Edinburgh

I recently made a trip to Scotland for the Beltane Fire Festival. I wasn't really sure what I was signing up for when I said "yes," but it ended up being a pretty good time. I should mention again that I didn't really know what I was signing up for. I make mention of that again because of the fact that our hotel was over $500/night. Split amongst multiple people, yes, but holy crap. I will never make the mistake of not getting details again. I am not ashamed of making a scene about prices. I did the math and it turns out that we could have stayed in a hostel for $435 less a night (that's for the group).

At any rate, the festival was a pagan welcoming of spring. Beltane is Celtic for May 1st, which is when the festival ended (with shirtless painted hippies bouncing around). Leading up to that was a 3 hour interpretive dance without talking. The best part is that all of the characters were out of recent movies. The people in black were the Sith from Star Wars, the blue people Avatars, the Spring Queen was Queen Amidiyla (Star Wars), etc. I felt a little bad for the hippies because about 8,999 of the 9,000 people in attendance of the event were really mostly there to see topless hippies. I was the one exception, of course. I was there for the culture (in actuality, I didn't realize there would be toplessness until I saw it).

No tickets for the after party. In actuality, seeing the hippies under the harsh light of nighttime (versus pitch black) let us know that we were amongst some pretty serious World of Warcraft gamers. We were better off elsewhere, I think.

When we weren't taking in the pagan poetry, we were walking around the city seeing the sites. On Saturday I went my separate way for a bit and wandered the stairways and narrow streets. In case I haven't said it before, I should mention that I think Edinburgh is an awesome city. Something I really like about Edinburgh is how there are secret alleys everywhere. The city itself is built on 7 hills. In order to make more space for building, the Scots of old created massive bridges between the hills, thereby leveling the city. That created a system of underground passageways and spaces beneath the city. That was where poor people lived. Apparently only 50% of the underground spaces are mapped. What that means for the above ground world is lots of stairs going between the built up places and the not so built up ones.

In one such stair filled alleyway I found a museum for Scottish writers. I really liked the Robert Luis Stevenson section. He had a lot of great quotes about traveling. I never realized that he himself was deathly ill at all times, yet he still traveled as much as he could. Often, he would incorporate scenes from his travels years after his trips were finished. He apparently had an incredible capacity for remembering minute details and dredging them up years later. I guess it is one of those "you had to be there" type scenarios, but randomly stumbling upon a museum with his journals, personal items, and a plethora of quotes on display was a really cool experience.

Other than that, we did a fair amount of drinking and staying out until all hours. As I mentioned earlier, there is an extensive underground in Edinburgh. The Grass Market area has a lot of pubs that take advantage of the extensive spaces created by the huge bridges. One such place had about 8-10 separate rooms, including a movie theater. There was also some torture equipment on display, which made for fun pictures (none by me, only the stag do chaps).

Haggis!

More fun: I totally met a real life prostitute! I had no idea (a clue for me should have been when, for no reason at all, she told me her last name was "Hooker."). Long story short, all the bars were closing, but the guys I was with didn't want to go back to the $500/night hotel room, so we went to a casino. I don't gamble, so I was chatting it up with some fun people (prostitutes). After two hours of talking I was still clueless, but someone spilled the beans at the very end. It got a little awkward at that point, but it was 6:00am and the casino was closing. Long night followed by a couple hours of sleep and a 6 hour drive home (I had to drive way past my place to drop someone off). I was very tired for the next work week. That's what weekends are for.

Other than that, I have been very busy. I sat down and looked at my calendar yesterday. It turns out I have plans for every weekend from now through Memorial Day. That's in September. May, June, July, and August are all booked. I have never been more busy on a social level in my entire life. It's a good thing, but my homebodiness is worried. So little time for sleep and chores. I could have worse problems, I suppose.

Someday I will finish the floor, then I will have lots of pictures. until then, here is what it is looking like at this point.

I'm not sure why this is upside down...

The Fence

This is a post I started weeks ago. Things have changed, but I'm going to post it anyway, just so everyone can compare and contrast (and I'm so lazy that I feel like not putting up these few words that I already typed would be too much of a waste of energy).

Here is what I had: "These last few weeks (editors note: that was March) have been uneventful, overall. Uneventful, perhaps isn't the right way to put it... unproductive is more like it. The underfloor heating is still unfinished and the cardboard is getting ragged. Some day.

"I have been spending a lot of time out and about. A lot of fun, overall, but it really destroys productivity. Not waking up on the weekends until 5pm doesn't allow for much home improvement. Especially considering everything is closed by then. I will start going out less. Soon."

My first try at making beef brisket. Notice the mopped off handle. That was the work of a 36" bolt cutters and angle grinder. I could never fit that pan in the oven due to the handle sticking out too far. Now I can and I have used it a lot. I'm not sure how I got along without it. Giant cast iron is pretty sweet.

The fence has been broken and fixed a few times. Here is the first set of broken pics. I will put up some 'fixed' pics soon. Lesson learned on fixing the fence: a 6' x 6' fence panel attached to the roof of your car wants to act like an airplane wing. Even if you think you have it tied down tightly, try to tie it down better.

Making some progress on the bathroom. I still have to kneel in the shower like the Terminator because I haven't sealed or grouted the travertine. Soon.

I haven't parked behind my flat for some time because the lovely neighbors have so much garbage out there that it's not even worth me moving it anymore. That would be all fine and good, but the kids were hitting my car (parked in the street) with a soccer ball tonight. I love my neighborhood so much.

I held a secret/surprise birthday party for myself. That was almost a month ago. It was a lot of fun, I got to spend my birthday with friends, and everyone thought they were just there to hang out. Suckas.

I will have some more updates to add soon. Some real progress has been made on the floors. Oh, wait, I should add some pictures of my last trip. We went to Nice, France and Monte Carlo, Monaco earlier this month:

Monte Carlo from the area around Prince Albert's Palace. It was a pretty cool city with some crazy expensive (some $100M or more) yachts moored in the harbor.

This is from the town, overlooking the main harbor, facing Prince Albert's Palace area. Speaking of expensive boats, the second from the left in this picture belongs to some Saudi Prince and is the 11th largest superyacht in the world. It has a helicopter landing pad, but as Sheila pointed out, no helicopter. Couldn't spring for the premium package.

We went to the casino. No tuxedo required. I would have to argue that if watching a bunch of old people lose thousands of Euros to the roulette wheel is the most fun to be had in Monte Carlo, then rich people are pretty boring. Considering how small the town was, I was really unimpressed with the Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Bentleys, etc parked in front of the casino. In fact, we saw a guy leaving his place in a Ferrari 3 blocks from the casino. If you are so concerned that people see how much money you spent on your car that you are unwilling to walk 3 blocks to go to the casino (what did the valets and parking cost, I wonder), then that reeks of nouveau riche to me.

Le Chateau in Nice was a nice area. It was originally a fort, but then dismantled after the city was conquered.

The Nice beach from atop Le Chateau.

Bavaria

The week in the Bavarian Alps with Mike, Sheila, and Claire went great. We did a lot of hanging out and talking, eating, and spent a few days on the mountain, along with a few other side trips.

The area we were in, Garmisch, was beautiful, especially once in the mountains. We were fortunate enough to get a couple of sunny days and had a great view of Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in Germany, from our cabin. The day trip through the Austrian Alps wasn't bad, either.

(Mike and Claire skiing on the Zugspitze. The sound is nothing but wind. I spent over an hour trying to fix this, but free video editing software off the internet is not kind to me. Just imagine this video set to Wilco's "Impossible Germany" and/or "Sky Blue Sky," both off of the "Sky Blue Sky" album.)

Despite mid-February supposedly having the ideal conditions, it turned out that the snow conditions for skiing and snowboarding weren't that great. In fact, on the lower part of the mountain there was hardly any natural snow left. According to one of the guys I was talking to, who said he has been skiing in Garmisch for 29 years, he has never seen worse conditions this time of year.

When all was said and done, Mike and I were just happy to get some time in skiing and snowboarding. I think the conditions also helped to keep people off the hills, which was also good for us. The World Alpine Ski Championships were going on while we were there and there were a ton of people in town. With that said, there were no lines for lifts and at times it seemed we were the only ones on the mountain. Having peace and quiet in the mountains can be expected for a camping trip, but it's a huge bonus on a skiing/snowboarding trip.

This trip marked my first time snowboarding on a real mountain and that came with a few falls. Overall, I took it pretty slow (I will blame the snow conditions rather than my lack of skills). One thing I noticed is that I kept stopping to take the same picture over and over. I also caught myself not paying enough attention to what I was doing a couple of times. Especially when the sun is out and sky is blue, it's easy to be snowboarding along and find oneself staring at the rocky, snow covered cliffs in the distance while ignoring the ones immediately in front of you.

(My pictures of the castle didn't turn out so well; this is a picture of place mat from the gift shop.)

We didn't ski and snowboard every day. On one of the days we made a visit to Neuschwenstein Castle. It was the castle that Ludwig II commissioned in the 1870's to bring back the glory of the castles of the Middle Ages. The irony is that there was a castle from the Middle Ages on the building site, but he had that torn down because it was built like a real castle... with thick walls, cannons, and minimal windows. King Ludwig was, by most accounts, insane. Neuschwenstein Castle can be cited as evidence of that insanity, I think. It did look like a fairy tale castle (supposedly the Disney castle is modeled after it), but it had nothing to do with real castles. It was all based on fairy tales. All fine and well if you have the money to make your fantasies come true, but when personal dreams come at the expense of bankrupting the country you are ruling and over burdening the people with taxes, something is bound to give. Ludwig ended up drowning under mysterious conditions one day after leaders from his government had him declared insane and committed. He should have seen it coming.

Besides that, there was a good deal of relaxing, talking, and eating. It was a great trip, despite our tendency to miss trains and the last running of ski lifts by two minutes or less on a regular basis. I'm hoping to get the same crowd, along with Tomollie, out to the UK this summer for some travels around England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

Speaking of traveling in the UK, I have been really tempted to buy an old Land Rover to use as a travel vehicle. The debate is between having something that can seat up to 12 (great for herding large groups to events and road trips) or getting something that seats only two, but has the back converted into a camper. I'm having trouble deciding which is a better plan. Every time I see something I think I might want to buy, I balk until it is too late.

Probably all for the best. I know that they are expensive to maintain and upkeep and that 99% of what I want a Land Rover for can be done reasonably well (or even better, in most cases) in my car, but man would it be cool to have an expedition worthy vehicle. Sadly, "wouldn't it be cool if...," sometimes carries a lot of water with me.

Pleasant Days

The sun has been shining longer every day. While the weather is still cold, days like yesterday are just plain pleasant. Sunny and minimal wind. I was able to take advantage by going on a hike with Jon and Anne. It ended up being about twice as long as my estimation, but everyone was a good sport about it.

I leave for Germany in about 10 minutes. I am meeting Mike, Sheila, and Claire for a week of snowboarding and hanging out. It should be a great time. This last week of work has involved me not getting home until 11:00pm or later and not getting to bed until after midnight every night. Taking vacation isn't fun when you have to make up for the work you are missing out on before you go, but it's a good feeling when you get it done.

I hope to have some good pictures of the Zugspitze up in about a week!

Progress... Sort Of

Homemade meads of various strength. Drinking is pending successful completion of the floor. I imagine drinking mead on a warm porcelain floor was a dream of the ancients.

Ever since knowing the joy of a heated floor on a fateful night in a rented Helsinki apartment, I have been jonesing for a heated floor in my flat. This weekend was supposed to be the weekend that I made the dream come true. I have the porcelain tiles for the kitchen, the stone for the bathroom, the underfloor heating kit, grout, a wet tile cutter (with a diamond blade that cost almost as much as the tile cutter), and everything else I could think of.

As it turns out, I didn't think of everything. First off, the thermostat required a 30mA fused RCD something or other. I couldn't find that locally, so it's in the mail. My 4' level is still in the mail. And, after double checking the math, it turns out I am slightly short on my porcelain tiles.

Basically, I balked this weekend. It is Sunday evening and I haven't even finished ripping up the old linoleum. In my defense, I got the first couple of layers up without issue, but the last layer is put down with so much glue that I am actually scraping off a layer of concrete as I go. I've worn my crowbar down to a nub already and I'm bleeding from just about every knuckle, my wrist, and my foot. This project is going to take longer than I was hoping, but that's half the fun.

Before

Under Layer One

Under Layer Two

Cement Floor (minus the toughest bits of linoleum)

The bathroom, on the other hand, took less than a minute. No glue and only one layer of linoleum. It was like made-for-tv easy.

Other than that, this month has included a couple of nights out with friends, some hiking, sightseeing, and way too many sporting events in the evening. I'm looking forward to one of my basketball leagues finishing up in the next couple of weeks. Volleyball will be done in March, as will the other basketball league. After that, no more organized sports until next autumn.

Beautiful hike along the Pennine Way near Hawes.

Mount Grace Priory. Each monk got his own multi room house with a fireplace, running water, and a garden. The houses were as big as my flat. If I were to ever go back in time and become a monk, Mount Grace would be the place.

Happy New Year

Admittedly, December didn't make my "Top 10 Best Months Ever" list that I publish fortnightly, but the new year has already proved to be a happier time.

For New Year's Eve this year I went to Krakow, Poland. The original plans were to go to London, but that fell through and last minute prices of London hotels made it cheaper for me to go to Krakow by myself. The city itself was one of the few places in Europe to not get destroyed during the war, so there was some really interesting architecture throughout the city. I especially liked Wawel Castle.

Since I had never been to Poland before, I decided to spend New Year's Eve day at one of their most famous sites: the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and death camps. As you might imagine, spending 7 hours learning about the Holocaust doesn't exactly put you in the mood for celebration.

Something that struck me about the whole set-up was that it was so impersonal. Everything was number based. It was a couple of weeks ago now, but some of the numbers that I remember:

- Up to 1.5M people were murdered there

- The incinerators could burn 8000 bodies per day

- 70% of the people were sent straight to the gas chambers from the trains

- Of the remaining 30%, there was a 2-3 month life expectancy at that point from either being killed outright or starving to death

- There was 22 tons of hair found on site (human hair was collected and used to makes things such as socks for U-boat sailors)

- Over 90% of the people killed were Jews

- Only 144 people successfully escaped the camps (about 1 in 100,000)

There was very little in the way of individual stories. I suppose, most all of the personal histories were destroyed, but I thought focusing on a few individuals would help to bring the numbers into perspective. Maybe that's just me. Either way, it was an interesting and informative museum, but I don't recommend it as a pre-New Year's Eve event.

After getting home that evening, I drank some Polish vodka and went out for the bringing in of the new year. There was a pop concert going on in the square. The costumes, sounds, dance moves, and attitudes of pop are the same in every language, apparently. My first act of the new year was to eat a plate of sausages and potatoes, which was well received after the vodka. I ate a lot of street bread, pirogies, and sauerkraut on that trip. All good stuff.

After Poland, I had a few days before heading back to Wisconsin. The first order of business once I got there was to buy some land. I had never actually seen it in person before, but it had all of the things I was looking for: about an hour outside of Madison, waterfront, large acreage, few restrictions, in the Driftless Area, and, perhaps most importantly when it comes to pulling the trigger and buying something, it was in my price range.

The flight to the US was an adventure. I had used my bonus miles to purchase my ticket, which meant more legs of the flight than usual. My second leg was delayed 11 hours due to mechanical issues. Needless to say, I didn't make it back to the US as scheduled. On the bright side, I was upgraded to first class on my transatlantic flight and it was a fully recline-able bed. I was able to sleep like a human being. It's amazing how much of a difference a comfortable seat and a few hours of sleep can make the next day.

After closing on the land, the next big event was meeting up with high school friends. Mike and Sheila were kind enough to host again this year and it was a really good time. The kids were noticeably bigger and adults pretty much unchanged (except for Justin's haircut). I'm slowly whittling down everyone to get them out to Europe.

The main purpose for the trip home was my sister's wedding. We all went to Milwaukee on Friday for rehearsal. The entire wedding weekend was a blast. It was great to have a chance to visit with family and friends that I hadn't seen in years, as well as to meet Andrew's side. Congrats to Kathryn and Andrew!

Lastly, I was able to meet up with some college friends in Chicago. Josh, Mike, and I went to dinner and saw Tron in 3D at the IMAX at Navy Pier. Oddly, I think the last time I went to a movie at the theater it was with Mike and in 3D (and over a year ago). It's kind of our thing. We had a lot of fun reminiscing about rowing, college parties, and life events since then. As for Tron, I'm not sure it was worth the $17 price tag, but maybe if I saw the original I would have a better appreciation. I like Sci-Fi, but Tron really didn't have any "Sci," and the "Fi" was a bit too out there for me.

After a busy week at home, I made my way to the airport to find out that mechanical problems on my plane (again) and weather problems in the south were causing more issues. Originally, it looked like I was going to have to stay an extra day in Philadelphia because I was going to miss my flight to Manchester, but I was able to work with the customer service folks from a couple of airlines to get out on the right day and back to the UK only a few hours after my original arrival time.

And, of course, standing in customer service lines for 2 hours gives you an appreciation for how difficult life is for some people. From the guy talking loudly on his phone behind me about how he was suffering through "hell" (6 hour delay) to the woman who dressed and talked like a man who was losing her mind (also on a cell phone...) and went straight to the counter because the agent there said something different than the agent on the phone. Getting blamed for the weather has to get old. I never want to be in customer service.

I am back in the UK and ready to pass out after spending the night in the air last night (I didn't get spoiled with any upgrades on the return). It was a great trip back and I am so happy that I was able to spend time with family and friends.