....  Father and son wood carvers made a presentation on our ship on the Rhine, describing the six generations of their family in the business and leaving visions of a dark forests and Hansel and Gretel. A 45-minute ride into the Black Forest later and we got there. It was quaint, but was more on along the lines of “Cuckoos ‘R Us.” … I picked up a card from the pocket in back of the airline seat in front of me. “Oh look, they are serving roost goose. I’m surprised to see such a great meal these days.” “That’s not a menu,” the guy next to me said. “It’s an information card. It means 'in case of emergency, your goose is cooked.'” … While the plane was being de-iced in Zurich, the liquid started pouring down the sides of the planes body. “Are they washing the plane?,” the lady next to me said. “Yes and that’s the rinse cycle and it’s not a big deal. But it’s a real bear when the spin cycle starts.’ When the operation stopped, she asked, “Are they done?” “No. There’s a sign for them to put in 3,000 more Swiss Francs for the next 15 minutes. We better hope they don’t run out of change.”