Down for the count

I’ve been knocked over by a truck. That’s what it feels like anyway. The medical term for my miserable state is the flu. Three little letters don’t do much to describe how horrible it feels.
Some facts:
Dogs don’t care if you are sick. They still want out. Repeatedly.
When it gets really boring lying on the couch [...]

Don’t call the library police

True confession: I keep library books past their due date. When I was a kid my parents jokingly threatened my with the Library Police. (I think it came from a Stephen King novel — one ofmy favorite authors as a 12-year old.)
So despite a half-fear of the ominous Library Police, why do I still [...]

The authenticity police? Who, what, me?

I’ve just finished reading Turning the Tables | Restaurants from the Inside Out, by Steven Shaw, founder of egullet. I may fancy myself a foodie but this is where the big boys and girls go to play, and I’m usually too intimidated by their knowledge, cooking and dining experience to do much more than lurk. [...]

You can’t call in sick on vacation

You can’t have a trip as long and covering as many miles as our recent one and not have a rock bottom low point. Mine came at a bus stop in Lyon.
I developed a nasty sinus infection about a week or so into the trip. I tried self-treating by eating dangerously large dabs of wasabi [...]

As good as traveling and only two miles away

I had a blast last night without leaving the country. In fact I didn’t leave my zip code.
Two hours of euphoric enjoyment two miles from my house was a good reminder that all the good things in life aren’t a plane ride away.
Of course there has to be a travel tie-in, and there is. [...]

Seven things about being back from a trip

[This random post inspired by my friend over at TrapDoor who sent me this.]
> I always go through a seriously cranky period when I return from a trip. Nothing pleases me. I’ve been known to leave the Kroger in frustrated tears a few days after returning home because I can’t find [expletive]ing *blood orange juice*, [...]

Rome: Mostly sunny, 81

Sun
Jun 10

Mostly Sunny

81°/61°
10%

81°F

Mon
Jun 11

Mostly Sunny

81°/61°
10%

81°F

I’ve posted about the ten day forcast zone before. It’s a big milemarker in the trip anticipation.
Well Rome is forecast to be 81 and mostly sunny when we arrive and on the 11th when we set sail. I’m loving it!

Almost as excited as Truffle

When Truffle wakes up in the morning he is thrilled to be alive. He hits the floor running (literally), hopping, dancing, wagging his tail, the happiest creature in the house. It’s time to get up! It’s another day! Yippeee! I’m always envious of him as I begrudgingly extract myself from my cozy nest.
But lately I [...]

What’s the difference in formal and informal anyway?

When you go on a boat on a trip you need a boatload of clothes. On our upcoming cruise we have three formal, three informal (which I read to mean “slightly less formal”) and five casual — never to be read as shorts — nights. 
We began the prepacking dryrun today. In trying to estimate what [...]

What do you do when people (namely Travis Heaton) stiff you on money for your Great 10-Year Anniversary Trip?

You call the Jefferson Co. Cold Check Recovery Program of course.

We are newly converted big fans of these folks. On our behalf, at no charge, the county attorney’s office is sending a 10-day warning letter to our deadbeat Derby renter Travis Heaton, giving him that 10-day period to pay up or criminal prosecution will begin. [...]