WHAT DO YOU MEAN Obstructed Ocean View?!

March 20, 2014 ~ JodiLea ~ 5 Comments

Hubby has always wanted to go on an Alaskan inland passage cruise when we retired. His brother & wife also wanted to do this, so this year the guys figured out which cruise line, date of departure, airports, etc. With the help of brother’s travel agent everything got arranged…

Well… you probably already suspect that something is wrong. Because something always goes wrong when hubby and I travel. It’s a curse. Usually the wrongness presents itself during the trip. Not before we even pack for the damned thing!

In my opinion, the first thing wrong was the cruise by-passed Anchorage, it was the major place I wanted to see. I wanted to have lunch with my cousin who lives there. I stopped pouting when hubby promised we would take another trip (someday) to see my cuz.

The itinerary from the travel agent says our cabin is a category ‘OV’ (for ocean view), which we requested, and paid all that extra money for.

So, as soon as our trip was finalized (meaning we paid it off), I get on the cruise ship’s website. I wanted to find out what the ship offered. I found a cool “find your cabin” feature. I type in the cabin number, and up pop’s a deck layout and you get information about your cabin by clicking on it.

Oh. Hell. No. I admit I was shocked, but not that much. This is the kind of crap we deal with when we travel. It’s so annoying that I’m starting to stay home and give up on the whole vacation idea. Anyway, click on the photo below before reading the next paragraph. That way you will know what I was seeing at the time.

Our cabin has a window sure enough, but it is obstructed. Not just a little obstruction, like a pipe or a beam crossing in front of it. No. We are talking about Full Obstruction. The warning is in red text even. The cabin’s category is really ‘OW’. I imagine that “OW” stands for ‘Obscured Window’, but in my mind it means OW, I’ve been screwed!

I don’t know about you, but I tend to think of a fully obstructed window as a no-view situation. Ocean or otherwise. I am not happy about this.

There is no way that I’m telling hubby about this ridiculous glitch. His blood pressure does not need to be higher. That, and I do not want to hear about it.

Is that wrong? I feel I’m doing him a favor by sparing him the anxiety. Since I don’t want to rant about it with him, guess what? I thank you for listening.

I immediately sent an email to the travel agent, asking her to re-book us into a non-obstructed ocean view. You know, she should really check out the cabins before booking them, or at least double-check what the cruise line books. My opinion of her professionalism has dropped a few points. Especially since I have not heard back from her yet.

Thank Goodness I found this little hidden detail, BEFORE we boarded the ship. I shudder when I think about how this surprise would go over during check-in.

If only this stupid error will be our last ‘issue’ during our trip. Who knows – maybe we’ll get lucky and avoid hurricanes this time too.

TTFN 🙂

A Chaos Theory

March 13, 2014 ~ JodiLea ~ 1 Comment

I must say this upfront, in case you are new to my blog – I am not a scientist, nor physicist.

( My long-time readers can stop laughing now …)

Yet, I have proven this chaos theory many times over the years. In fact, I am doing so this week, in my very own office, just trying to move back in.

Somehow, despite all the cabinets and shelves my office has now, there is not enough room for everything designated to be there. SIGH. This turns the fun in putting things away, to dreaded decision-making. About my ~~stuff~~ crap.

Yes, I have gathered much, over the past 50 years, but I’ve only held on to the most precious crap. Then, my mother and sister move on to their eternal rest, and stick me with their precious crap. My inner-teen whines, “this is just SO unfair!”, as I go through boxes of precious family crap and realize I must keep a lot of it for historical and sentimental reasons. It is my duty as the only survivor.

I cannot part with the boxes of genealogical research, and reference documents my mom worked with before she became ill. They, combined with my hubby’s mom’s research, may help me discover the (missing) link between our individual Richardson family trees. If nothing else, there are some great things in there for a novel…

OK. I decide to put all the family research on the top shelf. It won’t be in the way there – I can’t reach the shelf under it without a step-stool. The shelf I can reach, is the ‘staging’ area for the upper shelves until hubby emerges from his shop, or wherever he is at the moment, and puts them up for me.

Yesterday, hubby shocked me with the news that he needed some file space in my office too. What!?! It turned out he only needed 5 hanging folders, but he scared me. He has most of his files in the shop’s filing cabinet, but wanted to keep personal files in the house. I gave him permission, what the Hell. Someday, I may need a square foot of shop space. For what, I don’t know. But it’s good to be prepared. The ~~Military~~ Girl Scouts taught me that.

Spring has sprung up here – the days are getting warmer, the bees are wildly spreading pollen, and the squirrels are flirting and chasing each other. I would normally be out on the deck with my laptop, re-writing chapter five of my novel, but I need to gather all the boxes that waited around in closets and the garage for me to put them away. Hubby wants to park in there – this year.

Then, the chaos should reach its peak, and in a few days, my little office will officially be open for business!

TTFN 🙂

My Little Friend & I

March 10, 2014 ~ JodiLea

A few weeks ago I introduced ‘my little friend‘ to the world.

It was my fault that we got off to a dodgy start. Between my ignorance and nervousness, our relationship was strained. Today I’m happy to report that the ‘bugs’ in our friendship seem to be worked out. After all, practice does make perfect, or at least comfortable.

For my beloved readers who are following the “Insulin Pump Series”, I will post about this journey now and then, to keep you in the loop about my new ‘remote controlled’ life. Or however you think of it. Lord knows my family has their own way of referring to this change: The Pod person. The adventures of Robo-Grandma. My youngest granddaughter has trouble remembering the word “Pod”. She calls it a “boob”. And she likes to pat it, as if it’s a pet, instead of a medical device. (She’s so sweet, I can hardly stand it! But I digress…)

Today’s report is short and sweet. 🙂

It used to take me 30-minutes to do the Pod change because I would verify everything in the User Guide, before doing it. Since I change Pods every 3-days, I have done it 7 times now, twice without the Guide! The “remote” (its official name is “Personal Diabetes Manager” or “PDM”, but that’s boring), takes you step-by-step through the process. Although there are a lot of steps, they become easier every time I do them. I don’t dread Pod change day like I did at first.

Y’all have a fabulous week & thanks for listening!