Home again, home again, jiggety jog..
I’ve been down in Mexico where I ate like a hog…
Yeah, I know that rhyme probably gets a little old every time I come home, but it’s one of those things that got ingrained during my childhood and never went away. It runs through my head everytime I return from a trip and if I have to live with it, so does everyone else.
So anyway, the point is, I’m home… back in the land of fruits and nuts… returned from the sunny beaches and heady bars of Cancun.
To those who wished me well on the trip, many thanks. It was a blast, even though it really started out looking like one disaster after another. We were able to overcome the worst of the obstacles (including a last-minute hotel change), and turn it into a great vacation.
I won’t run down the entire litany of events, which wouldn’t be that tough since we spent most of the time lounging around the poolside bar, or splashing in the warm, Caribbean sea. We did one fishing trip, and all I can really say about that is that Kat probably won’t be starting up a blog called NorCal Pescadora.
We also took the time to drive with our friends down to Tulum, to visit the Mayan ruins there. No, of course they’re 
not as impressive as Chichen Itzla, but it’s still pretty danged cool to see this place. It wasn’t so much a spiritual kind of place, rather a key business center (import/export, so to speak), but there’s something I find really stimulating about being in ancient places like this.
I can’t help but start to wonder what it must have been like when the place was thriving… or when it was built. Who else walked here? What kinds of things did they think about? What did they have for lunch?
Anyway, it was hotter than blazes with that sticky, tropical humidity, so the majority of our party wilted quickly. Thankfully, back at the tourist trap area outside the park, a lovely little bodega served Mexican beer and premium tequila under a ceiling covered with spinning fans. By the time we got on the van to head back to Cancun, we were all pleasantly cooled down and rehydrated.
The other thing of note is that this was my first vacation at an “all-inclusive” resort. In short, it was a great way to go! It was sort of like being on a cruise ship, with food available almost any time you wanted it. The big difference was that all the drinks were free too (on my last couple of vacations, the bar tab was almost as high as the cost of the trip itself)! It seemed like my glass never got empty!
A tip, though… all-inclusive is only a money-saver if you plan to stay close to the resort most of the time like we did on this trip (actually, we could eat and drink at any of the resorts owned by this company on the same plan). If you want to go out to dinner and clubs, then you’re better off to book your stay on the “European plan,” which only includes your room and on-site activities.
For the first time in ages, I spent a full week without any access to the Internet or my email. When I rolled back into range as I made my flight connection in Phoenix, I logged on to find that the HogBlog has actually been kind of busy. In addition to my many regular friends, I had several messages from folks I haven’t ever seen here… several of those in response to some older threads. Hopefully, my lack of responsiveness didn’t seem inhospitable.
In fact, through the last couple of weeks I haven’t really kept up with responses and comments very well at all. I want to apologize for that, even though I’ll blame it on some fairly hectic times of late. I’m hoping to get things back to normal soon.
Several commenters and some emails also brought me a ton of interesting material, and I look forward to sharing some of that with you over the coming days. Still a good bit of sorting through to do, and I don’t want to inundate the blog with a half-dozen posts all at once, but I’ll get it online soon. Many thanks to the readers who send me stuff. It’s totally appreciated.
Among other topics, I’m planning to do a follow-up on the CA Fish and Game Commission’s latest meeting. As I understand it, a couple of reports were introduced that addressed the initial results of the lead ammo ban. I don’t think there were any surprises, but I need to get all the info before I go off half-cocked. I’m sure some of you have already seen the email blasts from the NSSF and NRA, but I’d like to read the reports and review the video of the Commission meeting to make my own interpretation.
So, back to the grind! Thanks for hanging around! And to all the new readers, welcome to the HogBlog!
That’s it???
Vacation in Mexico!
What are you think taking off as all hell breaks loose and the you know what hits the fan! It’s a good thing I’m broke and I can’t go galavanting around the world, drinking tequila and pondering the demise of ancient civilizations…
I’m after really big game this time Phillip. While you were gone some scoundrel swiped a bunch of posts off of lots of OBS members. I got him, but he’s not at bay yet! Let ‘im run, run all he wants, but I’m going to nail him but good!
Glad your back in one piece!
Albert
July 5th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Thanks, Albert!
Yeah, I booked and paid for this trip way back in the winter, when the job front looked good and things were a lot different… non-refundable, no less… it was a great trip, but totally the wrong time for it.
Yeah, that whole post-borrowing thing is irritating as hell. Good luck pinning your boy to the floor. It’d be nice if you got some kind of online, copyright protection thing going where we could get paid when jokers like that steal from us.
Keep me posted!
July 5th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
It sounds like you had one heck of a vacation Phillip. I think the Mayan ruins would have been very cool, although I’ll pass on the sweltering heat.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Welcome back!
July 5th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Good to see ya’ back in action Phillip,
Albert has been chasin’ down a “Plagiarizer” while you were gone!
July 6th, 2009 at 8:43 am