St Lucia, West Indies

Our trip to St Lucia was a good one...

The airport sits on the far end of the island from where many of the resorts lie. It's about an hour ride via shuttle, but if you get queasy from car rides, this is not the place for you. They were hit pretty hard by a hurricane last fall, and as a result, many of the roads have crumbled down the cliffs in to the jungle. There were some points that I thought we were going off the side.

The island is stricken with poverty. Even my kids noticed how many of the people live in shacks. This is common with Caribbean islands, but I don't really like to be reminded that others live this way when I'm on vacation. It sounds callous and selfish, but it makes it really hard to enjoy yourself, knowing the staff are probably underpaid and will never know what it's like to enjoy a trip like you are on.

The Atlantic side of the island is beautiful, but not really a great place to vacation if you enjoy the beach. It reminds me of the coastline of California..beautiful mountains but not beach-worthy. The Caribbean side of the island is where the majority of the people live and the resort are.

The island operates with the Eastern Caribbean Dollar, which is roughly $1 US Dollar to $2.70 ECs. The drinks are reasonable...about $6/drink...but the food is RIDICULOUSLY priced, and at the Windjammer Landing, where we stayed, it was just so-so. The resort is beautiful, but I was not a fan of the beach. The sand is rocky and dirty. The staff was very warm and welcoming...most of the veteran staff remembered my MIL from her 11 years going there. Its a timeshare resort, which is a nice option. We own the Disney Vacation Club, and personally, I think its a better option for timeshare, but everyone has their own opinions of what they like. I am by no means putting the place down...we had a great time.

The villa was very nice and relaxing. We spent most of our time there. I like the option in having your private pool.

All in all, I would go back to St Lucia, but it's not somewhere I would go on a cruise ship stop. I would be more inclined to try some different islands, rather than rush back there right away. I loved Costa Maya, Mexico...but with the violence in Mexico, I would be worried about traveling there right now. If you are looking for a relaxing place to lounge, St Lucia was lovely...if you like to be more active, I would go somewhere else.

The view from our villa.

Our glorious porch, where I could happily live forever.

The view off the side of our pool.

My handsome son Gavin.

The debonair Taylor.

The open-air lobby.

The pool.

This ship was AMAZING.

How could anyone not like this?

As I sit in paradise, I realize I suck at relaxing.

Day 4 in St Lucia...

I have now spent 2 full days in one of the most relaxing places I've ever been. I've tried as best I can to block out all the events I will encounter in the next 3 months. I've laid on the beach, and cursed my blueish-white thighs. I've so far, managed to dodge a lobster-esque sunburn. I've laid around, doing nothing but reading trash magazines. I've consumed my weight in rum.

I'm bored.

I know...cry you a river, right?

I'm not really complaining. But I find myself missing my bed, my dogs, my ability to not live out of a suitcase. And I am ready to plan out my moving. We got a lot of information in the two days before we flew here...we are moving to San Francisco proper and we ARE allowed to sign a lease, so we can go househunt before we move...which alleviates many of my anxieties.

But we've also spent a buttload of money here. The food is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. The alcohol is much cheaper though. We chartered a private boat for the day tomorrow, in an attempt to get out and do something. Andy and the boys want to snorkel. I don't do floating, so I will be riding up front, happy as a dog sticking its head out of a moving car window.

My MIL and I are also going to go shopping, which I know will end in utter depression and lots of overeating, since I won't fit in to any of the clothes in the high-end boutiques. AND I really shouldn't spend more on clothes and accessories anyway.

It's been a good trip, but I really need structure in my life....so this can get a little maddening.

Keri

SICK DAYS

I was reading this article on Yahoo a few days ago about companies hiring private investigators to go out and spy on people who take their sick days for non-sick reasons. Though I thought to myself that it was kind of pointless to pay $75 per hour to a private investigator instead of just letting the $20 an hour employee slide, the interesting part of the article was all the comments after it. There was over 3000, with people on both sides of the fence.

People get mad when you rip off their employer. There were so many indignant remarks about people being lucky to even have their job, let alone a week of sick time. Then there were other people, making arguments for Paid Time Off, rather than “sick” time, or justifying the behavior because employers don’t give people enough paid time off and often put pressure on their employees to not be sick and not take more than X-amount of days off consecutively.

I just thought this made a really good topic to talk about because people have such strong reactions to the issue.

Personally, I’ve worked for more employers that have fallen on the “crappy” side of things. I’ve even worked for companies that have given PTO, but didn’t want you to use it. Most bosses have made me feel horrible if my children or I were sick, so that I felt even worse being off, instead of getting better. I have sat through countless vacations with my Blackberry in hand, waiting for calls or needing to check in to see what I am falling behind on. I have given countless hours of unpaid overtime.

I’ve also worked for employers that are amazing. People that would give you their own vacation time if you needed it, and some do donate in to “banks” for people who have medical or family emergencies and have exhausted their leave. People who honestly believe that your family life is more important than any job, and they should come first. They understand that a happy employee is generally a more productive employee. The federal government has great benefits. Even if I hated my job, I would stay because I can take off when I want, and I have flexibility to make my own schedule. I can even work a compressed schedule if I want to have a 4 day work week. Not all federal positions can accommodate this, and it’s still up to your supervisor, but mine is pretty great.

I think that for an employer to not give sick time, or harass their staff if they do, is archaic and these employers will pay for their mistakes. They will experience higher than average turnover, wasting thousands of dollars in return by training new people. If the economy is able to rebound, more baby boomers will start to retire, opening tons of positions for qualified people to step in to. There will be opportunities for people to be selective in where they WANT to work, rather than where they HAVE to work. Having a business pay to hire a P.I. is a great example of corporate misuse of funds, if they are spending more to investigate their employees rather than give them better benefits.

I’m curious to see what comments you guys have on this one. It’s a random topic, but that’s okay.

I’m totally in.