Well, I made it back. And Mr Spivey?

Yup, got back to the shores of Santa Dominga las' nite, had my choice of about four rides back to Santy-ago, but I also had my son there.

funny, every where I turned on the plane there was a friend or a friend's wife. Seems like lots of people were in Miami lately..

Also a lot of Dominicans at the International Furniture Market, Wayne, I'm sorry that we just did not have the time to do a
f-to-f with you. Not to worry, I'll get back that way pretty soon and we'll go eat over at the Pioneer!.. I'll bet you were as beat as I was with all the printing that goes on there...

Folks, if you have never heard of the IFM at High Point, don't worry, it isn't for public consumption. It is a twice a year, mega event, that services all the furniture dealers and manufacturers in the world!! Some 200,000 people crowd into High Point for two weeks of frenzied shopping. (High Point has about 75,000 normally). Billions of dollars of orders are written and for many companies, these 28 days are the make or break of the year....Intense.

It was bothersome getting back into the local traffic, even at 9 p.m. Especially after the hwys in North Carolina. Man, Jesse Helms has strewn that state with highways!! 70 mph for hour after hour.

And clean!!. I showed my travelling buddy a sign:
"Don't Litter!!
Fine $1,000."
He didn't understand, so I explained that if he tossed that piece of hamburgher wrapper out the window, it could cost him 16,750 pesos!! He was shocked!! But impressed with the cleanliness of everything.

Nearly $RD890 for not having a seat belt on and RD$4,187.50 for speeding and double that for speeding in a work zone....

Ah, the joys of civilization...no bones out the window, no Presidente in one hand and the wheel in the other. In fact, no Presidente at all! (8^(

It was a tiring trip and just about all I got out of it was a sore throat from the dry air!!

Now back to packing the 14 pounds of tobacco for Grahame's pipes!!

later, y'all

HB

Two of the things that really p...... me off on the flight back were these:
1. Some IDIOT checked in and then didn't make the flight time!!

Bags had to be found, identified and taken off an A-300!

then the dumb old thing gets there and they let her board.

ONE hour lost before we even take off..... Not to mention the inconvenience caused to our aircraft of over 200, but what about the nearly 20 aircraft that had to be shuffeled about so we could even get a slot to take off. I heard the Captain say were were 15th in line!!!

2. When we got in line for Immigration, ours seemed to be moving extraordinarily slow. ??Why I wondered until I saw some guy running around with papers and passports geting them stamped at our line.
when I got to the front of the line, waiting to get stamped, he again shows up with some passports to be stamped. I told him to wait, patiently, like the rest of the people. He said that these were VIP. I told him in my best Cibaeno accent. You dumb a--h---! I am a VIP! Wait your turn! And baptized the statement with several of the nicer 4 letter words of Dominican Spanish!

There I got that off my chest.

HB

>>I told him in my best Cibaeno accent. You dumb a--h---! I am a VIP! Wait your turn! And baptized the statement with several of the nicer 4 letter words of Dominican Spanish!<<

Did it help (did they wait their turn)?

Certain people that have friends in government, etc. get to by-pass the regular immigration and customs. Their passports are usually handed off to be stamped at the Santo Domingo airport by the booths processing the last two lines on the left (closest to the Immigration office), which greatly slows down the line.

It doesn't make much difference to me usually, because it is typcial to wait 45-60 minutes for American to get all the luggage unloaded.

For everybodys' info: I travelled yesterday and did not have to walk on chemical coated sponges like I did in Brasil a couple weeks ago to prevent foot and mouth disease.

Jimmy Never had to wait for luggage, even with American, cause I travel with carry ons only. I also leave the meatloaf home. Regards

No excuse me Sir, may I please..." Just the "These are VIPs".
And you are so right about AA taking their sweet time with the bags!! i was the 2nd person to check in so you gotta know my bags were a long time in coming.

I would have carried the same thing that I took, a carry-on with the essentials for my trip. But no, I have grandchildre that need fuzzy animals, and kids that need golf socks, Khaki shorts,
and jeans. And a GMC monster that needed a new fuel pump, and a wife that needed more books to read, so another suitcase was needed and a big soft bag for the toys!!

Oh well, all done with, and everything arrived safely....

HB

Hope by now you've had a nice relaxing Presidente, smoke and maybe even a kipe :-)
Mary

Hi HB,

Glad to hear you made it back safely. Hubby and I were thinking of driving to High Point, NC this weekend as a matter of fact - I think it is a 5-6 hour drive from Arlington. We will go if my my allergies get better (I am miserable and my Zyrtec isn't working much, oh well).

We want to buy some furniture and everyone says High Point is the place to go. I have been doing a lot of research on many, many brands, but I have been so disappointed...I am sick and tired of reading "made of hardwood solids", just what the heck does "hardwood solids" mean?! The quality just isn't there with most popular brands (even Ethan Allen, Pennsylvania House, Thomasville and Lexington are now taking "shortcuts" in their manufacturing). I am liking the quality of Kincaid a whole lot, as well as Harden and Kimball.

HB, are you a furniture dealer as well? Can you shed some light on the business of buying furniture in NC. We have thought about getting some things from the DR, but the problem would be transporting them to the US. I know what I like and what I want, but I just can't seem to find it in Arlington. Everyone here is either into antiques or very modern/contemporary designs. It is scary. And of course, everyone is mad about Mission and Shaker styles :-/ Can you e-mail me so that we can chat about your furniture experience, specially when it comes to quality...I know you will give me some useful tips.

Warm regards,
Natasha
natashalopez@yahoo.com

Hi Natasha, glad to see you "back" on the board but sorry about the allergies......How you like the new home?? ECH

Oh Ernest, I am miserable! I never knew what nuisance allergies can be because I never suffered from them before...well not until we moved to the DC area. My doc tells me she sees it all the time, people who suddenly develop allergies once they move to the area. This week has been really bad :-/

Anyway, our townhome is going well. It is small (very small actually) since you don't get much in Ballston, but I have a cute front yard where I have managed to plant my azaleas and some evergreens. Ah and by the way, we actually had Keith Ripley and his family over for dinner one night. We had a blast! Next time you are in Arlington visiting the Iwo Jima, you are on for dinner with us, and that's a promise.

Abrazos,
Natasha