I am supposed to be doing my taxes. I promised that they would be started last week. I hate doing taxes more than anything. So, I have postponed many things because I have to do my taxes….cleaning the house, doing my blog and others. But, you may be wondering what I have been doing……research. Research on motor scooters.  Which ones are reliable, service availability, etc. etc. Researching this subject is not as easy as it seems. The web is not the greatest source. I have found some stuff, but actually very little. Magazines review a lot of motorcycles, but not motorscooters. I’ve test driven a few, but on the side roads they are all great….wind blowing in your hair, etc.

 I have this natural tendency to get obsessed with things. I love to research products and all the pros and cons, and then action!

So, can you see me and miranda? Two-middle agers riding around on one of these puppies? Taking day trips up the coast?

I can get serious about this process as soon as I do the damn taxes. This situation reminds me of my college days, final exam time would near, and suddenly the most engaging epic novel would land in my lap and I would have to stay up for days in order to finish the novel, putting off studying for the exam.

Some things never change.

I am currently reading:

This is a dark tale. The characters are not well developed and I am left with more questions then answers. Somehow,the story is haunting and I continue to read. I am not a fan of the ‘darkness’ but the tale is believable enough for me to keep turning the pages.

I have been known to put many a book down and never finish it……at other times, I am dogged and will fight to the finish…..

I will continue to read and actually finish this one, but peculiarly, I am not sure why.

 Week in Review:

It has been a somewhat lazy week. With less work to do than usual, here are some of my activities this past week.

• Taking dear old Mum to the doctors. She want to clean up all loose ends down here before she goes up North.
  
• Cataloging all of her belongings room by room (actually Miranda did all the work, while I smoked on the porch)
  
• Listening to many hours to all my Mom’s worries about what to take and what not to take and questions about when I am coming over to help her…..she is leaving in over 6 months. Telling her there is enough time is no help. She worries and frets and repeats herself endlessly proclaiming her rights to worry.
  
• Walks on the beach…..
  
  
  
  •  Sitting on my blog Thinking about my blog

 Finding mermaids in the sand. I don’t know who is creating these wonders, but I love them. Can you see the little crab near her?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, they made a great sand alligator….but, damn, we didn’t bring the camera…

 

These are the shells we collected in the past 3 days:

 

 

And last but definetly not least….I golfed this past week………ahhhhhh.

 

Images of Saturn and All Available Satellites

Beam me up to my favorite planet.

I recently have lost half the work I was doing (which was writing a manual and other tidbits for a homeopathic computer software company). Now I have more time for  Xangian activity. So far I’ve been spending much more time thinking about my blog, and perusing others blogs than actually writing mine. I must say, that the Xangan community that I have discovered is inspirational and diverse, entertaining and thought provoking. I didn’t know it existed until last month and now I feel like I’m in Blog Heaven. I spent hours searching all the Blog  possibilities, Xanga is by far the easiest to use, while at the same time offering the most advanced features. The Xangan community is a bonus I never anticipated. I thought blogging was for the people who know me already…..and the public exposure is terrifying and challenging. Anyway, I am compelled to continue.

Talking about terrified, last night, President GW looked so terrified in his Press Conference that I almost felt sorry for him. His words were terrifying also….he seems determined to have this war.

In our bathroom we have a copy of World History by Rodney Castleden. It is a great little compendium of most all the significant happenings since 38,000 BC. Randomly reading any five of the entries you find four of them are about someone killing someone else for power or some country warring on another country for power. In this perspective, what is going on today isn’t any different, it’s the same old, same old thing. Isn’t it enough already? Same tune for 40,000? What’s with that? Progress? It’s all an illusion.

I promise my next post will be more mundane and more personal.  

And, thanks to all the Xanga Bloggers who are entertaining and delighting me.

HBO: Six Feet Under

We are tremendous Six Feet Under Fans. And happy as larks that the new season has begun. Light and quick and funny. New twists. Old Mom is getting dumped on as usual. David and his boyfriend are going through couples therapy, and Clare is experimenting with her new college freedom. The only thing that dissappointed us, was the length, it was 15 minutes shorter. What’s up with that?

 The Teeth Saga

Seven years ago, a Seattle periodontal man said to me: “We can’t save your upper teeth”. I was shocked and dismayed and inquired as to what length of time he reckoned they would have to go. In the enigmatic way, only professionals can do, silence was the response. Fast forward 5 years, still with my teeth, but this time a Marin County Dentist…..same prognosis, same silence. At this point in time, I was resigned and awaiting these pearly whites to be falling out any day. I couldn’t imagine this happening to me, but who can? My finest coping mechanism kicked in and I just didn’t think about the subject.

Gum retraction and mobility increasing, but at what rate, no one would venture to guess. Recently,a dentist in Pompano Beach took a look at them and says….’ahh, I think we can do something for you!”. Yes, good news. He drilled a channel behind the teeth and put a wire there and then covered them over with porcelin filling. Now they are stronger! With the first bite, I noticed a difference in chewing. My mouth instinctively knew it could crunch harder! ahh, indeed. We’ll see how long it lasts…but now there is a little hope for these old puppies, where no hope existed before!

From the front you cannot see at all what he did. I can barely notice it in my mouth, just as a small smooth strip felt by my tongue. It actually feels like a band-aid for my teeth.

I love Band-aids. I have always loved the feel of a Band-aid on my finger. I love the feeling of protection it gives. Sometimes, if my heart is heavy or sad, I will put a Band-aid on my finger. Invariably, it will make me feel better! So, even though, I do not actually have a band-aid in my mouth, it feels ‘as if’ it is! And I feel better…..hopefully, it will also save my teeth! All thanks to my Pompano Dentist.

I have had a number of comments about the armadillos. Here in Florida we have Nine Banded Armadillos. They are pretty cute, I saw dozens of them along the roadside late afternoon. They were seen singly, not in groups. The most striking thing to me was these big ovoid ears sticking out above this small pointy face. I think my jaw dropped when I saw each one…..What a prize sight. They aren’t that big, like a foot high.

Speaking of cuties check out the Gorillas at the New York Bronx Zoo site. They have some  

some great photos there.

Today on our beach walk, we found a large log beached on the sand. As we walked towards it, Miranda says ” Here’s your beached log, your ‘blog’. You can sit on your blog and think about your blog!. We got quite a laugh over it. I think I have talked too much in the past month about this xanga blogging.  

4 Hour drive today. Started early and left all my identification in Orlando! Kept a diligent eye out for my speed and watched with anxiety for the coppers all the way. Arrived exhausted and had to have a mid-day nap.

I saw a ton of Sandhill Cranes    they have these beautiful heads. Large birds are always impressive.

Last time I did this journey I saw hundreds of armadillos along the side of the road  . Today I didn’t see me one!

Sue, from England, spent the day with us. After a number of hours of sharing our newly adopted town, walking on the beach, and telling her a good number of our stories, here’s what I discovered:

1. We had a lot of stories to share. We’ve been here only 6 months and have had 100′s of little adventures.
   
2. I had a blast relating the stories, getting more enthusiatic with each mini chaper.
   
3. I have been selectively seeing what is around us. Instead of seeing high rise concrete (ugly) condos and the lack of culture, etc…..I look at the exotic and different birds, or the palm trees or sea grape, or the beautiful blooms.
   
4.  
   
5. I might be bordering on being a Polyanna. (Where did my cynicism go?)
   
6. Miranda and I are actually enjoying ourselves here!!

Miranda and Sue