Today, much like yesterday, I can predict is going to be semi-non-productive.
Last time I went to bed around 1-2am, which is a fairly decent time for me.
Lately I have been having these strange dreams of memories of my childhood. I don’t know if I should be thankful they’re not nightmares, or be afraid. Don’t they say that your life flashes before you eyes before you die? You know that I can’t do anything the conventional way, so maybe it’s just taking its time for the “flash”! I’m not really concerned because I am going to live to b a healthy 175 anyways! That’s my goal, and I’m gonna make it, one day at a time!
So about 7am my phone starts ringing. I , assuming it is work, roll over, do the usual grab and miss you do when you’re still half asleep, open one eye and notice its not work.
OK, I have to go off on a side note here. Is it just me, or has all sense of home training left the world? When I was growing up, you didn’t DARE call anyone, even a FRIEND before 9:30am. This was just proper etiquette. I do admit that there are certain friends that I call at all hours of the night, day, afternoon, whenever, but they work in the same job I do, so the standard rules don’t apply! I remember one time back when I was in middle school my mother yelling at me because I picked up the phone to call my friend on a Saturday morning. “But mom, she’s gonna be up” I remember saying to her. Then she made a point, and lord knows that woman can beat a point to where even a dead horse would get up and be like… “look, I know I’m dead, but to get you to shut up, I will gallop, one more time!” Yet she made a valid point (in every possible way to get it across) it’s not just the person you could be inconveniencing but the entire house. Of course this was back when people actually still used house phones too.
Back to my regularly scheduled blabbling…..
It’s University of Phoenix. I guess somehow they caught wind that I was interested in going back to school.
Interested?
Yes….
At 7am in the morning?
I DON’T THINK SO!! Not when I just went to bed some 5-6 hours before that. I mean I am a morning person, but when I don’t want to be, like today….. I DO NOT WANT TO BE!
Needless to say, they got introduced to my voicemail, quite quickly!
I am online checking out the posted pictures on facebook of the night out with the Asian Mafia Asawas… and while on there (notice how I veer quickly away from that subject) a friend of mine whom I haven’t spoken with in a while is on there.
I ask her if she wants to go get some West Indian food from this place she introduced me to in South Miami.
She agrees.
While on my way, I get lost. Big surprise I know, I sometimes get lost backing out of my driveway. I have no clue what it is about me and directions in the city! However, put me in the middle of the wilderness, and I have no problem, OR, in foreign countries, I have no problem. Who would have guessed.
I eventually find my way to where I’m supposed to be, and we order our food.
2 doubles, some dahl, rice, and 2 Tings.
I was only part there for the food, but mostly to see my friend, she is going through some troubling times, and I hate to see a friend down, so I had to come to the rescue with all of my foolishness!!
I’m able to get here to laugh and joke around like her usual self, so I feel my mission was accomplished!
While I am in the restaurant, I get a text from my mother. “Call Me after your lunch”
I can only imagine…..
So after I get back on the road, I call the crazy wombat.
She has another ‘mystery’ for me to solve.
This morning, she scrubbed out the horse’s water buckets and put fresh water in them. She just went out there to check on them, and see that they didn’t need water… and there was a pork chop bone in one!
I now see where I have inherited the “strange things happen to me” gene. I thought my mom was messing with me, because I always call her when random things happen to me, so I partially thought she was making fun of me. Then I realized she was serious.
We went through pretty much every scenario, and basically boiled it down to it had to have been a hawk flying over that picked it up somewhere, and it just managed to fall into the bucket.
Whatever the real reason… that has to be the oddest thing I have heard happen on my moms farm…. to date at least!
I am now back, relaxing in the coolness of air conditioning (it’s hot as bacon grease in hell outside today).
I believe I will take a nap!
Tomorrow ought to be interesting, I am attending a party of a co-worker…….
Do I smell an adventure?? Oh, I believe I do!!
By the way, I found my glasses!
“There is no insanity so devastating in man’s life as utter sanity” ~ William Allen White (1868-1944)
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Helmets on please, its a Treacherous kinda Luther Day!
Today has been an absolute nonproductive day.
I am on standby for the next several days….
Meaning? I sit here and wait for the phone to ring for work to tell me I have a new mission, and have no choice, but to accept it!
I usually spend these days running all my errands, doing laundry, checking my stocks, cleaning the efficiency, cleaning out my truck (ok so now I’m starting to lie, my poor truck hasn’t been cleaned out in forever).
Point being, standby days are usually quite productive for me. But today this wasn’t the case.
I went to bed at about 2:30am this morning. Just couldn’t sleep for some reason.
Woke up first time 3:45…. Had to pee!! I drank about 3 litres of water with key limes in it before I went to bed… smart move I know!
Laid back down, I believe I dosed back off, if you want to call it that, woke up at 4:45am… this time WIDE awake. I knew then, today wasn’t going to be a productive one.
So let’s see, what have I done today?
1- watched youtube videos
2- listened to youtube videos
3- made some coffee
4- chatted with a few people on facebook
5- declared it a Luther Vandross day.
6- Insisted on showing my homage to vegetables, and acted like one!
Luther Vandross day?? I know, what the hell is that?
Have you ever had something that normally lasts a short time, but for some reason it just takes forever? Similar to a Luther Vandross song. I am a huge fan of Luther. In fact AOL radio actually has an “All Luther” station, so I will sit and listen to it on days like this. He is the only artist I know that can take a 3 minute song, and turn it into a 3 week mini-series. If he’s singing the song live… if there is a “you” in the song, he will go to everyone in the audience and sing “ you and you, and you and you, and you back theeeeere, and youuuu toooo, and youuu , dooobey doobey dooo, and youu, shooby dooby you you you”… you get the point.
So much like a Luther song/concert, my day has seemed to go on, and on, and on… however, it was still pleasant. Unlike a Luther concert, there haven’t been random women and old ladies throwing their drawers at me…. I do however need to pick up my underwear off the bathroom floor, along with my other clothes I took off from the other night I went out….
This brings me to my next area of discussion….
The other night was my first night out dancing since surgery.
I get message from one of my Asian Mafia asawas (there’s your Tagalog word of the day… look it up, I promise it won’t hurt you to learn something new)
It was a last minute message, but I wasn’t going to turn it down. I was a little worried because I know that my surgeon said it would take 4-6 months before I’m completely “healed” internally… aaaaand its only been a little over a month, but I figured, what the hell. I’m glad I did.
We went to a popular club in South Beach (excuse me while I throw up a little in my mouth) I do admit (secretly) that I had a very good time.
The good and bad about that night.
Pro- I was not driving, which means I could drink the great mojitos they make there
Con- The mojitos cost almost $14.00 for one….
Pro- you get there before 9, you don’t pay…
Con- my luck being ever so presently off kilter. I get there at like 9:13 and three quarter seconds…. So I payed the damn $10.00 entrance.
Pro- The have dancers that dance on the bar….
Con- one of them is probably close to 50… don’t get me wrong, there are some hot 50 year old ladies… but they still don’t look right wearing the uniform which is a kind of blend between hot shorts and a thong, with fishnet stockings… well, they looked more like whale nets on her thighs. She looked, as I once heard my mom refer to a woman, rode HARD, and put up soaking wet. She did look hurt! I mean from the neck up, shut the HECK up! Who knows, maybe she had grandkids she is putting through college. At first I thought the cymbals kept surprising her every time she turned my way, then I realized , this is South Florida, she of course had some plastic work done. So that constant surprised look, complete with Jar-Jar Bink lips, permanently tattooed eyebrows is normal!
We move to another area of the club where they have a DJ spinning really good music. After our big booty friend managed to knock over an entire table of drinks, we get another round, and continue to dance.
I’m feeling good about this point, and am dancing with one of the Asian mafia gals, and go to lift her up and put her on my shoulders. Not a problem, she’s light…. Well…. Apparently light is the word to realize here… I didn’t realize there was a LIGHT above us, and when I picked her up, I slammed her head into the light. I think the best part about it is, I didn’t know, so I kept dancing… which means to ever beat that I bounced up to the music… she hit her head.
When I finally brought her down, she was holding her head, and it hit me what happened. The sad thing is… everyone else that was there- noticed what was happening, and they were sitting there laughing!
I will admit, I peed a little from laughter when I realized what happened.
The rest of the night slowed down… I have to build up my stamina again. I feel so out of shape since I had surgery.
Bringing us to present day…. I think that all of that has a little effect as to why I do not want to do anything today.
I hope however, that I get a call from work telling me they have this incredible trip for me to do. I would much rather be talking about an adventure than me sitting around listening to Luther Vandross, drinking Cuban coffee, and talking about how I need to pick up the underwear and clothes out of my bathroom…. Oh well, it is what it is!
Until next time…can you let me know if you find my glasses please……
“Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired” ~ Jules Renard (1864-1910)
I am on standby for the next several days….
Meaning? I sit here and wait for the phone to ring for work to tell me I have a new mission, and have no choice, but to accept it!
I usually spend these days running all my errands, doing laundry, checking my stocks, cleaning the efficiency, cleaning out my truck (ok so now I’m starting to lie, my poor truck hasn’t been cleaned out in forever).
Point being, standby days are usually quite productive for me. But today this wasn’t the case.
I went to bed at about 2:30am this morning. Just couldn’t sleep for some reason.
Woke up first time 3:45…. Had to pee!! I drank about 3 litres of water with key limes in it before I went to bed… smart move I know!
Laid back down, I believe I dosed back off, if you want to call it that, woke up at 4:45am… this time WIDE awake. I knew then, today wasn’t going to be a productive one.
So let’s see, what have I done today?
1- watched youtube videos
2- listened to youtube videos
3- made some coffee
4- chatted with a few people on facebook
5- declared it a Luther Vandross day.
6- Insisted on showing my homage to vegetables, and acted like one!
Luther Vandross day?? I know, what the hell is that?
Have you ever had something that normally lasts a short time, but for some reason it just takes forever? Similar to a Luther Vandross song. I am a huge fan of Luther. In fact AOL radio actually has an “All Luther” station, so I will sit and listen to it on days like this. He is the only artist I know that can take a 3 minute song, and turn it into a 3 week mini-series. If he’s singing the song live… if there is a “you” in the song, he will go to everyone in the audience and sing “ you and you, and you and you, and you back theeeeere, and youuuu toooo, and youuu , dooobey doobey dooo, and youu, shooby dooby you you you”… you get the point.
So much like a Luther song/concert, my day has seemed to go on, and on, and on… however, it was still pleasant. Unlike a Luther concert, there haven’t been random women and old ladies throwing their drawers at me…. I do however need to pick up my underwear off the bathroom floor, along with my other clothes I took off from the other night I went out….
This brings me to my next area of discussion….
The other night was my first night out dancing since surgery.
I get message from one of my Asian Mafia asawas (there’s your Tagalog word of the day… look it up, I promise it won’t hurt you to learn something new)
It was a last minute message, but I wasn’t going to turn it down. I was a little worried because I know that my surgeon said it would take 4-6 months before I’m completely “healed” internally… aaaaand its only been a little over a month, but I figured, what the hell. I’m glad I did.
We went to a popular club in South Beach (excuse me while I throw up a little in my mouth) I do admit (secretly) that I had a very good time.
The good and bad about that night.
Pro- I was not driving, which means I could drink the great mojitos they make there
Con- The mojitos cost almost $14.00 for one….
Pro- you get there before 9, you don’t pay…
Con- my luck being ever so presently off kilter. I get there at like 9:13 and three quarter seconds…. So I payed the damn $10.00 entrance.
Pro- The have dancers that dance on the bar….
Con- one of them is probably close to 50… don’t get me wrong, there are some hot 50 year old ladies… but they still don’t look right wearing the uniform which is a kind of blend between hot shorts and a thong, with fishnet stockings… well, they looked more like whale nets on her thighs. She looked, as I once heard my mom refer to a woman, rode HARD, and put up soaking wet. She did look hurt! I mean from the neck up, shut the HECK up! Who knows, maybe she had grandkids she is putting through college. At first I thought the cymbals kept surprising her every time she turned my way, then I realized , this is South Florida, she of course had some plastic work done. So that constant surprised look, complete with Jar-Jar Bink lips, permanently tattooed eyebrows is normal!
We move to another area of the club where they have a DJ spinning really good music. After our big booty friend managed to knock over an entire table of drinks, we get another round, and continue to dance.
I’m feeling good about this point, and am dancing with one of the Asian mafia gals, and go to lift her up and put her on my shoulders. Not a problem, she’s light…. Well…. Apparently light is the word to realize here… I didn’t realize there was a LIGHT above us, and when I picked her up, I slammed her head into the light. I think the best part about it is, I didn’t know, so I kept dancing… which means to ever beat that I bounced up to the music… she hit her head.
When I finally brought her down, she was holding her head, and it hit me what happened. The sad thing is… everyone else that was there- noticed what was happening, and they were sitting there laughing!
I will admit, I peed a little from laughter when I realized what happened.
The rest of the night slowed down… I have to build up my stamina again. I feel so out of shape since I had surgery.
Bringing us to present day…. I think that all of that has a little effect as to why I do not want to do anything today.
I hope however, that I get a call from work telling me they have this incredible trip for me to do. I would much rather be talking about an adventure than me sitting around listening to Luther Vandross, drinking Cuban coffee, and talking about how I need to pick up the underwear and clothes out of my bathroom…. Oh well, it is what it is!
Until next time…can you let me know if you find my glasses please……
“Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired” ~ Jules Renard (1864-1910)
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Philosophy of Fatigue, and the Diversity of Closemindedness
Today was a LONG day, or maybe it was yesterday, or maybe the day before... I can’t tell the difference. The day started on the 13th. I got up at 6am that morning, much like other mornings where I just can not sleep anymore. My report time for that day was 1655L (4:55pm local time for you non-military time tellers)
Originally I was supposed to go to Nassau, then to Boston, then to Oklahoma City, and stay there over night and go back to Miami..
Originally??? Yes, that’s right, like a lot of things in my life, even THAT can’t stay constant?? The trip changed, and it was so nice of them to notify me of this. (hear the sarcasm?)
So what was a 12 hour day or work, turned into a 18 ½ hour day of work. This usually wouldn’t be that bad, except I got up at 6am, and had I have known, I would have not gone to Panera, but actually gone home and take a nap. I was not informed this until I got into work. (They are supposed to notify you of such changes)
After sitting in an airport for 6 hours, we commercial back to Miami; through Charlotte of course!
I was only able to sleep 3 hours.
When I got home, I must have been completely out of it. I say this because when I woke up from my 3 hour nap, I am naked. I don’t mean without a shirt, or I took my socks off in my sleep, I mean birthday suit fashion naked.
I get up to use the restroom again because my damn bladder seems smaller since my surgery. As I turn around to wash my hands (yes people, I even wash my hands when I am at home, how many of you can say that, NASTY FOLKS WITH NO HOME TRAININ!) Anywho, my underwear are hanging on the faucet. Don’t ask, because I have NO idea how they got there…well, I obviously put them there, but I have no clue what possessed me to put them there.
At the time of typing out this, I have only slept 3 maybe 4 hours since 6am on the 13th. It is now 12:54am on the 15th – you do the math!
Since I have been sitting here, the internet has gone in and out about 500 times, I haven’t a friend in Miami, I am not sure if I want to do something, or not. I hate it when I get this fatigued! I guess its part of the job description.
When I get this tired, I get VERY philosophical, and really over analyze most things in my life.
I think about how difficult it is to make friends here in Miami. You would think that a city that is so diverse and open would be easy to make friends. Not so much.
The other day I was sitting in the Panera in Doral (Miami), I was really hit by why it is that I dislike this city so much.
There is a table sitting to my right of 3 girls and 1 guy, talking about weight. One girl probably weighs 100 pounds, and she is talking about how she doesn’t eat carbs since she got so fat.
The guy is discussing how he drinks laxative shakes 3 times a day to help him stay thin.
The other girl, is talking about how she takes fiber 2 times a day, so she stays full and it forces her not to eat.
Then there is another couple sitting directly across from me speaking in Spanglish. They are arguing about trying food that white people eat. How when you do it, you “lose” your culture. Um, knock knock dummy, you’re speaking SPANGLISH and you’re talking about losing your culture? Dumb bitch!
There is another group of upper class white males talking about drugs. Which club you can go to that will get you the best weed, or cocaine. The conversation slowly moved to about how the crime is so bad because there are so many minorities. Going around the table, each of them shared a story how their house, or someone they knew’s house got broke into by someone who was drunk, and foreign. Look around asshole, white guys are the minority in Miami. Another went on saying that someone took a baseball bat at his mailbox because he was white…. Knock knock… NO, its because you’re an asshole, it has nothing to do with your race! You sorry piece of stegosaurs crap!
Looking around the restaurant, no one mixes. Everyone has a friend that is much like themselves. Cubans with Cubans. Whites with whites. Blacks with blacks. You hardly ever see any mixes outside of your own race. The sad thing is, it goes further beyond just race. You rarely see Colombians hanging out with Cubans, or a Haitian hanging out with a black person born in the United States. I don’t get it!
How is it in a city that is so vast, and full of so many people, no one mixes? I’m not saying that everyone needs to go out and marry and procreate with a race different than theirs. (if you do, more power to you, mixed kids are usually better looking anyways) I’m just saying that with all the wealth of knowledge and culture and history that each culture and subculture has, why not learn from it? How can you have so much racism in such a diverse place?
I usually strive to meet people of different backgrounds than me, but lately I have tried meeting people with similar interests to me (which isn’t hard because I’m interested in almost any and everything), but it seems it boils mostly down to these things:
1- What kind of a car do you drive?
2- What is it you can do for me, should I befriend you?
3- How much money do you make a year?
4- Are you good looking?
a. If you’re not good looking, when are you getting the plastic surgery to make you good looking?
b. If you have had plastic surgery, when are you getting more?
i. I would like you all to realize that when most people go in for surgery, they can sign a DNR (do no resuscitate) but for the people of Miami, some need to sign a PR Release (Please Recycle) because they are more plastic than flesh!
5- Can you see every single one of your ab muscles
If you meet all of the above, it comes down to “when are you going to stick it in?”
It seems people give you this false impression they want to be your friend. In the end, they are just being selfish, and wanting “in” only if they are getting something out of it.
It is very disheartening. It really does borderline depress me. However I refuse to let it turn me jaded. It’s difficult not to become that way sometimes, but I won’t give in.
Now the road rages on the other hand… that I can’t help, nor do I ever plan on trying to seek help for it… the people here TRULY can’t drive; so I feel I have the right to scream and yell and get pissed! Jesus told me I could, so it’s ok!
I just need to get over it.
I am too tired, which equals too emotional.
I would say I’ll just have some wine, but I don’t like drinking alone, it makes me feel like an alcoholic.
I love it when people (usually those that don’t drink) say “drinking alone makes you an alcoholic”….. I don’t think it’s the drinking alone that makes you the alcoholic, it’s the 7 bottles of wine that does!
By the way, for those who sit wondering…. I put my clothes back on! Sorry to burst that fantasy for you!
Cheers, here’s to a good night’s sleep
“Your mind is like a parachute, it only works when open” ~ Anthony J. D’Angelo
Originally I was supposed to go to Nassau, then to Boston, then to Oklahoma City, and stay there over night and go back to Miami..
Originally??? Yes, that’s right, like a lot of things in my life, even THAT can’t stay constant?? The trip changed, and it was so nice of them to notify me of this. (hear the sarcasm?)
So what was a 12 hour day or work, turned into a 18 ½ hour day of work. This usually wouldn’t be that bad, except I got up at 6am, and had I have known, I would have not gone to Panera, but actually gone home and take a nap. I was not informed this until I got into work. (They are supposed to notify you of such changes)
After sitting in an airport for 6 hours, we commercial back to Miami; through Charlotte of course!
I was only able to sleep 3 hours.
When I got home, I must have been completely out of it. I say this because when I woke up from my 3 hour nap, I am naked. I don’t mean without a shirt, or I took my socks off in my sleep, I mean birthday suit fashion naked.
I get up to use the restroom again because my damn bladder seems smaller since my surgery. As I turn around to wash my hands (yes people, I even wash my hands when I am at home, how many of you can say that, NASTY FOLKS WITH NO HOME TRAININ!) Anywho, my underwear are hanging on the faucet. Don’t ask, because I have NO idea how they got there…well, I obviously put them there, but I have no clue what possessed me to put them there.
At the time of typing out this, I have only slept 3 maybe 4 hours since 6am on the 13th. It is now 12:54am on the 15th – you do the math!
Since I have been sitting here, the internet has gone in and out about 500 times, I haven’t a friend in Miami, I am not sure if I want to do something, or not. I hate it when I get this fatigued! I guess its part of the job description.
When I get this tired, I get VERY philosophical, and really over analyze most things in my life.
I think about how difficult it is to make friends here in Miami. You would think that a city that is so diverse and open would be easy to make friends. Not so much.
The other day I was sitting in the Panera in Doral (Miami), I was really hit by why it is that I dislike this city so much.
There is a table sitting to my right of 3 girls and 1 guy, talking about weight. One girl probably weighs 100 pounds, and she is talking about how she doesn’t eat carbs since she got so fat.
The guy is discussing how he drinks laxative shakes 3 times a day to help him stay thin.
The other girl, is talking about how she takes fiber 2 times a day, so she stays full and it forces her not to eat.
Then there is another couple sitting directly across from me speaking in Spanglish. They are arguing about trying food that white people eat. How when you do it, you “lose” your culture. Um, knock knock dummy, you’re speaking SPANGLISH and you’re talking about losing your culture? Dumb bitch!
There is another group of upper class white males talking about drugs. Which club you can go to that will get you the best weed, or cocaine. The conversation slowly moved to about how the crime is so bad because there are so many minorities. Going around the table, each of them shared a story how their house, or someone they knew’s house got broke into by someone who was drunk, and foreign. Look around asshole, white guys are the minority in Miami. Another went on saying that someone took a baseball bat at his mailbox because he was white…. Knock knock… NO, its because you’re an asshole, it has nothing to do with your race! You sorry piece of stegosaurs crap!
Looking around the restaurant, no one mixes. Everyone has a friend that is much like themselves. Cubans with Cubans. Whites with whites. Blacks with blacks. You hardly ever see any mixes outside of your own race. The sad thing is, it goes further beyond just race. You rarely see Colombians hanging out with Cubans, or a Haitian hanging out with a black person born in the United States. I don’t get it!
How is it in a city that is so vast, and full of so many people, no one mixes? I’m not saying that everyone needs to go out and marry and procreate with a race different than theirs. (if you do, more power to you, mixed kids are usually better looking anyways) I’m just saying that with all the wealth of knowledge and culture and history that each culture and subculture has, why not learn from it? How can you have so much racism in such a diverse place?
I usually strive to meet people of different backgrounds than me, but lately I have tried meeting people with similar interests to me (which isn’t hard because I’m interested in almost any and everything), but it seems it boils mostly down to these things:
1- What kind of a car do you drive?
2- What is it you can do for me, should I befriend you?
3- How much money do you make a year?
4- Are you good looking?
a. If you’re not good looking, when are you getting the plastic surgery to make you good looking?
b. If you have had plastic surgery, when are you getting more?
i. I would like you all to realize that when most people go in for surgery, they can sign a DNR (do no resuscitate) but for the people of Miami, some need to sign a PR Release (Please Recycle) because they are more plastic than flesh!
5- Can you see every single one of your ab muscles
If you meet all of the above, it comes down to “when are you going to stick it in?”
It seems people give you this false impression they want to be your friend. In the end, they are just being selfish, and wanting “in” only if they are getting something out of it.
It is very disheartening. It really does borderline depress me. However I refuse to let it turn me jaded. It’s difficult not to become that way sometimes, but I won’t give in.
Now the road rages on the other hand… that I can’t help, nor do I ever plan on trying to seek help for it… the people here TRULY can’t drive; so I feel I have the right to scream and yell and get pissed! Jesus told me I could, so it’s ok!
I just need to get over it.
I am too tired, which equals too emotional.
I would say I’ll just have some wine, but I don’t like drinking alone, it makes me feel like an alcoholic.
I love it when people (usually those that don’t drink) say “drinking alone makes you an alcoholic”….. I don’t think it’s the drinking alone that makes you the alcoholic, it’s the 7 bottles of wine that does!
By the way, for those who sit wondering…. I put my clothes back on! Sorry to burst that fantasy for you!
Cheers, here’s to a good night’s sleep
“Your mind is like a parachute, it only works when open” ~ Anthony J. D’Angelo
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Long Trip, Long adventure....
Since my surgery I have had 2 trips. One which was only about 4 days, and this one that I am currently on which is 10 days.
I wont talk about the previous trip, as it wasn’t really wasn’t that interesting, or international.
I was pretty excited when I got my “mission” for this trip. It was places that I had never been too (well all but one).
I have a fairly decent time, but a crappy first day. We take the company van to Sanford, Florida from Miami. Because it’s the company van, they HAVE to do the speed limit. So you know what that means… s-l-o-w.
My crew is, well interesting. It consists of someone from my class who is sweet as can be, but fills me with lots of “bless her heart” thoughts.
One that is completely clueless… lets just say while we were in Tbilisi, a city in the Georgian Republic; we pass by a wall covered in graffiti. “Is that the Berlin wall?” she asks. Have you ever been so shocked by something that all you can do is look at someone? The things that fall out of this woman’s mouth are amazing! I have met some pretty dumb people in my life, but I think this woman fell into the Forest of Stupid, and hit her head on every branch of ignorance! She is nice, but nice doesn’t cover stupid, or lazy!
The other is sweet, a little spacey at times, but at least she isn’t lazy, something I have ZERO tolerance for.
The last person is great, so I won’t even get into that one.
So the first day turns out being 22 ½ hours long. We start in Miami, Florida, and end in Leipzig, Germany. One of the places I have never been.
I highly recommend putting this on your “places to visit” list. Coming into the airport, it seems like your typical European city. The weather is nice, the people are decently friendly. We go through customs and get to our hotel.
The hotel…. Let’s just say that any hotel where the front desk also doubles as a bar, is ok by me! “Yes, I’ll have a king bed and a tiny triple please!” As I am heading to my room, I notice that there are vending machines, typical hotel right? WRONG! These vending machines also have beer, and wine in them. Here’s the kicker, the beer and wine is cheaper than the coke!! OUTSTANDING!!
We meet downstairs for a beer, and it comes straight out of the tap that is COVERED in ice… to quote Rachel Ray- YUM-O! I am usually not a fan of German beer in the states, however, I am a fan in Germany!
A few beers later, we head out to get something to eat.
I almost instantly fall in love with the city. There is still a slight chill in the air, but the trees are starting to bloom, and the flowers are coming up. The buildings are a great mix of old and modern. Some buildings are almost Bavarian in architecture, while others are very modern “minimalistic” style.
We get into the city square after about 15 minutes of walking. We find a place, and have a seat. We order some appetizers which consists of some cheeses, some vegetables, some pickles, and of course some Spargel (white asparagus). One of the cheeses was a soft cheese that had nuts and a sweetness to it that was amazing!
I ordered a gnocchi (that is one of my favourite dishes so I always have to try it if I see it on the menu). It had spinach and a gorgonzola cream sauce. I usually am not a huge fan of gorgonzola, but figured, what the hell. I am glad I did, it was, I venture to say the best gnocchi that I have ever had!
A few beers later, and then a walk back to the hotel.
On the walk back to the hotel, it was everything you think of when you think of strolling down the streets in Germany. There was accordion players and singers echoing into the alley.
I was actually a little bit sad when I had to leave Germany. For some reason it felt so right being there. The people were really nice, the food was good, and just the general atmosphere was good.
Our next stop took me to Tbilisi in the Georgian Republic. I had not been here in several years, so it was nice to return. It was a rough flight, because like I said, my crew was not exactly “prime”. Thank god on a previous flight, I had seen a colleague that remembered I really love single malt scotch. She had been on a leer jet earlier, and was told to help herself to the mini bar, and she knew she was going to be seeing me, so she grabbed me some.
We only had 17 hours, but it was nice enough to get out and walk around. One of my colleagues and I hiked up this hill to this old fort, and to see Mother of Georgia. (I think this was the woman that gave birth to everyone in Georgia, at least that’s what happened in my own little world)
The map we had was a little nonspecific so I decided, what the hell, lets practice my Russian. We approached an old guy washing his car.
Side note- Washing your car in Tbilisi consists of taking a washrag and washing around the handles, NOT the actual car itself.
So I pointed to the map and asked him (in Russian)- where is this, and he gave me the directions. Surprisingly I understood (with the help of hand signals) So we start our hike up there.
Up and over and over and up. The roads are winding and steep. In fact I cant even really call them roads. What they are is 1000 year old cobble stones that have been trampled on over centuries. Up some more and through these narrow walk ways and alleyways that reeked of piss. I remember thinking to myself several times, “Jesus, were headed to crack alley, and Im either going to get killed, raped, or killed then raped!”. Typical American traveler thinking! Everyone that walked past gave a courteous head bow and a slight smile.
Once we finally made it to the top, the view was amazing. You could see the entire city.
I forgot to mention that before we got completely into the fortress, an old lady was outside sweeping her dirt. I don’t know why, there was no pavement, but she proceeded to sweep away!! She held her hand out and said something in Georgian; I walked past, not thinking anything of it, as lots of people ask for money whenever they see me. Maybe they recognize my international pimptasticness and assume Im a baller!
Walking back down, she did it again, apparently she figured that since we didn’t give her money the first time, we were going to the second… on both accounts she was wrong!
Walking back to the hotel, I stopped at a small little shop and bought some Georgian wine. If you have not had Georgian wine, and you like wine, I highly recommend you find some. I would almost venture to say it is some of the best in the world. I buy 2 bottles for less than 7 USD and carry it back to my room- and knock out for the night.
I was really excited for the following leg of the trip, because I was going to get to go to Mongolia and stay for 51 hours. Enough to experience the culture, and maybe even ride a Yak! My goal was to ride a Mongolian Yak, while sipping Georgian Cognac!
We board and head to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan first. We have to get some fuel as well as some catering.
We wait to for clearance…..
Wait some more…..
Wait……
We are not cleared. Apparently the Kazakhstan government is not allowing us to fly through their airspace. Why not take another route?? If only we could. The problem is, where we are going, the only way to get there (according to our flight path) is through Kazakh airspace.
Long story short, we are told that they have cancelled our flight plans all together, and we have to get new flight plans approved before we can fly ANYWHERE.
There is only one small problem with this. The past couple weeks it has been very unstable in Bishkek. The people got together in this HUGE protest and ousted the government, and demanded a new one be put in. So needless to say, there has been quite the unrest. Americans were not allowed to be anywhere within the city up until the day we got there. (How fun)
The drive from the airport to the hotel was actually quite nice. The Kyrgyzstani countryside was beautiful. You could see the houses were very humble, and the people were not dressed in “fashionable” clothes. Someone made a comment on how poor these people were; which kind of pissed me off.
You would think in a job where you travel 100% of the time, both in and out of the United States; a person would realize the world is not all upper middle class whites. It really pisses me off when these people assume that just because I am a white male, that I will share these bigoted views. I made the comment that its poor to her, is normal to them. That the people we were seeing did not need the fancy clothes, or the large houses she was used to in the United States, to live. Sometimes simplicity with an enface on family is more wealth than richness with no family values.
We made it to the hotel, which was beautiful. It was right behind the governmental buildings that they had the political coup. Before we could enter into the parking lot, our driver had to stop the car. Armed guards walked around the car with mirrors on a stick and looked under the carriage.
The entrance way to the hotel was almost sterile. It reminded me of a lobby of a hospital’s mental ward; no bright colours or fancy pictures. There was one sculpture. Very simple. Modernistic.
The people of Kyrgyzstan were very friendly. The front desk staff were full of smiles, and laughter. Very prompt in getting us checked in.
The room…… well…. Let’s just say it was quite different than what we were used to. By all means it was not bad. The décor was once again very plain. There were 2 pictures on the wall. One that was an old man dressed in traditional Kyrgyzstani clothes, and an old lady in traditional clothing as well. The bedspread was plain, and at the foot of the bed was what looked like a traditional design. It was made of a simple geometric squares of bright non-matching colours. Above the bed there was another pattern, more curvy, and of colours didn’t match anything else in the room. The bathroom was beautiful. Quite large, and completely marble.
We all go down for a beer, not knowing when our report time was going to be, but we knew we at least had 10 hours. After my first beer, I decide to go to bed. I am called and told we are reporting at 1am. So I get very minimal sleep.
The following day was just a 5 ½ hour flight to Mongolia. I only got to stay long enough to watch a welcoming ceremony for the Mongolian military, and then headed back to Tbilisi.
The hotel we stayed in this time (for 55hours) was incredible. On the 6th floor I was able to see the river, and most of the city. The layout of the room was awesome, with a bench that was in front of the wall to wall almost ceiling to floor windows. I kept the window open so I could hear the sounds of the almost country-like city, and allowed the cooler fresh air in.
There luckily were some other coworkers there that I enjoyed being with a little more than the odd mixture that I had been with on this trip. That night a majority of us went to a dinner at a restaurant serving traditional Georgian foods. Great wine, great food, good music and dancing, and decent company! It was a nice night. When we got back to the hotel, they downstairs hotel restaurant/bar was a nightclub. There was a dress code and everyone was given a bowtie and had to wear it. A DJ was spinning older style dance music, and a live singer was singing. It was really good. I ended up being the last person there. (on the dance floor of course)
The following morning I got a phone call to meet up for breakfast. Now mind you this was 3 hours after I left the dance floor!
If anyone knows me, they know I LOVE to food. The breakfasts overseas are always amazing. To top it off, it was FREE! Nothing better than a free good breakfast.
Three of us decided we wanted to do some hiking and walking around the town, so we met up at noon. We walked around town, did some shopping, and then made our way to the Cathedral that overlooks the entire city. I’ll spare you the details of the long hike up there, the gypsy curses that were spat at me for not giving them money, the mud we had to walk through, the rusting bridge we had to cross, the people peeing everywhere, and the pain from overdoing it . I keep forgetting that though I have healed on the outside, I am still healing inside. I was unstoppable!
The cathedral was amazing. It actually disabled my ability to speak. (A miracle in itself actually). I had never been inside an Orthodox Cathedral so it was quite different. Everyone kissed everything in that place. The door, the arches, the pictures, the statues, the floor. There were little boxes of sand set up all over the place and in front of the different pictures of the saints. Candles were put in there, and I could almost hear the silent prayers that the people were saying as they lit them. A large group was there for a wedding, a group of younger people holding a crying lady, several individuals. It was nice seeing younger people there. It seems that the younger generations of the west have really lost their faith, so it made the moment even more special to me.
By the time I got back to the hotel, I hurt. My legs. Feet. Knees. My incisions from my surgery were burning, and my insides felt like hot pokers were laying on it.
It was a day well worth the pain! The type of adventure everyone’s life should be made of!
Sadly, the following day and half later, we left Tbilisi.
We get to Leipzig again, and we are told we need to get off the plane. The plane can not take all the weight and would not get over the ocean. Fine with me!!! You don’t have to tell me twice. I like to swim, but not that far!
While we were waiting for our driver, another comment was made that annoyed me. Yes, you guessed it. The bigot speaks again!
“I was watching al-jazeera news, because it’s the only place you can find anything in English in that place. They were talking about how France and Belgium are banning the burka for all Muslim woman, and I think that is great. I think that its spooky to see woman like that. When I was in Amsterdam, I saw woman with one of those on, and it was so spooky, so I think it should be illegal” I’m paraphrasing, however, that really was the idea of what she said, and in addition, those were the words.
First of all bitch, were in another country, the entire world does not speak ENGLISH, second of all, spooky? Spooky?? Really, how old are you….I forgot….. OLD! And because you think its “spooky” it should be illegal. Well, I had to step in, because like I said before, don’t think that because we have the same colour skin, I have the same ignorant, bigoted, stupid, childish belief system that you do.
Side note – We had to wait to leave the hotel because this person was late to report time. Apparently she didn’t understand the time change. Because we hadn’t been there for 51 hours, and this was her first trip. (Can you hear my sarcasm?) So she shows up with her hair just thrown up, and no makeup. Zero make up. Zip. Nada. NONE!
Back to our scheduled story……
I turn to her, in disbelief really. I wanted to step in, but I just had to look at her at first. Once again, I am somewhat speechless. I said, “so just because you find it spooky, it should be illegal?” “Don’t you find it spooky?” she replied, looking at me sincerely. I didn’t know how to feel. She genuinely is ignorant. She has no clue in the world how to deal with anything different than her.
I explained - “ The truth be told, how I felt (which I don’t find it spooky) has nothing to do with it. The point of the matter is this has been a religious belief for a LONG time, and whether I believe in it or not, doesn’t give me the right to judge someone. Some of the women actually choose to dress this way, and have zero problems with it. This being the case, I have no problem with it. It’s when people are forced to do something outside of what they are comfortable with, that I have an issue.”
She then somewhat looked down her nose at me and said “well, I think its good they’re making it illegal because it scares me”.
Then it just fell out of my mouth.
I must have forgot to put the filter between my brain and tongue again.
“You’re not wearing any make-up, and that scares the HELL out of me, why not make THAT illegal!”
Point made, next subject!
Nothing else really exciting happened from that point on. All of us were supposed to be scheduled on a flight out of Leipzig, to Frankfurt, and then to Philly, then back to Miami. But like most things with my job, that never happened.
1 person, yes ONE, did that scenario. Part of the rest left ended up taking a flight to Frankfurt, then to Chicago, then to Miami. Myself and the remainder, went Leipzig, Paris, JFK (New York), then Miami.
Customs cleared, starving (even after great food and service on Air France). I wanted some good New York Chinese food, but, leave it to my luck, the terminal we were in didn’t have it.
We eventually make it home, after 22 ½ hours of “duty”.
You know what happens next.
Sleep.
More sleep……
And, you got it, more sleep!
Until my next adventure….
“Since when do you have to agree with people to defend them from injustice? ~ Lillian Hellman (1905-1984)
I wont talk about the previous trip, as it wasn’t really wasn’t that interesting, or international.
I was pretty excited when I got my “mission” for this trip. It was places that I had never been too (well all but one).
I have a fairly decent time, but a crappy first day. We take the company van to Sanford, Florida from Miami. Because it’s the company van, they HAVE to do the speed limit. So you know what that means… s-l-o-w.
My crew is, well interesting. It consists of someone from my class who is sweet as can be, but fills me with lots of “bless her heart” thoughts.
One that is completely clueless… lets just say while we were in Tbilisi, a city in the Georgian Republic; we pass by a wall covered in graffiti. “Is that the Berlin wall?” she asks. Have you ever been so shocked by something that all you can do is look at someone? The things that fall out of this woman’s mouth are amazing! I have met some pretty dumb people in my life, but I think this woman fell into the Forest of Stupid, and hit her head on every branch of ignorance! She is nice, but nice doesn’t cover stupid, or lazy!
The other is sweet, a little spacey at times, but at least she isn’t lazy, something I have ZERO tolerance for.
The last person is great, so I won’t even get into that one.
So the first day turns out being 22 ½ hours long. We start in Miami, Florida, and end in Leipzig, Germany. One of the places I have never been.
I highly recommend putting this on your “places to visit” list. Coming into the airport, it seems like your typical European city. The weather is nice, the people are decently friendly. We go through customs and get to our hotel.
The hotel…. Let’s just say that any hotel where the front desk also doubles as a bar, is ok by me! “Yes, I’ll have a king bed and a tiny triple please!” As I am heading to my room, I notice that there are vending machines, typical hotel right? WRONG! These vending machines also have beer, and wine in them. Here’s the kicker, the beer and wine is cheaper than the coke!! OUTSTANDING!!
We meet downstairs for a beer, and it comes straight out of the tap that is COVERED in ice… to quote Rachel Ray- YUM-O! I am usually not a fan of German beer in the states, however, I am a fan in Germany!
A few beers later, we head out to get something to eat.
I almost instantly fall in love with the city. There is still a slight chill in the air, but the trees are starting to bloom, and the flowers are coming up. The buildings are a great mix of old and modern. Some buildings are almost Bavarian in architecture, while others are very modern “minimalistic” style.
We get into the city square after about 15 minutes of walking. We find a place, and have a seat. We order some appetizers which consists of some cheeses, some vegetables, some pickles, and of course some Spargel (white asparagus). One of the cheeses was a soft cheese that had nuts and a sweetness to it that was amazing!
I ordered a gnocchi (that is one of my favourite dishes so I always have to try it if I see it on the menu). It had spinach and a gorgonzola cream sauce. I usually am not a huge fan of gorgonzola, but figured, what the hell. I am glad I did, it was, I venture to say the best gnocchi that I have ever had!
A few beers later, and then a walk back to the hotel.
On the walk back to the hotel, it was everything you think of when you think of strolling down the streets in Germany. There was accordion players and singers echoing into the alley.
I was actually a little bit sad when I had to leave Germany. For some reason it felt so right being there. The people were really nice, the food was good, and just the general atmosphere was good.
Our next stop took me to Tbilisi in the Georgian Republic. I had not been here in several years, so it was nice to return. It was a rough flight, because like I said, my crew was not exactly “prime”. Thank god on a previous flight, I had seen a colleague that remembered I really love single malt scotch. She had been on a leer jet earlier, and was told to help herself to the mini bar, and she knew she was going to be seeing me, so she grabbed me some.
We only had 17 hours, but it was nice enough to get out and walk around. One of my colleagues and I hiked up this hill to this old fort, and to see Mother of Georgia. (I think this was the woman that gave birth to everyone in Georgia, at least that’s what happened in my own little world)
The map we had was a little nonspecific so I decided, what the hell, lets practice my Russian. We approached an old guy washing his car.
Side note- Washing your car in Tbilisi consists of taking a washrag and washing around the handles, NOT the actual car itself.
So I pointed to the map and asked him (in Russian)- where is this, and he gave me the directions. Surprisingly I understood (with the help of hand signals) So we start our hike up there.
Up and over and over and up. The roads are winding and steep. In fact I cant even really call them roads. What they are is 1000 year old cobble stones that have been trampled on over centuries. Up some more and through these narrow walk ways and alleyways that reeked of piss. I remember thinking to myself several times, “Jesus, were headed to crack alley, and Im either going to get killed, raped, or killed then raped!”. Typical American traveler thinking! Everyone that walked past gave a courteous head bow and a slight smile.
Once we finally made it to the top, the view was amazing. You could see the entire city.
I forgot to mention that before we got completely into the fortress, an old lady was outside sweeping her dirt. I don’t know why, there was no pavement, but she proceeded to sweep away!! She held her hand out and said something in Georgian; I walked past, not thinking anything of it, as lots of people ask for money whenever they see me. Maybe they recognize my international pimptasticness and assume Im a baller!
Walking back down, she did it again, apparently she figured that since we didn’t give her money the first time, we were going to the second… on both accounts she was wrong!
Walking back to the hotel, I stopped at a small little shop and bought some Georgian wine. If you have not had Georgian wine, and you like wine, I highly recommend you find some. I would almost venture to say it is some of the best in the world. I buy 2 bottles for less than 7 USD and carry it back to my room- and knock out for the night.
I was really excited for the following leg of the trip, because I was going to get to go to Mongolia and stay for 51 hours. Enough to experience the culture, and maybe even ride a Yak! My goal was to ride a Mongolian Yak, while sipping Georgian Cognac!
We board and head to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan first. We have to get some fuel as well as some catering.
We wait to for clearance…..
Wait some more…..
Wait……
We are not cleared. Apparently the Kazakhstan government is not allowing us to fly through their airspace. Why not take another route?? If only we could. The problem is, where we are going, the only way to get there (according to our flight path) is through Kazakh airspace.
Long story short, we are told that they have cancelled our flight plans all together, and we have to get new flight plans approved before we can fly ANYWHERE.
There is only one small problem with this. The past couple weeks it has been very unstable in Bishkek. The people got together in this HUGE protest and ousted the government, and demanded a new one be put in. So needless to say, there has been quite the unrest. Americans were not allowed to be anywhere within the city up until the day we got there. (How fun)
The drive from the airport to the hotel was actually quite nice. The Kyrgyzstani countryside was beautiful. You could see the houses were very humble, and the people were not dressed in “fashionable” clothes. Someone made a comment on how poor these people were; which kind of pissed me off.
You would think in a job where you travel 100% of the time, both in and out of the United States; a person would realize the world is not all upper middle class whites. It really pisses me off when these people assume that just because I am a white male, that I will share these bigoted views. I made the comment that its poor to her, is normal to them. That the people we were seeing did not need the fancy clothes, or the large houses she was used to in the United States, to live. Sometimes simplicity with an enface on family is more wealth than richness with no family values.
We made it to the hotel, which was beautiful. It was right behind the governmental buildings that they had the political coup. Before we could enter into the parking lot, our driver had to stop the car. Armed guards walked around the car with mirrors on a stick and looked under the carriage.
The entrance way to the hotel was almost sterile. It reminded me of a lobby of a hospital’s mental ward; no bright colours or fancy pictures. There was one sculpture. Very simple. Modernistic.
The people of Kyrgyzstan were very friendly. The front desk staff were full of smiles, and laughter. Very prompt in getting us checked in.
The room…… well…. Let’s just say it was quite different than what we were used to. By all means it was not bad. The décor was once again very plain. There were 2 pictures on the wall. One that was an old man dressed in traditional Kyrgyzstani clothes, and an old lady in traditional clothing as well. The bedspread was plain, and at the foot of the bed was what looked like a traditional design. It was made of a simple geometric squares of bright non-matching colours. Above the bed there was another pattern, more curvy, and of colours didn’t match anything else in the room. The bathroom was beautiful. Quite large, and completely marble.
We all go down for a beer, not knowing when our report time was going to be, but we knew we at least had 10 hours. After my first beer, I decide to go to bed. I am called and told we are reporting at 1am. So I get very minimal sleep.
The following day was just a 5 ½ hour flight to Mongolia. I only got to stay long enough to watch a welcoming ceremony for the Mongolian military, and then headed back to Tbilisi.
The hotel we stayed in this time (for 55hours) was incredible. On the 6th floor I was able to see the river, and most of the city. The layout of the room was awesome, with a bench that was in front of the wall to wall almost ceiling to floor windows. I kept the window open so I could hear the sounds of the almost country-like city, and allowed the cooler fresh air in.
There luckily were some other coworkers there that I enjoyed being with a little more than the odd mixture that I had been with on this trip. That night a majority of us went to a dinner at a restaurant serving traditional Georgian foods. Great wine, great food, good music and dancing, and decent company! It was a nice night. When we got back to the hotel, they downstairs hotel restaurant/bar was a nightclub. There was a dress code and everyone was given a bowtie and had to wear it. A DJ was spinning older style dance music, and a live singer was singing. It was really good. I ended up being the last person there. (on the dance floor of course)
The following morning I got a phone call to meet up for breakfast. Now mind you this was 3 hours after I left the dance floor!
If anyone knows me, they know I LOVE to food. The breakfasts overseas are always amazing. To top it off, it was FREE! Nothing better than a free good breakfast.
Three of us decided we wanted to do some hiking and walking around the town, so we met up at noon. We walked around town, did some shopping, and then made our way to the Cathedral that overlooks the entire city. I’ll spare you the details of the long hike up there, the gypsy curses that were spat at me for not giving them money, the mud we had to walk through, the rusting bridge we had to cross, the people peeing everywhere, and the pain from overdoing it . I keep forgetting that though I have healed on the outside, I am still healing inside. I was unstoppable!
The cathedral was amazing. It actually disabled my ability to speak. (A miracle in itself actually). I had never been inside an Orthodox Cathedral so it was quite different. Everyone kissed everything in that place. The door, the arches, the pictures, the statues, the floor. There were little boxes of sand set up all over the place and in front of the different pictures of the saints. Candles were put in there, and I could almost hear the silent prayers that the people were saying as they lit them. A large group was there for a wedding, a group of younger people holding a crying lady, several individuals. It was nice seeing younger people there. It seems that the younger generations of the west have really lost their faith, so it made the moment even more special to me.
By the time I got back to the hotel, I hurt. My legs. Feet. Knees. My incisions from my surgery were burning, and my insides felt like hot pokers were laying on it.
It was a day well worth the pain! The type of adventure everyone’s life should be made of!
Sadly, the following day and half later, we left Tbilisi.
We get to Leipzig again, and we are told we need to get off the plane. The plane can not take all the weight and would not get over the ocean. Fine with me!!! You don’t have to tell me twice. I like to swim, but not that far!
While we were waiting for our driver, another comment was made that annoyed me. Yes, you guessed it. The bigot speaks again!
“I was watching al-jazeera news, because it’s the only place you can find anything in English in that place. They were talking about how France and Belgium are banning the burka for all Muslim woman, and I think that is great. I think that its spooky to see woman like that. When I was in Amsterdam, I saw woman with one of those on, and it was so spooky, so I think it should be illegal” I’m paraphrasing, however, that really was the idea of what she said, and in addition, those were the words.
First of all bitch, were in another country, the entire world does not speak ENGLISH, second of all, spooky? Spooky?? Really, how old are you….I forgot….. OLD! And because you think its “spooky” it should be illegal. Well, I had to step in, because like I said before, don’t think that because we have the same colour skin, I have the same ignorant, bigoted, stupid, childish belief system that you do.
Side note – We had to wait to leave the hotel because this person was late to report time. Apparently she didn’t understand the time change. Because we hadn’t been there for 51 hours, and this was her first trip. (Can you hear my sarcasm?) So she shows up with her hair just thrown up, and no makeup. Zero make up. Zip. Nada. NONE!
Back to our scheduled story……
I turn to her, in disbelief really. I wanted to step in, but I just had to look at her at first. Once again, I am somewhat speechless. I said, “so just because you find it spooky, it should be illegal?” “Don’t you find it spooky?” she replied, looking at me sincerely. I didn’t know how to feel. She genuinely is ignorant. She has no clue in the world how to deal with anything different than her.
I explained - “ The truth be told, how I felt (which I don’t find it spooky) has nothing to do with it. The point of the matter is this has been a religious belief for a LONG time, and whether I believe in it or not, doesn’t give me the right to judge someone. Some of the women actually choose to dress this way, and have zero problems with it. This being the case, I have no problem with it. It’s when people are forced to do something outside of what they are comfortable with, that I have an issue.”
She then somewhat looked down her nose at me and said “well, I think its good they’re making it illegal because it scares me”.
Then it just fell out of my mouth.
I must have forgot to put the filter between my brain and tongue again.
“You’re not wearing any make-up, and that scares the HELL out of me, why not make THAT illegal!”
Point made, next subject!
Nothing else really exciting happened from that point on. All of us were supposed to be scheduled on a flight out of Leipzig, to Frankfurt, and then to Philly, then back to Miami. But like most things with my job, that never happened.
1 person, yes ONE, did that scenario. Part of the rest left ended up taking a flight to Frankfurt, then to Chicago, then to Miami. Myself and the remainder, went Leipzig, Paris, JFK (New York), then Miami.
Customs cleared, starving (even after great food and service on Air France). I wanted some good New York Chinese food, but, leave it to my luck, the terminal we were in didn’t have it.
We eventually make it home, after 22 ½ hours of “duty”.
You know what happens next.
Sleep.
More sleep……
And, you got it, more sleep!
Until my next adventure….
“Since when do you have to agree with people to defend them from injustice? ~ Lillian Hellman (1905-1984)
Monday, May 3, 2010
Back from Surgery
Miss me?? I know I have missed being able to travel and share my world. So much has happened since we last connected.
I am currently in Tbilisi in the Georgian Republic, but I'll get to that in a minute.
I had surgery on April 8th due to a peritoneal tear and a small hernia. Let me tell you that is the most pain I have ever been in. I like to think I have a pretty decent threshold for pain, however, the pain was so bad, it almost would make me throw up.
I FINALLY get to go to Montreal, Quebec,Canada for a decent time, however, the pain was so bad, I was laid out in bed the entire time, so unfortunately, I did not get to get out and explore. When I got back, I called up a friend and asked if she could take me to the emergency room.
The ER itself was quite an experience. I am pretty healthy, hardly get sick (and even when I do, I never admit that I'm sick) and up to this point, had never had any major injuries. So needless to say, this experience is new to me. Top it off, it's in Miami (my not so favourite city in the world)
We get to the ER, I fill out the 365 pages, and questions... (you'll be happy to know that I'm not pregnant, or expecting as one of the questions asked me)
I am sitting in the waiting room with my friend, and I hear my name called, literally a second later, the guy SCREAMS my name, like he had been waiting forever. So I yell, "I'm coming- jeez". The guy answered back in a tone basically saying hurry up. So, already I am pissed...
I get to the back, they tell me to take off my clothes, and put on the gown (oh goodie) Then they hand me a cup, and say, "here" and walk off. Strike 2
Well, I'm not going to just pee right there (if you don't know me well enough, I'm pretty much pee shy- plus one of my good friends is there, and I do not want to traumatize her)I go walking around searching for a bathroom (ass out mind you).
Fast forward, I come back, with a plastic cup ( if you don't know whats in it and need clarification, contact me and I'll explain)... place it on the table, and it sits there....
The phlebodomist comes in, does an AMAZING job taking blood, even though I thought they were going to eventually start putting formaldehyde because they were taking so much blood.
The cup remains there.
A doctor finally comes in, I explain the situation (I won't bore you with the details) He proceeds with his exam,which though slightly painful, was not too bad. He says he finds nothing.
Enter the NEXT doctor.
Now...if you are a guy, you can empathize on this, if you are a female; I know what you're thinking. "Try giving birth". My rebuttal is this... there is NO time or reason for a human hand to reach into your chest cavity, via the scrotum. I looked down, and the doctor was to his ELBOW, and had the NERVE to say "COUGH". I wanted to be like, remove your GD hand from my heart, and I might be able to.
HE finds nothing.
The cup still remains, on the table, looking sadly out to the world as if saying: "Someone please take me"
They do CT scans, more blood work. Nothing is found...
The doctor comes in again and says "well think its nothing, but we want you to see a surgeon within the next week because it could be something" and walks out.
Okay... I am not an expert in the medical field, but, it's nothing but it could be something????
After the doctor walks out, the bitch nurse walks in again and gives me another cup... "here" she said. So I was like... "no- THERE" and I pointed to the cup that had been sitting there almost 3 hours now.
You guessed it, I had to go back, and do it again... wasn't so easy.
Fast forward again-
I call the surgeon, told them the doctor refereed me, the lady said, we don't do that, what are your symptoms, I asked her if she was the doctor, and she said no, so I told her, then I'll tell the doctor when I come in. She said, well- you have to wait until next month.
I eventually go to my Dr. in Orlando who refers me to a specialist there. AMAZINGLY he was able to diagnose me, without playing games with my heart, in fact, he didn't hurt me at all. Of course when he said "let's exam ya" I kinda teared up a little, and he found it funny.
He determined I needed surgery, so a week later (I believe) I go into surgery for the first time in my life.
A little lesson for those of you who are going into surgery for the first time. When you go in before the surgery for prep and all that garbage. Don't read the paper they ask you to read and sign. Just sign it! After I read the pages of "what ifs" I determined that everything was going to go wrong, and I'd wake up dead, with nothing but an earlobe, 2 eyelashes, a toenail, and one lip. Let's just say, if its going to go wrong- it will!
I remember them coming in to give me the "happy juice", I saw my mom's best friend that past some years ago peek around the curtain and tell me "it's gonna be ok". I then remember looking up, and seeing the lights of the OR and having them say "ok, were gonna slide you over to the table now". I told them, its ok, I can slide myself, which I did (I think). I made a comment that the table was REALLY narrow, and that one of the nurses was beautiful and looked like an angel in the light, asked for a bowl of grits (yes grits), and next thing I know, I was waking up in recovery, telling one nurse she was mean, and to leave me alone.
The nurse that replaced her was a nice guy with BRIGHT BRIGHT orange scrubs. I was almost hypnotized by them. They had me loaded up with drugs, so I was in no pain...
Stage 2 of recovery was a little better, they were going to "feed me".... Can I tell you, one of the CRUELEST tricks to play on someone who hasn't eaten since 9pm the night prior, and its like 3pm the following day, is to tell them "Were going to feed you"- then give you graham crackers. Have you EVER eaten a graham cracker when your mouth is so dry, it feels like there is a group of Bedouin nomads, with 85 camels and 6 harems of women belly dancing in sandpaper shoes in your mouth. NOT NICE! It seemed like 1 cracker took me 30 minutes to eat.
She then tells me I can leave, if I can walk to the bathroom and pee. Sounds easy enough right? :::BUZZER SOUND::::: WRONG!!!
I walk (or more like shuffle). Step 1- complete.
I get to the bathroom. Step 2- complete
I move my hospital gown over. Step 3- complete
I wait.... nothing
wait some more... I think its... nope
wait...
Then I get dizzy....figure, "aha!!, I'll sit down to pee" ok- so that doesn't help.
I shuffle back to bed. "Nope-mission unaccomplished"
The Stage 2 nurse gives me some IV with glucose in it. GREAT!!!! That shit BURNS! No other way to say it! Sugar water is NOT supposed to be injected directly into your vein, I'm sorry!!!
I finally think... "I have to pee"! Thank the lord!
I shuffle over- Step 1- complete
I get to the bathroom- Step 2- complete
I move the gown over Step 3- complete
wait.... I wait some more....
I just know at any moment, I am going to pee, and its going to be a beautiful feeling to finally be able to leave.
Well, I accomplish Step 4, but not really a lot (if you need explanation, contact me again)
I ask the nurse if she needs to "verify" and she said no, as long as you went.
I shuffle back to the bed and she asked me again, are you SURE you went. I told her (sorry if this is TMI) it was just a little, and it burned like hell. Her reply: "oh that's because they put a catheter in you and drained out 50ccs already..." WTF?? Is it habit they just insert tubes in places they have NO business being in?? Here I am thinking there is something wrong with my bladder, because I KNOW I haven't peed since before I left for the hospital at like 5 that morning!! Then she tells me, don't be surprised if you see some blood in your urine from the catheter.GREAT, I can barely pee as it is, now its going to bloody... BLOODY HELL!!!
I will spare you the details of the couple of weeks of recovery. I am back at work now, and ready to continue my adventures on this spinning globe we call life!
I am getting on a plane in a few hours, and will be flying for over 30 hours... I will write my post about my adventures on this trip then!
“Stay the course, light a star,Change the world where'er you are.”~ Richard Le Gallienne (1866-1947)
I am currently in Tbilisi in the Georgian Republic, but I'll get to that in a minute.
I had surgery on April 8th due to a peritoneal tear and a small hernia. Let me tell you that is the most pain I have ever been in. I like to think I have a pretty decent threshold for pain, however, the pain was so bad, it almost would make me throw up.
I FINALLY get to go to Montreal, Quebec,Canada for a decent time, however, the pain was so bad, I was laid out in bed the entire time, so unfortunately, I did not get to get out and explore. When I got back, I called up a friend and asked if she could take me to the emergency room.
The ER itself was quite an experience. I am pretty healthy, hardly get sick (and even when I do, I never admit that I'm sick) and up to this point, had never had any major injuries. So needless to say, this experience is new to me. Top it off, it's in Miami (my not so favourite city in the world)
We get to the ER, I fill out the 365 pages, and questions... (you'll be happy to know that I'm not pregnant, or expecting as one of the questions asked me)
I am sitting in the waiting room with my friend, and I hear my name called, literally a second later, the guy SCREAMS my name, like he had been waiting forever. So I yell, "I'm coming- jeez". The guy answered back in a tone basically saying hurry up. So, already I am pissed...
I get to the back, they tell me to take off my clothes, and put on the gown (oh goodie) Then they hand me a cup, and say, "here" and walk off. Strike 2
Well, I'm not going to just pee right there (if you don't know me well enough, I'm pretty much pee shy- plus one of my good friends is there, and I do not want to traumatize her)I go walking around searching for a bathroom (ass out mind you).
Fast forward, I come back, with a plastic cup ( if you don't know whats in it and need clarification, contact me and I'll explain)... place it on the table, and it sits there....
The phlebodomist comes in, does an AMAZING job taking blood, even though I thought they were going to eventually start putting formaldehyde because they were taking so much blood.
The cup remains there.
A doctor finally comes in, I explain the situation (I won't bore you with the details) He proceeds with his exam,which though slightly painful, was not too bad. He says he finds nothing.
Enter the NEXT doctor.
Now...if you are a guy, you can empathize on this, if you are a female; I know what you're thinking. "Try giving birth". My rebuttal is this... there is NO time or reason for a human hand to reach into your chest cavity, via the scrotum. I looked down, and the doctor was to his ELBOW, and had the NERVE to say "COUGH". I wanted to be like, remove your GD hand from my heart, and I might be able to.
HE finds nothing.
The cup still remains, on the table, looking sadly out to the world as if saying: "Someone please take me"
They do CT scans, more blood work. Nothing is found...
The doctor comes in again and says "well think its nothing, but we want you to see a surgeon within the next week because it could be something" and walks out.
Okay... I am not an expert in the medical field, but, it's nothing but it could be something????
After the doctor walks out, the bitch nurse walks in again and gives me another cup... "here" she said. So I was like... "no- THERE" and I pointed to the cup that had been sitting there almost 3 hours now.
You guessed it, I had to go back, and do it again... wasn't so easy.
Fast forward again-
I call the surgeon, told them the doctor refereed me, the lady said, we don't do that, what are your symptoms, I asked her if she was the doctor, and she said no, so I told her, then I'll tell the doctor when I come in. She said, well- you have to wait until next month.
I eventually go to my Dr. in Orlando who refers me to a specialist there. AMAZINGLY he was able to diagnose me, without playing games with my heart, in fact, he didn't hurt me at all. Of course when he said "let's exam ya" I kinda teared up a little, and he found it funny.
He determined I needed surgery, so a week later (I believe) I go into surgery for the first time in my life.
A little lesson for those of you who are going into surgery for the first time. When you go in before the surgery for prep and all that garbage. Don't read the paper they ask you to read and sign. Just sign it! After I read the pages of "what ifs" I determined that everything was going to go wrong, and I'd wake up dead, with nothing but an earlobe, 2 eyelashes, a toenail, and one lip. Let's just say, if its going to go wrong- it will!
I remember them coming in to give me the "happy juice", I saw my mom's best friend that past some years ago peek around the curtain and tell me "it's gonna be ok". I then remember looking up, and seeing the lights of the OR and having them say "ok, were gonna slide you over to the table now". I told them, its ok, I can slide myself, which I did (I think). I made a comment that the table was REALLY narrow, and that one of the nurses was beautiful and looked like an angel in the light, asked for a bowl of grits (yes grits), and next thing I know, I was waking up in recovery, telling one nurse she was mean, and to leave me alone.
The nurse that replaced her was a nice guy with BRIGHT BRIGHT orange scrubs. I was almost hypnotized by them. They had me loaded up with drugs, so I was in no pain...
Stage 2 of recovery was a little better, they were going to "feed me".... Can I tell you, one of the CRUELEST tricks to play on someone who hasn't eaten since 9pm the night prior, and its like 3pm the following day, is to tell them "Were going to feed you"- then give you graham crackers. Have you EVER eaten a graham cracker when your mouth is so dry, it feels like there is a group of Bedouin nomads, with 85 camels and 6 harems of women belly dancing in sandpaper shoes in your mouth. NOT NICE! It seemed like 1 cracker took me 30 minutes to eat.
She then tells me I can leave, if I can walk to the bathroom and pee. Sounds easy enough right? :::BUZZER SOUND::::: WRONG!!!
I walk (or more like shuffle). Step 1- complete.
I get to the bathroom. Step 2- complete
I move my hospital gown over. Step 3- complete
I wait.... nothing
wait some more... I think its... nope
wait...
Then I get dizzy....figure, "aha!!, I'll sit down to pee" ok- so that doesn't help.
I shuffle back to bed. "Nope-mission unaccomplished"
The Stage 2 nurse gives me some IV with glucose in it. GREAT!!!! That shit BURNS! No other way to say it! Sugar water is NOT supposed to be injected directly into your vein, I'm sorry!!!
I finally think... "I have to pee"! Thank the lord!
I shuffle over- Step 1- complete
I get to the bathroom- Step 2- complete
I move the gown over Step 3- complete
wait.... I wait some more....
I just know at any moment, I am going to pee, and its going to be a beautiful feeling to finally be able to leave.
Well, I accomplish Step 4, but not really a lot (if you need explanation, contact me again)
I ask the nurse if she needs to "verify" and she said no, as long as you went.
I shuffle back to the bed and she asked me again, are you SURE you went. I told her (sorry if this is TMI) it was just a little, and it burned like hell. Her reply: "oh that's because they put a catheter in you and drained out 50ccs already..." WTF?? Is it habit they just insert tubes in places they have NO business being in?? Here I am thinking there is something wrong with my bladder, because I KNOW I haven't peed since before I left for the hospital at like 5 that morning!! Then she tells me, don't be surprised if you see some blood in your urine from the catheter.GREAT, I can barely pee as it is, now its going to bloody... BLOODY HELL!!!
I will spare you the details of the couple of weeks of recovery. I am back at work now, and ready to continue my adventures on this spinning globe we call life!
I am getting on a plane in a few hours, and will be flying for over 30 hours... I will write my post about my adventures on this trip then!
“Stay the course, light a star,Change the world where'er you are.”~ Richard Le Gallienne (1866-1947)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
