Outside the Beltway

Your Long National Blogging Nightmare is Over

I’m back from being on the road (and rivers).

Steven L. Taylor
9

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In case anyone was wondering, I have been largely absent from the site (perhaps to the relief of some!) due to a two-week trip to Europe (a river cruise on the Rhine and the Main plus three nights in Prague). It was a lovely trip, and added three countries to my personal list (Switzerland, Germany, and Czechia).

I did not utterly ignore the news (e.g., I am aware of the profile in courage over Blanche that Cassidy provided and I have a general sense of the primary outcomes), but was more disconnected than usual, which was nice. I did notice the shitshow continues unabated, whether I am paying attention or not…

BTW, this is real: Rhine River Woes: Historically Low Water Levels Impacting River Cruising. We had to get bussed from one boat to another due to the water levels on the Rhine being too low to navigate. We then got to enjoy the new boat having its A/C broken for about 18 hours on one of the hottest days of the trip, also at least in part a result of the low water levels because it was so low in Frankfurt–only about 6 inches of clearance, the lowest the captain had seen–that some of the water intakes were clogged, requiring divers to come out to clear them at the next port). We will never take a summer trip of this type again! Europe is definitely not prepared for the heat that climate change has brought! We only did it this year because we changed plans for a US-based autumn trip due to the pending birth of our first grandchild in October!

We had it better on the Rhine than did folks on the Danube, who had to make four(!) such boat changes, spending a lot of time in buses, and even having to stay some nights in hotels, as one does on a river cruise.

Anyway, politics was not far from my thoughts, some of which I am sure I will share shortly. Meanwhile, here are some noteworthy stickers I snapped from Switzerland, France, Germany, and Czechia. All of these are from my phone. I have 2662 images from my main camera that need processing (so you can guess what a lot of Photo for Friday subjects might be in the coming months).

I have no idea why fascism was top of mind these days…

BTW: I didn’t say that I was “back from vacation” because that just seems like a silly formulation when one is retired!

And this is my first international trip wherein I do not have to dread the combo of work and jet lag!

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9 responses to “Your Long National Blogging Nightmare is Over”

  1. Scott Avatar
    Scott

    Glad you’re back. The river cruises are on our bucket list also though I don’t know when we’ll get around to it. Son and LT girlfriend are moving to Oregon this fall so we are looking at Columbia river cruise among other options in pursuit of stalking our children.

    Also, since I’ve been researching our family history, we are planning a “farm and cemetery” tour through Ohio, Michigan, and Canada. Early fall of next year seems most likely.

    Again, glad you’re back.

    2
    1. Kathy Avatar
      Kathy

      Next year the river cruise may be a bus driving down the dry river bed…

      1
      1. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
        Steven L. Taylor

        Indeed.

        1
  2. gVOR10 Avatar
    gVOR10

    BTW: I didn’t say that I was “back from vacation” because that just seems like a silly formulation when one is retired!

    Ruins weekends and holidays too. On the other hand, restaurants generally aren’t crowded on Tuesdays. Sounds like you really enjoyed the trip

    1
    1. Michael Cain Avatar
      Michael Cain

      In the city where I live, at 10:00 am on Mondays the bicycle trails are jammed with olds (which includes me). I think some of it is just “I can!”

      1
  3. Slugger Avatar
    Slugger

    You have me worried with your account of low water in the Rhine and Danube. This must portend real distress in agriculture and industry in the heart of Europe. Right now it’s 81F in Berlin, but 96F (35C) is forecast for Saturday. Temps greater than 30C were unusual in the Berlin of my childhood in the mid 1960s. These changes will have major impacts.
    There are people who talk of human settlements on Mars with the help of terraforming which I think will not be easy. However, the project to turn Earth into Venus seems to be on schedule.

    3
    1. Kathy Avatar
      Kathy

      I recall reading somewhere in the past few years that Earth doesn’t contain enough carbon to pull a runaway greenhouse effect like Venus.

      Sounds right(ish) given Venus’ atmosphere is several times thicker than Earth’s and made up of 96.5% CO2 (compared to 0.04% CO2 on Earth).

      Maybe Adolf and Lex can use their mighty rockets (wink) to herd carbonaceous asteroids they could crash on Earth to correct this imbalance.

      Mars may not have enough water for terraforming. In addition, without a magnetic field the impact of radiation on living beings would be more substantial. A thicker atmosphere can shield some radiation, btu serious protection requires a magnetic field. It also seems Martian soil may not be suitable for plants. This, too, sounds right, as much of the red coloration of Mars comes from iron oxides (aka rust) on the surface.

      And there’s the matter that Mars once had a thicker atmosphere, a warmer climate, and liquid water rivers and oceans. All that was lost. Possibly a combination of the much lower gravity and lack of a magnetic field (without one, the solar wind can strip more atmospheric molecules, especially water vapor ones). But mostly, IMO, low gravity. Venus has no magnetic field either, but possesses a very thick atmosphere. It’s gravity is like 90% of Earth’s (Mars’s is about 1/3).

      All that said, it may be possible to terraform Mars, even provide it a magnetic field, once our technology advances a hell of a lot. Enough to have effective robot slaves to use in the most dangerous jobs, and launch and transportation costs cheap enough. Not only to get stuff there from Earth (or the Moon), but to haul resources from other parts of the solar system. Water, for instance, is found in ring fragments around Saturn. I don’t know exactly where to get better soil, though, other than Earth.

      So, say in a few thousand years.

      2
  4. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    Good to “see” you back here.

    1
  5. EdB Avatar
    EdB

    This brings back some memories. Our first river cruise in Europe (Rhine and Danube) was during the 2003 heat wave. The Danube was low for the last part of the cruise, so the ship became a hotel in Regensburg for about 3 days and we did day trips by bus. Since then, we have done our European river cruises in the fall.

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