The vacation that wasn't

[WickerBill]

Tuesday, June 21:
Wrapping up at work to begin what promises to be a fantastic vacation -- 18 days in all. Going to Disney, then Treasure Island, Florida, which is a barrier island near Tampa Bay. Have been there before and it's great; calm, warm water, lots of shells, very much "old Florida" -- some shops and stuff but mostly low-priced beach resorts, beach bums, and white sand.

Wednesday, June 22:
Got family up at 4am and hit the road. Drove straight to Orlando and arrived around 9pm. Holy crap, I'm tired. Doubletree Hotel we Pricelined bumped us to a 2 bedroom suite, 1200 square feet. Sounded great, but mold all over the walls and lizards in the bathtub put somewhat of a downer on the experience.

Thursday, June 23:
Son's 4th birthday, spending it with Mickey Mouse. A little hot; 95 degrees at 4pm. We survived and it only cost us around nine hundred dollars.

Friday, June 24:
Got to our resort. Roof leaks. Oh well, got on the swimsuits and headed to the beach. What's that smell? Okay, why are there dead fish all over the beach? OUCH, I just stepped on a dead blowfish! Look daddy, a dead stingray! Is that a baby shark? Daddy, mommy just barfed on the sand!

Saturday, June 25:
Spent a great deal of time learning about "Red Tide" and why it kills every swimming critter in the vicinity of the beach.

Sunday, June 26 - Friday July 8:
Boy, I sure was glad this place had a pool. Of course, when the wind was just right we could smell the beach, someone would vomit, and we'd have to clear the pool out. But that only happened about 7 times. I was cleaning up our stuff one day to go inside and someone bumped me and I dropped my iPod in the pool. Well, not directly in, it hit the concrete first and broke its seal before going in the water and wafting to the floor of the deep end. It doesn't work anymore.

Friday night, July 8:
Hurricane's comin'. We're told to get the heck out because if we don't, we'll be stuck. So we leave and forfeit two nights of our stay that we paid for. We decide to drive all the way through. Except for our car-top carrier ripping open during a rainstorm and me falling asleep at the wheel when everyone else was also asleep, it was pretty uneventful and (somehow) safe.


Can't wait 'till next year!

[rabbit]

:( Sorry boss.

[racer2c]

I feel for ya too WB. I had a similar vacation a few weeks ago. I live in the Tampa area now and rainy season has me wanting to move back to VA.

[RaceGrrl]

The good thing is that you didn't get sunburned, right?


Every family has one of those vacations from hell. Look at it this way, you've had your horror story so the future trips should be perfect. :)

[nrc]

Oh yeah? Well, at Hilton Head I got hit in the forehead with a plastic pool toy. And it hurt. Real bad. I bled. Some.

[racer2c]

Oh yeah? Well, at Hilton Head I got hit in the forehead with a plastic pool toy. And it hurt. Real bad. I bled. Some.

Sorry to laugh but... :rofl:

[Ozarkian]

The worst thing about vacations from hell is that they make you happy to be back at work.

[cartman]

Oh yeah? Well, at Hilton Head I got hit in the forehead with a plastic pool toy. And it hurt. Real bad. I bled. Some.

I was in Hilton Head for the 4th as well. Got racked real bad by my 6 year old nephew with one of those pool floaty tubes. It hurt but doesn't sound as bad as WB's vacation debacle.

[SteveH]

The best vacations leave you ready to get back to work. :thumbup: :D

[Lizzerd]

Vacation? I know not of that word.

[Dr. Corkski]

http://img237.echo.cx/img237/48/florida3ef.gif

[pfc_m_drake]

Kind of reminds me of some of my CART get-aways.

They say it never rains in Southern California. I think I've been there 5 times...it's rained 4 of the 5 :saywhat:

Still, I guess that's better than Nazareth snow showers in April :saywhat:

Seriously though...sorry it didn't work out better for you though. I did get a kick out of this one though:


Thursday, June 23:
Son's 4th birthday, spending it with Mickey Mouse. A little hot; 95 degrees at 4pm. We survived and it only cost us around nine hundred dollars.

The fact that there's so much hidden truth in there is what makes it funny I think.

Better luck next time :(

[Warlock!]

You brought the Mouse into your life, and look what happened.

Shun the Mouse, and all will be well.

[chop456]

You brought the Mouse into your life, and look what happened.

Shun the Mouse, and all will be well.

Shut up. :cry:

[KaBoom21]

Clark Griswald: Roy; can I call you Roy? Have you even driven your whole family cross-country?
Roy Walley: Oh, hell yes. Once I drove all of them to Florida. The smell coming out of the back seat was terrible.
Clark Griswald: I know that smell, Roy; but what if you had driven all that way and Florida was closed?
Roy Walley: Closed? Uh, they don't close Florida.

[cartman]

Don't shun the mouse, just shun him during the summer. My wife and I go to Disney World every year one of the first 2 weeks of December. It's not hot, hurricane season is over, there's nobody there so you can practically walk right on every ride with no wait, and you get way discounted hotel rates because nobody is there (one year my wife was able to get us a savannah room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for $79 a night). Still isn't what I'd call a cheap vacation, but we probably save a pretty good amount of coin by going in the winter instead of summer. I realize this is probably not an option for those of you with kids.

[coolhand]

That sucks WB, i know how that goes.

my Dog just died so i am not having a great time at the moment either. :(

[IlliniRacer]

Don't shun the mouse, just shun him during the summer. My wife and I go to Disney World every year one of the first 2 weeks of December. It's not hot, hurricane season is over, there's nobody there so you can practically walk right on every ride with no wait, and you get way discounted hotel rates because nobody is there (one year my wife was able to get us a savannah room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for $79 a night). Still isn't what I'd call a cheap vacation, but we probably save a pretty good amount of coin by going in the winter instead of summer. I realize this is probably not an option for those of you with kids.

I concur. Last time we went (2 years ago) we pulled the boys out of school and went the last week of Sept. It was considered their "off season" so rates at the resorts were drastically decreased. It was still warm enough to hit both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon, and the longest we waited in line for anything was probably 20 mins.

[IlliniRacer]

I feel your pain WB. Like when I was St. Maarten back in April and our waiter didn't bring me another $0.50 Heineken BEFORE I finished my first one. I actually had to go about 2-3 min WITHOUT beer. The bastard!!! :mad:
;) :p

Glad to hear everyone is safe. It will just make your next vacation that much more enjoyable.

[FRANKY]

Red Tide, just plain nasty.

[Insomniac]

Don't shun the mouse, just shun him during the summer. My wife and I go to Disney World every year one of the first 2 weeks of December. It's not hot, hurricane season is over, there's nobody there so you can practically walk right on every ride with no wait, and you get way discounted hotel rates because nobody is there (one year my wife was able to get us a savannah room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for $79 a night). Still isn't what I'd call a cheap vacation, but we probably save a pretty good amount of coin by going in the winter instead of summer. I realize this is probably not an option for those of you with kids.

When I was a kid we went in November, I think the week before thanksgiving. Took a week off from school, not too big of a deal. Had Thanksgiving break to catch up. It was so nice. Got out of the cold and as you said, empty. No lines, or very short ones. Even at Universal Studios.

[WickerBill]

.. we only went to Disney because it was Luke's birthday and we were "right there" anyway. Our main time to go is either early November or early February. No rain, not so hot, barely any lines, lots and lots of fun.

The worst part was watching the iPod float to the bottom of the pool. Ever have one of those slo-mo "NOOOOOO!" moments?


WB

[cartman]

.. we only went to Disney because it was Luke's birthday and we were "right there" anyway. Our main time to go is either early November or early February. No rain, not so hot, barely any lines, lots and lots of fun.

The worst part was watching the iPod float to the bottom of the pool. Ever have one of those slo-mo "NOOOOOO!" moments?


WB

I had quite a few of those slo-mo "NOOOOOO!" moments this past weekend. My wife and I have never painted a room in our life. We decided to paint our dining room burgundy this weekend. The dining room has a chair rail, crown moulding, 3 windows with trim and an archway to the great room. We peeled the tape off and were completely dismayed at how jaggy and not straight our line above the chair rail was. We tried doing touch ups to straighten out the line and I had about 20 "NOOOOOOO!" moments when I would get burgundy paint on our white chair rail. There's about an 8th of an inch above the chair rail and about a half inch below the crown moulding that still needs paint. Any suggestions on how to get paint on those areas and get a good straight line? We're about to throw in the towel and bring professionals in to finish it.

P.S. Sorry about your IPod WB, that really sucks, those things aren't cheap.

[rabbit]

Ever have one of those slo-mo "NOOOOOO!" moments?


WB
Only every Memorial Day since 1996.

[Hard Driver]

I had quite a few of those slo-mo "NOOOOOO!" moments this past weekend. My wife and I have never painted a room in our life. We decided to paint our dining room burgundy this weekend. The dining room has a chair rail, crown moulding, 3 windows with trim and an archway to the great room. We peeled the tape off and were completely dismayed at how jaggy and not straight our line above the chair rail was. We tried doing touch ups to straighten out the line and I had about 20 "NOOOOOOO!" moments when I would get burgundy paint on our white chair rail. There's about an 8th of an inch above the chair rail and about a half inch below the crown moulding that still needs paint. Any suggestions on how to get paint on those areas and get a good straight line? We're about to throw in the towel and bring professionals in to finish it.

P.S. Sorry about your IPod WB, that really sucks, those things aren't cheap.


Best thing is just to get a 2" sash brush, and slowly cut the edges by hand. Just make sure that you rub the brush on the edge of the can and get the excess paint off to reduce drips. Your hand will paint a strait line better than anything else. Usually you want to do this edge cutting first, then paint with a roller the wall. That way you can get the smoother rolled on paint as close to the edges as you can and show as little of the brush strokes as possible. Taping off the molding is really only good to keep the roller splatter from dripping on the molding, not actually to cut the edge.

[G.]

Best thing is just to get a 2" sash brush, and slowly cut the edges by hand. Just make sure that you rub the brush on the edge of the can and get the excess paint off to reduce drips. Your hand will paint a strait line better than anything else. Usually you want to do this edge cutting first, then paint with a roller the wall. That way you can get the smoother rolled on paint as close to the edges as you can and show as little of the brush strokes as possible. Taping off the molding is really only good to keep the roller splatter from dripping on the molding, not actually to cut the edge.Get an expen$ive brush. Also, I have had some success with using those edger tools made out of 2" wide venitian blinds. But use a clean rag after each brush stoke, since the paint will wick under the edge (then you have a nice smudge on top of your moulding.

(sorry about the vacation, WB.)

[cartman]

Thanks Hard Driver and G.

I will try these techniques and if I'm still having trouble I might just bring in a professional anyway. How much do you think a professional would charge to finish up this detail work? I unfortunately learned about cutting after we had already put 2 coats on the wall and I also learned that you get a much cleaner line if you peel off the tape while the paint is still wet (duh, can't believe I didn't think of that when we were doing it). It's amazing, you'd think with how into racing I am that I would have some kind of mechanical inclination, but nope. I think I'm probably the least handy male that I know. Oh well, I guess you have to learn some of this stuff the hard way huh?

WB - Sorry for turning your bad vacation thread into "who wants to help cartman the retard with his flawed house painting technique".

[fourrunner]

And I thought my Aunt was being mean when she'd tell us never to visit her in Florida in the Summer!

She always said us Northerners wouldn't like it then ! Strange things happen !

But WB, it does sound like you vacation could be a cool National Geographic Special !! :eek:

[Anteater]

Sorry to hear about your vacation, WB. :( Hope the next one is much better!

We're having a red tide here, too; I live a mile and a half from the beach, but I get a pretty good whiff of the stench. I didn't realize that a lot of it must be dead critters until reading your post.

[Insomniac]

.. we only went to Disney because it was Luke's birthday and we were "right there" anyway. Our main time to go is either early November or early February. No rain, not so hot, barely any lines, lots and lots of fun.

The worst part was watching the iPod float to the bottom of the pool. Ever have one of those slo-mo "NOOOOOO!" moments?


WB

Have you contacted Apple? They might replace it.

[WickerBill]

Are you serious?? Even if I tell them what I did? Or do I have to tell them that it was snatched from me by a crazed venomous duck who dropped it from amazing heights into Lake Okeechobee (sp?) and if I don't get it replaced several terminally ill baby seals will lose their lives?

[dando]

Jeebus, WB, sorry about yer luck, but I did have a chuckle whilst reading your description of the noncation. ;) Could be worse...you could be like a guy I know @ work that's headed to Jamaica on Sat, just as Emily arrives, and no trip insurance. :eek:

-Kevin

[cart7]

Sorry about the vacation WB. Thankfully, I can only remember one trip that ever came close to your disaster.

As for the red tide, there's some speculation that the increase in shark attacks in the panhandle is due to an overall increase in sharks off the Emerald coast this summer due to the lack of food on the West coast of Florida. The sharks are having "interactions" with humans who fail to realize that once in the ocean, they've become part of the food chain.

[Insomniac]

Are you serious?? Even if I tell them what I did? Or do I have to tell them that it was snatched from me by a crazed venomous duck who dropped it from amazing heights into Lake Okeechobee (sp?) and if I don't get it replaced several terminally ill baby seals will lose their lives?

If it is still under warranty and you call and tell them what happened (if you say it just dropped and broke, then they get it and see water damage, then you might be SOL) and let them know what really happened, someone bumped into you, it bounced into the pool, etc.

So basically, you file a claim, they get it and check it out. In some cases they send you a new one, sometimes they will call you and say it's not covered and offer you a new one for a $100 replacement fee (much less than repair costs). I can't say for sure how it will work out though. Apple has been very good to me, but I never dropped mine in water. I had a sketchy headphone jack and they sent me a new one.

Apple is really good when it comes to customer service (which is why I always tell people to get the Apple branded iPod, not HP).

Also, if your warranty period is up, your CC may extend it (if you bought it with a CC) up to one year. So you could also go that way to get it fixed/replaced.

Good luck.

[WickerBill]

Errr... what if I won it at a conference?


(I have this feeling Insomniac is about to use the acronym "SOL" liberally)

WB

[pfc_m_drake]

Even if you won it, I believe you're still entitled to the warranty. It would be just like the case where somebody gave it to you as a gift. However, the catch is that, since you likely cannot produce a sales receipt for the device, they'll probably go by the manufacture date for the warranty period coverage (I'm pretty sure it's a 1-year limited). That means, unless you just got the device recently, your warranty period has probably expired.

I personally am not sure that I'd use the warranty under these circumstances anyway...but I guess if you're honest with them, there's nothing wrong with giving it a shot.

Good luck

[chop456]

Irrelevent at this point, but...

Was the iPod on when it fell in the pool? I've heard from different people that if you get an electronic device wet while it's off, just open the case and let it dry out completely before turning it back on and it will usually be o.k.

Not so for the cordless phone I dropped in the toilet. :gomer:

[Insomniac]

Errr... what if I won it at a conference?


(I have this feeling Insomniac is about to use the acronym "SOL" liberally)

WB

Unless you can provide some proof of when you received/won it, they'd have to go by the date of manufacture. You can enter your s/n here: http://depot.info.apple.com/ipod/ and it should tell you what warranty you have left, if any.

Also, you could take it to the Apple store and let them look at it. They've been known to give you a new one on the spot if they determine it's broken and covered under warranty.

[Napoleon]

Well I am taking the coming week off to do nothing but goof off and I hope it goes better then your vacation.



Was the iPod on when it fell in the pool? I've heard from different people that if you get an electronic device wet while it's off, just open the case and let it dry out completely before turning it back on and it will usually be o.k.

I have been sucessful doing that. The first time I dropped an electronic device in water it occured to me 2 seconds after I turned it on and didn't work the the water likely didn't do it in but me turning it on and shorting it out. Next time I just let it set for days in front of an air outlet in my house and when I tried it it worked.


Only every Memorial Day since 1996.

:laugh:

[G.]

Not so for the cordless phone I dropped in the toilet. :gomer:Man. I usually slam the phone down when I need to make my point. That's a new one! ;)

If you drop 'lectric thingies in the drink, pull the batteries and dry it out.

Apple is making a gazillion dollars right now. Warrantees may be treated much more liberally.

[Lizzerd]

At Mid-Ohio a few years ago, my scanner ended up at the bottom of a cooler full of water on a Saturday evening at the campsite. I found it Sunday morning. I know it was becauce of my buddy's 12 year old brat-nephew that it got there. Needless to say, it didn't work. Pulled the battery. Thinkng it was trashed, I bought an identical "used" scanner in the track at Racing Radios, I think, for about half the price of a new one.

A few days later, I tried the one that took a swim, and it worked fine.

[Cam]

Not so for the cordless phone I dropped in the toilet. :gomer:

Exactly what happened to the Motorola Startac I had a few years ago, and the horrible feeling when you realize that a lot of the numbers stored in it were not easy to find again. :cry:

[indyfan31]

As an antithesis to WB's vacation from Hell, I'll post mine.
Last year Mrs. Indyfan31 and I sat through a 2-hour Fairfield Resorts timeshare hard-sell in order to get two nights in a So Lake Tahoe hotel.
In spite of a slew of screw-ups from both Fairfield to the Horizon Hotel we had a great vacation.
The Bad:
There was no letter of confirmation from Fairfield
There was no email of confirmation from Fairfield
We were booked in a smoking room instead of non-smoking
We reserved a 3rd night to be paid for by us, but they still locked us out after 2 nights.

The Good:
The night we got there Loggins & Messina were playing next door at an outdoor ampitheater, we walked up to the ticket office at showtime and got great seats for $70. Those two sound incredible, but MY GOD those fans are OLD.
I went up there to run a 50K ultra and had a great run. Finished 96th out of 190 runners. Was passing runners in the middle of the race and still running strong at the end. I was about quit ultras and stick to marathons but now I'll try a few more.
The last screw up by Horizon was the best. They were supposed to charge us taxes only for the two nights plus a full rate for the last night. Somehow the charge for the 3rd night was lost and we paid tax only .... $31 for 3 night's stay. :thumbup:

I've had vacations like WBs, luckily this wasn't one of them. :)

[TKGAngel]

Had a horrible, horrible experience at the Hampton Inn in Downtown Cleveland this year. When the Champcar schedule came out last fall, we originally booked our rooms for Saturday and Sunday only. This spring we decided to add Friday to the stay. Now, because we altered our reservation, the rate for the nights we already booked went up $20 because they had to use the rates at the time of the revised booking. I called the hotel and their 1-800 number, but they still were not willing to change the rate (and even threatened to cancel the reservation). Strike 1.

Arrive at the hotel on Friday morning around 11ish, and our room was not ready, despite the fact that we requested early check-in. We left our luggage at the desk, and headed to the track. When we were finally able to get into our room, we found it was a smoking room - even though we had booked non-smoking. (Note to hotel: if you're going to pass a room off as non smoking, remove the air purifier from the room, before your guest trips over it). Strike 2.

Strike 3 involved Housekeeping. We did not see a housekeeper until Sunday, and even then, that was at 7pm.

Amazingly enough, Hampton Inn did not address any of our concerns, or even offer a rate break due to the smoking/non-smoking room thing. Since I'm obviously not going to stay there when I go to next year's race, anyone know of any good hotels in downtown Cleveland?

[Insomniac]

WB: Any luck with Apple?

[WickerBill]

They have refused so far to look at it, since I won't sign the "pay for whatever we do to it up to $250" policy.... I have a couple of emails in to people there to find out if they'll take it and give me an estimate first.

I bought a new one, but would still like to get the old one fixed. I spent my NFL Sunday Ticket money on the new one. :cry:

[RTKar]

From a cruise ship somewhere in the Caribbean (on my way home) :thumdown: but NO Hurricanes :thumbup: ....saw Cozumel, it got smacked good . We lucked out..No problems Man. :p Sorry to hear the bad news. :(