October 10th

Well…man, I was tired last night and could barely stay up til the normal bed time of 10:30…but I did and only got up once all night until I climbed out of bed at 7:23…still pretty worn out from the cold and the time change so I’m going to ease into the day and see how it goes…I do need to cut my hair this morning since it has been almost a month since the last time I did it and it is looking pretty shaggy…the heat has been on all night and it’s only about 50 out there right now so the ride is going to wait a bit…I do like my new coffee cup and it is cool to use a souvenir from the trip to remind me that I really was on it and I just found a keyfob that I bought from Abbey Road that has an overhead view of the boys crossing the crosswalk from the cover of the album “Abbey Road”….not sure if I’m going to use it or not but it is cool to have it…and I bought a “Penny Lane” fridge magnet that I had forgotten about so it was a cool little surprise…not much to do today…I do have the periodontist appointment at 2 this afternoon and would like to mow the lawn…and I do have to get gas for the mower on the way back from that appointment since I’m going to need it to pick up the leaves…it is sure nice to be home with nothing to do for a few days…more later…

I’m home…

Well…I’m home…and I have been so darn busy since I got here with getting the laundry in, making dinner, and running out to pay the water bill before it was late tomorrow…along with stopping at Meijers to get some milk for dinner…it was kind of nice to eat alone and not have to be “on” during it and to stay silent after I got the coffee made and the dishes done…I did get a new favorite coffee mug on the trip from Abbey Road Studios and I can’t wait to start to break it in tomorrow morning…it is going to be nice to be in my own bed for the first time in 19 days…not that I didn’t like staying in great hotel rooms but it is just comfortable to be back here with all my stuff nearby and being able to have my big jug of ice water next to me on the coffee table…and have the tv running in the background…have lots of shows to watch tonight so it may be a little hard to choose…bad problem to have, huh?

October 9th

Well…it’s 5:10 here in Maryland and that’s about all the sleep I’m going to get until I get home…still converting the time so it’s actually about 10 am for my body but I think  the time change back to Michigan time will be pretty easy…I did hit the sack at about 9 last night since I was just so worn out but I feel okay right now…have been shedding the retained water in my legs from being on my feet constantly for 3 weeks but my right foot is still pretty puffy…it’s only 45 degrees here and it looks like the cold snap that was moving across the US is here so it mush have passed through Michigan already…just one my flight today and then I can go home to be in my own place for the first time in three weeks and I am looking forward to being alone for a while and to not have to interact with anyone other than at the grocery store…I kind of lost my ability to be around people over time and it was a lot of work on the trip..fun, but a lot of work….not much to do today…just the flight and drive home and I hope the parking brake on the car is not frozen up…probably shouldn’t have put it on while it was parked…oh, well…more later…

Got into Maryland…

Well…this has been a long day with getting up at 5am in Dublin and now it’s only 7 pm here in Maryland and I am worn out…if you do the math with the time we were on, it’s really about midnight our time and I won’t be getting much past nine tonight…have to be back at the airport pretty early tomorrow for the flight back to GR and I think were leaving here around 10 or so since I have to get through the lines to board by 11:55 and the flight leaves at 12:25 and gets into GR at 2:05…after unloading and getting my bags, it will probably be 2:30 or a little after before I’ll be out the door…I am really looking forward to getting home tomorrow afternoon and melting into my couch after I get the house restarted….this trip took a lot out of me and I think it’s going to be a few days before I get back to normal….it will be nice to have my own stuff to use again after living in hotels and my daughter’s house for the past three weeks…I did have loads of fun and saw everything I wanted to and more so it was a good last trip for me….now I can try to remember it and I hope the photos help…

October 8th

Well…up at around 5 this morning and didn’t sleep for crap as the anticipation of another travel day has me digging down deep to survive it….slept okay last night but this damn cold has my sinuses felling like they are filled with cement and that is not going to be fun with the pressure changes on the plane this morning…but I’ll take something for it before I leave the hotel long with some ibuprofen to get me through 6 hours of sitting on the plane today….this time change is supposed to be easier going west but I’ll believe it when I see it…still have to pack a little bit but I have three hours until I have to go down to breakfast so that will be plenty of time…so I’ll have a leisurely morning sine they aren’t picking us up for the trip to the airport until around 10…had a lot of fun on  the trip but I am so tired right now that I’ll probably sleep on the plane instead of watch a movie…or I’ll be too wired to sleep…who knows? I’ll try to get the computer working in Baltimore to do another one of these today…and I’ll be able to listen to the voicemail my doctor left for me three weeks ago…don’t need any more surprises…damn, it will be good to have a working phone again…more later…

Man, I’m worn out…

Well…sitting here wasting the afternoon watching “Duel” and all I can think is how worn out I am…and I think it’s the cold doing it but it could be the 200 miles of walking we’ve done on the trip…I did get out to two museums today and that was fun and I bought myself a new eyeglass case that has Celtic designs on it which are pretty cool…and that’s to replace the ratty old one that I’ve been carrying around for 8 years….but haven’t done much else but pack today so I’ll be ready to get moving early in the morning and head out to the airport…it’s been a fun time but I am ready to go home….

This is stupid….

Well…back to the political stuff with the Hamas attack on Israel this morning where they fired almost 4,000 rockets and took over some border posts along with some small villages…and, as expected, this was met with the Israeli air force raining hell down upon the Gaza strip…and look, the only thing this Hamas attack is going to do is give Israel the justification for leveling most of Gaza and the resulting civilian casualties…I know that Israel has not been a good partner in trying to solve the need for Palestinians to have a state of their own, but this attack is beyond stupid…paying for temporary gains to make a point? Thousands are going to die by the end of the day today just so Hamas can make a point? Damn, I just hate this crap…geez…

Museums today…

Well…getting ready to head out on our easy day and it is going to be a visit to two museums that I wanted to see that are free and only  a 15 minute walk from here…then we have the rest of the day to pack and just take it easy before we go out for the last dinner here…we are all looking forward to getting back to the states and to our normal, less hectic lives….we get into Philly at 4 tomorrow afternoon, get a night’s sleep and then off to BWI around 9:30 for my flight back to GR where I’ll get in a little after 2…so, the end is near and I am going to enjoy this last day of my last trip…I am old, after all…

October 7th

Well..up at 6:17 this morning and we go into the last day of the trip…I am pretty worn out and really need to take it easy with traveling home tomorrow…I was thinking that just the London trip normally would have worn me out and adding in the rest of it really has…I am looking forward to getting back to my little house Monday so I can just stop for a bit and relax…it has been so much fun and I’ve seen so much that a lot of it is a blur right now so I’m glad I have lots of photos to go back and refresh my memory…doesn’t look like rain today and it’s going to be warm…okay, a little rain here in an hour or so but then dry the rest of the day…I got my Irish pub excursion in yesterday so I really don’t have anything to do today other than veg a bit and pack later….I still have the cold but feel okay but is going to be a welcome thing to get home and rest…need to get back into normal life and find out what my surgeon needed to talk to me about and get ready for the dental appointment a week from Monday…sure hope the car starts when I get to Tom’s house Monday so I can drive…this is the longest period of not driving since I got my license when I was 16….and that is a little weird….more later…

October 6th

Well…damn, up at 5:37 this morning and have to be downstairs for breakfast by 7 to get to our tour by 8…this is going to be the last tour of the trip and it should be over by around 1 pm and I am so worn out…I do have a cold but I did a covid test yesterday so it can’t be that and that is a relief….still have a sore throat and I’m coughing a bit but feel okay…it’s about 64 today and I wonder if I should wear shorts this morning? I have them out but with the cold, I probably should err on the side of caution and wear jeans today…it’s going to get up to 71 tomorrow so that may be a better time to put them on…had Nepalese/Indian food last night and, again, it was great and very spicy…we’re trying for Greek food tonight and I hope that works out…can’t wait to see the Irish countryside this morning…it looks like no rain today so that will be cool to be dry for a change…okay, I need to get a shower in but I’m not going to tape my feet today sine I’m wearing the Skechers today….more later…