The Week Begins

Having missed the market for three weeks in a row, I must admit it feels somewhat strange after all the Sundays I've spent there. Then too, the week now has no real beginning, except for lately with B leaving again. But that's the ebb and flow of life isn't it? It's not like it is the first time things have changed around here! Onward...

Steve, Bruce's boss is a good guy, plain and simple. He's realized how difficult these last few weeks have been; Friday he did more than express that in words. For the first time in my life, at least that I can remember, I went to the front door straight out of the shower with a towel wrapped around me. Are you kidding Gail? No, I am not. Baxter was barking his fool head off which tells me someone is at the door before the bell even rings. So, I thought, big deal, after seeing the Fed Ex truck through the bathroom window. Except, the guy didn't just drop something off. He remained firmly on one side of the glass, while Baxter barked on the other side. Coming just barely around the corner, I waved at the guy to just leave it, but no...he waved back that he needed a signature. Here goes nothing...

Wondering what I signed for, because it was addressed to me, I carefully took ahold of it. all the while hoping the towel would stay put!  Here you go...

Six bottles of red wine, all of them new to us, with a nice note thanking me for my patience. Little does he know that my patience is tried and true. On second thought, he probably already does. The brown sugar pound cake, adjacent to the wine, was made by yours truly. Now to just find a place to store them.

While we are on the subject of the glass door, we were both disappointed when, after finishing our yard work on Saturday morning, we noticed that a rock, or so we think, flew into the glass and did this:

I wish I could say it was a first, however,  if I did, I would be lying. It didn't take long, using the search on my blog's dashboard, for me to find what I was looking for. Yup, August, 2010. Unlike the last time, when I covered both sides with parchment paper and tape before we could get it fixed, I went online, finding an Emergency Glass Service, and the guy came to the house in a jiffy. At a price, I might add. $275! Bruce thought it was worth it due to his planned Monday departure, and I grudgingly agreed.

At least we knew what it was going to cost, unlike medical services. Seriously, is there anything you can think of that you purchase without first knowing the price? I'm still steamed over the bill from the Fire Department, charging $925 to drive me less than two miles down the road in the ambulance. Had they needed to do CPR, or anything aside from a simple IV insertion, I might understand it, but come on. Then too, in an outsourcing move, you send the check to The City of Orlando via Atlanta. Really? By the way, the bill came nearly six months after the event! Is that any way to run a business and don't be fooled...medicine is BIG business?

Technically speaking, I took this last week on my bike ride, but I'm showing it today because this is one of the prettiest street kitties I've seen in awhile. Laying out like he owned the cul de sac, and I expect he does.

So soft and fluffy looking, plus that mini lion's face! Greenish eyes too.

While on that same ride I came across a blooming Angel Trumpet tree that was just lovely in the sunshine. You've seen them in this space before, but who isn't happy to witness beauty a second time around?

Trying to keep the length of my last post from spiraling out of control, I neglected to show you a few other things of interest, or at least they are to me. Lots of little birdies flitting about...

I mentioned how the various buildings once held businesses other than bars, and here's a plaque describing one such business on Pine Street. Now a bar, I might add.

My sister Carol had a friend in junior high whose name was Carol Hand. I wonder if they are related? Then too, I guess the biggest funeral home name in our area today is Carey-Hand...to think it all started in this block.

You may recall that we attended the opening for the sculptures scattered throughout Lake Eola Park, and of course, they were all brand new, which is all well and good unless the idea is to have the sculpture covered with plant material. Well, it is now, and looks quite impressive.

As an aside, looking at this photo, with the high rise behind the flowers, brings back a long forgotten memory. I haven't forgotten the cap because I look at it every day, but way back when I was first an x-ray student I pulled a cassette out of the pass box and apparently I was clumsy even then because I somehow hit my lateral incisor breaking it off!

Glossary of terms: 

• casssette was a heavy aluminum case that held the x ray film.
• pass box was a two sided box, that opened in both the darkroom, and the x-ray room. Once you shot the film you placed it in the exposed side of the box, and the darkroom person then developed it. Returning it to the unexposed side, they gave you more cassettes to work with.
• lateral incisor--adjacent to the front teeth.

The building housed the dentist I went to for the repair, and it is still holding up to this day. Bummer though. I could find only one online image that showed the kind we used to use with the straps. Heavy too. 

I've done some reading, and I've done more documentary watching, including this French film depicting the perilous journeys children from four remote areas take On the Way to School. 

I suspect American parents would die before they allowed their children to get to school in the ways shown! Beautifully filmed, especially the African sahara, it is a good reminder how difficult it can be to get an education.

I wish I could report that the weekend was super fun, but I would be lying. It was partly fun, thanks to our friends. Mostly because B was too preoccupied with job problems, but it won't be long now. Plus the weather was icky-- rainy, humid, and gray for most of it. If you clicked on the link above with the blog post about the previous glass breaking, you already know that he's been through this before. We were both shocked though, when I read in that post that he had 10 jobs going at once!!! He tells me this one is harder than all those put together, and who am I not to believe him? 

So, after the gloomy weather weekend, this morning was gorgeous, fairly dry, a lower temperature, and look at the blue sky behind the lilies!

Now we're talking!

Before I forget, when you see the ads for the new Johnny Depp movie about Whitey Bulger, here's something to know. Several years ago, when he was finally caught, it was while B was doing a job in Boston. His superintendent told him that Whitey Bulger was his godfather! Crazy, huh?

Did I tell you I bought an extra battery for the new camera? Well, it not only came with two, but a car charger as well. Plus, I bought a new strap to replace the uncomfortable one that came with the camera. Now I'm stylin n' profilin'! For the life of me I can't find the photo to show you, but I did find this in my library.

Don't tell me I don't do what I can to keep us all in the know! 

Monday, Monday,

Gail