Collective disobedience Mar 14, 2011
I love driving on certain parts of Route 80 and the Parkway in New Jersey where everyone spontaneously decides to drive north of 80 mph, even though the speed limit stays at a constant 65 mph.  It's almost like everyone is thinking the same thing:  They can't give speeding tickets to all of us. #travel
Grand Cayman trip (1) Mar 7, 2011
Wendy and I just spent four days on the Caribbean island of Grand Cayman.  We stayed at a cheap hotel on the beach, rented a teeny tiny car to motor around, and laid on the beach and snorkeled.  It was a good break from New Jersey's winter weather. 

Highlights of the trip:  Swimming with stingrays at Stingray City, snorkeling in the rain (since we were already wet), dodging lizards who scurried underfoot, driving on the left, and eating lots of seafood. 

The weather was good and bad.  It was in the low 80s most of the time, but it rained periodically on one of the days, which wasn't great but didn't ruin the trip.  The water was nice and warm, but felt cold when the sun wasn't out. 

As far as price, it wasn't all that expensive.  The airfare was normal, the hotel (a cheap one) was around $100 a day, and the car was around $30 a day.  Gas was expensive, but it's a tiny island so we hardly used any at all.  Food was a little pricey, but there were enough options that you could survive without blowing your entire budget.  Beer, even locally brewed Caybrew, was sometimes as much as $7 a pint, which was ridiculous but likely the result of the "we have beer; you will pay us anything" mentality.  The exchange rate made it so that everything was about 25% more expensive than in the states, but the total lack of tax on the island (whether sales tax or income tax or anything other than a few fees imposed on businesses) made it not hurt as much. 

The Cayman Islands are British, so they drive on the left side of the road, and their steering wheels are on the right (unless you import an American car).  I had experienced this once in the past (in Bermuda), but we rented a scooter then, so it wasn't quite as uncomfortable.  Sitting on the opposite side of a car while driving makes everything feel wrong.  The rearview mirror is on the left instead of the right; the blinker is on the right instead of the left.  And although I got used to driving on the left, I never felt comfortable making turns so I kept looking behind me and all around me just in case.  On one occasion, I almost got t-boned by a car that was making an illegal turn at a red light, but it wasn't my fault; regardless, I almost lost my stomach contents. 

In terms of atmosphere, we've visited a lot of Caribbean islands, and this was one of the nicest.  The people were friendly and didn't try to hassle you to buy homemade woven hats and whittled pieces of wood.  It was easy to get around, and it didn't feel like we were hated outsiders simply because we were tourists.  And even though there were a lot of tourists and cruise ships, it didn't feel overrun with lazy fat white people complaining about the lack of Starbucks.  In fact, there were a lot of runners and walkers, and I couldn't tell who was a local and who was a tourist.  One of the reasons why it was so nice might've been because the island's economy is based on banking as well as tourism, unlike many islands whose sole source of income is gullible visitors. 

Snorkeling honestly wasn't all that great.  It was good in spots, but there wasn't much color underwater.  Stingray City and the other stops on the tour boat were the best, but we had to pay for it and it included a 30 minute boat ride out into the middle of the bay.  I expected more sea life in the beaches near the hotels, but maybe human activity had something to do with that. 

Swimming with stingrays was an interesting experience.  Apparently, fishing boats used to stop at a sand bar to cut up their fish, feeding the leftovers to the stingrays.  Over time the stingrays got used to people, a pattern that's continually reinforced by daily tour boats.  Stingrays only sting when threatened or stepped on.  The stingrays we saw simply swam around looking for free handouts.  I was crawling-out-of-my-skin uncomfortable when they brushed up against me, but I got used to it pretty quickly.  Our tour guide said you'd get seven years of good life if you kissed a stingray.  Wendy did it; I opted out. 

All in all, it was a good trip, and I'd like to go back someday. 

Pictures:

[gallery /img/2011/03/gc01.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc01-150x150.jpg:::Wendy stands next to our miniature rental car.  She lifted it over her head right after I took this picture.:::/img/2011/03/gc02.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc02-150x150.jpg:::A view of our fairly spacious hotel room.:::/img/2011/03/gc03.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc03-150x150.jpg:::A view of the underutilized hotel pool.  A nearby pool had a swim-up bar, which attracted people likes bugs to a light.:::/img/2011/03/gc04.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc04-150x150.jpg:::This iguana liked to sun himself on the rocks near our pool.:::/img/2011/03/gc05.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc05-150x150.jpg:::This lizard liked to run away with his tail curled up in the air.:::/img/2011/03/gc06.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc06-150x150.jpg:::This giant iguana was sitting in front of a giant oceanfront villa, doing a fairly good job of scaring people away.:::/img/2011/03/gc07.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc07-150x150.jpg:::Here's an unintentionally artistic picture of a snorkeling Wendy, taken from about ten feet below the surface.:::/img/2011/03/gc08.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc08-150x150.jpg:::A juvenile French Angelfish.:::/img/2011/03/gc09.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc09-150x150.jpg:::A Flamingo Tongue Snail eating its way up a sea fan.:::/img/2011/03/gc10.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc10-150x150.jpg:::This Sergeant Major fish swam in front of the camera right before Wendy took a picture (of something else).:::/img/2011/03/gc11.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc11-150x150.jpg:::The elusive snorkeler comes up for air, as raindrops fall from the partly sunny sky.:::/img/2011/03/gc12.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc12-150x150.jpg:::This Tiger Grouper was one mean-looking fish.:::/img/2011/03/gc13.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc13-150x150.jpg:::A Peacock Flounder with googly eyes.:::/img/2011/03/gc14.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc14-150x150.jpg:::A Spotted Trunkfish.:::/img/2011/03/gc15.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc15-150x150.jpg:::Stingrays looking for free handouts.:::/img/2011/03/gc16.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc16-150x150.jpg:::The bottom view of a stingray.:::/img/2011/03/gc17.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc17-150x150.jpg:::Wendy holding a stingray just before she kissed it.  She didn't catch its name.:::/img/2011/03/gc18.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc18-150x150.jpg:::A stingray buried in sand.:::/img/2011/03/gc19.jpg:::/img/2011/03/gc19-150x150.jpg:::Some stingrays (one of them named Frisbee due to its lack of a tail) swimming with some fish near our tour boat.:::]
#travel
Nice Buick Jan 31, 2011
Here's a sentence that has probably never been uttered, by any speaking human being, ever:  "That's a nice Buick."  I don't understand how a certain car company can have such a legacy of making ugly cars.  And it's not like they're cheap.  At least if they were cheap, you could rationalize buying an ugly car.  How this car company, which seems to market solely to the elderly, remains in business despite making such disgustingly despicable cars is mind-boggling. #travel
Cheap hotels and low expectations Jan 26, 2011
I once heard it said that the road to happiness is paved with low expectations.  I like to apply that principle in selecting a cheap hotel.  The thing with cheap hotels is that they're not only inexpensive, but they're clearly rated with very few stars by third-party agencies.  So it's not like there should be any surprises.  And that's exactly how I go into the situation.  If I'm paying $50 for a two star motel in a dumpy little town, I should expect a fairly old room, maybe some slightly dirty carpeting, a small bathroom, and scratchy towels.  And since I've done this a few times, this is unsurprisingly what I've found.  The cost and quality of the hotel really has no effect on my sleep and my shower; I'm not there to hang out in the room all day.  Thus the value of low expectations. #travel
Mealtime driving Jan 21, 2011
Driving is often an unenjoyable experience because I'm a control freak and people are idiots and there are cops.  I was noticing recently that most of my driving is done at or around mealtimes, such as commuting to work in the morning, driving to get food around noon, and commuting home from work in the evening.  Since I'm like an infant when it comes to food (i.e. hungry = cranky), it's pretty easy to see a correlation between driving-induced anger and mealtimes.  I should always eat before I drive. #travel
Hotel cost vs. enjoyment (2) Jan 5, 2011
I have a hard time paying more money for something when a reasonably good option is available for less money.  That might sound obvious, but I don't think everybody is with me on this.  For example, I recently traveled with some friends where we stayed in two different hotels on two consecutive nights in the same town.  One was $50 per night, the other was $100.  For me, a hotel is a hotel; it's a commodity.  Unless it's on a beach on a tropical island or you get the honeymoon suite on the top floor with free room service, a hotel room provides two simple services:  A bed and a shower.  Whether it has HBO or a curved shower rod, I couldn't care less, which is why my goal is to pay the lowest price possible, unless there's a strong correlation between cost and bug population.  Much to my surprise, my travel buddies had different values than me, which is fine, but one of those values meant we were spending the second night in a more expensive, quaint, lodge-type hotel.  "Quaint" is another word for "small and crappy," which is exactly how I would describe that $100 per night hotel.  To me, that extra $50, which in this case made it literally twice as expensive as the previous night, didn't represent a doubling of enjoyment.  And since I'm a nerd and think of everything in terms of math and practicality, that's why I stay in cheap hotels. #travel
Faraway parkers Jan 4, 2011
Some people drive nice cars, and when they enter a parking lot, they look for the spot farthest from the nearest car to minimize the chance of incidental impact.  This is actually a fairly wise decision, albeit ultimately futile.  It's wise because, like the last few Cheerios in a bowl of milk, objects in close proximity have a tendency to run into each other even when there is ample space (this is actually called collision cross section, as mentioned several years ago by Rich).  But it's futile because, simply put, people are stupider than Cheerios and will find a way to accidentally dent your nice new car.  Oftentimes, this behavior requires that faraway parkers walk a longer distance to get to their destination.  I have to respect this level of commitment to futility.  Most people instead value laziness over luxury. 

There's a guy who does this in the parking lot at work, and I'm forced to laugh at him on a daily basis.  When he arrives at around 8 a.m., the parking lot is relatively empty, but by midday it's completely full.  So the effort he takes to park far away from everyone else is completely nullified.  It's always fun to watch someone put a lot of effort into failure. #travel
WWI ends Oct 8, 2010
Germany just finished paying off its debts from World War I: 
Oct. 3, the 20th anniversary of German unification, will also mark the completion of the final chapter of World War I with the end of reparations payments 92 years after the country's defeat.

The German government will pay the last installment of interest on foreign bonds it issued in 1924 and 1930 to raise cash to fulfill the enormous reparations demands the victorious Allies made after World War I.
It took a little while, but good for them. #travel
Doctors' cars (1) Sep 24, 2010
My chiropractor owns two very nice German sports cars.  And that's fine; people who earn a living are fully entitled to spend it however they want.  But after I walked out of his office recently, many dollars poorer, I couldn't help but think that his income is directly related to the price he decides to charge people.  I realize that a certain portion of that price is paid for by insurance, but even then, the money he gets is the money he collects from his patients.  And it would be one thing if he had a nice office (he doesn't) or a nice house (I don't know), but instead he has nice cars, which he parks right next to the front door, seemingly as a reminder to all his patients that their medical expenses are paying not only for a mode of transportation, but for a specific declaration of wealth disguised as a mode of transportation.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you own your own business and you set your own prices, it's pretty crappy to flaunt your wealth in front of the people who are providing for you.  But when you crack my neck in just the right way to make all my problems disappear, I'll look past your faults. #travel
School zone Sep 17, 2010
Most roads that pass by schools have a reduced speed limit announced by a sign that says something like "Speed Limit 25 mph When Children Are Present."  This is something that always confuses me.  How specifically is this enforced?  Like is it only during the school year?  And if so, is it in effect on weekends?  What if it's a school day but it's like 6 a.m. when no kids are there yet?  Or what if it's during the school year, on a school day, during normal school hours, but I don't see a single stupid kid?  And at what point are "kids" no longer kids?  Like if I drive by my local high school at 6 p.m. and there are still cars in the student parking lot, should I really be watching out for them?  Finally, what if I don't have kids, so I have no clue when the school year starts or when the school day starts or when these ridiculously lazy kids have vacation days or not?  My point is that there seems to be a lot of wiggle room with this law, but I could envision a cop handing me a $200 ticket just because he can.  In conclusion, I think we should close all schools and fire all cops.  The end. #travel