Lily is still dancing around the living room like Cinderella. She stops just long enough to pass out candy when the doorbell rings.
She called her Grandma and told her all about it and when we asked her if she wanted to call her Aunt Laura, she said, “No, the doorbell might ring!”.
Lily cleaned up around the neighborhood – her costume was a big hit!
Now she is sucking down a Lollipop and helping pass out candy. As soon as the door bell rings and I open the door – Lily screams, “Trick or Treat!”
Then she puts her sticky hands into our candy bowl, pulls out whatever sticks and starts passing it out!
Dinner is done and the costume is on! Everything was off to a great start until BLINK…the front porch light burned out! Up the ladder …watch the ladder…and we ar off once again!
On the road again today. The Volvo is in the shop, which means I got a SWEET loaner car!
Saw a couple of customers, saw my good friend Roy and now I’m back in the office in time to take care of a few things and head home for Trick or Treating.
It’s beautiful outside again today – low 80’s and sunny. Should be a great night to go out.
I’ve mentioned that it’s a very pleasant 70 degrees outside.
Outside.
Inside my office, the air conditioning is set at 65!!!! It’s freezing in here!!!
This sucks….48 hours ago I was waking up in a Caribbean island paradise. Now I’m here.
I’ve got three days worth of mail to go through and 75 emails. And I have no idea how many calls. And my UPS just got here with my end of the month accounting to do also. I think for every day you take off, it must set you back two days.
Joel has been smack talking about his Cowboy’s winning last night. Seems this kid Romo can turn water into wine. Joel could have used a little divine intervention on behalf (get it?) of this snook.
Let me look….nope, the Bucs lost and didn’t score an offensive touchdown again. I didn’t bet on this game. I seem to recall winning a bet recently…hmm….
I guess there is always FSU football…nope, we lost too. To Maryland? Oh my. Could be worse…I could be wearing an “I Love Jeff Bowden” tee shirt.
Lily slept like a rock last night. Diane took her up at 6:20…she was out like a light by 6:23 – no kidding!
It’s a beautiful day today. We slept with the windows open – I think it dipped into the low 60’s. Made for nice sleeping weather. The sky is crystal clear and I think it is supposed to be in the 70’s – just gorgeous.
Good morning! We are pulling into port…actually, looks like we are tied up to the dock. We gained an hour last night…just a little Disney magic I think. We get breakfast and then off the ship by 8 or 830 I think. I’ll have pictures up later, but first we are stopping to see my grandparents for a quick visit!
After a rowdy party, we’ve set sail! Lily danced til she was blue in the face! Off to dinner!
We’ve made it on board and enjoyed a nice lunch. We are sitting poolside right now, waiting maybe 30 min. for our rooms. Lily is pumped!
It’s Wednesday evening, 12 hours until we hope to be pulling out of the driveway.
Just a few notes about our weekend….
I won’t be updating the webpage… www.vincebelcher.com
That means no new POTD and no journal entries until we get back.
I will, however, do my best to Vlog. I can add entries here with my cell phone and I might (I’m stressing might) be able to give you video. I’ll do my best.
Feel free to send us text messages (those of you who have my cellphone). I’m not sure how reception will be ,but I’m fairly confident I’ll have coverage Thursday until mid-evening, and most of the day Friday. Saturday is doubtful.
Have a good weekend…and watch out for F16’s!!!
It just occurred to me, as I sit here waiting for my $9.95 haircut that I’ll bet Diane’s $alon doesn’t take coupons. Meanwhile, I wait until I find a $1 off coupon before I get mine cut.
I’m on my way to get a much needed pre-cruise haircut. F16’s are still out in full force today…kind of surprised the media hasn’ts made mention of it.
Parcells going with Romo, report says – NFL – MSNBC.com
Yes, we all remember the last time the Mighty Drew was benched – a young, whipper snapper named Tom Brady took the helm and the Pats won 16 SuperBowls in a row.
The NFL Cowboys of Dallas wont’ get past the Panthers and, after that, the Cowboys move from contenders to longshots to “make it all the way”.
Yes, that’s right, in 24 hours I’ll be on the road to Port Canaveral and our Disney Cruise!Lily is so excited! We all are. It’s really our only vacation this year that wasn’t related to work or seeing family.
Another chilly morning today. My thermometer says we hit 43 last night…66 in the house – brrrrr!
I haven’t heard an F16 since last night around 10pm. The 10 o’clock one must have woke Lily up because she was up and wide awake for at least an hour afterwards.
Lily saw me out the door this morning. She walked me out to the front steps, zipped my jacket up and told me to put on a hat. She insisted, but I decided against the hat.
I got a hug and kiss goodbye and started to close the door then Lily said, “Bye! Stay warm!”
Ok, now it’s getting ridiculous – It’s almost 10 o’clock at night and we’ve sat here, with the windows open, watching TV listtening to an F16 roar overhead almost every 10 minutes now.
MacDill continues to do its fly-bys overhead. I’ve counted nearly 43 eastbound planes since yesterday morning.
Diane thinks it is rehearsal for a presidential visit.
I, personally, think it’s the same four planes going around and around the globe.
Anthrax Scare at PSU
Penn State football practice was delayed nearly two hours today after a player reported finding an unknown white powdery substance on the practice field.
Head Coach Joe Paterno immediately suspended practice while police and federal investigators were called to investigate. After a complete analysis, FBI forensic experts determined that the white substance unknown to the players was the goal line.
Practice was resumed after special agents decided the team was unlikely to encounter the substance again.
(an email and picture I received from a new friend, and regular visitor to my blog – thanks Darrell!)
Dear Vince,
Hope you and your family are well in sunny Florida. I saw the weather for your area today on TV and someone from Brandon (isn’t that where you live?) was complaining about the “cold snap”. Seems you actually had temperatures in the fifties last nigh! Wow! And, OH MY, it will barely hit 75 today!
You’ve told me about the good weather you enjoyed while on your cruise last year. Things have changes a good deal as we hit late October.
Everything is a soft shade of white or grey. The temperature barely gets to 30 during the day and almost always hits the single digits at night. Want to visit now?
Anchorage is a ghost town with just a few locals. One shop owner I know guesses that 70% of Anchorage’s residents leave for the winter.
We are in it for the long haul – I’ll send you more pictures as winter tightens it grip!
Talk to you soon, Darrell
I guess I’m just in a gambling mood. I won a great bet with Chris in yesterday’s Tampa/Philadelphia game. Joel, a maniacal Dallas Cowboy fan, has offered a bet.
If the Cowboys “Go All The Way”, I have to wear a TO jersey.
If the Cowboys don’t go all the way, he has to wear a tee shirt that says “I love Jeff Bowden” during every FSU game, forever, as long as Jeff is a coach for the Seminoles.
I’ve checked the website – they are F16’s. And there are about 100 at MacDill. At least there were 100 before this morning. By my count, they’re down to 76.
It’s beautiful here tonight, all the windows are open. Unfortunately, if Top Gun over there has their way, I expect we’ll have to close things up because noone is going to sleep with that racket.
The neat thing about where we live is our proximity to MacDill Airforce Base. We are less than 20 miles away, as the crow flies and we see almost every plane that takes off and lands (including Airforce One) from the base.
Today has been especially active – almost like an air show. I’ve counted 14 fighters ( I think they are F16’s) since about 9 o’clock this morning roaring overhead.
I think it is hilarious that this stuff can even be sold.
Oh, that’s right…it’s Monday. It’s a bit overcast today in the Sunshine State as a front is moving through. Temps are dropping into the upper 50’s for the next couple of mornings…brrrrrr.
On account of the cloudiness, I slept a bit later in my darker than usual room. The only disturbance I had was when Lily came down and saw that she didn’t have a nice note on her place at the table saying she went to bed good and was in for a treat. Poor Lily, she was crushed, but quietly played with her Legos until 7:45 when she wanted me to inspect what she had built.
Tampa’s football spirit is reborn this morning. Talk radio, the news, the paper…
are all alive with a renewed level of excitement. Sure made for good TV!
Diane and Lily are off to the grocery store this morning. They are skipping Gymboree this week just to minimize the chances of any of us catching a cold right before our cruise.
One last thing, I’ve lost this morning’s round to the garbage men. They picked through my garbage and left my half filled cans with the remains of the concrete blocks and some trash. That’s ok. Those broken pieces of cinderblock are going out in those cans, into that truck and they are gonna get dumped by that garbage guy if I have to bury the chunks in the middle of my kitchen scraps one chunk at a time.
Well, my bet with Chris continued to evolve as the game progressed.
After the Bucs scored their second TD off an interception, I added to my stakes that if the Bucs win without scoring an offensive TD, my NEW coffee mug should include coffee!
Chris accepted.
The Bucs win with 4 seconds on the clock and a Buccaneer record 62 yard field goal. No offensive touchdowns!
Bucs WIN! Vinnie WINS! Bucs WIN! Vinnie WINS!
We’ve got an official bet on today’s Bucs/Eagles game.
Chris has taken the Eagles of Philadelphia over the 1-4 Buccaneers. The stakes are as follows…
Bucs win – Chris owes Vinnie a new coffee mug – preferrably one with a sports theme and it can’t be an Eagles or PSU mug.
Eagles win – Vinnie owes Chris a shipment of fresh, Florida oranges.
Score update…. 1:30 left in the 3rd quarter, Bucs up 17-0!
Typical Sunday around here. Lily has been playing in the garage with me while I clean up a few things. She’s easy in the garage – it’s like a whole new playground or something. I gave her a hammer, a paint roller and a screw driver and she entertained herself for about 3 hours this morning.
We had to break up some cinder blocks that the garbage men wouldn’t take – she loved smashing the concrete into small chunks. Instead of picking up one 30 pound block – the garbage men will have to dump my 50lb. cans.
I had some old country music on the little CD player in the garage. At one point during one song (David Alan Coe’s – “You Don’t Call Me Darlin’) she thanked me…”Thank you for putting on that song, Dad, it’s my favorite”. I’m sure she’s never heard it before this morning.
The Seattle Times: Local News: Class gives a little fine-tuning to shower singers
I don’t mind that Diane sings in the shower. It’s that she still plays her flute while she’s in there.
Sorry, not much to post today. I’ve been on the road for the third day this week. The only good part is that I had a great BBQ lunch.
Well, that’s not the only good part. I’m done for the day and going home at 3:45, that’s nice too.
The Jawa Report: ACLU Succeeding in Having Searches Banned at NFL Stadiums
Figures it would be the ACLU behind this.
I have two entrances to my office – one opens into the lobby area, the other opens to the outside, onto a sidewalk along where I park. (or where Babe-a-licious parks, but that’s a different story)
Above my outside doors is a piece of marble, just a bit bigger than the average window sill. This weekend, my piece of marble fell off and shattered onto the sidewalk. (Good thing I wasn’t going out the door at the time)
You literally have to step over it if you walk on the sidewalk.
I guess I’m going to have to call the landlord because I just saw him walk outside and step over my marble pieces without so much as stopping to see what happened. I think next time I see him coming, I’m going to put fake blood on my head and lay on the ground next to it. He’ll stop then.
FSU’s football team (and future contributors to society) will wear all black uniforms this Saturday against Boston College to honor the Seminole Tribe.
See – that’s how you keep good relations and get to use the indian logo.
Wow, did you read that there is a potential threat at NFL stadiums this weekend?
Did you know some idiot in Tampa has successfully so far prevented pat downs of everyone entering Tampa Stadium? He has managed to argue the search is unconstitutional.
I’ll have to look up where the case is now, but there is an injunction stopping the searches until it can be ruled on.
You know, if you are going there voluntarily – if you are buying a ticket – and going on to private property – why can’t the propery owner, in this case the Tampa Sports Authority, print on the ticket that everyone will be subject to a search?
In fact, I think there will now be pat downs of everyone entering my house.
Well, we’ve made it to Thursday.
Lily has an upset tummy this morning. She spent 10 minutes sitting on the potty with a bandaid over her belly button. It was a sad sight. I think she just had too many grapes yesterday.
I took a quick glance at the TV ratings. I’d prefer, of course, that none of the shows I like get cancelled. Looks like the football drama “Friday Night Lights” is failing as is “The Nines” and “What About Brian”. I like the football show but the last two are Diane’s.
I stood in line at Starbucks this morning and listend to two unrelated parties debate which one of them was going to buy coffee for a Major standing in line on his way to MacDill AFB. Nice gesture I suppose. One of the two was putting her half of the charges on her prepaid Starbucks card which was declined. It was a sad sight.
We got the pool fixed yesterday. Seems there was still some lightening damage on one of the valves. That combined with an old gasket – one thing led to another and KAPLOOEY. The good news is that it’s up and running again. The bad news is the water is 77 degrees.
Is it Friday yet?
If there is one thing I like, it’s the personal stories and history from World War II and the Civil War. Not so much the battles – I like the stories of the 16 year old kid who lied about his age to get into the Navy, or the brothers who ended up facing off against each other at Gettysburg.
Anyhow – today’s paper includes an obituary for Frank Holmes. Col. Holmes is credited with shooting down the legendary Japanese Admiral Yamamoto who masterminded and led the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Col. Homes took down two Betty’s and six zero fighters, Japanese soldiers later confirmed one of the planes was piloted by Yamamoto. Holmes, a lieutenant at the time also shot down a bomber carrying Yamamot’s chief of staff.
I think I read at one time that 1000 WWII veterans die each day. If you’ve never sat and listened to a story – a piece of history – directly from one of them – do it.
Starbucks recalls coffee brewers – Consumer News – MSNBC.com
No – I don’t have one.
But I did get ANOTHER $10 gift card in the mail today from Starbucks!
Long day on the road today – almost 200 miles.
The pool is broken – the filter blew it’s top last night and drained the spa. It was working on draining the pool when we found it. Got it half way fixed tonight.
We’ve made it through 6 or 7 college football games so far this year. I love how some fans of some teams quit their smack talk by this point in the season. Don’t get me wrong – FSU is having a terrible year. About the only thing we have to look forward to is the chance at beating the Gators and maybe a Bowl game. But there are teams who finished last season ranked much higher that have fallen much, much further.
The Bucs won a squeaker yesterday. Everything hinged on what the replay official saw on that last TD reception. Looked pretty clear to me. Tony Dungy would never had won a call like that – the replay officials hated him.
Don’t forget – at 7:46am US population hits 300 million. I’ve looked at the equation they use to determine that and as best I can tell, I was citizen number 200,150,113.
Tuesday tomorrow. I’ve got to get a tire fixed in the morning. The good news is I don’t have to go play with spoiled tangerine. Yuck.
Good night.
Good Monday morning. I’m on the road again this morning. I’m at the warehouse pulling samples of peach, pear and tangerine. It’s a messy job. And cold. After I’m done here, I’m taking a customer to lunch, then off to Lakeland to see an Orange Juice processor. Diane and Lily are house bound today on account of a flat tire on the Volvo. Lily will miss her play group today. If you talk to her today, ask her about her new Rice Krispies.
TheStar.com – Ask not for whom the population clock ticks
Tuesday, Oct. 17, happens to be the anniversary of the 1777 American victory in the Battle of Saratoga, the introduction of the curve ball in the great American pastime, Al Capones imprisonment for tax evasion, Albert Einsteins immigration to the United States from Germany, the beginning of the 1973 Arab oil boycott and the 1989 San Francisco earthquake.
Watching two football games tonight – Florida/Auburn and PSU/Michigan.
The announcers for the Florida/Auburn game just said that the Gators are the most penalized team in the country right now.
Go Gators.
Good Humor man goes to the dogs – What Were They Thinking – MSNBC.com
Weezy prefers plain vanilla with chocolate sprinkles.
