War on Christmas

Had some nice presents earlier today. Engaged in a short phone call with my bro, no phone call with my Sis, but had some nice exchanges of Christmas texts with lots of friends and of course a nice dinner. We indulged in Champagne for breakfast courtesy of a guest, freshly ground coffee for eleven's courtesy of our eldest.

So all in all it was not a bad Christmas 2011.

Now with that in mind; what's all that fuss going on in the States and the declared "War on Christmas?" It wasn't that bad this side of The Pond, so why all the fuss over there?

The sound of Carols in the background courtesy of the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, an excellent Queen's speech (probably one of the best ever) and a grand buffet to top off the day. I don’t know about you, but we tend to leave our Christmas pudding and Brandy Sauce until late evening. Well you would do the same if you sat down to one of wifey’s Christmas Dinners. I only go for one sitting, but there is one or two in the family who will load their plate again. Enough is as good as a feast for me, and wifey’s Christmas dinner is a feast!

Now please, please, please, don’t spoil our Christmas by declaring war on anything. Listen in good people, War ain’t good, and War on Christmas is downright bad. I mean do you want me to declare War on Thanksgiving? No, of course you don’t. So hands off me sausages wrapped in bacon and keep your hands away from my twinkling little star. I don’t see the tree as a Christian symbol. Nope, I see it as a nicely decorated glittery thing. Jolly nice when done properly. The Nativity is part of Christmas, attending a service or two is also part of Christmas, the birth of Jesus is also part of Christmas. But these “War on Christmas” people have to understand that Christmas isn’t just about the Christian faith. No, it’s mainly about the family. Christmas is the main chance of the year for people to put their differences behind them and instead move together for the greater good.

So come on people, watch the Queen’s speech, listen to the commentary about the importance of family and forget about fighting Christmas. Another mince pie anyone?

African Figures

Now don’t get me wrong as Hornby do a great job, but why on earth do they produce Circus wagons, Big Tops, Helter-skelter’s and the like when there are no 00 scale circus figures? I know that we can go out and pay a fortune for the Continental pre-painted small packet branded ones; but that sort of defeats the object i.e. fun figures for fun time.

Having suffered a few mental health episodes, I recognise the therapeutic benefits of doing a bit of art now and again. So to ensure that Mr Tister could have his fun-time, and I had my therapy, I went off in search of Airfix Circus or Zoo sets. The idea being that Airfix 1:72 is as near as needed to 00 scale. A Circus set would be the perfect solution, but failing that then the animals of a zoo box would assist with the Circus theme. Little did I know when I set off on this adventure that Airfix no longer made a zoo set and the closest thing A.K.A. a Tarzan set was also out of production. Now I can see a gap in the market forming here. If you make colourful trains, lorries, tents and the like, then how about a few people and animals to populate imaginary Circus land?

I also found that the few remaining Airfix zoo and Tarzan boxes were pretty costly items, indeed so much so, that some fools were buying the empty boxes! Not to beaten by these set-backs, or should I say, absent sets? I managed to track Down the Hat 1:72nd scale Jungle Adventure for a few reasonable pennies. I haven’t used every moulding contained in set No.7018 as I had no call for an African boat, or numerous warriors. But what I did have a call for was a ‘Tarzan’ who is now the ‘Circus Strongman’ and an African grouping complete with drum and traditional attire, a Circus Elephant, and numerous other animals suitable to the Hornby Circus theme for Mr Tister to enjoy.

After the figures were carefully removed from their sprues, they were washed in water and detergent and then rinsed and allowed to dry overnight. This removes the chemicals that adhere to the plastic during the factory moulding process. The figures were then carefully trimmed with a modelling knife and filed where needed with emery paper. Humbrol primer was applied by brush and the figures were left overnight. Do not use Halfords grey plastic primer on Airfix or Hat 1:72nd scale figures as the flexibility of the figures will cause the paint to crack. When dry the figures were painted with Games Workshop and Tamiya brushed acrylics. The finished paint job was allowed to dry for two days and then coated with quick drying varnish after which they were left for three days before Circus play.

Merry Christmas everyone

False Marketing

It seems that some food providers have pushed the false marketing boundaries to such an extent that their ploy’s may backfire.

I sat down to try and enjoy a ‘Thai Green Chicken Curry’ ready meal yesterday evening and was perplexed as to why the food container was such a strange shape. It then dawned on me that the large diameter at the top of the packaging made the meal more appealing in layout and proportions than it actually was.

Now this seems a big mistake to me. Yes you get my money once, but will I and others return to your product if we think that we have been hoodwinked? I mean, it’s only a ‘Thai Green Chicken Curry’ but you have to ask why the base of the container needed those four protruding bits to support the unbalanced whole. The truth is that the four bits are needed because otherwise the thing falls over. Now that seems like a whole lot of engineering and smoke and mirrors for very little profit, and a loss of goodwill.

The same situation applies with the coffee shoppy and that piece of card that lifts up the sandwich to make it bigger than it is. Why on earth would a retailer use ‘smoke n mirrors’ to hoodwink loyal customers who already pay a premium for what is after all a self service operation? Why would anyone want to squeeze more out of those who already give enough? Maybe it's about time that you started to think about how your false marketing affects your business as a whole. You may sell your ready meal, but you may lose £80 worth of fuel sales when I go elsewhere. Oh, and that's £80 time and time again.

I bought one ready meal and one sandwich, but I won’t buy twice. Worse for them is that I may also avoid other products or even take my custom elsewhere. Brand identity is important, but brand loyalty can have serious repercussions for a provider if that loyalty is lost.

Now there’s an idea; truth in marketing – sell something as it is:

“roll up, roll up. Try our succulent piggy strips that have been cut just right and lightly fried before being caringly placed at the front of our fine textured dual dough mixture. Then warmed inside our temperature controlled electric personal user griddle, after being lovingly cared for in our premium pack care and presentation range that includes value added extra lifting card for premium display and customer encouragement”...

...“Yes please mate, I’ll have a toasted bacon sandwich”.

Snow

Snow

This mysterious stuff called snow,
Messy flake stuff you know.
That eyes light up when they see,
The stuff setting up to knee.

It only has to twinkle down,
And broad smiles displace a frown.
But what I really don’t get,
Is calling it snow when it’s just wet.

For me this stuff called snow,
That messy flaky stuff I know.
Is cold compact and white,
Making the landscape Christmas bright.

What it isn’t you know,
Is hailstone rain feigning snow.
No, my mysterious crystal stuff,
Is bright clean white and full of fluff.

Roger Bennett
16 Dec 2011

“The right of Roger Bennett to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. No part of this work may be reproduced or stored in any form whatsoever without the express written permission of the author."

Letters

Just bashed another letter off to a national newspaper.

Am I the only person worried about mans search for the 'God Particle'. Given that the Mayan Calendar may or may not abruptly end on the 21 December 2012 is it really a good time to be messing about with Hadron Colliders in CERN?

It sort of like; makes me a bit nervous.

Goodwill to others

In this season of goodwill to others, one of many worthy causes can be found at http://www.davidrathband.co.uk/brainport.html This worthy cause is about a police officer who was blinded when shot on duty. Police Constable (PC) David Rathband was targeted by a coward brandishing a shot gun, who shot the unarmed officer at point blank range while the officer was sat in his patrol car. PC Rathband was out there defending his community and taking risks to protect their safety.

With Christmas fast approaching any chance to restore his eyesight in any way is a Christmas Present worthy of contributing towards. So click on the link if it works, or if the link doesn't work then simply cut and paste the web address into your browser. When you get to the page about PC Rathband and the new science that might help him; maybe you can think about making a small donation. If you don't like making electronic payments, then still check out the webpage as there is a postal address to which contributions can be sent.

The games that people play

Now don’t get me wrong; we all make mistakes when driving, but the trick is to learn about what happened and adjust your future driving accordingly. So please don’t think that I am the perfect driver, because I’m probably not. Careful yes, learning all the time yes, making occasional mistakes, of course. But what wifey and I have noticed a lot of late, is the games that people play.

I mean, you are driving your car forward, so please look at the road ahead and don’t pay undue attention to those behind you. they probably know what they are doing, they know how their car handles, and they probably understand anticipation, space and a safe pass. The driver behind doesn't need you to stare at that small bit of glass and in doing so hit the embankment or drift out over the broken white line. But alas that is what they do in their desire to try and stop others making that clean pass.

On Monday on a long drive back from a funeral we saw one car drift into the verge and another car deliberately cross the broken white line to stop an overtaking manoeuvre. Like, hey folks, why would you do that? What difference does it make to you if another car safely drifts on by and moves ahead of you? It’s not like they are speeding or making a dangerous manoeuvre. I stay within the limits of road design, speed enforcement, and personal ability. So just calm down and relax, it doesn’t matter if the car behind you stays there or drifts on by. Honest, it really doesn’t matter so cast off your hang-ups. Their progress does not affect you, but you can and do affect yourself.

This weekend we trundled down to Cardiff. We popped off left at the Carmarthen roundabout and the car in front immediately jumped from the left hand lane into the right hand lane. “What was that all about?” says wifey and we both giggled. I mean, fend me off why don’t you, but 1,000 yards before the next roundabout, are you serious? Time and time again we see it. Drive slow, opportunity for me to glide past and the driver in front speeds up and crosses the centre of the road. Like, uh huh, it’s not a game. This is the real deal folks and if you drive like a prat in your desire to stop others then someone will get hurt. Probably you because you simply are not concentrating, hence going up onto the verge or out into the oncoming lane.

Indeed, wifey and I think that the driving standards these days are quite diabolical. For instance you could never imagine the speed that oncoming vehicles take a blind junction from where we emerge very weekday morning. Each and every one of these drivers simply has no idea whatsoever what is outside of their line of sight. It could be a child or walker in the road, someone on a bike who has stopped or fallen off or a broken down car. But day in and day out; they take the shallow junction at speed and with complete gay abandon as to their fate.

So the next time you are out driving and you start to take an unhealthy interest in the car behind, stop and think. Does it really matter what he or she is doing? Does it matter if they glide past when it is safe to do so? No stop thinking about the person behind, and start wondering if I should slow down before I take that left up ahead. Mirrors are for reversing and manoeuvring and otherwise only tell you where you have been. What matters far more, is where you are going.

The Flight of the Intruder

We know my position regarding an intruder in a home from my previous Blog entries. It’s not the protection of the property that matters; but the fear that unwelcome intrusion brings. The majority of people can only imagine how they would feel when faced with an unwelcome intrusion that has breached security. When someone is somewhere where they shouldn’t be, then it’s a case of vulnerability and the fear that goes with being vulnerable.

We also know that I have a position regarding the possibility of the existence of what we term ‘ghosts’. Long term readers of the Blog will recall my experience in Africa when I stayed for a short while near Accra. I mentioned in a Blog entry at that time that I am a realist, and can accept that I may have inadvertently eaten something that was hallucinogenic, or maybe I had been unwell and was delirious. That doesn’t mean that I believe that Ghosts don’t exist, but rather that I am wise enough to understand that for every occurrence there may be one or several valid reasons, and that these reasons are not the validation that we tend to cling too when something occurs that is a bit different than the norm.

We also know that I have a position regarding superstition. So when we arrived at the nice cosy and warm hotel and the nice man said “Room 13 is ok, isn’t it?” we agreed to being assigned that room without hesitation. Things as you know tend to go in three’s so it came as no surprise half an hour later when we were sat in seat 13 on the train for a short hop between Newport and Cardiff. The room was intact when we left, and thankfully the train did not derail. I was even more grateful that the seat numbered 13 did not spontaneously combust or otherwise bring out our doom.

All in all it was a great night out and a lovely opportunity to dine with our eldest. I didn’t clock the seat number of the return journey, and nor did I count the number of steps from the Railway Station back to the hotel. I mean, yes, things do go in three, but why chance your luck by adding to the systems and knowledge? I am a nervous sleeper, and given my position on intrusion, that should come as no surprise to the reader. I always drop the dead bolt, and where available also close the door chain. The other thing that you may not know about me is that I used to be a firefighter and I used to work nights. Now seconds before the alarm sounds the lights go on, and I would be awake before the alarm sounded. This as well as my mental health is probably why I am such a light sleeper. I also know that sh*t tends to happen around 4 a.m. when people are asleep. It’s sort of a witching hour of doom and despair. Rubbish if you wake up, but far worse if you are slowly suffocating because you haven’t checked your smoke detector recently. I suppose that it's also a great time to do some breaking and entering.

So why do I tell you the time and the combinations of the number 13? Well, because at 0404 precisely an intruder opened the deadbolt on our hotel room and entered. Bad luck for them because I’m no Mr Sleepyhead and within an instant I was bolt upright and knew that someone had entered the room. Wifey asked me if there was a ghost. Not a surprising observation given that she was half asleep and had also felt a presence, and knew like I, that I had secured the deadbolt before retiring to bed. I was dressed before you could say ‘Crackerjack’, checked the bathroom, my wallet and wifey’s purse and the off to reception.

The conversation went thus “Do you have CCTV?” to which came the reply, “Yes”. My next move was to define the location, “do you have CCTV in the corridors?” to which I was told no, there was only CCTV outside. To which I explained that we needed to call the Police as someone had entered our room even though I had closed the deadlock. “It was me”, came the reply. Now folks get your head around this, its just gone 4 a.m. and how many people would be at reception at 4 a.m. in the morning asking about CCTV. So why did the conversation go around the houses? Did she think that I was an unhappy customer, who was board with the range of television channels and in this gloomiest of hours, needed some CCTV footage to satisfy my small screen yearning?

It appears from my dialogue with the manager many, many hours later when I was in a state of exhaustion prior to my drive back across Wales; that this crazy company check on all empty rooms from 0100 hours to ensure that they are ready for the next customer. And that the Intruder was going about her company directed business. Well here’s a message from me, you can stick your company up your backside, as I have never ever been as terrified as I was the night that the intruder opened my deadlock and entered my room.

If I lived in the United States of America I would sue your Arse for several Million.

You need to change your procedures, and you need to ensure that people booked into room 13 are checked in correctly. You could also do with fitting a door chain in every room because I ain’t coming back in a hurry, even though the intruder scurried off as I woke up.

Royal Pier

I have just added a review for the 'meal deal’ at the Pier Brassiere in Aberystwyth on the Critic page. Click the Critic tab and then scroll down the page to read the Review.

Prague Tips and Hints

Prague is a beautiful city full of some very nice people and great history. So it’s well worth the visit. Hopefully these hints and tips will help you to get the most from your holiday. In no particular order;

Cost
We were going to book four nights Monday to Thursday inclusive with Bed and Breakfast, Airport Transfers and flights from Birmingham. This cost around £900 but instead we booked the same hotel, the same Airport Transfers and the same carrier for three nights at the end of the same week and the cost was £400 less. This booking was made with the same travel company with the comparisons made within minutes of each other. Advice: compare costs by varying the number of nights and if flexible by varying the start date.

Evening River Cruise and Dinner
Our river cruise was going to be a highlight of our holiday with the cost of the river cruise, taxi and alcohol coming in at £104 in total. It was absolutely dreadful with a capital ‘D’. Imagine your worse ever self service very long queue Social Club buffet with a tiny tea plate and you might just get the picture. There may be constant interruption by a waiter who was intent on selling you as much alcohol as possible. If you are lucky there may be a view out of your window from your central table, but the view is pointless while the craft labours in and out of the lock. Being static is not a river cruise. Gosh it was bad, and I only hope that this advice saves a few grateful soles from wasting their hard earned cash. It’s billed as a gastronomical delight, but the only similarity between the billing and the experience is that you might catch gastroenteritis. It was a total unadulterated rip-off where it was all about the coin in our pocket. Advice; maybe try a daytime river cruise but not one with food, and for the evening, go and find yourself a good public house that serves food and enjoy a great night together at probably a fifth of the cost.

Money scam
I got hit twice by the money scammers but had wised up by the third attempt. Our currency goes 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 with the 100 being our £1 coin whereas in Prague it will be a 100 note. Their notes seem to go 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 where at today’s rates 2000 is worth £78 and 1000 is £39 and therefore 100 is £3.90 and it would be a good idea to round up your exchange rate values so that you can keep an eye on the coin in your pocket. We put our decimal currency into the camera bag and I was surprised to find a 50p piece in my pocket on Day 1. We moved that coin out of the equation and at the end of Day 2 we found another one amongst our change and then realised what was happening. If you were due 87 in change they would hand over 37 of the local currency and a 50p piece. We count automatically and miss that it is our 50p piece that is worth 50p whereas their 50 is worth circa £2. Another scam involved handing over 270 whereby only 100 was a note i.e. lots of coins. When I checked the change there was 3 x 2 coins instead of 3 x 50 i.e. the trader would have pocketed circa £6. Advice; make sure that you understand the exchange rate, watch out for the 50p piece scam, and if there are not enough notes being handed back, take extra care over your change.

Charles Bridge
Don’t miss a trip to Charles Bridge. When we walked across there were several bands playing. Advice; watch out for pick pockets as the bridge will be crowded and handbag or pocket dipping could be easy. We picked up a CD of “Charles Bridge-Swing Band (3)” while strolling across the bridge, and I am enjoying every minute listening to the music back home.

Music
I wanted to take in a concert but unfortunately our three night stay and the river cruise meant that I missed what are considered to be some of the finest musicians that you will come across. Advice; make sure it’s a good venue and good players with stated durations as a city that is out for your coin will con you into a short poor performance if it can. I had not experienced this problem, but a couple at the airport told us how disappointed they were with the performance that they chose.

Food and drink
Think Paris prices and you will not be far wrong! Astonishing I know but that’s the way it is. We paid £20 for a coffee and a cake and a hot chocolate and a savoury crepe. That was near Charles Bridge and we spotted a group of young girls walk in and checkout the prices and walk out. I would have also walked out but I was exhausted and didn’t have a walk left in me. Advice; avoid the extortionate coffee shop on the right hand side of the far side of Charles Bridge

Pub grub
We had deer goulash, bread, and the best ever dumplings in the world. This was accompanied with four beers between us and £20 the lot. Advice; check out the eating places carefully and remember that a good pub will bring in a good reward in both price and quality of the food.

Metro
You need a Metro ticket for the Metro and the Tram. It costs about £2 for up to 30 minutes for two people. You can buy your tickets from machines in the Metro station and then validate them by inserting them into a yellow machine on a pole in a tram or before you proceed further into the Metro station. There are inspectors and on the spot fines for those without a ticket or those who have a ticket and have failed to validate the ticket. Advice; an inspector carries two forms of identification with the number on their photo I.D. matching the number on their badge. Apparently there have been scams with fake inspectors. So ask for both forms of I.D. if you are stopped, and if you are certain that you have done nothing wrong; then insist that the police are called.

Pushy hotel staff
We were accosted and conned by our hotel staff. We were offered paintings that we declined and expensive tours that we also declined. With the latter we found out that the receptionist worked for the tour company. But we were conned when we asked for a taxi for a certain time rather than hailing one that could be unsafe in the street. I was expecting professionalism and a genuine taxi to be ordered, I was not expecting her brother or her lover. £12 we paid for a £5 journey and in a vehicle that was of course unregulated and could have been unsafe. Advice; don’t be afraid to say ‘no’, we did and stuff them. As for taxi’s it may be worth telling the receptionist that you want a ‘yellow’ safe cab and nothing else.

Fake Taxi
We paid for Airport Transfers as we had heard about the danger of fake taxis in Prague. At the airport there are clear signs directing travellers to the genuine taxi stands. Our Airport Transfers were well worth the money as the airport is a fair way out of the city. Advice; Airport Transfers may appears expensive but they are safer and we were told by one couple that they had paid more for their two taxi journeys.

Enjoy Prague and don’t be put off by these notes. They are provided to help you get the best out of your trip and to enjoy the warm and honest welcome that you will get from the majority of the city dwellers and fellow travellers.

A great story

Forget the television and the cinema. If you want a gripping story of murder, greed, stupidity, infanticide, treachery, war, and lust; grab yourself a few books about the Kings and Queen’s of England. I just can’t put down the one that I am reading at the moment regarding great British Battles i.e. those fought on our soil. It is astonishingly good stuff. Each page bringing with it news of a new twist, in what feels like and never ending saga. Phew, I can’t wait for Series 2. Oops, it isn’t TV and therefore it can’t be ruined by an unnecessary stretching to and beyond the limit sequel.

Senator John McCain

I think that the Republican Presidential Candidate of 2008 Senator John McCain spoke exceptionally well on the BBC Television Programme 'Newsnight', broadcast live tonight, regarding events in Libya. Presidential Candidate McCain was 'Presidential' in the way that he handled the questions, represented the people of America and more importantly demonstrated a Humanitarian side that is all too often missing when commentators speak about world affairs involving injury and death.

Others should pay particular attention to Senator McCain's call for Humanitarian medical aid for the many thousands of injured people in Libya and the inability of the local infrastructure to effectively cope with the extensive medical problems. I agree that American Medical Ships should be deployed and European countries and the United States of America should take in those that have been injured and help with their care and rehabilitation.

They fought for democracy and to make our world a safer place - the least we can do is step in and prevent and ease suffering.

Well done Senator John McCain , well said, I applaud you.

Silk

My 'Big thing' at the moment is de-stressing and relaxation along with my morning midweek swim Monday to Friday. So with a nautical them in mind, it's a good job that my current relaxation project is a rebuild of a Model Pond Yacht to form the Centre Piece of a Scalextric layout.

I have found out that the Yacht that I am renovating as a Scalextric Centre Piece is a lovely wooden hulled model sailing yacht made by GINER of Spain.

The original model is a double masted beast unlike the single master that I am building. The original model has “Guaranteed to Sail” written on the label, whereas this model ain't sailing anywhere. Indeed when I get around to it the harbour has to be drilled in two places and the Pond Yacht screwed home from underneath the layout. The Model Yacht has a drop down metal keel that I dismantled to make it flat bottomed for the Scalextric layout. The hull is approximately 23½ inches long with a width of approximately 4¾ inches. On the original model the height from the top of the mast to the bottom of the drop down keel is approximately 33 inches, whereas on my re-build, the height of the single mast to the deck level is 32.5cm.

The photograph shows the boat unfinished but after a considerable amount of modelling work undertaken over several weeks. This work has included dismantling the original model yacht, sanding off thick paint, priming, airbrushing several layers onto the hull, lining the hull with white acrylic, and then over-lining the white band with gold acrylic. The deck barrier posts were made from cocktail sticks, with the hull marked and drilled to receive these. The deck post wire is a single strand of unravelled picture frame wire that has been threaded through holes drilled in each cocktail stick. The bolting base for each post was cut out of an old ice cream tub. Well it wouldn't be a new one would it? Because if it was where would all of the ice-cream go? Now if there was enough of that, then that could be swimming heaven....

Models

I have just added a 'Models' page and put up one of my best photo's onto that page as I think of ways of improving this Blog.

How things change

I just realised that my Dell Laptop has travelled more than most people. It has been to Gibraltar, Spain, Italy (several times), Portugal, France (several times), Austria (several times), and Germany (several times). Along with various trips to each of the home countries. But the real question must be; why on earth did I lump it around. In the pre-digital information technology explosion our messages to family and friends would have been restricted to a late arriving postcard of dubious sentiment and content, along with post holiday social intercourse between the overly excited traveller and anyone who was foolish enough to sit and listen.

More 3's

Yep, some more 3's and again it's all good.

I managed to track down my entry in the 19th Edition of Burke's Landed Gentry Volumes III and IV. It's not a huge entry, but then again it isn't insignificant either as there are only 7 Bennett's listed. I have partially read the entry on-line, but I managed to obtain a copy of Volumes III and IV and was able to peruse at leisure. I will add the full listing details to my Biography page on this Blog.

I also managed to track down a photograph of my father when he was serving with the Auxiliary Fire Service in 1940 in Swansea during the Second World War. The family oral history is that dad served with the AFS, but I have yet to acquire any physical evidence.

Sidney Allen Douglas Bennett had volunteered for the infantry and was based in France on the outbreak of War. Unfortunately Sid Bennett fell ill with Scarlet Fever and was given a Medical Discharge from the Army. However, determined to do his bit 'for King and Country' Sidney Bennett joined the AFS in Swansea. It was great being able to track the image down in a book that I read at the National Library of Wales earlier today.

The third thing is that the lovely Mr Tister is back home for upwards of 12 nights.

Tabs

The Tabs are coming along nicely. My Biography is now a tabbed page at the top of the Blog. The 'Art' Tab now has entries about Airbrushing and Tamiya Acrylic Paints.

New Pages

I have just managed to publish a new page (link at the top of the Blog main page) and jotted down some stuff about Art. You can read that item and future items regarding that subject as and when I get around to posting them. Albeit the posts in the Tab Pages are fixed and won;t look like these posts in the main page. You can navigate back to the Blog HOME page simply by selecting HOME tab at the top of the page or the HOME link at the bottom of the bit that you read under the tab. Other pages when I get around to constructing them will include 'Pens' and 'Food Critic'.

More three's - But good ones!

Of course it is so easy to think of the negatives when considering The Trio. But of course good things can happen in three's just as easily as bad things. The Trio doesn't distinguish, it sort of just happens. With this in mind it's nice to comment about a trio of good things that happened to me today.

Well most of you know that there's been a fair bit of sh*t in my life, but far more really good stuff. Indeed the balancing scales certainly weigh in my favour. Now today was one of those days when i sort of had the Midas touch if you know what I mean? Not with money, as money is money, but good things don't necessarily have or even require a value.

First off there was the letter. Not any old letter mind you, but an important letter, about an important matter. This has been ongoing for quite some time, and it was nice to see that the author has retained their position and as a result of that stance, my position (and in my opinion quite rightly) has not weakened. Next off there was the Dolphins. Not any old Dolphins mind you but two groups of two in the Bay and one of which was a complete show off and done the 'completely out of the water and dive back in thing'. Nice one, Mr Dolphin. The chap swimming along the waters edge obviously though that we were all watching him. Alas my friend we were looking right past you and out into the bay. That dear reader is the joy of living next to the sea. You get to see sea stuff.

"Pretty good so far" I can hear you thinking. Well of course it was pretty good. There I am having metaphorically speaking digested the letter, and I am stood on the promenade looking out into the Bay and enjoying the company of my eldest for our walk and coffee. The special bit being that Jodi has lived here for some 22 years and has never seen the Dolphins, and tomorrow she returns to the City. So thank you Mr Dolphin for a faultless display. I enjoyed the walk, enjoyed the display, and enjoyed the Costa Coffee.

Now this should be as good as it gets. But it gets better and better. Having done some DIY at 0730 this morning instead of my swim, I took inspiration from the Dolphins and went for a swim lunch time. Nice one, both the swim and the sauna and the chat with our eldest. Great, great stuff and the making a great day. An afternoon snooze led me to look for my phone to contact a dear friend and check that his health was OK. A bit like the blind leading the blind with that one. I can't really dish out good advice, but I can reflect upon my circumstances and what has and does work for me. I found the phone and he had sent a text while I was sleeping telling me what had happened. Phew, it was really good news and I have been truly concerned for him. Especially in a week that I buried a friend, it would have been really careless to have lost another.

"So all in all a great day" I hear you think. Well not quite, I would rather say that it was a superb day. One of my brightest in a long time. And to top it off I have just sat down and eaten a Homemade Fresh Cream Cup Cake made especially for me by the Cup Cake Queen Jodi. Wow, wow, and triple wow. But good things come in three's, so why did she only make me two?

Three's

That three's thing has happened again.

We buried a good friend yesterday, and I found the service quite difficult and emotional. He had been ill for some time, and maybe the length of the illness makes you sort of think that it will all come good in the end. Even when you are told that there is nothing more that can be done, faith helps us believe that it will somehow work out. I must admit to thinking that he looked well when I popped along to the hospital. Maybe be was just at ease, at peace with what was about to happen, and what after all faces each and every one of us irrespective of background, ethnicity, social status or any other irrelevant factor.

I suppose that death is very much a part of life.

Death however is all around us at the moment. Our neighbour who was admitted with a not too much to worry about illness, does in fact have the big 'C', and one of our extended family has been given a terminal prognosis. This takes me back to the early 80's when we lost three close family within twelve months. The first was too young, but the second and third were younger still. Well I have said a prayer for each and every one of them, and on reflection, maybe life isn't that bad after all

Superstition Stuff

All of this splashing about in the water made me think about 'superstition'. Why is it that whenever something goes wrong; it happens in three's? I mean it was bad luck that my Xperia X10 starting drifting off here and there and I am unable to change the software as it constantly fails to upload onto the phone. You know, these sort of things happen and for every bad example of a product there are many thousand of A1 prime examples of hassle free usage.

But I was a tad annoyed when my 'few weeks old' Canon 600D fault was noticed. The shop tried to blame me and initially wanted £175 for the repair. Thankfully I am a bit methodical and used to putting across the odd argument or two. So armed with four bits of masking tape to mask off an area on my laptop screen; I was able to identify where the smudge in the photographs kept appearing. Better still I was able to show that it was irrespective of which of the two lens were being used. And best of all I was able to clearly show that the 'smudge' (for want of a better word) appeared with absolute clarity in at least 11 of the first ever 33 shots on the Canon 600D camera. Plus on the less visible images, you could move them into Corel Photopaint and change the hues to find the defect. And most importantly, I was able to prove without doubt that the smudge appeared on the first ever shot that I took with the Canon 600D camera. Which is great news as the shop assembled the lens to the body and hey ho, they are now paying. But that still leaves me without my Canon 600D for the next three weeks.

So two out of the dreaded three bad things done, and more importantly, what as this got to do with the last post? Because most of you realise that I try to link the posts so that there is some kind of sequence or story to follow. That of course is the challenge.

Now I can't ramble on about the 'Voodoo Doll' that I mentioned to two sisters when they were chatting to me a few days before my run of bad luck. Well I can mention that I mentioned about not saying something to someone in case she got out her 'Voodoo Doll', but unfortunately that doesn't link to the last post. Nope, the real link is that the third thing has happened. Given the last Blogging session about water; it may come as no surprise that I managed to tip a glass full of the stuff over my laptop. And when I say 'glass full and over', I mean 'glass full' and 'right over' the keyboard and electronics.

Now a lesser person may have panicked, but not me. No, I calmly held the mains connected laptop upside down to let the water pour out. Or is that gush out? And when the gush, became a dribble, and then an occasional spot, I turned the laptop back into its correct position and left it turned on and plugged in for 24 hours. The theory being that the heat would evaporate the water, and by golly, my laptop gets hot!

Footnote: please don't touch electrical equipment that has come into contact with water without first and safely isolating the power supply. Gosh, three things went wrong, but thank goodness the last thing went right or this Blog would have come to a standstill!

Georgie

Now that I'm back from holiday, Dr. Georgie AKA The Swim Teacher, tells me that I have to practice bi-lateral breathing or the muscles on one side of my neck are going to swell right up.

Now I don’t mind listening to Dr. Georgie as she is full of good advice. For example she told me that Breast Stroke is not her favourite stroke at all, and that no one should practice back stroke in a crowded pool. I was paying attention honest, well you can see from what I have written that the information has sunk in so far. But the next bit is a bit disconcerting.

Dr. Georgie wants me to drop the coffee on Tuesdays and Thursdays and enjoy a cup of peach tea instead. Or she suggested; maybe a pot of tea with a spot of lemon instead of milk. Now steady on Dr. Georgie. No breast stroke is one thing, but peach tea? Blooming eck, before we know it, I’ll be drinking water all day while doing the doggy paddle!

Mrs B and her Retail Therapist

While the number of Readers from across The Pond increases daily, I thought that it would be nice to post an image of Mrs B and her Retail Therapist aboard the Celebrity Eclipse. Yep, you got it right folks; her Retail Therapist. The best bit was, Mrs B was really kind and only had a few things on the cruise. Even better was her decision to keep selecting the cheapest item. Well done Mrs 'B' and well done to the Retail Therapist for helping Mrs 'B'. Wow, it really was 5* service. Now I imagine that the term Retail Therapist is big in the States, but here in little Wales, it's not something that you come across that often. Indeed the chap in the picture was the first Retail Therapist that I had ever met, and a lovely chap at that.

The Georgetown Quartet

The Georgetown Quartet. Now those that have been reading this Blog of late will know that Adam Westcott and the Inspiration String Trio on the Celebrity Eclipse were pretty darn good. Indeed, all four could fiddle pretty well. I was extremely impressed by Adam Westcott as he’s a first class musician. The ‘string trio’ were inspirational in both the looks department and the way that they played the music. Well done to Celebrity Cruises for booking such great performers. They were equalled by the four singers and a chap playing and singing. But one of my favourite bits of the Cruise was listening to the Jazz quartet in the Ensemble Lounge up on Deck 5. I must admit that I tended to gravitate towards the fifth deck, and I believe justifiably so.

The Georgetown Quartet
Joy Ellis, stunning voice
Adam Osmianski, one of the best drummers I have heard
Tony DePaolis, looks like he is in love with his instrument
Andy Boanco, the man best suited to be in black

Here I am post cruise listening to an album produced by the Georgetown Quartet called ‘Passepartout’ (can mean Character and is also a character in a certain film). I was a bit nervous with 13 tracks, especially after unlucky Tuesday and Coach 13 in Spain. But I should have chilled as the music suggests and ignored the omen. I don’t have a favourite in the band as to me it is a collective with each one complimenting the others. Now don’t get me wrong, I have an eye for a pretty lady, and Joy is very pretty indeed. But you see, the first time that I listened to them, I was sat and obscured by the bar. Wow, thought I, how do these guys do it? Only later that night did I learn of Joy being tucked away out of sight around the corner alone and with her grand piano. It’s a pity that Joy wasn’t singing that night, because if she had been, then I would have thought that one of the fellow’s had broken his voice. You see I am an advocate of ‘perception is reality’ and for a few hours I truly believed that there were only three of them. I’ve listened to some good jazz in the past, and some really dreadful stuff. Indeed some of the stuff that I have listened to before Georgetown came onto my scene, was so dreadful that some tracks had to be deleted from my iPod.

The Georgetown Jazz Quartet; both live and on their album ‘Passepartout’ are pure bliss. Believe it not; the album was as cheap as chips. Things this good shouldn’t cost so little, so grab a bit of them before they become BIG.


Check them out on the Web at: http://georgetownjazz.com/news

Check them out on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/search.php?q=georgetown&init=spell&tas=0.7095723279331396&ref=ts&sc_oq=goergetown&sc_h=163944578&sc_a=cs&ab=X&sc_r=1#!/pages/Georgetown/160414550639608

American brethren and the Brits

American brethren and the Brits. The Blog readership appears to be quite active at the mo. According to Google Analytics the readers from across the Pond include folk from Connecticut (Quaker hill), Washington State (Seattle), Florida (Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Hollywood), and New York. Whereas in the U.K. the readership level has simply gone off the scale! Phew, readers from; Birmingham, London, Chertsey, Teddington, Droitwich, Great Malvern, Guildford, Tewkesbury, Edgbaston, Cambridge, Kidderminster, Evesham, Worcester, Poplar, Stourport-on-Severn, Kempston, Hove, Northampton, Windsor, Reading, and Bedford. I hope that you are all enjoying the read folks!

Cindyanna

During an earlier post I mentioned Cindy-anna and how I mistook the State name. So here folks, is a photo of the lovely Cindyanna (now that I have managed to work out how to download the images from my camera). The bulk of the previous images from the Celebrity Eclipse cruise came from my mobile phone with its easy connection to the laptop and uploads.

You can tell the amusement from the smiles on the faces of the two in the photograph. That was a blistering hot day and being a tad deaf meant that it comes as no surprise that I misheard where she came from. Cindianna is from Indiana. Check out the United States of America Blog entry for the full story. The various name spellings are to help Cindi-anna find the Blog as I promised that the photo along with various spellings would be uploaded. Please let Cindiana know if you know her or recognise the photo back in the States.

14 Days of Excellent Service

Sumpoyo our excellent 5* Waiter in the fabulous Moonlight Sonata Restaurant on the Celebrity Eclipse. I am particularly proud of this shot as I used my Tamron 70-300mm lens at about four foot on Deck 14 of the Eclipse. Sumpoyo was expecting a full or half body shot and handed what he was carrying to a colleague. The best part was being able to wrangle a print of this shot on-board to hand to Sumpoyo before the end of the Celebrity Cruise. I managed to make the same gesture to 15 of the crew in all who we had befriended on our 14 night 5* cruise. I was only able to pay for 6x4 shots, but I think that all 15 were surprised and pleased to receive their photograph and gratuity envelope.

Celebrity Cruise Tip 22: We pre-paid our gratuities with our booking, but we also took along some money to say a special additional thank you to those who provided excellent service. It may be worth considering doing the same as the service is exceptional and you end up feeling like a million dollars. The recruiting programme for Celebrity Cruises must be exceptional for them to attract so many top class people who provide stunning service day after day

The African Bit

And now folks the African bit. It has been great blogging about Celebrity Cruises and Celebrity Eclipse, but the Blog is also about Africa so we need to find a suitable strand or strands from somewhere. Maybe it is the historical link and physical distances between our ports of call on the Celebrity Cruise and the African Continent would suffice. I must admit that I was surprised on our excursion in Gibraltar to be informed by our excellent tour guide just how close we were to Africa. It was hard to believe when he pointed out Morocco across the Straits of Gibraltar and I wonder just how close the Celebrity Eclipse had taken us to Africa as she sailed her curved route to the Rock.

Gibraltar was our first port of call on the Italian Mediterranean cruise. Gibraltar of course is linked to Spain while high speed ferries link the Straits of Gibraltar to Africa. With Africa only 14 miles away from Gibraltar: the twice weekly ferry from Gibraltar to Morocco takes just over an hour.

Our cruise then moved on to Provence in France. Of course France was one of the great Colonialist countries with French West Africa consisting of eight French colonial territories; Dahomey, French Guinea, French Sudan, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Senegal, Upper Volta, and Niger.

Our next port of call was in Italy and along its coast. Italy was also a colonial nation and Italian East Africa consisted of; Ethiopia with its four governed areas, Italian Somaliland, and Italian Eritrea until the end of the Second World War.

We then cruised to Sardinia; a Mediterranean island belonging to Italy that is situated between Africa, France, Italy, and Spain. Interestingly the distance between Sardinia and Sicily is some 280km but the distance between Sardinia and Africa, Italy, and Spain is some 100km less. I.e. Sardinia is closer to Africa than it is to Italy.

The last two countries that we visited were Spain and Portugal. Spain played a bit part in the Colonisation of the African Continent. Spanish Morocco, the Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea fell under Spanish control. Whereas Portugal was the first European nation that actively took an interest in Africa. There’s a good explanation of Portuguese influence in African affairs and colonisation including the ‘Slave Bridge’ at http://www.ohioswallow.com/book/Portugal+and+Africa of course various countries means various currencies if it wasn’t for the Euro! Although watch out as although you can spend Sterling on the Rock at a ratio of 1:1 apparently Gibraltar notes are not legal tender in the U.K. although it is in pounds etc., I may be wrong on this one, as I am relaying what I was told by another guest on our Celebrity Cruise.


Celebrity Cruise Tip 21: Celebrity Cruise ships like the Celebrity Eclipse are cash free but that doesn’t mean that you don’t need cash on your cruise. Not all places take American Express so make sure that you top up your dollars and your sterling with some Euro’s. Especially if you want a beer during one of the short excursions, that are in isolated locations without access to an ATM.

Celebrity Cruises Top Waiter

As far as we are concerned this is a picture of the best waiter ever (Sumpoyo on the left) and his assistant (Mahmad Mooradun on the right). 14 nights of top class 5* service on the Celebrity Eclipse in The Moonlight Sonata dining room compliments of these chaps.

The stunning food was served to an exceptionally high standard.

Setting the table to perfection, welcoming us and our dinner companions with a smile. Making sure that we were seated well. Bringing water and the bread basket and topping them up when needed and without being asked. Changing the knifes depending on the appetiser or entree. Cleaning and maintaining the table to a high standard. Sumpoyo carrying upwards of 14 meals on one tray on his shoulder. Always serving from the correct side. Always there but never noticed. Great recommendations on every night of the Celebrity cruise. Fantastic service from a great waiter and his assistant. Celebrity Cruises should be proud of these guys and all others whom I suspect also reach the same exacting standards.

More USA and some UK

Oops; I missed out the lovely Christine and Anne from Vancouver Washington State when I blogged my American piece yesterday. That was very naughty of me as they are so lovely, as are the lovely Kathy and Dave from England in the UK. We met Kathy and Dave for coffee today on Deck 5 and are meeting our American chums in the outside bar on Deck 14 tomorrow at 1630 Cruise Time. But watch out as there is so much to do on Celebrity Eclipse that the Blog tends to lag behind. So tomorrow can be today if you know what I mean!

I hope that you enjoyed the poem, but alas there is so much to do on The Celebrity Eclipse that I am too busy enjoying our Celebrity Cruise to do as much blogging as I would normally and also too busy for the poetry as well.

We had a great dinner last night and some great wine along with the food. Today has been a hoot. Mrs B and I bunked off the excursion bus and while they done the medieval thing, we sat on the beach and drank beer and coffee and then done some shopping for yours truly. A wonderful day, made better when we met up with some of our new friends. The ship is heading for Southampton now, and the band is playing in the background. Wonderful, sheer bliss; yes folks it is a holiday of a lifetime!

Celebrity Cruise Tip 20: Let the expert serving at your table pick your wine, and be brave enough to follow the food recommendations made by your waiter. These people are trained and experienced and they will enhance rather than detract from your Celebrity Cruise 5* experience

The United States of America

The United States of America
We have met some lovely Americans and North Americans on this trip. This is pretty strange as there are more children on board the Celebrity Eclipse on this Cruise than there are American citizens. But it seems some of the best people all come from the USA. In fact, the friendship is so good that I want to be adopted. Then I would have an excuse for a picture or a photograph of an Eagle on my study wall. Amongst those that we have met and in no particular order;

There is Fred “The Stairs” and Julie “Andrews” from Boston
Along with Fred and “Hey” Jude from New York City
The two lovely ladies from Chicago
There’s the “Chicago Bear”
Our dining companions the lovely cool Ray and equally lovely “Babs” from Connecticut
Jerry “Bagels” and Louise from Long Island who hail from Brooklyn and Queens
“Cindy-Anna” from Indiana
“Danni” from Washington DC
Jim and Sue from New York State
Irene "Dallas"
The late night coffee scooter duo from New York
Three more from New York City
Someone from the West Coast
Someone else from the East Coast
And someone from something called “Central Eastern Middle time” but I may have got that one a tad wrong

My favourite name association is “Fred the Stairs” as we chatted on Deck 5 near to the Moonlight Sonata staircase. My favourite accidental name is “Cindy-Anna”. I met a group at a cafe break on an excursion and said “Hi, where are you from?” To which the lovely lady sat towards the front of the table replied “Cindy-Anna”. “Cool” I said, “I don’t recall that State but it’s a nice name”. Now you know where this is going folks. The place was Indiana, but when I said ‘Cindy-Anna’ out loud it got a really good laugh from all of the Americans. I laughed along with them and the lovely lass, now has a new name. Ps in case she does a Google search I promised myself that I would input the name several ways so here goes: Cindyanna, Cindy-anna, Cindianna. Thanks for that everyone, please also enjoy the next bit as well.

After meeting so many lovely people from the States, it is fitting that the following poem is dedicated to them all. It is written in ‘Royal Rime’ consisting of seven lines per stanza in the rhyming scheme ABABBCC. It was written on Deck 5 on the afternoon of Tuesday the 09 August 2011 while on the Cruise Holiday of a Lifetime.

The Anthem

Oh how I long to sing
The Star Spangled Banner
With its unique ring
While in upright manner
Although I’m no tenor
To sing the national song
Is all that I long

To stand side by side
With cousins from across the Pond
That’s no longer so wide
Because of our special bond
From discourse and not a wand
Oh how I long to sing
That Star Spangled thing

Roger Bennett, August 2011
(All rights reserved)

Celebrity Cruise Tip 19: Try out the complimentary treats in Cafe al Bacio, but don’t visit too often because I can imagine that they could become quite addictive

Emergency Broadcast; “Heyday, Heyday”

Nothing should ever be this good. I mean, for goodness sake I haven’t been in a gym for a decade, and here I am on the Eclipse run by Celebrity Cruises and doing the gym thing daily. This is as almost as good as in my heyday, except I’m walking on the treadmill and not running. A few gradients here and there and I’m anybody’s. Take it up to 3.2 mph and I can just about keep pace. Which is a good thing as some of these tour guides set a mean pace and I can now keep up.

The good thing is that the gym is a great place to meet people and to see the sights.

Yep, I’ve done the Dolphin thing twice since I last blogged about it, and on both occasions I was looking out through the expanse of glass that encapsulates the gymnasium. I’ve also chatted to amongst many others; a lovely couple from Chicago and a great guy from New York. It seems as if all the best people go training. Mind you, I have to drop the speed to 2.5 mph and hang on while turning to chat to those who drop by.

Today we were in Cadiz. It’s a lovely place with lots of history and lots of narrow streets and shops selling at keen prices. Not that I was able to buy anything as I had paid for the 3.5 walking tour. Bet Mrs B was pleased with that unilateral decision. Walk and talk and talk and walk. I like the talking bit, but the walking part can wear you down. Especially in this humidity and when you enter some of the buildings. But hey ho as Mrs B would say, we just got on with it and had a giggle. There we were on the coach when the Chicago duo walked past. I waved frantically and with a surprised expression they waved back. They need to watch out as they are in danger of being sucked in as good friends. Only five hours later and they joined us for coffee in Cafe al Bacio on Deck 5. We had already drunk beer in Cadiz, and two glasses of non alcoholic something or the other with our lunch. It’s been another great day, but stop and pause. It’s only 5pm Continental time and we have the swimming, the treadmill, the show, and the four course dinner to look forward to. Then the Jazz lounge or out onto one of the Decks for poolside live music or a midnight stroll around the jogging track. Emergency broadcast channel Celebrity Cruises the Eclipse; “Heyday, Heyday, please send help urgently. The chap in Stateroom 3101 is taking the training seriously”.

Celebrity Cruise Tip 18: The Aqua Spa bar is not a drinks bar. It serves grilled salmon, poached salmon, and steamed salmon amongst many other delights like poached pears, frozen yoghurt, and all fruit smoothies. Miss it at your peril. Aqua Spa in the Solarium Deck 12, booking not required, and no cover charge

Nautical Miles and Adam Westcott

The Earth like any circle consists of 360 degrees. Each degree is split into 60 minutes which is nice and easy to remember as there are also 60 minutes in an hour. Now each of these degrees is a nautical mile. So one minute is also one nautical mile, and one degree is sixty nautical miles. So there was nothing tough about that then.

Therefore there are 21600 nautical miles going around the World i.e. 60 minutes multiplied by 360 degrees = 21,600.

So a nautical mile is different than the mile that we know about. Simply because most of us know that there are 25,000 miles to cover in order to travel around the World. So by land its 25,000 miles and by sea it’s 21,600 nautical miles. I have to check all of this with on the crew on the Celebrity Eclipse as I may have the values wrong as someone said that a nautical mile is less than a mile mile. But if that was so, then the number of nautical miles around the world should be greater than the number of land miles. If you see, what I mean?

Yesterday we were in Cagliari in Sardinia, Italy. Mrs B and I walked about 5 nautical miles in blistering heat over the ruins of Nora, and down from the City Battlements into the centre later in the day. Nora was first a Phoenician colony and trading port. Cagliari is on the southern tip of Sardinia and as the Capital it also hosts the largest community on the island. We have had a great day, but I am truly whacked. I am chilling in ‘Cafe al Bacio’ on Deck 5 while listening to the excellent Spanish Guitarist, Adam Westcott. Pure bliss, tip top surroundings, air conditioning, excellent coffee and a superb musician.

Celebrity Cruise Tip 17: Summer sailing, then buy a hat and some good sun block

Aye -aye Captain (AKA Living the Dream)

I truly believe in fate and I also believe that we all reap what we sow, i.e. what goes around, comes around. Now I know that Mrs B and I are lovely people; simply because we would never do another human being a deliberate harm, and if I seen you in distress in the street, I’m the guy that would come to your aid even if it meant putting myself at risk. That’s the long and the short of it, but to be fair, it’s no great shakes as there are many others out there who would do the same.

But I have to admit that we have done pretty well on the carousel of life over the last week. Most staterooms are circa 194 square feet, but ours is 289. I asked for an upgrade if one became available and it looks as if one did. Yesterday morning I returned to our Stateroom in the bowels of the ship, and found an envelope containing an invitation for Mrs B and I to attend the Captain’s Table this evening. Apparently this is not a status or expenditure thing. I have been told by a member of staff that only very nice people are considered and that a few on board think that we are very nice people. Now I could say that this is as good as it gets folks, and to be fair most of you would agree.

However, I done my good deed with the photography when out and about today, and insisted on taking a few shots of a couple of lovely people from guess where? Yes, of course the gold old United States of America aka where all the best people come from. Now it wasn’t done for anything other than being nice, because being nice, is what nice people do. So knock me over with a New York Cheese Cake when they told us later in the day that they were in the Royal Suite and invited us to Butler Served Tea tomorrow afternoon. We are not talking posh Stateroom here folks, this is the real deal. They even have a kitchen, but of course that’s for the Butler to summon the Chef to use. They have been on the Captain’s Table on this cruise too. I told them that I was not surprised, nice people get invited to all the best parties.

We were walking back onto the ship, there are 2800 passengers, and a uniformed voice says, “Welcome back Mr Bennett”. Now that’s good service. It was at that point that I was so glad that I picked this brand and this vessel.

So if you are impressed by our good fortune, then consider this; en-route to our Stateroom this afternoon I smiled back at one of the crew and was my usual friendly self. She asked Mrs B and I if we like white or preferred red wine. I thought it was a conversation piece and said red. Mrs B said that she didn’t drink wine. “Oh, do you prefer champagne?” To which Mrs B replied, “No, I’m fine with water”. Well good answer Mrs B because the lovely lady then bashed me with my second New York Cheese Cake of the day. “I will send a bottle of Red and some water to your Stateroom”. Wow, like double wow and sprinklies on top. Where did that one come from? The wine was duly delivered and we are talking $75 to $125 here folks. I can’t tell you for sure because we skipped the wine tasting tour yesterday and instead went on the ice-cream tasting event. And guess what? There was no spitting. I had to force down five ice-creams, and my favourite was the last one. All of them were handmade and two were made in front of us. But as good as chocolate and Vanilla are, the melon one was best. If you have the money and you haven’t booked your Celebrity Cruise yet, then be a bit sharpest about it. The berths are going fast and it don’t get much better than this, aye-aye Captain.


Celebrity Cruise Tip 16: think carefully when booking the Excursions as some moderate level excursions can be quite tough. Book early and check out the on-line and brochure detail and do some research on the internet. With borderline fitness, then think about the time of year and the country of destination

Memories

We all tend to take the camera for granted, so for this holiday I am also trying to sketch and paint some of the images that mean something special on our trip. It’s a ‘days gone by’ sort of thing. But it’s also pretty hard as there is so much to do, so it’s inevitable that some of the paintings will be done when we get back.

I have tried to learn how to use my new camera, and last night I managed to take a shot of the Jazz Quartet without flash in the ‘Ensemble Lounge’ at 11pm with dimmed lights. I set the White Balance to Tungsten Light and the ISO to 3200 and I must say that the image is pretty special. In fact I am well chuffed.

Mind you not all images have been captured, and these will have to be confined to my memory section:

I was in the gym doing my walking thing very early in the morning when I noticed the Rock of Gibraltar. That was pretty amazing, but then the Pilot boat approached our ship, followed by a shoal of 30 or so dolphins that sort of shadowed us into the harbour.

The scene looking out from Deck 12 and the dolphins made for a great image folks. This is why there is no picture with this Blog Post. Just think of the thrill of seeing the sea life. Add to that the pilot boat drawing near and the dolphins shadowing the Celebrity Eclipse into dock as it slips past ‘The Rock’. Brilliant, simply brilliant and no wonder why we want to come back.


Celebrity Cruise Tip 15: invest in a small camera or mobile phone for when you don’t have your telescopic thingy on you

Decks 12 to 14

There is no Deck 13 on the Celebrity Eclipse; so the Celebrity Cruise Tip also jumps from 12 to 14 so don’t go looking for that elusive 13th Tip folks. I like the life music and I like the chance to relax with a book or magazine. This photograph shows the Library that spans Decks 10 and 11. I was sat in a group of similar seats with the ones on view ahead of me towards the central balcony. This is just one of numerous special places on a very special ship.

We have been spending a fair amount of time in ‘Cafe al Bacio’ and the separate ‘Ensemble Lounge’ both located on Deck 5. We also found the ‘Aqua Spa’ restaurant yesterday and enjoyed poached fruit and poached salmon with salad before joining our excursion to Provence. The tranquillity of the Spa and the stunning views out across the bay from Deck 12 combined to make the ‘Aqua Spa’ a very special meal. That experience set us up for a fine day of sightseeing, relaxation and fun. This led into an evening of fine dining and live music. This was made better by the quality discourse of our American dining companions. Gosh, four people who speak the same language but yet speak a different language. How on earth is that possible? They would say something that we would think was funny, and we would do the same. We use the same words that have different meanings across the Pond, together with the use of phrases that both couples have never heard. It also helps that ‘Babs’ is so funny. That’s not her name or a nickname that we use by the way, it’s just my way of ensuring that their privacy is maintained. Indeed, her real name is quite long and I use it to the full, although it gives me a bit of a tongue lashing.

Today we repeated the ‘Spa’ experience but this time with the treadmill, dinner in the Aqua Spa, a snooze in the Solarium, use of the Jacuzzi, and topped off with a swim. Then it was up onto Deck 15 and a Sun-seekers Session, some drinks and then we watched the Ship slip Anchor near Florence on our way to Rome. Mmmmm very nice indeed.


Celebrity Cruise Tip 14: This one is for the ladies; laundry is only washing, your clothes return clean, dry and folded. For ironing you have to pay more to have your clothes ‘pressed’. It’s not big bucks for laundry and pressing, so your clothes can stretch for the twelve day or two week jaunt. But it’s better to convince hubby that you need an allowance for a Cruise Wardrobe  Get him to think of it as part of the holiday costs, an investment for towards your special memories, and of course some new garb for you!

Another Rare Treat

This picture was taken in a fishing village in Provence in France on a gloriously baking hot day. We both looked for shade and beer, and thankfully found it. I’m walking around with a continuous grin on my face. This is five-star pampering at its best! Well done Celebrity Cruises; the food, people, accommodation, and views are all magnificent. We are making friends all over the place and are enjoying every minute of every day.

Celebrity Cruise Tip 12: if there is more than one coach leaving for the excursion that you have booked, hop onto the first one that they are filling as that may leave before the start time and you will have longer on the excursion, whereas the last coach will wait at the port right up to the time deadline for starting the excursion.

Rare Treat

Now here’s a rare treat, a picture of yours truly. I asked the lovely ladies walking towards me on Deck 5 if they would have a go of my mobile phone camera. And hey ho, a few seconds later this was the result. Being a bit of a geek I was out on Deck 5 checking out the lifeboats most of which take 150 persons, awesome. There appears to be a medical launch and a raft thingy for 450 persons.

Deck 5 also turned out to be a great place for to sunbathe. Wooden deck chairs, wooden tables, sun trap, wind break, and peace and quiet. There I was, topless with my factor 30 rubbed almost all over. After we baked, Mrs B went off to get ready for the show, and I sat in the Celebrity Eclipse Library on Deck 11 reading a magazine and watching the world go by. Complete with an attendant to ensure that other guests were quiet when walking through the library. Pure bliss; topped off with the swim, the silver service dinner, and the Jazz Band in the Ensemble Lounger until 0100 when I rolled in.

Celebrity Cruise Tip 11: this tip is from Mrs B; don’t be afraid to talk to people as everyone is really friendly

Gibraltar

Gibraltar was really enjoyable with a chance to pop myself down in the shade and do a little sketch of a canon on a rock in the square. Just the job; relaxation, warmth, and no pressure

The excursion was great fun, made so by the lovely man who drove our coach on the Celebrity Cruise ‘Panoramic Gibraltar and Tea’ trip. If you ever go on that one, then ask for the Brit who works in Gibraltar, speaks English and Spanish, lives in Spain and studied in Liverpool. What a truly lovely guy, the best £65 for two that I have ever spent. Calypso Tours was the company and they run two coaches due to the narrow streets in Gibraltar to be towards the front of the queue in order to get the great tour guide come driver. We walked back from the centre to the port and continued to enjoy what the girls would call ‘the lush weather’. The fun continued into the night with live music outdoors by the main pool area.

In fact it was around 0300 when we settled down. “Oh” said Mrs B, “we’ve done Gibraltar and we spent £4.50”. Now that’s one good thing about a cruise, you sort of put a ceiling on the costs and there’s no need to go out and keep spending. Although to be fair there’s always an opportunity, especially when it comes to Welsh Gold. You see its Mrs B’s 50th this year. Shush, don’t tell everyone as no lady tells the World her age.


Celebrity Cruise Tip 10: At Gibraltar the shuttle in and out of the town was only a few Euro per person

Celebrity Coffee and Relaxation

While I sit and chat to the lovely people who often stop and chat to me, wifey AKA Mrs. B “the Boss” is off exercising her mind and having relaxation therapy. Nope not in the on board Celebrity Cruises Spa, but in the cinema watching today’s film that is some 113 minutes long. It wasn’t my cup of tea so I opted for another 46 minute treadmill session, use of the excellent changing room facilities and the live guitarist and Cafe Latte in ‘Cafe al Bacio’ on the 5th of 15 decks of the Celebrity Eclipse.

The treadmill being essential after the omelette and banana pancakes in the silver service breakfast. We even managed to view some Welsh Gold jewellery and some art. Life today is at sea, and this sea life is relaxing. This evening the dress code for Dinner in the stunning exceptionally well staffed ‘Moonlight Sonata’ is smart casual. I’m keeping my eye out for the Caviar and Mrs B is after the egg custard thingy with the hard crust that isn’t egg custard. If you are a professional chef like one of our American Cousins who dine with us, then please step forward and tell me what I am writing about. It’s Crème something or the other.

Celebrity Cruise Tip 9: In the main dining room, you can order off menu, or ask for something to be cooked in a particular way.

Celebrity Chair’s

This morning we woke up to see the light house flashing in the distance as the Rock of Gibraltar started to loom up from afar.

Now it’s one thing working out like a quasi tri-athlete (46 minutes on the treadmill this morning, walk around Gibraltar, 52 lengths of the pool this evening, 15 minute Jacuzzi, and 10 minute Sauna) but a chap has to have a sit down now and again. You can make use of a variety of Celebrity Cruise sun loungers, Celebrity Cruise Wicker Chairs, and other seats scattered around the ship. With piped and live music in different areas, it’s a great way to relax. Two days ago I sat in a padded wicker chair and drew the bit of artwork shown in this Blog post. It is a little study using water colour pencils. Which was no mean feat seeing that I have had the art products since January 2010! Yesterday I sat on a wooden chair and table and tried a water colour of two ships that we overtook. Being relaxed is great, and I doubt that many could do it better than the crew on this ship. Good food, tranquillity, and exercise. A great recipe for anyone wanting to re-charge their batteries and we are both enjoying the pampering.


Celebrity Cruise Tip 7: Read your ticket before any excursion and it should tell you where to be and when

Celebrity Cruise Tip 8: You can buy pre-paid drinks packages for you Cruise and probably save a good bit of money

Celebrity Photo’s of the budding Tri-athlete

So folks this is how it goes. Mrs B and I book a last minute Celebrity Cruise as it was time to stop talking about the doing, and actually do some of the doing. The thing is that those that do ‘free-cruising’ (a term that we coined with fellow guests regarding those that come back time and time again) know that it’s a recipe to put on weight. I mean; all that lovely food, caffeine and alcohol. Notwithstanding the indulging in the copious and varied soda’s and snacks between meals and late at night. My American breakfast today included pancakes with strawberries and blueberries. No cream out of choice, but still wow. But as wow as it is, its all got to stop and I knew that before we left the U.K.

I went out and bought extra swimming goggles and earplugs to ensure that I had some with me at all times and also went out and bought myself a chest strap and mid range Polar watch. So on day one on board I manager 40 lengths of the indoor lap pool which forms the centre piece of the Solarium. On day two I upped that to 42 lengths in the evening, having managed 25 minutes walking on the flat and gradient on the treadmill very early before breakfast. Those that know me will be impressed by that great start, but brace yourself for the Day 3 news. 42 minutes on the treadmill with an 0800 start, followed by 50 lengths of the pool during the early evening. In-between those two athletic sessions, Mrs B and I attended a fat burning and metabolic rate seminar and another talk later in the day on acupuncture. We believe folks, so enjoy this picture of us in 2011 and maybe a year from now we shall post another picture. Happy days are here again, now I have to try to improve the mental health. Mine that is, and not Mrs B’s. 

Celebrity Cruise Tip 5: You don’t have to eat everything, and that which you do eat includes sensible sized portions and healthy options

Celebrity Cruise Tip 6: You don’t have to buy your photo’s at the start of your holiday as others will be taken throughout the trip and some of them may be better