The Strangest thing Yet

      The other day I was just aimlessly wandering around the internet looking for something to write
about, when I found what has to be the strangest thing yet. Every now and then I look for the most unusual or strangest places to stay, well the "Crane Hotel" has got to be at the top of that list.

      You can find the Crane Hotel dockside in the town of "Harlingen, Netherlands" and yes it is a real dockside crane. This dockside crane has been converted into a luxury hideaway. It holds two and has plenty of room. You don't have to worry about climbing up a long ladder to get to your room, they have added an

elevator that will take you to your room. From there you can climb a ladder to a nice picnic area on top. When they made the place they were able to keep all the original windows so the views are amazing. Now here is one of the best parts of the whole thing, this crane is is still a fully working crane. One of the rooms is the control room and you can sit in there and make the crane spin all the way around, so you can change your view any time you want. And yes guys there is a TV and DVDs provided.

      Now as with anything there is a down side, so here it is. First is the cost to stay here will run you about $400 to $550 per night and doesn't include the cost to get there. The other down side is as of the writing of this article I could not find anything like it here in the USA, but give it time and I am sure someone will build one here.

      In conclusion, I would love to try this just to say I did it, it would be a lot of fun. I truly hope that one day we will be able to find one here. So if you plan to go over seas on a tour, you might want to stay there one night. If you just want to now more just click on the link below.


Related article: Crane Hotel

Would you try it? (6)

 Taste so good, it could kill you 

      One of the benefits of being in the air force was being able to travel all over the world. I have been to some great places and seen

some fantastic things, I also had the fun of trying the local food. Some of the foods I tried were great and others ..... well lets say some foods made me sick, others I spit it out before I could really taste it and the rest I just could not even bring myself to try.

      One of the foods I just could not try was "Puffer fish". This fish can be found in a lot of places, I first saw it in a restaurant in Japan. This fish is considered to be a delicacy and can be found in soups. I

have not tried this fish, but I was told it was very very good. However, there is a deadly dark side to eating Puffer fish, Puffer fish is very toxic, the poison makes a Puffer fish one of the most deadly creatures on earth. National Geographic said 

 To humans, tetrodotoxin is deadly, up to 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide. There is enough toxin in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote.

      So how is it they can eat it in Japan and live to tell about it? In

Japan, Chef's that want to serve Puffer fish also known as FuGu in Japan, must take a 3 year apprenticeship program in order to get a license just to cook and serve it. The program is very intensive, during this training they are taught how to find a remove the toxin in the fish. Then they are taught how to prepair and cook the fish.

      Even with all the training they get accidents still happen. From the year 2000 to the present 20 people have died eating Puffer fish. When you think about it that is not bad, considering that thousands of people eat Puffer fish every day. So, here is the question, knowing all this would you try it?

Related articles:
Fugu (Puffer Fish)   /  Wikipedia (Fugu)

A Random Question (6)

So here is something that people who know me won’t be surprised to hear me say this “I am a big Techno Geek” I love technology, I love it all, computers, IPods, the internet and smart phones, if I had the money I would own a smart phone but for now all I have is a dumb phone.

So when we say “Technology” the average person will think of things like computers, laptops, tablets, IPods and smart phones. A few days ago I was watching a video about technology in which the title was “An internet without screens might look like this” But it was not the lecture as a whole that lead me to today’s question, it was what he said in the first 3 minutes of his lecture

He said that no one is really in love with technology i.e. phones, computer, etc. What we are truly in love with is the information those things provide us. Think about it this way, why do we buy these things? If your smart phone did nothing would you keep it?

So thinking about all that here is today’s question:

Are you in love with the technology it’s self or the massive amounts information it can provide you? 

Related article: 

An internet with out screens 

White Death

 White Death

      Many times life’s great adventures are extreme and a lot of fun and for the most part safe. But, every once in a while those adventures can be very dangerous and in some cases even deadly.  This holds truer for those who are extreme snow boarders and

skiers. One of the biggest fears a skiers or snow boarders have is that of being swept

away by an avalanche.

      According to www.coloradoan.com, there have been 11 deaths in January do to avalanches which makes January the deadliest January in two decades. The Coloradoan said this about one of the avalanches Colorado had:

“The climber's body was discovered near St. Mary's Lake northwest of Idaho Spring on Saturday by an avalanche rescue dog in the debris field. That avalanche was a large one estimated by CAIC staff to have measured 1,200 feet wide, running nearly 650 vertical feet and 3 to 4 feet deep. On. Jan. 21, a snowmobiler died west of Crested Butte. Colorado regularly leads the nation ion avalanche deaths with about six per year.”

      So if Colorado leads the nation with an average of about 6 deaths per year due to avalanches and this year alone we are at 11 deaths just for January, then it would be safe to say that this year could be a record breaking year for deaths due to avalanches.

      So what can you do to increase the chance of surviving an avalanche? Well there are a lot of things you can do to protect

yourself, One of the biggest things is before you go call the ski area and ask them what

the conditions are, are there any avalanche warnings? If you are going to ski the back country let someone know where you are going and how long you will be gone. Some ski areas also offer avalanche classes, they will teach what to do if you are caught in an avalanche, and they will also teach you how to read the conditions of the snow so you can avoid the areas where an avalanche could occur.

      There are a few things that you can buy to keep yourself safe, one of the biggest things you should get rather you are in the ski area or in the back country  is an emergency locator beacon, this will help the rescuers to find you should you become buried. Now if you are skiing in the back country there are a few other things you should have as well. You should have a small folding shovel in case you have the chance to dig yourself out. Also, you should have a good flashlight and a bright colored ribbon so rescuers can see you if you dig yourself out. There is also an air bag you can wear which works much like a life vest, it will inflate when you are swept up in the avalanche, the idea is that it will keep you on top of the avalanche and keep you from being buried.

 

      In short, if you are a skier, snowboarder or snow mobile, there are things you can do to keep yourself safe and enjoy winter sports and not become a fatality. So get out there and have fun and enjoy Life’s great adventures.

 Related websites:

 Avalanche training   Backcountry Avalanche-safety-101    B.A.S.I.C.S. TWO Avalanche Awareness