Medium-Term Travel Plan

The below post ("Less Car, Less Hassle") is partially one reason why I prefer travel to locales which do not necessitate a car rental and that are conducive to walking around.

I will have time to take one major (i.e. 8-10 day) vacation next year. Once again, I will in all probability be traveling solo, as I am girlfriend-less and my guy friends either do not have the time or money for such an undertaking. The big trip will take place sometime between March-May, with a minor/long-weekend trip to likely take place in the fall.

Right now Barcelona and Budapest are receiving the most serious consideration. Barcelona because I have heard that it is a lot of fun, you can fly direct from MIA and my elementary grasp of Spanish will make it just a bit easier to get around. Budapest because I have never been to Central Europe, it sounds really interesting and as a non-Euro country the exchange rate is slightly more favorable to the dollar. Both places are supposed to be good for walking around. A final decision will be made in January.

Less Car, Less Hassle

I was recently flirting with the idea of looking for a new car, but decided against it. It is difficult to justify the expediture of so much money on an object that, on the mean streets of Miami, is inevitably going to get dinged and whose value will depreciate with varying rapidity.

All things being equal, I would prefer to live in a city in which one does not need to have a car. While nice for shopping or a weekend getaway, I hate driving and all of the hassles associated with having a car, from finding (and often paying) for parking, sharing the road with inattentive or simply bad drivers and the risk of sudden death via accident, not to mention the costs of gas, repairs and maintenance.

I am not an overly materialistic person and place little value in the idea of a car as an investment or as a reflection of one’s intrinsic worth. While that attitude is completely counter to the prevailing sentiment in this town (and, to a lesser extent, the country as a whole), my latent Midwest sensibilities cannot be convinced otherwise.

Minor Way to Improve Viewing of Baseball Playoffs

With the exception of the Yankees' early exit, I have been enjoying the baseball playoffs. However, let me air one minor complaint...

The little diamond icon near the score, indicating how many runners are on base, is a gray color while the runner color is yellow, making for little to no contrast. More briefly, I can't distinguish between the colors and tell if anyone's on base.

The suggestion would be that they change the runner color to one that is more noticeable, or at a minimum to anything other than yellow.

Carnival Center for the Performing Arts - Blackballed!

Even though I enjoy live performances, I have no interest in patronizing the years-late, over $100 million overcost Carnival Center for Performing Arts in downtown Miami. In no particular order, and some of which are based on second-hand reports...


* Sponsor. The cruise line corporate name is a turn-off. I have minimal desire to go on a cruise and am suspicious of these companies' environmental practices.


* Traffic. Performances last season caused massive, impenetrable traffic congestion on Biscayne Boulevard. It would not surprise me one bit if there was no consideration paid to traffic issues in the planning of this venue.


* That Old Boondoggle Feeling. I had a Lonely Planet Florida tour book from 1998, which stated that the Center was set to open in the early 2000s. Over $100 million in cost overruns later, It didn't open until 2007. I heard that parts of the interior were not completed such that multiple people tripped and fell in the concert hall. Finally, the Center's director just received a massive annual pay raise, from $230,000 to $326,255 - - absolutely appalling!


* Parking. The official Center parking is valet only, which caused extensive and over-lengthy (up to an hour) waits for one's car after a show. Otherwise, expect to pay $15-20 to park in a nearby lot.


* Non-revitalization. Surrounding the opening of the Center was talk of a budding "performing arts district", akin to an "if you build it they will come" aspiration. I know that it recently opened, but I have seen virtually no sign of any new restaurants, bars, cafes or the like in the immediate/walking distance vicinity of the Center (note that I live about 10 blocks north of there and drive on Biscayne every day).


Nevertheless, the architecture is cool, and eventually there may be a performance for which I am willing to overcome my above-described skepticism. I have never been offered complimentary tickets either, which could quickly change my mind.

Sports: World Series Speculation (Yankees vs. Diamondbacks)

Baseball playoffs start today, so before the first pitch to any game is thrown I want to get my ultimate prediction on the record...

World Series prediction: a rematch of the 2001 Series, but this time with the Yankees prevailing in 6 games.

"What are you running from?" - - "Obesity!"

For a few months now I have been getting into running. Mostly on the treadmill, though I have hit the streets a few times. Would love to find a track; I wonder what the surface is on the one at Flamingo Park on the beach? ***

I can now consistently run a mile in under 9 minutes (8:53 as of today, with a second less being my best time ever). It is definitely a nice complement to lifting weights.



p.s. according to the City of Miami Beach website, Flamingo Park has a 6 lane, 400 meter running track (2 laps=1/2 mile, 4 laps=1 mile).

One's Blog is Not a Supreme Court Brief

I recently realized one of the reasons why I have not been posting much lately - it is very difficult for me to write in a casual manner. *****

Part of my work consists of formalistic, logical writing, with complex ideas or fact situations thrown in at times as well. Because one's writing in this context will be scruntinized very closely, you have to be pretty meticulous about editing and organization. These underlying communication habits are pretty well ingrained. *****

Such techniques are not especially conducive to spur of the moment, contemporaneous writing and publishing. I have been overly-focused on these aspects of writing that from now on there will be a simple rule as to posting. Write it, read it over and edit it once then post!