Feel the burn

For the second year in a row, the CFO and I celebrated Thanksgiving on a cruise ship… a tradition that we could definitely get used to.  We Left Bloomington on Thursday November 15^th after work and drove down to St. Louis, where we spent the night before flying out at 5:55 am to Charlotte.  Since we would have to pay to park at the airport, we decided to pay a tiny bit more and get a hotel room that included parking, allowing us to get some decent sleep before the flight (Parksleepfly.com for the win!).   After leaving St. Louis, we had a brief layover in Charlotte before boarding a flight to San Juan Puerto Rico.  We were on the island by 2pm and, after checking into the hotel, spent the rest of the day roaming around the “old town” section of the city.  On Saturday morning, we continued exploring more of the city and the historic fort that sits at the entrance to the port.  I am always amazed by structures that were built hundreds of years ago.

On Saturday afternoon, we took a cab to the cruise ship terminal and waited for the CFO’s parents and brother to arrive.  After waiting for an hour and half, their bus from the airport finally showed up and we all checked in and boarded the ship.  Yes, even though we were leaving the country, we were still able to spend this holiday with family.  Our last two cruises were with Royal Caribbean, but this time we tried a different cruise line and we were on the Celebrity Cruise line ship “Summit.”  This ship is smaller than the ship we were on last time, it only holds 2100 passengers plus the crew vs. 3000 passengers on our last ship.  Don’t get me wrong, it is still a huge floating hotel, but not nearly as huge as some of the newer ships.

The ship set sail just as we were sitting down for dinner, her family looked a bit unsure as we started to feel the ship move around… probably not the best time for dinner.  Sunday was a day at sea, as we sailed south towards our first port of call.  The day at sea gave us time to learn our way around the ship and to settle into a routine:  Eat breakfast, sit by the pool, eat lunch, sit by the pool, eat a snack, roam around a bit, get cleaned up for dinner, pose for pictures, eat dinner (we always do the second seating at 8:30pm) and then end the evening in the theater for a show.  This food heavy routine was repeated daily, we should have weighed ourselves before and after the trip.  On Sunday afternoon, some of us took advantage of the opportunity to take a tour of the kitchen area for the main dining room… imagine a kitchen big enough to serve two seating of 750+ people per night.  The place was huge and, thankfully, spotless.

Yes, this guy was hand carving melons to decorate the buffet.

On Monday, we docked in Barbados and, since we hadn’t booked an excursion, we decided to make it a beach day.  I had read about a nearby beach called Boatyard beach where you pay a fee to access the beach and get a lounge chair, umbrella for shade, a drink from the bar and shuttle service back to the ship.  It seemed highly rated, so that is where we went.  As soon as I laid eyes on that crystal clear water, I was immediately drawn in and stayed in the water for 2.5-3 hours.  I’m not sure what it is about the ocean, but it always brings out the kid in me.  There was a pier extending out along the right side of the beach and they had a rope swing attached to a small crane that was on the pier.  Of course I had to do that a few times… who wouldn’t want to swing off of a pier and jump into the ocean?!  We must have picked the best beach on the island, as we noticed that the entire cast of the on board singers and dancers entertainment group was at this beach. 

Looks like fun, right?!

We decided to have a late lunch on the ship instead of paying to eat on the island, so we left the beach around 2pm and headed back to the ship.  Why pay for food when there is a buffet full of food waiting for you on the ship?  On the way back to the ship I thought that my back was itching some, but didn’t think too much of it.  I had, after all, been in the water for a good part of the day and it was probably just the salt making me itch.  We shopped at some stores at the dock and then went back on the ship to eat.  While viewing the selection of foods on the lunch buffet, I commented that my back felt really warm.  The CFO raised the back of my shirt and commented that my back was bright red.  Yes, I managed to get fried on the first island that we stopped at and the burn would haunt me for the rest of the trip. 

 Photos don't do it justice... this was taken on Tuesday afternoon.

After we ate lunch, we ran back off the ship to buy a bottle of aloe… aloe is supposed to make sunburns feel better, but it hurt like crazy every time she applied it.  It hurt so bad that I couldn’t even get comfortable at night and had trouble sleeping.  I was so uncomfortable that I ended up spending the better part of two nights sleeping in the chairs on our balcony because it felt better to sit up than to lay down.  Not fun.



She got a photo of me sleeping outside. on our balcony..

On Tuesday, the ship docked in St. Lucia, but I opted to stay on board in the AC, hoping that my burn might magically go away.  It didn’t.  The CFO, her mom and her brother went to a beach while her dad and I hung out on the ship.  The island looked really pretty; I wish I could have seen more of it.  I guess we will have to circle back to see it another time.  While her dad and I were roaming around the ship, we swung by the desk for the on board spa to see if they had anything for sunburns.  They asked to see how bad the burn was and, after seeing it, they offered to give me a complimentary trail of the milk bath to see if it would help.  It did help a little bit, but not enough to warrant the price that they charged for it.  I decided to stick it out with the aloe that we already bought.  (it has now been over a week since the burn and I'm now peeling like a reptile!)

To be continued...

I'm the new vice president

Yes, I was elected to the position of Vice President of our neighborhood’s HOA.  Part of me is still questioning why I even volunteered for the job, but there was a need and several neighbors thought that I could provide some valuable insight for the committee.  Our HOA is mainly responsible for maintaining common areas, enforcing a few rules about fences and satellite dishes and also representing the neighborhood’s interests on local committees.  Since I have a background in grounds and design, what better person to ask to be on the committee? 

The home owners just got control of the HOA from the developers, so there might be a lot of work for us to do.  There are rules that haven’t been enforced and other rules that should probably be created.  This could potentially make the next year very entertaining and/or frustrating...

How ‘bout them dawgs?!

The bulldogs put a hurtin’ on the Auburn tigers on Saturday, shutting them out 38-0.  This win allowed the dawgs to clinch the SEC eastern division, which means they will be playing in the SEC championship in Atlanta.  I wish I could make the trip down for the game, but I don’t see that happening.  It is assumed that the dawgs will be playing Alabama, but that could change if bama loses again this weekend.  The bad news is that every SEC team has at least one loss (because it is such a tough conference), so unless 2 of the 3 remaining unbeaten teams in the nation lose a game in the next two weeks, this will be the first time in 6 years that an SEC team isn’t in the championship game.  Fingers crossed that Kansas State, Notre Dame and Oregon lose a game soon!  I would love to see the dawgs play for a national championship.

I spent part Saturday getting the yard ready for winter, trimming back perennials that have already faded and did the final mowing of the lawn.  There were threats of snow for Sunday night, so I really wanted to get it all done.  I also prepped the accord for winter by installing a set of wheels with winter/snow tires on them that I picked up off of craigslist.  The OEM tires that were on the car weren’t really good on snow, so I’ve been in the market for a set of snow tires.  The CFO wasn’t totally on board with the idea, but when I found these for relatively cheap I jumped on them.  Now I am looking forward to getting out in the first snow to see how they do.

 

We also went out with some friends to discuss the process of buying a house with them.  They have been renting here in town for a year and have now decided that they want to buy.  After our bad experience with trying to sell the GA house, I wanted to tell them to “keep renting!”  However, I bit my tongue a bit and decided to let them weigh the pros and cons on their own.  I did emphasize that the taxes really suck around here (and there is talk of them raising them again) and that maintenance becomes their problem when the buy.  I’ve somewhat jokingly and somewhat seriously told the CFO that this is the last house that we are going to buy.  Unless we make a bunch of money off of it when we sell it, she is going to have a hard time convincing me that owning is really a worthwhile proposition.

After a horrible week on the ice last week, my team started out last night playing the same way.  After 4 ends we were down by 5 points and things weren’t looking too good for us.  We finally found our form on the 6^th end and scored 2 points.  We followed that up with 3 points in the 7^th to tie with one end remaining.  We got a stone into the house early in the end and spent the rest of the end defending that stone.  We ended up scoring 1 point and won the match.  We are now 3-2 and within striking distance of the top team.

I know it is a week early, but have a great Thanksgiving!

Post #100!

This is post #100?!  Can you believe it?  This is the one hundredth post that I have put on this blog… kind of hard to believe that I’ve written that many posts AND that people are reading them... 

The CFO and I spent last Thursday night through Sunday morning in beautiful, sunny San Diego, CA.  She had to go there for a conference, so I tagged along for a mini vacation.  It sure is a beautiful place to visit and I would be very tempted to move there… the only  things that scare me about living in CA are earthquakes, cost of living and the politics (although Illinois is just about as bad politic wise, so I guess I could handle that part of it). 

Unfortunately for the CFO, she had to attend the conference on Friday and present on Saturday, which meant that I was on my own for most of both days.  After dropping her off at the conference (we rented a car for the weekend) I drove out to Point Loma and the Cabrillo National Monument.  This are over looks the naval base on Coronado island and downtown San Diego on one side and the Pacific ocean on the other.  It is an absolutely beautiful vantage point and I could have hung out there all day watching the waves crash against the cliffs. 

 I had told Karen that I would pick her up for lunch so we could go to In and Out burger… a west coast burger chain that we are absolutely hooked on thanks to my friend Shawn who recommended it a few years ago when we first visited CA.  Now we always look for them when we are on the left coast.  On my way to pick her up, I stopped and walked through the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.  It shared the beautiful views mentioned above and was a powerful reminder of how many people have served this country in the various branches of the military.  I can’t imagine a more picturesque final resting place than this.

After lunch, I dropped her off at the conference and headed for a golf course.  I found a local course that rented clubs and had reasonable prices.  Unfortunately, since it was reasonably priced, it wasn’t a beautiful “on the coast” course, but it was still a nice place to play and I enjoyed my 3 hour play time.  I also played decently too, which was a bit of a surprise since I was using unfamiliar clubs.  Perhaps clubs don’t have that much effect on how you play when you are as bad at it as I am!  We roamed through Old Town that night and ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant.  By the time we got back to the hotel I was TIRED.

On Saturday morning, we hit the road early and went to La Jolla for breakfast at a place that we visited last time. We ate breakfast on a deck overlooking the seals that were lounging on the rocks.   After that, I dropped her off again and then headed to Balboa Park.  I had been told by some locals that there was a nice auto museum there so I went to check it out.  Perhaps I was expecting too much, but it was a bit of a let down and I ended up wishing I hadn’t spent the 8 bucks to get in.  There were a few interesting cars and trucks there, including the car that I had a poster of on my wall when I was younger:  Lamborghini Countach.  It is always fun to see these in person because they are actually a lot smaller than you might expect…  it looks huge in pictures.  They also had a first year mazda miata, which kind of made me laugh since I have a miata sitting in my garage.

After the museum, I roamed around the park for a while, checking out the architecture of all the museums and watching a lot of photographers taking pictures of kids and wedding parties.  Even though I was in a beautiful city, I couldn’t resist the call of UGA football.  I knew the UGA/Ole Miss game was going to be on TV, so I hit In and Out for lunch (AGAIN!) and then went back to the room to watch the game.  Happily, the Dawgs woke up from a first half lull and won the game in convincing style.  If they win this week against Auburn, they go to the SEC championship!  GO DAWGS.  Our other 3 teams all won as well, so we had a 4-0 weekend.  Go Wahoos, Redbirds and Dukes!

It is interesting to see how air travel is changing.  The airlines have decided to nickel and dime you for anything that they can. 

#1) What happened to at least a free packet of peanuts or cookies?  Now all you get is a drink and they charge for everything else.  Good thing we had packed our own bag of chex mix and other snacks.   

#2) On the first leg of our return flight on Frontier, every seat had a video monitor that was mounted in the headrest of the seat in front of them.  I thought to myself, “sweet, I’ll be able to watch football while we are in the air.”  WRONG.  Once the plane pulled away from the gate, the display shut down and asked for a credit card before it would show video.  $4 for flights under 2 hours, $6 for flights over 2 hours.  I guess if you aren’t going to provide free snacks then you certainly aren’t going to provide free tv?  Sure, it is cheaper than going to a movie these days, but come on…

It is also interesting to watch the other passengers on the plane… here are a few items that I have been noticing the last few times that I have flown: 

Mr./Ms. General instructions don’t apply me:  They say over and over that you are going to have to turn off your electronic devices once the plane moves away from the gate, yet there is always one or two who have to be personally told to turn them off.  I watched it happen on every flight that we were on.  That chapter of “shades of grey” or whatever you are reading on your kindle will be there when the plane gets up in the air, turn it off.  I have seen some studies that show that it probably won’t affect the plane, but I'd rather play it safe and not be on the flight where we find out that it actually does.    

Seat recliners:  There should be a switch on the back of the seat that allows the person in the row behind you to decide if they are ok with you encroaching on their already limited space on the plane.  If they are ok with you reclining, then they flip the switch and you can recline if you so desire.  If they aren’t comfortable with it, you are S.O.L.  At a minimum, people should ask the person behind them if it is ok for them to recline. 

Mr./Ms. Me First:  Once the plane lands and you get to the gate, everyone walks off the plane in order, row by row.  Yet there are always one or two people who, as soon as the plane stops at the gate, rushes to try to get two or three rows further up the center aisle before everyone else.  These people rarely get very far and look like total self centered asses once they get stopped in the log jam of people from the forward rows.  It drives me nuts, you aren’t that special, wait your turn.  Or, better yet, pay extra to sit in the front of the freakin plane if you want to get off quickly.  I can somewhat understand doing that if you have a connection to make, but then you should say, “sorry, but I have a connection to make.”  Everyone will understand if that is the case, otherwise, wait for your row's turn.

We're going to be flying a lot over the next couple months, I'll continue to observe these issues.