The weather yesterday in the port of Invergordon, near Inverness, and Loch Ness, home to Nessie, (the world’s oldest monster, having first been sighted in the fifteenth century), was, to put it simply, miserable and cold. The temperature hovered around 38-40 degrees all day, with a wind that reached gusts up to 50 mph. To get into the town, only a couple blocks away from the ship, we had to walk on a pier about 100 yards long, and I almost lost my hat into the bay a number of times. It was so strong a wind, it literally almost blew me off my feet, and I am no lightweight (I’m about 205 lbs, right now, possibly more after 10 days of eating well…. I’m afraid to actually weigh myself…). It also rained in spurts, so I made only two quick forays off the ship, going a bit crazy again buying little stuff for ffolkes back home….

I did get some nice pix of the landscape, and the quaint village of Invergordon where we are docked. There is a small museum just across from the ship, showing exhibits of the history of the town, and of the area. Inverness has long been considered the capital of Scotland and the Highlands, and the port area has a long history of involvement with the royal navy. I got some nice photos, and found more little pieces of jewelry for my daughter, Patricia, and my adoptive daughter, Cheryl, as well as a couple of cute little stuffed Nessies for my grandson, and Cheryl’s son Marcus. (I told you I went crazy….) I also found more magnets, and a nice pocket watch with a Celtic Knot design for myself. I feel like a real capitalist…..

That last comment is about all the rant I have in me, I think, so we should get started on the rest of today’s pearls…. Section one will be for an old-school pearl, two, of course, will be a poem by somebody, and section three will show the photos I got today in port….. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

The following pearl is of the old-school variety, but much fresher….. The quotes sort of picked themselves, with little or no assistance from yours truly, and seemed to know just what they wanted to say, because it took only a few minutes for it all to come together. The point of it all is, of course, left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader, and please don’t throw anything at me….. I’m kind of run down from all the rich food I’ve been consuming for the past two weeks while on this trip. My stomach, and my brain, will both be glad when I’m home again…..

“A man is a very small thing, and the night is very large and full of wonders.” — Lord Dunsany, The Laughter of the Gods

“Patience is sorrow’s salve.” — Sir Winston Churchill

“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.” — Frederick Douglass

“In the part of this universe that we know there is great injustice, and often the good suffer, and often the wicked prosper, and one hardly knows which of those is the more annoying.” — Bertrand Russell

“It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.” — ee cummings

“If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours…” — Smart Bee

“A poet who reads his verse in public may have other nasty habits.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”
__________________________________

This will be the final Pearl for the trip, and it may take me a couple of days before I can get posted again, as the trip back to SF promises to be a marathon event…. I have someone to take me from London to Heathrow, but then must find my way onto the plane, where I’ll sit, and stand, and sit, and stand for the next 11+ hours to get home. I have a car set up to take me back to Vallejo, but I expect by then I’ll be pretty well toasted, and won’t be feeling much like writing, or doing anything more complicated than breathing and sleeping for a day or three…. So, I’ll say adieu for the time being, and hope you enjoyed these little travelogues as much as I enjoyed posting them…. See ya in a couple of days…… Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

This suits my curmudgeonly nature just fine, as I am tired to the bone, of people, and places. Two more days will give me my complete fill of all of it, I’m sure, and I will be glad to fly home, miserable as the flight promises to be, stuck once more in a confined area with 499 others, all pumping body heat, for eleven or more hours. Once I am actually home, I will be very happy to stay there for a long time…..

None of which even considers how glad I’ll be to see Patricia…. It isn’t easy to do this cruising thing alone, even when one is as centered as I am, and able to enjoy being alone. It’s a lot more fun with someone else to share the experience; I found myself wanting to turn to her during the trip, to say “Look!” or “Isn’t that beautiful?” or a hundred other ways to acknowledge the beauty or interesting nature of what I encountered …. Ah well, we’ll be going on a cruise ourselves at the end of June, so, I have that to look forward to…..

In the third section today, I’ll put the few pictures I got yesterday, of some of the desolate islands that make up the Greater Hebrides, and the Orkney Islands which dot the ocean at the northern end of Scotland. The ocean was much more deep ocean in nature, with swells of about 3-4 feet, enough that this massive ship, complete with with stabilizing fins, and a competent master, still tended to rock and roll a bit. I was happy to find that I had acclimated to the motion, though, and never felt a twinge of nausea, even when gazing out to sea, watching the birds, and looking for dolphins, which are known to greet ships in the area, according to the natives in Greenock. The only fin I saw, though, was not a dolphin fin, but a smaller shark of some kind, chasing some prey near the surface…..

The last paragraph sums up my day at sea pretty well; it was a pretty slow day, which gave me time to feel all the aches in my calves from the extra walking I did in Greenock port; I figured out I probably covered about four miles, way more than I’m used to, so some soreness is kind of welcome, in that sense. But, it made for a relatively slow day for events, with the menu at each meal being the most compelling decision I had to make, as the menu depends on which venue one chooses…. buffet, dining room, snack outlets (pizza, gelato, etc….), casual bistro style dining, and the rest of the choices on board. It’s a tough job, but, someone has to do it, so, I gave it my best shot, as it were…..

Wow, I didn’t realize I had that much BS stored up in there…. That’s what I get for not writing for several days, other than to discuss the pictures I took. There’s so much, I think I’d best call a halt here to work on the photos, or I’ll ramble on for days…. Six paragraphs of nothing much is legally enough for an intro section, so we’ll go on to something else now….. Shall we Pearl?……

“Never before have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity!   Have you ever considered a career in the Church?” — Black Adder II

(I know, complete non-sequitor, but, it’s such a great line, I had to throw it out there…. It’s perfect for a religirant, if I was in the space for one, so I give to you, gratis, in place of said rant….. Okay, now we’ll get on with the show….)
__________________________________

As yet, nothing rantable has sallied forth to be written, other than the above quote, which stands alone quite well, so I’m going with an old-school pearl. This one was picked in an extremely random fashion, so I can’t say how it will turn out. I trust Smart Bee, though, so we’re going with it, no matter how hard it is to figure, or how obscure it gets…. Some days, that’s just the way I am…. Yep…..

Around existence twine,
(Oh, bridge that hangs across the gorge!)
ropes of twisted vine.

– Basho

“The one who tells the stories rules the world.” — Hopi proverb

“Fight for your opinions, but do not believe that they contain the whole truth, or the only truth.” — Charles A. Dana

“Closed eyes are not always sleeping.” — Smart Bee

“Honor is the reward of virtue.” — Cicero (B.C. 106-43)

Finally he released the young man, and waded back to dry land. Then Socrates questioned the man. `What did you most want just now?’ The young man replied, `Air.’ `When you want knowledge as much as you just wanted air, you shall have it.’– Some random Greek historian

“2nd star on the right, then on until morning.” — from Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie, and James T. Kirk, stardate unknown
__________________________________

In the interests of…. well, something that now completely eludes me, I am going today with one of my poems…. I don’t know if y’all remember this one; it’s one I wrote during the NaWriPo poetry challenge of recent vintage, and is one of my personal favorites…. I hope you enjoy it too….

Okay, here is where I bore you to death, with the sum total of pictures I was able to get yesterday, cruising in the North Atlantic….
    See what I mean? A VERY slow day, sea-watching-wise…. Oh well, it should be better in Inverness, and at Loch Ness, later today…. I hope…..
__________________________________

Having thus used up the hours that I awoke early to find in front of me, I’ll now leave you to fend for yourselves the rest of the day, as I must do….. Shouldn’t be too hard, I’m all shopped out, and my legs ache, so I think my time ashore will be limited to just what it takes to get some good pictures to share with y’all…. In the meantime….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

    Since I’m not sick, it should be a nice relaxing day, and I’ll try to get some actual writing done, after I post the pictures from yesterday. I didn’t expect to spend a lot of time on shore, but the walk into town was quite short and manageable, even for me, so I ended up going twice, and spending a lot of cash I hadn’t counted on spending. I don’t regret any of it though, and even bought a couple items for myself.

    I also took a LOT of pictures, especially on the free tour I took around this port town of Greenock, staffed entirely of volunteers, who love their little city. The tour went to the Old West Kirk, one of the oldest buildings in the town, drove up a steep hillside to a view point with some magnificent views, and then downtown to near the ship to walk through an old government building. I skipped the last part, deciding instead to walk back to the ship for a cool down and a nap, in that order, as the bus we rode in for t he tour was sweltering, and I was drenched in sweat…..

    After dinner last night, I also took a bunch of pictures of the staff at the Rendezvous Bar, where I usually go for my pre-dinner cocktail, and my post-dinner nightcap. They’re a bunch of good kids, and fun to watch as they take care of all the old American, French, and British passengers who are mostly three or four times their ages (the last group, sadly, includes yours truly….). I think they’ve sort of adopted me as their mascot, so I took the pix, and told them they’d be famous online by tonight, as they will be…. This is the last text I’m writing for now, because I have a bunch of pix to process so they can be posted, and it takes some time…..

    Today, section one will have the photos from the town, and section three will have the photos from on board last night….. I think now it is time we got on with that, so, Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

First a couple of landscape shots, then some of the Old West Kirk, and last, some street and building shots……
__________________________________

“He was determined to discover the underlying logic behind the universe. Which was going to be hard, because there wasn’t one.” — Terry Pratchett, “Mort”

    I know, I know, I haven’t ranted in two weeks…. but, then, it’s a bit hard to build up a great deal of angst when one’s every need and/or want is being fulfilled. Heck, it’s all I can do to just get this posted with the little bit of text it has…. I have to say, though, I can’t find it in myself to care much, as this is the fulfillment of two lifelong dreams for me, and the rest of reality can just wait for me to finish my trip. I’ve been keeping a weather eye on happenings in the States, and none of it particularly needs my attention yet, as not much has really changed, other than the box scores….

    So, maybe tomorrow will have something a bit more biting in it, as we’re at sea today, so not much picture opportunity once the sun is up, until it goes down again…. There HAVE been some rather stunning sunsets, a couple of which I’ve captured with the camera, and posted…. well, one, anyway…. Now all I have to do is figure out which restaurant or dining room I want to eat in at lunch, tea, and dinner times…. SIGH…. It’s a tough job, but only I can do it…..   Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

It’s become obvious to me that my muse decided not to come on this trip. I find myself having a hard time knowing what to say; there is so much to write about, but I don’t feel I have the words in me right now to do it justice. Today, that is probably just as well, as I took a lot of pictures, and want to share them; that takes time, to upload all the picture files into WordPress, even though it is comparatively easy to do in WP. So, you win, ffolkes, because this is all I’m going to write today, other than the identifying captions for the pix. See, this trip is a good thing, for me, AND for y’all….  

Without further ado, (what does that MEAN?), we will go on to the picture portion of today’s Pearl, in two sections….. Section 2 will have a poem, if I can get to one of the sites I use to find it…. If not, well, I can always subject you to another one of mine….  Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

I only brought one pair of shoes with me, for some now obscure reason, and have been looking all over in the towns we’ve been to, without finding anything I liked. I finally found a pair in Belfast, at a shoe store that I found using the “ask a local” technique; one of the young walking tour guides who hang out by the shuttle bus stop was very friendly, so I asked him where HE went to get shoes, and he not only pointed me to a good store just a block away, he also told me where to find the best pub grub that I wanted for lunch.

He suggested I go about two short blocks, to an alley, down which I would find White’s Tavern, the oldest pub in Belfast, first opened by license from the Queen in the year 1630. It not only had “grand craic”, as the locals say, but very excellent bangers and mash…. Here are some pictures which, since they came out pretty well, will give a good idea of the place, inside and out….
__________________________________

In honor of our visit to Scotland, here is one of the most famous poems by that country’s favorite son, also known as Robbie Burns, or The Ploughmans’ Poet…..

Above I mentioned a friendly local, who kindly gave me directions to what I wished to find; his picture is the first one below. The rest of this group are shots of the city center in Belfast, a great place to walk around, and to shop… Enjoy!…..

__________________________________

We have only two more cities to visit, in Scotland. Today we will be near Glasgow, which lies twenty miles inland from the mouth of the river Clyde, on the western coast of the big island that contains Scotland, England, and Wales. Glasgow has an interesting history, and it is known as “The Friendly City” for the energy and openness of its inhabitants. I, however, am exhausted from walking around Belfast yesterday, so I think my participation in visiting Glasgow will be limited to just enough to get some pictures of the mostly Victorian architecture.

I may be reaching the limit of my strength for such ventures…. we’ll see how it goes today. Tomorrow is an At Sea day, then on Wednesday, we visit Inverness, on the eastern coast, in reach of Loch Ness…. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get a good picture of “Nessie” the monster who lives in the loch….. Until then, y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

We spent yesterday in Liverpool, the home of the Beatles, and I was kind of looking forward to seeing the Cavern Club, if nothing else. However, the weather decided to turn wintry, with a temp in the low forties, or less, and a drizzle most of the day. I did get off the ship, to walk around the pier and watch the Ferry Cross the Mersey wend it’s way across the river, and the pictures I took are below in section three…. Today we are in Belfast, Ireland, which is actually still part of the British Isles, and uses their currency, the Pound Sterling, rather than the Euro, which is used by the rest of Ireland. If that is confusing to you, think how they must feel living here….

Enough rambling and boasting…. I feel like actual pearling today, so fasten those seat belts a little tight; we may hit some turbulence, and we don’t want any injuries we haven’t planned for…. Shall we Pearl?…..

“First, I’m going to give you all the ANSWERS to today’s test..  So just plug in your SONY WALKMANS and relax!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

When I say I feel like pearling, what I mean is I feel like an old school pearl, where I pick an idea, and use the quotes to lead the Gentle Reader to that general area, so they can enjoy the thrill of discovery, and hopefully, epiphany…. This group is the first since I re-loaded Smart Bee (again….SIGH…..), and could be a good one…. or not, the odds are about even…. Enjoy, mis amis….

“Expect the unexpected, for it will happen, usually when least expected.” — Smart Bee

“And the wind shall say, Here were decent, godless people their only monument the asphalt road and a thousand lost golf balls.” — T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)

“I feel my immortality oversweep all pains, all tears, all time, all fears, – and peal, like the eternal thunders of the deep, into my ears, this truth, – thou livest forever!” — Byron (1788-1824)

“He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.” — Aristotle

“A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets to know something.” — Wilson Mizner

“Like strength is felt from hope and from despair.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Iliad of Homer, Book xv, Line 852

“It has long been known that one horse can run faster than another – but which one?  Differences are crucial.” — Lazarus Long
__________________________________

I find the process of creating these Pearls is both enhanced and made more difficult by being on the road, so to speak. But, that is a personal problem, and has nothing to do with you, so don’t fret, all will be well, eventually. I’m off to explore today’s venue, Belfast, Ireland…. Wish me luck…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

A Celtic Haiku

London, Cork, Dublin,
all quite cosmopolitan.
Me? Hick from the states.

~~ gigoid ~~
__________________________________

As intimated above, this is late getting posted, so, with no further ado, I will quickly proof, then try to get it online…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

It seems my muse has deserted me, just when I needed her the most….. Now I’m going to have to re-load Smart Bee, so I can find her again, hiding in one of the quotes I’ll see eventually. We are speeding toward Cork (Cobh), the town on the Irish coast nearest to where the Titanic went down in the early 20th century. It will be my first time off the ship, as I didn’t want to visit Paris for just one day (and, as I discovered, the one day of the week when the Louvre is closed, meaning my only reason to go wasn’t happening….), and I had no interest in the isle of Guernsey, where we’ve been anchored all day…. So, I’m going to go load SB; I’ll be right back to start today’s Pearl…..

“I’m a fucshia bowling ball somewhere in Brittany” — Zippy the Pinhead

Trust Zippy to come up with an appropriate statement to fit any occasion… In this case, he describes my feelings for much of the day yesterday. Since coming aboard this ship, I’ve had several instances of having the staff tell me something, and not having it happen. In and of themselves, each of the incidents might not have been a big deal, but coming one after another, I rapidly lost patience, thanks to the emotional morass that exists in me at all times…. I just don’t deal well with stress anymore…. After the last incident, in the spa, it took me hours to regain my equilibrium, and I still didn’t get my massage! I know that we all have to learn to live with disappointment, but it isn’t supposed to be like this when I’m paying these prices….

Rather than spend another day in the dumps, however, I resolve to put it behind me, at least long enough to put out this Pearl, now being written at 0430 in the morning, because that is when I awoke, fully charged, having gone to bed at 9 PM last night, and spent all night dreaming about…. something. Any who, this meandering batch of BS will serve well enough as an intro, at least until I can find something better….. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

Sometimes, Smart Bee is smarter than usual. These five little aphorisms point in a direction that will enable me to bring back some balance, and hopefully, allow me to find my center sometime before the cruise is over…. These are all excellent advice, for any day, not just the difficult ones…..

Be happy while y’er leevin,
For y’er a lang time deid.

– Scottish motto for a house

“If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.” — Lin Yutang

“There are always options.” — Worf, “The Emissary”, stardate 42901.3

“To a man of strong character misfortune may do him more good than harm.” — Roger Bacon

“On the other hand, life can be an endless parade of TRANSSEXUAL QUILTING BEES aboard a cruise ship to DISNEYWORLD if only we let it!!” –Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

I haven’t thought about poetry in over a week now, having been somewhat preoccupied with this trip. I find myself in need of some Emily D….

Me! Come! My dazzled face
In such a shining place!

Me! Hear! My foreign ear
The sounds of welcome near!

The saints shall meet
Our bashful feet.

My holiday shall be
That they remember me;

My paradise, the fame
That they pronounce my name.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~
__________________________________

In the interests of keeping it simple, here is a picture from my stay in London…. I got several good shots while riding around on the double-decker tour bus, but, since I can’t upload many pix on this network connection on board ship, I’m limiting it to one good shot per Pearl…. This is a picture of the Houses of Parliament with the tower of Big Ben…..
__________________________________

Not too bad for an off-the-cuff effort….. and, regardless, it’s going to go out, as is…. My plan for today is to brave the rainy weather in Cork, Ireland, long enough to find a sweater or two….. I will try to post again tomorrow, but, given the unreliability of the connections I have, it may or may not be possible…. I’ll do all I can, though, to put out something…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

The wonders of technology are truly wondrous, as I spent some time this afternoon speaking, face to face, with milady Patricia, who is back in California, using Skype, computer to computer, to keep in touch. It’s truly amazing to be able to talk to someone, and see them, from half-way around the world, with almost no delay at all, just the buffering pauses by the computer’s processing chips. This is something that no other culture in history has achieved, to our knowledge, and it is a boon, indeed….

When I was able to get out and about, I went to the Saturday market on Portobello Road, which turns out to be right around the block from where I’m staying. It was a grand experience, with a huge crowd of people and a million little shops selling just about anything imaginable, mostly used or antique… all of the new stuff seemed to be crafts (leather, scarves, etc…) or tourist bric-a-bracs like magnets and posters, or cups and key chains.

I spent a moment talking with a fellow playing Charlie Chaplin, as a mime, and had my picture taken with him (see below), and got a few little things for folks back home, like a British Bobby’s helmet for my grandson, and some other little items. It was a great time, and I only stopped because my fatigue caught up to me again, so I went to take my second nap….

I have discovered that jet lag is more powerful than it seems; I don’t think I’ll feel normal until tomorrow. I’m really glad I took the extra time here in London to recover from that before I go on my cruise, as I think it would have been disastrous to try to get right on the ship after the flight over the pond. At least this way, I’ll only be tired from the hour or two train ride from London to Harwich, where the ship is waiting for me., and will be better able to enjoy the cruise….

Here are a few pictures from todays rambles…. I hope you are enjoying my little travelogue….

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

I also figured out how to run Skype on my comp, so I could talk to Patty at home…. This also means that anyone else who wishes to call me via Skype, either video or audio, by searching for gigoid2 in their contacts…. It works well, and makes me feel like I’m Back In The Future!….. Now, if I can find where I left the DeLorean…..

Tomorrow I plan to spend much of the day sightseeing… I’ll be taking a double-decker bus tour, and a river tour, to find out where Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the Bridges, Westminster Abbey, etc…. On Sunday, I plan to try to get to Stonehenge and back to London, to get ready to embark Monday on the cruise…. Good times ahead, for sure….

Below are some travel pictures, beginning on the freeway to the airport, and ending at The Old Swan pub… more to come tomorrow….

On the freeway….
The San Francisco skyline from the Bay Bridge….
The Abbey Court Notting Hill, in London on Pembridge Gardens Road…..
And lastly, the bar at The Old Swan….
    That’s all for now…. Tomorrow, I hope to have more to share of my stay here in London…… Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.