March Madness

During my last blog, Happy St Patrick's day, I forgot to mention that we went o the Barbara Mann theatre to see Tommy Emmanuelle.

He's a guitar player of renown from Australia.He was terrific. Check him out on YouTube. We actually thought we had tickets at the will call window and when we arrived we were given tickets for Harding. I told the ticket vendor that these were not ours and he insisted they were ours,so we took them. 10 rows from the stage almost dead centre. Well guess what happened? Yep! so.. we had to go to the lobby to straighten this out this situation . 

We were in their system,but we had not purchased tickets. Anyway, we buy our tickets. $40.00 each. and we got to sit almost behind the people(Harding) where we were originally. All was well and we enjoyed the evening immensely.

So here we are during the second week of the U.S. spring break and basketball.

We don't go to the beach(not Fort Myers anyway) and we don't watch basketball.

So what do we do? We fish and play golf,work out and save $1,000 by not going home in March.

Apparently if you come down on a passport, you can only stay 90 days. You have to come down on a visa to stay 6 months. Who knew? So.. we might as well stay right till May when our lease expires. 

I'm still working on that bit of information because that's the first I've heard of it, and every Canadian down here, is here on a passport. But that's the info I received from U.S. immigration.

Anyway back to golf and fishing. Shell Point is now on a new schedule and price point.

After 4pm it's $20(walking) and you can only play 9 holes(we got in eleven.....go figure). I went to the flea master flea market last week and I bought an $18 pull cart. It is now paid for because we went to Fort Myers Country club and we paid $22 and walked. Between Shell Point and Fort Myers I saved $22. I'm up four bucks. I love walking anyways. I shot an 89 yesterday. Yipppeee!!!

George Sarnelli was down here with his brother in law Mike, from Bonita Springs and we had a blast golfing together. I hope we can do at least one more round. George is only down for one month.

I have a new fishing reel too. A Shakespeare big water casting reel,brand new. I picked that up at the flea market too(along with the pull cart). I paid $20. We went to the bait shop yesterday and the exact same reel,used, was $42.00. Score!!!

On Tuesday,Ken and I went to Bowditch beach(without shrimp because the shrimp guy slept in) and Ken caught two catfish. I was skunked. But it was a beautiful day by San Carlos bay watching the ships sail away( hey that's a catchy little ditty. LOL)

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On Friday,Ken and Krista were here last night for a steak dinner. Yummy.

I'm in the middle of a legal issue(so far a friendly paper work) with our gym finance dept. They have us on contract till Oct. which of course is ludicrous as we are leaving in June( I was very specific when the gym manager signed us up) and apparently, they being ABC Financial, are not satisfied with the documentation I provided(that we are actually leaving, so the battle continues).
They want to be  assured that we are moving 25 miles from Fort Myers so there is no competition. Should I send them a map?????

But.. all is good. We pay monthly by credit card. Get it?

Sunday March 23rd was baseball day at Jet Blue Field(home of the Boston Red Sox). They played the Rays and were soundly beaten by the Rays 9- 2. Good  game.What a beautiful stadium. Not a bad seat in the house(and we had shade) easy to get to and $27 a ticket.

Guess what? Too crazy!!! We sat right  in  front of a young couple here on vacation from Caledonia, and they knew Mike Thorne(Hank and John's nephew and Laura Hughe's boyfriend) and the Silverthornes from Dunnville.

Today(march 26th) Rip and Joyce Pearce are coming to stay for a few days. We went shopping to buy fixings for the ribs and we found this. Can you believe it??? Okay, really, who needs 10?

Anyway the ribs were terrific. We had a wonderful visit with the Pearces and unfortunately they could only stay one night. They know too many people here in Florida. They left for Punta Gorda this morning at 1100 am. They did a lot of driving yesterday. From the Keys, to Miami  to Fort Myers. They were ready to party.

Today I spent over 30 minutes on the phone with Direct TV. Abridged version to follow.....(Oh by the way..we had no choice regarding a service provider. It was DirectTV or nothing. Baybreeze has a contract with DirectTV where they agreed, that DirectTV, would be the only "cat on the block"...I thought monopolies were illegal?What happened to competition?)

When we first got here, we had to pay"a one time fee of $299". This is paid back at $5 / month.
This we were never informed of.... because, if you do the math,that's a five year pay back.
So what can they do for us because we only signed a one year contract? At first it was "I'm very sorry there's nothing I can do"..Thanks Jim. May I please speak to your boss?

They can't even give me movie credits.
How many million subscribers never finish their 5 year payback(due to any variety of reasons)
Oh....wait.......I think I see it now!!!!!!!

Ok, then his boss...John comes on and he too is "very sorry, I can see your point". What's wrong with pay backs that fit there term of the contract(ie. 1 yr. equals $22/mo. a 2 yr contract dictates a $12 monthly rebate)
There is a $239 short fall. Finally, he sees his way to giving us a $50 credit toward our next bill. If he can give me $50..why not $239.We're still out $189. I took the $50 because it's a start.

To be continued. I'm going to write the head office. Next (if there is no satisfaction)local news.

From all reports, we are now visitor free for the rest of our "staycation".
We are going to explore more far afield but we are waiting until April when all the "snowbirds" and "school breakers" go home.
It will be cheaper and less crowded.

SYS

Happy St Patrick's day

Well it's been a month since my last  post.
We have been joyously busy with family and friends.
Ulla and Kevin were down for a 9 day respite from old man winter.They were with us from the 19th to the 28th of Feb. They too were blessed with great weather. We spent a day on the casino boat (after a 40 min car ride down San Carlos,to the beach because of holiday traffic)and Ulla won $239.00 playing the slots. Kevin, who is usually lucky, came out on the losing end.
Just FYI according to a local who lives on the beach, the average daily traffic is 6,000 people. During"season" it's apparently 60,000.
On Friday, we went down to Bonita beach enjoying a great ride down past Fort Myers beach. Then we spent a part of the afternoon at Doc Fords enjoying a cold beer waiting for 2pm( when we had planned to meet with Don and Cindy Mayor)(they were down visiting friends too). As it turns out, we were only 1/2 mile from our final destination.We spent a few hours with them and their hosts Rick and Arlene before we headed out for Mexican at Iguana Mia. Wow what great Margaritas. We were stuffed.
It's off to the races. Kevin and Ulla had never been to a greyhound track and we had a ball. We didn't get rich but the rum was only ONE dollar. Sorry Kevin(he wasn't impressed). We dropped off Don and Cindy and took the Fort Myers beach route home.
On Sat.we went out to light house beach and spent a few hours watching the activity on the pier enjoying the sun and surf. This was Ulla and Kevins first Sannibel Island experience.
On Sun. we went back to the causeway and tried our hand at salt water fishing. It was a little cool and breezy. No fish, but Aprille and I did score a brand new BBQ. A Louisiana couple was leaving that day and they couldn't use it at their facility.
The pool and pool table and our own BBQ's got a good work out. Kevin and I worked on a few new songs on the lanai. Nice.
Both Ulla and Kevin are going home with evidence of a "little sun".

Aprille and I went down to the beach to look for a T shirt for Ulla that was being worn by the bingo caller / bar tender on the casino boat. Picture this....ECG lines with a flat line in the centre..." for a minute there you bored me to death"  LOL. No luck though finding it. We looked in every T shirt shop.
We did enjoy a great walk along the promenade and the beach(replete with music) It was the shrimp festival and the activities were in full swing.
Adam and Annette were here for the Spring Break. Again fabulous weather and a great time was had  by all.
On Sunday(after a rest day) we all went to Miami to the world championship of golf(WCG) at Doral.Now Trump Doral. After a slight delay with construction(I hate Miami) and poor directions to our parking lot,we finally arrived a Doral. Fabulous. Up close and awesome. Boy, can these boys hit a ball. We spent six hours there. Who do run into? Jim McGreal and his wife. He is vacationing  right here in Fort Myers.

Then we had to drive home. That's 2 1/2 hours. So... we can't wait to eat. We waited 50 minutes at Longhorns( I bowed to my wife). I'm glad I did. We had dinner for two for $30.00 including appetizers( we got the fried shrimp,Adam and Annette got the desert) and the steak and portobello mushroom chicken were excellent.
I'm glad we shared appetizers and desert.. Thank goodness.A new favorite place to eat.
On Monday, Adam and I head up to Tampa to see the lightning play the Coyotes. What a treat.
We enjoyed music on the concourse, wonderful sunshine, a  great meal of pulled pork and rice and a great kinetic atmosphere.We spent an hour and a half pre-game enjoying the experience. Why can't we do this at home?
Do you know Derrick Brooks? He used to play for the Tampa Bay Buc's . A hall of famer. Adam WAS(used to be)  a fan.
Adam asked to have his picture taken with him and when he saw Adam's team Canada sweater he said"not wearing that sweater" and he RUDELY left the scene disrespecting Adam in particular, Canada by direct inference and his profession in general. Judging by the jerseys I saw, I would estimate one in four people there were Canadians. Shame on you Derrick.This is not the image you want to take to arena football.
No trouble getting other good photos.

We had great seats(at home Adam says they would be $200 bucks) 18 rows from the ice at the face off circle. The game was exciting and we got it all. Last second tying goal after pulling the goalie,and a shoot out. Tampa lost but that was good for the Leafs. I hear we're in a play off berth. Really???
There is No, and I mean No hockey down here unless you pay for the NHL ticket.

At home we have a choice. Drink Molson or don't drink beer. Okay. What's wrong with that picture? Here, what do you think of this?  World of beers!!! Okay so it was $13.95 for a Big Boy Heineken, but I had a choice.

Golf Tuesday(too bad it only turned out to be 9 holes. Last week I got in  13 before dark. This week, 9 holes only...new rule... after 4pm) and Thurs.(we changed our T time and got in the full 18) Super.
Just as an aside...9 holes walking,is $15 after 4pm. Guess who just bought a pull cart($18 dollars at the flea market)
The rest of the week was pool side,pool table,Cornhole(corn bag toss)BBQ, beer, Yahtzee, back gammon, sunshine and quick trip to see down town. Too bad it was only a week.
Oh yea. They too went home with"a little bit" of sunshine.
Okay,it's back to the frozen north. A six AM o'clock flight comes early(that's when Kevin and Ulla left too)
I find it hard to imagine a foot of snow any more.LOL

Feb. has Valentine's Day and only 7 more weeks of winter

Holy. Did we pick a good winter to travel down south. I feel sorry for the people in the northern climes.

We had a great day with Mike Csoke on the  5 of Feb. He arrived from his home in Largo and spent the afternoon with us before traveling to Naples to meet with other friends there. During lunch and a pleasant afternoon   by the pool,we caught up on all the latest from our acquaintances up north(friends and fellow workers and fellow "Largoites").  It was nice to see Mike again it's been a long time. Nice car!!!

Happy birthday to our son.

On the 7th we went down to Naples to the golf super store. We had coupons from Subway(cheap advertising here) for the Aces Classic. We got weekly passes for the tournament for $50,that's for both of us.
While we were there, we decided to take in a quaint cafe supper on 5th Ave(the main drag). We parked across the street from Cafe Luna,so..why not check it out. We're glad we did. What a deal. Supper for two,with a bottle of California Melrot,for the low price of $29.99. It was really good. I had the chicken parm and Aprille had chicken(go figure) in a white wine sauce. Then a nice walk to the beach.

We went to the Lee county gun show with our friends Bob and Janice  Sunday the 9th.
That was entertaining to say the least. I was impressed with the quality of he attendees. They were not the "rednecks" I was expecting. It was EASY to purchase a weapon of any description. Including what would be prohibited in Canada. For instance, mace,tasers,brass knuckles,automatic weapons switch blades.
The picture below is on me holding an antitank rifle. That could come in handy a the condo NOT!!!!

I was at one booth where a patron wanted to buy a hand gun. The vendor asked for his Florida drivers licence and his gun permit( not that hard to get). The patron said" I have my licence but not the permit" to which the vendor replied"well, let's see what we can do about that".

Our scheduled cruise on the 12th was cancelled. On purpose.
I'll make it a short story.
There was a $15/day parking fee in West Palm(we would be gone for  5 days).There was transportation to the hotel the Grand Lucayan,$17 each,then there was the tourist tax of $9/each/day on the island. Then the kicker. The hotel was NOT all inclusive.
Have you ever been to the Bahamas. The prices are insane. So...we decided to blow off the initial sailing price to save many hundreds.Too bad, so sad.
Next time you hear a of deal this good. Be careful!!! The fast talking agents may leave out some"fine print".

Ok. Good news. Ulla and Kevin are coming down for 9 days and the weather reports look fantastic. They both need some fun in the sun.

On 14th,Valentine's Day, I went down to Naples the the Aces Classic golf tournament(that's Champion's tour) and all the big names were there(except Fred Couples, sorry mom, I couldn't get  his autograph)
These guys are good. We entertained Bob an Janice for a Valentine's dinner and drinks(of course).

On Sunday,the 15th, Aprille and I went back down to Naples to see the final day of the Aces Classic and we had a great time. We were there for almost 4 hours.I wish I was rich. What a beautiful course and the homes surrounding the venue make you want to salivate.

What a finish. A three way tie at 16 under for the last three some. Triplett,Langer and Waldorf.. Triplett won with a par on 18. Way to go Kirk. This venue, like the LPGA allowed you to get up close and personal. Rocco Mediate never stops taking. They were all very receptive and responsive to the gallery.
There were two Canadians in the field. Rod Spittle and Jim Rutledge.
The "champions" are apparently allowed to take advantage of  golf carts(who knew). I must say,not all the players took advantage of the option.

I now have a Florida fishing licence(oh yea I mentioned that already) and on Wed ,the 12th,we went over near the Sannibel cause way(on our side,so it was free) and had a nice picnic lunch. In the car. he wind was howling.
I was, going to fish but it was blowing so hard, I decided against it. But I will catch a Florida fish.
My knee is back to (maybe 75 percent) I strained it during a work out. Go figure. I should be A1 by Sunday the 22nd.

See ya

Waiting for Valentines Day

Well we have to make some definite plans now. We are only 4 months away from our lease expiring and we are returning to Canada in May to be there for June 1st.
We were up north the last few days looking for other options in Punta Gorda,Port Charlotte,Englewood Sarasota,Venice and Bradenton.
Bradenton is apparently to cut off longitude for the subtropics(and we like those temperatures). We found a beautiful place at the Palms or Cortez(furnished with all the utilities included) for $1,000/mo. but unfortunately the owner was looking for a long term lease.
On or way back home from Bradenton,we stopped at  Dunkin Donuts in Punta Gorda, for a coffee and donut(no really!! I ate a donut..it wasn't Horton's let me tell you) and I'll never have another coffee there either. I actually threw it out after three sips. Anyway I digress. We asked if we could have he coffee in a china mug as we were staying n and the waitress nearly fell over laughing. She actually called the girl on the drive through over to hear this. "We don't have a dishwasher here and I don't do dishes". So we had to explain ourselves and the Horton's experience from Canada. A good diversion for our trip home.

All is well. My gout has been acting up so that interferes with some activities(like golf) but it should be cleared up by Thurs. Love those drugs.
We had a super bowl get together here with Ken, Krista,Sandra John and Maurice.
What a feast we had chile,ribs,wings,garlic bread,spinach dip vegggie tray,wine beer, taco scoops salsa and guacamole (whew!!) and we had a great time being arm chair QB's. Too bad about the excitement factor. Poor Manning Payton.

We should be home by the last week in May. Maybe sooner for a short visit to deal with U.S.A. restrictions on our 6 month limitation(just in case) and to deal with some financials re the house (upcoming)sale.

Today (tues. 4th)we plan to have lunch at the beach near Sannibel causeway. 

A fishing licence is about to happen today and we are waiting patiently for our cruise  on the 12th.

Apart from that, all is good. 

Waiting out the winter

Sat. (Jan 25) it was off to the range. My gout is in check and I can move freely again. Man it feels good to hit the balls again. The Internet has provided me with a wealth of information which should help with re-occurrence oft his issue. Also, they have a natural OTC drug down here called Gouch! I think I am going to like it. It is touted to expel excess uric acid.

Oh yea. I now have a Florida doctor. Dr Fulk(nice guy). It cost me $150 to see him at a walk in clinic. Luckily he's just around the corner but I could not refill my Rx without seeing a U.S. physician(even though I had the Rx bottle, with medication in it) with me at the pharmacy.There's another hurdle out of the way.

Well today(Sunday 26 Jan) was a just a do nothing type of day. It was supposed to be sunny and 80 degree. They lied. It was only about 73 and there was no sun all day.
We hung around the condo till about 130 pm and then we went over to Six Mile Cypress Slough(pr. sloo)
just to get some fresh air and exercise.
What a busy place. We saw 12 different licence plates in a parking lot that holds about 50 cars.
It is now the dry season here and there is a totally different feel to the place.We were intrigued by the obvious foraging an routing that was evident everywhere  and the answer was soon presented. Wild pigs.
They are voracious,noisy and troublesome. They try to trap and move the animals but that is a full time job and by the numbers of young we saw in a day, impossible.

We did get to see some new birds. The one here is a Night Heron.

I'm still trying to identify a couple of small ducks.

Tue. was off the the range(gun range that is) with Bob. What a hoot! Bob had a 380 Barretta(nice little gun)
and a sweet little S&W 9mm Shield. I wish I could be as accurate when I golf. All Red!!!
The ammo was on the expensive side( $56.00 for 25- 9mm and 25 - 380's ). Thank goodness Bob had some of his own ammo from prior shoots. Oh yea, you have to pay for targets too. But it was a morning well spent.
If your into guns, Florida is the place to be. You can buy anything. Really.
This is a 50 mm B.R.A. and it can be yours for only $6,100.

This is a wall of assault rifles AK - 47's - Uzi's.

okay time for an afternoon cocktail.

SYS

Slowing down a bit

Well everyone's home safe and sound and enjoying their winter wonderland. LOL
We went to Venice on Tue. 21 Jan and had a great visit with Sid and Gerry at Sharkey's on the pier.
Our timing was perfect. Aprille and  got there about 45 minutes before Sid and Gerry so we had a table already reserved when they arrived.  We were able to take a nice walk on the pier and enjoyed the sunshine(although it was a little nippy). I got to eat some Great Lakes perch. Yummy!!! That's as close to home as I have been for months. Good thing  we all decided to take cars instead of motorcycles as it just poured buckets during our lunch. Good thing we had a covered table on the patio

Well we have come to a decision on our gypsy ways. Considering the winter they have had up in our neck of the woods, we don't want to ever see another snow flake.So!!!! we are looking for a 5-6 month furnished rental down here for next year and we are putting our lake property up for sale(as of this writing, the process has started) and we will be looking for something very comfortable in the southwest Ontario corridor that will suit our nomadic  lifestyle. We were up in Punta Gorda the other day to "explore" the possibilities of living up there and we stopped for a few minutes to do a little deep sea fishing. The bait must have been fresh.

Punta Gorda is very nice. I could see us living there.
Next week we are going up to Gainesville to look at some properties with our friends Bob and Janice. They will likely buy a place there. It is actually unreal what you can get for $200,000.Places in Ontario of comparable styles and location would be $500,000 easily. It's perhaps a little too far north(near Jacksonville) and the Florida north border) and it is cooler that far north,but it's all up for consideration. I don't think it has ever  been 35 below and I don't believe there is any snow removal equipment in their Quonset huts.
Good news on the home front. Ulla and Kevin are coming down next month. Patience pays off. Ulla was able to find a non stop  flight from Windsor to Fort Myers for $372(for both of them). Nice!!!

Jan 2014

Well John and Crystal are home safely, one day earlier than expected.(what was that Tom Hanks movie where he was stuck in the airport forever?)
The boys went to another Florida Everblades hockey game on Fri. 10th. Jan. This time they were playing South Carolina Stingrays. I don't think this team knows how to win. It was just a good night out. They play uninspired hockey. I don't think there are any future NHLers here. But  the Mascot,Sharkie, is entertaining and they do have cheerleaders.

We just got another pleasant surprise. Russ and Brenda (Stoney Creek) got tired of winter and they came down (for a lighting  visit ) two days on their way to Lakeland and Busch garders on Wed/Thurs.
The first day(Monday) was a rest day(they drove down) it's far.They arrived around 7:00 pm. Good thing I got the BBQ going and dinner ready before hand.We spent Tuesday at Sannibel and Captiva driving around the islands sightseeing. The got to see the wealth on Captiva . We ejnoyed a great lunch at the Sannibel cafe and then went to see Periwinkle park. It was cold that day. It went down to 39 at night.
That evening we were treated to supper at Pincers on the beach. Now our new favorite. Great view and great food great atmosphere(unique).

Early to bed late to rise.Perfect.! Away they go at 9:00AM.
Our new gym(old gym with a face lift and new owners) is almost back to normal. It's nice.
We are back to a regular workout routine( I still enjoy Yoga. It's good for me) and of course weights. The new year found me only 2 1/2 lbs heavier. That is already gone and already I'm back.
Yesterday was the AFC and NFC championships. The clubhouse was opened for the special event and we spent the first game with friends and neighbours cheering for our respective teams. Both the Patriots and 49ers lost. Oh well.  I was drinking hot chocolate(no really) as my gout is acting up(go figure,what causes this?)
We only stayed for the first game and went back to our place for dinner and the second game.