ENGLAND TRIP - DAY 1, Part 1

Here's the first set of pictures from our trip to England. We stayed west of Parliament, about a 10 minute walk from it, so in the 5 days we were in London we had to walk by it and Big Ben. It was really cool.
THERE ARE TWO SHORT VIDEOS HERE, TOO: One outside of Parliament, and the other in Trafalagar Square. I tried to make them short (under 45 seconds each), entertaining and sometimes goofy.
  Speaking of cool, the average high was between 45 and 55F during our stay. It's supposed to be near 61F, but never got there. It was the coolest early May since records began in 1659.
  TOMORROW: Our FIRST Ghost Encounters (and there was at least ONE EVERY DAY!)

Tom and Rob in front of a British phone booth- but someone peed in it, or we would've posed inside it!

Tom at the Royal Mews - stables for the Queen's horses.

St. Martin in the Fields Church-we briefly  listened to a free concert.

Tom and Rob in Trafalgar Square

Thinking about where we should go next!!

Street Actor painted as a gold statue in Covent Garden Mall

Parliament House

Covent Garden open shopping mall

Big Ben standing over Parliament House

A wider look at Parliament House

Rob with the London Eye (wheel) and Big Ben

More Big Ben

Tom looking for horse droppings as the guard on the horse just moved. :)

 

It took a Divorce to Get Marriage Recognized

How bizarre is this: It took a divorce filing to get marriage recognized by the Maryland high court (not that we're complaining- we're not!) 

Maryland high court: Recognize out-of-state, same-sex marriages

Court of Appeals ruling, in case involving divorce, is unanimous

It’s an odd time to recognize a marriage, during divorce, but the Court of Appeals of Marhttp://www.gazette.net/article/20120518/NEWS/705189595/1124/maryland-high-court-recognize-out-of-state-same-sex-marriages&template=gazetteyland has done just that.
In a 7-0 ruling released Friday, the state’s highest court ruled that Maryland should recognize the California marriage of a lesbian couple for the purpose of finalizing their divorce petition.
The broad language of the decision, however, suggests that marriage recognition will extend well beyond the case and to other issues such as spousal benefits and spousal privilege in the court system.
“I think it’s a great decision,” said Sen. Richard Madaleno (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington, who requested that Gansler write an opinion on the issue two years ago. A same-sex couple from Washington, D.C., shouldn’t see their marital status change just because they walk across Western Avenue in Bethesda, he said.
“The court got it exactly right,” Madaleno said. “I think [the decision] shows the growing momentum for marriage equality for our state.”
The women, Jessica Port and Virginia Anne Cowan, married in California in 2008. Two years later, the couple decided to separate, and Port filed for divorce in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County. The court would not grant the divorce, calling the marriage of the couple “not valid” and “contrary to the public policy of Maryland.”
The women appealed their case to the state’s Court of Special Appeals, which granted a divorce petition, but not before the highest court decided to hear the case on its own initiative.
FULL STORY: 

 

Some Blonde Jokes for You (while we're trying to get the trip stuff together)

While we're still trying to get organized and find time to download pictures, videos and type up our adventures from England, here's some blonde jokes from our friend John in VA.  Hopefully, we'll get stuff up tomorrow about our England trip. Happy Friday! Rob

    A friend told the blonde: "Christmas is on a Friday this year"
The blonde then said, "Let's hope it's not the 13th.
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     Two blondes find three grenades, and they decide to take them to
a police station.  One asked: "What if one explodes before we get there?"  
The other says: "We'll lie and say we only found two."
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     A blond is in the bathroom and her husband shouts:  "Did you find the shampoo?"  She says,
"Yes, but I'm not sure what to do...it's for dry hair, and I've just wet mine."
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     A blonde goes to the vet with her goldfish. "I think it's got epilepsy,"
she tells the vet.  The vet takes a look and says, "It seems calm enough to me". 
The blonde says, "I haven't taken it out of the bowl yet".
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     A blonde spies a letter lying on his doormat.  It says on the
envelope "DO NOT BEND ".  He spends the next 2 hours trying to
figure out how to pick it up.
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     A blonde man shouts frantically into the phone
"My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart!"
     "Is this her first child?" asks the Doctor.
     "No", he shouts, "This is her husband!"

Returned from England Vacation! - Some Brief Observations

We've been in England for the last 10 days and have just returned. We'll have updates about our trip here, with pictures. Meanwhile, here's a satellite picture from NASA's Aqua satellite taken of the United Kingdom on January 16, 2012. We had 2 days of sun like this shows.
  Just a couple of things to quickly mention: 
1) WEATHER - It RAINED 8 out of 10 days, and the average high temp we experienced was between 45 and 52F (a couple of days near 59F). We had 2 days of sunshine. The high temp is SUPPOSED to be near 64F- It was the COLDEST May since records were kept in 1648, and the WETTEST May in over 30 years.
2) DRIVING - Driving on the left side of the road is a challenge. Rob did all the driving, and was quickly indoctrinated after getting a rental car in London. - It's like learning to drive on the other side of the street in New York City.  Hair raising! Thankfully, Tom navigated with GPS (GPS is REQUIRED there!)
3) STREET WIDTH - The width of the streets is far less than it is in the U.S. Glad we had a compact car. It barely fit in the lanes. *In the country, the street width is even more Narrow! - We often had to wait for oncoming traffic to pass, and outside of London, roads twist and turn like crazy. Locals do about 60 mph (road signs are in mph NOT kph), while we were doing 35mph to not run into the vegetation that lines each street. 
4) COFFEE OR TEA? - Drink TEA. Rob's a huge coffee drinker... that changed in the U.K. Coffee there is either instant or Starbucks - two miserable choices. So, Rob drank tea after the first bad coffee experience. BTW- There is NO iced tea in England. 
5) IF YOU GO- GET YOUR TRIP ORGANIZED THROUGH: Across the Pond Vacations

www.atpvacations.com/

Anne Marie put together an all inclusive, detailed package, complete with lodging, tours, tickets, subway passes, car rental, and found the ALL the castles related to Henry VIII for us. She does: London, all of England, Ireland, and Scotland.  We only had to get our airline tickets. The Bed and Breakfasts and hotel were Great. We even stayed in Thornbury Castle B&B- a Castle from the 1500s turned B&B. Awesome.
6) FOOD/ORDERING - The food was pretty good. Of course, we're plain eaters. Give us a burger and fries and we're good, as long as there's a cookie or cake afterward. There are a LOT of bakeries, which was great. In Pubs, order at the bar after giving them a table number. Visitors sit at tables expecting service- they learn eventually.   
7) GHOSTS - If you're sensitive to ghosts, there's double the stuff to experience in England. Every day there was something- and we have it all written down, so it looks like Rob is going to be doing a third book. :)  - We also got a private ghost walk from ghost book author Richard Jones. What a treat. 

*****We'll have photos, short videos from many locations and write ups on the blog over the next couple of weeks, so you can experience what we did.****




 

The fun in aging...

This sounds like something Tom would say to Rob. :)

Joke of the day!

An old man and woman were married for many years, even though they hated each other.
Whenever there was a confrontation, yelling could be heard deep into the night.
The old man would shout, "When I die, I will dig my way up and out 
of the grave and come back and haunt you for the rest of your life!"

Neighbors feared him. They believed he practiced magic because of 
the many strange occurrences that took place in their neighborhood. 
The old man liked the fact that he was feared.

To everyone's relief, he died of a heart 
attack when he was 78.

His wife had a closed casket at the funeral. 
After the burial, she went straight to the local bar and began to party as if there 
was no tomorrow.

Her neighbors, concerned for her safety, asked "Aren't you 
afraid that he may indeed be able to dig his way out of the grave and haunt you 
for the rest of your life?"

The wife put down her drink and said, "Let him dig. I had him buried upside down. 
And I know he won't ask for directions."

Dog Smile of the Day

Stupidity Tries to Discount Science

A friend of mine sent me a link to a right-wing organization's supposed "scientific" outlook on evolution, that said it's a bunch of lies. Oh, boy. The organization iand article is here Four Scientific Reasons That Refute Evolution . 

   After reading the four silly reasons they gave for discounting the science of evolution, I told my friend:

As a scientist, I have to respectfully say that this is a bunch of right-wing, conservative, religious-influenced bull.
"Institute for Creation Research"  Oh, boy. Why not just call it "Bible Group about Creationism"?
I'm a scientist. We have facts. We do not rely on a 10,000 year old book to tell us the reality of things.
People that wrote the Bible 10,000 and even 2,000 years ago were uneducated.
They thought the world was flat.
The pope prevented Galileo from educating the world about the universe, because "of what his Bible said." Preposterous!
They thought that the Earth was the center of the universe.
They had no idea about geology, heliophysics, what the sun was made of, how weather works, etc. etc.
  - To say that fossils do NOT show the evolution of species is laughable. Of course they do.
We've proven that evolution is a reality. We've seen lesser species die off (even today with the endangered species act), we've seen other species evolve - Look at how Mastadons have branched into today's modern elephants.
     (Let me say that there are some very GOOD churches that actually HELP and LOVE people. I'm not addressing those).
    Right now I'm so disgusted with religious conservatives and the bull they sling about civil rights, politics, evolution, reproductive rights, marriage rights, etc.
    I drove by a Catholic church this weekend and they PAID someone big bucks to make HUGE banners saying "Save Marriage" -Sign the petition to vote gay marriage down. How dare they!  Why don't they sign petitions to throw out and expose the bishops, priests and cardinals that kept the pedophelia quiet?  NO- it's easier to attack gay people.  Many churches (NOT ALL) have become devisive an encourage abuse!
   - I just read about a 14 year old in the midwest that committed Suicide because he's gay, and "religious" people taunted him at school.
  - Last week I blogged about the PREACHER in North Carolina that told his Baptist congregation to "Beat sissy boys and make them men." and "slap girls who act butch."
   I am SO tired of religions telling people how to live, UNLESS its about Love, harmony, and acceptance. That's what Jesus preached. He didn't say "Slap that crap out of your children if they're gay." What has happened to religion?  Have the nuts taken over?
 Religions also know virtually nothing about science. Throughout history the churches have tried to deny global warming as a reality - IT IS HAPPENING. They've silenced Galileo, Tycho Brye and others who helped educate the world.  It has got stop.
   Religions are overstepping their bounds. They need to focus on love, and better treatment of each other. Help the poor and homeless, give people faith. Not encourage violence and take us back scientifically to the 1600s!  Ridiculous.
 

Dog Smile of the day

JOKE of the Week: Amazing Home Remedies

Tom's mom sent us these great, simple home remedies!  :) 

1.  AVOID CUTTING YOURSELF WHEN SLICING VEGETABLES BY GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO HOLD THE VEGETABLES WHILE YOU CHOP.
2.  AVOID ARGUMENTS WITH THE FEMALES ABOUT LIFTING THE TOILET SEAT BY USING THE SINK. 
3.  FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.
4.  A MOUSE TRAP PLACED ON TOP OF YOUR ALARM CLOCK WILL PREVENT YOU FROM ROLLING OVER AND GOING BACK TO SLEEP AFTER YOU HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON. 
5.  (this is Rob's favorite):
IF YOU HAVE A BAD COUGH, TAKE A LARGE DOSE OF LAXATIVES. THEN YOU'LL BE AFRAID TO COUGH. 
6.  YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'T MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE DUCT TAPE.
7.  IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
             

Hear the Interview here: Rob on "Signs of the Dead" Radio

Rob was interviewed on Friday night, April 27 by Steven, the host of he "Signs of the Dead" internet radio program out of Wisconsin. Steven leads a group of ghost investigators in Wisconsin and runs this interesting internet radio show. Rob had a great time on the program and covered all kinds of things. Rob discusses his books, experiences with ghosts and thoughts about the science behind the paranormal. 

 

NEWS: Hundreds of thousands may lose Internet in July Hackers hijacked computers, but victims don't know

From the Nashville Tennessean Newspaper
and PC Magazine: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2401227,00.asp
WASHINGTON — For computer users, a few mouse clicks could mean the difference between staying online and losing Internet connections this summer.
Unknown to most of them, their problem began when international hackers ran an online advertising scam to take control of infected computers around the world. In a highly unusual response, the FBI set up a safety net months ago using government computers to prevent Internet disruptions for those infected users. But that system is to be shut down.
The FBI is encouraging users to visit a website run by its security partner, www.dcwg.org, that will inform them whether they are infected and explain how to fix the problem. After July 9, infected users won’t be able to connect to the Internet.
Most victims don’t even know their computers have been infected, although the malicious software probably has slowed their Web surfing and disabled their antivirus software, making their machines more vulnerable to other problems.
 GO HERE TO DETECT: http://www.dcwg.org/detect/

BACKGROUND:

What is the DNS Changer Malware?

On November 8, the FBI, the NASA-OIG and Estonian police arrested several cyber criminals in “Operation Ghost Click”. The criminals operated under the company name “Rove Digital”, and distributed DNS changing viruses, variously known as TDSS, Alureon, TidServ and TDL4 viruses. You can read more about the arrest of the Rove Digital principals here, and in the FBI Press Release.

What does the DNS Changer Malware do?

The botnet operated by Rove Digital altered user DNS settings, pointing victims to malicious DNS in data centers in Estonia, New York, and Chicago. The malicious DNS servers would give fake, malicious answers, altering user searches, and promoting fake and dangerous products. Because every web search starts with DNS, the malware showed users an altered version of the Internet.
Under a court order, expiring July 9, the Internet Systems Consortium is operating replacement DNS servers for the Rove Digital network. This will allow affected networks time to identify infected hosts, and avoid sudden disruption of services to victim machines.