| The day dawns cruelly in my dark little cabin. I use one of the Alka Seltzers I've brought for this type of occasion. I'm actually glad to be hungover, as it means I may be able to sleep on the flights home. |
I cash out with $70 of my original $150 credited to my charge card. We debark successfully. Again, this is handled pretty well, and we find our luggage, go through customs, get on a bus, and go to the airport with some three hours to spare for our flights. I eat at an absolutely horrible New York-themed cafe, an omelette and hash browns with liquefied Velveeta.
Due to earlier air travel, I've pretty much exhausted November's supply of magazines that might be worth reading (note: the Vanity Fair music issue was very good), but now, I'm able to pick up this months "Esquire," which is a little less interesting than usual, with weird adulatory cover pieces on Bill Clinton.
The flight is on time, and so we make the connection at Houston for the final flight to San Francisco.
"The Perfect Storm" (average) and "The Kid" (bad) play for free on the first flight; "Autumn in New York," an endless and awful movie with Richard Gere and Winona Ryder, plays on $4 headphones for the second flight. $8 more for two execrable bottled margaritas. Again, I don't get a lot of sleep on either flight.
But finally, the flight does end, and I'm off the ramp, and hugging Terrie. Garrie and Polly, on the same flight, are grateful for a ride home, thus avoiding another 2-3 hours of public transport.
Wrapping it all up, I have to say this trip was better and worse than I expected. The islands, at times, were wonderful. The ship wasn't intolerable, but was really pretty surprising in the things (as mentioned) that were lacking. The company stuff was minimal, and it didn't seem to matter a lot if you showed up for it. I do feel that I got something out of it, work-wise, in that I met a few people from the company's other location (though note that I didn't meet all of the other documentation folks), and got to know people from my own location a little better. So maybe it was a OinkiCorp-successful trip, too; even if the anticipated culture wasn't built, there was a culture of sorts around the pool and the bars.
I'd visit these islands again, I suppose, if the price was right, and it wasn't on a cruise ship, and I got to spend more time on the islands themselves. For example, I learned last night that there's a bioluminescent bay on St. Croix that I'd love to see - never had the chance to see it because we had to be on the ship by 5:30pm.
More likely, someday, I'll visit other islands, without a ship, without my 300 cow orkers, and without so much jet lag.
| Introduction | November 13 | November 14 | November 15 | November 16 | November 17 | Vacations | Steve |