AWD success Feb 3, 2015
I never believed the hype about All Wheel Drive.  People would say how much better it was in snow and ice, but it mostly just seemed to make people drive more recklessly in bad conditions.  It wasn't until about two years ago when I finally drove in a friend's AWD car in the snow that I realized the difference.  My front-wheel drive car would routinely spin its wheels on very gentle slopes, even in my nearly flat driveway.  My friend's car had no problem getting around in slick conditions, even on snow-covered, icy, steep driveways in frigid Vermont, where we often visit for ski/snowboard trips. 

Fast forward to this past weekend, when I got the chance to take my new AWD car to Vermont and drive in snowy conditions.  Not only was it snowing pretty heavily, but Vermont seems to take a wait-and-see approach to plowing and salting the roads.  Several large trucks couldn't make it up and over the mountains in the area, and even a Honda Accord driver had to turn around and give up after spinning his tires on a steep part and making no headway up the hill.  The real coup de grace was on a relatively small side road, where I was driving behind an SUV on a moderately steep incline.  The SUV started spinning its tires and not making any forward progress, so the driver waved me around.  From a dead stop on a slippery incline, I pressed the gas pedal and just went.  I passed the stranded driver and got to my destination without a single problem.  I will literally never own another vehicle that doesn't have four driven wheels. #travel
UK plus and minus Oct 1, 2014
Traveling to Scotland made it easy to see some everyday differences between the US and the UK.  For example, here are some things they do better: 
  1. Hallway lights with motion detectors that shut off after a certain amount of inactivity.
  2. Bathroom fans that run for a few minutes after you leave.
  3. Drink measurements.  There's a difference between a medium glass and a large glass of wine.
  4. Paying the check at a restaurant.  You can pay on your way out or they can bring a wireless credit card reader.
  5. Gas mileage.  Our ridiculous little rental car got 45 mpg.
I make note of these things because they legitimately impressed me, but also because I try not to be overly enthusiastic about supposed American exceptionalism.  That said, here's what the UK does poorly: 
  1. Sinks.  For some reason, almost all sinks in Scotland had a cold spout and a hot spout.  How are you supposed to get warm water?
  2. Shower enclosures.  It was common to see a glass door that only covered half the length of the shower.  The obvious and immediate result was that water went everywhere.
  3. Door locks and knobs.  My favorite example was this one hotel where the lock was located under the knob, and it wasn't obvious which orientation the metal key should be in, and the knob was about two feet off the floor.
  4. Road sign size and distance from turn.  If I can't see what the sign says until I'm making the turn, how am I supposed to make the turn?
  5. Lack of screens on windows.  This was an issue in Italy too.  Isn't it a relatively established fact that window screens reduce the spread of insect-borne disease by like eleventy billion percent?  They at least would've prevented that giant spider from crawling across my pillow.  True story.
#travel
Scotland trip Sep 19, 2014
The wife and I recently spent 10 or so days in Scotland driving around, sightseeing, and sampling the local aqua vitae.  We flew into and out of Edinburgh, visited castles in Edinburgh, Stirling, and near Loch Ness, and drove through or stayed in Callender, Fort William, Inverness, Dinnet, and Aberfeldy. 

Food
We sampled and mostly enjoyed the local fare, which largely consisted of fried meats and potatoes, though the haggis was an interesting detour.  There seemed to be about ten or so different meals that were available at every restaurant around the country.  None of them were bad, but there wasn't much variation. 

Drink
We visited and toured a few distilleries including Glen Ord, Cardhu, Macallan, and Glenlivet, and I personally tried about 30 different kinds of Scotch whisky throughout the trip.  Before the trip, I hadn't tried too many Scotches that I was a fan of, but I came home with an enormous appreciation for Glen Ord, Macallan Amber, and The Dalmore.  Even the wife, who is by no means a drinker of hard alcohol, could appreciate the difference between different brands and flavors, and even liked a few. 

Nature
The landscape was surprisingly stark.  There were green pastures and forests followed closely by rocky hills and steep slopes.  The weather was largely cool and wet, but we got a couple days of sunny warmth.  Because of the on-off rain, my shoes and socks kept getting wet, which was not cool. 

Good god, the Scots love their sheep.  Every hill and field seen from a distance was covered in tiny white dots.  Though the much beloved highland cow was seldom seen. 

Sights
The castles and history were great to see in person.  It's always amazing when you can walk around a structure that's been standing for 500 years.  An interesting side note is that many of the churches are no longer churches; instead they're tourist information centers and business offices. 

Driving
I had driven on the left side of the road one time before in Grand Cayman, so it wasn't entirely foreign.  But it was still foreign.  I got used to it after a week or so, but it still didn't feel quite right.  I attempted to teach my wife how to drive stick, which was interesting because we were in a foreign country with unintelligible road signs, driving on the left while sitting on the right and shifting gears left-handed, on a one-lane two-way road that wound through farms where we had to frequently stop for cattle and sheep.  It was a moderate success. 

Language
The language barrier was pretty minimal.  I expected to have some problems understanding people because I'm bad at understanding people whose accent doesn't match my own.  But even in the more rural parts, the language was pretty understandable. 

Politics
Our visit happened to almost coincide with the Scottish vote for independence from the UK.  The "Yes" campaign's alternative "No Thanks" nicely sums up the friendly nature of the vote. 

In conclusion, this was a good trip.  It was a little pricey because of the length of the flight and the currency conversion.  We had a good time checking out the cities, small towns, and mountainous back country, as well as sampling some of the local food and drink.  But because of the nearly constant cold and wet, we probably won't be returning.  No hard feelings though. #travel
TN & KY Jun 23, 2014
I recently finished a trip to Tennessee and Kentucky.  When I told people I would be traveling there, the most common response was, "Why?"  Bourbon and fireflies, naturally. 

The first stop was in Lynchburg, TN to visit the Jack Daniel's distillery.  Since Jack is sold all over the world and is ridiculously commercialized, I was expecting this to be more of a front for a larger and more industrialized operation.  But in reality, the factory was kind of quaint.  They still do a lot of stuff by hand, and it was a really cool tour.  And the small town of Lynchburg felt like a movie set, but it was real. 

Next up was Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the synchronous fireflies.  This was a gamble because the fireflies are only in certain areas at certain times of the year.  But thankfully we found them, and they were awesome.  It's hard to describe the sight, other than by saying it's a bunch of fireflies that blink chaotically and occasionally synchronize.  But the sheer number of these bugs and the show they put on is kind of breathtaking. 

We stayed in Gatlingburg, TN, which was an experience in itself.  A southern friend called it "Disney World for southerners" and that about sums it up.  Waffle Houses, moonshine, and obesity.  Aside from some good breakfasts and the proximity to a national park, this is a place I'd rather not revisit. 

After all that, we headed to Kentucky bourbon country, with a quick stop at the Toyota factory in Georgetown, KY that made my Camry.  Buffalo Trace was a quaint old place whose barrel house smelled amazing.  Wild Turkey was a modern industrial operation, clean and brand-spanking new.  Four Roses looked kind of like a catering center with a distillery attached.  Each place offered a tasting of several of their products, and I wound up finding a few new things I like.  Plus we went to a few bars and liquor stores and found stuff that isn't available in our local stores.  Our checked bag for the flight home came in at just under 50 lbs. 

Part of the reason for our trip was because we kept getting invites from our Kentucky friend's family to visit them at their lake house in Eddyville, KY.  So we obliged.  We did a little relaxing and waterskiing (attempted anyway), which was a nice break from our ~500 miles driven. 

On the way back to Nashville, we stopped at Mammoth Cave for a quick tour.  Once in Nashville, we visited the Parthenon, which is an awesome historical site in the middle of a modern city.  Finally, we visited some honky tonk bars in the downtown area and heard some live country music.  That place was alive and kicking, and it was a Monday night! 

The reason we flew into and out of Nashville was because they had the cheapest flights.  Driving around the area on state roads and interstates was ridiculously easy.  No traffic, no problems.  If I had to do it again, I would probably still start in Nashville, but I'd try to stay in or around Bardstown, KY, which was a nice small town close to a bunch of the bourbon action.  Visiting three or four distilleries in one day is about as much as you can reasonably do.  I unfortunately only scheduled one day of distillery tours because I didn't want to get burnt out from all the booze talk.  Next time I'll be ready for more.  #travel
Florida trip recap Mar 21, 2014
Several months ago, the wife and I traveled to Florida and I forgot to write about it.  This is me fixing that.  We went to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios, snorkeled with manatees in Crystal River, spent time on the beach in Venice, and visited Big Cat Rescue in Tampa. 

Harry Potter World was fairly amazing.  I wasn't into the movies at first, but reading the books really got me hooked.  The theme park was essentially a re-creation of several of the movie sets, complete with rides involving broomsticks and dragons.  By far the best aspect of the park was the level of detail.  Everything from the food choices to the bathroom to the ATM were all themed to mimic the movies.  And the butterbeer was good, though it was just a variation on a root beer float. 

Snorkeling with manatees was a cool experience.  We booked a little private tour boat which brought us to several snorkeling locations.  Manatees are pretty big up close, but they reminded me of cows just going about their grazing business, albeit underwater.  We got to touch a few, which we were told is ok if done in a controlled manner. 

Venice is where my grandparents lived for many years, and it's where our family used to go on vacation when I was growing up.  Seeing it again as an adult was a little surreal, yet good.  I had my first Bait Bucket Margarita at the local restaurant Sharky's, which is an experience I always watched the adults engage in and which I was now finally able to enjoy.  My parents visited at the same time and stayed in the same hotel as us, though their trip extended both before and after our stay.  Ah, retirement. 

Big Cat Rescue gained internet fame recently by posting a bunch of videos on YouTube, mostly of giant jungle cats acting like small house cats.  It was essentially a zoo for rescued exotic cats.  Our tour group happened to include my childhood neighbor, which was totally out of the blue. 

All in all, this was a fun trip, but with too little relaxation.  Most of our drives were under two hours, but the multiple locations didn't leave a lot of down time.  Plus Florida weather in October can be a little tricky.  One of our beach days got turned into a miscellaneous day because it was cold and cloudy.  I wouldn't mind going back to Venice on a regular basis to invest in some quality beach time. #travel
Italy changed my life Mar 17, 2014
A funny thing happened a few years ago when I went to Italy:  My life changed.  Not in an everyday, everything-is-different kind of way, but in the following small ways: 
  • Wine.  I used to hate red wine, partly because of my underdeveloped palate, and partly because of only being introduced to dry, oaky California stuff.  In Italy I had wine with almost every meal, and all of it was pretty decent.  I found out later that almost all Italian red wine is good, regardless of variety or price.
  • History.  Something clicked in my brain when I walked up the stairs out of the subway station
    and was greeted by the Colosseum.  It's hard to grasp how long ago 2000 years was, but seeing it and touching it helps a little.  All of the history I'd seen up to that point in my life was a century or two old.  The Roman Empire was a millennium or two ago.
  • Europhilia.  Prior to traveling, I was a staunch Europhobe, perhaps even anti-European.  They had their socialism and their losing wars, I had something different.  But visiting a place and having a good time there really helped broaden my horizons.  What with the wine and history, as well as the architecture and nice people, I learned Europe isn't all that bad.
#travel
Dominican Republic trip numero dos Mar 11, 2014
The wife and I spent last week in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  It was our second trip there, and it was still good.  There isn't much to recap, since we spent all day laying around the beach or the pool, reading books and drinking fruity drinks.  But I have some typical first world problems I'd like to address, so let's get started. 

We stayed at Presidential Suites, which is an all-inclusive place that apparently exists as a way to sell timeshares, or more accurately "memberships in a vacation club".  They offer cheap rooms with the caveat that you must sit through a sales pitch.  This wasn't particularly terrible (except for the part where I said I'd rather be enjoying my vacation and they angrily told me I would never get such a good deal again), but it was a small hassle.  The salespeople kept asking throughout the week if we sat through the presentation, which suggests there was no way to track this one way or the other, which further suggests we could've just lied about it and avoided it altogether.  Next time. 

The rooms were big and nice.  We had a two bed, two bath "villa" that probably had more square footage than our tiny house.  It also had a kitchen, which is irrelevant at an all-inclusive resort. 

The food wasn't very good.  I wasn't expecting gourmet dining, but it still just wasn't that great.  I did manage to finally order an awesome sea bass wrapped in a banana leaf, which was so good I ordered a second one.  But other than that, there was a lot of under-cooked meat and unlabeled buffet options. 

The alcohol selection was kind of impressive.  The beer was the local cheap crappy stuff, as was the wine, but the mixed drinks were the real thing.  Real Jack Daniels.  Real Kahlua.  This made me happy. 

The beach was small and a little crowded, but that's the norm.  There were resorts in either direction for as far as the eye could see, and the tourism industry kept pace by providing lots of pushy sellers of ridiculous things.  Technically tourism created tourism, so it's our fault. 

The time frame sort of coincided with college spring break, which I thought might add a little fun and entertainment to the mix.  But I forgot how much I don't like people, especially young people.  There weren't many college kids, but the ones that were there complained how boring things were at the resort.  Shut up, stupid kids. 

On an unexpected note, the hotel staff was pretty awesome.  They were all really friendly and attentive, which isn't something I typically care about.  But there's just something special about lounging in a hammock on a sunny beach and being brought a well-made pina colada. 

Our flight home got cancelled due to maintenance issues while we were on the runway.  So the airline drove us two hours away and put us in a hotel for the night, after which our flight was almost cancelled again for the same reason.  This wasn't a good end to the trip, but duty-free $7 airport wine pretty much solved that problem. #travel

Edit:  A few things I forgot to mention:
  • The Dominican Republic has a completely arbitrary $10 per person tourist tax that must be paid in cash when you get off the plane.  We forgot to bring enough cash, so I had to go through customs and immigration temporarily to get cash from a human bank teller, who told me my bank declined the transaction but my credit card company accepted it.  I got charged a $15 fee from the human bank teller and a $10 fee by my credit card.  So that was fun.
  • Immediately after we got through customs and picked up our bags, some helpful gentleman asked us which limo company we were looking for and assured us he would help us find it, since we had pre-booked the airport-to-hotel transportation.  This gentleman brought us over to a table next to the other limo companies, and after a few back and forth exchanges, I realized he was totally lying to my face and that my limo company was five feet away.  Nothing like a scam with government oversight.
  • The weather was amazing.  It probably goes without saying, but the temperatures were in the low 80s, the skies were clear and blue, and the rain came and went quickly and infrequently.  This was especially nice considering the brutal winter we've had this year and the possibility of missing our flight out of New Jersey due to an incoming snow storm.
Airport pickup Mar 21, 2012
I picked someone up from my local airport recently, and I was reminded again how stupid the curbside pickup process is.  Once you follow the labyrinthine roadways with loops and signs and angry taxis, there's this peculiar rule that prevents you from waiting at the curb for more than, say, 7 milliseconds.  This conflicts quite spectacularly with the cardinal rule of air travel:  Nothing is on time, ever.  So this silly little rule is a guarantee for failure.  No human being in the history of the universe has ever arrived at the curb exactly as their waiting passenger exited the terminal.  To further frustrate things, there are armed security personnel enforcing this rule.  Here's how every single conversion goes: 
Cop:  You need to move your vehicle.
Person:  But I'm waiting to pick someone up.
Cop:  Wait somewhere else.
Person:  Where?
Cop:  That's not my problem.
As a problem-solver, I can come up with a few solutions right off the bat: 
  1. Non-ridiculous hourly parking rates.  Those of us who don't live in the midwest actually have to pay to park at the airport.  Those of us who live near major cities have to pay a lot.  If there was a legitimate alternative to waiting at the curb, perhaps I'd take it.
  2. Cell phone waiting lot.  This has been employed at many airports, and it's one of the smartest things ever.  I think it started because people would just pull their cars to the side of the highway near the airport and wait for their air traveler to call.  Non-stupid important people realized a simple way to accommodate these people would be to build a parking lot near, but not at, the airport.  Thus, the miracle of cell phone parking lots was born.
  3. Faster-than-light travel.  If we could just perfect the reassembly process, there'd be no need to even go to an airport to travel.
#travel
Constant vs. average speed (5) Dec 14, 2011
If I had to choose between driving at a constant speed of 40 mph or driving at a stop-and-go speed that averages 40 mph, I'd choose the former.  I often travel longer distances just so I don't have to drive on Route 206 in NJ. #travel
Italy pre-travel advice Oct 19, 2011
When mentioning that we would be traveling to Italy, many people offered advice, most of which was quite excellent.  Here were my favorites: 
Eat as much pizza as possible.  Check.  I would say every single day included at least one meal of pizza.  I don't regret that.

Avoid the house wine after going on a wine tour.  Meh.  Not an issue for someone with an unsophisticated palate such as myself.

Don't feel bad about having gelato multiple times per day.  Check.  Why?  How about, why not?
Advice about visiting Pisa?  No thanks. #travel