Venice Italy !!!

Ahhh Venice. This great city of interlaced canals is one of the most romantic places in the world. One can find young couples being serenaded while drifting along aboard a gondola, or enjoying a romantic dinner at any one of the dozens of cafes that dot the city.

If you have ever seen a picture of Venice then you basically know what it looks like. The only thing that is not obvious is its size. Venice is not a large city. The population of the historic section is about 62,000 people. However, it is crowded.

There really are no streets in Venice. The canals substitute quite well. What would be considered streets are actually wide sidewalks, or narrow alleys. As you might imagine, they become difficult to traverse when tourists are out in force. Of course, there are always thousands of tourists so it is always crowded.

The easiest way to get around is by water taxi. These can be found along the Grand Canal and can drop you wherever you like. The smaller, romantic, gondolas are intended for leisurely rides and are quite a luxury. Do not expect to pay less than $100 for a short gondola ride. In reality, you will likely pay double for you and a significant other for this experience.

Should you consider bringing young children, don't!! Well, actually, Venice is a great place for kids and we have fond memories of our two angels chasing pigeons in St Marks Square. The problem is that strollers don't like the endless maze of alleys and thousands of steps on the bridges. The same problem goes for older kids who just get abused by the endless walking. Think twice before bringing young children...

Some say that Venice is expensive. I will agree only when it comes to room rates. You will pay better than $250 per night for a small room within the historic section. Other than that, Venice was very reasonable. The restaurants and shops are very competitive and many will negotiate prices so bargains can be had.

Back to the historic section rooms.....I would avoid them. The reason for that is there is no easy way to navigate your way on foot and add to that all of your luggage, etc and you have the makings of a disaster. We stayed outside the city in Quarto d'Altino and took a train in. The 30 minute ride was well worth the peace of mind. You do not want to drive. First of all, you can't get a car into the historic section. And, parking is twice as much as it cost to train my entire family in to the city. Just watch for transit strikes. These apparently can occur at any time and we experienced a spontaneous strike our first day there.

So, if you are going to Venice:
1) Leave the kids at home
2) Stay outside the city
3) Ride the train
....And
4) Bring loads of money.
Although Venice was not super expensive there is plenty of shopping and eating to be done!!!

Ciao!!!

Where is Chris Cherubin ???

Wow! I cannot believe how long it has been since my last post. Basically, I have been busy with my work and with projects at home.

My wife and I have been looking for a new home for some time now and are beginning to wonder if we will find what we are looking for. It is more likely that we will have to create our dream home and thus the lack of time lately. We need to find where first and that eats up a ton of time.

In between working and house hunting I have been busy fixing up our home for resale. The way I see it, even if we don't sell anytime soon we will at least have fresh paint and decorating to look at. In addition, I have been slowly weeding out all the crap we have accumulated. We will be having a yard sale/moving sale in the Spring.

I'll keep you posted.

The Underground

If you find yourself in London and think how nice it would be to take a drive around town, DON'T!!! I have seen hell and it is the city of London or, more specifically, the streets of London.

London is well known for its sites. Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, these are all well known tourist destinations. Equally well known is the London Underground which is the Subway system in London. There is a reason why. No one in their right mind would want to drive in this city.

London is big, real big! Greater London has a population exceeding seven million people and the city sprawls over 609 square miles. That information in itself is not enough to portray the daunting task of navigating the city by car. New York, Rome and Paris are also big cities but are much , much easier to get around for three simple reasons. Their roads are, for the most part, straight, they have street signs, and pedestrians don't control the traffic.

The first thing you will notice when driving in London is that there is a shortage of street signs. It is not that there are none because that would be better than the fact that you are teased by marked streets only to have them suddenly unmarked. I spent two and a half hours exiting London by car only because I never knew what street I was on. And, because, they have no grid system, the streets meander and curve and seem to go in no direction and all directions at the same time. Adding to the frustration is the fact that pedestrian crossings appear every few feet and they have lights that are controlled by the pedestrians. Any one person can stop traffic at the push of a button.

In the center of London there is a congestion toll levied on cars driven into the city. When coupled with the lack of signs, it begins to appear to be a conspiracy against drivers. There may be some truth to that because the taxi industry in London is a very powerful lobby. Taxi companies want you to need them.

The obvious conclusion is to "ride the tube". This is not the title of an adult film but rather a term that means take the subway. The London Underground is extremely efficient. There are few stoppages, the trains cover the entire Greater London area, and they are prompt. If nothing else, the Brits pride themselves on keeping to time tables.

So, if you ever find yourself in London, forget the car and ride the tube. You will thank me.

Cheers!

Major Dick Winters

His name often comes up in conversations about leadership and ethics, especially within military circles. Many of you recognize the name as that of a "character" from the book and HBO series "Band Of Brothers", but Dick Winters is a real live person. Although now an old man (he is 89) the central Pennsylvania resident is a living icon.

I have a new found respect for Major Winters and his "Band Of Brothers, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 506 PIR, 101st Airborne Division. What Major Winters and the rest of "Easy" company accomplished, not to mention millions of other men at the time, still affects our daily lives. It can even be said that I can write this blog because of the efforts of people like Dick Winters.

We, as Americans, should be thankful for the sacrifices of men and women in the U.S. military. Sacrifices of yesterday and of today. One way we could express that thanks is to visit the official Dick Winters website http://www.majordickwinters.com/ and sign the petition to have this great man recognized for his efforts that fateful day back in June 1944.

For more information about Major Winters and "Easy" company, there are several books that are must reads; "Band Of Brothers" by Steven Ambrose, "Biggest Brother" by Larry Alexander, and "Beyond Band Of Brothers" written by Dick Winters himself along with Cole Kingseed.

Thank you Major Winters.

April 17th Tax Day 2007!

For those of you who procrastinate when filing your federal income tax forms, you are in luck! Due to the 15th falling on a Sunday and Monday the 16th is Emancipation Day (a legal holiday in DC), you need not file until the 17th. You now have two additional days to panic.....

For more information and downloadable forms, visit the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov .

Internet Security. The tortoise and my lack of hair!

I wonder if the purpose of new enhanced security online isn't really to get us offline!

I am one who fears not the hackers and evil doers of the World Wide Web. Maybe I am just naive but I surf with reckless abandon, trusting in my firewalls and cautiously chosen passwords. I live online. I educate myself online. I schedule my vacations online. From banking, to buying, to selling, I use the Internet to manage my life. I often surf myself to sleep.

Recently I have begun to notice an increase in security measures being implemented. First it was one of my credit card companies. I used to be able to log on to their site with a username and password to access my accounts. They now require that I answer a different specific fact about my account in addition to the username and password each time I log on. Another similar situation is with my mobile phone account. A username and password is no longer enough. I now have to enter a four digit PIN as well.

Those are just two of at least a half dozen examples I could name. I find it hard to believe that all of the additional security is necessary and, if it is, I doubt it will be enough. The additional security is having the opposite effect of the original intent. If the purpose of providing online access is to make our lives easier to manage, then the new security measures make me long for the old way of just picking up the phone.

Just this past Saturday, I attempted to access my checking account and was told that I needed to change my password due to a password time limit. I had never seen that before but was not surprised. After doing so, I was asked a "secret" question, which I answered correctly. I am then asked to identify a picture that I had chosen before. I do so. Then I enter my new password, and I get a warning. "This account is locked". No reason. No direction in what to do next. I call the toll free help line and they are closed until Monday! I now have to call in to handle my transaction. Wow. Isn't that how I used to do it?

Is this better? Is this faster? Why bother?

In the past month and a half I have seen this type of event unfold at least four times. The more secure the site, the more likely you won't get in. I know that it is supposed to be that way for the hackers of the world but not for me when it's my account!

And, assuming all of this added security is necessary, why can't all of these companies standardize on things like password length and configuration. Just for my employer, I need to remember six different usernames and passwords. That is six different usernames and passwords that I have to enter on a daily basis and change on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis depending on the access level.

I guess what I am saying is that if we need to jump through all of these hoops, then maybe we shouldn't be passing any sensitive information online. And maybe that is the whole point after all.

Driving in Ireland (Why to get back on the plane)

Imagine, you have been on a transatlantic flight for six and a half hours. You left Philadelphia at 8:50 PM on a Thursday and you landed in Shannon Ireland at 8:30 AM Friday morning. You're tired. You're hungry. It's raining. Then the reality hits you. "I'm not in Kansas anymore!" You look for the Hertz car rental desk and they advise you that the actual pickup location is a bus ride away. You begin to feel the pangs. Your breathing gets heavier. Your heart begins to pound. You arrive at the pickup location and you face your fate...... You have to drive on the left side of the road.

I experienced this very chain of events last August when I arrived in Ireland with my wife and two children. Upon landing, I left my wife and two year old son at the airport with our 12 metric tons of luggage, and my daughter and I were off to retrieve the car.

Now, I can tell you that the actual driving on the left side of the road thing would not be so bad except that I had to do it from the right side of the car. And, to make matters worse, I was driving stick for the first time in three years and had to learn how to shift with my left hand.

Ahhhh, the memories. I was not out of the airport before I completely forgot everything. I was like a newborn fowl on wobbly legs. Even the turn signals were reversed! Swerving to and fro, and constantly drifting off the road, I made my way for the Irish version of a freeway. But, alas, this was not so bad. Sure, I missed an exit or two, and I was still drifting left, but I was beginning to get the hang of it. Or so I thought.

When you leave the airport at Shannon, there are giant signs saying "Drive on The Left". As you drive on you begin to see the even larger signs professing the number of tourists killed on the local roads in the past 12 months. These are not so much intended for the highway driver as they are preparation for leaving the highway.

Ireland is known for its lush beauty, rolling green hills, and magnificent cliffs. What you don't hear about is that their roads are barely a single lane wide, often lined with hedgerows, and curve and turn constantly. Most of the time you are amazed that the speed limit is set so high because no one in their right mind would dare drive that fast on these roads. As if that is not enough, The Irish must have a "Park at Will" clause because they can and will stop their cars in the middle of the lane, get out, and walk away. More than once, I was forced off road just to pass a parked car.

I hope I don't sound as if I am complaining. After all, there are like a gazillion acres of wide open space everywhere and still the roads are nine feet wide. But I will admit that once I got the hang of driving on the left, from the right, whilst shifting with the left, I became quite relaxed. You see, there is no road rage. There is no hurry to get from one point to another. The Irish are much more relaxed than we Yanks and it certainly translates on the road. If someone stops in front of you and gets out to take a stroll, you simply drive onto the sidewalk and around, and continue on your merry way. I miss driving in Ireland.

One last note. Be sure to be completely comfortable on the Irish roads before attempting a drive out to the Dingle Peninsula. The cliffs drop straight down to the ocean below and the road at points cannot accommodate two cars passing each other. It was nerve racking to say the least. However, the views were well worth it.

See ya at the pub!!!