Vacation Revue

OK, I suspect this will be more of a review than a revue, but there could be some singing and dancing included, so it is feasible that someone would consider the alternate word. OK, maybe not.

Ok, I'm really pissed off at Comcast right now, but I'll try to finish this post which I started more than a week ago (#14 in the online chat waiting list).

Here's a picture of when I was really happy and not thinking about my crappy cable provider. Perhaps it's just the cocktail I was holding.

This was taken aboard the incredibly LAME-O Carnival cruise ship, "Holiday".  

Now let me start by saying that I had a marvelous time on our cruise.  Every single one of the personnel aboard the ship was professional, courteous and helpful.  It was awesome to reconnect and spend some quality time with old friends aboard ship.

But, the ship is definitely showing it's age.  I knew we were in trouble going in when I checked out the Carnival website and the "Holiday" was the only ship in the line that Carnival decided not to put their line name in front of.  You know, "Carnival Destination", "Carnival Party Boat", "Carnival Merchant of Death" or something like that.  No, we were sailing on "Holiday".  Uh oh.

We opted for the best cabin they had:  suite, balcony, jacuzzi tub.  We walked in and it looked nice.  How odd - one of the drawers is broken.  Look, there's a nasty crack in the bottom of the sink.  Honey, do you smell that (always make sure there is water in the toilet or the sewer gas will back up into the room).  Later we found out that you couldn't actually get enough water in the jacuzzi tub to turn the jets on (and I'm betting there was no turning the jets on) and the shower head was at about 5'.  Anita's 5'4"...it just occurred to me (I'm a little slow sometimes) that the gym was about 25' from our room and had individual showers - bet Anita could have gotten a nice shower.  Oh well.

# 11 in the Comcast customer service online queue.

Anita competed in the "Master Mixologist" competition.  She signed up before they published the rules, which said you could only use one type of liquor.  So much for the No Recall Martini she is now famous for.  Here's a pic.

We think she came in 2nd (a bartender won).  She did really well, considering she had a migraine and the competition was in the direct Mexican sun and about 100 degrees.

#9 in line...

Here's some pics of how lame the ship was.  Here's the bar, which was used only twice for events the entire cruise.  Most events were held in the Bus Stop Bar, which was a lot more like a bus stop than a bar.  4 chairs, 4 stools, 400 people wanting to sing karaoke....maybe it was a good thing there were no chairs.  Scheduling everything here was absolutely due to greed by the cruise line.  The Bus Stop was right outside the casino and beside the picture selling area. Bastards. Good thing we snuck liquor on and didn't have to pay $6 a drink.

Dead Cow Chairs, Check.

Saddles for Bar Stools, check (why are Terry & Geoffrey so happy?)

Strange, red leather bondage chairs in the middle of the same bar, check.

I did think those would be more fun.

Cupholder on a saddle, OMG, I'm in love.
 

#14 in line WTF!!!!  I HATE COMCAST.

First port was Progreso.  As far as I can tell, Progreso consists of a 5 mile long pier and nothing else.  On the bright side, we decided to take the 2.5 hour bus ride to the Mayan ruins named Chichen Itza (pronounced chicken pizza by most of my friends).  There were no chickens on the bus, so that was a plus.  We were not hijacked and kidnapped - another plus.  This place was amazing.  The Pyramid of Culculcan represents a calendar.  There are 91 steps on each of 4 sides, then one step at the top (365 days).  On the solstice (I don't remember which one or all), the sunlight makes it appear as if a snake is coming down the steps and the sunlight goes through the openings at the top.  Cool.  

Hopefully, this pic gives an idea of the scale of this massive thing.

Because I know this picture doesn't.

And there were lots of other structures:  the playing field with home & away benches.  Amy's in the home picture.

No one would stand next to the away bench->

, the skull wall thingy field, 

The Mall

Yes, that is a Gap Kids on the right.

OK, too tired to do anymore & I can't figure out how to easily transfer photos from Picasa to Blogger....

Gone Cruisin'

But I leave you with one of my favorite triathlon pictures:



Debbie seemed worried, I was thrilled not to freeze my betooties off at SML a few years back. Of course, they let/made us swim, damn it.

Pre-Vacation Post

Last post before the cruise. Ahhh.

September 12th is clearly the antidote to September 11. We've been invited to another party. Another party I want to attend. Yet there's nothing to do on the 13th. What's up with that?

So, a golf tournament, 3 parties, and oh yes, I'm supposed to go to a board meeting. All on the 12th....hmmmm.

Angela, don't you think you should announce your presence on this blog?

Anthem Moonlight Ride

This was a LOT of fun and I recommend it to everyone - whether you've ridden a bike the last 10 years or not. It was a very casual ride. It was a little hairy at first as hundreds of riders tried to get going. Lots of coasting on one pedal and I even walked my bike for a few hundred yards. But everyone was very friendly and we did finally get moving. I was just glad the ride start did not resemble this:We had a great time waving to kids who were watching. We rode up Hermitage/Lakeside from The Diamond, then through Bryan Park. As we entered Bryan Park, the sun went down for real. It got DARK. Funny how that works. Anita, of course, carefully outfitted our bikes with headlights and taillights, but it was still crazy-dark and lots of riders had no lights. The organizers had put down glow sticks to keep us on the road, but some kids were stopping unexpectedly to pick the glow sticks up! It was a little frightening, but we got through it with no casualties.

As we finished up, we saw the entire IMUSA team lounging around. This was a little shocking as they said they were riding the full moon and gave us a comical look when told we were doing the 1/2 moon. Now I know I'm slow, but to have them be well-rested and have their bikes put away before I could ride 8 miles is a little ridiculous. Turns out that the long course turn was only a few hundred yards away from the finish and the beer was calling louder than more biking. So, we didn't get lapped!


Here's a picture of "The Dream Team" getting ready to ride with Anita playing caboose in her Christmas lights:
After the ride, we put our bikes away and shared a beer or two with the dream team and IMUSA dream team. Not sure how I took no pictures of the IMUSA team, but it was fun hanging out with them and hearing just a few of their tales.

Everyone has to do this one next year.

Help!

Can someone please answer why I'm thinking & talking about drinking more Koolaid? Thinking about backing off a game of skill (and some people consider a sport) that I'm actually good at to go back to a sport I'm awful at? A sport that I pretty much hate while I'm doing it? I did it. I finished the (*@&$_!*( thing (twice). Yes, 14 minutes and 20 seconds shy of glory. I don't know if I'm trying to prove something and if so, to whom? OK, I don't know the proper use of whom, but you get it.

Please help me figure this out and fast.

So You Think You Can Dance

We love this show.  It starts again in 1 month.  Watch it!  For inspiration, here's a picture of Spot playing "Dance Dance Revolution" - it's his favorite game.

On another note, I am wondering why September 12th is such a popular day this year.  Way too many fun things to do (to waste time with non-fun things).  Why haven't you invited us to do something fun on September 12?  No danger of us accepting!

And speaking of Wii, we bought the Wii Sports Resort last week.  Having fun with it, though I expect it'll get old fairly quickly.  We have been enjoying sword fighting, frisbee golf, 3 point bball contest, and canoeing better than the rest.

Looking forward to posting pictures of the Anthem Moonlight Ride...

Hi

Gee, I missed you.

Moments of excitement the last 2 months, but mostly just work, golf & sleep.

It was awe-inspiring to follow the IMUSA crazies. I say "crazies" with all sorts of affection. DB having her toe broken in the swim and continuing. Not just continuing, but excelling. Doesn't matter, did it anyway. Awesome. CD with a bad hip that had to kill on the bike and couldn't have been comfortable on the run. Doesn't matter, did it anyway! SK doing the whole race with a bad hamstring. Not supposed to run. Doesn't matter, did it anyway. SS enjoying a picnic on the bike, but them suffering new forms of leg & foot cramps. Wanted to quit. Doesn't matter, did it anyway, and with an hour to spare. KB kicking ass & finishing in daylight! What!? Just don't get that. And to think I knew her when she'd never run a race of any kind. How cool.

Got new irons. Very exciting. Got a new putter. Very exciting. Played great for a week, then came back to my regular golf game. Finally broke a 20 handicap again (on the good side). Thought I'd crack it by May. Took until July 31. Oh well. Playing lots of golf, but still haven't found the groove.

Still haven't played Roller Derby Mountain Bike Polo Golf. But soon, I just know it.

Haven't been on my mountain bike since the day I put on the clips....and immediately fell down. Didn't get hurt, but crushed my confidence. Need to get another lesson as it feels like everything has changed on the bike because of the pedals.

Riding the Anthem Moonlight Bike Ride Saturday night. Not for exercise, just for the costume possibilities & the party afterwards. Hope it'll be fun. Come on out!

Going on a cruise a week Saturday with friends. Looking forward to not working for a week, but it is a pretty critical time with potentially large asset sales in the offing for my bankrupt company. Lots of work between now & vacation.

Thinking about restarting some training. Not over the top training, just some training. I'd like to swim faster (Ok, a lot faster - much more than 14 minutes/20 seconds faster)...

Maybe I'll just go back to martial arts; I used to enjoy that a lot and I'll need something for the winter months when it's too cold for golf.

And so ends this stream of consciousness. Just needed to check in. No guarantees as to the next time I'll post. I know you miss me, but you can't smother me, I need my freedom. Set me free and if it's true between us, I'll return....