NOV 21, 16 .. MARRIAGE AND LENOVO ..

In my last Post ..

http://bobbacaps.blogspot.ae/2016/11/nov-17-16-marriage-and-windows-10.html

I discussed an absolutely unreal experience I had here with my laptop.

I took it to mean MicroSoft and WINDOWS 10 were my benevolent benefactors.

With a lot, and I mean a LOT, of discussions by e-mail with friends ESPECIALLY Gullible, I thought I had been 'hacked'. So far absolutely no indication thereof.

Now I believe that the manufacturer of my laptop, LENOVO, was my benefactor who came into the scene. I have a full, 1-year, warranty with LENOVO.

IF indeed, their product had a glitch, then it would figure IF anyone was interested, it would be LENOVO.

See, what happened could have been, in no way, an issue with an operating system. MicroSoft's WINDOWS 10 is an operating system.

When I get to Hong Kong, I will head for an authorized LENOVO store and chat with them.

Thanks for your support and interest.

Cap

This I know for absolute certainty. My laptop froze up. I could find no cursor. As I sat wondering what to do, I got a message on my screen to the effect .. "We are looking into this matter. We will do a re-start. We will advise you."

Something happened (I could see it on my screen) and everything was resolved, and remains resolved. 

NOV 17, 16 .. MARRIAGE AND WINDOWS 10 ..

Oh come on blogspot! 

Pick yourself up off the proverbial floor. You look silly sprawled out on the carpet. Get yourself up and stop miss-behaving.  

Patti and Rockin' Robb, did either of you pick up on that? Miss-behaving.

I am doing a dot.NET Post here on you blogspot. I KNOW, you are used to long fancy posts with photos and the like. You are not used to me coming over here to ..

TELL IT LIKE IT IS!

'Zilla left me the below comment over on dot.NET ..

Hi Cap,

A nifty travel log on your journey to Ras Al Khaimah! It’s great that you have your new laptop along to keep your stories moving along – that is when you have the time to do all the posting – a big job but appreciated by all!

A question occurred to me on why you waited a long period of time to buy a laptop prior to your many earlier trips? You certainly really hit the ticket now as I can see you are in 5th gear (say racing gear) by all the lovely photos, stories that you are doing! Really super, as I said before it’s like you are taking folks on a beautiful tour as you can really believe you are there – I can even taste your lemon on your fish meal (I should say your friend’s meal)!

I know Dubai is a “fairly” rich country by viewing all the beautiful buildings and the on-going construction, so my next task is to goggle the country and check the stats regarding income, etc. BTW the last GP of the season for F1 is on Sunday, November 27, 2016 and the final race will determine the World Champion. Lewis won today’s race in Brazil and it was a very exciting race due to poor racing conditions as it rained very heavy throughout most of the day’s race. The race was “red flagged” twice due the down pour and serious accidents. The race had a 2-hour limit, however the race was completed with one minute to spare! A very exciting race!
Enjoy your travels!!

zilla

To 'Zilla I replied as follows ..

So good to know you are doing OK ‘Zilla and following along here. Because of visa restriction time duration issues and airline difficulties in changing my flight reservations, I simply am not able to stay for the Grand Prix race the weekend of the 25-27th of November. I wish I could but I can’t.

I have had, I have owned, my very own, personal, Apple iBook G4, laptop since March of 2005. I have had my very own personal laptop for over eleven years and counting. I have a thousand musical songs on iTunes on my Apple laptop.

Because of weight, because of theft issues, because of me being able to lose it, because of internet WiFi connection issues (in past years it was not what it now is), because of fragility issues (my laptop getting damaged), because of the abundance and the availability of Internet Cafes where ever I have been, I have always chosen to travel sans my laptop. I have had the choice for over eleven years now to take it with me or to leave it home.

Yes! I am loving having this new Lenovo, state-of-the-current-art, ThinkPad with me. Yes! Having it with me has put me into 5th racing gear for sure.

Learning to cope with Windows 10 was a challenge. I survived it. Windows 10 no longer is my opponent, it is my friend.

Smiles ‘Zilla .. So nice to have you here with me as I write my Posts. Your Ally since 1975. Cap

Stop it blogspot! Stop squeeling. You will recover from a real, tell it like it IS, post being put up here on you.

'Zilla here is another reason I have not taken my own laptop with me. At an Internet Cafe or a library, IF something goes wrong, all I have to do is ask for help and I get help.

Well, the other day, here in my hotel room, DISASTER HIT ME. My LENOVO 'froze up' totally. I had no cursor. I could do nothing.

Do all of you out there realize this: To use WINDOWS 10, MircroSoft has your personal computer's password!

Got it? MicroSoft, in a way, 'owns' your own personal computer. I have this first hand from some computer 'geeks' over here. I could not believe it. But when it came time for me to use Mister LENOVO, MicroSoft invited themselves in and I let them come in.

I did not fully realize what I was doing, but whatever it was I did, in came MicroSoft.

Now back to my DRAMA. Here I sit. Paralyzed. Sitting here in front of Mister LENOVO who is locked up. Here in the United Arab Emirates.

What to do? DO I DO a forced shutdown? I am stymied.

When what to my wondering eyes should happen? I am just sitting here in a real quandry. 

Out of the blue, a message appears upon Mister LENOVO's screen that reads:

We have detected a problem with your computer. We are going to investigate the problem. We will do a restart.

I sat, idle, wondering what in the world was going on.

A message appears:

It is now OK for you to start your computer.

I did a start up. Everything was fine.

It was like nothing had happened ..

BUT LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING! 

Something had happened here and what had happened here was not exactly clear to yours truly.

WINDOWS 10, you are making a believer out of me.

Am I dreaming this up? Nope. My worst nightmare was underway, a sick computer, and me with no viable alternatives.

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH .. Something IS happening here and what it is ain't exactly clear.

For what it's worth .. Cap

I get up in the morning. I turn on Mister LENOVO. A message appears: Your computer was scanned and it is up-to-date. There are no problems or potential problems.

NO! I am not dreaming this up.

MAY 13, 13 .. NO COMPUTER ' USB ' PORTS AT THE KOWLOON YMCA .. SIGH ..

Here in Kowloon .. across from Hong Kong Island .. I am in MY YMCA .. 41 Salisbury Road .. in the Tsimshatsui District of Kowloon.

What is a 'USB' port?  USB 'stands-for' Universal Service Bus.  IF you want to have a dialogue or IF you want to SPEAK to your computer you MUST do so via it's USB Port(s).

You and I need eyes and we need ears.  The USB Ports are a computers eyes and ears 'in-a-way'.

Here at the 'Y' I have NO ACCESS to the USB Ports on the computers.  I have spoken to everyone at the 'front desk'.  Obviously 'someone' does NOT want visitors to have access to these computers and to their USB Ports. 'Censorship'?  I have no clue.   

"SO?!" .. you ask impatiently!

SO THIS .. NO PHOTOS .. I can NOT upload photos with NO 'USB PORTS'.

YES-OH-YES!  The 'Y' DOES HAVE WI-FI BUT I do NOT have my own laptop to use it.

SUMMARY.  I am in Hong Kong.  I am happy and I am healthy.  I have already eaten Singapore Rice Noodles two (2) times in one day.  I have ridden my beloved Star Ferries several times.   No meetings yet.  They will come except I am on the verge of  'exhaustion'  and it would have been dangerous to get all the way up Victoria Peak to Borrett Road and a meeting.  The McDonald's McFlurrys are already a (twice) done-deal!

What else is there in life here in Hong Kong except Singapore Rice Noodles .. the Star Ferries .. Meetings and McFlurrys? 

OH YES .. I have snapped a 'goodly number' of photographs that now 'sit-idle' with no-place-to-go without USB Port access.

And no outside Internet Cafes according to my people here at the YMCA.

Over-and-out from a 'still extremely happy to be in Hong Kong' Bobba!

What on earth have I done on my previous visits here.  Post photos from 'home' in the U.S.?

Smiles .. Cap

MAR 10, 13 .. 'ZILLA ASKS .. PART II

With regard to Hot Breads and Daily Bread .. 'Zilla asked me to 'break them down in a few words'!

Hot Breads has the absolutely superior .. it is not even close! .. baked goods.  So far I have never purchased any baked goods at Daily Bread and I do not intend to do so.  Hot Breads 'smokes' Daily Bread in this arena!

Daily Bread has the superior .. full .. menu!  Hot Breads tends towards 'snacks'.  Hot Breads certainly does have entree meals .. but they are just not even close to what Daily Bread offers!  Hot Breads is also more expensive.

So for baked goods it is Hot Breads.

For full meals .. it is Daily Bread.

Smiles.. Cap..

MAR 5, 13 .. 'ZILLA ASKED WHY ? PART I ..

'Zilla asked me ..

WHY?

'Zilla that question has a ‘classical’ answer ..

WHY  NOT?

But I won’t ‘go there’ with you!  Instead I will try to answer your question.

Thanks!  /s/  'Zilla ..

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

'Zilla's question was simple .

“Cap?  Why do you have two web sites?” ..

First let me give you their names .. each has a name and its own 'personality'!

On August 16, 2011 .. my first and my original web site .. Baba Kaps Doxology .. came to life.  I call this site ..  Dot Net ..

On October 22, 2011, my second web site .. Bobba Caps Doxology ..  ‘sprang into life’!  I call this second web site .. Blogspot .. 

Blogspot came to life for one simple reason ..

I could NOT post photographs as I wanted to post photographs on  Dot Net .  There were ‘technical’ reasons for this which have since been solved.  But .. Dot Net’s photo issues were not solved for quite some time.  During this time .. Blogspot  really  ‘took hold’ of its share of the market!
  
In Blogspot's 'humble opinion' .. "I own your photo market Captain!"

So Blogspot was created solely to post  photographs.

Dot Net began as a writing web site .. where I posted text writings that I call .. For What It’s Worth ..

 I feel that the vast majority of my readers and followers PREFER to see photographs with a little text explaining the photos.   Blogspot fulfills this preference.

On the other hand .. some readers and followers PREFER to read text  posts where I go into some depth regarding discussions and topics I want  to expound upon.  Dot Net fulfills this preference.

This is why I have two web sites!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

WHY  NOT  COMBINE  THE  TWO?

So asked 'Zilla ..

On the surface this would make ‘some’ sense .. but not totally!  The PHOTO LOVERS (the majority of my followers) do NOT want to plough through reams and reams of text writing!

At Dot Net I can just sit down for a little chit-chat knowing the photo lovers can just ‘tune it all out’ !

 

A N D .. Dot Net is now becoming capable of accepting photo posts.

 

Then last December 2012 Blogspot hit me with an ultimatum!

Pay us money!  Your web site has exceeded its capacity!

S O   I   D I D !

I had no problem paying them three dollars a month.

B U T  they said .. THAT IS NOT ENOUGH PAY US  MORE!  And would not tell me how much more money they wanted for how much more storage capacity.

So I sat S T U C K UNTIL YESTERDAY when I successfully posted new photos onto Blogspot !  And (see above!) today I again posted three new photos! 

So right-this-instant it serves me well to have two options ..

Make sense or not .. that is the story!

Smiles .. Kap (Dot Net) .. Cap (Blogspot)

Thanks 'Zilla for your questions !     

FEB 6, 13 .. BOBBA CAPS ASKS RHETORICALLY ..

Bobba asks rhetorically .. that is .. not expecting a reply nor an answer ..

Which is more important .. 

Having money .. 

Having water ..

I assume most of you will say with emphasis .. "Having water is more important ! " ..

Well here in India .. here in New Delhi .. here in the today and here in the now .. I MUST HAVE MONEY TO PURCHASE THE WATER ..

So when I wrote this morning that I had gotten money .. I was on the right track .. 

The ramblings I am about to now embark upon rightly deserve to be over at Baba Kaps Doxology .. my 'dot net' website .. BUT I can NOT access my 'dot net' website because I can NOT access my most imortant e-mail address BECAUSE yahoo.com is protecting me from myself and refusing to believe me when I tell them where my mother was born !  Saying to my response .. "NO that is the incorrect answer !" .. being unable to get to this one particular e-mail address deprives me of the 'hyper-link' to get me to my 'dot net' website sign-in location ..

NOW it is 8:35PM in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday, February 6th, 2013 .. we will see what day and date blogspot assigns to this rambling ..

OK .. I had one 'heck-of-a-day' today .. I got two (2) hours count them of work accomplished .. exhausted I then slept like-the-dead for well over four (4) hours .. I was able to resurrect myself from the dead and ate like a man possessed here at the Jai Singh Road YMCA dining facility .. burp !

What I got accomplished today was 100% of my 'to be done today' list .. and hey .. that is not all bad is it ? ! 

Well this is a program of honesty isn't it ?  What I really got done in my two (2) hour day today was this .. I set into motion 100% of what I needed to get done today ..

Vodafone has begun the process of re-activating my India based cell phone .. I knew better than to believe that Vodafone would be able to fully get me up-on-line talking today and I was correct .. but they are working-on-it .. I will settle for them to get my little Vodafone to connect to its cell phone tower here to at least give me the correct time-of-day .. right now my little Vodafone is telling me it is tomorrow !   

Getting myself a 'stash of Water' is a 100% done-deal .. I have five one-liter bottles of water and enjoyed a great visit with the owner and his grandson .. my friends of over twenty two (22) years .. Grandfather and Grandson .. the middle man passed away untimely a year or so ago .. leaving a void that will not be replaced .. No son for Grandfather and no father for Grandson .. 

My tailor will have my India Shirt fixed up by Friday night and let-me-tell you all this .. finding my India Tailor of over twenty two (22) years was a frightening out-of-body scary experience .. see I KNEW .. I KNEW .. I was and I had lost-it !

WHY? !  Simply because I could NOT find the Shankar Market here in New Delhi where my tailor is located .. I had lost-my-mental ability to find a place that I know as well as I know the back-of-my-hand !

BUT I persevered .. doggedly and doggedly I kept searching .. and people on the street kept asking me .. "Can we help you out Baba? " .. they .. in their infinite street-wisdom knew that I was lost ..

SUDDENLY after an hour of wandering back and forth .. up and down streets .. there it was .. the SHANKAR MARKET !  See I had even forgotten that name (The Shankar Market) else I could have told all of my MANY street benefactors that .. "I am looking for the Sankar Market." .. 

I found Shop Number 90 in the Shankar Market (this in and of itself was a job) and in I went and I was set ..  Roy Exclusive Tailor .. my tailor .. my place .. "Sahib you shirt will be ready Friday afternoon after 6PM.""

It was then I found my way back to 1 Jai Singh Road and 'crashed dead' in my bed here at the YMCA ..

I did as Vodafone told me to do .. I waited for over four (4) hours .. after which wait I turned little Vodafone off-and-on .. tried to dial Vodafone Number 117 and could not do so .. I then walked back to Vodafone in the dark of the New Delhi night .. and they studied my little Vodafone and said .. "Go home to the YMCA and call number 117 in several hours after turning your phone off and on again." 

I said in reply to them .. "I will see you here in person tomorrow morning at 10AM" .. KNOWING how to do these things after my years of experience here !

WHAT'S THAT YOU ASK ME 'ZILLA ?

WHAT AM I DOING JAY WALKING AGAIN IN INDIA ?

OUT IN THE NIGHT TRAFFIC IN NEW DELHI IN CONNAUGHT PLACE !

FORGIVE ME 'ZILLA FOR I HAVE SINNED AGAIN !

I seem unable to resist jaywalking here in India KNOWING it is a life-and-death issue period-no-questions-asked ! ..

Well at least my twenty two (22) years of experience of doing this .. jay walking in the India traffic .. stood me well !

First .. I place a woman between me and the oncoming traffic .. so the car(s) will hit the woman before they hit Bobba Caps .. and then .. for good measure .. I also carefully notice that between the woman and the oncoming traffic will be a small mob of other Indians so the oncoming traffic will have to hit about fifty (50) people before getting to Bobba Caps .. 

And I walk with one hand lightly touching the woman so I do NOT lose track of her since she may suddenly 'dart' to avoid being hit herself !

She 'darts' and Bobba Caps 'darts' with her !

Lord is this crazy or is this CRAZY ! ? .. 

Over and Out for Now with Many Smiles .. and .. Much Love .. Cap .. 

now let's us see what blogspot dates this post as .. have fun Patti proof reading this mess ! ..  do not take my two hour day literally .. I probably was out for more like three hours .. but I was not out for so long that I should have been totally exhausted ..

let the record show that today .. God of Abraham .. introduced me personally to one .. PRA THAMMARATO (PAPA MONK) .. and my life is ever enrichened ..  I may and I may NOT get  back to 'Papa Monk" ..

JAN 30, 13 .. I AM SAFELY INTO HONG KONG ..

Wednesday Evening The 30th of January 2013 .. 9:49PM ..


I am only one .. But Still .. I AM ONE ..

I cannot do everything .. But Still .. I CAN DO SOMETHING ..

And because I cannot do everything ..

I WILL NOT REFUSE TO DO THE SOMETHING I CAN ..

Edward Everett Hale ..

Those wonderful words get me UN-stuck when I AM stuck !

Too much to say and where to begin ..

YESTERDAY .. Monday and Tuesday .. January 28th and 29th ..

THE FLIGHT(S) HERE ..

Getting out of Detroit, Michigan..  we were blessed with a snow and ice 'storm-from-hell' .. Danny 48073 picked me up at 4:30AM and we were off .. I boarded the flight to Chicago 'just a tad late' .. we all sat and we sat .. then we all DE-BOARDED the flight to Chicago .. back inside the terminal we all sat and sat .. then we all RE-BOARDED another aircraft at another departure gate .. en route to take-off we had to stop and get the aircraft 'de-iced' .. then we  flew to Chicago .. arriving about two hours late ..

It took me one-good-hour to get from Chicago O'Hare Domestic Terminal 2 to O'Hare International Terminal 5 but get there I did ..

THEN THINGS WENT FROM CHALLENGING (Yes 'Zilla? Re-read the above 'Zilla.. ) TO THE ULTIMATE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER IN MY ENTIRE LIFE EXPERIENCED ..

In spite of being several hours late into Chicago O'Hare .. I was so early to the Cathay Pacific Airlines Check-In-Desk in Terminal 5 that no Cathay Pacific staffers were on duty yet !

So I waited about half-an-hour and checked in ..

"Sir .. you are in Business Class Sir .. Please go to our Cathay Pacific Lounge before boarding Sir !"

International Security is tough .. but I made it through ..

And then HOO-BOY the trip was off-and-running ..

Into the Cathay Pacific Lounge I went and what did I see ?

A FULL BUFFET .. Lemon Chicken .. Bow-Tie-Pasta with Cheese Sauce .. String Beans with Slivered Almonds and Onions .. Wonderful Roasted Potato Quarters .. Greek Salad .. Fresh Fruit .. and more .. every liquid you could imagine and all you wanted .. Beer and Wine .. and Gatorade and every possible soda pop ever made .. Water too .. and some desserts too !

Arrrrggggggg .. ten plates of food and one hour later I was stuffed beyond-the-beyond ..

We boarded .. we took off on time .. we leveled off .. the Captain turned off the seat belt sign .. I reclined my bed in Business Class and SLEPT FOR OVER FIVE (5) HOURS .. I awoke .. burped .. refused the gourmet dinner .. well I took the Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream ! .. and SLEPT ANOTHER FOUR (4) or so hours ..

Hot dog .. because I'd slept for Nine (9) Hours .. I had ONLY Six and one Half Hours (6-1/2) more to fly !

We landed in Hong Kong on time .. 7:35PM local time on Tuesday the 29th of January ..

It took the usual two hours to pass through Immigration and get my baggage and pass through customs and then get the train to Hong Kong .. then get the bus to the YMCA at 41 Salisbury Road in Kowloon in Tsimshatsui ..

Then I 'crashed' in my room AFTER riding the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island and back and getting two gallons of bottled water to drink and bathe with and getting international telephone calling cards .. and making some telephone calls and (?) I keep myself busy ! I hit-the-sack after mid-night !

WEDNESDAY the 30th of January ..

So what did I do all day today .. Wednesday the 30th ? .. I got up and made some more phone calls and ate SINGAPORE RICE NOODLE FOR BREAKFAST at 9:45AM ..

After my breakfast of SINGAPORE RICE NOODLE .. I went back to my dorm room at the YMCA and ? ..

I lay down at 10:30AM this morning to 'refresh and take a short nap' ..

I SLEPT LIKE THE DEAD FOR SEVEN AND ONE HALF HOURS (7 1/2) ..

I staggered awake at 6PM ..

So what to do ?  THAT is a no-brainer .. go have a dinner of SINGAPORE RICE NOODLE .. ride the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island and return to Kowloon AFTER exploring the Hong Kong 'Central District' ..

And ? 

Write and Post this !  Oh my I do hope it makes some sense and there are not too many 'typos' and errors in thinking .. to be honest .. I still feel sort of 'fuzzy' from the trip over here .. and from sleeping far too long than was healthy !

With that I will sign-off .. 

THRILLED-BEYOND-BELIEF AT BEING IN HONG KONG IN CHINA !!

If the Good Lord 'takes me during my sleep tonight' I will .. 

'CHECK-OUT ONE HAPPY-CAMPER !!


Much Love from Bobba and from all of the Travelling Bobbseys here on-the-road again with me !!    Cap ..
  

JAN 4, 13 .. THE JIGSAW PUZZLE ...

The term ‘jigsaw puzzle’ provides a good visual image of what-it-takes for me to put together a trip of several months duration out of the United States traveling to Hong Kong, China, and then on to India and the return trip back to the United States.

With any jigsaw puzzle you have certain techniques that you will follow .. one of my techniques is to find and to separate all of the puzzle pieces that have a straight edge ..  these pieces will form the outside circumference or edge or frame of the puzzle .. so I will begin by completing the ‘framing’ of the puzzle-about-to-be constructed.  Then I will look for pieces with similar coloring etc.

OK .. with regards to a major trip for me .. do I want to assemble yet another jigsaw puzzle of what-it-takes to make a major trip?

So I must decide that I am going to travel or that I want to travel.

This decision is an absolute no-brainer IF .. I RECEIVE A POWERFUL, CLEAR, ‘CALLING’ to travel.  This is my most common trigger to travel.  I will not test your theological beliefs nor bore you with whom or with what sends me the message to GO NOW.

Lacking the clarity of being ‘called to travel’, I have to make the decision that either (1) I am going to make the trip or (2) I think I want to make the trip and that I will explore my options.

This upcoming trip is of the second category .. it originated more of an ‘I think I want’ endeavor than that of a  ‘calling’.  Frankly it is more of an ‘oh oh .. IF I don’t make this trip now I may never again be able to do so’ ..

SO I AM GOING TO .. GOD WILLING .. RETURN TO INDIA VIA HONG KONG ..

Now to the ‘jigsaw’ puzzle analogy ..

Puzzle Piece Number One .. MAKE MY ROOM RESERVATIONS IN HONG KONG .. IF you have ‘brain one’ .. you do NOT want to fly into Hong Kong with NO ROOM RESERVATIONS .. UNLESS OF COURSE you are willing to pay .. literally .. hundreds of U.S. dollars a night for a room.  My ‘speed’ is thirty five ($35 U.S. Dollars) a night ..

My last trip .. leaving August 30, 2011 .. was so sudden that I did NOT have the advance notice time to really ‘shop’ room reservations .. well I did ‘shop’ but I had to use Orbitz and Travelocity search engines .. and I paid well over one hundred U.S. Dollars a night with ABSOLUTELY NO FLEXIBILITY TO MAKE ANY CHANGES .. the good news being I did have a nice hotel room in a very  interesting and new-to-me district in Hong Kong.

This being my upcoming eighteenth trip into Hong Kong .. spanning over twenty two years .. one round trip I went via London and Paris .. ol’ Bobba Caps has learned ‘how-to-do Hong Kong’ in Bobba Caps fashion.

FIRST ACTUAL PUZZLE PIECE .. contact the YMCA Hong Kong in Kowloon on Salisbury Road and connect with an associate in reservations that I have been dealing with for some-many-MANY years .. I NOW HAVE a bunk bed reservation in the Dorms for January 29^th leaving February 5^th seven nights (their maximum stay in the dorms)  .. and returning on May 13^th leaving May 20^th a second seven night stay ..

TO ACHIEVE THE ABOVE TOOK several days of back-and-forth e-mail conversations believe me .. these dorm reservations are tricky and ‘dear’ .. many chinese youth visitors and educational youth tours get the dorm beds  locked up months and months in advance .. find me a better deal in Hong Kong and I will tip-my-hat to you!

Next puzzle pieces .. THEN working with what I had set up with the YMCA .. I tried to ‘fit’  airline reservations into the YMCA reservations .. they would NOT QUITE fit so I had to get back to the YMCA Hong Kong and ‘wiggle’ things there around.

The airline reservations were tricky .. here-to-fore I have always originated in San Francisco, California .. except the trip through London and Paris .. here-to-fore I have always flown on one single carrier .. Cathay Pacific .. United Airlines .. Air India ..ONE carrier .. not so this trip!     

This trip I am on American Airlines (Detroit to Chicago) .. Cathay Pacific Airlines (Chicago non-stop to Hong Kong) .. Jet Airlines (Hong Kong to New Delhi and return to Hong Kong) .. Cathay Pacific Airlines (Hong Kong back to Chicago) .. and finally the Chicago Illinois Rapid Transit ‘Blue Line’ into Chicago Union Station and AMTRAK Railways (Chicago to Detroit) ..

I am using 90,000 American Airlines Award Miles flying first with American Airlines and then Cathay Pacific Airlines .. I am paying $875 U.S. Dollars to a company named Jet Airlines to fly out of Hong Kong and return from New Delhi .. it will cost me $2 on the Blue Line out of O’Hare International Air Port in Chicago and free AMTRAK reward miles from Chicago to Detroit ..

BELIEVE THEE THIS !  Just the above ‘airline travel reservations’ were .. in and of themselves .. a ‘jigsaw’ puzzle within the jigsaw puzzle ! .. on the return I could NOT get all the way back into Detroit from Chicago try-as-the-mileage-agents could try!  We spent about three hours over several days trying to unravel this silly condition with no results!

More puzzle pieces!

UNLESS YOU WANT REAL TROUBLE IN HONG KONG AND IN INDIA .. YOU HAD BETTER TELL EACH AND YOU HAD BETTER TELL EVERY SINGLE BANK AND CREDIT CARD COMPANY THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE IN HONG KONG AND IN INDIA AND WHEN you will be there ..

OR? .. (with the exception of American Express .. the ‘Big Time’ International Travel Credit Card Company) .. WHEN you whip out your Visa or Master Card in Hong Kong or in India .. you will be stopped-short-and-firmly-and-suddenly and will have to ‘go-to-jail’ without passing ‘go’ .. your credit card will be DENIED!

Stolen credit cards travel-the-world-over with lightning speed and your credit card company is not a ‘mind reader’ as to why your card is suddenly being used
halfway-around-the-world in Hong Kong or India !

And more puzzle pieces!

It is a good Idea to set-the-wheels-in-motion to order up all of your prescriptions and other necessary items you will need or just want ..

AND?  At 4:30AM on Monday the 28^th of January .. Danny 48073 will pick me  and the Bobbseys up here at ‘1709’ and take us to Detroit Metro Air Port  for my 7:15AM American Airlines Flight to Chicago .. connecting at 2PM on a fifteen hour and thirty minute (15 hour 30 minute!) non-stop Cathay Pacific Flight to Hong Kong .. BUSINESS CLASS WITH LIE-DOWN-FLAT-STRETCH-FULL-OUT sleeping accomodations a first ever EVER for ol’ Bobba .. that ‘little perk’ cost me 20,000 additional miles but hey .. I decided to ‘just-go-for-it’ and I had the miles to spend.. my American Airlines Rewards Miles now stand at 615!  I wanted to and I ‘successfully zeroed-out’ my mileage balance.

IF I survive another three-month-trip in India .. and that is no-gimmie believe thee me .. I will return in economy class with my knees against my chest!  I stand a greater possibility of making the outbound trip than the return trip and IF I don’t make-it-back .. as I ‘breathe-my-last’ somewhere over there .. I will quietly ‘giggle’ thinking about the ride over in business class!

AND?  I haven’t even left yet on this trip and I want to stay longer and I am already ‘craving’ another trip after this trip!

What are we talking about here?  Incorrigible Travel Addiction?

Well ‘that-is-that’ says your correspondent ol’ Bobba Caps!

Signing Out With A Wink And A Smile!  About To Be ‘On-The-Road-Again’!  And I can hardly wait to get going!

Truly I feel oh-so-blessed!  THANK YOU OH GOD OF ABRAHAM MY CREATOR !  ..  Cap ..

JAN 1, 13 .. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013 ..

HAPPY  NEW  YEAR  2013 ..

 HAPPY  NEW  YEAR  2013 ..

At this point in my life .. I have younger friends and fellow senior citizens who are facing some very serious life-challenges!  So I am not going to merely send you a ‘do-gooder-giddy’ .. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL .. greeting without adding a little  ‘discernment’ to go with it.

That being said, like it or not, good health or health challenges, it still boils down to what Abraham Lincoln is quoted as having said:

“Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

And that catapults me straight to one of my  ABSOLUTE FAVORITE WRITINGS!

              ATTITUDE

by: Charles Swindoll

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

It is pretty difficult to ‘top this’ so I will close by again quoting Abraham Lincoln:

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count.  It’s the life in your years.”

 May your year 2013 be packed with all of the life that you can possibly squeeze into it. 

With Joy from Patti and Cap ..

DEC 30, 12 .. PERFECTIONISM .. AND A 'MEETING' ..

Let’s start with the word assume .. I ASSUME that some of you ( or maybe many of you? ) know that I am active in a twelve-step program of recovery.  Those of you who do not know what I am talking about, may want to just stop reading here because what I plan to write will make NO SENSE to you.  You will also notice that my web site .. titled my Doxology .. is in praise of my creator .. The God of Abraham, to whom I rhetorically ask, “How do things like this happen Oh God of Abraham?”  OK .. last Friday, December the 21^st, I did a post about THE THREE P’s -- Perfectionism .. Procrastination .. Paralysis.  Now let me tie-this-all-together for you who are interested in reading forward.

Sunday Morning .. December 30^th, 2012 .. I am EXPLODING WITH ENERGY!  Last night I slept a full eight (8) hours, unusual for me since I seldom sleep this long at night.  I was up before 7AM and .. let me tell you all .. I was ‘wired up’ and exploding with energy.  As I was doing my morning process, I kept thinking quietly to myself .. “I think that I will go to my favorite 8:30AM Sunday Morning men’s meeting.”  And so I did.

The meeting is based upon the book .. ‘As Bills Sees It’.  We do not randomly 'pick-a-page' to read in the book .. each week we progress through the book one-page-at-a-time in sequential order.  Not having been to the meeting for some time .. I did not have a clue as to which page we would be reading this morning.   At this point in my recovery process, I usually say little at meetings UNLESS I feel that maybe I can contribute something positive to the meeting.  I am quite comfortable and happy to just sit quietly and relax and let other newer members share.  Also at this particular meeting, many members want to share and it is usually a matter of having to ‘break in’ immediately after a member finishes his share since someone else will be ‘poised’ to begin their share.. and I do not like having to ‘compete’ to ‘get time to share’.  Finally .. seldom to NEVER do I actually lead the meeting. 

8:30AM the meeting began on-time.  One member ‘chairs’ the meeting.  After all of the meeting preliminaries were completed .. The Serenity Prayer .. The Preamble .. How It Works .. announcements .. the usual meeting format .. this morning the ‘chairman’ then stated thusly:  “Today we are on page 167 of ‘As Bill Sees It’.  Who would like to read page 167 and share on the reading?”  Keep-in-mind what I just posted here last Friday .. two days ago!  The Three P’s .. As I casually glanced at today's reading on page 167 .. I was STUNNED!

Page 167 of ‘As Bill Sees It’ is titled: 

Progress Rather than Perfection.

“On studying the Twelve Steps, many of us exclaimed, “What an order, I can’t go though with it.”  Do not be discouraged.  No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these spiritual principles.  We are not saints.

The point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines.  The principles that we have set down are guides to progress.  We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

We … … are not so much brothers in virtue as we are bothers in our defects, and in our common strivings to overcome them.”

End partial Quote (I omitted two words)

As I posted last Friday .. daily I live with this crippling affliction of paralyzing  perfectionism!  It Must Be God’s Will that I have these web site(s) and that I actually am able to post writings.  Patti knows how I ‘agonize’ over these posts and have to overcome my committees that are constantly saying .. “No one reads your posts!  No one cares about what you post!” blah-blah-blah!  Thank you Oh God Of Abraham for that one-quiet-little-one-person-committee inside-of-my-head that almost shyly says .. it always amazes me how I can actually hear that one-quiet-shy-little-voice above the ‘din’ of the others! .. “It will be all right.  Go ahead.”

Well this morning I did NOT have to ‘grab-the-lead’ .. none of the others seemed ‘moved to read and to share’ about the above  reading .. so off I went .. revved up and energized!

I can’t recall the last time that an hour-and-a-quarter meeting went by so quickly for me!  Dare I say 'it'?  For me at least .. a perfect meeting!

All I can end with is:

OH GOD OF ABRAHAM MY CREATOR .. THANK YOU FOR THE MEETING THIS MORNING!  FOR ME IT WAS A WHEW!

Smiles .. Cap ..

Now I will be gratefully quiet for weeks to come!   

DEC 27, 12 .. A LITTLE GOOD OL' TEXAS WISDOM ...

Patti and I really enjoyed our time spent in the GREAT ‘LONE STAR’ STATE OF TEXAS!

Texas .. like life itself .. is a State Of Mind.

While in Texas we came upon some TEXAS WISDOM that I wanted to share with you all ( y’all is said in one syllable .. ‘yawl’ ..)

Good judgment comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment!

If you find yourself in a hole .. the first thing to do is to stop diggin’!

Never miss a good chance to shut up!

Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier ‘n puttin’ it back in!

Don’t squat when you’re wearing your spurs!

If you’re riding ahead of the herd .. now and then take a look back to be sure it is still there!

Always drink up stream of the herd!

Never kick a cow chip on a hot day!

Never slap a man who’s chewin’ tobacco!

There’s two theories to arguin’ with a woman .. neither one works!

This morning I sent-out-a-feeler e-mail to the YMCA in Hong Kong, China, and asked them if there were any dorm beds open in mid-January.  The ‘itch’ to return to Hong Kong and then to India is sure there .. BUT .. the ‘calling’ I always await has NOT come to me. 

Meanwhile back up North in Anchorage .. Patti (well I think) is busy scurrying around to get the legal estate matters finished ASAP so she can possibly get back down here to join me in Michigan before I ‘head on out’ somewhere.

Another scenario is for Patti to hitch-up with me as I roll through San Francisco heading West for Asia.  That is IF I go.

So stayed tuned ‘yawl’ !

/s/  Cap and the Travelin’ Bobbseys Here With Me ‘itching to travel more’.

The hard-core India-Bobbseys are waiting for us IN India in Agra Cantt with Jeevan Lal.

NOV 20, 12 .. THE THREE MUSTS ..

I have a lot of friends and associates that seem to ‘envy’ this recent trip .. Manley Hot Springs Alaska down to the ‘lower 48 contiguous states’  to see some NFL Football games .. the New Orleans  Saints in the Super Dome play the San Francisco 49ers and (OH MY OF ALL THINGS) to see the Dallas Cowboys play the Philadelphia Eagles in Jerry Jones fantastic new stadium ..

To do what I am doing requires THREE (3) things ..

THREE YOU MUST HAVE ..

FIRST AND FOREMOST .. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR HEALTH .. IF YOU DO NOT FEEL WELL .. YOU CAN NOT DO WHAT I AM DOING ..

Under the HEALTH category .. I include you must have the physical energy to do it ..

Now the second requirement .. YOU MUST HAVE THE MONEY TO DO THIS .. I mean just the gasoline cost on this recent trip will be astounding .. hundreds of dollars .. into the thousands of dollars range ..

OK .. HEALTH AND MONEY .. you MUST have both of these ..

But Health and Money are NOT enough ..

So what is the THIRD (3^rd)  MUST ..

ARE YOU READY ..

YOU MUST HAVE .. THE GUTS TO DO IT ..

In the United States Marine Corps .. we were told .. we will prepare you (we will put it in your mind)  .. and we will teach you (we will put it in your heart) .. and then .. we will give to you the GUTS TO DO  WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IN COMBAT ..

SO YOU MUST HAVE THE GUTS TO GET UP OFF THE FIGURATIVE SOFA .. MAKE CALLS AND MAKE THE DECISIONS AND TAKE THE ACTION TO DO ALL OF THE THINGS THAT HEALTH AND MONEY WILL ALLOW YOU TO DO ..  

FOR INSTANCE .. ON THIS TRIP .. ANCHORAGE TO NEW ORLEANS TO DALLAS AND POINTS BEYOND ..

First .. I had to figure out HOW to get from Manley Hot Springs Alaska to Fairbanks (in the sub-zero dark of the Alaskan winter) to get the plane to Anchorage to pick up Patti .. then the red-eye all night flight  from Anchorage to Chicago and the day-trip from Chicago to Detroit on Amtrak (the train) ..

To put-this-all-together is a project !  ..

And without the GUTS TO DO IT .. all of your HEALTH and all of your MONEY will just await your actions and your decisions ..