Final Days in South America

The Beagle channel lies before us and we are being boarded by our Argentian Pilot who will take us in to port, Ushuaia. We cruised slowly through the channel, Dusky Dolphins and Peale's Dolphins riding our bow waves, Magellanic Penguins swimming about (the 5th species we've seen this trip) and of course, the majestic Albatross seeing us in. Docking in Ushuaia was a little nerve racking, all of us hanging over the gunwales watching the captain back in and parallel park this big ship. We docked in the evening and were allowed to exit the ship for a night of pub crawling. We ventured into the small, active little town and I bought some of the crew drinks. Arlene was the last to stagger home down the dock in the wee hours. That shouldn't surprise any of us.

The next morning we were awakened bright and early by our expedition leader's voice for the last time. We were supposed to have been awake earlier but our alarm didn't go off. After boarding our buses we toured the Ushuaia prison, shopped in town for "end of the world" chocolate (which is very yummy and I didn't bring any home for any of you, just us), and then went up in the slopes of the Andes for a nice lunch (our last in Argentina). As we headed to the airport for our trip to Santiago I could see our ship in the distance. I was saddened to leave her and jealous of whomever was going to get our cabin. That was my cabin and I wasn't all that keen on giving it up.

The next 36 hours are somewhat of a haze. Dinner in Santiago at Azul Profundo (Deep Blue in spanish), overnighting at this crappy airport hotel Diego de Almagro, then two tortuous, long Copa Airline flights ending at 1:30 Monday morning. It's a shame the trip ended on such a low note with a surly flight crew and a two hour wait for the baggage.

Cabo de Hornos - Cape Horn

We actually touched the Antarctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean today. The Captain took us within 4 miles of the Cape. Cape Horn is significant in marine history as it was extremely difficult to round this dangerous craggy piece of continent. The weather is always unpredicatable with waves in excess of 50´developing within minutes. Many sailors have perished trying to round the Horn and they are said to soar above on the silent wings of the Albatross. We were fortunate and had wonderful weather. Sometimes it is a challenge to get this close due to the fact that the Chileans don't like the ships that depart from Ushaiha (Argentina) to enter their territorial waters. Quite political the whole situation. On the point or Cape Horn there is a weather station, the Chilean flag and a monument. On the monument there is a poem:

I am the Albatross that awaits you
At the end of the earth
I am the forgotten soul of dead mariners
Who rounded Cape horn
But they did not perish
In the furious waves
Today they fly on my wings for all eternity
In the ultimate embrace
of the Antarctic wings

Heading North

We have left our last landing point in Antarctica and have began the journey across the Drake Passage to the Horn of South America (cape Horn). Tears well up in my eyes as I look out from the stern of the ship at this land that has touched my heart and soothed my soul. So barren a place, so alive a place I have never seen. Every iceberg holds a new wonder, every landing a new adventure, I can certainly see the draw that kept Shackleton and the rest coming back no matter the hardships. The Drake Passage was just the beginning for their arduous journey, for us, it is the end. They say you can get the polar bug and I believe I have it. I think not of home and the comforts that holds but think only of how I can come back here and when.
Every turn of the propeller sends us further north and Smith Island is off the starboard side of the ship. This is the last land we will see for ~ 2 days. Everything we do is the "last" of our trip. It's the last island we will see in Antarctica, the last whale, the last iceberg, the last sunset, the last........

I´m beginning to get seasick again. I have put on the patch behind my ear and am preparing myself for the side affects it gives me, dry mouth, sleepiness and blurry vision. Lovely, eh

"How hard it will be to become ordinary citizens again"cinemaphotographer, March of the Penguins


Life is not ordinary here, thus having experienced it, we are no longer ordinary citizens.

Dena's Birthday

Dena's birthday was very special for her for a large number of reasons. The morning started out with three humpback whales (which she adores) off the bow of the ship. They surface fed for quite a while allowing us to get some great photos. They were so close at one point that using the zoom was too close. It´s a very neat experience watching such a huge animal. They are quite graceful. It´s a little depressing to think that they were mercilessly slaughtered in the early 1900´s. After our whale watch stop we boogied over to the Enterprise Islands. We had a zodiac ride in the rain/snow and saw an old whaler wrecked on the rocks and the most spectacular iceberg ever. David (our naturalist and zodiac driver du jour) hung over the edge of the zodiac and grabbed a little bergie bit. He let all of us hold it and do our kodak moments. It was quite heavy. A silly thrill but it was fun.


Then off to Hydrurus Rock Island which is a seldom stopped at location as it is not well sheltered and the landing and swells can be quite challenging. The place was spectacular with many fur seals including a blond one which is quite rare. There were multitudes of chinstrap penguins all very close to us and blue eyed shags. Everyone on the island had babies. It´s so much fun just to watch all the drama in these penguin colonies. Our zodiac ride was adventurous both out and in. On the way to shore we had the Captain driving our zodiac. He´d never landed before on Hydrurus Rock so wanted to go check it out. He broke every rule in the book, driving us right up inside a U shaped berg that was partially submerged so we were litterally sitting on top of the iceberg. We then all got to touch it and have another kodak moment. Lots of those as you can imagine. Then he ran us up real close to the fur seals, another no no. But we appreciated all the fun for sure.
The way back to the boat the captain and the expedition leader got into a race and we roared back to the ship in 5 ´ swells with the bow of the zodiac flying all over the place. What a riot!

Dena´s day was topped off in fine fashion as the crew made tonight special. I had reserved a table for 8 and invited some of our newfound friends to join us for the celebration. (Henry and Nancy Geyer Philadelphia, Kathleen and Rachel McIntire Atlanta, Shannon Horner from Montreal, etc) The wine flowed and when it was time for dessert the stewards broke out the guitar and tamborine and sang 3 songs for her, one being Elvis's song, Fool´s Rush In

Verdansky Station

This afternoon we stopped by an old British research facility that has been turned over to the Ukrainians called Verdansky Station. It is quite a large facility and they spend 12 months straight there and then rotate home. Their primary goal is ozone level monitoring and this station was the discoverer of the hole in the ozone. They send ozone reports in every 3 hours. One of their claims to fame is the best bar in the Antarctic and the NG Endeavor often has requests to bring them 50 KG sacks of sugar (used to make vodka). There is quite an attitude of assistance down here as you might imagine. Ships pick up, deliver and drop off all sorts of goods and people. Anyways, back to the bar, awhile back when it was in British hands they had a load of wood that was meant to make a dock of sorts but winter came early and they were unable to complete the task. So, they decided to use the wood to build a bar. It's a fantastic bar, beautifully carved and I'm sure they use it every single night.

Tradition says that guests partake in a shot of vodka followed by a dip of an orange slice in coffee grounds and sugar. It was actually quite tasty. They have a tiny gift shop and a post office as well. If you had your passport (which we didn't) they would stamp it with an Ukranian stamp. Pretty cool. We partook, had a tour of the station and met the scientists and their support people and of course, the bartender. After our tour we took a Zodiac over to the kayak platform and kayaked for a second time. What a blast. A big brown Skua came swooping out of the air and just missed Dena and I's head, then he proceeded to hover over the front of our kayak for a little bit, about 6 inches off the bow. It was really something as these are huge birds. We had a nice time, saw a Weddel Seal and got some much needed exercise. Another lovely afternoon. This evening we will be heading North up the Lemaire Strait for a second pass.

A day in life aboard Endeavor

7am wakeup call this morning. Our expedition leader Matt says in his soothing and calm voice, "Good Morning everyone. There are three humpback whales just off the bow and they are quite active. You may want to join us up on deck for a look". Scramble into clothes and then my parka, change lenses on the camera and run up 4 flights of stairs to the bow. There they are, breaching and blowing. It was a wonderful sight and we stayed on deck for quite awhile. Oh my, it's breakfast time, quick, run down four flights of stairs, deposit parka and then run up three flights of stairs for breakfast. Snarf down breakfast as the Zodiacs are being launched for a landing. Quick, run down four flights of stairs, put on fleece pants and top, waterproof pants, parka, life vest, waterproof boots, touques, hats, waterproof gloves, etc., move all camera gear to waterproof bags, change lenses, again. Run back up a couple flights of stairs and jump into a Zodiac for the ride ashore.

Ashore we marvel at all the penguin goings on and the other wildlife ashore, often attending a walk with a Naturalist. Oops, it's our turn to kayak, get back on the Zodiac for the trip over to the kayak launching platform. Leisurely paddle around looking at icebergs and watching the penguins jumping in and out of the water all around you. I've worked up an appetite, quick it's time to get back to the ship for lunch. Back to the room, remove all the stuff then dash upstairs. Lunch, quick, then a lecture by a naturalist which ends at 2 o'clock. Lisa comes on the ships intercome, we've arrived at our next stop and we'll be boarding in 15 minutes. Quick, run down four flights of stairs and put on fleece pants and top, waterproof pants, parka, life vest, waterproof boots, move all camera gear to waterproof bags, change lenses, again. Run back up a couple flights of stairs and jump into a Zodiac for the ride ashore. Are you tired just reading this. I am. Ashore more marvels and much walking and scrambling over rocks await us. Such a magical place.

Uhoh last boat to the ship is leaving. Quick, jump in. We were quite often the last boatload to leave the landing as we didn't want to miss a thing. Back onboard the Endeavor we'd quickly shower and get all prettied up for tea/cocktails then dinner. We'd often collapse in bed around 11 or midnight from exhaustion. If it wasn't for the morning wakeup call we'd probably sleep right through breakfast. Remember to scroll down as there may be more posts you haven't read for the day......Unfortunately, no pix until perhaps Santiago Chile.....

Petermann Island

We had the opportunity to land at Petermann Island the morning of the 12th. This is the island that we picked up the Oceanites researchers yesterday? Or the day before, I don't know. All the days run into one another, I have no idea what day of the week it is either. The weather had cleared some and the ocean swells were minor so off we went in the Zodiacs. This island is overrun by Adelie penguins. There is also a couple nesting areas for Blue Eyed Shags. These long necked black and white birds look a little like penguins. We walked around the island which was covered in mud, rocks, penguin guano and snow that had red and green algae bloom on it. The island was colorful and smelly. I walked around for several hours, rock hopping and mud slogging. It was great exercise. We ran into a couple fur seals who you have to keep your distance from as they get quite cranky. When they make a whining sound they are agitated. I got a couple great pictures of birds basically flying right over my head, but mostly I just plopped down on a rock and watched penguin colony drama. There is so much drama and it's rather amusing. Adelie's build a rock or pebble nest, carrying many, many rocks from all over to create themselves a nest. This is to keep the wet and cold from their eggs. Adelie's normally have 2 eggs. They will also steal the rocks from one anothers nests. At one point researchers put some painted neon colored rocks out and took a photograph of what nest they ended up in, then they took a picture the next day and they were all in different nests. I guess the phenomen of "the grass is always greener" is not isolated to humans.

This was a very busy island, the Oceanites people were here and now there is a small 25' yacht (they must have a rough time crossing the Drake Passage) that held 3 frenchmen. They were documenting the 100th anniversary of Charcot (French explorer), they were beaming their notes and video to public schools all around France.

Lemaire Channel + more

Feb 11th morning
Our bottom level cabin has some advantages and disadvantages, one advantage is the drone of the engines makes sleeping glorious and deep. We were awakened several times during the night by small icebergs (very small) banging against the hull. Can be a little unsettling to be sure but we are getting used to it. The morning started with a quick run up to the bridge for our passage through the infamous Lemaire Channel. This is a narrow channel with towering dark mountains looming overhead and glaciers flowing down their steep slopes tumbling into the sea. A breathtaking sight.

After we were through the channel we stopped at Petermann Island (well one zodiac did) to pick up 3 Oceanites researchers who had been working on the island for ~ 2 months. I'm sure they were thrilled to see us. We were unable to land and visit the penguin colony due to the severe weather the night before (rain, sleet and snow) which had turned the island into a penguin guano skating rink. So I stayed on the bridge monitoring the sea and witnessed a leopard seal thrashing about a penguin (lunch no doubt), spotted a few humpback whales off the bow and of course, the normal penguin activity in the water. We are now steaming at full speed south to get out of the weather and getting closer to the Antarctic Circle. What an experience that will be if we are able to make it. Keep your fingers crossed.


Arlene's Workout Tip of the Day
On a small cruise ship in rolling seas taking a wide mouth water bottle with you is a bad idea. Doing the treadmill during rolling seas is not only a cardio workout but also an excellent core muscle workout as you struggle to keep yourself on that skinny tread.

Antarctic Circle

We all had gathered on the bridge for the big event after dinner. We have steamed due south all day (weather precluded us from doing much of anything else) heading for the Antarctic Circle. Few cruise ships get to come down this far so this was very exciting to all of us and me especially. The Antarctic Circle is @ 66 degrees and 33 minutes latitude. This area differs much from the Arctic circle as quite a number of people live @ or above the Arctic Circle, in areas like Siberia, Alaska, Canada, Scandanvia, etc. Down at the Antarctic Circle, perhaps only a handful of people live. As we were waiting for that magical yellow line to appear in the water (ok, not an actual line but the GPS tick away the seconds) we were marvelling at the number of icebergs around us, how close they all were and especially admiring this really big one off our port side. I ran down the bow stairs to get a picture of it and all of a sudden a big thunderous cracking could be heard. And BAM, it calved right in front of us all. It was an amazing moment in time as in slow motion this huge hunk of ice tumbled into the water and broke up. The wave it created came racing toward the ship but it was not big enough to cause the Captain any concern.



As luck would have it this was the Antarctic Circle as well so we basically just did a U turn around this huge iceberg and began heading back north. The ice debris from the calving was floating all around us and the Captain and his bridge crew were very vigilant in watching all the bergs around us. By the way, small icebergs or iceberg pieces are called "bergie bits". The kitchen crew served us mulled wine and a small celebration was had on the bow. It was great fun and a moment in the small history of our lives.

We were headed back North to Petermann Island, the Lemaire channel again and then points unknown. I can see the draw of Antarctica as I just want to go further south. I want to know what's around the next island, the next majestic mountain, the next iceberg. Alas, I'm not driving.....

Dinner With Jay Dickman

Feb 10th Evening
We came back to our cabin to an invitation to dinner with Jay Dickman the National Geographic Photographer. We were certainly looking forward to this event and went back to the cabin to put on our best duds. We don't really have much in the fancy cruise ship dinner wear as our clothing choices focused mainly on warmth. But we found something. Dinner was wonderful with Dena being escorted to the table arm in arm with the first officer. We had a nice meal and more importantly some excellent conversation. Jay is a story teller and he certainly has many to tell. From Denengue Fever in Papau New Guinea to a war correspondent in Central America he's been through a lot and we enjoyed them all. The conversation eventually turned to good natured ribbing about how I broke my camera and how Canada is the 51st state, etc, etc. That's ok, Jay had spent months in the Yukon and couldn't say enough about what a beautiful country Canada is. We may be liberal in politics and be known as the country that is the party loft above a more serious USA but we are good people, we know how to have fun and enjoy life.

Port Lockroy

We moved from Cuverville Island to Port Lockroy. A nice sheltered bay with a British station on a tiny little island. The Brits have turned this old winter station into a museum, post office and shopping mall. Finally, we could shop! The Brits abandoned the island about 30 years ago and only recently re-established it. In the meantime the Gentoo penguins had moved in. The island is now inhabited by 3 British station agents and ~ 4,000 Gentoo penguins and their chicks.

We made landfall in a light snow and were the first boat ashore for a change. This proved to our advantage as by the time we came out of the station the snow had turned horizontal from the wind. I had wanted more time to explore the island and hang out with the chicks but the weather was deteriorating and it wasn't good for the camera. We jumped on board and went back to the ship with our treasures in hand and hopefully some postcards with Antarctic stamps and cancellations going out to some of you. Scroll down for more pictures

Dena's shot of the day - Deception Island through Neptunes Window

Cuverville Island

Sunday Feb. 10th, 2008

We arrived first thing this morning after a run south down the Antarctic Penisula to a small island called Cuverville. The bay we entered was calm as glass with glaciers calving into the sea, penguins porpoising all around us and a large Gentoo breeding colony on shore. Today, we kayaked. Dena has been excited about this moment from day 1. Dena and I cruised lazily around the bay stopping off shore of some rocks with many Gentoos jumping in and out of the water. They swam around us and we laughed at their antics. The water is so clear that we can see them swimming beside us. Truly magical. Dena then decided she wanted to go thru this thin ice with the Kayak. I didn't really like the idea as the water looked shallow. You could see the eddys around the rocks. But, we headed that way anyways. You know you're about to get into trouble when your paddle will not pierce the ice and rocks loom ahead. But we made it through (not withstanding a little panic on my part) and are richer for the experience.
After kayaking we went ashore to spend some quality time with the penguins up close and personal. I have a picture of Dena (which probably doesn't do it justice) sitting on a whale vertebra (sp?) looking at a Gentoo penguin who is laying on a whale rib about 3 feet in front of her. She probably sat there for 20 minutes, her looking at the Gentoo and it looking at her. We all sat on these large stones that make up the "beach" and just watched the drama of all these penguins coming and going. They look so clumsy as they make their way down this rocky beach to the water, then they literally dip their toe in the water as if to test it, back up, think about it and then wade in. I won't go on and on about the penguins and their babies and the molters so I don't bore you so I just get on to the end of the morning.

I was the last guest on the island. I don't know why this thrills me, but it does..... Dena and Arlene's boat was already in the water, they yelled to me that they hoped I had lots of protein bars because they were leaving me. The last boat (full of staff naturalists) had to wait for me (hehe) and we actually ended up having to tow Dena and Arlene's boat to the Endeavor. The motor had ice in the gas line. Well, it's off to lunch then Port Lockroy which is the only shopping opportunity in Antarctica. Who knew there would be a shopping opportunity.

Arlene and Dena make landfall in blizzard at Port Lockroy

Dena Communes with Penguin

Dena is sitting on a whale bone vertebrae (from circa 1920's) chatting and communing with a molting Gentoo penguin. This 3 week affair where they molt or change all their feathers is very energy intensive. They cannot go into the water or feed during this time. They basically just stand there while it occurs. Dena sat there for about 20 minutes, her watching him and him watching her. They definitely bonded.

Arlene's shot of Lone Gentoo Penguin with Kayak in background

February 9th continued

Dena wanted me to mention to all of you this poor lone penguin that she spotted high up upon the skree slopes of this volcano. Penguins don't normally hang out at Deception Island because there is not much food and there are no rocky outcroppings. They like to lay and nest on rocks. They build their nests out of small rocks and pebbles. They even steal each others rocks. It's very humorous, anyways, this poor penguin must have been lost. He was about 1000' up on the escarpment, all alone on this very steep hill. How in the world he got up there I don't know but we've seen penguins climb up some pretty gnarly rocks since we've been here. The trick I think in this penguins world is how he's going to get down. Dena is worried and wanted him rescued but you cannot touch or interfere with anything.....


Also, on the subject of temperature, it is quite warm here in general. At Deception Island I was walking around with no hat, no gloves, took my scarf off and unzipped my jacket. I'm not sure the temperature but it was gorgeous! We've had wonderful weather since we hit the South Shetland Islands. We are very fortunate.


I believe I'm going to have to start lagging these blogs as there is so much going on that I don't want to overwhelm you. I know I'm overwhelmed. The pace is almost frantic from early morning til usually 7 or 8 o'clock and then it quiets down. Our daily program this morning said that today is February 10th and it's a Sunday. I had no idea it was Sunday. But forget Feb 10th, I still have more to tell you about yesterday evening.

We were sitting in the lounge after dinner decompressing, drinking our cocktails when I decided to take a quick run up to the bridge for a course plot. I like to keep track on my map the exact course the ship takes. When I was up there a whale was spotted. It became evident quickly (by the fact that they woke the captain) that they were going to stop and watch this humpback mother and calf so I ran to get Dena and Arlene. We were not prepared for going on deck for an extended period of time. It was quite warm so walking on deck with just a fleecy is quite comfortable for about 5 minutes but any longer than that you need a jacket. We spent an hour on deck watching with awe as the mother surface fed, breached and her calf followed her around. Dena, who has blisters on her heels was wearing flip flops. After an hour Dena's feet were frozen, Arlene's fingers were blue but we were giddy with glee at how close they were. We certainly didn't need binoculars.

Deception Island

Every day here is filled with so many experiences that it would fill volumes. It's hard to contain myself sometimes on the blog and not bore you too much, but there is much to tell.
Finally we got some sleep after our long day yesterday. 7am wake up call - we were at the mouth of Deception Island. I was thrilled. I had been looking forward to this since we planned the trip. Deception Island is a huge, still active volcano that last erupted in 1970. Think of it as a circle with a small entrance to the inside. A picture is worth a thousand words. The best way to describe the look is to click on this link. The entrance to this massive bay is called Neptune's Bellows as it is a narrow channel that swirls with eddys on most days and a ship must watch closely not to be run up on the rocks. Today, the sea was calm and we sailed easily in. We parked just off of Whaler's Bay and lowered the zodiacs. There are many bays within this large bay, and whaler's bay is where whaling operations ran from ~ 1905 to 1928. It's like a ghost town with whale bones, large blubber oil storage tanks, old whaling skiffs and all sorts of wonderful relics to entertain us. We spent hours here running up and down miles of black lava sand beaches taking pictures of everything.


As I made my way back in the zodiac I was feeling a little bummed as I had a spot on my camera. I had to get back to the ship and clean it as we were due to disembark an hour later. Today was to be a busy day and I certainly didn't want to miss a thing. In the room I went to clean the mirror inside the camera (a task I've done before on my Nikon film camera) and all of a sudden out popped 3 pieces (the focusing assembly). I was horrified. What was I going to do? I dropped to my knees and started to cry. Here's my $ 1,000 camera, my $ 10,000 trip and there will be no pictures. Then an idea ocurred to me. We have a National Geographic photographer (pulitzer prize winner) on board and he is sponsored by Olympus, my camera's brand. Perhaps he can help. I was nauseous. I waited like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs by the zodiac disembarkation hatch for Jay Dickman to arrive. Each boat that came raised my anxiousness. He said he would try to help later in the evening as he only had time to change for the next trip but in the meantime he had a spare camera body for me. Wow, imagine my luck. Well, I'll make a long story short, this evening he popped the pieces in and all seems to be running fine. Tomorrow we shall see if it holds up. Wish me luck.
Speaking of award winning photographers.......tonight Jay did a photo critique of photos that we were allowed to submit from yesterday. Both Arlene and I received kudos for some of our photos. Arlene received great praise for her shots of "inside the life of a ship" and I got one for the sunset shot (as well as a few others). There were many awesome pictures and much was learned. Scroll down for photos.....

Gentoo's calling - one of Arlene's winners from tonight

Dena licks a glacier

The end of February 8th

What a busy, long day. We landed on the actual continent of Antarctica at a place appropriately named, Brown Bluff. We made landfall about 3:30 pm and I thought, ah shit, more penguins, I'm bored with them already. But as I relaxed and let the moments take me away I realized how much there is to this barren place. The colors in the huge, skyscraper high bluffs was more vibrant than any artist could imagine. The glacier to the left radiated blue and white so colorful that a rainbow paled in comparison. Such beauty in such a remote place.

Many, many Adelie penguins were fledging when we arrived. They were trying to go for their first swim. It was hilarious as they were all sitting on a variety of outcroppings that were exposed due to the extremely low tide. These youngsters vascillated and stalled and generally put off their first swim, however, as the tide started to come in their hand was forced. At the last moment as their low outcroppings disappeared below the rising tide they jumped in. Clumsily they learned to swim and porpoise and just as quickly they jumped up on land again, happy to be ashore. The parents of these Adeliele chicks teach their children nothing - one day the parents just don't come home and the chicks need to fend for themselves. Survival of the fittest.


Many wonders showed themselves today, a 6 week old snow petrel in its nest, jelly fish in the shallows and Killer Whales off the starboard side during dinner. As we steam through the Bransfield Strait on our way to the infamous Deception Island wonders abound everywhere. Icebergs that are a mile square and 60 feet high loom over the ship, a lone penguin floating on a tabular iceberg, seals in the distance, there is just no describing to you the surrealness of the seascape nor the barren beauty of it all. It is incredible how close they get to us red coated intruders. As long as we don't block their path they proceed by us, often within inches. Arlene and I got to golf on Antarctica, her idea. She bought a fold up putter and neon green ball. We putted and logged an official hole on the 7th continent. By the way, she missed her putt, I made mine.......Scroll down for pictures

The Endeavor floats off Paulet Island awaiting her charges to return

Gentoo Penguin with chick

chinstrap Penguin? which one is the chinstrap?

A Chinstrap penguin, if the chinstrap wasn't wearing white you wouldn't be able to tell us from him.....by the way, Dena is the one wearing the goofy hat

Sunrise on the Endeavor

Sunrise on the Endeavor - icebergs loom ahead

A long morning

February 8
We were awakened at ~ 4 this morning for the sunrise and a view of the Antartica Sound, aka Iceberg Alley. We were not disappointed. Words cannot describe the view we received upon arriving on the bridge. Orange hues of the sun rising over the iceberg dotted horizon mixed with the irridescent blues of the glacier ice floating about. Breathtaking and awe inspiring are two words that pale in comparison to the sight.
It's been a long day already as you can imagine. At 9am we headed out on the Zodiacs amidst floating pack ice to Paulette Island where we were greeted by 100,000 breeding pairs of Adele penguins. So that's 100,000 pairs (100k *2 = 200k) and those pairs each have 2 chicks = 400,000 penguins. WOW! That's a lot of penguins. They covered every square meter of this volcanic, rocky beach. The beach was long and they nested on the hills, on the beach and everywhere in between. I felt so sorry for the ones on the hills as they had about a 1/3 of a mile walk each way to get food for their young. There were signs of nature's survival of the fittest here. The carnage was vast. Bodies of dead penguins everywhere and their predators, the birds named Skua, were feasting. We watched as parents fed their young (both mom and dad rear the chicks). Penguins are habitual creatures with 99% of males returning year after year to the exact nest they left the year prior. Females about 60%. They probably find a better more macho mate the other 40%. We had to be careful where we stopped as they have penguins highways. If you're standing on the highway they get very confused and have no clue how to get around you. They literally have worn paths into the rocks and mud, from their nest to the sea.

It's lunch now, time to eat and then prepare to go out again to Brown's Bluff. We are so busy and today, tired. I have found someone with a laptop that will shrink a few pix for you guys so I can post them. Sorry about the spelling

First Landing, First Iceberg

Retraction - I've been requested to retract the report that the swells were only 8 - 10'. After speaking with the first mate, the swells at the height of the Drake Passage were ~ 24'. That's a little higher......Arlene wanted to redeem herself for puking all over the entrance to the dining room and continue to exude her tuff stuff......
This afternoon was spectacular and breathtaking. Our iceberg sighting as well as our first zodiac landing. On Aitcho island we landed to a cachaphony of penguins. We finally set foot on a landmass in the Antarctic circle, not the continent itself yet....but we are getting there. This island is in the South Shetland chain. We walked slowing around in penguin guano, sometimes kneeling or laying in it to the get "money" shot. I'd love to upload a couple shots for you guys but the satellite connection is quite slow and I'm having trouble. They have the computers locked down so I cannot shrink the image.
Tonight was the Captain's welcome cocktail hour followed by dinner. We were not invited to the Captain's table, probably because of her puking in the dining room......
By the way, whoever left the comment of who won what in the primaries, thank you. I won't bother publishing the comment but everyone on the ship made me print them out a copy. So thank you very much.

We are off to bed now as we expect to be awakened at ~ 4:30am to the sites of the Antarctic Sound, aka iceberg alley.

Southern Convergence and our first bergs

Feb 7, 2008
I have no idea what day of the week it is. Arlene and I have finally gotten our sea legs. Dena had them the moment she stepped on board. Somewhere in the middle of the night we crossed the biological/oceanic southern convergence. I'll describe the convergence and it's meaning below. We are currently at ~ 61 degrees latitude. I was upstairs early this morning and just sat, quietly gazing over the grand expanse of ocean sprawled in every direction. To describe it I might use the word infinity. Yes, infinite wide open space and ocean in every single direction. Certainly humbles you.

We've been very busy today. Whale spouts were spotted off in the distance, fur seals porpoising along side the ship and we've just spotted our first icebergs. We couldn't be more amped up! We've spent quite a bit of time on the bridge this afternoon checking out the charts, the petrels, skuas and occasional albatross that flies by. A large grouping of cape petrels (click link for picture) has been riding with us all day, skimming over the bow waves back and forth. The above birds never touch land for 8-9 months of the year. They only land to mate.

@ 2:30pm local time we spotted our first icebergs. These are ~ 16 miles away, that being so large that they extend over our horizon. Usually 80% or more of the iceberg extends below the surface. We are nearing the Shetland Island chain and the crew is planning (wind and weather permitting) our first zodiac landing on some little island between Greenwich Island and Robert Island.
Just as an added note, you may see > 1 post from me in a day and/or pictures, so don't forget to scroll down.

The southern Converenge in case you're interested:
The Southern Ocean is the area south of the Southern Convergence, where a sudden change in ocean temperatures separates Antarctic marine ecosystems from warmer, northern marine ecosystems. The Southern Convergence runs through the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans; the southern portions of these three oceans are known collectively as the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean maintains large populations of phytoplankton and krill, a shrimp-like crustacean now harvested for food by fishing fleets from several countries. Many seals, whales, penguins, and other seabirds also live in this area.

Update - First real day at sea

February 7th 1:30p local time
First, happy anniversary to Dena's parents, Barb and Mel. 48 years of wedded bliss.


We awoke sometime in the wee hours to a rocking and rolling ship. Dena, the curious soul she is got up, dressed and went up to the lounge to peek outside at 4:00 am. She saw nothing but black, but going up 3 decks was a challenge in these seas so she headed back down to her bunk. We struggled up to the dining area for breakfast and were treated with waves 10' - 15' high although, frankly, that's debatable. They seem much higher and the number of broken glassware attests to that. All the chairs are chained to the dining room floor, there are "lead" ropes strung about to hang onto and the ship's doctor has been busy with falls. I have a little motion sickness but Dena and Arlene seemed to be perfectly fine. Arlene quashed that perception when on her way to the cabin after breakfast she blew chunks. So much so that she blew a hole right through the barf bag. They keep barf bags all over the ship. Fortunately I was not there to see the event.



The seas are not slacking but we are seeing some sunshine in the distance. Arlene is still in bed, hours after the incident and I'm sure she is hoping for calm seas. I'm drinking ginger tea, ginger and carrot soup (a staple at every meal) and sucking back ginger ale like it was going out of style. Today's drink of the day in the bar is the "Horse's Neck"; brandy and ginger ale. Don't ever let anyone tell you that ginger doesn't work on motion sickness.

Ushuaia Day 5 I think

Wanted to drop all of you faithful readers about how the trip is going today. Today it is Feb. 5 at 11:00pm Argentina time, basically we are 2 hours less than GMT or 3 hours more than EST. I also wanted to thank all of you for your comments, they are always appreciated. Your good wishes and thoughts are welcome.

As we landed in Ushuaia the wind was buffeting the plane, so much it felt as if we were on a ship. This did not bode well for our catamaran trip. We sailed thru customs and boarded buses for Tierra del Fuego National Park and a wonderful tour guide Lauren. We took pictures of us standing at the end of the PanAmerican Highway. This is a 17,000 km road running thru all North and South America, starting in Alaska. It ends here, in Argentina on a patch of dirt called the National Route 3. The trip was definitely windy, we saw alot of cormorants and a few seals, had some lunch and a few drinks. Life is again, very hard.

Our adrenaline started pumping as the catamaran came into Ushuaia harbor. Seeing the National Georgraphic Endeavor moored there awaiting us sent ripples of excitement through us. The trip that was a dream 3 years ago, a distant thought 18 months ago was now a reality. We boarded the ship and moved into our room then had to rush upstairs for the lifeboat drill. What a busy day we've had. We are currently sailing through the Beagle channel and they expect us to hit the open sea after 3am. They have tied all the chairs down, run heavy lines everywhere for people to hang onto. This should be raucous and I look forward to living until the morning. I bid you all adieu.

Transition Day -- Ushuaia, Argentina

Today was an early day. A 500am wakeup call (sorry, I do not know where the colon is on these keyboards). We left the hotel @ 6am and on to the Santiago airport. We will fly ona charter flight to Punta Arenas (the southern most part of Chile), clear customs, then continue the flight to Ushuaia. Ushuaia(pronounced [u'swaja]) is the capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, and claims to be the world's southernmost city (see discussion below). It is located on the southern coast of the island of Tierra del Fuego in a wide bay, guarded on the north by the Martial mountain range and on the south by the Beagle Channel. Its population in 1999 was estimated at 57,300. In my opinion it has grown up around the lucrative tourist trade that caters to the cruises that depart to Antarctica from here. That means, of course, that it is a short working season for some people.

After all this travelling we are supposed to board a catamaran to explore the Straits of Magellan throughout Tierra del Fuego. Wish us luck. Thus far we have met many nice people on the trip. There are of course, the usual people, the bitch, the whiner, the person that hogs the guide, you know, the usual tour takers. But all in all, we are happy thus far.

Funny story, going thru the agricultural inspection station here in Chile our bags were scanned and of course, we were stopped. Dena and I had a significant amount of snackies some being dried fruits, and trail mix. The fruit was definitely confiscated but I lobbyed hard for keeping the nuts. I convinced them by encouraging them to taste them. They took several nuts out of the bag and because there was salt on them they were approved for entry. whew! Snacks were saved.

On another note, no one wants US Dollars. They want their own currency because the US Dollar is in the shitter. This is such a change from past years when the dollar was strong. It´s odd being in that position that no one wants your money.

Dinner in Santiago

Last night´s dinner in Santiago. Bottles of wine were drunk to be sure. Today we are checking in for the official National Geographic tour.

Santiago Day 2 - Exploring the city

I came downstairs today from our room and was pleasantly surprised to see Panteras, our guide from yesterday. He was out front gossiping with the male staff. And some say men don´t gossip, bah. After some chatting he offered to take us to our first subway stop. Panteras is a very friendly guy and loves to talk. We ended up with a tour of Santiago courtesy of him. He showed us Nerudu´s house (famous Chilean poet) and basically everywhere we were going to go. This got us off to a great start as now I had my bearings. Dena and Arlene have no sense of direction so wandering a city like this is basically all on me. The stress! But now I was fine.

Our first stop the Mercado Central (central market) that is famous in Chile and some say, a tourist trap. The art nouveau building is designed by the same guy that designed the eiffel tower in Paris. (Gustav Eiffel) This central market is famous for the fishmongers and we had fun looking at all the bizarre fish, wandering around and snapping photos. Someone warned us to keep our backpack in front as it was dangerous but since it was not busy on sunday I did not heed the advice. Besides, there was nothing valuable in it. From there it was on to the National Cathedral (built in 1571) in Plaza de Aramas, then a short walk across the river to La Vega, another truely local market that I had read about on the web.


I knew it would be different as no tourists or white people were anywhere to be seen. The area was definitely local and poor- We made our way to the market which was very colorful, everything sold in bins and certainly not much actually refrigerated on this 90 degree F day. The smell was atrocious, rotting fruit and veggies, so we moved on to the area known as Bella Vista. I liked the local market. I like seeing how local people live and not just how it is portrayed to tourists. Seeing the world, opening our eyes and minds and experiencing life throughout this great big planet, that´s what it is all about.

Now, I have to sing my praises here as I was doing perfectly fine, not complaining about the heat, Dena and Arlene on the other hand looked as if death warmed over. I found this amusing. Imagine, me being full of piss and vinegar and these two, in great shape, having so much trouble with the heat and humidy. hehe. So I guided these two to a park bench while I found an open restaurant. We had a lovely lunch of ceviche and camrones (shrimp) with pisco sours of course, then worked on getting a cab back to the hotel. These two were done in.


I got a cab and the cabbie and I had an enlightening conversation in spanish about the city, volcanoes and the like. Dena and Arzie were quite amused since I speak so little spanish, but i was surprised at how much I could figure out. The afternoon was spent lounging by the pool. Sometimes on vacation you just have to chill. We went to the market this evening and a bottle of chilean wine and the superbowl game are calling my name, so I must run. It´s 9pm and the game is just starting. by the way, look for pictures below.

Andean Mountain Farmers

They made our goat cheese, fresh as fresh can be, the goats are off to the right.....and that´s my man Panteras talking to Dena. He´s wearing the green bandana. By the way, what you see, is there entire household. That´s it.

Maipo Canyon with the snowcapped Andes in back

Santiago Day 1 - The road less travelled

Today was our adventure up into Maipo Canyon (pronounced my poo). We hired a private tour company to take us up there, where Dena got to drive a 4WD vehicle. We were picked up at the hotel at 8pm and didn´t get back until 730. Long day. What a beautiful country it is though. We drove up the canyon from start to its end, about 50 miles of dirt road, some rough near the end. During the trip we stopped at this Andean indian mountain farm house where we purchased some goat cheese, freshly made. We had lunch by a lake where we kayaked, drank Chilean wine and beer, and had the goat cheese. Wonderful. After lunch we continued on our trek, bracketed by 15´000 foot Andes peaks covered in snow even in this South American summer. We drove beside the glacier fed river that had that wonderful bluish white hue that all glacial fed rivers do. The end of the canyon found us at a thermal hot springs pool where we jumped in a relaxed for a bit finishing off with a dip in the cold waterfall and a pisco sour. Life is hard here in Chile.

Pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. Some things to note, there is a 5 hour time difference from Los Angeles to here. It is 2 time zones east of New York. Also, I left all my postcard addresses on the plane in a magazine I forgot in the seat pocket. So very few of you will get postcards, my apologies. One last thing, I need your help on this, our room has a bidee (spelling?). How do you use it? You obviously do not urinate it in then wash, what do you do? Thanks all, until tomorrow. We´re going to go wait in the bar for Arlene to arrive.

Santiago - Day Zero Travel Day

The flight from LAX through Panama City via Copa Airlines (a Continental Partner) was incredibly long and arduous. I hate to sound like an ugly American but pretty much everything was spoken in spanish. Occasionally there will be an english translation following by the pilot or stewardess, however, they spoke for 3 minutes in spanish and we get about 20 seconds. Not sure what we are missing but it is definitely something.

The Grand Hyatt Santiago is marvelous. The hotel is situated close to the Andes and thus is farther away from downtown than I would like. However, it is beautiful and due to it's proximity to the mountains, is where all the rich people live. Figures. Today we start our adventures by taking a 12 hour off road trip up into Maipo Canyon. This tour is offered by Hislandes and we're certainly looking forward to it. We arrived completely exhausted, having been up for around 48 hours. The hotel exceeded my expectations in everyway with a sunken living room and a very gracious staff. Room service is coming with my pisco sour then it is off to bed. I am having trouble finding the aprostphe so there will be no contractions on this blog.....hehe. And apparently no spell checking. Spanish keyboard. Took me 5 minutes to get the @ sign.

Various Thoughts

The countdown begins. We leave tonight (or rather Friday morning) at 1:00 am on Copa Airlines. The flight takes us from LAX to Panama City to Santiago. That's a long, long, long flight. There's a lot going on with packing, re-packing and so on. It's very difficult to pack for Santiago which is 86 degrees and then on to Tierra del Fuego (~ 57 degrees) for 1/2 a day and then onto the ship and preparing for 20 - 32 degrees.


My feelings bounce around with every passing hour, from panic that I've packed all I needed, to excitement to apprehension, it's a wild and wonderful world inside my brain. It's 6:30 pm now and I've been trying to write this blog all day. My procrastination skills are fantastic. What am I procrastinating about? Packing. I hate to pack. I hate the decisions that have to be made on a trip of this length. Well, frankly, I hate the decisions for any length trip. You have to decide how many pairs of socks, what to wear each and every day, what to wear more than once, etc. You have to plan for weather that you are unfamiliar with and frankly, 2 continents I'm unfamiliar with. I hate packing. So, I've done everything in the world except pack today. I've even made peelable labels with people's addresses for mailing postcards, rapidly. Now that's sick. But the suitcase remains empty. Four and a half hours until we head for the airport. Perhaps I should get busy, eh?

Vice, Habit or Pleasure?

I drink caffeine. Yes, I do. I admit it. Isn't admission of a problem 90% of the cure? Is it really a problem I have though? I don't drink 4 cups of coffee a day. I hate coffee, can't even stand the smell of it. I get my caffeine through those new fangled energy drinks at $2.50 a can. I used to get my caffeine from an old fashioned can of coke but those as 12 oz and 280 calories. Then I started drinking diet coke and people said that aspartame (aka NutraSweet) will kill me and that all those chemicals in diet drinks bloat you and make you retain weight. Well, I just can't win can I.

So is drinking caffeine a vice? I think not as the definition of a vice is frailty: moral weakness
a specific form of evildoing; "vice offends the moral standards of the community". Well, my caffeine habit certainly doesn't qualify as evildoing. It's not like I'm President Bush or anything..... Is it a habit then? Well a habit is defined as an established custom; or "a pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition". Hmm, well it's definitely a habit then. I like my caffeine first thing in the morning. I like a Red Bull to jolt me awake and get the energy flowing through me. I want to wake up running and on fire baby! Well, I now drink Diet Red Bull and I'm sure that's going to kill me too. Everything is going to kill me eventually I guess. I only drink one little 8 oz. can in the morning, can that be bad? To me, it's pure pleasure. Well, let me clarify, it was pure pleasure drinking a can of full high test Red Bull, not the diet crap. I like the flavor of it, the jolt of it, the tingle of little bubbles on my tongue first thing in the morning. The diet doesn't have the same thrill but, it does the trick. So have I compromised my pleasure for a habit?

Well, regardless of what it is, I'm weaning myself off. You'd think that it'd be easy right? It's only one little 8 oz can a day. How much caffeine is that really? For the record, the amount of caffeine incorporated does not have harmful or toxic effects since one 150 ml cup of tea contains between 60 and 90 mg of caffeine and one 125 ml cup of coffee provides between 95 and 125 mg of caffeine; one 250 ml can of RED BULL provides 80 mg of caffeine (32 mg/100 ml). Since I figure that Red Bull on the National Geographic Endeavor will either be non-existent or really, really expensive, I've elected to quit. How's it going so far. I actually was able to skip a day, Monday. I lived through it. Was the day better or worse. It wasn't as pleasurable to be sure.

National Mentoring Month and Day

Yesterday was National Mentoring Day. As an event the Los Angeles Kings gave the Big Brother and Big Sister organization in the greater Los Angeles area 100's of tickets so that the "Big's" could take their "Littles" to a hockey game. And not just any hockey game, the freeway series of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks vs. the Los Angeles Kings. There are certain things to expect when you get something for free, and that's to expect that you get what you pay for. So I expected to be on the top tier of seats, I just didn't expect to be at the very, very top. You couldn't get any higher in the Staples Center unless you were hanging from the roof. The view of the game from up there was actually pretty good but it was difficult for my little as it was her first hockey game ever. Being so far away you don't really feel part of the action but I did explain some of the basic points of the game, like when a referee will stop a fight and when he'll let them go at it.

Speaking of expectations......I create scenarios in my head. This is why I really started this blog so long ago, to write some of them down. Some are out there and some are just stories and thoughts; but I realized last night that some are expectations. I had some expectations last night. When Big Brother/Sisters called me about the tickets I thought it would be an organized affair with all the Bigs and Littles sitting together in a section where we could all come together and have fun. It turns out we were scattered all over the top sections and there wasn't really any camaraderie. I tried to turn it around to being just about my little and I. It turns out that she prefers that. It seems that she's embarrassed that she is in a position in her life where she has a big sister and not really a mom or dad that's part of her life. Makes sense.

The Kings won 4 - 1, there were a couple fist fights, one really big one. This seemed to thrill my little sister the most. Perhaps she was born a hockey fan?

Facebook

After pressure from relatives, I took the plunge. I joined facebook. Facebook is a social networking website started by some young, pimply faced Harvard school dropout who is filthy rich now. It originally started as a university/college site but has evolved in it's short 4 year existence to 60 million users worldwide. It was started Feb. 4, 2004. It's even reached such notoriety that Iran and Syria block it. Of course, they probably block everything......

The information users provide on Facebook has been used in investigations by colleges, universities, and local police. Facebook's Terms of Use specify that "the website is available for your personal, noncommercial use only", misleading some to believe that college administrators and police may not use the site for conducting investigations. Furthermore, some employers look at Facebook profiles of prospective employees or interns. Information posted on Facebook is potentially accessible to employers with faculty or alumni accounts.[66] Myspace has also been used for checking out future and current employees, etc. So be very careful what you post on the big world wide web.

I've been on it now for a couple weeks and while I found many of my cousins on there I was surprise to find an entire Mitel network of ~ 200 Mitel employees including the COO and several VPs. This just proves the paragraph above. I've found many of the add on applications buggy and some have said many of them are spam generators, keystroke loggers, etc. Any applications I add I'm very careful to ensure they are used by many, many people. I suppose if I load an application that is used by many I'm under the false belief that so many people couldn't be getting screwed. hehe It is nice to share photos and I am able to stream this blog to facebook so that facebook users who are my friends can link to me or easily reach this blog. We shall see if it's of future interest to me.

Yummy Malkin's Jam

When I went home to NW Ontario for my gram's memorial service I wanted to make sure I picked up some of that yummy Malkin's Strawberry Jam that I love so much. I had been out for quite awhile. There is truly nothing like it. When I went into Ronning's in Baudette, MN(just over the border) to pick some up I was surprised that the label had changed and the lady at the counter said they'd been bought by a large conglomerate. It was just too much for me. Does EVERYTHING have to change? Even my damn jam? As a side note, don't bash me for buying the jam in the states, I was in a time crunch and have always in the past bought it on the Canadian side! I'm proud to be Canadian.

So yesterday I popped open my can of jam. Yes, that's the way things should be, jam should come in a can, not a bloody glass jar. They give you a nice plastic sealer for it after you open it. That jam has sat on my gram's kitchen table (where generations of Blight descendants have sat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, blueberries and pastis for over 50 years) since as long as I can remember. I wanted to ensure that the taste was the same. I enjoy my Malkin's jam with peanut butter on a Ritz. Yummmm. As I popped the first cracker in my mouth, my taste buds did a happy dance. Nothing had changed. Whew, the flavor was still there. But what happened to Malkins?

It appears they were bought by some large company in Southern Ontario called E.D. Smith. I guess that Malkin's was a family owned production line in B.C. who had employed generations of local Abbottsford families. E.D. Smith had elected not to reproduce the jam, not enough volume, then they were bought by Treehouse Farms, an even larger company. The story can be read on the links below, it's interesting and frankly is typical of today's economic world. You'll be happy to know that it is being produced by a small little family owned production line in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan, oh, that's right, all of Saskatchewan is the middle of nowhere.


The story http://www.canadasfood.com/history_products/canadas_jam.php
The new production facility http://www.greatexcursions.com/blogs/heartland_canada/2005/07/success-runs-wild-at-southeys-last.html
The first purchase and as you can see, what a company says during an acquisition is completely different than the end reality result: http://www.degroote.mcmaster.ca/News/pdfs/2006-04-29_EDSmith.pdf

California Registered Domestic Partnerships Blaze New Tax Ground

I had a startling call from my CPA yesterday. He informed me that a new law passed by the California legislature says that as of January 1, 2008 Registered Domestic Partners (called RDP for brevity for the duration of blog) will be required to file Married Filing Jointly (or Married filing separately) for tax year 2007 and beyond. Now since the federal government passed the Defense of Marriage act (called DOMA for brevity, or as I like to call it, DUMBASS) RDPs cannot file Married returns to the feds. So what does this mean? Well, it basically means a big, confusing mess. So Dena and I will have to file one state return, Married Filing Jointly. Then we will have to file 2 (one each) Federal returns as single people. Oh by the way, my CPA said he was going to charge me $ 1,350 to due our returns. HELL NO!! I am looking for a new tax preparer, someone gay who has a vested interest in knowing the law.

But, for those of you that are a little tax savvy, how in the world can you determine how to file a state return when it's all based on the federal return? Good question. Our tax preparer would have to prepare a fake federal return as Married Filing Jointly, not file it, but use it to prepare the State return. Confusing, maybe, expensive, YES. So basically, Dena and I would need 4 returns prepared of which we'll use 3. Heterosexual married couples only need 2, one state and one federal. Tax preparers charge by the return normally, so we get charged double. How nice.

Also, it seems to me that since this is the first year this will occur there will be a high margin for error for returns and perhaps a high audit rate. This does not sit well with me. I have a severe fear of the taxman. Perhaps, and most of you will shudder to read me having any optimism at all, but just perhaps there may be some financial benefit. Nah.........the taxman taketh away but never giveth!

For reference:

California RDP
Defense of Marriage Act
California Franchise Tax Board RDP info

Changing of the Guard

As the memorial service for my grandmother ended and people filed out of the church we were greeted with a beautiful, almost irreverent sunset. The sun was causing a pillar of red light to shoot into the orange sky and the purple clouds. Gramma loved her sunsets. She used to teach me, "red sky at night, sailor's delight, red sky in morning, sailor's take warning." It was as if she was acknowledging all that loved her with something she loved best. The service was important for all her grandchildren and great grandchildren to celebrate her life, remember her and give themselves some closure. Her children had their closure with a personal service by a minister at the hospital. Grandma's legacy lives on......

As the day after my Grandma's service dawns in a snowy, chilly, beautiful day; thoughts of change and the future fill my mind. Almost all of my friends have now lost all of their grandparents. My generation has stopped being the grandchildren and moved on to the distinction of becoming the children. I'm not sure that's a distinction I like. I liked being a grandchild. There was less responsibility somehow. We were the young ones. Now the torch is passing, the great grand children becoming the grand children and the grand children becoming the children. With this torch comes responsibility and unfortunately, age. We have an obligation to keep the family together, look after our parents and protect the memories of the past. Today, it's a heavy weight. Perhaps I'll become stronger as I become used to it.

Ode to Gram

As I walk to the top of the hill
flooded with so many memories
kites, blueberries, and adventure
I feel her here
walking with me

Down at the beach
on the big double swing
We sit side by side talking
and watching the boats go by
The seat is empty now

The leaves rustle
it must be the wind
I know she is there
walking up to the house
it must be time for tea

A song wafts across the bay
It sounds familiar
Is it the Waltz or Shawnee?
It doesn't matter
she's playing her accordian

No one to send postcards to
or get slippers from
but in the sky tonight
over her lake and her legacy
shines a star so bright

An Amazing Woman

Early this morning my gramma passed away. My last surviving grandparent. She was an amazing woman to be sure. She was 90 years old.

Various Notes

I was looking at the top 25 downloaded songs on itunes.com yesterday as I thought it'd be nice to have some recent music on my Ipod. You know, so I don't look too old....I saw this Ellen show the other day and she had some people dancing around to Soldier Boy. Well, I looked and looked on itunes and couldn't find it. It seems that it's really called SoulJa Boy. I feel old now!

I got a very stupid ticket by an LAPD officer back in September or so. I am able to go to traffic school and it's due on the 9th of January. Being proactive, I'm just doing it now. I went to www.trafficschool.com an approved online traffic school by the County of Los Angeles and it was very easy. It did not take 8 hours like it would if I went and sat in a classroom. I've done online traffic school 3 times now over the past years and I love it. I would consider myself an expert at it frankly. I've never taken over 3 hours to complete an online course. You can even, if you're really a procrastinator, have it overnighted to the court (for a fee of course). One key to taking these courses is to copy and paste all the documentation into a word document. You can then use this for searching when they do the chapter review and final exams. Better than memorizing....

Some of you may have noticed that I've slightly updated my blog template. I've added a new option called polling. Please participate by clicking your "right" answer. For example, the current poll is regarding toilet paper usage. This is easily determined, just as you normally would, pull the TP roll but before you wipe, count your squares. Simple. Take a few runs at it to get an average and let us know! And remember, this is not for # 2!

Joshua Tree

For our end of year foray to Palm Springs we decided to leave a day early and explore Joshua Tree a little and do our own version of "photowalking". We had a blast, going to a part of the park called Pine City. We hiked for about 4 hours, climbing rocks, taking pictures and having our picnic lunch. It was a blast. We left the park and stopped for some refreshments at a little liquor store outside the park. As I stepped out of the vehicle an asian fellow walked up to me and said in heavily accented English, "you help" and handed me a cell phone. There was a guy on the other end who was trying to help him get to his hotel in 29 Palms. It's amazing, no matter where I am, people ask me for directions.....

Another Year Older

I awoke this morning another year older and since my birthday is later in the year it serves a double purpose. It's a good time to look back on the entire year as a whole; reflect on my accomplishments and re-focus my energies on things I want to move forward on.

In 2007 I was able to lose weight, heal my injured shoulder without surgery, and get into better all around physical shape, dropping my cholesterol to acceptable levels and getting rid of the fatty liver disease. Amazing what exercise and diet will do for you. At work I was moving forward in a positive mode, making a difference with our customers and helping the management team make decisions. All of the good things in 2007 happened to me prior to Sept. 7th and then it all went to hell. Mitel and Inter-tel merged and life as myself and my co-workers knew it was literally decimated.

I'm going to spend 2008 re-focusing my efforts on creating a new niche at work and not allowing people to control my destiny. I will control my own financial, physical and emotional destiny. So look out world, there will be no more sulking over the things that were, the things that have changed and the losses that have happened. Only forward thinking and moving.

Dena and I had a wonderful road trip over the Labor Day weekend, exploring route 66 from Los Angeles to Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was so much fun allowing us to re-connect to each other and re-connect with our adventurous spirits. In 2008 we'll spend the month of February in Antarctica, Chile and Argentina. Let the exploring never end.

I Believe in Santa

I'm old, I know that. I see it every morning in the mirror, but there is a part of me that still believes in Santa Claus. Sometimes I'm Santa and sometimes someone else is. Santa Claus or good 'ole Saint Nick represents a spirit of giving that unfortunately only comes out at this time of year for some people. He also represents mystery and wonder for little kids who still believe and as they mature and start to question how Santa can visit 6 billion households in one night we see their free critical thinking skills develop. Santa can mean alot to people if we can just get past this very consumption based society that we live in.

For example, yesterday I went to the Grove wearing my new $ 5.99 Santa hat that is totally cool and fairly unique. I got comments from probably 30 people, smiles from about 50 more and one woman even came up and jingled my bells. Who could ask for more. It's a good feeling to put a smile on people's faces. Speaking of good feelings, Dena and I stopped by my "little sister's" foster care house yesterday and dropped off a present for her and for the house mother. I was wearing my Santa hat of course. We chatted for awhile and all of a sudden she ran down the stairs and hugged me. Well, I was surprised, pleasantly. It seems that her older sister also just received a Big Sister and she didn't bother to show up for her first meeting. Isn't that shitty. It's shitty that she would do that at all and even more shitty that she would do that on the first meeting when developing trust is vital and even more shitty that she'd do it the weekend before Christmas.

Readers, this holiday season, keep believing! I'm hanging a stocking tonight and you never know, Santa may fill it. Oh, and by the way, my mom still signs the gifts she sends, "from Santa". I love that.

'Tis the Season....

To give. I love to give. I love to make people happy. It's fun and makes me feel good. Speaking of feel good I had my first meeting with my "little sister" yesterday. She's 14 and quite an intelligent, well read, well spoken young lady. We actually had quite a bit of fun going Christmas shopping for her foster mother and then we walked around Venice Beach. She'd never been down there before. We ran on the sand dunes, chatted and watched the wierdos walk by. Just another day in paradise. By the way, paradise, and I do mean Los Angeles, was 70, sunny and just lovely today. I bet all you people freezing your asses off up north and in the NorthEast are jealous. hehe

Dena and I saw 2 movies this weekend, I am Legend and No Country for Old Men. Both were "edge of your seat" types with I am Legend just being an incredibly tense movie. I needed a martini after that flick, my heart was pumping hard in my chest for the entire 2nd half. They spend the first half of the movie lulling you into complacency then turn on the after burners for the 2nd half. Both movies were well written, very well acted and thought provoking. In No Country for Old Men, the movie ended and the theatre was dead silent as the credits rolled. No one got up to leave, no one spoke, everyone just sat there. It was quite something.

I'll be off the air for a few days, we're off to Big Bear to do a Christmas thing with Dena's Jewish family. hehe I love diversity. The stockings will be hung by the hide-a-bed with care; in hopes that some Jewish saint would soon be there.....

By the way, want to spruce up your Christmas stocking? Try this website....

Update

Mentoring:
I have been approved both criminally and personally for mentoring a foster care child. I met her for the first time on Tuesday and Saturday will be our first day together without the "foster care mother". We'll see how it goes, stay tuned.

Depression:
I've been taking Vitamin B complex, Omega 3 fish oil, and some other herbs from Dr. Lippman and seem to be feeling much better even though this would normally be the time of month where I'm severely depressed. I forgot one day and started to feel crappy again, amazing what vitamins and herbs do, eh?

Work:
I HATE WORK. I hate all the up in the air crap, I hate that I was so positive about this company merger and it's turning out to be shit, I hate the disparate benefits between the two "new" divisions, I hate everything about it. I was embracing change, I was being positive, all things I normally am not. I was the merger cheerleader and then the proverbial straw broke this camel's back and now I've seen the light, and it's a train coming!

So that's the update......all wine and roses, eh

Playing Hookie

Dena and I escaped yesterday from the drudgery called work and went off to the Happiest place on earth.....Disneyland. Disneyland was decked out in all it's holiday finery and oh what fun it was. We watched the holiday parade which was awesome. Dena watched me get very queasy on Space Mountain, a ride I haven't been on in years and apparently for very good reason. We also went on Indiana Jones and Star Tours, 2 more rides I haven't been on in probaby 10 years. I got a little queasy on those too. What a wimp, eh. Then, Dena felt very obligated to redeem herself in the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster ride where she scored a dismal 1800 points when we went last year. As you can see, she's improved, but still not enough to beat me!

Depression

Every month about a week before my period I get what I can only describe to you are phenomenally depressed. My depression is so deep that it's interfering with life. I have these deep feelings of hopelessness. My life seems overwhelming during these times and I just want to crawl in bed, throw the covers over my head and remove myself from the world. I don't want to eat, I don't want to go out, I have trouble focusing and thinking and frankly, it's horrible. It's every month. I bet my male readers have either stopped reading or are really happy they are male. I would have to say that while this depression is deep and all encompassing I am aware that it's happening and have no thoughts of suicide. My logical brain is still out there during all this and trying to manage it. That's probably the frustrating part as logically I cannot wrap my mind around why this is happening. I have a good life, a great soul mate, a so-so job, etc so what do I have to be depressed about. Well, that's just it, there is no reason.

So, I've been to the gyno and I am not in peri-menopause despite what Oprah seems to think. I've done copious research on the Internet and it seems I have classic symptoms of severe PMDD (Premenstrual dysphoric disorder). There are multiple forms of treatment for this, but basically it's one of 2 ways, prescription anti-depressants or natural herbs and vitamins. So, I'm going to experiment on myself. I like doing that. I'm going to introduce Omega-3 supplements and vitamin B6 into my daily regimen and we'll see what happens. Now, this will have to be a long experiment as this lovely depression only occurs for 7 days before menses, and goes away as a day or so after bleeding ensues.

Wish me luck, and for my friends at Dr. Lippman's office---what do you think?

An Auspicious Day

Today is a day I have marked in my calendar since 2001. Today is the day I received INS approval for my permanent residency. A day I had been working towards for over 15 years and through attorney's for 6 years. It was a magical day to receive the email that all was approved and I would receive my green card in the mail shortly. It's actually pink, but hey, who cares. The magic green card that serves as a beacon of opportunity and hope for people all over the world. Or at least it used to. I wonder if that beacon is shining a little less brightly across the globe with the climate for immigrants getting icier in the United States.

Well, I don't take December 10th lightly, for sure. I raise my glass of Orange Juice this morning and toast myself for the patience that it took to get here and I toast my old boss and current friend Charlie Gentile who backed me up the entire way, paying for the adventure in bureaucratic red tape through his department. Something I'll never forget. My deepest heartfelt gratitude, thank you.

I know some of you were looking for a different kind of blog entry today but I have to tell you that sometimes life gets in the way. You'll just have to wait and you know who you are.....

Locavore -- 2007 Word of the Year!

Locavore [loh-kih-vohr] noun
n 1. A person who thinks globally and eats locally -- usually within a 100 mile radius n. 2. A gastronomical movement that shuns supermarket shopping in favor of farmer's markets or backyard gardens and argues that fresh and local produce packs more nutritional punch, tastes better and has less of an environmental impact. n. 3. The New Oxford American Dictionary's pick for word of the year.

So there.......

The Calmness is Shattered and the Calm is Gone

The elation of no dog shit on our front lawn lasted about 12 hours before our next door neighbor shattered the elusion of a peaceful holiday season. He asked us to move our new fence in 1 to 2' because it was on his property line. Now let me preface all of this by saying that the fence is just some cheapie green wire fence about 3' high that only cost us $ 100 to fence the entire yard. It is supposed to be temporary. When I went over to discuss this with him, as I had to go as smoke was literally coming from Dena's ears, he informed me that he was pouring a new driveway, wanted it wider and he needed to take back that 1' to 2'.

Well, first of all, he probably has a point, if you draw a line straight down from the backyard fence to the front parkway our front yard juts out approximately 12". I've not measured it however, I've committed to running a string line with him this weekend. Can't wait for that.....she says with deep sarcasm. It's extremely frustrating to be constantly bombarded with issues from him. Neighbors should be seen and not heard as far as I'm concerned. We've spent enough time and energy on this neighbor to last a lifetime. I suppose the old adage rings true: The grass is always greener.......

As an aside, if we really wanted to be snotty (and Dena does) the rule of "adverse possession" states that if we occupied disputed land that turned out to be on someone else's property for > 5 years then by adverse possession it becomes ours. That comes with all sorts of caveats of course, like we would have to pay the property taxes for that square footage, etc. I'm not sure that 12" of our side lawn that our neighbors for the past 12 years have driven over really matters that much. Our sprinkler headss are there and would have to move, of which I'm not to keen on paying for, so that's another battle.

Stay tuned

Calmness Descends Over the Land

As anyone who will listen to Dena and I know, we have an asshole neighbor with from anywhere from 2 to 4 Labradors who he let's run off leash and crap and play all over my lawn. He used to live 2 doors down and occasionally the dogs would leave nice big dumps all over our lawn and often he would throw their Kong's and Frisbees from his lawn over to ours. This of course did nothing to improve my grass nor did it allow me to keep the flowers alive under my palm tree. Usually it just pissed me off immensely. About a year ago he bought the house between us, to our dismay and 2 weeks ago he moved into it, selling the other.

Now, on a daily basis the dogs come outside, walk straight over to my lawn, piss and shit all over it and then go back inside. Normally he picks it up (sometimes right then, sometimes 24 hours later) but this leaves "shit scrapes" all over the lawn. Also, one dog has bad diarrhea so he misses most of that. So for 2 weeks, my lawn has smelled like shit. In early October my sister and her husband Ian were here visiting, Ian, witnessing the Frisbee affair with 3 labs running and tearing up my lawn he offered to go over and talk to the guy. Now Ian is a great guy, diplomatic and a true salesman and in hindsight I should have taken him up on it. But I didn't.

Throwing the shit in the guys lawn hasn't phased him and I'm not really the sort to put it in a paper bag, light it on fire and well, you know the story. That's just silly. And frankly, I just haven't been able to walk up to him and tell him to keep his dogs off my lawn. I guess I feel that nothing will change and that I probably couldn't keep my temper. So this weekend, Dena and I put a 3' high wire fence around the front yard. It's actually not too bad, only cost $ 100 and took about an hour to install. This morning, I'm proud to report that the 4 labs shit on their own lawn. I woke up to this news and I feel calm and happy. Amazing what $100 and a little passive aggressive behaviour will do for you.

Affecting Change

Dena is quite involved philanthropy speaking, she donates to quite a number of charities both religious and non-religious. She's been doing it for a number of years and I applaud her for that. Me on the other hand, don't really believe in giving money to people or charities. If I can help, I'll help but I'm not giving money. If I give them money then I have no idea where it goes and how it's being used and whose pockets it's lining. Cynical yes, but that's me. A cynic, born and bred. I do my own thing regarding charities, I've been involved in the past 7 years with a women's shelter here in Los Angeles, I fix their computers, their phones, bring all kinds of clothes and furniture over there and the like. I've turned many people onto this group but due to the nature of the charity and because they have to protect the battered women, mostly I'll pick up stuff and bring it there myself. They prefer that no one knows where they are or who they are. So that's my thing.

But the other night there was a 20/20 special on regarding Camden, New Jersey, the poverty there and the affect it's had on children. The episode was a follow on to a previous one and it discussed the changes that people have made in these kids lives and it got me to thinking. By the way, if you're interested in that 20/20 episode, there is much on the web about it, start here.

So I contacted this kid mentoring program. It focuses on kids in the Los Angeles foster care system, not the ones in trouble but before they get in trouble. Which is good because I don't think I'm ready to handle some kid who has already been in Juvenile Hall. But I do know that I could benefit a kid needing some confidence building, homework help, fun time and someone cool to talk to. I think I'm cool. So, I've already taken the first 2 steps, I've applied and been pre-screened and have been passed up to the next phase. You have to go through training, a criminal background check, etc. Makes sense, can't have a child molester mentoring kids, that would be bad.

Stay tuned, I'll let you know how it goes.....

Horror Films

These type of movies have never been my cup of tea. Frankly, they freak me out. They are however, the biggest money makers in Hollywood, netting significantly more cash than other genres. Think about it, you can use B or C actors(resses), special effects are really at a minimum and really, how much does fake blood and a chainsaw cost?

Speaking of freaking out, in my mind's eye I have several images of horror films etched in there. There is one in particular that is so ingrained in my pysche I think about it every week. I'm pretty sure it's from the original Friday the 13th where Jason Voorhees and the gang of soon to be murdered high schoolers are at some camp and he chases them around. The movie was released in 1980 and if I remember correctly, my cousin Robin and I snuck into the film, he convinced me to go, it was rated R of course, and we were both under 18, me just barely. I remember being scared out of my wits and scenes from that movie are with me today, 27 years later......ooooo I hated typing that number. Let me set up the scene for you......

The scene is the bathroom scene. So I walk into the bathroom at 10:00 at night at the UCLA campus after my class, and I walk into the stall and for some reason look up and around. There it is again, that feeling that someone is in the next stall, with a big ice pick and when I sit down to pee they are going to reach over the stall and stick that looped ice pick into my chin and drag me up to the top of the stall screaming, the blood catching in my throat, the breath leaving through the wrong hole........ah the horror of it all. How'd you like to have that scene play in your head everytime you went to a public bathroom at night?

Another scene from a movie that pops into my head at random moments is that scene from Aliens (I think it's the original Aliens wtih Sigourney Weaver) where the alien pops out of someones mouth or stomache. It's the alien baby from the momma's mouth. AAAARRRRGGGHHHHHHHHH!!! That movie freaks me out, too!