This was my first time ever to the caribbean, and it was very interesting. I think I’d like to come back for a vacation or when I can otherwise spend a bit more time…

So this marked my first trip to Puerto Rico and visit to the Amgen facility in Juncos. With all the hurricanes this year, I was initially a bit apprehensive, but the weather was sunny, hot and tropical every day. If I had known, I would have brought some shorts to wear. It certainly was different from CO and RI where it’s already showing signs of winter.

One of the best things is that my company has a deal with the Ritz Carlton hotel, and that’s where I stayed. It’s beautiful—located right on the beach in Isla Verde near the airport. It’s a bit of a drive to the office, but worth it. I would have loved to be able to spend more time there enjoying the resort services: maybe a massage at the spa, hang out by the pool or in my own hammock on the beach, maybe jet skiing, whatever. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time (and I’m in absolutely awful shape anyway). I definitely must plan for more time on my next visit. Here’s a photo:

The classes at the office went fairly well, but I did have some technical issues in the end. Of course, with a huge time difference, there really wasn’t much I could do about it so I worked around. The people were really nice and everyone spoke English perfectly—way better than my ersatz-Spanish. The funny thing, though, is that I could really understand a lot of what I read and heard in Spanish. By the end of only three days, I feel like I could almost just start speaking Spanish at will. It really would be a very short leap for me to learn.

Again, there wasn’t much time at all for sightseeing. I’d originally intended to take a vacation day on Tuesday, but got some more sessions booked for then. After some fancy juggling, I managed to only have to go in in the late afternoon, so spent the morning visiting Old San Juan and especially the Spanish forts. WOW! They were truly amazing and totally reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean—both the movie and the Disneyland ride. They even had the same damp, musty, dungeon-like smell. I pretty thoroughly explored both San Cristobál and El Morro and took lots of photos and videos. I only wish I’d had a couple more hours so that I could have wandered through the town of Old San Juan itself and look at the other buildings. Again, all the more reason to return someday. Here’s a photo:

Oh yeah—one more thing about Puerto Rico: driving. I’d been led to believe that PR was a veritable hell-on-earth when it comes to driving. Consequently, when I first arrived—at night, in a place I’d never been, not knowing how to get there—I was understandably paranoid. But once I’d successfully seen the world in the light of day and navigated the hour drive to the office, I actually realized it’s not so bad. To qualify that statement, they are indeed wild drivers and you can see all manner of goofiness. But, having said that, I kind of enjoyed the challenge. Being a native-born Los Angeleno, I know a thing or two about “assertive” driving and actually had fun. I did spend some time on the road laughing out loud at some of the things I saw, but I never saw an accident. It seems that if everybody’s applying machismo to their driving, at least they’re paying attention. So my estimation is that driving here is not for the faint of heart, but other places are worse (like, for example, Italy—at least as I remember it…)

It has been SUCH a long time since I’ve written in my blog—but this is no worse than my personal journal writing ever was. I’m in the midst of an unusually long spell of business travel so I thought I’d write about my adventures so far.

Even though I love to travel and am always ready and willing to do so (I pride myself on being ready to go anywhere in the world in 30 minutes), this has been an unusual autumn for me. It has all been business travel related to our document management systems, delivering training.

It started Wednesday October 12 with a trip to Austin, TX to deliver training to the Unisys service desk staff. I LOVED Austin! The biggest things I learned: 1) Texas hill country is really beautiful, 2) houses are REALLY cheap (new tracts advertising from the mid $90s—Sheesh!), and 3) everything I’d ever learned in my life up until then about barbecue was a big fat lie. Thanks to the County Line, I’m spoiled for the rest of my days. It was also particularly fun to get a feel for where Will Barnett spent his freshman year at UT in the Uncle Sean series of novels by Ron Donaghe. I really enjoyed myself there, and the fact that I wasn’t there alone was nice for a change (Armando Arballo was there too, assisting in the training). Believe it or not, I could see myself living there…

I then came home for one day at the office and then off again on the longest part—a 3-city, 8-day “world tour”. Stop number one was Denver, CO, where I visited and taught at the Longmont facility. The classes were OK, but I found out too late that the training machines I was provided were missing some software I needed. I like Denver too, but it was already starting to be chilly in the evenings. One of my favorite places in Longmont is a new community called Prospect. Each of the homes and condos is uniquely designed and the place gives the image of an eclectic village. If only such a place could be built somewhere where the weather is better in the winters.

The other thing I always do is treat myself to a trip to the Denver REI flagship store. It’s absolutely amazing—sits right on the river where people ride by on the bikes on the river paths or kayak in front of the store. It’s truly incredible—but this time I actually got away without buying anything!

Stop number two was Providence, RI where I spent a day teaching at our West Greenwich, RI facility. We’d called ahead to get the required software installed, but ended up having to redo it anyway. Still, the classes went without a hitch. The facility there is for manufacturing, and since part of it is still under construction there were lots of workmen around and security was rather tight. Still, it was an interesting experience.

This was my first time ever to New England, and with autumn coming on, it was really beautiful. I got to spend all day Saturday driving around and seeing some sights. The one I chose was Mystic Seaport, CT which was really fun—though I’m sure it would be better with it not raining. It was pretty much as I’d imagined it and very interesting to see what a New England community looked like. Another highlight was getting to eat real New England clam chowder in a small inn that positively oozed charm. The final leg was a drive to see the modest little “cottages” of the turn-of-the-century patrician classes in Newport, RI. Unfortunately, I got there too late and wasn’t able to go on any tours—drat, maybe next time. It must’ve been nice being the likes of the Astors or Vanderbilts back then. Here’s a photo:

So I started this entry while waiting at the Providence airport to board the plane for my next destination: San Juan, Puerto Rico. I’m finishing it up on the first leg to Chicago, where I’ll hopefully be able to upload it for your viewing pleasure. I’m sure that Puerto Rico will deserve an entry (or two) all on its own…