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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
Cape Town South Africa Stadium Posted: July 31, 2012
The Cape Town Stadium is a hard thing to miss in Cape Town if you are anywhere near it. I'm sure they play soccer there, but I'm not sure what else. I assume they have cricket matches, but I know so little about cricket that I'm not sure where it's played. Anyway, they did have the FIFA World Cup finals at this stadium in 2010. The stadium has a capacity of 64,100. Perhaps one of the coolest things about the stadium is that there is an elevated Fan Walk to the stadium from the downtown section of Cape Town so that the fans going to the stadium from the downtown section where many of the restaurants, bars, hotels, and hostels are located do not have to walk in the traffic.
Cape Town Ticket Sales Posted: July 31, 2012
It was amazing. I wanted to go to see Robben Island, the notorious place where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 26 years. Unfortunately, all the available tours were booked for over two weeks. I had been told this by others that were staying at the same hostel that I was staying in even before I went to see if I could get a ticket. But, I had to try. When I approached the ticket counter, I saw no one in line line but did see four persons behind the counter doing anything but selling tickets. I could tell they were really bored. The whole thing struck me as ridiculously funny. Why were there four people selling tickets for a tour that was sold-out for two weeks? I guess people need jobs. So I walked up to the counter and no one paid any attention to me for the longest time. I guess they were so used to having nothing to do that they don't know what a potential customer looks like.
Cape Town Beach Guy Posted: July 31, 2012
Yes, that's right. I am a dedicated beach guy. Once in a while. This is me at the beach in Cape Town. I went out to lunch with two friends I met in the city and we went for a walk at the beach. It was a beautiful day in Cape Town. I think winter must be the best season in Cape Town because it only gets cool/cold at night. I'm not sure I would want to be in Cape Town in the summer. I was told it gets hot. However, when I looked at the weather averages at one of the weather web sites, I only see it getting up to around 80 degrees. Could it be that some people in Cape Town have no idea what really hot means?
Cape Town South Africa Condos Posted: July 31, 2012
Some of the people who live at the beach at Cape Town have it pretty nice. I'm sure their condos are like condos at any other beach property anywhere else in the world. They're relatively expensive. They're smallish. The best ones have ocean views and the very best ones are higher up in the building and have a patio. The very best patios are the large ones big enough to entertain a football team.
Cape Town Backpack Posted: July 31, 2012
This is a picture of one of the hostels where I stayed. This one is the better of the two. That didn't mean I stayed there after two nights. I didn't. I left for 3 reasons: (1) the noise was bad at night; (2) the room cost was relatively high; and (3) the internet was not free. I cut my cost by more than half by moving one block. The cost went from $28 to $12.50. It was still noisy at night but the cost has much more reasonable and the internet was free and it was fast enough. I believe that I could have moved to a larger dorm room (more beds) and cut the cost down to about $15 at this hostel, The Backpack, if I had tried to do so. I think I would have stayed at The Backpack had they done something about the noise because it was a very modern and clean hostel. I didn't complain. I've complained about noise at hostels before and it never did any good. Now, I just move on to one where I hope will be less noisy.
Cape Town CS Friends Posted: July 31, 2012
CS means Couch Surfing. The people in the picture are me (left), Stina (right) who is from Sweden and had an apartment in Cape Town, and Carmen who is from Uruguay and is staying with Stina for a few days while she is in Cape Town. We got together for lunch one day and the next day decided to spend the day at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. It was a marvelously beautiful day and we had a great time there. It's really nice to make new friends. I try to cultivate new friends through CS whenever I get the chance. It's a project I believe in.
Cape Town Kirstenbosch Posted: July 31, 2012
Kirstenbosch is a botanical garden which is said to be the best in Africa. Travel and Leisure magazine rates it the #2 botanical garden in the world. The traveldk.com web site rates them at #4. The gardens are a UNESCO World Heritage site. I visited the garden and came away quite impressed. They were huge and they had to be as good as any botanical gardens I have ever been in.
Cape Town Strange Food Posted: July 31, 2012
After Carmen, Stina, and myself visited the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens we went back to Cape Town to find a restaurant for dinner. As we walked down the street Stina decided to enter the Timbuktu Restaurant. I'm not sure why she picked this restaurant. There was no menu outside and she could not see the restaurant as it was on the second floor of a large building. When we arrived at the restaurant they seated us on a very large balcony overlooking Long Street, one of the most active streets in downtown Cape Town. The balcony was decorated very... eclectically. The whole ritual of eating there was... different. I had the combo veggie plate. It was... delicious in an odd sort of way. It was a very unique experience. If you're in Cape Town and want a different sort of place to eat, try it. The restaurant is across from the Purple Turtle, which is a hard to miss on Long Street.
Cape Town Ferris Wheel Posted: July 31, 2012
It's the Ferris wheel at the Waterfront. According to Wikipedia "The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in the historic heart of Cape Town's working harbor is South Africa's most-visited destination, having the highest rate of foreign tourists of any attraction in the country." I didn't know it was that popular. I went there to book a trip to Robbens Island. What I saw was a very large shopping area and lots of lots of entertainment. The technical term for the Ferris wheel is the Observation Wheel. I didn't ride it. I spent time checking out the really nice mall and looking at all the interesting things to do at the Waterfront.
Cape Town Chicken Sizzler Posted: July 31, 2012
I went out expecting to eat some fish 'n chips from the local fish 'n chips store but it had closed by the time I got there. I was disappointed. But I was on a street that had dozens of restaurants that were open and all I had to do was to do a little walking until I found the one I wanted. So I did. I wound up going into the Food Inn, which I surmised to be an Indian Restaurant once I got inside because of the menu and the fact that almost all the employees appeared to be of Indian descent.. I ordered the Chicken Sizzler, which looked good in the picture on the menu. When it arrived it was sizzling. Really, really sizzling. It took almost 10 minutes for it to cool down enough so that I could eat it. They must have had the plate in a hot oven or something. Was it good? It was great. Plus, there was enough of it left over so that I could have the rest for breakfast in the morning.
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