The Sunday Five: Thankful

In the United States, Thursday of this week is our national Thanksgiving Holiday. A great time to pause and think about all that we are grateful for this year. 

1: Where did you most enjoy being this year? 

2: What was the highlight of your work this year? 

3: What family members brought joy to your life this year? 

4: What was the best thing you read this year? 

5: How many blogs did you enjoy reading this year? 

My Answers:

1: Where did you most enjoy being this year? The middle of the Atlantic. 

2: What was the highlight of your work this year? Retiring on January 5th. 

3: What family members brought joy to your life this year?  Sweet Bear, my sister, my nephew Michael and his new son Owen. 

4: What was the best thing you read this year? About Time, David Rooney

5: How many blogs did you enjoy reading this year?  There are 19 on my daily read list, I look forward to posts on all of them. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

 

Great Adventures in Travel: London May 1990

 

When I was a child, my grandmother told me if I saved my pennies someday I would be able to go to England. I did save my pennies, I am still saving them (at last count I have about 300 pounds of them.) I dreamed about going to where my grandmother was from. 

From late 1987 to mid 1991 I had an era of extraordinarily hard work, and high earnings.  In some ways I am still benefiting from that era, since then I have had nicer cars that a are paid for, and money that was set aside for retirement at that time is still growing away.  I was also miserable most of the time. I was in a relationship that didn't work for either of us, and I was working 60-70 hours a week in an environment where what you had accomplished was never good enough.  

I was walking by a travel agency next the neighborhood supermarket and saw a sign in the window, round trip air and six nights hotel in London for $666 a person. I had never been across the Atlantic. A get away was in order. I booked it, scrambled to get passports in time, and away we went.  

It was in many ways a dream trip.  I had wanted to take this trip for 20 plus years. I remember looking out the window as the plane was landing in London and thinking this is it, I have made it at last.  I have always loved the moment when the wheels touch down, and this one was very special.  

I was relatively young, at the peak of my running days (yes that is me in the photo.) We spent days exploring London, riding the Tube, seeing museums, going shopping, and not thinking about the office.  This was before email, before international cell phone service.  

There are wrinkles in the memory, things I wanted to do that didn't happen, my soon to be X being pickpocketed. But overall I have very fond memories of the adventure.  

Of course when I returned, my boss came to visit, and lectured me about having enjoyed my time off it was time to get back to work and make up for all of the time I had taken off (8 days in a row.) 

The following January we went to Amsterdam and Paris in a last ditch effort to see of travel could save a failing relationship. It couldn't. 

But I will always have the memories of that first week in London.

The camera, is a Canon AE 1 program, with a power winder, and probably a 24mm lens. I had 24mm and 28mm lenses, those were great glass.  That set up weighed about three pounds, and there were two more lenses in my backpack, a 50mm f1.4 and a 135mm f 3.5.  

 

100 Tips to Slightly Improve Your Travel Experience: #31 Phones

In a nutshell cell or mobile phones have totally changed staying in touch when traveling. Here in the United States virtually all phone plans include all domestic calls, no matter where I am in the country, I can call anyplace in the country for no extra cost. This is a massive change over the past 25 years.  When I bought my first cell phone about 30 years ago, I was paying $30 a month for 30-minutes in a coverage area that was only about 25% of the state I lived in.  Anyplace outside of that service area was about 15-cents a minute extra.  When we traveled and checked into hotels we often used the hotel phone to phone home. Today that is all easily done on the phone in my pocket, and without any extra cost, until I cross an international border (or get close enough for the phone to pick up a cell tower across the border.) 

My first "smartphone" was a blackberry bought specifically because of the availability of international service.  Today pretty much every phone travels across international borders, with 3G, 4G and increasingly 5G service being available around the world.  

Before you leave home, check with your service provider on costs.  It can be surprisingly expensive.  I have seen prices as high as $1 or $2 a minute, and data costs that can run hundreds of dollars per week.  

There are options.  My provider offers world service, for $10 per line, per day, for unlimited phone, text and data. I can buy that one day at a time.  When I start using it, I get a message telling me when it started and when it ends.  If I turn off data service before the end of the 24 hours, the charge stops, until I turn it back on. I don't talk on the phone much, in last springs 5 weeks trip, I paid for 12 days of phone service.  I turned it on when I wanted or needed it, and kept if off the rest of the time.  

What I can do, is turn on WiFi, and do email, do web searches, even watch YouTube when traveling, anyplace that reliable and safe WiFi is available.  That won't help when we are in the middle of France and the GPS unit is lost, or you need to double check on when a museum is open.  I turn service on when I want it or need it. 

If you are a heavy phone user, or have a compelling reason to stay available, you can also buy short term local phone service in most places.  Phones from the United States are sometimes locked, and changing out the SIM card or E-Sim can be difficult. Some people buy an unlocked phone specifically for this purpose.  I have never done this, I find it easy to tell people you won't be able to reach me by phone, send an email and I will check those at least every other day when I am at a hotel with WiFi. 

The Thursday Ramble: Reflections on a year well lived

The end of the year, and all of the end of the year holidays are fast approaching.  I have to admit, the year has flown by.  It seems like just yesterday, I was briefing Erica what she needed to know as the next director of the Commission. And already work is fading into distant memory.  I realized the other day, that I really don't care if I stay up to date on many of the issues I worked so hard on for 25 years.  That happened much faster than I thought it would.  I might even think about moving my license to retired status in a few years when I am eligible to do so. 

What has filled my year? 

Travel certainly, 73 nights away from home.  Walking, averaging about an hour a day, about half of that at the gym, about half of it wherever I felt like walking that day. Reading, I have finished reading over 80 books this year, I will end the year at nearly double my goal.  I have done some writing for a couple of journals,  and three consulting projects.  I am fiddling with my creativity with a little painting and lots of photographs - probably 6,000 this year.  I have had fun cooking, gotten bored, and then reignited my interest. I continue to enjoy blogging, daily, plus my daily selfie project. I need to decide if I am going to continue the selfie project. I lead a weird and eclectic life, and I like that.

Doc Spo's post the other day about how we answer "what do you do" caused me to stop and think.  Answering that I was a lawyer was always problematic. Some wanted legal advice that I was seldom able to provide, always worrying about the malpractice angle, others simply hate lawyers and think all are evil.  If I change the answer to what I do now, it should / could provoke a much different conversation.  

I can think of a couple of bloggers that I love reading, commenting on, or talking with, that I really have no idea what they do or did besides blog. But then I live in a town where many people give vague answers,  spies and other operatives don't tell you what they really do. 

Over the next few weeks I will draft my end of the year summary, and set goals for next year.  Then we will see where the next year takes me. 

  

 

My World of Wonders, aka the Wednesday Ws November 20 edition

Where have I been this week? The Pentagon City Mall, The Smithsonian Natural History Museum, The National Archives, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to listen to the National Symphony Orchestra, Huntley Meadows, along the River in Alexandria, the grocery store, the Library, and the gym a couple of times. 

What is the Photo above? An internal stairway at the Natural History Museum, I thought it looked best in black and white. 

What am I reading? I will finish Ina Garten's memoir before this posts, then I should finish Essays from the Sunshine State, and I have a novel laying on my desk to read.   

Who have I talked with?  My sweet bear . . . I am getting out but not talking to strangers. I had a surprise call from an old lawyer friend, looking for a referral. That call caused me to reach out to three former colleagues, and none of us knew anyone in Idaho. I have been trading emails with a couple of dear bloggers. I reached out to a Niece, and sent a chatty letter to my oldest brother who had a birthday this week. 

What are my plans for Thanksgiving?  I am down to roasting one or two turkeys a year, Thanksgiving is turkey day for me.  

What made me laugh this week? 

I read this too fast, and had another worn-out hole come to mind. If that makes you laugh, you have my kind of sick mind. 

What was laying on the sidewalk that made me wonder this week? 

Medicinal, how many sick people are there wandering our streets? I bet sales will increase over the next couple of years. 

What is my strategy for the next week? Shop for the special holiday meal, get out and about, and stay distracted. 

Who deserves a slap this week? The moron who is picking cabinet officers who are totally unqualified nutters. Out of 5, at least 500. 

How is my mood? Improving, slowly.  

 

Travel Tuesdays: The Hirshhorn Museum of Modern Art

Most people either love or hate the Hirshhorn Museum here in Washington DC.  The building is a striking circle, open in the center, with circular galleries. I fell in love with the building the first time I saw it. Over the past year, the galleries have been gutted and redone. The result is that they are much more open than they had been the past few years, really showing the circular architecture.  The current shows are selections from the permanent collection, and street art, bright colorful, imaginative. 

The Banksy exhibit was very limited in time, and only two small pieces of his work were included in a small subterranean gallery.  The lower level and sculpture garden are undergoing a massive remodel, when finished you will be able to pass under the street and into the sculpture gallery on the lower level (why it was never done this way, I have no idea.) There will also be a much needed elevator to the street. 

 

Monday Mood: Ranting And Calming

I have been working on this post for a few days.  Current political events are truly challenging my mood and mental health. I know I am not alone in this.  

When I was working, I was always urging others to take care of themselves, or they wouldn't be there to take care of others. If I don't take care of myself, I won't be able to help pick up the pieces, when this farce falls apart.  I won't be strong for the next opportunity to fight. I need to focus on what I can control, and trust in the system to do what it is designed to do. 

We, by that I mean sensible people, have been here before. We are still here.  If we take care of ourselves, we will be here two years from now, and four years from now.  If we let it get to us, the @$$holes win.  

Turn off the news.  I tried Visir the news from Iceland that Google easily translates, and stumbled into upsetting news.  Angus in Scotland said that he had to go to page three of the London newspapers to find news from Great Britain - so even going to world news sources will not escape the laughingstock we are a part of.  

I have to be careful with some of my favorite bloggers, I know we are all hurting and sometimes we need to hurl, as Anne Marie did in her day, but I need to limit my exposure.  Even as I spew a little below.  Please think about your mental health and mood, and click away if that is what is best for you. 

 If you are avoiding politics, click away now. 

 

I decided to write this, hoping that getting it out, might make me feel better inside.  Sometimes it helps to put into words, what is eating away at our souls.  

The idiots that Trump is naming for high government jobs are appalling. Elon Musk bought his way into the inner circle for $118,000,000 and a good share of the 40-some-billion dollars that he wasted on Twitter. He and some moron have been named to a fictitious department to examine ways to streamline government.  I guess you can pay to play in this country, or money is political speech.  

The statement from these two "geniuses" that set me off, was that we need to eliminate the unofficial fourth branch of government, the administrative branch. Ummm, I know I have a bit more education than these two and there wannabe boss, but the administrative branch is a part of the Executive Branch of Government.  You know the branch headed by the President of the United States.  

The primary duty of the Executive Branch is to implement the laws passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. Congress passes laws authorizing the executive branch, through the administrative process, to implement laws and create programs.  The law - the statutory law - does not contain the details needed to implement and regulate.  In theory the law could, but then Congress would need to have many more subject matter experts, and take a much longer, much more involved time in drafting laws, and the length of laws would grow by at least 100 to 1. Todays 50 page law, would suddenly need to be a 5000 page law, that few in Congress have the time or expertise to understand. 

The Administrative process creates regulations.  This is done through a public process of listening to input from all who are interested.  You can submit comments on proposed state or federal administrative regulations. 

When mistakes are made, the administrative process can correct them in as little as 30 days if it is urgent, or about 90 days if the need is not urgent.  The same correction in Congress would likely take years.  Let me offer an example.  There were two different regulations on funeral reserves in the Kentucky Medicaid regulations, that conflicted with one another.  I called someone in the state office and asked which rule is correct.  Her response was, "thank you, we missed that, use the rule that allows the slightly larger amount." The next time the administrative register came out there was a notice of proposed correction on that issue, and without objection it was effective 30 days later.  The same correction, in statute would have taken at least six months. 

If Congress wants to limit the authority of an administrative agency, they can change the law authorizing the agency to act. 

I was pleased to hear that a sleazeball had resigned from congress just ahead of the release of an ethics investigation, only to read the next morning that he has been named as a nominee for a cabinet position.  I read that in the news in Iceland, the reporter commented that the confirmation hearing should be interesting.  

Then Mr Brain worm, who left a dead bear in Central Park, and who fails to understand basic science, is being placed in charge of health and human services.  The inmates are taking over the asylum people. 

A fracking executive for Energy Secretary, wait until he finds out he is responsible for more than half of the world's nuclear fuels. 

Remember the OLDman bragging that he only hires the best . . . the best of what I have yet to figure out.