Oh boy - what a couple of weeks it has been. I am in Greenville. We got home from our vacation yesterday afternoon and I headed for the airport again this morning for a couple of days of meetings.

As far as airports go - I have begun rating them. Lexington is wonderful - the security guard actually had a sense of humor today and I felt so happy to be home! After the nightmare in Tobago, most any other airport would seem wonderful though. We arrived on a Liat flight into Tobago, from Barbados, and made our way to the customs line in time to see a woman throwing a fit because of the length of the line from the huge jet from London. The 7 of us from the tiny Liat flight had our own line and made our way through quickly. I can understand why she was upset but it was a bit disconcerting to have her screaming at the security and customs officers. I heard there had also been a fight between two locals before we got there. Apparently this is typical for the Tobago airport as it can take 2 hours to get through customs, let alone get your luggage. Took us forever to get our luggage and as we made on our way out, Steve pulling his golf bag and me with a cart with our luggage, I couldn't get through the door after the last security check. They only had one of the double doors open and a whole group of local cab drivers stood there with smirks on their face as I tried to get the other door open to get the cart through. Not one of them offered to help. I was so upset by the time I got out to the sidewalk where Steve was with the guy from local car rental agency that I was fuming. Steve saw the look on my face and realized Ruth was not a happy camper!! We then ended up with a car with 70,000 miles, a dashboard in pieces (some one tried to steal the CD/radio), a piece on the floor near the door was falling off, and the muffler rattled so bad I was embarrassed when we came to a stop! We drove around the island, which has very narrow windy roads and discovered that the locals are not at all friendly - some down right nasty. After that we stayed pretty close to "home" - the Hilton, which was in a beautiful location (quiet, on the windward side of the island) but in need of repairs. We went out to dinner at restaurants that were recommended and even those were not always comfortable to be in - terrible service. Our departure from the airport was no better - Liat charged $125 extra for luggage even though we only paid $50 out of Barbados and the guy at the exit tax window shorted us $20 in change. He just ignored Steve when he asked for the rest of the change. Although the vacation at the Hilton was very restful, I would never go back to Tobago.

I did do some reading. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the "gentle" romances of Jude Devereaux. I read Always, a very delightful time travel romance. Her books are bubble bath/beach reads but do have a bit of historical information as well. Did you ever think you may have a soul mate who lived in a different time? Or, perhaps you come back in various bodies and in different generations. Would you recognize your loved one even though you fell in love with him/her in your last life and she died in your arms? Certainly had me thinking as I read this. Although the characters are not teenagers, I do think teenage girls who love romances would enjoy these and I'd have no problems with recommending them as they don't go beyond suggestive. Some of the bodice rippers are so explicit it is more like erotica than romance.

It's late and I have a meeting in the a.m. so I am going to call it a night, even if there is an episode of Will and Grace on I haven't seen.