On account of having used so much of my PTO for the Worldcon trip and needing to let it accumulate back up for Westercon and Worldcon next year and maybe a few other trips, we are not going to Loscon this year, so we'll miss the big Loscon 50 celebration. Neither Lisa nor I travel to family gatherings the way we did when we were younger, so once ( Read more... )

Today's plan was to drive to Roseville, where I could get lab test draws done for my annual medical checkup that will be in a couple of weeks. Sutter Health has no labs in Reno, so Roseville is the nearest lab to which I can get on a Saturday, but the lab does close at Noon. We figured that would not be a problem, though, as we planned to leave at ( Read more... )

There were no travel crises today with Team Kuma Bear (and Lisa) other than the neighboring hotel room included a baby that cried a lot, night and day, and another pair of rooms across the hall that seemed to contain several older children who spent the day running back and forth between the rooms yelling a lot. Fortunately, after Lisa came back ( Read more... )

This morning in the Faroe Islands, the MS Norröna (the ship on which Lisa and Kuma are traveling) made a port call at Tórshavn for a few hours, setting off again about the time I started work at Day Jobbe. Kuma continues to keep watch in the window of their cabin while they head toward Seyðisfjörður, where they are scheduled to arrive at 09:00 UTC ( Read more... )

Lisa and I were married on a Vintage Trolley on the Portland light rail system on this date in 1996. This year we are obviously far apart from each other, as Lisa is at sea in transit from Denmark to Iceland. We have been able to stay in contact, and I see that Kuma Bear is watching the ocean for fishes ( Read more... )

After a long layover at Hirshals, Denmark, Lisa boarded the MS Norröna for the three-day, two-night crossing to Seyðisfjörður, Iceland with a stopover at Tórshavn, Faeroe Islands. Lisa is very happy with the cabin that I booked for them, and it looks like Kuma Bear is, too.

( Bear Watch )

We stayed closer to "home" at the King's Cross Crowne Plaza today, as we visited the London Transport Museum. This is the second time we've been here.

( To Covent Garden )

We took a train trip today from London to Swindon to visit STEAM: The Museum of the Great Western Railway. I did some studying of train times and prices, and found a low spot for a train at 10:16 out of London Paddington and a return from Swindon at 16:50. The price for two adults return was £76 ($97), which was considerably less than the tickets ( Read more... )

Today was our final full day in Reykjavik, as we fly out on Friday afternoon. Because of our Saga class upgrade, I rebooked our SkyBus trip to Keflavik airport for an hour earlier than originally planned, on account of we'll have access to the Saga lounge, so we might as well head out earlier. Today was also Inauguration Day for Iceland's new ( Read more... )

Before writing about our second day in Reykjavik, I think I need to correct something about our first day, specifically the brunch that Lisa and I had that morning. In yesterday's entry, I accidentally said that the buffet cost of 4900 kr was about $71. I've now corrected that. It was 4900 kr per person, and the total 9800 kr for two people was $71 ( Read more... )