Alhambra

  

Well I'll be a Monkey's Uncle

  

Spain trip report(last spring)

Stalin, the Monkey picture from Gibraltor is for you and II. She wants to see more pictures, and you want to see the relatives of the Grand Poobah. OOPS. Having difficulty getting the damn picture to import. Still working on it.
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Yeah, we are back from Spain. Got back late Wednesday night last week. Worked Thursday, and Friday. Didn't really get over jet lag until Sunday.

We stayed 7 nights in a resort area, and 3 nights in small towns. The small towns
provided us the opportunity to get a better experience of the Spanish culture.

Highlights:

* Warm weather
* Great beaches
* Lodging in Ronda. A funky old hotel, literally hundreds of years old. 18 inch thick stone walls. Great views. Fully stocked wine cabinet (all you can
drink price included with the room). Amazing full breakfast/brunch.
* Good food/wine (expensive due to the weakness of the dollar vs the Euro, and
the fact we stayed in a resort area)
* Caves de Piletta - an hour tour in some caverns that have 20,000 year old
cave painting! High up in the Mountains and a pain to find. Rick Steve's directions stunk!
* Acinipo A Roman settlement build in the first century AD. The amphitheatre is
still standing.
* Ronda A small town in the Mountains divided by a River. The town was founded
over a 1000 years ago. One side of the town was Muslim/Moorish, and the
other Christian. There is a 300 foothigh (80 feet wide) stone bridge crossing the River and connecting the two halves of the town.
* Granada/Alhambra - Another City founded in the 700's after the Moors took control of Spain. Alhambra is amazing, staggeringly beautiful really. Inside the city
walls is a Castle/Fortification (Alcazar), and two Palaces, one Muslim and
one Christian. They also have uncovered the ruins of the little villages
inside the fortifications, where the workers lived. Huge beautiful gardens
everywhere, and amazing ancient fountains everywhere. Too much to see and
take in.
* Gibraltar - climbed the Rock to the top. Beautiful views of Morocco, and the Spanish Coast. Nice Pub's in town.
* Sentenil - one of the Pueblo's Blanco's (white villages). The village is in a gorge and the city and houses are actually built into the side of the cliffs in
caves, and hacked out of the rock.

Lowlights:

* Service was horrible in the Restaurants. I guess they are used to serving the super rich, so when ordinary Joe's come in, they treat you with a serious lack of respect, and attention.

The next to last night in Marbella, I had it out with the owner of the Restaurant, when they brought the bill to our table, the waiter threw the bill on the table, and threw it at my wife! We had just spent about 125 Euro's so it wasn't like we were Peon's.

* Too many butt ugly old farts with way too much money, with 18/19 year old hotties on their arms.

Socal

The Intellectual Insurgent goes to San Francisco and Mr Sleep heads in the opposite direction.

Mr & Mrs Sleep spent the weekend visiting our eldest son, in San Diego. It was a combination of business and pleasure for both of us. Yours truly had meetings most of the day on Friday, in one of my Company's offices in the northeast part of the County, and my better half, had a Conference in the Hotel Circle area Friday and Saturday.

We had Dinner with our oldest son, on Friday, at a small local restaurant in the Pacific Beach area, and while his Mom worked on Saturday, #1 son and I played Golf at a newer Golf Course in Escondido. Golf is one of the few things that I share a common interest in with my sons. It's something we can just enjoy together. A chance for exchanging some good humored potshots, commiserating on bad luck (unlucky bounces, lost balls, etc.), or the pats on the back for the occasional good shot. Plus you get the opportunity to review the whole day in the 19th hole, and have a great "coulda, woulda, shoulda" review of your Round.

What's good about Golf, is it avoids many of the inevitable pitfalls of the Parent/Child relationship (parents constantly wanting the child to benefit from the experiences and learnings of the parent).

Our oldest son has always been one to go his own way in life. He has always patiently listened to his parents advice, and in the end say "Mom and Dad, thanks for the advice, but I think I'll do my own thing (paraphrased). We see him make choices we would cringe at, yet it is something all parents have to do. An example is when #1 son was caught wizzing on a Palm Tree while on Spring Break in Cancun a few years back by a Policia. Luckily for him, the officer accepted $40 U.S. as a payoff to prevent him being run into the Slammer.

While we all want things to happen perfectly for our kids, it is a pipe dream. Shit happens. They will never be able to learn from all of our experiences, and they will learn the hard way in more cases than we would prefer as parents but it is the way that life is, and should be.

II, yes, I did take some Digital photo's of the day, but haven't yet had the time to download them, as I didn't get home last night until after 9PM, and had to be up early to head back to the office today.

Can't compete with this one

Good article in the Washington Post today comparing this Administrations misadventures in Iraq. The comparison is a family going on a trip. The trip in this case is Iraq, the father in this case is the President, and the family is the good old USA. The problem is this family embarked on this trip without getting a map. Dear Old Dad is sure he knows the way, despite the fact there are clues all along the way that we are no where near our destination. Now we are hopelessly lost, and Dad is saying well be patient, we'll get there, I don't know when, and it's going to take us a lot longer than I thought.

Stealin' from Stalin

Sorry Sharky. I read a quote you placed upon website, and taken it, and added my own spin to it. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

It is good to see we have leaders in our Country who have a strong moral conviction, and embrace Religion wholeheartedly.

Our Federal elected officials when taking their oath of office place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States. It seems we have some officials who are a bit confused who instead think they are placing their hands on the Constitution swearing to uphold the Bible.

Religous scripture, whatever your orientation (the Bible, Book of Mormon, Koran, etc.) and the Constitution are needed in our society, but have to remain separate and discreet.

Our laws are designed to ensure we are accountable to each other in America. Our scripture teaches us to be accountable to our faith, and our Maker.

Missing in Action

Sorry folks. Da Sleepmeister is absolutely buried in work, and traveling a lot, so while I may find the time to surf by your respective websites, I haven't had the time or inclination to put any serious thought into a post. Birdy, Stalin, ROR, JJ, and II have been doing the heavy lifting while I have been dogging it.

My wife and I did have neighbors over for dinner last Saturday night, and we drank wine, and talked till after midnight, which may not sound like much for youngsters, but us who are North of 50 aren't used to this.

One of the topics we talked about is entitlements, and the mentality of too many Americans, ie, what's in it for me, or what am I owed?

I'll go a long way to try to help somebody out if they are doing everything in their power to help themselves. A hundred years ago if you lost everything due to a natural catastrophe, or just rotten luck, you either fended for yourself, relied on family, or the help from your community.

Face it folks the Government is bankrupt, and we have to teach our youth, that they have to learn to fend for themselves. Plus it is impossible to put a value on building relationships, bonds, and friendships. You never know when you need somebody to give you a hand, and the fact is nobody owes you nuttin'. You reap what you sow.

It's comforting to know that there are people our there who you can count on unconditionally.