Blogs from Alabama, United States, North America - page 17

I know all of you are waiting for a report on the Alabama-people, but that's not what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about Asian people. Why on earth asian people? Well, because there are a lot of them. Not just in the world, but, you know, here. I would guess about 80% of the international students are Asian. Now, I don't know if most of you know this, but I never "got" asian people. Don't ask me why, I don't know. I didn't have anything against them, but for some reason I could never imagine liking them either. I would have never voluntarily travelled to China, Japan, South-Korea either. Like I said, I don't know. The people and/or culture just didn't interest me. (I love chinese food though, but that's different. ... read more

I realize I have previously explained where we retired and when, but I keep getting asked WHY? (Not as in why did you retire—duh—but as in why Alabama?) Every time we are introduced or meet someone here in Alabama, they ask, often with a touch of incredulity, “You mean, you actually wanted to move here?!” So I thought, now that we have been here for almost 3 full months, I’d try to explain. First, I began to seriously consider where to retire back in 2000. We have always lived east of the Mississippi and in the north: Ohio, NH, NY, MA, WV, and VA. So it would be logical to presume that would be our choice. Weather is a factor and though we both loved the snow, went cross country skiing, and knew how to cook ... read more

Geo: 31.4333, -86.9569... read more

We left Dog River on Monday morning, Memorial Day, hoping and praying for calmer waters and fewer crazies on the river. Mobile Bay to the ship channel was fairly calm and it was an easy cruise up to the Mobile River. Through the port of Mobile not much was going on, it was a holiday after all. There was a container ship being unloaded near the mouth of the river. A little farther in a cruise ship was having its stern windows washed by an aerialist on a scaffold dangling above the river. A navy ship was festooned with signal flags and several sailors were stringing more flags. We passed a few tugs moving barges around, then a few fishermen, and finally we had the river almost to ourselves. We passed Big Bayou Canot, where Trevor ... read more

OK, we got the goods and said, "Yea!" But the truth was, we really couldn't set up. The tornadoes had caused problems, not the least was lack of power for a week, and our contractor couldn't work on putting in the floors. Then, when power came back, he had several people who had suffered damage and needed immediate relief and assistance. Of course, that should come first. So we putzed and tinkered, trying to put dishes in the kitchen, clean shelves in cupboards, and straighten the garage. Remember, we could do nothing in the bedroom or living room because the floor wasn't in yet, and the upstairs floors were also just in plywood. Trish worked in the kitchen and I went to the garage, sorting, moving, and arranging. One of the first orders was to put ... read more