More Egypt Photos - Egypt Day 4

I know I've been back for over a month but here's another 80 photos from Egypt from day four, we're still in Luxor: there's a lot of local shots, some temple photos and a felucca sailboat ride..

We (the bloggers) met and we had fun!

So we met at Piece Pizzeria there was a bunch of us. Kevin (with wife Katie and brother and future sister-in-law ), Dave, Jenny, RW and wife, Kelly, Ariana, Steve and Susan, and myself.

We had all kinds of pizzas, I mostly ate the standards and the weirdest was cheese with mashed potatoes (I wasn't as fond as some of there others were). Chatted, took photos and more. After we were there for a while most of us left and went to a tequila bar but I don't think anyone got any tequila, maybe I'm wrong and it was just a bar (it turns out it was the Salud Tequila Lounge) and chatted some more...

It was great meeting everyone and I look forward to doing it again some time. It was night to see some faces and expressions and voices. I'll be able to put some of that in my head as read their blogs in the future. I've met a few bloggers before but never as a group so I'm game for another, didn't get to chat with everyone very long but I'll be reading their blogs to fill in some gaps. I need to get a few missing addresses still. I think Dave came the farthest (from Washington) and I was the second (from Michigan) and I think everyone else was within a few hours...

I got to chat with Jen and Ariana more as we were taking the same train and it was a bit of a walk to get there.

Sunday (today actually) I'm going to meet Dave and Jen to go to the museum (which one escapes me right now) but I probably should get to bed so I can do that. I need to get my stuff together too since I'll be heading out of town from there.

I'll have to check out the photos later and see how they came out.

Pirates attacked our ship.

So earlier our Guide told us we'd see pirates down by the dam. Sure enough, as we slow down dozens of rowboats surround the ship. And it's “street” vendors trying to sell us stuff.

What they do is toss it up 4 floors for us to look at and it hits the railing and falls back down into the water. He throws another and it goes over us and lands in the pool. It's really hard to negotiate when they are down so far. A few of the ladies bought some nice table cloths, I didn't see anything I liked enough to have him send up (and then have to send back down arguing all the way). But it was just hysterical to see, we were all laughing the whole time. It's just so bizarre.

Then we watched them leave to lay siege on another ship...

General things in Egypt so far...

INTERNET: The hotel I'm at only offers wired Internet in the business center (it is 24/7) they want 20 LE (egyptian pounds) which is probably about $4-5 for 15 minutes, I think it's a little better deal if you get 30 minutes. But when it's closed (most of the time) you have to get someone to open it. The bonus for me is I have the laptop pretty prepped for what I want to do: I've already written e-mails and hit send, I've written posts (such as this one) and saved them, I only have to hit send and I've organized the photos I want to upload. So 15 minutes is actually quite a bit of time since I have the laptop. Anything more and I'd probably just be screwing around. They are working on wireless in certain areas but it's not complete enough to work (but it is complete enough to stop you from using it).

MONEY CONVERSION: I did what I usually do, I went to the ATM. I took out 1000 LE (think of it as a cursive L like the Brits show it) and when I checked my bank's web site I see they took out $174.56 with a $1 surcharge (that's about what I thought it should be). I should have checked the sign at the bank for their conversion...

PHONES: No one can tell me what it'll actually cost to use the phone in the room (actually they'll tell me but if you ask two other people you get three different answers) and they have no pay phones here. They said I can use my AT&T calling card (but I'd still pay some undefined rate), but last week when I called AT&T they told me Egypt didn't allow foreign phone cards to be used. So I went back up to the business center and Skyped out (using Skype computer phone software). I had to pay for the computer time and a few cents through Skype but it was still pretty cheap and now my Mom knows I'm alive (she can't check the net to see if I'm posting, which infers I'm alive).

PENS: I couldn't find the pen they supplied with the room so I went to the desk and asked for another one, you'd think I had gone and asked for a second television set. A call to housekeeping and hassling a maid I did finally get a new pen.

Couldn't fix it...

So I've complained before about my long route to JFK airport in NY from Detroit (via Atlanta). So today I took a trip out to the airport (DTW) to see what Delta could do for me. Janine was very helpful, I find they are way more helpful in person than on the phone (plus they print you out your ticketing information, which I like). We had pretty much narrowed my best options down to going to NY the day before and spending the night (which is an option I would have considered). So we canceled the tickets and then realized that my tickets were bought in a way that she couldn't substitute them (actually I think she could have but it would have been only $12 credit). But then she had a problem rebooking the original flight. So we (she) called somewhere else, three somewhere else's actually, but she finally got someone to answer and they fixed me right up! I failed that mission but it was worth a drive on a nice day (and $5 for parking). I'll bug the travel group once more (maybe twice) and see if I can get someone there to fly me in the day before.

Plus I ran into a guy from high school, I actually recognized him but had to read the name tag to be sure. I think he graduated two ears before me it took us a few, but we figured out that we knew each other from yearbook. So I got to chat with him for a few minutes while waiting for Janine.

Deal? Or No Deal?

She had 1 penny, $400,000 and $750,000 on the board so they offered her $375,000. A very generous offer as the show goes. If she doesn't take the money she has to open one more. She said she was a gambler so this should have been easy and Howie pretty much spelled it out for her that there were 3 options if she picked the case:

Tsotsi wins Oscar for best foreign language film

So the the guy who accepted the oscar for Tsotsi (Director Gavin Hood?) for the best foreign language film was very interesting. He starts by saying 'I have a speech written in my pocket but the TelePrompTer tells me I only have 38 seconds so please go to tsotsi.com for a list of everyone I need to thank.'

He then goes on to that the two stars and asks them to stand up and asks the cameras to point at them. Then says “10 seconds” and thanks a few more people. And wraps it up...

It was just a different speech than usual and educational for me as well (to how things work up there). And the site was very slow after he gave the web address.

I usually don't watch the award shows but I was just organizing some stuff and it wasn't to distracting. And I like the montages, especially the one with all the quotes.

I also got up to watch because I could tell something happened with Jennifer Garner when she came out (TGFT) and she did an interesting slip/shuffle/almost fall.

Eight Winners Spilt the $365 Million

So eight people at a meat packing plant split the $365 million PowerBall prize. After taxes it was about $15 million a piece! That's great I'd hate to see one person get all that (unless it was me) it's just so much money. It's going to affect so many more people this way. The people ranged from 26-56 years old and some had played for years and some played just a few times. This is the way I like to see the wealth spread!

I've got more info (and how I'd start spending $365 million) in my earlier post. Read the full story at CNN.com

I went to church today...

So I don't consistently or the same place. Especially since it means I have to get up on Sunday early to go to the place I like best. Besides, I don't like my organized religion too organized.

So we're reading one of the the prayers out loud and there is a page turn in the middle of it. It's something they print up with the hymns and readings of the day and a few things just happened to paginate badly. So I read it real quick to see if there are any differences (different churches use different versions) so I don't actually have to turn the page in the middle of it and draw attention to myself. It's one of those things everyone should know and I was just checking for variations and I've already set my booklet down. So we get to the part where it splits and I practically jump as everyone turns the page, it sounds like a flock of damn birds just took off.

It just struck me as pretty funny at the time. Although my writing here doesn't really convey how humorous it was then.

I was starving towards the end of the service, I didn't have time for breakfast since I was in a hurry to go. Now I'm at the goldfish cafe eating waffles right now. Yum!

Robert Heinlein says:

In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it. Robert Heinlein

A Day to Remember - A Lifetime to Act

There is a reason that there is no mail and the banks and (some) schools are closed this Monday. Don't forget...

Listen. Look. Learn. Pay attention, listen to what people are saying in person and on TV the next few days.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the third Monday in January, was first declared a public holiday in the United States by President Reagan in 1983. Born on January 15th, 1929, Martin Luther King became a Baptist minister and doctor of theology. He travelled extensively throughout the United States, preaching and working for Afro-American civil rights and was assassinated in Memphis Tennessee on 4th April, 1968.

The following is part of his famous speech "I have a dream":
So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I stll have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream, that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. I have a dream, that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners, will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood - I have a dream.

The audio of his speech is on-line.

(Yes, this is pretty much the same entry I posted before.)

It's National DeLurking week!

It's national de-lurking week so to celebrate be sure to post a comment on one of my posts. You wouldn't want to be a party pooper and just lurk around here would you?!?

Thanks to Sheryl who started this and to WebMiztris for tipping me off that it was a national holiday!

Alaska Flight #536 - Rapid De-Pressurization and Panic (BUT Still Blogging) at 30K Feet

So I have to give Jeremy Hermanns credit, it looks like his third personal blog post is about his airplane de-pressurizing and having to wear an oxygen mask. Oh, did I forget to mention that he manages to snap some pictures with his Treo during all the action.

It looks like he runs (works with?) a few other blog sites, but looks as if he just started his personal blog the week before.

I'm glad he thought to take photos, he'd have been kicking himself later since he had it on him.

If you actually want to hear about the incident, you'll have to read it for yourself.

Hospital Rooms

So I remember having to come home from college one week when my Grandfather was really sick. I was really close to him, my Mom and I lived with him and Grandma until I was six or seven. I don't even remember what it was for but I know it was a really big deal. I had to get a professor to let me have an extension on a big exam (maybe it was a final) for a “family emergency”. I really liked the Prof but he was a pain in many ways and he asked for a note. I remember saying that “if everything went well there wouldn't be anything to get a note for”, he said no problem and told me to reschedule the exam later.

We were there for hours, I don't remember much of the day, I remember reading that damn calculus book but not much else about the day. What I really remember is going into see him after the operation. Someone, maybe my Mom, said he was in bad shape but the operation went well. I went in the room and he had a ventilator tube down his throat and about a dozen IVs in him and a bunch of beeping charting machinery. I had no idea, I had to get out of there and go out in the hall, it was too much for me. I was probably twenty-two or twenty-three at the time and someone followed me out of the room to check on me, one of my uncles maybe, I think they were afraid I was going pass out or something. I don't remember what they said, something like 'we knew it was going to be bad' and I wanted to scream “I'm just a kid. I've never seen anyone like that before. How am I supposed to know what's bad!?!” Before then I probably hadn't seen anyone with more than an IV or two. Nobody had been really sick since I was younger and they had kept me out of the hospital those times, so I was pretty clueless. I did go back in the room, but was a bit more prepared when I went back in, as I said I had no clue.

It's funny because I probably never would have referred to myself as a kid at the time but I certainly felt it. But I didn't have any other frame of reference to put that in. He did fine afterward the surgery, he lived about another decade afterwards...

That whole scene's been popping into my head a lot lately, not sure why. No one's in the hospital, no one's sick. My other grandfather died just about a year ago so I know that's been in my head. It just keeps coming up. Plus, I always get a little morbid around the holidays from missing “the way it used to be”. Tonight there was a hospital scene on TV that looked too familiar and made me start thinking about it, so here I am...

FYI - the comment about 'we knew it was going to be bad' was re-written several times, it was very caring and not condescending. But I can't get it written the way I want so you get this little disclaimer.

Tara Lipinski

So whatever happened to Tara Lipinski? It's not a name you hear much any more. I haven't even seen her on television much (acting or skating). It's skating season so she's popped into my head a few times lately when I see it on TV. Plus I saw some Champions on Ice posters at Breslin last week (even though she was with Stars on Ice) which also made me think about her.

I've seen her a few times, something (fundraiser?) just before she got big, a few times with Stars on Ice and some Tara & Friend's show in East Lansing. She was very impressive each time.

It just seemed as if she completely disappeared. It seems like Sarah Hughes dropped off the map too...

Later: With a little Googling I see she's going to be inducted into the hall of fame next month. I think that's at a show in St. Louis which I think it's where she hurt herself which lead to her not skating so much (anymore?); I have no idea if it's the same arena. She's got a story in International Figure Skating this month, I'm assuming that's related to the induction(?).

A Wizard of Mars

I know I've mentioned Diane Duane several times before. But I just got her last two Wizardry books (7-The Wizard's Holiday and 8-Wizards at War, the latter which came out early!) for my birthday (I read the one, but it just recently came out in paperback and I hadn't gotten it yet since I had it on my Wishlist) the other is my only hard cover of it. She writes a wide gambit of stuff but the Wizardry books are my favorite and the first two are among my favorite books ever. As books like that go, they are probably more Narnia than HP. Part of what I like are there are rules that define How Wizardry Works, you just don't wave a wand...

So I'm excited about the new book that's coming out later next year, A Wizard of Mars, generally if they leave the planet it's for another galaxy or dimension, this will be pretty close to home. Probably tie into some real science and be more fun that just some make believe planet.

Get someone to do your “homework” and benefit hurricane relief

This is a great thought, in an effort to support Hurricane Relief, Dean says:

For a confirmed donation of $50 to the American Red Cross, I'll write a 600 word essay on the subject of your choice, with a minimum of two references.

I'm sure this is a limited time offer (and void where prohibited).

Blind Video-Gamer

Brice Mellen is on G4 TechTV (Attack of the Show) right now. He plays Mario World and Mortal Combat and he's blind. And in a few he's going to play another sightless gamer in “the world's first Sightless Gamer Mortal Kombat Challenge!” Here's a link but they don't really do show notes like they used to...

Here's a little more from USA Today, CNN and Wired.

Plus they are going to show doom on the iPod (which I talked about last week).

We will be together forever...

One of the last of my painted rocks entries (see some other painted rock posts).

So when I first saw this rock and noticed the way it was written I thought that something happened to Meghan, maybe she died or was in a coma or something, but later when I was looking at the images I didn't think see it that way so much. But now as I'm writing this post I feel it again. Something about Meghan makes me feel like she's in the past tense (especially the last sentence), I get the idea that Meghan was never going to see this rock and it made me wonder why? What do you think when you read it?

As you all know I had that sad Avril song running through my head as I was climbing along (and I thought it was sad when she sang it at the concert). But that hasn't been as all-consuming in my brain lately.