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Praetorium Honoris

Monday, June 26, 2023

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

 A little bit of music to get all y'all into the mood.



Liked the movie back in the day.  But...

This post has nothing to do with gunslingers.  Rather, it's been a week to remember.  The Good, the Bad and the Ugly put in their appearances.  In short, it was a very tough week. 

So...To put things in the proper categories.

The Good

All in all, it was a pretty great (though tough) week.  Got to go on a little get-a-way vacation on a ship with three of my favorite ladies.  (AKA Mrs. J, MBD and Mg) .  Set sail out of Galveston on Royal Caribbean (more to follow) on a 5 day cruise to Costa Maya and Cozumel.  Been to both many (many, many) times, but time with my ladies....So, a good thing.  

First, we got some good news.


Arrived at MBD and SIL's house in College Station.  She was just pulling a sheet of Chocolate Cookies out of the oven.  Offered us one.  In addition to the chocolate chips, there was also Blue M&M's mixed in.  Me, being not overly astute, enjoyed the cookie, but did not pick up on the nuance.  Mrs. J however, did and after a punch on my shoulder conveyed the message to me.  

We are soon to have a Grandson.  Thank you, Lord!  We will share middle names.

The best part of "The Good" was "hanging with my Babes!" on the cruise.  We had a blast!


 

The Bad

So, we're on board,   Me, Mrs. J, MBD and MG.  It's June in Texas, it's hot.  Unfortunately, MG is not completely potty trained, so she can't go into the swimming pool.  I got that.  However, I don't get why other children of the same age and diaper expertise level are allowed.   Could it be...some folks play by the rules, others don't believe the rules apply to them.  Who knows? (Ok...I do. More info to follow.)

All that having been said, Mrs. J  went out of her way in making sure we all had fun.


Turns out  the deck does pretty well at having a one person pool. Yeah, we had a great time with the pool.  Unfortunately there were additional complications.

You may have noticed in the above, one of her feet is wrapped in a plastic bag.  Well..."The Bad" had put in his first appearance.  The morning we left for the Port, MG was strolling around the back yard barefoot.  You may have read that Texas is under an extreme heat wave.  Unfortunately, MG stepped on a piece of black rubberized plastic that had been solar heated by the Texas Sun.


Second degree burns on your feet are officially "Not Fun!"

Spent a couple of hours trying to decide whether to sail or not.  The decision boiled down to if MBD and MG stayed, it's MBD and SIL, so...It's just the two of them to care for MG. But, SIL has to be at work, so effectively it's MBD by herself.   If they go on the cruise, it's MBD. Mrs J and I to take care of things.  So, We went.  

Worked great, by the way.  MG did a little fussing when the bandages were changed, but...not too bad.  She did a little walking on her heels, but we changed the bandages daily and she adapted.  Win/Win.


 

First stop on the cruise was Costa Maya.  Got off the boat, headed into the VERY small town.  Found a margarita bar (Hard to believe!!!) and ordered a three some.


Folks...I have discovered the only place on Earth where Margaritas are "undrinkable".  Good Lord! Apparently, they didn't use lime and most likely not Tequila either.  We were back on the boat within an hour of leaving it.  Went to the onboard bar to refresh our palates on what a Margarita should taste like. 

But...We've got those cool palm tree glasses to remember it by.
 
Another part of "The Bad"...We've cruised a lot of different Cruise Lines and been on Royal Caribbean  quite a few times.  Top of the list of our "Best Cruise Lines" is Silver Seas for Ocean cruising and AMAWaterways for river cruising.  On the other extreme, Carnival is by far the worst.  It's target market appears to be folks that will get very drunk, very fast and stay that way for the duration of the cruise.

We will NEVER cruise on Carnival again.

Royal Caribbean has been somewhere in the middle of the top half.  However, on this particular cruise it appears that a large portion of Carnival passengers upgraded.  To quote a movie, "...Drunk and Stupid is no way to go through life."  
 





These were also the folks that took their diapered children into the big people's pool.  No, Beans, upon noticing that, I elected to not go swimming. We may be re-evaluating our allegiance to Royal Caribbean based on this cruise.
 
 However, as we're waiting for the boat to sail, we get a message from LJW asking us to call her ASAP.
 
Well...Nothing good is going to happen after that.  We call.

Apparently a VERY large storm has blown through our area.  Rainfall has flooded our road and made our normally dry wash impassable.  It's hailing, somewhere between golf ball and base ball sized hail.  
All those white spots are hail impact.  It's amazing we still have windows.

Additionally, our neighbor's fence has blown down blocking our drive.

Which wouldn't be a problem since one can't (and shouldn't) cross the (non) dry wash.  Except...Shortly thereafter we get a call from our guests.  They had gone into town and on return were in our drive when the wash flooded.  Fortunately, they stopped prior to entering it.  Right about then was when the fence blew down, trapping them.

Not being able to teleport myself to the rescue, I called our neighbor (it was his fence) and explained the situation.  He said he'd go check on it.  Meanwhile, Mrs. J is on the phone with the guests, partially relaying status updates and mostly trying to allay panic.  

She's extremely good at that sort of thing, thank goodness.
 
Apres le deluge and after the fence has been moved.  The mud line across the road is about 30" deep and water was moving quite fast.  So getting out was "sporty".


Takes about an hour, but our neighbor gets his fence clear enough that the guest can back out and head into town.  We refunded their complete stay.  

5 Days later when we got home, the rain gauge looked like this.

Story was that was in about 30 minutes.

When we got home, our normally dry stock tank looked like this.
When dry, it's about 15' below this level

And it flooded our road.  So, staying put was inconvenient, but wise.
 
Bad. but not as bad as it could have been.

The Ugly

Mrs. J did a great job organizing the cruise.  Managed to put us up in a pretty nice suite, so all of us could be together.  It was pretty high up and nicely located near, but not close, to elevators and stairs, so getting around the ship was relatively easy.

However...

Third night of the cruise, we've gotten MG settled down and sleeping.  The rest of us are getting that way, when the doorbell rings.  (Yeah, Royal Caribbean has doorbells on rooms).  I get up wondering WTF would the ship's crew need us for.

Opened the door, nobody there.  

Well, that's a piss-me-off.  Go back in the room, MBD is trying to settle a crying MG down and get her back asleep.  It takes a while.

Next night, same thing.  Now, I'm really pissed.  The next morning, I head down to look for someone to yell at inform of our displeasure.  I'm walking down the stairs as the elevators are mobbed with folks leaving the ship on excursions.  I see a crew member with shoulder braid and stop him and ask him who do I need to see to get help with this issue.

He answers "Me".  Ok, I think I got the head of security.

Nope, I got the Captain.  I explain the situation to him and that I've got a young injured Grand Daughter and a pregnant Daughter and they need their sleep.  He says he'll take care of it.

Final night aboard, around Midnight, the doorbell rings again. Again, nobody there.  Now, I'm furious.  I immediately leave the room in my gym shorts, t-shirt and bare feet (Yes, Beans, I dress up for sleeping) and head downstairs to the main lobby.  As I round the corner, I run into a security officer.  I explain the situation.  He asks me what I want done.  I mention that I'd like to see the perpetrators hanging from the yardarm in the morning.  He says "Well that probably won't happen, but they're in our office awaiting their parents arrival." 

Turns out there was a closed circuit camera about 10' from our door.

I mentioned that I hoped they and their families will be black listed by the cruise line from future travel forever.  We'll see.

Pour encourager les autres!

Hence, "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" and, in this particular case "The Good" wins!

Peace out y'all!

Addendum 1.

Miss B checked into the Hospital today for a scheduled minor surgery.  Mom and Dad and the Dr's agreed that it was time for her nasal feeding tube to be replaced with feeding tube inserted into her belly.  She had reached the point where she was fussing with the tube in her nose and managing to occasionally pull it out.  As one might suspect that could be a problem, so...She'll be in the hospital for a couple more days.  Mom is staying down in San Antonio with her.  Waking up post-op, she seems to be doing well.  Well see.  Mark this one up on the Good side.

44 comments:

  1. "And a fun tijme was had by all!"

    Re: undrinkable. Bad alcohol is better than no alcohol. Or so I have been told. Never have I ever had any but the finest.

    Oh, I have some oceanfront property in Nebraska I want to sell.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joe,
      Yeah, all in all, we had a great time. Lot of relaxation. As I said we were in Costa Maya for maybe an hour. Didn't even leave the ship in Cozumel. (Been there, done that, Have lots (and lots) of hats)
      I'm not sure about your second. The drink tasted like they used one package of Lime Koolade in a gallon of water. There was not taste of tequila or triple sec. E.G. awful!
      I'd hang on to that property in Nebraska. Globull warming donch'a know. Could be oceanfront.

      In a couple thousand years.

      juvat

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    2. "The drink tasted like they used one package of Lime Koolade in a gallon of water. There was not taste of tequila or triple sec. "

      Sounds like something I had at a party in college.

      Delete
    3. Joe,
      Well the first sentence does. I'm not sure the second sentence is accurate.

      Delete
    4. The second sentence "oceanfront property in Nebraska" is correct. But the last tide went out a LONG time ago (when the Western Interior Seaway closed).

      Delete
  2. I winced at the photo of the blister. Poor baby! If that had been me you’d have heard me in Texas (from Spain).

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    Replies
    1. TimboToo,
      Yeah the initial report from the ER was 2nd AND 3rd degree. That was pre-burn specialist, thankfully. She howled a few times when bandages were changed. Which means, she's way tougher than me. I'd have been screaming the whole trip. I'll Talk! I'll Talk!

      And, yes, you'd have heard me in Spain also.
      juvat

      Delete
  3. Congrats on having a Grandson in the que so to speak. Carnival is aptly named, and I would have suggested keelhauling. That is muy mucho rain in that time period, lucky you're not making a insurance claim on broken windows juvat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Nylon, we're pretty excited, She's about 5 months, so an October baby. Which'll be nice since Mrs. J, Miss B and he will (probably) all have birthdays in the same week. Makes it a heckuva lot easier for me to remember!

      Lost all four windows in my old woodshop, so not much loss there. I agree. There's no way the hail could have put that pattern on the shutters and completely missed the windows. Tempered glass I suppose. LJW is filling a claim with USAA for hail damage to their car. For some reason or another, they're taking a while to get an adjuster out to take a look. ;-)
      juvat

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  4. There are "Swimming Pool Diapers" aka leak-proof diapers available as we found out when we wanted to teach Mr. Grey (my daughter named him Greysun Aurelius) how to swim/not be afraid of the water at 3+. Our Florida condo demands them (upon pain of expulsion - forever) of the offending parents.

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    Replies
    1. Boron,
      Yeah we know about the waterproof diapers, Had them on hand, The prohibition wasn't on type of diapers rather on the age of the diaper wearers. Have to be 3+ (Grey would have been a shoe-in). I get it, most of my aggravation was at the folks in the "Rules don't apply to me" category. That probably lit the fuse that went off with the doorbell incident. It's midnight, and you're letting your kids run around the ship unsupervised? YGBSM!
      juvat

      Delete
  5. Juvat, that was a hellofa storm that came through while you were on your cruise. We were on the northern fringe, no hail but severe cloud to ground lightening with instant thunder. Our 3 1/2 year old lab. was in the house, and although he's never been afraid of bad weather, I think the electrical charge accompanying the storm really amped him up. He started climbing into my lap and there was no way to stop him. Finally made himself comfortable, regardless of how uncomfortable his human cushion was. We only had small hail and 0.64" rain (according to reports from your area your rain gauge had several inches of rain sloshed out of it) and thankfully no lightening strikes. Been there done that twice with house strikes (not here) and there's no enjoyment for anyone involved.
    That is one huge blister on the little one's foot. No wonder she was having some difficulty getting around. Glad you all were able to deal with it successfully. Hope it's healed by now and she's more comfortable. It's definitely been hot although we had a couple of days where I could do some much needed yard work in the early morning.
    Relative to the cruise line, my eldest daughter and her husband had a similar occurrence on a Carnival ship, they said never again.
    Glad you're back safely and Congratulations to Mrs. J., yourself, and the parents on the upcoming blessed arrival.
    Cletus

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    Replies
    1. Cletus,
      Yeah, I've got gutters to re-attach on both of our guest houses as well as my Sister's house. As soon as my neighbor gets some other damaged things fixed, he'll start repairing the fence. He grows Pecans there and the deer are having a feast. I'll help and maybe learn a thing or two about fence building as well as repay a debt.
      Thanks
      juvat

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    2. Had to chuckle about learning to build fence, since I was born into a ranching family. I always found that entering into the project with enthusiasm and attitude of it being a character building and educational exercise, rather than manual labor didn't help much. But, it certainly beat pulling corn by hand. Only advice I can give is have a good wide brimmed hat, pair of White Mule gloves and if you work with barbed wire wear a long sleeve shirt as it "may" prevent some blood loss from the barbs.
      Cletus

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    3. Cletus,
      I appreciate the advice.
      But i’m on blood thinners… is a long sleeve shirt gonna help? Not thinking so. I’m thinking chain metal!

      Delete
  6. Now that foot looked ouchy for sure!! Poor MG!! At least she was able to have some fun. Probably cleaner for her to be on-board the ship running around then home on dirt/grass. Less chance of infection. And how cool is it the ship has little individual sized pools!!

    You must be very glad you have a house of brick instead of vinyl or aluminum. I can't imagine what my place would look like after baseball sized hail hitting it!!

    Don't feel bad about the cookie thing--I'm looking at it going, wow--didn't know there were blue M&M's, that's neat, must be rare...then read about the subtle wife signal thinking what was he ( and me ) missing---oooohhh, now I get it!! Some mornings I'm a bit slow....more tea is indicated.

    Glad all made it back to home quarters safely!

    Suz

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    Replies
    1. Suz,
      She was pretty tough about it and didn't complain too much. Even got used to the bandage changing after a couple of days. The ladies bandaged her up pretty well and virtually everywhere we went she was in her stroller so minimal chance of stepping in something awful.

      Mrs. J brought the pool. Our room attendant saw it on the first day and when we explained why and the injury, he said they weren't allowed (danger of blowing overboard) but he wouldn't mention it if we didn't. Yeah, he got a bit bigger tip at the end of the cruise than normal.

      Fortunately, it's brick walls with a metal roof. There's a few dings in the roof, but no paint damage. Just enough to remind us that it's doing its job properly.

      I'm blaming my slowness on lack of caffeine also. Somebody (who shall remain nameless) recommended cold turkey on that. Something Cardiac related I think. :-)

      Delete
    2. Just to add my tea in the morning, like throughout the day, is decaf...cause medical crap ensues if I drink the "leaded" version. I walk my talk, cause otherwise my patients call me out on it. Besides, if it doesn't work, I tell them that too.
      And great news about Miss B!!

      Suz

      Delete
    3. Suz, going decaf wasn’t as hard (after a couple of days) as I thought it would. So…while I kid about it, I appreciate your advice. Cardiologist had good things to say about my numbers… and your advice. Thanks!

      Delete
  7. Your week reminds me of the saying, "May you live in interesting times." - I literally cringed when I saw the burn on her foot. Yikes! - It's good you can provide the rest of us your evaluation of the cruise lines; "Lipstick 6" has been after me to take her on a cruise but I just have this thing about not liking losing sight of land. I keep reminding her the reason I joined the Army was I could always walk back. - That fence looks like it is going to be a bit of work to get repaired properly and will be a multiple person job. In the heat we're having lately that will mean starting at daybreak and finishing up before it really gets hot; I don't envy the owner but would assist if I were there. I'm fortunate to have good neighbors here and we chip in to assist each other. (Like the time I called my neighbor two houses over to tell him I was turning off his water at his meter because there was an eight-foot geyser of water blowing out of the ground. A good time was had by all while digging out and repairing the break!) Also good to see your house survived the hail storm; they're no joke when a bad one occurs. Multiple instances here around San Antone where friends lost skylights, windows, windshields, and one had a hail stone punch through the roof, then through her ceiling into her house. Hope you got rested up on the cruise because it looks like you're gonna be busy!
    - Barry

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    Replies
    1. Barry,
      Yeah, Me also. I've been burned a few times in my life, once in the same severity range of hers. No fun and I think I've finally learned the lesson. Or at least hope so.
      You're welcome on the info on Cruise Lines. Mrs. J is a travel agent, so we've been on quite a few. Unfortunately, there is a DIRECT correlation between the crowd behavior on the ship and the cost to board (and live in a decent room).
      My neighbor is waiting for the soil to dry up a bit more so he can get the fence to stand, but not so much that it returns to the hardpan dirt we usually have. I intend to help him, if for nothing else, good fences make good neighbors. Plus, I owe him a big one for his help in the storm.
      juvat

      Delete
  8. Wow Juvat, that is quite a story all told. In order, congratulations on the new Grandson (I would not have gotten the blue M&M reference either, other than "Wow, M&M's in cookies. That is cool".). So sorry for MG's foot - people outside of "Face of the Sun" land do not always realize how dangerous such things can be (I certainly did not, once upon a time).

    I have never been one for cruises and your story almost completely convinces me to continue to stay away from the bulk of them (The Ravishing Mrs. TB has the same opinion of Carnival).

    I can only imagine the shock of your guests when they came back. Again, people do not realize how dangerous inclement weather can really be (again, something I have only learned later in life).

    And, of course, glad the perpetrators were caught. Is walking the plank still a thing?

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    Replies
    1. THBB,
      Thanks, we're pretty excited. The "Wow, M&M's in cookies. That is cool" was exactly my thought...until I got the sharp elbow in my side.
      I had learned early on in my Texan life that going barefoot outside is not a good idea. Very few good things can happen, and an awful lot of bad things will. But I didn't think the rolled up carpet with the black side out would get THAT hot. Live and learn. Lot of that went on.

      Mrs. J and I are starting to avoid the mega-liners. Too many people, too many lines. Which is why we like Silver Seas and AMAWaterways. Silver Seas ships hold ~1500 or so and AMAWaterways is ~200. But, they aren't cheap. They don't, however, nickle and dime you for just about everything. You pay the fare and virtually everything is included. Just a different (read "Better") business plan.
      They were pretty rattled when they called. Mrs. J did an excellent job of calming them down and keeping them informed on what was being done. And, of course, having a neighbor willing to come out in the weather to help them was a gift from above.
      Walking the plank, no...Escorting them off the gangplank would have been nice in Costa Maya or Cozumel. Unfortunately, the next port was Galveston. I'd like to think their parents might take some action, but I find that highly unlikely.
      juvat

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    2. TB- I didn't even get the blue reference after he wrote about it. Oh, she made interesting cookings...and Juvat is having a grandson. Nice. Didn't tie the two together at all!

      Delete
    3. Tuna, I was slow on the uptake as well. Darn newfangled signals...

      Delete
    4. Gents,
      Much like my Wife, MBD is a very subtle but canny Lady. She gets her message across quite well. As does Mrs. J. I'm a lucky guy, especially if they don't need to explain things to my lower level of picking up on things.
      juvat

      Delete
  9. An eventful week to be sure! Hail freaks me out, not having a garage we're at the mercy of the elements.

    Right now I'm waiting for The Missus Herself to go through her second cataract surgery. (Last one was a month ago.)

    Fortunately the day is cool and I have yet another Waterloo book to make the time go by. Learning a number of new things in he process.

    That burn looks nasty, prayers for a quick, and full, recovery!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarge,
      Thanks, Hope "The Missus Herself" does well, and recovers nicely.
      Heading out, as soon as I hit publish, to San Antonio. Miss B is having minor surgery to place a Gastric feeding tube in. LJW needed someone to assist on the way down, so Mrs. J went with her. Now, I'm going to recover her. Surgery is supposed to be fairly simple and safe. But...It's in His hands now.
      MG (My other Grand Daughter ) is doing quite well recovering from her burn. Complications are not expected.
      I'm looking forward to a less adventurous life.
      RIIIIIGGGHHHHTTTT!
      juvat

      juvat

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    2. Sarge, I hope it's the second eye and not the second surgery due to some sort of problem!

      Delete
  10. Congrats on living through that week. I concur on keelhauling. And just keep doing it till the rope comes up empty. That burn reminded me of the blisters I'd get the first week of basketball practice. They eventually would callous up and be okay. Since the method of injury is different, I wonder how that will heal...

    Hail is weird. We had a storm back in LBB that left hail piled up around the houses and broke loads of windows. Our old church lost windows. An older woman that lived near the church didn't. She lived in an old travel trailer that had crank out windows and the screens were on the inside. She hardly had dents in the tin. We figured God hid her place under His hand. Didn't make any sense otherwise. Our house lost a single pane of glass about 4x6 inches. Looked like a firehose with tree leaf mulch blew everything off the kitchen table. Forty acre low spot behind the house was FULL after that storm.

    Helping with the fence is a good deal. Having an ally next door is never a bad thing. Being a QRF for each other is excellent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. STxAR,
      I don't remember much hail while I was at Tech, other than once. Working at an FBO at the Airport, we had a storm blow in. Had to move all the airplanes on the pad into the hangars. Some of them were VERY expensive jets others just little props. Managed to get the hangars creatively stacked and all aircraft protected. Good thing, there was a lot of hail.
      Yeah, our neighbor gives off a Crusty Old Texan air, but he's actually a pretty good guy, and definitely a good neighbor.
      juvat

      Delete
  11. I saw some video online about that hail storm- many damaged cars I'd expect as the hail was golf-ball to baseball-sized. Hope the white spots is all the damage you sustained...other than the road.

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    Replies
    1. Tuna,
      There were a few dings in the metal roof, nothing too bad. Gives the roof a little aura. Kinda a "Hit me with your best shot" aura. That having been said, my chore for the next week is to get the second half of the garage cleaned out, so I can move my truck in there. Mrs. J claimed first dibs for her car. Fortunately we took the truck with us to College Station.
      juvat

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  12. Now that was a week. Almost everything, and excessively so! My problems pretty minor, elbows deep in a wasting machine.

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    Replies
    1. Htom,
      Yeah it was a bit exciting after the fact. Long distance emergency assistance isn't something I've prepared for lately. Luckily....
      juvat

      Delete
  13. Glad the perps were finally caught. Never got doorbell ditching even when I was a turd as a kid (but aren't we all turds as kids?) Grrr... Yardarms, keelhauling, holystoning... Holystoning. That sounds like suitable punishment.

    As to weather, we had 5 days in a row of good heavy rain and now we're back to high heats. And the apartment heatpump can't handle the heat. Which has been reported repeatedly to the management, and crickets ensue. I figure the only way they'll repair/replace the outside heatpump is if some methhead crackhead steals it or someone accidentally shoots it (I'd do it, but I'd get caught. Heck, they'd blame me even if I didn't do it. Guilty face complex.)

    And foot burn. That's insane. But little kids' skin isn't as tough and calloused as us adults.

    More and more, I am not regretting never going on a cruise. I'd only want to go on the expensive good ones anyways. And I never have had an urge to see Mexico, even from this side of the border. And spent 3 years on a 'cruise' so looking at large expanses of water just doesn't do it for me. Spend money to stay inside? Weird...

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    1. I've done quite a few border towns over the years. Last time I willingly went to MX, the radio was crowing about "recovering an American biz man, because the kidnappers used his phone. Found duct tapped to a chair with a hole cut in the seat and plastic bucket under it. Only spent 7 days like that. Isn't it wonderful??!!??" I drove like a spaz while there, threw my FMN 30 in the box at the border, and never went back. (Why yes, you do need a green card to work in MX. FMN-30 is a 28 day pass, the FMN is a passport, good for a year. If you visit MX on vacation and don't take it with you, it'll go pretty poorly, as your official ident is NOT the US passport or whatever else they took from normals back then. Probably is different now, that was about Y2K.)

      Delete
    2. Beans,
      Fortunately, the next morning was disembarkation, so never found out what happened. Yeah, I was surprised at the beating her foot took. Fortunately, she's a pretty tough trooper and was getting around ok shortly.
      We've been on a lot of cruises. We mostly focus on the people. The family, any friends also on board. The crew. It's really fun to say "Thank You" in their native language and watch their face light up. Visiting the ports and/or shopping is "Meh!" Been there, done that, don't need another T-Shirt. But chillin' with the family. Now, that's NICE!

      Delete
    3. STxAR,
      Going to pilot training at Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, quickly turned me off on visiting Border Towns. We were told on in-processing that it was an extremely risky (read "Stupid") thing to do to visit by yourself. Went across a few times with a lot of other guys. No real problems encountered, but....There was this feeling of something maybe going wrong in the air. The cruise ports are almost entirely supported by tourist dollars, so less of a threat there. But, I do keep my head on a swivel, just in case.
      juvat

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  14. Ouch, that's one heckuva week!!!

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    Replies
    1. OldNFO,
      Yeah it was exciting, which wasn't the 'quiet, restful,relaxation' we were planning on. But there were some high spots interspersed so not all bad.
      juvat

      Delete
  15. On one trip for work, our sampling team had reservations for a pretty good motel in Mandan, ND. On checking in, an apologetic manager explained that they had overbooked, and one of us would have to stay (free-they would pay for it) in the second-rate motel across the street because they had 300 teenagers for a basketball tournament already checked in. As befitting a team leader, I made the supreme sacrifice and went across to the 'Rundown Arms'. Not swank any means, but adequate, clean, and comfortable. And I was the only one that got any sleep that night.

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  16. Don, So you had THAT going for you. Not that it's any of my business, but what about flea bites?

    juvat

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
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