Inside The Perimeter

It was a beautiful day for a baseball game, especially if you know to ask to purchase a seat in the shade. I did just that, and to my surprise I sat in the wrong seat (one row further back) and was sandwiched between two older couples who were season ticket holders. One couple lives in Kitchener Ontario, and the other close to Niagara Falls. My previous interest in Canada allowed me to converse with the couples, and I think I may have amazed one of the men when I mentioned that I went to high school here in a Dunedin with Toronto Argonaut (Canadian Football League) legend Michael “Pinball” Clemens. I did consume one, Labatt Blue for $9, just for old time sake.

The rest of my day was spent gathering my possessions to load up into the M6 for today’s journey. I leave the Florida House after spending almost eighteen days here, and contemplating a return in three weeks in order to finish some more tasks. I don’t know if I have spent this long of a chunk of time away from the ITP Estate previously, and I have some reticence about returning home.

Time to focus on making some life changes, my long drive home will give me plenty of time to contemplate them.

Wordle: four, my starter was STEAM
Connections: perfect, Blue > Green > Yellow > Purple

Saturday would have been my mother’s birthday. I had chores to do, mostly cleanup of Friday’s lumberjacking, but had in mind to go out for dinner to celebrate her life. As I walked the mile to Dunedin’s Main Street I walked past Grant Field (TD American Park?) and saw many people exiting the stadium. I made it to a very crowded Dunedin Brewing where after a couple of beers surmised going out for dinner would be a bad idea. The thought of returning to the Florida house was improved by remembering that I had food in the house that I could prepare, and save some money in the process. I may have eaten at least as many calories as if I had eaten at a restaurant, but at a fraction of the cost.

Though I was probably an hour too late to start, I went out for a 45 mile out and-back ride on The Pinellas Trail yesterday. The reason I felt that I started too late was the number of people on the trail upon my return. This was my third ride of the trip, not bad given the weather and other commitments I had.

I’m going to the Blue Jays spring training game against Pittsburgh this afternoon.

I’m feeling aimless these days. I no longer know what I want out of life…

Wordle: four, my starter was FRAUD
Connections: perfect, Yellow > Green > Blue > Purple

Another busy day today, my third and last Friday of this trip. I’ll be returning sometime within the next week, probably to find raccoons and rats have taken up residence in the ITP Estate…

The question on everyone’s mind: Who will set Barb up for another Wordle deuce today?

Wordle: three, my starter was CHORE
Connections: perfect, Green > Yellow > Purple > Blue

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Wordle: four, my starter was AISLE
Connections: perfect, Green > Blue > Yellow > Purple

If not for some cramping I would have ridden fifty miles yesterday, in the end it was a forty-eight mile ride. I left the house and turned left on the Pinellas Trail and rode it all the way to Tropicana Field in St Petersburg before turning around. As could be expected the ride out was easier than the ride back because if you look at a globe you can see that everything southbound is downhill, at least until you reach the equator. 🙂 In actuality the ride back was much harder, climbing the overpasses was more difficult and there was a sinister headwind.

I did this ride once before, nearly sixteen years ago. At that time I had an iPod from which I listened to music while riding, and took the image on the left with a pocket digital camera.

The guy on the right has a shit eating grin for some reason. Doesn’t he realize that his life is no better, and possibly worse, than when he took the photo on the left?

My beer with lunch knocked me into next Tuesday, so all of the things I thought would get done yesterday afternoon didn’t get done.

Yesterday I rode my bicycle to St Petersburg, today I’m taking a more sensible approach by driving there. The theme of this stay in Florida seems to be “rinse and repeat”. I have been to Safety Harbor twice in a three day period, and now I am headed back to St Petersburg. Today I will be visiting the Salvador Dali Museum in the morning, and then eating lunch at a place called Hookin’ Ain’t Easy. Where I wind up after that is anybody’s guess.

Wordle: four, my starter was BLARE
Connections: perfect, Purple > Yellow > Green > Blue

I took the M6 to a car wash yesterday. Although I paid for the “best” wash it didn’t do the greatest job, and had no hope of removing whatever gunk I drove through sometime ago which has stuck to the vehicle since. Other than that it wasn’t the most productive of days. I had a decent dinner with two of my cousins last night at a place in Safety Harbor, Florida. I am always a little amused when I see how much Sweetwater schwag places outside of Atlanta get. After dinner I had one beer at Crooked Thumb Brewing and had to leave before being bounced by security.

Today is the first day in ages that I will be on the road again, on a bicycle. My departure will be a little later than desired since even though I had a week to get my bike ready, I failed to do so. I am also delayed because as I type this, 5:40am EST, it is only 46°F in this part of Florida and I certainly didn’t pack cold weather cycling gear.

I will say one thing that really displeases me about T-Mobile, in addition to not being able to use my home internet to stream music nor update iOS apps, is that I have called twice for support and each time was warned that there would be an estimated thirty minute wait to talk to a representative; this is completely unacceptable. I finally talked to a support representative, but unfortunately I stumped him…

Wordle: two, my starter was MOUTH
Connections: perfect, Green > Yellow > Blue > Purple

The Florida house is unrecognizable. Under different circumstances, like fully functioning plumbing, I’d consider buying my brother out and owning it. I’m typing this while completely sober, but I am not crazy enough to become a long distance landlord, and my days of living in Florida are over. As I sat at the house yesterday I found it hard to believe that the Super Bowl occurred a mere week ago. Living and working with my brother and sister in law made for an action-packed week.

On Friday night I had a weird dream in which my mother was in the house in its current state, and she was upset that we had removed all of her things.

I thought my T-Mobile Home Internet problem solved itself on Saturday morning because I was able to stream music on my iPhone, or so I thought. However, when I tried again on late Saturday afternoon it failed on all of my devices. Ugh.

Rain this weekend canceled the thoughts of bike riding, but, the breweries were open!

With some creative cleaning I managed to cook and eat all of my weekend meals at the house. Most of my meals consisted of leftovers, but I did whip up a couple as well. I’ll be eat in four with a cousin tonight, and have plans to head to St Pete (ironically I’ve just given you an answer for today’s NYT Mini Crossword) this week where I will also consume a meal out.

This being Presidents’ Day means that all of my business-related tasks are pushed to tomorrow.

Wordle: three, my starter was LATCH
Connections: perfect, Blue > Yellow > Green > Purple

Good ending to my week. Yesterday we were able to empty the house of almost all of the knickknacks, and, a lot of the furniture. What remains is mostly items that are of use for when we stay at the house prior to sale, or will be leaving the house upon sale. Also, we were able to fix the leaking tub/shower faucets by replacing the washers. After a week of using T-Mobile’s home internet I am loving it. I will certainly by taking it to the ITP Estate upon the Florida house sale to see how well it works in East Atlanta.

My brother and sister in law start their return north today. I am going to extend my vacation because somebody has to eat all of the food left in the refrigerator. Hell, weather permitting I may finally get in some bike rides, and catch a Blue Jays preseason game while I am here. Rain is moving in for the weekend in this part of Florida, so I will likely attempt to finish any of the indoor house chores remaining, and start the jigsaw puzzle that I brought with me.

May you all have a fun weekend.

Wordle: three, my starter was FIGHT
Connections: perfect, Blue > Yellow > Green > Purple

It was another decent day in paradise, except for the plumbing. In which house am I, it’s hard to tell?

After meeting with the lawyer the day was spend doing chores around the house. The three of us went to Costco where we bought a rotisserie chicken to eat as part of our valentine dinner. We then watched a movie called “The Super” from 1991 starring Joe Pesci. My brother and I spent some time scrolling through the comedies offered for streaming on Peacock, my word are there a lot of movies I’ve never before heard of.

Wordle: four, my starter was GLARE
Connections: perfect, Purple > Yellow > Green > Blue

Brr, it’s cold in Florida. It’s probably not as cold as where you are, but it’s 49°F currently.

My brother, sister-in-law, and I journeyed up to Tarpon Springs yesterday. With no agenda in mind we wandered around part of their small downtown for a while. Today my brother and I have an appointment with a lawyer to start the expensive process of deed transfer for the house.

While I am not a believer, happy Valentine’s Day to those of you who celebrate.

Wordle: five, my starter was DAILY
Connections: perfect, Blue > Green > Purple > Yellow