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July 13, 2000 |
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I'm on vacation. Well, of sorts. Tonight I'd be flying down to West Palm
Beach to visit my sister. Actually, I would be flying down to get together
with my cousins. Well they certainly feel like my cousins,
they're actually Fred's cousins. I've
been joining them for the reunions for a couple of years now and we seem to
get along just fine.
I spent a fair amount of time last night packing. Not too much, mind you,
just some things. I've gotten pretty used to travelling by now and have
most of the process down. I know I bring way too many electronic devices
with me. Let's see…
- My notebook - a Toshiba Portégé 3010.
- My cell phone - Nokia 6160
- My digital camera - Olympus C-2000
- My palm-size PC - Cassiopeia E-105
I did have to go to the store today to pick up a few things for my trip. I wanted to carry a water bottle with me on the trip. Don't you hate the feeling of being thirsty on the plane and having to wait for the flight attendant to slowly make their way to your seat with the drinks. Not for me.
I picked up some drinking water, shampoo, and some suntan lotion. I'm going to Florida, what do you expect? I also picked up some green beans for Pam.
She hates green beans.I know… as she would say, "That's mean". She says that all the time in fact, mostly kidding of course. She even does this cute little pout when she says it.
I still had some things to finish up at work, so that's where I stayed until five-ish. I did set the typical "Out of office" message, and that they should get in touch with Jim if something catastrophic happens.
Since Pam wasn't able to come along with me on this reunion, I wanted to see her one last time before I left. I had been Sunday since I last saw her and I wanted to see her since I would be away for the entire weekend. Couples are funny that way. I didn't tell her about it though, since I didn't know if I would have the time and I didn't want to disappoint her. You get the idea. It was a little past seven when I left my place and I figured if I got to the airport by about 9pm or so, I should be okay.
I called her and she said she would be happy to get dinner together. I was still short of time, but we could get something quickly. I drove across the pond. On the trip to Pam's place I realized that I had not moved my other car. I'd have to go back and move it.
You see… I have two cars and one assigned carport, so my second car sits in visitor parking, not that big of a deal. Except the management office seems to have issues with residents parking their cars in visitor spots, so all cars in visitor spots must move every three days, then you get a three day warning before they tow. Today was the third day, and I was going to be away for three days. [Sigh!]
This meant that I had to leave Pam's by about 8:30pm. Life mocks me.
I was glad to see Pam, I gave her a big hug… and I handed her the green beans. Her response? Eewwhh [Smirk!]
As for dinner, it would have to be something very quick. I had Kidd Valley in mind actually, they have good food which you can get in a handfull of minutes and you can drive there. One of the few restaurants in Lower Queen Anne that has parking. We went there for dinner. I picked up the double cheeseburger, fried mushrooms and a peanut butter shake. Pam had the cheeseburger, onion rings, and Mocha shake. She had a slight distaste for mushrooms, which I find a bit curious. She also has this nasty habit of eating onion rings with ketchup. That's nasty, people. Ketchup doesn't go with onion rings. Occasionally, they don't mix the shakes well, and I end up getting a walnut-sized clump of peanut butter in my shake. Not today, thank goodness.
Pam and I talked a little about the coming weekend. I was going to miss her. I told her that I would call her and often, which I really intended to do. She had a phone interview in the morning, this is with a local company. She wanted to get some pancakes for breakfast tomorrow and we stopped by the grocery store, they too had parking.
I left shortly after that. I still had to move my car. I briefly considered blowing this off, but I can't think of many things worse than having to get your car from the impound yard after getting back from vacation. That would suck.
The drive back was uneventful. The drive to the airport, that was uneventful too. Everything went as planned including parking my car at the hotel by the airport. Yeah, $8:50 per day may sound like highway robbery, but comparatively speaking it is not so bad.
I got checked in and got to the gate with about thirty minutes to spare. I love it when a plan comes together. I called Pam on my cell phone and chatted for a few minutes. I missed her already.
July 13, 2000