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May 31, 2003
Strange..it doesn't look like home.
Strange..it doesn't look like home. It seems weird being in a hotel on a Saturday. They had fried salami at breakfast this morning...I passed on that and just had french toast.
Apparently last night was Prom night around here. Saw a couple of guys wearing white tuxes with great coats. Must be the fashion this year, but one guy had cream colored shoes and hat....I was not impressed. I was expecting the girls to be wearing Gone with the Wind outfits...complete with pantaloons and umbrellas but alas the three young ladies I saw looked lovely....no excessive skin either...just pretty. The only thing I saw I thought was excessive was the white stretch Explorer...hhhhmmm. I was also dreading being in a hotel on Prom night as I heard many revelers trooping up the stairs by us after the prom....things remained reasonable, however. Somewhere around 5am, I heard door pounding and I thought I heard someone announce "Police" but it could have been my sinus headache and my pleading for relief.
I hate air-conditioning.
We ventured off to Blockbuster last night. The route brought me into a new area where I think I just might have to explore next week. Gormet coffee shop and antiques...what more do I need than that!
Posted by frani at 08:25 AM | Comments (4)
May 30, 2003
If it's Friday...
...but no, I don't have to pack today; we are staying another week! I will have to do laundry though. At leat the sun is out today and it's warming up...I envision sitting out poolside reading my book while the laundry is laundering.
Speaking of which....I finsihed Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons last night. Booo Hiss...I will miss those characters as if they were friends who have moved. I think it was the best Lorna Landvik book to date.
I'll be starting Atonement today by Ian McEwan.
I took the METRO to Bethesda yesterday to meet an old friend for lunch. (The old stomping grounds from the NIH job of last fall) We went to a great little French restaurant ( or should I say Freedom Restaurant?) where I had a shrimp/scallop crepe and some chocolate Mousse....too bad I left my doggie bag on the table; there would have been some really good lunchables today.
More speaking of which....who the heck though up these fast food Smuckers things? How hard is it (or slow) to make a PB&J?? It's right up there with Purple and Green ketchup....
Unique notables: They have traffic tie ups here that are referred to as sun delays. Apparently there is a stretch (or 12) of interstate where the angle of the sun in the morning is blinding enough to stop traffic. hhhmmm....
The METRO stop escalators at Bethesda remain daunting...very high and long. I made an observation there as well, yeasterday, when I kept finding I had to release my death grip on the handrail, reposition or else fall forward. The handrail travels slightly faster than the stairs, which is a little scarier when you are traveling down. ...and what's up with these people who skip up and down the escalator? I don't mind it so much when it's young kids but when the Great-Grandmas woosh past me on the left, then I have to at least make an attempt to move a step or two. Of course I do not do this while releasing the death grip on the hand rail..........nooooooooooooooo.
Rats....looks like I am missing an end of an era....sigh
Posted by frani at 09:12 AM | Comments (1)
May 27, 2003
Monday...no Tuesday..it's Wednesday
ok...so now it's Thursday..I haven't had too much to say.
Three day weekends make it hard to keep track of what the day of the week is.
More reasons I like this hotel: they use fitted bottom sheets on the beds, they have enough dishes and silverwear in the kitchen AND a clock on the wall in the living room.
Hey Fans, it's raining! I feel like I might be sprouting (get it?) moss any day now. It's sad...I AM a sun child you know. I need it like air to breathe!
Yesterday's big thrill was to finish reading a book by Greg Iles, Sleep No More. Hmmmm...spooky. Who thinks up things like this? I've started Lorna Landvik's new one now...Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. this is more fun when it makes me laugh out loud instead of cringe.
It's supposed to clear up and be warmer this afternoon (Thursday); we can hope. I'm going to attempt to park at the METRO again today and meet a friend for lunch in Bethesda. This should work....I hope.
I/we saw and interesting squirrel this morning while leaving the hotel....he was all black and looked velvety. Greg said he saw a bunch while he was working at NIH last fall. Weird animals down here....like the all white Squirrel I saw in DC near The Wall. Hhhhhmmm...think there's a conspiracy???????????
I saw a piece in the paper this morning about "Book of the Year" Awards giving by the American Booksellers Association....I've read 2 of the 5 finalists recently! Fiction anyway...The Secret Life of Bees and The Lovely Bones. I've had The Life of Pi in my hands several times too but haven't bought it. Ahhhhh I see The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency made the paperback list too. Another one I've read recently. I just might have to go check out the others to see if they are ones I'd like to read. I'm still liking Angry Housewives Eating Bons Bons...in fact, I haven't even turned on the TV the last two nights, reading this book instead.
Ahhhhh I had a Maura/Demian fix this morning...webcam and voice enabled chat. I love technology when used for good! Great way to start the day.
Posted by frani at 11:18 AM | Comments (4)
May 26, 2003
I noticed I had not
I noticed I had not made many entries here last week. You'd think since I had been home alone, I would have had plenty of time to think up witty things to write about. NOPE, I was busy getting the apartment ready to rent again. As it turned out, my neighbors sold their house and moving to FL permanently but needed a small place for a year (maybe less)....voila! *I* have that.
Now, let me tell you, it's a whole other ball game to rent to someone you know. I felt the need to clean better, not that I'm all that good at it; and to fix it up a bit more. I also felt funny asking for a deposit and or immediate rent payment but they are more than accomodating on all of that. We're getting new carpeting and paint...I painted the stairway and replacing the fan in the bathroom. It will look a lot better before they (she) moves in. This makes me happy.
However, there were some other things about the place that did not make me happy. I wondered why there was an empty bottle of booze laying on it's side on top of the cabinet....I found out...it was stuck and had to be practically pried up. (I guess I mentioned that already) Screens had to be located, straightened out and put back in...normal wear and tear is fine, I guess I also decided to wipe down the inside of the cabinets and murphy oil soap the outsides. Always a nice clean and fresh smell. As I opened one of the last cabinets and crawled in to clean it, I nearly had a heart attack.....ok maybe not, but my heart WAS racing, and I did bump my head on the way out and I did scream until my throat hurt and I did wet my pants. There was a snake in there! I determined it was not moving...I shined a flashlight on it but still could not determine if it was a fake one or not....it still didn't move, so I shut the door and left. I decided I had had enough cleaning for one day.
After changing my clothes, I went out to get the mail and noticed Duane and Tonie's garage door open so I went to chat with them. By this time I had been through the hurt and angry stages of my trauma....how dare he leave that snake for me to find...what had I done to deserve that?? Everyone who knows me, knows I hate snakes with a passion! Tonie took one look at my face and thougt someone had died....I found it difficult to speak and finally she asked if everyone was ok first...yup...then I got out my story. Tonie was more than sympathetic since she is more afraid of them than I am. Duane, my hero, donned his leather gloves, grabbed a stick and away we went to the apartment to rid the place of the varmint. I'm telling you, this thing was very real looking...enough that Duane felt the need to beat it with the stick a few times before flipping it out of the cabinet with the stick...I noticed he still didn't take off his gloves either.
Yes, it was fake...but it was damn lifelike...Tonie still didn't come up the stairs until we (Ahem, Duane) had put it in the trash bag and sealed it. Fortunately, the trash people will have disposed if it before I get home again.
::::::::::willies:::::::::::: just another one in a long list of visuals that will be with me for a long time to come.
BTW...we are in lovely Gaithersburg, MD again for two weeks. Hertz gave us an ugly bright blue Chevy Cavelier.........guess we won't be losing THAT in a parking lot anytime soon.
We overslept this morning..8:44am, please but made it to breakfast in time. goodness the holiday/weekend crowd sure is different than the warriors we are used to seeing in the mornings. We also made our way to the Caribou coffee place while the room was being cleaned. Yum...Turtle Mocha coffee and all the mints I can carry...what a haul.
Oh yeah...I don't mind the traffic out there either......I think these people should stay home more often.
Posted by frani at 11:58 AM | Comments (8)
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is another one of those days evoking childhood memories. I always looked forward to Memorial Day when I was growing up. Of course that was also back in the day when Memorial Day was May 30th. As a Brownie & Girl Scout, I got to march in the town's parade. We'd march through the center of town, then on to the Veteran's Cemetery for solemn tributes to "those who died to keep us free" There was always the recitation of In Flanders Fields and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address followed by full throated singing of The Battle Hymn of the Republic. I also envied the two students who got to do the recitations; the girl always did In Flanders Fields. I think it was in 8th or 9th grade that I found out we ALL had to memorize these two pieces and COMPETE for the priviledge of performing at the festivities. Needless to say, I was too terribly shy to be chosen but I'd heard them recited enough times to know when it was well done or not. I KNEW when to pause and when not...
I thought of this all last night as we were flying into Reagan National Airport...right over Arlington National Cemetery.
Posted by frani at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2003
OK...I've decided that Clay is
OK...I've decided that Clay is going to win American Idol I know that's not what I said last week.
Unsalted butter has no flavor....
I feel as if I have accomplished a few things this week so far...
I located a replacement bathroom fan motor for the apartment...this is a GOOD thing because now I won't have to muck with replacing the whole housing unit. One does not want to get into too much structural work when it comes to this house. (Ernie built it on a very small budget; whatever he could find)
I succeeded in grabbing a canceled appointment at the radiologist's yesterday.. now I don't feel so bad about having had to cancel mine when we were in Florida.
I painted the stairway in the apartment...ahem..ok, so I told the last tenant I would do that several months ago...I don't recall telling him WHEN though. He ripped out the old smelly carpeting off the stairs; that was a huge help. Hmmm, I wondered why he had left a bottle of booze laying on it's side on top of the cabinet....there is usually a reason...maybe because this one was STUCK and needed prying up with a jack hammer? Ya Think? He was still a good tenant AND I'm pretty sure I have someone else to move in there.
I admit to being somewhat disconcerted by going to Washington DC over Memorial Day weekend in light of the recent rash of terrorist attacks and hightened alert status...however, I doubt I have to worry about my puddle jumper flight from VT. Maybe "disconcerted" is giving it too much importance..I think it's more like I had a fleeting thought concerning what I was doing and where I was going and when. Done.
I took advantage of the great weather we have been having lately...these days have reminded me why I love living in VT...we've forgotten how ugly March is already. Of course it doesn't hurt that the traffic is low and there are fewer people here than most other places we go.
Have a fine day all....
Posted by frani at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2003
Sunday's Unload...
Books:
Finished Reading Lorna Landvik's Tall Pine Polka making the 3rd of her books I've read recently. I think there is one more paperback and a new Hardcover to go. Good reads if you are in the mood. Finally started Stuart Woods new Hardcover yesterday.." Dirty Work" quick read. Of course I have pre-ordered the next "Harry Potter" book.
Movies:
Had a field day the last two weekends with new released DVDs. Last week it was Sandra Bullock/Huge Grant's Two Week Notice and Kevin Kiline's The Emperor's Club....this weeks was Leonardo's Catch Me if You Can and De Niro/Crystal's Analyse That. I enjoyed them all but had too high expectations for Analyse That after Analyse This. sigh...
Neighborhood:
Did some stoop-sitting yesterday morning with Duane...it wasn't long before Tonie, Liz, Chuck and Greg joined us. What a hoot! Duane turns 70 this year ("should have been 71 but I was sick one year") Snort...wish I had been collecting all the Duaneisms from the last 20 years. (Can't believe we moved into this house nearly 20 years ago.) I love these people; they make me laugh and feel good...good homecoming.
Going to be a great year for lilacs..they are just starting to bloom and I'll be home all week to enjoy them this year!! Between the winter's snow/ice and roof replacement last fall, the bushes out front are looking rather poorly...still alive but a wee bit cockeyed...maybe if one were looking at them from a prone position, they would be ok. Maybe not. Yard moss is good..it's green and it doesn't need mowing.
I submitted an ad to rent the apartment to The Other Paper ( THE South Burlington freebie) for their May 1st issue. Of course, there WAS no May 1st issue issued..the publisher had an accident of some sort. Ok...I can understand that...but he should have included my ad in the next issue then!! Must be a sign that I didn't need to advertise it then.
Today's Agenda:
I feel a trip to Costco coming on......and I need to get the lawnmower started for me before Greg leaves for Nowhere. Enjoy the day...hope it's as nice where you are as it is here today!
Posted by frani at 09:12 AM | Comments (1)
May 15, 2003
Hotel not so Suites
The people next door had the wet/dry vac going for more than an hour on Tuesday....yesterday they had to have the window blinds replaced. they seem to be somewhat hard on the place. "Mom" seems to spend a bit of time on the couch with her arm bandaged, smoking, with the door open.
This morning we had breakfast with a class (or 12) middle-schoolers making their pilgrimage to DC...my favorite age. NOT. How could they (adults) let some poor boy sit all by himself at breakfast...SOMEONE should have sat with him in my opinion, even if it WAS just one of the male chaperones. Does no one have eyes???
I did go to the zoo yesterday...way to many class trips but at least there were a lot of little ones and I could see the anilmals over their heads....hehehe. the Pandas still don't move a whole heck of a lot but the male was sitting up eating some bamboo for a little while. Makes them appear just a tad bit more alive if they move, ya know???
Today is laundry day........
Posted by frani at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2003
clearing the clutter
I have a lot of disjointed thoughts running amok this morning...
Happy Birthday to my bestest Partner in Crime....remember when you used to think 55 was OLD........??
I saw a Canada goose on the roof of the Shire Building the other day while waiting for Greg to get out of work. I worried all night that he had lost his flock. Maybe he just needed a good vantage point from which to find them. At any rate, it still looked weird to see him up there....It's not like he was some unobtrusive pigeon, ya know. Naturally, the camera was back in the hotel room.
I think there are Gypsies living next to us at the hotel...it's a very unsettling notion to have....not that they are there; but rather to have the thought. ( 3 vehicles, several loud foreign speaking adults, several equally loud children who are never put to bed and they load and unload their vehicles of merchandise (looks to be leather goods) every morning/evening.)
My wireless mouse is annoying me today...good thing I pack a spare. Heaven forbid I should use the built in one on the laptop. Speaking of laptop...did you catch the news about the TX state (D) legislators who fled to OK in protest of some state Republican plan to redistrict? I was struck by the fact that all the seats/desks in the state legislature had laptops at them...supplied like water, pads of paper and pens. I don't think VT does that. snort
I think Ruben will be the ultimate winner of American Idol but I can't predict who will get the boot tonight between Clay and Kimberley. At least the voters learned their lesson when they found Ruben actually in the bottom 3 one week. ...and why am I even concerned with this??
May Sweeps and Season Finales in mid-May...how rude! At least 3/4 of the year is re-runs and not even reruns of the present season. As usual, I'm getting tired of receiving less and less for my $$.
I wonder how Nora did on her Calc final? Awesome I suspect.
We are a traveling family, too (Gypsies?) We are in MD, Morgan is in CA...Lisa is in TX and I think David is somewhere else and meeting up with her in TX soon. I get to stay home next week...I think.
I think I will make an attempt to go to the zoo today........it will be best day of the week weatherwise.
Posted by frani at 09:26 AM | Comments (1)
May 12, 2003
Monday, Monday...
Not a whole lot new...we're in lover-ly Gaithersburg, MD this week.
Many flights in and out of Burlington were delayed yesterday because of bad weather elsewhere. Ho Hum. We got to DCA too late to pick up the car Hertz originally picked for us...don't know what that was but we ended up with a boring beige Toyota Corolla. The "compact" I requested; no upgrade. It's a tad less peppy than we need trying to merge onto I-270 or I-495 traffic but I personlly like the size.
Today's task was to find the local Caribou Coffee store. Ok, that wasn't hard...next? Maybe I'll actually catch up on my soap this afternoon
Posted by frani at 12:09 PM | Comments (1)
May 10, 2003
Kid in a candy store.
So if asked what the highlight of our little trip to Florida was, I might be hard pressed not to admit it was the Phantom Fireworks Store!! This store location was having a Grand Opening Sale; buy one get one free. I had all I could do to contain myself. Ok, so I didn't contain myself too well BUT I didn't buy any. (couldn't, gggrrrr) I think the employees of the store were a little taken aback when I admitted to only wanting to look and fondle...and take pictures. another image
Oh yeah..I didn't fondle them too much since I didn't want to risk of a cavity search at the airport. I only handled a package of very huge (Long/fat) punks ( for the uninitiated: punks are the slow burning/ fuse igniting thingies..clear?) I had spotted the store just as we had crossed the Courtney Campbell Causeway from the Tampa Airport ..and I was driving! I dreamed about that store the whole week...I wanted to buy some for the beach party but Greg thought maybe it might not be a good idea. He was right of course. At any rate, we had some time to kill before our 6:40 flight yesterday, so after a tasty snow crab lunch, Greg stopped at the store for my enjoyment. What a guy!!
Guess there were some nasty storms afoot the last few days....tornadoes and people dead throughout the country's midsection! the foul weather took a toll on our flights last night as well. I finally had us upgraded seats to PHL but that was delayed enough that we would have missed our flight to VT. Soooo, we got rerouted to Pittsburgh and if our connectiong flight to VT had not been so horribly delayed, we would have been hardpressed to make that one as well.
Now as much as I complain about USAir sometimes...I will give them credit when they do something good. Before we disembarked the plane last night (an hour late there too), an agent came aboard and announced there would be electric carts for passengers going to Elmira/Binghamton, NY...very good! (Ed. Note: we weren't leaving for Elmira/Binghamton but maybe they will do it for us someday when we have a tight connection!) Now I also will complain that they did not call for first class and Perferred member boarding in Tampa and we played by the rules and waited to board. Our overhead space above our first class bulkhead seats was taken by the time we boarded. gggrrr. Why won't people use the overhead storage above their own seats! No matter ...they had to hand us our stuff before they could get off the plane anyway.
Tomorrow we go back to Maryland....
Posted by frani at 10:27 AM | Comments (7)
May 09, 2003
If it's Friday...
...I must be packing.
Went to Caladesi Island yesterday...swimming...beach combing...skin burning. I did find a whole intact medium sized sand dollar though. Good for me.
The morning bed sheet marks on old sunburned skin are especially attractive.. I'm surprised no one rushed me to a plastic surgeon.
Last night we had a beach party dinner....the steel band was awesome but unfortunately they were out done by events surrounding a casual bar conversation among the "right" people Sat night. At the last minute we were treated to a concert by Lynyrd Skynyrd Amazing to actually see some real live response from this group of Techno-geeks. Dancing even. Can't say there was a lot of rhythm going on out there but they were certainly enjoying themselves. A great show and surprise treat.
Ahem....a few people mentioned the music evoking all sorts of youthful memories. Alas...I have to admit, I missed most of the 70s and 80s (due to children etc, Please) and if it weren't for "Sweet Home Alabama", I don't think I would have recognized any of their music. No, not even "Freebird" was overly familiar. Hey, I did recognize the name of the band though!
It's not easy becoming/admiting being old.
Posted by frani at 09:48 AM | Comments (3)
May 06, 2003
Tuesday?
Sorry for the lack of reporting...it's not that I haven't had anything to say; it's I can't seem to get anything saved or published onto my blog. Something is up with my frani.net host. ...and I'm working at 26.4kbps as well....gggrrr.
So here's the abbreviated version:
Hertz gave us a Toyota Camry...45 minutes later some child ( 14-16) driving Grandpaw's ( presumably) Lincoln Navigator backed his trailer hitch right through the front bumper at the security gate of the resort. I can only assume Grandpaw told him to back up since the guards at the gate weren't being too quick about letting us in. However, said child was not an experienced enough driver to know his own strength when it came to the accelerator nor what the franic leaning on the horn from the woman behind him meant. I dealt with the accident report yesterday.
We went out in Tampa Bay on a dinner cruise last night....saw some Dolphins...ate some food...drank some drinks. We all picked out which homes we wanted but then decided against it since people on dinner cruise boats would be floating by daily gawking at our home.
My partners in crime didn't not come to the User Group meeting this year sooo I guess I'm left to running amok alone or else picking up the slack and organizing a group of spouses to do something. I'm thinking a snorkeling trip out of Clearwater Beach.
It's really hot and humid this morning...it just may end up being a pool day right here.
Wednesday morning...still having server trouble
Last night we went to the Museum of Science and Industry...they had a Segway there but wouldn't let Us ride it. The bus driver wouldn't let me drive the bus either...what kind of a place is this anyway!?
Posted by frani at 09:53 AM | Comments (7)
May 01, 2003
Happy Mayday
Hey, hey, It's the first of May! Outdoor grassin' begins today!
Speaking of grass....if there is a series of sidewalks but the shortest distance to where you are going is cutting across the grass...do you?
Posted by frani at 08:57 AM | Comments (7)
Metro DC Observations
I finally saw a car with "Diplomat" license plates yesterday. Hmmm...couldn't have been toooooo high a ranking Diplomat since it was a Ford Contour. Geesh, he didn't even rate a Taurus!
On the Way in we observed DC license plates with " Fight Terrorism" on them. Hmmmm.....I suppose it's in keeping with NH's "Live Free or Die" sentiments.
Drivers in Maryland make a lot of U-turns....seems to be a local thing like rotaries in MA and running red lights in Phoenix. ( Always count to 5 before entering an intersection after the light turns green in Phoenix)
There aren't a lot of posted speed limit signs...guess that's understandable...no one would observe them anyway. Just a blur as they sped by. Works for me but there are lots of accidents too which tie up traffic. I've had gray hair grandmas pass me....hey wait...I am a gray haired grandma! (not very gray though)
However, I think drivers here are by far the most co-operative I've met in a while...one actually stopped to let me make a cross traffic turn yesterday!! There was none of this non-eye contact and pretend we don't don't you are there so I can prevent your turning while I inch up an extra 6 feet in a very long non-moving line. SoCT/NYers want everyone to suffer with them.
Posted by frani at 08:53 AM | Comments (0)