A Day (or Two) in the Life of Scott Hanno

Happy Memorial Day Eve to you and hopefully you are like me and you also have tomorrow off. It's been beautiful this weekend and in the 70's during the day and in the 40's at night ....... perfect Jeep riding weather for sure! I actually parked my car on the street Friday morning and took the Jeep to work and I've been driving around with that ever since. And I broke down and took it in to Jiffy Lube for an oil change as I have no record of when it was last done but I think that it was time, plus they took me for another $300 worth of stuff but it should be good to go for quite a while. I got the fuel injectors cleaned and the radiator flushed, both differentials and the gear case fluids changed but otherwise I think that it checked out pretty well. I was kind of waiting for them to tell me that the transmission was no good or it had sprung a leak but I guess that other than what got fixed the rest of it did pretty well. It's even driving better today.

I even took it to Rockville, MD this afternoon to go have lunch with my niece (Megan) and they are having this big celebration at the Town Square and have all of the roads blocked off and bands playing and people selling just about everything - and it was the perfect day to just walk around. I guess that Rick Springfield is playing a free show tonight and is the headliner for the event but I didn't stick around to check him out. And Meg has the perfect apartment as she lives in one of the new apartment buildings right on the Square so it was literally going on right outside of her door, plus the place is brand new and looks like a hotel. I stuck around there until about 3pm and then drove home, I tried to take Georgetown Pike back to Sterling but it was backed up for an hour and who knows why but I ended up turning around and going the highway around. That road is so cool though as it's like a drive through the country with all of these hills and curves and woods and stuff and I try and take that when I can if I have the time. But the drawback is that if there is a problem with it there is no where to turn off, it's either you sit and wait or turn around and go the opposite direction.

I also washed and waxed my Jeep yesterday as well and it was the first time I did that since I bought it and it was actually pretty filthy by my standards. The underside of it was the worst, the outside looked pretty good but the dirt was caked on in the wheel wells. I also need to work on the rims as they are in pretty bad shape but nothing that a little steel wool won't clean up but I didn't have time for that yesterday but will one of these days. And I took off that stupid brush bar that was on the front of it and I'm liking the looks much better - I haven't been sure that I liked it ever since I bought it and finally got a chance to take it off to see what it looks like. It's much cleaner looking now and opens up the front bumper - I'll probably put the bar in storage and put it back on if I ever change my mind. Oh, and I ordered seat covers for it yesterday and also a new lock for the center console as other than the glove box nothing locks up. I was going to buy covers for both the front and back seats but then I thought that I'd start with the front and see how it goes.

Last week at work was pretty uneventful and it kind of trickled by waiting for this weekend to get here and then it finally did. I was suppose to be headed out to LA for an owners meeting but then they couldn't figure out if we were changing the date but in the end we didn't so that's scheduled for Tuesday morning and I'm dialing in with the rest of the to attend. I still do need to make a trip out there again and was going to go the week after but then we've got some new hotels coming on line on the east coast next week so I'm thinking that I should stay closer to home. We'll see how it goes.

I'm not sure what I'm doing tomorrow, I was thinking that I could pressure wash part of my house as my fireplace chimney needs a good cleaning - or I could go for a bike ride on the railroad tracks, I'm just not too sure yet. I did most of my Sunday chores today though so I should be free to do what I please and guess that I'll see what I'm in the mood for when the time comes. I also hear that my brother-in-law and family finally sold their house in upstate NY so congratulations to you ....... and now you can spend your summer living on the lake in your new house (new build) and enjoy cruising around in your new boat ....... I bet that will be awesome. And so I guess that's about it - I hope that you enjoy your holiday tomorrow and I'll talk with you later. Take care until then!

posted by Scott @ 9:15 PM

Wouldn't you know it but here it is another Sunday night and I am once again returning home from a week in Mexico. The last trip ended last Sunday when I had a heck of a time mowing the lawn and doing laundry all day and then went back to work on Monday morning after being in the Mayan Riviera for the past week. So then I worked all day Monday and all day Tuesday and then came home Tuesday night and packed for another trip to Puerto Vallarta Mexico which is on the west coast but still in the central time zone .... which seemed a little weird as I thought that it was perpendicular to California but guess that it must be a lot more east than that.

I left the house Wednesday morning at 5:30am to catch a 7am flight through Dallas and we got to Mexico around 2pm and were at the hotel by 3pm. The Barcelo property is really only my second property that I've stayed at and while this one is totally different than the Maya Beach Resort it still had it's own good points that made it very unique. I think that the hotel has around 350 rooms and is set up in two nine story towers that were built kitty corner to the beach and facing each other so that every room has an ocean view. Then the pools and restaurants and everything else are located between the two towers and you can see everything from the balconies in the rooms. There is also a pretty long beach that goes the entire length of the property and then some but it's not really wide so not the best beach to hang out on. And since it's the Pacific Ocean and not the Atlantic the water is also greener and darker with less coral and not nearly as nice to go snorkeling in either. But you always do have the choice of choosing the pools or the beach for your water enjoyment and so most of the past five days were spent at the pool. And like all of the other Barcelo properties it was all inclusive with all food and beverage included and also had huge rooms that were almost all one bedroom suites. They also had awesome showers where the shower head was like a box and was built into the ceiling and was a like the rain shower deal that felt great ..... plus it was all granite tiles with a half wall off frameless window panels. Great rooms for sure.

And we certainly did have plenty of time to enjoy the place as the first reception didn't start until 7:30pm on Wednesday evening so I went and hit up the pool when I first got there and then ate and drank till my heart content beachside the rest of the evening. Then we started the next day at 8:00am with a four hour meeting and then about 60 of us went on a three hour ATV excursion through the jungles ....... boy was that dusty as it hasn't rained there in almost a year but it was still a fun time had by all ....... but you should have seen how filthy we were. Thursday night we had an AWESOME reception and dinner right on the beach at the Dreams Resort which is another hotel that we own and is down the road from our Barcelo hotel and they went all out with the pigs on a skewer, lobster tails, steaks and you name it - plus an entire bar on the beach that was built entirely out of blocks of ice. Plus they had some really cool entertainment for us including a few fire stick jugglers and these other very flexible and coordinated dancers ...... and on top of that the sunset into the Pacific was beautiful.

Friday morning we got to sleep in and have breakfast before we were off on our next excursion which was a boat trip to this remote island that is private and is only services by boat. About 40 of us did that while the rest of the group did the zip line thing (the ATV activity was enough activity for me!) and we got to just lay on the beach and snorkel and they also had restaurants and open bars for all. We stayed there about five hours and then left about 3pm and headed back to the hotel for our awards ceremony and fancy dinner ...... life sure was rough. Then the meeting was over come Friday night and half of the group left on Saturday and half of us stayed until today and that meant we had the day off to enjoy on our own. We just lounged around the pool most most the day and swam a lot and drank Miami Vices (half pina colada & half stawberry daiquiri) and it was nice to just kick back and do nothing. Then we went to dinner and packed my bags and the party was winding down and I went to bed by 11pm.

This morning we had a bus pick us up at 6am (yeah, that was fun) and headed to the airport and we left there around 9:30am and came home again through Dallas. Flights were actually all running early and we got to Dulles about 20 minutes early and one of the GM's that lives in my hood gave me a lift home and I was here by 5:30pm. But then the fun began as I had to mow the lawn and get my laundry done (again) and then it's back to work for another five days come the morning and I'm just not sure that I can handle it. The good news is that we have a three day weekend coming up, the bad news is I might be headed to LA again for a meeting first thing the next Tuesday morning. I should have taken my camera with me and at least got a few pictures of the place but I didn't so you have nothing to look at today.

And I guess that's about it for this day - I think that I'm actually home for the next week which will be kind of nice but the downside is that it's suppose to rain the next three days and only get into the 60's ...... not sure I can handle that again after living in 85' weather for the past two weeks. But I guess we've all got to do what we all have to do - so make the best of your week and I'll talk with you on another day. Take care until then.

posted by Scott @ 9:02 PM

I'm back from my eight day / seven night stay in paradise and am all rested and ready to get back to work ..... well, rested yes but ready no. But that's ok as I head back to Mexico in a couple of days and then do it all over again - except this trip is for work so I might have to do a little while I am there. Last week I went to Barcelo Maya Riveria Colonial which is an hour south of Cancun and this week I'm going to Barcelo La Jolla which I just had to look but is on the west coast even further south so it should be even warmer. The good news is that I'm all ready tan and even better I haven't even started to peel yet ........ my head is still in pretty good shape too.

I didn't do much while I was there but got to the hotel around 3pm on Saturday, 05/03 and had lunch and then sat on the beach for a while. That day was the only day that was a little cloudy and with the breeze it was almost cool, too cool to make me want to go swimming. But then on Sunday I got into my routine and got up around 7:30am and was at the beach (in my favorite beach chair from previous years) and laid out in the sun and read and slept and snorkeled until about 1pm. Then I would stop by the pool bar and have a strawberry daiquiri and then head for the shade at the pool and read a little more and then had lunch around 2pm. It started to get pretty warm around 3pm so that was siesta time and then I'd sleep for an hour, got to the gym for an hour, eat dinner around 8pm and then hit the theater around 9ish ....... Emilio the bartender even remembered me! Then I'd go to bed around 11pm and then get up the next day and do it all over again. I did do a massage on Tuesday and then had booked an ATV tour on Wednesday which went through the jungle to go swim in a Cenote which was pretty cool. And that was luckily the only day that I had to set my alarm. All in all it was a great trip and I didn't turn on my computer or my cell phone once and the weather was in the mid-80's every day with a wonderful breeze off the water - and probably down to 70'ish each night. No rain whatsoever either.

And I went snorkeling every day and it was great up until Thursday and was clear as day and you could see all of the coral and the turtles and the sting rays swimming around. But then both Thursday and Friday the waves really picked up and it was rough even getting in the water as you couldn't see where the rocks were and I think that it washed some of the sand away that had been there before ....... I stubbed my little toe that day and it's still hurting me today.

I got home yesterday and the trip was pretty uneventful with just a ton of lines to wait in and there was one line after another but was home by 7:30pm last night. I've been doing laundry for most of the day and getting caught up on bills and everything else around here. Oh, and my lawn was up to my knees again as I mowed it last Thursday before I left and asked the kid next door to do it while I was gone - but he started a new job so he didn't get around to doing it for me. And it was wet and way too long and that took me a good two hours to do that today. The good news is that my mower was fixed on the Friday before I left and they called me and I went and picked it up after work which was perfect as I didn't know when I was going to get it otherwise ....... and it works like it's brand new again.

I also got a revised water bill and they were nice enough to give me a $550 credit so instead of a $615 bill I only had to pay $85 which made the thousands of dollars I spent fixing the leak a little easier to swallow. And they came along and removed my tree sometime last week and even ground up the stump and I'm liking the looks out there without it much better today. And I came home to 300 e-mails in my in-box but I've got it down to around 120 today but that is still going to take me the next couple of days to go through all of them - I only looked at the easy one's so far.

I think that's about it and it felt great to sleep in my own bed again last night and can't wait to do it again tonight - just too bad that I have to get up before the crack of dawn and leave it. And I hope that all is well with you and that you are looking forward to Memorial Day ....... only two more weeks away and then summer will be here! Oh, and it's been monsooning since about 3pm today and not sure when it's going to let up - and the flood watches are up again. Have a great week and I'll talk with you again sometime soon.

posted by Scott @ 9:11 PM