Get on the bus

Viking hall rocks.

There is a self-guided walking tour of the main Reykjavik area I had been meaning to take just about each day. And just about each day the sked gets blown up or I don't feel well or I need sleep.

Same on Day 4. Was supposed to start w/the tour. It didn't. Was also supposed to possibly include a trip to a museum that, based on the picture in a guide, had a crazy 3D illusion-type exhibit. Also fell off the itinerary.

Really, the only solid stake in the ground was my 1 p.m. bus to the Blue Lagoon. So I'm wrapping up a blog entry, trying to add a photo. Then align it properly. Then undo the damage done by trying to align it properly. Then try to add/edit in other manners, using crap HTML. Then try to upload it a different way.

All this because newest OS for ipad doesn't like certain frames. Therefore, you can't (easily) scroll in them. Not in safari, anyway. Other browsers claim you can. Download a few. Lies, lies, lies (not even Chrome, coded by the same company that brings you Blogger, can handle it). One will trick the site into thinking you are a using a different browser. Maybe stupid sites. Not Blogger -- though I contest this also is a stupid site.

The Blogger app sucks. Too basic. The blogger desktop/tablet interface would be fine if not for the damn scrolling/repositioning issue. Or it'd be fine if two-fingered frame scroll still was supported. It's not.

I finally get the thing posted, though not w/o hiccups (there's still a floating photo in that entry) and I book it to the bus. The bus is skedded to roll out at 12:17. I get within striking distance at 12:18. No bus. Wait a few. Still no bus. It was on time. Damn German efficiency.

If I wait until next bus at 12:47, I may or may not make it to the tour bus by 1. Probably would, but unsure. But I am right near a main road with more busses on it, so surely there must be another I can take, yeah?

Yep. I roll around the corner, go a few hundred yards, hit a stop that has four different lines going through -- all of which go to the stop I need to reach. Bingo! Bus comes, I get set to hop on ... and I notice the destination doesn't match the one I usually see. Seems odd, but I figure this is a different line than I had been riding, so probably OK.  Or I'm on wrong side of street/about to go wrong direction.

Meow.

Now, am I a bigger idiot for getting on the bus the wrong way, having to get off two stops later, take the pedestrian overpass, barely miss two busses and therefore have to wait 10-15 minutes for another bus to take me back the other way and miss the tour bus by a good 13 minutes, or for having that "wait a sec" moment before getting on the bus but ignoring it? Or for this entire effort, as just waiting for the 12:47 at the normal stop would have got me there on time anyway -- probably?

I missed the buss. I blame Apple and Google. If they'd just get along, none of this would have happened. They should realize the commuting and tourist worlds rely on them. Actually, that's kind of horrifying. Incidentally, I can't imagine ever not having a PC. ipad and iphone are great, but need the PC to do the dirty work. Or something.

Anyway, I resked for a later tour bus. And ultimately make that bus.

The airport is in/is called Keflavik. I like saying it Jerry Lewis-style. Go ahead, do it now. Out loud. I'll wait. 

(if you need inspiration: http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_uri=%2F#/watch?v=wQnFGQXMDsg)

In the meantime, I went to some settlement exhibit, which some described as being like Vikings meets Star Trek! Make it so!

Fun fact: The Vikings ran Windows. It crashed then, too.

871 +-2. Fun name. Guess what it means...

Iceland needs more trees. (That's not what the name means -- I'm moving on.) The settlers tore that shite up. Probably can't plant in lava fields, but there are other areas that would benefit. Back in the day, the settlers had to use pretty much everything to live/survive. That included the trees. And, apparently, ram testicles. 

Exhibit was an excavated Viking hall, where they lived and ate and housed livestock and even slaves. History of settlements was included, some other cool lights/bells and whistles. But the best parts were the interactive elements. First there's a guide to the different routes Vikings took to eventually end up in Iceland -- including a section on the famous Boatmageddon era of 931, during which all shipping lanes within a narrow strait between two islands were closed. Then there's a genealogy guide, mainly focusing on Iceland's people, where they came from, DNA analysis of heritage -- pretty fascinating (the population primarily consisted of Norse and Celtic folk). It also includes looks at the animals -- cats, dogs, rats/mice, livestock -- and where they came from, how they are similar/different to various European breeds. 

For the cat example, they showed a picture of, well, a cat. Some kid looking at it said to his mother, "Do you think he looks cute or terrified?" The mom says, "cute!"

Later I read that Icelanders used to use and trade in cat skins! Bastards.

Terrified, kid. That tabby's terrified.

I sooo wanted to play Tetris on this thing.

FINALLY... the other interactive thing. There's this big table with a map/guide of the hall remnants we are standing next to, but as it would have looked back in the day. And there are -- or should be -- words/buttons you can press on the actual table to bring about more info, whether it be text, pics, some vid. All projected from above the table, all controlled by hand swipes. Awesome.

Except for when it crashed. And showed Windows home screen. And had to reboot. Hilarious. I think a BSOD actually explains what happened to the Picts (wikipedia them).

Several of us waiting a while as they tried -- and struggled -- to reboot the thing. Some left. I was about to, then the intercom shouted "file's done!" and we were back in business with the interactive viking table. I swiped and X'd out like a madman.

Maybe it would have been more stable on IOS. Assuming one didn't have to scroll.

And I read more about viking cats. But the Blue Lagoon beckoned ...

BLOGGER EDIT: Don't know how I forgot to add this...