I will probably have lots of pictures of Europe when I get back. If you don't already know, I tend to post my pictures at my other blog, here:

http://myrandommusings.blogspot.com/

OK, Maybe I am being a tad overly dramatic. But I am about to venture into the unknown. To boldly go where I have not gone before. To take perhaps the most complicated vacation I have taken in all my 36 years on this planet. I'm going... to Europe.

Having planned and booked this trip myself, there are a lot of details to consider. There is the flight across the Atlantic and back, the hotels in each city, and the transportation between cities for one. That's the basics. If nothing screws up there, then things should be good.

Then there is the things to do in each city. Will we have enough time to cram everything in? Is it better to spend a day walking along the cobblestone streets, stopping for a coffee in a sidewalk cafe and doing a bit of shopping? Or is it better to try to hit a bunch of museums and monuments in that day so if someone asks “Did you see THIS?” I can respond “Yes! Of course, wouldn't miss THAT.”

It's a tough balance. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy the ambiance of the places while not missing out on the highlights. A friend warned me not to do too much, and I will try my best to keep a brisk yet easily manageable pace of activities.

I don't want to be on the plane home totally exhausted and frustrated.

Wish me luck. (Thanks!) And I'll see if I can do a few blog postings from across the pond.

Props to Paul over at IconizeMe!

This image of me turned out amazing. I'm blown away.

I am not getting paid for this endorsement, but I needed to book some intra-Europe plane tickets yesterday, and found these sites. It made the process 100 times easier.

This site is excellent:
http://www.dohop.com/

And so is this:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Discount_airlines_in_Europe

The government of the United States increased it's own credit card limit today, adding another $781 Billion to it's limit. Why $781 Billion and not $800 Billion? Well, their credit limit now stands at $8.97 Trillion. Who wants to be the one to make it hit $9 Trillion?

From Bloomberg:

The government will spend $217 billion on interest on the debt this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. By contrast, federal spending for the Department of Education is $83 billion.

Mind you, the U.S. Military spends approximately $663 Billion when you add up on-budget and off-budget items. For instance, the cost of the war in Iraq is done through appropriations and is not part of the official budget. So interest payments don't look too big when compared with that number.

I don't know exactly when it happened, but I do know that it has been a gradual change over the past 6 to 8 months. The actual final switch has taken place in the last month or so.

I stopped watching traditional broadcast television. Entirely.

There used to be periods of intense television watching - when Survivor, Amazing Race and two versions of The Apprentice were on at the same time. My VCR was working overtime then since I was never home to catch them at their original time. I would sit down once per week and watch six hours of television at once. My finger on the fast-forward button to skip commercials.

Now, I have missed this entire season of Survivor. I haven't even seen 5 minutes of it. Amazing Race has started and I'm missing that too, and Apprentice. I have stopped watching ALL of the shows I was addicted to 6 months ago. And I can't be the only one.

Two things have really happened to get me off my addiction to my VCR and television.

1) Podcasts and video casts. I got myself an iPod, and since I had heard so many things about podcasts, I found a few good ones and started listening at work. Podcasts led to video casts. The whole concept of television shows created and produced by individuals and shown online (IPTV) has really really taken off in the past 6 months. I don't have a video iPod, but I watch the shows on my computer. In fact, I am falling behind a bit on my subscribed content! I have more content per week than I have time to watch per week!

2) Bittorrent.

Ah, bittorrent. Who knew that this thing would be the unstoppable technology to destroy the movie and television industries. But it will. It's on its way of doing that, mark my words.

It started innocently. I think it was the show “Joey”. (Please don't laugh. I liked Friends, and so Joey was at least a “poor man's” version of it.) I saw the entire first season on NBC Thursdays and liked it. Then the second season started last September, and I never really got around to seeing it. I started to fall behind. One day, I decided I would get “caught up” again with the show so I downloaded the episodes I had missed off bittorrent, watched them, and intended to keep up with the series on TV real-time. And then it got cancelled.

Then came the New Battlestar Gallactica. I had completely missed out on the first season of it when the second season started. Everyone was raving about how good it was (and it is very good!). So I downloaded the complete first season and caught up on that.

Then there were quirky and hard to find shows - “Dead Like Me” (cancelled after 2 seasons), “Love Monkey” (cancelled after 3 episodes). These shows will NEVER be replayed. Love Monkey will never have a DVD even.

So you see, the problem is quite simple. There is no way for me to get caught up on television shows I like. They get cancelled. Or they appear on U.S. networks months before they are shown in Canada.

I want TV Shows on my terms. If I catch a new show on TV that I like, I would like to be able to see the previous episodes “on demand”. No, not wait 12 months for the DVD to come out. If I see “Love Monkey Episode 2” one night, I want to be able to purchase and download Episode 1 from the Net.

And make it cheap - not $5 or $3. If it's more than $1, it's not worth it. In fact, post the entire show WITH COMMERCIALS in the DRM format of your choice and provide it for FREE. Why not? It's the same as broadcast TV!

So, for me, watching TV is not convenient any more. Picking shows I like from bittorrent and letting them download overnight is. And besides I get many hours a week of Internet Television (VidCasts). Even the addictive shows of TV (Survivor, Apprentice and Amazing Race) have lost me.

I want to wish my nephew Johnathan a Happy Birthday.

15, eh? You're getting old kid.