Well it’s back to the quizzes for blog material. This one turned out rather interesting and hilarious. One, I’ve been there. Two, I’d never pick this city as the perfect place for me. Then again, perhaps I am as freaky as Amsterdam. I did like the Dutch sense of living–not focused on looks, very open-minded and tolerant

You Belong in Amsterdam

A little old fashioned, a little modern - you’re the best of both worlds. And so is Amsterdam. Whether you want to be a squatter graffiti artist or a great novelist, Amsterdam has all that you want in Europe (in one small city).

What European City Do You Belong In?

In all my various traveling, here are the states I’ve been to.

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out our California travel guide. I didn’t put that guide there, but feel free to visit. It’s a great place to visit!

The morning trip to San Francisco was rather uneventful. Oh, the wonders of the commuter lane. Unfortunately I won’t be able to use it this evening when I return. I will also have to deal with baseball traffic. The offices are in an interesting area. I’m glad I entered the main entrance because I left through the back entrance. I walked by two sleeping homeless people. This was after 8:30 am. Apparently they don’t get up early. I can’t see how they can sleep with all the traffic and noise.

I can’t wait to hear what my son thinks of the seminar he’s taking today. He didn’t want to go to bed early last night. He wasn’t tired, but he was hardly able to get up this morning. I nearly missed my alarm, and I never do that. I was rudely awakened from a dream. We managed to get out of the house just after 7 am this morning to make it to SF by 8:15 am or so.

I thought I’d never get home. The weather here has been a bit strange. The plane ride was incredibly bumpy. I thought I might get sick before we landed. I never feel that way. Although on the way to Denver, it was terribly bumpy too. I was glad that I hardly ate breakfast that morning.

But we’re back and unpacked with one broken item. I feel terrible about it because it was a gift. I didn’t realize that it was fragile. I had wrapped clothes around it, but it broke on the side with all the clothes. Weird.

So it looks like we will be traveling, but I’m waiting for my son to get here. The plane was delayed an hour. We won’t have much time before we have to get to bed, since the flight is very early. Fun. I had planned things os there wouldn’t be rush. Rushing around is all I’ve done this evening. Packing. Phone calls. Pet arrangements. As I’m writing this, pet arrangements haven’t been made. I’m waiting for my neighbors to get home. More fun. I hope anyone else traveling this week has an easier time.

Today all I can think about is travel plans. My son won’t be here this evening. He will be here Saturday evening. We’re supposed to fly to the Midwest through Denver on Sunday. I’m still waiting to see if that happens. Even though flights look like they are flying, I know better now. My son’s flight got cancelled 24 hours before takeoff. This is the first time in years that travel plans have been so up in the air.

My sister lives in Denver, but she can’t get out of the driveway. The plows haven’t been to her street yet. I guess I-80 into Nebraska is closed. My sister, her husband, 2 kids and 2 dogs are driving. I have no idea why they bring the dogs. One is a allergy suffering Golden Retriever. The other is a running fool of a Husky.

I think I finished the podcast. I will cross my fingers that the others don’t come back with more changes. Although something odd happened when I edited yesterday. I know I deleted an entire segment, but it was still there. There was six minutes of dead space too.

At least there were no nightmares last night. I can think of worse things than to be stuck here for the holidays. It’s looking like a really nice day here today.

Going to Pearl Harbor was my son’s idea. He was insistent on going. It was the only place he cared to visit when I asked what he would like to do in Hawaii. I could have skipped it. Once we got there after an hour on the bus, I felt the same. The line was huge. The line began at the entrance about two blocks from where we got off the bus. The line wrapped around almost the entire block. The end of the line was closer to the back of the museum where the boats launched than to the front. That’s where we got in line—not far from the boat dock. It was only 9 a.m. My son had been whining most of the trip, since you can’t take anything into the museum. They don’t allow purse, camera bags or Gameboys. The Gameboy ban was the most difficult for my son. He hardly knew what to do with himself for more than 2 hours without the little screen glued to his eyes.

They offer an audio tour for $5 each. The museum is free. The audio tour is more than worth the money. Once you get into the museum you a get a ticket for the boats. Ours said 12:30 p.m. We had 2 ½ hours to waste. There were tons of people lined up to start the audio tour. It was rather difficult to walk around. So we first stopped at the gift shop. My son spent the most money of the entire trip there. He even met a Pearl Harbor survivor.

The audio tour takes you around the museum telling the story of Pearl Harbor and the service men and women who were there. The bell from the Arizona is there. Artifacts, like clocks and teapots, are there. There is also a complete explanation of how the attack unfolded.

I was doing fine other than the long wait to get in. My son’s grumpiness disappeared soon after shopping. He then immersed himself in the audio tour. He loves World War II history. I got as far as the letter to a wife of a dead soldier before I began sniffling. This is the second item on the tour. By the time I got to the teapot and clock, I was holding back a flood. The clock was permanently broken with the time forever set to the time of the attack. I had no tissues—no purse meant no tissues.
It’s very hard to explain the sadness I felt. I don’t know anyone who died there—no relatives either. I had finally controlled the tears when I cam to the pictures of the ship bands. They were having contests between the ships’ bands. The band from the Arizona was in the finals. And, the tears fell. Just remember it as I write brings back those intense feelings.

The tour then takes you outside to look out over Pearl Harbor. The large white monument is in the distance. The place were you stand was dredged. It was part of the harbor. The audio tour has sound effects at this point. I heard planes and ducked. Then as I looked out over the water, I saw it. I saw the planes. I saw the bombs. The smoke. The fire. I heard the screams. I heard the planes, the guns and explosions. And I cried. I could see the people running about. I saw the chaos. I wondered if I would come back to the present. Then I saw the still water, land and sunshine. I was back in the present. Any moment though I could go back. I flipped form then to now and from now to then. The boat trip to the memorial was still an hour away.

The memorial itself didn’t bring all that back. The memorial was quiet. Everyone was supposed to be quiet—reverential. The memorial seemed empty of feeling. Not for everyone though. Some stared at the list of names at the back. The size of the list was overwhelming. Sad. Tragic. But, there was no wild emotional ride for me. I was thankful. I had enough. It was the most intense emotional experience I’ve ever had. The past was too real, too vivid.

Technorati: Pearl Harbor

I’m preoccupied with getting a new template made, so there’s not much to post. The site will have a completely different look. I hope everyone likes it as much as I do.

As a response to someone who posted about seeing hula dancers in Hawaii, I am posting a picture of Waikiki beach from the top of Diamond Head. I took this in early July when my son and I climbed to the top of Diamond Head.

Tags: Waikiki, Diamond Head

Back in action

Well, I’ve been away for awhile. Politics got me down. Finally found a job after more than 4 years of seraching, only to quit after 6 months. so I’m back with lots of time on my hands.

I read a funny article this morning about people who are freak magnets http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14124484/. I didn’t realize there was a term for it. I’ve always been a freak magnet myself. It even happens on vacation.

My most recent freak encounter was in Honolulu on The Bus. What was I doing on the bus? i didn’t rent a car for the few days I was in Hawaii. I couldn’t see the point. Every time I’ve rented a car on vacation it sits at the hotel parking garage costing more and more money. Hotels certainly charge a lot for parking. Anyway, I was on my way to Chinatown in the morning. I was minding my own business when this lady–rather large woman with a cane, a bit crazy looking–begins talking to me about all of her medical problems. Guess she just had surgery on her leg or something. Then she got on about suing someone over the incident. Apparently it wasn’t voluntary surgery or caused by her. I hardly remember the conversation. Since I get this quite a bit, I generally appear to pay attention and nod politely. After she got off the bus, several people, including the bus driver expressed their relief. And for me? I was back to a quiet ride to my stop in Chinatown.

Also noticed that my blog is #15 over at Redheadedblogs.com. Wow!