Torgut

Switch covers? That would be the whole cover, correct? I might invest in that... I will try to contact Garmin in my country. But with such a past, I can see my new Garmin having a life of about one year before the same fate :-)

I had - and actually I still have - a Garmin Oregon 550. I loved that unit. All the way to the end, and the end came when after a couple of years of usage the rubber which acts as the turn on/off button became so worn out that finally I needed some sharp object to turn it on and off. And, of course, all this caused my just turn the unit on and off along 4 years. Now I got a 650, and what do I see... that the same button is used not only to turn the unit on and off but also to wake up the unit when it's in energy saving. By other words, it seems to be the button will worn out in no time. Or am I missing something? Is there a different way to wake up the unit? Is this plastic much better than the one in the 550? Personally I hate the design of 650. What was wrong with the nice sunken screen of the 550, which would be protected and, yes, could be used for "wake up"....?

My dear friend Alfouine, I have been facing equal absurdity coming from officers or, sometimes, good officers reinforcing absurd rules of categories (not their fault). Because of this I have a [removed inappropriate language] list of categories to which I will never again send a waymark. It's actually available in these forums, together with the reasons. One of the most surreal situations was in Hostel category, to where I send a perfectly valid Waymark to have it declined with a note: "read the rules". I double read it, I challenged folks here to find what was wrong, nobody found nothing wrong... this is just an example.

I thought about the Citizens Memorials, of course, but somehow it doesn't sounds adequate :-(

Torgut -- Can you post a photo? Depending on what the plaque looks like, it might also go in Political Revolutions. I don't think this is a situation for Political Revolutions (a category I really dislike anyway). Red Cross has nothing to do with politics, it's just a homage to an officer from that organization who was shot down. The homage has a reference to the work of the organization as a whole. And it's a plaque, nothing in the image that will change this :-)

All rightie... if you like, contact me by message... sometimes I forget to visit the forums for a long time.

Fellows, in which category shall I insert a memorial plaque located on a spot where an international Red Cross officer was shot in Sarajevo during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

I like this idea! Supporting it!

Hey, we can work together on this one.

The more I think about it, I can see any redundancy. Most of the actual relics still available were built / created / etc, more than 50 years after the actual Revolutions leading to Communist regimes. About the Texan War any possible waymark will fit well in the the "catch all" category I created, for wars without a specific category.

India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Togo, to name a few. I can supply the pictures if need be but I am really not that interested in winning arguments here. So lets stick to the topic. Indonesia was never equiped with such weapons. Since "ever" the Indonesian Armed Forces rifle has been the M-16. The others were part of the Communist Bloc, which doesn't mean they were communists but in a Cold War scenario of "us" and them", they were "them". India was "them" as Pakistan was "us". As became clear in the short war between these two states over Cachemira.

I am sorry, but that is not true. AK-47 were produces legally in the USSR, in Czechoslovakia, in China and in Yugoslavia and illegally in about 50 countries. During my years in the merchant fleet I've been to 17 African countries, and they were all equipped with AK-47s. Also: Guess what were the first weapons, the young state of Israel was equipped with in 1948? AK-47 machine guns, Makarov pistols and T-34 tanks. The Soviet Union and China were among the largest arms dealers in the world and selling cheap weapons to anyone who was willing pay was a lucrative business with the added bonus of creating an economical dependency. I think the best criteria is any country taht at some point had the title Peoples Republic or Socialist Republic in its name. The list you provided is pretty comprehensive, only you got the wrong Congo: the former Peoples Republic is the smaller one of the two Congos. Hey come one, Israel in 1948 was something very special. Now, find me a couple of other exceptions, please :-) And no, as you said, but that is not true: China and Soviet Union provided weaponry to countries of the Communist block. I challenge you to show me Western bloc countries equipped with AK-47 (excluding legacy situations, like post 1989 Bulgaria and so).

I would accept it. Zambia was actually part of the Communist block, at least as I see it. There is this kind of final test: are (or, rarely, were) the Armed Forces of a given country equipped with AK-47's? If yes, then the country was at some moment part of the Communist block. Zambia soldiers use AK-47, as far as I know. I would call that train station a great find.

I didn't say it has to be limited to countries which had an actual Communist regime, but I still think it's the best way to preserve the interest and original idea of the category, excluding proposals which are just vaguely connected with the subject and would make acceptance highly subjective.

What do you think about situations like the one you mentioned - the Berlin wall fragment on display? I am hesitant. Somehow I feel it strips the waymark of the original sense and purpose. I don't know.

Please note that when I said "I am not sure" I was being literal. I am not discarding tombs of Communist leaders in Canada (or any other country without a Communist past). Perhaps if the Communist iconography is clearly present... ? But in general I am more impressed about strong and clear signs of the past (and the present, in the 5 remaining communist countries in the world): statues of Lenin all around Belarus, monuments in that socialist style representing the "strength of workers", huge communist symbols in a bridge. Give you a practical and amazing example: in Prague, although many people don't know this, there is a Soviet time remaining statue, near the main train station.

I thought about those kind of places but I am not sure if they should be considered "Relics of Communism".

This is just an idea... when I travel I always love to spot this places or objects which are ghosts from a past where Communism was the regime in many countries of the world. I am aware that for many, the fact that none of this places/objects can be found in North America might be a problem. But the same geographical limitations can be said about many of the categories approved in the last couple of years (and before). This is a list of countries eligible for spotting waymarks in such category: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, Vietnam, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Mongolia, Yemen, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Rep. of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Angola, Benin, Dem Rep. of Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, and Mozambique. More than 50 nations all together. Is some of these countries, due to regime changes, finding one of these relics is quite a challenge. But they are there, some were gathered in museums or thematic parks, some would be too hard to remove, some were just forgotten, some are in sacred places, like cemeteries. There are plenty: statues of Lenin and other Communist leaders; socialist style statues; abandoned buildings and complexes; burial monuments; signage and iconography. Anyway, thoughts?

You are right. Case closed :-)

I searched for All You Can Eat yeaps, nothing. In Europe there are plenty of buffets where you pay to fill your plate as you wish, but you can only do it once. Most of them, I believe.

That one I am aware of. But a buffet is not an eat all you can as many of them, if not most, will only allow the customer to fill a plate of food.

Heya... I was so sure there was a category of restaurants Eat All You Can... but I can't find it now... my mistake?

Congratulations man :-)

Then you know what my personal vote would be :-)

Then you know what my personal vote will be :-)