I thought getting internet at home would exponentially increase my blog posts. For some unexplainable reason, it's done the inverse but at an exponential rate it seems.
I find I've got springitis. I had a busy weekend and this morning I was just not in the mood to go into work. I would have much preferred to sit at home and enjoy the nice weather. This weekend was unusually warm. I ran down to Dorchester in the morning on Saturday. Otherwise, I think I would have lounged around the house and done alot of nothing. I picked up a craigslist find of an end table and for only $25! It was interesting as I'm in the middle of the chapter in 1776 which is describing the seige Washington and his men have on Boston and their strategy to take Dorchester Heights. I couldn't quite figure out where that is in current day Dorchester but my pick up was in Savin Hill so I like to imagine it was near by. The couple selling the table were nice and thanked me for showing up. I guess a lot of craigslist sees people bailing. I was a little worried it wouldn't fit in the car as it was larger then I had imagined but I got it in... and have yet to take it out.
The rest of the afternoon was spent running errands. Unfortunately I went to Whole Foods as a splurge, on an empty stomache. So I have a lot of nice food for this week. Unfortunately I'm out three evenings. But did just enjoy a pork roast sandwhich - avacado, goat brie and roast on a baguette - mmm good. Still not quite up to PB&Js yet. By late afternoon it was up in the 90s I'm sure and I was hot, so left my sweater in the car. The whole time I was in the grocery store, I was freezing! Must remember layering is good.
Sunday I enjoyed a trip to the MFA to see the Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese exhibit. It was a very good exhibit. By the end I really felt like I knew the characters and their interplay. You got a sense of who was odd man out, how they competed and mimicked each other. It was well put together. Also, very enjoyable, was a room on the science behind the exhibit. They restored several of the paintings, and one, the Nativity by Tintoretto (I think) they explored how the composition changed over time through x-rays and such. (I know it's not x-rays, but forget what it's called). The piece was originally a scene of jesus on the cross with two angels, that was later cut in half and had baby jesus inserted and sewed all together. It explains why some of the parts seem out of place in the final painting.
I went with an old college friend's mother and her in-laws. They were quite an interesting crowd but really nice people. All I have to say is that I'm a convert to bringing along my own magnifying glass to be able to exmine the works more closely. Plus they got me in for free, so who can complain. It was a great time had by all.
And finally, to report, I think this is the summer that my gardening dreams start becoming reality. I realize I'm a bit apprehensive as I've never been wonderful at caring for plants. So figured I'd start with herbs as I had a vested interest in their success beyond just their visual beauty. I started off small with the idea of building up. The table was meant to be a plant table but I think is too low to enjoy the sun so still have to figure that part out. I got chives, oregano, thyme and rosemary from a local nursery. I brought them in Sunday evening and collapsed after an exhausting day. Only to realize the plants must live on the porch with the door closed as both boys proceeded to eat the herbs, especially Walter. I don't mind except what follows eating plants is throw up and I like to keep that to a minimum. Now all I have to do is pot the plants, figure out how they can sit high enough on the porch to get the westerly sun and buy a watering can (from what I can tell, they play a critical part in the success of plants). Keeping the fingers (and green thumbs) crossed.
Finally, I have to report that I have tons of blog postings that remain unposted. A few are on my other computer, a few were sitting in blogger land and I hadn't released them, while the majority, as usual remain in the good old noggin. I can say though, I've released two from blogger land. :
1. Tuesday List. I think you have to scroll down to the bottom to read this one. The strange thing is that I'm wearing item 2b as I write this - great sweater. And this weekend I was looking for some tweed yarn for a project and gave up - not realizing I had the purple tweed shown in the picture. Hopefully it's the right gauge.
2. Time: Daylight and Zones. This one is interesting as I experience springitis and want to skip out of work today. A bit of nostalgia back when I first started (and didn't suffer springitis).
Monday, April 27, 2009
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Late Bloomer
I’ve always been a late bloomer, so I have to admit, this was my first time. Up until now, I had only flown Economy (i.e. steerage) and Premium Economy (i.e. slightly larger steerage). As I get on in the years I’ve found the long flights have been filled with less sleep and more restlessness to get into a comfortable position. The trip to visit my brother in Delhi awhile back was almost the death of me – by the end I thought I was going to collapse with exhaustion – thank goodness he was at the airport to pick us up.
Now, I write this after I just deboarded my first leg of the trip, in the luxury of the Business Class Lounge in Frankfurt – sipping my orange juice and having a bite to eat. I wanted to record all the things I didn’t even think about when looking forward to this trip – before I get spoiled and jaded.
The best thing, which is the entire reason to get bumped up, is of course, the sleeping arrangements. I shared my first time with Lufti. Now their seats don’t go completely 180 like some other airlines, but man, 170 or whatever it was is a lot better than sleeping upright. I had no trouble sleeping – I could sleep on my side and what I used to think of as a long trip to Europe just flew by. Granted, part of the time was taken up discovering all the little perks and figuring out the seat.
It was a different experience – the food was wonderful (for airplane food). They gave you a menu and you could choose your hors d’oeveres, entrée and dessert. Unfortunately, I was too full to enjoy the dessert – I was going to have crème brule and see what they were able to manage on a plane. I’m not a big fan of plastic – I don’t eat off it or with it. And everything was non-plastic (except the complimentary water bottle that was in the package of goodies and I never got a chance to drink). I love drinking from real glasses on the plane, and they were very waiter like, keeping an eye on my drink the entire flight and refilling it regardless of schedule.
No worries about where you were flying to, you got all the movies on demand. The remote, I never fully figured out, but it had over a half dozen buttons just for controlling the seat – even a memory button so you could keep your favorite configuration. The leg rest was key – being able to stretch out like on a chaise – it was marvelous. There was even a button for a massage, although I’ve never really taken to that feature – I prefer a masseuse, but I guess that’s in 1st class.
My neighbor was kind and not talkative until after we landed. However, he helped me with some of the features I stumbled on, like bringing out the table (they set it with linens before serving dinner!).
Overall quite a pleasant experience. I look forward to having a restful ‘night’ for the next leg and just sleeping the entire way.
The other perk that I remembered on my way to the airport, was that I perhaps qualified to be in one of the special lounges. It was strange as I’ve been in terminal E tons of times for international flights and never even noticed the door tucked away that led to this whole other world. The lounge had sandwiches and drinks and comfy chairs. I ended up walking around to explore and think that British Airway or Virgin Atlantic probably had the nicest lounges. But, hey, it was a step up from where I was before. The lounge here in Frankfurt is much larger and a bit nicer. They even have showers and I think I heard they had beds too, but didn’t see where. The food isn’t wonderful, but it’s nice to have free drinks (even beer and other mixed drinks if I was so inclined). The funny part about the lounges is that there is wait staff that are tucked away working on preparing the food and they just slide the mirrored backsplash and put food out. Of course the gender split is predominately male. In Logan there was a man coming out of the woman's bathroom!
On a completely different note, I had a little déjà vu arriving at Frankfurt. I realized that the last time I visited this airport was almost 15 years ago and was my most memorable experience to date traveling. Long story short, I was two minutes late and although I could see my plane, they wouldn’t let me on. By then I was a sweaty, tired, deutchemarkless teenager who only knew gezuintheit and farfenugen and no other german. And this was back in the day before credit cards and calling cards – well at least I didn’t have either. In the end, after my parents answered a frantic collect call in the middle of the night, they drove, not to Montreal an hour away, but to Newark, 6+ hours away to pick me up on a later flight and bring me home (12 hour round trip – thanks guys). In the end it all worked out, but it was a good test of coping skills for a young newbie.
Correction, I realized I passed through Frankfurt a few years back on my way to Cottbus, but the story sounds better this way.
Now, I write this after I just deboarded my first leg of the trip, in the luxury of the Business Class Lounge in Frankfurt – sipping my orange juice and having a bite to eat. I wanted to record all the things I didn’t even think about when looking forward to this trip – before I get spoiled and jaded.
The best thing, which is the entire reason to get bumped up, is of course, the sleeping arrangements. I shared my first time with Lufti. Now their seats don’t go completely 180 like some other airlines, but man, 170 or whatever it was is a lot better than sleeping upright. I had no trouble sleeping – I could sleep on my side and what I used to think of as a long trip to Europe just flew by. Granted, part of the time was taken up discovering all the little perks and figuring out the seat.
It was a different experience – the food was wonderful (for airplane food). They gave you a menu and you could choose your hors d’oeveres, entrée and dessert. Unfortunately, I was too full to enjoy the dessert – I was going to have crème brule and see what they were able to manage on a plane. I’m not a big fan of plastic – I don’t eat off it or with it. And everything was non-plastic (except the complimentary water bottle that was in the package of goodies and I never got a chance to drink). I love drinking from real glasses on the plane, and they were very waiter like, keeping an eye on my drink the entire flight and refilling it regardless of schedule.
No worries about where you were flying to, you got all the movies on demand. The remote, I never fully figured out, but it had over a half dozen buttons just for controlling the seat – even a memory button so you could keep your favorite configuration. The leg rest was key – being able to stretch out like on a chaise – it was marvelous. There was even a button for a massage, although I’ve never really taken to that feature – I prefer a masseuse, but I guess that’s in 1st class.
My neighbor was kind and not talkative until after we landed. However, he helped me with some of the features I stumbled on, like bringing out the table (they set it with linens before serving dinner!).
Overall quite a pleasant experience. I look forward to having a restful ‘night’ for the next leg and just sleeping the entire way.
The other perk that I remembered on my way to the airport, was that I perhaps qualified to be in one of the special lounges. It was strange as I’ve been in terminal E tons of times for international flights and never even noticed the door tucked away that led to this whole other world. The lounge had sandwiches and drinks and comfy chairs. I ended up walking around to explore and think that British Airway or Virgin Atlantic probably had the nicest lounges. But, hey, it was a step up from where I was before. The lounge here in Frankfurt is much larger and a bit nicer. They even have showers and I think I heard they had beds too, but didn’t see where. The food isn’t wonderful, but it’s nice to have free drinks (even beer and other mixed drinks if I was so inclined). The funny part about the lounges is that there is wait staff that are tucked away working on preparing the food and they just slide the mirrored backsplash and put food out. Of course the gender split is predominately male. In Logan there was a man coming out of the woman's bathroom!
On a completely different note, I had a little déjà vu arriving at Frankfurt. I realized that the last time I visited this airport was almost 15 years ago and was my most memorable experience to date traveling. Long story short, I was two minutes late and although I could see my plane, they wouldn’t let me on. By then I was a sweaty, tired, deutchemarkless teenager who only knew gezuintheit and farfenugen and no other german. And this was back in the day before credit cards and calling cards – well at least I didn’t have either. In the end, after my parents answered a frantic collect call in the middle of the night, they drove, not to Montreal an hour away, but to Newark, 6+ hours away to pick me up on a later flight and bring me home (12 hour round trip – thanks guys). In the end it all worked out, but it was a good test of coping skills for a young newbie.
Correction, I realized I passed through Frankfurt a few years back on my way to Cottbus, but the story sounds better this way.
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