Explore the World

Explore the world and discover yourself. Extend self through travel, conversation and thought.

IFA Villas Bavaro – Punta Cana – Dominican Republic

2017/10/24
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Modified: 2017/09/16
IMG_9648

This is a quick review of a single week (November-December) spent in all inclusive resort IFA Villas Bavaro in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. We book online through Apple Vacations (http://www.applevacations.com/). They provide smashing deals on a packages that includes both flight and stay.  So, the only thing is not covered is your trip “to” and “from” your home airport. The best prices are usually discovered, if you book from Saturday to Saturday and only one or two weeks in advance.  Do not believe any promises of hot deals.  You always can find the best prices, if you pick your destination and your week and sort the results by the price. What…

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Размышления о жизни, об обществе и о справедливости

2017/10/23
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Modified: 2017/09/16
fairness

 . . . забыл зачем живу Я забыл, зачем живу.  Кажется, просто, чтобы ездить на vacation? Я полностью clueless, что происходит в моей жизни, и что будет происходить. Самое главное – это в окошечке жизни различать отдельные прекрасные моменты, которые все равно исчезают навечно.  Для чего же тогда их различать? Почти наверняка, чтобы не было безумно жаль . . . прошедшего.  Лежу в своей кровати, всё есть, всё хорошо и отлично.  Окружен книгами и занятиями, но что-то проскакивает на заднем плане, как тень от животного, что-то я упускаю делать самое главное. То ли книгу какую-то упускаю, то ли что-то увидеть и понять не могу.  Что-то очень очевидное, но не поддающееся словам.…

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Aug 18 SAT – Siena – Villa Galileo – Firenze – Day 1

2017/10/21
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Modified: 2017/09/16
Siena - Fox and Boys

Today we woke up at 08:40 in Siena.  We had a breakfast with a view.  From the windows we could view the entire city of Siena behind the walls and the city tower. After a round of swim we are currently gathering our thing and planning one more walk to the center.  After that, we are off to Firenze, and we will skip San Gimingiano.   There are 17 contrade in Siena and 17 take part in Palio -the horse raise around the main square – Il Campo This must be the  symbol of Siena on top of the column in front of the Duomo.  Column is more pleasing than the…

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Concept of a person – religious vs. secular view

2017/10/19
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Modified: 2017/09/16
Secular vs Religious

Summary: – secular and religious view on a human being; –  base for moral code. How we stumbled upon a fundamental difference I was speaking on the phone to my friend on the way home from Connecticut. We touched many subject, but eventually we hit the most evil of them all – Peter the Great, Napoleon, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler.  My friend said that without a doubt there is nothing good can be said about Lenin and Stalin.  I was objecting that Lenin was striving very hard in his own way to bring happiness to all humanity, and Stalin in some 50 years will be perceived as great as Peter the Great. …

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Aug 17 FRI – Orvieto – Montepulciano – Siena

2017/10/17
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Modified: 2017/09/16
Montepulciano - Contrada di Gracciano

On Friday August 17, we woke up around 10AM.  We both took a thorough baths. Bath is a trademark of old hotels. You suppose to submerge into the hot water and scrub yourself.  No curtains and nowhere to hang the showerhead. Very relaxing, if you know, what you are doing.   Some images here are clickable – view them in a separate page Some images – just thumbnails – just curiosities and references   In the lobby we paid the hotel €57 cash (no breakfast), and on the way to parking garage Lira needed her morning caffeine (€0.90 – 11:29). We paid €12for 24H parking, and start swinging around the city…

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Child-People Who Play Too Seriously

2017/10/15
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Modified: 2017/09/16
13-Falls-NH-Narrow

Your Career, Your Family, Your Retirement.  Do these words make you wake up at night? All-along I was thinking that I am too childish and immature to participate in those games. Now, reading Buddhist literature, I am discovering a convenient alternative view on this matter. The whole life is a game with a sad ending. And you play all those games throughout: education, family, career, saving and growing old. Well, you have to do it, don’t you? But if you put too much effort in any of those games, you behave like a child, who believes that game is a reality, and he gets upset, if others do not play fair.…

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Perihelion and Solstice are not related – Wow!

2017/10/14
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Modified: 2017/09/16

Attention! I just realized that Perihelion and Solstice has NOTHING to do with each other. Earth Perihelion is when Earth is closest to the sun.  For example this time it falls on January 2, 2016.  That does NOT affect season change on planet Earth and this date moves forward rather quickly (1 calendar day every 60 years) through our human centuries. Being closest to the Sun doesn’t specifically affect the season in Northern hemisphere for two reasons: First – the difference between closest and furthest distances from the Sun is only 3.4%.  Imagine being able to see an object from 91.4 yards other than from 94.5 yards. Second – the entire planet (both hemispheres) is being…

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Aug 16 THU – Bagnoregio in Lazio, Orvieto in Umbria

2017/10/13
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Modified: 2017/09/16
Orvieto - Hotel Posta

We woke up at 8:22 in Veterbo. Breakfast here was one of the most luscious. In addition to all the standard staples of breakfast, they also presented fresh fruits and more.  This was probably the best breakfast for the whole trip. Odometer showed 9,472 after first day of driving (120 km). We checked out from hotel at 11:34. We drove toward Bagnoregio.  On the way there we made our first stop at a supermarket. First task of the day is to get a shopping cart for €1, and not to forget to return your cart and get your one euro back.   From super-small village in Lazio towards a well established…

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Share your photos, not your life – Echowaves

2017/10/12
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Modified: 2017/09/16
Echowaves - Logo

There is a new APP for iPhone and Android.  You take pictures and they float to a server to be seen by people in your WAVE.  Each time you open Echowaves, you prompted to upload your latest photos.   Instantly these photos can be seen by you and by people who share your  wave.  You can send invitations to join from phone to phone, without email.  No information is collected about you – you only need user name and password. If someone in your circle does not have a smart phone, your pictures can be see using a web browser.  This is good if you want someone like your parents to see…

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How to Survive an IRS Audit?

2017/10/11
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Modified: 2017/09/16
IRS-998-650

Sometime you have to deal with IRS in the month other that April. It means that you received a dreaded letter from them, prompting to contact and setup an appointment. Do not start to worry immediately and automatically. Most likely scenario is that some unusual percentage or number was caught by a computer, and it is now your turn to show some mathematical skills. All you need to do is show that your numbers are all good and here is the way you arrived to your totals. Sound simple enough.

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Religious Education – Finding the Right Words

2017/10/10
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Modified: 2017/09/16
Finding the Right Words

  WORDS Religious education for beginners should use normal words.  Any word that is unusual or stigmatized causes listener to concentrate on words instead of meaning.  Think of listeners as timid deer that came out of the woods for the sounds of unusual tune.  Every word should strike “Me too, me too“, instead of “Oh, no, not again!  I already head that many time before.”  The most important is background information to obtain, is what king of doubts and uncertainties brought this new soul to the conversation.   SENTENCES Every sentence should maintain the desired level of romanticism and mystery.  Every sentence should create a sense of comfortable hallway, where all interesting…

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