AAHHHHHH............

I just got cooked in San Nicholas. I was in a grocery store and they actually had BLUE BELL NEOPOLITAN ice cream!!!!

I grabbed it up and when I got to the counter I started talking to a guy from the refinery. When it came my turn I handed the clerk a $20 bill U.S. and kept right on talking. I took my change in florin [the local currency] and stuffed it in my pocket with the receipt.

I got home and looked at the receipt and discovered that I paid $21.75 florin...that's $12.43 U.S.!!!! I am going eat the dang carton after the ice cream is gone. That'll use up a per diem in a hurry.

The only positive that could come out of this is that Paula won't have any room to gripe about Blue Bell at home when it costs $5.79. I can always beat that now.

The 5th thing I learned about Aruba is that you should ALWAYS check expiration dates on frozen foods. The Blue Bell was Feb, 2010. The last time I was here, I bought two frozen dinners that expired in 2008 and some other ice cream that expired in late 2007 because I didn't check the dates.

I ate 'em anyway. The center part of the ice cream was good but the outside 1/2 inch or so was a little gamey.

Live and learn. I'm gonna go have some ice cream...and I'm having all three flavors of the neopolitan.



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I'm still alive and well...

No I didn't get carried off by a UFO or run away from home. I just haven't had a chance to update. The past week flew by in blur of barely making deadlines. I've said it before but I think it bares repeating...I forgot how fast things move when you have an office in the Administration Bldg. in a plant/refinery...plus, at that level, you can cut the politics with a knife.

I showed up at the refinery early Monday morning. When the boss got there, she sort of walked in and announced in the hall "5 minutes in my office." We all gathered and she took off on what she wanted and the deadlines started stacking up...and most of them were mine or depended on me to get something accomplished. But we slogged thru it and all is right with world.

Yesterday, I went to Oranjestad and walked around the marina and meandered into the casino. There was barely anyone inside. Just a bunch of dealers standing around looking ready to play. I counted 4 blackjack players. I planned to play the $5 tables but they were all $10 and up. I did enjoy watching 2 Chinese women just flog a dealer at the $25 table. They had a great time and it was fun watching. One of the women sat down right when I got there and started with 3 chips. When she left, she must have had close to a hundred $25 chips. She did good. As soon as the casino moved in a new dealer, the ladies moved out.

THE SIXTH THING I'VE FOUND OUT ABOUT ARUBA...while looking for a place to park near the casino, it came to me that parking "spots" are merely a suggestion in Aruba. I've seen it a lot. Basically, you can park anywhere you want as long as it's close to a parking space (see first photo). A lot of times people park on the sidewalk. Of course, sometimes the "city" needs to dig a trench...(red car). That trench is literally about 2 miles long. Don't know how that car is going to get off the sidewalk...much less onto the street.

Went to the drag races last night. They have a real big international meet here every year. It lasted 4 days and last night was the finals...a good show.

But there was something there I've never seen. There were kids driving little mini-dragsters. The ran for an 1/8 mile and had some of the loudest cars there. Most of them ran the 1/8 mile in 10 or 12 seconds. Not sure what that translates to but it ain't bad for a 10 or 12 year old kid. Took a picture of an 11-year-old girl getting ready to race.

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...back to the grindstone

Landed in Aruba about 4:00 pm. They actually ran out of food on the plane. I wound up eating a pack of Pringles. Other than a muffin in Atlanta that was all I literally had to eat all day. I was ready to eat roadkill by the time I got to Aruba. I saw a sign about Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and it hit home so I drove directly to it and had the best meal I've had in months...love me some steak.

National Car Rental burned me for $63 for 5.5 gallons of gas the last time I was here. So I went to their counter and very calmly asked them to change it to the going rate [about $20]. I explained to them that in the next year I'll spend $10,000-12,000 on car rental and if they want that business they'll do what makes sense and credit me 40 or so dollars. But, no one had the authority. I left them my card and told them to have some one who has the authority to call me. I'm actually enjoying playing this game. I really don't care where I rent a car from.

The 7th thing I've learned about Aruba
No matter what restaurant or burger joint you go into, they are s l o w. Even Ruth's Chris took more than 30 minutes to cook a filet to medium rare. Add surly clerks in almost every store and it becomes apparent that customer service is a secondary consideration.

...oh, and I found out today that a Toyota Yaris has a WHOLE lot more power than a Kia Rio.

Lots of work to do in the next 3 or 4 weeks...the quicker I get finished the quicker I go home.

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The 8th Thing I Learned about Aruba...

They never give correct change. If your change requires a few pennies you don't get them. Then it occurred to me that they don't have pennies. The lowest denomination of coins is 5 cents (I think that's what they call florin "cents"). They also don't have bills smaller than 10 florin. They use coins for 1 florin and 5 florin.

Going back Sunday. MUCH less trepidation this time. I'm actually starting to get a little pumped up because I have a million things to do in about a 4 week timespan and I want to get started. One of the other guys from the office is probably going to come down in a couple of weeks to start a new project...a BIG one. So I'll have some company in that big ol' house for a while.

Oh...I did my expense report the other day and noticed that the rental agency (National) had to put 5.5 gallons of gas in the rent car. They charged me 63 freakin' dollars...US dollars, not florin. I didn't even notice until I did the report. I've got to be more diligent in getting gas in the car before I take it back. The client is going to freak when I give them that little pearl.

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Finally...

I finally got the internet working at home. Not that I did anything but whine, but it works. This is literally the third time I've attempted to update this here blog but I've crashed every time before I could get it done.

I had planned to take a couple of days off with spring break to just hang out and do whatever the kids feel like...an annual thing for me. However, Monday I went in to the office to meet with the boss. We haven't talked in-depth about business for weeks because we've both been traveling. We talked for a couple of hours and he sent me home.

BTW-the 9th thing I found out about Aruba is that you always check the expiration date on frozen food. That occurred to me in Kroger yesterday. I was checking the dates on everything I looked at. In Aruba, before I caught on, almost every thing I bought frozen was outdated...even some Hagen-Daz [sp?]. I serendiptiously [i love that word] came across that 411 while taking out the trash.

Got a cool picture of Luke [youngest grandson]. When I saw it, the caption came to me instantly..."Warm outside...warm yesterday, too...need some rain."

Heading back to Aruba Sunday until Good Friday.

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Going Home for a Couple of Weeks

Leaving in the morning for home for a couple of weeks. I just want some coffee. The coffee here is instant and in 6-oz. cups. All of it is from a machine [Wendy's, restaurants, the refinery, etc.]...put a little bitty cup under the spigot, hit a button, and "coffee" drops out in one 6-oz drop. Have not seen a coffee bean or ground coffee since I landed more than 3 weeks ago...that is no exaggeration. Starbucks looms in Atlanta at 12:42 tomorrow. Oh, and if you like a little dairy in your coffee, it's evaporated milk. Every coffee bar in the refinery has a can that has been opened and sitting out on the counter for...well who really knows.

I've learned a lot. Too tired right now and too much laundry and packing to do, any way. I think I'll start a 10 things I learned about Aruba.

#10-There are no trains here. Lots of big ol' ships but no trains. That fact didn't occur to me till today. So I asked some people and they confirmed it. No 18-wheelers either. At least I haven't seen one.

#9-I'll think of it later.

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...even greater

It would appear that no one told the people in my 7 a.m. class to come to a 7 a.m. class so I was off the no-voice-having hook.

I'm gonna get me one of these Carribean islands.

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This is just great...

I lost my voice last night and I have to go teach a 2-hour class in about 5 minutes. I'm going to need an interpreter to translate American Sign Language to papiamento.

Home for a couple of weeks on Saturday.

Up and down weekend

A friend told me last week to take some time off so I did just that Saturday. Went to Oranjestad, the biggest city on the island [i suppose] where they do the whole tourist thing...marinas, casinos, very high level shopping, nice restaurants...and walked around thru all those places for the whole afternoon. Had some grilled grouper and came home.

Sunday morning, I walked down to "Baby Beach" [i don't know why they call it that] and then went to Wendy's. Then came to the office to check my email [no wi-fi at home yet]. The first email was some sketchy details about a friend who died suddenly Saturday night so I worked the phones a little until I got the scoop. I've known her a long time [30+ years] and I've been a little melancholy since. She has a BIG extended family and two grown kids that I've watched grow up. The whole thing touched a lot of people I know and I'm not particularly comfortable being here while all that is happening...not could do anything.

Late Sunday I started feeling a little queasy and today I'm just sick. Dragged my ass to the refinery anyway and the guys assured me that I didn't eat anything foul, or drink bad water, because there's a bug running thru the refinery. That made me feel a lot better.

BTW-the water here is safe. It's desalinated sea water and is highly processed [tho my only exposure to it is in ice...I'm drinking bottled].

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