...Kim asked.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Edison-Ford Summer Homes
Why would Thomas Edison and Henry Ford build summer homes on the Caloosahatchee River in Fort Myers instead of on the Gulf of Mexico? I couldn't figure this out until I saw their modest, very livable lovely homes. Edison (he came here first) imported a mile's worth of Royal Palms from Cuba to line MacGregor Boulevard leading up to his houses (he had two, one for him and one for guests). Ford liked visiting so much that he bought the house next door. I can imagine these two watching the boats go by on the river under the shade of the banyan tree and surrounded by beautiful tropical plants. It's a gorgeous place.
Sanibel Island
Sanibel Island is about a half hour's drive west of the Fort Myers Airport in Florida. I have rented a condo on the beach for a week and will be sad when my time is up. The weather is glorious and this is not even the "season"; in fact, many shops are closed for the summer and the traffic is minimal. There are no traffic lights and only one main thoroughfare so it might get out of control from October to Easter when the regulars are here. We have a beautiful shell-shocked beach (shells, shells, and more shells!) just outside our door.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
A Visitor
I saw the cutest little bunny near my driveway. Moses walked right by and didn't notice him.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The DMVee and Mee
Through the miracle of the internet you can now check all the Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) offices in Virginia for current waiting times. I decided to go with the 2 minute wait at the office which just happens to be my closest anyway. When I get there, there are lots of parking spaces and no line -so far, so good.
There’s not exactly a welcoming committee at the front desk. Okay, I’m patient. A couple of minutes pass before the woman at the desk filing (her nails, not papers) notices me and precisely at 11:38 AM I get my number: A038. (BTW, I have taken the DMV advice: go there in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, in the middle of the month.) At noon my number is called; a sweet voice says “A038, service window number 3; A038, service window number 3.” And what awaits me there but a surly old Indian man too lazy to look up (hey, don’t we have a retirement age for foreigners?). He quickly highlights the question I didn’t answer (I am already a registered voter), tells me to try the vision test (passed), barks the fee, now $20, and then tells me in barely understandable English to sit somewhere that way -he points in the direction I am to move. So I move to the other end of the room and wait. And wait (what happened to the 2 minutes anyway?).
I have time to notice that I’m the only white woman here. Really. Although it is not crowded by DMV standards, out of the 70 or so people here I am clearly one of a kind. Abdul gets called, Ruiz gets called, Gonzalez and then Habib. Many of these folks are first-time license seekers and have the bulging plastic envelopes filled with their 5 pieces of identification documenting who they are. Don’t forget, this was one of the guilty offices giving out those fake Virginia licenses a few years ago.
Anyway, now it’s 12:15 PM and I am getting antsy. The woman who had A039 and was also just renewing her license has already had her photo taken and now has just been handed her new license. Is this reverse discrimination??? Monica, sitting next to me (hey, this can be a friendly place), asks me if I’ve been waiting long. We chat about Arlington (she’s a native), her two kids, blah, blah, blah. She wishes me a happy birthday (licenses in Virginia expire on your birthday); I tell her it’s a little early but she makes the point that she won’t be seeing me again so she’d better say it now. We both finally realize that the worker taking the photos obviously doesn’t like to walk to the other end of the building to pick up the “ready to photo” pile from the Indian guy, with whom we both had been dealing. Somehow the photographer finally gets our applications, takes our photos, and produces our new licenses. We say good-bye. We’re out of here for another five years.
PS. I look orange!!! Now what does that mean?
There’s not exactly a welcoming committee at the front desk. Okay, I’m patient. A couple of minutes pass before the woman at the desk filing (her nails, not papers) notices me and precisely at 11:38 AM I get my number: A038. (BTW, I have taken the DMV advice: go there in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, in the middle of the month.) At noon my number is called; a sweet voice says “A038, service window number 3; A038, service window number 3.” And what awaits me there but a surly old Indian man too lazy to look up (hey, don’t we have a retirement age for foreigners?). He quickly highlights the question I didn’t answer (I am already a registered voter), tells me to try the vision test (passed), barks the fee, now $20, and then tells me in barely understandable English to sit somewhere that way -he points in the direction I am to move. So I move to the other end of the room and wait. And wait (what happened to the 2 minutes anyway?).
I have time to notice that I’m the only white woman here. Really. Although it is not crowded by DMV standards, out of the 70 or so people here I am clearly one of a kind. Abdul gets called, Ruiz gets called, Gonzalez and then Habib. Many of these folks are first-time license seekers and have the bulging plastic envelopes filled with their 5 pieces of identification documenting who they are. Don’t forget, this was one of the guilty offices giving out those fake Virginia licenses a few years ago.
Anyway, now it’s 12:15 PM and I am getting antsy. The woman who had A039 and was also just renewing her license has already had her photo taken and now has just been handed her new license. Is this reverse discrimination??? Monica, sitting next to me (hey, this can be a friendly place), asks me if I’ve been waiting long. We chat about Arlington (she’s a native), her two kids, blah, blah, blah. She wishes me a happy birthday (licenses in Virginia expire on your birthday); I tell her it’s a little early but she makes the point that she won’t be seeing me again so she’d better say it now. We both finally realize that the worker taking the photos obviously doesn’t like to walk to the other end of the building to pick up the “ready to photo” pile from the Indian guy, with whom we both had been dealing. Somehow the photographer finally gets our applications, takes our photos, and produces our new licenses. We say good-bye. We’re out of here for another five years.
PS. I look orange!!! Now what does that mean?
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Thought for the Day - 9
In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.
Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)
Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
In Case You've Never Read It
Daffodils - a poem by by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Thought for the Day - 8
"America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week."
- Evan Esar (who is he?)
- Evan Esar (who is he?)
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Beauty School
Tysons Corner #1 houses the Paul Mitchell Beauty School. Young female (maybe a guy or two) hairdressers-to-be, all wearing black, are willing and waiting to practice on you. Are you brave enough to be a guinea pig? Two hours (whew!) later and $12 poorer I'm glad I tried it.
PS- The teacher hovers over anyone wielding scissors. Remember, it's only hair.
PS- The teacher hovers over anyone wielding scissors. Remember, it's only hair.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Home!
Monday #2
Fiji to LA- 11 hours, 5 movies
Airport Lounge- 3 hours
LA to DC-5 hours, 2 movies
We crossed the International Dateline three times in 4 days.
"Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so."
-John Stuart Mill
Fiji to LA- 11 hours, 5 movies
Airport Lounge- 3 hours
LA to DC-5 hours, 2 movies
We crossed the International Dateline three times in 4 days.
"Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so."
-John Stuart Mill
Garden of the Sleeping Giant
Sleeping Giant Mountains, Nadi, Fiji
Raymond Burr, aka Perry Mason, bought 4000 acres of jungle on this island to cultivate orchids. It's a gorgeous but hot and humid garden.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
