Teh Penalty Box | part 2

Sadly I don't. The only time I had the opportunity to travel overseas with a smartphone was 2009 - and I intentionally didn't carry my cell phone around. But usually you can pick up pre-pay SIM cards on the cheap.

I can say that any card you have in there will likely be much cheaper than AT&T's overseas rates.

I don't normally upload stuff but I did miss on the fly maps. Photos I can probably wait on. Thanks for the input! .

US men's team - wot is up?

They are not looking too good.

Night Box.

Pretty sad. Hope things get better.

Working with a horse in a round pen is a very rewarding experience for horse and owner. Also, suggest she look to see if she can find some stirrups made by OrthoFlex; they're designed to let your feet slip out and not catch.

And talking about horses was somewhat prescient. For reasons I'll show as soon as a few pictures download.

She got a second job doing trail rides to pay for the horses room and board so has to go out for a couple of hours at a time and the ranch almost backs up to her 8 acres. She just got a new saddle which is much smaller than the western style we always used. I know she rides in sneakers which can be problematic in the stirrups.

Did a little comparison during the Dubai Do just. I went for one of ATT's overseas data plans, and ParanoiaTX had gone for a local sim. Comparing prices, they seemed pretty similar in cost. This may vary by country. You should look up which providers are in the place you want to go and then lookup online what their data plans are. I've generally found them to be somewhat similar. Of course, ATT's is a monthly allowance and the other plans may be cheaper for less data for a shorter trip.

Misty May and team won. Wow she was such a good VB player at LBSU. She pulverized a Rice team that my friend coached so badly that it was sad...

So just after I posted the first "horse" reply, the dogs all went off in full alarm. Grabbed a pistol and lantern and was out the door, to find (notice the little dots?) Four horses.

What happened was the neighbor must have left a back paddock gate open; he was bailing hay, and may have left it loose. When I came home tonight, I came in the "south gate," which I access by easement across his land. The horses came up, and, being curious, walked through the gate, all the way up to here. First the puppy, and then the guardians, picked them up. They know about horses, so as soon as I was on the scene, they basically said: "It's in your court. Just get them off our turf."

The horses were cranky; they wanted into the sheep paddock, but the dogs were protecting it. I took a crook and began to e'splain to them they were in the wrong town. Horses will test you, as I was saying. Like this girl:



She needed a little tap on the wither to let her know I wasn't taking any batman from them and it was time to get the show on the road.

I'll skip ahead... We got them all heading home, after three of the four tried one trick or another. Finally, everybody got in line, and I started to sing "Get along little doggies" to them, which seemed to do nothing one way or the other.


Finally, everybody, after one more little pissing contest at the gate, were through.



Then, finally, there was time to be friends. Two were cranky (if you can get a hand behind their ears and they don't flatten them, the horse has accepted the dominance order. Like this one (the only one of the four).



If that shirt looks dirty, it's because it is.

EDIT: Sorry if the photos kind of suck. After I found out what was happening, I went in, put the pistol and lantern away, and grabbed the little camera. There was moon enough to do see, and you only need one hand to use a crook, but I kinda did point and shoot, at first at the same time they were doing their challenges to me.

Your left coast time delay is very odd.

We are almoast done with the opening ceremonies.

Another picture of one of the others testing me. I think the flash, followed by the crook behind her ear made her decide she didn't need this. She was the first one who started for home.

Don't know if it's still that way, but my first couple of trips to Beijing, if I needed to find a public bathroom, I just followed my nose. They stunk something awful.

Checking in on teh box after a week in LA. Stayed at the Westin Bonaventure. Not a bad choice if you need to be in downtown LA.

My inn of choice downtown, if too lazy to do the walk up and down the hill to the Omni. Did you see the plaque commemorating the shooting of some movie scenes with Ahnold by one of the elevator banks? You'd never see something like that in NY, or the city would be solid brass.

Important viewing for all men unsure of public bathroom etiquette

I missed that plaque, but here are three things I did learn:

1) from the 6th floor there is a skybridge that takes you pretty much to the top of Grand Avenue (there is an escalator that you can use for the final climb) with is where the Omni is

2) there are a bunch of really cheap restaurants on the 4th or 5th floor

3) if you have a car, there is free overnight parking on nearby streets

In general I have had crappy experiences at Omni hotels so I usually disregard them

And part of the way up that is a Morton's or one of those, which have the almost-free happy hour burgers with beer purchase. And the other bridge, over to Union Bank Plaza, is Starbucks and ... I forget the name of ... that retro burger place (the original (I think) is in Buckhead, GA is in LA. I was fibbed to in Atlanta).

I like Omni's. Mainly because of CNN, but their loyalty program is wacky; your status is more or less arbitrary, and mine's in uptick right now. They usually treat me okay, but I have low needs and expectations of hotels.

Yikes, it's after midnight. The horse caper threw off the rhythm of the night. Time to shut down the sheep.

There are quite a few restaurants all around. The skybridge across Figueroa leads to a collection of restaurants that includes Johnny Rockets (which I think is the burger place you mean), a Sushi place, Starbucks, Quiznos, and Border Grill, among others. I've always thought of Quiznos as a sub place, but they make a decent salad too

Yep. The Bonnie really is a great choice for downtown. And for the fun of it, up a couple blocks, you can get the Wilshire bus all the way out to Santa Monica, or do part of the trip on the light rail to save time and some dingy parts. It's a really interesting, slice of the real city, couple hour trip. And if you're my age (actually, if you're my age and willing to lie just a little about it), it's like a quarter or something.

EDIT: And how can we forget the food court just up 5th? Carl's Jr. and a bunch of other airport style chain stuff. Most importantly, with a patio where you can (illegally) grab a quick puff of tobacco or two.

I *generally* agree that any SIM will provide better rates than AT&Ts overseas rates. As a US citizen, I purchased unlocked iPhones in France in 2010 because at the time, France was one of the few places selling legally unlocked iPhones, and for frequent international use, prepaid SIMs were the way to go.

However, a few things have changed since 2010. First of all, one could always sign up for an AT&T international data package, though the rates were horrendous relative to the amount of data offered. But at the time, AT&T allowed you to cancel their international data plans mid-billing cycle, so you could pro-rate your data usage, and thus pro-rate the amount paid for the overseas data plan.

But as of a few weeks ago, AT&T started offering more attractive international data plans (well, more attractive for AT&T, for example: $60 for 300MB). But now you must keep the data plan for at least 30 days (thus, no more pro-rating). So these new plans with international data *could* be a better deal than acquiring a local SIM, *IF* you will not be overseas for very long.

But if you will frequently be traveling to a specific country, or if you will be overseas for more than a few days, then it's best to acquire a prepaid SIM. And most prepaid companies now have prepaid microSIMs to fit the iPhone, but if you want to hedge your bets, you can buy a handheld microSIM cutter online (kind of like a hand-held hole puncher, but shaped like a small stapler with a microSIM punch.