Saturdays Air

[eric byrne]

Good Afternoon All,

Nearing 2pm here,weather overcast but a mild 11 deg C.

Just back from the shops,checked my EuroMillions Lottery ticket from last night-zilch-Looked this word up in the Oxford Dictionary its not there?wonder if its an old Scottish word,although it sounds Jewish to me,anybody know?.

Hey I am obsessing I think,about my summer trip to the USof A this summer I am so excited,do me a favour,if I am beginning to "get on your wick" about this,please give me a bollocking.Anyway,the thoughts this morning looking at Amtraks map of the US,you know at primary school in the fifties,my teacher had two big coloured photographs in her classroom,I remember staring at them often,ignoring what was being said in the classroom,thinking one day when I have grown up I want to go there,one was Sorrento and the Bay of Naples,just beautiful,and I acheived that dream,also visiting Pompeii,which was just heaven,the other was a RCMP,sitting on a horse,holding a lance upright,with a pennent at the top of the flag of Canada,the backdrop was snow covered mountains and the City of Vancover,so could do Chicago,Winsconsin,Minnesota,North Dakota, Montana for the dinosaurs,hey the train passes through Glasgow there,need to don my kilt and get off the train for a wee wander,then see the guys and gals in Seattle,now how do I fit in Niagara Falls,Boston,Philly, Richmond,New Orleans,Grand Canyon,Yosemite,not forgetting the father of the house, Ned in Hawaii,beginning to think I am going to need a bigger boat,ie more than six weeks.Why did America have to be so big?Where is the Smithsonian Museum I want to visit that as well?

Got to go now things to do,maybe get back to-night to hear how everyones doing.Byee.

[jaminkw]

Morning All! Things are expected to warm up some today but the sun is out and I still have my little space heater and my snuggie on.

I was AWOL with no excuse yesterday. Farmville was down and I just never made it here. Stan was traveling home and I was making dinner but it was so easy as to be no excuse at all. Just a no computer day. I need them now and then. By the way, he LOVED my dinner. Think I enhanced his enjoyment by inviting him to help put the potato cassarole together since the meat was done earlier than expected. Must say, I did good: pork loin chops with apples, brown sugar and cinnamon cooked for 6 hrs; sides a potato cassarole that looked like a soffle when it came out and tasted yummy; beautiful broccoli and cauliflower steamed just right.

Eric, had no difficulty finding "zilch" online just hard finding a site that let me use the copy feature. Finally did, Zilch Meaning and Definition from WordNet ® 2.0

zilch n : a quantity of no importance; "it looked like nothing I had ever seen before"; "reduced to nil all the work we had done"; "we racked up a pathetic goose egg"; "it was all for naught"; "I didn't hear zilch about it" [syn]. I'm sure you already knew that and now I realize I have to go to another site to find the origin lol.

For all of you, someone emailed me an awesome weather map link. I think you'll enjoy it.

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/zoa/mwmap3.php?map=usa

Give it time to come up. It's a lot to load. And if the map doesn't show dots all over it, try your "Refresh." Very cool, I think.

Eric, your trip to the US sounds grand! If you notice I haven't invited you to come to KW. Not that I wouldn't love a visit. We are at the end of the (US) world. A place where everyone says they want to visit but few do. 2 1/2 hrs min from the mainland and believe me, no Amtrak no where near lol. I for one will not tire of hearing your plans. I think it is wonderful you are so enthusiastic about it.

Libby, I'll exercise for both of us today. Ann hope you feel better. Bud have fun fishing. Libby I laugh everytime I think of you going up and down those stairs for exercise, stairs are something I avoid like the plague lol. Annette, sweetie, I'll be having "warm" thoughts for you tomorrow. Judy, I do know what a downer those long lost posts can be.

Stan's unloading his truck and I really need to get up and do something today. Have a great day everyone.

Judy in KW

[Joppette]

Good morning all,

Eric, as you plan you USA visit, do tell us what you love to see. I'm not a big city person, so I tend to enjoy nature filled places. One of our best vacations was to drive from Michigan, across Canada, with a stop at Niagra Falls, then across New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and ending in Maine. Tons of beautiful nature, mountains, animals, and quaint small towns.

From what I know about you, you might be a big city person. You enjoy lots of stuff going on, and revel in it. In that case, you must go to New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco.

One of the most beautiful places in the world that I've been is Sedona, Arizona. Spectacular views of enormous vistas of gorgeous red rock and mountains. The Grand Canyon is amazing as well. There are sights there that are amazing.

Now Michigan does not have much that stands out on the map, other than our gorgeous Great Lakes, mountains, and incredible nature filled backgrounds. I've lived all over the world, but had to return to my hometown in Michigan. The Mid West has it's own special charm.

As I sit here a type, I noticed two majestic, gorgeous silver hawks soaring over the valley outside my window. I've never seen two of them hunt together, but it's beautiful to see two of these very large birds just floating on the air, looking down to find something yummy for lunch. To me that is beauty.

Anyway, I wax poetic about nature. LOL.

Judy you dinner sounded fabulous. My mouth watered at the description of the potatoe souffle! Yum!

Have a good day!

MI Judy

[Annette]

Morning All - Haven't wandered near a door so I have no idea what it's like out there - It's a laundry, packing and relaxing for the trip tomorrow day.

Eric - I don't think we can get tired of your upcoming plans - looking forward to seeing the whole thing come together. I was talking to my daughter this morning and she told me that there was much Scottish history around here as well. I told her to email me a list that I will forward to you. She's another avid history buff - she could probably recite all Virginia history if asked. (I of course would never ask and often when a history conversation starts I wonder aloud if I'm being punished.)

Judy - I was ready to come to dinner until the broccoli and cauliflower - hmmm - me steak and potato girl. (But i am healthy about it - like it well done - so I don't do red meat!) I know Farmville was down for a while yesterday - when I got home from work my phone immediately rang and my mom wanted to know what was wrong - it was ruining her day. She does the games in a certain order and it was upsetting her. (Yes, I introduced her to the game and I thought I was addicted - I can go a day away - honestly - but I don't know if she could.)

Judy (MI) - beautiful picture.

Well - guess I'll go back to playing and being a couch potato. Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Annette

[ts]

Eric,

The Smithsonian is in Washington, DC. It's not just one building either - there are 19 museums, 9 research centers, and the zoo. Plus a bunch of affiliated places all over the country.

I'm mostly a coastal rover - from the Baja border to Vancouver BC, from Montreal to Virginia. In between, I've been to a little bit of Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Tampa, Fl, and scattered airports on my way to somewhere else. The only train trip was NYC to Montreal. It was a lovely way to see the Hudson Valley, but I really wanted to stop and see the small towns, the Culinary Institute, etc, so I wasn't that fond of train travel. I've used trains in Europe and thought the same - why can't I stop and see that little town? But with limited time, and destinations in mind, it was okay. Sadly, trains roll into town along the most downtrodden parts of town - it might give you a less typical tourist view of this place, but you'll need to get away from the terminals to enjoy the more spectacular sites.

Roads in the US vary greatly - as more and more communities slog thru the economic downturn, more and more potholes are left unfilled, and traffic can be pretty bad (in reality, traffic is probably not as bad as many places in the world, but most drivers don't understand how to drive in heavy traffic!)

I'm hanging in around here - maybe try for a movie this afternoon.