travel prep & concert pics

Urban Tapestry in concert at Confluence. Thanks to
John Hall, who took all the photos on today's Blathering.
From left to right: Jodi, Allison, me.


Many thanks to John Hall, who gave me permission to post some of the photos he took at our Urban Tapestry concert on the weekend.

Allison's coming to OVFF! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! Jodi and I are pretty darned happy about this. :-) :-)

Our friends Scott and Anita are visiting from Germany starting today! Time to practice some of the German vocab I've been learning lately!

There are way too many exclamation marks in this Blathering but I don't care!

In this Blathering, I thought I'd give list of some of the online services I've been finding useful while traveling, or in travel prep. Most of these were selected after much online research, and I welcome comments and other suggestions from anyone using these or similar services.

Audiobooks:

I can't stand being on a long flight (or even in a line-up at the bank) without something to read. The problem with taking a regular book on a longish trip is that once you've finished the book, it's dead weight. I've found my iPod wonderful this way because I can just stick on a couple of audiobooks and it doesn't add any bulk.

I use Audible.com, which has two levels of membership (one or two audiobooks a month). So far, I've listened to Lian Hearn's "Across The Nightingale Floor" and Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything." The only downside so far seems to be that although you can sign up online, you need to phone to cancel.

If you do decide to sign up, please do list me ("ohi") as the person who referred you; I think I get some kind of credit, not exactly sure.

Internet access while travelling:

When using dial-up access while on the road, I use MaGlobe, which has dial-up access numbers around the world. I used it on our Arizona/Nevada trip with no problem, and it saved me a pile of money/hassle.

Long distance phone charges

My dad was the one who told me about Goldline, which I use at home as well as elsewhere. You can put as much or little into your account as you'd like, and then use a special access number when making long distance numbers. Thus I can call from pretty much anywhere with lower rates (e.g. calling the USA for 4.5c/minute, Japan for 6.2c/min, Germany for 4.9c/min, UK for 4.5c/min). Calling from a payphone adds an extra .80 at the beginning of the call.

But there are also access numbers around the world, with varying charges. In theory, for example, I could make calls from Germany back home to Canada for .09c/min. I used this service on my Nevada/Arizona trip generally with no problem, though I had trouble accessing the local number in Las Vegas with my cellphone (using the hotel and other phones were fine).

If you sign up for this service by phone, please do mention me as the person who referred you.

Airplane seating

Picky about where you sit on an airplane? Check out Seatguru.com, which lists seating plans for many different types of planes, along with comments about which are good and bad seats.

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