Homer's Travels

65% Water ...5% Chlorine

2016-03-29T18:30:00.000-05:00

Our bodies are 60% water and after my first scuba class, and the amount of pool water I swallowed, I expect that I'm pushing 65% water and 5% chlorine. What caused me to swallow the water, strangely enough, was not scuba. It was the much simpler act of snorkeling.

The class (there are four students) started with classroom work learning the basics, putting our scuba equipment together, and learning how to check that the equipment is working properly.

The second half of the class was in the pool. First we proved how out of shape we were by swimming ten lengths of the pool and treading water for ten minutes.

Next we put on fins, mask, and snorkels and went through the basics. My issue was exhaling and sinking too far, allowing my snorkel to fill with water right when I had no air to purge it with. This resulting in me sputtering and coughing until I figured it out. Even after I figured it out I still had problems. While swimming around the pool breathing through the snorkel water seemed to be leaking in. This lead me to breath in and/or swallow copious amounts of chlorinated pool water. I will have to experiment a bit with snorkel placement next class to see if I can locate the problem.

Once we stopped snorkelling and put on our tanks everything was fine. I have no problem clearing my mask and regulator of water and have no issues at all. Figures I would have problems with the simplest skill and no problem with the more complex.

By the time the class was over we were all pretty exhausted. It really takes a lot of energy moving around water. Add to that I was bloaty from all the water I swallowed and all my coughs and burps smelled like chlorine and It was just peachy.

I got home, rinsed off in the shower and crawled into bed where I proceeded to not fall asleep. When I finally fell asleep after 1:00am I dreamt most of the night that I was awake and couldn't fall asleep. It took massive doses of caffeine for me to get through my chores today.

Hopefully tomorrow's class will be more scuba and less snorkel ... at least until I can get the hang of it.

Learning How To Take The Plunge Right

2016-03-27T19:00:00.000-05:00

My scuba certification classes start tomorrow evening. I will have a total of five four hour sessions (Monday and Wednesday nights). How much of each session is class work and how much is pool work I do not know. I spent the last week doing a six section online class in preparation. There was a lot of info in the online course but not overwhelmingly so.

Last week I went in and purchased my mask, snorkel, booties, and fins. The tanks and buoyancy system is provided as part of the class which is good since that part costs the most. After the class fees, equipment, and the equipment rental for the certification dives I will do in May, all I have to say is this is not a cheap hobby.

Now that I had a chance to try it out a couple of weeks ago, I am no longer nervous that I will have issues breathing underwater. Having said this, things didn't go entirely smoothly since my Try Scuba class. Soon after I got home after the class I developed a toothache. It was a type that is cold sensitive with a good measure of pressure sensitivity thrown in. The pain would radiate up the side of my face all the way to my right ear and ended with a slowly fading 'ice cream' headache. This persisted for a couple weeks (including our Cuba trip) and naturally got better when I went to the dentist.

Turns out my dentist was familiar with my issue. He was an Air Force pilot and they sometimes suffer from a similar condition. There are sometimes small pockets of air in filled cavities or between crowns and the nerve. As you go up and down in pressure (like when you are scuba diving or flying in an airplane) the air expands and contracts causing irritation of the nerve. The prescription ... root canal work. I will have to see how my pool work on Monday affects the tooth. I have a dental appointment set for Thursday (after my second class).

The tooth doesn't worry me too much since acetaminophen does a good job killing the pain. I'm more worried about dozing off. I'm an early to bed type and having the classes be between 6:00pm and 10:00pm hits right when my body and brain start shutting down for the evening. I guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow afternoon - Nap Time!

Cuba 2016: Getting Home And A Few Final Thoughts

2016-03-25T19:00:00.000-05:00

We've been pretty lucky on our international vacations. We haven't had any major schedule changes or mechanical problems ... until this trip, that is.

We got up early, had breakfast at the very nice hotel buffet, and checked out. Our bus got us to the airport a couple hours before our flight was supposed to leave. Unlike the guides from our other tours who usually dumped us off at the airport and waved goodbye, both of our Cuban guides waited as we picked up our boarding passes and hugged us all individually and said goodbye. The tour company arranged the use of the VIP lounge for us as well which was a nice touch.

We spent the last of our Cuban currancy on cigars and snacks before they started our boarding. We got on the plane, it starting rolling for take up, it accelerated, and then ... slowed back down. The captain came on and said that one of the air speed indicators wasn't working and he would have to pull off the runway to inspect it. Soon after we pulled off we were told to deplane and head back to the terminal.

We flooded back into the VIP lounge, which was crowded now, and found a place to sit down. The crew showed up soon afterward and told us that a bee had plugged up one of the pitot tubes. We got a laugh out of that. Unfortunately FAA regulations required that a mechanic be the one to remove the bee and the nearest mechanics were in Miami. We would have to wait until either a new plane or a mechanic could be flown from Miami to Cuba.

The flight from Miami to Cuba is about forty-five minutes so it should have been a short wait but having to ready a second plane, finding a crew to fly the plane, and getting all the approvals from the US and Cuban authorities resulted in an eight hour delay while we waited for another plane.

Fortunately for us our AAA agent had suggested we spend the night in Miami and fly out the next day as she had heard that flights out of Cuba were often delayed. She was prescient. Instead of having a relaxing afternoon and evening in Miami we ended up getting to our hotel in time to go to bed and get four hours of sleep before we caught our flight home.

The Cuban Flag.

So ... did I like our Cuba trip? Yes and no is my best answer. More yes than no. I enjoyed visiting Cuba before the wave of American (and other) tourists arrive in force in the near future. I enjoyed seeing the old homes and old cars - a society and landscape frozen in the '50s. But Cuba is different from the places we've traveled to before.

This trip was a cultural trip. We did not visit some great architectural marvels. We did not see rare and exotic wildlife. We were not expose to spectacular historic sights. The attraction of Cuba is its people and the products unique to the island. I like the marvels, the exotic, the rare, and the spectacular. There are four major things that attract people to the island:

Cigars ... I don't smoke,
Rum ... I don't drink.
Coffee ... I don't partake.
Old Cars ... ok, the cars were pretty cool. I appreciate them but I'm not a huge enthusiast.

So I was a bit disappointed. I'd hoped for a surprise but instead I got what I expected - an interesting people living a latin american lifestyle. The city and the people reminded me a lot of Guatemala where I spent nine years of my adolescence. This took away some of the potential charm that a person new to Latin America might experience. Is this Cuba's fault? No. Cuba is as good as Cuba can be I think.

The trip was very educational and I did learn a few things which is always a positive. Here are a few:

I saw the ubiquitous Che images but learned that there are no Fidel images.
I learned that religion such as catholicism and santeria are very important in Cuba unlike other communist countries where religion is discouraged or forbidden..
I learned that, at least for foreigners, there is a lot of freedom - I somewhat expected some of the paranoid feelings of being watched I had in Tibet but there weren't any.
I learned that most of the old cars, passed down from one generation to another, are taxis but acted like buses, each having a set route.
I learned that most prices are fixed by the government. I kind of knew this before but I didn't realize how easy it made it to predict how much money you would need.
I learned that there is still a lot of private business going on like the paladares and the sellers in the craft market. I think Cubans will do fine once capitalism, albeit a Chinese version of state capitalism, takes hold.
I learned that doctors earned between $25 and $60 dollars a month but the education needed to become a doctor is free. Our guide, who was from Uruguay, was getting a free education and once he completed it owed nothing to the Cuban government. All healthcare was free in Cuba.
Speaking of healthcare, I learned it was a bit hazardous touring Havana. Our group alone had a person who tore ligaments in her ankle and another with a potentially fractured wrist. We met two other tourists, one with a patch covering her eye and another with a broken leg. You have to watch your step in the streets of Havana.
I learned that, like many Americans, the Cubans also believe that President Obama will solve all their problems. In anticipation of the President's visit they were repainting street markings and sprucing the city up.

There are many other lessons learned and they made this trip worthwhile to me.

Cuba will inevitably change over the next decade as the embargo is lifted and tourism from around the world increases. Cuba has a long way to go before it is ready. As many as a hundred and ten flights a day have been approved to start later this year. Anyone who has flown into Havana knows that airport can't handle that many flights. President Obama traveled with an entourage of five thousand diplomats and business representatives. We heard as we were leaving that people were being moved from their hotel rooms to other accommodations outside of Havana to make room for some of them. If they can't handle a surge of five thousand then they are not ready. Think how many people will arrive once the cruise ships from Miami start docking. Our guides acknowledged that the Cuban infrastructure was not ready for what is to come. Let's hope they expand carefully and thoughtfully and that the Cuba we experienced will continue for some time to come.

Now, for us, it's onward to South America.

I Died Last Week

2016-03-24T16:00:00.000-05:00

Well ... Not me but my Google doppelganger did. I wrote about him in a post six years ago. This week I received a Google Alert. My/His name had come up somewhere on the intertubes. Sadly, the reference was to an obituary.

My doppelganger passed away last week at age seventy-five so he lived a long life. The obit had an accompanying picture. We really don't look anything alike but he did have blond hair like I once had. He had, if I'm reading the obit correctly, eleven children! He was an art teacher for twenty-nine years, an NRA member, an Eagle Scout, a Silver Beaver, and a master angler. I think he must have been an interesting fellow. Too bad we never had the chance to meet.

Rest in peace, Bruce H. Rest in peace.

Cuba 2016: Day Three

2016-03-23T19:00:00.000-05:00

Day three was out lightest day. We started with a walking tour in old Havana near the Plaza de la Catedral. We'd been hoping to see inside the cathedral and to climb to the top of one of it's two towers for a few days now but, once again, we were thwarted, this time by a baptism. We never did get into the cathedral so we have at least one reason to return some day.

The cathedral that we never got into.

The walking tour took us to four different plazas, each with a unique history. After the plaza de la catedral we moved on the Plaza de Armas. The sidewalks around the park are lined with book stalls selling all styles of books, records, and small collectables like pins, rosaries, and antique jewelry. The Wife bought two copies of her favorite book, "The Old Man and the Sea" in spanish. One stall had a box of records. The first record was "My Favorite Hits - Mickey Mantle". We laughed at it but didn't bother to see how much it was. I made the mistake of looking it up as I was writing this post. $300.00 *sigh* Probably could have made a nice profit.

After the plaza de armas we moved on to Plaza de San Francisco. This plaza is across the street from the harbor customs building and was once a place for commerce. The plaza is located next to the Convent of Saint Francis de Assisi. Complaints about the noise from the vendors resulted in smaller vendors being moved to another nearby Plaza.

View along the edge of Plaza Vieja, through a restaurant,
down a narrow street, to the capitol building.

This plaza, the Plaza Vieja, was our next stop. On the way we went into a restaurant that had an opening to the old aqueduct that once brought water to Havana.

In the plaza we were given some time to wander on our own. Here is a scrolling panorama of the plaza. It is full of glitches but it gives you an idea (Move the cursor left and right to scroll). There was artwork displayed around the cafe and restaurant lined square. The art included a large statue of a naked bald woman holding a giant fork riding a rooster ... yeah ... weird.

A wandering conga band showed up with stilt walking dancers. The music livened up the plaza.

From the plaza we walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch. I have to say my lunches were more satisfying than my dinners most of the time and this lunch was no different.

After lunch a short bus ride through Havana took us to listen to the Cuban National Choir. This world renowned choir sung several favorite Cuban songs as well as some more familiar ones. Very beautiful. The space which we were in - it appeared to be the home of a soccer club - was not the most comfortable. It was the first place where I really got hot.

Stilted conga dancers in Plaza Vieja.
(Click here to watch a video of the dancers.)

The last stop of the day was a place to buy cigars, rum, and coffee. The Wife had a list of cigars that her Brother had given her. He must have done his research as the owner of the shop seemed very impressed with his selection. We bought a set for him as well as a set for the Wife's school - they will be sold at the school auction in November along with a bottle of Rum that we bought there.

Our bus returned us to the hotel. After some discussion the wife and I hired another coco taxi and headed back to the craft market. There we bought a couple humidors for the cigars along with some stuff to add to our international guest room. My souvenirs this trip was a wooden '57 chevy I bought at the craft market and a Che t-shirt I bought at the hotel. We also bought magnets naturally.

We'd hoped to try one more time to go back to the Cathedral but we really didn't have enough time. We returned to the hotel in another coco taxi and rested a little before we went out for our goodbye dinner.

Our goodbye dinner was at La Casa, one of the oldest privately run paladares in Cuba. We had another good dinner with live music ("Stand By Me" was played ... naturally) Unlike some of the dinners I ate this trip, this was one of the better ones. Flan was served for dessert which was a bit disappointing but it was followed up with small ice cream cakes - the chocolate one was awesome.

We all headed to bed relatively early this night. This was time change weekend and, frankly, no one was sure if the time would change in Cuba. Our guides said no. The flyers at the hotel said yes. To be safe we asked for a wakeup call and drifted off to sleep.

Pictures can be found in my Cuba 2016 Flickr Album.

To Be Continued ...

Photograph: "Obey"

2016-03-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

I spotted this from our bus on the way to old Havana. The t-shirt message meshed well with my misinformed image of the Cuban police state.

"Obey"
by Bruce H.

Cuba 2016: Day Two

2016-03-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

On day two of our Cuba trip we had the luxury of sleeping in a little. The Wife and I slept like logs, hardly moving at all throughout the night.

We had breakfast and met at a small hotel conference room. We were going to meet with a university professor and I prepared myself for a dry lecture by some political officer. Instead we got a very interesting lecture by a retired political science teacher. He was currently the publisher of a magazine about human rights and other potentially subversive articles. He was surprisingly open and honest about the problems Cuba was experiencing and how the Cuban-American relations have changed over the past few years. I left the lecture with a better understanding of Cuban history and the impact of the embargo on the Cuban economic and societal structure.

After the lecture we boarded our bus and headed to a Cigar factory. It took a couple tries to find a factory which we could get into without a long wait. Pictures were not permitted in the factory - security was fairly high. We watched as five types of tobacco leaves (harvested from plants grown under two different conditions) were combined in secret formulas to make the different types of Cuban cigars. We learned that the cigar rollers were often read to to occupy their minds (Romeo and Juliet and Montecristo cigars are named after their favorite stories). Interestingly enough, you could not buy cigars at the cigar factory.

Next stop was a typical food market where we had a a few minutes to see the produce. They had a nice variety of fruits and vegetable. It reminded me of a smaller version of what I saw in Guatemala when I was growing up.

The fresh food prepared us for lunch. Lunch was at a Paladar. A paladar is a restaurant in someone's house. Paladares were one of the first steps taken when the government loosened the restrictions on privately owned businesses in Cuba. I had the pork plate which not only was very good but it was so much that I left some of my meat uneaten on my plate. Fortunately I had room for the ice cream with sprinkles that was served for dessert.

Our purple chevy convertible.

After lunch we were to visit a Jazz club to learn about the musical influences of Cuba but there was an electrical outage and that visit was canceled. Instead we were taken to a craft market. At this point, the Wife and I along with another group member we'd befriended left the group and, with the help of Gm, hired a chevy convertible to take us around.

The city of Havana from El Morro on the other side of Havana Bay.

We got in the car (a purple convertible with white interior) along with the owner who was driving and his son (Elvis), who knew English, and drove up to El Morro, the ridge across the bay from Havana where two forts were located. We visited a large statue of Jesus, Che Guevara's house, the wing of a downed American military plane, and an old fort that once protected Havana from pirates and corsairs. From the vantage point of the fort you could get great views of the city. The weather was perfect.

Che Guevara sculpture in the Plaza de la Revolución.

After El Morro we went to the Plaza de la Revolución. In the middle of the plaza is a monument dedicated to José Martí who helped free Cuba from the Spanish. The monument is a tower you can climb up. I started up the stairs at the base to see if I could go inside the tower and climb to the top when a whistle blew. I looked around and saw a guy at the top of the stairs. He blew the whistle again and said the monument was closing. Darn. They wouldn't even let you up to the top of the base. For future reference the tower closes at 4:30PM.

I took a few pictures including the large sculptures/murals of Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos. We talked about Cienfuegos with Elvis. There apparently are conflicting stories about how his plane disappeared. While it probably was an accident, the schools blame the US for shooting his plane down. In a hushed tone our guide suggested it was Castro who arranged the disappearance. There would be a few slightly twisted explanation of historical events told by all of out guides. When the stories were anti-American you could tell our guides were embarrassed. We lightened the mood by turning these situations into jokes so we all could laugh and smile a little.

After the Plaza we drove past the capital building, the large cemetery of Cristóbal Colón, and old Havana before our car dropped us back at the craft market. We walked though the market briefly and bought a few items (most of these not for ourselves).

Our ill fated Coco Taxi. Poor Coco.

We met back up with our tour mate and walked over to a cluster of taxis to get back to out hotel. On a whim we chose a coco taxi. A coco taxi is basically a moped with a big spherical enclosure. The three of us squeezed into the hard fiberglass seats and off we went like the breeze - slow and steady. We had our driver stop briefly so we could take a picture of some Che graffiti before we sat back and watched the people and cars along the malecón. It was relaxing despite the high pitch whine of the coco taxi engine. That is, it was relaxing until the engine started sputtering and died.

Waiting on the malecón wondering how we would get back to our hotel.

The coco taxi died about half way to our hotel. Poor coco (poor coco is one of our little inside jokes). We got out and leaned on the sea wall as our driver tried to bring coco back to life. Even another coco driver couldn't help. We were debating if we should start walking when a yellow Model T ... yes ... I said Model T ... pulled up. The Model T was a taxi and we jumped in and rode in style to our hotel.

Despite the coco incident we had a great time on our own in our purple convertible. We liked it so much that we convinced more people in our group to hire cars the next day. If I ran Insight Cuba, I would include an old car rental on all tours.

This night dinner was on our own. We'd been given a list of paladares and Gm had said he would help us with getting a reservation and transportation. We talked amongst ourselves and decided to go as a group (a group of fifteen with the other seven doing their own thing). This made Gm's job easier. Our bus driver volunteered to pick us up and took us to a paladar in old Havana. We were on our own getting back.

The paladar (Las Terrazas at El Gijonés) was very good but, again, a bit too froo froo for my tastes. Our table was on the roof with views of the city. A group of musicians wandered the area playing music. For some reason "Stand By Me" was a very popular song for Cuban restaurant musicians. We all smiled when they started playing "Jumping Jack Flash" - The Rolling Stones would be playing a free concert a couple of weeks after our trip (a week after President Obama was having his visit).

Despite having had a good night's sleep, we were beginning to slow down. A few of our group went to La Floridita, another one of Hemingway's favorite bars, but we'd had enough. We got in a taxi and headed to the hotel to bed.

Pictures can be found in my Cuba 2016 Flickr Album.

To Be Continued ...

Photograph: "Watching Life Go By" ... Or Happy First Day Of Spring!

2016-03-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

It's the first day of Spring!!!! Everyone get outside and enjoy the springiness! See ... this man is enjoying it.

Yes ... I know. This picture has nothing to do with Spring - I was all out of flower pictures - but I really like this picture of a Cuban man looking at the street below with the ceiling beams visible through the doorway.

"Watching life go by."
by Bruce H.

Happy Spring Everyone!

Cuba 2016: Getting There And Day One

2016-03-18T19:55:00.001-05:00

The first of our two trips this year was to the Island of Cuba. This was one of the shortest distance we've ever traveled for an international vacation but, relatively speaking, it was also the longest. It takes about five hours and forty-five minutes to fly from Omaha to Havana, Cuba. Despite this short flight time it took twenty-four hours to get there thanks mainly to the embargo.

Cuba has been embargoed by the USA since the Kennedy administration. Because of this it has been illegal for Americans to travel to Cuba. In 2015 the Obama administration loosened restrictions allowing so called "people to people" exchanges. This allowed Americans to travel to Cuba for educational exchanges. A limited number of travel companies were approved by the US state department to organize these "people to people" tours. It turns out that the tour company that we have used ever since our first big international trip (Peru) was one of those approved travel companies.

The first day of our trip started with a flight to Miami (via Chicago). Currently the only flights going to Cuba from the US are charter flights out of Miami. This will change soon as the state department and Cuba have approved commercial airlines to fly to Cuba from many American airports. Commercial flights will start later in the Fall.

In Miami we met with the other twenty people traveling with us. At twenty-two this was the largest tour group we'd ever traveled with. While the group skewed older, there was still a good mix of people and all of them were travellers. A representative of Insight Cuba (The Cuban tour company that subcontracts with our tour company) gave us a briefing about what was going to happen the next day and provided, largely inaccurate, information about our tour. Things changed a lot and very fast in Cuba. The best motto to apply to our trip would be "Everything is subject to change."

The sun sets over Miami - taken from our hotel room.

Day One - Too much to fit in with too few hours of sleep.

We had to leave to go to the airport at 4:30AM so we set a wake up call for 3:30AM. The wake up call rang at 2:30AM (AAAAAHHHH). I called the front desk to confirm the incorrect time and to make sure he was as awake as I was. I did manage to get another half hour of sleep before we really had to get up.

We shuttled to the Miami airport - an airport that felt like a third world airport - and proceeded to wait in lines. The lines are long because many Cuban travelers take a crap ton of things with them to give to their families. The flight to Cuba has weight restrictions because of this. Our tour leader in Miami did manage to expedite things a bit and we were able to avoid some of the longer lines.

The flight was a short forty-five minutes. As we taxied to the terminal we saw a US Air Force plane on the tarmac - part of President Obama's advance team we assumed. We flew through customs. I expected more questions and hassles but I was only asked a couple simple questions about why I was in Cuba. The customs officer stamped my entrance on page sixteen of my empty passport (it was brand new and she stamped in the middle of the passport ... sigh).

We collected our one checked bag and met our Insight Cuba rep (Gm). While we waited for others to get through customs I changed some money (Cuban currency can only be changed in Cuba). This would be a cash only tour as US credit cards aren't accepted in Cuba thanks to the embargo. We boarded our bus and met our Cuban guide (Ro). Either Ro, Gm, or both would be with us most of the time. While this sounds like they were "minding" us, I'm pretty sure they weren't. We were encouraged many times to wander around on our own during any free time we had. Gm would be our fixer and he would help us organize any extra activities we were interested in doing. He was also a medical student and his services would be needed when one of our tour mates tore all the ligaments in her right ankle.

An example of the old houses of Havana.

Our first stop was a gallery of a painter/photographer. The bus driver couldn't get the big bus close because of the untrimmed trees and construction near the artist's home so we got off the bus a couple blocks away near a park and walked. This gave us a good chance to see the magnificent old houses that were in various stages of decay and restoration. Many of the grander houses had been built by American mobsters before the revolution. At the house/gallery of the painter we learned about the vibrant art scene and met with the artist.

Our mark outside of La Bodeguita del Medio in Old Havana.

Next stop was old Havana for lunch. Just down a side street from Cathedral Plaza we waited in line to get into the La Bodeguita del Medio, a bar/restaurant frequented by Ernest Hemingway - he was fond of the bar's mojitos. As we waited the Wife added to the graffiti that covered the walls - both inside and out - of the bar.

Serenaded at La Bodeguita del Medio.
(Click to watch video)

We finally got in and had a very satisfying lunch. Everyone - our travel agent in Omaha, the rep in Miami, and both of our guides - warned us that the food would not be very good in Cuba. I'm not exactly sure what they were talking about. Most of the food we ate was very good. Not all of it was to my taste but that was more a 'Me' issue than a Cuban food issue. The ice cream that was served after many meals was a nice bonus.

After lunch we visited a lithograph place and met the artists who carved the plates. I almost bought a small one but the $25 cost of the rather small print seemed too steep. Not sure if that was a wise decision or not ...

A dancer in el Callejón de Hamel.
(Click to watch video)

Next stop was the Callejón de Hamel, a magnificently graffitied alleyway where we learned about the African roots of Santería and visited an artist gallery. We were entertained and educated by a demonstration of african/santería dancers. Cuba is a surprisingly religious place for a 'communist' country.

Last stop for the afternoon was an artist who worked in ceramic. By the time we got to her house we were all dragging a bit. Her art was interesting and provocative but what attracted my attention was a small wind chime with the animal pictographs from the Nazca plain. By a strange coincidence we had been talking about the Nazca lines with one of our tour mates at lunch.

We checked into the hotel and went to our rooms. Our room key didn't work so I went down to the front desk. They reprogrammed the key. It did work again. Third time reprogrammed and ... still didn't work. The fourth time at the front desk they sent someone up with me. He flourished the key as if saying "Watch me you American simpleton as I demonstrate the use of the key card." He inserted the key and the red light came on and his smug smile disappeared, he became slightly apologetic, and he let us in the room with his personal master key. The lock was fixed a few hours later.

Once I stopped wasting time trying to get into the room I showered and tried to take a nap. While it made me feel better I was still dragging a bit a couple hours later when we all got back on the bus to go out for dinner.

The restaurant was a nice restaurant (El Figaro in the Barber district ... get it? Figaro ... Barber?) but it was a bit too fancy for my tastes. The serrano ham appetizer took me back to the Camino, I didn't really enjoy my chicken in mushroom white wine sauce (having said this I cleaned my plate), and the ice cream over flan for dessert was disappointing - I don't care much for flan. There was a surprise for us at the end but it turned out to be a rum tasting which, since I don't drink alcohol, I didn't participate in.

By the time we got back to the hotel I was totally exhausted and both the Wife and I slept like the dead.

Pictures can be found in my Cuba 2016 Flickr Album.

To be continued ...

A Sliver Of Blue

2016-03-14T19:00:00.000-05:00

If you look at the map in the blog's right column there is a new tiny sliver of blue just south of Florida. This afternoon we got back from an exceptional trip to Havana, Cuba. This trip was not only special because of the location and the people we met but this was the first international trip we've taken outside of the summer months (June through August) and Cuba is the first of two international trips we are taking this year which is also a first for us.

I will be posting more details about the trip starting later this week. Today I am working on four and a half hours of sleep, two flights, and recuperating from an eight hour delay leaving Havana - there is a strange story there will be shared. I'm not in much shape to be composing travel posts right now.

I will say that I enjoyed the trip, with some minor reservations, and I'm glad I could go before the tsunami that will crash ashore once the embargo is lifted.

To Be Continued ...

Oh Yeah. I hope everyone had a Happy π Day!

Photograph: "Colorful Faces"

2016-03-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

We are out meeting the people of Cuba, seeing the sights, and admiring the old cars. Until we get back, here is a pretty picture:

"Colorful Faces"
by Bruce H.

The picture was taken under an overpass in Omaha. It is part of a city project to add beauty and interest to the city's bike paths.

Taking The Plunge

2016-03-06T19:30:00.000-06:00

Today I took a "Try Scuba" class at DiVentures. The class was a two hour introductory class that walked you through the equipment, basic procedures like putting all the equipment (tank, buoyancy vest, weights, regulator) together, and basic procedures like getting water out of your regulator and facemask.

After twenty or thirty minutes of explanation and demonstration we suited up and got in the pool. We started out in the shallow end and practiced the basic procedures and got use to breathing through a regulator. After we all passed our exercises (there were four of us in the group) we moved into the deeper end and basically had almost thirty minutes to swim around the pool.

I have to admit I was a bit worried (me worried ... who would have thought). I was waiting to have some negative reaction like claustrophobia. I was a little worried that I wouldn't like it or that I would be unacceptably uncomfortable. A few minutes in the pool dispelled most of my worries.

Breathing through the regulator was strange but not uncomfortable. If anything I may have been breathing a little too much - something that is expected for first time scuba divers. I'd been a bit worried about pain in the ears, something I'd experienced at the bottom of pools, but a quick pinch of the nose and a gentle blow equalized the pressures and the pain was gone.

The swim around the pool was not the most exciting thing as you can expect but I did a few flips - both forward and backward - and played with the bubbles a bit while I passed the time and got used to the feeling of being underwater for so long.

After the class I went to the front desk and signed up for the Scuba certification classes. I was a bit loopy as I filled out the paperwork. I guess the swimming took more out of me than I expected it would. The paperwork got filled out, with several scratched out errors (I couldn't seem to get my dates right), and I headed home where I discovered that I was totally exhausted. I think I will sleep well tonight.

My classes start at the end of March. Five classes over three weeks - four hours each. Some of that time is classroom stuff, some is in the pool. Mostly emergency procedures I believe. After the classes I need to take four certification dives which I expect to get done in May before our South American trip. Not looking forward to the certification dives which are in a lake near Atlantic, Iowa. The water is going to be cold. The four dives can be done in one weekend so I can get it over with fairly quick and painlessly.

I hope to have a chance to use what I learn in the Galapagos. Not sure I will be able to scuba but snorkelling is offered by our tour and I will be all over that. Who knows, future vacations may very well include a little scuba on the side. Can't wait!

Happy World Book Day!!!

2016-03-03T16:30:00.000-06:00

"A book is a terrible thing to waste."
by Bruce H.

We Came For Two But Left With One

2016-02-28T16:00:00.000-06:00

Last night was the annual trivia contest at the Wife's School. We won it a couple years ago and came in second last year. This year we went in hungry for not only a first place win but also with a best table theme/costume trophy as well.

Our team was the Martyrs and we all dressed up as a different catholic martyr who had given their lives in often gruesome ways. I went as Pope Clement I who was tossed overboard attached to an anchor. (It's amazing what you can find on Amazon.com - pope outfits, anchors, ...). If you are my friend on Facebook then you can see some of the pictures including me in my full pope regalia (being a non-catholic I expected to burst into flame but I managed to just get hot and sweaty instead).

There were eight rounds of eight questions and we did ... terribly. They also changed a few of the rules which ended up resulting in a lot more ties each round. Half way through we knew we weren't doing too hot. In the end we were not even in the top five. We were all a bit disappointed.

Most of the conversation around our table, and in the next twenty-four hours I suspect, was how the rules changed the scoring, how bad we did answering the questions, and how the winning team had cheated. We have no solid evidence they were cheating but they were getting too many answers right, there were a few phones out on the table (a no-no), and a few wandering eyes as their team members walked past other tables.

We did get a consolation prize. The other tables picked us as the best theme/costumes so we did come home with a trophy in the end.

Oh ... So Close ... But Better Than Expected.

2016-02-20T19:00:00.000-06:00

Today was the 10th annual Trek up the Tower stair climbing race. This was the fourth time I've participated and the first time I did it with someone else (The Wife's Niece).

My expectations this year were pretty low. I wasn't as well prepared this year as I was last primarily due to the RAGBRAI training I was doing before last years stair climb. I estimated that I would take at least thirty seconds longer this year.

I started this year's race with a half liter of caffeinated grape drink. The stuff is the equivalent of two and a quarter cans of Mountain Dew. We checked our stuff, picked up our racing number and wrist band/chip holder, and got in line. I was buzzing a bit by the time we reached the starting line.

They said go, I scanned my chip and headed up the stairs taking two steps at a time. I zoomed up the first seven floors before I started taking one step at a time. I'd told myself that I was not going to look at the floor numbers but that didn't last very long. Most of the climb I was staring at the stairs in front of me but I did glance up every now and then to see where I was. Each time I peeked I was surprised how far along I was.

Physically I didn't feel as good as I did last year. My mouth felt like a desert and my lungs were burning around half way up. I definitely felt better last year. Having said that, it felt a lot faster this year.

So ... How did I do? I didn't do as well as last year as expected. Unfortunately I was only slower by two seconds. I would have felt better if I'd been thirty seconds slower. Two seconds ... that means a tiny additional amount of effort would have had me bettering my time. So close ... close enough that it will eat at me for a while. Here are my stats this year:

Time: 8:41 - 2 seconds slower than last time!

Overall Place: 403 of 1730 - Slightly better than last time.

Place in Gender: 307 of 798 - Also slightly better than last time!

Place in Age Division (50-54): 24 of 73 - Not quite as good as last time.

I didn't really do as good as last time but it was close. The number of participants was smaller than last year which may explain my better rankings. Next year, if I get serious about training for the Appalachian Trail, I should do much better.

On the way home I was coughing and wheezing like I usually do. I always wondered if I had some issue with my lungs but today the Wife's niece was coughing and wheezing as much as I was. I guess all that stair climbing knocks all the phlegm loose in your chest.

I did so much better than I expected that I will more than likely do it again next year. Hopefully, her schedule willing, I will be joined by the Wife's niece again.

The Well Is Dry ... But Not For Long

2016-02-19T20:00:00.000-06:00

It's been eleven days since my last post. I haven't had much to write about lately - the creative well has been dry - so I will fill the vacuum with a short status report.

It's been a month since I quit playing the game. I still think about it. Strange how the smallest thing like the time of day or the turning on of a computer reminds me of the game. I guess these habits are hard to squash. I am trying to get back to my old routines and reconnect with the world around me ... though I'm not sure how connected I want to be to all the politics swirling around right now.

I have restarted my daily stretches and exercises. I'm still having problems with the consistency of my exercise routines. I have to keep reminding myself that the exercises are necessary for my Appalachian Trail (AT) preparations. The thing is when I'm exercising I often think of what I would have been doing if I were still playing the game. *Sigh*

Speaking of the AT, I am slowly putting a list of things I need to get in preparation for the hike of my lifetime. I'm thinking about clothes, food, and tents. My next major hiking purchase will probably be a new tent. While I like the tent I currently have, it can not be put up free standing (i.e without stakes in the ground) which may be a disadvantage along parts of the AT. I'm currently looking at a Tarptent Rainbow which has the option of using your trekking poles to make the tent freestanding. It weighs just over a kilogram (about 30% more than my current tent). I still feel I'm behind in my AT planning but I am making some progress. I will start to seriously make equipment purchases in the second half of next month.

While I haven't been doing as much as I've wanted to do, I do have a few things coming up. It begins with my fourth Trek up the Tower tomorrow morning. While I'm not sure I will best last year's time I will be giving it my best try. This year the Wife's Niece will be joining me up the eight hundred and seventy steps.

A week from tomorrow we have our third annual Trivia Contest at the Wife's school. We won the first and were cheated out of a win the second year. This year we will be fighting to regain our rightful place at the top. This year we will also try to be competitive in the table theme contest. Pictures will surely be posted to Facebook and Twitter next weekend.

A week after the trivia contest I start my first Scuba class. This two hour class is just an introduction to Scuba to make sure I don't unexpectedly freak out when I'm underwater. If all goes well ... and I expect it to do so ...I will officially sign up for the scuba certification classes soon afterwards.

A few days after the scuba class the Wife and I leave on a short trip to Havana, Cuba. I guess we will checking things out before the President shows up. It is a farely short trip - only about three days in Havana - but it should be interesting nevertheless. I hope the area around our hotel is walkable. Walking is the best way to see a city.

After Cuba I will hopefully be taking my scuba certification classes and doing my certification dives later in May/June.

That's all the plans I have until our big South American trip in June. I'm sure I/we will fit a few more things in before our trip. I will be sure to post about them when I do.

The Changing Face Of Entertainment Media

2016-02-08T20:00:00.000-06:00

Way back when Homer's Travels had just started, I flail around a bit trying to figure out what to write about. One early post talked about what we watched on television. Since I am kind of flailing around again wondering what I should post about, I decided to revisit the topic. Turns out a lot has changed since that September 2006 post.

I started by looking at what I've been watching for the past few months. I realized soon enough that the topic of this post really isn't what I'm watching but how I am watching. While most of the shows I watched in 2006 were network shows with a smattering of cable channel shows, what I tend to get excited about today are either purely cable channels or are not on traditional sources at all. The biggest change in the last ten years for me has been the arrival of Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other streaming sources ... all connected together on our Roku box or tablet apps. Here are a few examples of what I'm watching and how I'm watching:

"Marvel's Daredevil" and "Marvel's Jessica Jones" (Netflix): These Netflix Marvel series are darker and grittier than the comics. Netflix, like other streaming services, release the entire season (ten episodes) on the same day so no more watching one episode per week like it was done in 2006. Now you binge watch - watching several episodes back to back to back. I usually limit it to two to four episodes per day. These original series are only available if you have a Netflix subscription.
"The Man in the High Tower" (Amazon Prime): An alternate history drama set in 1960's America where the Nazis and the Japanese won World War II and have divided up the country. The show is based on Philip K. Dick's book of the same name ("The Man in the High Castle"). This show is also only available to Amazon Prime subscribers.
"The Expanse" (Syfy): One of the few of the shows I've watched lately that are not by subscription only. Based on a series of books (James S. A. Corey's The Expanse Series) the show is an an interesting space opera. I'd heard of this show but, being distracted by the game, I didn't watch it when it started on Syfy. I ended up catching up by watching the first seven episodes on our cable system's On-Demand feature and recording the last three hours on our DVR.
"Mr. Robot" (USA): This series, another cable channel offering, aired at the end of last summer - early fall. I'd heard of it but, again, I was distracted by life and the game so I never pursued it. After catching up with "The Expanse" I decided to try to catch up on this show as well.
I first looked at the On-Demand feature. Only two episodes (nine and ten) were available. When I checked a week later there was only one episode (three). I next checked to see if there was a USA channel Roku app. There was (USA Now) but when I loaded it up only episodes three, four, seven, eight, nine, and ten were available. I then checked online where I found that the USA Now site listed all ten of the episode. This would be good news but sitting in front of the computer to watch shows really isn't that comfortable (I kind of wore out my desk chair seat playing the game ... seriously I did). I then loaded up the USA Now app on my tablet. On the tablet all episodes were listed as well. Huzzah!
I ended up watching the first two episodes (and a couple more while riding my trainer) on my tablet and the others on Roku. Why are the three different versions of the same thing, offered by the same network, all different? Mystifying.
"The Walking Dead" (AMC): I record this cable show on my DVR and usually wait until the mid-season finale before I binge watch the episodes over a few days. I don't think I've ever watched an episode live.
"Marvel's Agents of Shield" and "Marvel's Agent Carter" (ABC): The only dramas I watch regularly on the four major networks. I rarely watch them live, instead I record them on the DVR and watch them the next day at my convenience.
All the so called reality shows. The only other shows I watch on the four major networks (and a few cable channels) and shows like "Survivor", "The Amazing Race", "American Idol", and "Top Chef". These shows are, more often than not, watched live and, amazing enough, were on my viewing list ten years ago too. These are also the shows the Wife and I watch together.

You can see my watching habits have changed. The idea of sitting down at a specific time in a specific room to watch a specific show feels odd to me now. I like controlling when I watch things. I don't want to wait a week to find out what happens. Heck, having to fast forward through commercials using the DVR irritates me ... a side affect of not having to watch commercials at all on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

While I have a lot more control over what I watch and when, just look at all the methods/sources I had to use to watch the shows listed above. It needs to be easier to integrate all these streams into one easy to use interface. Wouldn't it be nice to just type in a series or movie name and have all the episodes pop up no matter the source? The Roku box comes the closest by searching across multiple services but, strangely, does not include Netflix in their search. Wouldn't it be nice if you were charged a single subscription giving you access to all shows and movies across all services. Today, to do this, you need Netflix, Amazon Prime, Google Play, and Hulu at the very least. It's still a bit of a hodge podge.

It will be interesting to see how all this changes in the next ten years.

Photograph: "Tentacles Of The Snow Beast"

2016-02-02T12:45:00.000-06:00

"Tentacles of the Snow Beast"
by Bruce H.

The wet snow and the crazy winds created some interesting snow sculptures around the railing of our deck this morning.

The Forces Of DUH

2016-01-31T19:00:00.000-06:00

WARNING: I've been posting on Homer's Travels for nearly nine and a half years now and I have successfully stayed away from posting about politics. In those nine plus years I have posted eleven times about politics and six of those were posts asking people to get out and vote. I apologize in advance for the rant that follows.

I have re-immersed myself into the twenty-four hour news cycle. In other words I am up to my eyeballs in politics. If this election weren't for the Presidency of the United States of America, I would be enjoying every hilarious minute of it.

This election cycle, though, is different. I watch the news with a sinking sense of impending doom but I can't turn my eyes away ... much like a train wreck. Disappointment, depression, disbelief, and embarrassment - I have never truly experienced these feelings with respect to our elections until now. What must the people around the world think of us, the "Leaders of the Free World"? T@#$p, C@#z ... Really? B@#$%e, H@#$%^y ... that's the best we have?

All candidates are human. I know that. All humans have flaws. The trick with our elections has always been to pick the candidate with the fewest flaws and the most potential. All of these candidates ... all of them ... have more flaws than potential in my opinion.

Will any of these yahoos be able to make a difference? Will any of them be able to make a positive change? One party seems dead set for reversing the meager progress that has been made in the past ten to twenty years. At the same time their own candidates are disliked by many of their own party. The other party would try to build on the progress made but would find itself fighting the same forces of DUH that is opposing the current President.

How will it all change? Will the undercurrent of racism be exchanged for sexism or anti-semitism? Will partisanship expand while empathy fades from existence? Will we have more anti-intellectualism? More dismissal of science? Will another four years be wasted fighting the forces of DUH?

Eight years ago I had guarded hope. Who would have thunk I had too much hope and wasn't guarded enough? The process of electing our next President begins tomorrow. I'm not a religious man but all I can think is 'Lord help us all'.

#ThisYearsElectionIsALotLike finding out it wasn't just a fart.

— It's Meagan (@MeaganAldaine) January 30, 2016, Twitter.com

Photograph: "Timey, Wimey ... Booky, Wooky"

2016-01-28T18:45:00.000-06:00

"Timey, Wimey ... Booky, Wooky"
by Bruce H.

Saw this on my walk today. I've seen several Little Free Libraries in the Omaha area but this one made my inner ... and outer ... geek smile.

I didn't check to see if it was bigger inside than out.

The End Of An Obsession

2016-01-23T20:00:00.000-06:00

Then came the Halloween event.

The Hallows event, as it was called, started a week before Thanksgiving (Yeah ... a Halloween event three weeks after Halloween ... the game developers were weird like that). During this two week event better equipment and better ships were provided if you were lucky enough or if you spent money to buy more chances. The event turned the game into a bigger game of chance than it had been before.

Money. You didn't need money to play the game but spending money meant you got more toys, faster. People who spent a lot were known as coiners. During the Hallows event the ultimate reward for coiners were the blueprints for a starship called the Valkyrie. The Valky was one of the best ships you could get. The blueprints also costed $800. Yes, that is in US dollars. I knew of four coiners who bought them.

I prided myself for having a strong fleet without spending any money. Having said that, many smaller players, and players who had not played as long as others, jumped ahead during this event. Low level players were flying around with starships that they probably shouldn't have had for several more weeks. This irritated a few long term players. I was bothered - it was unfair - but it wasn't a big deal since I also benefited from the Hallows event.

Two weeks after the Hallows event ended the Christmas event started. With this one there was new, better equipments and even better starships. The starships included a version of the Valky (we called it a HOHO Valky). The HOHO Valky was not only better than the $800 version, but it was very easy to get one ... without spending any real money. To make it worse, the game developers, who often provided compensation if the game malfunctioned for an extended period of time (which happened way too often), provided a compensation package that gave EVERYONE a HOHO Valky. At the end of the Christmas event many people had fleets made up entirely of HOHO Valkies (I had four myself).

At the end of the Christmas event my fleet was still big but it was getting passed by other players who had been luckier than me. Not wanting to become too far behind I'd bought a monthly card for $9.99 which provided needed resources and credits each day for a month. I bought it near the beginning of the Christmas event. While the monthly card helped a lot it didn't make me any luckier. It did make me a minor coiner which, frankly, made me feel guilty and a bit dirty.

The events changed the game. The game had been a game of long term planning and strategically spent credits (players received credits free in game for doing tasks). There had always been luck driven parts of the game but the events turned the game into a casino. Spend money, spin the wheel (yes, there was a wheel to spin to get prizes), and, if you were lucky, you got better stuff than other players. Long term goals had been replaced with short term lucks of the draw.

Near the end of the Christmas event I realized that, not only was the game no longer fair, but it was becoming a repetitive chore. The fun was not there like it had been early on. I set a deadline of the end on my monthly card to decide if I wanted to continue playing.

As that deadline approached I took stock of what I'd done during the last six months. I'd met my duties as a house husband but I realized I was just doing the minimum necessary so that I could spend more time gaming. During family functions I would sneak into the den to check on the game and make sure I got the points and resources I needed. I'd slept in only one (!) morning in the last six months getting up at 6:00AM everyday to play the game. The first thought I had when I woke up each morning was "What do I need to do in the game today?" The game was usually the last thing I thought about when I went to bed. I would become irritated if something interrupted my game play. I started cutting back on the hours I played but the game was always in my thoughts when I was away from the computer screen. I stopped watching the news. I stopped following social media. I practically missed autumn entirely. Everything was revolving around the game. The Real World was the inconvenient place I occupied when I wasn't gaming. I had become obsessed.

This game had become the closest thing to an addiction that I have ever experienced. I've played other games nearly this obsessively but those games always had an endgame. They were never social. When the game ended I would come down and would return to reality. This game had no end and it had a social element. I was not prepared to handle it.

Near the end it started appearing that another event with new ships and equipment was coming, probably a valentine's day event. This was too much for me. Last Monday I announced to the other players that Wednesday, the last day of my monthly card, would be my last day. Other players tried to convince me to change my mind, suggesting that I step away for a short while. Others seemed a little disappointed.

My own feelings surprised me. Imagine what it feels like to be quitting heroin and learning your best friend had just died - that's kind of how I felt. I teared up a little. My emotional reaction was the final straw. Such an emotional reaction about a game is not healthy and the only option I had was to quit.

The game is still in my thoughts everyday but they are fading. As I told my friends: I won't miss the game, I will miss the players. To ease myself away from the game I friended a few players on Facebook so some of the friendships I developed could continue. This made it easier to quit.

The computer remained off the morning after I quit. Frankly, I was afraid to turn it on - an alcoholic entering a bar. I finally turned it on to draft this post and the last. The temptation to log onto the game is there. But now I am free. I am free to start getting my health back. I am free to prepare for the Appalachian Trail. I am free to reconnect. Most importantly, I am free to enjoy the Real World around me.

The Beginning Of An Obsession

2016-01-22T20:00:00.000-06:00

Last summer, a week before RAGBRAI, I started playing the game. I've mentioned it in passing a few time in the last six month. The game was called Star Trek: Alien Domain (STAD).

STAD was loosely based on Star Trek. You started with a home planet and you built a colony, adding mines, labs, storage, and shipyards. Eventually you built starships and fleets of starships and explored the sectors of "fluidic space". You established new colonies which provided more resources you could use to upgrade and strengthen your fleet. As you explored you gained experience which allowed your character to go up in level and opened up new sectors to explore and starships to be built.

My character was a member of the Federation. As you explored you battled the fleets of other players who had chosen to be Klingons. Along with the resources generated from your colonies, you also gained resources by looting Klingon player colonies. Equipment like weapons and shields were obtained by opening crates that you found while exploring. What you got out of the crates was random - luck was a very important part of the game. The crates made the game a game of chance but it often didn't feel like it to me.

I started playing the week before RAGBRAI and in those first five or six days I became hooked. I was planning how to gain experience as fast as possible while optimizing the gathering of resources I would need to get the next starship class. As I rode my bike through the backroads of Iowa my thoughts often went to the strategy I would use when I got back home. Yeah, thinking about riding a bicycle across Iowa was not enough of a distraction for me. The game always wormed it's way to the front of my mind.

After RAGBRAI was over I jumped back into the game for another five days. I sunk deeper and spent more time playing. A week after RAGBRAI I left on my Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) camping trip. Like biking RAGBRAI, hiking through the beautiful mountains of RMNP was not enough to stop me from thinking about the game. Part of me just wanted to get home so I could build the next starship and explore the next sector.

After returning from RMNP I went off the deep end. I stopped all the exercise and training that I'd been doing prior to RAGBRAI and RMNP. I knew this would happen. I figured I would pause my training for a month before restarting it as Appalachian Trail training. That one month power down replaced exercise and training with gaming. I would get up at 6:00AM when I normally would get up to feed Iago but, instead of exercising, making breakfast, and watching the news/checking social media, I would sit in front of the computer and play the game.

A month after RMNP I didn't restart anything. The game, by this time, had sunk it's claws in me and I was spending between six and twelve hours a day playing the game. I did my chores and did what was needed to keep the house but the rest of my time was dedicated to the game.

The game was similar to many games I've played before. There was one aspect, though, that was new to me. This game was an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online). In the lower left corner of the screen was a chat window. You were not playing the game alone. You were playing with a community of Feds and KDF (Klingon Defense Forces) who were chatting with each other while they played.

At first I ignored the chat window but after a while I saw that it was full of important information. Players were exchanging hints, tips, and trick about the game. When I ran into roadblocks I began posting questions to the chat and answers usually showed up in a few minutes. Before long I became a full fledge member of this STAD community both getting and giving answers. Over time friendships formed. I would describe them as being like workplace friends. You 'saw' each other when you played the game, talked mostly about the game, joked around a lot, and didn't socialize much outside of the game. That was OK since I was socializing with them most of my waking hours anyway.

STAD was a new game and was not complete. When I started there were only seventy levels you could reach and only sixteen sectors you could explore. I reached level seventy sometime in September joining a lot of older players who had languished at the level cap for over a month. Even with the level cap you could still upgrade your fleet and make it stronger for battling against other players during group melees called System Battles. My fleet strength grew quickly and I slowly gained the respect of some of the other players.

There was little player vs player (pvp) fighting in the game. Early on I lost my fleet several times to marauding Klingon but over time the Feds and Klingons chatted with each other, we enjoyed each other's company, and the number of Klingon/Fed attacks dropped a lot. I found myself helping some newer Klingon players to improve their fleets and offering them advice on playing the game. Some of the old timers would still attack Klingons on sight but I would usually leave them alone if they left me alone.

In general, the players were great people. There was little conflict. When the game changed and began requiring the Feds/Klingons to attack one another once a day to get prizes, players would politely ask the other faction if they could be attacked for the daily reward. The smallest, weakest fleets would be loaded up so both the Fed and the Klingon could meet their daily requirements with the least amount of wasted resources. It was very gentlemanly.

In early October the game was updated and the cap was raised to seventy-five levels. Three more sectors were open up to exploration. Two months later most of the big players, myself included, hit the cap again. But I was still having fun and by then I was playing more for the chat with other players than for the game play. We all chatted, wondering when the cap would be lifted again, joking around, and discussing how to make our fleets stronger. Then came the Halloween event.

To Be Continued ...

Neglected Reading

2016-01-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

It's nine days into 2016 and I haven't made my reading goals yet. Well, they weren't made as of yesterday. Now I have plans. Last year I read twenty-five books, just one shy of my goal. This year I expect to read fewer books. There always seems to be something competing for my attention and time.

I've noticed a pattern in my reading. I start the year with an intensity, reading half my books in the first three to four months before my reading tails off. I end up spending November and December trying to catch up.

Last year the pattern repeated itself with the addition of me completely neglecting my magazine reading as well. I have an eight month high stack of Wired and National Geographics towering on the corner of my nightstand.

So it's time for me to do some catch up. I will spend the first few months of the year working my way through the stack of magazines. Once the magazines are gone, then I will start tackling books. I will also set a much lower reading goal - half of what I set last year.

So the next month will be full of short form culture, science, nature, and technology ... a few of my favorite things. Then, if I get my act together, I'll decimate my reading goals and surpass my own expectations.

An Uninspiring Start To The New Year

2016-01-02T19:00:00.000-06:00

The past few days have been a bit odd feeling. Usually I like the feel of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day but this year I was a little bit grumpy for no real reason.

The Wife and one of her nieces left on Wednesday to roadtrip to Arizona to cheer on Notre Dame at the Fiesta Bowl. This left me and Iago to our own devices.

On New Year's Eve I played a little, read a little, and caught up on the latest season of "The Walking Dead". I considered going to see the lights and fireworks downtown but just wasn't in the mood. I ended the day as I usually do by watching the clock next to the bed change over and turning out the light. The difference was I didn't have the Wife to kiss and wish Happy New Year.

On New Year's Day I took down some of the Christmas decoration and lit the candle for Notre Dame. It didn't work but it sounds like the Wife and niece still had a fun time at the Fiesta Bowl. I started watching a new show on Amazon Prime ("The Man in the High Castle"). It's an interesting story.

Today I was going to ride my bike in an attempt to kick start my exercise routine that I've been neglecting. I didn't. Tomorrow I will ... I promise. Instead I finished taking down the outside lights (some were frozen to the gutter) and watched several more episodes of the Man in the High Castle.

So the past three days have been a bit aimless and uninspiring. That will have to change soon.

A Homer's Travels Look Back At 2015

2015-12-31T08:00:00.000-06:00

Like 2014, 2015 was a fuzzy year. Neither here nor there. It was divided into two parts: one full of vim and vigor and the other full of sloth, laziness, and escapism.

The first half of the year was mostly dedicated to training for RAGBRAI. I rode my bike, first in the basement, then on the trails around Omaha. I was biking at least three times a week if weather and my bike would allow it. Shortly after RAGBRAI I did my Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) camping trip.

The second half of the year, after RMNP, consisted of me running away from the world. I fully immersed myself in a social based Star Trek game. I played hours and hours each day. Any exercising I'd been doing in preparation for RAGBRAI and RMNP ceased. I drastically reduced my monitoring of Facebook and Twitter. I only marginally followed the news. I withdrew from the world around me. I both enjoyed the game and worried about my own behavior. There is a lot more to say about this but I will save it for another post.

Let's look back at 2015, shall we:

January: After a beautiful and relaxing New Year's Eve and day, I watched a few good documentaries and got myself organized. We went to a concert that was interrupted by health issues, I became aware of some penguins, and pondered the progress of technology (while cursing out other technology related harassment). The month ended with me registering for RAGBRAI, one of my big three goals (Camino 2013 was the first, the AT is the third).
February: The month started off with blizzard conditions. I had some taxing times, depressing (shorts) times, and trivial times with friends and painting. It was a month of healthy things as well - good blood tests and better tower trekking times - but ended in a sad note.
March: The wonder of outer space was reawakened by the flyby of Ceres this month. I was down with a bug for a week and a half but that didn't stop me from getting Rocky Mountain National Park reservations and planning the camping trip as well as our New England Vacation.
April: A proper fitting was a proper way to start the month. I took my bike off the stand and out for the first of many a spin. My ads started to payoff ... sort of. I went for my first camping trip of the year, returning to Hitchcock Nature Center, regressed with the help of comics, and asked a trivia question that no one answered.
May: RAGBRAI became more real once I won the lottery. On a muddy ride I had my first, and only, accident on my bike. I had a nice visit to the Omaha Zoo. I went camping again. I celebrated my fourth Caminoversary with a new shell, continued my RAGBRAI training, and bought some new toys.
June: I did the third camp of the year at Preparation Canyon. This would be the last camp before RAGBRAI and RMNP. My RAGBRAI training continued but it was interrupted by our New England vacation. The vacation, while nice, was mediocre.
July: Between RAGBRAI training rides I documented our New England vacation. I lamented the shredding of my routine while I attempted to bring it back to life for at least a weekend. I marvelled at the photos of Pluto. The month ended with me successfully completing RAGBRAI. I learned I could do it while also learning that I don't like riding bike so much and large crowds are a turn off. Before I left for RMNP we started planning out next international vacation.
August: My RMNP five day camping trip started the first week of August. I lost an old friend. I had a successful camp with ups and downs. I enjoyed the ups and learned from the downs. This was the last of my summer activities for the year. A busy and underappreciated season. This month also started my Star Trek computer game obsession.
September: After months of physical activity and exercise, I proceeded to become an inactive lump sitting in front of a computer screen playing games. I tried to ween myself off it but I was unsuccessful. I did start riding my trainer more and went for some walks/hikes. We were visited by one of the Wife's friends from New York. The last of the three space related events took place at the end of the month - a Blood Moon.
October: A statue dedication and a concert started off October. I posted several pictures of fall colors - my first photograph series. I finally began planning my Appalachian Trail hike.
November: I didn't write, or do, much this month. I finished the first draft of my Appalachian Trail hike and added the draft to a new blog tab. I saw some eagles in the field behind our house. That's about it.
December: I posted a little more in December though they were mostly photograph posts. I told the tale of the Pale Blue Ball which made a few people smile. We celebrated a wedding and Christmas and, despite the lonely sock found in our den, we had a very Merry Christmas.
In 2015 I went on 29 walks/hikes totalling 341.66 miles (549.85 km) - nearly the same as in 2014. I expected this number to be lower due to my gaming immersion so I was pleasantly surprised by the number.
Biking, in 2015, took on a whole new meaning for me. I biked more in 2015 than the past seven years combined. In the end I rode 1,384.2 miles (2,227.6 km) on my trainer and 1,738.87 miles (2,798.4 km) in the real world - including the 481.5 miles (774.9 km) of RAGBRAI. RAGBRAI was the longest distance I've ever biked in a single, seven day, span and the first day of RAGBRAI was also my all time personal best for biking in a single day: 76.5 miles (123.1 km). I'd had my doubts that I would complete it but I did much better than I expected only having to get off and walk my bike twice. Despite this success, I learned that I really wasn't fond of biking. I hope to get back on my bike next year both to keep my checkup numbers in range and to prepare for my Appalachian Trail hike.
I read twenty-five books this year, just shy of my goal of twenty-six. I would have blasted through that goal but I let the game consume too much of my reading time. I picked some good books this year with 68% being four or more stars. "The Martian" and "All the Light We Can Not See" being my favorite. This coming year I may not set a goal - more about this in a future post.
We went to three concerts this year: Fleetwood Mac, the Decemberists, and Elton John. I enjoyed all three despite Fleetwood Mac being cut short and Decemberists being out in the rain.
I posted 121 times this year, nearly the same as last year. Like my reading, the game probably reduced the number of posts this year.

Last year I said I had a good feeling about 2015 and I think I was half right. Our New England trip, RAGBRAI, and my RMNP camping trip were wonderful (almost said tremendous ... Too much Trump). The second half, like the second half of 2014 were lacking somewhat.

There are some good things coming in the new year. Scuba certification lessons, a trip to Cuba, a trip to the Galapagos Islands, an Amazon cruise, Easter Island, and Rio. In between I will have to really get serious about planning my Appalachian Trail hike.

Here's to a Happy and Prosperous New Year for all.

May all your dreams come true in 2016.