We arrived at the port in Split, Croatia around 8:00 am. We have arranged a car and driver to take us by ferry to the small island of Brac (pronounced "bra-ch") and the tiny village of Splitska. This is where my mother's father and mother were born. It is also where several of her older brothers and sisters were born before the family immigrated to Sinclair Island in Washington state. One of her brothers, John, was born on Sinclair and…
Last night was the dinner with the captain. He is a very tall and large man who looks like he should be a tackle on the Seahawks. He appears to be in his mid or late 40's. A very friendly person with an easy smile, he was born in Norway. He lives in Istanbul because he married a woman from Turkey. The other guests consisted of a man and wife from London. He was knighted and therefore is "sir" and she is "lady"…
We sailed from Mongtenegro at 4:00 pm. The captain took a sight seeing detour to the two islands on the way out. When he announced the "detour" I thought of the ill fated Italian captain who put his ship on rocks in Italy, but this detour was without incident. He circled the two islands with the church and monestary which gave us a great view. Afterwards he headed out the fjord towards the Greek island of Corfu. The seas were calm…
Sunday September 24th After we departed Venice, past the cruise ships, gondolas and other variety of boats out of the harbor we cruised at a slow 10 knots.We sailed the Adriatic towards Kotor Montenegro, our first port of call. The seas were virtually flat calm and the weather warm. There was nothing to do except, nap, read and eat. The food on this ship is superb so I've been eating twice as much as I usually do or so it seems….
We flew from Seattle to London on a late afternoon flight arriving in London the next day, Tuesday. We flew business class and the seat configuration on the 747 has the seats facing the opposite way so that your next door passenger faces you only inches away. There is a privacy divider but when the seat is extended flat, it means the inside person has to step over your foot rest to get to the aisle. However, the seats are adequate…
Tomorrow, Monday, we fly to London, then on to Milan, Italy and from there by car to beautiful Lake Como where we will stay for several days. From there we travel by car to Venice and spend another two days before boarding the Seaborn Spirit for a cruise down the Adriatic. At Lake Como we are staying at the Castadiva Resort which is located on six acres right on the lake. It was the residence of a 19th century opera singer, Giuditta…
I know full well that talking about politics is a waste of time because virtually everyone has their mind made up and there is nothing anyone can say or do that will change the already established opinion. But, it makes me feel better to write about things that really bother me regarding the two parties. One of them is Congressman Paul Ryan's continuous gross misstatements of significant historical facts. I won't repeat the list of these in his convention speech, but…
I came across a website, “Want to know info” which had inspirational stories. http://www.wanttoknow.info/060520inspirationalstories There were multiple examples of failure turned into success. Many I had read before, but this was such an excellent collection I recommend it to you. The website says the stories were compiled from two excellent books by Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen: Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul and A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul Here are some examples that were described. …
I finished a book: Dropped names: Famous men and women as I knew them by the actor Frank Langella. Here are a few excerpts I thought worth repeating. Bette Davis was asked what it takes to succeed in the acting profession. She always answered "the courage to be hated." I've often said that a lawyer, especially a trial lawyer, is very unlikely to be a great lawyer if they are worried about being liked and put that as a priority….
Public radio KUOW carried a story, today, about the Idaho Republican party and its transformation from its traditional character. Apparently there are now strong factions within the party at odds with one another. One member of the party was quoted as saying: "I visualized myself as more conservative than many, and that's what I thought until I was rudely awakened by some of these other people who started calling me a liberal." Idaho has been so Republican that the joke is the Democrats could…
