7/21/13 Sunday (Re-Wear, Is That A Word?)

This “holy shit that’s a lot of money” moment is brought to you by Tide, for a brilliant clean every time.

One of the many cruise ships we looked at had a coin operated laundry facility somewhere on board.  There’s been times when we’ve run low on socks or something because we changed outfits or a stain or something like that.  It would just be nice to know that if needed, we can wash clothes other than in the bathroom sink.  Jim asked if this was the ship with the laundry.  I looked it up.  No, it’s not and here’s the awful pricing:

There’s also price lists for dry cleaning and pressing only.  $1.95 for a pair of socks?  Sheesh.  Who would pay $2.95 to clean a swimsuit that you’re going to get wet?  My master plan is after wearing shirts and pants to hang those back up or neatly fold them rather than wad them up into a wrinkled point of no return.  This way, if we need to re-wear something, it looks good.  We plan to bring undershirts to help keep shirts clean.  Oh, and we plan to pack heavy so hopefully we won’t have to re-wear stuff at all.  I’m a wear it once kinda guy.

Saturday at the campground was all about the pool and a fantastic weinie roast.  It was a great day. 

Sunday we departed Augusta fairly early, came home, grocery shopped rapidly, straightened up the house and then had Beth, Angie, Ruby and Jamie meet at our house for some wine.  Next stop?  Chima for this year’s Restaurant Week.  I’ve mentioned Restaurant Week a ton of times in prior posts.  LOVE it.  LOVE Chima.  We had a great time.  I didn’t take any photos.  I had the camera with me.  I’m just slipping I guess.

Next week my vegan coworker friend, Jessica, is going there.  Good luck with that. 

7-19-13 Friday (Booted)

Work continues to go well for me… thanks for asking.  Dasher is doing wonderfully… thanks for asking.  Life is good, I can’t can complain.  Sometimes little things drag us, (as in you, me, him, her) down and we forget about the things that ARE going our way.  I really have so many things to be thankful for.  I’ll refrain from gloating; I do it often enough.  It’s like the blog is a place for me to pat myself on the back. Even though this is my blog, naturally I make it appeal to others.  I research links, I take photos, all for the name of blogging as if I’m doing you a favor.  It serves 2 purposes for me.  A diary.  I’ve used it tons of times to find out when we did or bought something.  It’s also a place to brag.  Honestly, maybe it’s not. I suppose I give equal attention to my failures as I do my accomplishments.  With any luck, I post more about accomplishments because hopefully failures are on the low end of the ratios. 

The scary thing is I’m not really sure where that paragraph came from.  Nothing particularly inspired it.  I wrote it Friday night after settling into our Augusta campsite.  Perhaps I was tired?  I reread that paragraph several times and tried tweaking the wording but can’t find the right combo, so I’ll leave it.  It’s pretty.

OK, cruise talk again.  We plan to bring our laptops.  We’re not paying the ridiculous internet access costs on the ship.  Wanna guess how much?  Just guess # of minutes for $, then click on the photo below to enormousize it for the answer.

As you can see, it’s pricey.  When we’re in port, we can tether our phones to our laptops using EasyTether like we do while in Augusta.  I can also create blog posts off-line and upload them when we have a connection.

You may ask, “is it really that important to be connected to the blogosphere or Facebook or email while on vacation in Alaska when you should be enjoying your vacation and seeing the sights, having fun and taking lots of photos with your camera but not your cell phone since those aren't the best of photos?”

And to that I reply, “Run on sentences much?”

I hope you snorted when you laughed.  Well, I hope you laughed.  Maybe a smile?  A little giggle?  Whatever.

Well, I want to blog while things are fresh in my mind.   Again, that whole-diary-journal sort of thing.  This is a big trip.  I plan to at least record bullet points of the day and then elaborate later for a post.  That shouldn’t take too long.

So, enough about you.  Let’s talk about me for a change.  On Tuesday I went to the podiatrist again.  I’ve been to two podiatrists.  The first one was the antiquated office with no computer, hand written receipts and an office bitch who said she told me they take cash only.  They also coded my visit as bunion which caused insurance to reject.  I called the insurance company who conferenced me to doctor’s, they were to research and still have never gotten back to me.  As far as I know, last I looked at my health insurance website, they’re still $180 out.  They better not even come to me for the problem. Tuesday, June 18th, the new podiatrist took xrays and couldn’t find anything wrong.  I showed him where my foot pain was and he gave me a Cortisone shot.  Relief for 4 days was all. Then the pain was in a little bit of a different location.  We figure that it was in several places and we’ve corrected one thus far.  He thinks it’s swollen. 

I went back Tuesday July 16th and he admitted he’s stumped.  I had actually marked the painful spot with a Sharpie each day because it doesn’t hurt all the time.  He gave me choices.  Cortisone shot, where a boot up till a few days prior to the cruise, or MRI.  I opted for the shot and boot for now.  I only wore the boot for the  afternoon.  Pain in the ass, plus I’d have to take it off to drive, plus we were going to Augusta and I’d be walking to the pool, and on some dirt roads, etc.  Off with the boot.

The shot has made it a lot better thus far and I’m really trying not to push it.  If it’s not better after the cruise then I’ll resort to the MRI.

Here’s a shot of our moho aka RV aka The TURD.  The lens had a little condensation on it so it appears as though I softened the photo much like TV and movies do to old wrinkly stars. 

And finally…

I get so much spam email but I’m amazed at how hard spammers try to get you to open their site.  In the screen shot below, I got virtually the same email 4 times with a slightly different sender and subject but you can see by the preview, the body looks to be the same.

Spammers, you suck.

7-14-13 Sunday (Upgraded)

Jim and I reminisce a lot.  The topics vary but most of the time it’s about our RVing adventures.  This particular weekend was when we started it all.  I pulled up several posts and many a time this weekend said, “remember when we…”  2008 was the big year.  2009, we finished up our trip and the rest I just included for the hell of it.

This weekend in our history:

7/13/2008 = I started our blog to chronicle our lives while RVing around the country. This is story of how all of this happened.

7/14/2008 = We picked up our RV!

7/13/09 = We’re in New Orleans and having a little fridge trouble.

7/14/09 = We departed New Orleans and arrived in Georgia to have the RV fridge fixed.

7/13/10 = Spotted a deer.

7/14/10 = I show off my weight loss and complain about BJ’s pricing.

7/13/11 = Bad videos at the Chiropractor.  Tooth issues.  Oral surgeon.

7/14/11 = Emergency root canal.

7/13/12 = Bad day, trip to Augusta, I discover tethering.

7/15/12 = Jim builds sewer lines.

Now for the quiz to make sure you read them all… I’ll put it in the mail.

I forgot to chronicle the weekend as I typically do.  Here’s what a remember.  Friday, packed, picked up Jim, ate Publix subs, drove to Augusta.  Now I remember why the weekend is a blur (as of 7/16/13).  It’s because it rained ALL weekend. It’s not like we didn’t check the weather first.  We made the decision to go regardless of the weather.  Or perhaps, in spite of the weather. 

Saturday we went to brunch with Paul and Jeff.  We went to the Marriott’s breakfast buffet. It was good.  The last time we were there, we got sticker shock when we found out AFTER we drank that Mimosas were $8 each.  This time, Jim ordered a bottle of champagne and the juice was free so we made our own. 

Above: Jeff and Paul

We took a walk along the riverside which was severely flooded. Here’s some comparisons photos.

Above: 6/29/13

Above: 7/13/13

I also noticed this strange door on the Marriott.  We theorized it’s an elevator access shaft but it’s still amusing. 

Afterwards we came home, napped (Mimosa head) and the we shopped and shopped.  We went to so many places I can’t even remember.  We stopped at 3 mobile home places to see if getting a mobile home was doable (it might be).  We went to the Augusta Mall, Walmart, and where ever else.

Over the weekend, I checked cruise prices.  I tend to check them weekly or bi-weekly. 

Above: May 15th – our cabin class is sold out and the Veranda (balcony) is unobtainable.

 

Above: July 13th – our cabin class is more expensive and yet the higher class, Veranda, is way cheaper than what we paid! We paid $1299 each.

We got a hold of our travel agent and friend, Ruby at AAA.  She was able to get us a double upgrade to the Concierge Class which is a Veranda with extras:

Amenities:
Robe
Complimentary tote bag
Custom blended bath products (shampoo, conditioner and lotion), shower cap, cotton balls and cotton swabs
Water/wine glasses
Celebrity eXhaleSM bedding featuring 100% cotton linens and plush down duvet, pillows and custom premium mattresses
Hair dryer

Stateroom Features:
Private mini-bar*
Interactive Samsung flat-screen television system to view and select shore excursions, order room service, and watch movies*
Private safe
Dual voltage 110/220AC outlets

*Additional charges apply.

That was all the Veranda features, now for the next upgrade:

In addition, Concierge Class staterooms include:

Services:
Priority check-in
Priority disembarkation
Personalized Concierge service
Evening delivery of hors d'oeuvres
Complimentary shoeshine service
Express luggage delivery

Dining:
Main and specialty restaurant seating time preferences
Upgraded room service menu

Amenities:
Complimentary welcome sparkling wine
Fresh fruit
Fresh flowers
Plush Frette® bathrobes
Oversized 100% cotton bath towels
Pillow menu (I LOL at this every time)
Handheld hair dryer
Celebrity tote bag
Personalized stationery
Use of binoculars and golf umbrella

Stateroom Features:
Hansgrohe® massaging showerhead

I’m sooooo excited.  Naturally, Jim would prefer the money back but that’s not possible.  At least I feel like we’ll be pampered.  We’ve never had amenities like this.

3 days later, now look at the prices:

Above: July 16th - The Veranda price is back up, the Concierge Class is unobtainable. 

How crazy is that?

Jim said maybe next time we’ll just get time off work for a specific week.  We’ll “plan” a cruise and stalk the prices weekly.  We’ll buy it when it seems really low. If it isn’t the “right” price then we’ll do something else.  Jim checked airfare prices and those are still the same.  Maybe next to Hawaii?  

7-7-13 Sunday (Neighborhood Fornicating)

I’ve been a bachelor this weekend.  July 4th was a Thursday; Jim and I both worked Friday.  Friday after work, I went to Augusta and Jim went to Atlanta to visit his brother, nephew, mom and stepdad.  Jim is taking Monday off so I’ll see him that evening.

Jim left work a little early Friday to make his Atlanta trip.  We had bought a couple of bottles of Maurice’s Piggie Park BBQ sauce for him to bring to his mom.  As a child, she enjoyed the BBQ here while en route to visit relatives. Anyway, when I got home from work, I saw he forgot the BBQ sauce.  He said he might deviate from his route to pick up more.

On our prior Augusta visit, we accidently left our glasses at the moho.  I’m very blind, Jim is half as blind as me.  It’s made getting up in them mornings interesting since I’ve had to put my contacts in immediately.  Worse things could happen.  There’s a reason for this paragraph…  Really.

When I arrived to the moho Friday night, I opened the door and the a/c was running.  Now let me tell you, power here is on the pricey side since we pay commercial rates.  I thought that perhaps we had left the a/c on all week.  I was about to call Jim and tell him and then saw he wrote me an “I love you” message on the mirror using lipstick a wipe erase marker. I called him and he decided to go a little out of his way for the BBQ sauce, then a little more out of his way to get his glasses and then figured he’d turn the a/c on for me.  I think I’ll keep him. Later that night I found another note under my pillow.  It was on paper because writing on the bed linens with a wipe erase marker would be silly.

There, all of that pre-story info just to tell you about the notes.

The rain here has been awesomely annoying.  On Saturday I went to lunch (at Krystal Burger since Jim isn’t a fan) and then to Walmart for some supplies.  It poured, then was sunny, then poured, then sunny, it did that while driving there and while shopping.  I’ve heard it’s been like that all week.  Charlotte was like that too though. During these waves of rain, the lights turned off and on several times but not because of power issues. Walmart is full of skylights and they have sensors to turn on/off the lights according to how much light they get naturally. Unfortunately, the lights went off when I thought there really wasn’t much light.  That made it feel dark and dingy.  Not that Walmart is known for it’s ambiance.  Speaking of which, there were tons of scarictures (a word Jim made up (scary + characters) to describe scary odd looking people) lurking in Walmart.  No photos.  Sorry.  At one point the rain became torrential. 

I made it back to the RV and amazingly enough, I lucked out loading the car in between sun and rain.  It was a little sunny out and toyed with going to the pool but it’s so unpredictable.  Well, maybe it’s predictable that it WILL rain again.  I decided to take a nap instead.  I’m sure that during the entire time I napped it was bright, dry and sunny.  As soon as I woke up, I took the dog for a walk.  Not out of the damn RV for even 1 minute and it was raining.  Harder, then harder.  Dasher peed, we fled back to the RV.

Saturday night I enjoyed dinner with some campground friends.  They’re a hoot.  While we sat outside and they grilled some steaks and chicken, you’ll never guess what happened.  It started raining.  We moved under the awning.  We ate inside which was the plan whether it rained or not.  They’re much like I am.  It’s too hot, too many bugs and eating dinner should be a comfortable experience.  Sitting inside they’re beautiful moho was awesome.  I’m envious of it. 

Sunday was pack and go.  Once I was in Charlotte, I did the food shopping for the week.  Jim came home on Monday.  He had a nice visit with his family.

I was bad about posting some photos in the last 2 entries.

Above: We spotted these 2 chasing each other in the neighborhood.  I think they were trying to fornicate!

While in Augusta on the 29th, we did finally get to go to that “Saturday Market on the River”.  Lots of vendors selling their junk wares. We enjoyed walking around.  They have a big open fountain that kids… and I guess adults can run through.  It was nice to cool off from the mist it created.

Above/Below: There’s also a fantastic Riverwalk that we enjoy strolling on.

And finally:

Above: I spotted this in Walmart.  It says “condiments” above the frozen food.  Anyone care to put a Jimmy Dean Croissant atop their burger?

6-30-13 Sunday (Unusual Spices)

How’s Dasher doing?  He’s 100%.  He’s back to himself. On his last check up since the incidents, he weighed in at 17 pounds.  That’s right as his typical weight.  He managed to gain so much weight back.  It probably helps that we’re feeding him canned food twice a day.  For years all he got was dry food.  Then we went to once a day and now he gets it twice a day.  Lucky little spoiled dog.

The other day I decided to vacuum.

Above: Lazy.

Above: Extra lazy… but much faster.

Speaking of Roomba and Dasher.  Remember the Roomba ran over the poop incident?  My friend, Glori, posted that video on my Facebook page with a “thinking of you” sentiment. 

We did the usual Augusta trip this weekend.  We packed the night before. Went to work. After work, I picked up Dasher then Jim.  We stopped at Publix, ate subs, arrived in Augusta, unpacked the car, took a late night refreshing swim, went to bed.

On Saturday we had brunch (with mimosas) at the Marriott’s restaurant, Augustino’s.  Unfortunately we neglected to ask the price of the mimosas.  They were $8 each.  That’s a lot of money for a champagne flute of orange juice and champagne.  Yes, I know it can only be called champagne if it’s from that part of France, blah blah.  Whatever. 

At dinner, we went to a neighboring campsite for a huge BBQ.  Burgers, hotdogs, frozen drinks, etc.  Yum.  We had a great time socializing.

Sunday we went out for lunch and then packed up and hit the road for Charlotte.  We went to Zapatas Mexican restaurant; it was our first visit. Jim said he’s had better veggie burritos elsewhere.  He also asked the server what veggies were in it and she named 3.  There were more like 6 in there.  I got steak fajitas.  I’m on a never-ending quest to find good fajitas.  Believe it or not, my favorite comes from Chili’s.  Why is that?  The fajitas here had a nutmeg/cinnamon taste to it.  I didn’t really care for it.  Then, oh wait, then, there was a family behind me.  A 1-2 year old with lungs capable of shrieking at decibels only people in foreign countries should be able to hear.  She would start crying, then shriek.  She’d stop.  2 minutes later, same thing.  This happened over and over.  It made my meal terrible.  I gave the parents the stink eye several times but it did nothing.  I’m not usually a blog-curser but…

Dear family,

Take your fucking screaming, shrilling, whiny, shrieking children out of the restaurant.  Beat them, put a bag over their head, a pillow over their face, I don’t care.  Practice your shitty “don’t pay attention and it will stop” parenting skills in the privacy of your own home.  Is your meal enjoyment more important than mine or the other’s there?  I think not.  You suck.  Next time I will say something even if you’re bigger than me.

Thanks,

Garret

PS: I hope you choke on a burrito and your shrilling daughter gets pregnant at 14.

So when I went to Zapata’s website, it said “Sundays, kids eat free!”  If only I had went to the website prior to our visit…