Insane Random Ramblings

I need to earn more rewards points for my travel accounts. I have several hotel accounts and 2 airline accounts. I have been fortunate enough to find ways to add points to my accounts without actually flying or staying at a hotel.

Most of the points come from playing various games and promotions that the company offers. But I also get points from buying HDMI cables or shoes and clothes online. They also have deal with banks, brokerage houses and the electric company. As long as it’s something that I was going to do anyway, I’ll go for it.

Right now I need a gang load of points to be able to go somewhere really nice. But it I’m going to use points, I should go somewhere totally out of the ordinary and totally take advantage of the situation.

I need a plan of action to accrue points fast and furiously.

I  have a couple of friends that I think would make good travel partners, but they both have kids so it makes it more difficult to travel. My normal travel buddies are acting up and I haven’t gone anywhere with them for a couple of years. I don’t see myself going anywhere with them either, even if we’re going to the same place.

Unfortunately it’s way too expensive right now for me to consider going solo. I can’t even find a trip for under $1k. The same trip with 2 people is less than $800 in some cases around $750. I do know there is the single supplement but right now it’s not a good time for me to kick out that extra money.

Hopefully something comes up within the few months. I really need a vacation.

And I’m not doing a darn thing either. Today is my last vacation day of the year. Then I go back to work for 3 days and I have another 3 day weekend. The only regret that I have is when I got sick a couple of weeks ago. I was out of sick days so I had to use vacation days so that I wouldn’t miss out on getting paid. If I hadn’t used those days, I would have off of work tomorrow as well. Oh well I can’t worry about water under the bridge.

On the plus side, next week starts a new year which means a new vacation schedule. I’ve been at my job for 5 years so I’m finally back up to 3 weeks of vacation.

But no I didn’t, not at all. There was a “game” yesterday. The Steelers played like crap. The whole light fiasco was a hoot. I think it put a chink in the players game mojo because it messed up their rhythm. No excuses because the 49ers still executed and won decisively. Could I have saved my time and watched something else, you betcha.

I was off work because I had 2 vacation days to burn. I didn’t do anything yesterday but I didn’t feel like cooking so I went out and bought lunch. It was a opportunity to save a couple of bucks but I didn’t take it. Whoops!

I need to start planning my menu for next week now. The holiday is Sunday so stores will be crazy crowded on Saturday so I’m definitely not going out that day.  Monday the 26th is a federal holiday and my last vacation day is Tuesday the 27th. I am not going out to eat all of those days. I already have a holiday menu now I just need something for those random days off. Luckily I also have my New Years kielbasa on deck, I just need sauerkraut and whatever else I decide to have that day.

I’ll be a busy bee over the next couple of days.

I should be happy that it’s Friday but I’m really not. I have this project that I’m working on that is supposed to be done by the 27th of this month. There is no way it will be done on time. Only half of the project will be done. I’ve estimated that it will take me 6 days minimum to get 3/4 of it done and that’s not counting today.

We have 9 working days left in the year and I’m off for 2 of those, leaving me with 7  days before the end of the year. So I have today plus 1 additional day. Did I mention that 2 of those days we will leave work early, so that’s 1 1/2 days left? There is no way I’m finishing this project on time.

I may have to come in to work tomorrow. As if that’s not bad enough, I won’t even get paid for the 5 or so hours that I put in. If I even remotely finish this project by the 30th, even I’ll be amazed at my progress.

I’m starting to miss going to the Bahamas. I never thought I would say that since I’ve been there so many times. I had even said in the past that I wouldn’t go there for a long time. Now I’m missing the good food, the people playing stainless steel drums during Junkanoo, and laying on the beach with a good book and a even better drink. I haven’t even started talking about the various people that I met over the years.

I may have to start looking to book a quick getaway.

I usually don’t schedule any time off during the Veteran’s Day Holiday week, but I think I’ll be making an exception this year. I feel burned out and drained. I’ve been applying for jobs for what seems like forever with no luck. I’ve decided to apply for a job that I normally wouldn’t consider just to move up.

Right now my head is spinning and I just need a moment to myself.

And not a moment too soon I may add. I have a ton of people to buy for this year. I have4 nieces and great-nieces and nephews. Plus I have my brother and a couple of my younger cousins.

Most of them want toys or video games which are easy enough to pick up. My youngest niece wants jewelry though. I looked online and found some really cute jewelry beads that I think she might like. I really like the fact that it’s a theme type of gift so every year I can buy her something similar to add to her collection. Then every 3rd or 4th year I can switch it up and buy her a regular gift then go right back to the collection.

I love when gift giving is easy.

I was looking at one of my favorite travel sites looking for a cheap vacation for next year. Some sites don’t have prices after April 2012. Since I want to go in either May or August I still have a few months to go.

A friend sent me a update about a really cheap airfare that’s good through the end of the year. I can also get the fare on the weekend. I thought it was a good deal until I noticed that the city is smack dab in the middle of the city. Not bad but it’s not a touristy town, it’s mostly a residential area. If you want to go to the beach, you have to rent a car and drive almost an hour. I am not trying to drive an hour each way in a foreign country. I don’t even wanna drive that long here at home.

I guess I’ll just keep saving my money and just wait until the time period that I’m interested in opens up for purchases. No sense in paying money to go somewhere I’m not really interested in just because it’s cheap.

I recently tried to book a solo travel trip. The destination wasn’t really important to me. I did have my top three choices which were the Dominican Republic, Jamaica or Aruba. There were some sporadic places also in play but there were some definite no go places including the Bahamas or any of the USVI islands. I’ve been to those places before and I’m looking for something new.

I’m actually looking forward most to going to the Dominican. Almost every resort is all inclusive with private beaches which is what I’m looking for most. I can also shop to my hearts content and most of the places are duty free. I wouldn’t mind bringing back some cohiba cigars dominican for my friends or coworkers. I’d probably bring some back for myself as well just as a souvenir.

The costs were ridiculous. The taxes alone were almost $250 on the trip which made the cost go over $1000 and this is for a 4 day deal not a long 8 day vacation. This is supposed to be a short little recharge the batteries type of thing. Instead I would probably be too stressed about the cost to enjoy myself.

I’ll keep saving and try to take a really nice vacay next year.