Hello, here it is Sunday night, our last night off before going back to work tomorrow. It's still cold but not as bitter as it has been. Not much new going on here. Looking forward to hearing who won in the Iraq elections and seeing if the new regime has a timeline on when they want American troops out. Not that the Bush administration will necessarily agree to that. Should be interesting to say the least.
The ridiculous item of the day comes from London. A devout christian couple thought they would be sitting down to watch The Pajama Game, the 1957 Doris Day musical, when they discovered a topless woman on the screen. No, it wasn't topless Doris Day but a woman speaking Italian. Come to find out the couple had purchased a film titled Tettore che Passione or Breasts of Passion. They purchased the movie at a Safeway from a movie bin filled with bargain movies. According to the couple, the film became "progressively more graphic, there was no plot to it. It was just sex." Rather than stop the film however, the couple watched the whole movie because "they couldn't believe what they were seeing." Maybe they didn't see the film at all, maybe it was just a bad dream......yeah, like the next four years are going to be.
Until next time,
p
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Addendum to Hawaii
A couple of final notes about Hawaii: First of all, I realized while looking at our pictures, Jim and I don't take enough pictures of ourselves. I want more pictures of the two of us on our next vacation. Second of all, Jim did not break down and do email while we were in Hawaii. He had plenty of opportunities, we even had a web tv in our room.
I hope you are all well. More later.
peace & love,
p
I hope you are all well. More later.
peace & love,
p
Hawaii Trip Days 2-7
Saturday Jan. 22
5am: We are up and ready to go!!! Jim is so glad we stayed in the city overnight and I have to admit I am to, it’s nice not having to drive an hour into the city. I’m not looking forward to having a valet service drive my car. We had the option of either parking the car in the airport parking lot or having a valet drive us to the airport then drive my car back to the lot. And when he picks us up when we come back, he would drive my car to the airport (warmed up and shoveled off). Call me crazy but I am funny about having others drive my car. Jim’s lucky I let him drive it.
5:40: We leave the hotel and, oh my gosh, it is so friggin’ cold. We drive around a bit trying to find the valet service but Jim cannot seem to locate it. Looks like we are parking in the airport parking lot after all. My car will be totally buried when we get back.
6am: We get to the United window with our electronic tickets and are advised the flight we were scheduled to fly has been cancelled. There is another flight that leaves at 6 but it is leaving as we stand at the window. We are advised there is yet another flight that leaves on Sunday morning, however, Rochester is expecting a snowstorm with 7-14” of snow predicted.
6:10: We are frantically (ok, I’m frantic, Jim is calm as usual) calling the after hours number for the travel agency. I check my messages on my phone and hear an automated message from the airline that the flight for Sat. morning has been cancelled and I’ve been rebooked for the Sunday morning flight. There is a second message from one of my co-workers who is also going on the trip. He says the airline is trying to get us on the 6am Saturday flight but my need to rebook us for Sunday. So good to know that now. I wonder if he made the 6am flight. There is also a message on our home machine from the same co-worker. Why didn’t either one of us check messages last night? We may have been able to get on the 6am flight. Meanwhile, Jim reminds me to not be irritable and pessimistic. We are told by the after hours people that they are not authorized to make any changes and we have to call another number in Minnesota at 7:30. Apparently, they are bringing people in to work on Sat. morning because there are people all over the country who are having some problems getting to Hawaii (and they are all part of the Club Excellence trip). Now it is a bit after 6:30 and we have a little less than an hour to wait.
7:30: Jim gets through to the Minnesota number and is told he has to get approval from the airline to change airlines to get on another flight before Sunday.
8:15: Jim finally gets United to approve us on another airline. We are scheduled to leave at 1:40 on Delta and connect in Cincinnati and from Cincinnati we fly to LA. Unfortunately, we have to stay over in LA and fly to Hawaii on Sunday morning. Not too bad; at least, we are getting out of Rochester today. By the way, United ends up canceling all of their other flights this morning. The last flight to get out of Roch was the one at 6am.
8:20: We are getting our bags ready for them to be searched. Jim is in front of me and there is one guy searching bags. He is an elderly gentleman and he is doing the best he can. A moment later, a younger, very happy go lucky man comes up and asks Jim, “Do you need help?” He then shouts to the elderly gentleman, “Hey Frank work faster,” he laughs and asks Jim, “Does that help?” Then he takes Jim’s bags, asks him the pertinent questions and tells Jim he is all set. Then Mr. Happy go lucky takes my bag, “Is it locked?” “No,” I reply. “Carrying any firearms?” “No sir,” I say. “Have a good trip,” he says. Before I can stop myself or catch the words before I get them out, I’ve uttered the most inappropriate response. “You too,” I say as I start to walk away. Fortunately, Mr. Happy go lucky takes it in stride. “But I’m not flying,” he says with a grin on his face. “That’s right,” I respond turning to him. “Then stop rubbing it in,” he laughs. I feel like I’m in a Seinfeld episode. I’m sure he’s tackled this subject.
10:20: Hours in Rochester airport….4hrs 20min. We grab something to eat and get ready to wait for our flight, which doesn’t leave for another four hours. If we get into Hawaii on Sunday afternoon then we will miss the volcano tour, unless there is someway we can do it another day.
11:05: An announcement comes over the loudspeaker: “Would the following passengers Paul Johnstone and James Mulcahy come to the Delta ticket counter for an emergency flight change.” We both look at each other as if to say, “oh no.” We walk up there and are told the connecting flight from Cincinnati to LA has been cancelled, however, the woman, who it turns out is the same one who checked our bags earlier, did a backup connecting flight for us. Therefore, now, instead of going to Cincinnati, we are flying to Atlanta. That flight leaves at 1:55. Jim comments, “That’s a crappy airport.”
2:07pm: Hours at Rochester airport 8hours, 7min. Now it’s Jim’s turn to get agitated. We should have been on the plane by now but the flight will now be leaving at 3 due to the snow on the runway. I hope that we will make our connecting flight. Thankfully, they did another backup for us. If we don’t make the 5:52 flight from Atlanta, there is another one at 7:15.
2:16: We finally board the plane. Hours spent waiting at the airport 8hours, 16min.
2:30: We are on the plane.
2:41: There is a bit of a stir at the front of the plane. We hear one of the crew guys tell the stewardess that they need to take three passengers off the plane. The stewardess gets on the intercom and calls out TWO names and….oh thank heavens, she doesn’t call our names. The two passengers get off. Still not sure why they had to leave the plane but we did hear they were supposed to be on a United flight (as were we).
2:56: Stephanie the stewardess bends down and asks Jim, “Can I ask you a weird question?” Oh Lord, I’m thinking. “What is your last name?” He tells her his last name and she proceeds to tell him about a cousin she saw at a family wedding. He looks just like the cousin. “It’s the Irish face,” Jim jokes. Wait, did she say that her cousin was the one actually getting married? Does Jim have some sort of secret life? Nah.
3:10: Hours at the Rochester airport 9hours, 10min: We are finally in the air to Atlanta.
5:15: We arrive in Atlanta. We should have plenty of time to get to our gate. I hope our bags make it. It sure is warmer here than it was in Rochester. We get off the plane, oh wait, where’s the tunnel we are supposed to walk through to get inside the airport? There is no tunnel, just stairs. This is new. I’ve always walked through a tunnel. As we walk through the airport, I ask Jim, “Why don’t you like this airport?” It seems like a nice airport. “Because it’s so big.” I soon find that he is right. The airport is endless. It goes on, on, on, on, and on .oh sorry. The airport is so big that we have to take a train to get the rest of the way to our gate. We get to our gate and there is no one waiting. Apparently, the plane has already started boarding. Jim remarks to the woman taking our tickets, “I hope our bags have time to get here.” “They will,” she assures us. She sounds so confident and certain, oh wait, that’s her job.
6:15: We finally take off from Atlanta. It’s a five hour flight. I’ve never been on a flight this long. In addition, the time zone changes begin. It is 3 hours earlier in LA. Jim sets his watch to LA time. 3:15. You really can go back in time.
4:45-5:15 (LA time remember): Dinner provided by Atlanta Bread Co (how appropriate). Could the prices be more expensive? We both order a turkey and cheese sandwich. The bread is a bit thicker than I like but it tastes good. The red wine I order tastes like bad cheap wine. I’ve had cheap wine that was actually good, this wine is awful. However, not one to let wine go to waste, I do drink it.
5:45: Nothing but blackness down there. I wonder if we are flying over the desert.
5:55-6:35: A little nap. I wake up a bit disoriented though. Moreover, as I look out the window: more blackness.
6:56-7:15: Wow!!! Look at all the lights down there. So this is Los Angeles. The lights just seem to go on forever. Miles and miles and miles of lights.
7:15: As we land in LA, I think, it’s not as warm as I thought it would be. We walk through the airport. So, this is LAX. I wonder which celebrities have walked the same path that we are walking. It’s a classy looking airport. My favorite store name is Creative Croissants. What a cool, catchy, and colorful title for a store.
7:20: We arrive at baggage. No sign of celebrities.
7:38: No more bags on the carousel. Our bags did not make it. I will remain calm. I will remain calm. I will not throw a hissy fit. We go to make a complaint and tell them where we are staying and that we are flying out to Hawaii tomorrow morning. Either the bags were sent to Cincinnati (which they shouldn’t have) or they did not make the connecting plane in Atlanta (which they should have). The woman behind the counter, with the honeyed voice, dripping with just a hint of sympathy, tells us, “Cincinnati will be closed tomorrow.” Oh, I hope our bags weren’t sent there. “If the bags got sent to Cincinnati, I don’t know when we’ll get them. If we get them tonight, we’ll call you otherwise we’ll send them to Hawaii,” the woman says. Oh wonderful, I think. “Good luck,” she says as we walk away. I’m sure if Seinfeld were here, he’d be able to come up with a witty comeback.
8:38: We finally arrive at our hotel. When Jim called for an exact address, he did not understand the street name. He called a second time while we were in the taxi, and finally got it.
8:45: Jim goes out to find a pharmacy and I crash.
10:23: Ring….ring…..ring. “Hmmmm, phone, telephone,” I shout out to Jim, slowly coming out of my slumber. His cell phone is ringing and it’s next to his bed. He finally answers the phone. Wow, the woman on the other end sure does have a loud voice. “Are you Paul Johnstone?” I hear her ask. “Yes,” Jim replies. Married people always seem to do that. Pretend they are each other, even in person, if they can get away with it. Jim hangs up the phone and tells me that our bags have arrived in LA and they will deliver them sometime tonight. Hurray!!!
Sunday Jan. 23
12:24 am: I get dressed to head down to the hotel lobby to see if our bags have been delivered yet. I surprise myself at my skillfulness. I manage to get that big metal door latch (only on hotel room doors) undone in the dark and make a very minimal amount of noise so that I don’t wake Jim. When I get to the lobby, the man behind the desk says our bags have not been delivered yet but he has a note to hold them behind the desk when they do arrive.
4:26am: Again, I make my way down to the lobby. Yes!!!! The clerk behind the desk brings our bags out. I thank him profusely and practically skip back up to the room.
5:30: Complimentary breakfast. Pastries, muffins, eggs, sausage, yogurt, and oh yummy, waffles. Unfortunately, they are the small frozen waffles (I’m a Belgian waffle guy) but hey beggars can’t be choosers.
6:30: We are packed and waiting for the shuttle. We call our pet nanny who reports it is 3 degrees and over a foot of snow fell between yesterday and this morning. Meanwhile, in LA it is in the 60’s.
6:35: Aboard the shuttle, we meet a couple, from Washington, who are also on their way to Hawaii. The driver of the shuttle is a very cranky man who tells the couple, who are finishing their breakfast on the shuttle, not to leave their stuff in the van. It’s not the fact that he tells them not to leave their garbage but the way he tells them. As if to say, “Hey you, American, don’t even think of leaving your trash in my van, you slobs.” They get out and as we are driving to our gate, Jim tells the driver which number to stop at. All of the airlines have marquee signs hanging with numbers on them. “Is it United or Continental United?” The driver asks this to Jim and Jim replies, “United.” However, when we get to Continental United, Jim sees Hawaii and blurts out, “Wait, maybe this IS it. I didn’t know they flew to Hawaii.” The driver comes to an abrupt stop so he can merge over to the right side of the road. “Sorry about that,” Jim says. “That’s why I asked,” the driver chides. In terms of crankiness, the driver puts Jim to shame.
7:05-9:00: Nothing out of the ordinary while waiting for the plane. No celebrity sightings either. However, there are many people on this flight who are also with club excellence. I’m pleased that Jim and I won’t be the last ones to arrive. Apparently, many other people, in other states, had problems flying out as well. Isn’t mother nature great?
9:20-12:00: While on the plane, we discover a father sitting next to us. His wife and nanny and two kids sit in the row across from us. His little boy is an angel. The girl cries and screams most of the way.
12:30: We are finally in Hawaii. The weather is a beautiful and clear 80 degrees. The airport looks like a theme park. The seats, baggage screeners, and ticket windows are all outside under lanai. As we walk to the greeter holding the ADT sign, a woman asks us, “Are you with ADT?” “Yes,” we reply. “Aloha,” she says as she puts a lei over each of our heads.
12:50: We are on the bus which will take us to the resort. It is a 25min ride and there are 19 other people on the bus with us. They too are with the club excellence. The greeter gets on the bus and is immediately upset that the AC is not working. He says that we can get another bus that does have ac but we all agree that we just want to get to the resort and after coming from below zero temps, a little discomfort such as no ac is not going to kill us. He looks at us and says, “Are you sure? We can get another bus.” We all agree this bus is fine. He looks at us as if to say, “What’s wrong with you people?”
12:59: The scenery is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Miles and miles of melted lava rock, sedge grass, and mountains in the distance. There is also a lot of graffiti, however, it is unlike graffiti that we are used to. It is made with white rocks. It seems plain yet it’s very beautiful. I spend practically the whole drive just staring out the window.
2:36: We are finally in our room. We had a bit of a snag when we checked in. The guy who checked us in did not check us as ADT (even though I told him we were). He said our room was still being cleaned and to check back at 3 to see if it’s ready. No worries there, one of the Advantage travel women straightened that out. We get into our room and find that our checked bags have been placed inside. It’s so peaceful. The courtyard outside our room is dozens of palm trees and a mini waterfall that can be heard 24hrs a day. One sidenote: Before we got to our room and before the Advantage woman found us, Jim and I were walking around the resort a bit. We were on the tram that runs through the resort and Jim got off at the wrong stop. He would have know but he did not have the map and we were not sitting together. I was being pissy about something and decided to sit in a different car. Anyway, as he was riding back to the right stop, he met a woman and they saw each other’s ADT name tags. He asked her, “Who are you here with?” “I’m here with my partner,” she answered. “I’m here with my partner too!” Jim exclaimed. Come to find out they are family. We met a lesbian couple on our first day.
6:05: After a bit of a nap, I was awakened to a very loud noise. It wasn’t annoying, however, it was a bit disconcerting because I’d never heard anything quite like it before and I wasn’t sure what it was. It was a muffled shrieking noise. “What is that noise?” I asked Jim as were waking up. I walked around the room and realized the noise was coming from outside. I opened the door and the noise became magnified. “It’s the birds,” I shouted into Jim. Hundreds of birds were singing their sunset song in the palm trees. Truly amazing.
6:30-8:50: We meet up with the girls on our way to the luau. I’ve never been to a luau before. Everything is set up outside. The tables, food, tiki torches; it’s all very Survivorish. As we walk to the tables, there are waiters and waitresses, all dressed in Hawaiian outfits, who hold trays of wine and beer. Everytime we finish a drink, there is a server right there asking if we would like another. The food is set up buffet style and it’s all you can eat. We notice there are no bugs. No flies buzzing around, no gnats dive bombing us, and no mosquitoes eating at us. The show starts and there is dancing, singing, and there are fire dancers too. I hope my pictures come out. It seems easy to be with the lesbian couple, Deanna & Effie, who are from Kansas, by the way. Everyone has a great time. I’m a little disappointed that I did not get chosen to go on stage and dance with the hula dancers. More bad news: We missed the volcano tour because we got in so late on Sunday and we weren’t able to reschedule it for another day. We could do it on our own but that would mean driving to the other end of the island. A helicopter tour of the volcano would cost $300 per person.
Even though we missed half the day and we got in a day later than we were supposed to, it was a wonderful first day. We are both still a bit tired from all the traveling but are still very much excited. When we get back to our room there is a small gift waiting for us. It is made out of ceramic and has a sea turtle at the bottom. We also have our itinerary for the next day. We fall asleep with the sound of the waterfall trickling in our ears.
Monday, Jan 24:
5am: I’m still in bed but Jim has been up for half an hour. Outside, we hear the sound of the birds singing their morning song and the muffled sound of the waterfall.
6:30: We are showered and ready for breakfast. As we walk to the lobby of the hotel, Jim makes a comment about Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, because of all the birds in the palm trees. Everything in the resort is outside. When we leave our room, we are outside. The lobby of the hotel and the elevators are outside. They are covered but there are no doors or windows. The whole resort is like that.
Breakfast consists of pastries, eggs, fresh fruit, potatoes, croissants, coffee, juice and of course it’s all you can eat. The waitstaff are all very attentive. As we eat, the tree we are sitting under drops tiny flower petals. Some land on us, a few land on the table and one lands in Jim’s coffee. When we started eating, it was still dark with just a hint of light. By the time we finish, daylight is complete and with the lagoon behind us and the trees all around us, we think this must be what heaven is like. And again no bugs.
8:15-11:30: Jim and I go on our whale watching trip. It’s our first time whale watching and the whales are bigger than I realized. They are huge and very very graceful. We get pretty close to them but not so close that anyone gets splashed. The water truly looks like glass. The clouds seem to form a wall all around us with the mountains just inside of that wall. It is magnificent. I hope I got some good pics.
12:00-1:00: Lunch at a place called the Lagoon Grill. We have lunch vouchers and are allowed to spend up to $25 (alcohol is separate). We eat outside under the sunshine and palm trees. Jim orders something that comes with taro bread. It is bread that is pink and has a sweet flavor. Jim hates it but I kind of like it. “That’s the bread I had at the luau last night,” I comment to Jim. Again there are no bugs to disturb us. There are however, birds all around us. Sparrows and pigeons hop around hoping for us to drop something. I never realized that they bop their heads when they walk. Jim decides to give a piece of bread to one of the sparrows, despite the clearly marked sign that reads, DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS. As a result, one of the sparrows hopped right onto the table and cheeped at us as if to say, “give me more now.” Another source of amusement was a male pigeon chasing a female pigeon around.
1:15-1:50: More free drinks. The drink of the day is a lava flow. It is light rum, pineapple, coconut and pureed strawberries. Yummy!!! Jim and I have two each. We could have had more (they were free) but decided we should nap before dinner.
3:30-4:30: While Jim naps, I decide to walk around the resort. It’s a big resort. There is a Marriott inside the resort as well as shops, golf course, tennis court, pools, and restaurants. The resort is a veritable village inside the island.
6:30-9:44: The theme was retro beach bum party. It is held on the beach of course and as we walk toward the beach there are more waitstaff with drinks for us. Jim and I neither look like a beach or bums. We are in shorts, sandals, and t-shirts. We sit with our friends Deanna & Effie and another couple from Kansas City. Travis & Joanna are very cool people. They are straight but down to earth and seem genuine. The kind of straight people we enjoy hanging out with. I wanted to do karaoke later but Jim was tired and the girls wanted to go swimming.
9:56: As I get ready to go swimming, I once again stop and realize, ‘I’m in Hawaii.’ I realize that I work for a really good company. What other company has this sort of achievement reward that pays for EVERYTHING. The only things we will end up paying for are souvenirs and lunch on our last day at the resort (after we’ve checked out). The girls call and say the swimming pool is closed. So I decide to walk around the resort while Jim sleeps. I will never tire of hearing the ocean. Hearing it at night as I walk amongst the lights and statues and trees within the resort, I realize I’m very grateful to have won this trip as I may never make it back to Hawaii again.
Tuesday Jan 25:
6:00: I missed the Oscar nominations. Oh well, I’ll worry about it when I get back.
7:30-9:00: Breakfast outside again.
9:00-12:00: We take a bus to the village of Kona to do some shopping. Our friends Effie and Deanna come with us and we pick out some nice souvenirs.
1:00-1:40: More free drinks. The drink of the day is a blue Hawaiian. It is curacao, vodka, and orange juice. Despite the fact that they are free, Jim and I only have one each. They are awful.
1:45-3:10: We go swimming in the lagoon. The lagoon feeds into the ocean so as we are swimming we see lots of fish and some sea turtles. We see a school of small fish (not sure what you would call them, they are silver so maybe they are silver fish) and Jim remarks that they are hungry. They do surround me and there are a lot of them. We also see some puffer fish. These fish are fat little things with white spots on them and it really does look like they stare at you. Jim remarks that the fish is thinking about dinner as it stops and turns, its eyes seeming to bore right into mine. I swim a while and Jim lays out in the sun.
5:30-7:00: The reception before the big semi-formal dinner. While there have been plenty of free drinks at the dinners, the only comment I would make is the dearth of mixed drinks. There are very few mixed drinks that the bartenders will make. Unfortunately, pina coladas are not among the ones they will make. We have a nice dinner and Mike Hanley, VP of the call centers, are at our table. When Mike Snyder, the president of ADT, speaks he is very funny. They show the names of all the winners on a video screen. They also show a short video of where next year’s trip will be: Atlantis. I try to picture the people in Boca Raton last year seeing the video of Hawaii.
9:40-10:42: We swim in the pool with our friends Effie & Deanna. I should say, I swim and Jim sits on a lounge chair. We are chased around by this 12yr old (no parents around by the way) who keeps calling the three of us old (we are all in our 30’s) and telling us she works for the FBI and has a gun. We think she is just starving for attention.
Wednesday into Thursday Jan 26 and 27
6:30-7:20: Breakfast is served. We are offered mimosas and while Jim likes his, I don’t like mine at all. I’m not a big champagne fan and orange juice gives me gas. We could have gotten drunk because as soon as we finished our first one, we were offered another one. We both declined. It will be our last breakfast outside in January (for a while anyway).
7:25-7:50: Where did all of this crap come from, I wonder to myself. I don’t have enough room to pack everything. Fear not, it’s Jim to the rescue. He helps me pack my suitcase and fits some stuff in that I could not. He really is a wonder.
11:55: We check out of the hotel using the tv screen. Unfortunately, the survey is temporarily not available.
12:00-2:00: We eat lunch at a place called the Malolo Lounge. It has one door and the other entrance is open and birds are able to fly in. Once again the sparrows and pigeons hop around on the carpeted floor while we eat. The chairs are lounge chairs and the table is a small circular table. It’s a very relaxed and peaceful place. There is even a tv but it is playing sports.
3:15: Time to leave the resort. It’s been a wonderful time. Everyone has been so accommodating.
3:45-5:20: More waiting at the airport. Fortunately, it is the airport that looks like an amusement park so we are outside under a lanai.
5:50: We have boarded the plane. It is a 777 and it has seats in the middle. I’ve never been on a plane so big. The plane we were on from LA to Hawaii was a 757 and I thought that one was big. We are not looking forward to the 7hour flight. Yes, 7 hours from Hawaii to Chicago (and Chicago is four hours ahead of Hawaii).
6:20: Goodbye Hawaii!! Jim sets his watch forward four hours so it now becomes 10:20. We should be in Chicago by 5:30. Jim and I sit in the middle row and there are five seats and only one other man sitting in our row. The other man is on the other end and decides to lay down across three seats. He does this and snores loudly for just about the whole flight. Meanwhile, the guy in front of Jim decides to push his seat back and all but crushes Jim’s knees. He also keeps drops his cushioned head rest. Before he realizes that he doesn’t have his head rest, Jim decides to step on the guy’s head rest (now mind you Jim does not have his shoes on and his socks may smell).
5:25: We arrive in Chicago. What a long flight and it’s cold too. We put on our light winter jackets so it’s not so bad. O’Hare is kind of freaky. There are several walking escalators. Those are the ones that move in a straight line. And there are freaky neon lights above our heads that blink on and off.
Thursday – January 27
6:35-6:40: We board our plane to Rochester. I joke to Jim that our pilot looks 20 years old. The stewardess asks for four volunteers to move to the back (to balance the plane) and Jim and I happily decide to be two of the four. Anything so that we are not sitting with a baby behind us.
6:50: Still on the runway, waiting for the plane to be deiced.
7:09: Deicer complete.
7:15: Still on the runway.
7:20: We’ve started moving down the runway but it seems we are just going in circles
7:30: We are told there is a problem with one of the computer systems and we will be returning to the gate.
7:40: Back at the gate, we are told maintenance is checking the problem. We will need to leave the aircraft and take our carry ons with us.
7:47: There is an announcement that an update regarding our flight will be made at 8am.
8:05: Five minutes past the deadline for the announcement, we are told the problem has been fixed. We return to the airplane.
8:15: Back on the plane.
9:05: We are still on the runway and now are waiting for the plane to be deiced again. We are told we are number 3 in line to be deiced.
9:40: Deicing #2 is complete.
9:53: Still on the runway, no communication from the pilot for a while. Will we ever get out of Chicago?
10:15: Finally an announcement…there is so much traffic on the runway (at O’Hare airport, go figure) that the tower has had to change our order in departure two times.
10:24: We are finally in the air.
10:42: “The pilot has left the cabin,” Jim says. Sure enough, the pilot comes walking down the aisle to the back of the plane. He steps into the bathroom. I’ve never seen that before. “And she’s flying the plane,” Jim says referring to the stewardess. Someone has to attend to the controls and they must be locked in the cockpit and that is exactly where our stewardess is as the pilot answers nature’s call.
10:44: The pilot is back in charge.
12:30: We land in Rochester. It’s cold but not very windy. We spend about 15min digging out my car and getting out of the parking spot.
2:30: We are back home and find that one of our pipes has a crack in it. We can’t use the bathtub or the sink in the kitchen but we can flush the toilet and use the bathroom sink. I catch up on the news. I did not hear any news at all while we were in Hawaii. I did not realize Johnny Carson died and I finally have all of the Oscar nominees. I read NPR and national news and get all caught up. It’s good to be back home. I ask Jim what his least favorite part of the trip was and he says it was the rudeness of the people. Many people were rude, inconsiderate and acted as if they were owed this trip. A number of people on the Hawaii trip attend the club excellence trip every year. Many sales people attend each year (they don’t get nominated they attend if their sales are high enough). I continue to be grateful that I was nominated and chosen.
5am: We are up and ready to go!!! Jim is so glad we stayed in the city overnight and I have to admit I am to, it’s nice not having to drive an hour into the city. I’m not looking forward to having a valet service drive my car. We had the option of either parking the car in the airport parking lot or having a valet drive us to the airport then drive my car back to the lot. And when he picks us up when we come back, he would drive my car to the airport (warmed up and shoveled off). Call me crazy but I am funny about having others drive my car. Jim’s lucky I let him drive it.
5:40: We leave the hotel and, oh my gosh, it is so friggin’ cold. We drive around a bit trying to find the valet service but Jim cannot seem to locate it. Looks like we are parking in the airport parking lot after all. My car will be totally buried when we get back.
6am: We get to the United window with our electronic tickets and are advised the flight we were scheduled to fly has been cancelled. There is another flight that leaves at 6 but it is leaving as we stand at the window. We are advised there is yet another flight that leaves on Sunday morning, however, Rochester is expecting a snowstorm with 7-14” of snow predicted.
6:10: We are frantically (ok, I’m frantic, Jim is calm as usual) calling the after hours number for the travel agency. I check my messages on my phone and hear an automated message from the airline that the flight for Sat. morning has been cancelled and I’ve been rebooked for the Sunday morning flight. There is a second message from one of my co-workers who is also going on the trip. He says the airline is trying to get us on the 6am Saturday flight but my need to rebook us for Sunday. So good to know that now. I wonder if he made the 6am flight. There is also a message on our home machine from the same co-worker. Why didn’t either one of us check messages last night? We may have been able to get on the 6am flight. Meanwhile, Jim reminds me to not be irritable and pessimistic. We are told by the after hours people that they are not authorized to make any changes and we have to call another number in Minnesota at 7:30. Apparently, they are bringing people in to work on Sat. morning because there are people all over the country who are having some problems getting to Hawaii (and they are all part of the Club Excellence trip). Now it is a bit after 6:30 and we have a little less than an hour to wait.
7:30: Jim gets through to the Minnesota number and is told he has to get approval from the airline to change airlines to get on another flight before Sunday.
8:15: Jim finally gets United to approve us on another airline. We are scheduled to leave at 1:40 on Delta and connect in Cincinnati and from Cincinnati we fly to LA. Unfortunately, we have to stay over in LA and fly to Hawaii on Sunday morning. Not too bad; at least, we are getting out of Rochester today. By the way, United ends up canceling all of their other flights this morning. The last flight to get out of Roch was the one at 6am.
8:20: We are getting our bags ready for them to be searched. Jim is in front of me and there is one guy searching bags. He is an elderly gentleman and he is doing the best he can. A moment later, a younger, very happy go lucky man comes up and asks Jim, “Do you need help?” He then shouts to the elderly gentleman, “Hey Frank work faster,” he laughs and asks Jim, “Does that help?” Then he takes Jim’s bags, asks him the pertinent questions and tells Jim he is all set. Then Mr. Happy go lucky takes my bag, “Is it locked?” “No,” I reply. “Carrying any firearms?” “No sir,” I say. “Have a good trip,” he says. Before I can stop myself or catch the words before I get them out, I’ve uttered the most inappropriate response. “You too,” I say as I start to walk away. Fortunately, Mr. Happy go lucky takes it in stride. “But I’m not flying,” he says with a grin on his face. “That’s right,” I respond turning to him. “Then stop rubbing it in,” he laughs. I feel like I’m in a Seinfeld episode. I’m sure he’s tackled this subject.
10:20: Hours in Rochester airport….4hrs 20min. We grab something to eat and get ready to wait for our flight, which doesn’t leave for another four hours. If we get into Hawaii on Sunday afternoon then we will miss the volcano tour, unless there is someway we can do it another day.
11:05: An announcement comes over the loudspeaker: “Would the following passengers Paul Johnstone and James Mulcahy come to the Delta ticket counter for an emergency flight change.” We both look at each other as if to say, “oh no.” We walk up there and are told the connecting flight from Cincinnati to LA has been cancelled, however, the woman, who it turns out is the same one who checked our bags earlier, did a backup connecting flight for us. Therefore, now, instead of going to Cincinnati, we are flying to Atlanta. That flight leaves at 1:55. Jim comments, “That’s a crappy airport.”
2:07pm: Hours at Rochester airport 8hours, 7min. Now it’s Jim’s turn to get agitated. We should have been on the plane by now but the flight will now be leaving at 3 due to the snow on the runway. I hope that we will make our connecting flight. Thankfully, they did another backup for us. If we don’t make the 5:52 flight from Atlanta, there is another one at 7:15.
2:16: We finally board the plane. Hours spent waiting at the airport 8hours, 16min.
2:30: We are on the plane.
2:41: There is a bit of a stir at the front of the plane. We hear one of the crew guys tell the stewardess that they need to take three passengers off the plane. The stewardess gets on the intercom and calls out TWO names and….oh thank heavens, she doesn’t call our names. The two passengers get off. Still not sure why they had to leave the plane but we did hear they were supposed to be on a United flight (as were we).
2:56: Stephanie the stewardess bends down and asks Jim, “Can I ask you a weird question?” Oh Lord, I’m thinking. “What is your last name?” He tells her his last name and she proceeds to tell him about a cousin she saw at a family wedding. He looks just like the cousin. “It’s the Irish face,” Jim jokes. Wait, did she say that her cousin was the one actually getting married? Does Jim have some sort of secret life? Nah.
3:10: Hours at the Rochester airport 9hours, 10min: We are finally in the air to Atlanta.
5:15: We arrive in Atlanta. We should have plenty of time to get to our gate. I hope our bags make it. It sure is warmer here than it was in Rochester. We get off the plane, oh wait, where’s the tunnel we are supposed to walk through to get inside the airport? There is no tunnel, just stairs. This is new. I’ve always walked through a tunnel. As we walk through the airport, I ask Jim, “Why don’t you like this airport?” It seems like a nice airport. “Because it’s so big.” I soon find that he is right. The airport is endless. It goes on, on, on, on, and on .oh sorry. The airport is so big that we have to take a train to get the rest of the way to our gate. We get to our gate and there is no one waiting. Apparently, the plane has already started boarding. Jim remarks to the woman taking our tickets, “I hope our bags have time to get here.” “They will,” she assures us. She sounds so confident and certain, oh wait, that’s her job.
6:15: We finally take off from Atlanta. It’s a five hour flight. I’ve never been on a flight this long. In addition, the time zone changes begin. It is 3 hours earlier in LA. Jim sets his watch to LA time. 3:15. You really can go back in time.
4:45-5:15 (LA time remember): Dinner provided by Atlanta Bread Co (how appropriate). Could the prices be more expensive? We both order a turkey and cheese sandwich. The bread is a bit thicker than I like but it tastes good. The red wine I order tastes like bad cheap wine. I’ve had cheap wine that was actually good, this wine is awful. However, not one to let wine go to waste, I do drink it.
5:45: Nothing but blackness down there. I wonder if we are flying over the desert.
5:55-6:35: A little nap. I wake up a bit disoriented though. Moreover, as I look out the window: more blackness.
6:56-7:15: Wow!!! Look at all the lights down there. So this is Los Angeles. The lights just seem to go on forever. Miles and miles and miles of lights.
7:15: As we land in LA, I think, it’s not as warm as I thought it would be. We walk through the airport. So, this is LAX. I wonder which celebrities have walked the same path that we are walking. It’s a classy looking airport. My favorite store name is Creative Croissants. What a cool, catchy, and colorful title for a store.
7:20: We arrive at baggage. No sign of celebrities.
7:38: No more bags on the carousel. Our bags did not make it. I will remain calm. I will remain calm. I will not throw a hissy fit. We go to make a complaint and tell them where we are staying and that we are flying out to Hawaii tomorrow morning. Either the bags were sent to Cincinnati (which they shouldn’t have) or they did not make the connecting plane in Atlanta (which they should have). The woman behind the counter, with the honeyed voice, dripping with just a hint of sympathy, tells us, “Cincinnati will be closed tomorrow.” Oh, I hope our bags weren’t sent there. “If the bags got sent to Cincinnati, I don’t know when we’ll get them. If we get them tonight, we’ll call you otherwise we’ll send them to Hawaii,” the woman says. Oh wonderful, I think. “Good luck,” she says as we walk away. I’m sure if Seinfeld were here, he’d be able to come up with a witty comeback.
8:38: We finally arrive at our hotel. When Jim called for an exact address, he did not understand the street name. He called a second time while we were in the taxi, and finally got it.
8:45: Jim goes out to find a pharmacy and I crash.
10:23: Ring….ring…..ring. “Hmmmm, phone, telephone,” I shout out to Jim, slowly coming out of my slumber. His cell phone is ringing and it’s next to his bed. He finally answers the phone. Wow, the woman on the other end sure does have a loud voice. “Are you Paul Johnstone?” I hear her ask. “Yes,” Jim replies. Married people always seem to do that. Pretend they are each other, even in person, if they can get away with it. Jim hangs up the phone and tells me that our bags have arrived in LA and they will deliver them sometime tonight. Hurray!!!
Sunday Jan. 23
12:24 am: I get dressed to head down to the hotel lobby to see if our bags have been delivered yet. I surprise myself at my skillfulness. I manage to get that big metal door latch (only on hotel room doors) undone in the dark and make a very minimal amount of noise so that I don’t wake Jim. When I get to the lobby, the man behind the desk says our bags have not been delivered yet but he has a note to hold them behind the desk when they do arrive.
4:26am: Again, I make my way down to the lobby. Yes!!!! The clerk behind the desk brings our bags out. I thank him profusely and practically skip back up to the room.
5:30: Complimentary breakfast. Pastries, muffins, eggs, sausage, yogurt, and oh yummy, waffles. Unfortunately, they are the small frozen waffles (I’m a Belgian waffle guy) but hey beggars can’t be choosers.
6:30: We are packed and waiting for the shuttle. We call our pet nanny who reports it is 3 degrees and over a foot of snow fell between yesterday and this morning. Meanwhile, in LA it is in the 60’s.
6:35: Aboard the shuttle, we meet a couple, from Washington, who are also on their way to Hawaii. The driver of the shuttle is a very cranky man who tells the couple, who are finishing their breakfast on the shuttle, not to leave their stuff in the van. It’s not the fact that he tells them not to leave their garbage but the way he tells them. As if to say, “Hey you, American, don’t even think of leaving your trash in my van, you slobs.” They get out and as we are driving to our gate, Jim tells the driver which number to stop at. All of the airlines have marquee signs hanging with numbers on them. “Is it United or Continental United?” The driver asks this to Jim and Jim replies, “United.” However, when we get to Continental United, Jim sees Hawaii and blurts out, “Wait, maybe this IS it. I didn’t know they flew to Hawaii.” The driver comes to an abrupt stop so he can merge over to the right side of the road. “Sorry about that,” Jim says. “That’s why I asked,” the driver chides. In terms of crankiness, the driver puts Jim to shame.
7:05-9:00: Nothing out of the ordinary while waiting for the plane. No celebrity sightings either. However, there are many people on this flight who are also with club excellence. I’m pleased that Jim and I won’t be the last ones to arrive. Apparently, many other people, in other states, had problems flying out as well. Isn’t mother nature great?
9:20-12:00: While on the plane, we discover a father sitting next to us. His wife and nanny and two kids sit in the row across from us. His little boy is an angel. The girl cries and screams most of the way.
12:30: We are finally in Hawaii. The weather is a beautiful and clear 80 degrees. The airport looks like a theme park. The seats, baggage screeners, and ticket windows are all outside under lanai. As we walk to the greeter holding the ADT sign, a woman asks us, “Are you with ADT?” “Yes,” we reply. “Aloha,” she says as she puts a lei over each of our heads.
12:50: We are on the bus which will take us to the resort. It is a 25min ride and there are 19 other people on the bus with us. They too are with the club excellence. The greeter gets on the bus and is immediately upset that the AC is not working. He says that we can get another bus that does have ac but we all agree that we just want to get to the resort and after coming from below zero temps, a little discomfort such as no ac is not going to kill us. He looks at us and says, “Are you sure? We can get another bus.” We all agree this bus is fine. He looks at us as if to say, “What’s wrong with you people?”
12:59: The scenery is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Miles and miles of melted lava rock, sedge grass, and mountains in the distance. There is also a lot of graffiti, however, it is unlike graffiti that we are used to. It is made with white rocks. It seems plain yet it’s very beautiful. I spend practically the whole drive just staring out the window.
2:36: We are finally in our room. We had a bit of a snag when we checked in. The guy who checked us in did not check us as ADT (even though I told him we were). He said our room was still being cleaned and to check back at 3 to see if it’s ready. No worries there, one of the Advantage travel women straightened that out. We get into our room and find that our checked bags have been placed inside. It’s so peaceful. The courtyard outside our room is dozens of palm trees and a mini waterfall that can be heard 24hrs a day. One sidenote: Before we got to our room and before the Advantage woman found us, Jim and I were walking around the resort a bit. We were on the tram that runs through the resort and Jim got off at the wrong stop. He would have know but he did not have the map and we were not sitting together. I was being pissy about something and decided to sit in a different car. Anyway, as he was riding back to the right stop, he met a woman and they saw each other’s ADT name tags. He asked her, “Who are you here with?” “I’m here with my partner,” she answered. “I’m here with my partner too!” Jim exclaimed. Come to find out they are family. We met a lesbian couple on our first day.
6:05: After a bit of a nap, I was awakened to a very loud noise. It wasn’t annoying, however, it was a bit disconcerting because I’d never heard anything quite like it before and I wasn’t sure what it was. It was a muffled shrieking noise. “What is that noise?” I asked Jim as were waking up. I walked around the room and realized the noise was coming from outside. I opened the door and the noise became magnified. “It’s the birds,” I shouted into Jim. Hundreds of birds were singing their sunset song in the palm trees. Truly amazing.
6:30-8:50: We meet up with the girls on our way to the luau. I’ve never been to a luau before. Everything is set up outside. The tables, food, tiki torches; it’s all very Survivorish. As we walk to the tables, there are waiters and waitresses, all dressed in Hawaiian outfits, who hold trays of wine and beer. Everytime we finish a drink, there is a server right there asking if we would like another. The food is set up buffet style and it’s all you can eat. We notice there are no bugs. No flies buzzing around, no gnats dive bombing us, and no mosquitoes eating at us. The show starts and there is dancing, singing, and there are fire dancers too. I hope my pictures come out. It seems easy to be with the lesbian couple, Deanna & Effie, who are from Kansas, by the way. Everyone has a great time. I’m a little disappointed that I did not get chosen to go on stage and dance with the hula dancers. More bad news: We missed the volcano tour because we got in so late on Sunday and we weren’t able to reschedule it for another day. We could do it on our own but that would mean driving to the other end of the island. A helicopter tour of the volcano would cost $300 per person.
Even though we missed half the day and we got in a day later than we were supposed to, it was a wonderful first day. We are both still a bit tired from all the traveling but are still very much excited. When we get back to our room there is a small gift waiting for us. It is made out of ceramic and has a sea turtle at the bottom. We also have our itinerary for the next day. We fall asleep with the sound of the waterfall trickling in our ears.
Monday, Jan 24:
5am: I’m still in bed but Jim has been up for half an hour. Outside, we hear the sound of the birds singing their morning song and the muffled sound of the waterfall.
6:30: We are showered and ready for breakfast. As we walk to the lobby of the hotel, Jim makes a comment about Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, because of all the birds in the palm trees. Everything in the resort is outside. When we leave our room, we are outside. The lobby of the hotel and the elevators are outside. They are covered but there are no doors or windows. The whole resort is like that.
Breakfast consists of pastries, eggs, fresh fruit, potatoes, croissants, coffee, juice and of course it’s all you can eat. The waitstaff are all very attentive. As we eat, the tree we are sitting under drops tiny flower petals. Some land on us, a few land on the table and one lands in Jim’s coffee. When we started eating, it was still dark with just a hint of light. By the time we finish, daylight is complete and with the lagoon behind us and the trees all around us, we think this must be what heaven is like. And again no bugs.
8:15-11:30: Jim and I go on our whale watching trip. It’s our first time whale watching and the whales are bigger than I realized. They are huge and very very graceful. We get pretty close to them but not so close that anyone gets splashed. The water truly looks like glass. The clouds seem to form a wall all around us with the mountains just inside of that wall. It is magnificent. I hope I got some good pics.
12:00-1:00: Lunch at a place called the Lagoon Grill. We have lunch vouchers and are allowed to spend up to $25 (alcohol is separate). We eat outside under the sunshine and palm trees. Jim orders something that comes with taro bread. It is bread that is pink and has a sweet flavor. Jim hates it but I kind of like it. “That’s the bread I had at the luau last night,” I comment to Jim. Again there are no bugs to disturb us. There are however, birds all around us. Sparrows and pigeons hop around hoping for us to drop something. I never realized that they bop their heads when they walk. Jim decides to give a piece of bread to one of the sparrows, despite the clearly marked sign that reads, DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS. As a result, one of the sparrows hopped right onto the table and cheeped at us as if to say, “give me more now.” Another source of amusement was a male pigeon chasing a female pigeon around.
1:15-1:50: More free drinks. The drink of the day is a lava flow. It is light rum, pineapple, coconut and pureed strawberries. Yummy!!! Jim and I have two each. We could have had more (they were free) but decided we should nap before dinner.
3:30-4:30: While Jim naps, I decide to walk around the resort. It’s a big resort. There is a Marriott inside the resort as well as shops, golf course, tennis court, pools, and restaurants. The resort is a veritable village inside the island.
6:30-9:44: The theme was retro beach bum party. It is held on the beach of course and as we walk toward the beach there are more waitstaff with drinks for us. Jim and I neither look like a beach or bums. We are in shorts, sandals, and t-shirts. We sit with our friends Deanna & Effie and another couple from Kansas City. Travis & Joanna are very cool people. They are straight but down to earth and seem genuine. The kind of straight people we enjoy hanging out with. I wanted to do karaoke later but Jim was tired and the girls wanted to go swimming.
9:56: As I get ready to go swimming, I once again stop and realize, ‘I’m in Hawaii.’ I realize that I work for a really good company. What other company has this sort of achievement reward that pays for EVERYTHING. The only things we will end up paying for are souvenirs and lunch on our last day at the resort (after we’ve checked out). The girls call and say the swimming pool is closed. So I decide to walk around the resort while Jim sleeps. I will never tire of hearing the ocean. Hearing it at night as I walk amongst the lights and statues and trees within the resort, I realize I’m very grateful to have won this trip as I may never make it back to Hawaii again.
Tuesday Jan 25:
6:00: I missed the Oscar nominations. Oh well, I’ll worry about it when I get back.
7:30-9:00: Breakfast outside again.
9:00-12:00: We take a bus to the village of Kona to do some shopping. Our friends Effie and Deanna come with us and we pick out some nice souvenirs.
1:00-1:40: More free drinks. The drink of the day is a blue Hawaiian. It is curacao, vodka, and orange juice. Despite the fact that they are free, Jim and I only have one each. They are awful.
1:45-3:10: We go swimming in the lagoon. The lagoon feeds into the ocean so as we are swimming we see lots of fish and some sea turtles. We see a school of small fish (not sure what you would call them, they are silver so maybe they are silver fish) and Jim remarks that they are hungry. They do surround me and there are a lot of them. We also see some puffer fish. These fish are fat little things with white spots on them and it really does look like they stare at you. Jim remarks that the fish is thinking about dinner as it stops and turns, its eyes seeming to bore right into mine. I swim a while and Jim lays out in the sun.
5:30-7:00: The reception before the big semi-formal dinner. While there have been plenty of free drinks at the dinners, the only comment I would make is the dearth of mixed drinks. There are very few mixed drinks that the bartenders will make. Unfortunately, pina coladas are not among the ones they will make. We have a nice dinner and Mike Hanley, VP of the call centers, are at our table. When Mike Snyder, the president of ADT, speaks he is very funny. They show the names of all the winners on a video screen. They also show a short video of where next year’s trip will be: Atlantis. I try to picture the people in Boca Raton last year seeing the video of Hawaii.
9:40-10:42: We swim in the pool with our friends Effie & Deanna. I should say, I swim and Jim sits on a lounge chair. We are chased around by this 12yr old (no parents around by the way) who keeps calling the three of us old (we are all in our 30’s) and telling us she works for the FBI and has a gun. We think she is just starving for attention.
Wednesday into Thursday Jan 26 and 27
6:30-7:20: Breakfast is served. We are offered mimosas and while Jim likes his, I don’t like mine at all. I’m not a big champagne fan and orange juice gives me gas. We could have gotten drunk because as soon as we finished our first one, we were offered another one. We both declined. It will be our last breakfast outside in January (for a while anyway).
7:25-7:50: Where did all of this crap come from, I wonder to myself. I don’t have enough room to pack everything. Fear not, it’s Jim to the rescue. He helps me pack my suitcase and fits some stuff in that I could not. He really is a wonder.
11:55: We check out of the hotel using the tv screen. Unfortunately, the survey is temporarily not available.
12:00-2:00: We eat lunch at a place called the Malolo Lounge. It has one door and the other entrance is open and birds are able to fly in. Once again the sparrows and pigeons hop around on the carpeted floor while we eat. The chairs are lounge chairs and the table is a small circular table. It’s a very relaxed and peaceful place. There is even a tv but it is playing sports.
3:15: Time to leave the resort. It’s been a wonderful time. Everyone has been so accommodating.
3:45-5:20: More waiting at the airport. Fortunately, it is the airport that looks like an amusement park so we are outside under a lanai.
5:50: We have boarded the plane. It is a 777 and it has seats in the middle. I’ve never been on a plane so big. The plane we were on from LA to Hawaii was a 757 and I thought that one was big. We are not looking forward to the 7hour flight. Yes, 7 hours from Hawaii to Chicago (and Chicago is four hours ahead of Hawaii).
6:20: Goodbye Hawaii!! Jim sets his watch forward four hours so it now becomes 10:20. We should be in Chicago by 5:30. Jim and I sit in the middle row and there are five seats and only one other man sitting in our row. The other man is on the other end and decides to lay down across three seats. He does this and snores loudly for just about the whole flight. Meanwhile, the guy in front of Jim decides to push his seat back and all but crushes Jim’s knees. He also keeps drops his cushioned head rest. Before he realizes that he doesn’t have his head rest, Jim decides to step on the guy’s head rest (now mind you Jim does not have his shoes on and his socks may smell).
5:25: We arrive in Chicago. What a long flight and it’s cold too. We put on our light winter jackets so it’s not so bad. O’Hare is kind of freaky. There are several walking escalators. Those are the ones that move in a straight line. And there are freaky neon lights above our heads that blink on and off.
Thursday – January 27
6:35-6:40: We board our plane to Rochester. I joke to Jim that our pilot looks 20 years old. The stewardess asks for four volunteers to move to the back (to balance the plane) and Jim and I happily decide to be two of the four. Anything so that we are not sitting with a baby behind us.
6:50: Still on the runway, waiting for the plane to be deiced.
7:09: Deicer complete.
7:15: Still on the runway.
7:20: We’ve started moving down the runway but it seems we are just going in circles
7:30: We are told there is a problem with one of the computer systems and we will be returning to the gate.
7:40: Back at the gate, we are told maintenance is checking the problem. We will need to leave the aircraft and take our carry ons with us.
7:47: There is an announcement that an update regarding our flight will be made at 8am.
8:05: Five minutes past the deadline for the announcement, we are told the problem has been fixed. We return to the airplane.
8:15: Back on the plane.
9:05: We are still on the runway and now are waiting for the plane to be deiced again. We are told we are number 3 in line to be deiced.
9:40: Deicing #2 is complete.
9:53: Still on the runway, no communication from the pilot for a while. Will we ever get out of Chicago?
10:15: Finally an announcement…there is so much traffic on the runway (at O’Hare airport, go figure) that the tower has had to change our order in departure two times.
10:24: We are finally in the air.
10:42: “The pilot has left the cabin,” Jim says. Sure enough, the pilot comes walking down the aisle to the back of the plane. He steps into the bathroom. I’ve never seen that before. “And she’s flying the plane,” Jim says referring to the stewardess. Someone has to attend to the controls and they must be locked in the cockpit and that is exactly where our stewardess is as the pilot answers nature’s call.
10:44: The pilot is back in charge.
12:30: We land in Rochester. It’s cold but not very windy. We spend about 15min digging out my car and getting out of the parking spot.
2:30: We are back home and find that one of our pipes has a crack in it. We can’t use the bathtub or the sink in the kitchen but we can flush the toilet and use the bathroom sink. I catch up on the news. I did not hear any news at all while we were in Hawaii. I did not realize Johnny Carson died and I finally have all of the Oscar nominees. I read NPR and national news and get all caught up. It’s good to be back home. I ask Jim what his least favorite part of the trip was and he says it was the rudeness of the people. Many people were rude, inconsiderate and acted as if they were owed this trip. A number of people on the Hawaii trip attend the club excellence trip every year. Many sales people attend each year (they don’t get nominated they attend if their sales are high enough). I continue to be grateful that I was nominated and chosen.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Hawaii - Day 1
Friday Jan. 21st 5pm: It has finally hit me that we are actually going to Hawaii. It actually hit me a few days ago when I saw a tv commercial about Hawaii. Now I’m totally excited. First off, however, I want to say that chances are very slim that Jim and I would have been able to go if I had not been selected by my work to go. It costs a lot of money.
6:30: We check into our hotel, The Wellsley Inn, in the city so that we can be closer to the airport in the morning and not have to drive an hour to get there. We both have our cell phones, by the way, and they will figure prominently later on.
7:00: We arrive at the mall to buy suit jackets. There is a semi-formal function on the last night and we want to look good. Jim thinks it is wrong to get so dressed up in Hawaii, by the way. Jim finds a sport coat (the first one he tries on) and takes it. I try on a couple of coats; while they aren’t bad, I decide I want something a little plainer. I go for a plain black coat. Nice & ordinary. The sleeves end up being too long and need to be fitted so the salesperson (how PC of me) takes us to the fitting area to get my coat fitted. As the tailor fits my jacket, he discovers that I’m wearing the exact same jacket as he is wearing. Now we wait an hour while the jacket is adjusted and they are both pressed.
7:15: I realize that I’ve forgotten my bathing suit (Jim ONLY reminded me to pack it 3 times that day). We walk to Sears and JCPenny and find nothing. Target must have one. First, however, we need to eat. We decide on Friendly’s (after finding that Common Ground has closed; we don’t get to the mall very often). Not a pleasant dinner but adequate.
8:15: We pick up our suits and head to Target where we do find a bathing suit.
8:50: We arrive back at the hotel and Jim watches a bit of 3rd watch then we turn in for the night. We’ll need all the sleep we can get for the big day ahead of us tomorrow.
6:30: We check into our hotel, The Wellsley Inn, in the city so that we can be closer to the airport in the morning and not have to drive an hour to get there. We both have our cell phones, by the way, and they will figure prominently later on.
7:00: We arrive at the mall to buy suit jackets. There is a semi-formal function on the last night and we want to look good. Jim thinks it is wrong to get so dressed up in Hawaii, by the way. Jim finds a sport coat (the first one he tries on) and takes it. I try on a couple of coats; while they aren’t bad, I decide I want something a little plainer. I go for a plain black coat. Nice & ordinary. The sleeves end up being too long and need to be fitted so the salesperson (how PC of me) takes us to the fitting area to get my coat fitted. As the tailor fits my jacket, he discovers that I’m wearing the exact same jacket as he is wearing. Now we wait an hour while the jacket is adjusted and they are both pressed.
7:15: I realize that I’ve forgotten my bathing suit (Jim ONLY reminded me to pack it 3 times that day). We walk to Sears and JCPenny and find nothing. Target must have one. First, however, we need to eat. We decide on Friendly’s (after finding that Common Ground has closed; we don’t get to the mall very often). Not a pleasant dinner but adequate.
8:15: We pick up our suits and head to Target where we do find a bathing suit.
8:50: We arrive back at the hotel and Jim watches a bit of 3rd watch then we turn in for the night. We’ll need all the sleep we can get for the big day ahead of us tomorrow.
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