Elation

 Not much about Florida today.  I've got a different theme.

I recently heard about the death of John Mayberry, the President of Dofasco at the time of my retirement, from the devastating effects of Parkinson's.  John was a great guy, who rescued Dofasco from the awful financial situation the previous President, Bill Wallace, had created.  He didn't deserve the fate he got.

Then, last night I watched a rerun of the CNN special "Miracle On The Hudson" about Captain Sullenberger (Sully) and his incredible landing of his plane that had been disabled after striking a flock of Canada Geese.

The show examined the psychological effects of PTSD in situations like that.  Some folks went into a lengthy depression, experienced anger, flashbacks, nightmares, social impairment.

But some, according to the psychologist, experienced "elation".  They looked on what they had gone through as a chance at a second life and made changes in their situation to grasp that better life.

Which reminded me of my own experience when I broke my back skiing.  I chose the "conservative" treatment, which meant that I had to lie on my back for six weeks while the pulverized vertebrae pieces knitted with the vertebrae above and below.  During that time you learn to be humble and not embarrassed as the nurses empty your bedpan and wipe your bum and bathe you.

I had a brief moment of depression at the four week mark, when it seemed that my ordeal would never end, but that quickly passed.  One thing that got me through it was due to a special lady, Helen Kenyon, since passed, who worked out a visitation system so that I had a Dofasco visitor every lunch hour and every day after work.  Add family and friends and I had well over a hundred visits during my stay.

And I began to realize and appreciate how much those people meant to me.  So I guess I too experienced the "elation" reaction.  It changed who I was and I look back on the accident as a positive in my life.  Of course I am a strange dude!

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We're getting back together with the ladies tomorrow for games here in our unit, so Florida things will be back in the news then.

Meantime, stay well.

A One Man Duet

 With the anxiety and excitement of finding a place here on Friday I forgot to mention that it was Anna's 28th birthday.  Sorry Anna - hope you took time out of coding to enjoy your day.

Your Mom tells us that your internet game business is thriving.  Awesome!  I'm proud of you!  Well done!

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The fellow that rented our underground parking space while we're away treated us to a fruit cake that he made as a bonus.  We broke it out today - damn good!

Today was a relatively quiet day.  But tonight we ventured out to Breezes Cafe to hear dueling pianos.

One of the pianos was sick.  But this guy did a great job playing songs of our era.

We'll be back next Sunday for the duel treatment.

Tomorrow we're off to Beall's to refresh our wardrobe.

Stay well.

Welcome to Florida

 A typical Florida day.  The skies have opened!  

Poured rain, but an hour later the sun came out and it hit 27C.  A beautiful day.

And Barry, I did make it to Miller's today..........with most of the ladies in my life.

Kathryn and Jo-Ann are in the rental house for the month.  When they leave, Maureen and Matt take over and then Mardi and I join them for the month of March.

Nurse Sarah-Jean will leave her aunts and head to Ottawa next week to begin her first assignment in the Neurological Department.  Fortunately, she's been studying Grandpa for several years so she knows how brains can screw up.....but so far she hasn't figured out how to fix mine.  Time will tell!

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Did our shopping today for food and drink.  A bottle of rye and a dozen beer came to about half the price of what the rye alone would cost back home.

We talked to a guy in a store yesterday and he said he'd like to visit Canada, but the cost of drinks scared him!  

Scares us too buddy, but we manage to put our fears behind us 😉.

Stay well.

We're Home!

 We reached Kissimmee's Old Town at about 1 p.m.  This is the temperature we've been waiting for....yeeha!

Mardi's first step was to install a Florida sim card.  Her phone number for the next three months is 321-437-7619.  My phone is now just a camera.

Then it was lunch and a beer..........

....that neither of us could finish.

Next, we stopped in at Orange Lake to see if we could get a unit for the extra night.  Not only that, but they managed to find us a unit that will be ours for all 57 days we are here.  And the cost for the extra night in our two bedroom condo is the same as a cheap hotel.  What a resort!

And what a view.

If you're jealous give us a call.  We may have space.

Stay well.

Florida

 We left New Orleans on a cool, but sunny, day.  A great visit, but we didn't make two of our list of things to do.  Mardi didn't get to the Acme Oyster House, and we didn't get to ride on the St. Charles streetcar.  Have to go back again in the future I guess.

We managed to make it to Monticello, Florida tonight.  Had a great Mexican dinner at Rancho Grande.

We're just three hours from Orange Lake, but we'll be in a motel again tomorrow night.  Our timeshare starts on Saturday.

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Mardi has decided that she will not participate in the driving on the way to Florida next year.   Says it's boring.  She doesn't mind the trip home - it's warmer and we can have mini-vacations along the way.

So..........I'm looking for a co-driver for next winter, in exchange for a week or so at Orange Lake.  The second bedroom has two double beds and an ensuite.  Let me know.

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Stay well.

A Cajun Night

After two days of walking a lot, we decided to take the Hop/on, Hop/off bus today.  So, we only walked 8,237 steps this time 😓.  Oh well.

We did the whole route and then stopped in a couple of places second time around.

There are lots of beautiful homes in the Garden District, but this traditional structure captures New Orleans well.

We ate at El Paso, which is next to the Bulldog with its spigots.

I ordered a Lime Margarita and Mardi ordered a Dos Equis beer.  Of course the bartender delivered them to the wrong person.

What I failed to realize was that it was Happy Hour and a second Margarita arrived.  I had to bail!

I  assume that it didn't go to waste.

We returned to the hotel for a rest before heading out again to Mulate's for Cajun dinner and music..............

................and what a wonderful decision that was!

Barry, this Concertina keyboard is beyond me.

The folks really joined in!

Including the young.........

.........and the old!

I really enjoyed the Shrimp Etoufee.  And we shared an Achafalaya Mud Cake with Ice Cream.

What an enjoyable night!   We can leave New Orleans tomorrow very happy.

I have sore knees and Mardi has a sore heel - big deal.  Hope the rest of you are well.

New Orleans

 We arrived in New Orleans early yesterday afternoon and headed to the French Quarter for lunch.  Walked over two miles through the Quarter and back to our hotel.  A quiet night ensued!

Today, we headed to the timeshare presentation that enabled this visit.  BlueGreen Vacations was the place.  We paid $279 for the presentation, received $300 in credit cards after, and free hotel for three nights - and Le Meridian is top class.  Of course it is costing us $55 a day for valet parking, but what the hell!

On our way, I met my old friend Louis.

He would have fit into Fishguts very well!  And he and Doc would have blown up a storm together!

Then we stopped for lunch - sorry about the hair!

BlueGreen are connected to Bass Pro Shops and have a darn good product.  If we weren't already covered with all we need we might have been tricked.

We were met by representative Terence...........

.....who gave us the tour and tried valiantly to make the sale.  Wish we could have helped him.

Along the way we saw several "performers" and this guy was holding this pose when we walked up and for some time after the couple of minutes we were there.  Didn't seem to move a muscle!

The French Quarter is filled with entrepreneur performers.

Did a lot of walking again today and tonight, out of energy, we ate in our hotel.  Tomorrow we plan a bus tour of the city.

Stay well.