Author Archives: Sparky
Frost!
Two nights ago the temperature dropped to 33 in Fort Myers – close to freezing and the coldest night I have ever experienced in 9 years in southwest Florida. Last night was supposed to be just slightly warmer (less cold?). But look at what I found while walking Rusty at 8am. Frost!
Surrounded by tornadoes
A week ago, Sunday January 16, a front blew through southwest Florida and, while passing through, spun up 6 – count ’em – 6 tornadoes. Two were close enough for me to grab Rusty and my laptop and head south, away from the projected tornado path. Five of the six produced only minor damage but … Continue reading
“Broken Prey” by John Sandford
Copyright 2005 by John Sandford. Published by the Penguin Group of G. P. Putnam Sons, New York NY. This is the 16th in the popular “Prey” series featuring detective Lucas Davenport. While in later books Davenport takes on other jobs, in this one he is still with Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), Minnesota’s state-level … Continue reading
Happy Nude Year
I had to think a very long time about whether I should post this. It might shock some of my friends and relatives. But I was swayed by the current guiding principle of my life: what the heck? On Jan 2 I visited a nudist resort and spent 2 hours basking in the sun, au … Continue reading
New Year’s Eve, 2022
The 2021 New Year’s Eve party at the resort was cancelled due to COVID-19. This year, while the pandemic was rearing its ugly head once again via the Omicron variant, the party went on. It is now January 4, 5 days after the party and I have not heard of any new cases in the … Continue reading
2021 wrapup
My first full year without Jett. I survived. I even had a modicum of fun. But I still miss her. So… 2021. Another year of COVID. A trip north (TN7) and a longer trip south (TS7). A cruise (PCL2). What were the highlights and lowlights? Highlights: Good health. I was healthy all year, which is … Continue reading
Austin TX for Christmas
I just returned from 3 days in Austin TX. I wanted to spend part of the Christmas holiday with two of Jett’s remaining 3 siblings (who just happen to be two of the people I feel closest to in this world). The plan was to fly to Austin for 3 days, including Christmas Eve, then … Continue reading
Flying to Austin during Omicron
We were all hopeful that we were on the downside of COVID-19. The Delta variant was waning, more people were getting vaccinated, normal life was resuming. I was even able to spend a week on a cruise ship. Then the Omicron variant of COVID-19 erupted. Just in time for Christmas. But I had already made … Continue reading
Wind storm
On Tuesday this week a cold front came through Ft Myers. It didn’t get a lot colder, but the front produced some bodacious winds. The forecast was for “gusts to 40 mph” but I am sure the gusts were much stronger than that – my estimate is 60 mph. Enough to rock the RV. I … Continue reading
End of the road for the GMC?
When the exploding tire took out the right rear quarter panel, I knew that repairing it would be difficult as the truck is 17 years old and parts are difficult to obtain. The GMC dealer in August told me that just one part was available in the US – in Nebraska. Well, that part is … Continue reading