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Italy - Toarmina to Catania

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Toarmina to Catania

Again our hotel provided an excellent breakfast and we set out to explore more of the island before catching our boat to Naples.  This is how we ended up in the Jeep adventure in Toarmina (click here).

The weather was turning a bit nasty and after our previous close shaves I was looking for something a bit more relaxing so we decided not to go to the top of Mount Etna.  We could clearly see that the volcano was not erupting or dong anything exciting, so the shopper prevailed.  Off we went to one of the biggest purpose built designer villages I've ever seen.  It was much larger than a similar one we went to in California but featured many of the same outlets. There was no sign of poverty here.  The prevailing impression was of considerable Sicilian middle class prosperity in addition to a surprising number of tourists from other parts of Europe who may have come to Sicily just to buy clothes.  While I might complain about hours waiting around, these places provide a fascinating insight into contemporary society.  And this one provided a tasty pizza and excellent coffee to dull the pain of boredom.

In the end I bought something and Wendy didn't because I see shops as places where you get things you might need and part with money in exchange, while she sees them as places where you ponder every garment on display and then pass on to the next.  Moreover when they are in a foreign country you can't easily buy them and then take them back the following day.  I was done in about 15 minutes.  She was not done in two hours.

The boat was to sail from Catania late that evening.  We had tickets purchased on-line. We waited to board having arrived with plenty of time so that I could return the car miles away, beyond the airport, and get a cab back. This was fortunate as we hadn't realised that our printout had to be exchanged for the actual tickets at a distant office. 

 

On the boat to Naples

 

During our wait we had an interesting time watching tanker after tanker in addition to the usual containers and agricultural products being loaded onto the ship.  It was only after I was able to get assess to Wikipedia that I discovered that Sicily is an oil producer and energy exporter to the rest of Italy. 

These exports served to reinforce my impression that Sicily is now a cell of prosperity in otherwise depressed Southern Europe, hiding itself under a bushel.

 

 

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Travel

Canada and the United States - Part1

 

 

In July and August 2023 Wendy and I travelled to the United States again after a six-year gap. Back in 2007 we visited the east coast and west coast and in 2017 we visited 'the middle bits', travelling down from Chicago via Memphis to New Orleans then west across Texas, New Mexico, Nevada and California on our way home.

So, this time we went north from Los Angeles to Seattle, Washington, and then into Canada. From Vancouver we travelled by car, over the Rockies, then flew east to Toronto where we hired a car to travel to Ottawa and Montreal. Our next flight was all the way down to Miami, Florida, then to Fort Lauderdale, where we joined a western Caribbean cruise.  At the end of the cruise, we flew all the way back up to Boston.

Seems crazy but that was the most economical option.  From Boston we hired another car to drive, down the coast, to New York. After New York we flew to Salt Lake City then on to Los Angeles, before returning to OZ.

As usual, save for a couple of hotels and the cars, Wendy did all the booking.

Breakfast in the Qantas lounge on our way to Seattle
Wendy likes to use two devices at once

Read more: Canada and the United States - Part1

Fiction, Recollections & News

Australia Day according to ChatGPT

 

I've long been interested in the advent of artificial intelligence (AI). It's a central theme in my fictional writing (The Cloud and The Craft) and is discussed in my essay to my children 'The Meaning of Life' (1997-2017). So, I've recently been exploring the capabilities of ChatGPT.

As today, 26 January 2024, is Australia Day, I asked ChatGPT to: 'write 1000 words about Australia Day date'.  In a few minutes (I read each as it arrived) I had four, quite different, versions. Each took around 18 seconds to generate. This is the result:

Read more: Australia Day according to ChatGPT

Opinions and Philosophy

Medical fun and games

 

 

 

 

We all die of something.

After 70 it's less likely to be as a result of risky behaviour or suicide and more likely to be heart disease followed by a stroke or cancer. Unfortunately as we age, like a horse in a race coming up from behind, dementia begins to take a larger toll and pulmonary disease sees off many of the remainder. Heart failure is probably the least troublesome choice, if you had one, or suicide.

In 2020 COVID-19 has become a significant killer overseas but in Australia less than a thousand died and the risk from influenza, pneumonia and lower respiratory conditions had also fallen as there was less respiratory infection due to pandemic precautions and increased influenza immunisation. So overall, in Australia in 2020, deaths were below the annual norm.  Yet 2021 will bring a new story and we've already had a new COVID-19 hotspot closing borders again right before Christmas*.

So what will kill me?

Some years back, in October 2016, at the age of 71, my aorta began to show it's age and I dropped into the repair shop where a new heart valve - a pericardial bio-prosthesis - was fitted. See The Meaning of Death elsewhere on this website. This has reduced my chances of heart failure so now I need to fear cancer; and later, dementia.  

More fun and games.

Read more: Medical fun and games

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