Guest Blogger-Jeff's Thoughts on Big Brother Season 11

Love the blog, hate that picture! Watching BB right now. Question, how much longer are we going to have to listen to and see Janelle and Evel Dick in regards to this show? Wasn't thier 15 minutes of fame up like months ago? They are like the zombies or vampires that never die. Thery both have been back several times since they were on before> Shouldn't they be out trying to find a real job somewhere? Does that mean that Jessie will be back again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and agai........................................................................................................................................................................Sorry dozed off there for a second. What is up with the producers of this show? Besides the idiots, imbeciles, flamers and other losers they put on, they bring back those 2 dinosaurs. Just hope BB12 is better than BB11 has been. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. The little chiwawa just got smoked by the ditzy blond in round 2. Did you hear her explanation, she knew the order but it wasn't her fault, the ball went into the wrong hole!! Damn that ball!!!!! She was practicing rolling that ball into holes last night for at least a half hour and made Kevin stay out in the yard with her so he could hear her talk and knock the balls out of the hole for her. Even when he offered to go make her a sandwich she made him stay there. Now she's the LOSER and won't be the final HOH. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha owww! I laughed so hard I fell out my chair, landed on my butt and cracked it.-JEFF

Nice Job Jeff!

All I can say is YIPEE! Finally some Big Brother redemption, I was just about to write Jordan off. Come on let's face it, she's rode the coattails of Jeff. Jeff gave her the HOH. So when Jordan won the second round, I was floored. I thought for sure Natalie was going to ace this one. I mean, Jordan can't throw, roll balls and then to try to get them in the right order, come on! But hey, it felt like the Kentucky Derby, now if she can only pull off the last test!-Single D

Jeff's Thoughts on Big Brother-Season 11

BY GUEST BLOGGER-MY FRIEND JEFF!!! I can't believe tonights episode. Here are my thoughts and the what I'd like to see happen . Just wanted to write some stuff down while it was fresh. Well the Final 3 for BB11 has been set. Kevin, holding the POV decided to use it and take himself off the block. Not an unexpected move. I’m pretty sure that anyone faced with the choice of taking yourself out of harms way (on the block in this game) or staying and hoping that someone else will have your back would be foolish to do the later. Jordan, being the only other person available takes Kevin’s place on the block. Kevin then has the job of casting the only vote on who will be evicted and who will stay and play in the Final 3 competition. Both Michelle and Jordan are given the opportunity to explain why they should be the one selected to stay while the other goes to the jury house. Now before Kevin casts his vote, we must look at the last 2-3 episodes. First Jeff won HOH and nominated both Kevin and Natalie for eviction. Then he stupidly decided to listen to the lies that both Natalie and Kevin told, fanning his paranoia and turning him against Russell. Russell had been an ally prior to this and although he was an instigator against numerous people in the house, he hadn’t done anything against Jeff while Jeff was HOH until Jeff started listening to the people he nominated. Jeff then won POV and pulled Kevin off the block and replaced him with Russell. Now why would you pull one of your own nominations off and replace them when you could have just made the nomination to begin with. Bonehead play Jeff. And he would pay dearly for it. By pulling Kevin off the block he started a snowball of events that would directly lead to his eviction a week later and put us in the situation where Kevin and Natalie both survive. Now Kevin hadn’t won anything at all until week 8 when he finally got HOH. He repaid Jeff’s kindness for removing him off the block the week before by first saying Jeff was safe from eviction and then turning around and nominating him anyway. I didn’t have much respect for Kevin all season long. Until week 8 the most he did was sashay around and complain about not winning anything. It was also at this point that he and Natalie cemented their alliance. Jeff was evicted and then Natalie won HOH. The last couple shows he’s appeared to be having second thoughts about Natalie and not trusting her but then he goes along with what she wants. Either he is playing that up for the episodes or he’s flat out lying about it. Even on BB After Dark on he spends most of the time with her. Natalie who in my humble opinion is the perfect example for an advertisement for propolatics. All she does is consume oxygen and expel hot air. Her voice is like listening to someone scraping fingernails across a blackboard, her habit of basically repeating whatever question she is asked before answering and her head bobbing and eye blinking make me wish I could reach into my TV screen and just choke her or knock her out. When she won HOH she kept saying that “this is for your Chima, this is for you”. Just to refresh my memory, who was responsible for Chima being not only evicted from the house but kicked out of the entire game…oh that’s right it was……..Chima for her diva attitude, not following the rules that she agreed and I’m pretty sure probably signed for and throwing her mike into the pool instead of wearing it. So for Natalie to make her comments the way she did was stupidity on her part, in my humble opinion. This was the first competition that she had won but she made it sound like she had conquered everyone else and was the last dumbass standing. Natalie then proceeds to open Pandora’s Box and is able to spend a total of 20 minutes with her boyfriend who proposes marriage to her. That poor dumb bas&@*d. He should have run away as soon as she was locked inside the house. Since she got the “good” karma from Pandora’s Box while everyone else was being irritated by surprise guests dressed as a rather large rotund baby, a vertically challenged copy cat and a giant roach spraying “people” spray, she then tells everyone else in the house one of the stupidest bold face lies that backfired on her, forcing her to come clean. Even as she was explaining what had happened, you could see that no one was buying that one either. During Tuesday’s show while she was up in the HOH room talking to Julie Chen, she said that by lying about her age from the start she thinks everyone thought she among other things, naïve, immature, not intelligent (all things she is) and that helped her get this far in the game. And the worst part, she believes this equine excrement. She got this far in the game on the coattails of other people; first Jesse, then Russell, then Lydia and finally Kevin. In fact she did say in tonight’s episode that she would take the blood on her hands for Michelle leaving. That is the first thing she had had to do this game. Hopefully Kevin who appears to be seeing the light (way to late in the game) on her true personality (or lack of one) will decide to throw her under the bus and take Jordan to the final 2. I feel sorry for Michelle and Jordan. They were both favorites of mine from the start. In fact I voted for Michelle to have the cou’p de tate instead of Jeff. But I think Jeff played it better than Michelle would have. Michelle has been the target of some of the worst players that I’ve seen in this game in a long time. I don’t think she deserves the abuse she’s endured but she’s hung there as long as she could. Jordan seems to have come from a very sheltered life. She has some common sense and isn’t stupid but not the sharpest tool in the shed. I don’t think she has any street sense. I see her like that cute little polar bear cub from the Berlin zoo named Knut. According to the law of the jungle where only the strongest survive, he would have died had humans not fed him and nurtured him. They kept him alive and he can function in his sheltered world of his cage, but he will never be able to survive in the wild. He has lost most if not all of the normal instincts that he was born with. Jordan will function just fine in her sheltered world back in North Carolina and maybe she can learn enough to survive in the hostile world of places like Los Angeles, Chicago and New York but she’ll also need a lot of luck or someone to look after her. If I were King for a Day and could decide who would be in the final 2, it would be Michelle and Jordan. Natalie would be expelled like her “homely” Chima and Kevin would be sent to the jury house. Let’s hope that if Natalie and Kevin end up in the final 2, Natalie’s eviction meeting speech and final farewell video to Michelle comes a haunt her. And if it is Kevin and Jordan in the final 2, maybe Kevin will regret his last words to Michelle before he voted her out and those words come back to bite him in the butt. Although he would probably enjoy that.-JEFF

Big Brother-Season 11-Boo Hoo Goodbye Jeff!

I've had it!!! I am not watching Big Brother any more this season!! Yep you heard me, I didn't mumble! What with Jeff gone, all that delicious eye candy gone with him. As my daughter says, he's yummy! Reminds me of my friend Bruce, but in a straight way! And the thing that is really setting me off is Natalie winning HOH. That lying, sneaky, insect phobic hommie. She really needs to go back to her girl gang or where ever she came from. The one time we need Michelle to use her brains and win the final answer, Michelle falls short. Ok, she has a bad memory, maybe she didn't even remember the soda can challenge for all we know? A little birdie, who shall remain anonymous (Jeff), told me he had read a blog that said the key that Jeff found held the Diamond veto and he pulls himself off and Natalie goes in his place and gets sent home. Wonder who dreamed that scenario, ALL THE HORNY WOMEN IN AMERICA, I'm sure!! I kept waiting for Julie to say that there was going to be a twist with the voting, I'm like, come on Julie spill it, spill it! But no, I sat on the couch, dejected like I just lost my job, my dog, my leg, and my car! In the end it wasn't so bad that Jeff left, didn't we all scream at the TV for getting rid of Russell? I knew Jeff was going to eat it. So he deserved to get sent home. But what rankles me is Natalie winning HOH. That tears it! Does she have to be so gleeful? I could spit nails!!! Sure enough, Michelle and Jordan are going up. At least one of them will have chance, my bet is on Michelle. Until then, I'm not watching the next episode, can't stand Natalie throwing it in their face-go home little girl, don't you have a bank to rob or something?-Single D

Big Brother Season 11-Goodbye Russell

Let's see.....Jeff wins HOH, nominates Natalie and Kevin, Jeff wins the POV and removes Kevin and puts up Russell. Russell gets the boot. Was that smart? Why is it that no one seems to notice that Kevin and Natalie are thick as thieves? Let's see, Jeff and Jordan are a pair, Michelle and Russell are a pair, and so why wouldn't anyone in the house notice that Kevin and Natalie are a pair?? HELLO!! Me personally, I think that it was the dumbest move on Jeff's part to oust Russell. At least he has shown that he can be true to his word. Does Jeff really think that Natalie and Kevin will keep their end of the bargain because they haven't been asked to prove themselves yet? It would have been the smartest thing to have evicted Kevin this week since he's the stronger competitor over Natalie, she can't win for beans! Then that would have opened the door next week for someone other than Natalie to become HOH and then she would have been evicted. Now it looks like Jeff and Jordan (if she doesn't win) will go up against each other. Jeff better win the POV because one of them will be going home. Jordan, you can thank Jeff for that. Well, we'll see tonight. My friend Jeff already gave me the spoiler, but maybe he's pulling my leg because it's not who I want to see win HOH. waaaaaaaaa!-Single D

Favorite Destinations 7-6

7) Koln/Cologne Germany-For me traveling to Germany, there is a special quaintness about the country and once you step out of the train station in Koln you can't but help fall in love with this charming city on the Rhine. The first thing you see when you leave the train station in Koln is this massive cathedral that is one of the most amazing cathedrals in Europe. It is massive and imposing. From there charming streets that lead you invariably to the river lined restaurants. Sure they are expensive and touristy but hey, that's the price to eat with such a beautiful view. We happened upon an unassuming restaurant right next to a Thai restaurant run by a lone waiter shelping beer and brats in the rain holding an umbrella. Good beer, good brats, nice price!

Caution tip: Don't buy the sweet pretzels from the bakery near the train station, they are awful, buy the donuts!

6) Lucerne, Switzerland- A beautiful and charming city on the lake. We stayed at hotel on the other side of the beautiful wooden bridge which crosses over the river. On the older side of Lucerne are lots of restaurants, the only dilemma is which one. There was even a restaurant that served horse (appalling!) give me the fondue please! Take the boat cruise around the lake, it's a nice ride and you get to see some quaint Swiss homes where I'm sure Heidi lives. The shopping is fabulous from Swiss knives, charming Black Forest cuckoo clocks to Swiss watches. Shopping tip: Don't be cheap-buy the Swiss watch, you'll regret it once you get home. I bought a Swiss watch on my last trip in 2004 and have yet to replace the battery!-Single D

Big Brother-Goodbye Crazy Lydia

And right when some sense was finally sinking into the gelatinous stuff they call brains, Natalie and Lydia finally remembered that Jesse was doing both of them. Oh hello!! Jesse should surely consider being head of some cult the way he brain washed all the divas in the house. Natalie and Lydia hated each other when Jesse was in the house, once evicted they weep for their fallen idol. What short memories everyone has. This eviction round, Lydia had to go, she was this close to going postal. That girl is really scary, not to mention that she is really scary in that leotard and pink hair. And how gullible are Jordan and Jeff when Kevin, who isn't going to win any academy awards with his Big lie to J & J that Russell and Michele are in an alliance. Are J & J dumb as rocks or what? They deserve each other. Oh no, Kevin would never lie, except when there's a 1/2 mil at stake! And what about all those crocodile tears that Natalie was shedding from her phone call from her dad. As my friend Jeff says, it's not like they've been sequestered years, they know going in that that they will not have any contact, so what's all the crying about? Geez, grow a set! Now that the two biggest drama queens have left the house what will everyone do? I don't know about you, but I'm going to miss all the tension Chima caused. Guess it's time for Russell to go ballistic again, he's paranoid, he's got a short fuse, and he loves to goad people on. Jordan and Jeff better wise up or they will get their dumb asses evicted.

Surprised that Jordan had that good of memory during the Veto Competition, maybe she isn't a dumb as she appears to be? HOH looks like it could be a nail biter as Kevin could win it. Natalie doesn't have a chance, but I'm hoping for J & J or Michelle, because those are the only semi sane people in the house.-Single D

Favorite Destinations 11-8

11) Brussels, Belgium-home of Mannkenpis. Yes, pronounced Man Can Piss and it's exactly that. Legend has it that a little boy saved Brussels during the war by peeing on a bomb. Well, if you have to have a mascot, he sure is cute enough. I missed Mannkenpis many years ago, so I kept seeing this statue in various outfits, so I made sure to visit him this time. As we came to the end of the street corner, there was a crowd and there he was, he wasn't wearing any clothes and people were snapping pictures, of course my husband did his best impression of Mannkenpis for our picture. We happened to be at the next train stop, Gare de Midi to go to a carnival when we came upon 4 hapless Japanese girl tourist all lugging the same black and white polka dot suitcases, were they in a Japanese girl band? Surely they were lost and in the wrong part of town. I was wondering what in the world were they doing in this part of Brussels, (kind of seedy and run down) when they stopped us. They asked us in very broken English if we knew where they could find the Moooka Pisaa, to which I said "the Mona Lisa?" My daughter said no Mom, they're asking for mannkenpis! Poor things, wrong train stop and very lost. The best I could we tried to direct them back to the train station to Central Station. This was probably lost in translation.

A must see Grand Place, which it surely is. Unfortunately Brussels is full of competing restaurants with hawkers at every turn, eaters beware! Every other street have their specialities from mussels (a speciality) to Greek and Italian. We found the best Chinese food restaurant, take the street from the Drug Opera, away from Grand Place, to the main boulevard, look for the McDonald's on the corner, and turn down the street, I think the restaurant had the word Bowl in it. Really good! Another eating tip: Moka Cafe in the Royal Gallery, good food and reasonable prices. A must in Brussels, the waffles, try it with bananas, cream and nuts, delicious!

10) Lake Como, Italy-While not exactly on the major train routes, Lake Como is a nice place to stop and relax on your way to the southern Italy. The lake is beautiful. We took a boat ride around the lake in hopes of seeing George Clooney's house, whom we are told is the unofficial mayor of Lake Como. Cool off your tooties in the lake and relax from the hustle and bustle. Ah, if only I could afford a house here, one can only dream!

9) Amsterdam, Netherlands-What's not to love, more canals, dutch clogs, cheese, bicycles, more bicycles, and fabulous double salted dutch licorice. What is especially wonderful there, everyone speaks English. Bruges and Ghent have nothing on Amsterdam with their lovely canals, so what if some of the most charming canals are in the red light district, although I heard they are trying to clean that part up. Haven't been to Amsterdam in many years, but definitely worth a visit if you've never been there. The train station alone is amazing and lands you right in the heart of the city.

Hotel hint: The hotels do not use sheets on their beds. I ran down stairs to tell the tiny front desk that the bed hadn't been made. He asked, was a comforter on the bed? Well, Yes, Then the bed is made, that's the Dutch way, he says.

8) Siena, Italy-Just a short bus ride from Florence is the beautiful town of Siena in the Tuscan countryside. Meandering cobblestone streets and beautiful old building along with another amazing plaza. It can be really hot there so make sure you stop and have the gelato. Be sure not to stir up the ire of some of the town's roving Gypsies, like my sister-in-law did when we were there. The Gypsies got on our bus back to Florence by way of the back door. When she reported it to the bus driver, he promptly ignored her (guess he didn't want the evil eye put on him). Well, nonetheless, my sister-in-law starts giving the Gypsies a hard time. When we were getting off the bus, the older Gypsies woman gave her the evil eye while pulling at her hair (sister-in-law later encounters really bad luck???) If you can avoid the Gypsies, then a trip to Siena is well worth it!-Single D

15 of My Favorite Destinations/Destinations 15-12

And now for my list of some of my favorite places that I have visited.

15) Paris-how many times have I heard the people say they love Paris? I bet they all speak French! Sure Paris is a beautiful city with amazing architecture, but come on people, when you get off the train at Gare du Nord, it's a shock to the system. There are millions of people wandering around with that dazed and confused look on their faces. No one can read French and the lines for information are about two hours long. Once outside, you either line up in a long queue for a taxi or you take your chances on the metro hoping that you bought the right tickets. Yes, the French are snooty, won't give you the time of day, but at least if you try to speak French, they will try to speak English. For all it's faults Paris is truly a beautiful city. I love the street markets where they sell the most fantastic selection of meats and cheeses, who knew you could buy seven different kinds of sauerkraut?

Shopping tip: buy from the hawkers selling Eiffel tower souvenirs behind the Eiffel Tower (not at the park in front), they have the best prices, 3 key chain Eiffel towers for 1 Euro. you'll regret not buying them once you get home.

14) Bruges/Brugges Belgium-After many years hearing that Bruges is one of the oldest cities in Europe, I almost expected to see some Flemish painter in Renaissance garb walking down the street, instead it was throngs and throngs of tourist to which unfortunately Bruges has caved into with their modern display of trendy shops and touristy priced restaurants. I was mildly surprised that the canal rides were still reasonable, 6 euros per person. Bruges does have it's charm and although they call it the Venice of the North, it reminded me nothing of Venice. Eating tip: There is a little sandwich shop near the canal boat operators that sells fries (very popular in this part of Europe) sandwiches and snacks. It's a two woman operation, but they must be making a fortune for us fellow travelers that refuse to spend more than 5 euros for lunch. It's pretty good with a nice view of the canal. Get there early, it's crowded and there are only about 4 tables.

13) Ghent/Gent Belgium-If Bruges was too touristy, then Gent is the place everyone should be going to. It's got the magnificent cathedral, a castle and lots of shopping. The only drawback is that it is not walking distance from the train station. You have to take a bus to the city center which is about a 15 minute ride. It's worth the visit.

Coffee tip: Go to the department store in the center where you'll see a sign on the second floor that says buffet. That caught my eye. Buffet is not what you think, but it is a pretty decent coffee pastry shop at reasonable prices. The coffee is strong and the pasties are delicious.

12) Cologne/Koln Germany-When one arrives from the train in Cologne, the first thing you see when you get out of the train station is this massive cathedral. It's so beautiful and awe inspiring, worth the trip alone. Along the Rhine River, there are many restaurants catering to the tourist. The quandary is which one? After walking up and down, we settle on the one that seemed to be the underdog of restaurant row. It seemed less pretentious and pricey and was manned by one lone waiter (whom I was fairly sure that he was also doing the cooking). In fact when we started to talk to him, to give him some helpful restaurant tips (since we once owned one) we told him to buy some new table and chairs (he had plastic white ones). Turns out he was also the owner, lived upstairs and was very grateful for our suggestions. Here we had very good bratwurst and fries for 5.99 euros.

Snack tip: Don't bother with the sweet pretzels near the train station, you know the ones with the bees stealing the sugar off them. They look amazing, but were plain awful. Hunt down the vendor that sells the giant German pretzels. His stall is nearer to the mall shops.

More trips next post!-Single D

Big Brother-Jeff's Got the Wizard Power

After missing several episodes of Big Brother while on vacation, it's easy to catch up on all the high school drama. Russel is still hateful, Chima is still the diva-B, Jordan is still naive, Natalie is still skankie, Kevin is still a queen, Lydia still has tats, Jesse is still a meathead and Jeff is still in charge. He's either really dumb or really smart as he uses the coup d'etat (he didn't even know how to say it), therefore, I really didn't think he understood the power. But apparently so, as he had the guts to use it to over throw Chima's two nominees, Russel and Lydia. I was slightly torn that I wanted Russel, the snake to go. But Jeff's taking over and putting Jesse and Natalie up against each other has to be one of the smartest, boldest moves ever the in Big Brother house. That was absolutely brilliant. I was hoping the house would be smart and vote out Natalie, because lord help the house when Chima and Natalie get together, they are going to create havoc. If Jesse would have stayed, at least he plays with some integrity. Natalie and Chima are the pit bulls of the house. It's a good thing for Jeff that Michelle won HOH, now at least he has a chance to stay if wimpy Michelle isn't brain washed by Chima and Natalie. And what was up with Jesse's interview with Julie, yes Jesse you are bitter just admit it, you got played at that's that! Didn't Julie look great in that polka dot outfit, even if she did look like a birthday balloon.-Single D

The Bachelorette-Jillian Picks

I was gone for the finale, so I got the spoiler in the grocery store splashed across a mag that Ed was already cheating on Jillian. No matter, I knew it was going to be good, but I was so mad that I didn't know the "After the Rose" was the following night and I didn't get to see it. I knew it was going to be Ed, the big goofy I'm back dude. I knew it wouldn't be Kiptyn, although Jillian was foolish not to pick him, marrying him promised a life of luxury and all the good things money can buy, but then it's not about money, right? Kiptyn just wasn't whole heartedly into it. He just seemed so nonchalant about the whole thing. I knew Reid was going to come back, but if he was trying to woo her back, shouldn't he tried to dress a little bit better. He had that rumpled disheveled look like he just stepped off the red eye. Jillian looked like she was torn there for about one second and maybe played an enee, menee, minee, moe thing in her brain, but it was too sudden and she had already had her life planned as Mrs. Ed. Too bad, Reid was definitely my pick, hey Reid call me! After she and Ed said their I love you's, my daughter said, that was so romantic and mocked wiped a tear from her eye. Ya, well see how long that one is going to last. Oh hey, the place where they Jillian stayed, the Hapuna Prince on the big island, is absolutely fantastic along with it's sister property, the Mauna Kea is the place to stay in Hawaii. Good choice!

Rumor has it that the producers are already thinking about offering the next Bachelor to either, Kiptyn, Reid or Jake. My bet is on Jake, Kiptyn is too independent to do it again, Reid too shy, but Jake, Mr. Perfect, the women would be lining up for him! Can't wait!-Single D

European Summer Vacation Part 3

In the previous post were the things I hate about traveling and being in Europe, but there are a few things that I absolutely love, that when I come home after bemoaning that I hate being there, that I'm always tired, that my feet hurt and that I'm spending way too much money, somehow the trip becomes romanticized in my mind and I forget all the trouble it is to travel. Curious, it's like birthing a child or so I've heard, you never remember the pain, you only remember the good stuff as one gazes fondly at the vacation pictures, well that's what traveling in Europe is like. My favorite city this trip, London. I have been there many times and London just keeps getting better and better. I can remember when we first went there many years ago when it was a foodie waste land. Now great food can be had at the pubs and even at Gatwick-eat the fish n chips at the food place on the second level. I love the thought of high tea, all those scones and cakes, yum! My memory failed me this time, in that I thought Fortnum and Mason was right across the street from my favorite department store, Harrod's but it is actually in Green Park. This time we had tea at the Richleoux. It was a nice break for my feets. Tea and scones with Devonshire cream, heavenly. I love the Dutch double salty licorice. Ya I know, my mother liked licorice and I like licorice, the saltier the better. I love the European architecture, the magnificent cathedrals, the quaint towns, the sidewalk cafes, and the great coffee. I love the chocolate, pastries, cookies along with the fantastic cheese and meat stores. Yup, I'm a foodie. I love the breakfast buffet that comes with the hotel rooms. I love how you can be in one country in the morning and by lunch in another. I love how on the tube there is a guy playing his accordion or how one can be shopping and all of a sudden the sound of the most beautiful church bells will ring. But mostly, I love how I feel when I get home after an exhausting trip, grateful to live in America, it's a privilege that we take for granted each and every day. God Bless America!-Single D

European Summer Vacation Part 2

We have been to Europe many times and I came back from this trip stating that if I never went back to Europe I wouldn't miss it. I hate the long plane rides as I stated before in the previous post. I hate that I can't get use to the time change, hey, nine hours is a lot to get used to. And the older I get, I know, the harder it becomes for me. It used to be that it would normally take about a day and a half. We would land, get to the hotel, sleep a bit and then wake up for a nice dinner and then take to bed and the next day I'd feel refreshed. Not this trip. This time it took me nearly 6 days to adjust. The hotel in Brussels was kind enough to let us check in early, although I did make a stink that the room was dirty and the carpet was soiled. A call down to the front desk and they have us move to another room, right when the roll away was coming through the room door. The next room was much better, but lacked the robe and the chocolate covered strawberries. Never mind, I brought my own light wrap and who needs strawberries, they were just attracting flies in the other room. The front desk said they would deliver robes which they never did, I guess they already had had it with the American tourist in room 749. Gee I only alienated them in less than 30 minutes! Well, heck they had signs in the room that stated 100% satisfaction guaranteed, but that's another story. Yes, I had jet lag for 6 days, my sister in law said that I should take a good sleeping pill, which we forgot to bring.

I hate paying for toilets. Sure Mr. Clean at the airport is really clean, but come on 1 euro to pee? Pretty soon it will be charged on whether you have to pee or poop, 1 euro pee, 2 euro poop!

I hate foreigners or in this case natives that hate our American guts. Like the time in Germany, when I approached a worker in a train booth to ask for directions. He was wearing sunglasses so I couldn't tell if his eyes were open or shut. Uh, hello, excuse me. In a heavy Sssgerman accent he said, "First! We say Good Morning, then, we ask the question and then we say Good Day!" Well, excuseeeee ME!

When we were in Rome a few years back, my sister in law was buying water in a small store. When she came out she said the man said the word "puta" to her or something like that. "What does that mean?" she queries. "Puta" I say incredulously? I march back into the store and then in my best Spanish influenced Italian, tell the sour Italian man that I know what that word means, and promptly tell him "a pox on both your houses"! I quote Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It was the only thing I could think of at the time.

I hate being sweaty all the time and feeling like grime at the end of a twelve hour day of sight seeing. I hate it when my dogs swell up like giant sausages and blisters the size of Mount Edna erupt on my toes.

I hate the stink, but I do have to say, Europe has gotten better in terms of their bathrooms, more sanitary and better toilet paper. I hate paying for water in restaurants, but here too, they are becoming more Americanized and some places do give free tap water even with a little ice!

I hate paying $7.00 for a coke (Paris), ask before you order and never, ever give in when the waiter tries to rip you off by charging you for something you didn't order! That happened to us in Ostende Belgium a beach resort. The restaurants are crazy expensive and a rip off. We ate at one place, Andy ordered a nice roasted chicken, my daughter a hamburger (more like a sausage burger, they like pork there) and I ordered the safe pork kebab which was 10 euros. When the bill came, he charged me 17 euros for it. I said I didn't order the large one. He then in a heavy French accent said, then why didn't say it wasn't the big one that you ordered. I told him, I didn't know the one given to me was the BIG one! He finally backed down and said the words, "well it's my fault". Your darn right it's your fault! I didn't want to say, that I didn't even like that terribly dry kebab thingy anyway!

But mostly I hate, hate, hate it when I take bad summer vacation pictures!-Single D

Summer Vacation-2009

This year we had the opportunity to take our daughter to see some of Europe's famous landmarks, before myself and husband become too infirmed to travel. According to my daughter, we're practically ancient. Doesn't help that I always ask her when she goes to her friend's house if I look older than her friend's mother. To which she mostly replies yes, but there is that one time when she says I look younger. Ah ha! So I do look younger than some of the other mothers!

As I get older, I have less and less tolerance for traveling. Especially less tolerance for the airplane ride that seems to last an eternity in coach. Going there is not so bad, since you have the trip to look forward to, but coming home, during the last 2 hours of the 13 hour trip, I was practically pitching a fit, wanting to scream and jump out of the plane, not to mention that we had another 4 hour plane ride to look forward to once we landed. I had no tolerance for the French lady sitting in front of me, when only 10 minutes after take off she reclines her seat all the way into my lap nearly knocking down my water bottle. I fumed and stewed until I couldn't take it any more. I'm always a courteous passenger and never recline my seat all the way especially on a 13 hour plane ride. Nothing like trying to eat food out of a tray with a seat in your face. After about 2 hours, my daughter decided she needed to go to the bathroom, so I grabbed really hard on the seat back and pulled it down viciously. The French lady looked at me with contempt, to which I answered her unspoken glaring comment with the reply, "that it is really hard to get out of the seat because it is so narrow because someone has their seat all the way back!" If before she didn't speak any English, she knew what I was saying and promptly adjusted her seat forward and there she remained for the remainder of the flight, not even getting up to go to the bathroom or eat for 13 hours. She must have the kidneys the size of a large bathtub. From then on, I was very careful not to disturb the nice French lady. Careful Madison, don't grab the seat when making your way to the bathroom!

Coming back home is always easier to adjust to the jet lag, because you're flying during the day and once at home, I force myself to go to bed at a normal time. Going to Europe on the other hand is much harder, since I don't have the comfort of my bed and had to sleep sitting up. My mother used to sleep sitting up in her bed, something about her herniated ulcer. Me, I need, I crave comfort. Who can sleep in coach? I don't care if they give you a sleep mask and ear plugs. Where's my down pillow and sleep number bed? It's no wonder it took me 6 days to overcome my jet lag in Europe, I didn't sleep a wink on the plane!-Single D

Big Brother-Revenge of the Nerds

Isn't the revenge of the nerds supposed to be sweet justice? Nerds rising up against the bullies and winning? And justice prevails in the land? Well not in Big Brother this season, as the head of the nerd herd, Ronnie shows that he is just a vile and cunning as the bullies we love to hate. Ronnie makes Russell, ole hommie, look like the sweet brother of a merry maid. It was so villainous of Ronnie to promise the "good" side of the house that he was 99.9% sure he was going to put up Russell for eviction after our hero Jeff won the POV. Whew that was close tho, who knew the hommie could count change? When Jeff was putting fistful of pennies into the bucket, I so totally thought he was going to go out like Ronnie and his quarter estimate. Come on, does $500.00 worth of quarters look like a 100 dollars worth of quarters? Ronnie sure threw that one, he's not that dumb, but he must think the audience is. What a jerk. Sure it's just about the game, but to throw innocent Jordan, who wouldn't hurt a butterfly under the bus and nominate her for eviction up against Laura was just despicable! Sure Ronnie knows that Laura can see right through his scheming. Big boobs does equal big brains. She was on to Ronnie before anyone else, she just didn't have the brains to play along with him and keep her mouth shut because there are people in the house not to be trusted, like Chima, and that other athlete girl, whatshername. I just hope whoever gets HOH next go round, gives Ronnie his due because I want to see him squeal like a stuck pig that he is!-Single D

Big Brother-Season 11

It is high school all over again and this time it's in the Big Brother house. Athletes, brainacs, offbeat (hey let's not sugar coat it, rejects, losers, dead beats) and the popular group. Wouldn't you know, the athletes win the first HOH which brings back the biggest athlete meat head from Season 10, Jessie. I hated him back then and I hate him even more now. The hate is in direct proportion to his ever increasing growth of his muscles and lack of neck thereof. I'm sure Big Brother is planning to utilized all of the teen angst from pimple popping to prom dates. And of course what better way to start off with than a zip popping word challenge which clearly showed who could spell and who couldn't, brainacs! Of course the meat heads win this one with the word "shotgun", we clearly know where Russell's head's at. Hey, isn't his hommie gang missing him right now? Russell and Ronnie getting into it was like watching a pit bull go up against a poodle. Ronnie might be in the brainac group but he is acting like he should be in the dummy group the way he is playing the game. And what's up with him being the champion of "Persuasive Talking"? He didn't display any persuasive talking when Russell was all up in his face. He was practically wetting his pants.

And poor Laura, aren't you sick of hearing her say "because of my large boobs". Hey she's the one that got Godzilla size breast implants. If she's not saying that, she displaying them, (ok, maybe I have breast envy, since I have none! Yah, yah, I admit it!)

I keep forgetting that BB is on three nights, so I've missed some of the screaming matches. Too bad they voted off Braden even if he did just graduate from "Ridgemont High" yesterday. Well, it's back to surfing dude.

Haven't warmed up to anyone yet, I just can't get passed their looks, they look all freaky to me. Boy I must be getting old! The other Donna was liking Lydia, I couldn't get past her clown red mouth crying after she had been nominated, ya think a girl all tatted up would have a harder shell. Didn't she ever think she'd might get nominated for eviction? Oh yeah that's right, she's not in the brainac group. The house better watch out for her, the offbeat girl is not to be trusted.

All the high school antics brings back my old school days. And yes, I wasn't always in the popular crowd, what!? I must confess, I did start out in the dorky group but being a fast learner, I knew the place to be in high school, was in the popular crowd where I started out in cheer and later became Queen of the Sweetheart dance, with my date, Gordon Asaoka. Gee, I wonder where he is now, probably some famous artist (he was very talented, I just didn't care for rice). -Single D