About February 17, 1945 Le Havre, France

Posted on by Thor

Traveling to Le Havre, France by train from Paris was a challenge. Le Havre is the French port city that the 75th Infantry history notes at the port troops arrived at from South Hampton, England. I might be flying to England later in this trip to sketch South Hampton and to buy several weeks away from Schengen European countries so that I can attend a huge WWII reenactment in Belgium which features the 75th Infantry. I have 90 days to finish this project and I might need to extend the time spent by skipping away to England for a time.

I got several hundred dollars in Euros at an ATM machine in the airport for emergencies. Today at a restaurant the waitress told me they don’t take credit cards. I tried a credit card, a debit card, and neither worked. Thankfully I still had a few Euros inn my pocket. I spent an afternoon trying to get Euros from Western Union but was tld, they can not use a credit card to exchange money. It has to be cash to cash. I don’t have much American cash, s I am stuck.

My first day in Le Havre, I sketched this WWII Memorial, called the Monument Aux Morts. It was built in 1924 to honor the dead from WWI but later plaques were added t honor the dead from WWII. This monument would have been standing when my father, Arthur Thorspecken first arrived in Europe. It commemorates the 6,638 residents of Le Havre who gave their lives in the first World War, the Second World Wat and in Indochina and Algeria. One plaque was a tribute to the resistance fighters of Le Havre who were deported and died for France during WWII. Another plaque was for the Soldiers who died for France between 1939 and 1945. Another plaque was for the civilian victims who died during theh bombings of Le Havre during WWII.

Besides the dark metal plaques at the foot of the sculpture the large stone base was covered with names of the dead carved into the stone. Lady liberty spreads her wings on one end of the sculpture while the grim reaper bows his shrouded head looking over the names of the dead.

This was a good first day of sketching. At night I ate at a restaurant right in the building I was staying in. Then I went upstairs and started to book a room for the next day. The next stop was several hundred miles east of Le Havre just West of Colmar France. While trying to book a room, Seacoast Bank contacted me and said they suspected fraud with my Debit card. I had only bought a train ticket and several meals. The Le Havre room had been booked from the United States. Looking through the expenses they questioned, everything checked out except an attempted purchase of a plane ticket to Amsterdam. I had no intention of flying to Amsterdam, so sure enough someone had somehow hacked into my debit card account. Maybe I should not have ordered a Nathans Hot Dog at the airport. I still had the card, but was told I had to cut it up. I had a Revolut card that I decided to get for emergencies before I left the states. It now became my life line. Seacoast Bank however is holding my savings hostage and will not let me transfer funds to my Revolut Visa travel card. I also have an American Express card but it keeps failing, when I try to use it. Every day has become a battle, wondering if I will end up homeless in Europe with no access to my bank account. Raymond, a service rep for my bank refused to help saying, “I don’t know anything about that Revolut card and neither does my supervisor.” It seems ignorance is a sad excuse for poor costumer service.  Though the victim of card fraud, I feel like I am being treated as the criminal. Fourteen days into my Europe WWII project and the banking battle continues.  I have started eating fallen pears and apples to keep food expenses down so that the funds don’t run out before a solution is found. I just keep moving forward and hopefully it will all work out.  “Always get there somehow.”

Orlando Shuffle offers fun for the whole family.

Posted on by Thor

Old Game, New Year! The Orlando Shuffle  is being played on renovated courts at Beardall Senior Center (800 Delaney Ave, Orlando, Florida) on the first Saturday from 7pm to 9pm and third Saturday from 3pm to 5pm of every month. The Orlando Shuffle is free, and it’s family-friendly.  Retro attire is encouraged. The courts are located just south of downtown. This family friendly sport is gaining in popularity. Many shuffle board courts sit abandoned all around Orlando.  There are shuffle board courts at the Maitland Art Center but those courts are covered with dead leaves and I was told they are set to be demolished. There were some leaves on the Beardall courts but a young volunteer whisked them clean with a broom. City Commissioner Patty Sheehan was proud of the recent renovations to these courts that she helped spearhead. After speaking to me for a bit, she went off to play a heated match.

The game was played and gambled over by King Henry VIII of England, who prohibited commoners from playing; evidently he did not always win. The objective of the game is cue, called a tang to slide, all four of one’s
Weights alternately against those of an opponent, so that they reach the
highest scoring area without falling off the end of the board into the
alley. Furthermore, a player’s Weight(s) must be farther down the board
than his opponent’s Weight(s), in order to be in scoring position. This
may be achieved either by knocking off the opponent’s Weight(s), or by
outdistancing them. Horse collar, the most common form of the game, is
played to either 15 or, more typically, 21. Only the weights in front score.

I watched a husband, wife and their two children play. The wife was fiercely competitive and she won every game by a rather high margin.   There was some controversy about weather a weight on a line counts as a score. I couldn’t pick up all the basics just by watching and sketching. One gentleman really embraced the retro attire look with a sporty cap and vest. If you are looking for something playful to do on a Saturday night, I would definitely put the Orlando Shuffle on your calendar. I considered playing a game to see if I had any shuffle skills but instead decided I should get home to Terry to finish off my Saturday night..