Ultranormal

Category: travel

  • Driving In Foreign Countries

    I’ve never driven in a foreign country. When we drove around Ireland, I made Porter do all the driving. Now, I’m going to France for the Plenary, and I’m renting a car. The only thing that’s making me less jittery about doing so is having a friend who lives there and is feeding me driving tips for driving on the Riviera like:

    • Traffic coming from the right has right-of-way unless they have a solid white line or dashed white line.
    • Always lock your doors while driving
    • No turning on red
    • France now has speed cameras, and they’re not friendly.\
      Oh, and I have Doctor Who on my iPod. MoviesForMyiPod rules.

  • SxSW 2006 and Ankle Update

    It’s still four months away, but I started trying to get all the AOL folks going to 2006’s interactive festival organized. I started a wiki page with our travel details, where we’re staying, things to do that I believe are happening next year (like Break Bread With Brad, Kick!, 20×2, etc) and other tips for attending the conference.\
    I did the same thing for February’s W3C meeting in France.\
    I think I’m tired of being stuck on the couch.\
    And speaking of, I started physical therapy this week. Starting Monday, I have three appointments a week of electric stimulation (shock the monkey where I’m the monkey!), strengthening, stretching and pain. I would be upset, but I think I’ve found the perfect place for me. They’re funny, and not into torture. The folks I went to for my knee five years ago had no empathy at all. These guys were showing me their scars and we were comparing “war stories” of our various injuries. It felt like a fraternity of the wounded, which is really what physical therapy should be. It’s a bunch of broken people trying to put their weak, busted bodies back together. Empathy should be there every step of the way, and at this place, it obviously is.\
    I can also finally see the big bone on the inside of my ankle! The swelling’s finally gone down enough to show the end of the tibia, which is progress! There’s still a lot of swelling farther down and on the bottom of my foot (which is fun!), but seeing that bone is cool.

  • All Hawaii, All The Time

    I didn’t go, but I’ve got all the pictures! Here are the sets from the trip that we’ve done so far:

    • At The Beach – Boys in bathing suits, posing for pictures.
    • Max Gets Lei’d – And he did.
    • Waiting At The Hilton – Waiting, and taking pictures
    • The Polynesian Cultural Center – natives showing up, and bored little boys!
    • At The Cabin – boys doing cute things in tropical attire!\
      Coming tomorrow (or Sunday): The submarine and helicopter rides, the lava field, Pali lookout, the North Shore, Sea Life Park, The Dole Pineapple Plantation and more! Tune in!\
      I’m tired. Good night.

  • Highlights

    Hawaii was wonderful, except for the absent husband. The ocean was a beautiful sea-green or blue-green depending where we were. It was amazing. Our cabin was 20 feet from it and the constant sound of the waves was very comforting.\
    I went on: a boat ride, a helipcopter ride, a submarine ride, a canoe ride, and a train ride.\
    I went to: “the big island,” The Shrimp Shack (as seen on the Food Network), the Hawaii Mormon Temple, a waterpark, the lava fields of Mt Kilauea, the Dole pineapple plant, the beach (duh), the Polynesian Cultural Center, Sea Life Park, a luau, tha Mauna Loa macadamia nut farm, the North Shore, and Waikiki.\
    I saw: three sunrises and one sunset, the biggest active volcano in the world, the most active volcano in the world, volcanic steam vents, a lava tube, many Japanese tourists (the touristy mall’s food court felt like Tokyo. I wish we’d had more time there. I wanted to try some traditional Japanese food.), a Polynesian dance review, undersea boat and plane wreckage, three real waterfalls and several temporary ones, where Mighty Joe Young, the Jurassic Park movies, 50 First Dates and Lost were filmed, the hotel where the cast of Lost stays, and a tree where Elvis once sang.\
    I saw, in the wild: crab, fish, sea turtles, and a whale.\
    I ate: fresh pineapple everyday and binged on chocolate covered macadamia nuts. I also had spam, poi, chicken long rice, Hawaiian BBQ, yummy seafood, coconut syrup, tropical drinks, haupia, and guava cake.\
    The best parts were: seeing my parents, swimming at the beach, the helicopter ride, and the waterpark. (heh, most of those things I can do near my home in Virginia.)

  • Crap!

    I couldn’t sleep at all last night. So, crappity crap crap. I gave up at 4:30, when I would only have 90 minutes until my day official began. I blame Hawaii. How am I supposed to take care of my three boys nows?

  • We’re ba-aack.

    We’re finally home. I am tired, sneezy, and swollen. Max slept from 8 pm last night to 10:30 am this morning. I guess the boy was tired too.\
    Before I get into the details of our trip, a few thoughts:\
    I am sad Kevin couldn’t come. But the 2 bedroom cabin was small and probably would have felt cramped instead of cozy if he’d come. Since I was vacationing with my parents, I felt no qualms about sneaking a nap on their bed or hiding in their room at night while they were watching bad reality tv (heh, I am not a fan of reality tv, can you tell?). I am not sure Kev would have felt so comfortable doing that (just like I wouldn’t hang out in his parents’ room without his mom).\
    I loved Hawaii and am so glad we went for 2 weeks, instead of the 1 week my dad was pushing for. I wish we could have stayed longer, but also feel satisfied with our trip. I can’t believe that there were still things we didn’t manage to do, even though we were there for so long.\
    We stayed in a cabin that was only 20 feet from the ocean at Bellows Air Force Base on O’ahu. The base which was much nicer than I expected. They had tennis courts, paint ball facilities, miniature golf, hiking trails, kayak tours, snorkeling, craft lessons, free movie showings at the rec center, DVD rentals, fishing, internet terminals, an arcade, camp grounds and more. Of course, the best part was the beach. It was beautiful and really uncrowded. At its busiest, there were only 4 other families there when we were at the beach. If you plan on going though, I would recommend you stay at the Hale Koa, the military rec hotel in Waikiki, for a few days and do all of your Waikiki touristy stuff so that by the time you get to Bellows, you are ready for rest and relaxation without the pull of being an active tourist.\
    More later. Aloha!

  • Bethany Beach is for Lawvers

    Last weekend Kevin and I snuck off without the kids and went to the beach. Oh baby, do I love the beach. Just ask my sister-in-law, Monica. She probably still thinks I am crazy after she saw my reaction to the one and only family trip we took to the beach. Huh.\
    We weren’t there for very long, only 46 hours. We didn’t want to wear out the grandma who was watching Max and Brian. The time there was beautiful and relaxing and perfect. Except that Kevin has a broken foot so he can’t drive, can’t walk, and can’t get near the sand. We had this trip planned for weeks and already paid for the room, so we went anyway. He was a good sport about me leaving him in the dust in search of sand, waves, and boardwalk fun.\
    Max makes us watch lots of cooking and food shows. (Who knew that my mini-gourmet husband would produce a mini mini-foodie?) We have been watching lots of shows about summertime and seaside treats featuring caramel corn, cotton candy, fudge, salt water taffy, and frozen custard. By the time we got to Bethany Beach our mouths were watering for it all. I also indulged in shellfish for all my meals, which Kevin is allergic to.\
    The peanut butter fudge I bought made me miss my mom terribly (she likes peanut butter fudge). So I called her. While on a romantic vacation with my husband. So sue me.\
    I spent my time either on beach reading or on the boardwalk shopping and in search of treats. Kevin spent his time reading on the porch. Since it was a really comfy porch with an ocean view and access to cookies and lemonade, I didn’t feel guilty about leaving him alone. I think the only time we were together was for our meals and when we were in the room. Wow, overall it sounds like Kevin had a crappy time, huh?\
    The B&B itself was really nice. It was furnished with antiques. There was even a copy of Madame X by John SInger Sergeant in the hallway outside of our room. For family members, that is the famous painting I called “the black lady” that was in our living room while I was growing up. I felt really at home there. 🙂 I love the B&B experience. It was so homey and lovely and I liked talking to the other guests. Kevin and I were by far the youngest ones there. I am not sure if that was because B&Bs attract an older crowd or because this one was kind of expensive.\
    It was great and we are so going back again sometime. Can’t wait! Who wants to come with us?

  • The Boot Is Not Made For Walking

    Here’s an unfortunate India story for you.\
    Our first day of work in India, someone had forgotten to tell the driver that we needed to be picked up, so we took a cab. The cab let us off across the street from the office, which meant we had to run for our lives across the chaotic three lanes (approximate… they do not believe in lanes in Bangalore) of traffic. Wait, that’s six lanes because it was three lanes going each way. There was a grassy median in the middle of the street offering some sanctuary to the poor bastards (those bastards being us) who couldn’t run fast enough to make it across all six lanes during one red light (which maybe Carl Lewis could do, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else do it).\
    You had to wait for a red light before trying to make the dash, and the red lights are short. We waited for the left-hand turning people to go, the right turn folks, and then had about 15 seconds to cross the three lanes before the go-straight folks took off in a rush of dust, fumes, and most importantly, heavy machinery. I almost didn’t make it. In order to dodge the first intrepid motor rickshaw that was about to run me down, I jumped onto the sidewalk…\
    And right into a pothole. I rolled my ankle inward, so I could see the bottom of my shoe when I looked down. I stumbled, caught myself and then swore. It didn’t hurt all that much, but it was definitely weird. It had that wooden feeling of a freshly sprained ankle. It didn’t swell up, and the bruising was minimal, but it felt sprained all week.\
    I spent the next week putting two or three extra socks on it, and walking carefully. By the end of the week, it didn’t hurt too bad, but still felt weird, and I had a noticeable limp. Then I came home. The first week, it started hurting. The second, my limp got worse, as did the pain. I went to see the doctor who ordered x-rays. This morning, I went to the same practice that fixed my ACL five years ago, and they said that definitely something is weird. I have an inflamed tendon that’s pulling a bone out of place (and that really hurts. On top of that, I have (before now undiagnosed) plantar fasciitis which is just now coming out because it’s being aggravated by this other thing. And, all of that is aggravating me.\
    So, to sum up: I’m stuck in a boot that I can’t take off except when I’m driving, which I’m supposed to limit, for four weeks. If I’m not all better in four weeks, I spent four more weeks in the boot. After that, if it’s not better, I get to have surgery. Have a happy summer everyone!

  • All The India Pics

    Since I’ve been awake at 4 AM the past two days, I’ve gotten all my India photos up on Flickr. Here they are:

    • In And Around Bangalore
    • On the road to Mysore
    • The Banyan Tree
    • Bird Sanctuary
    • St. Anthony’s and Mysore
    • The Temple
    • The Bull and Monkeys\
      I have very conflicted thoughts about my week in India. I need some more time to get them all together and reconciled before I try to write about them. If I tried to go into it now, I don’t think it would make any sense (not that anything I write ever makes any sense). I met some fascinating and amazing people, saw poverty beyond my comprehension, and had experiences I never thought I’d have (crocodiles… come on!). Pulling it all together into something coherent is going to take some time. Either way, I’m really glad to be home.

  • The World’s Largest Banyan Tree

    The second set of photos from Saturday are up. This set contains the first pictures of monkeys!!

    update: I’ve put up the stuff from the bird sanctuary as well. This one has the crocodile photos in it!