Marc's Musings Reality from Marc's point of view!

Since there is a dearth of whole chocolate milk options to choose from, and I’ve already opened up this challenge to low fat contenders, I couldn’t resist picking up a “Mayfield Lowfat Chocolate Milk” while at the store last weekend.

Interestingly, the half gallon size (at $3.00) as pretty reasonable compared with the whole milk options which were selling for $2.50 for a quart (1/2 of a half gallon if you are used to metric).

Unexpectedly the lowfat option was significantly darker in color than its whole milk alternative. The taste was commensurately more bittersweet as well.

Not unexpected was the viscosity of the lowfat being much lower than that of the whole. This leads to my perceiving it as being somewhat more watery than I would prefer.

Surprisingly, on its own, it would could well have been passable. But contrasted with the current front runner (Mayfield Whole Chocolate Milk) the lowfat version stands tied for second place with Whole Food’s Whole Chocolate Milk offering.

Posted under General

Sorry to have dropped of the grid like that for a few days.

I took this past Friday off for a “me” day and went cycling along the Silver Comet Trail near Hiram, Georgia.

Around 23 miles into a 31 mile cycle something, I have no idea what, happened and I found myself dazedly staggering around the trail with a couple of very nice ladies offering me antiseptic wipes. I have no idea what exchange occurred between us because when I had finally achieved some degree of coherence, I was alone on the trail. I assume I must have switched to automatic “guy mode” along the lines of “No problem.. I’m fine… Thanks for stopping but I’m OK”..

I got back on the bike to finish the last 8 or so miles of the cycle, fortunately it did not seem damaged at all except for some scrapes on the top of the aero bars. My bike was off to the side of the trail facing as if I was cycling AWAY from Hiram. Somehow I managed to figure out that this was incorrect.

I gave Michelle a call and told her to expect that I would not be looking too great.

After getting cleaned up and bandaged from my newly replenished medical kit (literally I’d refreshed all the old supplies in that kit a month prior) we then sat back for a while to make sure that there were no neurological issues (uneven pupils, slurred speech, that kind of thing).

The next morning I awoke to bed spins so we headed off to the Northside Urgent Care facility to get things checked out.

After a couple of mis-steps with the X-Rays (got a lot more than I wanted) it turned out that my concussion was not neurologically worrying. And my ribs appeared only to be bruised (no punctured lungs or any of that kind of excitement) and nothing broken in my hand (I was thinking that was only a mild sprain anyway).

But I’ve been out of it for several days now, mostly sleeping and staring vacantly at the TV (which is probably the normal way of watching it anyway, so no harm no foul ).

Just yesterday (3 days after) I started feeling like my old self but I was tiring very easily. Today, very groggy but can still sense improvement and am remoting in to work to try to get back on top of things.

You can see my mildly cracked helmet (thank you helmet!!) and my “battle wounds” here. If you do not like the sight of blood, please don’t click through.

Posted under Photos, Sports

I’m pretty sure I was put on to this by a link from Mark Denney on Facebook.

The North Georgia Canopy Tour website looks pretty good and I think it will be fun.

We did something similar when we were in Belize this past November (here are some shots of Michelle doing a zipline and rappelling) and the Scenic Caves Nature Adventure North of Toronto in Collingwood (some videos of me on the final zipline here)  I really enjoyed it.

I don’t think the North Georgia offering is available to the general public until April 16. I’d love to hear from anybody when they do it to see what you think.

I’m thinking of waiting a couple of weeks so they can work some of the inevitable kinks out of their system (payments, timing, etc.) .

W

Posted under General, Very Cool

*Note to Facebook folks – there are a lot of pictures that won’t make it into the facebook note. Please click on the link to see them.*

It took me a while to organize the pictures that I wanted to post along with this blog entry.

Back in November Michelle and I took a cruise with our friends Polly and Stu. As luck would have it our cruise departed November 8th and just missed Hurricane Ida on our way out to the Grand Cayman islands. In fact our departure was delayed by a couple of hours I believe for exactly that purpose. The folks that had just come off the ship had said that they had encountered very rough seas.

Our ship was the Carnival Legend, cabin 5281, and we shared a balcony with Stu and Polly (cabin 5277).  The first night was VERY rough. I absolutely loved it. The tops of the waves were being torn off by the wind and looked like that fine icy snow you see blowing around on a crisp day up North. The ship was rocking so intensely that it was difficult to read in bed with your knees up ’cause of the force you had to exert just to keep them from falling over!

The ship was well appointed and we marveled at the cabin facilities. Everything was functional and just worked as it was supposed to. Our room steward (Natalia) was very pleasant and did a top notch job of keeping our cabin clean and stocked.

Another great surprise was that the mini bar prices were nowhere near as outrageous as I’ve seen in the past ($2 for a soda, $7.50 for a mini-bottle of booze).

The shows and activities on board were OK, but not spectacular (‘though I rather enjoyed the Monday night Jazz show) of note was a pretty bad balancing act (not naming it) that I would have thought was an SNL parody if I hadn’t known it was serious.

The dining room offerings seemed to go between extremes. The Caesar salads were uniformly bland while the potatoes were excellent, the ribs superb and filet mignon  was tough and lackluster. The offered dessert of melted chocolate cake was excellent and the hot chocolate was always inspired.

There was an ongoing language issue with staff unable to understand basic inquiries or not knowing the answers and making something up so we would be on our way (in the wrong direction usually). This is something that Carnival needs to work on.

Grand Cayman Island

We did not schedule any excursions in the Grand Cayman Islands, preferring instead to just lounge around on the ship and then head out to shore for a late day drink and meal. We found a great little place called Rackam’s Bar that was close to the port but relatively quiet.

Cozumel

We elected to do the “Ruins of Tulum” as our shore excursion. I heard after we had booked this trip that the “ruins” tour in Belize was better than this one. Even without experiencing the Belize tour first hand I have to say that I’m confident that it’s probably the way to go.

We started with a 40 minute boat ride from the port which featured a great guitarist / singer who kept us entertained, we then spent about 20 or so minutes on a bus where we met our guide, Raul. He was very engaging, kind of like a Mayan Robert Deniro. Really, he was one of the high points of the trip. This stopped briefly at a little artisans place where I picked up some shot glasses. I really am a sucker for shot glasses…

The ruins themselves were modestly interesting. Everything was roped off and sealed so you could not touch or really experience anything.

If you have ever wanted to climb a Mayan pyramid then this is definitely *not* the tour for you.

There are some interesting lizards and I’m pretty sure that every tour group that goes through there gets an entirely different story from what I heard listening to some of the other groups going through there.

Belize

From everything that I read Belize was the place to go. It’s not nearly so tired as Mexico and it’s way more mature than Isla Roatan.

We decided to do the “lost world canopy tour” in Belize. This involves 5 zip lines and 2 rappels at a location that is about a 40 minute bus ride on smooth road and about a 20 minute ride on one of the bumpier roads that you’ll ever ride on. Surprisingly, and I kid you not, the bumpy bus ride is pleasant, almost invigorating.

The canopy tour was a lot of fun, made so not only by the obvious professionalism and care for safety taken by the crew there but also by their easy going and frank manner whenever we had a chance to chat.

This trip was a little pricey at about $100 per person but I think it was worth the investment. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

If I could have my ‘druthers, I’d have spent all of our shore time in Belize. There were many other excursions that appealed and all of them seem to get a thumbs up from folks who took them. Polly and Stu elected to go Quad Vehicle riding that day and they had a great time too.

Isla Roatan

We had a catamaran excursion planned for this port that we ended up canceling at the last minute since it was raining that morning.

Instead, when the rain let up later in the day we went into the port to wander around a bit. There is a quaint cluster of shops and restaurants immediately within the port grounds. We elected to head out into the village to see what it had to offer and were immediately assailed upon leaving the port by offers and solicitations of all kinds. Everybody leaving the port ended up with an entourage of children – usually about 3-5 who would hover and attempt to cajole you into each establishment that they had a deal with.

It was a little unnerving, though Michelle commented afterward that it was a worthwhile experience to see such naked capitalism. But we quickly ended up retreating back to the port for drinks and conversation. This is one place where I’d only trust the cruise line shore excursion offerings instead of trying to work out something in port. The folks here need the dollars the tourism brings, but they are far too aggressive in trying to get them.

Overall

All in all I really enjoyed the cruise. I would definitely visit Belize again any time to explore what they have to offer. I like the cruise lifestyle and being able to just relax on the ship. There is always food available and room service is part of the deal if you prefer to spend time in your cabin. As we were cruising with friends, we often got room service in the morning and breakfasted together out on our balcony. The balcony, by the way, is something that I will be sure to get on any cruise I take in the future. It was great to be able to just hang out there and chat or think with nothing to break the reverie.

And, when you tire of being on your own, you just head out to the public parts of the ship and enjoy the sights and sounds of the other cruise passengers. As always, we bumped into some odd and interesting folks that add color to the experience and make it that much more memorable.

Posted under Opinions, Photos, Travel

Full Text Search indexes all documents in a database.

Because this includes all mail messages as well as calendar and to do items, folks who are restricted to reading or managing calendar and to do items do not have access to this index.

You can make use of one of the other two remaining search methods .

This is a flaw in my opinion and one that I know that the developers have been asked to rectify. I have not found any information about whether it has been addressed for the upcoming 8.5 release.

Posted under General

I originally posted about this a couple of years ago but it’s funny enough that I thought I would revisit it.

Or click directly right here. Make sure you have the sound turned on. Watch and listen, there’s a whole bunch of little stories going on in that globe. But the real fun comes when you give it a shake…

Posted under General

I really enjoy bicycling. Not epic 100+ mile cycles but more modest cycles. Lately on the order of around 30 miles or so.

Martin Goodman Commute to Work

I *used* to commute into work, back when I lived in Toronto. My house was located just four houses up from lake Ontario on Sixth street. I was able to cycle along Lakeshore Blvd for about 3 miles until I picked up the Martin Goodman Trail.  I was then able to follow the Lake Ontario shoreline until just South of where I worked downtown. A quick jaunt through city rush hour traffic and I was there. My company offered convenient  bicycle parking.  I would work out at the company gym and shower to get to work for about 8:30 every morning. It was about a 9 mile commute each way and it was glorious from about April through October.

Unfortunately, the prospect of commuting in and around Atlanta seems pretty laughable between the rather narrower roads and complete lack of awareness or care on the part of car drivers for anything smaller than another SUV on the road. So I cycle on weekends or early evening on very sparsely populated roads or – my favorite – Rails to Trails paths.

I’ve only explored a small part of the Silver Comet Trail (SCT) so far. I used to always begin at mile-marker zero (near Nickjack Elementary school) but have recently been making my way out to Hiram, GA to cycle the portion between there (mile marker 14.7) and the Historic Brushy Mountain Tunnel (mile marker 30.9). This trip *seems* to me to be just mildly uphill all the way out and mildly downhill all the way back with the tunnel representing some kind of watershed. It may just be my perception but I really do look forward to the return cycle.

There are multiple trailheads along the the SCT. The one at the zero mile marker is pretty good. It’s got a good bathroom facility and overflow parking at the elementary school if necessary. The downside is that it’s usually VERY busy and you’ll find yourself dodging pedestrians and other trail traffic for the first couple of miles of your trip.

I read an article that gushed about how attractive the segment of the SCT is between Hiram and Rockmart. I tried it several months back and I have to admit that it *is* a super attractive and pleasant ride. There is a great little cycling support place just off the Hiram trailhead (beyond the Sheriff’s caboose) that has washrooms big enough to just bring your bike in with you so you don’t need to worry about it. Also, it’s MUCH less crowded, even during peak times. Also, there are far fewer street crossings here than at the Zero mile marker trailhead. There are about 3 that you hit in fairly short order and then only the occasional slow-down-and-whiz-across one from then on.

Going beyond the Brushy Mountain Tunnel the trail starts to get much more hilly, especially for a rails-to-trails ride. I’ve been told that after Rockmart the trail really can be challenging (especially if you’re already bonking ).

Posted under Sports