Life

Part 3

The next day we were at sea again so pretty much more of the same. Pool deck, beers, general rowdiness. A lot of travel agents have a fruit basket or bottle of wine delivered to their client's room on a cruise but ours threw our group a one hour party in one of the bars. That was probably a recipe for disaster for us. We were drinking Red Stripes and probably set some kind of record for most beers drank in an hour. The fact that we each carried as many beers as we could stuff in our shorts made us forget the fruit basket.

Day turned into night and we hit the casino again. We missed the midnight buffet again but hung out in the bars until probably 4:00 a.m. when we adjourned to the pool deck to work on our moon tans. 5:00 came and people starting milling around, drinking coffee and getting prepared for the ship to stop in Playa del Carmen. It was a tour option and the ship would be continuing on to Cozumel. At this point, it seemed like a good idea to just stay up and have another cold one so we did.

9:00 a.m. came and the ship docked at Cozumel. The process took a while and a lot of the passengers sat around near the doors to the tender, which would shuttle people back and forth between the ship and land. There may have been a few minutes of shuteye but soon we were on the dock and hailing a cab. We told him to take us to a nice beach and he nodded and said "San Franciso Beach" and took off. It was a nice ride along the water and we passed a little seaside bar. "Stop!" 12 Coronas and a bottle opener later we were on our way.

When we arrived at SF Beach, it was deserted. We were literally the first ones there and we grabbed some wooded lounge chairs and buried our beers in the sand. We drank a bit, slept and bit and eventually the place began to fill up. Tony and I went and got a volleyball and recruited a tall girl from the Ecstasy to form our team. We started playing and betting beers on each match. I don't know how but we won game after game after game. Marilia was great but she didn't drink so Tony and I would split her beer and of course drink ours. We made all challengers have at least one girl and they all paid off until we ran into a guy who probably didn't like the smack talk we were giving and refused to pay up. Since it was my ball and it was the only one on the beach, I wouldn't play until he did. We argued and eventually some girl said she would buy our beers if we would just shut up and play again. The guy was a jerk and he went and got two musclehead crew members from the ship to play us. Even though they didn't have a girl, we still played and got beat 16-14. I wanted to win that game so badly. We bought them beers and went to find Shep, who was enjoying the beach.

We eventually made our way into town and went shopping. First stop, the liquor store. Tony and bought rum and vodka but Shep wanted something different and ended up with Kahula. It was Mexican but he had no idea it was more of a after dinner drink. Then we were off to buy Mexican blankets and had fun bargaining the guys down to $4 a piece. We then hopped on the tender to take our purchases back to the room. I can't remember but I think we grabbed a sandwich and headed back to shore to the craziest bar I've ever been to, Carlos and Charlies. Typical touristy Mexican bar but we had a blast, dancing on the furniture and throwing back a bit of tequila. I kept losing my hat until I figured out the fans were hitting me in the head and knocking it off my head.

We got on the last tender back to the ship. They really stressed making it because the ship would not wait for stragglers and we certainly didn't have the money to fly to the next port. On the short ride back to the ship, we met the people in the Oakland A's hats. They were Spanish so of course we tried to talk to them. I went up and bought them all a beer. Yes, the tender had a bar on it. At this point, I couldn't count very well and began the count: Uno, dos, tres...veinte cerzevas por favor! (One, Two, Three...Twenty beers please!). Those guys loved me after that and we would see them over and over.

Lucky for us because we hadn't had enough to drink the day and night before and that day, the ship was having a Jamaican Jimmy Buffet Lulua party with free beverages. We all ended back at the room at different hours but it was an epic party, one which I never duplicated.

Cruise Part 2

We left on Sunday and I think that Monday was spent at sea, steaming toward Mexico. While there was probably a lot to do on our ship, our goal was to head to the pool deck, catch some rays and drink a few cocktails. Which we did very well. Beer was not cheap on board the ship, it was $3 a pop. We would order round after round but at one point we ordered a case which cost $72. 3 guys, 24 beers = 8 each so I'm sure we felt good that evening. The pool deck was fun, everyone was rowdy and I had brought along a whistle from my friend's wedding shower (he's a coach, hence the whistle with his favors. Why I was at a couples shower is another story) and I would blow it periodically and yell "everyone out of the pool". It was probably funny the first 3 or 4 times but that whistle would get used too much over the next few days.

We kept seeing a large group of people wearing Oakland A's hats and would come to find out that they were staying across the hall from us. These Oakland "fans" would eventually become our friends and would invite us to visit them near Barcelona, Spain (see the archives for that story).

That evening after dinner we hit the casino. I played blackjack although I wasn't very good at it back then. It would be a few years before I memorized the "book" and could play well. So I'm playing blackjack and Tony is at a nearby table and Shepherd is playing craps and all is good. I hear a bunch of yelling and screaming but that's normal at the craps table. A little while later, a guy comes up and sits at the table and we strike up a conversation. Turns out he's from Cleveland so we talk a bit. Then he utters the now famous line "man, I was playing craps for a while but there's a really drunk loud guy over there and I had to leave". Around then, I hear Shepherd yell out "Mama needs a new pair of shoes" and the guy next to me says "that's the guy I was telling you about. Do you know him?" to which I quickly replied "no, I've never seen him in my life". Eventually, Shepherd came over and we would see "Tony" (not our Tony) a lot over the next few days. And when I moved to Cleveland and would knock off early on Fridays to visit Thistledown Race Track, who did I see but Tony. We always talked but I haven't seen him since he passed out drunk in a pool of nacho cheese vomit at the racetrack.

There was a limited room service menu on board the ship. It was free and open 24 hours, which is a recipe for disaster for guys who have been drinking at the pool deck and in the casino all day and night. When we got back to the room that evening, it seemed like a good idea to get something to eat. The kitchen was closed but they said they could bring us some iced tea. We order 12 of them and ended up using them as bowling pins. There were lemon wedges everywhere in that room.

Above is a photo of Kevin, Tony and me in the room.

Cruise Part I

I was working for Congressman Regula in the summer of 1991 when my neighbor got married and went on a cruise for her honeymoon. She booked it through a cruise agency in my building and I stopped down there one day to talk to Dan, who owned the place. His excitement for cruising convinced me that it would be a fun vacation and I convinced two friends, Kevin and Tony, to attend a meeting of a singles group that was going on a group rate. We went, the price was right and we joined in with the group to get their rate. We would be sailing on the Ecstasy in November out of Miami.

Our cruise left on a Sunday but I flew down on Friday to see an old friend. Kevin and Tony would be joining me Saturday morning and we were going to attend the Miami v. West Virginia football game. I never hooked up with my friend and the guys were late getting in but we eventually made it to the game and it was a blast. I'm not so sure the Miami fans cared that much about football but they did care about having fun. They served beer at the game and we had a good time. Afterwards, we headed to Coconut Grove via cab (our second cab, the first guy got mad at us and ended up driving us back to the stadium and dropping us off), a suburb of Miami and continued the party. Eventually, we made our way back to the hotel and crashed. The next morning we went to the market next door and each of us made an important purchase, an insulated water bottle for the trip.

The ship left at 3:00 or so but we were allowed to board at noon. We weren't much interested in the boarding photo of us but we did make a beeline for the pool deck. We grabbed our chairs and prepared for the cruise the best way we knew how. By opening up a tab and having a few cold ones. We decided to tip our waiter $10 right out of the gate. It seemed like a big tip and a good idea back then but we would never see the guy on the pool deck again but it paid off for us later that day. So we drank a bit, watched the crowd filter in. There were a lot of younger people on the ship but there was also some older people. It was by no means a singles cruise but the mix seemed all right. The ship's blasts told us we were leaving but we just sat there. The ship's staff told us there was a fire drill but we just sat there. We were having fun.

On big ships like the Ecstasy they have an early and a late dinner seating. We were scheduled for the late so had the late captain's reception the first night. But we were thirsty so we went to the early reception, in our swim trunks and t-shirts. Not a good thing when people were dressed up but it was held in the theatre and we went in at the top instead of the stage area. The waiters didn't care that we were there and they were bustling back and forth, serving little glasses of whiskey sours. The guy we had given $10 to was one of them and he pretty much gave us a full tray of drinks to enjoy. We were eventually told to leave and we went to our room for the first time to make sure our luggage was there. I don't even remember if we went to "our" captain's reception but who cared at that point. Our room was small, on the interior of the ship with a bunk bed and a single bed. We wouldn't spend a lot of time in it.

The Ecstasy was a big ship, I think we had 2000 people on it. It was one of the first superships that cruise lines started building like crazy in the 1990s. The atrium was beautiful, probably 6 stories of open space in the middle of a ship. We had probably four bars to choose from and a variety of stuff to do. Only one time on our cruise would I actually feel the ocean movement and that's pretty good.

We made our way down to the dining area and joined our group that we would be sharing a table with our week. Those poor guys. They were with our "group" and may have been the nerdiest people in the world but we would try to show them a good time that week. Dinners on cruise ships are pretty nice, you can order whatever and however you want. And we did. We were off and cruising, first destination was Cozumel, Mexico.

Not a lot of time to post today
so I'll reach back into the archives for a shot of me piloting a boat down in Key West. That's another story, me taking a week long sailing class in the Keys. We used J-24s for the class but this was a much bigger ship and we were on a sunset cruise.

Here is a before and after shot of my grass seeding effort. The first photo was taken right after I seeded on September 4 and I took the other one this afternoon, ten days later. Not bad although there are still a few bare spots. Speaking of grass, I have never smoked it. Even more impressive is that I have never smoked a cigarette in my life. Now, I can't say the same about cigars...

Here is a great photo of me from I'd say 1968 or 1969. I look about 3 or 4. What great hair...

On May 25, 1983 I attended my first concert. I saw Journey at the old Coliseum in Cleveland. I'm not sure who else went up to the concert but I know we had two carloads because after the concert I had the bright idea to head for the other car. Both cars ended up leaving me there and I had to call my dad to come pick me up. 20+ years later, thanks Dad.

Last night I attended the Journey/Def Leppard concert at Germain. I went with Tom Ruebel and Ed Kozelek and his girlfriend. Ed has some kind of VIP pass and we sat in the 6th row and had access to a private bar. I have to say, Journey can still rock, even after Steve Perry left the band. Def Leppard wasn't as good, they sounded like the old guys that they are. These kind of concerts are just great people watching events. Mullets seemed to be the hairstyle and big girls in short skirts were everywhere. Some lady brought her 2 year old, sitting in the 8th row and I'm sure that kid will have hearing damage for life. It was a fun night and I'm glad I went.

the wheel in the sky keeps on turning...

I hope Henry can still do this after Saturday night. I'm predicting a 35-24 OSU win but wouldn't be surprised at a blowout or close game either way. Go Bucks.

I have a college friend who is a P.I. in Cleveland. Private Investigator. He's done very well for himself but he was a bit shaky when he started. I remember a time in Cleveland when he was first starting out. He had a job where he had to get some photos of the trash area at Hooters Restaurant in the Flats; apparently some guy had injured himself around it and his client wanted photos for the lawsuit. I went down there with him and we ended up talking to the Manager about having a political event there and the guy showed us all around the restaurant. He even took us back to the waste area but my friend was afraid of whipping out his camera right there. So we left and tried to attack it from the outside. There was a 8 foot high wooden privacy fence that he wanted me to lift him up so that he could snap the shots. After some ill attempts at getting him up there, I noticed a latch and said "why don't we just open the fence here?". It swung open and there were the trash cans. Problem solved. I guess the lesson I learned here was: Don't make things harder than they are. Sometimes the easiest solution is the easiest solution.

We got Henry a mixed bag of toys. I won't even count all the fall clothes we bought for him and didn't wrap up. Puzzles, rollerskates, movies, drawing stuff, OSU lunch bag, train track, etc. for Tuesday and his big gift, a new b.b. hoop and basketballs for Saturday.

Here's a few shots from Henry's birthday on Tuesday. We had pasta for dinner because that's what he wanted and Sarah baked him a cake. We'll have a party on Saturday with the neighborhood kids prior to the Ohio State game. Massillon plays on Fox Sports Ohio on 4:00 though so one eye will be on that game.

The sky was beautiful Monday night prior to kickoff on the outdoor screen. Our compact digital camera probably doesn't do it justice but here it is.

Here's hoping for a night like this on Saturday. This looks more scarlet than burnt orange, doesn't it?

Here's a photo of the dry run we did Monday night for the FSU/Miami game. The screen was built by two neighbors and hangs from the back of my house. The signal measures 8 feet by 10 feet and is in High Def. You really have to see the quality of the picture to appreciate it. I know it looks like there are creases in the screen in this photo but when you are looking at it is it picture perfect.

Of course, all this work is for Saturday night's big game, OSU v. Texas. Should be a good one...

Labor Day. No question I labored today. I started at 10:00 a.m. and finished at 4:30 p.m. and here is the result. I seeded a large area of dirt in front of the bed I put in this summer and seeded around my patio. It was tough work and I'll likely be sore tomorrow but I have an easy day, drive to Cleveland for a staff meeting and lunch.

Tuesday is also Henry's birthday. I can't believe he will be three years old. You always hear that time with children flys by and I'll agree with that. We'll give him some presents tomorrow but will probably wait until his party next Saturday before giving him the big one, a new basketball hoop. We're going to sign him up for a league at the YMCA starting in late October.

Here's Henry and Grandpa fishing off the dock. As you can see, Henry is very excited about catching his first fish of
the year. The other photo is Henry and Grandma on the bear hunt we went on. It was fun, although the fact that a bear was seen earlier this year on the property made me watch a little more closely than I normally would. Henry did see some wildlife: frogs, snake, deer and of course fish.

So we're back from NY/Canada. The trip up was uneventful, Henry was a good boy although our DVD player stopped working toward the end. Last Saturday, we attended the wedding of a friend of Sarah's and that was okay, it was on a Finger Lake, don't ask me which and the setting was nice. Then Sunday we got up and drove to Canada and it rained almost the whole way up. Henry has trouble going to the bathroom in public restrooms but it may just be the big boy toilets he doesn't like. So he had his first outside standing up pee.

When we arrived, it was cool at the cottage but didn't rain. Monday was the only nice day we really had. But it still wasn't nice enough to go swimming. Tuesday was cool so we went into "town", Kingston Ontario. It's a great little city, about 115,000 people and the downtown is bustling. Nice to see that Wal-Mart hasn't destroyed the cities of Canada. Wednesday we went into a small village then Thursday we went to Chaffey's Locks, a working lock on a waterway from Kingston to Ottawa. It was neat and Henry enjoyed it.

Friday we went back to town to have lunch with friends of Sarah before heading back to Pittsford, NY and staying at the in-laws house. We left at 7:15 a.m. Saturday to get back for the Buckeye game.

All in all, a nice relaxing trip. I read the last Harry Potter book and some magazines. I'm not sure that we would go back so late in the future, the weather was just too cool but it appears as if its like that here in Ohio too. Here's some photos from the trip...

We're back from Buck Lake. Here's a photo from the back of Sarah's family cottage. More photos to come but the Buckeyes kick off in five minutes...