2012 - Off to Yankee Land again!

(short URL to this entry: http://eaglekiwi.com/2012 )

At last! Now I've no WORK commitments I can comfortably do a LONG U.S. vacation.

So, Vicki for about 5 weeks, but before that a "sidetrip" to southeast Ohio, to meet Debbie and quite a number of the "DazzlerArcade" gang.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------(ALL DATES/TIMES SHOWN ARE 'LOCAL')
 DEPARTS      .   .   .   .   .                        ARRIVES    .   .   .                  FLIGHT NO. SEATS  FLT-TIME
 5:10 PM Wed 11 Jul Dunedin        6:55 PM Wed 11 Jul Auckland      NZ0674     21A*    1:45
    1855-2130 @ AKL
 9:30 PM Wed 11 Jul Auckland       2:45 PM Wed 11 Jul LAX(Term.#2)  NZ0002     57J*   12:15
    1455-2255 @ LAX
 10:55 PM Wed 11 Jul LAX(Term.#7)  6:39 AM Thu 12 Jul Cleveland     NZ9027(UA856)  ?   4:44
    0639-1805 @ CLE

 18:05 Thu 12 Jul - Greyhound '0031'(Akron 1850-1900, Canton 1930, MtEaton 1955, New Phil) - 20:25

     WED 18 July
GREYHOUND 2025-1455(2:21:30)  US$126+BkgFee(PaidNZ$174.02_15MayNZ)
*0031-LFL* to Chrlstn, then GLI-1096/1683(1673!?)/1343/6905
-------- W E D ---------- 18/7-20:25
2025 New Phil~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2045 Newco_2055        (10)
2110 Cambr_2115         (5)
2225 Parkersburg-2230   (5)
2320 Ripley-0
2350*CharlestnWV-0045  (55)
-------- T H U ---------- 19/7
0145 HuntingdonWV-0
0215 AshlandKY-0220     (5)
0520*Columbus*0630   (1:10)   Leg=0630-0650. WAS=0755-1115
0750 DaytonOH-0805     (15)
0950 Indianap-1100   (1:10)
  ~~~ Lose 1 hour, ET to CT ~~~
1205 Effngham-1225     (20)
1405 StLouis-1500      (55)
1715 Columbia-1720      (5)
1915 KansasC  2015   (1:00)
2110 Lawrence-0
2145 Topeka-0
2300 JctnCity-0
2355 Salina-0015       (20) 
-------- F R I ---------- 20/7
0150 HaysKS-0
0300 RS ColbyKS-0330   (30)
  ~~~ Lose 1 hour, CT to MT ~~~
0650*Denver*-1145    (4:55)
1300 Ft CollinsCO-0
1405 LaramieWY-1420    (15)
1600 RawlinsWY-0
1750 Rock Spr-1825     (35)
2005 EvanstonWY-2015   (10)
2150 SaltLakeC-0005  (2:15)
-------- S A T ---------- 21/7
0050 OgdenUT-0055       (5)
0135 TremontonUT-0150  (15)
0345 BurleyID-0
0435 TwinFallsID-0440   (5)
0655 Boise-0725        (30)
0755 NampaID-0
0840 OntarioOR-0
  ~~~ Lose 1 hour, MT to PT ~~~
0900 BakerCity-0940    (40)
1030 LaGrande-0
1135 Pendleton-1140     (5)
1205*STANFLD*-1300     (55)
1400 Pasco-1405         (5)
1455  --E-N-D--~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sunnyside!!

 8:00 AM Fri 24 Aug Yakima        11:25 AM            SeaTac        AIRPORTERcom
    1125-1400 @ SeaTac
 2:00 PM Fri 24 Aug Seattle-Tacoma 4:08 PM Fri 24 Aug San Fran(T1)  AS0316         2:08
    1608-2145 @ SFO
 9:45 PM Fri 24 Aug San Fran(T1)   5:40 AM Sun 26 Aug Auckland      NZ0007 67C*   12:55
    0540-0715 @ AKL
 7:15 AM Sun 26 Aug Auckland       9:10 AM Sun 26 Aug Dunedin       NZ0671 4A*     1:55

And . . . . . HERE are the PHOTOS from the trip.

A cornucopia of LIVE SPORT - online streaming!

And yes, it's FREE (would *I* touch it if it wasn't ? lol).

It began when I mentioned to internet friend Chrysoula, in Athens, Greece, that I like to follow UK soccer. She suggested her husband uses HaHaSport. I'd never heard of it, but it's now become a bookmark I use daily.

It seems there are many similar sites, all offering FREE (no strings attached, apart from brief adverts each time you open up) online streaming of MOST major sporting events. Normally these can be viewed only via pay TV (e.g. Sky, ESPN, etc) - but these sites seem to simply grab those streams and retransmit them to anyone interested.

It surely can't be legal - or can it?? Well, if so, then I publicly declare aiding and abetting - I just adore being able to watch Barclays Premier League, A-League and NRL from Australia, major tennis events, international rugby, cricket, almost anything! 

Quality may vary from excellent down to patchy at times, but many events have up to a dozen different streams from which one can choose.

Here FWIW are the main 3 sites I've taken to using (very often!) :-

WARNING: Most of the little ads at start, on all 3 of these, are EVIL till you cotton on! They'll often say things like "Plugin needed - click here" - but DON'T get sucked in! Be patient when video page comes up (with ads all over the real picture) - after around 20secs they should either all disappear, OR will have tiny X marks placed on them, so you can close them yourself.

Having done that, you'll see your video, but infinitely better then is to mouseover bottom of the picture to see the video controls, then choose the "full screen" symbol. (Once you go to fullscreen there will NEVER be ads!)

HahaSport - Probably the simplest to grasp.  All events in time order, up to "now" then also those coming up over next 12 hours or so. (Note: their Time Zone box is screwed up - NZ is GMT+13 but we need to set it to Athens,Sofia GMT+2 - but once that's done all the individual times DO show correctly - for us!)

WiZiWiG - Similar to Haha, but I find I prefer this one for most things. Good details about most events, either "on now" only, or drill down into a particular sport to see scheduled items over next week or two.

CricFree - This one has a few major channels (e.g. Sky 1, Sky 2) which are possibly worth a browse. 

I'm not sure of schedules, so just try each of these to see what they have on (often replays of earlier events I may have missed!?)

.

THANK YOU, Chrysoula - You really changed my life!!

Goodbye Scrabble, Hello Dazzle!

Hi all - but mainly Irene.

This is really just a long overdue update to tell y'all where I'm AT these days.

Firstly, partly as a new set of allowable words were introduced on 1st Jan, and I'm lazy - I guess I"ve completely retired from Scrabble in any form.

Also at Christmas I retired - from "work"! It had been down to just 2 days a week, but now I've cut the ties completely - and LOVING 7-day weekends, to say nothing of not having to schedule waking up on Monday mornings.

As for internet - I no longer voice or cam with anyone except occasional contacts still with Vicki (who I plan visiting again for 6 weeks mid-year sometime). Apart from watching much live sport online here (e.g. A-League soccer, English Premier League, NRL rugby league, snooker, anything that's going) I spend most of my online time enjoying games and (text only) general chat and banter with the other pleasant folk - at DazzlerWeb .

Sorry I no longer keep in touch with "the old gang", but I guess times change - we all move on.

All welcome at Dazzler if you're looking for stimulating competition, at your own pace - plus being part of a community (albeit text only ;) )