Picture Time

Apparently I haven't pulled pictures off of my camera in a while. Pardon the randomness...

Damage from the brush fire earlier this month.


Tom and I at the Magic Kingdom today after lunch. In addition to great company and great food, we had a touch of "Disney Magic" today that was unmatched.

This was Tom's year to buy lunch. Did I mention that before? I think I did. Anyway, after we ordered, another waitress (our waiter was an ex-coworker's husband. if he recognized me, I probably ingested spit) came over to our table to say that another family was on the Dining Plan (pre-paid meals), were leaving today, they had three coupons left, and would like to pay for our lunch.

Umm...ok?

So I went over to thank them and gave them Scott's business card with my e-mail address on the back and asked them to get in touch next time they come to town. If they do, I'll try to hook them up with something cool and unusual. Seems like the least I could do!

...and then we added appetizers and desserts to our meal, since they were included. And all Tom ended up paying was an extra $10 tip. Gee Tom... thanks for lunch!

...and after we parted ways (see you next April!), Scott and I had time to ride the TTA before I had to leave for work. What a great little visit. :o)

Where's the Locusts?

So... the past few days in Jamie World have seen my primary route to work (192) still closed due to a smoky brush fire, a car-fire-turned-brush-fire that closed down my favorite route home for a night (not that I would've gone that way anyway... it leads to 192), a downpour that hit right before I got to work yesterday and caused me to have soggy ankles for a few hours, and now...


...get ready for it...



...it's big and ugly...

...do you know where I'm going with this???

It's Tropical Storm Alberto!!!!

All but one of the projected paths show the worst of the storm hitting far north of here in the armpit of the state, but it's raining today and they say it'll be raining tomorrow too. On the bright side, maybe two days of soaking rain will end brush fire season, raise the lake levels (send them there gators back away from us civilized folk), green up the lawns, and leave us to fret about flooding.

It's the circle of life,
And it moves us all,
Through the smoke and fog,
The rain will fall.

Florida Burning

Brush fires have been popping up around our area for the past two months. It's an annual occurrence - right before the rainy season, everything catches on fire. This year, it's been a little worse. They've had to close various stretches of I-95 and some toll roads down on the coast. But this time it's personal:

Due to smoke, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office have closed a stretch of U.S. 192 between West Orange Lake and East Black Lake Roads.

Actually, after the Sentinel put out that article, the road closures went all the way from 429 to 27, and they closed a whole stretch of 429 as well. This, of course, is my way home from work. So I had to take I-4 all the way to Haines City and double back. And, wouldn't you know it, when I got to the 192/27 area, the FHP guys were gone. They reopened the road some time between 11:30 when I last looked at the website and midnight when I drove by. Grrr!

Right now the road is open. Hopefully it will stay that way and I'll be able to get to work today without going 15 miles out of my way.