I Was Best Man at Larry's Wedding

Some may be worried after reading the last post that there is or was friction between Larry and me. Nothing could be further from the truth. Larry visited me last Friday and Saturday morning. We grew up together, shared a room, roomed together at college before he joined the Navy. In fact, I was best man at his wedding.

We correspond daily or talk daily on the phone. Please let your minds be at peace about this.

A Tale of Two Coats

Saturday, March 21, 2009 approximately 11:00 AM: Outside the Charles De Gaulle Airport waiting on our shuttle to the hotel.

Larry had begrudgingly loaned me this diaphanous windbreaker which in stark contrast to his parka-like winter coat that he had. See his haughty demeanor as he rushes ahead of me in this photo taken later in the day. In contrast to this I put up a brave front as I am waiting on the shuttle in the hope of a little warmth. It was a tad cold in what has laughingly been called a coat. But Larry didn't care. As you will see in the next few episodes, he seemed to have studied the following for inspiration for our little jaunts.

Finally before hypothermia set in the van for the hotel arrived.

We were greeted by an East Indian or Pakistani (both groups don't like being confused with the other) Parisian who very graciously helped us with our baggage.

Our driver spoke excellent English and performed miracles while driving, no one outside or inside the van was killed. I find it interesting that while Larry was impressed by Mitterrand's building projects in Paris, the driver said that he would rather have the money in his pocket.

We will discuss Paris as an industrial city and the trip to the hotel in a future post.

An Anxious World Awaits

Larry called me this morning to say that the last blog entry was #1 in the google entry.

Go to Google and key in "samsung paris charles de gaulle airport hand" in and voila, there the last blog entry is.

This is big as you can see from the picture of people lining up at internet cafes to view our blog.

I promise not to forget the little people or charge too much for the honor of viewing my blog.

Paris, Charles de Gaulle Airport

Saturday morning, March 21, 2009 Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport

Please forgive me for the lack of postings, the creative process takes time.

The landing: The quote from the Penguin Skipper in Madagascar 2,"Gently now, you just wanna kiss the ground, just a little peck, a smooch like you're kissing your sister." has changed my perception of plane landings.

We had to get the 2 carry ons out of the overhead and wrestle our way down the aisle. Differences in personality are fascinating, especially when it involves Larry and me. I'm the kind who waits at concerts and games till later to go. It just seems fruitless to rush to wait. Larry on the other hand believes in moving as quick as he could. He said, "Don't let them get ahead of you!"

We went through the corridors and then were herded like cattle by a short Frenchman in a suit had us all go to the right through turnstiles like at Disney World. An American woman said that our herder didn't sound like he was that smart. Another positive ambassador for our country.

We then went through passport checks a long line in front of several booths. There was a pretty girl in front of me. The young man in the booth was most attentive, asking how long she was staying, smiling kindly all the time. Larry told me to watch, that he would just stamp my passport. He took my passport, stared at the Samsung screen that seems to be a universal fixture in France and then after staring at the screen at what seemed forever, stamped it and gave it to me without a word.

Larry had a luggage issue and had to go get a bag. One thing I noticed was that everyone looked so foreign. Wonder why?

A pretty young lady who looks like Lois, my daughter in law's sister, helped us get a Paris Museum Pass which you need for riding the Metro, their subways and gives you admission to all the good attractions. She called on the phone which we were glad because our French is not that good.

Then disaster hit. At the security check, you have to place shoes, belt, passport, wallet, etc. into these plastic containers. I grabbed my stuff up quickly. I grabbed my luggage, then was walking away. By habit, even this early, I felt for my passport. Gone!

Larry was not pleased. I went back to where I had been. The girl lifted the first 2 baskets, but that wasn't good enough for me. I had her go through all the baskets. Then a security man walked over and asked if I was looking for my passport. An old Readers Digest quote said that you can talk about joy and ecstasy, but a real thrill is finding your lost keys. Finding a missing passport brings the feeling to a rarefied level.

Then we went out to begin our adventure.

Larry's 50th Birthday

Larry turned 50 on March 22, 2010! To get more information please view the following link http://oltw.blogspot.com/. Look here as well: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/8588658.stm .Also, I have a couple of pictures that the paparazzi snapped at his party!

Would You Trust This Man?

Finally due to Larry's(person pictured) nagging I have returned to blogging. I would give you my excuses, but a preacher from my college comes to mind who said, "An excuse is the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie." (Even then the thought occurred to me what fun he[the preacher] must have been to live with.)
In the next several installments, I will tell you several things that will defy belief perhaps. But do not rational people trust their senses? The question to ponder is do you trust me or the man in the picture?
Since this is a family friendly blog I cannot mention the poster behind him. However as a responsible citizen of the blogosphere ,whatever that is, certain obvious misconceptions must be cleared up. The poster does not refer to my brother in any way, shape, or form. For it to apply he would have to be cloned. Also, lets be fair, I think he's glorious.

Tonight, we will refrain from our usual light-hearted manner in which we write out of respect for those who lost their lives on the Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. You can get more information from the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_447.



I wonder if all or some of the same crew that we saw and interacted with on the flight from Atlanta to Paris on the night of March 21, 2009. As Elvis sang referring to a totally different situation, "I wonder, ...But I really don't want to know."



Let's pray for the families and friends of those who perished. I do not pray for those who died, except that they were believers and that they did not suffer. To me the worst part of death is that it takes all decisions, all choices away from you. Yes, I know that God is all powerful and controls every pica second of our lives http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=colossians%201:16,17%20;&version=31;, but in earthly terms we make decisions. Perhaps there is a parallel in the Newtonian and Relativistic models of the universe. Newton's laws work in our universe and we can set our clocks by them, but the Relativistic principles are correct on the broader scale and are a more accurate way of looking at things even in our own universe at slower speeds without intense gravitational fields. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8061449.stm


Please don't pin me down too hard on this one. I am just engaging in some idle speculation trying to compare the natural to the supernatural.


Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, we were so pleased that there was an empty seat in our little row of 3. It was heavenly and not to be repeated.



I tried my deplorable French on the crew who then spoke to me in French the rest of the way. Karen's theory is they were punishing me for murdering the language. One steward in particular kept saying "Thay! Thay!" Tea for those of us from Sweetwater.

We, I really watched the third Transporter movie, but despite the stirring dialogue and intricate plot with subtleties and hidden meanings, I went to sleep.

I had my first experience with airline toilets and it was interesting.

There were a few leg cramps, but no serious trouble from all that sitting.

They fed us and to me the food was interesting. I don't see the complaints that many have about airline food. My only complaint was the small area that you get to eat it in.

Please forgive any shortcomings of this entry, I have resolved to get this blog moving again.

And yes, please pray for the families and friends of the victims.