Blood Money

 An interesting day.  Gave (a small sample of) blood twice today.

First was to determine if my rat poison prescription was doing its job in thinning my blood.  The second was at our RSV vaccine trial visit.

At the trial visit we each received $300 cash.  Four times $50 for phone "visits", and $100 for today's in person visit.  Nice way to spend a half hour!

Something that may interest the folks on this list - they are having another Moderna vaccine trial for a low dose Covid vaccine that is intended to combat the new strains of the disease.  We aren't eligible - can't be in two trials at once.  But if anyone else wants to participate we can put you in touch with the clinic.  

Sounds like a no brainer to me - probable protection from Covid and presumably getting paid for taking it.  You need to have had at least two previous Covid shots to qualify.

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In between those two visits I headed to the greenhouse to return Sean's golf clubs.  Talked to Sean and David for a while but escaped before they put me to work.  They're in the middle of packing and shipping the Easter Lilies - not an easy task!

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Stay well.

Home Again

 Arrived home safely at 3:30 p.m.  No traffic issues until we reached the QEW.  Sound familiar?

We stopped this morning at Grove City Mall, which has been a favourite stop for us on our trips south and north.  Big disappointment!  

The Haggar store that I was looking for is closed as are about a third of the stores in the mall.  The rest aren't going to last much longer either.  Very few shoppers are showing up.

So, that will likely be our last trip to Grove City.  Unfortunately, Covid, which fostered on-line shopping, has made it irrelevant.

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Getting home early gave us a chance to read three months of mail.  Needed a second drink to get through it.

We're still solvent, but we need to make quick plans to renew our driver's licenses, which expire while we're in Europe, and will require us to attend "group support" sessions.  Getting old is really fun!

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We've got three busy days in front of us before we fly away to the Netherlands on the 30th.  Life is really tough!

Stay well.

 We're in Washington, Pennsylvania tonight.  It's been an interesting drive.

Started with drizzle and rain all through South Carolina, then an hour of heavy fog in North Carolina, before sun took over.  Very strong winds in the West Virginia mountains, continuing into Pennsylvania, which made the driving a bit challenging.  

But the traffic was virtually nonexistent, which reinforces the thought that leaving Florida on a Friday is a smart move.  Have to remember that next year.

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We headed to the Bacon, Bourbon and Beer Pub for dinner.  But 2 ounces of Bourbon over ice was going to be $17 so we settled for a glass of Pinot Grigio for $8.

That's all the news for today, so I've added a download that I received from John Buckley.  Hope it works.  Enjoy!

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=7483712618&attid=0.1.1&permmsgid=msg-f:1761384910079048667&th=1871b23e55febbdb&view=att&disp=safe

And stay safe.

Blythewood

 We made a good decision - to take three days to head home.  Took all the time pressure off and, leaving on a Friday, we avoided the heaviest traffic from Snowbirds migrating north.

Note for Matt:  Maitland Road veers off from 429 near Mount Dora.  It takes you to I-4 between Orlando and Sanford and avoids most of the I-4 parking lot, except for the short stint from 27 to 429.

Traffic was heavy on I-4 but, in usual Florida fashion, it was moving at 10 mph over the limit.  We arrived at I-95 in an hour and a half.

And, now we're in Blythewood, South Carolina, arriving about 6 p.m.

For dinner we headed to the Doko Station Pub and Eatery, which used to be the Doko train station.

Doko was a small village that was absorbed by Blythewood.

We had a delightful waitress, Emilie.

She's in second year Pre-Med, hoping to work in plastic surgery and nerve repair, inspired by her dad who needed such repair after serving in the military.  She'll do well!

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Stay well.

Watch Me

 First, a follow-up on the watch issue.

The watch is a 42 year old Seiko Quartz, battery operated, that tells the time, day and date.  It honoured the first 25 of my 37 years at Dofasco.  

Until we arrived in Florida it was operating perfectly.

But a few days in, the piece that marks 12 o'clock came loose and jammed under the hour hand.  So, I took it to a jewelers and they put the piece back in place.

But, when I got it back, the hour and minute hands were not coordinated.  They were about 10 minutes out of sync.  So, I took it back again.

They synced the hands and I brought it home.  But, the next morning, the day wheel was jammed (as you can see in the above picture).  I dealt with it for about four days, winding the day into position each time.  Then I took it back (on February 11).

They gave me various stories about when it would be ready, but the final word is that Seiko no longer support that watch.  The part needed could not be found.

So, I went back today and, although they had promised, the watch was not there.  A two hour wait (I went shopping) and I finally got my watch back.

Now I just have to hope that a Hamilton location will be able to find the part I need.  I'm not sure now which watchmaker is currently supporting Dofasco watches.

The saga will continue.

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We headed to Disney Springs for one last time, to see Jeff Howell.  Wasted trip!  He wasn't there.  So the four of us headed back to the ranch and played cards.

We're mostly packed for the trip home.  We're planning a more leisurely three day run this time.

Stay well. 

Near The End

I went to the jewelers this morning to see if my watch was fixed and ready.  The answer was no.  I'll report on this fiasco tomorrow when it should come to a climax.

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We played our final 2023 Florida golf game today.  I've finally got a swing back, but it hasn't helped.  I beat Mardi by two strokes but I still lost money.  I just don't get it.  I think that she's taking advantage of an old man - but I still love her (I'm desperate after all!).

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And the ladies crushed us at Skip-Bo again tonight.  It's time we headed home.

Stay well.

Dali

 We had a great day, which started with the retrieval of my credit card from the golf course.  Then we carried on to St. Petersburg and the Dali Museum.

What a place.  What a strange, but brilliant man.

Is this a surreal image of Abraham Lincoln?

No, it's a nude looking at the sea through a portal.

Is this a skull face?

No, it's not.

I noticed something strange about the torsos of these women, but I was all the way home before I figured out that they had faces on their chests.  Can you see them?

A man's body draped over a tree, with a bass fiddle in his hand.

Quite an exhibit!  He went from true to life painting, to the examples above.  A real genius.

But, Dali's paintings weren't the only strange things we saw today.  How about the woman who lived in a shoe?

The gardens outside the museum were great as well.......Mardi wore his mustache.

The garden included sculptures that Dali had done.

An extraordinary man!

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He didn't make this bench, but it does fit in pretty well with his work!

We had dinner with our good friends at a restaurant on the waterfront nearby.

Quite a special day!  Sort of like driving from Stoney Creek to London in stop and go traffic.  But it was worth it!

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But, the ladies took the shine off our day by thrashing us at Skip-Bo.  We had a tense and dramatic final hand but they won the day.

Golf tomorrow.  The last game here for Mardi and me.

Stay well.