I was anything but a productive human this past weekend. Saturday I spent 13 hours on the beach. I don't mean all of them on the sand, I mean at the beach. I laid out and swam (great waves from the storms and a lot of fan coral, sponges, shells and other interesting things washed up and there was a seahorse in the surf but he did not look that healthy) and went and ate and took a long walk on the beach (3 miles, barefoot in the soft sand, good workout) and laid out again and swam again and went and ate again.... I set a new personal record by actually eating all three meals at Rattlesnake Jake's (my local watering hole). I actually saw people leave and return later after changing. I bring my beach duffle and it has everything I need for an extended day out there and I shower at the beach. Party in the evening. It was a well deserved totally relaxing day that I do not often reward myself with.
I went to my first Dolphins game on Sunday. They were playing the Carolina Panthers (the team I root for). I was invited by my friend Shorty who has season tickets. By the way, lots of people have nicknames here, especially the beach locals and fishermen. There's Shorty (who of course is a very large man) and Flats, Hammerhead, Pauly (AKA The Paulinator), Rasta, Flan, Flounder, Junior (owns Rattlesnake Jake's), Snoopy and Tex. As you might imagine, I have been called a lot of things, but nothing has stuck. Where was I? Anyway, I went to the game and we did the tailgate thing. It was great. When I got into the stadium I was the only guy in my section that was wearing a Panther Jersey. I caught quite a bit of crap but mostly everyone was nice. I wore my sneakers in case I had to run and brought an extra t-shirt in case I had to hide. Funny thing was, when I started getting crap I told them all that the Panthers were going to win by 3 points in the last 2 minutes of the game. I took some bets to shut them up but knowing the Panthers history and the spread there were pretty good odds that the game would end that way. It was 2 minutes left, tie game, the Panthers were driving the ball, just a hair outside of field goal range and it was looking pretty damn good for me. I was surrounded by some very pissy looking faces. Then the Panthers threw an interception and my chances were crushed. I only lost 10 bucks for the day and actually might have had a hard time getting out of there alive if I called that one right. Then to the beach again after the game to close out another long day. What a weekend! I promise I will be good all week. I have a ton of work I need to get caught up on and a hard week ahead.

Rita looks bad. Now 3rd worst/biggest storm in history. Sad to say but it would be better to hit New Orleans again. Everybody gone and not much left to destroy. Would save us another $200 billion.
I met an interesting guy tonight. He said he just got in from Brazil. Said they tried to fly over Rita but it was growing so fast they hit bad turbulence and had to end up climbing to almost 47,000 feet. Is that possible? He said the plane was beginning to freeze outside (and in) and that peoples noses and ears were bleeding and all were scared and in pain. Said he had taken the flight 50 times and had also been downed twice in Nam in helicopters and this was worse. Speaking of bad plane rides, did you see the emergency landing of the Jet Blue plane on TV. Remarkable. All the positive energy that watching Americans conveyed to the pilot surely helped. Anyway, this guy could have been full of shit but it was an interesting and entertaining conversation anyway. Heard about the land he is buying on the water at ridiculous prices in Brazil and the scenery and how he is a career Navy man and what his friend at the Pentagon said and his kid that is going to be born in Brazil and blah, blah, blah, blah......
He also told me some, what he said was confidential info that I could not share, regarding a secret project we will hear about soon. I know some details and If it gets reported as he said I will verify on this blog that I heard correctly but I will not reveal now in case he really was too drunk or something and I would be revealing any National secrets.
Something funny: The running gag at the local watering hole tonight was that Bush was responsible for everything. The plane troubles, the hurricanes, everything, all Bush's fault. Just a funny segue between topics of conversation. Nobody was serious. Well, one guy was.
Thanks for listening to me babble. Come back and check out previous entries too. Bye!

Well, I experienced my seventh hurricane today. I only count the storms that are a threat. The ones where I am in the “cone of error” (which we jokingly call “the cone of death” when we see it on TV). Just those that pass close enough that I feel a strong physical effect where I live and sometimes where I travel. Others have caused wind and rain but were no eminent threat. The first big storm was Hugo when I lived in SC. Then there was Charlie, Francis (last time I evacuate), Ivan and Jeanne (spelled the same way as a very important person in my life but we won’t go there). Katrina. A category 1 when it hit here first. I drank beer at my local watering hole at the beach and watched it come ashore. And now Rita.
Rita was about 180+ miles from where I live when I went out this morning to go to a confirmed appointment with a new customer. Still a tropical storm. I traveled to Doral (you know, The Blue Monster, PGA Tour and all) which is in South Miami-Dade and a lot closer to the eye of the storm. The place was like a ghost town which was actually nice. There was no traffic for a change and I made it there in record time. I had never been there. It was a lot different than I expected. Fairly new building and mostly warehouse, offices and light industry where I was. I got stood up but I forgive the guy because his cell service was down from the storm and he could not call me. So he says anyway. Mine worked fine but he’s the customer you know. Anyway, what I was getting around to saying was that it was a stiff 30 mph constant breeze but no rain. Just overcast with the clouds moving fast but at high altitude. Off in the distance the horizon became a black wall like a big black curtain. What mariners would call “one hellava squall line”. It got closer, and closer, and suddenly, I was in the hurricane. Actually it was probably a tightly wound feeder band. It was a terrible beauty though. Very defined. I wish I had my camera. I could imagine what it would be like to be a sailor in 1720 on a small wooden sailing ship in the middle of the Atlantic for months and see that barreling down on my ass. You would have to lower the sails quickly and hope for the best. Driving was a little difficult but it was worth seeing and here I am. Just another day in paradise.

I HAVE SINCE FOUND A PICTURE THAT LOOKS ALMOST LIKE THE SQUALL LINE I DESCRIBED ABOVE> IT IS IN MY GALLERY FOR YOUR REVIEW.

Well, I figured I would share some of the interesting, sometimes not so interesting and often extremely weird observations of the world as I know it (or sometimes choose to interpret it). For the most part, I spend a good deal of my day alone on the road and do not have the luxury of being able to share my thoughts with someone else. For anyone that might be reading that does not know me, I moved to South Florida two years ago from South Carolina. As you may or may not know, this place is fodder for inspiration. There is nowhere on earth like South Florida. Ask anyone who lives here! The hardest part about making entries into this bog will be not somehow incriminating myself, pissing someone off, making someone jealous or losing my job. OK, so that sounds worse than it really is but I will still try to keep it pretty clean and amusing.
Day 1:
I enter sweepstakes when available and I have the time. Well, I opened my mail today and found out that I won an autographed Jack Johnson guitar from Best Buy. Cool, huh, since I don't ever win a damn thing. Well that's the good news. Bad news is I don't know who Jack Johnson is (and I'm pretty music savvy). Don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth but I wish I won the trip or something.
While working out tonight at my condo gym there were two teens from the hood practicing dance in the racquetball court. Break dancing to be exact. They were pretty good too. Now that's something you don't see every day!
Which reminds me. I was riding behind a landscapers truck, the kind that holds the chips from the chipper, and up pops a Hispanic guy with a green coconut. He studies it, brandishes a machete and slices the top off and starts drinking it. Now that too is something you don't see every day!
Saw a big store the other day. Sign read "Barbells, Dumbbells and equipment". The sign under that said "moving. New address...". Glad I wasn't the moving man that got that call.
Went to the Hard Rock Casino the other night. Great place! lots of bars and restaurants. All brand new. The gambling sucked but the memorabilia was really cool.
OK. That's enough for now. I won't be so lengthy next time unless it's really necessary. Heck, if you read all the way to this sentence I'm impressed!