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My friend and I drove down most of the way on Friday night and stayed in a huge hotel room.  The bathroom alone was bigger than the office I share with 4 other people.  Huge.   And the breakfast the next morning was great.

We drove the rest of the way on Saturday and met up with my Former Co-Worker and his beautiful wife and their little girl.  The condo we stayed at was pretty nice on the surface – plenty of room, nice view, washer/dryer, etc.   But there were a lot of little things that were broken or damaged or didn’t work quite right that made us suspect that it had been a while since a maintenance crew had done a careful inspection.  Not enough to disrupt the trip, but just a little… off.

The walk to the beach was only a few minutes – not bad even when loaded up with all the usual beach gear – though a little long when bleeding from a Kraken attack.

The island itself was… pretentious.  All the business signs were small and tasteful – which made finding anything a chore. Some areas were gated and required a fee to even drive on that part of the island.  Others would fine you for straying off the approved driving paths. It made the island pretty, but felt a little “better than thou”  The worst was the gatepass – a story that ties into the story of the wedding.

See, my friend’s friend was getting married and she rearranged her Hilton Head Island wedding to accommodate when he was going to be there.  So, we got wrapped in the trials and tribulations of the least organized bride ever.   She invited us out to dinner the night before the wedding, but since this was after the rehearsal dinner, we wisely chose to eat beforehand.  My friend and I were pretty much ‘on call’ waiting to hear back from her about dinner and it didn’t happen until 9:00. We split a dessert while the rest of the crew ate and called it a night when the jovial server (who called herself Aunt Pam), finally decided to bring the checks around.

The wedding was supposed to start at 7:00 the next day and we had been asked to arrive at 6:30 – and to dress in white shirts, black pants, and black shoes.  Now, I balked a little at that – who wants to bring dress clothes on vacation? – but we were ready to go in plenty of time and headed out.

And got stopped at the gate.  No guest pass, you see.  We drove around this loop looking for the main gate, getting madder by the moment at the lack of signs and found another gate.  No good, we were turned away and given vague directions.  Finally found the well hidden main gate and security office and asked for a pass.  We had to give the address, confirm that it was rental property, and indicate how long we were going to be there before getting a guest pass for the evening.  I joked to my friend that the way we were dressed suggested that we might be the infamous “bus boy bandits” out for another raid.

Finally got to the wedding site and it wasn’t until 7:30 before things started.  And… it was a very nice ceremony.  The officiator was well spoken and the backyard venue with the lagoon was pretty.  My friend and I  – in our matching outfits  – were apparently the only ones that got the memo.  We were also the only guests, everyone else was in the wedding – including the brother-in-law of the bride in sneakers and a nice bowling shirt.  (Really? Yes, really.)

After the wedding it was out to dinner at the Old Oyster Factory restaurant. We had eaten beforehand and it was a good thing, the food was crazy expensive.  Two appetizers and drinks were over $40.00.    The guy sitting next to me got a meal that I’m sure would have require a second mortgage if I’d ordered it.  It was after 10:30 before we got out of there and made our way back to the condo.  Everyone was really nice and it was an okay – if really long evening.   Oh, and the one kid our table for dinner kept requesting origami and then kept crumpling them or unfolding them.  I was able to salvage a few and I know they don’t last, but sheesh! Enjoy them for a few minutes before you savage them, okay?

Breakfast on the island was usually cereal and lunches were frequently turkey sandwiches, but evenings were for going out to eat. Here are the highlights:

1. Cracker Barrel.  The food was okay, but the clerk in the country store was inhumanly cheery.  I couldn’t stand her, and she kept stalking me.  I suspected she was developed in a vat of “down-home country cheer”, but that did not excuse her behavior.  I was grateful to have escaped and would not be  – as she suggested – “coming back around to see them soon”

2. Pizza from the local pizza place.   Two pizzas = $38.50   They were good, I think.  We were all so hungry that they might have been terrible – but even if they were “good”, they weren’t “$38.50” good.  Dang.

3. Outback.  I got the burger and we all split an order of tuna ahi that was amazing.  I added a little of the wasabi and soy dipping sauce to my burger  – it was really good.

4. At the Harbor Burgers and Brews (I had the chicken), we got attacked by an errant Frisbee.  I did my best “Get off my Lawn!” old man scowl at the kids that came around the shrubs to retrieve the errant disk.  Didn’t get even a half-heated “sorry” when I handed it back to them.  I vowed to de-rezz at least one of the little jerks if they tossed it back at me, but they had better aim for the rest of the meal.  The food was good, but the portions were a little small – think we were all still a little hungry after we ate. Fries were good though.

5. Fudruckers was really pricey, but they had a University of Akron pennant on the wall.

6. Had to go to organic foods store to find any peaches.  Really?  I thought that they just handed those out in the South.

7. Triple chocolate brownie and an orange soda at Starbucks.  Made metalkreallyreallyreallyfastaboutnothingimportantforafewminutes.

8. Old Oyster Factory.  There’s more to this story than the $40 tab for two appetizers, but that is better served for another entry.

9. Reilly’s had really good food and the outdoor patio was great.

Overall, I ate pretty well, complained about the cost quite a bit, and got enough exercise that I didn’t feel bad about the occasional gorging.

Just got back from a week long vacation on Hilton Head Island.  Rather than a day by day run-down of the trip, I thought a topical overview would be more interesting.   So, the Ocean.

I swam 10 miles over the course of the week.  2 miles per day, usually one in the morning and one in the afternoon, though the last 2 days had me going twice in the morning so I would have the afternoons free. The ocean wasn’t very rough and the currents weren’t as strong as I expected.  It was actually a little boring at times.  I know I can do a mile in about 40 minutes in the pool, so I timed my ocean  trips and decided that if I swam 45 minutes, that would be about a mile’s worth of effort.

I did have to take a break in the middle for a day since I was attacked by a Kraken.   And by “Kraken” I mean a shell that I tried to pick up off the floor of the ocean with my feet.  And by “attacked”, I mean that the sharp edge of the shell cut my left big toe.  Enough that I was bleeding by the time I got back up to the beach.  I poured water over it to get most of the sand out and then put on flip flops to hobble back to the condo.  I got it cleaned up, slathered on the neosporin, and slapped a band-aid on it.  It still seeped for a couple days, but the waterproof band-aids I got did their job and I was back in the ocean.

Along with the “mystery shell of death” aka “RELEASE THE KRAKEN!”, I found a lot of sand dollars (living), a bunch of small empty shells, and several broken horseshoe crab shells.  I saw some dolphins in the water on the way across the bridge to the island, a couple jumping fish, was nearly dive-bombed by some pelicans, and  – on the last day – a jelly-fish.  Sharks don’t really worry me much – the odds are against an attack – and I know how to handle rip tides.  But a jelly-fish?  I don’t mess around with those.

Another danger of the deep – well, the shallows – were a couple of asshole surf-casters. Despite the clearly posted signs at the entrance to the beach prohibiting fishing from the shore since it was a swimming beach, there were a couple guys out on different days doing just that.   I yelled at one of them as I swam past that it was dangerous for him to be fishing while there were swimmers in the water.  He yelled back that I was far enough out that it wouldn’t matter.

That, of course, is not the damn point.  I was pretty steamed, but since I couldn’t find a lifeguard and I was done with my swim for the day I didn’t confront him further.  Still.  The shell was pretty bad, but I can’t imagine how much it would suck to get hooked.

The ocean part of my trip ended peacefully though.  Took a couple of late night walks on the beach and enjoyed the sound of the waves, the stars overhead and cool breeze.  Too bad I couldn’t take that with me – though the sunshine during the day did give me an excellent tan that will last a while as I go back to work in my windowless office.

I took the younger (relatively) of the Ladies from New York to dinner last evening.  I had invited both she and her mother, but the elder wasn’t feeling up to it.  We went to Rockne’s and she remarked how long it had been since she’d been there – we figured it must have 1996 or 1997.  I congratulated her that she was “still kicking” and she replied that she had had some close calls.  I reassured her that she was “too stubborn” and she laughed.

This morning as I got into the office, one of my co-workers reported that I had just missed the bio-hazard crew.  Apparently, a custodian had reported “a trashcan full of needles” to the Health and Safety office.  He was mystified and sent them on their way, but I correctly deduced what had happened.

Our student assistant is diabetic and sure enough, he had carefully capped a used needle and disposed of it in the trashcan at his desk.  Hardly “full of needles”, but still apparently enough to freak everyone out.

I called Health and Safety and reported what had  happened – and asked for the correct disposal procedure.  Before we could implement anything, the building coordinator stopped by and told us there was a sharps container in the building already.  I updated our student via email and we should be fine.  Still, bio-hazard?  Must be a Thursday.

I got out into the sunshine at lunchtime and got some really excellent sushi.  I sat out in the sun, wielded my chopsticks like a pro (I know, you aren’t really supposed to eat sushi with chopsticks but it’s fun), and ate a fresh pear on my way to the bank.

The bank tellers are always friendly – must be some kind of gas they pump into the building – and I was on my way in no time.

I’m hoping the rest of the afternoon goes as smoothly.

So, I lost the USB cable for my camera.  I’ve got all kinds of USB cables, but none that this particular “standard”.  I went to Radio Shack to see if they had a replacement one.  The clerk met me at the door and walked me over to the cables section to find one that would fit my camera.  He even opened up the package so we could check it and make sure.  It fit and I was directed over to the counter.

And then the questions began.

1. Do I need any batteries? (for my USB cable?)  I said no.

2. What cell phone provider do I have?  (Again, for my USB cable?)  I told them Verizon – and that I have a contract.

3. What kind of phone do I have?  (Again, USB?) I told them I had a crap phone.

4. They offered to sign me up for a automatic notice – plus a $5 dollar coupon for when my contract expires.  (Sigh. Really?)  I told them no thank you and that I was just there for the USB cable.

5. Do I want a 3 year warranty on the cable?  (Really?  The USB standards are likely to change before the warranty expires and really?  a warranty on a cable?)  I declined.

I swiped my card though the reader and was asked if I wanted to contribute to the Livestrong Foundation.  I declined, again.

6.  I was asked if I needed a bag. (For my one cable in a plastic box.)  I declined.

Finally escaped and it really did feel like an escape.  I don’t think I got this many questions when I was being picked for jury duty.

In better USB news… my new car has a USB port that lets me load up a simple flash drive with MP3 files and just plug it in.  All the controls are through the car and I can go through folders and files and play the music right through the car speakers.  The sound is amazing.  I was really jamming when I was driving around last night.

Dinner tonight with the Ladies from New York after my swim.  Looking forward to getting out of here for the day – it’s been a rough one.

I got 20 laps in the pool yesterday – bringing me up to 99 miles so far for the year.  After work today, I’ll do another mile and be at 100.   Since my goal is 120 miles for the year, I’m feeling pretty good about being able to reach that.  Not Olympic by any means, but not bad for an almost 40 year old geek.

I got to see my former co-worker and his family last night.  They came over so that he could pick up his stored music and we went out to eat with one of my friends .  They got to see my car and we had fun chatting with their 2 year old.

And I had turned on my air-conditioner for the first time.  There was a 2 year old in my house and I want to stay on her good side.  The adults are less likely to get audibly cranky when the house is hot in the summer – the 2  year old is less reserved.

Later that evening I played some Darksiders 2 – sweet game. Lots of clever puzzles and monsters to smack down.

Also got a little free mental analysis from my friend – he made a connection between my love of boxes and containers (I freaking love containers) and my tendency to compartmentalize my thought processes.    Seems pretty obvious in hindsight, but it was something of a revelation to me.    Not sure what to do with this new knowledge – though I’m not giving up on my boxes.   And I’m kinda fond of my mental walls too.  Yeah, it does keep people at a distance, but it also shields me against telepaths.    Good luck trying to get into my head, Sookie Stackhouse.  Or Professor Xavier.  Or Martian Manhunter.    You may scoff, but telepaths are a bigger problem than you think.  And I’m ready for them.

Did I mention how much I love containers?

Anyway, looking forward to my swim this afternoon and a nice quiet weekend.

I woke up this morning with a skull-splitter of a headache.  A full on migraine  – great way to start the day.  I called my boss and left a message for him that I was out, but would try to make it in later in the day.  I took an aspirin, knowing full well it was too late, then put in ear plugs, added a bandanna over my eyes to shut out the little light coming in, and tried to wait it out.

No luck.  Then the nausea hit and it was almost welcome.  In the past, throwing up has helped break the grip of the migraine.  Think it might be a pressure overload that does the trick.  In any case, I couldn’t throw up.  In desperation, I even gagged myself and that took several attempts before I was successful.

When I was done, I was exhausted, had a sore throat, and was thirsty.  I got some water, got back in bed, and finally fell asleep.

I woke up a few hours later around 10 and decided I was well enough to go to work.  The headache had faded to a dull roar and I was on the road by 10:30.   The drive usually takes me about 5-6 minutes and I knew I would have a little more trouble with parking that usual, but I was unprepared for what faced me.

Wall to wall, every space filled.  All of them.  I had to stop in the middle of my search to go refill my gas tank.  After 45 minutes, I ended up at literally the farthest away I could be from my office and still be on campus.  And this was after I had two spaces open up behind me only to watch them get filled in my rear-view mirror.

I had an apple with me and I ate that on my walk into the office.  It helped my mood a bit and I was very nearly a human being by the time I got to my desk.  And then I opened my email…

So, I’m at work and already hoping for the end of the day.  I snacked for lunch and may try to grab a bite to eat this afternoon.  I’ve got my swim gear, but I don’t know if I’ll be hitting the pool after work today.

I headed up campus this past Thursday for my afternoon swim and stopped to chat with some folks that were running a popcorn can cotton-candy booth for the home opener football game.  (we ended up losing)  Once I got up to the pool I headed for the locker room to change and had just started when the lights went out.  I started to plan how I would use the light from my cell phone in 7 second increments to get dressed again when the emergency lights came on.  I got dressed, headed out to the hallway and was informed, in clipped tones by the attendant, that – the power was out, we were running on emergency lights, and that the pool was closed.   All of which I knew or could figure out – and could have done without the attitude.

I left, got some popcorn on the way back and headed home to lay out in what little sunshine remained for the day.

On Friday, I took myself for a nice long swim and did 2 miles.    That evening I went out for pizza at The Hut and ate way more than my fair share.  Hey, I earned it.

Saturday, on the boat again with friends as we cruised the Portage Lakes.  We were out there for about 6 hours and I got in some swimming as well – even moved the boat around by myself when we drifted.   After boating we went our for dinner to celebrate a birthday.

Sunday, went to the Akron Art museum and found some artwork by someone I know.  She’s a professor in the School of Art and had one of her prints displayed.  It was pretty cool and I felt almost famous by proxy.

Monday was a trip to my friend’s mom’s house for a cook out and pool party.  The burgers were good, the pool was very cold, and the only downside was that one of the links in my watch got broken roughhousing in the water.  I’m going to try and get it fixed after work today.

So, a busy and very social weekend.   We’re just about out of summer, but I made this weekend count.

Went to the last outdoor ballet of the season this past weekend.  This time around we got there in time for the kids program and it was surprisingly fun to watch.  The leader of the group of kids was someone I know – she’s the director of the dance institute at UA.  And I built her website.  🙂  So, it was pretty cool to see a familiar face leading a group of happy children dancing on stage.

The traditional part of the ballet was a little dull, but one segment had Johnny Cash singing a song called Hurt.  The song was originally written and performed by Nine Inch Nails  – Mr. Cash did a cover of this in his own style shortly before he passed away.  The line, “You can have it all – my empire of dirt”, struck me as deeply sad and stayed with me.  The dancers acted out the song, one pair moving the others like puppets.  Haunting and very well done.  I discovered later that Leona Lewis also did a cover of the song – adding a pop-style to the moody and the country.

Strange how one song can convey so much depth and be covered in such interesting ways.  Guess that’s a tribute to the writer.

Also over the weekend I got to go with some friends out on the lake for a boat trip.  The weather was nice most of the time and we spent quite a while swimming.  It was a little cold, but that didn’t stop me from doffing my suit once in the water.   I swam out quite a ways from the boat and went down to see how deep the part of the lake was.  I touched bottom – at least, I hope it was the bottom.  It was squishy.

After a while, I put my suit back on and got back into the boat – managing to injury myself a bit in the process.  Too bad it wasn’t a lake monster – would have made for a better story.

In other news… today, I returned some food.  I had gone up to the student center to get some lunch and decided on a slice of pizza.    I got to a table, sat down and  took one bite – and nearly spit it back out.  Cool to the touch, dry and chewy crust, greasy, and the cheese was congealed.  I’ve sent back food before that didn’t match what I ordered, but this was the first time that I had taken something back that just tasted bad.  I waited until I attracted the attention of one of the women at the checkout station and asked to see a manager.  The manager came out and I explained that the pizza was terrible and what was wrong with it.  She offered to make it right and get me another slice (how that would help I don’t know), but I was already running late and had lost much of my appetite with that bite anyway.  So, I declined and said I just wanted to report it so that the pizza that had been sitting under the heat lamp could be discarded and no one else would get a serving of that.    I made do with my coke zero and a pop-tart.

So, after a very busy day in the office – it was a “webteam of one” for a while – I hopped in my car and headed over to the BMV to get the plates changed over.   No waiting in line, I had all the paperwork needed, the clerk was efficient, friendly, and helpful – and the transaction only cost me $4.50.  I was on the road in no time and took a CD to the Ladies from New York that they had asked me to find.  From there, I went to get my haircut and again didn’t have to wait in line.  I got a great hair cut from a friendly stylist and was on my way in short order.

I guess the Fates of Retail felt bad about the pizza because the rest of my evening went pretty smoothly.

Just wrapping up some laundry and then off to bed.

I went to best buy last night to purchase a GPS.  I’ve wanted one for a while, but my previous car’s lighter/outlet didn’t work – so, new car, new outlet, and new GPS.

I found the one I wanted, got the option for unlimited maps, and headed to the checkout.  The clerk scans the box and announces that best buy recommends the full geek squad service plan on the device.

Now, have you ever bought something at best buy and not gotten pushed into buying some kind of protection plan, extended warranty, or geek squad service?  It’s like they expect every product they sell to explode into a fireball of death the nano-second you walk out the store.  At least they seemed to have stopped pushing magazine subscriptions.  I’m in there buying a device that constantly gets updates from SPACE and they want me to sign up for print media.

So, she continues on about how they can repair it if there are problems and help if I have trouble downloading updates.  Now that got my dander riled up.   Download?   In my head I’m thinking, “Download?  Don’t you know who I am?  I will download the shit out of that device.  I will download that until it needs a support group to recover!”

I didn’t say that, of course.  But I did say, “No thanks.  I’m a geek.  I’ve got it covered.”

Which was maybe a little arrogant on my part because while I’m fairly certain I could download any update it needs, I’d be reluctant to crack open the case and re-solder the connectors.

She was a little taken aback, but followed up with “It also covers replacement if it can’t be fixed,”

To which I (mentally) replied, “You dare doubt my powers?!?” and aloud… well, I didn’t really say anything.  I’d already told her I didn’t want the geek squad protection and that was pretty much all I had to say on the subject.  I paid for the GPS and headed out.

I used the GPS to get to work this morning. I didn’t like the route it picked, but we soon sorted it out.  I also need to download some new voices.  There’s no British voice – which I prefer in other GPS’s I’ve used – and the one of the american voices has a sort of whine to her speech patterns.

So, I’m guessing some downloads are in my future.  Gee, who could I call if I can’t figure that out?