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Canal minded, north to south

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  It was the worst of times; it was the best of times. Truthfully, it was somewhere in between, although the overall impression as I write this post was that well, it wasn’t good! Sailing out of Miami it all seemed rather surreal. Beautiful night! A brief stay in a waterfront hotel with a fully staffed bar and a nearby seafood restaurant called Casablanca on the Bay was pleasant enough. And beneath our feet an equally beautiful ship! To say that Margo’s and my spirits were riding high would have not only been an understatement but somewhat discourteous to the cruise line that we had selected. We had booked passage on the Seabourn Ovation. A 689’ luxury cruise ship rated among the best luxury small cruise ships, having topped the list more than once. If you aren’t familiar with the vessels then you may want to check out this 2018 promo following its big win that year. This wasn’t our first voyage with Seabourn as readers of posts to this blog may recall the brief update that was incl
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The things we read at Christmas ...

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  There were several variations of this cartoon appearing on different social media channels. In this case, I came across it on LinkedIn and it caught my fancy all the same. I am in the middle of writing a sequence of posts on just how fragile the cloud computing and services offerings have become. So much so that their apparent unreliability begs the question – why would any Global 1000 enterprise even think of turning over the running of their business to such vendors? I think we can all empathize with Santa; finding a dragon would be much simpler. In the days leading up to Christmas there were numerous instances where the cloud failed and it’s become clear that for many the once-touted advantage of turning to the cloud is proving nothing more than a hollow boast. Why would you even trust them as a repository for your much loved photo albums let alone your bank accounts or your stock portfolio?  Suddenly that overstuffed mattress doesn’t sound all that bad, right? When it comes t
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And so it happens, another year draws to a close …

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There's a feeling I get when I look to the west And my spirit is crying for leaving… Perhaps it is not a typical opening to an end of year post but as I took this photo of the western sky with the setting sun putting Colorado’s Rockies in sharp relief I couldn’t help but think of those lines from perhaps Led Zeppelins’ most famous song, Stairway to Heaven. Then again many, many, years ago among the gifts left for me under the Christmas tree I could always count on there being a vinyl LP by that group. As I recall, the card was always signed by my daughter, Lisa. Then again, I could be mistaken but all the same, just looking to the west at this time of year as the lights began turning on, it was difficult separating true beauty from the lyrics of that long ago song. Margo and I have come through the year with much that could have put a damper on our spirits. Even now, Margo’s grandson Aiden is hospitalized in Minnesota undergoing what we hope will be a life altering surgery on hi
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Tenth and final post to NASA Speed News; retirement, seriously!

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It never gets old looking back at the car that brought us so many pleasurable days on track Welcome to the tenth and final post to the National Auto Sports Association (NASA) digital magazine, Speed News. These posts appeared in publications that spanned two years and came at a time when I knew that Margo’s and my time behind the wheel of our “race car” was drawing to an end. When I say “race car” it is only partially true even as the car had better safety equipment, more track focused tires and yes, upgrades to anything and everything that could wear out, it was still capable of being our daily drive. Our first outing with NASA was way back mid-May, 2008. I only refer to this first outing as it marks the beginning of a decade plus of track weekends, each of which was chronicled in posts to this blog. Perhaps there was none better than that very first post and if you want to take another look at the emotions dare I add, a mixture of near-panic intertwined with just a small dose of
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I was there …

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The colors of a Colorado fall are inescapably beautiful All it took was an email about the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix to get me thinking about where I have been and what I have seen since I began posting to this blog. In fact, some of what I began reminiscing about dates back even further than May, 2008 when I had the idea to create Buckle-Up-Travel. This has nothing to do with age, mind you, but rather my own way of saying that it wasn’t for the lack of spontaneity that had me showing up for different events around the world. Looking forward to getting tickets to the April 2022 running of Indy Cars on the street course at Long Beach may have also played a part in triggering these thoughts about events, future and past. Coming at a time when nearly every gathering has been virtual for quite a while I have to say that seeing crowds returning to events is encouraging. So is the decision to open the doors to incoming international flights and to let the departing cruise ships sail away. T
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Ninth post to NASA Speed News; looking to go fast!

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Indy cars driver, Colton Herta, is very much in the news of late and I have covered him in numerous posts to this blog but it’s a pure coincidence that he just happened to be referenced in this penultimate post to the National Auto Sports Association (NASA) publication, Speed News. However, there is a lot more to cover this time then just references to Colton. In particular, rereading this post I was reminded of a recent email from my good friend and colleague, Robert Rosen. “Think about where and how to go off the track if necessary,” Robert wrote. Particularly if you show up for your first track experience in a bright red powerful car! And this is very good point to make to every reader who is being encouraged to take their car to the track. As you get into the post below you will read of how, our SoCal NASA region’s chief instructor, told this one particular group of first-timers, “Yes, you will drop two wheels on occasion and perhaps even have all four wheels off the track, but u
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Showtime: Grandparents, grandkids and grand times!

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  For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. In these volatile times as economies begin to grapple with some semblance of normalcy it takes very little to move the stock indices either up or down. For those with a penchant for investing, it’s not about timing but rather, investing in stocks about which you know something. I was reminded of this when I read on the CNBC news channel, “Don’t just do something, stand there!” While whoever made this comment – some say it was President Eisenhower, while others recall it predates him - the point is well made. Having written this it is also worth remembering that it’s not just stocks that change but the seasons and here in Colorado, there are many reminders with each turn of a calendar’s page. For Margo and me it has been about adjusting to life at home. We have now recovered in full from the terrible car crash we had a few months ago, with bruising and lacerations no longer visible. However, there is just a
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