greg3d

It's been a while...

Looks like the last time I posted to this blog was when I was in Mexico in 2012. So here I am in Dallas, waiting for my flight back to Cancun. As usual with adventures like this, I'm with Mortimer, however this time with his wife, Batgirl. I left Seattle last night at midnight and flew to Dallas. Mortimer and Batgirl, had flown in earlier yesterday, so I was able to meet them at their hotel and get a couple of hours sleep. Our flight is delayed about an hour. We got back to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We had a leisurely lunch and are now just hanging out till the plane turns up. I've missed writing. Time to start up again.

So Coco Bongo was an adventure. We were picked up at the hotel at 10:15, after getting home from Chichen Itza at 8. I kind of figured we were in trouble when they announced dire penalties if we threw up in the bus on the way home.

So Coco Bongo was an adventure. We were picked up at the hotel at 10:15, after getting home from Chichen Itza at 8. I kind of figured we were in trouble when they announced dire penalties if we threw up in the bus on the way home.

The club was an amazing place. It was absolutely packed and we got there 15 minutes before show time. We were handed as we walked in the door, a drink and a shot of tequila. All drinks were included in the admission price, and the crowd was well primed.

The show was terrific. The problem was we were in standing room. (We were supposed to stand from 11 to 3.) We were also in front of an entrance point so people coming and going and waiters pushing through left us feeling thoroughly beaten up after a while. I was not disappointed when Scott announced he had had enough after about an hour and a half of pummeling. I could have really enjoyed the show if we had a table on one of the balconies.
We fought our way out and just started exploring the club district of Playa del Carmen. We found a small fun club up the street and hung out there till about 2:30.
After my experience with the bus trip to Chichen, we figured if we waited for the bus at 3:30, it would be probably 5 before we got back to the hotel. We decided to take a taxi instead Turns out we were right. Others from the hotel confirmed it took an hour and a half to get back. We got back in 15 minutes.

Next, swimming with the dolphins...

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Try drinking coffee on a bus on a bumpy Mexican road. I managed not to wear it, but it was close.

Try drinking coffee on a bus on a bumpy Mexican road. I managed not to wear it, but it was close.

I'm on a bus to Chichen Itza. My pickup was at 7:30, but we did the rounds of the hotels till 9:30 when we finally hit the road. At least we were provided with a breakfast because I didn't have time for it before I left.

3 hours wasn't really enough for such a fascinating place. Our tour guide, who is of Mayan descent, was excellent. He was extremely knowledgable and articulate. The visit was cut a bit short by a little rain squall, but it was time for lunch anyway.

The Cenote was a short stop of 40 minutes. Didn't seem worth the effort of changing for so short a swim.

Got back to the hotel at 8, 13 hours after I left, only to find I'm booked for a nightclub till 3 am.

To be continued...

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This seems like as good a time as any to try to revive the blog. I pretty much stopped after Arthur died. Facebook didn't help either.

So. Vacation.

This resort is like a cruise ship on dry land. Everything you need is here. The great advantage is that you don't feel cooped up and you can go out and experience night life. One of the big disadvantages I see in cruises is that you have a limited time on shore and really not a lot of flexibility.

Tonight we are planning to go into Playa del Carmen and shop and see a show. Yesterday was spent eating or sitting by the pool. Haven't gotten burnt, though I was a bit tender on the shoulders. I think I've browned a little.

Today is overcast and looks like rain. Quite warm and very humid. I don't really have much on the agenda till we go into town this afternoon. Tomorrow I get up early and take a bus tour to Chichen Itza. It's an all day excursion, being about a four hour drive there. We make a shopping stop in a town on the way, spend about 4 hours at the ruins, and then stop for a swim at a cenote. This I believe is an underground river. We will be back here around 7.

Not much else to relate at the moment. Its hard to write a lot about being lazy.

GeoWoodstock VIII

I rather enjoyed GeoWoodstock, though probably not enough to travel across country for another one. I learned somethings and have to research some others. I am still not clear on the concept of Geocoins and travel bugs. I'm also not sure if higher price means higher sensitivity on a gps. There certainly are bells and whistles on the things. I have to read some reviews.

I spent the whle day there, arriving at 10:30 and staying till 4:30, thoough I was delayed by not being able to find my car. kind of forgot what parking lot it was in. I bought a very small nanocache which should be fun to place, and I won a medium sized lock and lock with logbook in the raffle. Now I need to find places to hide them.

I still have a fair amount of daylight. I think I will go out and find another cache.

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out and about

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A night at the opera

There was much discussion last night about the Marx Brothers movie.

Aside from that, it was nice to catch up with Barbara. It's been over two years since I had seen her. Nice to know she's moving nearby.

I don't know what it is about modern opera. There are few I have seen that I think will stand the test of time. Most of them I think will seem dated pretty quickly. Florencia in the Amazon was one that seems to me to be timeless and could be appreciated a century from now.

Amelia I'm still thinking about.. The music was powerful, but with no melodies you would remember after it was over. It had a cast of good singing actors. I liked the nonlinear first act. That had, to me, a timeless quality. The second act seemed firmly planted in the present, but that could just have been the staging and the set. The hospital scenes were too chaotic with too many people running around. I think if it had been more stylized it would have worked better. I could have done without the defibrillator. one thing that struck me was that it seemed very well put together. The last premier I saw was Dr. Atomic, and it's first run could have used some cuts. Some scenes were overlong. This one had no extraneous material. It flowed very well. It was quite moving.

This weekend went by too fast with not enough time at home. I had to leave fairly early for dinner and opera yesterday and today I spent all day in a workshop that I think could have been shorter. I think they should do one for new sponsors and a shorter refresher for those of us that have been doing this a while.

I would probably not be so cranky if this had been one of my three day weekends with a bit more down time.

out and about

Pre-opera audioblog. To tired for a post opera review.

kind of like old times

I was going to take Scott up to Sea-Tac so he could catch the link to go stay with friends, so I thought I would look up what movies were playing in the vicinity. I found two rare old movies playing at the Grand Illusion up in Seattle: Lord Love A Duck and Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs. Duck was just weird, a 1960's black comedy and Dr. Goldfoot was totally silly. Arthur and I used to do this kind of thing all the time. It was fun, but not quite the same without him. Still, I would like to get back into the Seattle film circuit.

The week in review

The lab is coming together. We should be fully operational soon. I'm getting used to my cubicle and it's getting easier to concentrate. The Tuesday night meeting was back to normal after a week with no teens. Wednesday was just an evening at home if I remember corectly.

Thursday I made the trip up to Seattle for the Symphony. I also met my dear friend Rabih for dinner. Barry was also supposed to be there, but he was indisposed. We had a nice dinner and a had a chance to catch up with things. It's been several years since we've all been together and I've missed them. The concert was quite good. The concerto was the old warhorse Rachmaninoff Concerto #2. They did a bang up job of it. Just as well it was the symphony, because my left lens dropped out of my frame just as I was going into the theater. I was in the second tier and could not see a thing. Fortunately I had a repair kit in my bag so i was able to fix them during intermission. The last piece was by John Adams. Parts of it I liked very much, but parts of it were minimalist nonsense and were quite annoying. I have to say though, it was a very difficult piece, but the Seattle Symphony was up for it. They did an amazing job and I have never seen them work so hard.

Yesterday I puttered outside a bit. Got some Tagro and set up my raised bed for tomatos. In the afternoon, Scott and I drove up to Port Orchard and did a fairly easy cache. The unique thing about it was that it was just up the road from the Manchester Lab where I spent 16 years.

Today I finished the raised bed. I've been catching up with laundry and woeking on picking up the house. Scott is off doing program stuff so I have the house to myself. Housework and opera go well together.