Showing posts with label New Jersey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Jersey. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Fat Tuesday - Lean Offerings

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It is so appropriate that today is Fat Tuesday. Last night we watched the Spanish movie Gordos. Not wanting our last days in Cuenca to Passover with regrets, we pushed ourselves out the door today. With plans to visit the Museo de los Metales, we were proud of ourselves getting out before noon.  When we spent the day with Mike and Howard, we visited the man erupting from the volcano, but the museo was closed.

Walking to the bus stop has become a no brainer, but we did notice less traffic than usual on the major road. Approaching the bus stop was eerie; there was not a soul there. Normalmente, there is a small crowd leering into the distance seeking out any sign of a bus. This was ominous. After 15 minutes, 10 longer than usual, we realized there were no buses.

Ron had the bright idea to see if there were any by the Mercado on the other side of the river. Following the river path, we wandered down to the high traffic and commercial area. Right across the street is a great bakery, so we dropped in to check out their offerings for our special dinner guests’ dessert tomorrow night. We are entertaining Mike and Howard if I ever remember to tell them what time to come over. Guys if you read this, come over at 6:30pm. ;  )

As good fortune would have it, the number 100 bus was running.
We took this into the city center, just barely when Ron decided we should get off. We walked four blocks in the same direction as the bus, so we could have enjoyed the ride a bit longer. Nevertheless, the streets were vacant; we walked blocks before seeing another human. I mentioned to Ron that this would be the perfect day for a mugging. There was no one around to hear you scream for help.

Naturally, the majority of those we ran into were other Gringos who looked as perplexed as we must have. There was nothing open; no restaurants were serving food, no retailers were pushing products, nada. Realizing the void around us was probably an omen that the museum would not be open our plans were derailed.

 Changing our strategy, we decided we would check on our coffee roaster; if he was open, we needed coffee. Eureka! We found him behind the counter, pulling a shot of espresso. With nowhere to rush off to, I enjoyed his pulled pork sandwich, though I would not classify it as ‘pulled’ pork. Ron had the red velvet cake. The couple at the next table started chatting. They were from California via Hawaii, but moved here three years ago. The wife was saying there are more cultural events for her to involve herself in than then there were in Hawaii. She did not say, but certainly, the cost of living is dramatically cheaper.

I spotted a woman at another table wearing a t-shirt with
Exit 102
Asbury Park,
New Jersey


My resistance only lasted three minutes before I went over to ask her if she was from Asbury Park. The look she gave me
had me wondering if my face was particularly ugly today. She grimaced, pulled out her shirt and said it refers to the BOSS. Well anyone who has grown up in the area knows the BOSS is Bruce Springsteen

It was the Exit 102 that threw me, because the last time I was on the NJ Parkway, there was no exit 102. The closest one to my former home and Asbury Park was 105. She was not the least bit friendly, so I explained that is my home area and walked back to our table.

Leaving the café, Ron suggested we walk home along the river since buses were in short supply. Most buses were off the grid, but taxis were prevalent. I agreed to walk knowing we could get a taxi at any time. 


We did in fact walk home along the river. My pedometer shows we covered 5.51 miles, but we did stop at the SuperMaxi for fixings for tomorrow’s dinner. By that point, I really was ready for a taxi, but the walk is only another ¼ of a mile from there, so we hoofed it. 

I had to Google the parkway exits when we arrived home and sure enough, there is an exit 102 now. It is just three miles from 105. 

So Cuenca, with almost everything closed, we did have a passover after all.

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Saturday, February 16, 2013

Had a Job List

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I was cleaning out some files on the computer and came across this list I had done for my graduation party when I received my doctorate. I had it as a poster to show where I had been and how far I had come. It seems like ages ago now and the list has increased exponentially since it was first written, but I have not added to it.

Ryan’s Long List of Jobs and Careers

Leon’s Arcade – Coin changer Long Branch, NJ  13 years old

Miles Shoe Store – Stockboy and Salesman, Eatontown, NJ  15 y.o.

Private Family - Gardener and general slave, Elberon, NJ  16 y.o.

Bishop’s Restaurant – Dishwasher, New Lothrop, MI  17 y.o.

Biscayne Bay Restaurant – Waiter, Miami, FL  18 y.o.

Red Flag Taxi Company – Driver and Dispatcher, Jamestown, NY 

Jamestown Country Club – Waiter, Jamestown, NY 

Daily’s Diner – Owner and Operator, Warren, PA  19 y.o.

Grants Department Store – Pet Department Manager, Shrewsbury, NJ

Woolco Department Store – Pet Department Manager and Paint Sales - Shrewsbury, NJ

New York and Long Branch Railroad – Drawbridge Operator, Ticket Agent, Switchboard Operator – All over Central Jersey

Teresa’s Beauty Salon – Hairdresser, Long Branch, NJ

Started back to college for my B. A. degree – Thomas A. Edison State College 1976

Hair House – Hairdresser, Spring Lake, NJ

Graduated with a B. A. in Psychology 1979

Sears and Roebuck – Credit Collector, Eatontown, NJ

New Jersey State School for the Mentally Retarded – Teacher of Deaf and Blind, Mentally Retarded, Woodbridge, NJ

New Jersey State Department of Human Services – Welfare Investigator, Trenton, New Jersey

St. Michael Elementary School – Teacher 3-6 grades, Philadelphia, PA

Started Masters in Social Work – Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 1983

Graduated with a Masters in Social Work 1986

Stanislaus County Department of Social Services – Child Protective Services Investigator, Modesto, CA


Modesto Junior College - Starting teaching Human Services, then Human Sexual Behavior, and Sociology 1987- 1999

Memorial Hospitals Association – Coordinator of Social Services, Modesto, CA

Crossroads Psychiatric Facility – Clinical Social Worker, Ceres, CA

Started New Directions…In Social Work Care, Owner and self-employed as a medical social work consultant 1990, Modesto, CA

Changed the company name to Therapeutic Interventions 1995 - Medical social work consultant, started EAP programs, private practice therapist, life coaching

Started on doctorate degree in International and Multicultural Education, University of San Francisco, August, 1997

Graduated May 20, 2000   What is next?  Stay tuned for the next list.


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Thursday, November 01, 2012

Obama Does Right By New Jersey

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I have not written much about the elections this year as I have in elections past. However, after Hurricane Sandy has practically destroyed my home State of New Jersey, I feel urgently prompted to speak up.

New Jersey has 127 miles of beaches. Most of my formative years were spent at the beach in Long Branch. Having been born a few blocks from the ocean, and then living my first 16 years just blocks from there, an abundance of memories swirl through my mind. As a child, my kindergarten was across the street from the ocean. My elementary school was two blocks from the ocean. The beach is where I collected seashells, started working from 13 years old, and received my first kiss from someone who I was not related to. My family lived only blocks from the beach. The ocean, beach and boardwalk are all part of my identity. They all shaped bits of who I am.

Most people who know Bruce Springstein, know Asbury Park, NJ. This is the sister city of Long Branch as it is only 7 miles down the shoreline. 

Most of the Jersey shore is now in shambles. Hurricane Sandy made toothpicks from planks of wood that was once the boardwalk. There were photos of roller coasters swimming in the sea. So many hurricanes in the past have destroyed the boardwalk. They have been rebuilt time and again, but each time at a tremendous expense. 

President Obama toured the Jersey shore with Governor Christie to assess the damage and offer financial assistance for recovery. Obama is able to provide services that are needed by the people who have had devastation. 

Romney's campaign has tried pulling a few politico moves. First of all they have asked people to donated canned goods and clothes to the Red Cross for those in need.  This sounds reasonably charitable. However, they continued to solicit these items even after the Red Cross asked them to stop. The Red Cross asked for money donations in lieu of canned food and clothes for the simple reason that these would require person power to sort and distribute. Whereas if money were donated, they could buy what was needed for expedited distribution. 

The other Romney "pull the wool over your eyes" attempt was really slick. The Republican campaign bought $5,000 worth of food and provided it for people to pick up, but not for themselves, but to donate to the Red Cross.  This was to make the Romney relief effort look like a success whether it would have been otherwise or not. Read it for yourself here. If you read the article below, the Red Cross had to divert person-power from their real relief efforts to deal with Romney's stunt.

Obama may not have completed all that he promised during the last election, but Americans always forget, the balance of power in our system. All candidates can promise whatever they think the public wants to hear, but it takes Congress to make it into law. Obama has not had it easy with the right wing Republicans who refuse to work across the aisle, but instead want to be kings of their own pile of power, without regard to the good of the masses.

I am proud to say that I voted for Obama. I am proud to say that I voted in the State of New Jersey.

New Jersey food drive here.
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Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Drive In and Sit a Spell

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When I was a kid growing up in New Jersey, the Drive-in movies were the biggest treat for me. Of course, early one, we had a station wagon where the back seats were flipped down. There were lots of pillows and blankets there. Under the big screen there was a petting zoo and playground. Whoever owned this outdoor theater in Eatontown, NJ had a smart marketing idea.

Once the movie started, I was curled up in blankets out like a light while my parents enjoyed the movies in peace. They had double features back then. In later years, I did enjoy the shows. Going to the snack bar for theater food was a different treat.

The reason I bring all of this up is because Google Doodles is celebrating with an animated tribute to the first drive-in movie theater, which was opened in New Jersey on June 6, 1933. It was a long time thereafter before I made my appearance on the scene, so they had decades to perfect the technology before my child hood ever kicked into gear. You can watch it here.
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Friday, November 25, 2011

Blimp Friday

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Just about everyone world-wide is familiar with the US term "Black Friday". This is the most celebrated shopping day on the calendar and it is the day after Thanksgiving. If merchants don't make a major haul with sales on this day, the rest of the Christmas shopping season will look like the Grinch who stole Christmas. 

What most people give little reference to is Blimp Friday. This is the same day as Black Friday, but it a bit more personal. This is the day when everyone realizes they ate more than a teenage boy who has toked a few funny joints to survive the family gathering. Thanksgiving evening and the day after, people try to rent themselves out as the new Goodyear Blimp, swearing they are never going to eat again, at least not for the next two weeks. This manages to truncate to less than 4 hours in reality when that turkey sandwich on gooey white bread with Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise is screaming your name from the fridge.

We worked diligently at polishing off our Thanksgiving dinner. Sharing our table was W. Hunter Roberts, a Swedenborg minister, Melissa and Scott Rank, and our B and B guest Vidor. Vidor is originally from the Philippines but now lives in New Jersey. Our turkey came cooked and stuffed from Culinaris, the gourmet grocery store and it ran 6 1/2 kg. (14 lbs) after being cooked. We were expecting two others, but they were held up in Prague. Prior to sitting down to  the dinner table, our gullets were prepped with hot artichoke dip, assorted crackers and goat cheese all washed down with some Asti Spumanti, donated by one of my students. Once at the dinner table, accompanying the turkey was a mountain of mashed potatoes, a bog of cranberries of various types, a canal of sweet potato casserole, boats of Brussels sprout mash, rivers of gravy, and enough stuffing for three life sized teddy bears.

Before a single fork was dislodged from its place, Ron had prearranged for Hunter to do a communion. She brought a loaf of bread, said a prayer and broke the bread passing it around to share. As tradition dictates, she did the same with a glass of wine. Ron had a copy of this prayer for anyone who wanted to recite it with him.

Prayer for Peace
God of many names, lover of all peoples; we pray for peace in our nations and in our world.
We pray for all who have the awesome responsibility of power and decision-making.
We pray for the innocent victims of violence and war.
Lead us and all the people of the world from death to life, from falsehood to truth.
Lead us from despair to hope, from fear to trust.
Lead us from hate to love, from war to peace.
Let peace and justice fill our hearts, our world, our universe.       Amen

Though none of this is something I would have chosen, it seemed to make all the rest content, so it didn't ruffle my feathers on this lovely holiday of sharing. As the dinner progressed, as we shared stories of holidays past spent with families, some rather hysterical while others bordered on OMG, I realized a new business idea. 

Remember you saw it here first. Announcing the new Family Holiday Warning Labels. Why waste time and embarrassment when you bring friends or new romances home to meet the family for a holiday? With my new offering, no one is caught off guard. As you walk in the door you slap the appropriate label on the forehead of each family member. 
Nephew Timmy: Normally a pleasant ten year-old child, but when over excited, he will bite your ankles.
Aunt Maude: Never stops talking about how much she misses her long dead husband who she hated when he was alive.  
Uncle Henry: Has dementia and may whip out his penis without warning.  
Great Aunt Minnie: If she tells you she can play a wind instrument, don't ask her to demonstrate her talent.
Mother: Still striving to look twenty-eight, she believes her breasts continue to be firm and will offer to let you squeeze them if you are good. 
Grandfather:  Will rest his dentures on the dinner table between courses after he flicks them in the hair to loosen food particles.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening of sharing.
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Sunday, February 06, 2011

Up For Adoption

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When dad passed away a few weeks ago, I jokingly mentioned to my brother that we were now orphaned. As Chaucer wrote "Some truths, too painful or too likely to provoke, can be spoken only when the listener has been disarmed by laughter." 


If I have successfully disarmed you, here is the deal. I am putting myself up for adoption. Oh, I realize no one wants we older kids, let alone those that have been used and abused so often they look like the end result of a demolition derby. However, everyone needs somebody and with all of the "family values" going around, I am feeling a need to find one. The last one left me disillusioned. 


For more years than I am willing to count, I blamed myself while wearing the logo Black Sheep. I thought I was too different or radical for them to cut through the layers of surface emotionality to reach the depths of unconditional love and feeling. Hindsight as they say is 20/20 or just maybe it is the laser surgery I had on one eye that is allowing me to see clearly. It has not been all me all these years.


The last time I was with my mother's siblings and my 8 cousins, the "close knit Italian family" was in 1994. My mother passed on before her own mother, but when my grandmother passed the warm and fuzzy family portrait turned out to be a charade, perfect for a Showtime drama. Neurosis and egotistic behaviors abound with enough characters to survive a run of five seasons minimum. It is like the Sopranos without the guns. 


What prompted all of this was my brother's suggestion that I return to NJ for the burying of our father's ashes. With spinning thoughts, I shared my concerns about the family reception. My brother the optimist said it would be like the prodigal son returning. Yes, I responded, but the joys of the prodigal son's return only lasts as long as an orgasm and is not as much fun. 


My trump card was that I no longer had a driver's license, so would be held hostage without a means of transportation or of escaping once there. The end scenes of Rosemary's Baby flashed through my mind, surrounded with no escape once in the clutches of the demonic mob. 


To further try and persuade me that a Jersey shore jaunt should be on my travel plans, my brother pulled his final card. "You will have to stay in a hotel. My dog bites. But I am not working, so I could drive you around." My first reaction was if you have time on your hands, train your dog. What happened to "Blood is thicker than water"? We are so different. The dog is just a symptom of something greater, but I have yet to figure out what it is, but it does hurt. We each seem to understand what is emotionally painful to ourselves, but without any comprehension of what are thorns for others.


When I gave it more than a spark of thought, the question was why would I want to see any of these people after all of these years? I have made attempts to reach out. I have sent notes to my aunt and uncles. I have befriended relatives on Facebook hoping to open the lines of communication. All to no avail, not even a note of condolence.


With clear vision and finally coming to the realization that true family are those who you bring into your life to nurture and be nurtured by, I am setting myself free and making myself adoptable. I am already potty trained. I come with papers; they are called university degrees. I can feed and dress myself. It is fortunate that I have a few people in my life who recognize my assets. In addition to Ron, like the Velveteen Rabbit, I just want family, to make me real.

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Sunday, August 08, 2010

Mysterious Foods

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Foodies and mystery lovers can rejoice with the mingling of the two in a series by Colorado author Diane Mott Davidson's. Her main character is named Goldie (birth name is Gertrude). Goldie starts out as a single mom after divorcing her no good, rotten, physically abusive medical doctor husband, hence known as the jerk. In order to support herself and her sole child Archie, Goldie starts Goldie's Catering Service: "Where everything turns out just right", in Aspen Meadows, CO. It needs to be said that Goldie moved there from the New Jersey shore, my home territory.

As a caterer, she is not only busy buying ingredients and making luscious dishes, but Aspen Meadows is a hellish place to live with a tremendous murder rate ranging over fifteen books so far. What makes these books especially fun, besides the descriptions of food preparation that will have you running to the fridge for a snack attack, she includes recipes for what Goldie is preparing. Goldie has some load of patience, because I used to do a lot of cooking, but there is no way I would spend that much time preparing a dish now.

This did get me salivating though. With an insatiable hungry for a tart lemony dessert after having a faboo one at Gerloczy Restaurant, the cravings have been fiercely building. With the cooler weather, I threw caution to the wind about heating up the kitchen and made lemon bars. 

The challenge here is finding what I needed. For example, they have brown sugar, but it is not the same brown sugar that we use for baking. It took me twenty minutes to find baking soda, so I bought 5 packets. One yummy recipe I found for lemon-raspberry muffins, but it calls for dried raspberries. I may substitute dried cranberries instead. Now I am looking for a zester and citrus fruit channeler.


Interestingly, I received my first "Goldie" book from a retiring Professor of  Political Science who happened to like mysteries and cooking. He finished his Fulbright year teaching here, had the book here, so gave it to me.
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Friday, July 02, 2010

My Cup Runneth Over

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Tuesday, I had a heartwarming experience that really bowled me over. As much as I wanted to share the moment, I selfishly wanted to keep it as mine alone for a short while to savor. One of my former students, Adam Meszaros (accents deleted on purpose), back from the days of having students for four semesters, more intensely than now, invited me for a coffee. In addition, to being his instructor, I was his MA thesis adviser. Adam aced his defense and final exams in both American Studies and Teacher Training. He thanked me a million times, which was more humbling than one would expect.


At the end of our coffee, Adam presented me with tokens of his gratitude. The first was a copy of the book called Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, a title I have had on my Wish List for quite some time. It was a thrill to finally get a copy, but more than that was the fact that Adam took the time to know what books I wanted and hunt it down. His note inside "Thought the title of this book expresses the most important fact I learned from you: the "power of thinking". How I kept from bursting into a waterfall of tears at that moment, I will never be able to capture the 'thought'. As a second gift, Adam made something for me, which will be an office decoration and inspiration. 


I  need to walk you through the graphic, which he created and had laminated, to fully comprehend and appreciate the effort he went through. 
1). Quercus borealis maximus is the Latin name for the Red Oak tree. Not only did I NOT know that, but I also did not know it was the New Jersey State tree, where I was born. The Liberty Bell refers to my years of living in Philadelphia and the Rockies for my time in California.
2.) Hungarian flag colors and my venturing here.
3.) 18 Wattles really threw me. 18 is our building number. Akacfa means Acacia tree. Wattle is a type of Acacia tree. 
4.) BudaBaB our b and b's name is referenced here. In Hungarian bab is bean. Many Hungarians question why we call it BudaBaB when we are on the Pest side.
5.) I am notorious for using a rubber stamp with my initials on 3x5 file cards or participation sheets when they actively speak in class. This was my way of encouraging their language skills.
The Skinner quote on the bottom is one of my favorites.


Shockingly, I managed to hold myself together when Adam was honoring me with these gifts, but later I spoke to Ron in the States. More typical of me, I lost it and could not speak for a few minutes, being choked with emotions. Thank you Adam!

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Monday, June 21, 2010

Three Cheers for New Jersey

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Everyone loves to be cruel to NJ. It if where a person, it would be the one who is everyone's' favorite scapegoat. I always felt it was poorly position so close to NYC, making it look like the poor stepchild. However, New Jersey and particularly my hometown was known as the Home of Seven Presidents. Seven US Presidents had summer homes in Long Branch and Elberon, which was a part of Long Branch back then. 

Budget Travel had this great article on the revitalized Jersey shore, including my home town of Long Branch. These things were invented in New Jersey The light bulb, phonograph, the first movie projector, and electric guitar. NJ had the countries first drive-in movies. 

The first game of baseball occurred in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1846 and 50 years later in 1896, the first basketball game took place in Trenton, followed by the first intercollegiate football game played in New Brunswick in 1869.

In entertainment, in The War of the Worlds radio prank, the martians landed in West Windsor Township, NJ. Other famous people who did not land from, but were born in NJ are Grover Cleveland, Buzz Aldrin, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and Frank Sinatra. If that is not enough, go here for more.

And none of you would be reading this if it were not for Thomas A. Edison who had labs in Newark, West Orange, and Menlo Park, NJ.

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Thursday, April 15, 2010

I stumbled upon this article yesterday. At the time, when I saw the title, I thought here we go again, some moron posted some rant about their boss on FB, not remembering the boss was on the friends listHow Facebook Ruined My Career is a pretty attractive title for getting your curiosity piqued. If the article is not there when you click on the title, the reporter was writing from experience. 

This got me to thinking about how dumb people can be to post things on their Facebook account when they KNOW who they have approved as friends. Bloggers at least have the rock to crawl under that we have no control over who reads our posts if we go public. I honestly try to control the mental flow that pours onto these web pages, but you know what? I have held it in all too long; at my age, it is time to throw caution to the wind. 

This blog is one thing, but what is posted here goes into my Facebook, Twitter, and Plaxo accounts automatically. All by my choice, but when someone sends me an e-mail quoting my crank of the day, I wonder "how did they know?" Duh! They read it on one of those accounts. These posts do not go out to the twenty-four other social or professional accounts people have requested that I "connect" with them. I connected with them and they have ignored me ever since. What is up with that?

Yet, the other side of this public emotional exfoliation, when I read the article referenced, I was horrified to learn that some places of employment can actually control your private, non-working hours. They can monitor your accounts and some IT companies can claim ownership of all of your intellectual properties 24/7. Alternatively, I read in the last few days that the State of New Jersey, my birthplace, has made it illegal for companies to monitor employees' private Internet usage. GO NJ!

My last observation for today is formed in a question that passes through my mind every so often. Now that we have so many "Social Networks", do we really keep in touch with that many people? It was a thrill to find some of my first cousins on Facebook, but I still don't hear from them. When I send a note, they respond to the point, no details. If we communicate in 140 characters or less are we really communicating? Anyone miss a good long chat?
 
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Monday, October 08, 2001

London, Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

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London, Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
Mr. Happy’s partner was at breakfast this morning. He grunted a greeting after I said “Good morning!”, then got up and left the room. John played out his robotic coffee or tea skit. Nothing was said about our checking out that morning or anything else that might be misconstrued as friendly, warm or that would invite us to return. We had slept a little later then usual and finished breakfast at 10:00 am and went back to the room to finish packing what was going with us.
At exactly 11:00 am, the checkout time, I went to the breakfast counter and set our keys on the counter. Without looking up, John said “That will be six pounds eleven for phone calls.” I paid him with a ten pound note and he handed me the change without any more words being spoken. He never once said thanks for staying here, come again, go to hell, nothing, nothing, nothing. We grabbed our bags and left.
I of course had to go to the Internet café one more time to see if all of the accommodations were completed without an issue, while Ron verified our train arrangements. When I returned, we were ready to take the last tube for this time around to the rail station to get our outgoing train. We had thought of leaving our bags at the B & B and check out more of London for one last time, but when John was so blank, we decided to leave on an earlier train.
As we leave London, allow me to make some final observations. It was difficult getting used to the driving on the opposite side of the road and the steering wheel where our passenger side is. Fortunately, all crosswalks are marked with ‘Look right’ or ‘Look left’ depending on which side of the street you are on. If you jaywalk, you definitely do so at your own risk. It was quite unnerving the first few times we saw children sitting in our traditional drivers side. What was more so, was seeing dogs hanging their heads out the windows. Lasting impressions!!
From some of the jokes we heard, we did not think the British trains would be that efficient. A few people, Brits, commented that they have the worst on time service in Europe, but I think the Italians hold the record. In the train station, we had to get out BritRail passes validated before boarding the train. We had people everywhere offering to assist us and when we were called to the counter, it was only a matter of minutes for the validations. We took off to the train and found a car we could board. With the BritRail, we had a choice of 1st Class or Standard and we had chosen the Standard to fit with our new lifestyle of living cheaply. The Europass only comes in 1st class, so we will move up when we leave Great Britain.
The seats were very comfortable and Ron was able to snatch a foursome with a table. I was tempted to whip out the laptop, but this was a chance to read instead. I have found this pleasant author that writes mystery stories, nothing heavy, just fun. The author is Nancy Atherton and the books are the Aunt Dimity series. The first one, I read on our trip to Egypt and it was fun, so I bought more for this trip. On our flight from Denver to New Jersey, I had read Aunt Dimity’s Death, which sets the scene for the rest of the books. On the train, I was reading Aunt Dimity Digs In. They take place in the English countryside, the Cotswold area, so it makes it more fun. Our friend Daphnee had given me the book Seven Up by Janet Evanovitch. This too was a mystery and it took place in New Jersey. She is an incredible writer too and I am looking forward to reading more of her works. In between, I had read The Girl With the Pearl Earring. The name of the author escapes me, but it was a great book about the Dutch artist Vermeer. It will be a greater pleasure to see his work now that I have read that book. If anyone needs a relaxation book, all of the above are recommended highly. I call them mind candy.
Well, I would love to tell you how wonderful the scenery was as we whisked by on the train, how the villages were idyllic, but it was not like that at all. Most of the scenery was either another train flashing past us in the opposite direction or industrial areas at the side of the tracks. There were no cute little houses with cute little yards and cute little dogs that were making cute little yapping noises as the train went by. The scenery was not worth staying awake for, but I did get a lot of reading done. After five relaxing hours on the train, it was time to get off at our new home for the next week. Running out of time, so I will let you know where we are headed next in the next chapter.
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