I had not pooped the day before, maybe because everyone else was pooping so much with issues, so I stayed behind to clean up the kitchen and to finish my book and coffee in the hopes all of that would churn up some action. That happened sooner than I expected much to my delight, but the quietness of the unit made me want to sleep and the book I was reading was too good. So I hung around reading and when I finished my book I joined the others at the pool.
The pool, one of four here at Palm-aire, by our unit was in the shape of an + with rounded edges and a fountain at one of the T's. It looked like this (drawing in journal) or something close to it. Kelly can draw better than I can so perhaps she will do it more justice. (SIDENOTE: In looking back at our pictures I realize that I didn't have a clue as to the shape of the pool. This is why I make a lousy witness. The pool looked like this; move of an angel without a head:)
The pool rules sign stated the bathing load was thirty, which seemed on the low end to my vast pool knowledge. Lounge chairs were set up around the pool, and because the deck was tiny, the chairs were butt-up against the pool deck edge against the shrubbery, leaving very little space to maneuver. This is where Kelly's diagram would come in handy, but she is driving and can not draw now. I shall leave her room on the next page to draw it.
Kelly's diagram of the pool by our unit (when she gets time):
The first day we lounged by the pool Susan chose chairs by the stairs leading into the pool. My chair was on the end near the entrance and exit to our building and up close to the pool stairs. I felt very exposed as people would congregate at the stairs with their children and sales people would bring poor suckers stuck in those sales meetings past me to enter the building. I had us move closer to one of the deep ends (refer to picture above, to the angel's right wing) where we had more walking space and were closer to the bathrooms. This is where we ended up sitting the next day too.
This time a table for four had been added to our lounge space (see Kelly's not yet drawn diagram) and when I arrived I put my stuff down on the table. I had brought cards in the hopes we would all play games so I was excited about the addition of a table that was empty. Because of confined space the lounge chairs were literally next to each other so that we had to crawl from the bottom of the lounge chair to get to the head. Once there you sat elbow to elbow with the person on either side of you. Maddy had pulled her chair back some so she could maneuver and not touch her chair mates. I moved the table over some and then moved my lounge chair so I could enter from the side, not wanting the entire pool crowd to be subjected to my fat bikini clad bottom (kidding! I wasn't in a bikini. Relax) There was still plenty of room for guests to walk on the concrete walkway on the other side of the table to the bathroom.
There were few people there and we swam and read, and it was quite peaceful for a couple of hours. Because the pool rules said, "NO FOOD OR DRINK" we did not bring food down from our unit and the girls ate lunch in the grill. Everyone was happy and enjoying our time.
At about two o'clock the happiness ended for me. The group in the loungers on the opposite side of the bathroom walkway left. Slowly three women, one man, and two small children moved in. The kids were loud and noisy, as kids are, with the smallest one running back and forth on his tiptoes past my chair. He was wearing water wings and the older kid wasn't. The women stopped by my lounge chair and just talked, yelling at the kids to settle down. They kept pointing over to the other side of the pool where the other table was next to the grill. Another man appeared to join them with a teenager who didn't look happy about being there. She sat down on the lounge chair vacated by the people next to Gabby and Darcy and she pouted some.
I tried to keep reading, but they were too busy walking and talking past my chair and table. The teenager got up and walked over to the grill. Now several women and men had arrived at the grill and the women were arranging grocery bags on the table and the men were firing up the grill. A woman wandered up to my table and set down a large McDonald's cup on it. Behind her came two other women with grocery bags that they set down on the table next to my stuff and the McDonald's cup. Since we really weren't using the table, I moved my stuff to the chair that I was also using next to my lounge chair, despite the fact that no one asked me if I was using the table. Politeness is very easy. These people had none of it.
They paraded back and forth, back and forth, bringing more and more bags and food. They took the other three chairs that went with the table and began moving the lounge chairs so that they blocked the bathroom walkway. I had to walk through the shrubs and landscaping to get to the bathroom, and I was not happy about that. These people were rude, obnoxious, overbearing, and irritating - to me at least. At one point they pulled out onions and tomatoes and began cutting them on a cutting board, the smell of onions overpowering us. We tried to get away from them by getting in the water, but then the kids jumped in and the teenager joined them and then the men came in. We finally gave up and packed up our stuff. As soon as we stood up they snagged our chairs.
Another annoyance for me was that someone broke off the soap dispenser in the bathroom, or perhaps it fell off, but whoever was in the bathroom when it happened just left it lying in the sink where it either landed or was dumped. It was one of those automatic dispensers and probably expensive. Since I am an owner that incurs these expenses through my maintenance fee, I picked it up and tried to put it back on the wall. Unfortunately, that was impossible since the bolt in the wall was loose and rolling around in the plaster. I laid the dispenser on the back of the toilet.
When I lifted the dispenser out of the sink there was a pair of sunglasses lying underneath the dispenser. Really? What? The dispenser fell off the wall on to your head, knocking your glasses off? You were then too disoriented to retrieve them? Since the dispenser was to the right of the sink I thought this not a possible scenario. I tried the glasses on and thought they looked good on me so I took them back to my lounge chair. I thought about leaving them on the sink, but didn't trust that with the family outside and I thought about turning them into the front desk, but didn't trust them to even care. I decided I would take them to my chair and watch to see if anyone was searching for them. The glasses were by no means expensive, probably $10 from Penney's, but I felt guilty for having them. Then again if I had left them with anyone or on the sink someone else might have ended up with them too. I eventually forgot about them, as I did the dispenser, after the obnoxious group descended on us. Hopefully the Wyndham employees check or clean those bathrooms and will report to maintenance the broken dispenser. I won't hold my breath though and am thankful I don't own property there. The Palm-aire employees, except for Daniel at the front desk at check-in, were for the most part nonchalant and unfriendly. Not what I remember from my visit there under Fairfield ownership.
Our evening was pleasant. We went back to Lauderdale by the sea, figuring that if we went earlier it wouldn't be so crowded despite it being a Saturday night. We found parking closer than the previous night and ate at another restaurant, 101 Ocean, that was in the coupon book Lizbeth had given me upon check-in. We all enjoyed our meals, and I finally had the frozen beverage I had been looking for the entire vacation. It was a frozen mojito and delicious!
After dinner we went out to the beach to take pictures and enjoy the sunset. Again the water was flat. There were few people out there, most of them packing it up for the day.
Then we walked around the strip some, buying more ice cream from Kilwins (toasted coconut!), shopping, and watching a cute, little wiener puppy for sale at a place called "Diamonds and Dogs" poop in his little window seat/cage. I hate pet stores. I don't trust them and the animals always look drugged, but I really wanted to bring that little guy home with me. Maddy texted Tom a picture of it and told him I was buying it, but he ignored the message. I didn't buy him, nor did I buy any diamonds. Instead we went back to the resort and talked until one in the morning.
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