Hogwarts Castle by Express Train

Last week, my son and I took a magical trip to visit Harry Potter, son of Colonel Sherman T. Potter, in Orlando. It was a cold and blustery day, but with sufficient crowds of wizard seekers, we found human windbreaks galore. Harry was a no-show, perhaps off to Korea to visit his dad, but we did see many of the local inhabitants garbed in their Olde English clothing. All seemed a bit overweight, until we realized these were native Floridians wearing ski parkas under their cloaks and gowns. It was that cold, I swear.

Universal studios for me was a first time visit, and the Studios side of the park featured a number of familiar street landscapes, and several interactive rides. We also had an opportunity to watch two guys doing a great takeoff on the Blues Brothers, complete with driving off in the old police car from the movie. we got to take the Men In Black ride, and participate in a disaster movie.

Leaving the studio side, you passed once again through the City Walk and headed to the Island of Adventure. And, of course the feature this year was the town of Hogsmeade (which I thought at first was a ham flavored beer), the many shops (all offering tempting trinkets to purchase), and of course the rides. If so inclined (inclined, get it?) you could ride the "Flight of the Hippogriff", a roller coaster pulled by a giant bird. J.B. and I passed on that one, and we also declined to eat at the Hogs Head Pub, or the Three Broomsticks restaurant. I did take a number of pictures, and should I actually read the books, I might gain a better perspective of that funny little car, or why you'd name a store "Dervish and Banges".

If you are in the Orlando area, and anxious to drop a couple of hundred easily, I would suggest that you visit Universal's Island of Adventure. It is a true Marvel, where Spiderman and you can ride the Incredible Hulk Coaster, among other rides. I personally chose not to sacrifice my expensive Hard Rock lunch over the side of any coaster, and on a day that spray from the water rides was freezing in mid-air, I stayed high and dry, although not necessarily warm.

Very much like "Downtown Disney", there are some nice places to eat and browse outside the gates of the two parks ("City Walk"), but then you go through the turnstiles where they scan your finger (or thumb) print and the bar code on your ticket, which upon visiting the second park (one is Universal Studios, the other Islands of Adventure) you simply present your chosen digit and they allow you to pass back and forth all day long. Of course, when I gave them the finger, it failed to scan before finally working. I guess my prints are now FIRMLY in "the system". I'm sure our federal government has hacked this database as well. Maybe I should have bought one of those magic wands in Hogsmeade, so I could erase my presence, although those bright flash memory erasers sold at MIB might do the trick as well.

The literature in the tourist brochure tells you "be courageous, be outrageous, be extraordinary" - shucks, I mastered that crap in eighth grade. What's next?

Turkey and the fixins, poodle not included

At our condo in Florida, we've developed a Thanksgiving tradition, which we share with wonderful friends from Philadelphia - one year at our place, the next year at theirs. And there's always a dog around, but this year we invited Sophie as our beloved Millie never made it to the new house.

Millie in 2008 was the "host dog" and we had dined at the Evergreen condo, inviting two additional neighbors who were not all that "up" on the Thanksgiving tradition. Tony was a Brit, and his wife Hanna was an Austrian, before marrying and moving to Massachusetts. Now, we suppose they still celebrate Thanksgiving in Massachusetts, but apparently not everybody makes a big deal out of eating too much turkey, followed by falling asleep on the couch. Following that 2008 dinner, all six of us went next door (I had a key) to inspect the work done for my "roof-mate". They were getting ready to sell their place, and had contractors in to fix it up. They left me with a key. We left our plates on the table, including the desert dishes where June had made a magnificent peanut butter pie.

Millie, the beagle, loved peanut butter. Either I failed to push my chair back, or perhaps it was Dick (June's husband), but Millie took advantage and when we returned the top of the table was disheveled, and all of the food left there was GONE. It was Doggone Gone. I think we might have lost one glass, but fortunately no injury to the beagle, and the tile floor was easily cleaned. Millie was sitting in the corner, looking guilty while licking her chops. Ah....life with a beagle.

In 2009, we went to Dick and June's place, and it was a wonderful meal, but no canine adventures. For 2010, the venue would shift to our new home, but we were all sad that Millie had been taken by cancer and would not be around to entertain us.

This year, Sophie came with Dick & June, since it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a dog present. Sophie is an apricot poodle, and VERY spoiled. Sophie however likes me, and very few others than her mom and dad (June and Dick). We also invited my son, who recently had moved to Florida, and Robert DeSero Jr., the facilities manager at our old condo association. That rounded out the preferred seating of six, and it also decimated the turkey. We were a little worried that having run out of turkey, we'd have to prepare poodle as a fallback, but Sophie was spared at the last minute when she reminded us that French fries go with burgers, not turkey.

Kitchen Magician, Part Deux

It's been about twenty days without a blog entry, so I must be slowing down, but before I closed out this topic I wanted to share a couple more pictures of the kitchen project, now that it's done. The side of the kitchen with the small peninsula is where the original kitchen had a "pass through" into a breakfast area. We closed up that wall, and developed a really nice space to be used as an office. For two of us, that peninsula and two counter height stools is enough, for coffee in the morning, and even an occasional dinner when we're eating light.

The project wasn't just the kitchen, as the whole house benefited from an upgrade. That same granite in the kitchen reappeared throughout the house, as the window sills, the seats in both showers, and the fireplace hearth all came from that same quarry. I even have a piece left over in the garage, not sure what I'll do with it, other than perhaps get a hernia moving it around.

Kitchens have become the new living spaces in the American home, and when you come to our home you'll find it warm and inviting. Come on down to Florida...the weather's great and the beach is only a quarter mile away.

My Wife, the Kitchen Magician

Start with the lower left picture, with my wife and our contractor looking over the kitchen when we bought it.
Move clockwise to the "in progress" picture, then feast your eyes on the finished product.

The kitchen was less than inspiring when we purchased the home, and the tile floor had to go. New wood flooring throughout cured that. The popcorn ceiling had to go. A very talented guy skip troweled the entire house in 12 hours, and only charged $1,600 to do it - a fantastic price for an even more fantastic result. The kitchen had an adjoining breakfast room. Breakfast rooms are so 80's, but the house was built in 1988, so "out with the old, in with the new". Gone was the "pass-through" and replaced with a wall, where additional cabinets could be placed, and the breakfast room became "the office". The old dishwasher....gone. The old microwave.....gone. The old garbage disposal.....gone. Granite replaced the counter-top, and a new sink and hardware replaced what had been there since 1988.

When I said "sure, go ahead and make this place yours" my wife took my word and my wallet to the test. The new cabinets feature pull out drawers, and after two months we still have empty space for storage. The new refrigerator has exactly what she wanted, and what mama wants, mama gets.

The whole place turned out just perfect

My New Pool - Part 2

The pool "project" moved into a new phase, following the archeological dig that went halfway to China in search of logs the original developer placed as "fill". The developer cleared the land, but rather than haul off palm logs, live oaks, and other debris, he simply buried it, and apparently buried it DEEP. At which point, the pool contractor took the easy way out and simply added some dirt fill. Ultimately, the fill degraded, the pool cracked, and we had to start over 20 years later.

In part 1 of this story, I showed how heavy equipment was brought into break up the original pool (which had settled and cracked, ergo needed to be replaced), and prepare the ground for a new "dig". In the pictures posted above, you'll see the final steps of removing the last of the logs and debris, and then the repacking of the ground with fresh fill (without the "chunks") which will not be settled and compacted in preparation for the ultimate excavation. My last trip out the back door with the camera resulted in finding the uneven hole gone, and replaced with a smooth rectangle of fill......ready for phase 3, construction of our NEW pool.

When we bought the place, we knew there was a pool project, but had no idea how long it would take, and how much it would cost. Fortunately, we had $4,000 placed in escrow by the seller - which probably would have cut it before they discovered the need to go down fifteen feet to find "bottom" of all the debris. Oh well, sometimes the elevator, sometimes the shaft, and in this case the mine went much deeper than planned. When it's finished, we'll see how much gold came out of the old wallet.

Life's a Beach, wherever you can find one

I had fun driving that little Rhino, and at the end of the ride we took some time to enjoy the sun and surf. A little bit of salsa and chips, a margarita, and then hit the hammock. All in all, a great day - now where did I put that Jenny Craig brochure, cause I'm sure I'll have to pay for this one way or another.

Los Banditos de la Rhino

This past week, we wrapped up the move to the new house, and decided to reward ourselves with a short hop over to Costa Maya, Mexico for a rumble in the jungle. We rented Rhino all terrain vehicles, and set out for a jungle and beach adventure.

A Rhino is not (despite the immediate prior post about politics) a Republican In Name Only, but a 650 cc Yamaha 4 wheel heavy duty golf cart. I swear, the body said Custom Cart and while it had a shorter bed than the Custom Cart my buddy Bob drives at our condo complex, it had the same basic set up - one speed forward, one reverse, and a 4x4 and a 4x2 (two wheel drive) setup. On the road, it felt like we were making perhaps 35 mph easy, maybe more. Part of the run was on gravel roads, several running along the Caribbean sea shore. We were part of a tour, of course, and when you're on a tour, all sorts of folks get involved, including the usual poor drivers. Now, I'm naturally competitive and don't enjoy people failing to put 100% into their efforts, so I just had to pass where I could. Not sure how the guides felt about it, but my passenger was pretty upset when I'd move up the line by passing somebody who just didn't know how to drive (my opinion, of course). My passenger, who generally hates to see her picture published anywhere, was gracious enough to snap the shot of the two of us with brain bucket, bandanna, and glasses. She's the one making sure she doesn't eat anybody's dust by pulling the scarf up to "burkha level" - I'm exposing my nose, so folks would recognize me.

Anyway, we had a blast - almost as much fun as last year at Cozumel with the dune buggy ride through mud holes in the jungle. Not a lot of mud, but really not that much dust either this time. The track we followed however had lots of stumps and rocks and vegetation slapping the Rhino at the front and sides. That golf cart was a hardy beast, and mastered it all. I've got to get me one of those.........but I think I'll take the governor off and add a Nitros bottle. Then when my wife says "this isn't your Corvette", I can say "no, it's better!".