MOAR Wildflowers in the Neighborhood

On Friday Hawk and I went for a lunchtime walk around the neighborhood, inspired by a house a few blocks away with a hard full of California poppies. We didn't just go there and back, though. We figured as long as we're out, let's make more of a walk of it. We used to walk the neighborhood frequently but have fallen out of the habit. "Let's loop the blocks to see what's changed," I proposed.

We noticed a few changes, but those aren't what really caught our attention. We saw... MOAR wildflowers!



This house another block away also has a front yard that looks like it started out as a tended garden but has been left to grow wild. Or maybe it's a bit of benign neglect. Either way, the current result is interesting.

We looped around the far side of that block and saw several more displays of flowers that looked clearly... planted.



These occupied a small patch in the sidewalk island, as did the next few.







In beauty I walk... even if it's on the sidewalk in my neighborhood!

Going All the Way to Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman Travelog #3
GCM Airport, Grand Cayman - Mon, 15 May 2023, 12pm

In my previous travelogs we'd started out for the Cayman Islands and gotten only as far as Houston. This morning we got up early, just ahead of my 6:30 alarm, to pack quickly and Uber back to the airport. We didn't waste the effort on the free hotel shuttle because we preferred to pay $15 than an hour of our time again.

We arrived at the airport only to see lines out the terminal doors and down the sidewalk. Fortunately those lines were for baggage check— and we didn't have bags to check! We chose to go only with carry-ons this trip. That means there's some stuff we chose not to bring; mostly dressier clothes like slacks and loafers. We put our trust in nobody really caring if we wear shorts even to evening soirees.

Our flight today was delayed, too. Houston seems to be a shithole for on-time flights. At least we got there last night. I found out from a colleague that two of my colleagues from San Francisco were also connecting through IAH, and their (later) flights yesterday were canceled. And they're not just anybody; they're the head of our global sales team and the CEO. 😱

The flight was uneventful once it got underway. I got an empty middle seat next to me; so did Hawk. Imagine my CRO and CEO giving those up for us. 😂 I watched a movie, The Crimes of Grindelwald. It was... a movie.

We landed on Grand Cayman just before noon and did the customs shuffle, tropical style. "Tropical style" is walking the long distances of the customs shuffle outdoors instead through long, enclosed. featureless corridors. We scanned our passports, posed for pictures, and answered questions at the spiff computer kiosk, then waited in line for a slow moving human to read all the paperwork the computer had already checked and cross-referenced.

Now we're in the arrivals hall, waiting for a driver to take us to the hotel. The transport company asked us to wait for [name of my CRO] and [name of my CEO] to come out of customs. I told them they didn't board the aircraft. It's taking them a while to confirm that... even though my travel coordinator says she told them 3 hours ago. Well, we're on island time now. We can wait 15 more minutes.

Settling in at the Hotel

Grand Cayman Travelog #4
At the Westin, Grand Cayman - Mon, 15 May 2023, 2pm

We're settled in at the Westin on 7 Mile Beach on Grand Cayman. The drive over from the airport wasn't long. It's not even 5 miles. The view in the lobby as we arrived was nice.



In this photo you can't make out the pool and beach outside the doors at the far side. Trust me that it looked a lot nicer in person.... Even though the weather this afternoon is not exactly great. It's cloudy out like there might be a thunderstorm this afternoon.



Westin is part of the Marriott portfolio of properties. I have Lifetime Titanium elite status with Marriott, which would ordinarily get me some preferred treatment at hotels. The agent who booked us didn't put my number through so we got a rando basic room with two double beds instead of a king and no upgrade. Once I gave them my number they said they'd see if they could upgrade us later in our stay. I'm not holding my breath.



Our basic room isn't quite the bottom rung. We do have a partial ocean view. In other words, from our balcony if we crane our necks to one side we can sorta see the ocean. Getting an upgrade with a better view would be awesome... but like I said, I'm not holding my breath.

Along with checking in at the hotel we stopped by a desk in the lobby where a colleague was passing out gift bags for us president's club winners. The gifts are pretty nice.



The main gift is a JBL bluetooth speaker. That's nice because I have an older model, a JBL Flip 2, that I've been using for, like, 9 years. I considered bringing it on this trip but didn't as one of the comprises necessary to travel with only carry-on bags. Now I'm glad I didn't because we have a new replacement! Of course, fitting it in the bag to get home may be tight.

Let's see, what else is there.... Oh, right, that pile of cash!! Typically on these president's club trips the accommodations are all-inclusive. Meaning all meals and drinks (to a certain extent) are paid for as part of a package. Here there either isn't an all-inclusive option, or the organizers chose not to pay for it. Instead they gave us a cash stipend to cover meals and drinks aside from the two catered events the company is hosting. The stipend is $400. Each.

For the 3½ days of the official trip $800 is a lot. But that's because we don't have expensive eating/drinking habits. For example, we're about to head out for lunch, but instead of eating at one of the pricey, fancy restaurants in the hotel we'll walk across the street to a strip mall and try one of the sit-down places there. It's half or less what food costs here. We expect we'll be able to stretch the money to cover all 5 days we're on Grand Cayman.

Update: the $800 not only covered our food for all 5 days but also the car we rented the final two days.