23 Comments
Jan 19Liked by Greg Olear

Hope you have a speedy recovery!

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Jan 19Liked by Greg Olear

Trump and his GQP MAGA fruitcakes are an embarrassment and danger to Americans and the world. As a dual citizen, I carry two passports, and having to travel on my US passport instead of my Danish one these days is sadly, nothing to be proud of. I wish the US would allow dual citizens to travel on their original passports when becoming citizens. The American madness of the Trump era is affecting everybody, and I’m tempted to throw in the towel if we keep on acting like savages. One of my old friends in Denmark, a well educated lawyer calls our election a ‘thriller’ and after almost nine years on the barricades here, I pray victory is near as my patience is running on empty. #VoteBlue 🌊

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It is an embarrassment, but like Diana said, the people abroad really do care and pay attention, which is refreshing. I'm going to Berlin next week, so I'll be curious to see he response now...

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Be prepared to defend Biden, as the Russian propaganda about his age is all you hear. And as for Trump being even allowed to run is beyond their comprehension.

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Jan 19Liked by Greg Olear

Greg, I’m so sorry you got bitten. Nasty virus that it is. Reminds me of the current Nasty Republican jetting off the cliffs without masks, and if you like you can add a ‘z’... I hope you recover very quickly. You deserve to.

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Thanks, Samm. I'm mostly just tired and spacey. Could be worse.

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TGIF🎉🎉🎉

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: )

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Jan 19Liked by Greg Olear

Get well soon!

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It is refreshing to steer our thoughts away from horrible things being done by horrible people! I wish you a speedy recovery from Covid and total avoidance of the after effects—speaking of horrible—some of us (and I’m referring to my poor wife here) have had with the “long Covid” phenomenon.

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I'm sorry to hear that about your wife and long covid. What a nightmare. And we have collectively seemed to have decided to ignore the spike in cases this year. Ugh.

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Jan 19Liked by Greg Olear

COVID just won't leave even the best of us alone, will it? Here's hoping for a speedy recovery, Greg!

Re: OUR politics all over the world. It is an embarrassment because of course, in the non-stop firehose of political news in the USA that GETS OUT of here, we don't have stories of Joe Biden's many accomplishments. Instead, we see stories about the Agent Orange and his minions. Minions, by the way, who are now happy to confirm to reporters that yes, even if he is convicted of crime, they still want him as president. As I said, an embarrassment, and not of riches. And they still get mad when we call them idiot cult members.

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Let them get mad. A cult is a cult is a cult.

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Oh, Greg. What a great choice of guest for your podcast. I will be listening in the wee hours of the morning tomorrow...solo!

Sorry to hear you have COVID. That sucks.

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Thanks, Lynell!

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Jan 19·edited Jan 19Liked by Greg Olear

At age 66 I travelled on my own for three months in Europe, by Eurail pass. Hauling my own luggage. I never once felt "lonely." How can you when there are so many interesting people to talk to every waking hour?

Friends all told me I was foolish, taking too many risks, going into danger. Hmp. Danger was when I was 19 and ran down a street in East Berlin with my travelling companions to touch the Wall from the "other" side, not realizing the street might be mined or the wall guarded by guns.

Danger was probably also an experience I had the same day. It was May 1. Big celebration, big march with tanks etc and groups of E Berliners. Foreigners were barred from the location at the end of the parade, Marx-Engels Platz. We were watching when a group of girls about our age marched by a bit before the place where foreigners were stopped. We waved, they beckoned. (By that time in our several month after-the quarters-abroad journey, also by Eurail pass we were wearing clothes bought in Europe. Nothing like tourists. But the kids knew--we were cheering in English.)

We marched in with them to the center, all of us giggling. As we stood in formation to watch the speeches, they would part briefly so we could get pictures. Luckily for us, the Stasi were apparently too busy cheering to notice.

In comparison, my post-retirement trip was a piece of cake. Usually delicious cake, even in train-station stands.

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East Germany was no picnic, back then. Now, of course, it's hip and cool. I'll be there next week. On one of the visits, the can driver took me down a street and explained that he was in West Berlin and I was in East Berlin, based on where we were sitting in the car.

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Jan 20Liked by Greg Olear

I like being termed a “solo” female traveler, rather than being merely alone or lonely, because that’s the way I’ve rolled for the last decade or so. My late bf had volumes of Robert Young Pelton’s travel books to The World’s Most Dangerous Places. I recently donated them all to the library since America has seemingly been added to that unofficial list or I can simply turn on the news. However, arm chair travel has a certain delicious & comforting appeal (see Peter Mattheissen’s The Snow Leopard or even Rick Steve’s shows), & so I will tune in!

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I hope you enjoy it!

Dangerous places? Oh gosh, I'm SO cowardly when it comes to travel...

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Jan 20Liked by Greg Olear

Enjoyed the Season 6 finale. One poem I can't read without crying is "Tintern Abbey." Will be missing the podcast for the next three weeks. Take care of yourself.

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Thanks so much, McLain. One of my college professors was the world's leading Wordsworth scholars (which we didn't find out until after). Lovely guy. I have the book somewhere...

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I’m familiar with Diana based on travel, I’ll look into her books... damn sorry to hear the wretched Covid bug has grasped you again! Hopeful for your speedy recovery.

I’m also amazed how knowledgeable people in other countries are of our political scene... I wish my foreign language skills were more refined, I wear Canadian garb as a means to disguise my American identity, but as Rocky often tells Bullwinkle “ that trick never works.”

Get well soon!!

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OMG, you pretend to be Canadian! Ha! My voice is too Tristate Area to get away with it, I think...

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