Although I don’t really listen to country music, this video is pretty catchy:

United breaks guitars

It is a prime example of how you can get a company to comply with your wishes to fix what was done wrong by their employees.

It seems like this guy, David Carroll, a member of the band Sons of Maxwell, sent his guitar as a check-in through United. United airlines employees, just as any other airline employee, tried to take gingerly care of the checked in baggage. But for some “Unforseen” reason, maybe it was turbulance, or taking off at 150 MPH, or landing at 125 MPH and 5 Gs of force, the guitar lost its neck.

So Dave, tried to get restitution for the damage, of course United denied the claim. So Dave thought, there’s more than one way to skin a cat, he made a song, United Break Guitars, and put it on YouTube. Of course 2 million people viewed it and now Dave is a household name.

United found out, and offered to pay him for the damage, of course Dave doesn’t want to take the money because he is enjoying fame and fortune because of that mishap. Apparently there is a rumor that United promissed to use his video to train baggage handlers. So how would it go United? See here what happens if you mistreat luggage? You make someone rich and famous, so stop doing it 🙂

So there the story goes. He will be signing with Simon for the next season of American idol (NOOOOOTTTTT!).

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

The US Dollar goes up and down, although we hear that it has something to do with consumer confidence, or other nations’ confidence in our currency, the fact remains that we are still the most consuming nation in the world. In the U.S. we consume 40% of the products in the world (heard it somewhere, I’m sure it changes a bit here and there).

But the U.S. Still controls things everywhere. We can spend like there is no tomorrow. Most people have not read “The richest man in Babylon“, but still spend like they are the richest man in Babylon without knowing what the strategies behind the richest man in Babylon were.

So, when it (The U.S.) wants to hurt Europe (Typically before summer when people are thinking about going to Europe for vacation), the dollar falls, and everything there becomes more expensive. Even pasta costs more. Did you know Europe is less than 1/4 the shipping distance from Saudi Arabia as the U.S. is, yet we pay almost half of what Eurpeans pay for gas? They get us back though, the Smart car is their station wagon 🙂

Anywhooo, Just some tidbits and my opinion. If you don’t like it, tough! I’m an American and I am entitled to my opinion, just like you are yours (however demented yours might be).

While all countries (including the turkeys in Turkey) are clammouring to join the EU and use the Euro (EUR), England, or the United Kingdom if I want to be proper, while joined in the EU, is staying away from using the Euro as it’s formal currency. I first thought it was odd, but if you look at this:

$1 will buy you only .61 GBP – Pound Sterling
$1 will buy you only .71 EUR – Euro
        or maybe I should say
1 GBP will buy you about $1.64 US Dollars 
        while
1 Euro will buy you only about $1.41 US Dollars

No wonder the British didn’t want to switch to the Euro, their currency is stronger.

Isn’t that interesting? I thought it was.

What is the most worthless curency against the Dollar?

If you answered the VND or the Viet Nam Dong, you would be correct, followed closely by the STD or Sao Tome Dobra & TMM – Turkmenistan Manat .
$1 will buy you 17,800 VND – Viet Nam Dong
$1 will buy you 15,485 STD – Sao Tome Dobra
$1 will buy you 14202 TMM – Turkmenistan Manat

OK, How about the strongest currency against the U.S. Dollar?

If you answered the MTL or the Maltese Lira, you would be wrong, it is the second strongest, behind the Kuwaiti Dinar.
$1 will buy you .30 MTL – Maltese Lira
$1 will buy you .287 KWD – Kuwaiti Dinar

OK, now how about equal to the U.S. Dollar?

Yes, you are right, the Panamanian Balboa and the Bermuda Dollar, they are equivalent to the U.S. Dollar.
$1 will buy you 1 PAB – Panamanian Balboa
$1 will buy you 1 BMD – Bermuda Dollar

OK, now you are probably asking, “How about the Euro? and the English Pound?”

No wonder the British didn’t want to switch to the Euro, their currency is stronger.
$1 will buy you only .61 GBP – Pound Sterling
$1 will buy you only .71 EUR – Euro

I thought this would be interesting to know.

-Diran Afarian

Day 14 – Wednesday

It’s Wednesday and we are 2 days away from D-Day (Departure Day :-). We got up this morning and got ready to leave Como for Milan. Our rooms came with free breakfast, and it was great breakfast like I described yesterday. Today the weather was beautiful, nothing like yesterday. If I were to estimate it was around 76-78, sunny and bright.

We decided to leave after breakfast but to drive on the side of the lake (The left side) then drive to Milan from there. While driving we noticed a lot of traffic the opposite way so we drove next to the lake and luckily we found a way to the Milan freeway from there, so we didn’t have to drive through the traffic. The drive to Milan is beautifully lined with trees (Cedar and deodar, etc), half way till you get to all the factories near Milan.

Anyway, we got to Milan. Driving through the city, you see there is so much artistry in the designs of the buildings. From the beautiful balconies, to the walls and corners. So we drove through the city and got to the hotel and checked in (Sheraton Diana Majestic), Got upgraded with dad’s Platinum status, and ended up getting 2 suites, one is an Executive suite (Mom, dad & Garinn are sleeping in) it has a huge room, a dining room and living room. It even has an exercise bike (like the lifecycles) in the room. Our room is a huge room with a living room and office area, and a huge bathroom. We have been very lucky with hotels, one better than the other.

So after checking in, we bought 2-day unlimited metro tickets for 5.50 Euro per person. This is the only thing that is cheap here, using the metro. So we went to the central station, they call it Satzione Centrale, (20 minutes walking, but 4 minutes with the metro). We went to Hotel Augustus (Dad’s old hotel). The man recognized him and of course offered anything that we needed. We left there, and sat down for a couple of drinks, 1 beer for dad, 2 cokes, 1 water and 2 ice creams, 26 Euro (Ouch) that’s like $40.

So from there we went to Duomo. This is a big church in the center of Milan. When I say big, I mean biiiiiggggg. It has so much detail and beauty, and we were lucky to go inside. Garinn could not get in because she was wearing shorts. If you are a female and are wearing shorts shorter than your knees, you cannot get in. I took a lot of pictures. Each column is as wide as five guys hand to hand around it. There is so much detail in the church from the multiple Khorans, to the ceilings, to the floors, yes the floors. Amazing is all I can say. The doors on the outside, and the walls and whatever you see is a work of art.

After getting through the Church, we looked for the Banir Hatz place. We found it, the smell hypnotized Anto, he kept asking what the heck is that smell, I want that. Anyway we bought the calzones, they are fried of course, and delicious. It’s really Mozzarella and tomato, they also have ones with Mozzarella and Ham (they call Ham – Prosciutto, and they call Proscuitto – Prosciutto Crudo). Anto and I being growing boys had 2 each (They are much smaller than before ok?). So after that we got back to the hotel, Anto and Garinn want to come back and eat the Banir Hatz again tomorrow. (-:|> <|:-) There is good news, I don't think I've lost any weight, I was worried with all this walking and sweating, but Thank God for all the Pizzas Pastas and carbs in general, I've been able to maintain my weight. Well, I should be going to sleep, I will talk to you later. -D

Day 13 – Tuesday

5:30AM, I am awake, I want to use the connection we found from the cafe downstairs. But I hear thunder like noises. I opened the shutters and there was rain and thunder. Quickly it turned into something resembling a hurricane. That cafe that we sat and ate in the day before had chairs all lined up in nice lines, well those chairs were all in the middle of the street.

The thunder & lightning were unbelievable, I’ve never seen it like this, lightning every 3-4 seconds. I couldn’t see the actual lightning because I was in the opposite side of the building, but I could see the sky lighting up and going dark over and over like the transformer is blown on a building or something. Water started to flow in the streets, like a pool. The manhole covers were overflowing with water, I figured that’s the end of Como.

We are in a beautiful hotel (Albergus) but it is an old mansion converted to a hotel, so I got out of the room and went around trying to find other windows to see where this lightning was striking. All around I couldn’t see it. Afterwards I went to the reception desk and the guy was there in a panic, I asked him if this was usual, he said, “The rain yes, but thunder like dis never happen, this crazy, something wrong!!” There was water coming into the lobby, I helped him put 15-20 towels to stop the water.

So I went back to the bedroom, I am filming and taking pictures of the busses trying to pass with all the chairs in the street. Anyway, Rosalin woke up around 6:00AM and said, “What are you doing? How long have you been up?”, I said, “30 minutes there is a hurricane going on…”, she said, “Ok, then we don’t need to go to breakfast at 8:00…” then she went back to sleep.

About 7:00 I called Garinn (She is in a separate room), I told her about the storm and asked if she is afraid I can come down, she said, “No, why did you wake me up dad? I’m OK” so I told her to go back to sleep and forget about being ready to come down for breakfast at 8:00. So around 8:00 AM dad calls, “Hey baron, abajooret patz nayir inch yegher-eh toorseh, antzrev potorig, inch bidi enenk?” Chem kider dad, Rozigeh bargadz eh, aysor take it easy genenk. So around 8:30 dad came, baron inch bidi enenk, chem kider bab Rozigeh bargadz eh, bidi tzekem vor hankisd meh artennah. He said, this will go away, I said I’m sure.

Sure enough, around 9:30 it was clear and sunny again, more beautiful than before. Crews were working into cleaning things up. They even had a sweeper for the lake, it comes and lowers a conveyor belt and collects all the junk that fell into the lake. The lake’s level had risen like 10-12 inches. Amazing. So we headed down for breakfast, it was so good. The ham and bread that they have is out of this world. Anyway, we had breakfast. Dad went to the harbor across the street to buy tickets for us to go on the boat, so we can see the real Belagio.

We went on the boat, the lake is gigantic, It is like a big inverted “Y”, so Belagio is right at the place where the Y-legs combine. It takes 2 hours with the boat (1 hour with the boat that goeas straight). So to see the entire lake in the fast boat you need 4 hours each way. Huge!! The houses with lakefront locations are amazingly beautiful (dad asked ($5Mill-???????) for single homes like that, and condos start at $1.5Mill. Paitz Gheir Shekel paner en. You need to be there.

So we got to Belagio, couldn’t believe our eyes, It is this tiny hotel, with a lot of other hotels next to it. It maybe has 30-40 rooms. Not even on the water, it has another hotel in front of it and then some restaurants. Then we found out that Belagion is the name of the village where all the hotels and shops are. Anyway, came back (6-hours total, 2:15 hours going, another 2:15 coming, and 1:30 there eating a delicious sandwich) I have to maintain this weight you know.

We came back relaxed a bit, then around 8:30 we went to the Funiculore, it is a train that goes sideways up the mountain. We were apparently making a Ricola commercial. We were going up the side of the mountain (2 Euros per person after 8:30). We got up to the top but didn’t really see much, so we rushed back into the funiculare, and walked back to a Pizzeria.

The waitress in the Pizzeria liked dad and came and shared her life stories (yes plural) She was born in Switzerland, her mother is German (That’s why she is big) from Hanover, her father is from Veneto (the L.A. County of Venice), She showed dad her ink (tattoos), even the one where she had to turn her back to us and well, this is a family blog. We ate our pizzas, and went to the hotel to sleep and get ready for Milan tomorrow morning.

Well, that’s it for today. Any questions? Didn’t think so. TTYL.

-D

Day 9 – Friday

Yesterday we were at the Coliseum, they spell it Colosseo or Colosseum in English. Here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum

I forgot to say, we went there with the Metro. When Europeans (I’m saying Europeans because the French are equally as guilty as the Italians), when they tell you just over there, it might mean 2.2 to 10.5KM. If it is more than that they will say, take a taxi you cannot go walking.

Anyway, for the metro, they said it is 5 minutes walking, but it took a lot longer because we were being trained for a circus act, the sidewalk was litterally the width of my foot, so I practiced tightrope walking and the stakes are high, because you have cars coming full speed right next to you. Anyway, asking 3 times, we finally made it to the metro station, and asked the guard there on how to buy the tickets etc.

Well, let me say that God had something in mind, he wanted me to be a lot more sympathetic to the Fobbers that come to the U.S. In retrospect, I did not look any different than them. THIS WAS SO SIMPLE!! Yet I was like a 10 year old trying to figure out how to fill out the application for Harvard. Needless to say, it’s easy now, and I can help others, (I got over the experience in Paris, helping someone without knowing…)

The Metro in Rome
Just as a primer, there are 2 main Metro lines (Actually 3 if you count the one going to the airport)anywhooo, only 2 in Rome, A & B. See this chart, and whichever station is closest to your destination, you can get off , and then get on the other if you need to etc. One way (actually 70 minutes of use) is 1 Euro per person, or you can just buy an all day one for 4 Euro per person, or 3 days for 11 Euro. It’s that simple. The main station in the middle of the “X” is Termini. It is also the main station that you can go to other streets.

At the Colisseum, right after the tour ended, it started to rain. (Must start a new paragraph).

When I say it rained, I should really say a monsoon came through. The lights went out in the Colisseum. The rest is the way I described it in yesterday’s post.

———————————————————–

Anyway, today we went out to the Vatican. I cannot complain and say wierd things because the king here (It’s funny but they call him a pope?!?!) But according to people here, he has “Wasta” with God, so he might make the rest of our trip miserable. SO the Vatican is a landlocked country (I feel sorry already). They have funny looking guards, they look like girls, I think I can take on 5 or 6 of them while having a sandwich in my other hand.

So we went through the Main area of the Vatican, and then the Sisteen Chappel. They have misspelled “Sixteen” 🙂 but I didn’t want to make a big deal. I don’t want them to think us Americans know everything you know;-) It is amazing, the artwork is priceless and very impressive. I will post the pictures later. It is taking me a lot longer than I thought, and I keep forgetting the camera upstairs.

We decided to leave St Peter’s Basillica for the next visit because we had to walk another 20 minutes and wait 2 hours. So we had to leave something for next time or I would never come back to Rome. We came back to the hotel and got ready to go to Trinita di Monti & Fontana di Trevi. Nice impressive yada yada yada. Getting sick of saying the same things. Oh, I found out the U.S.A is older than Italy, did you know this? Italy only got to be the country of Italy in 1870, hey take that you tuscans!

OK, that’s it for today. TTYL

Day 8 – Thursday

Hey everyone,

We started out of Pisa at 10:15 AM, heading to Rome, a 345 Km journey. We got off the freeway around 150 Km from Rome. to a place called (I don’t remrmber, it was in Italian, something like Giannella). It was a typical European type beach with dirt for sand. We just looked and went back on the road.

We are here in Rome, we are at the Sheraton Roma hotel. It’s nice. We got here about 3:30PM and took the metro to The Colloseum, we took a tour, and at the end it started to rain (it was pouring cats & dogs), Hail, thunder etc. This just happened out of the blue.

It was me, Rozig, Anto, Garinn & Mom. I bought 3 umbrellas, but the streets were swimming pools. We waited for 20 minutes then took the plunge. I stepped in water ankle deep, in what looked like dirty water. Let’s just say I started thinking I was a Roman soldier, so I didn’t let it bother me.

We made it to the Metro station, thinking was the only bright bulbs in the bunch, but these Italians must have read the same book, because everybody and their uncle were there waiting to get in. I tried to buy tickets, my Euros were soaking wet, so the machine didn’t take it, Luckily I’m an Engineer, I had brought coins, just enough so I didn’t have to ask people for money for metro transfer. (Although I had the cup ready!)

We got the tickets, Rozig put her ticket into the station-entry-turnstile thingy and of course it jammed the machine. It was the only one working, but we had shown it to the security guy before putting it in, so he escorted us to get a new ticket. and we got through. Then of course we got to the metro, it was packed like an Indian bus going from Bombay to Calcuta. We have become Europeans though, we pushed, I brought my princess Garinn next to me and said, “Indzi perne hokis, oushatir, kerbannert pan meh gah?, yeteh chi gah, mee medahokvir.”

Anyway, we got to the stop by the hotel. By the hotel means 10 min walk, here it’s standard. We took showers, washed clothes, and ate something, the waiter liked me, so instead of 4 Pastas, 2 desserts and 1 pizza, he charged us for 3 Pastas, and a Pizza, and gave me the wink. I’m worried because he knows our room number now, and he’s not my type.

Anyway, we are done for the day and I am writing this so you know what went on. Signing off, I will try to talk to you again tomorrow.

-D