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Monday, April 14, 2008

Random Vacation Photos & Notes

This runs pretty long, but there’s not a good breaking point.

Back porch viewThe back porch area of the condo we stayed at, accessible only through the guest bedroom (where Snippet was sleeping). The flowers were very fragrant, and it smelled pretty good out there… despite The Boy’s and Snippet’s best efforts to stink it up with their cancer sticks. The beach party was about two blocks south of the condo.

The condo itself was across Gulf Blvd. from the beach — that saved us a ton of money, and all the kids are (nominally) old enough to cross the street without anyone helping them.


No Golfing signI saw this sign Sunday morning, along one edge of the parking lot at Joker Marchant Stadium, where we had the autocross. This is enough of a problem that they have to put up a sign?



Monday, I got the phone call to come get the girlies. Mrs. Fetched said she was getting tickets for everyone so we could spend the day at Dizzy. Of course, The Boy and Snippet were being very slow to get moving, which (imagine that) peeved Mrs. Fetched to no end: Keeping Her Waiting is one of the seven deadly sins, you know. She started snarling at me (at the phone in the rest area), so I gave it right back to her.

DD at DizzySo, Daughter Dearest was at Disney World! Well, actually she’d been here since early Friday — long enough to scope out all the roller coasters she wanted me to ride with her. I’m not keen on the ones that go upside-down and all that foofaraw, but the displays they have set up waiting in line for the “Rockin’ Roller Coaster” were worth it. I was also partial to the Tower of Terror, as I’ve always been a Twilight Zone fan.

Other than that, what can you say about Dizzy World? You pay a $#¡+load of money to get in, you wait in line for an hour to ride a 5-minute ride, lather rinse repeat, pay exorbitant prices for fast food, until you run out of steam and leave.

The Boy and SnippetSpeaking of Tower of Terror, The Boy and Snippet rode with us. This was one of the better moments of the trip with regards to them. Later in the week… well, Mrs. Fetched doesn’t appreciate me “telling everybody about it.” Suffice it to say it’s not the first time. Snippet is getting ejected, but we’re having some issues contacting her mom (like finding the number). She should be gone in a day or so, and the guest room will again be open for visiting relatives and blog-buddies.

I spent Thursday at Solar’s. He had me over for beer, pizza, and more beer. His girlfriend was there for a while, but went out with her sister. She’s pretty cool — doesn’t like TV, has blind spots in her sense of humor… wait a minute, that’s me & I’m not that cool. :-P He sent me home with many gifts: some small (but nice) speakers that will go into Studio FARf, a sub-woofer (ditto), and a 17" LCD monitor. He said he wasn’t sure it worked, but when they replaced it the new one didn’t work either; the video card was out. But I’m using it now. It has a very PC-like gamma, much darker than the Macbook monitor, but more real estate on the desk is always welcome.

Unfortunately, the speakers ended up stashed at Mom’s until she comes up for DD’s graduation next month. Three people drove down in a Civic, but five rode back (the ladies took a tour bus to Orlando a day before I left). The trunk was crammed with luggage, and some of it spilled into the passenger compartment. Fortunately, an LCD screen takes very little room and we could bring that. I was surprised that Mrs. Fetched didn’t suggest (i.e. demand) we stop at a hotel somewhere along the way; I guess she didn’t want to un-cram and re-cram stuff (and people) — we ended up maintaining cordial relations cooped up in a little car for 10 hours. Must be some kind of record.

Corona/Publix sand sculptureI leave you with a shot of one of the more intriguing supermarket displays I’ve ever seen. This was at the Indian Rocks Publix, and is a very detailed sand sculpture. They had a “please do not touch” sign up next to it, and I don’t blame them. I wonder if it’s still intact.

And now I’m back at FAR Manor. We had a “wintry mix” (aka slush storm) today. I want to be back on the beach.

7 comments:

  1. Quite the trip you had there, FAR! Drama aside (are we ever truly drama free?), sounds like a hectic week. I'd have skipped the whole Dizzy thingie (in all the years I lived there I never went!)

    But it sounds like fun hanging with Solar, and he certainly regaled you with the goodies! I love my 19" LCD I got with the new machine, along w/the Harmon Kardon mini speakers and sub-woofer. I can rock the upper part of the house if I want (rattles too many things), lol. Actually our little network we have going can probably level the house if it were to go wrong, hehe.

    Glad to know you're back safely at the Manor, with inevitable changes afoot again. All the best on that ...

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  2. OOPS, forgot to mention that awesome Publix display you got ... never saw anything that nice at the ones I used to frequent (or the Winn Dixies either). I was a bit aghast at the implication of the underwater scene with the Corona bottle so prominent ... ok, it's just marketing, but still.

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  3. Hey IVG... yeah, I was joking about people chucking their beer bottles overboard and killing the fish too.

    Lucky you, managing to avoid Dizzy. Then again, you don't have kids, either. ;-) Where in Florida did you live?

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  4. So I still have a chance to get my speakers back? Not that it matters but we did pizza and beer on Friday, I don't drink beer on a school night. LOL

    So the monitor works okay?

    I also have a set of Yamaha computer speakers with a subwoofer that I was going to let go. Now I'm glad I didn't because my new computer's speakers aren't very good.

    My GF sometimes really shows her age, and her blonde roots, when it comes to joking around.

    Joker Marchant had to put up the No Golfing sign because all the old retired men in the area would use the lot to practice their chip shots and tear up the field.

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  5. Looks like a good time was had by all. But you're having a last splash of winter?!! Amazing.

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  6. Hey Solar! Yeah, the monitor works. I had to get a $19 mini-DVI to VGA adapter cable for it, but I'd have needed one sooner or later. It's a tad dark, but more screen is more screen.

    Boran, it's not completely unusual to get a late chill here. What's odd is that the cold weather has managed to mostly hang on almost completely until now.

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  7. FAR, just for the record, I lived in Scarysota for six years back when I was teaching at New College of USF. Many moons ago before I fled back to the relative sanity of Iowa, hehe.

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