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My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 112: Noble Work

11 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Science, Space, Stories

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astronomers, Bus, cosmology, Richard Chamerlain, Russia, Science

Several years back I watched a television series called ‘The Astronomers’ hosted by veteran T.V. actor Richard Chamberlain.

There was one episode which I never forgot and still think about.

It featured one of Russia’s best known cosmologists.

Noble work indeed!

The show interviewed him along with his family at their home.

During one interesting scene, his wife explained to the camera that when her husband is at home, she can only delegate him to do the simplest chores around the house.

Why?

She said that he was always so preoccupied with his work and scientific theories that he was unable to concentrate on anything remotely complicated.

And so, his duties included fetching water, getting potatoes and clearing the dishes away after dinner.

Also noble work.

A little later on in the program, the Russian scientist then explained to the camera that he use to drive his car into work which was about a forty-five minute commute each way.

And then one day, he decided to sell his car and use public transit because he felt the hour and a half travel time would be better spent working on his theories rather than driving a car.

He found himself grateful to his bus driver, for doing the driving into the city each day.

Noble work as well.

If a world renowned Russian cosmologist considers bus driving, fetching the potatoes and clearing away the dinner dishes as noble work…

Then yes,

That basically makes most working class jobs noble work too!

Adventures In Italy… Post 69: Villa d’Este

20 Monday Oct 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Hadrien, Tivoli, Travel, Villa de'Este

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Tags

Appian, Bus, Cardinal, Cardinal Ippolito de'Este, Gardens, Hadrien, Italy, Lemon Trees, Lucretia Borgia, Orange Grees, Palace, Rome, Tivoli, Tourists, Travel

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After saying goodbye to Hadrian’s Villa we boarded the bus and started the descent up the mountain road that would take us into the town of Tivoli.

When the bus could take us no further, we left the bus behind to venture through the narrow streets.

It was easy to sense what it would have been like to walk these streets six hundred years ago.

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According to my sources, the Famous Gardens of Tivoli are built on Villa d’Este and were built in then1550’s for a very wealthy Cardinal Ippolito d’Este who happened to be the son of the infamous Lucretia Borgia.

The Cardinal wanted very badly to become pope.

When he finally realized that he would never go to Rome, he decided to being Rome to his estate.

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Even though eighty percent of the structures have been lost to time, the elaborate gardens he designed along with the majority of the world’s best known fountains still remain.

Of course, when we were there, there were no active fountains to behold, only quiet trails and elaborate masonry which were overgrown yet wildly beautiful.

I even found some orange and lemon trees.

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They were so beautiful sitting plump and perfect in their Renaissance setting.

The Gardens are built into the side of a mountain, so there are many layers to explore. You could easily get lost depending on how much time you have to explore.

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Our tour group,was given about 2 hours to explore the gardens, or we could spend that time taking a look around the town of Tivoli.

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Jen poking around both inside and outside the Palace

Since Jennifer’s mobility was an issue in regards to her ankle, stair climbing had to be kept to a minimum. And so we poked around the top two palatial levels, both inside and outside the palace before deciding to leave the garden grounds and stroll the city streets.

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Actually, Frank was the one who would be strolling the city streets.

Jen and I would be making a bee-line for the neighbourhood shops almost adjacent to the gardens.

Somewhere inside those shops, there were pretty little shiny baubles calling our names.

We could hear them calling out to us.

And Jen and I were determined to find them.

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Adventures In Italy… Post 58: Florence, It Was The Best Of Times… It Was The Worst Of Times

07 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Florence, Travel

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Tags

Bus, Florence, Italy, Musems, Scanners, Security, Travel

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After reaching the heart of Florence our tour guide then led us through the rain for about ten minutes before we finally entered a building.

I had no idea where we were, but it was dry inside and the place looked pretty important.

Before being allowed to formally enter this building however, we would be subjected to a long security line, just like at the airport.

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People streamed through body scanners in single file, one after the other.

The tour guide handed everyone of us a set of earplugs and a receiver.

The ear plug was for your ear, and the receiver could be clipped onto a belt or purse.

The receiver was about the size of a chunky iPod, and served to receive radio signals.

How it worked was that as you walked along, you would be able to hear your tour guide talking to you and explaining the area around you and what you were looking at.

After five minutes of wiring the cords through my layers of clothing I was ready to begin the tour.

But not so fast…

As I approached the front of the security line I was asked to remove my coat, hat, two cowls, and my purse that was intricately woven around my body to prevent theft, and then place them in a plastic tray. This was an all too familiar scanner that I had been mercilessly subjected to at all the airports. The only difference was, that I was completely prepared at the airport for this task. In fact, I could do it all in less than fifteen seconds and that would include of course, removal of the shoes.

Now, if that wasn’t bad enough, I was then instructed to put all my electrical devises into another plastic tray.

I could feel my temper rising as I undid the wiring for the earphones, and got out of my coat, cowls and hat. I dumped them all into the tray, unamused.

they even took away my umbrella.

Then I scourged my purse for the camera, iPod, and placed them along with the headset from the tour guide into the plastic tray.

Good thing that I didn’t have any knitting on me.

All the while, there were throngs of people pressing forward. As I passed the bored security guards all I could think about was keeping within eye contact of both Jen and Frank.

Once I proved that I posed no threat to the museum, I was free to put myself and my belongings back together.

Not an easy task when you’re trying to keep eye contact on your tour group so you don’t lose them. There are so many people here with various tour groups that it would be too easy to get swept up by another tour group and then you are totally lost.

After hastily reassembling myself, I felt like a walking wedgie.

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By this point, I was feeling pretty grim.

Little did I know that things were about to get even worse…

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