I've been thinking about writing this blog for a while but then I forget. No, this blog is not about how one loses their memory when they get older, but it has to do a bit with the mind. I've read and heard stuff about how the mind is plastic. Basically, if you don't use it, you lose it. The brain is essentially a muscle. You have to keep training it constantly to keep it in form. I remember the good old days when I was younger and my brain just worked. No questions asked. And what did I do? Nothing really. Acted like I knew it all.
I look back and think about the days when VCRs had the program feature where you can set a timer to record a show. Yes, I'm that old, but let's get back to the VCR, shall we? I remember the common notion of the day. Our adults did not know how to program the VCR. The kids would be recruited to program the VCR to record whatever show their parent wanted. As a child, I remember people talking about this phenomenon and wondered what was so difficult about programming a VCR. Nothing really. But now that I'm an adult living in an adult technological world that is slipping rapidly between my fingers, I don't want to learn how to program the proverbial VCR. I might as well have some kid do it for me. They can do it so much faster!
I've been on Facebook for a while now and Facebook does not intimidate me at all. I do it everyday and while there are features I haven't explored, it's only my laziness that prevents me from working on my security settings (yet again). It's not something overwhelming to me, though.
However, lately I've been fighting with Google and Google+. I would forget about it and choose not to learn how to use it but my business depends on it. I need to be up to par and be a presence. I need to understand it and follow up on it. And when I try to understand it, I realize that I'm trying to find something that has already slipped through my fingers. Perhaps I should have kept current when G+ started. I didn't think it would become important. I wish Facebook was as important. Time to use my plastic mind?
But in the process of learning and pressing a million buttons and in the process of my frustrations, I think back to warm memories of being an insufferable know it all. Yes, I know how to program the VCR. It's really quite easy. Why can't you do it yourself? Answer, "because you little brat, you'll know why when you grow up!" Yes, the little brat has grown up and perhaps it's pay back time but oh how I would love for someone to program my proverbial VCR, right now. I mean, I need help with all the new stuff out there. G+, Instagram, pinterest, twitter, snap chat and whatever else. All the fancy apps to call a taxi and a million different things. I'm sorry. I should have known better than to be a brat. I should have known better than to be selfish and self centered. Is that part of growing up? Perhaps. But I can't change that. It's the past. It does not exist. As I've said in a past blog, the present is what's there.
The present. Me, over the hill, and dreaming of someone to help me program my proverbial VCR!
Until next time,
TTR
This is a blog about everything really. I love to write and love this forum where I can share my thoughts and not have to worry about being perfect. I do want to blog about my travels and just things I find interesting. Don't be surprised if I go off on a philosophical rant. But hang on tight. This one is going to be fun. :-)
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Monday, September 29, 2014
Unfinished, illogically of course!
When I was young, I had this rule. When I started a book, I had to finish it. Whether I liked it or not. I can't recall a book that I could not finish I until I came across Kafka. Not Metamorphosis. I can't recall. I remember reading the book and not completely following the story. Something about a forest and getting lost in it and anyways, long story short, I didn't finish the book and worse yet, can't recall the title.
Then came the Poisenwood Bible. Several years ago, it was on the bestseller list and everyone was ranting and raving about it and well, it's on my shelf with a bookmark in it. I think I was about 1/3 the way through when I realized the story was more intense than I was in a mood for. Wasn't my cup of tea.
I guess, then I talked myself into accepting the reality that it's OK to leave things unfinished. Books.
And then came the big one. The really big one. My master's project. This one is a long sore subject with me. It's more of an internal battle really. I've had an instructor at school tell me years later that he understood why I couldn't finish my Masters through my residency training. It was a form of redemption for me but still it is what it is. That's a chapter I will not return to either.
And I move on from an unfinished Masters to Candy Crush. Yes, that's how pathetically illogical this blog is. I'm still playing. I'm not done. I'm not addicted. But I'm driven by the need to finish the levels. That's my goal. To get to the finish line. Not to beat other's score or anything else. Just to complete the God forsaken game. And while some argue that it's an addiction, I would argue that it's a "must complete" addiction.
So, why is it that I cannot stop Candy Crush but I can with the other activities. I think there were other players. One, is the completability (is this even a word?) of it. So, with the Master's, it would not have been possible to complete it during my residency. Not possible. I would have to work through it after the program during work and that's when complacency sets in. Who needs that masters to get a good job? Completability and a book. It is doable if one chooses. But that leads me to the next most important fact in the completion theory. It is the pleasure during the completion process that factors heavily in our lives. With the Masters, no! Not pleasant. Looking through graphs of my research and writing up a thesis was not fun. Creative writing is different from technical writing. I learned that the hard way. With books, some books are fun to read and you can't put them down. If it's not fun, then the pleasure of immersion in a book, dissolves and the activity becomes a chore and so I would think it boils down to that.
While I leave things unfinished giving myself logical reasons to leave them that way, it really boils down to one reason and that's the fun factor. Do I enjoy what I do? And that's illogical in itself because there are things we have to do whether we enjoy it or not, so why not complete what one starts?
I'm still working through the last few episodes of the show Eureka. I must finish it. Because it's important to finish what one starts. Right? Hahaha.
Until next time,
TTR
Then came the Poisenwood Bible. Several years ago, it was on the bestseller list and everyone was ranting and raving about it and well, it's on my shelf with a bookmark in it. I think I was about 1/3 the way through when I realized the story was more intense than I was in a mood for. Wasn't my cup of tea.
I guess, then I talked myself into accepting the reality that it's OK to leave things unfinished. Books.
And then came the big one. The really big one. My master's project. This one is a long sore subject with me. It's more of an internal battle really. I've had an instructor at school tell me years later that he understood why I couldn't finish my Masters through my residency training. It was a form of redemption for me but still it is what it is. That's a chapter I will not return to either.
And I move on from an unfinished Masters to Candy Crush. Yes, that's how pathetically illogical this blog is. I'm still playing. I'm not done. I'm not addicted. But I'm driven by the need to finish the levels. That's my goal. To get to the finish line. Not to beat other's score or anything else. Just to complete the God forsaken game. And while some argue that it's an addiction, I would argue that it's a "must complete" addiction.
So, why is it that I cannot stop Candy Crush but I can with the other activities. I think there were other players. One, is the completability (is this even a word?) of it. So, with the Master's, it would not have been possible to complete it during my residency. Not possible. I would have to work through it after the program during work and that's when complacency sets in. Who needs that masters to get a good job? Completability and a book. It is doable if one chooses. But that leads me to the next most important fact in the completion theory. It is the pleasure during the completion process that factors heavily in our lives. With the Masters, no! Not pleasant. Looking through graphs of my research and writing up a thesis was not fun. Creative writing is different from technical writing. I learned that the hard way. With books, some books are fun to read and you can't put them down. If it's not fun, then the pleasure of immersion in a book, dissolves and the activity becomes a chore and so I would think it boils down to that.
While I leave things unfinished giving myself logical reasons to leave them that way, it really boils down to one reason and that's the fun factor. Do I enjoy what I do? And that's illogical in itself because there are things we have to do whether we enjoy it or not, so why not complete what one starts?
I'm still working through the last few episodes of the show Eureka. I must finish it. Because it's important to finish what one starts. Right? Hahaha.
Until next time,
TTR
Friday, September 12, 2014
A perfect day and then there was a cat!
My husband here in front of me wants me to start this blog with "and with a glass of vodka here, I sit and type" and we laugh about it. The glass of vodka by my side is true. Somedays, on vacation, only vodka can fix your problems. We are laughing at each other as I continue to type. Stay with me and let me explain.
I'll start with my perfect day. We woke up when we wanted to. It happened to be 8:30am, but I was wide awake and thought, why not? I was too lazy to make it down to breakfast and besides we hadn't used our butler service for breakfast yet. I called our butler to order our breakfast. We realized that the strawberry crepe on our breakfast menu was not served at the buffet where we normally have our breakfast and so started the perfect day.
We considered going out to tennis, but time passed by and I missed my tennis lesson. Oh well. We finally felt energized to do something. Perhaps all our days of nothing has finally rejuvenated us. So, we got into our swim wear, lathered on the sunblock and off we set to the water sports area. We started off with the kayak. I wanted to go past the cliffs, but my non-adventureous, level-headed husband advised against going past the view of the people at the resort. Last time we went so far out in Negril, Jamaica, they sent a boat out for us, but my husband did not want to chance it. Besides Kayaking is work. So, we turned right back and headed into shore. The waves were choppy, but it was still a lot of fun.
We got to the shore and decided to hop out of the Kayak and hop immediately onto a hobie cat. With my husband steering and working the sails, I just had to enjoy the day out sailing. It was fun, feeling the salty sea breeze blow against you and the water making splashes onto the hobie cat. We returned and this time we were feeling a bit tired.
We grabbed a couple of beach chairs in the shade and I called out to our butler. "Can you please bring us 2 drinks by the swimming beach?" Of course, he took our order and my order of lime/salt/soda had raised eyebrows yet again. Garvey was a new butler to us and hadn't heard me order this drink before. Don't know where Sherman or Gilbert was, but once again, I had to explain the recipe for the drink. "Squeeze a whole lime in the glass, add sparkling water or soda, then add a 1/2 tsp of salt, stir" And I left my phone on the chair and off we went into the beach. The water was very pleasant. The sun was hot and being in the water was quite refreshing. We frolicked about, jumping the waves, like little kids and just had a great time as we kept our eye out for the butler to get our drinks.
Soon, we were all beached out and our drinks were ready. So, we got to the shade and sat there, looking out at the beach. I had my Kindle with me and I decided to read as my husband just sat there, relaxing. Oh, I must mention that the drink order was the most perfect it has been yet. I mentioned it to my husband that most people had trouble making my detailed drink but this butler had nailed it. And so we relaxed and when we were done, we decided to head to lunch and that's when the perfect day turned not so perfect.
I normally carry my bag and place it on the table, but today I placed it on the floor. We were well into dessert when the man behind me said, "that cat peed in your bag". I guess cats don't rain on your parade, they pee on them! I think as I was too busy sinking my teeth into the most delectable eclair, a tabby had peed into my favorite beach bag. It had my matching hat and purse in it. My camera was in the bag and so was my Kindle. My Columbia hat which was on top took the brunt of the pee. The other guest who told me about it, saw it too late because just when he noticed it, the cat was done with his/her business. The other guests felt bad for me, but I smiled and said, "life happens" although secretly I wished I had a bb gun for that damned cat.
I returned back to our room, but did not enter. I left my bag outside and called my butler and explained the situation and that I needed my stuff laundered. My Kindle was in a tiny cloth sack that was wet. I took the Kindle out. And there were a few drops on my camera. I brought the camera back in to the room. We put all the other stuff into a laundry bag (with the exception of the room key card, my credit card, cash and the butler phone) and first things first, I had to take a shower. When I was refreshed and could think clearly about how to kill the cat, no, just joking, about how to clean my camera and the Kindle, I came down with some Q tips. One of the Q tips was dipped in water, as the pee had dried by now. So, I gently cleaned my camera and wiped it off. My husband asked me what I was using to clean the camera. I said, "water." He said, "You know what might work better? Alcohol!" As alcoholically clueless as I am, I asked if beer would do the trick. I use it on my hair, so it must be fine, right? My husband said, no and then said, "you know what? Vodka would work! It's all alcohol and water" OK. If he said so, I thought great. So, while I went up for more Q tips, he poured me a small glass of vodka. I kept trying to wipe my Kindle with the vodka and a Q tip and the Q tip kept coming back yellow! So, finally several Q tips later, I went upstairs and grabbed some toilet paper and wiped down the Kindle with Vodka and dry toilet paper. I did this twice, til there was no more yellow pulling up from the Kindle. On the bright side, I don't think my Kindle has ever been so clean.
And now, after all the cleaning with Vodka, I sit here, with the glass of the remaining Vodka on the table and I write this blog about how a darned cat can ruin your day. I must mention that there is an advantage to being in an all inclusive facility even if you don't drink. Alcohol is always available to you, if not to consume! I would like to think that I'm the first guest who has had to clean their Kindle and Camera with vodka, but I still think it makes a great blog. So here you have it. A perfect day and a cat!
Til next time,
TTR
I'll start with my perfect day. We woke up when we wanted to. It happened to be 8:30am, but I was wide awake and thought, why not? I was too lazy to make it down to breakfast and besides we hadn't used our butler service for breakfast yet. I called our butler to order our breakfast. We realized that the strawberry crepe on our breakfast menu was not served at the buffet where we normally have our breakfast and so started the perfect day.
We considered going out to tennis, but time passed by and I missed my tennis lesson. Oh well. We finally felt energized to do something. Perhaps all our days of nothing has finally rejuvenated us. So, we got into our swim wear, lathered on the sunblock and off we set to the water sports area. We started off with the kayak. I wanted to go past the cliffs, but my non-adventureous, level-headed husband advised against going past the view of the people at the resort. Last time we went so far out in Negril, Jamaica, they sent a boat out for us, but my husband did not want to chance it. Besides Kayaking is work. So, we turned right back and headed into shore. The waves were choppy, but it was still a lot of fun.
We got to the shore and decided to hop out of the Kayak and hop immediately onto a hobie cat. With my husband steering and working the sails, I just had to enjoy the day out sailing. It was fun, feeling the salty sea breeze blow against you and the water making splashes onto the hobie cat. We returned and this time we were feeling a bit tired.
We grabbed a couple of beach chairs in the shade and I called out to our butler. "Can you please bring us 2 drinks by the swimming beach?" Of course, he took our order and my order of lime/salt/soda had raised eyebrows yet again. Garvey was a new butler to us and hadn't heard me order this drink before. Don't know where Sherman or Gilbert was, but once again, I had to explain the recipe for the drink. "Squeeze a whole lime in the glass, add sparkling water or soda, then add a 1/2 tsp of salt, stir" And I left my phone on the chair and off we went into the beach. The water was very pleasant. The sun was hot and being in the water was quite refreshing. We frolicked about, jumping the waves, like little kids and just had a great time as we kept our eye out for the butler to get our drinks.
Soon, we were all beached out and our drinks were ready. So, we got to the shade and sat there, looking out at the beach. I had my Kindle with me and I decided to read as my husband just sat there, relaxing. Oh, I must mention that the drink order was the most perfect it has been yet. I mentioned it to my husband that most people had trouble making my detailed drink but this butler had nailed it. And so we relaxed and when we were done, we decided to head to lunch and that's when the perfect day turned not so perfect.
I normally carry my bag and place it on the table, but today I placed it on the floor. We were well into dessert when the man behind me said, "that cat peed in your bag". I guess cats don't rain on your parade, they pee on them! I think as I was too busy sinking my teeth into the most delectable eclair, a tabby had peed into my favorite beach bag. It had my matching hat and purse in it. My camera was in the bag and so was my Kindle. My Columbia hat which was on top took the brunt of the pee. The other guest who told me about it, saw it too late because just when he noticed it, the cat was done with his/her business. The other guests felt bad for me, but I smiled and said, "life happens" although secretly I wished I had a bb gun for that damned cat.
I returned back to our room, but did not enter. I left my bag outside and called my butler and explained the situation and that I needed my stuff laundered. My Kindle was in a tiny cloth sack that was wet. I took the Kindle out. And there were a few drops on my camera. I brought the camera back in to the room. We put all the other stuff into a laundry bag (with the exception of the room key card, my credit card, cash and the butler phone) and first things first, I had to take a shower. When I was refreshed and could think clearly about how to kill the cat, no, just joking, about how to clean my camera and the Kindle, I came down with some Q tips. One of the Q tips was dipped in water, as the pee had dried by now. So, I gently cleaned my camera and wiped it off. My husband asked me what I was using to clean the camera. I said, "water." He said, "You know what might work better? Alcohol!" As alcoholically clueless as I am, I asked if beer would do the trick. I use it on my hair, so it must be fine, right? My husband said, no and then said, "you know what? Vodka would work! It's all alcohol and water" OK. If he said so, I thought great. So, while I went up for more Q tips, he poured me a small glass of vodka. I kept trying to wipe my Kindle with the vodka and a Q tip and the Q tip kept coming back yellow! So, finally several Q tips later, I went upstairs and grabbed some toilet paper and wiped down the Kindle with Vodka and dry toilet paper. I did this twice, til there was no more yellow pulling up from the Kindle. On the bright side, I don't think my Kindle has ever been so clean.
And now, after all the cleaning with Vodka, I sit here, with the glass of the remaining Vodka on the table and I write this blog about how a darned cat can ruin your day. I must mention that there is an advantage to being in an all inclusive facility even if you don't drink. Alcohol is always available to you, if not to consume! I would like to think that I'm the first guest who has had to clean their Kindle and Camera with vodka, but I still think it makes a great blog. So here you have it. A perfect day and a cat!
Til next time,
TTR
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Doing nothing
I'm still on vacation. There's something to be said about sitting here and doing absolutely nothing. When I was younger, I might have considered it the worst thing ever. And now, life is different. When jobs can get stressful, the best thing I find is a chill, relaxing vacation. It's been 3 days since we came here and today I took a 3.5 hour long afternoon nap. Part of me wonders if I'm wasting valuable vacation time. But then again, I'm not. This is what I came here for. To do nothing and to refresh and relax myself. There are no rules here. If I want to go to the beach, I will. If I want to stay in my room and look out at the beach, I can. If I want to nap, I can. That's the beauty of this vacation.
This is my 3rd trip to a Sandals resort. The first time was for our honeymoon. It's funny. We went snorkeling, scuba diving, went on the glass bottom boat, paddle boarding, kayaking and we went on the hobie cat. Second Sandals, was in Antigua. We skipped the snorkeling, scuba and the glass bottom boat. We woke up early for tennis lessons though. Third trip to Sandals, here in St. Lucia. What are we doing? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We did go to the beach and went in the water once. But haven't been back. It might be the temperature. It's just warmer and it makes me want to be lazy and take a nap in the shade. Or maybe I'm finally growing up and realizing that I don't have to go running about on vacation. I'm realizing that if I don't kayak or paddle board, I'll still be OK and it'll still be vacation. Don't get me wrong. We may go kayaking tomorrow. But that's if we feel like it. No rules.
I lied about the doing nothing part. Yesterday we did go on a private tour of the island. That was something. We drove all the way south and even touched the pitons. We went to the volcanoes and took a bath in the warm sulphur waters and then covered ourselves in mud for the mud bath. OK, the mud just felt like pumice but my skin felt so smooth after the mud bath. We hiked a bit and jumped into the cold pond under a waterfall. Maybe it was being out all day from 9am to 6pm that had me tired. I woke up late and was still tired in the afternoon today. But I made up for it with my long nap and now I'm sitting here working on this blog.
Oh yes. I wanted to mention something I found curious. My husband and I were commenting about the lack of desi couples here at Sandals. I don't even recall any desi couples from Negril, Jamaica or from Antigua. We were wondering why. One theory is that desi's tend to spend more money on their honeymoons and perhaps Sandals will equate to a Holiday Inn for them. I explained to my husband that a desi couple would probably spend the over $1000/night at the Jade Mountain resort, if they came to St. Lucia. Sandals did not seem like the ideal "desi" honeymoon as a desi honeymoon also needs to have the brag factor. Sandals, while I consider it a good upper end resort, is not something I'm particularly sure about how the desis view. But then this morning at breakfast we saw a young desi couple. Perhaps on their honeymoon. Who knows? But my husband and I commented on it. Wow! The first desi couple we spotted. How would they add to a 'brag' factor to Sandals in St. Lucia with Jade Mountain and the other resort (can't remember it's name) between the Pitons? That's not my concern, but I remember telling my husband that a desi couple in Sandals was blog worthy.
Tonight was our returning guests dinner. As a member of the Sandals Select program they host a special dinner for just the Sandals Select guests and it's nice. They offered us a bottle of rum at the end of it which we declined again. We don't drink alcohol and I don't believe in gifting alcohol either. I don't think it's right. I'm sure some people look at me funny for that, but that's OK. It's just me and how I perceive things.
I was supposed to read and block the plays I am supposed to direct. Well, I haven't done that either. I think I will start working on it tomorrow, while I sit out at my veranda, doing nothing yet again.
This is all for now. Will post more nothings soon.
TTR
This is my 3rd trip to a Sandals resort. The first time was for our honeymoon. It's funny. We went snorkeling, scuba diving, went on the glass bottom boat, paddle boarding, kayaking and we went on the hobie cat. Second Sandals, was in Antigua. We skipped the snorkeling, scuba and the glass bottom boat. We woke up early for tennis lessons though. Third trip to Sandals, here in St. Lucia. What are we doing? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We did go to the beach and went in the water once. But haven't been back. It might be the temperature. It's just warmer and it makes me want to be lazy and take a nap in the shade. Or maybe I'm finally growing up and realizing that I don't have to go running about on vacation. I'm realizing that if I don't kayak or paddle board, I'll still be OK and it'll still be vacation. Don't get me wrong. We may go kayaking tomorrow. But that's if we feel like it. No rules.
I lied about the doing nothing part. Yesterday we did go on a private tour of the island. That was something. We drove all the way south and even touched the pitons. We went to the volcanoes and took a bath in the warm sulphur waters and then covered ourselves in mud for the mud bath. OK, the mud just felt like pumice but my skin felt so smooth after the mud bath. We hiked a bit and jumped into the cold pond under a waterfall. Maybe it was being out all day from 9am to 6pm that had me tired. I woke up late and was still tired in the afternoon today. But I made up for it with my long nap and now I'm sitting here working on this blog.
Oh yes. I wanted to mention something I found curious. My husband and I were commenting about the lack of desi couples here at Sandals. I don't even recall any desi couples from Negril, Jamaica or from Antigua. We were wondering why. One theory is that desi's tend to spend more money on their honeymoons and perhaps Sandals will equate to a Holiday Inn for them. I explained to my husband that a desi couple would probably spend the over $1000/night at the Jade Mountain resort, if they came to St. Lucia. Sandals did not seem like the ideal "desi" honeymoon as a desi honeymoon also needs to have the brag factor. Sandals, while I consider it a good upper end resort, is not something I'm particularly sure about how the desis view. But then this morning at breakfast we saw a young desi couple. Perhaps on their honeymoon. Who knows? But my husband and I commented on it. Wow! The first desi couple we spotted. How would they add to a 'brag' factor to Sandals in St. Lucia with Jade Mountain and the other resort (can't remember it's name) between the Pitons? That's not my concern, but I remember telling my husband that a desi couple in Sandals was blog worthy.
Tonight was our returning guests dinner. As a member of the Sandals Select program they host a special dinner for just the Sandals Select guests and it's nice. They offered us a bottle of rum at the end of it which we declined again. We don't drink alcohol and I don't believe in gifting alcohol either. I don't think it's right. I'm sure some people look at me funny for that, but that's OK. It's just me and how I perceive things.
I was supposed to read and block the plays I am supposed to direct. Well, I haven't done that either. I think I will start working on it tomorrow, while I sit out at my veranda, doing nothing yet again.
This is all for now. Will post more nothings soon.
TTR
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
More St. Lucia. Trying to tie it with pictures.
This is going to be my first time to try and experiment with pictures, please bear with me. Some of this blog is from when we first got here and some from today, but let's see how it goes.
First off, I was extremely tired when I got here, but not tired enough to stop me from taking pictures of our room. There was no special occasion for our trip here, other than another vacation, but the butlers decorated our room for our first evening here. So, here's some pictures from that.
I think it's so cute and a really nice touch. This was the upstairs. We do have a living room type area that was also decorated.
First off, I was extremely tired when I got here, but not tired enough to stop me from taking pictures of our room. There was no special occasion for our trip here, other than another vacation, but the butlers decorated our room for our first evening here. So, here's some pictures from that.
I think it's so cute and a really nice touch. This was the upstairs. We do have a living room type area that was also decorated.
I just think it's all these cute touches that makes things special around here. Although the one big negative is the wifi here. It's super slow. And so I apologize but I'm going to hold off on adding more pictures til I get home.
Today we had a private tour of the island. And other things, but since I have those pictures put up, I will stick to the topic of decorating our room. We got back to our room and while I was unwinding downstairs, I heard my husband go upstairs and say, "Oh my! Oh my! You must see this." I asked from downstairs, "what's going on? Should I bring my camera?" He said yes and so off I went with my camera. And it was so cute. I wish I had the patience to download that picture also, but these pictures literally take over a half hour to load and I'm quite tired. I want to post this blog for now. Perhaps I'll just blog from here and when I get back to the US, I'll post them with pictures. Hope I'm not disappointing you all.
Will stay in touch,
TTR
Monday, September 8, 2014
More Sandals La Toc
Today after roaming around the property I realized how out of it I was when I got here. I did not remember where they dropped us out to check in and I did not realize where some of the restaurants were. My husband had to remind me. He is way more oriented of the resort than I am, but that's fine.
Last night after settling in, we just went out to dinner and came home and crashed. I do not know what to expect from our butler. I would have taken him up on unpacking my luggage, if he would have offered. I didn't feel well enough to ask him and besides I would not have asked him to help me unpack unless he offered. Sherman did give us a cell phone to contact him for anything at anytime. When I realized that they did not have an ice-cream station to get our own ice cream cones, I just called Sherman to bring ice-cream up to our room after dinner last night. I was too tired to remember much else.
Back to today we just roamed around the property. We could not really go every where as the property is so hilly. We had our butler come and give us a tour. That was fun. He drove us in the golf cart up the hill and showed us one of the millionaire suites that was unoccupied. OK. Now I know why those suites are so expensive. The view was just brilliant and they had their own private pool. It was the setting of the pool that made it beautiful. The view from the bedroom was stunning too. 2 walls of windows overlooking the sea, and the bay beyond. I told Sherman that despite the room being amazing it would be hard to get around the resort with the hills and all. Sherman said that the people in the room get transported everywhere in a golf cart. They just call and are driven about the resort. Must be nice.
For tonight we had to take the shuttle up to the Soy restaurant. I miss not being able to just walk to the restaurants. And Soy was very busy so we decided to go up to Armando's for dinner. I just called our butler and Gilbert came out to Soy with the golf cart and drove us up to Armando's. They were out of tiramisu today. :-( But the other lemon pastry dessert I ordered was divine and I was glad they were out of tiramisu.
I feel our butlers and the people dealing with us think we are different. For starters, I wanted lime/salt/soda. Sherman just looked at me funny, smiled and went up to the bar to try to get me this "strange" drink. He had trouble locating salt and a few minutes later he came up with salt for my lime/soda drink. When I asked Gilbert for the same drink before dinner today, he gave me the same look and went out to try to make whatever drink I wanted. Of course while we were doing dinner, my drink ran out and the waitress comes up and ask me what drink I had so she could get me more. She said, "It looks really detailed". I smiled and said, "it's not" and then I went on to explain how to make the drink.
Just when I thought I would be known for my drink, I've had several people ask me about using beer for my hair. They keep asking me, "beer? for hair? what do you do?" And so I explain about letting it get to room temperature and flattening it out for 4 hours before using it as conditioner. My husband thinks we give them enough material to talk about. Perhaps we do.
Today has been very relaxing. Tomorrow is a private tour of the island. Should be fun. I hope I don't get too sick or tired. I am enjoying doing nothing though.
Will post more after my tour.
TTR
PS. I know I promised pictures. I will post them up in one of my next few blogs. For now I have to head to bed. Have to be up early to start our tour tomorrow.
Last night after settling in, we just went out to dinner and came home and crashed. I do not know what to expect from our butler. I would have taken him up on unpacking my luggage, if he would have offered. I didn't feel well enough to ask him and besides I would not have asked him to help me unpack unless he offered. Sherman did give us a cell phone to contact him for anything at anytime. When I realized that they did not have an ice-cream station to get our own ice cream cones, I just called Sherman to bring ice-cream up to our room after dinner last night. I was too tired to remember much else.
Back to today we just roamed around the property. We could not really go every where as the property is so hilly. We had our butler come and give us a tour. That was fun. He drove us in the golf cart up the hill and showed us one of the millionaire suites that was unoccupied. OK. Now I know why those suites are so expensive. The view was just brilliant and they had their own private pool. It was the setting of the pool that made it beautiful. The view from the bedroom was stunning too. 2 walls of windows overlooking the sea, and the bay beyond. I told Sherman that despite the room being amazing it would be hard to get around the resort with the hills and all. Sherman said that the people in the room get transported everywhere in a golf cart. They just call and are driven about the resort. Must be nice.
For tonight we had to take the shuttle up to the Soy restaurant. I miss not being able to just walk to the restaurants. And Soy was very busy so we decided to go up to Armando's for dinner. I just called our butler and Gilbert came out to Soy with the golf cart and drove us up to Armando's. They were out of tiramisu today. :-( But the other lemon pastry dessert I ordered was divine and I was glad they were out of tiramisu.
I feel our butlers and the people dealing with us think we are different. For starters, I wanted lime/salt/soda. Sherman just looked at me funny, smiled and went up to the bar to try to get me this "strange" drink. He had trouble locating salt and a few minutes later he came up with salt for my lime/soda drink. When I asked Gilbert for the same drink before dinner today, he gave me the same look and went out to try to make whatever drink I wanted. Of course while we were doing dinner, my drink ran out and the waitress comes up and ask me what drink I had so she could get me more. She said, "It looks really detailed". I smiled and said, "it's not" and then I went on to explain how to make the drink.
Just when I thought I would be known for my drink, I've had several people ask me about using beer for my hair. They keep asking me, "beer? for hair? what do you do?" And so I explain about letting it get to room temperature and flattening it out for 4 hours before using it as conditioner. My husband thinks we give them enough material to talk about. Perhaps we do.
Today has been very relaxing. Tomorrow is a private tour of the island. Should be fun. I hope I don't get too sick or tired. I am enjoying doing nothing though.
Will post more after my tour.
TTR
PS. I know I promised pictures. I will post them up in one of my next few blogs. For now I have to head to bed. Have to be up early to start our tour tomorrow.
Sandals La Toc, St. Lucia. The trip here and more.
The 4.5 hour flight from Atlanta finally landed in Hewanorra Airport in St. Lucia. Having been to Montego Bay and to Antigua, this airport faired a bit smaller. Felt cozy. Almost like an airport for charters portrayed in some old movies. Immigration officer was friendly and so was customs. Everyone was glad to see us. We heard "Welcome!" or "Welcome to St. Lucia" a lot especially when they realized it was our first time here.
Sandals had their lounge right after customs. You don't even have to exit the airport to look for the Sandals sign. I thought that I might have been jealous of the Sandals customers, if I weren't one. I would have thought it so cool. They got out of customs and they could enter a lounge immediately while the others had to leave the airport, find their shuttles and figure their way out of there.
So, for those who are jealous of me, let me tell you that the Sandals lounge was very disappointing. I'd been to the Sandals lounge in Jamaica and Antigua but here in St. Lucia, it was crowded. They was literally no place to sit and barely enough room to stand. There were people waiting to take their complementary bus to their respective resorts and since Sandals has 3 resorts in St. Lucia, there was a lot of people and a lot of luggages to juggle. And of course there was a line to the women's restroom. The good news is that when I got out of the rest room, the buses were boarding. We were advised to take the water from the lounge as the bus trip to our resort would be an hour and a half. So, I had my bottle of water and off we went.
I must say at this point started the worst part of my trip. Not frightening as the TSA story I spoke of last time, but since I get car sick if I don't sit up front, it did not make for a great ride. I thought I would be able to handle it but St. Lucia has a lot of hills and winding, hair pin curves and not having the view to the front threw my systems completely off. I felt dizzy and nauseous. I did not think I would make it. After about 30 minutes I got so nauseous that I was very close to throwing up. But being an adult is difficult. You don't want to create a fuss and you don't want to throw up either. What did I do? I sat there trying to divert my thoughts while part of me wanted to scream "Stop the bus. I need to get out for a minute" This went on for 20 minutes. I still don't know how I made it. Just when I would reach breaking point, something happened to change that. And then my nausea got converted to complete fatigue, exhaustion, helplessness and confusion and my eyes started to tear up. I felt like a child and I had no control. I wanted out of the bus. I just felt horrible. No, I did not want to throw up, but I wanted out. I felt trapped. A Sandals sign somewhere made things temporarily bearable, but then when the bus continued on past the golf course, I felt myself cursing why this resort was so darned huge. I saw the sign but the bus was not stopping. It was still climbing and taking curves. Finally they stopped.
We are supposed to be greeted with lemongrass cool towels. But since we sat at the back of the bus and my sense of shock made me get out last, the first 6 towels were taken. I rested on my husband while the gentleman in the front was calling and sending someone out to get more towels immediately. Our towels came. We ID'd our luggages and were taken to the reception place where I sunk my head into the towel, my eyes still teary, this time happy that I was on still land but still teary for the rough ride. We were offered drinks and a salmon roll. As I ate the salmon roll, I felt better. My energy and spirits were slowly rising and after processing our credit card and all the usuals we were escorted to our room in a golf cart. Yes, the property is very hilly. Lots of steps to climb down to head to dinner.
Our butlers introduced themselves. Sherman and Gilbert. I've only dealt with Sherman so far. He seems nice but I was too tired last night to ask him for anything. Besides, I needed time to unwind from the whirlwind trip to get here. More about the resort, the butlers and the trip coming up soon. Perhaps some pictures too…
Till next time,
TTR
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Explosive hands!
If you've been following my blog, well, my trip to St. Lucia is finally here. Well, before I get there, I have to go to the airport, take a flight to Atlanta (where I'm typing this blog) and then connect to St. Lucia. Oh wait, before the flight, there's a little thing called security and my favorite 3 letters, T S A! Not!
Let me start from the beginning. It seems like I have horrible luck with the TSA. There have been a few "good" times, but that would account to 5% of my travels. One of the good times was when I got accepted into TSA Pre. It's great. You don't have to take off your shoes or your laptop and you don't have to stand in one of those machines that make the TSA agents view you almost naked. And you don't get treated with derision when you opt out of those machines.
I wanted to be TSA Pre all the time and found out about going through all the background checks to get a known traveller number so you get accepted to TSA Pre all the time. I applied and while my husband got his number in a week, I had to wait for over 2 months before my number came in the mail. I was all set. Or so I thought, but then I realized that there were more hoops to cross. When we flew to Ireland, apparently you have to give the number to the airlines at the time of the booking and even then you are not guaranteed TSA Pre. Well, my husband did not get TSA Pre then despite giving the number at the counter.
Fast forward today. I had given my TSA number and when I checked in on my iPhone, I saw I got TSA Pre. Yes. Yes. Yes. I was jumping for joy. My TSA visit was going to be great. Walk through and no big deal. I would have been right if not for being picked for "random" screening. A random screening that was very scary. Probably my worst TSA experience as I was hoping to be in the "normal" TSA lines at this point.
What happened? I went through the metal detectors that was fine but then it beeped as though it changed its mind. The guy said that it beeped because it's random and I got picked for random screening. No big deal, I thought. He wiped my hands with these circular tissues and put them in the machine. Normal, random screening for explosives. It would have been fine except when he put the tissues in the machine, the computer screen beeped and started blinking "explosives detected". My heart was beating so fast at this point. My mind was racing. Explosives detected? Me? What? This is TSA. Are they going to arrest me? What is going to happen? The guy told me to calmly step aside and wait. I'm completely puzzled and terrified at this point. I have never dealt with explosives in my life. How was this even possible?
A female officer came immediately and asked me which were my luggage. I pointed to my hand luggage and my purse. She picked it up and took it to the end of the counter and requested to open my luggage. I complied. She went through every compartment, every zipper, swiping with a new tissue. I was freaking out. If the machine read explosives on my hands where there were none why could it not read it on my luggage. I told her I was quite confused as to why the machine read explosives on my hands. All I did was wear kitchen gloves and wash dishes just before I got to the airport. She explained that it happens all the time and some lotions can cause the machine to read explosives on hands. All the time? What did she mean by all the time? An explosive threat on someone's hands is common at TSA? I was so scared. I was terrified of a false explosive reading on my luggage. I was convinced that it was possible. Why not? Wouldn't you think it possible? If you had nothing explosive on your hands and the machine read it, can't this same machine read explosives where there wasn't any? Anyways, after all the screening of the luggage, she found a large tube of toothpaste and she told me that it was greater than 3 oz. I told her to keep the tube. Then I had to go through the pat down screening. That was scary because she took me to a separate room and had another officer in the room before doing the screening. I wondered if she would pat me down with that tissue and what if my clothes read explosives on it. I don't know if my clothes read explosives on it because they did not use the tissue during a pat down. I'm not complaining because at that point, anything was possible. After what seemed an eternity, I was finally cleared and the woman said I could go.
I explained all this to my husband who was patiently waiting for me as though this was no big deal. He thought maybe some trace of ammonia in cleaners I used tested positive. I don't know. I was wearing those ridiculous kitchen gloves. Note to self. Next time, wash your hands thoroughly before going through security or even TSA Pre can become a nightmare.
I'm finishing this blog up sitting in my room here in St. Lucia. As I was typing in Atlanta, my flight boarded and it was more important to board than to finish the blog. Anyways, I will be blogging about my trip to Sandals St. Lucia for the next week. Will give you a good insight into this resort. Maybe I'll just copy my blog onto Trip Advisor as I do a lot of reviews for them but those are the next few blogs.
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. And please wash your hands before going through TSA. Don't bother with the lotions or anything. Just clean hands like you have OCD.
Til next time,
TTR
Let me start from the beginning. It seems like I have horrible luck with the TSA. There have been a few "good" times, but that would account to 5% of my travels. One of the good times was when I got accepted into TSA Pre. It's great. You don't have to take off your shoes or your laptop and you don't have to stand in one of those machines that make the TSA agents view you almost naked. And you don't get treated with derision when you opt out of those machines.
I wanted to be TSA Pre all the time and found out about going through all the background checks to get a known traveller number so you get accepted to TSA Pre all the time. I applied and while my husband got his number in a week, I had to wait for over 2 months before my number came in the mail. I was all set. Or so I thought, but then I realized that there were more hoops to cross. When we flew to Ireland, apparently you have to give the number to the airlines at the time of the booking and even then you are not guaranteed TSA Pre. Well, my husband did not get TSA Pre then despite giving the number at the counter.
Fast forward today. I had given my TSA number and when I checked in on my iPhone, I saw I got TSA Pre. Yes. Yes. Yes. I was jumping for joy. My TSA visit was going to be great. Walk through and no big deal. I would have been right if not for being picked for "random" screening. A random screening that was very scary. Probably my worst TSA experience as I was hoping to be in the "normal" TSA lines at this point.
What happened? I went through the metal detectors that was fine but then it beeped as though it changed its mind. The guy said that it beeped because it's random and I got picked for random screening. No big deal, I thought. He wiped my hands with these circular tissues and put them in the machine. Normal, random screening for explosives. It would have been fine except when he put the tissues in the machine, the computer screen beeped and started blinking "explosives detected". My heart was beating so fast at this point. My mind was racing. Explosives detected? Me? What? This is TSA. Are they going to arrest me? What is going to happen? The guy told me to calmly step aside and wait. I'm completely puzzled and terrified at this point. I have never dealt with explosives in my life. How was this even possible?
A female officer came immediately and asked me which were my luggage. I pointed to my hand luggage and my purse. She picked it up and took it to the end of the counter and requested to open my luggage. I complied. She went through every compartment, every zipper, swiping with a new tissue. I was freaking out. If the machine read explosives on my hands where there were none why could it not read it on my luggage. I told her I was quite confused as to why the machine read explosives on my hands. All I did was wear kitchen gloves and wash dishes just before I got to the airport. She explained that it happens all the time and some lotions can cause the machine to read explosives on hands. All the time? What did she mean by all the time? An explosive threat on someone's hands is common at TSA? I was so scared. I was terrified of a false explosive reading on my luggage. I was convinced that it was possible. Why not? Wouldn't you think it possible? If you had nothing explosive on your hands and the machine read it, can't this same machine read explosives where there wasn't any? Anyways, after all the screening of the luggage, she found a large tube of toothpaste and she told me that it was greater than 3 oz. I told her to keep the tube. Then I had to go through the pat down screening. That was scary because she took me to a separate room and had another officer in the room before doing the screening. I wondered if she would pat me down with that tissue and what if my clothes read explosives on it. I don't know if my clothes read explosives on it because they did not use the tissue during a pat down. I'm not complaining because at that point, anything was possible. After what seemed an eternity, I was finally cleared and the woman said I could go.
I explained all this to my husband who was patiently waiting for me as though this was no big deal. He thought maybe some trace of ammonia in cleaners I used tested positive. I don't know. I was wearing those ridiculous kitchen gloves. Note to self. Next time, wash your hands thoroughly before going through security or even TSA Pre can become a nightmare.
I'm finishing this blog up sitting in my room here in St. Lucia. As I was typing in Atlanta, my flight boarded and it was more important to board than to finish the blog. Anyways, I will be blogging about my trip to Sandals St. Lucia for the next week. Will give you a good insight into this resort. Maybe I'll just copy my blog onto Trip Advisor as I do a lot of reviews for them but those are the next few blogs.
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. And please wash your hands before going through TSA. Don't bother with the lotions or anything. Just clean hands like you have OCD.
Til next time,
TTR
Friday, September 5, 2014
Deleting days from your life
In today's technological world, the delete button has become quite important. I mean, as I'm typing this message, I'll hit the delete button when I make a mistake and you all will not see my mistake. At least, not the ones I try to diligently erase. I, furthermore, will forget that I ever made the mistake. How many times did I have to hit the delete for all of my blogs? So many, I really can't keep track. And then there's the wonderful "undo" button. Especially when you highlight something and accidentally hit "delete", you are scrambling to undo it. I haven't found the undo button on blogger but that's a whole different story.
If I were to type this message without ever hitting delete, I must either be great at typing or this message will look like a hodge podge that may not make sense. Delete buttons are great. So, let's imagine for a moment that we did not have a delete button to life. Wait? Is there a delete button to life? Actually, there is. But let's assume there wasn't. Then what? We would live and experience every moment. Wow! What a concept!
Where is this blog going? Let me explain. I haven't read the book "The Power of Now" but I've heard of it. Very powerful concept. Basically it states that we do not have the past. The past is gone. We do not have a future. It's not granted to us for sure. The only thing we have is the now. The only thing I have is my now, the blog that I'm sitting here typing. And back to the delete button of life; if I were to sit here doing nothing but transporting my mind to the past or the future, I'm essentially deleting my present as I do it. Clicking "delete", "delete", "delete" with ever memory of the past or future, there's another click, "delete".
How is this relevant you ask me? You see, I'm planning this awesome trip to St. Lucia in a couple of days. All inclusive resort with a butler suite. Sounds amazing. And honestly I was thinking about my trip this morning. I was hoping it could be today. I was hoping to skip the next couple of days just so I could get to my trip now. But my trip is not real. I don't know if it will be. I'll have to see if God will grant me the luxury of my trip. What I do have is the now. So, I think about all the packing I have to do and the cleaning before my trip so I can come home to a nicer environment (if I make it back, God Willing). And then I thought about life and how I wanted to delete my days. I feel deleting days from one's life is huge. You put yourself on auto-pilot and not really accept or stay in the moment. You lose opportunities to make laundry memorable. And you end up deleting a day from your life by living in a nonexistent past or future. And another and another, till that trip that you've been waiting for (if it ever gets there).
I feel everyday is a gift. Every moment is a gift. As is the present. It is a present. It allows you to live and explore what you are intended to. Do we wish we can delete the sad days from our lives? Sure. I still have the haunting memory of my ex-husband being so drunk he couldn't stand up, looking at me as though he didn't know who I was. I remember calling my best friend on the phone terrified. I remember her asking me if I felt threatened. Would I delete that day or that memory from my life? Sure we all wish we could, but I think it's life. It would be horrible to delete any part of it. The good or the bad. We are meant to learn from it and experience it.
Today I got a call from Sandals resort about my butler preferences. And I was transported to the memory of 2 days later. The memory of an event that hasn't taken place. Everyone is calling me to leave today. To leave tomorrow. To skip into a vacation, a reality that is not real. Not real, because it's not my regular life and not real because it isn't here yet. I do not wish to delete today. I do not wish to delete any day. I don't think you should too.
Best wishes always and I'll try to post more blogs soon (when it gets here). Signing off for now.
TTR
If I were to type this message without ever hitting delete, I must either be great at typing or this message will look like a hodge podge that may not make sense. Delete buttons are great. So, let's imagine for a moment that we did not have a delete button to life. Wait? Is there a delete button to life? Actually, there is. But let's assume there wasn't. Then what? We would live and experience every moment. Wow! What a concept!
Where is this blog going? Let me explain. I haven't read the book "The Power of Now" but I've heard of it. Very powerful concept. Basically it states that we do not have the past. The past is gone. We do not have a future. It's not granted to us for sure. The only thing we have is the now. The only thing I have is my now, the blog that I'm sitting here typing. And back to the delete button of life; if I were to sit here doing nothing but transporting my mind to the past or the future, I'm essentially deleting my present as I do it. Clicking "delete", "delete", "delete" with ever memory of the past or future, there's another click, "delete".
How is this relevant you ask me? You see, I'm planning this awesome trip to St. Lucia in a couple of days. All inclusive resort with a butler suite. Sounds amazing. And honestly I was thinking about my trip this morning. I was hoping it could be today. I was hoping to skip the next couple of days just so I could get to my trip now. But my trip is not real. I don't know if it will be. I'll have to see if God will grant me the luxury of my trip. What I do have is the now. So, I think about all the packing I have to do and the cleaning before my trip so I can come home to a nicer environment (if I make it back, God Willing). And then I thought about life and how I wanted to delete my days. I feel deleting days from one's life is huge. You put yourself on auto-pilot and not really accept or stay in the moment. You lose opportunities to make laundry memorable. And you end up deleting a day from your life by living in a nonexistent past or future. And another and another, till that trip that you've been waiting for (if it ever gets there).
I feel everyday is a gift. Every moment is a gift. As is the present. It is a present. It allows you to live and explore what you are intended to. Do we wish we can delete the sad days from our lives? Sure. I still have the haunting memory of my ex-husband being so drunk he couldn't stand up, looking at me as though he didn't know who I was. I remember calling my best friend on the phone terrified. I remember her asking me if I felt threatened. Would I delete that day or that memory from my life? Sure we all wish we could, but I think it's life. It would be horrible to delete any part of it. The good or the bad. We are meant to learn from it and experience it.
Today I got a call from Sandals resort about my butler preferences. And I was transported to the memory of 2 days later. The memory of an event that hasn't taken place. Everyone is calling me to leave today. To leave tomorrow. To skip into a vacation, a reality that is not real. Not real, because it's not my regular life and not real because it isn't here yet. I do not wish to delete today. I do not wish to delete any day. I don't think you should too.
Best wishes always and I'll try to post more blogs soon (when it gets here). Signing off for now.
TTR
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