mytrilife

Island Time

I apologize for the lack of updates, but since my laptop was stolen last week, I have had to make best use of my time while borrowing Naomi's laptop in Maui... which meant checking and responding to mail and not much else. She took the time each day to write in her own blog about our adventures, the link is in the menu on the right, but in case you didn't notice... I'll post it here again:

http://yourtrigirl.blogspot.com/

I have actually enjoyed my time away from the computer. I'm not looking forward to returning to work tomorrow! However... mortgages, car payments, and triathlon gear don't pay for themselves, so back to the grind. Although, my time on Maui reinforced the perspective that sometimes all we need is a fun job, a cheap place to live and a surfboard. :-)

I took more "vacation" time, and less training than I had planned on Maui, but I think I really needed the stress-relief of just lying on the beach. I still managed some good cycling, some great swimming and a few runs.

Our trip home was a bit ridiculous though. Two airlines, ATA and Aloha, went out of business while were in Maui. It was on the news everywhere, but I didn't pay much attention to it until someone at the hostel casually mentioned that Aloha and United Airlines had codeshare flights. A quick check of our itinerary revealed that our Kahului to Honolulu flight was run by Aloha. United was able to get us on another regional carrier called GO! for no charge.

Well... GO! were a pain to deal with, tried to over-charge for our bike boxes, and then didn't get them on the first flight off Maui... so they almost didn't make our connection to SFO. I would not purchase a flight with them EVER. United Airlines was ok to deal with I suppose... but we could have and should have flown WestJet. Marginally higher ticket prices, but less stopovers, less hassle, friendlier service, and nicer planes. If you go to Hawaii... choose WestJet.

While I was gone, my new driver's license and credit cards arrived in the mail, the locks changed on my condo, and a new passcard purchased to get into my parkade... so things are coming back together. I'm still hoping for a recovery of some of my stolen goods... I'm going to call the EPS and Kinsmen Centre tomorrow to find out... but I have not much hope at this point.

posted by Greg @ 4/07/2008