Author Archives: Sparky
2024 blog booklet
The 2024 OurWanderYears blog booklet is now available here. It is 102 pages – not huge, but not small either. Be patient if you have a slow connection.
Ooma resurfaces
I have not seen Ooma, communicated with her or even thought about her – except briefly when passing by her street on my way to softball, or during my few clandestine visits to the Buckingham Blues Bar (where I am still banned, thanks to her) – in over a year. I have not mentioned her … Continue reading
My second Norwegian Cruise Line trip (NCL2)
I was on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship many years ago, with Jett and her son. It went from Boston to Bermuda and back again. A short trip, if I recall – probably 5 days. Not very exciting and not a great ship – very old. But many people speak highly of Norwegian and when … Continue reading
“The King of Torts” by John Grisham
Copyright 2003 by Belfry Holdings, Inc. Published by Bantam Dell, a division of Random House, Inc, New York I go back and forth… Is Harlan Coben my favorite author? Or is it John Grisham? They are both terrific writers. They always keep me interested. Grisham, of course, writes about the legal profession while Coben is … Continue reading
“The Last Grudge” by Max Seeck
Copyright 2021 by Max Seeck. Published by Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. This edition was translated from the original Finnish. This is a problem because, as with most translations, the names of character and locations were not translated. So the main character is Yusuf Pepple. One of the murder victims is Eliel … Continue reading
Carnival Venezia wrapup
We have been back a few days now, so it is a good time to summarize the cruise. Highlights: Lowlights: The highlights greatly outweighed the lowlights. It was a very good cruise.
Carnival Venezia Day 8 – Disembarkation
We set the alarm for 7am, got up, got packed and went to breakfast. Everything was going fine… until we realized that Marlene had left the bottom portion of her dentures on the table, wrapped in a napkin, at the late night buffet. I went to the buffet and spoke to the manager. No dentures, … Continue reading
Carnival Venezia Day 7 – At sea
A final day at sea. We had breakfast in the buffet and lunch at La Strada Grill – a small BBQ place outside on Deck 5. Pretty good jerk chicken and pulled pork. We happened across the “World Works Here” show in the theater. This was basically a celebration of the diversity of the crew … Continue reading
Carnival Venezia Day 6 – Cozumel, Mexico
I rose early and went up to Deck 10 to do some blogging. I left text messages for Marlene telling her where I was and what I was doing. But she didn’t get them and was pretty miffed that I would walk off without communicating. A minor tempest that soon blew over. We had breakfast … Continue reading
Carnival Venezia Day 5 – Belize
Belize is a great place for snorkeling, scuba diving and jungle excursions. But the city is a third-world mess and all of those activities involve expensive excursions and a 30-minute ferry shuttle ride to shore. We were not interested in doing any of those things so we stayed on the ship. We had some minimal … Continue reading