BBS - Day 1

Happy first day of Badger Boys State!  Well, it's actually winding down now, but it still was a good first day.  If there was any one thing that I might change, it would be the humidity - don't have to deal with this in San Diego, and it reminds me how much I (and my allergies) don't really enjoy it.  But, all is well - made it through!

I'm going to do my best to blog the week again, so check back for updates as we go.  The whole trip started out pretty fun - got upgraded to first class again on my flight here, and was very grateful for family picking me up from the airport and getting me up here to Ripon.  I also had an opportunity to spend time with family last night before all the festivities started, so I was very grateful for that.  I don't get back here as much as I usually think I'm going to, so I was very appreciative of the time.

Was a whirlwind day - the first one always is.  When all of the guys are showing up, it's a lot of pressure to get everyone registered and to their proper 'home' (ala city) for the week.  I managed to get all of my setup work done ahead of time so today was very smooth.  Registration took its normal 2.5 hours to complete, and after it was all said and done I have the largest band I've ever had - 104!  Rehearsal tonight went ok - always rough to start, but after 50 minutes we were rocking and into the first assembly. I'll be curious to see how much attrition I have tomorrow - I usually lose a few guys in between but the numbers stay pretty high. 

Charles Wiley was our guest speaker tonight - he always does a good job.  The guys like his no 'b-s' style.  Tomorrow night we've got Jim Santelle, US Attorney for Eastern WI.  Should be great!

taking a trip to Karlovy Vary...er, Carlsbad?

Nope, and I'm not talking about the one in California that is fairly close to where I am.  I'm talking about Carlsbad in Bohemia, Czech Republic (also known as Karlovy Vary).  It is today's "place of the day":

Carlsbad, Bohemia, Czech Republic

Apparently this location was home to Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Liszt, and others who made visits to this spa town.  The mineral waters in this particular area of the country have made many towns famous, and Carlsbad is still known for the variety of springs still present.  It's located about 75 miles west of Prague, but might be worth a quick stop to check out while you're passing through. 

a trip to Yemen?

I have a fond place in my heart for Qatar, given my study trips there as well as upcoming research in the fall.  Suffice it to say I can see myself living there based on how welcoming everyone is and how amazing the environment is for education and learning.  So...I thought I'd highlight a "place of the day" that is close to Doha and would be on my list of places to visit (providing that it's safe):

Shibam - Wadi Hadhramawt, Yemen

This is a very remote but spectacular oasis of fields and orchards, surrounded by desert.  It also is the largest wadi (or oasis) in the Arabian Peninsula.  Made famous by trade routes from the past, this has some of the most beautiful mosques and minarets in Yemen.  You can get here by flying into Sana'a and making drive from there. 

Qatar Airways/United partnership ending

Well, this is lousy:

Qatar/United partnership to terminate

Even though United flyers weren't able to accrue PQM's on Qatar, this is definitely a loss (given that Emirates is no longer a partner with United and Virgin Atlantic is gone too).

Flying Qatar was truly an amazing experience in customer service and comfort, and it will be sad to not have that dual option to fly.

how not to get a free flight

Normally I'd be suspect of such things, but when this happens in my own town, I start to wonder:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/30/travel/security-bypassed/index.html?hpt=tr_c2

It only begs the question - how is this possible?  If you set off alarms, and then manage to get all the way on a plane without being noticed, something is wrong with security.