Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween, everyone!!

I didn't quite get into the Halloween spirit this year (no costume for the work contest/party, no decorations, etc.), but I did, at least, carve a little pumpkin (the picture you see here). I do enjoy doing that. You'd think with it being on a Saturday an all, I would've gotten more into it because I could get more into it. But no... I'm just looking forward to a nice date night with Eric, instead.

However, I still wanted to wish every other ghoul and goblin out there a good Halloween... and BE SAFE! You just never know who's behind that mask!

Rush Hour Traffic

Anyone who knows me know that it doesn't take much to get me on a rant about traffic and the horrible drivers I see everyday. I could probably do a blog a day with what I see (but I won't - I'll spare everyone from that).

Down south, in Atlanta and Orlando and Miami... they have the volume, but at least they also have the speed. There's nothing I hate more than sitting in crawling traffic. Here... it's always crawling. And I account that to the fact that very few people know how to merge up here... nor do they recognize that the extra lane is there for a mile because traffic engineers deemed it necessary to help traffic flow at some point in time. It wasn't because they felt like spending a few extra million dollars on asphalt. Seriously... *sigh* I digress on the merging issue... for now...

I saw a few things this morning that blew my mind, though.

I often feel for truckers, especially during rush hour. Most people do not know how to drive with trucks in traffic. but this morning... I saw a trucker who was outright obnoxious!! Let me set this up for you... 116th Street, heading east, just before I-69, at the intersection with Lantern Road (by Target). For those who don't know the area, this gets very backed up. In fact, they extended the two turn lanes from lantern onto 116th. Well, this morning, a truck was in the inner of the two turn lanes (the one you get in if you DON'T plan on getting on southbound I-69 in the AM because of the solid line of cars). I was already on 116th Street in the line of cars. The truck turns, acts like he's going to run me over to get into the turn lane onto I-69, but then continues straight... only to turn the straight lane into a turn lane at the light, just about taking some cars out with him!! Now, I've seen cars do this all the time. But they're smaller and they can't run over the other cars turning (unless, maybe, it's a Hummer). But a truck?? That's brazen!! So I continue along my merry way after this. I guess I've seen worse.

As I do the daily ritual of getting downtown with all the lemmings, it occurs to me that the lane you never want to be in during rush hour in Indianapolis is the far left lane. It's always the slowest, and it's aways the one that's at a backed-up standstill. Why... well, if you must, I'd go back to the merging thing. But more so, people seem to think that they won't HAVE to merge in they're in that lane (with merging ramp traffic). I realized that most of my commute is done in the right lane, right with all the ramp traffic... and I usually cruise right past all these people. There are a few places I jump over to the middle, and sometimes even the left lane... but it's rare. Of course, I live in a City with no HOV lanes, as well. They just don't understand the concept of a fast lane here...

But really blew my mind this week was Tuesday morning. Remember the tanker truck explosion I blogged about earlier? Well, it did mess up the interchange for awhile, but they had everything by open Monday, except for the I-69S ramp to I-465S. BUT, beginning Tuesday at lunch, they started broadcasting that it would be open for Tuesday morning rush hour. Monday night, still proclaiming that. Come Tuesday morning... yep, sure enough, it was the first item on all the traffic reports, both on TV and on the radio. Mind you, that's not my normal route... I got down Binford on a regular basis, which is where the traffic had been diverted for the weekend. So you can imagine my surprise when I get within a mile of the interchange and it's backed up for nearly a mile, people all in the left lane, going on Binford. WTF?? So I dart over to the right lanes and take the interchange ramp onto South I-465. Apparently, the lemmings don't listen to the traffic reports, EVER, because there was only about me and a half dozen other cars on the entire wide-sweeping ramp, going right over Binford for all to see... after their chance to get on. Me? I'd been listening to all the news on this because I wanted to know when normalcy would take hold again. I thought it would happen then. But apparently, very few people were thinking the same way I was. Instead, they block my normal route to work with their idiocracy!

Okay... I'm done. I just really needed to vent. I can only vent to Eric so much before he just thinks I'm crazy.

I Realized Fall is Here...

I know it sounds strange, but it really just hit me, TODAY, that Fall is here!! It really hit me when I saw all the Autumn colored leaves blowing around as I drove down the road. It was kind of pretty, actually.

Why it didn't hit me until today, I'm not sure. Maybe my mind has just been too occupied with everything else going on that I haven't had time to just stop and look around. Not to mention, Mexico threw my mindset out of whack. Granted, the temperatures have hit and I've made my thoughts about that clear (at least to people around me, verbally). And maybe that was part of it... it was in the 60's today, which gave me reason to go outside and enjoy some nice weather, even if it was brief. We were actually supposed to go on a picnic lunch with Eric's parents and sister's family to celebrate his and his sister's birthdays from the previous week. But the ground was too wet from previous rain and, in the end, his sister wasn't able to make it. So we ended up spending that time in Eric's house, unfortunately.

Anyway... this appears to be a really colorful fall this year - lots of rain usually equates to lots of color when the leaves do change... and that is definitely the case this year. I'm just hoping the mild summer yields to a mild winter... I don't think I can handle a harsh one this year.

Back to the Routine

Last week was my first full week back in the office since the beginning of the month! And I have to say, it wore me out!!

Though I was back to the office environment, the week was anything but routine. Between project blow-ups and an all day training session, I feel like I ended the week with more piled up than when I started the week. Plus, the office seemed really empty! I'm not sure where everyone was, but it seemed way too quiet. But I managed to make it though.

Not only was I back to the office routine, I was able to get back to my 'extracurricular' activities, as well... softball on Thursday night, and dodgeball on Friday night. Since I was so out of the routine, though, I forgot to put my softball gear back in my car before Thursday night!! So I had to borrow stuff... which was odd. But it worked. The sad part is, since I was away from the action for a few weeks, I'm feeling it today! Not too many games left, though, of either sport.

I tried to get myself back into the 'awake state' this morning by sleeping in. I think it helped... a little. But I still feel exhausted. Maybe another nap will help...

Explosion!

This post is really for those reading this NOT in the Indy area. If you're in the Indy area, you know all about this!

Today started out as any other day in Indianapolis in the fall... a little cool, and little dreary, and not too much going on. Until about 10:30am on the northeast side, and one of the busiest interchanges in the city... I-69 and I-465. A tanker truck carrying liquid propane took the ramp from southbound I-69 to southbound I-465 a little too fast. I know this ramp well... if you don't know the area, this is an easy thing to do. I've even had to check myself a couple of times when I'm in a rush! Well, the tanker wasn't able to correct himself. He rolled over. And an explosion happened!!

This is not an exaggeration. it was literally a mushroom cloud of fire at least 100' in the air! And it burned HOT! It melted the fronts of cars stopped a couple hundred feet away. The truck, itself, was incinerated to the frame! Fortunately, some good samaritans pulled the driver away in time. Unfortunately, this happened under a bridge, damaging not only the road it rolled over on, but the bridge above it. And the billboards on either side of it, and a cell phone tower, and the train tracks aside of it.

I was at work when this all happened. But it made the airwaves quickly. And the internet, of course. One of my friends just missed it - he drove through that area just 30 seconds earlier and saw the explosion behind him. The witnesses whose stories are coming out are insane. Even more so, though... it's insane that no one was killed. There were injuries, but no deaths. It could've been so much worse!

I know my commute is going to suck for at least a few days, if not weeks now. Luckily I won't have to deal with it tonight - I have softball and will just stay downtown at Eric's afterwards. But I have to go home sometime.

I-69 & I-465 explosion from readers and Star staff - More The Indianapolis Star Galleries

View this gallery at The Indianapolis Star: I-69 & I-465 explosion from readers and Star staff

From HOT to Not So Hot!

I went from one extreme in Mexico (mid 90's all weekend) to near freezing temperatures (lows in the upper 30's) at a conference in northern Indiana this week... within a matter of 24 hours!! Literally... the average temperatures I had over the weekend we twice that of the average temperatures we were having in Plymouth, IN!! It sucked!!! Well, the extreme weather change did. Definitely a slap in the face, making me remember very quickly that I am not too fond of cold weather!

Now the conference... well, not that I'm going to say it was the best thing ever, especially after the spectacular trip I had to Mexico. But you know what... I think it was better to come back from vacation and go to a conference for the week verses back to an office setting. At least I wasn't immediately constrained to an office chair! This was more of a networking conference, too (verses an educational one). It included a lot of time in the 'hospitality suite' when the day activities were over. I don't even want to know what their alcohol budget is for this annual conference... airport people like to drink, apparently!

Anyway... I'm finally back home and get to sleep in my own bed tonight. I haven't slept in my own bed since Tuesday night of LAST week! I'm really looking forward to it! Sad, huh? I just wish it wasn't so cold outside... I guess I should just be grateful it's not snowing yet!

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

I was hoping to do a post or two while I was in Mexico to avoid a long post, and also so I wouldn't forget anything. But they had horrible wi-fi access there... usually very slow, and only in a small vicinity of the lobby. So I opted to wait until I got home. Which was way late last night. So here I am! I'll start at the beginning, of course... there’s a lot!

We left Indy early on Thursday morning. I knew there were storms moving in, so I was glad we were getting out of town before they hit – last thing I wanted was to be late! Well, we weren’t delayed in Indy, or Chicago, for that matter. But the actual flight lasted longer getting to Puerto Vallarta because of storms they had to fly around. So we arrived about an hour late. The reason I’m truly starting at the beginning (the flight) is because the Puerto Vallarta airport was part of the experience. One of the excursions we booked beforehand was a sunset cruise. When Eric got the confirmation, I noticed quite a bit of language about not talking to anyone who approaches you at the airport, claiming they will get you to your destination. I found this odd… until I got there.

After going through customs and finally being done with the whole process of ‘arriving’, you get dumped into this corridor. It’s filled will people trying to get you in one of their taxis, on one of their buses to their complex (timeshares, usually), and anything else you could think of. They are as nice as can be – don’t get me wrong! But they’re devious! We didn’t get caught up in anything, though we were unsure as we tried to get to Hertz. But we made it… somehow… with incident.

So we get on the road to the hotel, which was actually a little north in Nuevo Vallarta. And it was interesting. I knew heading down there that it is a resort town. But you had to wonder when the Hertz guy gave us directions, he used a giant golf ball as a landmark. Along the way, though, we passed a couple of Wal-Marts, a bunch of Subways, and even a Church’s Chicken. And then, sure enough, a giant golf ball shaped water tower. We exited the highway and found ourselves having to quickly slow down ON THE RAMP because the road was so torn up. Not under construction, just never maintained, from the looks of it. But once we got into the resort area, it was like a completely different world. First off, it was gated. It was nothing but condos and hotels. Much better than the main highway.

The hotel itself was amazing! We stayed at the Riu Palace Pacifica, which is an all inclusive resort. We checked in, and were handed drinks as we signed the paperwork. We were also greeted by Brian and Erica (the reason for the trip – their wedding), which was nice and immediately gave me a sense of, “okay, we’ve arrived, we’re safe, I can finally relax.” Which I did do. The entire hotel was tiled with a mix of stones – no carpets except for a few throws. And surprisingly (in a good way), very energy efficient/aware. They only turn all the lights on at night during 'active' times, even in the hallways and main lobby. We got to our room, and though a little small, it was really nice! So of course, the first thing I had to do was step out onto the balcony for the view… amazing! I only hoped I had a chance to use the pool and walk on the beach enough to fulfill my craving.

Unfortunately, the weather was pretty dreary on arrival. Not raining, but no sun to be seen. Bummer. Eric and I had our sunset cruise book for Thursday night, so we figured we’d better try to find our dock so we wouldn’t miss it later. And it was a good thing we left when we did, because we got lost. And then is started raining. This definitely dampened my spirits. We finally found the dock, and it was raining even harder. The sailboat showed up and we talked to the crew – they still go out in this weather. They said there’s a 50-50 chance that’ll clear up, and often these are the best when they do clear up. The other group that was supposed to go on the cruise cancelled that morning. I really wanted to go –I thought it would be neat – but the rain was really killing it for me. So after some arm twisting, Eric got me to go. I knew he really wanted to go – this was the one thing he had talked about since booking the trip. So we headed out on what turned out to be our private sailboat cruise.

The crew was very accommodating. They got us drinks immediately and made sure we did, at least, have a dry place to sit. The boat did have a canvas awning over much of it, but it was more for the sun than rain, so there were a few drips. But the main guy on the crew was actually American, originally from Minneapolis. He had moved down to Mexico two years ago or so, and he had plenty of stories and history to share since he’d been coming to area since he was a child., so it made for a really great way to start out our trip and learn some ‘insider information’ about the area that we could use on the rest of the trip. And I think he enjoyed having us, too, because we were able to update him on the ongoing of the NFL, which he rarely gets to see highlights of. And sure enough, the weather did clear up. And we had a spectacular sunset!


After the cruise, we went back to the hotel and crashed. It was a long day, and there was a lot ahead of us for the weekend. But the cruise made for a great start and the perfect opportunity to unwind and say, “We’re on vacation!”

Friday we decided to hit a small surf town our guide the night before had told us about – Sayulita. It was a little further north of us, up and over one of the mountains. So we drove the little winding mountain road and came to the little town. For me, I was not surprised by it. It was not there for the tourists (though they are there) – it’s there for locals and other to come to when the waves are good. The sand on the beach was black since it was sand from a volcanic mountain. The beach, itself, was not perfectly groomed. There were even dogs running around on the beach. And even the town, itself, was more rundown than most. I would’ve liked to explore it a bit more. But Eric expected something quite different and more tourist friendly, so he was disappointed. So we headed back to the hotel and I just hit the beach there for a couple hours, instead. Which was fine – same sun, just different location.

That evening, we had the rehearsal dinner for the wedding. The hotel had a number of restaurants, including a fancy Mexican restaurant, called Guacamole. That’s where the dinner was. But first, we all met in the bar, had a few drinks, and the bride a groom thanked their wedding party and all of their friends/family for attending. I really enjoyed the food at the restaurant there. It may have not be true, authentic Mexican food (as I’m sure it was ‘dressed to impress’ the tourists that frequent it), but it was good, none the less! Afterwards, Eric and I headed back to the room to relax by ourselves, for a bit. Time seemed to go by so slow here – I liked it and enjoyed every minute of it.

Saturday was the day of the wedding. But it wasn’t until 3pm, so we had quite a bit of time to kill. We decided to go hit downtown Puerto Vallarta, which we had only seen from the sailboat thus far. Again, our guide was telling us of a few things to check out there, including a historic church and the art walk along the water. So we drove into downtown and found a place to park not far from the church. It was amazing the detail it had. And it was open air – no doors, just gates. I would’ve loved to take some pictures inside, but there were people praying and such, so I did not was to be disrespectful. So I just got some from the outside. Then we walked along the waterfront for awhile, checking out some of the art and such. It was quite the quaint little downtown area, though you could tell the town, as a whole, was a cruise port – very tourist directing storefronts. But nice, none the less. So Eric and I stopped for a drink and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.

The wedding. I’ve always loved the idea of a beach wedding, though this was not my first beach wedding. It was hot – yes. But there was just enough of a breeze blowing to keep the sweat from dripping off of you. Plus, the ceremony was relatively brief. But it was beautiful and the bride and groom were glowing with happiness. I was so glad I could be there to witness it. They did the sand ceremony, which I’ve also always thought was a neat idea (though I’m not sure how you secure and transport it back home). And when all the “I Do’s” were done, we had the opportunity to go back inside and cool off before having the reception at one of the other restaurants, Krystal, which was the hotels high end restaurant. So Eric and I actually changed and just watched a little TV in our room… actually, I think I even took a nap.

I thought Krystal was a really nice place with really good food. For those down south reading this, this is nothing like the Krystal’s down there… not unless they serve lamb and champagne now. After dinner, Brian and Erica cut their cake and there were toasts from the wedding party. You could tell it had been a long day for all those directly involved. After the meal, though, we went into the bar, cleared some space, did some more toasts, and played some music so the bride and groom could have a first dance. It was all very sweet.

That night, a few people who still had some energy after the long day (including myself) walked down the beach to another Riu resort. We heard they had a ‘Discotheque’ at this one, and figured a little dancing could be fun. Let me just say it was interesting. Mexican techno dance music is a little different than what we’re used to in the US. Still danceable, but different. The club, itself, was tiny… and HOT! It had a/c, but it couldn’t handle the number of people there. So we didn’t last very long inside. Ultimately, we all gave up and sat outside, for a bit, before heading back to our own hotel.

Sunday came along and Eric and I had nothing planned, though there were things I wanted to do. I heard a few people talk highly of the canopy tours (zip-lines). Eric even liked the sound of it. So we headed down to where all of the ‘trip coordinators’ (excursion/travel agents) hung out in the hotel to see if we could book one. The first guy we talked to said they were booked through Wednesday. This totally bummed me out! Then Eric mentioned a tour booklet that was slid under our door from the Expedia rep who was onsite. So we went back to the room and looked at it – there were a few more possibilities. We found the rep in the lobby and he got us right in to the first one he called. But we had to leave immediately! Not a problem – I anticipated that would the case.

Our destination was called Canopy River, which did multiple ‘adventure’ tours aside from the zip-lines. But we were going for the zip-lines. Though our adventure began on the trek up there! We met at their little downtown office in Puerto Vallarta. Eric and I jumped in one of their little Nissan trucks with no idea what we were in for! We knew we had to drive to the top of one of the mountains, but didn’t realize the areas we’d go through… true, low class little Mexican communities. They were swimming and doing laundry in the river, they lived in shacks with no windows, unpaved roads… it was eye-opening!! But everyone we saw on the street looked completely content and happy. They had family and friends with them and it was all about community. Then as we got further up, we realize, this is truly the jungle!

We finally made it to the top and jumped right into things. They geared us up and gave us a quick safety lesson, and then we were off! We had a couple of ‘practice line’ first, but I didn’t see where it was any different from the rest of the lines. Maybe a little slower? Who knows... They were fun. They even have the area’s (country’s, maybe??) LONGEST zip-line, which was like 800 meters! Our guides for this were local, but they put you right at ease with all their commentary. It made it more fun. After 13 zip-lines back and forth across the valley, we were finally down by the river. So how do we make it back to the top? Mules, of course!! So yep… I even rode a mule!

After the mule trek up the mountain, we cooled off with a couple of cool drinks and then laid in the shade on some hammocks. The views from the top were great! But our adventure wasn’t over! We still had to get down the mountain! Ah yes… and how did we do this? In the back of a pick-up truck with two other couples holding onto the some rope-holds. It was a trip! And now I understand why you see so many people traveling in the back of trucks down there – the breeze is awesome when you’re driving!

We finally made it back to the hotel and we were both beat! We grabbed some food at the hotel’s buffet restaurant and then went back to the room. I was out pretty quickly – Eric watched some TV, but wasn’t far behind me.

Monday. The day we go home. I didn’t want to leave yet. After breakfast, I went down to the pool for about an hour. All I could think was, “I didn’t spend nearly enough time here!” After getting some sun, one last time, I headed back to the room to pack. *sigh* Around 11:30am, Eric and I headed off to the airport. We figured it’d take some time, but it really didn’t… so we ended up with a couple hours to kill at the airport. We grabbed a little lunch, but finally, we boarded. Bye-bye, Mexico!

Some oddities I found while in Mexico… first of all, NO MOUTAIN DEW, of any kind!! This about killed me when I realized this. When it wasn’t at the hotel, I didn’t think much of it. I’ve had that happen before. But then we went to a local grocery store… and even a Wal-Mart! Still none!! I managed to survive the weekend, but I was glad to see Mountain Dew again in Chicago O’Hare! Another oddity… they are very protective of their HBC (Health and Beauty Care) products, especially make-up! Make-up aisles/sections actually have their own secure entry/exit point, like you’d find in some electronics departments in the US. You had to buy it in the section! Then I realized even further when the alarm went off on me in Wal-Mart – they had a magnetic security tag on a $6 (USD) bottle of Nivea face wash! I never came to understand this security issue. A double aisle of deodorant I understood. Security on blush… didn’t get. I’m sure I could list out some other things I learned in Mexico, but those were the big ones for me. If anyone has insight, feel free to share.

That’s it!! That was my trip to Mexico! I said it’d be long, and it was. All in all, it was an awesome trip! I’d go back. Maybe later in the year, but then it’d be high season and more crowded. Either way, it was nice. And more importantly, it was nice to have a real vacation, even if it was all in thanks to a wedding.

To see A LOT more photos, go to my Fotki page. I got a few good ones in there.

Weekend Warrior?

It was quite a weekend!!

On Saturday, was my company golf outing at Southern Dunes gold course on the southside of Indy. I'm sad to say this was the first time I picked up my clubs this year. It was just one of those summer where I always had something better to do. And it showed in my game. Long balls sucked, but my short game was still pretty good. It was set up as your standard outing scramble (best ball), so as a team, we finished two over par. Not too horrible. Regardless of the score, though, we had fun.

On Sunday, Eric decided to play 'host' instead of going to the Colt's game - he sold this weeks tickets to a buddy. So we had a 'tailgate' at the house for whoever wanted to and could come, really. With kids or not! We ended up with about 10 or so people, including kids. Eric made some chili and we just relaxed and watched the game on TV. It was nice - low key, yet a really good time.

But now I'm back to agonizing over packing for my trip. Oh what to pack???...