Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Cozumel April 26th, 2009 – Day 9

Well, today is technically the travel day, and isn’t really part of the vacation other than it is the day we get home.  Haylie woke up at 6 this morning, and while it was nice for me since I hadn’t done any packing the night before and I knew it was going to be tough to get all that crap back into the suitcase.  However, I also knew it would mean a horrifically LONG day for Haylie.  We weren’t due to arrive in Raleigh until just after midnight and her nap times would fall into odd points in the journey.  Well, if breakfast was any indication, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

I arranged for a one hour late checkout.  That was just so that we could give Haylie as much window to sleep as she might want.  Of course, she followed up a grumpy morning with a 45 minute nap which only served to make her grumpier.  It did allow me to have three quick beers and a dirty monkey though as well, which served to take some of the edge off.  I felt a bit of guilt as we left.  Last year, I made a point to go around and tip all those service people that were really nice to us.  This year, none of that going on.  For the most part, they have the ownership position to blame.  I was far more critical as a member of the resort than I was as just a guest.  I didn’t really find anyone did an exemplary job that merited special compensation.  The room was superficially clean, the towels and sheets had stains no matter what we did to ask.  The drink service that kept our refrigerator stocked required us to call every day for no good reason other than what I believe to be some quota system they adhere to even though it is part of the all-inclusive.  The bar tenders weren’t overly friendly, weren’t generous in their pours and didn’t offer lime for the beer or tequila without asking.  There was one gentleman in the dining hall that I would have tipped, but he worked the dinner service and there was no way I’d be able to assure he got money I left before his shift started.  Oh well, their loss.

At checkout I learned that they had not put our MAS points number on our account.  Grrrr!  That means we didn’t get credit for the 1000 plus dollars we spent on the all-inclusive and the dinner.  I was really exasperated about that, because they then said I was supposed to give them the MAS card before I checked out.  Nothing said that, and since I’d made the booking through their service, I had mistakenly assumed they’d do the work to put my number onto my account then.  In the end, a woman in the member services center said she’d take care of it, but I somehow doubt it will happen and I’ll wind up having to call and try to argue about getting it added.  I just wanted those points because I am assuming for next year’s vacation to Italy, I’m going to need as many points as I can store away.  The Urban resorts are more expensive per night and my options aren’t likely going to cover enough of the costs.  Hard to say really.

We got to the airport with a little under 2 hours before we took off.  It turned out that somehow, I’d managed to pack more into my own case, or the humidity had made my stuff weigh more, but I was over weight by 4 lbs.  Fortunately, as an American Gold member, they overlooked it and since the three bags were under the sum total, it was a wash anyway.  It just allowed me to not have to scramble to move stuff from one case to another.

Getting through security required one minor fit from Haylie, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been so I wasn’t worried.  I just need Colleen to relax a little bit.  She’s stressed, and today was her day to break down.  She pointed out we could have broken down at the same time, so I was glad it was a different day, but this was a tough day for her to really get in the dumps.

We had a bit of time to kill in the terminal and we appeased Haylie with a variety of games, and snacks.  It turns out we shouldn’t actually give her chips at her age due to a choking hazard, but the pieces were small enough and she didn’t seem to have any issues with getting them down and she really enjoys eating “big people food.”  We weren’t given the option to board first, they skipped right by families with small children, but we’re priority access and business class so other than some really rude people that needed to run on two people faster than we were we got in and settled pretty quickly.  One minor concern was the valet check of the stroller.  I wasn’t sure how that would work as we had to clear customs in Dallas, but I knew we needed that stroller for the Dallas terminal or the second leg of the trip was going to be horrific.  For the most part, Haylie did reasonably well on the flight.  A couple of screams, but nothing constant and she did manage about 30 minutes of nap at one point.  The change in pressure in her ears woke her up though and she was a bit fussy because she woke up a bit disoriented.

The Dallas airport and customs clearance was uneventful.  We got annoyed because a couple ran to pass us to get into the customs line and then only had to slow us down because they weren’t ready to clear.  I hate that kind of attitude.  We’re more experienced travelers and I had all our documents at the ready.  I also dislike the premise that exiting a secure area for customs clearance then mandates we go through a new security screening.  We’ve been through one for the origin airport, we never left a secure area from that time through customs, why do we have to clear again?  And, to gripe more, at what point can I leave my shoes on?  Seriously, is anyone really concerned that I’ve got bombs in my shoes?  I hate that as well.  Sorry, enough TSA nonsense.  I am still unconvinced they’re keeping me any safer in the air.  I saw an agent confiscating a crochet hook because it was “a needle!”

A much longer stretch in the Dallas airport than I’d hoped.  Seriously longer.  I had wanted to get onto the 6:45 flight, but it was oversold and they wouldn’t even put us on standby.  They said our flight was already oversold as well.  I almost wish I’d convinced Colleen to stay the night at one of the two Hyatt Hotels at the airport, but she definitely said she wanted to get home.  We tried giving Haylie some McDonald’s, and I only managed to almost choke her on French Fries.  Sometimes I feel like I’m just one wrong move away from something very bad happening.  A lot has happened to her “on my watch” already.

We got onto the flight and while she cried a bunch at the start, Colleen told me the trick was to hold her more tightly and not let her fight off sleep.  She finally did fall asleep.  At the cost of Colleen getting dinner on the flight of course, but in the end I guess that was a small price to pay.  At one point, she woke up and was disoriented and scared.  I took her and calmed her down, I’m pretty good at that overnight, and she fell back asleep in my arms.  We might have been able to get Colleen dinner, but Colleen wanted sleep anyway.  It was well after 11 Eastern.  The rest of the flight was uneventful, save a moment where we realized the Mexico diapers weren’t quite as good as the US counterparts.  Haylie woke up as we started to land and she soaked through her diaper and onto my leg.  Now, she’s peed on me before, so this wasn’t bad other than I now had a wet spot in my crotch!! ROFL

Got home and she went to bed fairly easily.  I was glad to be safe and sound at home.  This was an interesting experience to say the least.  She’s growing up before my very eyes and the changes are amazing.  I love my family and even though this was a saga I wouldn’t want to repeat as it happened, I don’t think I’d change it for the world.

Cheers!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Cozumel April 25th, 2009 - Day 8

Today marked the last day we had at the resort.  Well, the last night anyway.  We still have the flight home which isn't until 2:45 PM on Sunday so we've got a bit of the day around here still, unfortunately.  Anyway, we started the day just after 7AM and found it was quite windy outside.  Haylie had a pretty good night, considering the resort had thrown a beach party that we could hear pumping crap disco music in our room until the wee hours of the morning.

We went down for breakfast and decided that our best option was to just eat quickly, feed Haylie what she'd eat and get out quickly.  We still had to cope with some screaming and a couple of times we rotated taking her to a quiet spot hoping to calm her down.  She's even managing some drinking from a real glass, though she still tends to turn her sippy cups or bottles upside down if we give them to her so self feeding is still limited to the finger foods she can pick up.

As we were leaving, we decided we'd try one more dip in the family pool with her while she still seemed alert and relatively happy.  So, we hurried back to the room, got changed, and then quickly down to the pool.  The water was cold and the breeze made it feel even colder, but Haylie definitely loves pool time.  She giggles and coos and splashes the water.  Her little legs kick like there's no tomorrow and her two tooth grin says she's in heaven.  I know it sends me there anyway.  She can melt my heart with just a smile and I'm convinced she already knows that.

We got her back to the room for her nap and then started our prep for the last afternoon we'd spend on the resort.  We hired a second sitter but this time it was for noon until 4PM to allow us some adult only time at the pool, on the ocean, and to enjoy a meal together where so many this vacation had not been enjoyable or even together.  The breeze of course made me realize why the beach was so deserted or at least partially.  The sand was whipping us pretty badly.  We had lunch at the grill and the Mexican definition of pizza there left much to be desired.  It was basically some sort of soft flat bread that had been warmed on one side while allowing white cheese, marinara and pepperoni to melt on the top side.  Not quite pizza, but at the same time I didn't really mind.  I just wanted to have a snack really.

We headed back to the beach and I had decided we'd take part of this time together to rent a wave runner and get out onto the water.  It would seat three, so we didn't have to rent one for each of us, and Colleen at first was more than willing to let me drive.  The ocean was even colder.  I really let it go out there though and we had a blast!  I know I scared the pants off of Colleen more than once, and I also bounced us hard enough a couple of times to remind me that I couldn't let her fall off the back (as well as let me know that shrinkage doesn't impact the feeling of them getting bounced off the seat!)  Still, we really had a good time and after the 30 minutes we'd paid for, give or take, we headed back in and made the decision to go sit at the swim up bar in the adult only pool.

I had a couple of drinks they call a dirty monkey.  It is a Pina Colada with a half a banana and an extra added Kahlua.  It was pretty good.  There's just something about being in the tropics that demands you drink frozen really stupid named drinks.  Besides, that way it hides the fact that it is really well rum, well coffee liqueur and I don't have to tell myself to ignore that horrible bourbon taste of the well whiskey they have here.  It will remain my only complaint.  For what I pay to this resort and what we paid for the right to call ourselves owners, we should have the option to get some premium alcohol.  Eh, no worries.  Once we'd decided sitting in the breeze, in the shade in the water was making us colder than it should, we opted to go and lay out next to the pool.  I finally managed to get sunburned!  Of course, I could have avoided it and slathered on the SPF 50 I normally wear, but given that we'd spent less than 5 hours near a body of water, I really wanted to get a little burnt.

We decided to go back to the room a little early and despite our instructions and request to put her down for a nap about 2:30 or so, Haylie was wide awake and playing on the bed.  OH BOY!  That will shift dinner plans for sure.  Still, I paid 500 pesos for the sitter, which was close enough to the 4 hour cost plus the cost of her lunch, which the hotel estimates at 10 USD.  I figured it was worth it, even if her inability to understand enough English to follow our instructions now meant our dinner and evening plans would have to radically shift.

The resort has turned over guests, for the most part.  Seriously, we're like the only couple that started this week at the resort, and I didn't realize it would happen.  I think most of the more experienced owners set up their time to start and end on a week day instead of the weekend, as it has become obvious that if I did the same, we'd possibly have been able to add at least one more day here.  Not that at this point I would have wanted it, so I suppose it is serendipitous that I had no clue how to work the system when I booked this vacation.  

They don't start serving dinner until 6PM.  I find it funny to hear myself say it that way, but in all honesty that's late for Haylie.  She's typically in bed between 7 and 8 and dinner at 6 becomes the witching hour for her.  Add in the notion that she'd missed a nap and there was no chance we'd be able to get through dinner together.  So, to kill some time and hopefully get her a bit beyond the witching hour, we took a couple of laps in the stroller around the grounds.  It is an unusual resort.  There are many ramp accessible paths around the resort, but they tend to be discontinuous.  This means that a couple of times, we had no choice but to navigate stairs with the stroller.  She seemed to like the little bumps and we made a game of it as best we could.  We even tried to stop at the playground, but the swings aren't made for anyone under 7 by my estimation (at least based on the swings in our subdivision at home) and the sand under it had ants everywhere we could see.  Given that Colleen and I have likely 20 bites between us from ants, sand fleas, and mosquitos, we did not want to even risk Haylie having something to cause her more consternation.

So, tonight's dinner was Spanish night.  That was interesting to say the least.  They had actually roasted two whole piglets and left the head on them.  Now, I've been to a pig pit roast, and a pig pickin' before, so I knew that wasn't out of the ordinary, but I had to make sure to warn Colleen to steer clear of it when she went down for her shift.  Yes, you heard it right.  I had to agree to do dinner in shifts.  Well, had to isn't the right way to say it.  She and I learned from experience that this missed nap during the afternoon would all but assure a melt down and as we were talking about who would go first, she started head butting Colleen in the chest.  That's her sign that she's exhausted and mommy better do something or suffer the consequences.  She will do it to me as well, but typically her move to let me know is a slap across the face anytime I get mine close to hers.  Dinner was pretty good, though I hate having to eat without Colleen.  At least the dining room was predominately empty so I didn't feel too blue about sitting there by myself.

Back to the room to tag in Colleen.  She went to get food and I watched the last bit of Blood Diamond on Cinemax.  At least it is the English versions of the Movie channels, though since parts of this were in an African dialect, the Spanish subtitles had to creep up to almost half of the screen to allow the original American translation of those dialog components.  I will say that I like DiCaprio as an actor.  He chooses roles well and manages passable performances when it comes to appropriate accents.

Haylie went down deeply and without a fight, thankfully.  Our only concern now is that it is far too early and she'll wake up wide awake at 4AM or some nonsense.  Add in that tomorrow starts right about her usual nap time (first leg is at 2:45PM) and we don't get in to Raliegh until the wee hours of Monday morning and it could be a most savage flight home.  We both agreed to stop drinking when we stopped our afternoon together.  We don't need to be hung over and try to compensate for her needs on what should be an arduous experience getting home.

On a side note, I've mostly stopped beating myself up for this vacation.  I do still believe I hold a large part of the blame, due to the social more that says I am the head of the house so reward and blame are mine to own most often.  Yet, at the same time, I do not believe this vacation a complete failure.  I got to see my baby crawl and she's become quite adept at it.  I've watched her smile at me so genuinely it warms my heart to the core.  I got to do many of the things I wanted us to do while we were here, if not in the quantity, and it is that quality of experience that I will take away from this vacation.  It wasn't relaxing in most senses.  It wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination.  But, we managed to survive and still be a family.  Many times growing up, I can remember family vacations that seemed to work that way as well.  Maybe it is just something I needed to understand better.

Cheers!

Cozumel April 24th, 2009 - Day 7

My mood has hit rock bottom. Our vacation is now limited to forays out in short controlled bursts and then hours of being holed up in our room. It disappoints me to no end, only because there seems to be nothing I can do to fix it. I feel like I have let the family down and it has really cost me morale. I cried this morning after our first tantrum and return to be holed up in the room.

Today was going to be a potentially interesting day, if we could just manage Haylie's stimulation and mood. Colleen and I like the tradition of renting a car and driving to the West side of the island. Cozumel is a strange place. The West side of the island is one large city effectively, San Miguel, though that's the name only the locals use. Tourists for the most part believe Cozumel is the city, not the entire island. On the East side is mostly undeveloped land with a few scattered hotels, beaches, and some restaurants. There is no power grid that extends to the East side of the island, and many of the spots don't even have a generator. They will literally bring in a day's supply of ice, and will cook using propane or some other gas. Given the amount of destruction left on the West side due to hurricanes, I can at least understand why the East side isn't more fully developed, but I fail to see how there are places in this resort community that still don't have basic services. I guess it is a matter of seeing the world through American eyes again.

So, this year instead of a Jeep, we opted for a car that would have air conditioning and could safely hold a car seat. We had to pay cash for the rental because the rental desk informed me that it would cost 20% in surcharges to use credit. I personally believe he's pocketing at least some percentage of the money as I've never once seen a posted rate for the cars. Still, it isn't a bad deal for a one day rental and this car did have a working A/C and they rented us a car seat for $15 USD for the day. We loaded Haylie into her seat just after her morning nap and hoped for the best.

Our first stop was the major grocery store in town. It was quite similar to Wal-Mart in that it had everything from groceries to consumer electronics. We were accosted at the start by a man who just "wanted to help" show us how to find what we wanted. We were worried about running out of diapers and it would give us the chance to see how much we had packed that we could have easily bought here and had less to carry. They had Huggies, Gerber Graduates, and Pampers wipes. They even had the swim diapers we bought for the trip so we likely could have avoided packing almost everything but formula. The ironic part is that learning the lesson doesn't apply unless we choose to have more kids. By our plans, we won't be back in Cozumel until Haylie is almost 4 and won't at that point need any of those items. I don't think we chose poorly to bring all this stuff, but intuitively, we should have known we wouldn't need to bring it ourselves. As we checked out, here came the helpful gentleman again. He was selling a time share in a hotel just down the road from the store! We tried to explain that we didn't need his club, as we were members here at Sol Melia, but his reply was we could do an exchange! WHAT?? Apparently, this company hasn't yet earned a permit to hawk at the airport directly, but to try to tackle us in the store was just insane! We just kept walking and kept saying 'no' until we got out of sight.

Back into the car and onto the open road. Haylie seemed OK for a while but then she started fighting off her natural urge to sleep in the car. That meant she was a little grumpy, but it was just the three of us in the car so we let her grump all she wanted. Our plans had been to get to a lighthouse on the Southern most tip of the island. When we got to the turn off, however, we discovered it was some expansive eco-park and that we'd have to pay an entrance fee to get in. We couldn't even tell from the sign which of 5 packages we'd need to pay to get in, or whether or not we'd be allowed to drive to see the lighthouse. It seemed a very long way in from the main gate and we weren't about to pay 30 dollars (the minimum entrance fee for two people to enter the park) only to get to the lighthouse and not be able to do anything there but basically turn around. So, we were close enough to what was going to be our second stop anyway, Rastas.

I don't know if the myth surrounding this place is true or not, but it has offered them an easy theme for the bar. Bob Marley supposedly loved Punta Sur and spent many days in Cozumel, specifically at the bar that originally stood on this spot. Rastas has picked up on that legend and now blasts Reggae music and sells shirts honoring the late genius. As an aside, I would imagine Marley would roll over in his grave if he knew that his name was being merchandised the way it is globally. It wasn't his style. When we were at Rastas last year, Colleen and I wrote our names on the bar along with Haylie's. We had hoped to find it when we returned, but of course it was long gone. So, we decided it would be OK, we'd just take a picture this time. Oh, but of course, the camera's battery was dead. I'd forgotten to charge it overnight and now we'd have NO pictures of Haylie's time on this side of the island. She started grumping a bit because the bar was stuffy and humid (no power means no air conditioning), and because she wanted to try to drink from mommy's Pina Colada herself without assistance, so I bundled her back into the pack and we walked out to see the ocean. It is a radically different experience on this side. The East side is exposed to the greater Gulf of Mexico and the Carribean Sea, which the West side faces Cancun and the Yucatan Peninsula. So, there are hard crashing waves, rough coral worn over the centuries creating natural blow holes, and other outcroppings not dissimilar from the ones we saw in Australia at 12 Apostles, or in Ireland around the Giant's Causeway. The difference here is the rock is predominately coral that's been worn down. Would have had some nice pictures to show you here, oh, wait, that's right, dumbass forgot to charge the camera!

We bundled back into the car and drove on toward Coconuts, our planned lunch stop. This restaurant and bar is a little more commercial, they use a generator so they do have power, but they still require cash because there's no phone to link them to a credit card clearing house over a POS terminal. When we went last year, they told us that they'd trade shirts where if we brought them one, they'd give us one of theirs in return. So, we had packed items specifically to make that trade this year. We had a good lunch with a couple of beers and used our new strategy for handling Haylie's outburst. If she starts screaming, we scooped her up and took her to a new scene that had less stimulus or even down to the car for a burst of A/C during a diaper change (no changing tables in the outhouse style toilets on this side of the island for sure.) It had moderate success. We still spent more time eating alone at a table for the three of us than we did eating together. We managed to communicate our desire to leave a shirt, but one of them was rejected. Still, we did leave one behind with our names and that we loved Coconuts. Of course, the fine print is that they'd prefer you flash your coconuts while removing the shirt from your back in exchange to get one of their shirts for free, which was NOT happening. So, we didn't get a new shirt from there, but I suppose we didn't really care.

Back into the car and onto the road. We didn't even consider stopping at the Tequila tour because we knew Haylie would need her nap. I had to stop at the gas station to put back in the consumed fuel, and that took a bit more time than I would have wanted. No such thing as self service at the station, and once again no credit accepted. I miscalculated the amount of gas, and bought half a tank when I only needed a quarter tank to return the car how I got it, but I considered it a nit and we drove on. We got back to the room with no incidents and got Haylie down for her nap without much incident.

Our approach tonight was for us to go to dinner as soon as the restaurant opened, which is supposed to be 6PM. That way, we could actually get in, eat, and try to keep her stimulation levels down. Of course, as we were getting ready we knew it would not happen as we'd hoped. She wasn't grumpy, but she was definitely frustrated. She's acquired two new skills on this trip, crawling and standing and she wants to practice them constantly. When she can't find something to help pull herself up (I guess that's a skill as well she now owns) she will scream about it. If we move her from whatever she's using to pull herself up because it will hurt her, she will scream. If we lay her on her back to change her diaper, clothes, or whatever, she will scream. All of those were in full effect when we left for dinner so I knew it would not go off without a hitch.

I let Colleen eating dinner when my attempt to pull Haylie out to calm her down only served to rile her up even more. So, if the new scene didn't calm her, our plan was to reutrn to the room and put her into a calm setting that way. I got her onto the floor and she started babbling and cooing indicating she was happy again. Of course, the tears started streaming down my face once again. I was a wreck. I just wanted to curl up into a ball and die and even though I tried to show her how proud I was that she used daddy's legs to pull herself up and could stand there for a few seconds using me as support, I just couldn't stop crying.

In before 8. No choice really. Tonight they were having some sort of beach party and it made me realize that it was a Friday night. I ran once the entire time I was here, mostly because I was so hung over but also because my mood was really black. Oh well, nothing we could do but begin our routine of forays out alternately to grab a round of drinks and then sneak back past the crib and sit out on the deck and consider what this vacation really was for us. I am distraught and I don't know what can fix my mood at this point.

Cheers!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Cozumel April 23rd, 2009 - Day 6


Our anniversary! It is hard to believe we've only been married 4 years. It seems as though we've experienced far more than just 4 years would suggest, but that's where it is. Haylie let us sleep late again and we got up a little after 7. Colleen was pretty hung over and I know that's true when she repeats that she's never going to drink again or that she's at least not going to drink today. I swear I don't mean this as an offense, but I just find it funny when she says it.

We realized that because of how the cabs work, we've never been to the Margaritaville in Cozumel and there's actually a "mall" of sorts called Punta Langosto that we'd never seen nearby, so we decided to try our hand at having the cab take us to Margaritaville and then walking back toward the resort for a bit of town prior to catching a cab back. It wasn't any more or less expensive. We found the appropriate souvenirs in Margaritaville and then crossed the street. We chose to take the stroller today and I somewhat understand why, but I also regret the choice. Haylie is less constricted in the stroller, but we're also slave to a city that has little concern for OSHA safety standards or ADA requirements for ramp access. That meant we had to negotiate a couple of pretty steep curbs to get her across intersections, some places had no crosswalks so it was jaywalking like we meant it, and of course cracked sidewalks that showed the signs of a decaying infrastructure.

We got to the mall and it was pretty disappointing. It was merely a set of shops set up to try to hook cruise passengers as they disembarked from their respective cruises. Because we chose to go on a day when there were no ships docked, many of the stores hadn't even bothered to open. Most were very much the same nonsense: T-shirts with risque or outright crude sayings, Luchiadore masks that look WAY too hot to wear even as a gag, and a variety of Mayan art or a reasonable facsimile of Mayan art anyway.

Colleen was still reeling from our melt downs during meals and she asked if we'd eat at the Burger King instead of one of the party chain restaurants close by. I had to agree that the open air seating near an American burger chain seemed less likely to incite a screaming baby and so we ate there. I was pretty miffed when I had to explain to the woman that she couldn't do basic math and that their exchange rate of 10 pesos to the dollar was atrocious given that the current rate was 13 or almost 14 through a bank. Of course, the manager decided I was being rude and his response was to give me the correct change (they'd charged me 18 dollars for a meal priced at 162 pesos) in nickels!! I should have just said "en pesos" and paid them with their own currency. I'll learn. It was still an outrageous price for two whopper combos! At least the food I got was consistent with the quality you'd expect from a fast food chain. We decided we'd have dessert at a Gelateria, serving Italian ice style ice cream. The quality was well worth it and the price was quite reasonable. I was stunned that once again the man behind the counter could not do basic math, opting for a calculator to charge me the 65 pesos and then to calculate that I'd need 35 pesos in change for the 100 note I handed him. Now, Colleen is quick to point out that I'll do long division in my head for the "fun" of it, so I'm not exactly the voice of reason. Still, when I consider being a member of a tourist driven economy that is trying to garner as many dollars and/or pesos as possible from my customers, I'd know SOME basic math and change for a dollar was something my mother taught me when I was still in elementary school. Eh, who am I to judge? It is entirely possible he dropped out of school or would have had to pay for school beyond middle school and he does the best he can.

We got back to the room without what I'd consider a major meltdown for the afternoon. Not a bad thing, honestly. We got her back to the room about 30 minutes late for her afternoon nap, but that wasn't late enough that she'd really put up much of a fight. She took her bottle and was fast asleep after just a bit of grousing about having to take her nap. Colleen and I used the time to get into the jacuzzi tub again on the patio and just enjoy the afternoon the way we do most often this vacation.

Tonight was my special night for us. I'd pre-booked and pre-paid for a floral arrangement for Colleen to be delivered to the room as a start. HOLY COW! The size of this display is massive and I wasn't really prepared for it. The picture at the top of this post shows my attempt to photograph it, since we'll never be able to take it home anyway. The other half was a sitter for 3.5 hours and a dinner for two on the beach. We even took the time to dress for it. I had really wanted it to be a total surprise, but she asked me when we were packing if she should pack something nice to wear and I thought it a good touch so I had to share that we did have "plans" for the night of our anniversary. Our sitter was one of the women that worked the sales desk. In fact, I'd worked out a horse trade that if she sat our daughter for free, we'd do the "update" pitch I described yesterday. So, she came right on time and we went through the checklist like the concerned parents we are and felt she'd be OK and that we were really only a few yards away from the room anyway.

I intentionally set it up so that we'd have time for one drink before dinner. We went into the lounge and got to have a drink from a real glass instead of a plastic to go cup and sit quietly and just talk for a few minutes. We went to the desk and apparently though never telling us anything about the specifics, they were at the desk wondering where we were.

We get to dinner and it is set up just out of view of the main dining room and out on the beach. They took our shoes for us and set them aside and we were led to a dinner set up for just the two of us with two waiters dedicated to us for the meal. The food was exquisite. Lobster broiled and served with a garlic olive oil mix or clarified butter with vegetables and rice. The starter was a really good mixed greens salad and a pumpkin soup with garlic croutons that was served in a martini glass. For desert, it was cheesecake with strawberry compote and coconut ice cream for me and lime for Colleen. We had a red wine that was a Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot blend that was reasonably tasty and it made Colleen happy. She's not a typical red wine drinker so she wants one that isn't heavy with tannins which leave a "winey" taste. I know what she means so I try to help expand her palate with choices that avoid the tannins.

After dinner we walked back to the lounge. We wanted to have a quiet drink, but that was somewhat impossible. The piano player was there pounding away on the keys. It made me sad to listen to him play to a certain extent. I can accept that he'd likely not grown up listening to American 70's and 80's pop, but his playing reminded me of why my guitar playing has fallen off. It was mechanical. He knew all the notes, the melodies, but it had no passion; no art. He was just pounding on the keys and it was loud! And, the time was all wrong in that it was faster than it should have been. Again because he had no passion for the music. In the end, I was honestly worried about Haylie and we opted to return to the room about 30 minutes early to call it a night.

Despite having had 12 ounces while we were gone, she managed to wake up at 11 screaming and then almost every hour on the hour. We had a LONG night and it was evident that tomorrow could be a bad day as well.

Cheers!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Cozumel April 22nd, 2009 - Day 5

We got to sleep in this morning, but only because Haylie decided she needed to wake up at 3:30 AM and get a bottle.  That allowed us to sleep in until 7!  Lazy and late. LOL.  Colleen went down to the fitness center for her workout and I stayed in the room and watched Haylie.  We've decided to try shift eating where we're going to have her in the room as much as possible.  It just seems that she's getting over stimulated and when she does, she melts down so quickly we cannot solve it other than to get her into some place calm and familiar.

Breakfast was late and included the "updates" tour from the vacation club.  Despite our best attempts to get Colleen out of it they wouldn't let us start until she got there so she didn't even have time to change and had to go to this breakfast in her workout clothes.  The gentleman seemed a bit odd and unsure how to take someone through his pitch that didn't need his pitch.  I gave him the information about our experience, our package and he got a free breakfast.  If they truly make the sales force pay for meals around here, I'd be one annoyed employee.

After Haylie decided she'd reach for my cup of coffee and dump it into her stroller (fortunately it was pretty cold by then so no chance for burns) we decided it was time to get to the office to wrap this thing up.  She was working on borrowed time and I knew a real meltdown was going to happen soon.  The updates wound up being mostly about answering my questions, clarifying my understanding of the program and other nonsense.  I got some good information and was actually pleased that I didn't get pushed to purchase something else.  If I have to go through this every year, though, I'm likely to get beyond aggravated.

Today was a special day.  I had promised Colleen when we came here last year that she'd get to swim with the Dolphins at Dolphin Discovery this year.  They wouldn't let her last year because she was pregnant.  We booked the Dolphin Royal Swim for Colleen after we learned that Haylie had to be at least a year old which meant I'd have to stay with her.  I couldn't very well make Colleen give up her chance at it two years in a row.  She definitely enjoyed the experience.  I tried to get movies of the two swim encounters and I think I did OK.  Haylie got really overheated and I had to keep moving to allow air to stir.  Also, I had to get her into some shade at one point to let her get out of the back pack.  I do like using it to carry her around though.  Easier to manipulate compared to the stroller.

We got her back much later than I'd anticipated.  Haylie was overdue her nap, which means she'll either collapse when we get her back or she'll fight it tooth and nail.  In this case, it was the fight.  She screamed at the top of her lungs for at least 30 minutes until I came in and smelled she'd gotten so upset she'd pooped.  I changed her diaper and then put her right back into the crib.  She was taking at least some semblance of a nap no matter what she thought.  I managed to get her down to sleep for 45 minutes, but we both knew that would mean there'd be no chance in hell we'd risk her at dinner.  During her nap, we had a bottle of wine the resort had provided us for our anniversary.  We intentionally booked so that we'd celebrate here and I thought it was nice of them, but Colleen seemed to be convinced they only paid attention to that because I'd shared that with them during the update pitch.

It was Italian night at the buffet, and I let Colleen go first.  Haylie and I had some quality time on the floor and she tried to grab at as many things as she could.  I made sure the things that were left out were not threatening and thus she stayed fairly happy.  I went to dinner after Colleen got back and the Italian wasn't bad.  At least the red wine was the same as we'd had during the nap so I wasn't mixing too many alcohols.

Back in bed again by 10.  We were mostly hammered but no tequila so maybe the hang over wouldn't be too bad.  I don't know what kind of vacation this was supposed to be, but I feel mostly like a failure as a father and as a husband.  I can't figure out how to make this vacation good for either of them and it is eating me alive.

Cheers!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Cozumel April 21st, 2009 - Day 4

I can tell Haylie has gotten more comfortable with her accommodations because she woke up around 3 expecting a bottle.  That means she's settled into her routine.  I only wish we could say the same.  We were up yet again early, though this time, given the overnight bottle, she managed to let Colleen sleep until about 7.

I got up and had my first run.  Hung over, and unprepared, I had no expectations.  I just woke up wide awake at 6 and decided that I should take advantage of the early hour and get some sort of exercise while I was here.  One arm curls just isn't going to cut it when the cups are plastic and it isn't even 12 ounces. LOL  There were a few people out exercising, so I didn't feel totally out of place.  I am not sure when the Ironman Triathlon will be held, but I do know that the resort managed to be named the official hotel.  There were a few in serious biking gear on expensive looking road bikes and I had to at least consider that they were here training early.

Today was Haylie's first time on the beach and the ocean.  The water is colder, without question, and that startled her as I put her into her floatation device.  Then of course the matter of the salt water.  She wasn't too sure about that, but she did at least taste it.  Honestly, her water experience was more about the stuff floating in the water with her.  Seaweed, wood, shells, and small fish of some sort.  All held her focus much more than being in the water did.  We did not spend a long amount of time in the water, though.  The waves disquieted her and the water wasn't clear.

We managed to find a spot on the beach to set up that wasn't directly in the sun.  That can only be attributed to what I perceive as a lower attendance this vacation.  Yes, there are still sun worshippers staking out their claims at dawn, but there are many open spots at all the meals, there are few lines and quite a few empty places in the buffet.  I don't know if we chose an exceptionally late time of the season, but I honestly like it.  Haylie really was fascinated by sand.  She didn't put more than a couple of grains in her mouth and I wasn't going to stop her.  Honestly, she has to learn those lessons somehow.  We purchased a sun shade tent at a consignment sale and while it doesn't have stakes to drive into the ground, it still manages to hold its shape well if we put one of the towels down on the floor.  She seems to like it in there, but her fascination with the sand meant she spent quite a bit of time pulling it into the tent so she could play with it.  And of course all the detritus that it held.  At least she didn't find the cigarette butts before I did so I could get them out of her reach.

We had lunch at the Iguana Grill, which meant we'd get burgers and fries.  Not great, but it was reasonable.  Haylie flirted with a couple of the patrons and didn't have what I'd consider a serious meltdown, though she did start fussing and we had to call it an afternoon to get her back to the room.  That's going to become a significant issue, I know it.

We chose to spend this nap time again in the garden tub on the patio.  It allows us some time to sit and laugh and just be with one another.  And, of course to drink!  Tecate isn't a stellar beer, but when it is part of the all inclusive and it is cold, I can make it work. :)  Of course, that seems to be our one complaint this trip.  The people that stock the refrigerator seem to really be against putting any quantity of drinks into the room.  We cannot get them to provide more than 2 beers and have had to ask for special service every day we've been here.  Oh well, there's a bar not too far from the room and we can get shots of tequila.

Tonight we chose to wander off the resort for dinner at a place that comes pretty highly recommended.  La Cabana del Pescador is a little Bohemian place not far from the hotel, so we walked putting Haylie in her stroller.  They open for dinner only, starting at 6 and our goal was to get there right at 6 so that we'd hopefully get in and out before she had a meltdown.  Another spot that DOES NOT TAKE CREDIT CARDS!  Not that we needed to use credit, but it means I was short of cash and had to go back to the hotel to get more.  There isn't another resort on this side of the city with an ATM, which is also unusual, so I had to come back to our resort to withdraw more cash.  The restaurant is simple.  There's no menu.  You pick out a Lobster tail, they cook it, and you get soup, rice, and vegetables.  I picked out a MONSTER tail expecting that Colleen and I would share, and she picked out a fairly small one.  The price was 84 US for the two tails, sold by weight.  I don't know if that's good or bad, but honestly I thought it was worth the price.  Dinner was awesome until meltdown.  We were both totally disappointed and suddenly we are back to scrambling to wolf down our food and get out the door.  We got a good shot glass souvenir and it came with a pretty good banana vodka drink.  The owner was even nice enough to pour Colleen's into a plastic cup since she'd already stepped out of the restaurant to let Haylie calm down.

Back to the room and shutting down by 9.  That's really become disappointing, but I don't guess we've got much option.  She gets over stimulated is all I can really tell myself is going on.  I understand she may be spoiled a bit, and part of her acting out is also based on her pushing the bounds of her independence, but it really seems that the issue is too much stimulation.  She waves her hands in front of her trying to push it away and once we've changed the scenery or her input she seems to calm back down.  We took turns going down to the bar to get drinks and were both asleep before 10.  Tomorrow is the Dolphin Discovery adventure I promised Colleen and I also have to do the dog and pony show for the resort to allow them to "update" us on the features of the membership.  I can only hope things get better.

Cheers!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Cozumel April 20th, 2009 - Day 3

Well, today started early AGAIN!  We're up before most of the resort is even technically open and it's due to Haylie being asleep at 8 and up in the morning like her normal routine.  It isn't bad, just means we're quite the morning couple.

We decided that today would be our go into town day.  We spent the morning at the resort but we didn't really do anything.  Haylie has been quite grumpy and her meltdowns seem to be more sudden and far more over the top.  Maybe it's because she is the only infant at the resort this week.  Hard to say.  At least all the grandparent aged guests seem to find her endearing. LOL

We caught a cab into San Miguel, the town on the island.  The price has gone up, though and what was a 50 peso cab ride last year is now 80 pesos.  Considering I can and have run from the resort to the center of town, that seems a steep price.  It was also interesting to see what we were willing to accept in terms of transporting our daughter that we would never consider at home.  No car seat, we didn't bring ours, and no seat belt in the cab.  Fortunately the road is fairly deserted and there's honestly little chance of getting into an accident.  Still, I did find the premise interesting.

We packed a backpack to carry her in.  It is very interesting and quite tree hugger of me.  I asked Colleen to find one for us on Craigslist before we left because the Bjorn is now too small, or she's too big.  I just knew that I'd want to be able to keep her in something where I could have both hands free.  It worked reasonably well as we walked around town.  The major difference this year was now the barkers tried to get "family" to come in and shop instead of "mister" or "lady."  I honestly found it quite endearing.  Little about the town has changed, not that I'd really expected it.  The one significant difference seems to be a major upgrade to the pier.  They've started a lot of work and the completed portions make it look very polished.  Beyond that, San Miguel is still a town fed by tourism and the money they bring.  The preferred currency is still the US Dollar and the exchange rates tend to be horrible.  That's only a problem in that I don't carry large amounts of US cash, I prefer to use my ATM card to get local currency.  I still get change back from some of the vendors in USD, which they don't realize means they've lost some profit.  Oh well.

We tried dinner tonight at the other sit down restaurant, hoping that the outdoor setting and the higher attendance would keep us from another meltdown.  No such luck.  Haylie got really uptight about 45 minutes into dinner and we wound up leaving early yet again.  Not sure how we'll address that challenge, but we better find something.  It has Colleen quite uptight and now questioning the nature of bringing Haylie on this vacation.  In bed by 9 again.  Tomorrow will be the beach and her first taste of sand and the ocean.  It should be interesting.

Cheers!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Cozumel April 19th, 2009 - Day 2

Haylie decided our day would start at 6:30 AM.  Oof!  At least I wasn't hung over.  Going to bed early has its benefits.

Breakfast is still unquestionably the best meal they serve here.  Buffet style will wreak havoc with any hope of caloric moderation.  Of course, beer isn't on any diet I'm aware of anyway.  So, we're somewhat suspending diet though I do plan on getting as much exercise as I can.

Today was Haylie's first time in any water deeper than a bathtub.  We bought a float toy that lets her sit in the middle not unlike her bouncer or walker.  She  wasn't too sure about the water to start, and because it was in a pool, it was chlorinated water so she likely got a mouthful of some nasty stuff.  She really did seem to enjoy it quite a bit though.  She splashed her hands and laughed full of wonderment.  I took some time to get her out of the contraption and hold her in my arms as well.  She didn't seem to necessarily like the idea of going under, so we decided we'd save that for another try.

We only spent a couple of hours in the pool, and it was her nap time.  At least she seems to be sleeping well here.  We took the chance to get cleaned up and then the phone rang.  They are persistent about trying to sell something.  I don't even know why.  We're already on the hook for the next 49 years.  Anyway, I told Colleen we'd just need the one day to get past this and then they'd leave us alone.  Unfortunately, of course, the phone woke Haylie and so she was disoriented and a bit grumpy.  I think there's really no getting used to a new place and the crib the hotel brought doesn't look all that comfortable.

We got down the desk and they immediately wanted a credit card and ID.  I was surprised that they really expected us to sit through a 90 minute pitch.  I tried to ask what the point was and could we just get the updated information in a shorter time.  There seemed to be some "new" component that we might want to buy, but we'd have to go through the entire pitch to find out.  They also then tried to explain that they were giving us a complimentary lunch.  WHAT???  I then showed her my wrist band indicating we're already on the all inclusive and that lunch was already paid for.  So, they still didn't seem to get it and in the end, we walked away.  I intend to complain when we get back.  I find the vacation club here less than understanding and insanely fixated on getting as much money from us as they can.

After lunch, Colleen and I brought Haylie back to the room.  I made a deal that she could go to the beach and I'd take a nap while Haylie did.  It was good for us both as I got some extra rest and Colleen got a bit of a break.  Perhaps her first chance to really feel relaxed.

We made reservations for the fine dining.  Unfortunately, Haylie had other ideas.  She fussed, complained, and screamed quite loudly in a room meant for quiet and intimate dining.  So, we wound up having to take our meal back to the room.

Bedtime again before 9.  I am guessing there's little chance of a later evening but we'll see how that goes.

Cheers!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Cozumel April 18th, 2009 - Day 1

So, today marked our travel day.  The first time we'd take our daughter on a plane and on her way back to the resort we chose during our babymoon.  The day started damned early.  I am serious.  We had to get up at 4 AM to allow us time to shower and get prepared since our flight started.  Considering it is vacation, that's early!

The flight itself I'd consider a success.  My daughter, Haylie, had never flown in a plane before and we'd worried that she'd have a massive meltdown on the plane and be one of those babies that cried the whole time.  She did not.  I will say that being on the plane only managed to show that her attention span is not exactly able to compensate for 3 hours in a plane.  At 10 months, that's hardly her fault.

We got to Dallas, our first leg without what I would consider any issues.  She cried a couple of times, granted, but in the end, she was really only bored and only managed a 15 minute nap.  If I were her age, and needed as much sleep as she does, 15 minutes would make me grumpy too.

Damnit!  The second leg was delayed.  Fog in Dallas meant we'd take off late.  Much harder to convince our daughter to rest in the terminal and of course the delay meant that instead of her getting a nap at the hotel like she should, we'd have to hope for more sleep on the plane.

As an aside, I cannot imagine traveling with a lap child outside business class or higher.  Yes, I paid a shitload more for the tickets that way, but I consider it well worth it all things considered.  The stewardess on the second leg was so nice, it was incredible.  She even offered to hold Haylie while we ate, which was well outside her normal duties.

We got to the airport and despite having ownership in a time share, someone wanted to try to sell us another one.  Good Lord!  Oh well, we managed to avoid talking to anyone in any significant amount of time and in the end we got onto our shuttle without much trouble.  On to the resort!

We got to our resort well past check in time and that was handy.  The flight in had delayed almost 45 minutes and had to fly around a tornado in Houston which moved us another 45 minute out.  That was actually all in all quite handy.  We got in and Colleen requested a crib.  I was surprised, considering we'd packed the travel crib, but she seemed insistent.  This gave Haylie a decent shot at a nap, and we were ready to settle in.

Other than a couple of superficial issues, the room is outstanding.  We got the room our membership purchased, which included a Jacuzzi tub on the patio and a relatively well stocked kitchen.  We still got hit up for the sales pitch. What?????  OK, I told them we'd meet, but I also plan to bail on that pretty damned early.

Dinner was at the buffet.  Not terrible, not great.  In the end, we got to bed early and apparently, that will be the way we have to spend each day because the crib is in our room.  Oh well.

Cheers!

Labels:

Friday, April 10, 2009

Chicago HIMSS Conference Day 5, April 8, 2009

Today was the last day of the conference and then I fly home!  I can’t wait.  Chicago is a nice town, and I really have had a wonderful experience at this conference, but I am so ready to be back in my own bed and to see my family.

The morning started with Dr. Alan Greenspan.  Now, whether or not you believe his monetary policy got us into our current mess (I personally don’t, and have had to agree to disagree with a few of my friends on the matter) I find him exceptionally intelligent.  He didn’t do a great job of speaking directly to Healthcare IT issues, but the macroeconomics lesson was worth the listen anyway.

My day cleared up due to last minute rescheduling and that meant I had time to kill before my shuttle to the airport.  So, I took the chance for a few rounds in the hotel bar one last time.  They were nice people, despite the kinks in the hotel stay itself, and I even had the bar buy me one last round.  In the end, I would say that I’d give them another 6 months to work out some of the growing pains and expect that to be a very good hotel on the South side of Chicago in an area that in 2 years will be very upscale.

What is it about cab drivers and shuttle services that gives those people the freedom to drive like madmen?  I swear there were 4 different times I thought we’d clip another car, or just ram into one.  It freaks me out to put my life into the hands of a stranger.  I know they’ve got a different license that’s supposed to mean they’ve been trained to do this kind of work, but MAN!  It would seem that the certification isn’t all that arduous.

The flight home was uneventful.  It was crowded, but I had my aisle seat so I didn’t really mind.  Getting home to sleep in my own bed will be well worth it.

Cheers!

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Chicago HIMSS Conference Day 4, April 7, 2009

No Keynote speaker today, but I was going to meet with the itSMF Healthcare SIG.  itSMF is Information Technology Service Management Foundation.  That’s a group focused on advancing the premise of service management, which is what I did the last of my old job and what the exact role I hold in my new division.  A SIG is a Special Interest Group, so this is service management applied to healthcare.  So, I joined the Raleigh chapter and got invited to the Greater Chicago area meeting hoping to grow their membership nationally by getting folks from the local SIG to attend this breakfast.  It wasn’t bad, but the food wasn’t healthy again.  Oh well, nothing more I can do.

Today’s sessions were not nearly as bad.  I’d loaded up on education classes and was pleasantly surprised about how well it worked out for me.  I actually had a ratio of good to valuable that was positive this time.  A first for this conference.  I also managed to meet with one of the two guys I now work with that I need to start getting myself in front of more often.  They can help me technically achieve my goals for this new role.

I got back to the hotel and decided I’d have a quiet evening in and order pizza.  A South Chicago staple is Connie’s Pizza.  I found that I can order on-line and they’ll deliver much like the regular chain restaurants.  So, I placed my order and was able to use my AMEX to get it paid.  Of course, once again the hotel bit me in the ass!  The delivery guy couldn’t call my cell phone, it is long distance and WHAT DO YOU KNOW, can’t call my room directly because there’s still no dial tone!  That meant he was sitting down in the lobby for some unknown length of time while he managed to finally tell the desk to call my cell phone.  ARGGH!  Of course, I appreciate that the hotel won’t allow him to come directly to my room, but still!

Got packed and set up a meeting for tomorrow to meet with the other person I needed to meet in person while we were both here.  No telling when I’ll get that chance again.  I called Colleen and told her I was so ready to come home.  I can’t wait to get there.

Bed early and then wrap it up and fly home!

Cheers!

Chicago HIMSS Conference Day 3, April 6, 2009

A quiet day in terms of the conference.  The keynote speaker was from Kaiser Permanente a HUGE hospital group in California.  I wasn’t impressed because the one thing I’ve learned is that those are not indicative of the reality in the market.  Beyond that, I was mostly disappointed with the sessions.  They were either too generic or covered information that may be new to Healthcare but weren’t new topics for IT in general.  Oh well.  That in itself is a learning component for me in this endeavor.

Back to the hotel.  I hate the hotel more and more every day.  I get in and the desk lamp doesn’t work.  I thought, well, it is just a light bulb.  NOOOOOOO!  It was the socket in the wall!  Nothing plugged in to that socket now works!  WHAT????  Does this hotel just fall apart at the seams?  I went down to the bar and had a Jameson and club soda (they want 10 bucks for a REGULAR Crown Royal and Coke so I had to settle for the 8 dollar drink instead) while I tried to understand why I’d done it this way.  I decided I’d go tonight for Chinese in Chinatown.  Of course, that meant I’d need a cab.  DAMNED Cabs don’t even know where this hotel is and there are two companies that have their garage within a half mile of the address!!!  I called from the bar and then a second time 30 minutes later after none arrived.  The same dispatcher asked this time for the exact street address and I was livid!

Got the cab and for whatever reason, I am just not doing well with cabs in this town.  I have had to give them explicit street addresses almost every trip and most of the locations I’ve asked for in my mind were relative Chicago landmarks.  So, I prepared this time and put the exact address into my phone for Lao Sze Chaun Chinese restaurant.  Fortunately, I’d also gotten landmark information from Brian so that I could tell how close I was roughly once I got to a point where I knew the cab driver would not know.

Chinese food in Chinatown isn’t quite the same as Chinese food I’d get in Raleigh.  I knew that going in, but I never quite manage to not be surprised.  They brought me a starter of chili garlic cabbage.  It was a cold salad so to speak, fire hot in terms of the crushed red pepper and whatever they seasoned the oil with as well.  It was awesome.  For some reason, though, the service showed signs of being shaky.  They brought be a second plate.  In Chinese restaurants, that never happens.  It implies they missed that I’d gotten the first and so they brought me the second thinking it was my first.  Hmmmm

The hot chili platter appetizer arrived.  OK!  It was literally garlic oil, green peppers, diced jalapenos, and roasted red chili peppers.  That was it.  So, I grabbed my chopsticks and started wolfing.  I knew I’d pay for it the next day, and the sweat on my forehead said I might start paying tonight, but I managed to eat a little more than half a plate of sautéed chilies.  On top of that, my entree arrived.  I had ordered the Twice cooked dry chili chicken.  YEAH RIGHT!  It was a plate of chicken and more red chilies! I had thought perhaps some veggies, and there were some tiny bits of green onion and lemongrass in the mix, but it was once again just the CHILI!  I needed another beer, the water refilled and three cups of the green tea they brought to tough my way through the rest of dinner and I felt bad that I’d left about half of the chilies on the plate between the two courses.

More drama with the service.  I’d asked for an order of two spring rolls and they didn’t bring them.  Of course, though, they were on the check.  So, I asked hoping they’d just take them off the check without issue.  Of course not.  They wanted to bring them as I was ready to leave.  I wanted to leave.  So, to make it all go away, I agreed to take the order to go.  To make it up, they brought me an order of 5!  Oh well, just get me out of here.  My whole body seemed to tingle with the peppers. LOL

I did not expect there’d be a chance to get a cab on the ride back.  So, I decided I’d man up and walk.  It was supposed to only be 6 or 7 blocks and based on how the ride went up, I figured I could find my way back.  On the way, I stopped into a Walgreen’s to buy a couple of diet green tea and an ice cream sandwich.  I also found a Chinese bakery and got three cookies; one walnut, one peanut, one almond.  They weren’t very different in consistency, but they looked so good.  I told myself I wouldn’t eat all three tonight anyway.

It turned out I was right.  I did get back to the hotel walking.  It wasn’t bad other than the 34 degrees and the 15 mph winds with a wind chill in the mid 20s.  In APRIL!  Hmmm

Came back to the room and called Colleen.  She seems to be surviving better than I am here.  I miss her terribly.  Off to bed early because I have a meeting at 7 AM at another hotel which means yet another cab adventure tomorrow.  Also means getting up at 5:30 AM for the first time and I am still not sleeping well due to the damned train roaring past the room and the temperature in here having no middle ground.

Cheers!

Monday, April 06, 2009

Chicago HIMSS Conference Day 2, April 5, 2009

So, the conference actually started on Saturday but the parts of it that happened yesterday were more about continuing education credits and society awards banquets.  Since I haven’t belonged to the society that long, I knew I didn’t need to be in for Saturday.  But, there were some sessions I wanted to attend on Sunday, so here I am.

Really horrible choice for a hotel, if I do say so myself.  I won’t have dial tone on the room phone the remainder of my stay I discovered.  They don’t know what is wrong or how to resolve it.  Not a big deal, but it is slightly annoying because I like having the land line as a backup for folks to reach me.  Turns out my room faces the El.  ARGH!  That means that every 30 or 40 minutes a train comes by going one or the other direction.  It managed to wake me up more than once overnight.  I don’t sleep well in hotels on the first night anyway and this did nothing to help out.  The water pressure is the pits in the shower, and there’s a very heavy chlorine smell to the water in the shower.  Have I really become that much of an elitist?  I can remember staying in hotels or motels FAR worse than this and never batting an eye.  Now, I can’t even imagine.

The conference sessions were mixed.  The first one I went to was discussing the NHIN, which is the government based framework for the secure exchange of patient data across the country.  Very early still in terms of large adoption.  Still, it presents an interesting option in that it should allow smaller practices to embrace the Electronic Health Record without bearing significant amounts of costs associated with building out a framework and then connecting their framework to others.

The next session was not as good.  It was supposed to be about adopting Electronic Health Records, but it wound up being a generic discussion of process decomposition and redesign as you worked toward a goal of Electronic Health Records.  Not to slight the speaker, she was very good, but it was old information and didn’t really in my mind cover the topic at hand.

The last session of the day was the Keynote Address from Dennis Quaid.  Now, I had no real idea what to expect from it, but I wanted to hear what he had to say.  Unfortunately, I’d forgotten that recently his twins had received overdoses of heparin in the hospital and so his entire discussion centered around how IT in Healthcare should facilitate greater safety in patient care.  An important subject, but it really came across to me more as whining than delivering valuable information.  Probably just my opinion.

I got back to the room early since there were no afternoon sessions I was really interested in.  I took this opportunity to go to the bar and have some Jameson and club sodas.  I really had time to kill and while I was there got my call from Brian that we’d be going to dinner around 6.  Good timing for me.

We went to a Polish restaurant.  It isn’t very different from German, other than to say it is a bit heavier.  I tried some of the spread they brought with the bread and it literally tasted like what my mom gets out of that jar on her stove to add into green beans, etc.  It was some sort of lard or animal fat with bits of bacon in it!  Oh my God!  I could have hurled.  Oh well, I tried it.  Overall, dinner was a positive experience though, so I won’t complain.

Got back to the room and the snowstorm had picked up.  Yes, that’s right, it is snowing here in April.  I should have known better.  And, of course, now not only did the hotel not have a working phone in my room, but they are on satellite and the storm was blocking reception.  So, I had no TV as well!  I drifted off to sleep quite annoyed by my hotel choice for this trip.

I miss Colleen.  I spoke to her briefly, and sort of summarized the sessions from the day.  I didn’t tell her about the bacon grease spread though.  She’d likely have hurled just hearing about it!  It was good to hear her voice though.  Makes me feel better that she’s at least not too frazzled.

Cheers!

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Chicago HIMSS conference Day 1, April 4, 2009

OK, so I hadn’t actually done much updating to this blog because it really only followed my travels.  Still, this is a trip and I decided that I should take at least a bit of time to chronicle my trip as part of an update to this blog.

This update is an interesting one because I’ve started my second blog and the rules there intersected with the rules here.  I update that one whenever I work out or run a road race and I update this one every time I travel.  I ran a race today and then caught a flight to Chicago, so I decided for whatever reason I’d actually update both.  Probably just a geek move, but whatever.

Camille got away from me today.  She booked in between the row of houses and into the tree line.  I almost thought we’d lost her again and the girls next door found her, thankfully.  Still, it was stressful.  I hadn’t left a lot of time between the end of the race and when I needed to be at the airport.  It only adds to my stress.  I hate to fly, though I do it regularly and without incident.  I just don’t have to like it.

Got to Chicago and decided to buy a shuttle round trip for the ride to the hotel and back to the airport on Wednesday.  I don’t know how smart that really was, but I didn’t want to take the risk that a cab would be horrific to pay.  Of course, it is all reimbursed expenses but that doesn’t mean I can’t be frugal.  The trip took more than an hour and I learned that the hotel isn’t in the best neighborhood.  Oh well.

I caught a cab to the Gold Coast and the Hard Rock Cafe.  I don’t eat there, food is horrible.  But, I scored my Chicago pin.  Another city down.  From there I walked around looking for something interesting to eat.  I wound up sitting in an Irish pub having a couple of drinks and letting Urbanspoon choose my meal for me.  That’s a handy app on the iPhone, if you have one and don’t have it, I recommend it.  I wound up going to a Lebanese place not far from the pub.  It was pretty tasty though the service was slow.  And, damnit, they were BYOB, which meant I was not going to get a beer or more whiskey.  Oh well, probably for the best.  I was dragging serious butt.

Back to the room and watch the end of the UNC game.  I am not sure who will win the tourney, but right now I can’t bet against Michigan State.  They dominated a UConn team I was convinced would wipe up the floor with MSU.  That’s why they play the games I suppose.  Could be a very good matchup.

No dial tone in the hotel room?  Odd.  I asked about it and they were going to fix it while I was out.  I guess not.  Oh well, I can charge my cell phone and not sweat it.  Off to bed!

Cheers!