Copernicus
Industrial Grade Linguist
The air quality in Seattle now ranks 5th as the worst in the world. Wildfires in the Cascades have flooded our neighborhood with smoke, and I can't really breath outdoors. Our garage is pretty smoky, too, but the air in the house seems not too bad. People over 65 are advised not to go out.
Luckily, we are leaving for Rome in a few hours, where we plan to board a cruise ship on Saturday--the Celebrity Constellation. So we'll have clean air, good food, and a few interesting sites to see on our way from Rome to Tampa, FL. We'll be back home around Nov. 4, in time to cast our ballots (which have not arrived). Since we recently tested positive, we can board the ship without the mandatory COVID test, but we are bringing sufficient supplies of masks. Got our flu shots last week. So we are prepared.
Now the bad news. Italian air traffic controllers decided to strike for 24 hours on the day we are scheduled to arrive in the morning at 8 am. And there will be other unions (ground crews, some transportation) striking in sympathy. Lots of flights are being cancelled in Europe, but so far there is no word on our flight. We still anticipate getting on the ship, as we gave ourselves a day of leeway before embarkation. That is no guarantee, and it is possible that the trip will need to be cancelled. We may not be able to make our Airbnb reservation.
So, I won't be posting much over the next two weeks. We will have the basic internet package on the ship, but it isn't terribly reliable. And I will probably not devote much time to reading posts on the internet.
Luckily, we are leaving for Rome in a few hours, where we plan to board a cruise ship on Saturday--the Celebrity Constellation. So we'll have clean air, good food, and a few interesting sites to see on our way from Rome to Tampa, FL. We'll be back home around Nov. 4, in time to cast our ballots (which have not arrived). Since we recently tested positive, we can board the ship without the mandatory COVID test, but we are bringing sufficient supplies of masks. Got our flu shots last week. So we are prepared.
Now the bad news. Italian air traffic controllers decided to strike for 24 hours on the day we are scheduled to arrive in the morning at 8 am. And there will be other unions (ground crews, some transportation) striking in sympathy. Lots of flights are being cancelled in Europe, but so far there is no word on our flight. We still anticipate getting on the ship, as we gave ourselves a day of leeway before embarkation. That is no guarantee, and it is possible that the trip will need to be cancelled. We may not be able to make our Airbnb reservation.
So, I won't be posting much over the next two weeks. We will have the basic internet package on the ship, but it isn't terribly reliable. And I will probably not devote much time to reading posts on the internet.