From the Washington Post: Across the country, pollen season is starting earlier and intensifying because of rising global temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations. url=https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pnas.org%2Fdoi%2Fepdf%2F10.1073%2Fpnas.2013284118&data=04%7C01%7C%7Ccd8a3fe91e1c4e5843d008da157cc41d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637845922869621352%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=Rezk6uZgpPnzLAsEfNGprTTj1Ku%2FLyOWtMUophxe7zI%3D&reserved=0Previous research showed that pollen season lengthened by 20 days over the past three decades across North America, while pollen concentrations increased by 21 percent. The most affected places were the U.S. Southeast and Midwest. Yes, my seasonal and year around allergies are worse than ever. Lexi too! I use the f... read more

From none other than Food and Wine: Why are SPAM®'s products so popular in Hawaii? "We know what you're thinking; SPAM® products must grow on trees there. That would be neat, but to believe it you must have taken a coconut to the head. The true root of the island's love for SPAM® products goes back to World War II, when the luncheon meat was served to GIs. By the end of the war, SPAM® products were adopted into local culture, with Fried SPAM® Classic and rice becoming a popular meal. The unique flavor quickly found its way into other Hawaiian cuisine, from SPAM® Fried Wontons to SPAM® Musubi, and SPAM® products became a fixture for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Today you'll find SPAM® dishes served everywhere from convenience stores to restaurants, reflecting a demand that ... read more

Little known, at least to me: Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish speaking country in Africa. Sao Tome and Principe (two island country) is Africa's second smallest country. Nauru is the world's smallest island nation. The Vatican and Monaca are smaller. Moldova is one of Europe's least visited countries. It has only existed since 1991. Tuvalu and Montserrat are still part of the Commonwealth. The newest country in the world is South Sudan. Canada has the longest coastline in the world. Greece has the longest coastline in Europe. Russia has 11 time zones. Russia is the country to have most consecutive number of time zones. Russian time zones are UTC-2, UTC-3, UTC-4, UTC-5, UTC-6, UTC-7, UTC-8, UTC-9, UTC-10, UTC-11 and UTC-12. (And I went through each one in 2014) The highest point in Japan is Mount ... read more

After flying well over a million miles in my business and leisure travel, I have seen my share of unusual behavior on the plane. Here are some, and I hope it does not gross you out. Probably the worst behavior I have ever experienced first hand was an air marshal sitting in First Class with us. He proceeded to tell the flight attendant and pilot he was an air marshal, showed his ID, and told them he was armed. He started drinking hard liquor as soon as we got airborne. The lovely flight attendant finally had to cut him off after three drinks, since he was drunk, making passes toward her, and barely able to speak. Can you imagine if we really needed him to perform his job on that flight? I am certain he was ... read more

As of today, here are the State Department warnings regarding travel to my destinations in May. Serbia: Reconsider your need to travel. It has not been updated since Oct, 2021. Belgrade is only 320 miles from the Ukraine border! Croatia: Exercise a high degree of caution. (Mar 2022) Greece: Same as Croatia France: Same as Greece Germany: Same as France So, what am I going to do? The cycling portion of my trip in May in Croatia, from May 14-21. Is the Adriatic Sea safe for tourists? Yet, Poland is rated the same as Croatia, France, and Germany, though they have received upwards of 3 million refugees from war torn Ukraine. At least Ukraine is listed as "Do not travel" as of March 20, 2022. Here are the warnings for the Ukraine: Military action is underway. ... read more