34:00.003-08:002019-11-22T07:34:43.962-08:00Getting Our Sea Legs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We're getting our sea legs, finding our way around this mammoth city, and are trying to figure out the demographics of this sailing. It is mostly older folks with a smattering of younger people and not many children. There are a lot of canes and walkers and we even saw a service dog when we were boarding. The people come in all sizes, but the women win the prize for being the largest. And it is a pretty white crowd with very few African Americans. They seem to come from all over the United States, but so far we have only met Americans, and many of those we have talked with are from the Bay Area.<br />
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So yesterday our internet went down, so I am writing this on Thursday morning. Yesterday we went for our breakfast and again found a table for four by the window. It wasn't long before two sisters asked if they could join us. Phyllis, the older, was from Nashville, TN and G.R. lived in South Carolina. Just the night before Luke had commented about how few African Americans there were, and here we were joined by two African American women for breakfast! G.R. was quite a talker, and <br />
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she had a lot to say. She had worked for the U.S. Postal service, spoke four different languages (English, Spanish, French and Portuguese) and had traveled all over the world. She held about every job you could hold in the Post Office and worked her way up to management where she was just beneath the Post Master General. Now she was living on OPM - Other People's Money!! She said the Post Office was a wonderful place to work and has incredible benefits for their employees. When she got in to management, she had her choice of going to Stanford or MIT for one year to get her MBA. She chose Stanford- and her tuition and room and board were paid for by the US Postal Service. <br />
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Phyllis was quieter. She started working for the IRS and became very good with computers and eventually ended up in private industry in the IT department. G.R.'s husband had just died three months before and it was really nice to see the two sisters obviously supporting each other and having a good time. G.R. was going up to the spa to have a hot rock massage, and her eyes lit up when she mentioned it!<br />
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We have so enjoyed our conversations with other people and it has been fun to run in to them throughout the day and greet each other as if we were old friends.<br />
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There weren't as many activities that drew us in as there were on the first day, but I joined a chorus which was a blast. They had met the day before, but that conflicted with my ukulele lesson, but they allowed me to join up even though I had missed the first rehearsal. We are practicing six songs that we are going to perform on the Piazza on Friday afternoon. Today we practiced The Eye of the Tiger from the Rocky movie and It's Not Unusual. We will have two more rehearsals before the concert where we'll go over Sweet Caroline, Isn't She Lovely and The Love Boat (which I don't know!). Stay tuned- I'll let you know how it goes.<br />
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Luke went off to a hula class lesson where he learned how to tell a story with his hands. In Hulu, the men move their hands very differently than the women. He said it was fun, but he wanted a little more hip action.<br />
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We went up on the foredeck of Deck 14 to get a piece of pizza and play banangrams. There was an outdoor film showing with Angela Lansbury and Elvis Presley- It was quite a scene with people lying in their deck chairs around a beautiful pool watching an outdoor movie.<br />
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Last night was the first of three formal evenings, and the big event was a reception with the Captain and a champagne tower with free champagne for everyone. <br />
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There's a longer story for another time, but Luke was prepared for formal evenings. <br />
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He had bought himself an evening jacket like no other that he spied one day while walking down Market Street. He dresses up quite well, and he was the hit of the evening. Every where we went people would say, "Love that jacket", "Nice jacket", "You look terrific!" It was definitely a chick magnet- women were coming up and stoking it and petting him. I think it got a little much for the humble, shy guy from Iowa - he doesn't like the spot light drawn to him. But he WAS the spotlight and I told him if he was going to what something like that he had to get used to all the attention! It was really fun seeing all the women in their finest, and there was a lot of bling going around- but Luke definitely won the prize!</div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">We had dinner at the daVinci restaurant and it was lovely. Everyone in the restaurant was dressed up - that was a requirement if you wanted to eat in certain places. After dinner, we went to the evening show in the beautiful theater where the Princess orchestra and the Stardust singers and dancers regaled us with "Memories," old songs that everyone knew. The performers were very professional and it was a delightful evening. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">We went back to the room to change - I think Luke needed a respite from his attention-getting jacket! We turned on the debates for just a little bit before we planned to go dancing to close out the evening. The next thing I know, Luke is waking me up saying, "I guess we'll go dancing another night!" </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">We just finished a long breakfast with Tess and Peter, two Brits who are only on the cruise in order to get to Hawaii. They are quite tired of the sail and are looking forward to getting to Honolulu where they will go to the Pearl Harbor museum- their main reason for coming to Hawaii. I asked if they didn't like cruising, why didn't they fly to Hawaii, and they said they flew non-stop from London to San Francisco, and are using the cruise to adjust to the time change!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Peter was so very British. He and Tess are "leavers" and think the EU is corrupt and taking from England. "What would happen to a U.S. company who hadn't had an audit for 20 years?" he asked us. Well that is the EU. Britain will be much better off on their own, controlling their own borders.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Peter and Tess are from Durberville- (Tess of the Durbervilles!!). They live near the house were Thomas Hardy wrote his novels. Just down the road from them is Julian Fellows, the author of Downton Abbey, who they say is a delightful fellow. Peter says Camilla is the most misunderstood duchess and she is brilliant. Tess is dubious about Meghan Markel, but Peter is a big fan. They both are a little hard on Harry, saying he's a troublemaker. Tess really liked Diana; Peter thinks Charles should have married Camilla right from the start and never should have had anything to do with Diana.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">It was really fun listening to these two talk in their very proper English about primigenesis, the House of Lords, the Queen-whom they adore, and Peter's volunteer work with the Society of Something or Other of Dorset County. Very proper folk these two.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Because of our long breakfast conversations, we tend to miss some of the activities we had originally planned to attend. We didn't make it to a lecture about Kauai, and we missed a Ballroom Blitz class on the Cha Cha. So we went to the aft deck to read for a while. It has gotten considerably warmer and we both found ourselves dozing off a bit in our lounge chairs- ...oops! We missed the line dance class. I did make it to my Pop Choir Rehearsal where we went over all the songs we are going to sing in our concert tomorrow afternoon. Then I got back to the room to find Luke sitting out on our balcony having a high noon glass of wine! We went down to the piazza where we split a margarita pizza and listened to a wonderful mariachi band. Then, since the weather was nice, we decided to walk the entire length of the promenade. The ocean was a gorgeous cobalt blue, and it was really lovely to be out for our deck stroll. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2U4zPzjE4pD99MiHhf4kYgKPom9pH8yORGERIoNJgLLRc0QssylefaZfEpXHb5ahsFixDuqlMl3qZg6aoo-_Ztw9Uws4eFzA25yRhNjLeb83SpZkqUJ-GzJ1N4mevwPrLfb09U18klE94/s1600/IMG_9355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2U4zPzjE4pD99MiHhf4kYgKPom9pH8yORGERIoNJgLLRc0QssylefaZfEpXHb5ahsFixDuqlMl3qZg6aoo-_Ztw9Uws4eFzA25yRhNjLeb83SpZkqUJ-GzJ1N4mevwPrLfb09U18klE94/s320/IMG_9355.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-kerning: none;">We were invited to dinner by Alice and Chet from San Jose whom we had met on the first night. They have a reserved table every night in the same restaurant. They are also seasoned Princess travelers and get the full alcohol package free and all gratuities free, so they very generously treated us to wine with our dinner. We have chosen the "Eat Anywhere/Anytime" plan because we thought we'd like to go to different places and meet different people and not be locked in to just one restaurant. The advantage of the plan that Alice and Chet have is that their waiter becomes their personal friend/assistant. Renaldo knew the wine they liked, and was very friendly and attentive to us. </span><br />
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Before I close, I just want to put a shout-out to my friend, Shirley. Whence found out we were going on our cruise, she called to tell me that she had a slew of clothes that she'd love for me to borrow. At first I didn't take her seriously, but when she reminded me that she had older brothers and no sisters and she really wanted to have a dress-up-try-on time with a "sister" I took her up on it. I went to her house in Walnut Creek for a very fun afternoon trying on all sorts of things. It was so much fun because Shirley and Charlie travel quite a bit and she had all sorts of outfits that were beautiful but you could wad them up in a ball and they would stay wrinkle-free! The great part was that Shirley and I are the same size! I came home with about four different mis and match outfits, and I have to say I'm having so much fun deciding what to wear each night. </div>
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After dinner we had a little time before we were planning on going to the Country-Western dance. Needless to say, we lay down on the bed and this time Luke was the one snoring first. I think the free wine at dinner had something to do with it! We're going to have to either resign ourselves to missing out on the late night happenings, or find some better system for staying awake.<br />
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Aloha, for now.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-48362031885226840022019-11-20T06:41:00.000-08:002019-11-20T06:53:42.170-08:00Unbelievable<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We go from tattooed Jon with his love story painted on his body to another unbelievable story over breakfast this morning. We found a table by the window and were quickly joined by Ryan and Peggy- a lovely couple from Portland. We chatted for a while, and then they had things to do. When they left, we were just getting started on looking at the detailed, minute-by-minute calendar of the day's events to plan our day, when another couple asked if they could join us. We charted our day and then turned to them and asked, "Where are you from?" </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Now, Lafayette, but originally from Iran." They were a very attractive couple and we immediately got to talking. They have been on many cruises and have travelled the world. They asked what we had decided to do today and we listed hula lessons, ukulele lessons, bingo, black jack strategies, line dancing, and then we told them about a very interesting movie called Red Joan with Judy Dench. We had see the trailer on our TV that told about the day's events and we both said, let's go to that. It turns out they are big movie buffs and they said they will be there also.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After some interesting conversation, Luke asked them about their country Iran- and that's when the amazing history lesson began. Mitra's sister had been shot by the Red Guard which was the end of Iran for her family. It was so devastating. Mitra is a Muslim because anyone born to a Muslim father is Muslim. But no one in her family embraces Islam. As a matter of fact, she despises the Islamic religion. Back centuries ago, Iran was invaded by the Islams, forbidden to follow their Zorastrian beliefs and subjugated. Mitra and her husband, Fred (Feodoro) grew up in a beautiful country, rich in natural resources and beauty, run by the Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi who had established a Constitutional Monarchy and<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"> replaced </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiqh" style="background-image: none; text-decoration: none;" title="Fiqh"><span style="color: black;">Islamic laws</span></a><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"> with Western ones. He also forbade the wearing of traditional Islamic clothing, </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_segregation_and_Islam" style="background-image: none; text-decoration: none;" title="Sex segregation and Islam"><span style="color: black;">separation of the sexes</span></a><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"> and veiling of women's faces</span>. When it became clear that <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(82, 82, 82);">Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh was corrupt and wanted to establish Shia law, Pahlavi fired him. That influenced Mosaddegh to begin the coup-de-etat that eventually ousted the Shah and brought in the Islamic rule of </span></span>Ayatollah Khomeini. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Both Mitra and Fred have been in daily contact with friends and family in Iran and they are very hopeful that the demonstrations that have been happening over the past four days will result in the overthrow of this horrible, despotic regime. And here is the interesting thing for me - they both say that Trump has done the right thing. Trump, by withdrawing from the nuclear ban treaty with Iran and thus imposing new and stronger sanctions on the country has weakened the regime. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But wasn't it a bad thing to withdraw from the disarmament agreement? No, they said. Europe and the US had dropped the sanctions of Iran, thus giving this regime a lot of wealth. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fred said, "Iran is the head of the snake." He said all the Islamic terrorists are funded by Iran. Iran runs an incredible drug trade of opium and heroin through South America into the USA and Canada. But our sanctions are weakening this regime and bringing it to its knees so that the people uprising might have some power. He further added that Europe wants to lift the sanctions because Europe has nothing- they have no natural resources and depend on Iran for many resources. Europe has a lot of money tied to Iran, so they want a more robust Iran to exist.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was so fascinating talking to this couple, and I hope we'll see them again. To think an Iranian woman despises Islam and thinks the Trump is doing the right thing... OMG! I'm going to doubt everything I've ever believed. The world is topsy-turvy and so am I!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By the time we had finished our conversation with Mitra and Fred, Luke had missed his blackjack lesson and I had missed my line dancing, but I think they will be repeated again. Loren went off to play Bingo and I went to my ukulele lesson. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndk4kIavIpvujy9zSzrfl-j7UDNHBMN1tQXdDc6OD8M5cIf0auVzxgQ1GvbUojg2IfW-K4lY-a3m99-SMmjxx2saXmhwEgULczwf-smLi7GVDrNRoPSwNXYe6I36WIAnQTsXKoPue5nCA/s1600/IMG_9320.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndk4kIavIpvujy9zSzrfl-j7UDNHBMN1tQXdDc6OD8M5cIf0auVzxgQ1GvbUojg2IfW-K4lY-a3m99-SMmjxx2saXmhwEgULczwf-smLi7GVDrNRoPSwNXYe6I36WIAnQTsXKoPue5nCA/s320/IMG_9320.jpeg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There were probably 100 people at the ukulele lesson and they had big bins filled with ukuleles for us to select. Brian and his wife Rowena taught us four chords and then we played two songs. Because of my previous lessons and practice, I knew all the cords, but there were a lot of people there who had never picked up a ukulele before and it was so much fun to hear 100 ukuleles playing together. I'd like to go back tomorrow, but it conflicts with a Pop Choir which I also want to check out!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It turns out that there was a $35.00 charge just to play Bingo, so Luke bailed on that, but he did go to the Hulu Dance Class. He just watched - which I'm sure is why he went, but he says he's going tomorrow and will participate! Then we went to the theater, an amazing venue, where we watched the British movie, Red Joan, starring Judy Dench. It was a great WWII movie based on a true story- a great one to see if you haven't already. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiypNdeme4pZSTBLhLk-9YYuUVYSphVqsAFtPiY6QU094c0SZ0XUgsQysfE__HgNtP2Uij5B4baaWT5FDr1rYybZzfDcOQ33nvkFZmdC7vERbPHANyv8dpkTOYSq0g2miQRPcstbTRM48tP/s1600/IMG_9331.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiypNdeme4pZSTBLhLk-9YYuUVYSphVqsAFtPiY6QU094c0SZ0XUgsQysfE__HgNtP2Uij5B4baaWT5FDr1rYybZzfDcOQ33nvkFZmdC7vERbPHANyv8dpkTOYSq0g2miQRPcstbTRM48tP/s200/IMG_9331.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After a short lie-down, we changed our clothes and were off once again for some pre-dinner dancing at the Wheelhouse Bar where the Pacific Trio was playing music with a Mexican singer. We sat next to a couple who introduced themselves as Miriam and Joe. Miriam, from Cuba, was in her mid to late seventies (maybe older). She had long, dyed Jayne Mansfield the hair, false eyelashes, painted eye brows, and a diamond rock on her finger that made me think maybe the Poor diamond had been transferred to her. Joe looked Phillipino and was covered with gold: necklaces, rings, and a gold watch that looked like it weighed at least ten pounds. They were wearing matching outfits. Joe was in white pants with a white shirt with a blue flower pattern. Miriam was in a white dress with a panel that matched Joe's shirt. She was also wearing white spiked high heeled shoes. And they were very good dancers! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The dance floor was crowded, mostly with couples over seventy, and there were some pretty swift and professional looking people - light on their feet and having a good time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then we went to dinner where we shared a table with two other couples. Tom and Margot were from Tampa, Florida and Sandy and Sal were from Sparks, Nevada. Sal still works, but his wife, Sandy, gambles. Sparks is just a town away from Reno, and Sandy bets on the slots whenever she gets bored, which I gather is quite a few days a week. If you win over $1199.00, you have to report it and the casinos won't let you leave with your money unless you can show a driver's license and a social security card. Sandy wins big so much, that she reported her social security card missing so she could have an extra one to carry with her at all times. Ten years ago she won $14,000, and last year she won $11,000). $600 - $1,000 is a typical day! Luke of course was very interested in how Sandy did this, and Sandy gave him some helpful hints. Hopefully our dinner conversation will pay off because Luke didn't fair well in the Casino when he strolled through this afternoon!!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcISRUsl0ziDHnmyZG3y_D0kcATybZfGfbzne33BLvQLQVcER8pr4kW_T26smKqTC37S8Go60FnQAzie9C7jvejUeCbIKvvBbxEGBXH3GpzC3E4xRPUTAbnjTI0dcfG8OMgnrM2gHzbWD9/s1600/IMG_9335.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcISRUsl0ziDHnmyZG3y_D0kcATybZfGfbzne33BLvQLQVcER8pr4kW_T26smKqTC37S8Go60FnQAzie9C7jvejUeCbIKvvBbxEGBXH3GpzC3E4xRPUTAbnjTI0dcfG8OMgnrM2gHzbWD9/s320/IMG_9335.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Right after dinner we meandered up to the theater to see the show. Jennifer Singer did a concert singing songs from Carole King, Barbra Streisand, and Tina Turner among others. I thought she was very good and really enjoyed her, but at one point I looked over and Luke was sound asleep!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From some of the pictures you should be getting an idea of some of the spaces on this ship. I truly is remarkable. Here are some more views:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYC4CpM-yAYNqn2ffxRB4aRcxHm98MruGz8G7yrWV8Br-BwLbglUYCBcQf_gp7lrG983xk1Hmf-eOYM4nEBjOGA1F7kvtuIsgMV_JvjSBUrTnDtvIBL5iyFe3FIvItwDpl0FrOM7yc18DM/s1600/IMG_9325.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYC4CpM-yAYNqn2ffxRB4aRcxHm98MruGz8G7yrWV8Br-BwLbglUYCBcQf_gp7lrG983xk1Hmf-eOYM4nEBjOGA1F7kvtuIsgMV_JvjSBUrTnDtvIBL5iyFe3FIvItwDpl0FrOM7yc18DM/s320/IMG_9325.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the piazza lounge </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO62fgqyUbtsrZfv06SDKD0II_r0jfanL57vMhr1G7cjjf0OwG66jjNki9J_IV-O4ofIfZnd0yCywRNACTxuvbwvTmQ_y21K4s9LJUM9-3CL6iKPqTu0WGMlCu6EqmkvZJWl531q2b9iEn/s320/IMG_9303.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of six pools on board</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBhn_vUl-BGxzPvLN36VmN7jsDlJsV1H3I4ImlndDhBWWIdW7_CCPy5IRRPkUuUv7eQqe03kJvWronbkL3plDb7fNeaRy-BrIsxAZ_m85fg7t1x4_NZBjDCova7B5s5NDbEmhjPa3V4ZS/s1600/IMG_9328.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBhn_vUl-BGxzPvLN36VmN7jsDlJsV1H3I4ImlndDhBWWIdW7_CCPy5IRRPkUuUv7eQqe03kJvWronbkL3plDb7fNeaRy-BrIsxAZ_m85fg7t1x4_NZBjDCova7B5s5NDbEmhjPa3V4ZS/s400/IMG_9328.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view directly below our balcony</td></tr>
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So far the weather has been quite cold so we haven't been able to sit out on the balcony much. I'm hoping, as we get closer to Hawaii, it will begin to warm up.<br />
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The seas have also been a tad rough, so that I'm looking a bit drunk every time I try to walk somewhere. <br />
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This was only our first full day at sea and it was very interesting and a lot of fun. I am fascinated with all the different people, and look forward to peeking into the lives of many more to come.<br />
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Aloha<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-33057326413047565832019-11-19T07:49:00.000-08:002019-11-24T07:22:02.911-08:00Aloha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEN03Q7bBClIaT1AaN_4GFPUEZMBWX9MEjUTk5E3fdQaHvIZ8tEBTzixJXoAzsmF0PF2QaGJJ-hpOAjTSE6hVcLRbyXNZIxZ8DgJKAOOW71CvMPe5BXeeUuCN5n3O3QezktDk_Z72xaN0V/s1600/IMG_9300.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEN03Q7bBClIaT1AaN_4GFPUEZMBWX9MEjUTk5E3fdQaHvIZ8tEBTzixJXoAzsmF0PF2QaGJJ-hpOAjTSE6hVcLRbyXNZIxZ8DgJKAOOW71CvMPe5BXeeUuCN5n3O3QezktDk_Z72xaN0V/s640/IMG_9300.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
I really think a cruise ship should be added to one of the Wonders of the World! This picture was taken front the road on our approach to board the ship. It doesn't even begin to convey the size and glory of this mini-city on the seas. She holds around 2500 passengers and we were told that the ration of passengers to crew is about 201, so that means there are about 3500 people on board. We're out to sea for four days before we see land. Just imagine the amount of water needed for showers, cooking, flushing etc. that has to be stored on board. Not to mention the food, the waste, the garbage, the linens. It's mind-boggling. And yet they have the system down so that it seems like a beautifully choreographed dance. Boarding was easy. Our cabin is wonderful- compact yet everything fits. The staff is remarkable- They must have trained them to smile and sparkle-everyone seems to scream out: "We are here to serve you. Your pleasure is my pleasure. Just ask and it is yours!" Robert is our cabin person who was there almost the moment we arrived in our room to say he was there for us if we needed anything. We unpacked and then decided to explore a bit. It's a bit overwhelming at first, and I think I walked 5 miles just trying to figure out where things were. We ended up on Deck 5 for a strawberry daiquiri while we listened to a young guitarist regale us.<br />
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I digress, but here's an interesting story. All booze is extra- so we looked into buying the all-inclusive plan because we just didn't want to worry about it. Well.... the plan was $77.99/day/person and we couldn't only buy it for one of us. If we got it we had to get it for both of us. Do the math: That's $1169.85 x 2= $2339.70. JUST FOR LIQUOR!!! That horrified us. I think it came down to 5 drinks/day if we were to take full advantage of it. So we decided instead to get the soda package. The only beverages free are orange juice, ice tea and lemonade. The road package got you cokes, sprite, root beer, etc. PLUS any mock- cocktail you wanted. So by the time I boarded to the time we had dinner I had sampled a strawberry daiquiri, a Pina colada and a mojito - all of which were delicious. I am so glad that I didn't get the alcohol package because I never would have made it to dinner!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQixk4udg21COmoPYBdnvWybMkXDg-GOV8R-njbUz5o6j34hEhLhyphenhypheniMGLwfJVXhrGLRoJcQls4QkfLAH86nJsQL95JohAAr25eg9kzzOSzqSPyF5QyqfhVdDAbIsaypcmdvnhZ3f1u52L_/s1600/IMG_9310.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQixk4udg21COmoPYBdnvWybMkXDg-GOV8R-njbUz5o6j34hEhLhyphenhypheniMGLwfJVXhrGLRoJcQls4QkfLAH86nJsQL95JohAAr25eg9kzzOSzqSPyF5QyqfhVdDAbIsaypcmdvnhZ3f1u52L_/s320/IMG_9310.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Around 3:00 we were all summoned to our Muster stations for a safety drill - very boring, but necessary. I was reminded of the Titanic and could only imagine the bedlam of trying to get over 3000 people to safety on a sinking ship.<br />
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Then we returned to our room where we had a message waiting for us. Days before we sailed, Vicky and Marshall, friends from San Francisco, had told us that friends of theirs were also sailing on the Princess, and we should try to get together with them. The message was from Chet and Alice inviting us to one of the specialty restaurants for dinner saying, because they are veteran Princess travelers, they were given three 2-for-one coupons for dinner at the Crown Grill!! We met them at 7:30 and were introduced to another couple, Sheri and Jon from Toronto, Canada. Chet and Alice had met them at a bar earlier in the day. Chet asked them what they were doing in the evening and Jon said they had reservations at the Crown Grill because it was Sheri's birthday. Chet told them he had a 2-for-1 coupon and would they like to join them. So here we were, six strangers, having dinner together at the posh Crown Grill, and it was a blast. The conversation never ended, the food never stopped appearing, and it was a wonderful start to what I know is going to be a magical experience for us. The most interesting conversation happened when Luke (aka Loren) turned to Jon and said, "I have a personal question for you, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to. I'm wondering if all your tattoos have a story behind them?"<br />
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Well Jon's eyes lit up and he seemed so pleased to be asked that question. He went on to tell us that he only had one small tattoo on his back before he met Sheri. They have been married for four years but known each other for ten. He has two sons and Sheri has a son and a daughter. They have blended their families in a wonderful way. Jon never believed in destiny or true love until he met Sheri. So all of the tattoos he has are the story of his love affair with his wife. There is the Archangel, Michael who is there to protect her. There is a beautiful portrait of Sheri that almost looks like a painting, there are animals that represent their four children and each other. He even took his shirt off to show us his back! I asked him if he might get more and he said, "Definitely, my right leg is still white!" <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRyET2zW_-qp7JGXBxZcIXx9823lCvNXlc08Gsc5v7kA-8bIm5gVZkH8qgqpvh_nLL3jfo7_8e0BZtK4d4QJEa_SJqHQN7GTtISlB932iogNgwO3kpG76YI7taMte0_T9tWWyDbFoNvSa5/s1600/IMG_9314.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRyET2zW_-qp7JGXBxZcIXx9823lCvNXlc08Gsc5v7kA-8bIm5gVZkH8qgqpvh_nLL3jfo7_8e0BZtK4d4QJEa_SJqHQN7GTtISlB932iogNgwO3kpG76YI7taMte0_T9tWWyDbFoNvSa5/s400/IMG_9314.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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They were a wonderful couple, full of life, and they said this was the best dinner they've ever had on a cruise ship! They also run a very successful professional development business in Toronto, own a Jaguar and a Hummer, and say money is not a problem for them. We have always said it is the people inner lives that make us rich, and we struck the jack pot with these two. I hope we run in to them again.</div>
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The only disappointing thing of the day was our departure. We were scheduled to leave San Francisco at 4:00 pm, but the Captain got on the speaker and announced that there were some stragglers who had connection problems or flight delays and we were going to wait for them. Later we were told that they were waiting for medical supplies. I was so looking forward to being out on the deck as we went under the Golden Gate Bridge, but our dinner reservation was at 7:30 and we still hadn't left port. During dinner, Jon looked out the window and said, I think we're moving! I thought the Captain would announce that we were leaving, but we were already beyond the bridge and out in the Pacific Ocean and we hadn't even realized it, The first time I walked on the ship while it was moving was when we got up from the dinner table and Whoa!!! I wobbled and wove and found it very hard to get my footing. Even this morning, when I went to get us some coffee, I swayed a bit. I can't imagine if there were a storm with high winds and whitecaps. We'd really be in trouble.</div>
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So as the sun rises on a new day, wish us smooth sailing. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-38423726207661218712019-03-11T13:26:00.001-07:002019-03-11T13:26:35.048-07:00Adios Amigos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
March 11, 2019<br />
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It's been a fabulous five weeks, and although we're looking forward to getting back, we're sorry to see it end. Yesterday I was talking to my sister and she said, "Isn't it going to be hard to get back into the swing of things and having to go shopping and think of what's for dinner?" <br />
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And I told her that the hardest part for me is getting up in the morning, going out to the kitchen and getting my cup of coffee, reading the paper, doing the crossword puzzle and then going back into the bedroom to get dressed and MY BED'S NOT MADE????? WHAT! WHERE IS ROSA?<br />
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We've had a nice wind-down: Emil and Judy left on Saturday. Sara and Bob left on Sunday. So now it's just the four of us: Fred and Kat and Nancy and Loren. After having a houseful, it's very quiet, but also kind of nice.<br />
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Last Friday we had a kind of concert. I knew Sara was coming so I brought some of the songs I have re-written for our musical that our chorus is putting on back in SF. We're working on a Musical called Still Alive which will recount the lives of the people in the chorus and relate some of the things we have accomplished. Sara has been a member of the sweet Adelines acappella group in Chicago and has a beautiful voice, so I thought she'd get a kick out of our songs. She loved them and convince Judy and me to sing them as a little pre-dinner concert. I have loaded the video along with some pictures of our stay here. If you're interested you can go to <b><a href="https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B1A5nhQSTm5f4T" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B1A5nhQSTm5f4T</a> </b> and access the page. The video is at the very end of the pictures.<br />
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Today is our last day, so we're going to go into the Zocolo. I'm going to get my red shoes polished by Mario for $2.50. He actually only charges 20 pesos which is about a dollar, but we give him 50 pesos because he does such an amazing job. Then we'll go over to the Cafe Universale to have our mango juice and watch all the people go by. The Cafe Universale is where a chase scene from the movie Clear and Present Danger was filmed! Then we'll go back home for lunch, start packing, have our last swim in the pool, play our last bridge game with Kat and Fred, have our last dinner prepared by Natalia (I wonder what she'll serve us), then remove ourselves to the salon for our cup of coffee before bedtime. What a life! We feel so lucky to be able to be a part of this each year.<br />
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THANK YOU KAT AND FRED </div>
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FOR YOUR GENEROSITY, LOVE, PATIENCE AND AMAZING HOSPITALITY!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-13886500632411679782019-03-07T15:05:00.004-08:002019-03-07T15:05:39.867-08:00Hail to the Taxi Drivers of Cuernavaca<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We've been here for almost 5 weeks, and I decided to try to do a little survey of our taxi drivers who get us around for almost nothing. If Gilberto calls a cab for us and he comes directly to the house, the cost is usually 60 pesos or about $3.00. If we hail a cab on the street, it's usually 40 pesos or a bit more than $2.00 - and that's to go anyplace in the city. The bus fares are 10 - 25 cents.</div>
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I have taken to asking two questions: What do you think of your new president, Manuel Obrador, and how about Trump?<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Trump is a showman. He has lots of money and he wants to show off. Obrador is dangerous. He is giving money to people who don't deserve it. People need to earn money. If we're not careful we will end up like Venezuela. This guy had been a truck driver in Chicago for 20 years. His English was excellent.</li>
<li>Trump is horrible. Ignorant. Nieto is good so far. Not great but good. I always make a point of trying to say, "Muchos Americanos no gustan Trump, tambein." - just so they understand that Trump doesn't represent ALL Americans. His English was halting but he proudly told us he had a daughter who was an architect in Mexico City, another daughter who was an engineer and a son who was also an engineer. We wanted to ask him how he managed all of that, but didn't.</li>
<li>This guy really likes Obrador. He didn't speak any English, so I'm not sure I got it totally correct, but he mentioned Pena Nieto, who was corrupt and ruled for 6 years and was "El President por los ricos." Obrador is "El Presidente por los pueblos." As for Trump, he said he didn't know much about Trump.</li>
<li>We had just come from having a margarita at Las Mananitas, a beautiful hotel/restaurant where peacocks and parrots roam about. I asked our driver my two questions. He, too, knew no English, but he said he really likes Obrador. He told us that Obrador came to Cuernavaca. He visited Las Mananitas but he wouldn't eat there. I asked him, "Porque no?" and he said that he wanted to go to the Mercado to eat with the people! As for Trump, there was a shrug of the shoulders and he said, "Es muy Rico!"</li>
<li>Obrador- si, si! Es un hombre de los gente. Trump- Aarrgg! No me gusto.</li>
<li>Obrador- mas or menos. Some good, some bad. I have to wait and see. The people were very excited during the elections; now everyone is complacent and no-one cares. Trump? - the only response was laughter.</li>
<li>Obrador- Well he's better than the last but not great. Trump- I do not like Trump. No es un hombre simpatico. This taxi driver had lived in Houston for 17 years doing construction work. We asked why he had moved back and he said, "My parents needed their son." </li>
<li>Obrador - no, no le gusto. Porque, I asked? Isn't he honest? Isn't he a president of the people? The driver said, "That's what he says, but I don't believe him." And Trump? No, no le gusto tambien. When I asked him why, all he said was, No, No, No.</li>
<li>This guy spoke some English. He has 5 brothers and a sister living in Charlotte, North Carolina. He wants to go too, but he can't get papers because of Donald Trump. Like most of the others, he didn't seem angry or hostile towards Trump- more of a Que Sera attitude. He's here now; when he's out, maybe things will be different.</li>
<li>OMG! Today I got in the car and gave the address of home in Spanish and our drivers said, "I've got it!" I asked if he spoke English and he said a little bit. Well, it turned out he had lived in Chicago for 27. He lived by O'Hare airport and worked at the Mariott. I asked if he liked the cold, cold winter and he said, "I loved Chicago as soon as I got there. I loved Chicago." So I was able to ask my questions in English. As for Obrador, he said, no- he didn't like him. Obrador says one thing and then does another. I don't trust him. Then when I brought up Trump he said, "Well, Trump does some good things and some bad things." "What is one good thing he has done," I ask. "Well, he wants to help America. He wants to build up American and make it richer. And he wants to protect the Americans." That stunned me!</li>
<li>I asked this one if he spoke any English. "No, I don't speak any English," he responded in almost perfect English!! Later he told me he likes to tell people he doesn't speak English and then he listens to their conversations and understands it all perfectly! He'd make a greatt undercover spy! As to my questions: No- I don't like Obrador- I don't trust him. Trump has a sickness in his head. He is very crazy.</li>
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All in all, it has been a fun experiment. It has me using my Spanish. I'm not totally sure if what I have reported is totally accurate because there was much of the Spanish that I didn't understand. I would constantly say, "Habla muy despacio, for favor." But I was very surprised by how many of our drivers had lived in the USA. I was also surprised that there wasn't a stronger aversion to Trump. Most of them didn't like him, but they laughed him off and didn't really take him too seriously. It wasn't like they had a violent hatred towards him which I would have expected. Maybe it's from having a lot of crazy presidents and politicians of their own - they have come to expect it!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-83163906295589889952019-03-02T14:36:00.000-08:002019-03-02T14:36:32.227-08:00Margarita Mix<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZm3kVviFllEw3Mg8iGJAKdjPDT2DmV_WXU88qBQt3cZhUeeBg4k1owgOZ0lM-MdE4o_UwZGjEU-ulvAZ5XvkLi4BOKbMWMYoN3OEgiLCHBKK3OPkK9hnRBwwgLPW2BnnhmmEWr9qclsN/s1600/th.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="155" data-original-width="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZm3kVviFllEw3Mg8iGJAKdjPDT2DmV_WXU88qBQt3cZhUeeBg4k1owgOZ0lM-MdE4o_UwZGjEU-ulvAZ5XvkLi4BOKbMWMYoN3OEgiLCHBKK3OPkK9hnRBwwgLPW2BnnhmmEWr9qclsN/s1600/th.jpeg" /></a>We had one of our most lively discussions the other night, but in trying to recount it all, I find my mind is little fuzzy. We talked politics, religion and sex but I'm warning you that maybe the margaritas have interfered with my accurate recall and some of which follows may or may not be true!<br />
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After reading the blog about "Some Things are Too Hard to Fix," my sister Carol wrote some interesting comments which spurred further discussion. Here is the context:<br />
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<b>This is the part of the blog that Carol is responding to:</b><br />
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<i>Our discussion moved to liberal bastions of higher learning and how two years ago there was a huge uproar and protest when a conservative group from Middlebury College invited Dr. Charles Murray to speak. Murray had written The Bell Curve, where he implied that intelligence was partially genetic. Knowing there would be opposition, the conservative group also invited a left-leaning professor from Middlebury to engage in a dialogue<span style="font-family: inherit;">. In his introduction to Murray’s speech, a representative from the American Enterprise Club implored his fellow students<span style="font-family: inherit;"> to debate Murray rather than shouting him down. But shout him down they did as well as pound on his car and try to physically harm him. There was similar violence at UC Berkeley when </span>ex-Breitbart writer Milo Yiannopoulos was barred from speaking at the University of California at Berkeley. At an academic institution, where you are trying to teach the pursuit of the truth, we must allow all points of view to be heard. Students have the choice to not attend meetings, but the true scholar might want to hear the other side. Bob said maybe instead of putting our fingers in our ears, we should try to engage in a dialogue. We have become so polarized in this country, that anyone with whom we disagree sh</span>ould be avoided. Our Congress is plagued by the same malady- no dialogue there!</i><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Here are the comments: </b></span></span></div>
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<dl><dd class="yiv3619448140ydp46a1fa40comment-body" id="yiv3619448140ydp46a1fa40Blog1_cmt-4226316691265411173" style="color: #222222; margin: 0.5em 25px 0.5em 0px;"><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">
<b>Carol: </b> Just read your latest blog. I’m not sure how to reply on the blog so am emailing u instead. I’m curious as to whether anyone made a distinction between opposing opinions and false opinions. Can there be such a thing as a false opinion? I’m thinking of climate change. Should people who deny its existence be given a platform? Presenting them with facts doesn’t seem to sway them from their almost faith-like adherence to non-scientific fact. The other day Chris Wallace, whom I admire as a first rate interviewer, had Rush Limbaugh on and Wallace sat and smiled and said nothing through a 2 or 3 minute tirade by Limbaugh about the hoax of climate change. I was appalled and so disappointed in one of the few Fox reporters I consider worth listening to. I tried to contact Wallace but because I don’t use Twitter could not. Thoughts?</div>
<dl style="color: #1d2228;"><dd class="yiv3619448140ydp46a1fa40comment-footer" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span class="yiv3619448140ydp46a1fa40comment-timestamp"><a href="http://blog.nanwebware.com/2019/02/some-things-are-just-too-complicated-to.html?showComment=1551110988333#c4226316691265411173" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: #888888;" target="_blank" title="comment permalink">February 25, 2019 at 8:09 AM </a><span class="yiv3619448140ydp46a1fa40item-control yiv3619448140ydp46a1fa40blog-admin yiv3619448140ydp46a1fa40pid-2136318250" style="display: inline;"><a class="yiv3619448140ydp46a1fa40comment-delete" href="https://www.blogger.com/delete-comment.g?blogID=5298227571179955698&postID=4226316691265411173" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: #888888;" target="_blank" title="Delete Comment"><img class="yiv3619448140" src="https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?url=https%3A%2F%2Fresources.blogblog.com%2Fimg%2Ficon_delete13.gif&t=1551458566&ymreqid=0427a623-a47e-3b45-1ca0-60000d01a600&sig=ISOHxag2P1ne0tXOZ4ulGw--~C" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a></span></span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydp46a1fa40comment-footer" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span style="color: #1d2228;"><b>Nancy:</b> Well false ideas have to be debunked in order to denude them of power. If Wallace has challenged Rush and made him substantiate his claims it could have been interesting. I wonder how they got everyone to believe that the world was round. What a preposterous idea that must have seemed at first. </span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydp46a1fa40comment-footer" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><a class="yiv3619448140" href="http://blog.nanwebware.com/2019/02/some-things-are-just-too-complicated-to.html?showComment=1551111036958#c2417137433265479985" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: #888888;" target="_blank" title="comment permalink">February 25, 2019 at 8:10 AM </a><span class="yiv3619448140ydpbb330712item-control yiv3619448140ydpbb330712blog-admin yiv3619448140ydpbb330712pid-2136318250" style="display: inline;"><a class="yiv3619448140ydpbb330712comment-delete" href="https://www.blogger.com/delete-comment.g?blogID=5298227571179955698&postID=2417137433265479985" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: #888888;" target="_blank" title="Delete Comment"><img class="yiv3619448140" src="https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?url=https%3A%2F%2Fresources.blogblog.com%2Fimg%2Ficon_delete13.gif&t=1551458566&ymreqid=0427a623-a47e-3b45-1ca0-60000d01a600&sig=ISOHxag2P1ne0tXOZ4ulGw--~C" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a></span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydp46a1fa40comment-footer" style="margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-body" id="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5Blog1_cmt-4569905219683132052" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em 25px 0.5em 0px;"><b>Carol:</b> I worry that some people deliberately make false claims to advance a specific agenda or themselves. So, climate change, which if taken seriously necessitates costly changes to some industries, is dismissed by people in those industries as a hoax. Their reasoning is deliberately not based on fact so any debate simply gives them a platform to advance their own interests, to give the impression that climate change is debatable when it is not. Many people, for many reasons, do not want to face the fact of climate change and will embrace those who call it a hoax. I guess what I’m trying to say is that sometimes giving fake theories or false facts a chance to be debated might be a mistake. There are other examples, evolution, Obama’s birthplace, vaccines causing autism, etc. False opinions need to be debunked but maybe debating them elevates them to a level they don’t deserve.</dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-timestamp"><a href="http://blog.nanwebware.com/2019/02/some-things-are-just-too-complicated-to.html?showComment=1551111063137#c4569905219683132052" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: #888888;" target="_blank" title="comment permalink">February 25, 2019 at 8:11 AM </a><span class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5item-control yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5blog-admin yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5pid-2136318250" style="display: inline;"><a class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-delete" href="https://www.blogger.com/delete-comment.g?blogID=5298227571179955698&postID=4569905219683132052" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: #888888;" target="_blank" title="Delete Comment"><img class="yiv3619448140" src="https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?url=https%3A%2F%2Fresources.blogblog.com%2Fimg%2Ficon_delete13.gif&t=1551458566&ymreqid=0427a623-a47e-3b45-1ca0-60000d01a600&sig=ISOHxag2P1ne0tXOZ4ulGw--~C" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a></span></span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then my sister, Carol, sent me the following NY Times article which pertains to the discussion. </span><br />
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<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/opinion/climate-change-denial-republican.html" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: #196ad4;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/opinion/climate-change-denial-republican.html</span></a></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ok- so that is what I sent to Fred, Kat, Loren, Ginny, Vicky and Bob, and Carol and Bob. At 7:00 PM we all gathered in the garden room for margaritas. The discussion quickly revolved around universities and what role they should play in making sure that all students are exposed to a variety of points of view and political persuasions. It was clear that we all felt college campuses were places where issues should be debated and that conservative speakers should have a platform. But I pointed out that what Carol was trying to bring up was not just different ideologies, but rather inaccurate, un-truths that were being promulgated - often intentionally, for ill-gotten gains. I used climate change as an example, but quickly Fred interjected that the science is not all in agreement as to what is causing climate change. I wanted to get to the core of the discussion, so I let that be (for now) and said, "Ok- let's use Obama's birth certificate as the example." Trump, even before he began campaigning for President, let fly the rumors that Obama was not an American citizen, that he had a fake birth certificate, that he was really an Arab - after all, with a name like Barak Hussein Obama who would doubt that! Trump had to have known this was not true, but he consistently touted this mis-information resulting in most of his base believing it. </span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That's not ok, and where were the truth-finders to debunk lies such as this? Trump got center stage in talk shows, news interviews and rallies and has used this "belly pulpit" to disseminate lies. We really didn't have an answer.</span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dinner was called so we moved from the margarita room to the dining room and I'm not sure how, but the topic changed to the Catholic priest abuse issue. The Pope apparently is meeting on this issue as we speak, but has chosen, thus far, not to have any comments about it. Someone brought up the vow of celibacy as the problem, and Fred had an interesting take on that. He asked if we knew the difference between Celibacy and Chastity? We offered that celibacy is a vow not to have any more sex while charity is never having had sex. According to Fred, the Catholic priests have taken a vow of celibacy which means a vow never to marry - implying it has nothing to do with sex!! BUT I pointed out that if sex before marriage is a sin in the Catholic Church, which I believe it is, then if you vow not to marry you'd better not have any sex if you want to remain pure in the eyes of your God. </span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Most of us at the table really didn't much care what the priests did with adult women, nuns or men; we all drew the line at minors. Some did object saying that made the vow hollow. But I brought up that even though birth control is against the Catholic religions, at least in America, most Catholics practice birth control with no compunction. </span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then Vicky said she thought that over 50% of Catholic priests have had sex. I asked if she mean't just sex with minors? No- any sex. I thought it was probably higher than 50%. "Why," asked Kat? "Because sex is just too much fun!" someone exclaimed.</span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then we all moved into the salon for after-dinner coffee, where we left the priests but continued on with religion. Carol and Bob were probably the most religious of our group, being very involved in their church community and activities. Bob said that his religion, and specifically his church, gave him a way to stay centered and to give back to the community and beyond. Back in the day when church attendance was high, values and community were easily found. Today, where do children go to get their values? Where do families go to be a part of a community? Someone read that the new church community was now the farmers' market where people assembled every Saturday to exchange bits of news with neighbors and connect with familiar friends. I can't help think something might be missing in the translation from church to farmers' market....</span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kat thought the church provided a comfort for many. I agreed- it certainly does, but I couldn't help adding that it also wields a lot of power over people- especially women which could be comforting to some, but could also be stifling to others. </span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a different context, I mentioned how I never could understand, when a baseball player hits a home run and, as he's crossing home plate, he crosses himself and lifts his eyes to the heavens as if God had something to do with the home run. Does he really think God is trying too help the Oakland A's win that game? Many found that not at all objectionable. If that made him happy, what's the harm? That gesture is between him and his God.</span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I wonder if the baseball player's gesture might not bring us full circle back to our discussion of what is truth. But then again, I think there is no place for a discussion of truth when faith is involved.</span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hmm.....</span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The next morning, Loren reported back to the group about a study done that said only 1% of all Catholic priests in America had been reported to have committed sexual abuse. The study was announced in 2005 - before much of the public scandal, so we all thought it was a low figure. But that in no way affects Vicky's guess of 50% or more having any kind of sex. Vicky and I figure there is probably a lot of hanky pinky going on that is consensual and unreported. Does anyone out there have any statistics on that?</span></dd><dd class="yiv3619448140ydpd021d1e5comment-footer" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em 25px 1.5em 0px;"><br /></dd></dl>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-3821534444346462192019-02-24T13:42:00.003-08:002019-03-01T14:58:50.790-08:00Some things are just too complicated to solve<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Julie and Marty arrived Friday after a short stay in Mexico City. They are a delightful couple who own a place in Chicago, a place in Lakeside on Lake Michigan where they met Fred and Kat, and a place in Cabo San Lucas which they love. Vicky and Bob, who we know from past visits are also Chicago and Lakeside people. They arrived yesterday. So now we are a full contingent of ten!<br />
<br />
A wonderful story emerged last night at dinner. The one boy in Julie's family was the third born with two sisters ahead of him and four sisters following. When Julie's brother was in high school he announced to this father that he wanted to go into the priesthood. His father said, "ok- but you must finish high school first." Upon completing high school, he went again to his father and said, "I want to go into the priesthood." His father said, okay, but you need to go to college. His father had gone to Georgetown, so he suggested that his son apply there. The son said, "Ok, I'll apply there, but I still want to go into the priesthood." Julie's brother has been a priest not for over forty years. He is a psychologist who advised men who are planning to go into the priesthood. We all had a laugh over that story, many of us concluding that the six sisters had forced his hand. The priesthood was a wonderful way of getting out from under the control and madness of women!<br />
<br />
Our breakfast conversation started with talk of Chicago politics, which every time I hear about it makes me wonder how Chicago has survived over the decades. It is so in debt with pension demands far exceeding revenues. In order to open schools each year, the city has had to borrow from the pension funds, and politics and corruption have ensured that it will not be solvent for any foreseeable future. Taxes in Chicago was a perfect segue, and Julie and Marty, who love Cabo, have just put their Mexican house on the market and purchased a home on Johns Island off the coast of Vero Beach, FL. They plan to live there at least one day longer than they reside in their Chicago house and, voila, no taxes! The big thing is inheritance taxes which are around 13% in Illinois. Florida has no income or inheritance tax.<br />
<br />
So, for those of us who think taxing the rich is a good idea to balance the budget and pay for all the programs we want, we might want to think about the consequences. Since the Trump tax law went in to effect, there has been big exodus of the wealthy from states like New York, Illinois, and New Jersey. Tax the rich... and the rich leave for greener pastures. States may have higher taxes, but they also may have fewer residents to pay those taxes.<br />
<br />
So what's the answer for so many states which are outspending their resources? You can't tax the rich because they will leave; you can't tax the poor because they don't have any money.<br />
<br />
We discussed the social security system which they say will not be able to pay for itself by 2025. Marty, who just turned 70, said he hadn't realized how the social security system worked until all of a sudden he got a substantial check in the mail - a sum he wasn't even aware that he was going to receive. I asked whether anyone thought it was feasible in the future, in order to save social security, that we could change it to be an insurance policy. Every wage earner would contribute throughout his/her lifetime, and then they would get a return based on need. Critics of this plan might say, "But everyone earned that money. If they paid in to it they should expect to get a return." They have a point, but for the sake of a healthy society where there would be a safety net for those who needed it, maybe we could all buy in to that.<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Failing to solve the economic woes of the states, Marty brought up something he had read about a trustee of the Gettysburg college who was forced to resign because forty years ago he had <span style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a;">dressed as a Nazi soldier in a POW camp as part of a "Hogan's Heroes" TV show theme party at a fraternity. Did he and his friends dress up as Nazi's because they felt akin to the Nazi philosophy? I doubt it. What about The Producers, a huge Broadway hit, with the cast singing, "It's Springtime for Hitler and Germany." Should those actors resign and apologize for their inappropriateness? Mel Brooks wrote that production in 1967 - would it be allowed today?</span></span><br />
<br />
Our discussion moved to liberal bastions of higher learning and how two years ago there was a huge uproar and protest when a conservative group from Middlebury College invited Dr. Charles Murray to speak. Murray had written <i>The Bell Curve,</i> where he implied that intelligence was partially genetic. Knowing there would be opposition, the conservative group also invited a left-leaning professor from Middlebury to engage in a dialogue<span style="font-family: inherit;">. In his introduction to Murray’s speech, a representative from the American Enterprise Club implored his fellow students<span style="font-family: inherit;"> to debate Murray rather than shouting him down. But shout him down they did as well as pound on his car and try to physically harm him. There was similar violence at UC Berkeley when </span>ex-Breitbart writer Milo Yiannopoulos was barred from speaking at the University of California at Berkeley. At an academic institution, where you are trying to teach the pursuit of the truth, we must allow all points of view to be heard. Students have the choice to not attend meetings, but the true scholar might want to hear the other side. Bob said maybe instead of putting our fingers in our ears, we should try to engage in a dialogue. We have become so polarized in this country, that anyone with whom we disagree sh</span>ould be avoided. Our Congress is plagued by the same malady- no dialogue there!<br />
<br />
Maybe we should franchise this "Cuernavaca Chautauqua" and spread it all over the country. Here we welcome different views and discuss them with humor and respect.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-47052878951916727582019-02-20T10:32:00.001-08:002019-02-20T10:32:04.446-08:00The first-day story is never the whole story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am printing the following article that Fred just sent me in its entirety because I think it pertains to my previous blog about the news. It may not just be where we get our news, but it may be how patient we are to allow the truth to emerge.<br />
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<div style="font-family: helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">One lesson from the </span><span style="font-size: large;">Smollett investigation</span></div>
<div style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
BY MARY SCHMICH<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The first-day story is never the whole story.</span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s one of the most important lessons I’ve learned </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">as both a journalist and a consumer of news, and it’s </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">one I repeat whenever I’m tempted to pop off too </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">quickly about the latest public outrage.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The first-day story is never the whole story.</span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The first-day story is never the whole story.</span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The first-day story is never the whole story.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In other words, when it comes to significant events, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">and even to ones that don’t seem to matter much, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">there’s always more going on than initial reports </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">contain. Facts take time to emerge. They take time to </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">find. If you want the truth, you need to wait. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We’re now on the umpteenth day of the Jussie </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Smollett story, with its twists and turns, its mysteries </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">within mysteries, and we still don’t know what </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">happened. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve got a hunch. You’ve got a hunch. Everybody’s got </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">hunches. Hunches are not facts.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fact: Smollett, a star of the TV show “Empire,” who </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">happens to be black and gay, reported that he was </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">beaten up on Jan. 29, in the depths of a freezing </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chicago night, by two masked men shouting slurs and </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">wearing Trump-style MAGA hats.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fact: The Chicago Police Department reported that it </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">was investigating the alleged incident as a potential </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">hate crime.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fact: The news media exist to report news, and both </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">of the facts above are news. The media have </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">continued to report on the incident even as murky </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">information surfaces to cast doubt on Smollett’s</span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">version.</span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Also a fact? The media are not an “it.” They’re a </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">“they,” plural, many outlets that report in different </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">ways, some more reliable than others. The Tribune is </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">on the cautious end of the spectrum, which is why it </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">hasn’t reported every anonymously sourced claim </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">racing around Twitter in the guise of truth. Some of </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">those claims may be proved true, but until they are, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">they remain in the foggy land of rumor and </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">speculation, and the savvy news consumer will</span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">withhold judgment.</span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Learning to withhold judgment until all the critical </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">facts are in is hard. Few of us have mastered such </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">restraint. We’re eager to show how smart we are, how </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">informed and instinctive, how concerned we are </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">about truth and justice. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Many of us think of ourselves as super sleuths, able to </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">deduce what even the experts can’t. We’re looking for </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">the approval of our peers, we stand at the ready to</span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">fight the enemy. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But rushing to judgment in complicated news stories </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">is like rushing unequipped into a fire. You risk getting</span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">burned.</span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you’re old enough to remember the 1995 bombing </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">of the federal building in Oklahoma City, you’ll </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">remember how many people, some of them famous </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">and important, immediately concluded it was the </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">work of Islamic terrorists. It wasn’t.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Center, speculation ran rampant in the media and </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">among the public that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">was the mastermind. He wasn’t.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 2017, after a man shot and killed 59 people at a </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">country music concert in Las Vegas, social media </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">exploded with claims that the gunman was a rabid </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">liberal who despised Donald Trump. Wrong. Again.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Over time, facts emerged, stories changed, opinions </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">shifted.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The attack against Jussie Smollett may not have </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">happened the way he claimed, but that’s not to say it </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">couldn’t have, and whatever happened that night, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">certain things are true: </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hate crimes are real. Black people and gay people are </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">among those who are discriminated against every </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">day. Anyone who doubts it has only to look at the r</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">acist, homophobic hate-mongering that has sprung</span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">up in response to Smollett’s story.</span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Did Smollett lie? I don’t know. Neither do you. Yet. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Because, as surely as it might have happened the way </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">he claims, the fact that it might have doesn’t mean it </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">did. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If it turns out he lied, he’s done damage that he </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">should be held to account for. But that’s still an “if,”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">and if is not a fact. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For now, the wise news consumer </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">will continue to watch and wait.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The truth is likely to be revealed soon, and before </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">long the story will fade from public view. But another </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">will come along quickly that tests our commitment to </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">the truth. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">When it does, pause. Take a deep breath. Repeat:</span></span></div>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The first-day story is never the whole story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">mschmich@chicagotribune.com</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Twitter @MarySchmich</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-38598138854887748282019-02-19T19:20:00.000-08:002019-02-19T19:20:07.484-08:00All the Print that's Fit for News<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We had a very interesting discussion last night centered around the fate of newspapers. Par Ridder, Fred & Kat's son-in-law, has grown up around the publishing business that has been in the family since his great grandfather started a German speaking newspaper in NYC. Par cringed when someone said something to the effect, "Well, newspapers today don't have the money to hire investigative reporters, so how can we expect really good reporting anymore?"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1avgW3ei2nSGv-JtPvnSWbCbcKQS3IB3_nBY6UW1gwpsMTPIoB7gU2BCwKhaw9KiFV2c19J-N9-4MFKdOBsmwjxtl_vszaEdJMZzYBSyEhIIj_yUqZUF72vsD3IZDGfZKP8q_DGcCLJF/s1600/chicagoTribuneLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="800" height="47" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1avgW3ei2nSGv-JtPvnSWbCbcKQS3IB3_nBY6UW1gwpsMTPIoB7gU2BCwKhaw9KiFV2c19J-N9-4MFKdOBsmwjxtl_vszaEdJMZzYBSyEhIIj_yUqZUF72vsD3IZDGfZKP8q_DGcCLJF/s200/chicagoTribuneLogo.jpg" width="200" /></a>Par presently works for the Chicago Tribune and seems well aware of the shifting trends in the news media. Recently his company divided up their assets into two categories: those that are profitable and those that are not. In the first category were digital news, real estate and television. In the second category were print.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1IskOE01m27G6U7HrwVeeKMrsPBKVFuTqpKSnXOfNQuLzSg3QF8VdoWM0_PJwIc0VlJrLa9y4Aknp2iTvzn9Y46ADEJHv3JoQl024Y6558nUkYldTQlQXtF02hTLHlj6LrXDnOMbw0B93/s1600/th.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="67" data-original-width="428" height="31" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1IskOE01m27G6U7HrwVeeKMrsPBKVFuTqpKSnXOfNQuLzSg3QF8VdoWM0_PJwIc0VlJrLa9y4Aknp2iTvzn9Y46ADEJHv3JoQl024Y6558nUkYldTQlQXtF02hTLHlj6LrXDnOMbw0B93/s200/th.jpeg" width="200" /></a>I was inspired when I saw the movie Spotlight. How exciting it must have been to be working for the Boston Globe on that story- to be given the time and the money to ferret out such an explosive story. And back in the day, when something was published in a reputable newspaper, we, the audience, all assumed it was the truth - maybe slanted, but nonetheless substantiated truth.<br />
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Par was discernibly torn. It was apparent that he understood that print newspapers were hanging on by a very fragile thread, yet I could also sense that he was willing to fight to the end to preserve this media. He hates reading a newspaper on-line and cherishes his time "smelling the ink" while sipping his morning coffee. He did say that there were two papers who are trying to keep the old model of healthy staffing. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_3e4jytNlOGu0YZMwyy-PRE17e2G-KIhT56-rmpo8j4eQk6r27GhG8lgVVNr0ea7vSOvo0jFnJpMd_WgcKfiJp0Z5awyrjW0ZRm65jaaVvQ7q_k-98G2pgVbIkYGB5PSu204Vjbwcd2UW/s1600/tumblr_static_eonx7upnbhw8cg4skw8sckk4k.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="1448" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_3e4jytNlOGu0YZMwyy-PRE17e2G-KIhT56-rmpo8j4eQk6r27GhG8lgVVNr0ea7vSOvo0jFnJpMd_WgcKfiJp0Z5awyrjW0ZRm65jaaVvQ7q_k-98G2pgVbIkYGB5PSu204Vjbwcd2UW/s200/tumblr_static_eonx7upnbhw8cg4skw8sckk4k.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdKyvELIxylXyKPTyb85FViS0Z4zpPxRUvxvt7KZvvxd-e0WI5RNedIc9BRppxy2z0eVn6EWXIV9TbrwAvFgJgh8odU-TwYU5ldmCTbbHNz1np7syziJXsWV7t_uF0-t-LFI28Vign6iK/s1600/Latimes-logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="720" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdKyvELIxylXyKPTyb85FViS0Z4zpPxRUvxvt7KZvvxd-e0WI5RNedIc9BRppxy2z0eVn6EWXIV9TbrwAvFgJgh8odU-TwYU5ldmCTbbHNz1np7syziJXsWV7t_uF0-t-LFI28Vign6iK/s200/Latimes-logo.gif" width="200" /></a>One is the Washington Post that was bought by billionaire Jeff Besos; the other is the L.A.Times recently bought by a billionaire<br />
from China.<br />
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Last year the Chicago Tribune made a profit of $54 billion dollars. The Washington Post made a profit of $100,000. Jeff Besos doesn't need to worry about profit; The Chicago Tribune's life depends upon it.<br />
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Does that mean that in order to have a worthy news source it has to be subsidized by billionaires?<br />
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Another thing Par mentioned was how, in his suburbia neighborhood of Winnetka, Illinois, he is the only one getting the paper delivered to his door each morning. He looks around at the neighboring houses, and NADA. Things have changed. Middle aged successful commuters in Winnetka now get their news from their iPhones. Par taught me how to activate Google news on my iPhone to get news about things I'm interested in. The more I Google "Trump and National Emergency" the more I will get articles pertaining to that subject. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBo8WoeITxYbHpqrMOUK89e4TK_3XqmXVLVWsy6FSRuWKGAWfj2l9pO9Mu-Uc5a885qMYFLgjgKL3lcYKWmBRFeEgKAZL4vCqZ1tijoOVTLENsKeEPfZpryJlcBpA2FyGuCEMubRVF88hb/s1600/th-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBo8WoeITxYbHpqrMOUK89e4TK_3XqmXVLVWsy6FSRuWKGAWfj2l9pO9Mu-Uc5a885qMYFLgjgKL3lcYKWmBRFeEgKAZL4vCqZ1tijoOVTLENsKeEPfZpryJlcBpA2FyGuCEMubRVF88hb/s200/th-1.jpeg" width="200" /></a><br />
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I watch MSNBC - specifically Rachel Maddow whenever I can. I feel I learn so much from her, not just about current events, but also about history. ...But it's really the news that I want to hear; it's the news that I already agree with. I suppose even reading the Wall Street Journal or the NY Times gives a certain bias, and it behooves all of us Democrats to watch Fox news from time to time while Republicans tune in to Rachel Maddow! If we're not open to disparate beliefs then we will be constantly feeding our own biases and the polarization will only increase.<br />
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I think the thing that disturbs me the most about this discussion is that it leads me to ponder where news comes from, how reliable it is, and how selective it is.<br />
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Where does it come from? We read the SF Chronicle who is paring its staff way down so that, other than local news, most of its stories come from the wires. I haven't a clue where news comes from for the myriads of people on the internet who get their news from social media sites - Russia is a good bet these days!<br />
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How reliable is it? I used to believe everything I read which probably wasn't a great policy, but it didn't often get me into trouble. Nowadays Trump has made Fake News an everyday reality. If we hear something we don't believe in, we assume it's been "Trumped up!"<br />
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How selective is it? Rachel Maddow seems to ONLY talk about things that are Trump-related. We hear about big earthquakes around the world or young boys stranded in a cave in Thailand- but what are we missing? We don't decide what news we read about unless we are specifically interested in albino alligators and Google it. The headlines are written for us, so when someone asks me, "What's in the news today?" I reply with what I saw on my Yahoo feed or heard on NPR.<br />
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It seems we are all being manipulated; maybe we always have been. But with a very important election coming up, I need to find a way to get reliable, unbiased, accurate facts about people and policies. It was Thomas Jefferson who said, "<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny." If anyone out there has any ideas how I can become better informed, I'm all ears.</span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-87785013232109824222019-02-17T12:13:00.002-08:002019-02-17T12:13:52.557-08:00Keep your voices down!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We were having a fun discussion about dogs last night at margarita time because the Ridder family have their name in for an unborn labradoodle that they hope will be a companion to their ten year old Golden Retriever, Waffles. It was 14 year old Ben who raised his hand and suggested we talk about Trump delaying a National Emergency. Earlier in the day, his grandfather had emailed all of us two articles - one from The Wall Street Journal and the other from The New York Times. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Journal article starts out by saying "<span style="font-size: 13px;">One problem with today’s polarized politics is that</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">both parties don’t mind stretching constitutional limits to achieve their policy goals. Democrats cheered on Barack Obama’s legal abuses on immigration and so much more, and now many Republicans are cheering President Trump’s declaration of a border emergency to build his wall. Constitutional conservatives should be wary of both.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Reading that opening paragraph I found myself saying, "What legal abuses on immigration did Obama declare?" I have such high regard for Obama that it is hard for me to conceive of him abusing his power. Yet, being here for two weeks has forced me to consider that it's not about one side being right and the other side being wrong. It's also not just about the polarization of the two sides. Fred reminded us that he was born in 1928 and the inability for Congress to compromise is not new. The article points out that Harry Truman called a state of emergency and tried to nationalize the steel industry. It was shot down in court where it was said that "presidential power depends on its relationship to Congressional power and intent." It seems clear that Trump's declaration of a national emergency is not what Congress intends - especially since Congress passed the budget giving $1.8 billion for "the wall."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Okay- so I'm a bit frustrated. I was even told to keep my voice down in our discussion last night! (I was so surprised as I was totally unaware that I was raising my voice.) But didn't our founding fathers create a system of checks and balances for a reason? The three branches of government need each other to create "a more perfect Union." Apparently in 1976 Congress passed the National Emergencies Act giving the president the power to declare a national emergency. To me, the number of guns and the violence in this country is a far greater national emergency, not to mention Global warming which threatens our very existence as a planet. If one of our Democratic candidates reaches the White House, could they, too, override the wishes of Congress, declare a National Emergency and ban guns and plastic? Why not!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And someone last night implied that the Democrats wanted open borders. I think that may have been where I raised my voice! No one wants open borders- we know that isn't possible. But our immigration system is totally broken. We were talking to a taxi driver whose daughter lives in Houston with her Puerto Rican husband. They own a hazmat and mold cleaning service that was very successful and </span>growing. They refuse to hire illegals- which was never a problem before. Now his daughter is calling him and saying, "Dad, please come help us. We can't find workers to keep our business going!" So would it be possible to hire Mexicans who could legally cross the border to work in Houston? <br />
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Gavin Newsom, our new Governor of California, has called the wall Trump's vanity project. It seems so clear to me that this whole deal is just a political stunt. At one point Trump was offered much more money than he got on Friday in exchange for legalizing the Dreamers - something the Democrats really wanted. But in the most recent deal there is no mention of Dreamers and Trump got little money to fund his folly. So who won? Even Mitch McConnell who said he was against Trump declaring an emergency is on board with it because it was the only way he could avoid another government shutdown. When I asked if it would ever be possible for these politicians to do the right thing, Fred noted that their first priority is to get re-elected - not to pass sane, ethical policies. It's pretty depressing...<br />
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Talk about depressing... it seems one day everyone is riled up about something and then we're on to the next fiery topic. What happened to the black face issue? That seemed to me to be a HUGE thing and now I can't find anything in the headlines about it- Have we decided to just ignore it and maybe it will go away? Fred did send me a follow-up piece written by the African-American woman journalist, Dahleen Glanton. She says, "<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;">Are we going to allow a few politicians and celebrities who made the horrible mistake of </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;">wearing blackface to a party force us to set an agenda that appeases everyone in the short</span><br />
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term but does nothing to further our important causes in the long term? Can we afford to start digging deep into every white person’s past to try to figure out whether they might have put shoe polish or dark makeup on their faces at one time or another in the past because they thought it was funny or cute? That’s a never-ending task with little or no payoff. Is this how we are going to try and purge our political system of racism? If so, it’s a huge mistake.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I took issue with some of the article, but I liked the way she ended it: "</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">The way I see it, there is only one way out of this mess. As of today, black people have to </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">forgive every white person who has ever worn blackface. </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">But if anyone does it tomorrow, we’re coming after you.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span>
</span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In reading her article, I found myself thinking that she was being too easy on us White Folk. I think it's letting us off too easy to say we really didn't know it would be offensive. Why, for</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> example, is Governor Northam standing next to a guy dressed like a Clansman? Was it </span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">because</span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> he didn't realize the Klu Klux Klan was an offensive, racist, violent organization? </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJslLCCy7fGeosNHV7tjiyWRqvl7Ea8KGvuMkhJJTPc0_WgdMeFABlBLTrIjytuRFYdjKsTvw5YlESGihk7Ehe1njdda9sH6QtfLUJbf8ljGCxRr9P8s-NYKn7dfRumoHhEWQS9Tb2mJo/s1600/190207-gucci-balaclava-mc-1223-2_2f26960173f17e0c1ceddc90e9afd440.fit-560w.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="560" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJslLCCy7fGeosNHV7tjiyWRqvl7Ea8KGvuMkhJJTPc0_WgdMeFABlBLTrIjytuRFYdjKsTvw5YlESGihk7Ehe1njdda9sH6QtfLUJbf8ljGCxRr9P8s-NYKn7dfRumoHhEWQS9Tb2mJo/s200/190207-gucci-balaclava-mc-1223-2_2f26960173f17e0c1ceddc90e9afd440.fit-560w.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In looking for a follow-up to the Virginia Black-face issue I did find a head line about the I</span><span id="goog_1929904226" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px;"></span><span id="goog_1929904227" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px;"></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px;">talian fashion house Gucci. After an uproar over an $890.00 sweater that resembled blackface, Gucci announced a major push Friday to step up diversity hiring as part of a long-term plan to build cultural awareness at the luxury fashion company. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Gucci also said it will hire a global director for diversity and inclusion, a newly created role that will be based in New York, plus five new designers from around the world for its Rome office. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It also will launch multi-cultural scholarship programs in 10 cities around the world with the goal of building a "more diverse and inclusive workplace on an ongoing basis."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now I ask you to take a look at this sweater - this $890.00 sweater... Can it be possible that the Gucci designers that released this sweater were so naive as to not see any resemblance to blackface? Would you, (if you could) buy this sweater and walk down Market Street with a casual air showing off your new Gucci purchase? I don't think so.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Fred and Dahleen Ganton think alike, and I do </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">understand</span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> where they are coming from. Political Correctness has gone too far. Fred likes to use the Washington Redskins as an example. There was a big hoopla from a very small group of Native Americans that the name was a racial slur against their people. Many Native Americans didn't object to it at all. In a wikipedia account it says, </span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Supporters say that the name honors the achievements and virtues of Native Americans, and that it is not intended in a negative manner. Some </span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">also point to the use of Redskins by three high school teams, two on reservations, that have a majority of Native American students. </span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Supporters have asserted that a majority of Native Americans are not offended by the name based upon a national poll by Annenberg Public Policy Center in 2004. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">But it was also pointed out that some believe the Annenberg poll was deeply flawed.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdQ_0HitMJ3RKK7qnqZI28EyCbtxOC2O8F1xz8lHIMYZ200lIcXE8otTwx63kX926LjeeBzOZi81WyqFUPXwDWATgA7oYRND8Pk42zM60KifxQ27k_XF0t-CBPdgL2Cgf5oFSPPRGtCFr/s1600/Unknown.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdQ_0HitMJ3RKK7qnqZI28EyCbtxOC2O8F1xz8lHIMYZ200lIcXE8otTwx63kX926LjeeBzOZi81WyqFUPXwDWATgA7oYRND8Pk42zM60KifxQ27k_XF0t-CBPdgL2Cgf5oFSPPRGtCFr/s200/Unknown.png" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">This all happened quite a few years ago but it seems to keep cropping up. In a headline of the Washington Post as recently as 2016 it says: </span></span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(42, 42, 42); color: #2a2a2a; word-spacing: -0.9750000238418579px;"><b>New poll finds 9 in 10 Native Americans aren’t offended by Redskins name. </b>As far as I know the Washington Redskins are still sporting their Native American logo and playing ball.</span></span><br />
<span style="caret-color: rgb(42, 42, 42); color: #2a2a2a; font-weight: bold; word-spacing: -0.9750000238418579px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(42, 42, 42); word-spacing: -0.9750000238418579px;">I do agree that political correctness can go too far and that there is an over-sensitizing of many things. But I also see a big difference between the Redskins issue and that of blackface. If the </span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(42, 42, 42); word-spacing: -0.9750000238418579px;">Washington</span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="word-spacing: -0.9750000238418579px;"> Post is correct and 9 in 10 Native Americans </span><span style="word-spacing: -0.9750000238418579px;">aren't offended by the Redskin's name, I would be will to bet if you did a poll of African-Americans, blackface would be offensive close to 100%!</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit;"><span style="word-spacing: -0.9750000238418579px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit;"><span style="word-spacing: -0.9750000238418579px;">Well, I'm off to the pool to cool down! I'm not feeling too generous towards politicians these days; nor am I feeling too optimistic about the state of the nation. Let's hope more discussions will change that!</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-45702602875485430712019-02-15T14:51:00.000-08:002019-02-15T14:51:05.970-08:00St. Valentine's Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMP1Bb__B7Mn5q71oVypa5pnp6RgVSBfGS_FL0_faJg3GmPnrDL2avl46REBXHxDWCBoI_7I7PqefFqY-i12uzHu2UbgS8E0VQK_hnOqwQRWTUey-NJM8PdTlpWxksHeW7Hpkcqox_dJn/s1600/valentines-day-mood-love-poster-wallpaper-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMP1Bb__B7Mn5q71oVypa5pnp6RgVSBfGS_FL0_faJg3GmPnrDL2avl46REBXHxDWCBoI_7I7PqefFqY-i12uzHu2UbgS8E0VQK_hnOqwQRWTUey-NJM8PdTlpWxksHeW7Hpkcqox_dJn/s320/valentines-day-mood-love-poster-wallpaper-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
We had a lovely day yesterday. In Mexico, February 14th is called the Day of Love and Friendship which I think is a nice affirmation. <br />
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Kat wanted to get a pedicure and I thought a manicure would be nice, so the two of us made an appointment at a "spa" down the street. We went after lunch and it was a delightful afternoon. We were met by a mother, daughter team: Sylvia and Edith. Edith, the mother, was the masseuse while Sylvia, the daughter, did the manis and pedis Since we were only there for our pedicure and manicure, Kat went first. Sylvia knew limited English but with our limited Spanish we discovered that she had gone to school in Montreal and had learned French. I had told her that my three grandsons had lived in Brasil and knew how to speak Portuguese which I had thought was very similar to Spanish. "No, No," she said. She had Brasilian friends and she could communicate with them better using her French than her Spanish as French was closer to Portuguese than Spanish was! I found that very interesting.<br />
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Edith spoke and understood English better than her daughter, so we asked her about the new Mexican president, Obrador. They both shook their heads and said the problems in Mexico were too great for Obrador to have any effect on them in the 6 years he had in office. <br />
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"And what about Donald Trump," I asked? They both laughed and then said they thought he was more of a businessman than a politician. He could operate companies but didn't know how to run a country.<br />
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Kat's ankles were somewhat swollen- probably because the altitude is so high here, but it seemed to concern Sylvia. She was able to convey to us that they had a lotion that they could spray on that would take the swelling away and renew the blood flow. It was very good. I asked how much it costs and was told it was about $13.00. I began to be interested because I thought maybe it would be good for my psoriasis as well. "Que es el nombre? And can I buy it at a pharmacy?" No, no. We have it here. So Edith opened up a chest at the back of the room and brought out a wine bottle half-filled with this liquid. It was an oil-based liquid steeped with rosemary and camphor. Edith brought the bottle up to our noses and it smelled horribly. Then she put a little on my hand and it was very greasy and oily. <br />
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"When do you put this on?" At night, just before going to sleep, she replied. What about the sheets, I asked, fearing that it would stain the sheets and cause a big problem for Lucy and Rosa who had to wash everything at our villa. "No Problema," she said. Well, I wasn't convinced and I told Edith that Kat could not use this because her husband would not like her getting into bed at night with the smell of camphor. So we politely said, "Muchas Gracias, pero No!" We got a big chuckle out of this.<br />
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We left an hour and a half later, Kat with a nice pedicure and me with newly polished pink nails.<br />
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At breakfast, I had posed the idea that we all write a six-word love story. I had heard about this many years ago from my son, Arthur, and had saved the idea. Some examples from a web site that I shared were:<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Met in leftist group; felt right</li>
<li>We had chemistry in chem class</li>
<li>Met, loved, married 46 years. Alzheimer's</li>
<li>Fell in love. Then fell out.</li>
<li>Dog approves; maybe this guy's good?</li>
<li>Loved her madly - then went mad.</li>
</ul>
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So I passed out pieces of paper and suggested that we share our 6-word love story's at margarita time. We placed them all in a bowl and each one took one to read aloud and we tried to guess who had written it. These were some of our stories:</div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Friend's dream and 30 years happy</li>
<li>You made me happy and better</li>
<li> How did I get so lucky?</li>
<li>Growing old together is our adventure</li>
<li>Very slow wakening but still woke</li>
<li>Psychic has a dream; it's destiny</li>
</ul>
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It was a fun exchange, and I was impressed with the creativity and poetic nature of the group. I also learned something: it was Fred who wrote, "Very slow wakening but still woke." We all guessed it was Fred's because he had the reputation for being one of the most eligible bachelors in Chicago, taking his time to pick the right one - thus "very slow wakening." Fred, however, asked all of us if we got the double entendre of "But still woke"- and NONE of us did. Fred, the oldest member of the group, had to clue us all in on the new term, "He's WOKE" which we learned means he's with it- he understands, he gets it. We weren't quite sure what to call someone who was clueless: would he be Not-woke or perhaps Un-woke?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpKoxPWOMFRoehg-SqOZYDfNKmwNUolEbwpleB5pXT1WMhXv5nrkGHKrZCTNBo_345lwZ39SfkpteasX9NsMkWXwRVQCHlPGh71dWn3qehxT38JAuv_mGqoNNILzV9ooAwL9pRwLcsBERu/s1600/IMG_0880.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpKoxPWOMFRoehg-SqOZYDfNKmwNUolEbwpleB5pXT1WMhXv5nrkGHKrZCTNBo_345lwZ39SfkpteasX9NsMkWXwRVQCHlPGh71dWn3qehxT38JAuv_mGqoNNILzV9ooAwL9pRwLcsBERu/s200/IMG_0880.jpg" width="150" /></a>Natalia outdid herself once again for our Valentine's dinner. We had a delicious chicken in a sauce with broccoli and carrots and then a magnificent heart-shaped cake with strawberries for dessert.</div>
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As for any news, we really don't get much. There are headlines about McCabe and rumblings about Besos and the Long Island deal, and snippets about Congress finally passing the budget with Trump ready to sign it into law and then declare an emergency so he can get an additional $8 billion, but none of it has any substance- so our conversation sort of side skirts it all. I think I may try to get more information about Amazon breaking the NY deal - Is that good for New York or not?<br />
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One thing I love about our 5-week stay here in Cuernavaca is that each week people come and people go. Edna and Larry left this morning and Kat and Fred's youngest daughter, Sara, arrived with her husband and two of their three children. Emily is a senior in high school on her way to Tulane next year and Ben is a freshman in high school. So we're going to up the energy level here by leaps and bounds over the next few days. I'm looking forward to it.<br />
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Hasta Luego!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-30143941515432715052019-02-13T15:00:00.003-08:002019-02-13T15:00:59.089-08:00A Vocabulary Lesson and more...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am a lover of the English language, so I feel compelled to share something I learned today. I was reading an article about Trump's rally in El Paso, where he alledged that the El Paso fired department had allowed 10,000 people to come to the rally. The Fire Department denied this and said that the arean where the rally took place had a capacity of 6,000 and they did now allow the crowd to exceed that. Trump went on to say that a counter-rally, led by Beto O'Rourke, was attended by a mere 200-300 people, thus ending any presidential hopes for Beto. Once again this "fake news" was corrected by the facts that there were at least 5,000 people at the O'Rourke rally. This is part of the article from The Huffington Post:<br />
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<div class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm" content="Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), who had previously challenged Republicans for a Senate seat, and other El Paso leaders led a counter-demonstration to Trump’s rally on Monday. Trump addressed their protest at the rally and bloviated about the number of people in attendance yet again:" data-reactid="24" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: #26282a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em;" type="text">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBqCupoijOQTMSmt2AMn6b1jkCodDhcf-IObVMS3J2gBOtN27-qenWPMtUcQ4CbqqJ_3TIg5v7pVJ9h8GB6inDDJDw4MkySm1ZithDLMzs3-4mL80H547ScLr4tCMvDL2_QaWxwNaEAv3/s1600/th.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBqCupoijOQTMSmt2AMn6b1jkCodDhcf-IObVMS3J2gBOtN27-qenWPMtUcQ4CbqqJ_3TIg5v7pVJ9h8GB6inDDJDw4MkySm1ZithDLMzs3-4mL80H547ScLr4tCMvDL2_QaWxwNaEAv3/s320/th.jpeg" width="320" /></a><i>Trump addressed their protest at the rally and <b>bloviated</b> about the number of people in attendance yet again:</i></div>
<div class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm" content="“A young man who’s got very little going for himself, except he’s got a great first name… He challenged us. So we have let’s, say, 35,000 people tonight. And he has 200 people, 300 people. Not too good,” said Trump, who then said of O’Rourke:" data-reactid="25" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: #26282a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em;" type="text">
<i>“A young man who’s got very little going for himself, except he’s got a great first name… He challenged us. So we have let’s, say, 35,000 people tonight. And he has 200 people, 300 people. Not too good,” said Trump, who then said of O’Rourke: </i><i>“In fact, what I’d do, what I would say is that may be the end of his presidential bid.”</i></div>
<div class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm" content="“A young man who’s got very little going for himself, except he’s got a great first name… He challenged us. So we have let’s, say, 35,000 people tonight. And he has 200 people, 300 people. Not too good,” said Trump, who then said of O’Rourke:" data-reactid="25" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: #26282a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em;" type="text">
Well I was struck by the word<b> bloviated</b>- which I had never heard of before, so I looked it up.</div>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>bloviate- to speak a lot in an annoying way as if you are very important</span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ6c9FcPTPaGmCqwBMNa-aXUxlF1k44NrzQXrsRV2iNBGcTZj3Xpc_rLp-_SUl8SLh9E3W6ZuvM2YEI4WKSxOzi3i-bEv_oNjk6k_crQCU1Y6CMyOpeexdyEW5wopYuo3pmptUNKkok_9R/s1600/72cb0daa4dbe0faf53646622c935c7ef.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ6c9FcPTPaGmCqwBMNa-aXUxlF1k44NrzQXrsRV2iNBGcTZj3Xpc_rLp-_SUl8SLh9E3W6ZuvM2YEI4WKSxOzi3i-bEv_oNjk6k_crQCU1Y6CMyOpeexdyEW5wopYuo3pmptUNKkok_9R/s200/72cb0daa4dbe0faf53646622c935c7ef.jpg" width="200" /></a>I like that word and think it sounds like its meaning. So then, just minutes later, I am reading an article about gun control and a bill that is on the floor that is trying to deal with background checks. Part of the article says: <span style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #26282a;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Florida congressman Matt Gaetz and his A+ rating from the NRA, however, bravely stuck it out. In the span of about eight minutes, he gave a masterclass on how his GOP colleagues are sure to<b> bloviate</b>, distract, obfuscate, and otherwise waste time during an iteration of Congress in which they will no longer be able to ignore gun violence altogether.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #26282a;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #26282a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What are the chances of meeting that word, bloviate, twice in a matter of minutes - a word I had never heard before! It turns out that Fred Hickman says its a word he's heard of but it's not often used. Most of the others at the table had never heard of it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #26282a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #26282a;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">Then Don asks, "What about <b>kakistocracy?</b>" No one had heard of that word, but it is not made up- The dictionary definition of kakistocracy is </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state.</span></div>
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So we concluded that The US is a kakistocracy run by a president who has a tendency to bloviate!</div>
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Bring that up at your next cocktail party and see what happens!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdYM_Ugw1jblp4b9tUTb0UL_gjVu4YQK_16t_YM6Jsfp0nHQU3Esggo8C35WGsK0RkZoYyhuQxKdj4Y6hgrl3Qp1b-ZQeOuS6GEL4tlgd729S04xs48T96lNWaUPPPRxnZ9kftgidgaMhP/s1600/220px-Becoming_%2528Michelle_Obama_book%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="220" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdYM_Ugw1jblp4b9tUTb0UL_gjVu4YQK_16t_YM6Jsfp0nHQU3Esggo8C35WGsK0RkZoYyhuQxKdj4Y6hgrl3Qp1b-ZQeOuS6GEL4tlgd729S04xs48T96lNWaUPPPRxnZ9kftgidgaMhP/s200/220px-Becoming_%2528Michelle_Obama_book%2529.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
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On another note, I just finished reading Michell Obama's autobiography, <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Becoming</i>.</span> I LOVED it! - especially the first part about her childhood growing up on the South side of Chicago. If you ever doubted the importance of family and parenting in raising children, just look at how Fraser and Marion Robinson raised their two children. Even Kat, who is not a big Obama fan, told me she really liked the book. I have always been a big fan of Michelle's, but after reading the book I am even more so. What a classy, thoughtful and amazing woman she is.<br />
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One of the wonderful things about being here in Cuernavaca is that I can do anything I choose to do - there is essentially nothing I HAVE to do- except show up for meals and margaritas. There is no planning of meals, no buying of groceries, no appointments to meet, no meetings to attend, no MUNI to catch, no car to park, no responsibilities to fulfill... NOTHING! As a result, reading becomes an integral part of my day. Kat always has books readily available, and guests are always adding to the pile on the long side table in the living room. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVOb0Did545HqVNTh-2yluRvpX1MQyWPsVJmMlCqg3FQS76YZGqEkfFqDkOUtGAaVZFyfp9xArV-QiDuH382sVJbgCmZzx8dDBJiPE_MaHsEAWGZ5BulDIRo3ebqMaEfRZnYP1gfMcbanm/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="182" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVOb0Did545HqVNTh-2yluRvpX1MQyWPsVJmMlCqg3FQS76YZGqEkfFqDkOUtGAaVZFyfp9xArV-QiDuH382sVJbgCmZzx8dDBJiPE_MaHsEAWGZ5BulDIRo3ebqMaEfRZnYP1gfMcbanm/s200/Unknown.jpeg" width="131" /></a></div>
So yesterday afternoon I finished <i>Becoming </i>and last night I started <i>Educated </i>by Tara Westover. This book had been recommended to me by several people. I have only just begun reading it, but it's a swerve in the road as I go from Michelle in the Southside of Chicago to Tara in the mountains of Idaho - not to mention the difference in parenting that the two women received!! It was a truly remarkable journey taken by Michelle; I have no idea where Tara is going to end up at the end of the book.</div>
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Tomorrow is Valentine's Day which has always been a fun day around here. The staff decorates the house with hearts and balloons and Natalia always outdoes herself at dinner with red roses, specially folded napkins, and a special dinner. Stay tuned!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-18075958359680879482019-02-11T05:40:00.000-08:002019-02-11T05:40:19.030-08:00Salud - To Your Health<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Monday, February 11, 2019<br />
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I'll start off with a funny story. At lunch, we were talking about the demise of the Ma and Pa stores and how even stores like Macy's are cutting back because so many people are ordering online now and the brick and mortar stores seemed doomed. Fred shared that he even ordered his underwear online. Larry joined in to tell us he, too, had ordered underline for the trip. There were so many kinds, but being a basic kind of guy, Larry went for a package of Haynes. When it arrived, he discovered that it had no fly! There was no opening! I immediately said it must have been a defect. "No," Larry insisted. "It's a new style." Both Kat and I were a bit incredulous. Is it really possible that men would want to pull down and pull up underwear every time they wanted to pee? We women have been doing that forever- but that's because we HAVE to. Why would anyone choose to go through all that if they didn't need to? So here is a call to all you men out there: Is it true? Is there a new style of men's underwear with no fly? Have any of you tried them? What's the scoop?<br />
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Last night Fred invited the neighbors to join us for dinner. Ed and Susan are a young American couple who moved in across the street about nine years ago, and Fred and Kat have developed a nice relationship with them. Ed is an architect for Skidmore Owens and Merrill and Susan works for an American Medical supply company. They live and work in Mexico City and come to their home in Cuernavaca on the weekends. Prior to coming to Mexico, they lived in London. They have no children and seem like a very happy and successful couple.<br />
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I couldn't wait to ask Ed about the two architectural debacles in San Francisco: The "Leaning Tower of Pisa" and the disaster that beset the Transbay Terminal just a few weeks after it opened. He had heard about both but hadn't followed them and didn't know the problems involved. I didn't get any inside information I was hoping for.<br />
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Then the discussion turned to health care in Mexico. Susan said it was a mixed bag. She had seen some deplorable conditions in the government hospitals with sick people lying in filth in the hallways, but that there was also excellent care available. There doesn't seem to be any working insurance system. Both Susan and Ed have insurance through their American companies, but if they need care in Mexico, they get the services, pay for them, and then they are reimbursed by their American insurance companies. Ed told the story of a recent knee injury he had. He went to a doctor who ordered an MRI. He was able to get the MRI a half an hour later. Then he went back to the doctor for another consult. When he went to pay the bill, it was 3000 pesos- or a little over $150- and that was for two doctor consultations, an MRI and pain medication.<br />
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I asked how people like Gilberto and Lucy, the caretakers of our villa, would be taken care of if they needed medical help. Ed said that they would provide any medical help for their help, especially if something happened while they were working for them, but there didn't seem to be any set rule. <br />
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Why is health care so inexpensive in Mexico and so exorbitantly expensive in the United States? It's an enigma to me. I asked the question and Fred posed government regulations as a cause. But what about insurance companies? Here in Mexico, there doesn't seem to be any big insurance plans - could that be a way to lower costs? But I'd be very nervous not having health insurance if something big happened. <br />
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Susan also told us that when she is doing her sales pitch for the medical devices she is selling, she knows that the contract will go to the lowest bidder. It often doesn't matter which device is better. As a result, the same device sold in Mexico would be cheaper than the one sold in the US. Her company sells high-quality devices and in the US, doctors and hospitals will pay extra for that; in Mexico, price is more important than quality. So presumably we might be getting better care in the states.<br />
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There is also the exchange rate and the differences in the economies of the two countries. Ed and Susan often take Uber from Mexico City to Cuernavaca. This is a distance of about 55 miles and takes about an hour and a half up and over a mountain. The cost: 800 pesos, or $40.00!! Loren and I paid $45.00 to get from Clipper Street to SFO- a distance of 12 miles that takes 15-20 minutes!! I haven't ever taken Uber to the airport, but I dare say is around $30.00 or more. <br />
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Our lunch at the Hacienda Cortez, where the six of us had margaritas, a large appetizer for the table and then all of us had a lovely meal the bill came to about $20.00 a piece. In San Francisco, one margarita would have come close to that! <br />
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So maybe doctors don't get paid as much in Mexico, or nurses, or technicians, or administrators - nevertheless, they are still able to enjoy a very nice lifestyle.<br />
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Here is yet another topic that is going to be up front in the news over the next two years. I don't think anyone would argue that the cost of health care in the United States has skyrocketed and needs to be reined in somehow. Is the answer more or less government regulation? Is it single-payer or more competition among the insurers? I certainly don't know the answers, but I wish I had confidence that our legislators were getting together and listening to experts and trying to find the answers.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-31856261915975847722019-02-09T10:57:00.000-08:002019-02-09T15:19:58.420-08:00The "S" Word<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yesterday was Natalia's day off so we went out for lunch and dinner. We decided to try the Hacienda de Cortez for lunch and it was delightful.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGxf-8otpZkxez_TQfW3j_25zQGFp-lNL4x-wrx82TtQ6K3XxDjc2JTO8YMgrhKrv_FwNGMReocfepJh6u3wj8no6T8azJusuRCw72zMUv4MqrVgVDWkGJttu7y2911quB9ceDKtWpdGa/s1600/4dd4f38e98dd52768d882e41c0b223d0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="429" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGxf-8otpZkxez_TQfW3j_25zQGFp-lNL4x-wrx82TtQ6K3XxDjc2JTO8YMgrhKrv_FwNGMReocfepJh6u3wj8no6T8azJusuRCw72zMUv4MqrVgVDWkGJttu7y2911quB9ceDKtWpdGa/s200/4dd4f38e98dd52768d882e41c0b223d0.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoT7pv6lMYPWafSAOKQZMvD8KyVf5e4ojgz1aW-zkqsgEAp9MO3Y4jAjHb4R85Eomt1fFOnBnOiNjmra4kjrk0w6iZn-u3s8A5QsOd0wsHgdSBaaTctBR5e5_s-vUqoN22hTmS7tWbVPxS/s1600/4e90bf6ecb95b67da581a2ac6b8589e5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="521" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoT7pv6lMYPWafSAOKQZMvD8KyVf5e4ojgz1aW-zkqsgEAp9MO3Y4jAjHb4R85Eomt1fFOnBnOiNjmra4kjrk0w6iZn-u3s8A5QsOd0wsHgdSBaaTctBR5e5_s-vUqoN22hTmS7tWbVPxS/s200/4e90bf6ecb95b67da581a2ac6b8589e5.jpg" width="149" /></a><br />
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The Hacienda was built in the early 1500's, and we sat in the dining room where a centuries-old tree had wrapped its roots around a concrete column. The hacienda is now an Inn and Spa and is known for its elaborate weddings surrounded by beautiful gardens. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>At the Hacienda de Cortez</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSXzygV60S-dfoP0nMtG6KxUBgLpnTx3N3ELUxp87CNx9n1B0urvi136JFcFUII6tvS2MHISvCrAe_s2qE0Qkuxo8bC9dJxCKmiZr8MSejYchf5BTRwmaBUkYGQ5sTWrES8LH4FOqRQNW/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="170" data-original-width="264" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSXzygV60S-dfoP0nMtG6KxUBgLpnTx3N3ELUxp87CNx9n1B0urvi136JFcFUII6tvS2MHISvCrAe_s2qE0Qkuxo8bC9dJxCKmiZr8MSejYchf5BTRwmaBUkYGQ5sTWrES8LH4FOqRQNW/s320/Unknown.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Palace of Cortez in Cuernavaca</i></td></tr>
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I am always struck by the history that is<br />
infused in ancient structures when I come to<br />
Mexico.<br />
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<br />
Hernando Cortez built his summer palace<br />
which is in the center of Cuernavaca, and he<br />
would come here from Mexico City to<br />
escape the heat.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Taos Pueblo</i></td></tr>
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I looked up to find "what is the oldest building in the <span style="font-family: inherit;">USA" and discovered there is a pueblo village in Taos, New Mexico that dates back to c. 1000AD - and it's still in use!! More recently, there is the Santa Fe Mission in New Mexico dating to 1610. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi577nKaBoQBJfCPePy9zWD65UIb4x9vuxasA1k27wHwhl_F0Ax_-GFpP49Nzlt3JJ_WZRCUtVxMOQ3VFPziCwxRR0UM9Jzfp_aBSJ-epDMc5gWAVQkSA5f87KPNlCxBiyJv8ktryIrmMye/s1600/Fairbanks-House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="800" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi577nKaBoQBJfCPePy9zWD65UIb4x9vuxasA1k27wHwhl_F0Ax_-GFpP49Nzlt3JJ_WZRCUtVxMOQ3VFPziCwxRR0UM9Jzfp_aBSJ-epDMc5gWAVQkSA5f87KPNlCxBiyJv8ktryIrmMye/s320/Fairbanks-House.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Fairbanks House - Dedham, MA</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"> The Fairbanks House in Dedham, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"> Massachusettes is the oldest surviving timber-</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"> frame house in the U.S., which was built </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"> sometime between 1637-1641. It is beautiful, </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> but nothing so grand as what we see here in </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> Cuernavaca. Perhaps if the Revolutionary </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> War had turned out differently, and King </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> George had won, the Embarcadero in San </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> Francisco might just be a fortress of some </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> kind!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Okay- now on to another discussion that I will broach, but it needs much more time and input and I'm sure, over the weeks to come, it will come up again. The only American news we can get here in Mexico, believe it or not, is Fox News which we listen to in the morning over coffee before breakfast to make sure the USA is still there. Yesterday there was this very attractive woman (Fox News always has "very attractive women") who was ranting and raving. Apoplectic would be an apt adjective. "The Democrats don't know what they're talking about; they have their heads in dark places. <b>SOCIALISM</b> is the most destructive, evil system of government that would destroy everything good in this country. Look at Venezuela- it is a failed Socialist State- Venezuela is where the Democrats want to take the United States. We cannot let them do that. It will be the end of all we've worked for." I'm sure I am not quoting her directly, but the tone is accurate.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">This prompted me to try to find out more about socialism. Recent studies investigating the "happiness quotient" of a country conclude that most of the Scandinavian countries win out with Denmark at the top. I think of these countries as socialistic. They have very high taxes, but education and health care are free and life seems pretty good.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">So what is Socialism? I think many people think of socialism as a system that re-distributes the wealth resulting in equality between classes. In my mind, this is Communism - where the government takes everything into their hands and there is but one social class. Doctors and ditch diggers <span style="font-family: inherit;">get paid the same. Socialism, I thought, was a re-distribution of wealth whereby no member of the society was destitute. </span></span></span><br />
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<h1 id="ctl00_ctl00_cphContent_ctlMainHead" style="font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 737px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Mahatma Ghandi said, “A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” </span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">In my perfect world, the weakest members of American society have food, shelter, and health care. </span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">That is not going to happen unless the government intercedes with programs. I don't want to eradicate</span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">the wealthy classes - they have a perfect right to exist and to continue to accrue wealth, but why can't </span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">some of that excess wealth be shared in order to help those on the bottom.</span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Well, to set me straight, Fred sent me a very interesting opinion piece from the <i>Wall Street Journal </i>called, <i>Who's Afraid of Socialism. </i>The article starts out by giving us a Merriam Webster definition of socialism:<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Merriam-Webster defines socialism as “any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Well I don't believe that anyone in this country is advocating that the government take ownership of <span style="font-family: inherit;">the production and distribution of goods. Don't we all want free-enterprise and a well run capitalistic economy? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The term Socialism even made its way into Trump's State of the Union address, and when I went to look at how it was referenced, I came across a very interesting article written by Paul Krugman (Link to the full article is below) who points out how the word socialism means something different to almost everyone of us. In the article, he says,<i> "<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Some progressive U.S. politicians now describe themselves as socialists, and a significant number of voters, including a majority of voters under 30, say they approve of socialism. </span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">But neither the politicians nor the voters are clamoring for government seizure of the means of production. Instead, they’ve taken on board conservative rhetoric that describes anything that tempers the excesses of a market economy as socialism, and in effect said, “Well, in that case, I’m a socialist.” </span></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Krugman goes on to say,<i> "</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><i>What Americans who support “socialism” actually want is what the rest of the world calls social democracy: A market economy, but with extreme hardship limited by a strong social safety net and extreme inequality limited by progressive taxation. They want us to look like Denmark or Norway, not Venezuela."</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">While researching this topic I was directed to an official White House Page entitled, The Opportunity costs of Socialism. I found it so interesting that on the first page of this report they are quoting Margaret Thatcher, </span><span style="font-family: "sourcesanspro"; font-size: 12pt;">the then</span><span style="font-family: "sourcesanspro"; font-size: 12pt;">–</span><span style="font-family: "sourcesanspro"; font-size: 12pt;">prime minister of the United Kingdom, as arguing, </span><span style="font-family: "sourcesanspro"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">“Socialist governments </span><i>. . . always<span style="font-family: inherit;"> run out of other people's</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> money</span><span style="font-style: italic;">,</span><span style="font-style: italic;">” </span><span style="font-style: italic;">and thus the way to prosperity is for the state to give </span><span style="font-family: "sourcesanspro"; font-size: 12pt;"><i>“the people more choice to spend their own money in their own way.” </i>The link to this White House study is also found below.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "sourcesanspro"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "sourcesanspro"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: small;">The Wall Street Journal Article highlights five areas that the author calls the Democratic Agenda which he claims is a pure socialistic agenda. These five areas </span>are:<span style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: small;"> Medicare for All, The Green New Deal, Guaranteed Government job for all, New System for Corporate Control, and Vastly Higher Taxes. In reading that article, I was struck by how each agenda item is failing in its present form: our health care system is a mess, Global Warming is a huge threat, Technology taking the place of labor is looming, Corporations are replacing small farms and bookstores, and the Federal deficit has reached a trillion dollars. It's a good thing our politicians are looking into these areas- we need reform.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "sourcesanspro"; font-size: 12pt;">Krugman ends his article by saying, "..<i>.</i></span><i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">we should never discount the power of dishonesty. Right-wing media will portray whomever </span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">the Democrats nominate for president as the second coming of Leon Trotsky, and millions of people will believe them. Let’s just hope that the rest of the media report the clean little secret of American socialism, which is that it isn’t radical at all. </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><br /></span></i></span> <span style="font-family: "sourcesanspro"; font-size: 12pt;">Socialism is a subject of which we will be hearing more and more about as the 2020 elections near. It is a loaded and slippery term, charged with a great deal of emotion. I think it behooves all of us to become more informed as w</span><span style="font-family: "sourcesanspro"; font-size: 12pt;">e try to navigate our way through this complex maze. I think that's enough for now- my head is spinning. If you have the time to read the articles below and have any thoughts to share, I'd be most interested in your comments. This is just the beginning...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">To read the full article from</span><i style="font-family: inherit;"> the Wall Street Journal, click <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/whos-afraid-of-socialism-11549498364" target="_blank">HERE.</a></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">To read the full Paul Krugman <i>NYTimes</i> article click <i><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/opinion/trump-socialism-state-of-the-union.html" target="_blank">HERE.</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">To read the Official White House report on Socialism click <i><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/The-Opportunity-Costs-of-Socialism.pdf" target="_blank">HERE.</a></i></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5298227571179955698.post-70471705391537254452019-02-07T08:10:00.000-08:002019-02-15T05:04:32.045-08:00Twenty-nine years in Cuernavaca - February 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We arrived yesterday, and in some wonderful way it was as though we'd come "home." This is our 29th year coming to Cuernavaca as the guests of our most generous hosts, Fred and Kat Hickman. We were greeted by Fred and Kat as well as another couple down from Chicago, Edna and Larry. The staff seemed genuinely happy to see us again and we were shown pictures of Natalia's new granddaughter, Camilla. Natalia said that her son, Raul will bring Camilla to visit us sometime next week. That will be wonderful, as 27 years ago when Natalia was on the housekeeping staff, she brought Raul as an infant, and I remember it well. Since that time, Natalia has learned to cook by apprenticing herself to the various cooks we had, and she now, for the past five or six years, has been our chef extraordinaire.<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Since I've been doing these blogs in Mexico for quite a while, I hope to concentrate on our discussions this year rather than the food, bouganvilla, or sites. But lest you have forgotten or not yet seen our villa, I do want you to be able to picture where these stimulating discussions are taking place:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4rnh9Sg1654yevQY_BGCfTa_ql8HpZEjwI-zzjmMk88xNak_1PdEn6pwFDb6qnP5LxqI89JFQs9j7pBs4NBW8aSYIC86llvxFYjAv2YZwz8wVYyzNehpVlWw7VwYmZ149IyV6w4_zV0X/s1600/IMG_5602.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4rnh9Sg1654yevQY_BGCfTa_ql8HpZEjwI-zzjmMk88xNak_1PdEn6pwFDb6qnP5LxqI89JFQs9j7pBs4NBW8aSYIC86llvxFYjAv2YZwz8wVYyzNehpVlWw7VwYmZ149IyV6w4_zV0X/s400/IMG_5602.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our House</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGXaR0eep7Z_YaffJ5fhJ8To2OpELtKDWxKoeKniipN_ZAPJCVOeLbIITfYNfJW4XpkBiNTiGkdJPmh_fROITF-p0dXJcwPMaLwwdZByU80D5zgsL-dLcQ4BSvpxfNS6YaBYwPehlQ5FZu/s1600/IMG_1698.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGXaR0eep7Z_YaffJ5fhJ8To2OpELtKDWxKoeKniipN_ZAPJCVOeLbIITfYNfJW4XpkBiNTiGkdJPmh_fROITF-p0dXJcwPMaLwwdZByU80D5zgsL-dLcQ4BSvpxfNS6YaBYwPehlQ5FZu/s200/IMG_1698.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pool side</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ulI9NAfVOSpq3pogo28-rOZAyS0dVvlo0_GVK6dSCPmMDfYDCZKOmYXJsOIqkqUDhxATwELbk0H7hJBae-jqqB_B7IKLHi8hibreCwq0JwKIpQUYbxebWiT3Z3LlYs3p5XOrCvY8I8Pj/s1600/IMG_1715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ulI9NAfVOSpq3pogo28-rOZAyS0dVvlo0_GVK6dSCPmMDfYDCZKOmYXJsOIqkqUDhxATwELbk0H7hJBae-jqqB_B7IKLHi8hibreCwq0JwKIpQUYbxebWiT3Z3LlYs3p5XOrCvY8I8Pj/s400/IMG_1715.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A plate of fresh fruit served every morning along with fresh squeezed orange juice and a delicious Mexican meal.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I think of my time here as my Mexican Chautauqua; the discussions are always interesting and always varied, and I am in constant learning mode. As many of you know, there is often a preponderance of Republicans at the table. Fred as the host and leader of the discussions is extremely well-read and counters my rash, often emotional opinions with well thought out, moderate opinions that often make a lot of sense. I might also add that one of Fred's "Rules of the House" is that there can only be ONE conversation going on at a time. This squashes any side-conversation that can be distracting and keeps us all listening to each other which makes for much better sharing and comprehension.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So the first discussion I want to share with you is regarding the explosive mess that Governor Northam of Virginia finds himself in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's a guy that just a week ago discovers there is this appalling picture on his Medical School Yearbook page of a man in blackface standing next to a man dressed as a clansman. <span style="caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38);">On Friday, the governor confirmed he was one of the people pictured and issued an apology, calling the costumes "clearly racist and offensive."</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38);"> </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); font-family: inherit;">But on Saturday, he called a news conference to say he does not believe he is either person in the photograph.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8upwCOjBNW8ho87HH87NY4lHlvn-sruehyphenhyphenIMqsM6pFR1RsaEH0XJNsdKjFb4aLOf0Pb8HfdFdFj87aX_Df8DDsgWaOZNqZw8paVj67wDIZlR7jWV0CvmdKUkXk6Ay20NrKBzCpaD61GwM/s1600/190202104117-ralph-northam-yearbook-exlarge-169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="780" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8upwCOjBNW8ho87HH87NY4lHlvn-sruehyphenhyphenIMqsM6pFR1RsaEH0XJNsdKjFb4aLOf0Pb8HfdFdFj87aX_Df8DDsgWaOZNqZw8paVj67wDIZlR7jWV0CvmdKUkXk6Ay20NrKBzCpaD61GwM/s320/190202104117-ralph-northam-yearbook-exlarge-169.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38);">Now to me, this seemed ludicrous. How could one day you say you were in that picture and the next day say, "Oh, no, now that I think of it, that's not me!!!" It's beyond my reasoning powers to think someone could change one's mind. If someone had shown me a similar picture and asked if I might possibly be that person I would say, IMPOSSIBLE! So I asked the question to our group at margarita time: Do you think there's a chance that he's telling the truth when he says one day he is in the picture and the next day he denies he's in the picture?" All the men thought it was possible. He was probably very upset and shocked at first, but then later realized it wasn't him. The women were not so quick to give him the benefit of the doubt. I also wonder if we give him the benefit of the doubt that he is not in the picture, why is the picture on HIS yearbook page?</span></div>
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<span style="caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38);"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04k4sZtKdO9zuvR1YqMZXE047b_dc4deGCBToJqGKzXyIHMsD-6-qLjqPjuoXxN6kRKhMRiwwaXYNxj8C81rxruV019lnnR7P1OWPDu9Vk5BcydLjJLSC04bLyaxF8gyvTWi5anKiaBZq/s1600/190203133521-ralph-northam-medium-plus-169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04k4sZtKdO9zuvR1YqMZXE047b_dc4deGCBToJqGKzXyIHMsD-6-qLjqPjuoXxN6kRKhMRiwwaXYNxj8C81rxruV019lnnR7P1OWPDu9Vk5BcydLjJLSC04bLyaxF8gyvTWi5anKiaBZq/s1600/190203133521-ralph-northam-medium-plus-169.jpg" /></a>Fred, who is an avid reader told us about an article from the Chicago Tribune, written by Dahleen Galton, an African American woman journalist who thinks this whole incident has been politicized. In her article, she points out that this happened 35 years ago in the State <span style="font-family: inherit;">of Virginia - a state with a renowned racist history. Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. She says, "Is it really so shocking that someone who grew up on a farm in a county with such strong ties to slavery might have put black shoe polish on his face at one time or another?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> Northam also adm<span style="font-family: inherit;">itted to wearing blackface for a dance contest where he was doing the moonwalk ala Michael Jackson. Galton reports, "</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Northam says he didn’t realize the harm he’d done by dancing in blackface until he had a conversation about it later with a person of color. </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: inherit;">“He let me know why this was offensive,” Northam said at a news conference Saturday. “I apologized to him, and I will never do it again.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">She then goes on to enumerate the reasons most African Americans voted for him: He agreed with them that Confederate monuments have no right in public spaces. Since taking office, he has worked to expand Medicaid to serve the poor. He has helped restore voting rights to felons, politically empowering more black men.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">I read the article and urge you to do so as well. (Click<a href="http://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=34dea695-bbcb-449c-b7ce-0117f0c019f8" target="_blank"> HERE.</a>) After reading this article I was instantly taken back twenty-five years ago to the San Francisco Day School where I was the Upper School Head. I don't remember the exact conversation, but we had just come back from Spring break and we were talking about how tan someone was. I said, "I don't have the kind of skin that tans; I turn more like Oriental yellow." Later that afternoon, the PE teacher, Marcus Chang, came into my office and said, "Nancy, can we talk?" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">"Sure, Marcus, come on in." Marcus told me that what I had said about "Oriental yellow" was very offensive to him as a Chinese man. I was taken aback. Marcus told me we can have Oriental food, and Oriental rugs but NOT Oriental people. I had referred to Asians as Orientals all my life, never knowing it was an offensive term. I apologized profusely, saying I really never meant to offend him. After my conversation with Marcus, I have NEVER used the term to refer to people again. Some say our society has gone too far; we're too sensitive and it's like walking on eggshells to navigate the cultural/racial/ethnic maze of what's offensive and what's acceptable. The word Oriental is not charged for me, but when I learned that it offended a co-worker, I dropped it from my vocabulary and easily adopted the term As<span style="font-family: inherit;">ian. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">I think learning and becoming more sensitive to the feelings of others is a good thing. Just in writing this, I am disquieted that I used the term "yellow" to refer to an Asian's skin color. As a child, I was taught there were four skin colors: white, black, yellow and red. I Googled "How many skin colors are there" and the first thing that popped up was, "<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">There</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> are no people who actually have true black, white, red, or yellow </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">skin</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">. These are commonly used </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">color</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> terms that do not reflect biological reality. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Skin color</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> is due primarily to the presence of a pigment called melanin, which is controlled by at least 6 genes." So maybe they are still commonly used terms. But if an Asian or Native American told me he or she were offended if I referred to their skin color as yellow or red, I wouldn't do it.</span></span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38);"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm not sure where the Northram debacle will end up - especially now that the African American Lt. Governor has been accused of sexual assault. Are these good men who have been politicized? Or if they are guilty, should they be taken at their word that they have learned from past ignorances and indiscretions and are ready to serve all members of their constituencies with honor? Or should we stand on our principles and oust them from public office knowing that a man or woman never really changes his or her core beliefs or ethics? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a perfect example of why I love coming to Cuernavaca. My positions are constantly being challenged, and I am forced to view things from different perspectives. I would look forward to your comments about this - especially about the article in the Chicago Tribune. I'm still not sure how I feel about this particular situation, but our discussion and the viewpoint from an African American journalist have caused me to reconsider.</span></span><br />
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<span style="caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38);"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stay tuned....</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3