Florida

Here I am in Florida, enjoying their beautiful warm weather, their beaches and their hospitality.  It's a good thing.

Since, for reasons known only to her, my Sainted wife goes shopping - in the same exact stores we have at home - so I must find ways to while away my time.  For instance, I look through the local rags to see what real estate deals may be had and such.  While doing so, I also ran across page upon page of boats for sale.  

This was not surprising, but amidst all these boat ads, one really caught my eye: it was a racy cigarette-style boat with the caption "Not for sale in U.S. waters."

This has GOT to be some sort of wanted drug runner boat, doesn't it?  I guess we play things a little loose here in Florida.

Cinque de Something-or-Other

While we were in Florida this week, my Sainted wife announced that it was a holiday - "Cinque de Mayo" (I think I got that right) which apparently has to do with sandwiches.  Nonetheless, we decided to go to a Mexican restaurant.

Mexican cuisine is not unlike Italian - they combine some small set of ingredients in slightly different ways to make it look like there is more than one item on the menu.  But, as with their southern European counterparts, there are strong feelings about how well this stuff turns out, and since we were in an unfamiliar place, I consulted Google for help.

One restaurant really stood out in the reviews, so off we went.  Arriving safely (thank you Google Maps), we discovered one of those hole-in-the-wall places that doesn't take reservations because word-of-mouth keeps them hopping.  However, apparently this holiday concentrates more on Mexican liquor than food, so no hopping.  Worse, this hole in the wall was in a strip mall along side of a tattoo joint and Stuff-You-Like liquors.

Google skipped that part.  But they nailed the food.

Trouble in TSA-Land

My Sainted wife and I are what you would call "seasoned" travelers.  We both traveled extensively in business.  

We still travel, so we're  used to the TSA drill.  We pack smart, wear slip-on shoes for easy check-ins, and have our papers ready.

Not so fast!  Today, after passing muster with boarding pass and picture ID, I loaded up those bins (not forgetting belts, shoes, jewelry, etc. etc.), stepped into the merry-go-round xray, and as I stepped out, the guy said "boarding pass."

It was in my valise, going through the other xray with my wallet, iPhone, belt and shoes.  They had already OKd us at their super-secure check in point.  

Always something else.  Chuckleheads.

Desk Wars

When I first heard "Please Please Me" by the Beatles, I lost it.  I shook, I quaked, I rocked.  In my defense, at the tender age of 13, hormones were contributing mightily to this situation.

As it happened, I was sitting at a mutual desk with big brother Buzz (we were listening to the radio while doing homework).  He was oddly unaffected by the Beatles.  So, a certain sort of row ensued.

It being a small house, our Dad, after having had the usual tough day at the office, came up, separated us, and drew a line down the middle of the desk.  Certain stern words implying future bodily harm were spoken and we settled down - each on his side of the desk.

All was well.  Then, being a Top 40 station, they again played "Please Please Me" a little later.  However symbolic, the "line" on the desk proved ineffective.  Things got ugly.  I blame the Beatles.

They're New! They're Improved!

Have you seen these "new and improved" Band-Aids?  They now come with a waffled pad, ostensibly for our benefit.

Now, I respect J&J greatly.  And their Band-Aids (registered trademark of Johnson & Johnson, but like Kleenex, often misused as the generic term) are without peer.  Other brands and the generic bandages all suck.  Band-Aids have a magical sticking power and I put my trust in them.

But waffle pads for our benefit?  Rather disingenuous.  It clearly takes less material to fabricate them - they are nothing more than a cost reduction MARKETED as a benefit to us.

I'll still depend on them, but there's no fooling a curmudgeon.