2017 Hurricane & Business EXPO at Charlotte Events and Conference Center

 

Hubby and I left the manse a little after ten A.M. for my haircut appointment at Fantastic Sam's for ten thirty with Bonny, Hubby was to drop me off and then go over to his barber around the corner. His barber wasn't in today, and so he decided to try Fantastic Sam's today of all days, not a senior discount day, oh well you only live once! We left there both happy with our cuts.

After our mini beautifications treatments we went over to Ingman's Marine  to get measurements for the lift for the new pontoon boat's lift's bunk requirements. It is a Bennington 20SF fishing model. Then since we are getting it within the next week or two, we picked up cheap lunch at Mickey Ds, kidding, maybe not, we had our brought with drinks so we ordered just two Big Macs and small fries to share, as we sat starring at the water and chatting at the beach complex while we ate. From there on to Walgreens for my Calcium with D3, but their generic brand was considerably less at $17 for two than the name brand for $21 bucks for only one! Then down to the events center for another freebie event, stated above in the title!

Lauren Sweeney in an emerald green dress is an investigative reporter with Wink CBS news out of

Ft. Myers Florida. She is from the Pittsburgh area and moved to Ft. Myers after college at age 23 from 2006-2010 she came to work in Ft. Myers, as the eventual executive producer for the investigations team then she moved on to work in Houston and Orlando. Her return to Florida, her husband's home state, was due to her missing our much milder weather, and her husband's professional component having to do with the grounds of golf courses!

A lovely person, and is very interested in my concerns about where our Charlotte County is spending the most recent 17M they are getting from Lee County for the water that we are sending to Cape Coral, and other items that I mentioned. She gave me her card and email; a nice touch.

Another anchor of the news I missed by minutes is Lois Tome who has been with WINK news for a few decades now, great at her job too, lovely person, and she also took a PIC with me awhile back.

It was a meteorologist day though teaching all the newbies the ropes in the audience. Matt Devitt and Zack Maloch, Mary Mays are the newer meteorologists, but all great in what they do, helping us understand the weather!

 

Jim Farrell below with me is a seasoned veteran of meteorology for decades and has helped many people, ourselves included keep out of harms way during the worse of our hurricanes, and many other types of inclement weather systems, from lightning to tornadoes to anything one might imagine or even not want to.

Below another, no longer newbie after fourteen years now, gosh how time flies. I remember Scott Zedeker when he just started out! Meteorology is his profession, but smiling is his best asset these days, just because he and his wife  had a beautiful baby boy seven weeks ago! Although, sleep deprived as all new parents usually are, he couldn't be nicer He is around our sons ages.

 

 

This is the section entitled which way is up, and your assignment is, if you wish to try real hard is to read all of the below pictorials any which way you can! Enjoy and enter at your own risk!

The above is the cover.

 The above is the cover.

The above is the cover. And below is the list for preparation for an emergency for pets. Tapping might enlarge it, if not call you local Animal Welfare League or go to their site. 

 Below is the list of names of this seasons storms.

 Red means get out of town! We live in the red zone! Oh only if emergency management says so!
Or if you think you should, whichever comes first, your call, or theirs.

WHAT A WONDERFUL LIFE!

Most days...yes, we are blessed.
See, I am easy!
Watch that!
HA!

Crafts, not art? Yup! Blog 3249.

Hubby cut the board, and I painted it a deep teal, glued wooden letters and embellished with dried flowers and clip art, located over the bed in the guest room. Trying to make any guest feel at home.

 Beige ceramic raised patterned lamp painted the monotone colored piece, and even the beige shade was painted white too!

Wrought iron and glass Walmart picture frame set, my idea of the famous encouraging lament. Card stock, clip art PICS again, and wooden letters again.

Hubby cut the wood that I requested to be shaped like drift wood, and then I painted it that color, driftwood, and again light blue calming wooden letters.

 Decoupage on a wooden plaque from JoAnne's , wooden letters. Clouds unicorns whatever calming dreams are made of...

I did not carve these flowers if I could I wood/would, ha, instead they were from an old friends no sale at our garage sale. Skipper was a pup then and teethed on them so to fix the all natural wood problem, I gave it some loudness!

 Bought letters again , but painted and polka dotted them, hard to see, but they match the store bought lizard to its left.

 This one you most recently saw, cork letters on old floor boards.

 My $1.80 thrift store metal rusty fish, I like his blue mood!

 This one too many have seen, 6" wooden letters from Walmart under five bucks, sprayed gold, and hot glued to the nautical rope.

 Hubby's plastic coated chart of Charlotte Harbor, our canal is seen pretty much where the heron is pointing down to!

 A cute door rug that I loved the edges had frayed and Hubby had leftover cedar fence and voila!

 Card stock artwork in our/my seashell themed bathroom. Frame painted by me, most all frames are bought cheap at thrift stores.

Metal mirror came with the house, was olive green and paler, I jazzed it up, but it is in need for a redo!

Another city flea market sale, plastic brown wicker mirror, a dollar, painted poppy with gold flecks, by moi!

Hubby did the wood cutting and I did the designs and painting, coming and going! The yellow one is So long, goodbye, with emoji's crying. The blue one welcome's you with a design copied from the artist know as INDIANA, he did PEACE and LOVE signs notably in the sixties, stacking letters on top of each other. 

 Dotted design for eye test for MS

with raised lettering again bought.

Chalk board with spray chalk paint and wooden letters!

Meet Goldie the Gator, or she thee, "Goldgator", as I like to think of her.

full topside view below

eye side view below

 

Myth logically speaking she has what most in the science of reptilian studies will tell you none have existed; that is until now!
She is not only a rarity and unique creature that truly is a no-such-thingy, but if she did exist her rareness would be due to her metallic golden coloring, including her metallic copper colored eyes that makes her less than believable! So she is not ... except in our front garden!
If seen in the wild, not going to happen, she is thought to be good luck, and that is if you have your running shoes there on their fast speed ahead button setting, because if you think her typical looking family members are speedy, you've yet to see her moving! There's nothing like the full glowing glistening of a mighty Goldie at warp speed; truly nothing like it! And no one has seen her, but now all of you! In my dreams.

Suggestion, never go into the glades without a friend this way you can confuse her on whom to choose to chase down when you both head for Florida's non-existent hills!
While she pretends to ponder which way to go, you and your buddy can zoom, zoom outa there!
All kidding aside, I felt that our Alli-gator needed a more glitzy gender change, yes, while Alli-gator was a green male, not meaning inexperienced, that was his coloring, and there was nothing wrong with that, Goldie Gator is female and spectacularly golden, how timely! Oh no! I made her a GOLDEN GIRL, but she is younger than they were, at less than twenty years old or there about!
Doesn't matter, no way Jose.

Oh, of course, I have no issues with males wearing metallic gold, didn't hurt Elvis, thank you very much, but for some unknown reason I feel women wear it better, just my opinion.
I do recall me personally enjoying that attire in small increments as a young gal myself!
But this is her skin!
Whoa, am I myth-ing something?
She is not alive, nor dead for that matter!
I do believe that she is, underneath it all is a hard hearted Hanna comprised of cool molded cement!
Not moldy, molded, nor scales, and cool not cold. Cool chick, no a cement gator, this is getting silly! Getting? HA!
And this is extremely important to designate the difference, but why? No good or bad reason.

Why, you might ask?

No? Didn't think so.
I will tell you anyway, too bad, my blog, my rules.
You see, this makes HER a throwback, since it is Thursday, to a newer version of Ian Fleming's, James Bond, 007, Goldfinger circa 1964 and that's the movie's opening credits gal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IdERD81ySU
Whole new 21st Century concept to that movie's opening song, think Goldgator, Jane AKA Goldie Bond, 0053, that's since the last one, years that is for a golden one, get it, this being circa 2017, hmmm?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfinger_(film)

Any-who...

Just an idea?
Can I hear a deafening, NOPE!
Don't have to tell this gal nope twice.
Night, night, make that a happy one and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!


PS: And thanks for visiting my own idea of the/my theater of the absurd!
You are very welcome.
My present for a respite from reality!

Energenic this morning!

Determined to clean and organize and repaint the under the kitchen sink cabinets inside.
Of course Hubby did much of the work, but I did empty and thin the herd of unnecessary items and redistribute a few to more logical locations.
I did wash out the bottom section utilizing our longer reacher with Lysol and water on a paper towel, and even the removable shelf I was able to clean that is the one that Hubby had made years ago.
He took that part out to the courtyard alongside the garage to paint it, and let it dry in the heat, and I also did the same by cleaning out our laundry room's broom closet floor. It too needed a dose of cleaning, organizing and repainting.
I once again have been in that mode of purging unnecessary things like carpet cleaner, since we have all tile and even marble on the guest room floor and haven't any carpeting for years!
Not even area rugs, too hazardous with my equipment, and before that they posed a trip issue.
But I do love them, although in Florida they are not that necessary, tile is cooler.
The mini project was done before lunch and the paint was dry after so all was put back in an orderly fashion.
Oh my other project was cleaning my dinette cushions.
I so love the pale blue ticking type stripes that are my summer styled ones.
As many larger washing items how I clean them might appear odd, but I wash those items in our tub with normal detergent, Clorox 2, white vinegar and baking soda, and Hubby takes them outside to our retractable clothesline and in this case tied them with their straps onto the line.
The stackable washer and dryer are nice and convenient, but do not accept king bedspread/comforters or any pillows, so the tub I no longer use since I have the roll in shower that I share with Hubby is and has been used for those larger items to get clean.
I suppose we could go to a Laundromat, but this is more convenient and cleaner in my opinion.
The tub is maintained clean, although, no longer used and anyway this also makes sure of that with the laundry soaps that I mentioned, it sparkles, especially after I rinse my wash.
The bath has still my old hand held shower head so it is easy to use for the whole process.
I do close the drain to allow the items to soak and I do slosh/agitate them around too, and today I took a finger nail brush to scrub stubborn stains on the cushions. The nail brush was from my last fall's hospital stay, my own nails are cleaned with washing my hands too often or in the shower daily, thank you very much!
The seat removed from the tub and put outside of it is the one that I used to use makes a fine staging area for me to work in the tub, since neither my walker nor my motorized wheel chair fits through this bathrooms door! Fortunately, the toilet is right inside that doorway, so accessible!
TMI, forgive?
Hubby brought in the cushions just before the rain!
Yep, we have been getting rain nearly daily, not a lot but enough to make one think that we might already be in rainy season early, why?
I will tell you why, because for the next week six out of the next seven days have rain in the forecast!

Of course, I always feel badly about my wonderful spurts of energy and guilt... oh yes guilt, why?
Because now my right hand is black and blue and I have a weird purple right ring finger, and a strange bruised inner left elbow as if I had blood taken, which I haven't had for quite some time, months actually!
My neck is hurting and I am dizzy, and I am showing signs in my skin of dehydration, it sticks together, but I am drinking/sipping my club soda.
Although, now I have in my drinking repertoire included are caffeinated coffee and decaffeinated green tea, as well as my occasional warm milk with honey and turmeric, not so often the honey is too sweet, but the concoction calls for that and I do love it, but calorically not such a good idea.
  Oh I did make dinner too, chili!
Lean ground beef, leftover from our last night's hamburgers, mine without a roll though with caramelized onions, mushrooms and jalapeños, and our homemade fries that we had frozen for just this sort of thing, believe it or not we only used half of what we had frozen, and originally we had used only three potatoes. Boy we sure are getting a lot of mileage out of those homemade!
And salad finished last night's meal, the rest of the only a pound in total raw defrosted chopped meat went into the fridge for meatballs and spaghetti or for what I decided was my chili for tonight's meal!
One can of pork and beans, one can of stewed tomatoes, sautéed onions and garlic and the rest of the meat browned, and two slices of bacon cooked and crisped in the microwave, and a decent amount of brown sugar about a half of a cup, cumin and chili powder to taste, and a few hefty dashes of Tabasco, simmered until ready!
Can go hours and hours.
This was about an hour and half.
I do love one pot dishes.
That's why I enjoy making soups, and this week I already did make homemade chicken noodle.
My aches are taking me over now, especially my shoulder on my right side.
And I am typing with two fingers again.
Not GOOD!   

Happy night to all and to all share those blessings and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

PS: My blog from two nights ago has somewhat of an addendum added into it, if you get a chance please read it, its title is, "Take Archie Bunker, please!" I did not know about Tim Allen's controversial commentary prior to my publishing that night. 

Frustration getting you down?

You betcha!
Between this administration's daily enormous faux pas, ignorance, stupidity antics, irrational behavior and on and on and on...
My own little world collapses daily just when I think I have a handle on things...
I finally subscribed to a dental insurance plan last month.
They took out a processing fee plus the May payment and today they took out the one for June.
Minimal cost plan that included free X-rays and cleaning yearly and percentages for other necessities like fillings and root canal etc. after six months.
Okay.
Easy peasy, except when you try to find dentists that accept the plan, a Humana PPO dental.
I have been given local names through the plan, but oddly the dentists did not exist at those addresses or phone numbers, and also dental offices that misunderstood the type of plan stating that it was part of Medicare, which it is not; it is a stand alone plan.
So I reversed my strategy and I Googled local dental offices and many were screwed up in the fact that these offices did not ever have the dentist listed or had they ever worked there.
To top it all off one office asked me for my social security number when they were going to check for my coverage, and foolishly I gave it to them, later it upset me so much that I called back and asked the receptionist who asked me for it for her last name! Her reply is we cannot do that!
Not fair, she had all my info and I had no recourse if someone stole my identity due to her carelessness with my too personal info!

Our accounts have been compromised before, that is our VISA has been twice, and so we had to close those cards and open new ones, and one time it was right after we received our new ones for that year.
Ours are usually good for a couple of years, then they send new ones before they are up; like everyone else's I believe.
Darn, those computer chips seem to not be helping!
They do in Europe where they have been securing cards for years there, but for some reason not always here it seems, could be our machines are funky.

Another thing Hubby and I have both been noticing are CCTV, close circuit television,  camera security monitors for interiors and exteriors in all our mysteries in England, Australia and Scotland, even on the Shetland Island, with them having a very small population! I most recently streamed Dr. Blake Mysteries from Australia, and I am currently and nearly done with Shetland, yes, the islands off of the Scottish coast, UK was the setting for the Midsomer Murders that I finished a while ago all very enjoyable mysteries. Hubby is still watching Midsomer Murders with 19 series/seasons that is why, he's on 12 nearly 13.
Here in America so many think of the cameras, CCTV, as too invasive and compromising to their own privacy, stating the BIG BROTHER analogy, but there they help prevent or help aid in getting crime under control. A wonderful crime solving tool.
Although, many here use them inside and out for their homes.
Double standards I suppose.
Personally, I think they are a good idea.
Fort Myers Florida has them and many US cities have been using them too.
I say look up at the cameras and smile!

Oh so I cancelled my 'new' dental insurance plan due to all the aggravation, and still worries of hyper extending my neck during the exam and transferring to their dental chair for x-rays.
I am to receive an entire refund for monies taken from account and my X-agent Steve did finally call me back and he promised to discuss what I told him happened at his next meeting, which is bi-monthly.

On this note of frustration I know that can be as much a part of life as happiness can be, but we must make that happen too, and then we should be grateful, so now allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very "Happy Good Night", and ask you all to share all your blessings and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

 

Take Archie Bunker, please!

A list came out today of shows being cancelled and one on that list was one that Hubby and I both enjoyed.
A half hour comedy on Friday nights at eight P.M. EST, on ABC, called "Last Man Standing".
Starring Tim Allen as Mike Baxter, as a sporting goods store co-owner with veteran actor Hector Elizondo as Ed Alzate, as his partner.
In this he is also the father of three daughters, his previous show he had three sons on that one, and that was Home Improvement, and in real life he has two daughters, in this show each daughter is with different political leanings. His eldest, Kristin, played by Amanda Fuller, is a restaurant manager and is married to a very liberal/vegan with beliefs that their son's team should all get participation awards, Ryan, played by Jordan Masterson who had gotten her pregnant in high school. His middle daughter, Mandy, played by Molly Ephraim, is A-political and used to be boy crazy, but now is a fashion designer and has found her niche in that very field within her own basement designer clothing factory, add into her life having a lovable dumb boyfriend, Kyle, who works for her Dad and Ed as their gofer, played by Christoph Sanders, while the youngest, Eve, tomboy, played by Kaitlyn Dever, who also was excellent in Justified, follows his extremely conservative beliefs and is on a fast track to go to West Point. His wife, Vanessa, played by Nancy Travis who was a geologist, but quit when her eldest daughter pointed out that she was compromising her beliefs due to the company she was working for was actually fracking! And so Mom quit and went back to school and got her teaching degree and that is what she does now.
Tim Allen to me comes across as a better educated, but still narrow-minded curmudgeon Archie Bunker type, who seems to be straightened out many times over by his bevy of logical strong women and son-in-law.
ABC is cancelling this show with historically high ratings that has been on for six years.
Their reason is being guessed upon due to everything from too conservative with this current political climate of negativity that being the administration too conflicted, to the other obtuse logical thoughts of leaving an opening for better programming in that primetime timeslot.
Who knows.
Tim Allen who will be sixty-four next month, with a degree in communications specializing in radio from Western Michigan University has also had to deal for many years sporadically with his own demons, from drug possession and arrest for 650 grams (1.43 LB) of cocaine at the airport that he pled guilty to trafficking charges and provided names of dealers in exchange for three to seven years rather than life imprisonment. That was back in October of 1978, and he was paroled in June of 1981, after serving two years and four months in Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone Minnesota.
In 1997 he was arrested again this time for a DUI with a blood alcohol 0.15, he entered an alcohol abuse program as a part of his court obligation.
*Tim Allen Wikipedia data/info
This guy has made it in spite of severe missteps so cancellation I am sure will not create havoc for him, but it's just a shame that all these talented people are being purged for reasons unknown to consumers who like their show.
Of course all business decisions are usually traced back to CEOs calling changes due to their bottom lines, but this hasn't been proven for this show that has been an equal opportunity employer from its diverse cast to its showing both sides of the coin, and yes they have smart good looking Afro-American/black, played by Jonathan Adams as Chuck and Carol Larabee, played by Erika Alexander, are the neighbors that are there to give Tim Allen's Mike Baxter character a run for his money of his going by the wayside prejudicial beliefs, but in the end the respect shows through between the uncertainty. The entire cast are A-1 quality performers and it is a shame to not allow more years for this to go on; I do believe it is timely and with the Trump card in Mike's repertoire oh what comedy writer's couldn't have a ball with that, why only late night, doesn't prime time have any pull?

With all the Netflix shows that I have been streaming these days it behooves me to pay more attention to actual free network TV programing.
Although, many shows that leave the freebies either end up on FOX also free, or Cable, not free.
Many do eventually get to streaming, but again ...not free!
Albeit, many people have no qualms about paying for any entertainment even when it all used to be "free", or at least priced right and we were then able to choose what you actually wanted to watch!
Nah, Last Man Standing deserves better as many that have gone to that great big cancelling shelf room space on the TV Kingdom's back lots!

Not having finales are just upsetting especially when they cut the cord before we all get our closure.

These comments are solely my opinions, after all that is why this is called,  "Speaking My Mind", not yours, mine, ha!
What do you think, and have you felt saddened when one of your shows was cancelled before what you felt was its/your time?

          OHhhhhhhhhhhh TIM ALLEN! Shame on you when playing yourself. I do believe you do better with a script. As a Jewish woman I too take offense of your comments of Hitler's Germany and how the annihilation of six million Jews comes no where near to your half assed commentary, your oppression will be self inflicted if you do not check your so-called wise quips at the door!
As an actor you have it, as a human being please keep looking!
My opinion only, that is I speak for myself here.
Someone write for this guy so he has time to think before he speaks ever again!

Hubby and I went out to lunch today and I wonder if anybody at NBC-2 and WINK, CBS there too news in Ft. Myers knows where we went?

Only in Florida would a couple go out to celebrate Mother's Day at a restaurant named Hurricane Charley's! And the plaque in the reception is at the entrance of the Jim Reif room named in His memory, a southwest Florida meteorologist who worked for both stations during his tenure. He died horrifically in a freakish bicycle accident in 2014, falling over his handle bars in a stop!

 The next picture there too is when Jeb Bush our then Governor and his brother the president came here locally after the devastation of Hurricane Charley 8-13-04, a Friday. That is also our head of emergency management in the photo, Hubby also worked with Wayne Salade on different Charlotte County Sheriff office business, while a deputy.

 A homeowner's warning in the aftermath, below.

 

And after lunch we went to Fishville AKA Fisherman's Village. We found a handicap spot only after one go round!

The restaurant, Hurricane Charley's, just over the bridge into Punta Gorda from Charlotte Harbor had an enormous quality buffet today in honor of Mother's Day everything from prime ribs to lobster, shrimp dishes scampi linguine etc., soups, salads and amazingly decadent desserts!
The cost of all the fanfare was $28 a person; and from what we saw was well worth the cost.

We did not go for that though, too much food for someone like me who consistently takes home doggie bags, and Hubby agreed for himself too.
He had a blackened Grouper sandwich with believe it or not a fruit cup! Not his usual choice.
And I had what they called lotsa lobster or some such other cute name, truthfully I forgot.
Mine was basically a lobster roll with Cole slaw and lobster bisque soup, yum!
We both had iced water with lemon and limes.
And yes, my half of my unfinished lunch is in the fridge.
For dinner I had leftover homemade vegetable soup from two days ago.
Hubby has a cold and a nasty cough and so with a big lunch like he had finished he is snacking.
Not so terrible we both had a big breakfast too! Bacon, eggs and home fries. I actually share my egg with Gus so his medicine can go in, but today I did splurge on two thin slices of bacon, usually I have only one, and a smidge of the home fries that is made simply from one potato, cooked for three and half minutes in the microwave then dunked in cold water for easy peeling, skin lifts off and then chopped and fried in same frying pan as eggs. For crisper bacon we do it in the microwave too, on a plate wrapped in paper towel for a minute less than the amount of slices. If still not crisp, put back in thirty second increments.
Number One Son called when we arrived at Fishville's parking lot and Hubby took over driving my chariot into the shade of the place to continue my Mother's Day chat with Number One Son while he was in his car, hours away from us, on his way home from work!

Share those blessings and we will too!

I hope everyone had a great Mom's Day, all and all mine turned out to be not too bad after all was said and done.
You see, there is a double whammy for me on this occasion, when my Dad passed away way back on 5-11-1986 that day was also Mother's Day, so I do have too many reasons it is an extra effort to try harder on this day as well as we all need to for most anyway to understand the happiness it should bring to all, Moms, Dads and all children, true!
Life is difficult enough, due to this administration, i.e.!

 Next time please be here or be square, ya hear!