Homeward Bound
This morning the freeway was closed on my way to the airport. Accident, lots of police black and whites.
All of my flights have been changed, so I have a layover in Dallas / Fort Worth in stead of Chicago. Hmmmmm
But, now I am well on my way back to England and home.
I miss California and my friend already, and I shall, always.
But, there is no place like home. I guess. 😊😊😊😊
–
Jack Collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Homeless
Your destination isn’t a place, it’s a new way of seeing things.
Being on this long vacation takes me back to my working days. In the later part of my career I travelled extensively; planes, trains, automobiles, and hotels were my life. Often when I woke up in the morning I would have no idea where I was. It could be anywhere from Newcastle to New York, and after a while all hotel rooms were the same.
Here in California I seem to be back in that old routine.
Packing my bags, checking the room to make certain I’ve left nothing behind, checking out of the hotel, and then on the road again.
And you know what? It’s a miserable life. It always made me feel homeless, and that’s exactly how I feel today.
Some say that travel broadens the mind. And, that it’s better to travel hopefully than to arrive. All I know is that it’s very nice to go travelling, but it’s so much nicer to travel home.
–
Jack Collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
If you didn’t laugh you’d cry.
The News from England is utterly depressing.
We have a pretty serious argument with Russia over the attempted murder of a former Russian spy and his daughter, just a stone’s throw from the 13th Century Salisbury Cathedral. Some of our left-leaning politicians seem to support Russia over this atrocity.
We have very serious arguments among ourselves over the fateful decision to leave Europe, (Brexit). Alongside that we have continuous disagreements with the European Union over just about everything.
Up in the North, (actually south of where I live), there are ongoing scandals about the grooming of young white girls for sex by much older Asian men, (mostly Moslems). Because the fear of seeming to be racially prejudiced the police and everyone else with official responsibility has been turning a blind eye to this for years. (Not just in the North ~ Asian men all over England have been engaged in this disgusting criminal practice for decades.)
Meanwhile, anyone from outside Britain with anti-Muslim views, who wants to take advantage of our freedom of speech laws and actually talk about it here is banned from entering the country.
One of best-loved comedians, Ken Dodd, has just died. One of his one-liners; ‘I haven’t spoken to my wife for 18 months. I don’t like to interrupt her…’
And, the weather here is about to get worse… again. Cold, gales, grey skies, rain, thunderstorms. What fun. I’m glad I won’t be here to see that because I fly to Southern California in 2 days. Sadly poor Marmaduke won’t be my travelling companion on this vacation. I’ve decided to heed my own advice, (borrowed from hordes of previous travellers), take half as much luggage as you think you need and twice as much money. Leaving England right now will be such a wrench, (irony).
England, this Sceptred Isle, this other Eden, this precious stone set in the silver sea. ~ Shakespeare, Richard II.
I won’t be following the news at all while I’m in California ~ I don’t want to be depressed while I’m on vacation.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
the beaches of Orange County
Places I Want To Go To Soon
A destination is a different way of seeing the world.
England is a green and pleasant land,
royal throne of kings, paradise sceptred isle,
another Eden, a precious stone set in the silver sea,
But, there are places I want to go other than in England.
~
Big Bear Lake, California
Palm Springs, California
Santa Monica, California
Las Vegas, Nevada
New York City, New York.
Florence, Tuscany
Sienna, Tuscany
Pisa, Tuscany
San Gimignano, Tuscany
~
These are all fabulous places I have already seen, but want to go back to very soon. I guess this is my bucket list. Some of these I want to get to this year. If a friend wanted me to go with them somewhere else, then that would be cool to ~ although there are some places in this world I would just not go to under any circumstances.
Most of these are places it would be great to drive to, (except Cyprus and Malta of course, and nobody with even an ounce of sense would drive in New York). On the other hand, I really like taking long road trips, preferably with a cool girl riding shotgun. Cyprus is a big enough island that it’s great to drive around there, and so is Malta. California and Tuscany are both fabulous places to take a road trip. Of course, you should really have a really cool car to take on your long road trips ~ a convertible Mustang is ideal.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
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Islamic Terrorism Escalates
Terrorism is a significant threat to peace and security.
In some places I could be prosecuted for a hate crime, or at least be accused of racism, for even using the term Islamic Terrorism. The simple fact is, the number of unspeakable acts of violence perpetrated by Muslims purporting to support Radical Islamic organisations such as ISIS / Daesh, has increased exponentially in recent months. It’s terrorism, done by Muslims, and just lately a lot of innocent men, women, and children have died because of it. The Muslim Terrorists are proud of what they do, and have no sympathy for the people they kill and maim.
Whether most Muslims are peaceable is irrelevant. The fact is that fanatics rule Islam now and act-out what the Qur’an truly says… maul, march, murder every infidel if they won’t convert. ~ Gary Patton
Since the horrific events in Paris on Friday November 13th 2015, when 130 people were killed, there have been terror attacks right across Europe, America, and the Middle East. These terribly memorable events go on, and on, and on.
On 19th December 2016 a truck was driven into crowds of innocent shoppers at the Christmas Market in Berlin.
On Wednesday March 22nd 2017, an SUV raced through pedestrians walking across Westminster Bridge in London, before crashing into the gates of the Houses of Parliament.
On Saturday April 8th 2017, a hijacked heavy truck was deliberately driven through a crowd of pedestrians, including young children in Stockholm, before crashing into a department store.
The left-leaning, and ever so tolerant, Metropolitan Liberal Elite keep to their mantra that Muslims are not terrorists. Tell that to the families of those killed in the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and aboard the four hijacked airliners on September 11th 2001.
Or come to London and tell that to the families of those killed and maimed on Public Transport on July 7th 2005.
It’s not just in Europe and North America that Muslims kill the Kafir. Yesterday, Sunday April 9th 2017, Palm Sunday, two bombs exploded in Chuches in Egypt. Many Muslims in Egypt and all across the Middle East hate their own Coptic Christian minority populations just as much as they hate other Christians. Egypt is a popular tourist destination, but the whole country is quite dangerous, up to and including your flight out of it.
The list of terror attacks committed by Muslim extremists goes on, and on, and on. Civilised Peoples cannot ever appease extremist religious terrorists, we cannot negotiate with extremist religious terrorists, and we can never win their hearts and minds.
Right now, there are some places in the world I would not like to visit, unless my trip was essential. Among these countries are; Turkey, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and the soft tourist target of Morocco. If I was unfortunate enough to have a non-essential trip booked to any part of the Middle East, I would seriously reconsider my options. Going on a vacation isn’t worth risking my health and life on a bad bet. Neither would I be keen on travel to Berlin, Brussels, or Stockholm for a while. At the moment I would only go into parts of Central London if I had to.
This world has always been a dangerous place. I am afraid that it’s becoming more and more dangerous by the hour.
Let’s all be careful out there.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
travel broadens the mind
To travel is to take a journey into yourself.
Doing a little research on something else, I was bored enough to read a narrow-minded American’s opinion of visit to England, which pissed me off somewhat. Here are some real facts about Americans;
64% of Americans do not own a passport.
In states such as; Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Carolina only about 25% of US citizens own a valid passport.
When most Americans visit another country it’s to either Mexico or Canada.
Annually, less than 5% of Americans travel overseas.
More than half of all Americans have never been outside of America.
Most Americans have not been to more than 5 US states.
Many Americans have never been more than 100 miles from where they were born.
The commonest complaints of Americans visiting England are;
- ‘the bacon is terrible…’
- ‘few ethnicities are represented in London cuisine…’
- ‘there is no Mexican or Latin American food in Britain…’
- ‘British people are cold and hard to befriend…’
- ‘the London subway is unreliable…’
- ‘the British are obsessed with the Queen and Royal Family…’
- ‘it always rains in England…’
- ‘the English drive on the wrong side of the road…’
- ‘British cars are undrivable…’
- ‘free healthcare is such a stupid idea…’
- ‘British TV sucks…’
- ‘refrigerators and washing machines are very small…’
- ‘there’s no dress code…’
- ‘black people are just people…’
- ‘they eat with their forks upside down…’
I’ve travelled all over the world, I’ve worked, lived, and had many vacations in the United States, I have some close friends in America, and none of the above surprises me one little bit. American culture is so in-your-face and all-pervasive, (you only had to watch the recent Oscars ceremony to realise that), that all Americans think the rest of the world is just like America ~ trust me, it isn’t.
In addition, working Americans are allowed and take so few vacation days, (average 10 days a year), that the idea of visiting some of the great cultural sites in Europe just never crosses their minds.
The whole world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a single page. ~ Saint Augustine
Which is why it does not surprise me that;
- Middle America elected Donald Trump as their President.
- Americans are obsessed with social media like Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook.
- More than 80% of Americans believe in conspiracy theories, and that the Government has kept secrets about UFOs.
- More than 85% of Americans believe in one or more of; aliens, flying saucers, angels, astrology, extra-sensory-perception, Big Foot, ghosts, reincarnation, the healing power of crystals, witchcraft, that they can win money in Las Vegas casinos, and that winning the lottery is a viable financial plan.
- Over 75% of Californians believe that more than 25% of Americans are Gay or Lesbian, (the true figure is 3.5% of Americans are LGBT).
- 25% of Americans believe in creation theory and that the Earth is the centre of the universe.
- 25% of Americans believe they won their Independence from a country other than Great Britain.
- All Americans feel they need a planned and fixed itinerary before setting off on their travels.
A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. ~ Lao Tzu
To a well-travelled, well-read, and well-educated Englishman like me, it’s very sad that most Americans are like a Monday morning quarterback ~ they think they can talk a good game, but mostly they talk bullshit. Actually, it’s worse than that, most Americans think their opinions matter to others. They need to get out into the world a bit more.
And in England, ‘Trump’ is still another word for ‘Fart’.
Have a nice day.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
