Topsy-turvy weather

This past summer – “wet season” in Florida – it was very hot and very dry. I heard many people say they had never seen such a hot, dry summer. Ft Myers was officially in a moderate drought. So there was some concern as winter – “dry season” approached.

Not to worry. December and, so far, January have been cold and wet. With very little sun. Cloudy, rainy, dreary. Not at all what is expected here. But we are no longer in a drought – we got nearly 6″ of rain on Monday alone. Streets were flooded and some were closed. I was driving on a road and sharing the space with a guy in a kayak. My site got was about 2″ deep in rainwater everywhere. Worse than Hurrican Ian last year. Today the forecast high is 65. That doesn’t sound bad to people up north, I know, but it is very chilly for Ft Myers residents. Again, many people are saying it is the “worst winter ever.”

Dry summer, wet winter. Topsy turvy.

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Dancing into 2024

Marlene, me and Dottie at The Buck

Marlene and I continue to dance several times a week. The venues include the Center Bar in Bonita Springs, Nauti Parrot Oasis in Ft Myers, Stan’s in Goodland, The Launch in Labelle and LJ’s in Ft Myers. For New Year’s Eve we went to the Eagle’s Club in Lehigh Acres. It was a low-key night, but it gave us a chance to dress up a bit. Marlene’s brother drove over from the east coast to join us so it was a bit of a family affair.

After midnight Marlene and I went to the casino and stayed until 4am. She won. I lost. But she won more than I lost, so it was a good night.

I also, in December, went to a Sunday jam at The Buckingham Blues Bar. If you recall, I have been banned from that establishment for life, thanks to the evil machinations, I think, of Ooma. I had a good time and didn’t get kicked out by the owner. I don’t plan on going often and won’t go if Ooma is present, but it felt good to defy the odious ban.

Sparky, the Dancing Rebel.

Sunset in Labelle
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2023 in review

Last day of the year. Time to reflect on what was good and bad.

Highlights:

  • Marlene. We made it through an entire calendar year, which made this relationship considerably more durable than the preceding one with Ooma. It wasn’t all sweetness and light, but it was a lot of fun and a lot of adventure. She is an amazing woman who improves my life.
  • TCL2. This was a terrific 12-night transatlantic cruise – the best cruise experience of my life so far. And after the cruise ended I met my new favorite city, Barcelona.
  • TS9. The trip south with Marlene, featuring New York and the Statue of Liberty, was a great time.
  • TP1. The 30-night transpacific cruise with Marlene was epic. I got to Japan and Indonesia – two places I never expected to visit. And Brisbane was a treat. But we lost the opportunity to see both Alaska and the Philippines due to bad weather.
  • TN9. The ninth trip north – just an auto trip – was my first solo long-distance trip. It was memorable primarily because I got to see family both along the way and in Massachusetts. The travel in New England after Marlene joined me – to Boston, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island – was fun too. I also enjoyed the visit from my son in August.
  • Music. Thanks largely to Marlene’s love of music and dancing I heard a lot of really good rock and country bands this year. And some not-so-great ones too.
  • Carnival Vista cruise. The 6-night cruise to Grand Turk, Nassau Bahamas and Amber Cove was nice but we didn’t like the ship very much.

Lowlights:

  • Ooma. I can’t, in a single paragraph, express the depth of my disappointment and anger with Ooma. The outrageous application for a restraining order from her in March was the worst moment I have had with any woman that I have ever dated. The lies and vile she spewed in that document were both stunning and despicable. She instantly went from a woman I loved to a woman I hated. Quite a transformation. I believe she is mentally disturbed. I guess I should feel fortunate that the relationship was brief.
  • Rusty’s death. My buddy and companion – Jett’s dog initially but mine after her passing – had to be put down in June.

I think, overall, 2023 was better than 2022. Lots of cruising. Lots of music. Not a bad year at all.

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“Stone Cold” by David Baldacci

Copyright 2007 by Columbus Rose Ltd. Published by Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Book Group USA, New York.

This is the 3rd of 5 books by Baldacci featuring the “Camel Club”, a ragtag group of men in Washington DC who perform nearly superhuman feats of derring-do, mostly in service of the national security of the USA. The group is headed by a cemetery caretaker, Oliver Stone, who is actually a former CIA assassin, John Carr. He reportedly died years earlier but obviously the reports of his death were greatly exaggerated. Very few people knew that Carr survived, but two of those people are Alex Ford, an active duty Secret Service agent and friend, and Carter Gray, a former head of the CIA and mortal enemy. In this book Carter learns of Carr’s survival and is bent on finishing the job.

Much of the story involves the unresolved conflict between Gray and Carr/Stone, with the catalyst being Harry Finn and Finn’s mother, a former Soviet spy. They are on a vendetta to eliminate the remaining members of the Carr-led team that killed her husband and Finn’s father – an assassination ordered by Gray. One of the targets is Roger Simpson, a Senator and potential candidate for President.

In addition to the assassinations there is also a second plotline involving Annabelle Conroy, a beautiful con artist, and Jerry Bagger, a ruthless Atlantic City casino owner that Conroy takes for $40 million. He is on a vendetta of his own, to find and kill Conroy and her father, also a con artist who also ripped him off, but only for a piddling $10K.

This all gets very complicated and the plotlines stretched my credulity. It bordered on the ridiculous.

5 out of 10.

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Carnival Vista wrapup

I haven’t, in the past, done wrapups of cruises, except the long ones. This cruise, on the Carnival Vista, was just 6 days. But it was remarkable in some ways, so I will do a quick wrapup.

Highlights:

  • Casino winnings. I left the ship up $2,400 and Marlene was about $900 to the good. So we won, combined, about $3,300. This is incredible, especially since neither of us could recall ever winning anything in a cruise ship casino.
  • The ports of call. We didn’t do anything spectacular in any of the ports – or much that was even memorable – but these ports (Nassau Bahamas, Amber Cove Dominican Republic and Grand Turk) were three new ports for me. Considering that I have done more than a dozen Caribbean cruises, being 3 for 3 on new ports is pretty amazing.
  • The cost. The cruise itself cost just $250 (plus port taxes), an incredible bargain. Couple that with our casino winnings and it was, hands down, the best bang for the cruise buck ever.
  • The in-cabin entertainment. The Vista had a large number of on-demand movies and some interesting TV channels (e.g., TCM). This makes the Vista way better than the Luminosa in this respect.

Lowlights:

  • The buffet. This ship simply does not have enough serving stations for its 3,900 passengers. The breakfast lines the first morning were the longest we have ever seen – probably over 100 people in each station line. Simply unacceptable.
  • The buffet food. It simply wasn’t very good or even interesting. The scrambled eggs at breakfast were runny and tasteless.
  • The elevators. They were slow. And, like the buffet, were too few to serve the passenger volume. At disembarkation we, along with many others, walked our heavy luggage down rather than waiting perhaps an hour for an elevator.
  • The condition of the ship. It had a “beat up” look. The exterior was rusty and the interior was dirty and worn. I was told that it is scheduled for refurbishment and it certainly needs it.

Other facilities – the pools, sports facilities, night clubs, comedy venues, etc. – were adequate (and better, in most cases, than the Luminosa). But I would expect no less.

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Carnival Vista Day 7: Disembarkation

We got up early, around 6am, to pack. We had breakfast in the buffet and disembarked around 8am. It was difficult as many people were waiting to use the elevators. We had our bags with us and decided to take them down, from Deck 8 to Deck 3, using the stairs. I carried the large bags, one floor at a time. It was hard labor and took a while, but was faster than waiting for the elevators.

In addition to having an insufficient number of serving stations in the buffet, the Vista also has an insufficient number of elevators.

Once through the passport check, getting on the shuttle back to the car was a breeze. We got on the road, got some gas, then stopped at a large flea market (bought almost nothing) and a small yard sale (bought a few things). The route back took us right by the Brighton Seminole Casino and I thought Marlene might like to stop since she has been on a good luck streak, but we rolled on by.

We stopped for a lunch/dinner at the Log Cabin in Labelle. The fish sandwich there is terrific and they have complimentary bowls of homemade soup – a delicious cheddar broccoli this time. Always a treat.

In the evening we went dancing at LJ’s. Because we hadn’t done enough dancing on the cruise.

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Carnival Vista Day 6: At sea

Despite the late night we were up early, before 8am. We went to the casino on the theory that on the last day the odds were best in the morning. That didn’t work for me as I lost $175 (some in the morning, some at night) but still ended the cruise up $2,400. Can’t complain about that. Marlene ended the cruise up about $900. Neither of us had ever finished a cruise in the black so this was an unexpected bonus.

After breakfast we explored the ship a bit. The SkyRide looked interesting but we weren’t properly dressed so we couldn’t try it out.

We went to a magician show and were, as always, amazed at some of the tricks.

We had tacos for lunch and they were terrific. Some of the best I have ever had.

After lunch I spent some time in the cabin backing up the laptop’s disk (it is a regular first-of-the-month chore).

Dinner was forgettable. After dinner we danced to a C&W DJ.

A nice ending to a nice cruise.

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Carnival Vista Day 5: Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

Marlene stayed in the casino until 5am. She lost, but not much. I got up around 8 and went to breakfast by myself, figuring she would be asleep until noon. But she surprised me by joining me in the buffet before 9.

The Vista from the beach on Grand Turk

This was the last port day for the cruise: Grand Turk. Once again we did not leave the port area and it was similar to the port area of Amber Cove, but without the 56-ounce drinks. And the souvenir prices were higher. We didn’t stay long.

One thing that Grand Turk had that Amber Cove didn’t was a beach, right at the end of the pier. If we had been in a sunning/swimming mood it would have been a good place to hang out. But we didn’t.

We had lunch back on the ship and then took a nap.

Dinner was elegant once again. Marlene was beautiful, as always, but I dressed down – just a tie, no jacket. The food at dinner was disappointing. The lobster tail was chewy and the prime rib was tough. It is difficult to have a prime rib that is hard to cut, but I had it this evening.

The evening show was a “VIP Show” which was a musical revue in which the performers went into the audience and picked people to include. It was pretty entertaining.

After the show we spent a lot of time in the casino, leaving at 4am. But it was productive: I won $225, leaving me up $2,575 for the cruise.

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Carnival Vista Day 4: Amber Cove, Dominican Republic

The entrance to the Amber Cove port area
The first (of 2) CoCo Party drinks

I am writing this the day after the cruise ended so I have some catching up to do.

We had breakfast in the buffet (tolerable lines this time) then went ashore. We wandered about the port area and bought a few souvenirs. Then we wandered down to the pool area in search of a VERY large drink that we had seen someone consuming. We found it at CocoCana, a bar by the pool – 56 ounces of frozen fun with 6 shots of run. It is called a “CoCo Party” and is delivered by 4 waiters chanting “CoCo Party! CoCo Party!” It cost $21 which included the souvenir goblet. Not bad for what you get. And the refill (which we got) was just $13.

We returned to the ship in a very pleasant mood and immediately took a nap.

After dinner we attended two game shows in the theater – Family Feud and Love and Marriage. Both were hilarious.

We ended the night in the casino. I almost broke even but lost $20. Still up $2,350.

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“Choose Moose” by David Benjamin

Copyright 2022 by David Benjamin. Published by Last Kid Books, Madison WI.

First, the usual disclaimer: David Benjamin is one of my best friends. But he is also a very talented author. I enjoy his books very much.

Benjamin’s work can’t be pigeon-holed. He can write romance, mystery and historical fiction. Choose Moose is a political novel. About a school board in Blackhawk WI. I can’t imagine a political novel smaller than that – a school board in a small town. But the unlikely protagonist is Henry Haddock, an 11-year-old sixth grader who becomes agitated when some popular teachers and programs – including art, Henry’s favorite class – are cut due to a budget crunch. He starts attending school board meetings and tries to ask some questions but is ignored by the school board’s chairman, the imperious “Scooter” McDuff. But Henry persists and learns about school committee procedures and meetings. He finds evidence that the school board has violated the state’s Open Meeting law, gets the local paper involved and general becomes a thorn in the side of McDuff.

He then starts to learn the importance of money in politics. In the case of Blackhawk, the town’s most prominent (i.e. richest) citizen, Paul Lamartine, is a staunch backer of both McDuff and the “Thundering Three Hundred,” Blackhawk’s famous marching band. Why was the band not cut along with the teachers? Because Lamartine’s daughter is in the band, of course.

This all seems wildly unfair to Henry. After his attempt to get three members of the school board recalled is thwarted he organizes opposition to those three in the next general election, enlisting, as candidates, former Town Attorney Charlie Mulcahy, a flamboyant gay man and a just-turned-18 high school sports star, “Moose” Fulton. These three become the “reform” candidates.

The local election of a small town’s school board is not, in global terms, important. But the vivid characters make this a very enjoyable tale of small town politics. I never lost interest.

7 out of 10.

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