Okay. Time to blow off some steam on the local Austin Traffic. For those following along I just moved to Austin from Houston a mere 6 months ago. As everyone knows Houston has some of the worst traffic. The biggest problem is the speed limit on the major freeways. Mostly this is 55-65. Well if you are not going at least 70+ you will be run over.

Okay now in Austin I am trying to report on the local anomalies. Twice this month I have nearly rear ended the car in front of me not because the of a traffic jam but because the person on the inside lane decides ‘Oh I need to get off at this exit’ and completely stops their vehicle, puts on their right blinker and waits for a clear lane to move over three lanes to the exit.

What the F*CK is this. It would not be a problem except this always seems to occur in the morning on the way to work in a section that is past all of the congestion. Arghhh!
That’s it for the traffic report. I need to buy a helicopter or something.

Yes. We made the return from the Cruise. Back to the land of traffic, deadlines and stress. Today has been quite the day. To me this is always a good measure of how your vacation went. If you can return to work and hit the ground running then your vacation could not have gone that well. If on the other hand you are having a hard time adjusting to the surroundings then congratulations. You had a most excellent vacation.

Here are the details of the cruise.

Friday. Arrived in Ft. Lauderdale in the early afternoon. We checked into our hotel (after a few hours waiting for the room to become ready). Mostly sat at the pool drinking too much beer and talking about the cruise before us.

Saturday. Caught the shuttle from the hotel to the dock. Went though the check-in process. Set out at 4:30pm to Jamaica. Nice pictures of the mainland as we sailed. Spent the rest of the day trying to get familiar with the ship and layout. Signed up for the spa pool. Just $60 gets you usage of the pool for as many time as I would like over the next 7 days.

Sunday. This is a full day at sea on our way to Jamaica. Passed by Cuba on the way. This is also our first of two formal nights. Bought a tux for the occasion. Makes me feel like I was going to a prom. Getting the feel of the ship and the feeding cycles. Wow 18 hours of food service available. Interesting to see what weight I will gain by the end of the cruise.

Monday morning. Arrive in Jamaica. Take the party cruise to our first excursion, Dun’s River Falls. This is fantastic. The brochure states this is a 600 ft climb. I’m not sure. Basically, you climb the rocks to the top of the falls while holding each others hands and getting video tapped by the guide. Afterward you get to purchase the tape of the adventure for $30. We did and couldn’t wait to get back to watch this.

Tuesday. Next port is Grand Cayman. Here we do not pull up to a dock like in Jamaica. Instead we must be ferried (tendered) via life boats. First attempt. Get into the second boat. Half way to the island the boat returns to the ship. Seems the water is too rough. The Capitan announces there are issues due to weather conditions. Trips to the island are cancelled. This means we will miss out planned trip to ‘Stingray city’ where you get to snorkel with the stingrays. Bummer. After about an hour the Capitan announces the tendering may resume as the weather has become better. This time we are on the 4th or 5th boat and actually make it to the dock. Attempted to tie off and off load passengers. Waves were still to rough. Actually saw mooring ropes snap. Tried again from a different dock. Worse. Tried again from original dock. Finally was ale to get everyone off the boat who now wanted to get off the boat. Picked up a guide for $15 a person to take all 4 of us around the island and show us things. So we sent to Hell (actual town). Very interesting rock formations. Then we went to the Turtle farm. Passed by 7-mile beach. But did not see anything because of the resorts blocking the views. Came back to Georgetown and the ship was gone! Seems the water was so rough the ship moved to the other side of the island. Had to take a taxi and get in line to return to the ship. What a nightmare. Left around 5 for Cozemel.

Wednesday. Arrived in Cozemel. This time we are docked. We had brought along our snorkel gear and had no real plans for the day. A couple in our party (Mary & Doug) suggested a local secluded location. Spent the day floating around. Lost the mother of the clan. Seems the tide or whatever had pushed her to the next area. We all panicked when she could not be found. Had lunch at Ernesto’s. Just some nachos and coke for me. Had three beers while snorkeling and was trying to not get wasted. Returned to the ship to cleanup and go out for dinner downtown. Another suggestion from Doug & Mary was an Italian restaurant. Great food and plenty of it. Made it back to the ship just in time to depart.

Thursday. Another all-day at sea day. This also means another formal night. Time to realax from the three ports and rushed days. And spend some time at the spa. This is supposed to be a vacation. This is also the night of the midnight buffet. This is a fantastic feast made of anything edible. Great looking carvings or fruit and other items

Friday. Arrived in Key West. Sondra and I are the designated tour guides. We finally found a good scooter shop and rented transportation for the gang. Gang members included Bob and Cicci (Meet them on Dun’s river falls trip in Jamaica). Very nice couple from Minnesota. Steve and Cindy. Sondra works with Steve here in Austin. And Sondra and I. So we tooled around Key West. Went to the public beach. Took some pictures. Had lunch ad Sloppy Joe’s. Went to Southernmost point and everyone took pictures in front of the buoy. Stopped and had a piece if Key lime pie at the Hotel on the dock. Made it back to the ship just in time.

Saturday. Arrived back in Ft. Lauderdale.

Getting pictures developed today. So should be able to upload some to the site tonight. Can’t wait to see them. I have the digital ad most of these look good. But I also have 10 rolls of film from 4 disposable cameras and 6 I shot with my 35mm that are being processed. I pick these up on my way home.

The 11th hour is upon us. In less than 24 hours I will be in Ft. Lauderdale Fla. In less than 48 Sondra and I will be walking up the gangplank onto a Cruise ship for a 7-day Caribbean adventure.

We are so excited. We have both spent too much money this week on some new clothes, shoes and stuff. But we plan on having a good relaxing time. Neither if us have been on a cruise before. Another couple, Steve who works with Sondra and his wife Cindy went last year for their 25th anniversary. They loved it soo much and Steve convinced Sondra we need to go.

So here we are both anticipating a fantastic celebration. Something I did not know was that I have to bring along with my short, tee shirts and flip-flops a tux. Yes, TUX. There are two formal dinners on this cruise. The Captain’s welcome dinner, at the beginning of the cruise and the farewell dinner at the end. There are also a couple of semi-formal dinners where I am expected to wear a suite and tie. Plus I have to find room in my suitcase for all the cabana wear I want to bring. Jeez!

I just want some fun in the sun. We are going through Jamaica where we plan to climb Duns River falls. We have heard this is very beautiful. In Grand Cayman we are going to dive with the Stingrays. Another first. Should be interesting. Kind of like the commercial (a different cruise line) and the guy say something like ‘…there like giant portabella mushrooms with eyes…’. Last stop is Key West. Been there before. Loved it. Looking forward to going back.

Things I will miss. My laptop and high-speed Internet access. My emails and other things to do while online. But that is the price you pay for a tropical vacation. I have always said I could move to some remote island, find me a local girl to keep me company, setup a hut on the beach and I would be happy. Would not ever look back. I still think that is true.

I’m out of here. Until Jan 26…

Well this is Sunday. This means Monday will be the start of the first full week of the New Year. I’m really looking forward to this (read heavy sarcasms). It is normally the time when others I work with and for generally return to work and want to jump feet first into projects. Because they have been out for the past few weeks all the time thinking the production engines are roaring full-steam ahead.

I do have one consolation. Sondra and I are going on a cruise on Jan 16. Seven days floating round the Caribbean. We are going with another couple, which should be interesting. Wow 7 days. Can’t wait. The exotic ports we stop at are Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Key West. Sondra and I have been to Key West November 2002. See the pictures in the gallery
Trip to Key West

The entire trip was just $1500 for the both. We are staying mid-deck (I think that is good). You can see the route of the ship on the cruise lines web page

Celebrity Cuise Info

This of course means I need to work on my body for the trip. Even though I am knocking at 40 I want to try and look something less than a beached whale (we all do right?)

So Sondra and I started running at Town Lake. This is a very beautiful place very near downtown Austin. Lot&#039s of people running and good people watching to help take your mind off the running.

So two weeks before the trip and I want to start some physical activity to lose some pounds. Maybe this time I can keep it off.

So Happy New Year to all.

FPM

A little about myself. I recently moved to Austin, TX from Houston (a mere 160 miles) this past Labor day (2003. The move was prompted by a girl, Sondra. The move was…well interesting. Being a bachelor for this past decade and now having to live with someone and worse someone live with you has taken some adjusting. We live together in her house…with her mother…and two full-size dogs. There was a cat, “Bob-cat”. He was recently put to sleep because of stomach cancer.

Anyway my life has changed. I used to spend my weekdays and weekends mostly doing as I pleased. I lived in apartment and didn&#039t have to worry about housework, yard work etc. Now there are chores and weekend projects.

So, three some odd months now, I’m living in Austin. I am adjusting to living with someone and their mother.

Worse of all is the traffic. Everyone in the part of the state knows that Houston has terrible traffic. Well, I’m here to state that so does Austin. Austin&#039s trouble is not that there is anywhere near the amount of people as Houston. The problem with Austin is there are just not enought roads. There are basically 2 main roads that run North-South. That is it. Everyday to work, 26 miles, cars cars cars!

FPM