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Toonbots message board: Hello from mid-Atlantic!

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Michael Wed Apr 30 19:46:48 2003
Hello from mid-Atlantic!

Guess what?!? I'm on a ship!

So this is my pathetic explanation for ignoring you fine folks for the last two weeks: instead of uprooting the household in orderly manner in July for an extended stay in Budapest, we decided to jump the gun. Our travel agent told us for anybody else she would have ignored the opportunity, but we got two cabins on the Golden Princess from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona for $1200 on two weeks' notice. And ... here we are, idiots that we are. ($150 for unlimited Web access onboard.... better than 50 cents a minute with the clock ticking!)

Nine days at sea, all the food we can eat, free movies, free child care, the only thing is no free Coke, but I'm over the decaf jitters now. Mostly. And there's the little matter of telnet access being disabled through the ship's firewall, which could still bring my life crashing down around my ears, but eh. And there was the little emergency room visit on the night we left (but the boy turned out not to have pneumonia) and the fact that we ran into two storms on the way and couldn't make it in time and had to fly from Atlanta instead and the plane was late, too, and all that, but hey -- we're on the darned boat and still alive.

And no news for a week. Life looks sooooo much better when you just decide to ignore the outside world entirely! Heck, I may shortly get my funny back! (Howard Tayler says he looked under the sofa cushions but didn't find it, but he did find a couple of coins and a deactivated Toonbot.) All things are possible!! Woo!

Later, taters!

mouse Thu May 1 13:35:16 2003
Re: Hello from mid-Atlantic!
_wondered_ what had happened to you... lost at sea is as good an excuse as any, i suppose.
so how long are you all in budapest for? you may have to check in on the news occasionally, just to give us the european perspective - i suspect things will be a lot funny from a distance, anyway.
anyway - enjoy the trip!

Michael Sat May 3 10:25:25 2003
Re: Hello from mid-Atlantic!
> _wondered_ what had happened to you... lost at sea is as good an excuse as
> any, i suppose.
No, actually -- now that I'm lost at sea I have time to talk. It was getting *ready* to move the household to another country for five months on two weeks' notice that had me tied up in knots. (And finishing up some work beforehand, of course.)
Plus I've lucked into some steady translation work.
> so how long are you all in budapest for?
Till August or September.
> you may have to check in on the
> news occasionally, just to give us the european perspective - i suspect
> things will be a lot funny from a distance, anyway.
What distance? I'm online. There is no distance. I'm reading the Toonbots message board from just outside the Straits of Gilbraltar. IT'S THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY! WOO!
I have to admit, it's been very nice not to see any news. Of course, the TV carries CNN, but I keep it on either the movie channel or Animal Planet.
I have heard from a few people that I should avoid sounding American while travelling in Europe. To which I reply, "Ich wollte sowieso nicht Englisch reden." Seems to solve everything. It's certainly worked fine for me in the past. In the worst case, I'll just get a little maple-leaf flag pin. My wife worries. But frankly, I *don't* come across as an American while in Europe, so I don't expect even a little bit of a problem.
Well, I have a grueling schedule of eating and napping to get back to. With the occasional half-hearted stab at pretending to translate a couple of pages while actually watching the Simpsons or one of the movies I've missed lately. So I'll leave all you fine folks for now. Ciao ragazzi!

mouse Sat May 3 13:51:31 2003
Re: Hello from mid-Atlantic!
> No, actually -- now that I'm lost at sea I have time to talk. It was
> getting *ready* to move the household to another country for five months
> on two weeks' notice that had me tied up in knots. (And finishing up some
> work beforehand, of course.)
wimp - i can get tied in knots for 2 weeks just trying to get the house _cleaned_.
> Plus I've lucked into some steady translation work.
congratulations!
> I have heard from a few people that I should avoid sounding American while
> travelling in Europe.
i'm wondering whether europeans really take all this american gnashing and snarling about the french, etc., as seriously as we think they do - i heard the first french reaction to boycotting french stuff was mild confusion. (of course, they did get upset when they heard people were pouring wine down the sewers - and rightly so.) but when you think it through, the french probably don't view 'french fries' as the epitome of their cuisine, so one can see where they might not be mortally offended.
i figure i'll just wear an "i voted for gore" button (assuming, that is, that i ever get the chance/time/money to actually travel in europe).
> Well, I have a grueling schedule of eating and napping to get back to.
> With the occasional half-hearted stab at pretending to translate a couple
> of pages while actually watching the Simpsons or one of the movies I've
> missed lately. So I'll leave all you fine folks for now. Ciao ragazzi!
poor baby - try not to strain yourself.