Category Archives: Long Weekends

Pack for a 3 or 4 day weekend getaway

Too Late to Wear Orange

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I wash my shirt last night looking forward to continue the celebration today.

This morning I’m tying to decide what to wear, is not going to be orange, Houston had great season but at the end we were in the wrong stadium.

Why we played well when we were in Washington and didn’t do well at home? I think they were partially blinded by the color of orange all over the stadium. It’s like the red light at each intersection, you have to stop, I know is not red but orange has a combination of yellow and red, it’s that moment that says partially swing and don’t.

Now, that I washed my shirt last night and I’m embarrassed to wear it today, I’m going to settle for any other shirt and promised myself not say anything to anybody about the game, I’m sure everyone today will pretend nothing happened. The only orange I’m goig to show is my Home Depot gift card.

All Dressed Down and Somewhere to Go

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Because I find myself in just a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and thinking I’m going to be late.

Late to work, late to the airport, late for a date, late to the doctor doesn’t count, the doctor is never on time.

For a Colombian I broke the mold, I have to be on time all the time, but Colombians have no sense of time, if you show up to a party five minutes before the advertised time you will be escorted to the living room, offered a glass of water and asked to sit and wait until the host takes a shower, puts make up and eat a snack. Most likely the husband will show up fifteen minutes later and ask if a salesman is sitting in the living room waiting to be greeted.

If you show up 30 minutes late, you will be the first guess and will be expected to help with the music and your wife to give tips to the host on her dress arrangement.

Now, if you are the guess that shows up 45 minutes to an hour late, you are on time, you will be greeted with a warm welcome and a glass of wine.

I have lived in the United States more years that I can count, in fact, must of my life, but the cultural differences still there, perhaps because I had to hear my mother all my life reminding me to dress properly for each occasion. I always wondered why we can recognized Americans everywhere we go, they tell you to blend with the locals when you travel so you don’t become a crime statistic. It should be very easy in the western hemisphere, but you can still pin point the Americans; sneakers, shorts, t-shirts, a baseball cap, chewing gum and always asking questions in English. Now, there are some who do make an effort to blend but fail some common No, Nos…. like talking while chewing food, or worst, blowing your nose while eating at a table.

They don’t dress down or dress up, may be I envy that, it’s the culture of laissez-faire, whatever I have-on I’m wearing. Well OK, I’m heading out the door with this filthy shorts and the same shirt I wore yesterday, I’m just going to take my socks off and put a pair of flip flops, my feet will smell better than the three-day socks.

My Friend Gerald in Chicago

Here is a picture of my friend Gerald, The tourist is the guy in the background who failed to blend with the crowd.

Should I Be Packing For A Funeral?

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I walked into the funeral home and I was wandering what everyone was wearing, some people came with black ties, some came with color ties and some didn’t come.

This question came because my brother asked whether he should wear a black tie or not. Many years ago nobody would show up to a funeral without a suit and a black tie and all the women wearing black dresses. The millenniums have change the rules, at least they are changing the rules since most of them don’t go to funerals yet, but when they do, they continue to show up in blue jeans. If you are not sure what to wear, pack an extra pair of black shoes, a black jacket and a dark tie, if you are a woman , pack a dress and if need too, change in the car, like you do when you are driving.

If you are related in anyway to the deceased, don’t forget a hanker-shift or at least some cleanex, you may think your are a strong person but tears will flow once you see one of your family wearing their last outfit .

In a summary, if you have to go to a funeral and you don’t have the proper clothes, don’t worry, get permission at work to go to the funeral, put on your jeans, invite your friends to join you for a late lunch and don’t show up at the service, they probably won’t miss you, unless it’s your own.

Xavier at a funeral

La Petite Marche

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It’s 10 am and I gather with my friends to have le petit déjeuner. Talk about trying to eat breakfast with Twenty two friends from high school, all I hear is words like bonjour, hello, S’il vous plaît madame, and on and on. These are special friends, we graduated from high school in Belgium and we have reunions very often, this time is Montreal, but it has been, Chicago, Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Houston, Cincinnati, Las Vegas, Pioneer in California, Brussels twice, Seattle twice, two cruises, Baltimore, New Orleans and New York city twice, talk about people with no careers and no hope to retire.

Is sunny today, I’m not wearing my long Johns, I left my heavy jacket at the hotel but I’m layered well; heavy vest on top of a pullover on top of a turtleneck on top of a t-shirt. Time to go.

As we leave the restaurant and we stand outside, all I hear is

¡Call an Uber!

All phones come out of the holster, twenty some people needs to get to Mount Royal, it’s the race to grab the first car or station wagon that shows up, whoever is left behind will have to pay for his own Uber, some of us will share….. the ride, not the bill.

“I jump into a car, six of us ride confortable, some conversation starts going in the back, I’m not listening but my ear stands still when I hear Susan say” My boobs can meet my knees” I didn’t ask any questions, I’ll wait to get out… and verify.

Mont Royal is a high hill overlooking the city, tourist flock to this spot to catch a glimpse at the city landscape while they chant words like oh la la. I simply take some pictures and go on my way. My classmates continue to chant oh la la.

Time is running out, before dinner we Must see old Montréal and a display of lights at the Botanical Garden. Old Montreal didn’t seem as old as I thought and the lights didn’t glow, Claude forgot to buy tickets to the sold out show.

We rushed to the Metro station to catch a ride to some Heineken place in St Denis street, I swallow my beer in one gulp, Adriana took two sips and we left in a hurry, we only had one hour to make it back for dinner. Walk… Metro… Walk

Brush my hair… Adriana change clothes…. Put a jacket, walk… Metro…. Walk

Damm, my phone is going dead, is a good thing I have the restaurant ping on my phone.

Honey we are here, no we are not she says, this is the breakfast place, Damm again, so where is the restaurant I said, I only have 2% left on my phone, let me call Claude.

Claude, where is the restaurant…. Hellooo… Where is the restaurant…. it’s at 330 Marie Ann Street…. Hello…. hello… Phone shuts down… Honey did you get that? Yes, 33 Marie Jane Street

Escuse moi mecier, do you know where Mari Jane St is, oh oui 10 streets that way, merci… We start walking. 13 streets later, we back track 3 streets and by a miracle of who knows what we found the restaurant. We entered with a big applause, I was so happy to see my friends, right away I join the Canadian and Latin American wine society, Adriana just wanted to catch up on the wine drinking competition.

40 Degrees Is Not Warm Weather

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I’m glad I brought my long Johns, going from 90 degrees to 40 is an abuse to our fragile body. It should be against the law to travel above the tropic of cancer after September 1st.

I was looking at my suitcase to see if I had the right clothes for this climate; in conclusion after walking several blocks in the cold, my gloves were not warm enough, I wish I had ear muffs and the Metro station was never close enough.

I know if I had been wearing those items I would had felt very warm, but the embarrassment kept me from buying them at the local Walmart, walking down the street there were many people walking in just shirts, some women had no socks and others were wearing skirts.

There is always an easy solution, hail an Uber. I did. I was standing on the road waiting for Mr. Andretti to arrive when the phone Rang, it was speedy Gonzales telling me in French that he was waiting at the corner of such and such street, I didn’t know what street I was on, and as he kept talking I kept answering on my best French that I didn’t know what street I was on but he needed to hurry, my long Johns were starting to feel very short. He did, we hoped on and paid a hefty fee to go around the block.

Montreal fall colors starting to show

On My Way To Montreal

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I’m sitting here in Houston with daily temperatures in the 90s, Montreal daily temperatures are in the 50s. Talk about adding sleeves to my shirts.

We are leaving to Montreal in a few days and we need to pack, since we are going to be there for four days I though I read my own website “Going On A Four Day Weekend” OK, did I miss the whole shaban? My post talks about trips to warm places and nothing about cold weather, I’m a victim of my own doing, now, time to pack and post, but the reality of what to pack will be better known when I get back and tell you what we forgot. In the mean time, I need to start thinking cold; no flip flops or short sleeves, replace sailing gloves for mittens and pants with long johns.

Thanks to my friend Tony, I’m writing this blog, he lives in Cleveland so he must be laughing at me since packing for him is just to throw his everyday clothes in the suitcase and go.

Saturday September 28, I finally lay down my suitcase, it’s not the biggest suitcase I own, I figure a medium size will do. Let’s see what Adriana is going to take. As I mentioned in the past the first things I throw into my suitcase are the tickets, the passports, money, important papers, phone cables, and camera.

OK, I lied, medium suitcase is not going to do it, those big winter coats, sweaters and so on are going to take more room than my normal shorts and t-shirts. I’ll keep you post it tomorrow where I’m.

September 29 – Not a lot of progress today, I started looking for my warm clothes, so far I put in the suitcase a heavy jacket, long johns, a good sweater six pair of socks and nothing else. I wonder if I can get a USB heating blanket I can plug into my phone charger and carry with me.

September 30 – Not sure when it became another day, now I’m behind on my packing, so I’m looking thru my closet to find items that normally I wouldn’t pack, so I found a scarf, a winter hat and some worm gloves. I’m getting somewhere now, now all I need is my regular clothes; shirts, pants, underwear and shoes.

October 1 – In my mind this is the last day to pack, if it’s not in the suitcase is not going. I did notice my dog sitting inside the suitcase, he thinks he is going. At this point, rain or shine, warm or cold, snow or not, we will be in Montreal in couple days, my wife hasn’t pack yet, she keeps saying she has nothing to wear, I keep saying, you are right.

My mother always says, live for today you never know when your time comes, this trip is especial in her honor, I need to live by her words, she is sick right now and if she could speak she wouldn’t allow me to cancel this trip to stay with her.

Mother and I
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While In The Hospital

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As I sit here in a hospital room, no I’m not sick, I watch nurses come and go all day long. They wear blue and green scrubs, some have what it looks like comfortable shoes and other wish they did.

I remember when Adriana worked as a dentist, she used to wear scrubs every day; and then she will come home and change clothes, but some days she was too tire and simply she would stay in her work clothes until bed time.

If you wear scrubs every day how many clothes do you need in your closet?

I was trying to do some calculations, most women have the equivalent of 10 outfits per day for a period of a week, when it comes to shoes it’s not very conclusive, I believe they have a secret compartment in the house most men are not aware where they hide those shoes they purchase the previous years but have not worn yet. With those numbers in hand, if you work on the medical profession you can do some calculations yourself and decide how many outfits you really need daily.

Here is a little bit of help:

  1. Count how many days a week you wear scrubs
  2. Count how many different shoes you wear to work
  3. Take the number of shoes you wear to work, multiply it by the number of days you wear scrubs and divide it by 2.
  4. The results is the number of outfits you should own per day.

Lets analyze the results:

If you work five days a week 9 to 5 you probably wear scrubs because as the cleaning lady it’s required by the hospital, then you probably wear the same shoes all week long, therefore, you should have 2.5 outfits per day including your scrubs. No need to have a secret closet, everyone in the house know how many pairs of shoes you own.

If you are on call 24/7 and you change scrubs twice a day, you start your day with your pumps and end your day with high heels in the way to the ball, you are probably a doctor, therefore, you should own no less than 15 outfits per day and your secret closets should be a walking closet.

If your mayor was mathematics and ended up as a nurse, you probably can do more precise calculations, let me know your results so we can publish them as well.

Kathryn-Wilsons-pump
Kathryn-Wilsons Pump

Emergency to the Hospital

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Sooner or later we have to visit someone at the hospital, it’s more pleasant when the person horizontal in bed it’s an acquaintance and not a relative.

Now, if it’s your relative and you are the caretaker or the closest relative you may have the duty to pack some clothes for this person.

As I contemplate the idea of bringing some clothes for this relative I kept asking myself, why do they need clothes if they spend all the time in a hospital gown?

Should I bring PJs and a change of clothes? I’ll bring both. I would guess it depends if they are in the ICU or the “Check my cholesterol I’m feeling fat wing”

If the person is in the ICU why would you be thinking about bringing clothes? But if you are in the other wing then they even have some suggestions, here is an excerpt from  Memorial Herman Health system, “Personal items, such as toiletries, reading materials and glasses, audio tapes, photos; personal pillow and blanket, if desired” I’m guessing extra clothes is not part of the recommendation, so maybe I’m answering my own question; why do they need clothes when they are in hospital gowns?

I guess I’ll ask the nurse next time.

Since they do supply hospital gowns, once they issue you one, there is no instructions on how to wear it,  do you put it on and tie it in the back so your ass shows all the time? or do you tie it in the front so everything else shows. I guarantee you there is no right way, most of the time you see it tie in the back, but then I went to the doctor and they were going to do a cardiogram so they gave me a gown, so I dwell on the idea of which way to put it on and decided that I rather show my asss, until a beautiful slender twenty five year nurse came in and told me to turn it around, I did while she was waiting….. Next time ask the nurse.

Volcan Poás, Costa Rica

Did you pack for the flood?

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I wonder if people getting prepare for the floods in Houston and Louisiana pack correctly.

If I’m getting water coming thru my front door, at some point I have to say, kids, we may need to evacuate, pack your bags.

Now, there is a difference between pack your bags we are leaving on the station wagon and pack your bags we are going to need a rescue boat.

If you are leaving on the good old trusty Chevy caprice Station wagon, you pack suitcases at head out straight to aunt Betty’s house, but if you are thinking that you are going to need a rescue boat, it is all about what you can put in your backpack.

First, are you still thinking you will be going to aunt Betty’s house instead of a shelter? Then don’t forget your Pj’s, your toothbrush, clean underwear and a present, however, if you are going to a shelter, bring a blindfold, ear plugs, a deck of cards and a pair of clean socks; and call aunt Betty and tell her you couldn’t get the guys in the skiff to drop you in her house but you promise you will bring the kids before Christmas.

PS: Whatever decision you made, wether to visit aunt Betty or the charity shelter, don’t forget your important documents before you pack spare underwear, it’s easier to buy clothes than to remember who is your car insurance to file a claim.