MLK

Today is Martin Luther King Day. It is a day of remembrance of a civil rights social activist. It is sad that we will never know what role he could have played in American politics. This morning I return to work after being away for over a week. There will be no traffic today as the schools are closed. There will be no mail as the post offices are also closed. Both of those things make my day easier. I am sure that I will have a stack of work waiting for me, so I am leaving a bit earlier to get a jump on the day. Most people will not reflect on what this holiday means. They will probably be at the mall looking for sales.

One More Kiss

I left Florida yesterday morning. As I was almost out the door, I felt the need to run back in, for just a split second and give my mother one more kiss goodbye. That decision might have saved my life. It was a misty morning and as we entered the ramp of Interstate 595, there was one car ahead of us. As it went into the roadway, an SUV came sliding across 3 lanes and hit it. Then the car spun around and catapulted into a third car. That car spun around and hit the guardrail. Within 30 seconds, there were three cars smashed up, two of them facing backwards. After seeing the three drivers get out of their cars stunned, we continued on. We had to drive sideways into the left lane to enter the highway. It was a slippery road and no one was at fault. It was a case of bad road conditions. That one decision, of one more kiss, made a big difference.

Time Flies

I cannot believe how fast the past 6 days have gone. I planned this trip for weeks and now it is here and gone. I have done everything I had planned and more. Lots of food, lots of conversation and minimal shopping. Just the way I like things. I will return here in 5 weeks and I hope that time will fly. By then I will have digested my 18 meals.

Stuffed

I am writing this blog a bit slower today. I am still full from last night's dinner so I am moving at a slower pace. I have 1 hour to work it off before I go to breakfast. For $2.50 I will eat 3 eggs, oatmeal, toast and coffee. If I wanted to spend $1.00 more I could add bacon or sausage. All I have done here is eat large meals that cost little money. I am not used to such bulk eating. I have swapped out my usual yogurt and fruit for a high salt and even higher cholesterol breakfast. The prices here are competitive to keep the senior citizen's loyal. I think that medically, this is a good idea. Instead of calling it overeating, I call it keeping up your immune system.

Jungle Queen

It was a beautiful day yesterday, so I took a ride on the Jungle Queen. It is a small sightseeing boat that tours the intercoastal waterway in Ft. Lauderdale. We floated past multi-million dollar homes. They were exquisite and the architecture was beautiful  Instead of streets, these homes were on lines of canals. Each home had a boat or yacht docked at it. The houses were so large that some of them looked like hotels. As I passed each one, I could not believe that people actually own these. Some of the homes belonged to the Thomas family (Wendy's hamburgers) Kohls, Firestone, Oscar Meyer and other billion dollar businessmen. I don't know whether it made me feel good or bad by seeing these homes. Does a large home really bring happiness or is a simple life better?

Sparkle

I was at the Festival Flea Market yesterday morning. For anyone who visits their parents from New York, the Festival is a ritual. They sell the same items from year to year. Same glass pendents, same knock off imitation handbags, same tee shirts. I found something new yesterday. A man was selling crystal art work. He hand created pop art and religious pictures by gluing crystals onto suede. Thousands of Swarovski crystals. The pictures were magnificent. He said each one took over 17 hours to make. They sparkled like colored diamonds. He was selling them, framed, for $1000-$1800 and that was a fair price. He then showed us an article on the web. Someone bought one of his pictures, framed it in a sterling silver frame and resold it to the music star Rhianna. He sold it to the man for $3000, the other man framed it for $6000 and Rhianna bought it for $160,000. He took it to court and lost the case because the judge said that anyone can resell anything for a profit.
Update: After doing more research into this, it turns out that although this man does create these beautiful pictures, his story was a "bubba meinsa", (a lie). Another artist created the picture for Rhianna and there are pictures of her actually making the piece. I emailed the man from the Festival just to notify him that I know the truth and I asked why he had the need to tell me a lie. His work could stand on its own without embellishment. He wrote back and said he never said this and maybe he copied the other artist and or maybe he was confused. Hopefully he stops telling stories and just sticks to gluing crystals on suede.

Air Time

I flew to Florida yesterday morning. The flight was scheduled for 9:35am. When I arrived at the airport it had been changed to 9am. It was a foggy day and the previous flight had to circle for 45 minutes before it landed, delaying my flight. We took off at 10am, for a flight that was listed to land at 1:16pm. Somehow we landed at 12:30pm. This was either great time management or someone does not know how to calculate figures.