Hide & Seek
The bathtub mat is gone again. Also, the daily tip I leave for the maid was left behind. Is it a bribe?
This is fun. But weird.
September 16, 2008
September 13, 2008
I'm rubber, you're glue
I’ve been here at the hotel for nearly two weeks. Already on two separate days, the little rubber tub mat has disappeared while I'm at work, and then resurfaced the next day. The mat normally sits on the side of the tub rolled-up and standing tall.
Where does the mat go when it leaves? Does it have its own agenda that doesn't always include me? Do I share my mat with occasional guests whose feet are deemed more important than mine? Does the maid take it to an overnight rubber cleaner?
Many questions. And while this is not one of the world’s most intriguing mysteries, it's certainly a curiosity.
The mat is there this evening. I’ll keep you posted.
June 29, 2008
Planes, trains and automobiles...
The highways and costal routes of Florida were jammed with vacationers this past week. The three airports I've had the pleasure of visiting in the last two weeks have been similarly jammed. Crazy security lines – and booking hotels hasn't been easy, either. And my God, have you experienced the packed roads of northern Virginia on a Sunday afternoon recently?
Sure, gas prices totally friggen suck - but just who are these people the media tells us are cutting back on travel this summer? Maybe it's the time travelers.
June 27, 2008
One the edge
O Earth! Thy summer song of joy may soar
Ringing to heaven in triumph. I but crave
The sad, caressing murmur of the wave
That breaks in tender music on the shore
-- From Land-Locked by Celia Thaxter
June 22, 2008
Vacation kitty
Slept in. Hung around the house. Dozed. Picnic lunch. Came in out of the rain. Thirty minute nap. Drinks, dinner, conversation. Twenty minute nap. Stretched out and stared at the TV. Bed soon.
No wonder cats are so damned content.
June 21, 2008
Wash, rinse, repeat
Great weather, good food, shopping, and beach time. Seven leisurely days with my Floridian peeps. It's good to be home again. 
June 16, 2008
Something in the Air?
Buying this today was so wrong, but owning it feels so right.
Welcome to my geeked-up life.
June 03, 2008
Fish -N- Booze
I snapped this driving down Hwy 15 in Jefferson, NJ a couple of weeks ago.
Imagine the end of that namestorming session: "For chrissakes, Tony, we only serve fish and booze!"
And so it went...
June 01, 2008
Schmap!
One of my shots of Frankfurt airport from last summer's voyage around the world was selected for the German interactive map guide, Schmap.
Sehr kühl.
April 07, 2008
Lease on luck
We visited the Hard Rock in Tampa last Wednesday, and I won a promotional drawing. Again. But this time the amount was so crazy, I’m still comfortably numb. Sweeeeet!
Could my luck lure me to lose? Nah… I’m too cheap to “invest” my hard-earned money and turn into a serious gambler. I’ll stick with < $100 on nickel slots, a couple of times a year.
But, as Jackie suggested, I could rent myself out as a good luck charm. I’d come cheap, too – just transportation, room, and enough coinage to let me play those colorful 5-centers.
Think about it. Just don’t let me enter the promotional drawings, cause they’re all mine, dammit!
March 30, 2008
Spring Break
Great weather, good food, shopping, and beach time. Seven leisurely days with my Floridian peeps. It's good to be home.
March 04, 2008
Rock-n-ride
A giant water guitar, knights in white satin "trip," the magic mushroom garden.
The best amusement park ever?
February 27, 2008
Do they know it's wintertime at all?
The view from my room in Naples, FL. Nice place to spend a couple of days for business or pleasure, right?
This was my first trip back to Florida since Dad died and I was surprised by unexpected emotions. The arrival event was held on the beach and that's where it hit me - hard. Very surreal to be surrounded by colleagues and feeling something so personal at the same time.
Overall the emotions infringed on my ability to network and relax like I normally would have, but the trip managed to be informative and rewarding despite all that.
I was planning to visit Florida that weekend anyway, a pre-India trip, but I think the circumstances and being "alone" at the water - Dad's favorite place was the beach - helped me deal with some emotions I may have put off for a while... and I recognized my ability to still enjoy things Dad loved.
Here I am, the open book again. I'm telling you - the hotel had a hell of a view!
February 26, 2008
Will work for travel
I've been in and out of Dulles airport so much the past few weeks, I bumped into myself at baggage claim on Saturday.
First there was Beverly Hills, then Naples FL, and most recently, India. Good spots and not a bad gig, but work (the productive kind) piles up, family and friends are ignored, and chores, well, they're overrated anyway.
Last week my cat sitter called me in Bangalore to say Conan was depressed. A colleague suggested this was a ploy for a "mental care" pay increase, but he's been so clingy since I got home, it's likely true.(And there were no extra fees.)
I love to travel - personal, business - it's all good. But I'm sticking closer to home in March. Well, maybe one trip to Florida. And a hop up to Jersey to see nana. But that's it.
February 17, 2008
Don't forget U(2)
I am completely sleepless in India right now. Okay, I had an hour last night - but way not enough.
And I just thought of my poor blog. Talk about kicking the habit! And I don't want to... so some U2 to make my little guy feel better...
Is it getting better?
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you now?
You got someone to blame
Yep, that someone is me! Blame all the travel. And stuff.
January 10, 2008
Pedro knows
Saw this sign again on i-95 heading to Florida the old fashioned way in December. Sr. Pedro makes the trip feel longer with his countdowns, but this one makes me laugh.
When will South of the Border go PC? Blah.
October 31, 2007
In the toilet. Again.
I don't plan to always take toilet pictures when I travel. But, I couldn't resist snapping this bizarre TP placement at a rest stop in PA, shortly before the NJ border on i-80. Note the little bits of paper on the floor -- evidence of prior attempts to grab a square?
So much for never saying Stretch Armstrong again.
October 11, 2007
Flight of the boots
I love this picture and wish I'd have taken more and better-quality snaps of the boots!
This was at Saddles Restaurant in Sonoma last week.
October 07, 2007
My silence was Golden
I neglected to post a sayonara message this week - oops! I was out West with two members of the team attending a community summit in Sonoma, hosted by ForumOne.
Napa Valley is so beautiful! While I’ve visited Southern California many times on personal and business trips over the years, this was my first trip to the San Francisco area as an adult. I look forward to a pleasure trip to tour the vineyards, see the Redwoods and to explore San Francisco.
The weather was great for photos and we even got to watch the Blue Angels practice after the conference. Fun!
September 18, 2007
Fantastic!
While traveling overseas we needed a semiprivate way to bitch amongst ourselves. We were the ones running around with our visas, sometimes in places which required our own security guards, so good behavior was generally wise.
But we had complaints to voice, at least to each other. I needed a polite way to express surprise or disappointment, like a way to say get the fuck away from me while standing in touchy-feely crowded queues in subtropical temperatures.
Fantastic! spoke volumes. It works at home, too.
August 29, 2007
All the pictures
I still blog! And finally, here's the full set of photos from the trip.
I discovered a shared fascination of foreign toilets with my old pal Sally. German toilets spin sideways to clean the seat, and Japanese toilets include musical effects for private um, sittings. Nice to know someone else talked this up - although she didn't take pics.
August 18, 2007
Singapore gardens
We were greeted by an oasis in the middle of Changi airport in Singapore. It's also an amazing shopping mall with a mix of high-end stores and tourist shops.
August 12, 2007
Circumnavigating the globe
Clearly I've been a summer blogger this year with my sporadic posts.
Now I'm off for two more weeks but since my internal clock will be wonky from time zone shifts, I may find time to blog at weird hours.
This trip's for work and will literally take me around the world. I'll take pics of everything!
August 08, 2007
Pack? Ack.
Time to pack again. This time I need the right stuff for two weeks overseas. One destination is smack in the middle of monsoon season. The other is fairly dry but hot. Very hot. Excellent.
July 29, 2007
Back to the present
Vacation was long, lovely and relaxing. I'm still quite mellow after kissing friends goodbye, arriving home, running errands, unpacking, and catching up on email, photos and social spaces. Conan is fine but hasn't stopped talking. He apparently had an adventurous two weeks with Nicole. I haven't truly tackled work email yet, I'll save that special activity for the office tomorrow.
Missed you Bloggy, friends and passerby. XOXO
July 13, 2007
OOTO BBS TTYL
Alright kids, I'm out of here. Vacation has arrived! I may or may not blog over the next two weeks. I'm leaning towards "not" but the ocean, fresh air and... huh? See you in a week or two!
(And if you don't know the shorthand, the post title means: Out of the office, be back soon, talk to you later!)
July 10, 2007
Vacation packmania
Top 10 gripes of summer travel:1. Packing enough - but not too much - for two weeks
2. Helping someone pack who's back home... 800 miles away
3. Keeping an eye on the luggage... hoping it travels with us
4. Unpacking when we arrive
5. Not having enough hangers or drawers to fully unpack
6. Re-packing at the end of vacation
7. Finding room to pack all the new stuff
8. Buying a new carry-on to hold extra items
9. Slowly unpacking for three days once I'm home
10. Doing it all over again the following week for another two-week trip!
Note the theme? But, as mom would say, we should all have such worries.
Vacation ~minus 4 days and counting.
May 22, 2007
Liquid gold
My car has a 16 gallon gas tank which brings me grossly close to $50 for a fill-up, thankyouverymuch.
A quick search for better things to do with $50...
May 07, 2007
Creepy vacation news
SB sent me this article about our hotel in Key West, the DoubleTree Grand Resort. We were clueless. The hotel, of course, was mum about an incident prior to our visit.
Our room was on the 2nd floor vs. the 4th where the leaks happened. We left the day before the men were found unconscious.
April 24, 2007
Peace reigned
Last Monday (aka spring break day 2) we went to the perfect place to unwind, Sholom Park in Ocala - miles of weaving paths, a pond, streams, flowers and fauna galore. The weather was picture-perfect. Sigh.
April 17, 2007
Weather swap
Blogging tonight reminded me I forgot to do the requisite vacation post. Consider this it. I'll be here in Florida enjoying the sunny weather - with plenty of sunblock - through Sunday.
Here...
Home...
January 02, 2007
Swamp things
Had a fun detour out of the Keys last week to (briefly) tour the Everglades. The sky was gloomy, so the lighting sucked. I got a few decent shots on my pocket digital...
November 09, 2006
Unplugged again
This is getting to be a nice habit but my blog will be lonely again.
I will be offline through Sunday night enjoying time with Scott and family. Unfortunately the timing is bad at work - but this is the reschedule of a previously canceled trip. Really need to go.
Woozha!
November 02, 2006
Good genes aging
Last weekend was chock-full of familial estrogen as a few of us visited New Jersey for my grandmother's (early) birthday celebration.
Nana is nearing 100 years old but looks and acts years younger. She volunteers, loves to shop and is a bit of a card shark. She stopped driving her car a couple of years ago to help make the roads safer for the rest of us. Also because the state told her she had to.
Now she zips around her retirement community on a motor scooter.
Nana enjoys her age and refers to herself as "ninetysomething." It makes my dread for the looming "fourtysomething" seem pretty ridiculous.
One sad note is that her short-term memory is slipping. There were several conversations that wound up on a loop because she couldn't track all of the info. C' est la vie. Especially at her age.
October 22, 2006
Ixnay oridaflay eekendway
I was headed home to Florida this weekend until things got hectic for Scott. The trip was going to be short enough as it was, so we rescheduled for early November.
The weekend turned out nice anyway. Saw The Prestige (fun but too long), shot several dozen fall pictures, went clothes shopping for nothing in particular, had dinner with friends. Also found myself wide awake at an unholy 5:30 Sunday morning so I watched Lucky Number Slevin. The plot was too obvious but the movie was okay - good cast and mindless viewing.
About the headline... someone sent me this site last week. I never quite mastered the ability to speak fluent Pig Latin: http://www.snowcrest.net/donnelly/piglatin.html
October 09, 2006
Back online - no more twitching
We had a fun weekend that seemed even longer than three days. In a good way.
On Friday I caught myself exhibiting good blogger behavior - at several different points of the day I made mental notes of blog-worthy items to post later.
Here's a few from the last few days
- Elton John exceeded my expectations but a few songs were mildly irritating. Still a good time and yes, I would go see him again. He did a 10-15 minute piano solo which literally brought tears to my eyes. Elton's got me thinking of dusting off my own piano. This recap covers the show.
- It is easy to hang out in a casino and not gamble. I had a great time after the concert just hanging out and having
a fewmany (free!) drinks without dropping more than $50. Oh, and I won $2,500 for my troubles playing three quarters on a 7s slot machine. (Unfortunately that was enough money to earn me a W-something form for my taxes, too.) - Two new Fall shows I thought were good (but not necessarily sustainable) were recently canceled or are on the verge of it - Smith and Kidnapped. Oh well, I only caught one ep of each.
- I was reminded this morning in the office that I have yet to catch Dexter and based on friends' reviews I should enjoy. I will catch it On-Demand.
- Advertising in space. Who knew there was a Congressional ban on orbiting billboards?
- I hate when people eat potato chips anywhere near me. I go a bit mad from the bag crinkling. I'm even nuttier about open-mouth crunches.
August 30, 2006
Rewired
For better or worse, I spent my extended birthday weekend celebrating like I was turning 21 again. Not a bad thing to do while you still can. We visited family at the start of the weekend then went to Atlantic City and stayed at Bally's on the boardwalk.
I was so unplugged over the last few days that I only took two pictures - acrobat/clown sculptures in a restaurant at about 4am Monday morning and my own eye. I'll spare you the peeper but not the creepy clowns. (Yes, "creepy clowns" is a redundant statement.)
July 30, 2006
Harry, Carrie & Garp
Heading to NYC on Tuesday to see 'Harry, Carrie & Garp' - readings by Stephen King, J.K. Rowling and John Irving. I'm really pysched for King and Rowling. I'll post photos and a recap later in the week.
Tags: Stephen King, J.K. Rowling
July 14, 2006
Coming home
We've started the trek home today via Boston again. We really had a fabulous two weeks, despite some bad family news that came in and a few days of rainy weather. Got a little sunburn and the cold that was gnawing at me as I left on vacation is completely gone.
Now to download business emails and begin the process of catching up ... ha! Easier said and done after two weeks.
July 04, 2006
Happy 4th!
Fourth of July from Bar Harbor Maine -- rainy and foggy here. Forecasters say the rain will go away, but I don't hold out much hope for the fog burning off. Tomorrow's the official rain day set for the fireworks so we'll see if the town uses it.
UPDATE: Had a great time tonight but no fireworks. A little frustrating that they held them because nothing could be seen. The fog lit up in bright colors and the *booms* downtown were LOUD -- but we really couldn't see the fireworks at all, from far above in Acadia or down in the town square.
Tags: Bar Harbor, Fourth of July
June 29, 2006
The road to Bar Harbor
Vacation is officially here -- we're in Boston tonight, relaxing. I'm doing a last check of business emails, clearing a few items that I didn't have a chance to address before I left the office this afternoon. So glad vacation is here. Cheers!
Tags: Bar Harbor, Vacation
June 22, 2006
bar harbor 2006
time for summer vacation already - we're heading to Bar Harbor, Maine on June 30. As usual, we made the reservations months ago, but when the date nears it always somehow seems sudden.
I started going to Bar Harbor as a 6 or 7 year old with my parents, joined by various family and friends over the years. It's fun to go to a family vacation spot as an adult with a boyfriend (or husband, depending on the year). Not better, really, but sweeter.
tags: bar harbor, acadia