Week 27: Why is vacation ending?

I’ve been on vacation for the past week.  It was fun, but why does it have to end?  Well for one thing, I think I need to get moving and not just lay around and relax all day.  That’s nice, and I may enjoy this for my “twilight years”, but for right not I’m not retired.  I need to get out and do something besides play video games and watch YouTube.

Now don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed my time off from work.  It was a lot less stress and I didn’t really have to deal with a bunch of stupid people.  But I didn’t really go anywhere and just stayed home and relaxed.  I’ve had vacations that were much harder to go back to work after they were over because I was exhausted after a long trip and needed a vacation from my vacation.  Take this vacation for instance:

Oh yes, that is a helium balloon taking me high up into the sky!  I was a little stressed during that ride as I kept imagining the cable in the middle holding the balloon in place snapping and then the balloon floating away with me in the basket.  Would I end up in Oz?  Maybe dead after the balloon went too high and popped and I plunged to the ground with all the other screaming people in the basket?  It was both quite frightening and quite a thrill at the same time!  You need a rest after things like that!  Here's a good shot of what the balloon I was riding in looked like:

That was during a vacation trip to Walt Disney World in Florida.  Trips there are both very fun and very exhausting!  Yes it was fun going up and seeing everything from high up, but it was also a bit stressful. 

I didn’t do too bad eating while I was on vacation this week.  I had a bit of fast food, but nothing crazy.  While on my trips to Florida and Walt Disney World I would pretty much eat whatever I wanted!  Even crazy stuff like this:

I don’t even remember what that was called, but it was huge and delicious!  I finished every last bite, too!  I was full to the brim!  I didn’t get anything like that this vacation.  I had a bit of chicken and some pork chops, but nothing like a pork shank!  Sadly they no longer serve these at Walt Disney World.  I don’t know why they stopped because they were my absolute favorite meal that I’ve ever had there!

Enough about food.  Yes, I ate a bit more sensibly this vacation than I would have on a fun trip somewhere.  And I relaxed more and wasn’t walking here and there trying to go everywhere and see everything during my week off.  I relaxed and it felt great!

Anyway, to keep this from getting too long, I didn’t really go anywhere for my vacation.  I did take a short trip to an IKEA store and that was fun for the 3 ½ hours I was there with my niece.  Maybe it was just fun because my niece was there?  We always have fun.  But I really only needed to decompress for a week.  It’ll feel good to get back to work, even if I’d rather be lounging around.

So until next week keep asking why, and I’ll try and figure out why vacation had to end.

Week 15: Why I'm going back to work

My vacation’s over.  That pretty much explains that, doesn’t it?  But I will say that this vacation was actually a pretty nice one.  I didn’t take a trip far away from home, but it was still nice and relaxing.  I got some writing done and watched a few movies.  And I didn’t have to deal with any stress about catching a plane, or flight delays, or whether a hotel room would be clean.  Much less stress than traveling.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to travel.  But sometimes it’s just nice to stay at home and decompress.  This last week I took some time for myself and it was really nice.

Now it’s time to get back to work.  I think I do need somewhere to go and a purpose to serve at least for the next little while.  Yes there will be stress at work.  And yes I’ll probably worry about a few things, but it’s something that pays the bills.  And I should have another vacation coming up soon.  A possible trip may be in the future.  Until then, I need to get back to dispatching.

Until next vacation, keep asking why!

Week 14: Why Bullhead City, Arizona?

So I’m on vacation this week.  What should I do?  Well to tell the truth I should probably be taking a trip somewhere.  But since my funds are limited at this time I decided to just stay home.  I pretty much spent my vacation money on my new iPad.  Am I disappointed?  Not at all!  After playing with my new iPad Pro for the last few days I can honestly say I love the thing!

But that’s not what this week’s blog is about.  For a bit of my vacation I decided to ride along with someone to Bullhead City, Arizona.  Why Bullhead?  Well, why the hell not?  I’m on vacation, or staycation, or whatever the hell you want to call it and can go anywhere I want!  Never heard of the word “staycation”?  It means you don’t have to go to work for the week and you just stay home.  It’s kind of like being unemployed again, but you actually have money to spend.  It’s nice!

My plans for this week include finishing up the novel I’ve been working on for the last year and a half.  Yes, I’ve been writing this thing for 18 months or so.  But again, let’s move on to Why Bullhead?

It seemed like not only a nice ride, but I could try out the video on my new iPad Pro!  Fantastic!  I should have maybe also took a few photos with the iPad, but there’s really not a whole lot in Bullhead.  *chuckle*  It’s right across the Colorado River from Laughlin,  Nevada.  Did I go to Laughlin while I was there?  No.  I get to see enough casinos here in Las Vegas.  But still, the trip was fun.

I did film and edit a short two and a half minutes of driving and standing out in front of an old shed.  I’m waiting for the library to be open tomorrow (We apparently have limited library hours here) so I can use their lightning fast wife to upload the video to YouTube.  Then I’ll post the link on Facebook and Twitter.  So if you want to see some desert highway, follow me on Facebook or Twitter!  *chuckle*

Now much more to tell about the trip.  Drove there, visited with family and then drove back.  Roads, a small dog, and a shed.  Yahoo.  Seeing my family was nice, though.  So I guess that’s really why I went.

Until next time, keep asking why!  And watch for the upcoming video!

Week 13: Why Apple?

I’m electronically spoiled.  I’ll admit that.  And my first vacation of this year is coming up soon.  Where will I go?  What will I do?  Well, instead of taking a trip somewhere I decided to spend my vacation money on an iPad.  And not just an iPad, but an iPad Pro!  Before I get into that, let’s go back a bit…

Seven years ago or so I saw that Apple was coming out with a second iPad that had a camera.  Actually, it had a front and back camera.  I didn’t have an iPad, but I did have an iPod.  It was a tiny little toy that I was enjoying and I thought getting a larger version of that might be really fun!  My little iPod didn’t have a camera and so a new iPad with a camera might be great!

And so I preordered an iPad 2.  This was the newest thing coming out and would be fantastic!  I had to wait a bit after release day for my iPad 2 because I was having my name engraved on it.  No problem, sometimes anticipation is better than the real event!  And so I waited and waited…

Finally my iPad arrived via FedEx.  I opened the box and was thrilled with it!  I learned to watch videos, check my email, and do quite a few other things with it.  Using my iPad got to be a daily thing.  But it was just the beginning back in 2010.

I was trying to use Facebook, but at first the Facebook app really didn’t work.  Years later that was fixed, but back then I couldn’t really do much with it.  And to tell the truth, Facebook was just getting going, too.  So that wasn’t as much a big deal.  But as time went on, I did find myself using this new toy every day.

As things are now, I wake up and check the news on my iPad.  I’ll also look at Facebook.  I order things from Amazon. I do all kinds of things.  It’s starting to slow down, though.  Suddenly my iPad is getting a bit frustrating sometimes.  Things are taking longer and longer to load.  My poor friend is just getting outdated.

And so I thought maybe instead of going on some fancy trip that would only last me one fleeting week, if that, maybe I should spend my vacation money on a new iPad?  I could check the Apple app on my iPad 2 and see what they have.

That didn’t quite work out because now for the Apple app to work on an iPad or iPhone you now need at least iOS 10.0.  My poor little iPad 2 won’t update beyond iOS 9 something!  Damn!  So I just looked up the Apple store online and luckily that worked.  They now have something called an iPad Pro.  There is a version that is 12.9 inches.  That’s huge!  Well actually just three inches or so bigger than my iPad 2.  But huge always seems to be good.  I want huge now!

Instead of impulse buying though, I figured I’d do a little research.  There is also a regular 9.7 inch iPad Pro.  That’s the same size as my iPad 2, but why get a regular sized one when I can have huge?  Huge seemed better until I looked a bit closer.

The 9.7 iPad Pro has a better camera and can film in 46K.  I have no idea what 46K is, but maybe I need that instead of huge?  Actually I do know that 46K is some kind of resolution that people would only be able to see if they had a 46K television, or computer screen, or whatever, but what the hell, right?  Maybe I need 46K instead of huge? (There's a bit more to it than just 46K, but it's fun to just make fun of that!)

Now I have to look closer.  Huge graphics or 46K?  I finally decided that I want the better camera.  I don’t understand why the huge one doesn’t come with the better camera.  If it’s bigger, why can’t you be putting the better stuff into it?  Come on, Apple!  And so I made my decision, I would get an iPad Pro 9.7.  They do offer free engraving, but you have to wait longer to get the iPad while it’s engraved in some obscure Chinese city, or Timbuktu, or where ever.  I can be patient.  I think I need my name on the new iPad Pro.  And so I ordered it.  Now my new iPad Pro will be my vacation toy.  I’ll have to take some 46K video and see where I can upload it. 

The new iPad will be here in about a week.  Actually not here, but at an Apple store and I’ll go pick it up from there.  That way I don’t have to wait all day for a FedEx guy. 

So why Apple instead of a vacation somewhere?  Because I want faster, updated, and 46K!  *chuckle*  And I’ll be able to take my new toy along for the next vacation I save up for.  Vacation videos in 46K!  I like the sound of that!

Until the new iPad Pro comes, keep asking why!