PV #10

I felt like crap this morning. It must have been the champagne and the varieties of alcohol that I attempted to try, without having eaten anything. Luckily I didn't have to get up at the butt-crack of dawn this morning. I had breakfast...rather, coffee, with Cat and Janet before leaving for the airport. I managed to get there just fine, and made it through security and ticketing without any issues.

Upon arriving at the gate, someone from Mexicana Airlines had changed the status of my flight to "closed." I wasn't so sure I knew what that meant, since in any foreign country, things don't always translate to English as it should. I was certain, however, that it wasn't "cancelled," which would have been far worse. It certainly threw several passengers into a dither (mostly the non-Mexicans), and it had the possibility to end some short lived marriages (as many couples were there for their honeymoon). In particular, a German couple panicked, so much so that the man blew a gasket, and then literally ran like O.J. to the ticketing counter...on the other side of security. Well, of course he was told that he was at the correct gate, and that they had just put "closed" on the screen to alert passengers that no more people could check-in. I found this strange in that NONE of the other flights had that happen.

Anyhow, upon the German guy's re-arrival at the gate, being all red-faced and sweaty, he started yelling at his wife for making him run all over the airport "like an old mule." I badly wanted to say, "you just looked like a jackass is all."

I made it on the plane just fine, and had my complimentary drink and peanuts. Unlike the airlines in the U.S., I got more than 4. How lucky.

Connecting flights in Mexico City was interesting as well. It certainly was much easier not having to go through immigration. While my connecting flight was very close to where I got off my other flight, the process by which we boarded Mexicana 802 was anything but. Everyone needed to get hand searched, and dispose of any liquids in order to get sent through. The airline attendant did ask for people to board that were elite members, with small children, or needed special assistance, however no one seeemed to pay any attention to her. Apparently everyone but me needed special assistance.

Once on the plane to Chicago, it took forever for us to get going, only to find out (thankfully) that the plane was having mechanical issues, causing everyone to have to get off the plane and go to a different gate where we waited for a new plane to arrive. And the same process with security started ALL over again...with the same result. We ended up leaving an hour and 20 minutes late, partially due to three Mexican fartknockers from first class that decided to tour the entire Mexico City airport before boarding.

Also interesting was the round American woman clad in her best tube top and daisy dukes ranting to the gate agent about the delay, and that she had to be searched again. In that get up, I'm sure it was no thrill for the security people to check her again either.

But we made it off from Mexico City without issues, except that the cabin temperature was about 87, the woefully slow service (such as sitting with finished dinner trays in your lap for 45 minutes), and a Mexican toddler two rows behind me that screamed the whole flight to the point of hoarseness. Thank GOD I saved enough battery power on my iPod. I don't think the experience could have been worse. Then again, where was the Empress to floss her teeth when you needed her to?

I mentioned to the flight attendant that it was really hot in the cabin, to which her response was, "it's much cooler in the back of the plane," which was extremely helpful given that we were on a completely full flight. Perhaps that is the Mexican way of handling conflict, since it reminded me of two times on our trip. One instance was where Janet, Cat, and Monette daily had to call to the front desk to ask for more towels. The third day they asked, they got a resigned "we know" from the staff member.

The second instance was at our last lunch when Monette received a very "smelly" seafood sandwich. Upon going up to the hamburger guy, the waiter came up behind her and asked if her sandwich was ok? Monette, not being shy, said that it smelled funny. The guy looked at her, chuckled a little, and nodded, as if to say, "yeah, I know." What the hell?

Anyhow, I made it to O'Hare just fine, and after having my bag searched in customs, I was able to make it to the bus in time for the 9:30 departure. But, since I was the only one on the bus, I had to go all the way back to the bus terminal, and wait for another 45 minutes for more passengers. I finally made it home by about 12:30, and was grateful to spend the night in my own bed.

The thought of getting up early this morning, however, is certainly NOT attractive. I will say that my vacation with my dear friend Monette, and her awesome friends Cat and Janet, were an incredible way to spend my 40th birthday, with many things to remember.

Now it's back to the grindstone.

PV #9

The same thing happened yesterday as always, minus having dinner. It was Caribbean night at the resort, and since we had already seen two minutes of the show before hand, we decided that drinking at the bar with our favorite bartender, Antonio (who also turned 40 while we have been here), was a far better option. After all, he hands-down makes the best drinks.

Again, it was hot, humid, and the shaded area where we sat this time by the pool was a very nice change. Cat and Janet decided they wanted to play Scrabble, only to find that the set had way more vowels than normal, and included double l's, double r's, a "ch" and an "n" with the squiggly line. Yes, the Spanish version. They made do with what they had, and had an opportunity to expand their knowledge of basic Hawaiian.

We did try to go to a small Mexican tienda along the beach so that we could find sarongs for the ladies, and some for my nieces. After dinking around for about 25 minutes, having the guy take literally all of his merchandise out of his 3 black plastic trash bags (having been put away from it starting to rain-the only time during the day it rained), he insisted that we pay $25 each for the basic rectangular pieces of fabric with some machined embroidery and sequins. When we offered $40 for the four of them, he quickly snatched them out of my hands, and started folding them to put them back in his bag, saying that he couldn't just give them away.

With the amount of tourists they have seen this year, he might have been better off giving them away...

Anyhow, we started heading back to the resort when he started trying to negotiate again, at $80 for the four sarongs. Needless to say, we kept walking as he muttered some Spanish insults at us in the process.

Still in our swimming suits, we hung out at the bar with all sorts of different people at different stages of their vacations. Many of the people that we ran into were from the Midwest, including a woman who was originally from Lake Geneva, and another woman whose sister lives in the small burg of Sharon.

On the other hand, we did manage to run into some obnoxious Texans with horrible Texified Spanish accents, who kept ending all of their sentences with the duo-syllabic word "shit" (more like she-ot). Antonio asked me in Spanish what the word was they kept saying (and making him repeat like a parrot), and when I told him it was the Texas accent for the word "mierda," his face turned bright red.

That was the last time he said that again.

Finally, Monette, Cat, and I felt that it was necessary to eat (as it was now VERY late in the evening). Antonio scored us a bottle of champagne to celebrate the end of the trip, and we went up and ordered room service.

In doing so, Cat had the opportunity to use her Spanish to order it. Of course though, with the booze, it was a bit tricky, especially because the guy on the other end of the line kept asking a bunch of questions in Spanish. Finally getting stumped, Cat started laughing, only to be told by the guy, "I do speak English, you know." We laughed even harder. Even the Mexicans have sass.

We finished the champagne and much needed food, and went to bed. It was late, but we certainly enjoyed ourselves, and had a lot of laughs. Reality set in when we realized it was the last night of the vacation. Sigh!

PV #8

Well, yesterday (Thursday) was pretty much the same thing. We woke up, ate breakfast, strolled along the beach, had a morning beverage, soaked up the sun, swam in the pool, and people watched. All the while we were constantly offered drinks during the day. I think I will need a new liver by the time I get home.

The highlight of the day was our evening dinner. There are a lot of options available here in Puerto Vallarta. The problem is knowing first what you want to eat, and then second deciding where to go. So we tried something different. After searching some websites on restaurants in Puerto Vallarta, and getting a lot of spam in the process, we decided to try Fodors.com to see if there were any recommendations. Of course, the recommendations were just as plentiful as the number of options in Puerto Vallarta, so the hope to narrow the choices down wasn't very fruitful.

But, we did look at one restaurant that had a great rating, with reasonable prices for food. Called "Langostino's," it was in Zona Romantica on the south side of the city. From the description, it was set on the beach and was supposed to have great food.

We got our reservation made with the help of the concierge, and then took a taxi to our destination. Janet decided to stay in for the evening, so Cat, Monette and I ventured off in the taxi. As we got closer to the restaurant, the area where the restaurant was was quite quaint, with lots of little cafes all over, small shops, and soft lighting all around the streets. It was very cool, and reminded me of a tropical version of a small European side street.

The taxi driver needed to get redirected to the restaurant, but once he did, we went down to the end of a dead end street. I was thinking for sure that we were lost, or that we were in for a big shock. The driver offered to go out and look to see if we were in the right spot. Coming back to the car, he gave the thumbs up, we got out, and he proceded to tell us that it looked really nice.

There weren't many people around, and we walked down the sidewalk along side of the restaurant, we made a quick left, and there it was. It was LITERALLY on the beach. We went to the maitre d' and he led us to our table. It was right on the beach. We sat, ordered our drinks, and proceeded to get our feet wet from the waves washing underneath the table. We were then moved to our second table, where we were just about set to order, and again, the waves washed underneath our feet, and it started raining.

Third time being the charm, we were finally moved into the main part of the restaurant, which had a beautiful view of the coastline, and an interesting walkway in front, where people would stroll by.

Then the food came. We had queso fundido with chorizo and mushrooms served on tortillas served in a clay pot, a mixed vegetable salad, and Cat ordered oysters Rockefeller (which we found they didn't have later on), which were replaced by breaded bay scallops with a spicy tartar sauce. We got the food, and realized by the portion size, it could have fed the whole city of Guadalajara. Furthermore, the food was FANTASTIC!

After that we chatted, and were then served our main entrees which two of us had lobster and steak, with baked potato and vegetables, and the other had coconut shrimp with a tamarind mango sauce. Again, the food was FANTASTIC!

We had a really nice chat with the woman that owns the restaurant, as she was very curious how we heard about her restaurant. I explained that we were looking for restaurant ideas on the internet, and that her restaurant had 2-3 reviews on Fodors.com that gave it the highest rating one can give. We then told her that was the reason for our visit. She had no idea what Fodor's was, and after explaining to her that it is a HUGE travel guide service, she was somewhat blown away. She went on to tell us that she doesn't advertise like many restaurants, and that she prefers to have her restaurant be known by word of mouth, as the best business is from the referrals her patrons give. I will say this: her restaurant and its food and service fully will live up to the expectations of the referral that one gives. We were far from disappointed, but rather just the opposite: incredibly surprised.

After dinner, the owner gave us an aperatif on the house (tequila) and then we were enticed to try Mexican coffee. It was quite a demonstration. It had lots of fire involved, lots of pouring and mixing a concoction of tequila, kahlua, and rum between two pouring scoops. Then as the fire was still going, they took sugar and cinnamon to coat the rims of the stemmed glassware, searing it to the rim of the glass. The drink was then poured into the glass, topped with some whipped cream, and voila, we had our drinks. Damn they were tasty!

What an enjoyable way to spend on of the last evenings of our vacation, and what a different way to do it. We headed back to the hotel, and arrived just after midnight. We thought we'd try to go up to the rooftop patio bar for a nightcap, only to find a small group of drunk Mexicans talking at foghorn level on a cell phone, and several not-so-happy employees earnestly waiting for everyone to leave. Alas, I guess everyone couldn't be happy...

Again, another great day was had by all, and what a finish to the evening! I would recommend Langostino's to anyone, especially for the ambience and the hominess of the restaurant.

Yeah....I'm loving vacation.....

PV #7

Today I just hung out. Monette and Janet went zip lining. I'm thinking more and more that I'm glad I was too fat for the activity, because after seeing them come back all somewhat grimy and jungled, I was quite glad I was able to teach one of the bartenders at the lobby bar to make a proper mint julep. And I had several samples of the work.

Anyhow, we spent all afternoon at the pool soaking in the sun. Prior to that, I received a really weird phone call from a guy representing himself to be from Orbitz, wanting to confirm my flight information and ensure that I had adequate transportation to the airport. He had asked me to meet him on the first floor conference center to go over my itinerary, and assured me it wasn't a time share.

I never went, since to me, it sounded like something fishy, and now I am a bit paranoid, and pissed off that somehow this person knows that I booked through Orbitz.
But, I had another drink, nd quickly forgot about this random phone call.

After the pool we went back to our rooms to get ready to head back into Puerto Vallarta to eat at a highly recommended restaurant called, "Barcelona." It was a tapas restaurant. The restaurant is located in the hills of Puerto Vallarta, and is on the third and fourth floors of the building. Getting up to the restaurant, it was a spectacular view of Banderas Bay, the skyline, and boats in the harbor.

Let me tell you this: it also was one of the BEST restaurants I have ever been to. Our menu was shrimp bisque soup, bleu cheese salad, curried checking salad with fruit, Potato tortilla, bas scallops with chorizo, baked goat cheese in a tomato sauce served on crostini, bacon wrapped dates, spicy sauteed shrimp, roasted beets with cheese, and baked eggpland. We all shared each other's dishes. I can honestly say that in all 10 plates we sampled, not a single one of them was weak. It was heaven! The waiter was kind enough to give us some basil ice cream (which was delicious) and some wonderful after dinner drinks to top off the meal. It was fantastic!

We managed to ferret out a taxi, not knowing that the taxi driver had no idea where the hotel we were staying at was. After a couple wrong turns, a couple of sets of directions, and a whole lot of back seat driving from my friend Monette, we managed to see a lot more of Nuevo Vallarta than we had planned. Ah well, we made it back in one piece, so I guess that is the most important thing!

PV #6

Today was the day we went on the Isis, a sailboat with Pegasus Tours. I have never been sailing in my life, and what an opportunity. We started the day off early, getting to the pier. We had a hard time, however trying to find the pier, as the taxi driver dropped us off at the mall NEXT to the pier. After searching, asking, pointing, and swearing, we all made it in time to our destination.

There were about 16 people on the boat with a crew of 5. What a beautiful day it was! The sun was shining, and a light breeze was blowing. Leaving the pier, we joined people from Iowa, Minnesota, and California who all seemed to be very nice. On our journey, we got to see sea turtles swimming in the ocean, as it is mating season this time of year (which we also had an opportunity to witness). After the totuga porn show, we sailed along to Las Marietas, a national park in Mexico, where we went snorkeling, got to see tons of colorful fish and coral, frigatebirds, and big brown boobies (the birds...mind you). We also got to see tons of the rare blue-footed boobies, and man are they fascinating! After an hour snorkeling, we were taken to a secluded beach on the large volcanic island in Las Marietas, and were able to take in some sun, swim in the ocean (and the water was turqoise blue and VERY warm), and have a couple of drinks before having a wonderful lunch with an incredible rice salad, carrots with a piquant sauce, and cookies for dessert.

We headed back to shore, where we had a stunning dolphin display. 4 pods of dolphins kept swimming near our boat, curious to see what was going on. They were absolutely amazing (and HUGE), and were so close that you could almost touch them. They would surface to take a breath of air, and then dive under the boat to the other side. I have never seen anything like it, and it was an absolute treat. We had an opportunity to experience sailing, and finally reached our destination at the pier at about 4 p.m. The crew was certainly most gracious, kind, and very hospitable, and the tour was an amazing experience that I won't soon forget.

We got back to the hotel, got cleaned up, went to dinner, and chatted. Janet and Monette decided to go back to the room (as they have to be up early tomorrow for their zip line tour), so Cat and I remained. Hector, our waiter, is quite smitten with Cat, and offered to take us out to celebrate the Mexican Independence Day (which is today). Somehow I think that the only reason I got invited was so that Cat would go.

After dinner we were able to see some fireworks at the hotel, and then after a couple of drinks at the bar, retired for the rest of the evening.

Today was a GREAT day, filled with fun, laughter, and some of the most spectacular creatures put on this earth. Nothing could be more enjoyable than that!

PV #5

Well, today was a day that the ladies decided was a spa day. I didn't really mind either way, because I am not one to really have to be entertained. I figured getting a pedicure would be a good thing. After all, with the callouses on my feet, I thought a little therapy in that area would be a good thing.

While we were getting everything set up for the day, appointments made, etc., we decided to go and check out the alternate tours that would be available. We checked out zip lining and going on a sailboat. We were all eager to try both of those options. Unfortunately, my fat ass didn't meet the weight requirement necessary to do the zip line. It was a bit humiliating to say the least, but then again, I probably would have crapped myself getting up to the necessary platforms, and I figured it probably would have been hotter than hell, sticky, sweaty, and somewhat unpleasant anyhow. I didn't mind just sleeping in, and getting my morning drunk on while the others planned to go. Besides, I have a hard time getting up on a step ladder, let alone be prodded and pushed, and strapped in so that my junk was pushed up to my uvula. I figured I wasn't missing anything. Cat, bless her heart, decided she really didn't need to go (as she had already done it before), and said she didn't want to go either.

After consoling myself in my pity, we did manage to book a sailboat trip that promises to look very good. The weather here has been hot and humid, usually in the lower 90's, and despite the night time rains, there really hasn't been an issue with any other precipitation during the trip.

So I went to my pedicure appointment. Francis was the wonderful young women assigned to do the pedicure. She was a delight, got things all ready, and started working the foot rasp to work the callouses off my feet. She did a great job until she got to my left foot. With what seemed to be much exertion, the was really going to town, exfoliating my feet, and voiding them from the unpleasant callouses. She used so much exertion that the rasp slipped out of her hands, hit my calf, and went smack dab into the middle of the foot bath. Peering over the Conde Nast travel magazine that I was reading in Spanish, I looked down at her, and when she saw me, she started laughing, and started laughing really hard for about 5 minutes. I have to admit, after a few self depricating comments (that I am sure she didn't understand), I was laughing myself. She then said, "I have NO idea how THAT happened," and continued to laugh.

Just about done with the pedicure, Francis went to dry my feet, when she knocked the leather foot rest into the tub as well. She then exclaimed, "I need to go home, this isn't my day." I will say, however, she did an amazing job, despite the mishaps. Furthermore, it turned an otherwise uneventful trip to the spa into one that was very memorable, all thanks to Francis.

Other than that, not much new to report, other than I'm not tiring of the drinks, sunshine, ocean, and pool, not to mention the incredible tan I'm getting.

PV #4

Well, today, I got to see hatching baby sea turtles on the beach. After having our usual breakfast, and then deciding to lounge on the beach, there was all sorts of commotion occuring closer to the shoreling. Apparently there were about 18 hatchling sea turtles digging their way out of the sand and started to crawl out to the sea. It was absolutely FASCINATING! They were only about 3-4 inches in length, and charcoal greyish black, fins flopping everywhere. It was neat to see the kids take them out to the water, and I got to hold one in my hand before letting it go. It was a very incredible experience.

There wasn't much else that we did today, except once again to lounge, relax, drink, eat, sunbathe, and think about what we could do tomorrow. I will say that we had dinner at the Mexican restaurant in the evening, and the dinner was VERY good. We further enjoyed the Mexican harpist playing live music while we ate. He was very talented, and it was enjoyed.

After having a long dinner and recouping from having a full day in the sun, we all decided we needed to call it an early night, and retired to our rooms. I managed to be able to watch some of the Packer football game before falling asleep right before the end.

Again, what a relaxing vacation this has been, only to be made better by the incredible travel companions of my long time friend Monette, and my new found friends, Janet and Cat. We've certainly had a lot of laughs, and we have really had a great time getting to know each other.

Looks like tomorrow will be a "spa" day. I don't know quite what to think about that, because the thought of someone giving me a massage makes me taste vomit. But, I said I'd join them, being the good "joiner in-er" that I am, and I think I will settle for a pedicure. After all, I do know I love those, and my feet really could use a de-callousing.

PV #3

Well, today started out with seeing if we wanted to have our dinner out on the beach for one night this next week. After looking at all of the options, we all decided it was best that we just stick to our current game plan, and just find a place that is really nice that we could all enjoy.

After breakfast, we decided to go "off campus" to Old Vallarta, and take a look around the port city. Puerto Vallarta is an older city, and the main central area (in my opinion) is very charming. Walking on one side of the street, there are a lot of shops, bars and restaurants all hawking their wares or services. On the other side of the street there are lots of modern sculptures in bronze, and were able to take some pictures overlooking Banderas Bay. I especially loved the fact that as we walked by, the hawkers kept calling me "Polo" from my t-shirt I was wearing. I have no idea what to think about that, and after awhile, I was wanting to call them something in English, however somehow I feel there would be something lost in the translation, thereby losing the intended effect. Aside from the constant barrage of trying to get us to look at their crap, there really wasn't much else to it. I wanted to say "pienso que todas las cosas son mierda." In English, it would have translated to "your crap is a piece of shit, I don't want it." Alas, I don't want to be that ugly Americano either.

We then stopped at a tequila store, and after trying about 6 different kinds of tequila, and getting some good information about what to do and see in the city, I ended up buying a tamarind flavored tequila which was delicious. After all, Victor was very charming to the ladies, and very helpful. I felt the necessity to buy something.

I can tell you that the weather continues to be hotter than hell, and today, the sun was out all day. We ended up going to El Marisco de Tito, which my lunch was delicious (I cannot say the same for the others). After a great lunch, we then decided to head back to the hotel to suck up some sun. We lounged around the pool for several hours before getting ready to eat. The guys in the palapa by the pool, Jesus, Hugo, Jose, and Cesar really do a fantastic job, and we never went dry the whole afternoon.

We then went to dinner at the Italian restaurant at the resort. I think I had lamb, but it really didn't taste like it. But the wine was flowing, and eh, I didn't really mind.

Puerto Vallarta, and this resort really go out of their way to make guests feel at home. I can't say that the food is overly fantastic, but it's plentiful, and they'll do whatever they can to try to make things the way you want them to be. The service, on the other hand IS fantastic. I'd definitely recommend this place to others, and stay again sometime.

PV #2

Today started off with going to breakfast and having a wonderful meal. I especially loved the taquitos with bacon and cheese (something that was probably really bad for me but tasted incredibly good) as well as the potatoes.

After breakfast we spent the majority of the time lounging by the pool, soaking up sun and enjoying the warm water in the pool overlooking the bay. Lunch unfortunately was not so great, but then again, we had great service and drinks constantly at our every beck and call. Again, you have to love the service here at the resort, as we found out that it only was at 30% capacity of what it should be.

Later in the evening, there was a Caribbean show that we didn't really see, but could hear (but saw briefly), and then spent time sitting at one of the bars having great conversation, and meeting people from all over. That to me is probably one of the best things I like, as with my group, we are having a ton of fun, and many people come up to us to talk.

After getting ready in the late afternoon (about 6 p.m.), we headed down to the Ocean restaurant. As we walked in, our two waiters from the evening prior were there. I wasn't so sure they WANTED to see us, as it seems like we take a ton of their time asking for all kinds of stuff (mostly drinks, but sometimes food requests), they are more than gracious in serving us. I'd have to say that our servers the last 2 nights have been outstanding, and have certainly been a joy to have!

in the evening, we watched the sun set, we then spent the time just enjoying each other's company, and drinking until we were told to get out. It's really my type of vacation.

Tomorrow, we're planning on taking a water taxi to old town to do some shopping, and then in the evening, we're planning to visit either a fine seafood restaurant, or a tapas restaurant.

We're having a great time, and it's going by very quickly. But I'm sure there will be more stories and pics. Until then, keep posted!

PV #1

Well, the great Mexican adventure started at 3:15 a.m. driving down to the airport to catch an early Mexicana flight out of O'Hare. I arrived a little before 5 a.m. with very little traffic and amazingly several people at the international terminal. Getting into the terminal, I realized that I had left my cell phone in my mom's car. After fretting about that for a little bit, I realized that it wouldn't have helped me much to have it since I don't have international service. But, that's the worry wart in me.

Getting through security wasn't an issue, and before going through it, I contemplated getting some coffee while I waited to board the plane. Turns out I should have taken advantage of it, since on the other side of security, it's completely void of any meaningful concessions, which NONE of them even served coffee. I was not a very happy camper, since I had no intention of having to go through security again.

About 15 minutes prior to the start of the boarding process, I was approached by a guy in his late 70's, rail-thin, gaunt-faced, and a bad yellowish blonde hair dye job, and immediately I thought it was the male version of the Empress from my previous adventures. It was very bad deja vu. He came up to me with his 4 pieces of carry-on luggage (and I thought you could only take one, but like the Empress, he probably didn't think that it applied to him), set it next to me, and asked if I would watch his stuff while he went to the other side of security to get coffee. Mind you, we're now 10 minutes away from boarding, and knowing security, I don't think he had any concept of time. The other thing was that he didn't want to have to have them re-check his carry on baggage again.

Being the good, responsible Samaritan, I respectfully declined. After all, I had no idea what was packed in his bag, and for all I knew it could have been an incendiary device only to be used later when we landed in Mexico City to hold everyone hostage....just like what happened the day before. He wasn't too pleased with my response, and said "so, I'm just going to have to have all of this re-scanned again." I said, "yep." After all, I am no one's lackey, servant, or bag sitter, and furthermore, I wanted to go on vacation, and not to have to deal with a potential international incident.

Anyhow, the service on Mexicana was fantastic. And, after having tamales for breakfast and whatever I wanted to drink, I couldn't help but think that U.S. air carriers could certainly learn a thing or two about service. It never ceases to amaze me, however, that I always seem to get stuck behind a person that constantly flops backward into his seat so that his face is practically looking up at me. Of course, unlike my flight to Beijing, this person was a short guy with a cheesy moustache, and a bad case of halitosis and sleep apnea.

I will say that the Bimbo cookies (I laughed at this), bun, coffee and other accoutrement were a nice change, and certainly far better than the ramen noodle fish soup that an airline attempted to serve me coming home from Hong Kong. I spent most of the time wondering how I was going to catch my next flight to Puerto Vallarta once I landed in Mexico City, since I had to clear immigration. That turned out to be a non-event, and took only about 5 minutes. Then it was just a matter of finding out where gate B was when all of the gates in the terminal were marked "1-36." After asking a couple of people (and mind you, they were ALL friendly) I got to this big lobby area (my Gate B) to wait for the regional jet gate assignment, since apparently in Mexico, it is a first come first serve basis.

Well, after about 40 minutes, I was able to get to the right gate and was off on the short flight to Puerto Vallarta. The only unsettling thing was that there was a woman sitting two rows in front of me that spent the whole time hacking, coughing, and gagging. I was pretty sure I was going to get swine flu.

I landed in Puerto Vallarta, and as my plane was taxiing down the runway, there was an immediate landing of an Alaska Airlines plane almost landing on top of our plane. And of course, that Alaska Airlines plane contained my friend Monette, and her two friends, Kat and Janet.

Customs was a breeze, but the swarms of hawking taxi drivers outside the terminal was a bit annoying. I just waited for the three of them to go through immigration and customs, and after spending 20 minutes with a guy offering free shuttle service to our hotel (in exchange for sitting in on a time share meeting the next day) we were off on our way.

The hotel is very nice, and the rooms are spacious and modern. So modern that I really didn't know how to turn any of the lights on, or how to make the air conditioning work. It has a jacuzzi tub out on the balcony, and it's got a beautiful view of the bay and Pacific Ocean. Upon arrival, we received hot herbal towels to refresh with, and were immediately served drinks. Now THAT's my kind of welcome.

We then went to the bar, and after eating a mahi mahi dish with bay scallop, octopus, and shrimp (which was very good), we spent most of the time at the table sitting, talking, drinking, and drinking, and drinking. 3 and a half hours later, we then went up to the rooftop bar to hear a decent band play, before retiring for the evening. Kat and Janet are super fun, and we enjoyed each other's company last night.

After getting back to the room, and trying to figure out how to turn the lights off, I ended up sleeping with all of the lights on, the ceiling fans at full blast (a la Hurricane Jimena) and the TV on. Oh well... they did say it was all inclusive. I figured the electricity was included.

Goss-Anon

I have to ask this question. I am completely vexed by how to handle gossipers. Through my work, my relationships with others, by extended family, and now by others that really have no involvement with my life or that of my immediate family's.

At work, I find it easy to handle gossip. The easiest way is to confront the person directly. The fortune I have is being their supervisor, and if they want their job, they stop immediately. Luckily my workplace has ridden itself of these types of people since I have been there.

With extended family, I seem to throw myself into the confrontation. I just think back to when I was at Thanksgiving at my aunt's house when my dad's other sisters were talking on the sly. One thing I was blessed with was an acute sense of hearing (which my co-workers often find themselves wishing they were in Milton just to have a private conversation), which of course they were ignorant to......HELLO.....I'm a music major.....Yes, I was the one at the dinner table to loudly ask why they were discussing their subject (that they didn't want everyone to know about) and throw the spotlight on them. Mind you, in my opinion, these two sisters are somewhat hardscrabble, so I wasn't surprised seeing them sit there with their pallid, shocked expressionless faces when confronted with my verbal spotlight. I got great satisfaction watching it....let me tell you, and the situation ended.

With close friends and immediate family, I usually don't have an issue, since I seem to just make a mindful correction to set records straight. After all, they're all very important to me.

But to others, especially people I don't really know, I have no problem relishing the sight of their extreme uncomfortableness when they have been caught in spreading rumors, innuendo, or flat out wrong information. The sight of them squirming, turning white as a ghost, nervously listening to your confrontation, and the sheer "not so fresh" feeling they get really is something I enjoy. It probably isn't very Christian of me, nor is it probably the nicest aspect of my persona. Then again, who can stand a liar. And basically, gossiping is one step before lying in my opinion. And I have no time for it, and there's nothing better than catching someone in the act, and watching them writhe their way out of it.

Recently I was made aware of someone shooting her mouth off about my family without having correct information. In this situation, the subject and content of what she was talking about was completely inappropriate and unfounded. Yet this person, a "Christian" woman in a position in her church (the largest protestant church by the fairgrounds in my hometown), felt the need to spread information to others without having any of the facts or even permission. What's even more annoying, this person isn't even involved with my family, aside from knowing who each other are. Furthermore, this person has a habit of doing this, to the annoyance of everyone.

I don't know what to do. I have some ideas, and believe me, I'm formulating words that I may say. I can assure you that if I EVER run into this person, she'll get more than an ear full. In the aftermath, she won't know whether she should scratch her watch or wind her butt.

I typically try my best to avoid people like this, but this situation has me so riled that I'm compelled to say something, and won't regret ANYTHING I say to her when the time comes.

Is it too late to bring back public shaming like the stocks?

Mexican Fiesta

To say that I need a vacation is an understatement. In looking back at the last 9 to 10 months, I came to the sudden realization that I really haven't had my evenings off. I mean, I love doing all of the things that I do all of the time, but to constantly have rehearsal 4-5 nights a week, church 2 times a week, and other meetings other times during the week, it really doesn't leave much time for me to do much of anything else. This is much to the chagrin of my friends that really have come to not rely on me to be able to do anything.

Turning 40 this year was really a non-event. I mean, I don't really feel much older. I am a bit smarter in my choices I make every day. I still have all 32 teeth, and my hair is greyer and thinner. My body is fatter, but I still feel really no different than, let's say, 35.

So when it came time to think about where I would celebrate my 40th birthday, a couple of friends and I decided several years ago that we would all celebrate in Mexico. Coming up with where was a little bit of a daunting task, but as long as we had lots of booze, lots of sun, lots of fun, it really didn't make much difference.

So over the last couple of months, trying to get our shenanigans in order was somewhat equivalent to wrangling cats: deciding where to stay, what destination to go to, what time of the year, what number of days, what to do, what airline to fly.....everyone seemed to have differences of opinions about what to do. I needed a whole lot of Maalox and some Xanax just to be able to deal with the constant juggling of schedules.

Well, we decided that we would go to Cabo San Lucas. Everything was all set....and of course there was some snags. Turns out that after all it probably was all for the best, as there was a huge hurricane that blasted its way through.

Puerto Vallarta was the alternate choice. I've been there before, but I've enjoyed it. And, barring no major issues, I'm thinking that this should be a great time. I cannot wait to be able to post either pictures or stories on this thing, so that you can get a glimpse of what I am getting myself into.

But, nonetheless, I'm looking forward to all of the things I mentioned, not to mention the much needed respite from my day to day activities.

Check back here often. I'll keep you posted!

MM MM Good

I thought I would share a recipe I tried today. I was told by my friend Donna that I should start including recipes on this thing. This...my friends...is a winner. Normally when I decide to cook, it never is anything that is simple to make, nor does it have any less that 34 ingredients that require 8 different cooking methods to concoct.

This, however, was a complete breeze, and only uses 9 simple ingredients. Try it out sometime, it's REALLY delicious!

Breezy Florentine Pizza

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves of garlic
1/2 pkg fresh sliced portabella mushrooms
1/2 pkg fresh spinach leaves
3 tsp of fresh oregano

1 small chopped banana pepper

1 small chopped mild jalapeno pepper

1/2 pkg of crumbled goat cheese

1 Boboli pizza crust (the thin crust one- it's crunchier)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Heat a skillet on medium heat (I used a wok and it worked superb). Add oil until heated and add the garlic until slightly brown. Add the sliced mushrooms and saute until softened (approx. 4 minutes). Add the spinach and oregano and cook until the spinach is fully wilted (approx. 1-2 minutes). Add the banana and jalapeno peppers and sautee for about 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat.

Brush the pizza crust with olive oil, and spread 2/3 of the package of crumbled goat cheese on the crust. Spread the mushroom and spinach mixture over the goat cheese, and top with the remaining 1/3 pkg of the goat cheese. Place the pizza in the oven (middle rack) and back for 10 minutes until cheese starts to brown. You may wish to add a couple of tablespoons peccorino/romano grated cheese to the top of the pizza after cooking for 5 minutes.

Remove pizza and slice.

Serves 2

Let me know how you like this! I thought it was wonderful!

I Didn't Think I Was In Madison Anymore...

Yesterday, after a long hiatus of not buying anything new, I decided that I needed to venture to Madison to look for some clothing for my upcoming trip to Puerto Vallarta, and needed to get some new black dress shoes that I seem to go through on a frequent basis. After getting the shoes, stopping for lunch, and then heading to Hilldale Mall to the former Marshall Fields (and gosh...I miss that store), I toodled around the store looking for stuff to buy.

I was happy that my wallet would be spared something given the 40 to 50% off that they had on several racks, and after all, I was looking for summer clothing at the end of the summer, and surely I should be able to find good buys. I managed to get 4 shirts, two pair of shorts and a re-stocking of my favorite cologne for next to nothing. When it came to ring up my purchases, I was a little thrown off with the fact that I suddenly realized that the woman at the cosmetics counter was from France, the woman ringing up my purchases was from some Eastern European country, and the two other clerks assisting other "guests" (god I love buzzwords....almost as much as I like getting a mallet to the head) were from Mexico and Turkey (or some other Middle Eastern country...probably Iran) respectively. There wasn't a single person working there at the time that was from the U.S. I almost thought I had somehow teleported to some foreign country. It was disturbing.

Not that my service was bad or anything, but the diminutive Slavic lady that assisted me was very difficult to understand, and Svetlana (I have no idea what her name was...) had one heck of a time getting the security "buttons" (for lack of a better word) off of the clothing. She kept getting distracted by the lack of room behind the check-out counter, and what should have taken just a few short minutes, ended up being about 20.

You see, in all of the distraction, she must have missed one of the security tags on one of the pieces of clothing. No sooner did I try to exit the store that I sent the entire alarm system off in Macy's. It was embarrassing.

I went back to the desk after being eyed up by about 20 "guests" and 10 staff people (none of which were from the U.S. originally), and the Mexican guy proceeded to review my receipt while the Turkish guy went over my clothing. I felt as if I were re-living a "Midnight Express" moment without the illegal contraband.

Again, they let me go, and again....yes....the alarms went off. Finally, seeing that there wasn't anything I had done that was illegal, they allowed me to go on my merry way. How kind of them.

I made it back to Janesville, and started unpacking my purchases, only to find out that on one of the shirts, there was still a security tag hidden under the collar of the shirt. Yes...my foreign staff missed it during their interrogation and search. Needless to say, originally I had thought that I got a great deal on my merchandise, only to have to go BACK to the store the next day (today) and have them take the security button off. After all, I didn't want the shirt to be ruined by the explosive dye pack that was attached to it.

All the way up to Madison, I kept fretting about having to explain why, as I came into the store, I set off the alarms. I kept rehearsing what I was going to say to the clerk, and kept worrying about whether or not it would even be the same personnel (god...let's hope so) that would be there when I arrived. Then I realized I didn't have my cell phone on me, which panicked me for the fear I had about being called into the manager's office and having to explain myself to security staff and the Madison police, because I was beginning to convince myself that it was going to happen. God, I said to myself, I hope THEY speak English.

Of course, I arrived 10 minutes early in my earnestness to get there, for the store didn't open right away. So yes, I still had to stew some more while I waited in my car. I went so far as to check out the parking lot and count the 14 people that were waiting to get in. I thought it would be best to let them all go in first, wait about 10 seconds, and then enter alone, just in case my delusion became reality.

Yes, I set the alarms off again.

I could have thrown up at that point.

I was then assisted by another lady (I think she was from the Philippines) who didn't even question the tag. She requested to see the receipt only to see which clerk it was that helped me yesterday in order to remind her that she needed to do a better job the next time. Then she apologized profusely for the error and inconvenience.

Wow. It was that simple. What a let down!

Well, instead of the shirt costing $40, it now cost an additional $10 with the mileage and gas expense it took to get there. And, one more thing....some jackass on the interstate kicked up a stone that put a crack in my windshield which now has to be fixed (yes, another unplanned expense)

My bargain, I'm finding out, isn't so much of a bargain anymore.

Oh well...

Florida 2009 #6

We awoke yesterday morning to the excitement of the girls spotting Easter eggs that were hidden all over the first floor of the beach house. They were really excited to find additional surprises on the dining room table, a floppy eared bunny hat for each of them, an egg collecting bag, and a baby chick that chirped when you put it in your hand. They loved all three, especially little Hannah, who wore her bunny hat all day yesterday, and held her little “palm pal” in her hand (and slept with it too…causing it to chirp intermittently throughout the night last night.
Anyhow, after having breakfast, we all did our separate things. My main objective was to make sure that I came home with some sort of a suntan. From what I can tell this morning, I think I do…but time will tell when I get to work tomorrow morning. Rudy was busy piling up a big mound of sand so that he could make a sandcastle, my mom, Mickey, and I were all laying in the sun, and the girls were down on the beach having a ball in the waves.

Later on in the afternoon, Sarah, my mom, and I decided to talk a walk down the beach. Mom had picked a landmark to which we would walk, and we headed out on our way. I should have been a little leery about this, mainly because I am not so sure what kind of judgment of distance my mom has. I recall our trip in Hong Kong where she insisted that we could walk from Kowloon to Stanley Market, though it was several miles away by road. This house that we were venturing towards was like Stanley Market from where we were staying on the beach. As we kept trying to walk closer and closer to the house, the landmark kept getting farther and farther away. Finally, I think Sarah and I had enough walking, and we decided to head back. Well, we were WAY away from the house. With mom looking for seashells, Sarah making drawings in the sand as we made our way back, and me having to go to the bathroom, it seemed like we would never get back.

After Sarah got some sand in her eye, mom and Sarah thought it would be best that they walk along the road back to the beach house instead of the beach. After all, the winds were quite gusty, whipping up sand all over the place. I, however, continued heading back on the beach. Upon making it back to the house, I was certain that for some odd reason I would see Sarah and my mom back before me. Since they were the ones with the walkie-talkies in communicado with home base (my brother), I was sure that they would ask someone to come pick them up. As I kept stewing about it more and more walking along the beach, I noticed that my walking pace had picked up quite a bit. My brother commented that he saw me walking back and that I looked like I was on a mission. And I was: to get back.

Well, knowing that Sarah didn’t have shoes on, and that I wasn’t so sure there was an easy route back to the house, I thought it best that I grab the keys to the car, and went out to pick up my mom and Sarah. They were extremely grateful for the ride, but we managed to have a good laugh, as Sarah was very concerned about having to walk in areas where it said “no trespassing” or “private property” and was sure that she was going to go to “juvie.”

As Sarah has been keeping a journal as I mentioned before, the first words out of her mouth when she got back to the house was, “I am going to have a LONG story about this….and it AIN’T gonna be pretty!”

We had supper in the evening, and as we were waiting, the girls came running back into the house saying that there were some young girls smashing their dad’s sand castle. Sarah was all about going down to the beach to give them a piece of her mind. She invited the other two girls, and Becca and Hannah were following behind. Once Becca got into the mix, she was hell bent for leather on her way down, and blew past Sarah. As they got down to the end of the boardwalk, Sarah lingered around having stopped, and Becca was determined to give these “mean girls” a little instruction. Of course, she couldn’t do it without her protector, Hannah, there for support (even though she is the littlest of the three). It ended up to be little Hannah that did all of the talking, and the other two just hung back to watch.

Well, of course the girls were all hot and bothered by the time they came back to the house, and really…the sand castle was more of a big pile of sand that had yet to be shaped into a castle. But they were irritated all of the same. My brother and I got talking about it, and started laughing. These little girls were from the South, having said “y’all” to them. Sarah thought they were from Texas and immediately proclaimed that all Texas girls are mean. I proceeded to tell her that we should just give Texas back to Mexico then. Rudy, on the other hand, said that they should have told them from their actions, “We now know why the North won.” The girls didn’t get it. I almost had wine come out my nose.

After the girls were calmed down, we had dinner, and then got ready to watch “Dancing With the Stars” before going to bed.

I had to get up earlier this morning, so that I would be able to get all of my stuff packed up in my duffle bag, so that it wasn’t all over the house, and then all of my electronics in my book bag so that I can take them home with me on my way back to Wisconsin today. This morning is very cold (probably low 40’s), and we actually had to turn on the heat in the house, as the thermostat said 61.

I have had a great time in Florida yet again, and I think for the most part I am mostly unwound. The good thing is that I only have a short week this week, with Friday being shortened by 3 hours due to it being Good Friday.

I am not so sure I am ready to go back to work, as I really have enjoyed the warm weather, the ocean, the sunshine, and Florida. But, alas, I have to pay for my house and make a living somehow.

Florida 2009 #5

It’s really amazing how when it’s a completely overcast, how one still can get an incredible amount of sun. My face and cheeks are incredibly hot, and I think my kneecaps are on fire. But yesterday, it was very sunny all morning, and then became somewhat cloudy in the afternoon. We took a long walk along the beach, and we found several different shells. We also found a crab, still alive and mostly whole, but was missing the smaller of his two claws. Most of what we’ve found over the last week and a half is dead parts of crabs, mostly back shells and claws.
Coming back to the house, after spending an entire day on the beach, we made (or I should say Grandma made) all of the stuff that one would normally make tacos. Before coming to Florida, my mom and I were talking about what we were going to have to eat when everyone was here. One of the items was to have tacos. Because tacos can be somewhat cumbersome, I suggested we have tacos in a bag.

Yes, tacos in a bag. I would have to say that whoever came up with that idea was a sheer genius. I first came across this idea at work when a co-worker sold these as a United Way fundraiser. In essence, it’s taking everything that you would normally put in a taco, and put it into an individual sized bag of Fritos, and then eat it straight out of the bag.

Anyhow, Sarah had the idea that we all needed to have a picnic dinner on the beach. Luckily with having the tacos in a bag, we were able to accomplish this. At first, Becca insisted that she didn’t want to have them, that she needed to have regular tacos, as tacos in a bag were NOT tacos, and that they would not taste as good. After a little bit of convincing (and telling her they were unconventional tacos), she finally gave in and agreed to try them. Well, they were a big success, even for the grown ups. We then had dessert: a choice of lemon or orange cake from a coffee cup.

It was “Ingenuity Supper Sunday,” as these cakes only took about a minute. Yes, you take a 1/3 cup of cake mix, 3 tablespoons of water, and nuked in a microwave for 1 minute. The cake mix can be just about anything that you want, so long as it’s completely mixed with one box of angel food cake mix. Serve it up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and voila! You have dessert.
Again, it was a big hit for the girls.

By the time we got done, it was time for the girls to go to bed. After all, it was a really long day for them considering the late night arrival and beach walk the night before, coupled with the fact that they were extremely excited about being able to be out on the beach early in the morning. Before retiring for bed, my brother, sister-in-law, my mom, and I had a before bed cocktail, and then hid Easter Eggs for the girls to find when they get up tomorrow morning.

It should be really fun to see how excited they’ll get!

Florida 2009 #4

This morning I was up at about 7:15 a.m. I was watching the news on television, when all of a sudden, I was pleasantly surprised by being awoken by my niece Sarah. Of course it was time to go to the beach. So Sarah, Becca, Hannah, Grandma, and I all got ready. We wanted to make sure that we didn’t wake up my brother and sister-in-law, as they had had a long day of traveling yesterday.

We walked along the beach quite a ways. We did a lot of searching around for shells, and had a nice time enjoying walking along the shore. We were passed by a couple of overly ambitious runners, who looked extremely uncomfortable running along the beach. Perhaps it was that they felt like they were cast members of “Baywatch”. I mean, on television, it looks so easy to run along the beach. From the looks of their strained running, it looked more like death watch. No matter how much they tried to look like they were enjoying themselves, their pained faces, strained expressions, and overheated reddish-tinted skin said otherwise.

Anyhow, we were greeted once again by Buddy the Labrador Retriever puppy (the one I mentioned yesterday who had the affinity for taking his master for a walk instead of the other way around). After greeting us, his master called him back. Immediately, Buddy turned on his heel, and went back to his master. Sarah immediately said, “Dory would never do that. I don’t think we could teach her to do that.” It just struck me funny, as I know for certain that my two hounds upon seeing the beach and especially the ultra-light plane that flew overhead, would be at St. George Island in about 4 seconds flat.

I had some awesome quality time with my niece, Hannah, who has quite an imagination, and was building houses in the sand with chimneys that were about 30 feet tall. She then started telling me (by drawing) how Santa Claus was stuck in this chimney (and at thirty feet with his girth, I’m not surprised), and that Mrs. Claus had to push him out. It was adorable.

I wish I still had that kind of imagination!

Florida 2009 #3

Today we went to Apalachicola early in the morning to check out an Art Fair that happened to be going on. The only thing was that when we got there we couldn’t find exactly where we needed to be. After circling around Apalachicola (which, mind you, ended up being a very small circle), we happened to go past some unsavory parts of the city, we passed by three different cemeteries all right next to each other which I found rather strange, and we saw a group of african american people standing outside someone’s house waiting for a wedding to occur. The unusual thing about the wedding was that I felt we were passing by the staging of “Cops-Apalachicola” in that no sooner did we drive by that we saw about 3 or 4 police cars pull up. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I was guessing that something more was going on than just a wedding.

Anyhow, we ended up going back into town, and stopped at the Visitor’s Center, where my mom got us a map and a listing of all of the different exhibitors. Well, it turns out that not only did we not know where to go, but we were also about 2 hours early. And no, it didn’t mean that we were two hours early because we were still on Central Time, but two hours early/same time zone. We decided to toodle around the city to check out all of the shops in the downtown area.

Apalachicola’s main downtown area is very old, and in parts reminds me of New Orleans with some of the warehouses that are lined up along the street. There are a couple of really old antebellum houses, as well as some really old bungalos. Apalachicola has a lot of artisans, and a lot of artsy type shops around it in its main downtown area. Once you get out of the main 6-7 blocks however, you get into major hicksville. Even worse, you know that something is wrong when the IGA supermarket is way nicer than the Piggly Wiggly, and the checkers have more teeth.

Anyhow, while walking from block to block, we got to see a really cool pet store complete with dog and cat outfits and costumes. I’m not one to be much fond of dogs and costumes, but I have to admit some of them were pretty darn cute. In fact, I was tempted to get the “Dogzilla” costume for Dillon, but something tells me that he’d more look like a very lithe iguana rather than a T-Rex. We then went to Tamara’s Tapas Café where we had a couple of cafes con leche and a couple of small things to eat. My mom said her dried fruit scone was ok, but that the fruit wasn’t the only thing that was dry in it. My mocho-choco-latta-ya-ya mini bundt cake, on the other hand, was fantastic. After finishing up, we were able to see an artist’s display of very intricate paper cutting and paper manipulation that was really interesting.

We then went over to an Orvis store. We had been at this same store once before, and the same lady that was working last year was working again this year. Honestly, this woman looks like a Southern Belle, but with a sour attitude. Now, my perception of a Southern Belle is that sickly sweet charming persona that always wants you to feel welcome and wants to be polite and hospitable. They are usually soft-spoken, and smile a lot, all the while leaning on their drawl like a tired and overused excuse. This woman, while soft-spoken, was quite a negative Nancy. Even when my mom was trying to pay this woman a compliment, this Southern Bomb didn’t even know how to react let along get the compliment itself. Orvis, usually being over-priced and very ordinary in their merchandise, was yet again a disappointment. So we left.

By then it was about noon, and we noticed several of the vendors were now set up.

Unfortunately, NONE of them had anything remotely close to anything that I would even consider buying. Bad photography, bad watercolor art, bad oil paintings, and spread out over a 4 block circle, it was just a disappointment. So we decided we were going to have some lunch at the Apalachicola Grill.

Lunch was fantastic, although the service was a bit slow and unremarkable. There were a lot of people in the restaurant, and there were a lot of people lined up outside waiting to get in. But, after having a delicious lunch of coconut shrimp with orange marmalade and sweet tea, I can totally see why.

We came back to the beach house and spent most of the afternoon lounging in the sun. My face feels extremely warm as do the tips of my ears. I also notice that occasionally I get the chills, even though the temperature outside is about 75. Perhaps next I’ll go into heatstroke and shock. Wouldn’t THAT be a great way to spend my vacation.

Anyhow, we took it easy the rest of the day, and then waited for my brother and his family to make it down to the beach. They arrived at about 9 p.m., and immediately it was a flurry of excitement and activity, as the girls were shrieking wanting to get out to the beach. I chuckled at the sight, as they were extremely excited. With flashlights in hand, and then the 7 of us in tow, we walked out to the shore, where it was quite starry, and the silvery moon cast its light on the beach. It was pretty incredible. I was hoping that we would see some creatures scurrying along the beach, but no luck.

After having some food, the energy level certainly dropped quite a bit. Sarah sat next to me writing in her new journal, and had me listen to everything that she’s writing. She has beautiful penmanship, and really knows how to write. She asked me how to spell computer, and I happily obliged. I asked her why she needed to know how to spell it (smiling), and then asked her if she was writing about me. Of course she denied it, and then smiled and giggled….typical woman!

We’ll see what tomorrow brings!

Florida 2009 #2

So this year in Florida has been very different from the last several years in that for a good share of the week that I have been down here, we have had rain. What’s interesting is that in talking to some of the locals either at the rental office or at restaurants, is that they have had extremely unusual amounts of rain: so much so that there have been several flash flood warnings all around the county we’re in, which is Gulf County. I keep saying to myself that I’m grateful that we are not in Fargo where yet again it’s blizzarding, raining, and the north-running Red River is about 20 feet over flood stage.

We have had the opportunity to go out after a couple of the rain storms, to find many of the bayous and ditches completely filled with water. In many of the ditches, the water has turned somewhat brownish due to the tannins in a lot of the vegetation. The other thing that we’ve noticed with all of the rain is that there is a pervasive smell of sulfur every now and then. I have no idea where it comes from, as to whether it’s the actual rain itself, or the decomposing vegetation. It isn’t, I am certain, a by-product of flatulence, though it does remind me of what Detroit smells like. And GOD do I love Detroit….I keep telling myself that we should just let Canada have it, the city, all of its suburbs, and all of the people that live there.

I will say that the one thing that I love the most about being down here in Cape San Blas is the abundance of seafood that is available, either in the supermarket, roadside shacks, or restaurants. We have had shrimp we have now fixed twice ourselves, the second time was shrimp that was steamed in old bay seasoning, served with remoulade sauce. It was wonderful.
We managed to go to Boss Oyster for dinner on Wednesday night, where I had bay scallops and red snapper. When the server came out with my food, it reminded me a lot of when I had to go to Baltimore to accompany a friend of mine when she was auditioning at Peabody Conservatory. We went out for dinner and I had ordered clams (one of my favorite things). Expecting a normal serving (and somewhat startled by the inflated price of my dinner choice), I was overwhelmed to see that when the server came out with a HUGE platter, I figured it was going to be served “family style.” Well, the platter was piled high (about 4 inches to be exact) with clams. And they were all for me. I have never seen (or eaten) so many clams in my entire life. It was as if they kept multiplying on my place as I was eating. I felt as though I couldn’t get ahead. Funny, I haven’t been anywhere since where they have served clams anymore. Perhaps I ate them all…
Anyhow, at Boss Oyster, the food was fantastic (and abundant), overflowing with bay scallops (the small bite-sized ones) and with two huge red snapper fillets. Combined with the Yuengling beer, and a great view of pelicans at rest on the wharf, it was a great evening despite the soggy conditions.

On Thursday, it was VERY rainy. In fact, when my mom and I were sitting at the dining room table playing a game of Upwords, it was about 10:30 a.m. and you would have thought that it was about 10:30 p.m. The sky was almost pitch-black. As we turned on the news to see all of the dark red splotches swirling around the Cape where we were at, the sky looked like a three layered salad. The bottom layer was the brownish-white sandy beach, the second layer was the white sky on the horizon, and the top layer was the pitch-black clouds. It was really eerie. The lightning over the Gulf was pretty spectacular to watch. After trying to get a chance picture of lightning over the bay, I eventually gave up. I was feeling like I was my mother when we were traveling from Paris to Turin on the TGV. Every time my mom wants to take a picture of something, by the time she gets the camera out of her quart sized Ziploc bag camera case, gets the item in focus, the picture composed, and her finger on the trigger, she’ll take the picture, only to have completely missed what it was that she was originally trying to photograph. I always chuckle about this, because (being the smart-ass that I am) my comment to my mom was, “you may have 1000 speed film, but you have a 200 speed finger.”

On Friday, we went to the lighthouse point on the Cape, to see if we could find any interesting and different seashells that we haven’t been able to get. It really is something to find all of the different kinds, and where some types of shells are more abundant than others in different parts of the beach. I figured that with the recent severe and gusty weather, the stuff churned up and thrown on the beach may be interesting. We were not disappointed. We managed to find about 5-6 large lightning whelk shells (that I have never seen anywhere else on the beach) and many larger scallop type shells that we left for others to appreciate.

We then came back to the house and literally spent a good portion of the remainder of the day sitting in the sun, walking along the beach, and enjoying the 78 degree SUNNY weather! At least I think I have gotten some color. I was getting worried that I was going to be pasty white even after getting back home.

Last night, we then went to a brand new restaurant (brand new meaning that it wasn’t in business last year when my family was here) in Simmon’s Bayou, which is between the Cape and Port St. Joe. We walked up to Gracie O’Malley’s, and were led outside to the back, where there was a beautiful and large deck overlooking the bay. It had quite an amazing view of the bay from our tables and rocking chairs. Our server was really good, making very convincing suggestions to us about what to have on the menu. My mom ordered stuffed shrimp, and I ordered stuffed flounder.

It is really amazing to me that I would even order fish yet again. My brother would have been completely surprised. I’m not much of a fish person. However, depending on where I am, and how it’s served, I will eat fish. I just am not particularly fond of “fishy” tasting fish. This flounder was anything but. It was INCREDIBLE. While I have to admit that I was a little nervous about having to take the skin off of the fish (as well as the tail), and was feeling a little gun shy. After eating the first bite, I devoured the rest of the fish with gusto. Served with an appropriately delicate sherry creamed crab sauce, and a cornmeal and crab based stuffing, the delicate flavor of the flounder wasn’t overpowered. It was great!

We ended up ordering dessert to go, and later on in the evening (with some coffee) we were able to each enjoy a very tasty slice of peanut butter pie. I could tell that the pie was going to be rich, as my cheeks were starting to sweat.

Waking up this morning (Saturday), it’s another glorious day. The sun is shining, there is relatively little breeze, and there’s not a whole lot of people that come to this part of the Cape (called Indian Pass). We have designs on going to an art festival and farmer’s market this morning, and I am planning to spend more time trying to get a bit more color before I head home.

My brother, my sister-in-law, and my three nieces are making their way down as I write this, and I look forward to spending some time with them for a couple of days before venturing home.

Florida #1

Well, I am on vacation. We started the journey south on Friday after I had gotten done with work. I had to quick get things put together, and then throw it into the car, and then headed over to my mom’s house so that we could be on our merry way. After leaving the house, I wasn’t so sure that I had remembered everything. I find that often I feel this way any time I travel. But, I figure, so long as I have clean underwear, my contacts case, my glasses and my wallet (and my car keys…as I will need to pick up my car at the bus depot upon my return back home), I will be just fine.

Anyhow, my mom was the one that started the drive, and of course, noting that she was getting about 30 miles per gallon with a full load in her CR-V, she was quite pleased. We continued until it got dark, and then it would be my turn to drive. That was about in Effingham, Illinois. The name “Effingham” really cracks me up. I don’t know why, aside from the fact that I imagine myself being at a Thanksgiving or Easter gathering at one of my dad’s sibling’s houses (very much being in the past, I assure you). I then imagine being served with whatever mystery meat we would have (as I can remember on about 2 or 3 occasions it was supposed to be turkey or ham, but for some reason we didn’t know for certain since the meat would have a grey hue to it). I then imagine my brother asking me what it was, and wittily, I would respond, “It’s effing- HAM!).

Anyhow, we stopped at a Culver’s to at least eat something before we continued driving. We were suddenly startled by a younger man (I would say he was late teens or early twenties) who ran in front of us, and hid around a partition, and then looked in both directions. Both my mom and I looked around to see if he was hiding from some younger kids (like nieces or nephews or such), but not seeing anyone under the age of 20 in the restaurant, nor any men in uniform or lab coats donning a straight-jacket, we figured the guy was either part cat or autistic.
Anyhow, I continued driving towards Paducah, our final destination. Of course with my driving, my mom was quick to note how driving over 70 miles per hour causes the gas mileage to go down (yeah…to like 28.5 instead of 30). It was night time, and while we were driving, we were noting how the temperature would rise little by little. And I really didn’t care about the gas mileage at that point.

We got to Paducah at about 10:30 p.m. I have decided that Illinois is much better to drive through at night, when you cannot see how really flat and boring your scenery is for the 6 hours you drive through it.

When we got to the hotel, a college aged guy with really bad hair and dorky glasses was checking the reservation, and at first told my mom that they cancelled the reservation because the reservation required a 6 p.m. check-in time. I told him he had better check again. Well, upon further review, he then proceeded to over-apologize for his error. We did have a room after all. Thank god.

We got up the next morning, and checked out of the hotel and headed to the nearest Bob Evans we could find, which was right down the street. I love Bob Evans Restaurant. I had to have sausage gravy and biscuits, which (I would have to say) is my FAVORITE breakfast known to mankind. Our server was a woman by the name of Trey, who had quite a saucy attitude. So saucy was her attitude that the manager, upon checking how everything was with us, was a little shocked that she got a compliment. The food was great, and was a great way to start off the morning.

We continued our trek through Kentucky, getting to Nashville, then Brentwood (where we have stayed in the past). I would have to say that this was the first time I have ever been through Nashville where it hasn’t been a monsoon, a typhoon, a severe thunderstorm with hail, or the like. However, we were warned that all day that we would be experiencing severe thunderstorms all the way to our final stop of the day, Dothan, Alabama. We did notice, however, the mile upon mile of trees along the interstate that were snapped off at the tree trunk from a horrible ice storm that they had all along the route this past winter. Come to think of it as well, I don’t think I have ever been to or through Tennessee without the state having some extreme case of bad, extreme, or severe weather.

Well, it was sunny almost the whole way, with just a little bit of rain around Birmingham. We had planned to stop at Webb’s BBQ at mile marker 32, which was a little shack along the side of the highway right before getting to Dothan. This was a place where we were going to stop (upon the advice of a couple of friends of mine) last year but the timing was off. Well, they weren’t open. It didn’t look like they were in business either.

Well, we got to the Fairfield Inn in Dothan at about 5:30 p.m., and checked into the room. I would have to say that it was the cleanest hotel of any hotel I have been to anywhere in the U.S., and the lobby hostess and manager were probably the friendliest, most courteous people I have ever experienced. When we got to the room, it was also probably one of the cleanest, freshest smelling hotel rooms I have ever been in ANYWHERE. We were also told that had we arrived earlier, we would have gotten caught in one of the heaviest of rainstorms they have had in a LONG time. In some areas, as we saw on the news, they had up to 11 inches of rain. We were just thankful that we missed the storms altogether, and that there was no snow or ice to have to contend with.

We decided that we wanted steak for supper, so we went to the local Outback Steakhouse (yes, like Hong Kong, they had one in Dothan). Three things came out of that experience. First, I found that my favorite beer is now Yuengling Lager. Two, that my mom was very gullible in thinking that her water was her beer (and the server nervously twittered, and said “you’re joking, right?”….and NO, she wasn’t joking). And three, that we had two of the best steaks ever. I have decided that I like a bleu cheese crust on my steak, and surprise!...I like potatoes.
We went back to the hotel and were able to sleep in late. We got up, got everything ready for the final jaunt to the beach house, ate at the same Cracker Barrel we ate at before. I was able to get a really cool Alabama t-shirt (and no…NOT the country musical group….), and some cool things for the nieces for Easter. We then ventured off.

We got to the beach house at about 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, and were pleasantly surprised by the house. It’s newer, it’s got a HUGE kitchen, nice dining room, comfortable living room furniture, a really cool screened in porch, it is only about 50 yards to the water, and is really nice. I would have to say that it is my favorite house. The table in the dining room I haven’t been able to figure out. It’s very 70’s, and very low, with director’s style chairs on casters. I can’t tell if it’s supposed to be Ginza of Tokyo or the Regal Beagle.

We went into town, and had grouper, hush puppies, and fries at the Dockside Grill in Port St. Joe, and then were able to get up late the next morning. We spent the whole morning and part of the afternoon on the beach Monday. We then did some shopping at the local Piggly Wiggly, and then stopped at the Port St. Joe Shrimp Co, where we got shrimp for dinner. Mom made “beach shrimp” which was very similar to shrimp de jonghe, and the shrimp were fantastic. Of course, my duty was to devein the shrimp. I got to thinking that I should have been born in the middle ages, because I would have been a pro at disembowelment. Then, in thinking about it more, I found that thought to be very gross, and continued to devein the shrimp.

Today, we walked a long ways on the beach, ran into several different people with their dogs, a mature Irish Setter named “Mr. Bean” and a labrador puppy named “Buddy,” who was more inclined to grab hold of the leash and take his master for a walk instead. Had my greyhounds been here, they would have thought they landed on the moon and probably run back home before I knew what happened.

Anyhow, I have enjoyed my time so far at the beach. I actually get to watch television, wake up without an alarm, have multiple days in a row where my day isn’t programmed, and weather that has so far been cooperative and above 70 during the day.

What more could a guy wish for!

Florida 2009

It's been a while since I have really posted anything to my corner of the technological world, so the following are some entries I have neglected to add from my trip to Florida this past Spring. As many of you may or may not know, my family spends part of our vacation time in beautiful Cape San Blas, Florida, which is about 45 miles east of Panama City. It's an incredible place, with lots of beaches, surf, and sunshine. This year I was fortunate enough to be able to spend part of the time with my entire immediate family.

Hope you enjoy.

Taxconsin

Wisconsin's governor sure knows how to tax everything. We've seen taxes on liquor and gasoline. We've seen increased tax burdens on business within our state, especially in the financial sector in which I work...so much so, it's no surprise that we have difficulty in attracting any business in their right mind to set up home in our state. It's no wonder when you drive along I90 north from Beloit, how many businesses set up shop right along the border: in Illinois, along with a myriad of new houses.

I am miffed at how anyone as "brilliant" as our fine governor is can honestly make anyone believe that he can attract new jobs in the state, where we're already reeling from skyrocketing unemployment, foreclosures, and a depressed economy. And yet the majority of the citizens in Wisconsin continue to put like-minded officials into office. It truly astounds me.

Where does it end?

Unrealistic liberals from Madison and Milwaukee have certainly done a number on our state. I can only liken it to how ridiculous, unrealistic, intrusive, and expensive legislation and legislative ideas come out of our leadership in Washington, DC, under the leadership of delusional liberals from California. All one has to do is to look at the political cesspool that is California to really find out how screwed up of a state a bunch idealistic liberals can make.

I don't know if you're like me, but I bet if you lined up 50 different people, one from each state, you could almost always pick out the one from California. They're the one living in some fantasy world thinking they were at Disneyland. Yes, the US has 49 states and California. Perhaps we should sell it to Mexico, and use the money to pay for all of the programs that our current "fantasy island" president wishes to implement.

For that matter, why not throw in the cities of Madison and Milwaukee while we're at it, and do the people of Wisconsin a favor.

Aren't we tired yet of the unbridled recklessness we're starting to see? And isn't anyone concerned?

Ugh.....just another day in Taxconsin.

Full Contact Optometry

It's been a while since my last post, and I am working to get some entries put together to make up for lost time. However I feel compelled to share my visit to the optometrist today.

Having recently had some changes to my insurance coverage, I had to change optometrists. At first glance, I was rather impressed that I was able to get in right away today, after calling earlier this morning. It was a convenient time, and very convenient from where I work. Luckily, unlike my last experience with my former optometrist, my doctor didn't have to leave while I was sitting in the "chair" in order to respond to some contractors that had set off alarms at his home, only to leave me sitting in the chair for over an hour.

No. This didn't happen.

Nor did this doctor screw me over (yet) with some ridiculously priced merchandise.

It was interesting, however, that the assistant had one HELL of a time getting my information on the computer. Now, I have to admit that at times I talk to myself whenever I'm trying to figure out something. This woman was (I hope) asking a constant string of rhetorical questions. On a couple of occasions, I found myself answering them, though I shouldn't have.

Then, when trying to pull up my record on the computer, she asked me, "your name's not Arnold, is it?" Hmm....no...last time I checked, it wasn't.

After a battery of tests, I met the doctor. He isn't the friendliest, and I didn't see him crack a smile once during the interaction. In fact, on one occasion as he was leaning the special chair back, something gave way, and I felt as if I should either be a) on the Space Shuttle Endeavor, or b) a victim of Sweeney Todd. And I started to laugh. I was surprised that I didn't jettison backwards out of the chair.

Well, after getting my eyes dilated (and I thought my eyes looked really cool), they asked if I wanted to check on some new frames for glasses. Unfortunately, being blind as a bat, I would never know what they look like. My fear is that I would choose some SPED glasses that would have people question my mental capacity, especially in a professional setting. I respectfully declined.

Well, I did manage to get a new set of contacts, and have to go back to the doctor for a follow up appointment. I hope at least this time they know my name, and that they don't try dumping me in the gargantuan meat grinder that most certainly is in their basement.

Luckily, there's no restaurant attached to the doctor's office. So I have got THAT going for me at least...

Under Lock and Key

Today I had to venture down to the Armory, again. I say again because last night before going to play rehearsal, I realized that I needed to get a gift certificate for someone at work. So I went.
Not looking up the times that they are open, which was my first mistake, I figured, "they serve dinner, they have a restaurant....so certainly I should be able to get a gift certificate from someone there."

How wrong I was.

Getting there at about 20 minutes past 6 p.m., I caught the attention of the hostess, who was in having what seemed to be a personal conversation with a man behind the desk in the office. She glanced at me once, then again, then re-engaged herself back into the conversation. Realizing that I just wasn't going away (and I NEVER do when I am on a mission), she put on her best Pat Nixon smile and ask if I needed something. I told her I needed a gift certificate for $100.

She clenched her teeth, sucked in her breath and said, "gee...I'm sorry, the person from the box office just left." I asked her what that meant, and she said,"gift certificates can only be given out at the box office, and they just left 2 minutes ago." When I asked if she was serious, she said, "yeah, I'm afraid so." I then asked, "so there's absolutely no way that I can buy a gift certificate to the Armory." Quickly, she said, "nope, I'm sorry. You have to come back when the box office is open. They are the only ones that can ring up a gift certificate."

Now, in these trying economic times where restaurants, theatres, and any unnecessary frills are often eliminated due to economizing, I would have thought that they would have been eager to sell $100 to me. Apparently, the Armory is not hurting for business like the rest of Janesville is.

So, I trekked down there again this morning, just after they opened the box office. After all, I was following their rules. The young guy behind the glass partition got my gift certificate, and then proceeded to tell me that I needed to follow him up to the host's station so that he could ring up my purchase, as they weren't able to do it in the box office.

How interesting, they couldn't process the payment in the box office. They couldn't get the gift certificate at the host's station. Sounds like a very plausible system to me.

I should have just gotten the person at work a gift certificate somewhere else where you can do everything all in the same spot. Little did I know that those gift certificates were like gold in Fort Knox. Apparently it's called "The Armory" for other reasons.

Inside Out

It happened again today.

My worst fear was realized: part of my clothing was inside out. And I walked into work. I literally got dressed in the dark. Yes, I matched. Well....maybe my blacks didn't. But I matched nonetheless. But....my sweater vest (a fashion style I seem to have become affixed to) was inside out.

Try as I might to make sure that I'm appropriately dressed to go out in public, apparently this was an oversight today. I say before that this has happened to me in the past.

One time, it was that I was wearing two different shoes. I remember having to give a presentation to a bunch of bank people. I glanced down at my shoes, and they were two totally different shoes. It wasn't that they looked the same. One was a black penny loafer, and one was a black wing tip.........WITH TASSLES. Funny, they should have felt different on my feet. But alas, they did not.

And yes, I went out and bought a new pair of shoes on a lunch break that day so as not to embarrass myself.

I've had my sweater inside out before too, only to find out about 6 hours into my working day (and after working with about 4 clients) that my fashion sense was somewhat askew.

Furthermore, I remember working with a woman who had her dress on completely inside out. Not wanting to embarrass her, I said nothing. Yet, a co-worker did. And this woman literally had a meltdown. I don't know which was better, not saying anything, or saying something.

Whatever the case may be, luckily this morning, I caught my error, and quickly right-sided myself before anyone would notice. Yet still I felt like a bonehead. And....I have no idea if I would have liked it if someone caught me at my weak moment.

Perhaps that would have been best. I most likely would have laughed (felt like a complete jackass for only a moment.....well....for certain to be reminded that this traumatic event happened), and not have had a meltdown.

But the shoes....I still look back and think....WTF was I thinking!

Rainy

I feel rainy today. Just like yesterday. With the sloppy grass, mud, and the never ending chore of having to wipe 8 bony, muddy dog feet 3 times a day, I feel rainy.

The extra hour of daylight should be (and is) a welcomed relief. But I still feel rainy today.

Perhaps its a multitude of things I have been recently committed to that leads to the downpouring of feeling overwhelmed and waterlogged.

Most likely it is the soggy feeling I feel for not being able to attend my niece's birthday today (the first time in six years....and she is six today), makes the rain feel extremely heavy today.

Perhaps it is dewy impatience for a much needed, sunny vacation that I feel dampened.

Whatever it is, I need to snap out of it.

After all, spring is almost here, with it's sunshine, it's calling birds, and all of it's days with the smell of lilac, tulip and hyacinth permeating the air. And the welcomed extra sunshine should dry things out...eventually.

I'll wring myself out, let the sun bake it out, and become crisp again. Perhaps I need a tan, since I look pasty white. At least that way I'd look sunny...

Face Crack

Well, I finally bit the bullet today. For whatever reason, I was looking at classmates.com, and had a message for me from my AFS brother, Francisco, who is from Chile. Stunned, I followed the link to facebook.com to find him. This, of course, required me to login, and set up a profile.

I followed the instructions, set up the profile, and instantly I had like 17 friends on it. On a good day, I have difficulty counting the number of friends on all 10 digits. But after further exploration, I realized I have more than I think.

I felt so popular today.....or as a former co-worker used to say, "poopular."

I think the most amazing thing was the fact that with my brother, Francisco, I haven't been able to find him for a LONG time, like since 1987. And then today, almost instantly, there he was, and I got an email off to him, and a quick email back.

I'm utterly speechless at the moment. This thing is amazing.

And it's like crack. A fraternity brother of mine, Kham, was one of the first people to respond to me, and warned me of "facecrack." It's now about 6 hours after first signing in, and I've already logged in about 30 times to check things out.

I need the number to the therapy group, please.

Anyhow, I have often pooh-poohed technology, like cell phones, tivo, and texting. While I have the first two, I'm not so sure I like the third. The main reason is because I don't know how to do it. And I'm too lazy to figure it out.

But, what an amazing thing this Facebook thing is. Wow. While I'm leery about being in some sort of social loop, at the same time, I don't mind.

Especially when I now have been able to contact my Chilean brother.

Nothin' Says I Love You Like This

I thought we could all use a laugh. We all have a lot to learn about our shortcomings. Take one of mine, for example. Weight.

Well, I'm trying out this program in order to see what I can do to get a grip with myself. So far, things are going well. But when I first started, following this program was a little confusing. Someone I know talked to me about it, as this person was also on this program. There is a measuring system they use that you record what you eat every single time. It's assigned a value, and at the end of the day, you're done once you reached the goal.

Well, as an oversight, I neglected to see that the overall value was on a per day basis. I, however, thought it was per week. And what a BIG difference that made! For 3 days, and eating cardboard rice cakes, drinking gallons of water, eating 3 cashews, and a splash of orange juice, I went to work (after 3 days on the program) to ask my friend what they do to curb their appetite when they're hungry. By this point, I was about to eat my left arm, the valuable one as I am left-handed.

She proceded to tell me that she will eat a prescribed snack, or something else, and that that usually just works just fine. After lamenting about how hungry I was, and that I didn't know how I was going to make it for the week, she asked what my total value was. I told her, and she asked if I was using it all. My response, innocently, was that I wanted to save it for the end of the week, when I knew I'd probably fall off the wagon like a bad turnip. When she asked why, I said "well, I can't use all of the value in one day, can I?"

Laughing...she said it was daily, NOT weekly.

Needless to say, I lost about 5 pounds the first week.

What a way to start!

Things are going fine now. (And everyone around me is much happier now that I'm not the ugly hungry one anymore).

In honor of this misfire, my friend Dan sent me the following video that made me almost wet myself. I hope you like it.

Time Out

Upon the referral of 4 different individuals in the last couple of weeks, I decided that I would do that, take a time out...and go to Time Out.

Time Out refers to the new bar and grill that now occupies a corner of downtown Janesville on Main and Milwaukee Streets that used to be a bank and a music academy. Owned and operated by a successful business person who owned an icon of a restaurant (also in downtown Janesville), my expectations were high, both from the rave referrals from the 4 individuals I spoke with, and from the reputation of the previous establishment and their quality of "supper club" fare.

Entering this place, it was interesting. Half subterranean, lots of windows, an open floor plan, and a very busy bar, the ambience was nice, still bedecked with the white 70's style tile flooring that transitioned nicely in the updated environment. My mom and I seated ourselves at a table looking out along Milwaukee Street, which was a great spot to people watch.

Unfortunately, this was where my intrigue for this establishment ended. Furthermore, I needed to take a "time out" to reassess what my thoughts were.

It was busy, and immediately a cheerful server came and gave us menus, and took our drink orders. Glancing at the bar and the booze on the top shelf, I was impressed. But alas, I ordered beer instead, brewed by Janesville's finest (and only) brewery. The drinks came while we were perusing the menus. I was looking for something that would be unique, unusual, and something that I would be craving to have. And all I found was ordinary: ordinary sandwiches, ordinary salads, ordinary appetizers, ordinary specials, etc.

After ordering our food, it became quite crowded, with many people standing waiting to be seated, as this place is now "seat yourself." Eventually our food came. We both had burgers, with my mom opting for onion rings, and I opted for sweet potato fries. However, when we received our orders, the burgers were placed with the wrong sides (easily fixable). I ordered a bleu cheese burger, and that's literally all that was on it, a burger between two buns with some crumbled bleu cheese on it. Again, very ordinary, and with my culinary accuity I could have easily accomplished this culinary feat with both hands tied behind my back. To top it all off, the fries were cold.

Usually when I eat french fries, I eat them last- and yes, I can imagine one would think that they wouldn't be hot like they would if I would eat them first. However, to the contrary, I tried one even before I ate the burger, and they were cold even before we started.

By the time we had gotten our food, both my mom and I needed another round of drinks. The time that it took the server to bring them to us, I was beginning to wonder if they were waiting for the brewery to whip up and ferment another batch of beer. Then I noticed that there was only one bartender for about 60 people, and only 2 servers, which probably explained the cold food and the less than stellar bar service.

The food was just, well, ordinary. It certainly wasn't anything that I would go out of my way to come up with an excuse to frequent it often. But compared to what I know the owner of this establishment is capable of doing, it was a SEVERE disappointment. Furthermore, the other disappointment is the fact that this bar and grill shares a public bathroom with other tenants in the building. Hmm.....given my particularity for WC facilities, this is again a drawback and disappointment.

Finally, the lone bartender (someone I know and like, mind you) was anything but friendly, and after waiting about 10 minutes to pay my bill for the ordinary meal that was served, I would probably have second thoughts about coming again. While the bill certainly wouldn't break anyone's bank, the meal that I paid for can be likened to your average American Idol contestant singing just an average song. Unfortunately for this palate, the food and service received tonight was like forgettable music, and, well, just ordinary.

Next time I would probably want to take a longer "time out" and look at other (and far more attractive) options before going to this place again.