Jupiter Arrival

The View Outside my Jupiter, FL Condo

We arrived in less than 16 hours total travel time.
After some quick unloading, we headed off to the beach for some sand and fun.Not too bad--woke up in Maryland and after a long-ish drive are playing on a Florida beach before dark!  It is a bit longer than a day trip though!
Traffic was light and we really made good time but we saw lots of police keeping the speeds from becoming too outlandish.
It is good to be back after not coming here last year except as part of a couple day trips

Trucking

We made Florida about 1228 or about 28 minutes later than I wanted to.

But we are in Florida and are less than four hours from Jupiter.

Florida or Bust

Early Morning on the Beltway

In olden times we would be in a prairie schooner with the words emblazoned on the side. Today we are in the car some time about 0230 with Florida in front and home behind.
And so we are off and are already south of DC.
With the radio blasting it reminds me of being back in college when I used to make the trek from Ithaca to Miami.

I'm going to be a real bore

No, I'm not on vacation, yet.

But by this time tomorrow I should already have miles behind me as I trek to the beach climates.

And I love that I can instantly blog via email and with pictures from my iPhone. Did I say that I really like my iPhone. I still can't believe that I have adapted to it after so many years as a Blackberry high power user. (Thanks, Chris)

The packing is mostly complete--the last use items are being loaded into the bags for quick access.

We are still getting rain--last night I would guess close to two inches. Fortunately the lawn got mowed last evening just before the rain began. Literally, the rain was beginning to fall as I was making the last pass on the yard and parking the tractor back into the garage. My rain estimate is based of course on the level of water in the pool--so it is close but not scientific.

As for an update--Makayla is doing much better. We kept her on a water diet yesterday and began giving her boiled rice last night. The spewing has stopped and her eyes remain bright. She wasn't amused that I wouldn't give her my last piece of toast this morning--but we want her gut to really settle down before we start loading it up again with food, treats, and junk.

I really wish I didn't have to go to work today. Yesterday was a killer--just shy of 12 hours. Reminds me of high school when I used to work Fridays (or during the Christmas season) with Dad at the clothing store-- 9 to 9. Except there we got breaks for lunch and dinner. Yesterday--I didn't even have time for lunch and managed to straggle home for dinner. Thank goodness traffic was moving on the beltways as I was coming back from an afternoon meeting on the other side of D.C..

It is funny--as I sit here I can imagine the smell of beach in Jupiter and the tickle of the sand on my toes.

Like my puka shells, it transports me to a happy place.

And so with strains of Willie Nelson playing in my head--I head off for my last day of work for July 2010 and then it will be off onto the crowded roadways to add my small assistance to help sustain the economic recovery.

Early Morning - Makayla Wakes us up Sick

I heard the whine--and then I smelled it, the sure signs of a sick dog in the bedroom.

Never a pleasant way to start the day--especially when it is 4am and the mess is substantial--and not just confined to the bedroom but as we soon discover, is also in other locations around the house.

And the clean up is not easy--the washer will be busy all day cleaning rugs, towels and even bedding as the mess increased in size.

Makayla is being put on a strict water diet and confined to her cage until her gastrointestinal system settles a bit.

She hates the cage--but is taking it like a trooper. For our point--we are trying to contain the mess because it is really awful.

So we are up early watching TV and we are listening to a unhappy dog squeaking from her cage. Trying to settle her stomach and keeping her quiet.

A long day starting early. A sick dog and a huge mess still processing through the washer and dryer.

Vacation is only days away.

Monday Musings - July 12, 2010

1. The Orioles have a four game winning streak, tying their longest winning streak of the season and also, they completed their first road four-game sweep over another team since 1995. Is the season beginning to turn around? Will something miraculous happen during the stretch run to October?

2. It is amazing how quickly it passes--I noticed this morning that already the dawn is just beginning to break when I let Makayla out for her morning business. Just last week it was full daylight.

3. Well the World Cup is completed and Spain won. I was cheering for the Netherlands. It seems that the losers in this tournament were the teams I was cheering for.

4. BP is still playing in the Gulf of Mexico--but based upon their reporting, their stock increased in value overnight. Really? What about the clean-up efforts?

5. Is is vacation week--when the packing is done and the car is fueled sometime Wednesday night or very early Thursday morning, the blog will be heading south for the rest of the month!

6. There is a song that sings about "suntanned toes in the sand" --I'm so there.

A Pair of Kees

Sunday afternoon and a pair of keeshonden are lounging on the family room floor.

They love getting together and playing and eating.

They especially get excited when the Orioles complete their first road four-game sweep since 1995. Wow!

Sports Debacle: LeBron James

We have reached a new low with sports.

The self-proclaimed king is no king but a pathetic wanna-be.

The amount of hype around a sports player moving from one team to another team is so out of proportion to things of true importance to the world and life that it is appalling.

The amount of money these guys are being paid to so something most of the rest of us pay to do is unfathomable and truly shows how out of touch these over paid players are with the people that watch and ultimately pay their salaries--most of whom are making less than $50,000 per year as compared to the multi-million dollar salaries they are making.

Teachers make more of an impact on the world than sports figures. They make $30-$50 thousand per year.

It is wrong that someone can be paid so much money just because they can play a game with a ball.

And then they ascend into privileged status.

I didn't watch the special--I don't care about the NBA. But I do know, I'd play MLB for a lot less than all of the players are getting paid. The league minimum is about $400 thousand a year. I'd be really happy with less than half of that to play baseball every day.

It is an example of the worst that our society has to offer. Our military personnel are losing their lives overseas and being compensated with extremely small amounts of money by comparison

Think about it--the President makes about that much and he has his finger on the nuclear trigger.

The Christian Science Monitor put it this way:

At a time when 15 million Americans have no job at all, we should be indignant about pro athletes like LeBron James earning more than $15 million a year.

I urge you to click the link and read the article--but, I am going to reprint the last three paragraphs here. The author Jonathan Zimmerman makes a solid closing argument with which I happen to agree strongly

Who needs to take home $15 million or $20 million per year? Nobody. But we all need to take account of the wealth – and the poverty – in our midst.

Perhaps we can use these astronomic athletic salaries to make a fresh case for higher marginal taxes on the super-rich, just like we had in the old days – and just as many European democracies have today.

LeBron James shouldn’t get paid such an extraordinary sum, when millions of Americans aren’t getting paid at all. And it doesn’t matter how good a year he had.

We need to change our priorities!

Some People--Potential Darwin Award Nominee

I'm not sure if you are aware of the Darwin Awards--they are given to people for trying to remove themselves from the gene pool for doing really stupid, even unimaginable things. They make incredibly fascinating reading. I have a 2010 nominee:

I read the following in the Baltimore Sun yesterday:

A 25-year-old man accidentally shot himself in the foot while intoxicated in a Reisterstown home early Wednesday morning, a Baltimore County Police spokesman said.

Donald Burshnick, 25, of Maine, N.Y., was drunk with other people in a house in the 1500 block of Nicodemus Road, said Cpl. Mike Hill of Baltimore County Police.

At about 3:30 a.m., he retrieved a loaded rifle from within the home and fired a shot into the floor, the spokesman said. "However, he struck his foot," Hill said.

He gave police detectives varying accounts about what had happened before admitting he was drunk, Hill said. Initial reports of the incident described it as a hunting accident. No charges will be filed, Hill said.

So let me get this straight--he aimed at the floor and missed! Hitting his foot!

In a house filled with other people? He discharged a rifle?

Really?

He's lucky he didn't his something more critical--or maybe he should have.

A definite Darwin Award candidate.

As an example, I provide this Darwin Award winner from 2009:

(10 January 2009, Pennsylvania) An embarrassed and seriously injured 17-year-old initially claimed that an explosive had been planted in his backpack by persons unknown. However, police investigators soon extracted the truth from the feckless teen. He found an M-80 explosive at his grandmother's house, took it to his room to examine it, and began to repeatedly light and extinguish the fuse. During one of these cycles the fuse would not go out, so he jammed the red cardboard tube between his thighs and covered it with his hand to muffle the explosion. This plan was less successful than he had hoped.

Commonly thought to be a quarter stick of dynamite, M80's (according to pyrouniverse.com) actually contain flash powder rather than TNT, and only 1/50 the amount--just under 3 grams. Used by the U.S. Military to simulate grenade explosions, M80's were outlawed in 1966 under the Child Protection Act. They are not safe enough to be detonated by the average man on the average street, let alone by the average 17-year-old.

One loud KABOOM! later, our junior pyrotechnics specialist had lost his right hand, right leg, and--very likely--his right to reproduce, earning him a living Darwin Award. * As always, my regrets to the boy and his family.

It is Raining!

Normally, that would be an expression of frustration and messed up plans. But today, the fact that rain is falling is a great thing. We have not had rain in almost a month and things are really dry.

It is a light soaking kind of rain, too.

The air is clearing of the suspended junk and it is nice to be out in the rain--it is cooling and enjoyable.

Makayla and I took a short walk just to enjoy the drops and see the change in the earth as it is being refreshed by the rain. It even smells good.

Take a moment, if it is raining where you are, especially if you have been in drought conditions to thank God for the rain.