On not viewing the Space Shuttle & ISS

Here's Greg sitting outside with his laptop shortly before he told us about an e-mail he got from a friend informing him that at exactly 8:30pm last Wednesday night for only three minutes if we looked towards the northwest sky, we'd be able to see the space shuttle and the International Space Station together in the sky.


Here's Greg with his Budweiser waiting for the shuttle.

Leo and Lauren (with her digital camera) in anticipation.





Jodi with her binoculars -- she thought she saw it when Steve told her it was a star that had been there since before she was born!

Needless to say, there was nothing there, and we checked the Web and there was nothing even on NASA that reported this viewing. Oh well...

Culinary Delights

I was reading the newspaper two mornings ago and saw an article about Sam Seltzer's Restaurants closing all over the state of Florida. Seltzer's has been a very popular steak and seafood place for years here. One of our new neighbors, Lauren, was a Corporate Trainer for Sam's and was among 300 folks laid off.

I passed Lauren on the steps outside when I was returning from running errands and expressed by sadness at her job loss -- she was amazingly not upset! She'd already gotten a new job with more pay setting up the computer system for another restaurant. About 20 minutes later she showed up at our door with two huge shopping bags of frozen food from the restaurant! She said she'd filled the trunk of her car more than five times and was giving this food away to our entire building. She gave us lobster tails, shrimp kabobs, breaded shrimp, a whole rack of ribs, a gigantic Porterhouse steak, on and on and on.

We were recently contemplating using the gift card we got from Mike and Renee for seafood at Catches, but now we'll save it for the future. I should mention that the electrical power went out in our building yesterday for about ten minutes and I freaked out thinking about all the food in the freezer!

Handicaps and Stuff

I have come to the conclusion that I should get some kind of handicap when I'm playing games with a time limit. If you lived with Steve you would understand this. I have yet to make it through any game without an interruption!

The Florida heat and humidity has definitely arrived. Getting in the car to run to the store is a nightmare! There are no carports or garages here so the car sits in the sun just waiting for some fool to dare climb inside!

I finally found a local dentist who accepts my insurance which covers only x-rays and cleaning. Went to see him this week - was seen first for digital x-rays (they do each tooth separately), then saw the hygienist who put all kinds of numbers into a computer, then the dentist who briefed me on all the horrible things going on in my mouth. Then I waited a bit and the dental assistant came back with two treatment plans, one with two bridges, one with a bridge and a removable bunch of teeth. The first one came to $10,045, and the second option was a mere $7,000! Then she gave me a brochure from Chase Bank so I could set up a payment plan through them. Needless to say, I'm going back to my original guy in Tarpon Springs who lets me pay as I can. I hate dentists and anything having to do with them!

Steve's going to be working on the apartment grounds this weekend -- raking, leaf blowing, landscaping, etc., so right now he's on the dock fishing. I'm glad our neighbor, Greg, has gone out to sit with him.

Greg had another bone marrow biopsy yesterday in Tampa to make sure he's still in remission, and if all goes well, he's scheduled for his BMT on June 9. He said he's more afraid of this than he was when they removed his colon cancer, because at least then they were taking out the disease. Steve made spaghetti and meatballs last night and brought them each a plate with garlic toast so they wouldn't have to cook.

I'm doing absolutely nothing today except reading the paper, maybe making some cookies, reading my book, and taking drugs for back spasms. Saw the chiropractor again this week -- it always feels great after that for a day or so and then goes back to normal. Getting old sucks!