Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, August 28, 2013


Well, kids... good news... the Barkers are booked for India!

Yep... we booked our flights last night - $1,256 p.p. - the most expensive flights we've ever booked, but actually not bad for December round-trip flights to Cochin (COK).

Next... gotta nail down my Elephant...

(*GRIN*)

Kim's wedding is gonna take place over December 21, 22, and 23. We're actually flying out on December 11 and returning on New Year's Day itself. (That's how we got "cheap" flights; December 31 may actually be the least air-traveled day of the year.)

Our flight over there takes 20 hours or so... a layover in Kuwait. On the way home it's gonna take around 22 hours... layovers in Kuwait and London.

(Originally we'd hoped to spend a few nights in London, but the way flight segments work... particularly during Christmas season... it would have been price prohibitive.) (Oh, well... more time to explore Kerala!)

Hoping to spend some time up in the mountains... some time on the coast... some time on the water itself... 

There's a particular Temple Shaky's dad wants to take us to (it would be at least an overnight trip) and I really want to take advantage of Kerala's houseboat tourism.

Anyway... right now I'm just trying to calm down from having pushed the "enter" button to buy $2,511.46 worth of airline tickets!

(*GRIN*)

The Elephant... having appropriate Indian wedding attire tailored... booking our resorts... I'll keep you folks in the loop as I do my thing!

Anyway... here's to the upcoming trip... here's to Kim and Shaky's upcoming wedding...

(*RAISING A GLASS*)

Oh... and speaking of Kim... she's safely on the ground in Abu Dhabi! Her flight out of JFK left last night and arrived this morning at 11:30 a.m. 

I'm gonna urge Kim to start her own blog! In the meantime... friends and family who aren't FB friends with her... ya might as well friend her! Facebooking and Skyping - and emails and snailmails - will have to suffice till she's back home in the Summer for the American Wedding... tentatively scheduled for Sunday, August 3, 2014.

2 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/does-obama-know-hes-fighting-on-alqaidas-side-8786680.html

* FROM THE UK INDEPENDENT

If Barack Obama decides to attack the Syrian regime, he has ensured – for the very first time in history – that the United States will be on the same side as al-Qa’ida.

Quite an alliance!

The men who destroyed so many thousands on 9/11 will then be fighting alongside the very nation whose innocents they so cruelly murdered almost exactly 12 years ago.

Quite an achievement for Obama, Cameron, Hollande and the rest of the miniature warlords.

William R. Barker said...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/28/us-usa-healthcare-obamacare-idUSBRE97R04X20130828

The Obama administration has delayed a step crucial to the launch of the new healthcare law, the signing of final agreements with insurance plans to be sold on federal health insurance exchanges starting October 1.

* DELAYED UNDER WHAT AUTHORITY...???

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notified insurance companies on Tuesday that it would not sign final agreements with the plans between September 5 and 9, as originally anticipated, but would wait until mid-September instead, according to insurance industry sources.

* AGAIN... I READ THE WORDS "AS ANTICIPATED" AND I WONDER IS MORE ACCURATE WORDS MIGHT BE "AS REQUIRED BY LAW."

Nevertheless, Joanne Peters, a spokeswoman for HHS, said the department remains "on track to open" the marketplaces on time on October 1.

The reason for the hold-up was unclear.

* SO WHY NOT EXPLAIN...???

Sources attributed it to technology problems involving the display of insurance products within the federal information technology system.

* I MEANT EXPLAIN "ON THE RECORD."

Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is expected to extend federally subsidized health coverage to an estimated 7 million uninsured Americans in 2014 through the marketplaces.

* CRONY CAPITALISM...

[T]he HHS Office of the Inspector General, warned earlier this month that the government was months behind testing data security for the federal data hub that represents the information technology backbone of the new marketplaces.

* "MARKETPLACES." FUNNY!