Early Morning Money Post

Remember our visit from the AC repair guy last month? The one where he informed us that our system was installed wrong? I want to find that man and hug him! I just got our new electric bill and it's only $7 more than the previous bill, and $25 more than the bill before that, which I'm pretty sure was during open window weather.

I was terrified that the electric bill for this house would bankrupt us, but keeping the house at a balmy 78 when we're home and 84 when we're not seems to be working. While the bill here is definitely higher than at the apartment, it's not nearly as noticeable as I thought it would be. I expected it to be double, and so far it's been maybe 20% more.

I'm so glad we had that problem when we did...otherwise I shudder to think what that bill would be like now.

Scratched Post

The living room scratching post has definitely seen better days. Of course, it's still serving us well - the furniture is still like new (except for the puke stains, but that's another story). We've had some lapses, but mostly the cats just get sprayed with the water bottle when they horseplay on the back of the couch or climb instead of jump.

I'm glad that we gave their claws a chance.

...and I'm knocking the end tables as I type this!

Inspiration

Cat sent me a text from Epcot yesterday asking which drink at Cava del Tequila I was partial to. I wrote her back and told her to go with the avocado margarita. I woke up this morning to her reply: "It was so yummy! From here on out I put half an avocado in all my adult beverages."

Of course, that got me thinking about what adult beverages could benefit from avocado. Here's the list I came up with:

* Cosmo-cado - vodka, cranberry, and avocado. The flavor might be ok, but I worry it would be mudslide brown.

* Pina-vocado - rum, pineapple, and avocado. I want to try that!

* Avo-colada - rum, coconut, and avocado. The jury is out.

* Avo-jito - rum, lime, mint, and avocado. Scott the mojito purist wouldn't appreciate this at all!

* Avocado slide - vodka, Kahlua, and avocado. *horf!* No thank you!

*Avocado daiquiri - rum, ice, and avocado. Why not?

Anyone else have a good drink idea? Or a terrible one?

Scorcher

It's another day with a heat index over 100. If I had to be outside, I think I'd follow the example of this sand hill crane and take a quick dip!

How do you dry off? Easy - just flap your wings!

It was a little alarming watching the crane sit down in the water, especially since I was convinced there was some sort of avian "hydrophobie" going around. But watching them (yes "them" - it's hard to get 2 large birds in an action shot) frolic was good fun.

(also, you might notice that the first picture above was taken where I last saw the heron. he's flown the coop for now)

Worrisome

We haven't had many birds to watch ever since the weather heated up. I imagine they've gone somewhere in the low 90's, or at least to a pond with trees and shade. Basically, there's been one egret and that's about it. But yesterday a heron appeared on the shore and was doing some weird stuff I've never seen one do before. Case in point:

I thought he had just caught a fish because his throat was doing that flutter-wiggle thing, but he kept it up for a while. Scott suggested the wing position was a way to cool down, and I accepted that because it's easier to believe something positive than to worry about something negative.

I kept an eye on him, and tried to figure out whether the brown on the tip of the right wing was an injury (of course, my first instinct was "that damned alligator!) or natural coloring or even oil. I still don't know. But I've gone back through all of my old Harley pictures, and have never seen coloring like that. See the picture below for another view. I took some other pictures, and it's on both wings at the same spot.

He's back out there again this morning, which makes me wonder whether he even left. He's spending a lot of time grooming, which makes me think whatever is going on there must either hurt or itch a lot. Of course, there's a pretty abundant supply of fish, so I don't think he'll starve. Still, it breaks my heart to think he's hurting.

Do You Love It?

Blogger finally made it simple to change your template and not lose all of your links/widgets like before. So I changed. The background might not be the best for me, but we'll see what happens. I might change it to a theme park picture to go with the title, or a differently-edited version of the sailboat/sunset photo.

Anyway, this version is making me very happy

...for now.

Gone Fishin'?

Is it because it's summer?

Has everyone I "know" from their blogs burned out at once?

I know my excuse - I'm learning a new job and my brain is so full of new things I stopped having thoughts of my own past "eat, sleep, drive, TV" a week ago.

Where did everyone go?

(by the way, aside from the flat spot I've developed on my forehead from banging my head into the desk, I'm really enjoying my new job. I'll tell more when I figure out how to tell what is it that I do all day!)

(and also, getting home in daylight is nice, but I had forgotten what it's like to get into a 120 degree car in long pants. ick!)

To the Theater!

The show got two negative-ish local reviews, but I'm still so excited to see it. Love the music, loved the movie, have no idea what to expect live. Of course, I think Scott just wants to see this one song...

Hurricane Season

It must be Summer in Florida. The afternoon thunderstorms have started, and we've already had some doozies! Of course, June 1 was the official start of [insert dramatic music here] Hurricane Season 2010.[end music]

My favorite Orlando Sentinel columnist took a very scientific approach to hurricane season. He spoke with hurricane experts including a psychic, a monkey, and his two children and compared their results with Dr. Gray. How did they all do? "Generally, when it came to picking storm numbers for 2010, Gray went high and the monkey went low. The psychic and little Maxwells were smack in the middle."

I guess that means I'm hoping the monkey is correct. Apparently buying a house has made me incredibly sensitive to hurricane season. Also, living a few hundred yards from Turnpike construction during hurricane season has made me paranoid. The last thing I need is an orange construction barrel flying through my window at 90 mph!

Another Reason to Love Stephen Colbert

It's ok to not want to watch the violent video-within-a-video. But it's really worth it to watch Colbert skewer the entire sport of bullfighting. Did I say skewer? I guess I meant gore!

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Craziest F#?ing Thing I've Ever Heard - Gored Bullfighter
http://www.colbertnation.com/
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

Oil Spill via Late-Night Comedy

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Cenac - The Spilling Fields - Oil Leak Containment Ideas
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Rationally, I understand that boycotting BP doesn't hurt BP as much as it hurts local station owners and workers and that's it's a pretty ineffective emotional response. But watching the first 2 minutes of this clip made me think maybe those local owners need to find a new company to be affiliated with.

It's obvious BP has really not bothered with the safety of its workers for a long time. And I really hope the Justice Department is able to nail them to the wall, take all of their money to clean up their mess, and shut them down.

...and now I am done with my own ineffective emotional response!

Scenes from the Florida Aquarium

Things I Learned at the Dali Museum

At the Salvador Dali Museum I learned:


* Dali made some truly beautiful art - paintings that looked exactly like they should have


* Dali was in love with himself


* Dali was in love with his wife, who had previously been married to a poet who composed sonnets to her beauty (or something like that. the point is Gala was apparently quite the muse)


* That pixelated thing that kind of looks like Abe Lincoln? It is Abe Lincoln...with a naked Gala in the middle


* I still don't really get the whole melting clock thing, but we did buy a Christmas ornament because Scott loves it.


* Unless you want a print of melting clocks (which wasn't even on display) or the floating rose (also not on display) or 2 or 3 other of the most famous paintings, don't even think about a souvenir.


* The people who write the descriptions next to the paintings are flaming morons... or are under contract to only write PG-rated descriptions. Case in point, this litho had a description that literally had me laughing out loud. I can't remember the exact wording, but apparently the cross-section of the peach represents an eye. I basically looked at Scott and asked, more loudly than I should have, if that was an eye, then why was there a penis-vine poking through it? C'mon...that is NOT an eye!


My favorite part of the museum was Scott's least favorite - the botanical sketches called "Flordali" (for obvious reasons - "flor" for flower, and "Dali" because he was egotistical!). The 'fruits' collection can be seen at the link above. There's another set of flowers with different personalities as well.


My favorite piece of art in the museum was the one to the left,"Pecher Penitent (Penitent Peach Tree)." The description next to it was probably accurate, given the title, but I disagreed and promptly forgot the details. And since art is in the eye of the beholder, let me tell you what I see:


I see a Romeo & Juliet scene. The peach is Juliet on the balcony, and the flower-insect guy on one knee is Romeo. The crying "eye" (apple?) at the bottom, and the sinister tree trunk dude in the background contribute to the tragedy. And the guy with the guitar sketched in at the bottom is the narrator of the story.


The kneeling flower dude is really spectacular in person. I told Scott I want a tattoo of that...and I don't even want a tattoo!


I guess it's safe to say I enjoyed the museum. And of course, I know Scott did too!

The Job Offer

So...I found out yesterday that my "fire drill" interview went pretty well. They offered me the job. And of course, I took it. There's no pay raise, but I won't be topped-out over there. At least that means I won't get another 6-cent raise next year.

I don't have a transfer date yet, but my guess is 2 weeks. And I also don't have a whole lot of information about the job, other than it's MINE! Oh yeah, and it's day shift with weekends and holidays off. How crazy is that!?!?

Casual Friday

You have to work the Friday before Memorial Day. You don't want to go in. But hey - it's casual Friday. Maybe you'll get to practice your putting while you chat with clients.

Huh?


It's just another fabulous sight-seeing day here at the Hotel Watergate Tampa!

(I've got a whole thing to write about the Dali museum, and about the job offer I got today, but I'm tired and would prefer to enjoy my last 12 hours in the hotel)

It's All Watergate to Me

I'd like to believe that I'd point my computer monitor away from my office window... if I had an office window... and especially an office window that overlooked a hotel and a shared lobby! Still, if my camera had just a little more zoom we could be reading trade secrets right now.

I'd also like to believe that I wouldn't glare at hapless tourists taking my picture like this Alton Brown look-alike in the right corner of the second photo!

Then again, I'm sure these people would prefer to not be a tourist attraction. I guess not everyone gets what they want!

Aside from the bizarre view, the room is quite nice. Scott's got the AC cranked down to icicle level, but I deal with it because I keep the house so warm (*cough*cheap*cough*). I'm still not sure what our plans are for tomorrow. That's the great thing about vacation though. The world is our oyster!

Cool Surprise

We just had an A/C tech come out because there was a puddle under our upstairs air handler. It turns out 2 pieces of the handler were either installed wrong or came backwards from the factory. He fixed it, and as a result, the actual air coming from the vents is actually cold now.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that this solves the problem of our super-heated bedroom.

Beds

Tuesday: wake up in a king-size bed a few hundred feet from the Gulf of Mexico

Wednesday: wake up in our own "little" queen-size bed, missing the fabulous down pillows in the hotel

Thursday: go to sleep in our third bed in as many days

Strange, no? I love vacation!

Postcard

Dear ________,

Vacation so far has been fabulous. The Gulf, as always, is impossibly blue. The weather has been practically perfect. And we have been as stress-free as possible. The only snag seems to be the complete lack of postcards that convey the awesomeness of where we are (or even ones that aren't generic FLORIDA postcards). We couldn't find any that we liked, so we made our own.

Wish you were here!

See you soon!

Scott & Jamie

Beach, Nap, Food, Repeat

Before our vacation, I had made very simple plans: beach, nap, food, repeat. Today, we spent a little under 2 hours at the beach, then showered and headed out to lunch at Aunt Rose's (where we also saw Gary and Aubrey and Laura). No nap. I've been in a sort of zombie trance for the past few hours, even after the tasty dinner we had at Scott's restaurant of choice.

I posted family pictures to my Facebook vacation album, but for here I thought I'd stick with another beach photo from last night. With a little editing, this picture might be really sweet.

If you'll excuse me, I'm off for cookies and then bed.