At the Beach - Not!

Here’s another much delayed post about my favorite subject – Surf City at Topsail Island NC. Patti is there this week, entertaining her Mom, Dad, Sister, and two Cousins. I am here as usual, doing my corporate thing and spending the week getting grades completed and posted for my graduate courses. School starts next week so even the long weekend won’t get me to NC this time. The highlight of my weekend was a bowl of Pho – go figure!

Looks like the weather will be nice for everyone at Sunkiss – I hope so. Maybe one day soon, I’ll be able to trade work for personal time and spend endless hours doing what I want to be doing. This place surely doesn’t provide any type of personal gratification, as it once did. I suppose that’s God’s way of getting me mentally prepared for retirement.

Soon, it’s gonna be my time and I can’t wait.

Weekend at Surf City

I finally got to Surf City this past weekend.  Friday and Saturday were great.  The weather was fairly warm and we were able to plant 6 rose bushes, get the beds edged and mulched, and wash the house.  However, the big Nor’easter blew in on Sunday and shot the rest of the weekend all to heck.  Between the rain and very high winds, it was basically a nasty few days until we left.  We did manage to upgrade the TV in the den and had a decent time just being down there.  One lesson I did learn was to watch out for the fire ants – ouch!  Believe me – ouch!

One big plus was finding out that we are in a more favorable flood zone, the result of that was a drastic reduction in flood insurance…lucky us!

Hopefully, we’ll return soon – before Memorial Day I hope.  I suspect Patti is planning to spend some time entertaining visitors during the summer so she’ll enjoy that I am sure.

Is global warming a myth?

The day before Easter 2007 and the ground in Northern Virginia is covered with snow. It's 30 degrees outside to boot.
Now I am not out to debunk the theory of global warming but lets get real here - snow in April? It's Springtime for goodness sakes. Heck, it was 32 degrees at Surf City NC last night and 22 degrees in Spartanburg SC. Assuming that the oil companies don't have an interest in perpetuating the myth then who does? Maybe, just maybe, the entire thing is a plot to sell books, movies, and news stories do you think? Or, perhaps it's a way for certain would be elected officials to gain some notariety.
Regardless, I for one am skeptical of the whole concept because, to [very loosly] paraphrase Will Rogers, I only know what I see and what I see is what I know. Right now I see very cold weather at times and in places where in the past it has been warmer, drier, and generally more in keeping with the season. Global warming? I wish.

Easter is coming but where is Spring?

It’s almost Easter Sunday but where is Spring?  After what looked like it was off to a good start, it seems to be eluding us, at least in Virginia and, unfortunately for my weekend plans, on the North Carolina Coast too!

Patti is enroute to Surf City NC.  I had planned to leave this afternoon for there as well but given the weather forecast for the next few days (40s – low 50s) I am not sure I want to use a couple days of vacation just to sit inside and wish for warmer weather. Betsy, Ashley, Austin, Abigail are going to be there Friday through Sunday so Patti will not be alone.  Maybe the weather will warm up and I can adjust my schedule a bit, going down next week instead.

Nothing else is happening around here – same old cycle of work-school-eat-sleep-work, etc. but I guess that’s better than some of the alternatives.  Anyway, here’s wishing a quick warm up to the weather and a Happy Easter regardless.

 

 

Back from Surf City

 

We had a nice, albeit cold, weekend in Surf City.  Not too much outside activity since it was pretty cold down there still (in the 30s and 40s), but still enjoyable just getting away.  Coming home to Virginia was an easy trip but when we got to the house, since the weather had been warm last week, we nearly froze – it was 57 degrees inside and took the better part of the evening to warm the place up.  This morning, scraped ice from the windshield as usual – hate it!  Got to work early (5:45 AM) and found the usual batch of emails to wade through.  Boy, is retirement going to be sweet. 

Anyway, here’s to hitting the ground running.  School starts back this week – 2 full online courses, one over full class at Ft. Belvoir, and the usual small 6000 course.

I’ll make it though………..believe me!

 

A week of batching it is about to end!

Patti is coming back from SC today after spending a week with her parents, celebrating their 65^th Wedding Anniversary. They went to Charleston for a couple of days, actually staying in Mt. Pleasant. From what I can tell from the phone conversations, they had a great time and the weather was good throughout their stay. Naturally, during this same week, I spent most of my time foraging for food and entertainment. Its sure boring being home alone, especially on weekends. Maybe next Friday we’ll go to the beach for a few days. I’m up for that – more than a few days would be even better.

It's Time for Some Sunshine

Granted, Northern Virginia isn’t upstate New York, but the recent ice storm has really left its mark on most of us around here.  It was so bad last week that we flew the coup for the NC shore.  Since we’ve been keeping Snowy (our daughter’s dog), and she absolutely hates going out and trying to walk on the frozen and icy ground, the sandy (albeit cold) beach was a welcomed break.

We’re getting a bit warmer this week and with a little sunshine, followed perhaps by a good rain, all of this will begin to fade into memory.  Hopefully the sun will not only shine on the ground, but also on all of those depressed souls who have been shut in their houses and driveways, and shut out (literally) from their ice encrusted cars.

Cold weather sucks.  Snow and ice suck. Temperatures in the teens and single digits suck.  Global warming is a figment of Al Gore’s imagination.  If it’s true, how do they explain 22 degrees at the NC shore?

Here’s to spring, summer, and never ending paydays.

Consumer Alert #1: Avoid Buying Anything from Yahoo Auctions Website. They Don't Honor A Buyer Protection Agreement.

Avoid Yahoo Auctions!

Problem: Purchased a Sidekick II from seller on Yahoo Auctions. Sent money, never received product. Yahoo refused restitution and essentially washed its hands of the problem.

Below is an extract from Yahoo's policy as stated on their Auction webpage (and noticed after the fact - shame on us): http://auctions.yahoo.com/phtml/auc/us/legal/additionaltos.html:

“Because Yahoo is not involved in the actual transaction between buyers and sellers, in the event that you have a dispute with one or more users, you release Yahoo and its affiliates ………..”

So, as can be seen from their disclaimer, purchasing from Yahoo is truly a "buyer beware" proposition. Lesson learned? You bet! Hopefully this will help others avoid a similar situation and send them to eBay, Pay Pal, etc. who appear to have a stronger commitment to buyer safety.

DoNut Diplomacy

Here's one for the "don't that beat all" department. For a while now, I've been noticing (along with other's I know as well) that people are becoming so self absorbed that their actions reflect little or no awareness, let alone concern, of others. Recent examples of note include the young lady who recently passed us on the left, while we were stopped and signaling a left turn and the pedestrian in front of us, seeing our intent to make that turn, started crossing the street and almost got hit by the impatient little driver.

Perhaps worse still was the recent donut incident. Being the nice guy that I am, I took a dozen of the little death pills to work, knowing that I wouldn't eat one but thinking it a nice, Friday morning gesture for my coworkers. The donuts went quickly. Later, upon entering the kitchen where they were located, I was shocked to see the empty donut box just sitting on the counter about 2 feet away from a garbage can. So, someone, obviously severely lacking in upbringing, ate the last one and didn't even see fit to throw the empty box away. This must be the same person who takes the last paper towel and neglects to put another roll on the holder.

All I can say about incidents like these is "Hey, Dude, Yo Momma Failed Miserably!"

A quick update.

Well, once again, the beach house is occupied but not by me.  Patti and Patti Q are there this week.  Everything is working and fine so I am glad they’re there.  This week will be a typical one for when I am batching it – eat pho, drink beer, heat leftovers, go to work, teach my classes, and do it all over again.  This week doesn’t look too busy so work will be tolerable (I hope).  Maybe I’ll win the lottery or something – but then again, I probably won’t since it’s doubtful that I will even play it.