Justin Germino Ramblings

Due to the fact that I was travelling for vacation and then work at the end of August and early September, I realized I hadn’t logged into Starcraft 2 since August 18th.  I was dismayed that I had this great game waiting for me to finish it and yet I had forgotten about it.

Like making a date with an old friend, I curled up on the ergonomic computer chair last night and decided to load the game and dive right back into the world of James Raynor and his struggle vs. the Queen of Blades.  The level I was on was extremely difficult for me, even in normal mode and pitted me against the Protoss where I had to retrieve an artifact while the planet was being burned away by a sun about to go supernova.

You race against the clock with this wall of fire following your armies while you try to stay ahead and destroy well defended protoss.  I tried twice and spent two hours only to end both times in failures.

So after playing the game for two hours in these epic battles, I made no progress in the game at all and went to bed wondering if I should have spent that time blogging instead?

-Justin Germino

I am one of those Stephen King fans that became completely immersed in the Dark Tower series which is one of my favorite book series of all time.  The fact that Stephen King managed to tie in nearly every book he had ever written into the Dark Tower as his kind of “universe” all his other novels center around or touch in some way was even more impressive to me.

When I borrowed the Stephen King UR Audio Book from the library I was pleased for its relatively short form (2 discs / 37 tracks).  My time for books and audio books has waned as of late due to my lack of being on the road, so I was glad I was able to get through a whole audio book on my recent trip out of town.

The book was written for and is about the Amazon Kindle, one that is shipped to Wesley Smith a man who recently broke up with his girlfriend over the fact that he spends too many times reading paper books and not listening to his girlfriend enough.

He realizes there is something amiss about his Amazon Kindle when the color is not the plain white and he sees a new UR beta function that he learns shows books, news articles and glimpses into other alternate realities and later the future.

Stephen King is a master of description and sets up the first third of the book describing all the characters, story, mentality.  His overt attention to every detail in a room, scene or character is one of the styles that draws me to his books every time.

It had similarities to so many other stories of course just subbing out the devices used to predict or see glimpses of the future, but still when the main characters of the story see a tragedy about to happen and seek to prevent it you get some unusual twists with some serious Dark Tower references in toward the end.

I found UR to be an engaging fictional Audio Book and it is a must read or listen to if you are a Stephen King fan.  It is not a horror book if you are concerned, and there are no horror elements at all.

-Justin Germino

Our last stop on our Royal Caribbean cruise out of Miami was the Mexican port of Cozumel.  Here we did our most fun excursion out of the entire trip as we embarked to explore the “Amazing Secret River”.  This tour involves a 30 minute boat ride, a 35 minute bus ride and a short walk to where you will be fitted with a wetsuit, life vest, and helmet with light.

You spend the next almost two hours traveling underground in a portion of the 9 mile long half submerged caverns.  Half the time is spent walking on land and the other half is spent swimming underground in water deeper than you could stand in.  It is quite scary swimming with nothing but thousand of stalactites above you and the head lamps of a small party of other tourists with you being the only light sources.

It felt like the setup to a horror movie like “Descent” but was incredibly fun, exhausting and kept you on your toes.  The stalactites and stalagmites were quite solid and sharp.  I suffered a knee bash to one while trying to kick off in the water and my wife hit her arm on a stalagmite sticking down to the water and received a wicked bruise as a result.

Here are the pictures from the Amazing Secret River tour and my wife and I spelunking in the underground caverns:

After the tour which took a total of seven hours we were deposited in a shopping port near Cozumel where we ate at Karen’s Mexican restaurant and had some really authentic flank steak taco’s and enchilada’s.  The flavor of the food is quite different than Arizona Mexican food and was tasty (though I didn’t like the thin guacamole and found the salsa to be very liquidy).

Here are the other Cozumel pictures:

-Justin Germino

I wasn’t directly affected by the September 11th tragedy of 2001, however at the time of the incident my mother worked on Wall Street and I was very concerned.  It just happened that she had been traveling for work and wasn’t in NY at all at the time, but having lived in New York for the first eighteen years of my life.  I was glued to CNN and watched all day from my job at the time for more information on the attacks as information streamed in across the country.

Now 9 years later, I have spent every year thinking about it on that day, you can’t help but be conscious that this was such an atrocity committed against our people and our nation.  That being said imagine the horror and terror for nations that undergo frequent terrorist bombings, attacks and assaults.  Our country was quite united and we saw the strength of our people and nation come together, not in fear but in defiance.  Unfortunately, I do believe this lead to an unnecessary war in Iraq and our failure to capture Osama Bin Laden only further weakens our ability to hit “individual” targets rather than directly assault entire nations.

The fact that a Mosque wants to be erected near Ground Zero does not however strike me the way it does many others.  We live in a land of freedoms and to claim that Mosque would be a victory shrine for terrorists or that somehow it would be a slap in the face of the American people isn’t true.  Muslims outnumber Catholics worldwide at more than a billion members and I read recently that Muslim is now the dominant religion worldwide having more members than any other religion.  To assume that 1% of the religious people are extremists would be over exaggerating, it is more like .001% and even that number includes tens of thousands of people.

We live in a country of freedoms and if anyone would deny a Mosque from being built but allow a Jewish Temple, or Catholic Cathedral would be ignoring the freedoms that make our country what it is.  That being said, I do think it could be perceived as “insensitive” to the citizens of NY though and that some education, patience and understanding be considered.

We live in a nation of freedom and fear and hatred have no place in a country where we claim to be open and accepting of all races, creeds, colors and religions.  That being said, I have a hard line on terrorism and think there is no mercy and understanding for those who harbor, assist or support terrorism and terrorist activities.

Let us hope as Americans that 9/11 will be the worst terrorism attack in American history, for should a more coordinated or dangerous attack occur with nuclear, biological or chemical agents it would destabilize our nation in ways we can’t even fathom right now.

-Justin Germino

Probably my favorite port and town on the whole Royal Caribbean cruise out of Miami was the stop in Georgetown Grand Caymans.  The weather was perfect, the island just simply beautiful and the turtle farm we visited was great.  They breed and release so many green sea turtles which are huge and have almost 5’ diameter long bodies. 

We both decided that out of the various ports we visited, Grand Caymans or Haiti would be the two we probably may consider visiting directly in the future.  Heck, Grand Caymans is not looking at a likely place to retire and spend the rest of our days together.

Here are the photos from Georgetown, Grand Caymans:

The only ironic thing about the turtle farm is you get to see and hold the really cute turtles, only to find they serve turtle eggs and turtle fin steak and soup on the restaurant on the premises.   My wife found this barbaric but I thought it no different than the Ostrich farms in Arizona that sell Ostrich meat and jerky on the farm.  She would never eat a turtle and neither would I though, not because I am opposed to the meat or flavor, but because they are very cute and are endangered, even if they raise them in a controlled environment and only have a select amount used for food purposes.

-Justin Germino

The Royal Caribbean cruise ship had a 2nd stop after Labadee, Haiti to the Jamaica port of Ocho Rios or “eight rivers”.  This was an amazing excursion where we took a tour of the city and climbed up a flowing river (only about knee deep but with fast moving currents).

We also had a tour about the local plant life and lifestyle of Jamaica, my wife and I enjoyed the lush tropical nature of the island and the friendly people.  The only negative front that I find on excursions is the local people who peddle wares can be quite abrasive, direct and literally nearly assault and pester you to look and purchase from them.  If you don’t like haggling, then talking to street merchants is not the thing for you.

Here are some pictures of our Ocho Rios excursion in Jamaica:

Tomorrow will be the photos from Georgetown, Grand Caymans where we visited the turtle farm and there are some great pics.

-Justin Germino

On my Royal Caribbean cruise vacation from which I returned last weekend, Labadee, Haiti was the first port destination.  The first thing to note is that this isn’t the actual town of Labadee, but a mock town specific for tourists who aren’t allowed into Labadee itself from the cruise ships.

The port is more like a private island area for the cruise ships and contains beaches, dining area’s and comes complete with dozens of locals peddling various crafts and products.

The excursion we purchased included a tour and a visit to paradise cove which is a remote beach where there are no visitors.  The sand is fine as silk, and the water cool and clear.  I had the most delicious rum punch I had ever imbibed upon arrival.

Though the tour was cut short as a result of a rainstorm moving in, we were refunding the entire excursion costs so we kind of received a 1/2 tour for free. 

Here are my pictures from Labadee, Haiti excursion:

-Justin Germino

Funny how I just got back from my Caribbean Cruise on Sunday evening only to have to fly out to North Carolina for my job on Tuesday morning.  I had Labor Day to hang out with the kids and alternate between house chores, playing Lego Indiana Jones 2 and Rome: Total War with my kids.

Packed my bags and out the door the next day where I will be in Charlotte until Friday while my wife holds down the fort.  I haven’t taken this many flights in such a short proximity in almost 9 years if you can believe that!

Gede with my wife and I on the Liberty of the Seas cruise ship.

Meanwhile, while on my cruise ship my wife and I were waited on by a friendly waiter named Gede from Indonesia, the man was such a great waiter showing interest and true dedication to his work.  We took the time to get to know him and found out he worked 6 months straight 7 days a week without a break while his wife and three kids back in Indonesia got to speak to him on phone calls every few nights.  Six months of work for three months off to spend with his family and I can say this is one truly dedicated and hard working individual who has a smile on his face every day and greets each cruise guest like they were his best friend.

My working/family life is a picnic compared to some dedicated and hardworking folks out there who do whatever it takes to put bread on the table and provide for the family.  I applaud all the men and women who put in the hard time and sacrifice to make sure their families are taken care of.  I have no business complaining about spending 10 days this month away from my kids when others don’t see their kids for several months at a time.

(Yet I still complain, because it is just something I am not used to)

-Justin Germino

It is good to be back home as I had spent the last week embarking on a cruise of the Caribbean courtesy of Royal Caribbean cruise lines.  My wife and I had planned this cruise since February 2009 and it was our 4th cruise together.  We had been on a Royal Caribbean Cruise, a Carnival Cruise and a Disney cruise previously. 

The cruise left Miami, Florida on August 29th and spent the first day at sea, we pulled into Labadee, Haiti on August 31st and into Ocho Rios, Jamaica on September 1st. 

On September 2nd we docked at George Town, Grand Cayman and from there set off to Cozumel, Mexico where we spent September 3rd.  We spent September 4th at sea and arrived back in Miami on the 5th to fly home to Arizona.

I need some time to digest from the vacation of fine dining and get my pictures in order.  I will do a series of posts with photos from my various excursions and look forward to sharing the beautiful sights of the Caribbean with my readers.

PS.  If you haven’t been on a cruise it is one of the best ways to take a vacation, there is something said for a package deal where all your meals are included, activities preset and you don’t have to find something to do all the time.  You just sit back and check your daily planner and choose what you want to do when you get there.

I hear there are two types of people, those who LOVE cruises and those who hate them compared to traditional vacations.  You can consider my wife and I in the "love cruises" category as we love that you get to sample a little bit of each port without making a commitment to staying long term in one port.  Then after we find a place we like, we usually book a weeklong stay at a later date like we did with our Cabo San Lucas vacation in Mexico.

-Justin Germino

I hadn’t taken a typing speed test in a while and was looking to see if my typing speed was still as sharp and fast as it used to be.  Now I can do anywhere from 90 – 105 WPM depending on the type of test, the more numbers, special characters and such thrown into the test can seriously reduce my typing speed as I use a Logitech DiNovo Laptop keyboard (which is a fantastic scissor keys keyboard) but is slightly smaller and has key placement that occasionally throws me off.

One site that I like is TypingTest.com and my latest test which was done about 11:00pm put me at 80WPM which is a bit slower than I was when I last tested a year ago.  I find as I near thirty three years of age that my fingers just don’t seem to be as fast as they were five to ten years ago, but this could be my imagination as well.

Still, with all the typing I do for blogging (I figure I write about  15,000 words per month minimum for my three blogs) this doesn’t count the dozens of emails I write per day and typing I do for my day job I would have been at the same typing speed.

I will retest during the day and see if I can improve my speed again.  I do the same type of testing with speed reading to make sure I can still read and comprehend quickly.

-Justin Germino

For those who are looking for a new keyboard, I received one of these as a gift over a year ago and it is the best keyboard I have ever typed on in the past twenty years of using a computer.  The tactile keys of the keyboard are superb and they keyboard is small, wireless and completely portable.  I couldn’t recommend a keyboard more than the Logitech DiNovo Notebook Keyboard.