Okay, I lied. Here is an extra bonus (but, shhhh! Extremely confidential) post, because... I just have to VENT about Ted.
OMG!!!! I can NOT stand the man and I will never, EVER (*) go on another trip with him again. AHHHH! Ted is in my circle of friends only because of Ricki. Ricki has been with him since 2000-ish. She has actually lost other friends because of Ted. While I don't want to cut myself off from her, I will never go on another vacation with Ted (this is the 2nd vacation I've had with him. The last was a road trip through the southwest in 2009). I really think she would have dumped him years ago, but I think she hangs on to him because she doesn't want to be alone and fears she won't find anyone else (**). After years of not working (yet big talk of all of these things that were coming his way), he finally got paid for a project he was working on years ago that just now came to fruition. It was a sizable pay day for him...but doesn't make up for the decade of nothing but superior attitude and BS from him that came before it.
What is wrong with Ted? Everything. He's a little (short) man and I think that has a lot to do with his problem. He feels a sense of entitlement, laws do not apply to him, and he has to have a piece of everything (the biggest piece, if possible). An infamous example comes from the time we returned from our southwest trip. Once back at my place, the four of us and Trin (who had been babysitting my dear old dog Boo) went out to dinner at a Thai restaurant. One of the things we ordered was a soup. When it came, Ted served. We all got plenty of broth, but Ted got plenty of the chicken,shrimp, and veggies that were actually in the soup. That's typical Ted for you.
Ted hasn't worked in years--since before the economic downturn. He has been living off of Ricki for all of this time and he talks as if he is one of the "haves" instead of the "have nots". If Ricki had dumped his ass along the way, he would have been homeless.
Grrr. There is also the cheap factor. If we go out to dinner or something, he'll order something expensive from the menu and say "let's split the check four ways" so we get burdened with part of the cost of his meal. Typical Ted.
Here are just a few examples of Ted being Ted (aka being an asshole) from our Maui trip...
Ted was the one who found our condo on Air B&B. It looked spectacular, had the requirements that Ricki specified (pool, right on the beach). I already knew I would NOT have to pay for the condo, so my say so was kind of nonexistent. I had looked at other vacation rentals out there that had met Ricki's criteria...and they were far less expensive/more reasonable. But Ted chose this one--$2000 for a week! Erich split it with him.
Once we got to the condo though, things were not as nice as they appeared to be. There were little annoyances, such as the condo--which was billed as "air conditioned"-- was only partially air conditioned. Both bedrooms had small units in them to cool them off, but they didn't cool off the whole condo. To make things worse, the exhaust unit that blows out the hot air was on the patio. The unit didn't blow the hot air out into the open air. Instead it blew it out onto the patio itself--so you really couldn't comfortably sit out there without getting scorched by the hot air blasting out and you couldn't leave the sliding glass doors open either because the hot air would just come back in.
Aside from that, there were a few other minor issues.
The pool: Although it was still usable, the pool area was being resurfaced with slate tiles. So, you could not lay out by the pool (but there were plenty of beach chairs on the grass area around the pool) and you had to enter the pool from one side only. No big deal.
The TV: Although there were instructions as to how to turn it on (very complicated system), it didn't work. The next morning we called the managers and they came to look at it. They couldn't get it to work. The following morning they sent someone else out and that person got it working. Altogether we were a little less than 48 hours without TV (which I didn't mind as I don't watch it any way).
The refrigerator: If you will recall from Part 1 of the Hawaiian saga, we were originally not supposed to get the condo until 3 p.m. At some point while killing time, we called Ricki and discovered they were already there. I have no idea how long they were there but a while later (I don't know how long it was, but it was a long while), I noticed the refrigerator door was ajar. I had not bothered to go in the kitchen yet, because I'd had no reason to. As far as I knew, we didn't have any food yet. I went over and closed the door--and noticed the note on the fridge (just above the water dispenser. See it?) that said plainly that the door doesn't always close on it's own. Make sure you close it all of the way. Not long afterwards, Ted came in. I told him about the door being left ajar. He went over to the refrigerator and looked inside. Apparently they had brought food with them from where ever they had been previously--and it was warm and not good any more. He threw a fit, called the managers, said the refrigerator wasn't working correctly, etc. Hello? It was HIS FAULT for not reading the sign and not closing the door properly!
With the TV and A/C, refrigerator and pool issues, by our 2nd day there Ted was already complaining to Air B&B and trying to reach the owner demanding a FULL REFUND. WTF? Jeepers--it was only our 2nd day and we still had the bulk of our trip ahead of us. If they gave us the refund, would we be kicked out? Swell. That didn't happen. I don't know if Ted ever got his refund or not (if not, I'm sure he's still fighting for it)--or even a partial refund. If he did get any sort of refund at all, you can bet he did NOT give half of it to Erich, who paid for half of the condo.
The night he and Erich and I went out to the tiki bar, I bought a glass with the place's logo on it. They were $5 each. When the waitress came over and I ordered it, Ted chimed in that he wanted one too. "Two for $8, right" he asked. Cheapskate. He knew it would be $10 for the two (and I bought my own, thank you). From the tiki bar we went to that little fish place in the same complex for dinner. Ted stole his beer glass there, if you'll recall. There was no reason for it. It was just a glass--no markings on it at all. He's just a jerk.
When we got to the condo there was a sheet with the rules of the complex. The first rule was NO SMOKING in any of the condos or on the grounds. Ted was well aware of this, but rules do not apply to him. He bought two cigars a couple of days into the trip and smoked one on the patio one evening. The remains of it were in the trash the next day and it wreaked.
Ted made sure he got to do several things on this trip. One thing he did was take scuba diving lessons and go scuba diving. Another thing he wanted to do was rent a motorcycle and drive around the entire northwestern section of the island (which took maybe two hours altogether tops). He rented a little wimpy Suzuki (but I'm sure he'll make it out to be a big, bad Harley when he's out bragging with his buddies--whatever). I'm sure he thought he was a bad ass...but hello? He was a short 60 year old man with a big pot belly in a loud Hawaiian shirt with sandals and black socks. Not exactly the big bad biker image... What a schmo. It's not so much that Ted did things on his own (I certainly did things on my own). It's just that he made it so we had to organize our entire schedule around his plans. Whatever.
There were other things, too...like the time he dragged me out of the poster shop and dragged us all to Fleetwood's restaurant and souvenir shop for lunch. It was closed--but we somehow had to wait for him to find just the right souvenir shirt. No big deal. There were times in the condo he'd be very demanding, saying he had done this and this and this and someone needed to clean up the kitchen because he wasn't going to do it. I was usually the one who got stuck cleaning it, too. There would be lots of glasses mostly--none of them mine as I was drinking out of water bottles. I didn't mind doing it because I had not paid for the condo. But I felt like a servant the way Ted carried on.
The straw that broke this camel's back was a tiny minor thing. Truly. The night we finally went to that restaurant that Erich had been trying to get to, I drove. I had already driven there twice before (once on the way back from the volcano to see if we could find it and once on the way back from Hana to try to go to lunch). I knew how to get there. As we were leaving, Ted asked if I knew how to get there. I explained that yes, I had already been to it on those two occasions. He was in the back seat on his phone and as I was driving along, he'd say ":You are going to make a right at..." "I know. Got it Ted." And then, ""You'll make another right at..." "I know. I've been here before." "You're gonna make a left at..." I stopped trying to shut him up. He gave me directions the entire way. SO DAMN ANNOYING!!!!!
The morning we left, Ted was barking orders to make sure the place was cleaned up before we left, that we had taken out the trash, dumped all of the food, etc. Whatever.
I'm not traveling with him again.
And thank you for letting me VENT.
[(*) I actually DID go on vacation with him again. However, the ONLY reason I went was because he was only going to be with us through the first stop. At the 2nd stop, he'd be staying behind and the remainder of the two weeks would be completely Ted free.]
[(**) Ricki just dumped his sorry ass a month ago. Hooray! However, he is now suing her for money he thinks he is owed from her...for being a mooch. Jerk. He'll soon be out of ALL of our hair.]
CHEERS!
OMG!!!! I can NOT stand the man and I will never, EVER (*) go on another trip with him again. AHHHH! Ted is in my circle of friends only because of Ricki. Ricki has been with him since 2000-ish. She has actually lost other friends because of Ted. While I don't want to cut myself off from her, I will never go on another vacation with Ted (this is the 2nd vacation I've had with him. The last was a road trip through the southwest in 2009). I really think she would have dumped him years ago, but I think she hangs on to him because she doesn't want to be alone and fears she won't find anyone else (**). After years of not working (yet big talk of all of these things that were coming his way), he finally got paid for a project he was working on years ago that just now came to fruition. It was a sizable pay day for him...but doesn't make up for the decade of nothing but superior attitude and BS from him that came before it.
What is wrong with Ted? Everything. He's a little (short) man and I think that has a lot to do with his problem. He feels a sense of entitlement, laws do not apply to him, and he has to have a piece of everything (the biggest piece, if possible). An infamous example comes from the time we returned from our southwest trip. Once back at my place, the four of us and Trin (who had been babysitting my dear old dog Boo) went out to dinner at a Thai restaurant. One of the things we ordered was a soup. When it came, Ted served. We all got plenty of broth, but Ted got plenty of the chicken,shrimp, and veggies that were actually in the soup. That's typical Ted for you.
Ted hasn't worked in years--since before the economic downturn. He has been living off of Ricki for all of this time and he talks as if he is one of the "haves" instead of the "have nots". If Ricki had dumped his ass along the way, he would have been homeless.
Grrr. There is also the cheap factor. If we go out to dinner or something, he'll order something expensive from the menu and say "let's split the check four ways" so we get burdened with part of the cost of his meal. Typical Ted.
Here are just a few examples of Ted being Ted (aka being an asshole) from our Maui trip...
Ted was the one who found our condo on Air B&B. It looked spectacular, had the requirements that Ricki specified (pool, right on the beach). I already knew I would NOT have to pay for the condo, so my say so was kind of nonexistent. I had looked at other vacation rentals out there that had met Ricki's criteria...and they were far less expensive/more reasonable. But Ted chose this one--$2000 for a week! Erich split it with him.
Aside from that, there were a few other minor issues.
The pool: Although it was still usable, the pool area was being resurfaced with slate tiles. So, you could not lay out by the pool (but there were plenty of beach chairs on the grass area around the pool) and you had to enter the pool from one side only. No big deal.
The TV: Although there were instructions as to how to turn it on (very complicated system), it didn't work. The next morning we called the managers and they came to look at it. They couldn't get it to work. The following morning they sent someone else out and that person got it working. Altogether we were a little less than 48 hours without TV (which I didn't mind as I don't watch it any way).
The refrigerator: If you will recall from Part 1 of the Hawaiian saga, we were originally not supposed to get the condo until 3 p.m. At some point while killing time, we called Ricki and discovered they were already there. I have no idea how long they were there but a while later (I don't know how long it was, but it was a long while), I noticed the refrigerator door was ajar. I had not bothered to go in the kitchen yet, because I'd had no reason to. As far as I knew, we didn't have any food yet. I went over and closed the door--and noticed the note on the fridge (just above the water dispenser. See it?) that said plainly that the door doesn't always close on it's own. Make sure you close it all of the way. Not long afterwards, Ted came in. I told him about the door being left ajar. He went over to the refrigerator and looked inside. Apparently they had brought food with them from where ever they had been previously--and it was warm and not good any more. He threw a fit, called the managers, said the refrigerator wasn't working correctly, etc. Hello? It was HIS FAULT for not reading the sign and not closing the door properly!
The night he and Erich and I went out to the tiki bar, I bought a glass with the place's logo on it. They were $5 each. When the waitress came over and I ordered it, Ted chimed in that he wanted one too. "Two for $8, right" he asked. Cheapskate. He knew it would be $10 for the two (and I bought my own, thank you). From the tiki bar we went to that little fish place in the same complex for dinner. Ted stole his beer glass there, if you'll recall. There was no reason for it. It was just a glass--no markings on it at all. He's just a jerk.
The straw that broke this camel's back was a tiny minor thing. Truly. The night we finally went to that restaurant that Erich had been trying to get to, I drove. I had already driven there twice before (once on the way back from the volcano to see if we could find it and once on the way back from Hana to try to go to lunch). I knew how to get there. As we were leaving, Ted asked if I knew how to get there. I explained that yes, I had already been to it on those two occasions. He was in the back seat on his phone and as I was driving along, he'd say ":You are going to make a right at..." "I know. Got it Ted." And then, ""You'll make another right at..." "I know. I've been here before." "You're gonna make a left at..." I stopped trying to shut him up. He gave me directions the entire way. SO DAMN ANNOYING!!!!!
I'm not traveling with him again.
And thank you for letting me VENT.
[(*) I actually DID go on vacation with him again. However, the ONLY reason I went was because he was only going to be with us through the first stop. At the 2nd stop, he'd be staying behind and the remainder of the two weeks would be completely Ted free.]
[(**) Ricki just dumped his sorry ass a month ago. Hooray! However, he is now suing her for money he thinks he is owed from her...for being a mooch. Jerk. He'll soon be out of ALL of our hair.]
CHEERS!
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