You probably have heard the saying, if they can put a man on the moon why can’t they…. You can fill in the blank. Well mine is “make a toilet that will fill the bowl every time! I can’t figure out why a new toilet works in my house for a few months then refuses to fill. I had an old toilet I replaced all the inner guts and it worked for a few months then just like before the call of “Dad, the toilet isn’t working again”. The water is running, the “flappy” thing is down, yet water runs and runs and never fills. I even bought some new-fangled thing that has entirely different mechanics and it won’t fill. I am at a loss, it isn’t as if giant boulders are coming out of my water supply, I have not modified the thing to make it fill faster or more. I spent $200 on a piece of porcelain that isn’t china. I can fill it with a bucket and it stays full so it isn’t leaking but it just continues to mock me. I sit down to watch TV and in the background I can hear it laughing at me one gallon at a time. Maybe it is that my life doesn’t have enough stress, I need to be listening all the time for the toilet running or waking up in the middle of the night to worry if the bathroom is going to flood. For now I get to have my version of water torture.

So today is my first day back from a week in Jamaica. It was a great time to be away from work and home but to me vacation is always a two-edged sword. I can’t usually get past the feeling of doom if I don’t remain connected to email. So by staying in contact I see all the issues which I can deal with going on and no way to fix them. My trying to relax is interspersed with moments of worry. But that being said it was still a good time. There are a few things that I did notice about being in Jamaica that are very different from home.
1. The contrast between shanties and giant hotels, which in many cases can be right next to each other, makes you wonder who is making the dollars and where are they hiding them?
2. Many still don’t care about skin cancer. I was constantly rubbing SPF 50+ on everything that wasn’t covered, and I sat under a palm tree or other covers most of the time. I came home only slightly less white, others will return to their homes with a lobster shell for skin. I see chemical peels in their futures either that or a nice bisque.
3. The ratio of workout room to buffet line was tipped way too far in the buffet’s favor. Running at sea level makes me feel like I could run the whole island, but it would only be possible if I backed away from the food, and you know that didn’t happen!