This year, we've been pretty slack about planning our holidays. This whole being-bought-by-a-giant-Swiss-company thing has thrown a wrench in my ability to plan some time away. Our original plan was to rent another villa in some deliciously sunny spot again, as that turned out so nice last year. We had thought to have some friends share the place again, and would spend two weeks toodling about whatever warm location we ended up in. As nice as that sounded, my Bride then pointed out that we hadn't seen my parents in a couple of years. I pointed out that my parents built themselves a compound in the hills of Tennessee just so that they wouldn't get as many visitors. And then there's my step-father's membership in the Gun Of The Month club. Some people like to try a new bottle of wine of type of tropical fruit each month. My step-father likes to try a new caliber. This would, however, allow us to spend some time with my grandmother, who is also the Critter's namesake. And that settled the debate. A couple of days after we made this plan, I was signed up for some a mandatory training course right smack in the middle of our planned holiday. Fortunately, I am the master of procrastination, and had not actually booked the tickets. I continued to dither for a couple of weeks, until the ticket prices started to creep upwards. My Bride is no help; she's completely occupied in making multiple lists in preparation for the banjo & pig festival coming up this weekend. Then I realized that this kind of dilemma was exactly the sort of issue Al Gore invented the internet for. I've now figured out a way for us to take a week off for our own holiday, then go to my course for a week, then go to Tennessee for a week. Perfect. We'll be staying here at the Oberoi Sahl Hasheesh hotel in Egypt, right on the Red Sea. I'm actually very excited about the trip - we've never been to Egypt, and it's always been on The List. Of course, it wasn't until after I confirmed my credit card number to the reservation guy that I realized that this meant we'd be spending a week in Egypt in July, followed up by a week in Tennessee. We might as well be vacationing on the surface of the sun. As always, I'll post some pictures of the trip. You'll be able to recognize me in the photos: I'll be the pasty white puddle on the ground. Unless it's later in the trip, when I'll be the crispy red puddle on the ground.

This weekend, in the drizzling rain, my Bride got out and ran five kilometers. On purpose. She had signed up for the Race For Life back in January or so, when June was just a theory, and 5k sounded like something quite simple to work up to. As the months ticked by, she mentioned to several of our friends and neighbors that she'd be running for a good cause this summer, and soon enough she was so trapped into actually running by her years of Catholic-guilt indoctrination, that there was no choice but to go and actually run this thing. I was almost trapped by my big mouth as well. Fortunately, Race for Life is a women's-only thing. Whew. Sunday dawned grey and drizzly, and several thousand women queued up to run at the Liverpool Aintree Racecourse, along with a dozen or so other locations across the UK. My bride's objective was to complete the run in something approaching 35 minutes. In a moment of pre-race nervous delirium, she asked for my advice. I passed on the two pieces of wisdom that my army drill sergeants had told me, back when I was running 30+ miles a week. 1) Drink lots of water. 2) Run 'til you vomit. Vomit is just weak leaving the body. Mandatory running is reason #37 Why I Don't Miss Army Life. Turns out, she beat her goal, running the whole way, and actually might have run a bit faster if not for the herd of people that were on the course at times. My Bride is a cancer survivor. This fall will mark 9 years since she was diagnosed and went through extensive surgery & treatment for thyroid cancer. And though there have been some follow-up scares and treatments, she remains healthy and determined to lead a long and happy life. And that suits the Critter and I just fine, as we're rather used to having her around by now. I'm immensely proud of my Bride for having set her mind to the goal of doing everything in her power to beat cancer - both in her own struggle, and for others who suffer. For that good a cause, I'm happy to go stand in the rain and cheer any time.

nur Englisch, bitte

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A sign in a landmark Philadelphia restaurant asking customers to order in English is sparking controversy in the metropolis known as the "City of Brotherly Love." The owner of Geno's Steaks said on Thursday that the sign, "This is America -- when ordering speak English," is intended to encourage immigrants to learn the language and assimilate into U.S. society, but one Latino activist said it's racist. Vento denied that anyone would be refused service if they ordered one of the sliced beef-and-cheese sandwiches, a famed bit of cuisine in the Quaker-founded "City of Brotherly Love," in a language other than English.

The sign is, of course, posted only in English. I'm going to go out on a limb here, but I suspect the wait-staff at the oh-so-cosmopolitan Geno's Steak Pit aren't hired for their multi-lingual capabilities. So the sign might be considered more a friendly tip. Sign or no sign, I'm guessing that if you were to order a "viande et fromage aux oignons" sandwich, you'd get back the same dumb look I get when asking my local British grocery boy which aisle they keep the grits on.