A Friday 13th Ending

Watch your back! Happy Friday the 13th.

This has certainly been a Friday the 13th kind of week. It started with me locking myself out of the apartment, something I've only done twice my entire life (I used a nearby ladder to get on the deck this time), and ending with another toad incident (this time with Jack). Considering he's okay, I'll consider it lucky since I usually do have pretty good days on the 13th. Here's hoping.

We got all our utility bills this week and two of them came with huge, ugly surprises. AT&T gets a thumbs-up for resolution. Comcast stays on my sh** list. The electric bill is slowly coming down, but not by much, despite the fact that we're unplugging things and only running one a/c unit part of the day. It's ridiculous.

Did you know that 3 things can use as much juice or more than a refrigerator? Even when off, a microwave, cable box, and smart phone continue to communicate with the mothership and eat up tons of electricity. Well, we don't have the smart phone anymore, so that's one down. The rest, we're unplugging or turning off at the power-strip switch. I know our bills are cheaper than most, but still. If we're getting/using less, shouldn't we be paying less?

Anywho, let's tie this up for now. Too much chat, not enough fun. I think we've zoomed in on Flagler Beach. Michael's got some loose ends in St. Kitts that need to be resolved. There are also a couple of certification classes he has to take. If we're staying in FL, work must be found farther north. For myself, I continue to look for anything that doesn't involve sales, customer service, or waiting tables. It's not that I look down on those jobs, it's that I would be horrible at them. I don't have enough patience for the masses to do those kinds of things. There was a reason I was a writer/researcher/editor, but since I'm not seeing much of that right now am thinking truck driver. I'll have to work on my CB handle. Uh oh. Did I just date myself? Is that a Smokey & The Bandit thing?

Have a good weekend everybody!

And The Verdict Is....

Let's just say yesterday was one of the most stressful days we've had in a long, long time. From a housing standpoint, we looked at just about every place that had a "it's not terrible" status applied (the top 4 were: Flagler, Melbourne/Sebastian/Vero Beaches, Indian/Redington Shores, and Naples - but we looked at Sarasota, Jacksonville, Ft Myers Beach, and Bradenton, too). Going inland got us rents around $750 to $1,100/month. Staying on the coast was usually around $1,300 and up.

Flagler Beach on the east coast was the only one that had anything affordable either on the beach or within walking distance. There, we were finding coastal places that were $850 and up, most even included utilities. Plus we had another housing option, a little more inland, that would avoid upfront costs and utility deposits and allowed us to go month to month (thanks guys). Flagler has outdoor movie nights, a weekly farmer's market, a few places within walking distance to hang out, Friday entertainment, is close to not-ugly shopping, and even has cafe owners with a St. Kitts connection. It's also near park trails for running and has a great beach. Jobs weren't plentiful, but there were a couple of possibilities. Until we called them. Gone already. Uh oh.

Road Trip - Day 4

This is so not a bad way to start the morning. Michael was all excited because in just a couple of days, he'd dunked himself in both the Atlantic and the Gulf. Life is full.



No need for shoes, just a saunter straight to the beach. Well, actually water shoes might have been nice, it's a bit shelly/pebbly here (Redington Shores).



You really had to be careful where you walked because little sting rays were buried in the sand everywhere, right at ankle level.

Road Trip - Day 3

Day 4 was an emotional roller coaster ride. Once we got past Flagler Beach, we hated everything. Everything. You name a hare-brained scheme, and we were coming up with one so we didn't have to live here. We couldn't even find a nice cafe by the beach to have lunch - it was Taco Bell or McDonald's (no quiero...). By Daytona, our mood was darkening, and by the time we reached Cocoa Beach, we were hating life. We kept saying something was either 3-D (drab, depressing, dingy, dated, dank, dirty, dumpy - pick 3) or "wasn't that terrible." It wasn't going well. Ugh. There is so much ugliness. Dirty concrete buildings, streets, medians, malls, parking lots, strip malls, mobile home/RV parks. So many strip joints, I mean "gentleman's clubs." AAGH! Why does anyone want to live this way?! It was on the water - so what - it was still ugly.

And it was hot!

Road Trip - Day 1

Well, we're starting day 3. Day 1 involved getting all our stuff (pillows, sheets, clothes, etc.) on the moped and over to the rental car.












Then it was off to Publix for what everyone has told us has the best Key Lime pie to present as a thank you gift, and we were on the road by 9am, as planned. It was 92 degrees....at 9am.... This is what 20% chance of rain looks like.

A Key West Post

I wonder how many people find and read this "conch" blog and wonder why I rarely talk about Key West. Sorry! I will today.

Yesterday we got wind that a woman was swimming from Cuba to Key West and was almost here (64-years old, 5th try, 103 miles, 54+ hours). So we headed toward the beach and discovered that every single person on the island had the same idea. CNN was there, and so was a little drone flying overhead (freaky).


As it turned out, we arrived just as Diana Nyad swam up. Oddly, the reporters and ambulance weren't anywhere near where Nyad came onshore. I dared Michael to photo bomb this guy, but he wouldn't do it. I was too chicken too.

We made our way over to where the masses were and then were surprised when Nyad was rushed right by us down the beach. She looked like she was in a lot of pain (her poor mouth). And the people carrying her looked like they were a little pissed the ambulance wasn't closer (I have no idea why they didn't move the stupid thing when they realized she was down the beach).

My photo sucked. Photo from Fury Facebook

Way to go Diana! On Tuesday, local officials announced that Key West was honoring Diana Nyad with a parade. I don't think there's another place on this planet that likes their parades as much as Key West.

Once the show was over, Michael & I went to the West Martello fort. You'll remember, I was just there a couple of weeks ago. Shade. Glorious shade. Here are a few photos of the things I missed when the camera died last time.

This was a pretty waterfall that looks like poo in this photo.

I'm glad I have Michael back to do silly things for me again.

Then we headed home for a wardrobe change, all the way down to the underwear. We were so drenched in sweat that it looked like we had swam from Cuba too. That done, we decided to head to Turtle Kraals to take advantage of their happy hour and were handed tickets to the turtle races. And Michael's turtle won! Go #4! It turns out that several people had #4, and all of them were given a key. Each person tries the key in a treasure chest and if it opens, he/she wins the prize money ($350). It didn't open. Boo.

Tomorrow, we hit the road. We're going to wean ourselves into this and visit friends we made while sailing. They've had two kids since we last saw them and happen to be in FL for the month, so it's time to meet the new crew. Then we'll slowly drive back down the coast and see if any place looks like a winner. We'll check on our furry brats, and then rent a car again (we're debating if this is the time to buy one but are still mentally fighting the fact that we're staying in the US), and drive up the gulf coast. We've also sent an email to an eco-lodge in Belize and a resume to a Marriott on Maui. Let's see what happens.

It's done.

Hopefully not a harbinger of things to come!
Photo by: Eric Doreika (Thursday) via
US National Weather Service Key West

After much angst and much deliberation, I gave notice to our landlord(s), who live in the apartment below us. They came back with a very nice response:

We will miss you both. You are our kind of people. I hope that you can move back to St. Kitts, since that seems to be the place for you and Michael...You have [the apt.] furnished very stylishly, so it is a great show. 

So all you future landlords, we make great tenants - even with 2 cats! And you'll note even they thought we belonged back in St. Kitts. Yep, our apartment was the best part of our year. But, while cheaper than most, it was expensive. We have 30 more days (well, 28 now) to find somewhere else to live. Aaaack! It's scary, but the hardest part was making the decision to make the move. There. It's done.