Yikes! Four straight days of golf. I’ve definitely OD’d. And that was for only one round a day. I could not play 36 holes a day, which I’ve heard some guys will do (none in this group, though). None of my golf was stellar enough to talk about. Suffice to say, I didn’t win any money.
I’m the last of the group remaining in Scottsdale. The rest left either yesterday or this morning. So, no golf today, thankfully. I wish I could return to Bermuda today, but my flight is for early tomorrow. I expect to be home around nine in the evening.
I discovered the other day that our hotel is very near Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West. So I headed over there for a tour. Pretty interesting place, but needs maintenance. It’s probably the heat of the desert that’s taking its toll on the buildings. One of the interesting tidbits was that FLW swore he’d never use glass in the place. He wanted it to be open to nature. He hadn’t counted on his third wife, Olgivanna, changing his mind on that one. The openings are now covered with glass, and much of the place is air-conditioned. Even he didn’t mess with a woman who’s nesting.
That’s it for now. I’m looking forward to seeing Kim. I’m also looking forward to having burgers on the new grill on Saturday night.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
To Scottsdale for Golf
Saturday at the Philadelphia Airport:
A five-hour layover in Philadelphia. I tried hard to get an earlier flight, but unfortunately they wouldn’t change my baggage to the flight, which would mean a trip back to the Phoenix airport. So, I’m people watching and reading. But ….. five hours?
Wouldn’t you know, I ran into a guy from Bermuda at the airport. He works with Kim and was on his way for vacation in Phoenix with his wife and two kids. He, too, was trying to get the earlier flight, but had the some problem, I suspect.
Well, I’ve got plenty of time to get something to eat. Then maybe I can sleep on the plane. I don’t expect to get to my hotel until after midnight Phoenix time, which would be 4am Bermuda time. Then up for a 9am tee time.
This will probably be a long week. Not sure I really want to play that much golf. The reasons for my going are pretty social. Haven’t seen most of these guys for a couple of years, so I’d really like to catch up. I’m sure I’ll be ready to go home by the end of the week. Especially since Kim and I sort of passed each other last night and this morning.
Philly’s airport doesn’t have any wireless that I know of, so can’t get on the Internet to post this. Can’t understand why most airports don’t have free wireless available. Every other person I see has a laptop. Maybe a Blackberry or Iphone is the way to go, although it’d be tough for me to rationalize that expense.
On the plus side, my return flight is Phoenix to Miami to Bermuda in one day. Most itineraries include an overnight, but I persevered on expedia.com and was able to get this. And the bonus is that for some reason, I’m booked as first and business class. I’ve double-checked that several times, and also checked charges against my credit card, but it seems to be correct. Maybe I just wore them out in my search.
No pictures this week because I didn’t want to carry my camera. I’ve taken it on these golf trips in the past, but have seldom come back with (m)any pictures. Maybe I need a smaller camera for times like this. In fact, I may just go look for a camera right now. There must be camera stores in this huge airport.
Monday in Scottsdale:
Well, I never found a camera shop in the airport. Which is OK. Spontaneous purchases such as I was planning are never good.
My flight from Philadelphia to Phoenix was delayed and the layover ended up being over seven hours. I got to my Scottsdale hotel around 2:45am Sunday morning. Then up at 6:30 for breakfast, some time on the driving range and the 9 o'clock start. I had a fairly decent round considering how little I’ve played this year. Had dinner, then to bed by ten. Slept extremely well, as expected.
A five-hour layover in Philadelphia. I tried hard to get an earlier flight, but unfortunately they wouldn’t change my baggage to the flight, which would mean a trip back to the Phoenix airport. So, I’m people watching and reading. But ….. five hours?
Wouldn’t you know, I ran into a guy from Bermuda at the airport. He works with Kim and was on his way for vacation in Phoenix with his wife and two kids. He, too, was trying to get the earlier flight, but had the some problem, I suspect.
Well, I’ve got plenty of time to get something to eat. Then maybe I can sleep on the plane. I don’t expect to get to my hotel until after midnight Phoenix time, which would be 4am Bermuda time. Then up for a 9am tee time.
This will probably be a long week. Not sure I really want to play that much golf. The reasons for my going are pretty social. Haven’t seen most of these guys for a couple of years, so I’d really like to catch up. I’m sure I’ll be ready to go home by the end of the week. Especially since Kim and I sort of passed each other last night and this morning.
Philly’s airport doesn’t have any wireless that I know of, so can’t get on the Internet to post this. Can’t understand why most airports don’t have free wireless available. Every other person I see has a laptop. Maybe a Blackberry or Iphone is the way to go, although it’d be tough for me to rationalize that expense.
On the plus side, my return flight is Phoenix to Miami to Bermuda in one day. Most itineraries include an overnight, but I persevered on expedia.com and was able to get this. And the bonus is that for some reason, I’m booked as first and business class. I’ve double-checked that several times, and also checked charges against my credit card, but it seems to be correct. Maybe I just wore them out in my search.
No pictures this week because I didn’t want to carry my camera. I’ve taken it on these golf trips in the past, but have seldom come back with (m)any pictures. Maybe I need a smaller camera for times like this. In fact, I may just go look for a camera right now. There must be camera stores in this huge airport.
Monday in Scottsdale:
Well, I never found a camera shop in the airport. Which is OK. Spontaneous purchases such as I was planning are never good.
My flight from Philadelphia to Phoenix was delayed and the layover ended up being over seven hours. I got to my Scottsdale hotel around 2:45am Sunday morning. Then up at 6:30 for breakfast, some time on the driving range and the 9 o'clock start. I had a fairly decent round considering how little I’ve played this year. Had dinner, then to bed by ten. Slept extremely well, as expected.
Friday, October 24, 2008
It's been a busy week with Kim gone. I'm trying to get the house in better order, but am at a loss as to what to do with all the stuff. I continue to weed and toss my things, but not Kim's. If we had had a bit more time back in Racine we could have done a better job of sifting through and disposing of more things.
I haven't even been able to find anyone interested in taking about a dozen boxes of assorted books. The local library doesn't have room for them, so they're not interested at the moment. Many of them are reference books and with the internet, I guess I can understand the disinterest. Unfortunately, books don't store well in Bermuda. Especially in a box. Way too much humidity.
Kim is on her way back from London as I write this. I expect her home around seven tonight. Then tomorrow, I'll be leaving for Scottsdale for some golf with some friends I met while in London. This will be the first time I've picked up a club since early July (or may late June). And they're brand new, never-been-swung, clubs that I'll be using. I'm already negotiating an even higher handicap.
I bought a new barbecue grill today and it should be delivered while I'm gone. We're both eagerly looking forward to having the ability to cook out again. Our Racine grill died back in late June and I didn't want to replace it because of coming here. (Of course after checking the prices here, it would have been much better to buy in Racine and bring it along with our household goods). Even a burger on the grill sounds sooooo good.
Here are a couple of links to a few pictures I took a while back. The beach pictures are so typical of the scenery around here.
http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/kimandneil/First%20Trip%20to%20the%20Beach/
http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/kimandneil/PGA%20Grand%20Slam/
Bermuda's weather has been starting to cool off a bit. And humidity doesn't seem quite as high. Very comfortable sleeping, but bright sunny top-down days.
I haven't even been able to find anyone interested in taking about a dozen boxes of assorted books. The local library doesn't have room for them, so they're not interested at the moment. Many of them are reference books and with the internet, I guess I can understand the disinterest. Unfortunately, books don't store well in Bermuda. Especially in a box. Way too much humidity.
Kim is on her way back from London as I write this. I expect her home around seven tonight. Then tomorrow, I'll be leaving for Scottsdale for some golf with some friends I met while in London. This will be the first time I've picked up a club since early July (or may late June). And they're brand new, never-been-swung, clubs that I'll be using. I'm already negotiating an even higher handicap.
I bought a new barbecue grill today and it should be delivered while I'm gone. We're both eagerly looking forward to having the ability to cook out again. Our Racine grill died back in late June and I didn't want to replace it because of coming here. (Of course after checking the prices here, it would have been much better to buy in Racine and bring it along with our household goods). Even a burger on the grill sounds sooooo good.
Here are a couple of links to a few pictures I took a while back. The beach pictures are so typical of the scenery around here.
http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/kimandneil/First%20Trip%20to%20the%20Beach/
http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/kimandneil/PGA%20Grand%20Slam/
Bermuda's weather has been starting to cool off a bit. And humidity doesn't seem quite as high. Very comfortable sleeping, but bright sunny top-down days.
Monday, October 20, 2008
High Corners at Last
I see it’s been a week since my last post. I can’t believe the time has flown so fast. Instead of moving into our house last Wednesday, we waited until Saturday when we had more time to make the move together.
The house continues to be in total disarray. Too much stuff and not enough places to put stuff. I got the wine cooler assembled and most of the wine put away. (First things first, you know).
Kim and I did our first major grocery shopping on Saturday. Great stores here, really, if you don’t look at the prices. Everything we need and want is available. The prices, however, are out of sight. Here are some examples: $5 for one artichoke; $1.60 for one lemon; $6.80 for one can of Edge shaving cream (isn’t this about 50¢ at the SCJ company store?); about $15 for one veal chop (Provimi, from Wisconsin). Most of the people we talk to say they’ve just stopped looking at the prices. Ah well, Woo Hoo! We live on a beautiful island!
Kim is in Geneva this week, so I’m on my own. I hoping to get stuff done here at the house, but unfortunately need to deal with contractors. There are all those things that need to be accomplished to make the house our own. You know, stuff like more shelves in closets, magnifying mirrors in the bathroom, electrical outlets in the right places. Then, there are other things that need attention. Garage door opener is faulty, patio doors don’t open properly, light bulbs need replacing. I’m doing some on my own, but still need outside help, so that’s taking some time finding the right people. Our landlord is quite good at agreeing to pay for the changes we’re asking for. He’s admitted that he has no idea what needs to be done, since he has to rely on his tenants. Previous tenants, for example, had never opened some of the patio doors, so they don’t operate smoothly or easily.
I know I’ve promised pictures to make this blog more interesting. I’ve taken some, but have had a bit of trouble posting them properly. I’m working on it so they’ll come eventually.
A bit about Michael Anne. She’s past the halfway mark of her first semester, junior year. She turns 21 in December. She’s planning on spending her second semester in Florence, Italy for her “semester abroad”. My guess is it’s a pretty neat junket – you know, courses, like “wine and food appreciation”, or similar. Well, there might be some courses with substance, too. She’ll be leaving for Florence (from Bermuda) in late January.
Weather continues to be “Bermudian”. Seventies with humidity that seems to be a bit lower than during the summer. And the days are definitely getting shorter. Soon I’ll be able to see the sunrise without getting up in the middle of the night. The sea continues to mesmerize me. I’ve not kept many of the photos I’ve taken of the ocean because they just don’t capture what I see. And I’m colorblind, so anyone with normal color vision has got to be totally enthralled with the views.
Cheers for now. Drop a line when you can.
The house continues to be in total disarray. Too much stuff and not enough places to put stuff. I got the wine cooler assembled and most of the wine put away. (First things first, you know).
Kim and I did our first major grocery shopping on Saturday. Great stores here, really, if you don’t look at the prices. Everything we need and want is available. The prices, however, are out of sight. Here are some examples: $5 for one artichoke; $1.60 for one lemon; $6.80 for one can of Edge shaving cream (isn’t this about 50¢ at the SCJ company store?); about $15 for one veal chop (Provimi, from Wisconsin). Most of the people we talk to say they’ve just stopped looking at the prices. Ah well, Woo Hoo! We live on a beautiful island!
Kim is in Geneva this week, so I’m on my own. I hoping to get stuff done here at the house, but unfortunately need to deal with contractors. There are all those things that need to be accomplished to make the house our own. You know, stuff like more shelves in closets, magnifying mirrors in the bathroom, electrical outlets in the right places. Then, there are other things that need attention. Garage door opener is faulty, patio doors don’t open properly, light bulbs need replacing. I’m doing some on my own, but still need outside help, so that’s taking some time finding the right people. Our landlord is quite good at agreeing to pay for the changes we’re asking for. He’s admitted that he has no idea what needs to be done, since he has to rely on his tenants. Previous tenants, for example, had never opened some of the patio doors, so they don’t operate smoothly or easily.
I know I’ve promised pictures to make this blog more interesting. I’ve taken some, but have had a bit of trouble posting them properly. I’m working on it so they’ll come eventually.
A bit about Michael Anne. She’s past the halfway mark of her first semester, junior year. She turns 21 in December. She’s planning on spending her second semester in Florence, Italy for her “semester abroad”. My guess is it’s a pretty neat junket – you know, courses, like “wine and food appreciation”, or similar. Well, there might be some courses with substance, too. She’ll be leaving for Florence (from Bermuda) in late January.
Weather continues to be “Bermudian”. Seventies with humidity that seems to be a bit lower than during the summer. And the days are definitely getting shorter. Soon I’ll be able to see the sunrise without getting up in the middle of the night. The sea continues to mesmerize me. I’ve not kept many of the photos I’ve taken of the ocean because they just don’t capture what I see. And I’m colorblind, so anyone with normal color vision has got to be totally enthralled with the views.
Cheers for now. Drop a line when you can.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
We Did It!!
First, and most importantly, we both got our driver’s test scheduled, we both took the test, and we both passed. We are now officially licensed to drive in Bermuda. And we now have our car. Which means that tomorrow we will be taking our things that are located in the Bacardi condo and moving them into our house. It seems like it was a long time coming.
It’s been an eventful weekend for Bacardi. The company was one of the sponsors for the PGA Grand Slam of golf which has been held here in Bermuda for the last couple of years. So, it took the opportunity to bring in a lot of its top customers and treat them to a series of events, parties, and golf. Kim and I attended a couple of the dinners, and went out to watch a bit of the pro-am golf.
Sunday’s reception was at the Southhampton Princess Hotel overlooking the ocean. Wonderful setting and some spectacular fireworks after dark. It was beautiful.
Last night’s dinner was at the Bacardi headquarters (also a beautiful setting, but not on the water), and featured Retief Goosen who endorses Grey Goose Vodka. Kim had her picture taken with him, saying “Since I sign your paycheck, I get a picture of just the two of us”. Don’t know when and if we’ll see a copy, but if I can, I’ll post it. We’ve passed on tonight’s dinner which I think is an affair that’ll feature all four of the golfers. I think Kim needs a quiet evening at ‘home’
The tournament itself is today and tomorrow, but because of the driving tests and the move, I doubt that I’ll take the time to see any of it.
I’ve been taking pictures which I’ll try to add soon.
It’s been an eventful weekend for Bacardi. The company was one of the sponsors for the PGA Grand Slam of golf which has been held here in Bermuda for the last couple of years. So, it took the opportunity to bring in a lot of its top customers and treat them to a series of events, parties, and golf. Kim and I attended a couple of the dinners, and went out to watch a bit of the pro-am golf.
Sunday’s reception was at the Southhampton Princess Hotel overlooking the ocean. Wonderful setting and some spectacular fireworks after dark. It was beautiful.
Last night’s dinner was at the Bacardi headquarters (also a beautiful setting, but not on the water), and featured Retief Goosen who endorses Grey Goose Vodka. Kim had her picture taken with him, saying “Since I sign your paycheck, I get a picture of just the two of us”. Don’t know when and if we’ll see a copy, but if I can, I’ll post it. We’ve passed on tonight’s dinner which I think is an affair that’ll feature all four of the golfers. I think Kim needs a quiet evening at ‘home’
The tournament itself is today and tomorrow, but because of the driving tests and the move, I doubt that I’ll take the time to see any of it.
I’ve been taking pictures which I’ll try to add soon.
Friday, October 10, 2008
WOO HOO! WE LIVE ON A BEAUTIFUL ISLAND!
That’s my mantra for now. It’s the way I keep telling myself that I should count my many blessing and quit crabbing when things don’t go as smoothly as I want.
I had one minor win this week: the home gym is completely reassembled and the workout room is complete. Of course, we’d have to either walk two miles or take a taxi to get to it, but …… one day.
I also had a major setback. My Vespa. If you didn’t know, I brought along a Vespa scooter to use in Bermuda.
Each household is allowed only one car, so ours will for Kim's use. Most people then opt for a scooter for additional transportation. That was our plan ….. except we’ve discovered that imported scooters must be less than six months old and have had only one owner. Obviously the vintage 1965 Vespa that we so carefully packed with our household goods misses on both those requirements. So I have this beautifully preserved machine that I will probably have to store for the duration. And, of course, I’ll need to buy another.
Still no driver’s tests scheduled for either Kim or me. So our new car sits at the dealer and we continue to live in the Bacardi condo. I’m truly not sure what’s going on, but “Woo Hoo! We Live on a Beautiful Island!”
And we have had some beautiful weather. Highs in the eighties. The humidity has dropped and it’s very pleasant. I’m not sure what it is that causes the humidity changes. I would think that for an island in the middle of the Atlantic, the direction of the wind wouldn’t matter when it comes to humidity. Something to research, I suppose.
Kim and I had dinner at Tuckers Point Golf Club last night (guests of a new acquaintance). Beautiful tropical place with breathtaking ocean views from the dining room. We’re starting to get spoiled because, as you can imagine, it’s hard going any place in Bermuda that doesn’t have gorgeous views.
That club is adjacent to the Mid Ocean Club which will be hosting the PGA Grand Slam of Golf next week. Since Bacardi is one of the sponsors we’ll be attending some of those events.
Looking for more wins next week. I’ll keep you posted.
Cheers
I had one minor win this week: the home gym is completely reassembled and the workout room is complete. Of course, we’d have to either walk two miles or take a taxi to get to it, but …… one day.
I also had a major setback. My Vespa. If you didn’t know, I brought along a Vespa scooter to use in Bermuda.
Each household is allowed only one car, so ours will for Kim's use. Most people then opt for a scooter for additional transportation. That was our plan ….. except we’ve discovered that imported scooters must be less than six months old and have had only one owner. Obviously the vintage 1965 Vespa that we so carefully packed with our household goods misses on both those requirements. So I have this beautifully preserved machine that I will probably have to store for the duration. And, of course, I’ll need to buy another.Still no driver’s tests scheduled for either Kim or me. So our new car sits at the dealer and we continue to live in the Bacardi condo. I’m truly not sure what’s going on, but “Woo Hoo! We Live on a Beautiful Island!”
And we have had some beautiful weather. Highs in the eighties. The humidity has dropped and it’s very pleasant. I’m not sure what it is that causes the humidity changes. I would think that for an island in the middle of the Atlantic, the direction of the wind wouldn’t matter when it comes to humidity. Something to research, I suppose.
Kim and I had dinner at Tuckers Point Golf Club last night (guests of a new acquaintance). Beautiful tropical place with breathtaking ocean views from the dining room. We’re starting to get spoiled because, as you can imagine, it’s hard going any place in Bermuda that doesn’t have gorgeous views.
That club is adjacent to the Mid Ocean Club which will be hosting the PGA Grand Slam of Golf next week. Since Bacardi is one of the sponsors we’ll be attending some of those events.
Looking for more wins next week. I’ll keep you posted.
Cheers
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Back in Bermuda
We arrived in Bermuda nearly four weeks ago. I’ve been getting comments suggesting that we must be pretty settled by now. I only wish!
We’re both getting frustrated by the pace of getting things done. The biggest obstacle right now is being able to drive – legally, that is. Since neither one of us is licensed, we can’t take possession of our car. Which means we don’t really want to move into our house which is just a bit too far away to conveniently walk anywhere. So, we remain in the Bacardi condo for now.
While our house is far from being in order, we have made some progress. Kim and I spent most of Saturday there continuing with the unpacking and putting away. Looks as if we’ll be donating several boxes of books to the local library since we have no place to put them, and no good place for adding bookshelves.
I’ve got a carpenter scheduled for the coming week to modify our closets to be more efficient. Right now, we have no linen closet, so no place for towel and bathroom supplies. There used to be a linen closet in the bathroom that’s being remodeled. The landlord, though, took that out and is replacing it with a shower stall. Decent trade-off, I suppose, except that now we have to add shelves in one of the other closets to accommodate the linens.
Another win --- I finally convinced the local expert-at-gym-equipment-reassembly to take on the task of putting our home gym back together. It’s something that I eventually would have tackled myself, except it’s so far down the list I’m not sure when I would have completed it. With luck we should have it done by the end of the week.
Today’s a day of rest. After lugging boxes and moving furniture most of yesterday, neither one of us is interested in going out today. In spite of beautiful weather. One thing we’ll have to get used to is that there are no Sunday papers in Bermuda. We were used to getting three of them, so we’re now in withdrawal. But, there is NFL football, and we can get most of the Packer games. (We also saw the UW - Ohio State game last night).
Cheers for now.
We’re both getting frustrated by the pace of getting things done. The biggest obstacle right now is being able to drive – legally, that is. Since neither one of us is licensed, we can’t take possession of our car. Which means we don’t really want to move into our house which is just a bit too far away to conveniently walk anywhere. So, we remain in the Bacardi condo for now.
While our house is far from being in order, we have made some progress. Kim and I spent most of Saturday there continuing with the unpacking and putting away. Looks as if we’ll be donating several boxes of books to the local library since we have no place to put them, and no good place for adding bookshelves.
I’ve got a carpenter scheduled for the coming week to modify our closets to be more efficient. Right now, we have no linen closet, so no place for towel and bathroom supplies. There used to be a linen closet in the bathroom that’s being remodeled. The landlord, though, took that out and is replacing it with a shower stall. Decent trade-off, I suppose, except that now we have to add shelves in one of the other closets to accommodate the linens.
Another win --- I finally convinced the local expert-at-gym-equipment-reassembly to take on the task of putting our home gym back together. It’s something that I eventually would have tackled myself, except it’s so far down the list I’m not sure when I would have completed it. With luck we should have it done by the end of the week.
Today’s a day of rest. After lugging boxes and moving furniture most of yesterday, neither one of us is interested in going out today. In spite of beautiful weather. One thing we’ll have to get used to is that there are no Sunday papers in Bermuda. We were used to getting three of them, so we’re now in withdrawal. But, there is NFL football, and we can get most of the Packer games. (We also saw the UW - Ohio State game last night).
Cheers for now.
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