RichC | July 31, 2009
Whew! I’m finally up to date with our European vacation archive … and a bunch of photos didn’t make it into my14 days of blog posts. Oh well, there are plenty to enjoy … except just this one loner photo and it will get its own post. It’s my daughter’s 23 year old “Big Bear” […]
RichC | July 31, 2009
While on vacation ( updated blog posts here) I happened to meet a UK ‘tech writer’ who was up-to-date on the current smartphones. He has several phones and was comparing both the Palm Pre and iPhone 3Gs ( no UK GSM phone service for Pre yet). I found his comparison interesting and was very impressed […]
RichC | July 30, 2009
I’ve been noticing that the significant advertising campaign Palm has spent their capital on (as well as Sprint) hasn’t seemed to slow all that much since it received free-press “pre-release” remarks and articles. From full page ads, to billboards, the sharp looking smartphone has certainly seen the “Apple” treatment in the ad spaces. Even the […]
RichC | July 26, 2009
The final flight crosses the Ohio River and lands at CVG We arrived home safely after a long day of traveling. Up at 4:45 AM in Southampton UK (5 hrs ahead of home EST) and grabbed a quick breakfast on the NCL Jade before ‘debarking’ and recovering our luggage. The trip to London Heathrow was […]
RichC | July 25, 2009
Passing close enough to a container ship in the Atlantic to read containers The blog is missing a few days in posting due to a shortage of Internet minutes while on the cruise ship ($$$) and although there have been a few connections (very few public ‘free’) along the voyage, I’ve spent more time enjoying […]
RichC | July 24, 2009
It seems like a long time ago, but as I write this post it has only been about a week since we were in Spain. Our last port of call was the city of Vigo, Spain. The west coast city and metro area is home to a half a million people with historic Kingdom of […]
RichC | July 23, 2009
Lisboa or Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and the wealthiest of the country. It has remained the capital city since its conquest from the Moors in 1147. The architectural style is a combination of old and new, European and Middle Eastern … especially in historic areas and in the Sintra region – both a […]
RichC | July 22, 2009
We spent day eleven visiting the Rock of Gibraltar and I particularly liked learning about the history of this fortress. The huge fortified hunk of rock guarding the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean has seen it share of conquest and struggle. Over the years, a series of 32 kilometers of tunnels […]
RichC | July 21, 2009
Today, we mark our return sail back toward the west steaming east in the Mediterranean on this near perfect day. The sky is blue, the water bluer and there is just enough breeze for a lone sailboat to make way well out in the clear horizon (digitally enlarged 300mm telephoto above). It’s now day 10 […]
RichC | July 20, 2009
We debarked in Chivitavecchia, Italy on Monday and headed by bus to the ancient city of Rome (Roma) and a visit to the Vatican. The thoughts that I had prior to visiting Rome were of just another old and somewhat dirty city, but the impression I left with was one of awe … and a […]
RichC | July 19, 2009
What a wonderful day in Italy! We enjoyed a near perfect day in the Tuscany region of Italy heading from the port city of Livorno to Pisa in order to visit the famed Leaning Tower of Pisa, cathedral and baptistery. The crowds were relatively heavy, but flowed easily in and out of the key stops […]
RichC | July 18, 2009
It is hard to believe that I can actually lose track of time while less than a week into a vacation, but knowing I’m posting a day or two behind has me looking at the calendar for perspective. We are having a great time and enjoying our vacation … both the rest and relaxation of […]
RichC | July 18, 2009
After our day in Barcelona, we sailed for Cannes in France. The evening started to get interesting when deck chairs began flying off the deck and doors were quickly battened down. Most passengers realized that we were rolling a bit more than usual, but the seas were not all that much larger than we have […]
RichC | July 17, 2009
As usual, I’m behind in jotting down a few notes in which to archive our trip and thoughts after a couple of days in Spain. We toured the old part of the city of Barcelona (only wide enough streets to walk) and thankfully had our English speaking guide in which to mention several relevant spots […]
RichC | July 16, 2009
After a long day in Malaga, Spain we set sail at 6PM on Wednesday evening. We were all tired out from our day and turned in with a movie on our cabin (Benjamin Button) after a celebration Japanese dinner. Celebration since the scores for my daughter’s Step One medical boards were passing (taken after year […]
RichC | July 14, 2009
We spent day two and now three of our vacation at sea and are enjoying the day’s relaxing … as well as eating (too much food). The weather was cooler on Monday, but much warmer today. The winds the first day out were near gale force as we traveled south from the English Channel through […]
RichC | July 12, 2009
View of the Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 in the berth once home to the Titanic The first day of vacation proved to be an excellent 8 hour through the night flight direct from CVG (Cincinnati) to London. Thankfully we processed through customs relatively painlessly after gathering our luggage and taking a motor coach (bus) to […]
RichC | July 11, 2009
Exchanging a few US dollars for Eurodollars this week has me thinking about the struggling economy as I prepare for vacation. I noticed that stocks struggled again on Friday, and crude oil closed below $60 a barrel as everyone continued to worry about the economy. Reflective of the economy, the Dow Jones industrials closed down another […]
RichC | July 10, 2009
Sometimes the best laid plans can go awry when you’ll not reading the details. My Achilles’s heel is ‘a good buy’ when it comes to tools and technology gear and the Hammer N1200 empty’ myshare’ NAS (Network Attached Storage) unit seemed to be fitting into my planned purchase since I had two spare 250GB 3.5 […]
RichC | July 9, 2009
Interesting CNET “Prizefight” pitting the Palm Pre against the Apple iPhone 3G and iPhone 3Gs … the Pre was slow to boot, but did a pretty good job of real world web browsing and emailing a photo. I don’t mind the Sprint 3G speeds, but after a month of using the Palm Pre have been […]
RichC | July 7, 2009
In continuing with comparison strengths and weaknesses of the Palm Pre smartphone, one of the concerns I have is over cellphone signal reception strength. The currently Sprint only Pre doesn’t have the same solid reception strength as my Palm Treo 700p (or Centro for that matter), according to the signal meter and personal observations. The […]
RichC | July 5, 2009
As we talked about the 4th of July and celebrated with family and time together this weekend, I mentioned to my World War II history buff son, that American ‘hero’ Darrell “Shifty” Powers (March 13, 1923 – June 17, 2009) recently passed away. For those that don’t know him, he was foremost a dedicated husband […]
RichC | July 3, 2009
I’ve been grumbling about battery life since moving from the Palm Treo to the Sprint Palm Pre for the past couple weeks, but it seems Apple iPhone users, besides having a high heat problem, are grumbling too. There are a few software items on my ‘disappointed’ list, but top on my software and hardware list […]
RichC | July 2, 2009
Sales for the “clean diesel” Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI were impressive in the month of June for Volkswagen of America. SportWagen sales accounted for 81% of all SportWagens sold. The TDI version of the Jetta and Touareg were impressive as well, accounting for 40% of Jetta sales and 29% of the Touareg SUV sales. American […]
RichC | July 1, 2009
According to Palm Beach Post reporter Susan Salisbury, the biofuel company Ag-Oil is planning to build a biodiesel production facility in the Agricultrual Reserve west of Delray Beach Florida. (MP3 Audio — really just testing for my Palm Pre) The facility has the potential to produce 15 million gallons of biodiesel each year from jatropha, […]