SWMBO took one of youngest daughter's HS \school chums home to her apartment off Fondren in SW Houston shortly after Katrina and actually got caught in a gun battle between Katrina rivals ... she still gets chills when talking about it.
Uh, yeah. I've been to Israel, Turkey, Italy, France, England, parts of south Mississippi, and a few other places. Why do you ask?
In the next couple of months, I'll be doing installations in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Moscow.
Have her check out "Top Gun" near Hillcroft & Bellaire. It's an indoor range that offers concealed handgun classes.
South Mississippi? God be with you.
basilisk
Exactly. You don't travel for enlightenment. You drag your preconceptions around with you. A lot of people do, don't feel bad - you just miss out on most of the good stuff.
R
No, I've been enlightened. For example, many are concerned about the possible violence in Israel. True, the Jews and the Arabs don't agree on much, but the thing that's at the top of a very short list is this: Tourists are inviolate! Nobody bothers a visitor! (They bring money, several billion a year.).
In riding a train from Manchester to London, I struck up a conversation with two local businessmen. When informed I was a tourist, they looked at each other in astonishment, mouths agape. Finally, one asked: "Then what are you doing in Manchester? There's nothing there to see but coal dust?" They were quite relieved when told that's where I turned in my rental car after driving for several hundred miles. I just couldn't take any more round-abouts. Here's one:
In Israel I pulled up to the wrong pump and had the tank filled. Turns out it was a military pump! I learned that every gas station in the country had two underground tanks devoted to the military: one contains gasoline, one contains diesel. Therefore, every gas station in the country is a military fuel depot!
More and more places are becoming Americanized. You can get a Big Mac in London. It still has a regional accent, though, being made with lamb and having sliced cucumbers instead of tomatoes.
In Turkey, street vendors don't sell apples - they sell figs as big as apples! Quite tasty. And you have eggplant with every meal.
And I have been enlightened even here. After moseying around Harvard Square, my business contact asked me my impression.
"I'll readily admit, on many things, you have us beat: PhDs per square foot, books in the library, endowments and you excell in many other endeavors. But on the two things that are really important in life, we've got you beat."
"What's that?" he asked.
"Football teams and pretty women," I said.
"I'd believe that and I've never been to Texas, " he replied, shaking his head. "Did you notice their socks don't match?"
"Yup," I agreed. "Back home, they'd be a bounty on 'em."
I agree...but, but...then there is Montreal...Bahamas.....Oslo.... Sarnia....
You're smart enough to realize that people that say they have been enlightened, aren't, the same way that people that say they are smart usually overestimate their intelligence. You have potential - work with it.
I certainly hope this is not your primary example of enlightenment as it is simply wrong. You don't have to kill the tourists to prevent them from coming with all that tourist money:
But you already knew this. There is violence wherever you go. I was just pointing out one of your preconceived notions.
significantly.
I lived in Rome for a while, and you'll get no argument from me. Another country which was most visually pleasing was the Netherlands. Apparently they outlawed fat people, everybody is active, and you see
85 year old people bicycling to the market to do their shopping. Older women maintain a youthful demeanor and manage to pull it off, but they are not nearly as fashion conscious as the Italians. I don't think anybody is.In a country that has been on the swords edge since it was founded, not so much of a surprise, is it?
Erroneous information. Perhaps they have a similar sandwich with lamb, but it is not a Big Mac. McDonald's would obviously never allow such a thing in an English speaking country where beef is already a diet staple - it would be undermining their own brand name. Other countries with religion and diet restrictions might be different.
There should be more figs and eggplant. Figs may have been the first "domesticated" food. Did you know that there are the remnants of a dead wasp in every fig? Used to freak me out as a kid, but Fig Newtons are simply too good to give up simply because you're squeamish.
Harvard Square was the wrong place to go looking for pretty women. You should have gone to Cambridge if you were looking for smart women (which, somehow I don't see happening with you). You should have tried Beacon Hill or out by Wellesley, and, continuing the theme, Newton if you were looking to sight a comely lass.
As I said, you have potential, but you drag things along with you that get in the way. Derogatory names couch your thinking and limit it. As I've said on many occasions, there are only two types of people, "a- holes" and "not a-holes". Anybody can be either one at any time. The trick is to be a "not a-hole" most of the time. The world works better that way, and you'll see things more clearly.
Continue your endeavour.
R
ww.mcdonalds.co.uk/
Bub's 'humour' is more of the Beckian variety. Controversial statements for the sake of some sort of humour. AKA outrageous =3D funny. At the watercooler it becomes: "do YOU know what that IDIOT said???"
Now that I know what he's up to, it is no longer funny, just a bit annoying.
This is what I mean by he has some potential. He has a sense of humor and intelligence, he just doesn't know how to use them.
R
to me he's just another lame ass googlectual.
Regards,
Tom Watson
Stockholm. Oh, my god! But I have a weakness for leggy blondes.
-- Doug
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