When we stay in hotels, we have a few standards. We insist on non-smoking rooms, we prefer king beds, we’re starting to require wireless internet or at least cable internet access (David has a portable wireless access point). But what we often get, without specifying it, is The Screaming Family In The Adjoining Room Next Door. This happened the last time we were at the Gonzo Inn in Moab, and it’s happening again… complete with near-hysterical mother loudly ordering a cranky toddler to “stop crying and rest! immediately! This is the third time I’ve told you, you need to rest!…
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UPDATE: We’re back up, we’re rollin.’ David and I returned early from our weekend trip to Michigan to see what was wrong. I posted this at Razzberry Vinaigrette. Since Blogula Rasa is down until we get home, this one is going to have to do for the moment. We’re heading back home a day early because the system that our blogs run on also runs some other sites that David considers critical, including the archives for his discussion lists. We’re currently in Grand Haven, MI – we stayed last night at our second choice hotel, a Best Western that’s had…
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I had the day off today, asked for it months ago in November, back before everything changed. Tomorrow would have been Mom’s 91st birthday, and the original idea was vaguely “go to Salt Lake for the long weekend and spend it with Mom,” since I missed part of her 90th birthday celebrations last year due to not asking for the Friday off of Labor Day weekend back in the November before that. Vacation days are hard to get around holiday weekend. Well, we’re not in Salt Lake. But we’re gallivanting around. We’re in St Joseph, MI, on the shores of…
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Today’s big bad security flap made for a very bad day for a lot of people. It wasn’t the nightmare I thought it would be at work, but there was a lot of information-overload “chaff” in the morning that had me stumped, so that I gave out bad information. Bad information! No! No! One of our travelers was escorted from the airport at a large city in India and told that he’d have to find someplace to stay for the night; he wasn’t even flying inbound to London, which was where so many flights were either delayed, diverted, or stranded.…
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Yes, after all that, I forgot the damn power supply for the laptop. But not to worry, David says via text message that he’s sending a power supply next day air. And within 5 minutes, I got a delivery tracking number on my cell phone. We are SUCH GEEKS. I had hoped to watch a downloaded episode of some show or other via laptop – I did not watch the Amazing Race finale last night and don’t know who won yet. If I get spoiled, so be it – I had a lot of other stuff to do last night.…
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So. Off into the blue tomorrow on a fact-finding trip. It’s just a short weekend trip on my own – my husband David and my cat Riley will be batching it while I’m gadding around the urban wilderness of Salt Lake. Books and Stuff To Read Another Country Sudoku Easy by Will Shortz Large type copies of several Sudoku puzzles Moleskine notebook (or knockoff of same)((nearly full) Moleskine notebook (the real thing)((empty)) Pens, pencils, highlighter Deciding whether to bring more books Techery Laptop Case Logic case Wireless mouse (I know, but it’s so damn handy) AC/DC adapter phone cable for occasional dialup access…
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All the obvious hints aside, yes, we were gearing up for a return trip to our second spiritual home, Maui. This time we're staying in Napili, an area north of the Ka'anapali area that's s supposed to have good snorkeling. We had an uneventful flight, although a cramped one – it was absolutely jammed full of elderly group travelers from Wisconsin. After some delay in getting the rental car, which we may swap out again later, we drove up around Macgregor Point, and encountered our first whale, and our first Na Pali traffic jam. It's been one of my peeves…
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I just heard Jon Ronson on This American Life, in a piece about Lord Clarendon, his resting place at Westiminster Abbey, and the legal concept of Habeas Corpus, which is relevant to the issue of Guantanamo prisoners held indefinitely, without access to lawyers, information, or with any hope of a fair trial or release. It was amazing, because the conversation he had with a guide at the Abbey about Clarendon and the Puritans, who were the theocratic-dominionist Religious Right of their day put a lot of historical perspective on current events. And I could swear that David, his guide, could…
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Via: Flickr Title: Scrimshaw By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 5 Mar ’06, 5.28am PST This was part of an exhibit at San Francisco International that was along the moving walkways in the terminal. Years ago, when I had to go via SFO from Eugene to Salt Lake on trips home from college, I remember seeing exhibits in pretty much the same kind of cases. Some things don’t change. Last night David and I went looking for a sit-down restaurant – our parlance for table service – and I remembered a place called the “Crab Pot.” Well, that wasn’t there, but Yankee…
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Via: Flickr Title: Sfo By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 5 Mar ’06, 4.47am PST If you look closely, you may see that the decoration on the table is a nautical chart of San Francisco Bay. Which makes sense for a seafood restaurant at SFO International. The food is really good, surprisingly good for airport fare, and not that expensive. They seemed to have a good wine list. The waiter, like so many of our waiters in Maui, was not originally from this country. His service was impeccable. And from the outside, it looks like a pretty ordinary little airport bistro.