Welcome
To My Blog
Postscript: In December, 2010 I hung up my Driver's cap for good. The road had taken its' toll. I was no longer willing to drive 180 days a year, regardless of the money and the ability to work when I wanted. I had seen America. I was tired of being gone from home for 9 months a year. I needed a rest. In 2011 I sold my truck and trailer and was unemployed for the year. However, I wasn't inactive. I traveled overseas to Asia and South America for several months. In the fall I enrolled in an online course to to become certified in Oracle, the world's preeminent database. I want to go back to work sometime in the near future as a software developer or administrator. Even though I programmed for 20+ years, my skills are dated. Fortunately, I have a little flexibility as to my future.
RollingOkie OKC, Jan 1, 2012
"114 Countries"
I've Visited
Albania
Andorra
Antigua
Argentina
Aruba
Austria
Bahamas
Bali
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Bermuda
Bonaire
Borneo
Bosnia
Botswana
Bulgaria
Canada
Cambodia
Cayman Islands
China
Colombia
Costa Rica
Crete
Croatia
Curacao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
England
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guernsey
Herzegovina
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
India
Ireland (Eire)
Ireland (Ulster)
Isle of Man
Italy
Java
Japan
Jordan
Jersey
Kenya
Kosovo
Laos
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia
Malawi
Malaysia
Martinique
Mexico
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Netherlands
Nicaragua
Norway
Panama
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Rhodes
Saba
San Marino
Sarawak
Scotland
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Srpska
Sumatra
Sweden
Switzerland
Tanzania
Thailand
Tortola
Turkey (Asia)
Turkey (Eur)
Turks & Caicos Islands
United States
Vatican City
Vietnam
UAE (Emirates)
U.S.A.
U.S. Virgin Islands
Wales
Zimbabwe
A Boat Like Ours Posted: June 1, 2008
There was about 40 passengers on two rafts. We spent a week floating the Grand Canyon. Significance? You're kidding, right? It is one of the truly great experiences of my life. It wasn't cheap and it wasn't always comfortable, but it was memorable. There are few places that I would say that I would spend a week going to see. There are even fewer that I would say that I would go back to visit for another week. There are even fewer still that have a per day cost as much as rafting the Grand Canyon. However, a trip down the Grand Canyon is worth it, no matter how many times you do it..
Potsdam - New Palace Posted: September 21, 2008
Why would anyone want to live in a place this big? If I had that kind of money, I could think of a thousand places other than this one to park my caddy. Significance? People have built some truly inspirational monuments to themselves and others. They're worth a look. many of them are NOT in your neighborhood. Most of them are not even in the United States. Get a passport. Go see something cool.
Krakow - Busy Old Town Street Posted: September 12, 2008
There were hundreds, if not thousands of people on the streets of the Old Town. This shouldn't have surprised me. After all, the city does have a population of 750K+. I came to believe that all those tourists on the streets of the Old Town weren't really tourists at all, they were just locals who didn't want to go home and had nowhere else to go. Significance? Lifestyle. People who live in foreign countries have a different lifestyle than we do in American and I don't think you can really get a good handle on that concept until you've spent some time there. Europeans, in particular, have a lifestyle I find enchanting. They walk more and have great public transportation systems. Their city centers are more conducive to an urban lifestyle that is more casual than the American lifestyle. I could go on and on. Would I want to live there? No, my family and closest friends are in America. But I do enjoy living overseas for short periods of time.
5 Dollar Whopper Posted: August 30, 2008
Yes, whoppers really do cost $5 in Copenhagen. They cost even more in Oslo and Stockholm. Stock up on those whoppers now while you have the chance. Significance? There are countries with a higher stand of living than the United States. I've been there. I've seen them and I can report back that they have a very nice way of life.
Baskin Robbins Posted: March 19, 2010
This is the ice cream store that inspired me to go to one of the world's 10 largest malls, Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur. I'd just finished lunch and I didn't have a lot going on and I just decided it would be nice to go to the mall and get some ice cream. I had lunch in the central market and there weren't a lot of ice cream stores there. I spent about three hours in the mall after I got my ice cream. It seems they had a lot of stuff there. Not that I need more stuff, I just like to look at and gloat about how good it feels to have stopped buying so much of it. Significance? The majority of the 10 largest malls in the world are in Asia. What does that say? It says that Asia has a lot of people and that consumerism is alive and well all over the world. I would say that Asians will be the next great wave of consumers, surpassing even the United States in their ability to purchase worthless, needless junk to fill their homes.
Hong Kong Apartments Posted: March 12, 2010
Notice the apartments? How could you not notice them. They were everywhere. They were large. They are the kind of place that makes me worry about the future of mankind. Will our species someday be all about living in little structures shut off from locations where the buffalo roam and lions wander about? Probably. Significance? Look at those things. In Asia they're everywhere. I can understand them, I'm just not sure I like them. I could never get my wife to even consider living in one. Me? I could deal with it, but I think I‘d miss my Lawn-Boy.
Hong Kong From The Peak Posted: March 12, 2010
This is Hong Kong from Victoria Peak. It's not a very good shot. The weather has never really cooperated with me during any of my stays in Hong Kong. One thing I will say is that I've decided to make Hong Kong the World's Best Skyline in my list of places in the world to visit. Victoria Peak also becomes one of my Top 100 Places to Visit in the world. Of course I haven't actually made a list, but if I had one this place would definitely be on it. It might even be on the Top 10 list, but I'd have to say this view would be in a pretty tight race with the view from the Empire State Building if only because of Central Park in New York City. Significance? Huge urban cities like this are the future for mankind in the next hundred or so years. Hong Kong is, at the very least, interesting. I'm glad it's a gateway city to SE Asia. It gives me the chance to get back to the city for a couple of days when I go to the continent.
Ten Dollar Room Posted: March 4, 2010
It's quite Spartan. There are no fills. A bed and a nightstand. There is one electrical outlet with one receptacle. I guess you could say that the size of it is about the size of a prison cell, maybe a little less. But, it's clean, it's cheap and it's home. Significance? In Asia, as well as some other parts of the world, I've stayed at many places like this one. Looks depressing doesn't it? It's not, at least not for me. It reminds that I don't need valet service. I just need a place to put my head when I get tired. It reminds me that my sojourns around the world aren’t all about luxury, they’re about learning.
Singapore Chinatown Posted: March 1, 2010
What do you get on the last day of Chinese New Year? About a billion Chinese people taking to the streets and another few hundred million people going to watch them. One thing I've learned from this trip to SE Asia is to appreciate the impact that Chinese New Year can have.
Long Bar Posted: March 1, 2010
There is a very famous hotel in Singapore called the Raffles Hotel. In it, there is a bar called the Long Bar and this bar is the place where a cocktail called the Singapore Sling was allegedly created by a bartender. This is all legend or hearsay or so I've read. What I can testify is true is that there is a Raffles Hotel and it does have a bar named the Long Bar and it does serve a drink called the Singapore Sling. What I can't testify to is what the drink tastes like. I'm not much on cocktails, being a beer drinker and all. I've never had a Singapore Sling. Especially not at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel where the drink costs a little over 20 American dollars. I hear you get free peanuts, but even that wasn't enough to begin to start to tempt me...