Search This Blog

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Alaskan Cruise Day 3

Allie, her parents and myself arrived in Juneau, AK on board the Norwegian Pearl. There wasn't much to see within walking distance of the pier; just some tourist shops. I'm glad we planned ahead for a whale watching cruise.

After a lengthy ride on a bus (with a driver that was more than happy to tell her personal story of how she and her husband ended up in Alaska), our tour group arrived at a small dock in Auke Bay. The tour boat had a heated cabin. We took off from dock and headed out of the bay.


View Larger Map


At first, there were no whales in sight. As we headed north, we began to see spouts of water off in the far distance. The crew finally got us near some humpbacks. Over the next couple of hours, the boat went from one area to another trying to give us a glimpse of the whales. As the day progressed, we had better sightings.


Near the end of the tour, we watched excitedly as a whale lunged out of the water to fill its mouth full of fish. That was an impressive sight!

As we headed back to dock, I asked Allie's mom how many whales she spotted. She excitedly held up her hand showing all her fingers and said, "FIVE!" with as big of a smile as I've ever seen gleam. Everyone had a lot of fun on this excursion.

Navigation: See all Alaskan Cruise articles here

Links to Alaskan Cruise articles

Alaskan Cruise pre-day
Alaskan Cruise Day 1 and 2
Alaskan Cruise Day 3
Video of Whale Watching cruise
Alaska Cruise Day 4: Skagway and the Safari
Alaska Cruise Day 5: Glacier Bay!
Alaska Cruise Day 6: Ziplining
Alaska Cruise Day 7: Not Alaska (B.C.)

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Nice to have authentic burrito

One thing I miss from Salinas Valley is regular access to authentic home cooked Mexican food. There's plenty of good Mexican places in Silicon Valley, but there's something just a little bit better when eating Mexican food closer to the source. Finding places like that require a keen eye and a good memory. Since I'm not likely to get Mexican home cooking these days, I have to be mindful of where to go to find good authentic food. One place I found is Chavez Supermarket on Fair Oaks in Sunnyvale. It is not an actual supermarket. It's a small Mexican grocery store. Go in and walk to the back of the store. Order tacos, burritos or whatever. Then, enjoy.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Failed predictions by Sylvia Browne

Sylvia Browne makes a lot of predictions. Every once in awhile, she claims this or that successful prediction. In her book The Other Side and Back, Browne even boosts,

I could fill a separate book with my predictions that have come true...

She doesn't talk about her unsuccessful predictions very often, from what I've seen. I imagine she has many, indeed. I'm not going to get all high and mighty about failed predictions. I'm just going to list a few.

In the book mentioned above, Sylvia has a list of predictions for the year 2000 that did not end up happening or that where so basic that they really don't count (whether right or wrong).

Predictions:
  • Three major hurricanes, with hits in Florida and Carolinas (among other regions). Fail. According to USA Today, "no hurricanes hit the USA" in 2000.
  • Notable earthquake hits Niagara Falls in 2000. Fail. The last notable quake in that area occurred in 1897.
  • Bill Bradley won the presidential election and there was "close competition from the Reform Party". Fail and Fail. Though that election may have been stolen with the wrong outcome, Bradley and the Reform Party were no where in sight.
  • David Letterman quits his nightly show at the end of 2000. Fail. Even after the scandals of 2009, he's still running strong.
  • Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston marry. Success! But is this really a prediction or something that was rather obvious? She also predicted they wouldn't last long. They didn't last, but they did last longer than many Hollywood marriages.
  • In 2000, there would be a new flu strain that would start in the Eastern U.S. Asian immigrants coming into the U.S. would "help quell this flu virus". Fail. Although a new flu strain popped up in 2005 called Avian Flu, and that was actually blamed on an Asian source. So, I count this as a double and triple fail.
  • In the year 2010, aliens will be seen on Earth and act as observers. She also predictions they will teach humans about the anti-gravity technology. I'll make a counter prediction. No aliens. No anti-gravity devices.
There are many other unsuccessful predictions, though the point seems to be made fully.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

gol10dr's butt learns to tweet


@gol10dr: .

@gol10dr: Vkp

@gol10dr: V vn

@gol10dr: Oops! Sorry my phone was in my pocket, tweeting all by itself!  Butt tweeting?

RT @fcsuper: RT @gol10dr: Oops! Sorry my phone was in my pocket, tweeting all by itself!  Butt tweeting?

RT @gupta9665: RT @gol10dr: Oops! Sorry my phone was in my pocket, tweeting all by itself! Butt tweeting? hahahaha. so you both share same id on Twitter ;)