Where has the time gone???

It’s been so busy the past month or so.  With what?  I wish I knew.  It just seems like we have always been on the go and free time has been a bit lacking.  Not to say that we haven’t been getting out, but those are usually planned events.  There haven’t been a lot of “What do you want to do this weekend” or “Let’s just stay home” type discussions.  There’s always something planned - work, family, or otherwise.

Anyway, I’ve got quite a few entries in my draft folder and I’m trying to clear them out.  Unfortunately, some of them are abbreviated versions of what I anticiptated writing about.  If I don’t do that, they’ll never make it out to the real world.

Enjoy, feel free to comment or e-mail, and I’ll be talking to you later.  More as I get time…

R.

Q: How do you know when you’re really sick…?

A:  When even the dog and cat leave you alone to suffer in peace.

I came home from vacation Sunday feeling refreshed and energized.  I woke up this morning feeling clogged, tired, sore, and a runny nose that would even give an Olympic sprinter a run for their money.  So, instead of infecting everyone at work, I decided to stay home and open the windows to get some fresh air in here.  (Doesn’t air conditioning suck when you’re sick??)

Anyway, I can tell I’m really sick when even the dog and cat give me some peace and quiet.  I was checking e-mail earlier today and the cat usually picks this time to lay across the keyboard for a nice nap.  Not today.

The dog always wants to play fetch or somehow be included in every activity possible. (Dog, the bathroom is for taking care of one’s business or for doing some reading… Go away and take your tennis ball with you…).  Not today.

The two of them have been quiet.  Normally I would say suspiciously quiet.  Like the time of the “Great magazine shredding incident.”  The cat knocks them off the table; the dog assuming everything on the floor is fair game and shreds them up.  I wish I could figure out how they know which magazines are new and haven’t been read yet.  There’s also the “let’s take some of the laundry outside and leave it there” game.  What must the lawn guy think???

But today, they have stayed within eye sight.  Snoozing away or keeping themselves occupied without getting into trouble or making a ruckus..  That’s how I know I’m really sick.  If they dig up the flower garden and bring them inside I’ll know I’m in real trouble… :-O

R.

It’s car show season…

One of the things about the winter weather in Florida is that it is very conducive for car shows.  Sunny days, low humidity, and usually a nice breeze. During this time of the year, it seems like you can’t throw a chamois cloth without hitting a car in a show. 

For me, the season usually starts in November with the Daytona Turkey Run.  This is like Bike Week, but for cars.  It’s held every Thanksgiving Day weekend and will be celebrating its 35th year this November.

They usually have over 5,000+ cars registered for the event - antiques, muscle, British, custom built, you name it.  I’ve always enjoyed that event and have even entered a car a few times.  Lot’s of great people and always a fun event. That includes the people at “Past Gas.”  If you’re in the market for a restored gas pump, they’re the ones to see.  They also restore old bumper cars.  In addition to restoring them and putting on a wild paint job, they put in batteries and an electric motor so you can drive it around.  They even have it so there is the occasional spark coming out of the contact pole.  Lot’s of fun.

It’s been a few years since I’ve been able to get to that show, but there are more than enough going on here locally in Fort Lauderdale to enjoy.  This includes two new entries to the list.  These are the Boca Raton Concours d’ Elegance sponsored by Rick Case Motors and benefiting the Boys and Girls Clubs of Broward County and the Citrix Systems Inaugural Classic Car Show benefiting the South Florida Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Both shows were a lot of fun and had a wide variety of interesting cars.  I’m behind in my photo work, so I’ve only been able to post a small sampling of the entries.  For the Boca Raton event, you can click here .  Pictures of the Citrix event can be found here.

While the Boca show had a larger turn out, 100+ cars, I may have to give the edge to the Citrix show.  Even though it only had about 40 cars and about 20 motorcycles, they had a good variety of cars.  This includes a 1937 Cord (who happened to be “just passing by”) and a 1915 Model T racer.  They also had a few muscle cars, Porsche’s, Ferrari’s, and a couple of Lamborghini’s, including a 1970 Miura.  A nice selection considering it’s the inaugural event and the small number of entrants.

As I mentioned, I’m behind in my photo work.  But, I have posted a few pictures out on the Flickr site for each of the events.  I will be posting more over the next few weeks.  I hope you enjoy them.

If you find yourself in South Florida next winter and want to go look at a few vintage cars, I would highly recommend adding these two shows to your list.  You won’t be disappointed and they’re both supporting worthy causes.

R.

Go see “The Blue Man Group”

The wife and I went out and saw the Blue Man group the other day as part of their “How to be a Megastart 2.0″ tour (update: Feb 23 to be exact. this has been sitting in my drafts file for awhile).  It was a great show and I’m glad we went. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I’ve read about them, heard friends talk about them, and, like everyone else, saw the Intel commercials.  I figured it was going to be a variant of Stomp - music using average items on a theatrical type stage.  But, it was setup like a rock concert with the emphasis put on the visual.

I’m not sure how to describe the show beyond what they have out on their web site.  Especially the Multimedia page.  If you have the opportunity to see them, I recommend it.  It’s part concert, stage show, and visually entertaining.  Check out the site.

Oh, they’re also opening up a permanent show in Orlando at City Walk (I believe).  Similar to Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba setup in Downtown Disney.  The Blue Man deal should start in July.  Check their website for details.

R.

The topics that bring people to the site…

We’re so different, yet we’re the same…

It’s amazing how many people have similar thoughts, ideas, or experience every day events that they just want to learn more about.  I’ve kept an eye on the search terms that people use that brings them to the site and some of the terms that appear really make me scratch my head. 

I took two days of recent searches and here is what I saw.  The Comcast searches didn’t surprise me.  I know how people feel about them.  It does amaze me that Comcast gets me about 25 - 50% of my site views though.

What did surprise me is how often “White Crested Duck” and “Mr Bean” (or some variant) appear in the search list.  Is the White Crested Duck a new fad or something I haven’t heard about???  Are they the pot bellied pig of the 21st century?  Is Rowan Atkinson on the “it” list????  If that’s the case, God help us.  :-)  It’s an odd world out there.

At least no one is calling me fat or lazy… 

Oh, I looked at today’s search list and I’d like to meet the guy/girl who did the search on “1956 Porsche Alligator.”  What the he** is that??? LOL!!!!

R.