Category Archives: Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts

Captain Leo

6 Comments
‘One Doller Photo’ Willemstad, Curacao

A ship captain has many important roles, most of which we never see because it involves “driving the ship” and all of the things involved in that – navigation, propulsion, safety, environmental, etc. One of the most public duties is the daily announcement, where the captain provides weather and location information, often along with some personal anecdotes. The captain on our first two voyages aboard Celebrity Eclipse was Captain Leonardos “Leo” Palaiokrassas. (Most Celebrity captains are Greek because the line originated in Greece.)

Captain Leo would end his daily announcement with: “Before I leave you, I am reminded of my grandfather, who used to say, Leo….”

  • Celebrate your life because you only live twice. Your second life starts after you realize you only have one.
  • Don’t let go of your dreams. Keep sleeping.
  • Someday your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.
  • If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
  • Smile. For as long as you have teeth.
  • You are special. You are unique. Just like everyone else.
  • If everything around you is dark, look again because you might be the light.
  • Common sense is like deodorant. Those who need it the most never use it.
Celebrity Eclipse in Antigua

Words of wisdom, with a good dose of humor!

Aboard Celebrity Eclipse

 

Random Thoughts

Keeping A Distance

6 Comments
Sign in a shop window in Valencia

We’ve been somewhat fortunate these last three weeks since the elections to be in another country on another continent. While we’ve kept up with the headlines, we have generally managed to steer clear of the hand-wringing, OMG-ing and yes, the celebrating that seems to be rather pervasive in the US.

The few conversations we’ve had with locals and fellow tourists have been met with a mix of good humor and confusion, with some measure of concern. The role that the US plays in the world is well known to most people over here, and there is a bit of wariness, but for the most part people are just living their lives.

We had a laugh with three German college guys at a winery in Porto. When the subject inevitably came up, we said that we were very happy to be in Portugal. 😉

The great thing about travel, seeing other places and talking with other people is that it tends to really open our worldview. We know that things might look and sound a little different when we get home, but we know that what is done is done, there is nothing we can do to change it, so we’ll see what happens and figure out how to deal. Who knows, maybe everything will work out just fine!

Random Thoughts

More Fortunate Than Many

8 Comments
The French Broad River was already flooding the Biltmore Estate before the hurricane had even come ashore in the Gulf

Kathy and I were in Asheville, NC last Wednesday, just prior to Hurricane Helene. We knew the storm was approaching, but of course at that time no one knew how severe it was likely to be. Those of us in central and western NC usually take comfort in our distance from the coast, which usually is sufficient to soften any blow.

Our first clue that trouble was brewing was on Thursday morning, when we drove to the Biltmore Estate for a previously scheduled tour with friends. The main entrance to the estate was closed due to flooding along the Approach Road, so they routed us in through a back entrance. Little did we know at that point that the French Broad River, which runs next to Biltmore, had already started to flood.

At 1:00 they announced that the estate would be closing and evacuated. And the storm hadn’t even come ashore in Florida yet! We went back to our motel to decide what to do. We were with friends who were traveling to Florida and had plans to meet my brother and sister in law in Waynesville that weekend, so we decided to stick it out. How bad could it be, right?

Now we know how bad.

Power went out about 4am as the brunt of the storm passed through. By Friday morning the damage was just starting to become apparent. Our friends left to head on to Florida, and Kathy and I headed to Waynesville. We made it, but just barely. What a mess.

In Waynesville, power had just come back on in town but there was no cell phone service, no cable and no internet. Businesses that were open were on a cash only basis, but all the ATMs were down because there was no network.

We stuck it out until Sunday, when it was clear that we could make it out safely. We headed toward Charlotte, figuring that we could at least get back home, although what we really wanted to do was to complete the rest of the trip by visiting Bourbon Country in Kentucky with my brother and sister in law. The map looks a little silly, but we made it and are now safely in Kentucky.

Needless to say we  know that we are very fortunate and are counting our blessings. Many were not so fortunate.

One of many downed trees on I-40 in Asheville on Friday morning.
Random Thoughts

End Of An Era

6 Comments
Hanging On. Feather stuck on the side of one of the locks. Soo Locks, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Well, the era actually ended long ago, but I recently made it official. I’ll explain.

Some of you know that many years ago I was a musician, playing the trombone. I started college as a music major before realizing that I wanted to earn a decent living, didn’t want to teach and wasn’t really good enough to make a career of performing. I even played in a Chicago/Earth Wind & Fire/Tower of Power type band for a while. One of our members went on to become a famous drummer, the rest of us got jobs. So I was good enough to have fun with it but that was about it.

Over the years, I lost touch with the playing side of music, and like many things – old cameras, golf clubs or cassette tapes, my trombones took up space in my attic or in my garage. Conveniently out of sight, and mostly out of mind.

A year or so ago I was thinking about the likelihood of ever playing the horns again, realized that was probably never going to happen, and started to think about what I could do with my old horns – I had three of them. Not knowing what kind of value they had, I figured that they were 50-ish year old instruments, probably worth little and thought about donating them to a local charity. The Charlotte Symphony, for example, has a program for providing instruments to needy kids to study music.

I started checking around and was amazed to discover that there is a healthy market for used, professional quality musical instruments. And unlike old cameras, golf clubs or cassette tapes, they are worth some real money. Not Stradivarius money, but pay-attention-to-me money.

I made inquiries through local colleges and got the name of a guy in Detroit, the bass trombonist for the Detroit Symphony who has a side gig of buying and selling used trombones. I contacted him, we worked out a plan, I had the horns reconditioned at a local music store and delivered them to him in Detroit on our recent trip. He had buyers for them before we got home! Done and done. Turns out they were a pretty good investment – who knew?!?  I don’t think I’ll be buying a new camera with the money (sorry, Jeff!) but I’ll see if I can find something suitable to do with my windfall.

A few days ago Kathy asked me if I was now a former trombonist. I told her that I was more like a reformed trombonist. Not much difference probably, but I understand the distinction!