OK... I've got a lot to write about and I have to start with an apology. For those of you who sent e-mails or who have been complaining to me in person or to my wife, I am very sorry. I know it has been quite awhile since I updated this blog. The problem begins in China. On the way home from China, my computer died. Literally, it broke while I was sitting next to our I.T. guy at the airport. Well, I needed to get it fixed so I gave it to him with the caveat that I would need it back A.S.A.P.

John took the laptop to figure out why the hard drive died, but that doesn't mean my work was stopping. My company needed me to go down to Miami to spend a day or two with our customer down there. Miami isn't the worst place in the world to go to. In fact, it is a fairly pleasant location to work in. I just didn't have a laptop to communicate with.

So, the first day I arrive in Miami was a nightmare. I dropped part of a machine directly on top of my foot. It left a nasty bruise, but I was pretty certain I could walk without a problem. The customer refused to let me. In fact, they wouldn't even let me try to get up! The Cubans who worked at this shop were running around screaming, "The Gringo's hurt! The Gringo's hurt!" and it scared them so much that they called an ambulance. I genuinely thought this was overkill, but my boss called me and also insisted that they were doing the right thing.

I got to the hospital, they took some X-rays, and told me that nothing was broken. I had a bad bruise and a sprain and I would need to hobble around on crutches for a few days. That didn't sit too well with me since I was the only person available to work with this customer and they needed my help. There wasn't too much I could do, though, so I accepted my fate and stayed in Miami.

When I was discharged, I remember that my rental car was still at the customer's place and the gate was locked up. I didn't have much choice except to take a taxi. I still hadn't found a hotel and I was so disgusted and tired by this point that I didn't care. I told the driver to take me to the nearest hotel. Big mistake! The place he drove me to was a dump. You had to pay for your room in advance (daily or for the week) and they never bothered to clean my room. I did check for bugs and didn't find any. It wasn't in the best part of town, either. I was approached by more than one crack-addict asking for money because they "got stuck in this part of town and needed fare to catch the bus home." You'd think they could figure out a better line, wouldn't you? I almost told one of them that *I* was the one stuck in this part of town, but I thought better of it.

The next day, I took a taxi back to the customer's place and discovered that they had more problems than I had anticipated, at first. That was when things got really bad. My cell phone died. Now, I couldn't communicate by cell phone or by e-mail. I was effectively "cut off" in Miami without a way to properly communicate or ambulate. Needless to say, I was pretty disgusted.

This is when Gina did a really sweet thing. She knew how frustrated I was, so she surprised me by flying down to Miami for the weekend. When I got off work on Saturday afternoon, I went to the airport to pick her up and she stayed until Monday morning. It worked out very well since my three days were about over and I didn't need the crutches for much longer. Also, the rain had stopped so we had perfect weather. I didn't know she was coming until the day before, but since I could drive I checked out of that disgusting dive and found a decent hotel. (A very good thing to do before your wife arrives) It really could not have worked out much better.

On Saturday night we took a drive to South Beach and rode around a little bit. South Beach is one of those places that you would simply have to see to believe. Most nights, it consists of young people in souped-up cars driving around slowly in order to "see" and "be seen". We had dinner there and it was fantastic. We also had an opportunity to see a photo shoot. As we were driving a model and her photographer started working the area between the autos. She surprised us when she popped out from the sidewalk, strutted next to our rental car, and started wiggling her fanny around in the most unnatural gait one could possible imagine. I'm convinced the poor girl was a bulemic, but it didn't seem to affect her photographer. He kept popping off the flash bulbs as quickly as he could. It was interesting if not uneducational.

Neither Gina nor I had ever been to South Beach before so you would think everything would be new. Of course, that isn't true. Gina knew about 75% of all the hotels along this strip because of sending clients here. It was exciting for her to finally see the hotels in person and I liked it too. South Beach is world famous for it's Art Deco architecture and these hotels are jewels. Most of them have the old-style Southern porches with wide verandas which you can sit out on in a rocking chair. Unfortunately, for economic reasons, most of those verandas have been converted into restaurants. It isn't all bad, however, since the dining is al fresco and is very pleasant due to the good weather.

On Sunday, we had a free day all to ourselves so we wanted to have some fun. We found a place called "Jungle Island". Many of you might have remembered it as "Parrot Island", but the name has since changed. They are well known for their parrots, but they have expanded and turned the place into a veritable zoo. It wasn't a bad experience, but it was overpriced. $8 to park the car and $30 per person for entry is a little too salty for me. Luckily, Gina got a travel agent's discount. I don't mind. I like looking at animals.

The next thing we did was go to the place where Miami's cruise ships come to port. It wasn't hard to find since these mammoths stick out like a sore thumb. They are positively gargantuan and they all seem to dock at the same location at the same time. Gina was intrigued since most of Miami's ship pull out on Sunday and we were hoping to see a launch. It didn't happen, but we did get to see one of Carnival's ships go through their muster drill. That was neat. Gina had a lot of fun snapping photos of the ships and getting all the minute details so she could show her clients later on. She took the picture on the left. We going to ask her Carnival rep if they would buy it from us for their brochures. It's pretty good. :)

The next morning, Gina went home and I had to go back to work. I have to tell you how hard it was to do that after spending a nice weekend with your wife in Miami. I spent the rest of the week trying to fix the problems at my customer's which were legion. Luckily, my foot had healed and I was walking again. This didn't help my computer or mobile phone situation, however. It was a difficult week all around with my flight continually being postponed over and over again.

Luckily, I had some time on Saturday before my flight to visit Miami's holocaust memorial. There are a lot of different ethnic groups in the Miami area and the diversity in this city can make life very interesting. The large Jewish population decided to build this holocaust memorial in 1980's and it is probably the nicest one in the entire country. The statue of the large arm is in the center on an island surrounded by a quiet pool with water lilies growing in it. There is a a walkway encircling the pond with stories and explanation about the holocaust. This walkway is totally encapsulated by an arbor on which grows the most lovely bourganville vines I have ever seen. It was a very moving experience and not a bad way to spend an afternoon before having to go to the airport.