PEOPLE
Brenda
Talk!
Tell me what you did with your summer vacation!!
--
"A righteous man regards the life of his animals." Proverbs 12:10
RIP Big Steve 1-23-05
You are missed.
michael...@yahoo.com
Ahhhhh, Vacation?!?!?
Waz that? Could that be what that 380 hours of PTO is for?
Michael
Brenda
<michael...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:9e52439e-422b-47f1...@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
Ahhhhh, Vacation?!?!?
Michael
****************
PTO? Didn't that fall apart in the 80's? LOL
cavelamb himself
I'm going to go kidnap that boy.
I'll lash him to the mast and won't let him plug his eays
with wax when we sail past the islands where the sirens sing.
He'll go mad, of course.
But with 380 hours of PTO - he's already pretty crazy!
Brenda
"cavelamb himself" <cave...@Xearthlink.net> wrote in message
news:78-dneAyKcrUTeLV...@earthlink.com...
*sob*
What means this PTO!?!
michael...@yahoo.com
> "cavelamb himself" <cavel...@Xearthlink.net> wrote in message
>
> news:78-dneAyKcrUTeLV...@earthlink.com...
>
>
>
>
>
> > Brenda wrote:
> >> <michaelthark...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> >>news:9e52439e-422b-47f1...@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
> >> On Jul 16, 9:49 am, "Brenda" <inva...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
> >>>okay
> >>>Talk!
> >>>Tell me what you did with your summer vacation!!
>
> >>>--
>
> >>>"A righteous man regards the life of his animals." Proverbs 12:10
>
> >>>RIP Big Steve 1-23-05
> >>>You are missed.
>
> >> Ahhhhh, Vacation?!?!?
>
> >> Waz that? Could that be what that 380 hours of PTO is for?
>
> >> Michael
>
> >> ****************
>
> >> PTO? Didn't that fall apart in the 80's? LOL
>
> > I'm going to go kidnap that boy.
>
> > I'll lash him to the mast and won't let him plug his eays
> > with wax when we sail past the islands where the sirens sing.
>
> > He'll go mad, of course.
> > But with 380 hours of PTO - he's already pretty crazy!
>
Too true, too true. :(
> *sob*
> What means this PTO!?!- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
PTO = Personal Time Off
Michael
Brenda
<michael...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:a3db73da-d8cf-4394...@o40g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
Michael
**************
Ahhhhh
That's a lotta hours!
Richard III
::smiles:: I'll play... we did a short (Friday morning to Tuesday
morning) trip to D.C. I thought the girls would enjoy... but at 13
and 15, you never do know.... the following is from my journal....
Friday morning we got up at 5 a.m., and were out the door by 6. Of
course I didn't factor in the "Dunkin Donuts Factor", which meant that
we had to drive to a dunkins before hitting the road to Woburn for the
Logan Express. But thankfully the traffic wasn't bad, so we ended up
there even earlier than I'd planned.
The flight went off without a problem. We barely made cruising
altitide when we were already heading back down to DC. On the
approach, we had a good view of the Pentagon and Arlington National
Cemetary. Cool stuff.
While waiting for our luggage, I had to laugh a bunch when I heard
an interesting page: "Will Buster Hymen please report to the
courtesty booth." The girls missed it, and I had to explain it to
Beth... but it was quite funny. A while later, they announced "Will
the person who wanted Buster Hymen paged, please report to the
courtesty booth." haha I wonder if they were recording it for
Youtube or something.
After the luggage thing, I misread the map, so we did a few
circles... which seemed to aggravate the girls, and since they were
already nervous due to the travel and "unknown", it was a bit tense
for a bit. But we made it to the Metro with a few other minor
glitches, due to the efficient, yet a bit confusing if you're not used
to it system. Anyway... we made it to the hotel, who told us that
"Oh, all we have available are rooms next to the train... if you come
back after 3, we'll have more." So we left our bags with them, and
headed out to see some sights.
We ate at Quizno's, which was right next to the hotel, and headed
to the National Mall.
The hotel was only 2 blocks from the Mall, and I enjoyed that
part... "Hey girls, wanna go to the National Mall? It's huge!" They
happilly agreed, but when we got to a map, and I pointed to the center
section and said "See, the National Mall". That didn't go over that
great, but Beth and I found it funny. "That's not a mall." "Oh yes
it is, look up the definition." :o)
And then the stomach aches began... "I cant' walk... I feel
sick... I'm gonna puke... my feet are sore... my legs are sore...".
So we slowly meandered around, took some photos of the Capitol
Building and Washington Monument, and ended up in the Smithsonian
National Gallery of Art. That's where I learned that kids don't like
to take in the art... they like to move through each room as fast as
they can.
Eventually, it was late enough to check into the hotel, and by
then it was more crowded... but they gave us a room, we got our
luggage, went up to the 7th floor, and as the girls worked out the
bathroom breaks, I glanced out the window, and looked down to see...
railroad tracks! lol I thought it was amusing, but the girls
didn't. I got used to getting yelled at quick, but still kept a good
outlook, and kept on smiling. Heck, we were on the 7th floor, not
right next door to the thing, and it wasn't that loud, and it wasn't
the Metro, but a train, so it didn't come by all that often.
We gave the girls some time in the pool on the roof, and headed
out to see more sights. Yes, more walking, more complianing about
that walking... but we saw the World War II memorial, Lincoln
Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. I had
never seen the WWII one before, as it was just being built during my
last visit, so I was impressed. They are also doing lots of work in
front of the Lincoln Memorial. We headed back to the hotel, and
everyone seemed tired enough to sleep well.
Day 2:
So because of the fiasco on Friday, I needed a good run, and since
I knew ahead of time that a running club meets at the Iwo Jima
Memorial, on Saturday mornings, at 7:00 a.m., I set my alarm for 6:10,
and was at the mall by 6:24 to jog over. Well it was a bit farther
than I expected, but it was a nice run. The city is so peaceful at
that early hour. Only joggers/runners/bikers and a few hearty
tourists are out at that time. I ran over the Arlington Bridge, and
over to the memorial, only to see 2 groups of runners already
leaving... but there was still another group there. (It was about 5
before 7, so I wasn't late.) Thankfully there were a lot of people,
and they had water, and it really hit the spot. They were set to go
on a 13.5 mile run... I took the directions, and headed out with them.
It was a fairly quiet run... nobody seemed to make eye contact at
first... but I stopped to stretch a bit, figuring the more animated
people were the slower runners, and I was right. I ran with a few
guys (Mark and Craig), and we chatted for a bit when one of them
picked up on something when I said "cool". He guessed I was from MA,
as he was originally from... I forget... but it's in MA. He also said
that he had a car break down in Tyngsborough once. Small world. The
route went from the Memorial, over a bridge, to the C&O canal path, to
another trail in some nice woods. (Nice, despite the dead racoon, in
which we joked about that "Oh, he must be playing possum.) I ran with
them until we were about to cross 44th street, and decided to be smart
and head back. I didn't want to overdue it.
I headed back to the C&O canal, and ran down that until it stopped/
started (depending on which way you were coming from.), then between
the street numbers, and the Washington Monument, made my way back to
the hotel. I'll have to try to map/measure out my route, but I figure
I must have ran about 13 miles. It was surely gonna help me walk
slower, if not that day, than the next day. I figured it'd even out
the score.
I stopped for a breakfast sandwich at Mc Donald's, and back to the
hotel at about 8:37 a.m., and everyone was still in bed, which was
good, as I could get in the shower first. All was good due to my
overflowing endorphins, so nothing bothered me. Not the little
bickering kids can do over makeup or hair straighteners, etc. I love
endorphins!
We headed out to Arlington National Cemetery. I knew from being
there earlier, where certain things were, and knew that the weather
was going to be good. I also mistakenly thought that we could just
get off at the Pentagon, and walk over... but there was no easy route,
so we got back on the Metro, switched lines, and got off at the
Arlington stop. My endorphin rush came in handy, as I was able to
deflect the complaints of having to "Walk through a cemetery that
looks the same as where we just came from". I tried to explain the
importance and meaning, and hopefully it sank in a bit of all of those
men who gave their life so we could complain.
I finally got some photos of the Iwo Jima Memorial, JFK and RFK's
graves, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Space Shuttle astronaut
memorials, and other things I've always wanted to see. It was very
touching.
We headed back to the Metro, to the hotel, Mc Donald's for lunch,
and let the kids some pool time, and headed back out to Chinatown. We
were going to check out the Spy Museum, but they were sold out for the
night. We walked around a bit, walked over to the White House for
some photos. Saw the snipers up on the roof, and I'm sure there were
others that we couldn't see. We headed back to China Town for
dinner. I'd have picked the place that had a lot of Asian people in
it, as that's a sign of the really good food, but someone thought that
"It looks shady", so we went a few stores down, to the "Wok and
Roll". The food was okay... I had the Moo Goo Gai Pan, but the
chicken had an odd texture. (Maybe it was real chicken?)
Back to the hotel, and off to sleep for the night. I decided that
I was going to get up early again on Sunday, to walk around and get
more photos.
Day 3:
Sunday morning, I got up at about 7:00 a.m., to go out and take
some photographs before things were crowded. My first stop was to the
wall where all of my brother's names are. I spent some time there,
reflecting, trying to remember, and giving thanks. It's a special
place, and I feel a strong bond there.
Then it was over to the Korean War Memorial where a ceremony was
being set up. The Korean War Veterans, from Korea, were having a
ceremony with the U.S. Korean War Veterans. I wasn't able to stay for
the actual ceremony, as I didn't want to get back to the hotel too
late. So I observed a bit, was able to get some photos without people
in the background, and headed over to the FDR memorial, which I'd
never before seen.
I have to say, I was impressed. FDR's memorial was set up in four
sections, reflecting his four terms. In each one they had some great
quotes, lots of waterfalls, and some sculptures that tell the story.
I wonder if people realize how important his Conservation Corps was to
our National Parks. I know that I learned much about it when I drove
across the country. The memorial was also really peaceful... between
the waterfalls, and lack of people, mostly due to it's "out of the
way" site. It was a bit of a walk, but well worth it. I highly
recommend it.
From there, I continued around the waterpath to the Jefferson
Memorial. That was also one that I'd never photographed. I stopped
at the George Mason Memorial first, then onto Jefferson's. It was
huge! I love those giant marble pillars. And again, what
tremendously timeless quotes. That's when men were men.
As I walked back towards the hotel, with the thought to stop at
the Holocaust memorial to get our tickets (They're free, but they
limit the people who can enter the main section, so it's not overly
crowded.), I checked my cell phone. It seems that because it was a
bit after 9:00 a.m., I was in trouble for being "late", even though
the museum didn't open until 10. I had it all planned out, and even
communicated my plan, but that wasn't heard, so I was in the
wrong. :o) So I told the crew how to walk down C Street, from 6th,
until the numbers got up to 14, and they'd be right where I was. I
guess there was some fear/anxiety from that, but all worked out well.
They made it without a problem.
The Holocaust Museum was impressive. There were parts of the
story that I never realized, and parts that were almost surreal. The
rise to power, was impressive, to say the least. How one man could
gain so many followers, without people really knowing what he stood
for... kind of reminds me of some politicians over here, who are great
speakers, but nobody knows what they've done, or if they ever even did
anything. Kind of scary. But back to the memorial. It's amazing how
recent the events were. In the grand sceme of things, it wasn't all
that long ago. I have many more thoughts, but you'll have to buy the
book to read those. I could have spent more time there, as there were
many short films, and much to read, but the kids had sped through it
all, without reading, and were getting antsy, so we headed back to the
hotel because "We're starving... we're sore... we want to go to the
pool."
Back to the hotel, lunch at Mc Donalds... yeah, really healthy...
and up to the pool. I actually went in the pool for a bit, as my legs
were sore from the run the day before. We then decided to head over
to the Native American Museum. It wasn't far from the hotel, and we
hoped the girls would be interested in some of their ancestry. As it
was, they seemed too busy playing tag and hide, or something... but oh
well. I enjoyed the history and art anyway, even though I already
knew much of it from book I'd read, and other places I've been. I did
grab a Buffalo Burger in the cafeteria, as I was hurrying out the door
cuz they were all "finished" with the museum and waiting outside.
We walked over to the Botanical Gardens, and continued onto the
Capitol building. I did my share of picking up other people's trash
as we headed back to the hotel. All in all it was another really good
day.
Day 4:
Our last full day in D.C., so we wanted to catch a few more
museums that were on our list. We headed off to China Town again, so
we could go to the International Spy Museum. It was kind of
interesting and nifty to see things that I'd only read about. Some of
the old spy cameras and such were especially of interest. It also
seemed to keep the girls occupied, so that was good.
After leaving there, I wanted to walk to Ford's Theater, but it
was closed for renovations. At least we saw the outside of it, along
with the house that Lincoln was taken too and died in.
We were going to check out the American History Museum, but that
too was closed for renovation, so we went to the Museum of Natural
History. The kids actually enjoyed that one too! They were taking
photos of all the stuffed animals and such. I enjoyed the old fossils
and dinosaur bones and such. I also enjoyed trying to get a photo of
the young one, as she was all paranoid about a bump on her forehead
caused by not catching a water bottle that her sister tossed at her.
It's the small things that entertain me.
Beth seemed to like the large diamonds that were on display... I
liked the large quartz crystals and such.
From there we hit my favorite... the Air and Space museum. Even
though I've been there before, it's still a great place. It was also
the most crowded of the Smithsonian's we'd been in. I liked the model
they had of the new Aries rocket, with the Orion space vehicle, which
is what will be replacing the Space Shuttle program. I just wish
there wasn't due to be a gap in flights between the two.
We saw a planetarium show about interstellar collisions, which the
kids missed because they didn't listen to directions good enough...
hopefully a lesson was learned there. And they all headed out to a
sculpture museum, while I remained at the Air and Space to see other
things I missed.
After all that, we meandered over to the Jefferson and FDR
memorials. I didn't think we'd get to those as a group, as they
aren't that close, but Beth wanted to see them, and the girls
reluctantly followed. Actually, they didn't complain as much when we
were going where Beth wanted to go, as they did when it was a place
that I picked. We only almost lost them a few times, and they were
too busy on their cell phones, so really didn't complain much about
being bored.
We made it back to the hotel... at again at Mc Donald's... (Well,
I had my leftover Chinese food), packed everything up, and off to
sleep.
Tuesday, we flew out, thus ending our short, yet full vacation.
So there ya have it.... my summer vacation. (If anyone wants to see
my photos, I have them up on Kodak Galleries, and can send you the
link... just zip me an e-mail.)
Richard III.
Richard III
> On Jul 16, 12:49 pm, "Brenda" <inva...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
> > okay
> > Talk!
> > Tell me what you did with your summer vacation!!
>
> > --
>
> > "A righteous man regards the life of his animals." Proverbs 12:10
>
> > RIP Big Steve 1-23-05
> > You are missed.
>
> ::smiles:: I'll play... we did a short (Friday morning to Tuesday
Or I can just paste the link here... I don't think that's against the
rules... no need to sign up to view them, just click to get in.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=4dwq2wpl.939xaipx&Uy=-fladvy&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=287580698093_631175077605&localeid=en_US