At the Hotel, Don't Touch that Drinking Glass

A recent television report exposed the common practices of the hotel staff, which should make your stomach turn. If you haven't already seen this video, which is doing the email rounds at the moment, you can check out the video here.

It's not just that the drinking glasses aren't being cleaned with soap and water, it is also quite disturbing that they maids have found other unusual ways of giving these glasses that clean look— from a good wipe down with your used washcloth to a few squirts with a toxic blue chemical probably used for toilet cleaning.

This is too disturbing to think about, but good to know that it isn't just the door handle or remote control that holds all of the serious germs. I guess it's time to drink the old fashioned way: directly out of that mini bottle of gin or cola or tonic. Or you could take a swig out of one followed by the other so that the cocktail is actually created in your mouth.

It reminds me of other reports on the quality of drinking water on airplanes. Remember that story?

Iran and Watersports

It was not even a year ago when a British military vessel somehow "wandered" into Iranian waters. They were boarded and 15 serviceman and women were taken prisoner by the Iranians for 12 days. Read more here.

Apparently, the U.S. Navy had some excitement of its own on Sunday when three of its ships nearly entered into a skirmish with Iranian Revolutionary Guard fast boats in the same region. This news article reports that the Iranian ships radioed the message: "You are going to blow up within minutes." They moved in and out of formation— and I have no idea what kind of shape that looks like— but it must have been pretty menacing since our guys went on the defensive. However no one was hurt in the incident.

I suppose that the Persian Gulf's Strait of Hormuz, should not on anyone's top five luxury cruise routes.