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I recently upgraded to a
Blackberry 8700g.
Email, cellphone, web
access, and PDA all-in-one.
I love Canon digicams.
I had an S330, then an S230,
now an SD400. They're solidly
made, they take great pictures,
and they're ultra-portable.
I've gone back to the dark
side. I once again have an iPod.
This time it's a 60gb iPod Photo.
The Dell Latitude D620
is my current work laptop.
It's a cleanly designed
Centrino Duo machine with
amazing battery
life and a nice screen.
My home laptop is a
15" Apple MacBook Pro
dual-booting both Mac OS X
and Windows XP. Hooray for
Boot Camp!
I recently upgraded to a 20"
Dell 2001fp LCD. It has great
image quality, and convenient
USB ports on the side.
My current PC is
a P4 system based on an Intel
D915GAG motherboard in an Antec
Sonata II case. 200gb Seagate
SATA hard drive, nVidia GeForce
6600GT video card, SB Live 5.1,
and NEC DVD-RW drive.
Just like with digicams,
I like Canon inkjet printers. My
i860 is quiet, fast, and produces
first-class color prints.
Not much to say here.
If you're an aviation enthusiast
and you have a fast PC,
go buy FS2004 now.
If you get hooked on
flight sims like I did, you'll want
a good flight controller. The
CH Products Flight Sim Yoke USB
is probably the best all-around
flight controller out there.
It ain't cheap, though....
My Current Reading List
Eastward to Tartary:
Travels in the Balkans,
the Middle East, and
the Caucasus
by Robert D. Kaplan
Falling Off the Map
by Pico Iyer
Great Bridge: The Epic
Story of the Building of
the Brooklyn Bridge
by David McCullough
The Polish Way: A Thousand
Year History of the Poles and
Their Culture
by Adam Zamoyski
Best of Europe 2006
by Rick Steves
2008
October (2 entries)August (1 entry)
June (1 entry)
May (2 entries)
February (2 entries)
2007
July (1 entry)June (7 entries)
April (5 entries)
February (4 entries)
January (11 entries)
2006
December (5 entries)November (3 entries)
October (10 entries)
September (6 entries)
August (4 entries)
July (7 entries)
June (5 entries)
May (7 entries)
April (15 entries)
March (9 entries)
February (7 entries)
January (15 entries)
2005
December (4 entries)November (6 entries)
October (15 entries)
September (4 entries)
August (9 entries)
July (18 entries)
June (10 entries)
May (12 entries)
April (19 entries)
March (18 entries)
February (10 entries)
January (20 entries)
2004
December (9 entries)November (21 entries)
October (9 entries)
September (15 entries)
August (7 entries)
July (7 entries)
June (8 entries)
May (10 entries)
April (5 entries)
March (12 entries)
February (18 entries)
January (9 entries)
| 10/19/2005 14:08 |
| Since we're leaving so early tomorrow morning, we said goodbye to farmhouse owners Federico and Ornells tonight. They served us some great white wine and biscuits, and took our picture to add to their album of visitors. We chatted about olive oil and smoked salmon, Tuscany and the Pacific Northwest, and distances in Italy compared to the USA. We had a great time here, and I'd love to come back sometime. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/19/2005 13:59 |
| Today was an unusual day. We got up at 3:30am, so we could leave at 4:30am to take Melinda to the airport in Florence for her flights home. After getting her on her way, we came back and slept for a couple more hours. We woke up late in the morning and drove to a couple more Tuscan towns--Cortona and Arezzo. We really did a nice job of exploring less-visited towns during our stay. They were all places with many interesting things to see, and it was well worth the effort to drive to such far-flung destinations. Oddly, both of those towns were the settings for recent movies--Under a Tuscan Sun and Life is Beautiful, respectively. Both had great churches, Roman ruins, and Etruscan sites.... And Cortona had a little place that served these little folded pizza things that were like a cross between a crepe and a pizza. They were awesome, and they were prepared by a gorgeous young brunette Italian chick. It most likely doesn't get any better. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/19/2005 13:34 |
| We just dropped Peggy off at Orio al Serio Airport for her flight to Valencia, Spain. Ryanair had to add an extra flight just for her baggage. We're at a reststop on the A4 Autostrade where they have Wi-Fi Internet access. Kristi is taking time to sync her corporate E-mail, and fighting the urge to buy weird candy and drinks in the shop. We'll be on the road to Cionque Terre shortly. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/19/2005 13:03 |
| This is a blog test. CW Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/11/2005 15:11 |
| Where did we go today? Siena and Volterra. We drove to Siena first, where we saw the cathedral. It was nice to see that the pavement sculptures at Pisa are now uncovered, unlike previous visits where they were covered for refurbishment. The cathedral also seemed much brighter inside, probably because it was very sunny outside. We also climbed up to the top of the wall that would have been the front of the church had it been completed. The views were outstanding. We walked around the Piazza del Campo some more, the grabbed slices of pizza (pumpkin flower and eggplant for KRW, mushroom and ham for me) and jumped in the car to drive to Volterra. We drove north from Siena to Col de Valle d'Elsa, then turned westward for the drive over the hills. It was an unbelievably twisty, hilly drive, but it was amazingly picturesque (as long as you weren't the one driving). Volterra was amazing; I can't believe we never managed to go there before. It was a beautiful little hilltop! town, and we got there in time to have a long walk around, then watched the sunset across the hills. We drove back mostly in the dark, then ate all kinds of fun stuff out of our fridge. Vacation is rough sometimes...... Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/10/2005 13:28 |
| I somehow fell behind by almost a day. After returning from San Gimignano yesterday evening, we cooked a nice meal of tortellini, salad, bread, cheese, and wine. It was a high quality presentation. We were up a little earlier this morning, and got on the road for Pisa. We arrived in Pisa around lunchtime, but we saw the sights first. There was a several hour wait to go up in the Leaning Tower, so we settled for taking pictures from ground level. We visited the Duomo and the Baptistery, and generally enjoyed the warm sunny weather. We had lunch at a sidewalk restaurant not far from the tower, then drove on to Lucca. I had never been to Lucca before, and it was great. It's a tidy walled city, with several churches, towers, and squares. We had great gelato (1 Euro per "ball") as a walking snack. After seeing all the sights there, we're now back at the farmhouse eating bread, cheese, olives, chocolate, and various other snacky things.... Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/09/2005 12:25 |
| Public toilet update: Mission Aborted. PB got one look at the equipment through a partially open door, and decided she could wait a while longer. She threatened to pee in parks, fields, and yards for the rest of the afternoon, but we managed to make it back to the farmhouse with dry automotive upholstery. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/09/2005 07:48 |
| We're in San Gimignano, and we just had great pizza and gelato. Now, in a time-honored tradition, the ladies are experiencing the public facilities. For anyone who hasn't used a Turkish toilet, the first time is a little scary... Any second now, we'll know how it went. Keep your fingers crossed.... Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/09/2005 04:07 |
| Yesterday was a pretty rainy day. We picked up our rental car, a blue Opel Astra wagon with a bashed in rearview mirror, and headed out of Rome around 9am. We drove northwards towards Florence, the turned back to the southwest to arrive at our farmhouse outside Staggia Senese. It rained most if the day, but we managed to make a run to the supermercato in the afternoon, and in the evening we drove 10 miles to Siena to have a walk around. Everyone was hoping that today (Sunday) would be sunnier, and it sure looks like it will be. We're planning on driving over to San Gimignano and maybe another town if time allows.... Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/07/2005 09:48 |
| I'm writing with wet hair. It's been raining most of the day, and I didn't think I needed an umbrella. We all got soaked walking back from the Colosseum this afternoon. We visited St. Peter's Basilica first today, after having slept in quite late. There was an impressively long line to get in, wrapping 3/4 of the way around the square, but it moved very quickly. We also saw the tomb of Pope John Paul II in the crypt, and it was surprisingly austere. We had pizza for lunch at a tiny pizzeria just off the Campo dei Fiori before heading to the Colosseum, and now it's late afternoon breaktime. We've eaten so much so far that we may not need dinner. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/06/2005 17:09 |
| For dinner we went to one of my favorite restaurants, a little neighborhood place run by a friendly, funny old couple. The man, realizing we were American and liking to tease us, led me to our table by hand. It's a set menu, fixed price place, and we ate like hogs. We had olives, panchetta, rustic bread, lentils, veal croquettes, mozarella cheese, salad, homemade potato chip thingys, veal, pasta with a light tomato and cheese sauce, a sort of cream cake, a homemade orange liqueur, a couple bottles of white wine, and mineral water. I may have left something out, too. The food just kept coming and coming..... As we left, the old man walked us out and gave each of the ladies a hug and kiss. Then Peggy planted a couple big smooches on him. A memorable meal indeed. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/06/2005 09:05 |
| Despite our best intentions, we probably walked too much today. We came back to the apartment to sit for a while, let Peggy and Melinda write in their journals, and have something to drink. It's surprising how much you can see in a daywhen everyone is a fast walker. After lunch, we walked through the market at Campo de Fiori, then walked over to see the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Piazza Navona, and the Spanish Steps. Afterwards, we visited a supermarket and loaded up on juice, water, yogurt, chocolate, and other necessities. It sprinkled for a while this afternoon, but it didn't really rain hard. I brought what I thought was a great packable Columbia Sportswear jacket, but it isn't really breathable, so I sweat like a mug when I'm wearing it. Life is tough sometimes. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/06/2005 05:08 |
| We're enjoying a light lunch at a self-service (point-and-shoot) place across from Largo Argentina, having just finished a morning of sightseeing. We saw the Colosseum, the Forum, the cat sanctuary, and things along the way. It's pretty warm (70?) And there are medium-sized crowds out and about. We're all having a good time, and not too tired yet. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/05/2005 07:24 |
| We're waiting at Gatwick Airport, ahead of our flight down to Rome. Everyone has had their caffeine, and everyone will probably survive the last leg of our journey to Rome. The flight to London was unusually fast, with a time of 8 hours 20 minutes. We found our shuttle driver in the arrivals hall at Heathrow without problem. He was a youngish guy with some sort of Eastern European accent. It seemed like he drove very slowly, but he was just obeying the speed limits. Anyway, we're here, and the next stop is Rome. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |
| 10/04/2005 18:59 |
| And we're off! We met up at the airport, and got everyone checked in. We killed some time at the Sea-Tac Anthony's, eating chips with bay shrimp salsa and enjoying adult beverages. We're at the gate, about to board BA flight 48 for London.... Cheerio! Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. |