Termites, Hurricanes, tests and smoking . . . again Or . . . Why I haven’t contributed to my Blog in the last few days. Just in case the two people who have ever stopped by was curious: A) Hurricane Dennis B) House Tenting for termites C) Carrots have lost their taste and am now back on to cigarettes D) Studying for my comps. The house we rented had termites termites so we made a date to get it tented. We got a hotel reservation from hotwire for a so called three and a half star hotel in Coral Gables. Made reservations to board our darling dog and cat and packed up the house. You have to double bag all food, except canned, and medicines or anything which, when mixed with the toxic bug killer gas, will become more noxious. Which means basically any type of liquid. Bags all over the house and in the frig and the freezer all nicely doubled bagged and duck taped shut. I run around like a crazy woman on the 7th trying to find all items forgotten . . . open the bags . . . place item in . . . re-duck tape the bag. I prepare our animal’s food and toys (which I will never see again because the place we take them too keeps loosing the toys and bones). Label the food, the toys, the leashes and cat carriers. Pack for the hotel; get my husband to pack for the hotel. Smoke . . . yes . . . I know . . . you don’t have to say it. Morning of the 8th, day of the tenting, we are told they have to cancel because of the hurricane and because of the wind. Apparently the tents, like huge balloons, can go dancing into the wide open. Hotel won’t let us move our stay date or refund us Hotwire won’t let us move our stay date or refund us Pet place won’t refund but will give us a credit. Out almost 300 dollars with the knowledge that I have to do all this again next weekend end? . . . . not bloody priceless We go to hotel and never have I personally experienced such a fleecing. You have to pay for parking! $20 a day. What type of crap is that and we were not even told about it. So that’s another $60 down the tube. Then the hotel room is not really put together. The ice bucket is really dirty. Glasses dirty. Chair missing and damn-it, I have to pay $20 a day to park and then tip the valet people when they offer crappy service. Christ. Did you know that the mark-up at a hotel for anything is absolutely outrageous? If I wanted a medium bottle of Jack Daniels I would have to pay $115 dollars? A shot is $10 dollars and if my husband and I ordered the basic breakfast, after they placed all the taxes on it plus the 20% gratuity for just bring the damn tray up the room, the breakfast would cost us $50. What a rip off! And then came Dennis. The hotel only had satellite so it kept going in and out and, being that we chose Miami to stay in, we couldn’t go out. The next day, disgusted by the dirty ice bucket in a so called three and a half hotel room, we left. Gave up and pick up our animals who, again, came home without their toys. We cleaned the yard. Dennis didn’t hit us but the wind knocked down a bamboo tree. In two more days, I do it again. Emily, not my sister in law but the damn tropical storm brewing, stay away so I can get rid of the damn termites.