c.i. : getting back to your cruise ! (isn't it amazing how quickly we can get off-topic ! ). old german friends of ours (school-chum) took a cruise on the danube from germany to the black-sea last year. they said it was a wonderful experience, both from a cultural point of view and being able to admire some beautiful scenery. they just come back from a cruise from venice to the black-sea and again said that it was a wonderful experience. mrs. h and i have booked a pre-christmas cruise from san diego to hawaii(15 days on the ms. statendam). we'll have five days in san diego before setting sail. that should give us a chance to see a bit of southern california(already loaded up on travelguides from the library !). we had considered flying to hawaii, but mrs. h - and i too - are not very fond of long flights anymore (except in business class !!!). are you learning some romanian ? (i understand romania has a strong french influence). HAPPY TRAVELLING ! hbg
hbg, Getting back to your previous post; I remember that Japanese ad with the bath tub bubbles.
In San Diego, don't miss the zoo and the Coronado Hotel where they filmed "Some Like It Hot." When we visited the Coronado back in 1985, we had the hotel brunch which was very nice. I'm not sure they still have their brunches. *** I've searched the web and found the Cyrillic alphabet (closely based on the Greek alphabet) which is used in Bulgaria. I'm not trying to learn the language so much as learning to read some signs - if I'm lucky. Since I'll be visiting five countries on this trip, just learning to say "thank you" and "where's the toilet?" will be about the extent of my "new" language vocabulary.
c.i. : isn't it it only too true that just about everyone responds with a smile when a foreigner tries to say a few words in the local language - even if the language gets mangled in the process. when we were for a week in the italian speaking part of switzerland , we were in lugano , people truly went out of their way to help and serve us when we used our few words of italian. even though many of the people spoke german as their second language, they did appreciate our efforts - and we enjoyed asking for "caffe latte" - or "caffalatta" as our italian neighbour says - and "chiocalata (???)" , and we were always served with a smile. re. san diego : we saw a cooking show recently that was produced in some artist colony on the pacific ocean somewhere near san diego, we believe. i'm looking at the map right now and see place names like : la jolla, del mar and encinitas. so we hope to find a bus tour that'll take us along the pacific to see some of these places. i don't think i'll be renting a car, since the driver usually doesn't get to see much more than the road signs ! hbg
I've never been disappointed in taking those "Grayline" tours. My wife was talking about (maybe) buying a new car to replace her 1994 Honda. She doesn't want a big car, so I suggested the Lexus IS300, and told her I'll chip in $15,000 towards her car, but she said she doesn't want to spend more then $15,000 (period). I then said it would be a nice car to take on our national driving tour after she retires, but she said we're too old to drive that far. We'll just fly to the any place, then rent a car. Sometimes a cement wall is easier to get through. LOL
c.i. : speaking of cars !!! for about 35 years we had v.w's, starting with beetles and winding up with a passat for the last seven years. it was a beautiful car, heated leather seats, sunroof, one of the first on-board computers ... but the automatic transmission was a lemon (a rotten lemon). so in 2000 we decided to get a new car for our fall trip to myrtle beach. mrs. h fell in love with the olds intrigue !!! and said that she would like it and also pay for it (she doesn't drive). so we bought it, and it has performed quite well, but the gas consumption is just A LITTLE BIT HIGHER than what we were used to with the v-dubs. particularly winter-driving in the city is a a killer; of course having to feed 220 horses takes some oats. it's a beautiful highway-cruiser, got to watch the speed - particular when we cross the border. it's interesting to note the difference in driver (and police) behaviour in canada (ontario) and the u.s. (particularly the stretch from the border - thousand island bridge - to syracuse). on the canadian side the speed limit is 100 km, but if you are driving at that speed, the roadsweeper will probably suck you up; usually the ontario provincial police won't bother you if you are not exceeding 130 km and are driving in an orderly manner. once we cross the border, we stick to the speed-limit ! the n.y. state troopers have a pretty low level of tolerance for speeders, part of the reason is that the soldiers from fort drum(near watertown) like to use a leadfoot ! so some of the soldiers cross the border to give their cars a workout, and also the drinking age is lower in ontario than in n.y. state ! well, getting back to the olds, it's now become an instant antique; what more could i ask for. i'm sure the trade-in value has taken quite a beating. well, what the heck; 220 horses and a twin-cam can be fun . hbg
cicerone imposter wrote:Sometimes a cement wall is easier to get through. LOL
Then you'll need one of these.
If you check out some of the 'hard to find' places in Eastern Europe, I'm sure that you'll get a real bargain. If you want something newer, ex-Iraqi armoured vehicles are going for a song.
Mr Still, Thanks, but I could never carry a tune.
I'm sure our neighbors would be delighted in having a tank parked on the street. Come to think of it, we may need a tank to protect ourselves.
Doesn't the Second Amendment let you keep heavy armour and medium-sized artillary pieces? It's no fun when you have to start from scratch.....
Quote:The 90-minute rampage took place Friday afternoon. Spade said Marvin Heemeyer, 57, apparently blamed the demise of his muffler shop on the Granby Zoning Commission's decision in 2000 to allow a neighbor to build a cement plant next door to Heemeyer's business.
He had appealed the ruling, but the town prevailed.
Heemeyer, a welder by trade, fitted a 54-tonne industrial bulldozer with heavy steel plates, welding himself into an impregnable bulletproof cocoon, authorities said.
He then proceeded to plow the earthmover into the cement plant that was the focus of his rage, according to authorities. He later targeted the town hall, the library, a bank, the town's newspaper offices, an electricity cooperative building, a department store, an excavating business and a house owned by the town's former mayor.
Police said Heemeyer repeatedly fired what appeared to be a .50-caliber weapon at a group of propane tanks in a failed attempt to trigger an explosion
Home-made tank rampage
Now spending his time in prison without the possibility of parole. Enny menny miney mo.....
I blame 'Popular Mechanics' myself, they should stop publishing those DIY medium-armoured vehicle projects.
wasn't the guy just exercizing his right to bear arms ? heh, heh ! hbg
