January 1, 2001- Monday…Happy New Year….A Healthy and Prosperous one for 2001. Record low temperatures this morning with mid 20's in the inland southern portions. Lots of farm damage as crops froze. 33 on the coast by us. Brrrrrrr.
I drove Mom back to her house this morning, and as we entered the house, the alarm went off, and wouldn't shut off. Just the fact that it went off was a problem since it usually has a minute delay before the bells and whistles start. Punch the keyboard as much as we could, and no change. Called the alarm company and on the holiday day, only the lowest persons were on duty. They said that they would make sure that the police wouldn't come and charge for a false alarm, and would connect us to the repair folks. A tech person called and gave us some codes to turn off and reset the system, but it wouldn't restore Mom's alarm code. So, on Wednesday a repairman will arrive. Naturally as I walked Hobbes outside, the police came, and after a few words, left. Couldn't believe he didn't ask for any ID.
On the trip back across Alligator Alley I passed a ton of cars pulled off along the highway edge and noticed hundreds of big sized alligators sunning themselves to warm up after the cold nighttime temperatures.
Watched on the dish "Rules of Engagement"….intense and disturbing portrayal of the real world military and politics. Afterwards, got the web page up and running for December….a record posting time having it up on the first of the month.
January 2, 2001- Tuesday- got back on the tennis court today and an easier time then the last time…instead of 9 to 7, this was a 7 to 5 victory. Susan was somewhat under the weather with a low-grade headache and a burning stomach.
January 3, 2001- Wednesday….Greenspan speaks, lowers interest rates ½ point, and the markets respond . Keep speaking Alan. In Vail Susan usually needs to make a mammogram appointment weeks in advance. She called yesterday at an imaging place here in Naples that Lois recommended, and could have gone yesterday. Instead, she went at 9 this morning. While she did her thing and a few errands, I put a wax job on part of the coach.
Cold weather still here….record colds….in the 30's each night, but at least you don't have to shovel 30's.
This afternoon we hit pay dirt. We had been looking for silverware and dishes to replace the one's we've been using for the last three years. There were getting old and discolored. For weeks we've been looking around, but today, at Bed, Bath and Beyond, we found both. So now we are almost fully redecorated.
After dinner we ran over to Jerry and Lois's for a quick round of Euchre. Bad night for the boys, while a good one for Lois and Susan.
January 4, 2001- Thursday- a 7:30 departure from Naples and a drive to Miami Airport, arriving at 9:30. Brad, Rach, Jake, Ben, Naomi and John were all scheduled to arrive at 10:10, with Brad and Rach and Jake scheduled for a 5 hour layover. When we got to the ALM counter, the flight was now due in at 12:05. The latter three would miss their connections, and have to go standby for the remainder of their travels, all the way to Alaska for John and Naomi.
As Susan was standing by the "glass" wall separating the customs area, she sees a young mother with two young boys. The boys are talking about seeing Baby Jake. Susan asks the mother…are you Cindy….it was Brad's sister and nephews. Small world.
After a lunch in the airport hotel dining room with everyone, we said good-bye, and went over to Bill's for an eye exam. My last one with Bill was two year's ago and my left eye has deteriorated. So, new glasses are being fabricated. Then dinner with Bill and Cynthia at a wonderful small Italian restaurant in their neighborhood just south of Miami. Good to see them….our last contact was at Fran and Allan's wedding last May.
A long drive home along the desolate Tamiami Trail, Highway 41, turning the corner at 11:45.
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January 5, 2001, Friday- 31 degrees this morning. Poor farmers in the area loosing entire crops of tomatoes, peppers and other crops.
More computer problems today with lockups and battery.
Golf with other foursomes from Paradise Pointe. Good rate….last date of 18 holes on the executive course for $20 with a cart. I played well with 5 pars….very unusual for me….but we were sure spoiled with the prior courses. No GPS here. Poor markers for distance, but still, we got our money's worth. Played with Barb and George, nice folks with heavy Georgia accents.
Attended services with Hank, Linda, Jerry and Lois this evening on Marco Island. Like family.
Missed a phone call from Steve today….poor service on the golf course, a few miles east of our park. He and Becky were doing well in India, feeling well and business going forward. Nice to hear his voice.
January 6, 2001, Saturday- another never-ending day. After doing some household cleanup, we played some tennis. Our thoughts were to play some singles, but the first court was busy with doubles, and shortly after we arrived another couple showed. So, doubles we played. That was a fun hour plus of running. Next, cleanup and head to downtown Naples for the art show and a special Clyde Butcher show in the local museum. Butcher is a black and white naturalist photographer working in large format. One camera that he uses has a 12 x 20 image area. Now that's a BIG camera!
Walking through these areas, Hobbes was again mobbed by enthusiastic folks. It's great training for his acceptance of strangers.
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Part of the walk was with Lois and Jerry, and their relatives Janet and Richard from Manhattan. Dinner at a great hamburger restaurant….there must have been 60 different combinations. Contrary to Mom's statements that it's Florida law that all burgers must be medium well to well done, baloney. We could have ordered tartar (one of the 60 options). Medium rare was perfectly done!
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Following, back at L&J's we played Euchre. It was touch and go with the guys up 2 to 1 games, but then the women inched ahead with a 3 to 2 final. Next time!
January 7, 2001, Sunday- by 10 AM we were at J&L for a bike ride into the Palm Royal area of Naples. This is the area where we saw a small beach cottage under construction….only 43,000 square feet. One of the ads for another property had the house listed for $8.5 million, and if you were nice, they would sell you the adjoining lot for just $3 million. We're starting to talk some serious money here.
Then, on the bikes back up towards the north, where we four were joined by Kathleen and Susan, two nurse anesthetic nurses that work with Lois. One of the fancy Naples magazines recommended "First Watch" as the best breakfast place in town. With an hour wait at noon, it was still worth the time invested. Temps were in the 70's, we had an outside table on the patio, and the food was scrumptious. Kathleen had a 16 week old soft coated Wheaten Terrier that was adorable. Cute as a button.
Next, an hour walk along the beach.
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After returning home to walk the Hobbes, back north to the movies. We tried to see the new movie Traffic, but it was sold out, so we saw "Vertical Limits" a movie with exceptional footage of rock climbing in Utah and mountain climbing on K-2 mountain in Pakistan. It had a so-so story line and acting, but the adrenaline was flowing.
January 8, 2001, Monday- Played golf with our Dixie neighbors again (same as Friday), Barb and George. Gracious folks with old time southern hospitality of understating all the things that they have done. They were farmers, but it turns out that he started with prep school and owned the acres surrounding the country club. He played golf one or two rounds per day for six years. Their land, really a plantation, surrounded the country club. On it goes. Played the Links of Naples again, but this time we knew the correct distances. Big difference. First time ever- hit the flag stick on the fly, 134 yards. Close to a hole in one, but wound up about 5 feet away. Finished with an 82, two better then last time. Too bad it was a par 61.
When I hit from the first tee box I felt that my back was very tight and didn't want to move smoothly. Not a good sign to start the round.
January 9. 2001, Tuesday- not a pretty day. Susan's cold kept her (and us), up most of the night. Her spirits are good, and during the day she functioned well, but she was afraid of touching anything and spreading the germs. My back, meanwhile, went further south. Very difficult to get up from a sitting position, but better when I walked. Cold and windy, started in the 50's and would up overnight in the low 30's. Maybe this will be the last cold front of the season!
Returned extra "stuff" we had acquired in our redecoration attempt, and did a quick run through Costco.
In the evening we went to Linda and Hank's at Pelican Lakes where they had a two person musical evening of singing and dancing in the clubhouse. Nice facility and evening. Back still too tight.
January 10, 2001, Wednesday- had the fun of spending 4 hours on the phone this morning with Gateway trying to eliminate the bootup locking. After reloading the windows programs, and changing the startup menus, so far so good. Then spent an hour on the phone with Handspring to get the new Visor program up and running with the linking to Outlook. That was a trying time but finally all seems to be working well.
Susan's cold is doing better, and my back is working towards functionality.
Jerry and Lois joined us for lox and bagels and a few hands of Euchre….tonight we guys regained the championship with 3 or 4 games on our side.
Although there was ice on the car this morning, the cold front should have passed through and now more seasonal temperatures are headed our way. But, it is dry. Since October 5, 97 days, Naples has had only 7% of its average rainfall. Now that IS dry.
January 11, 2001- Thursday- Susan's cold was getting better, and my back hurting less. I spent the morning trying to combine the databases from the cell phone, old palm and outlook files. It took a while to combine the information into a single file and eliminate the extras, but it felt good to be moving forward.
To stretch the muscles a little we did a few laps around the park, and then I did the first color coat on our redo project of the sign we hang outside of the coach with our names. After two plus years in the elements, it needed a scraping and new prime and color coats.
We met our friends Larry and Phyllis at their new home at Hideaway Beach on Marco Island. Larry did all of the general and lots of the detail work himself on the 3500 square foot home. A beautiful job was done with 12 and 14 foot ceilings. After a round of drinks we headed over to a little locals restaurant, The Old Marco Pub, for a great dinner. During the evening, our phone, which hasn't rung much, rang four times during dinner. Steve and Becky returned to the US of A from India, and called from Chicago as they changed planes….they sounded good. Then Mom called that her four days with the Hadassah group in South Beach were finished and she was home. Robert called about his schedule during Passover….he and Deb can't make it for the first weekend of Passover, the 7th of April, but could make it the following weekend….so we'll have a few more Sedars for this Holiday. Finally Lois called about Friday's dinner. I guess I was either rude by leaving the phone on, or looked like an executive. Oh well!
One of the interesting things that Larry shared with us….was the deterioration of Hideaway Beach sand. A resident that had a 241 foot public beach in front of his house, now had the ocean lapping at the bottom of his pool. He added 60 thousand cubic yards of sand to his property, and three days later it was gone. In fact, a new sandbar was formed, and now it's sprouting some grasses. By definition it's now a new "key" and can't be dredged.
January 12, 2001, Friday- we met Bob and Elaine for lunch on 5th Avenue in old town Naples, and then did the gallery walk as they were looking for artwork to hang in their new home. Some of this galleries are unbelievable. One painting by Avery had an asking price of $695,000. Two through pillows in one place had a price of $15,000. Wow! Many relatively small paintings carried prices in the $20 to $30 thousand range.
Dinner with Jerry and Lois and his brother Richard and their Mom. Following were Friday night services on Marco Island…many warm and caring folks there.
Got an e-mail from Debi that her echocardiogram showed no progression from a year ago…..Mazel Tov!
January 13, 2001, Saturday- another Saturday, another Art Festival. Same old, same old. Then, off to the orchard show in the Naples Depot. Lovely orchards, lots of varieties. Glad we don't have to care for any. Next on to Bonita Bay to the movies. State and Main is a cute story about a movie company coming into a small town, and the clashes between two perceived realities. All this with Jerry, Lois and family. Dinner again at Lindburgers.
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January 14, 2001, Sunday- temperatures returning towards normal with highs in the low 70's and night time in the low 50's. After finishing a bunch of projects around the coach, we headed up towards Bob & Elaine's where we watched the second half of the Giants destroying the Vikings in the NFC playoff game. Afterwards, out to the Grand China Buffet for a long and early dinner. Strange…the setup looked just like the buffet we had back in September in Chino, CA for $6.95. Here it was $13.95 for the same deal. Got in to see "Traffic" a must see on the drug problem. It covered all aspects of the problem from users, to rehab to interdiction, to local and DEA police to Mexico supply and corruption. No easy answers here!
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January 15, 2001, Monday- running around….haircut, coach supplies, mall stops, finished redoing our sandblasted name sign, painting the propane grill, lots of little stuff.
January 16, 2001, Tuesday- up few ups and downs today. As Susan was getting ready to go to the Laundromat (still waiting for the repairman- hopefully next week), she turned on the washer/dryer in the coach, and wow, it was running. So , two loads later, its cool. Meanwhile Hank calls from the American Coach Rally that we could get into the Lazy Days' service department tomorrow, as a big favor to him. I tell him….it's working….how can they work on something that's working. Shouldn't have done that. During the next load…..it goes south and stops working in the middle of the load. Susan is not a happy camper….big understatement. Now everything is all over the coach and outside, trying to dry from still being soaking wet. A few loads of laundry still need to be done. And, she still hasn't gotten in the exercise that she wanted yesterday.
So, we hit a few tennis balls, and ran around a little.
After a quick bite out with Jerry and Lois and more of Lois's relative, we went to their place to finish some more of the laundry and catch-up on things. Interesting statement Al and Marge made on their teenage daughter. On of the neighbors came over and saw Jill smile. They asked when did the braces come off? It turns out that she never had braces, but being a teenager she never smiled, so the neighbors thought that she was always hiding her teeth!
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