Fat Guy In A Hot Place

It’s been in the low to mid-90s for days now, and the humidity has kicked in to add to the discomfort. Florida is not a good place to be a fat man this time of year. But it has convinced me I need to change my ways and clean up my act, because obviously I would have a really rough time in Hell.

At least the weatherman is saying we might start seeing some rain in the next few days. I hope so, because that always cools things down a bit. Of course, when the rain stops and it warms right back up and adds to the sauna affect.

As hot as it has been, we haven’t done much, mostly just staying home in the comfort of the air conditioner, only going out when we have to. That’s okay, because when my cousin Beverly was here with us we were running her to one or two doctors’ appointments every day, which means I haven’t gotten as much writing done as I would have liked to.

I have taken advantage of the time here at home to get some work done, knocking out several thousand words in my new Big Lake book. I am very close to the halfway point and the story is coming together very well.

Miss Terry has been busy with a dozen projects at once, but she’s itching to get back to her looms and get some weaving done. I told her she needs to put all of those other things aside and do what gives her the most pleasure and satisfaction. There are always chores that need done and there always will be. But I believe that time spent on things that bring us happiness and fulfillment are just as important, if not more so.

We did leave the house yesterday because I had an appointment at the eye clinic at the VA Medical Center in Daytona Beach. On the way, we stopped at Space Coast Credit Union to make payments for Terry’s minivan and my Mustang, and then at a jewelry store to drop off Terry’s necklace to have the clasp repaired.  It broke the other day while she was kneading some bread dough and she was afraid her opal pendant had gotten lost in the dough. Fortunately, it hadn’t, she found it hanging out on the throw rug in front of the stove. I also went by the carpet store that installed our carpet last year. It’s pulled loose in several areas and I have called several times trying to get the issue resolved with no success. The sign said they were open but the door was locked. Maybe somebody needed a bathroom break, but we didn’t have time to stand around to wait and see since we needed to get to the VA.

I always try to go to the VA Medical Center in the afternoons because it’s usually not as busy as it is in the mornings. And now that all the snowbirds have headed back up north, we didn’t have to wait long at all. I have large, oval shaped eyes and whenever I have an eye exam they tell me I am a strong candidate for glaucoma. So they test me every few months just to be sure everything is okay. That’s been going on for over 10 years now and there never has been a problem. But I guess it’s one of those things where it’s better to be safe than sorry.

I actually had two eye appointments scheduled, one for yesterday for a field of vision test and a basic eye exam, and I was supposed to come back on Monday for an appointment with one of the eye doctors so she could examine me and go over the results of the field of vision test. But when I got there yesterday, they asked if I would mind doing all of it at the same time instead of coming back on Monday, due to a scheduling conflict on the doctor’s part. No problem, it’s 30 miles over there and 30 miles back, and if I could wrap it up all at once and not have to make that second trip I’m more than happy to do so. Like every time previously, all of my results were excellent, and they want me to come back in late November to do it all over again.

With that chore out of the way we went to Books-A-Million, which is located at the Volusia Mall, right across the street from the Daytona Beach International Speedway. Even though we both have Kindle Paperwhites, we love bookstores and never miss a chance to wander through one. I didn’t find anything that I couldn’t live without, but Terry found a couple of fiber magazines and a cooking magazine, so it wasn’t a wasted trip.

From there we drove two or three blocks to Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet, one of our favorite Chinese buffets in the entire country. They always have plenty of fresh hot items to choose from and the prices are very good. This trip was no exception, and an hour later we waddled out with smiles on our faces and full tummies.

Driving home, it was close to 6 o’clock when we got to New Smyrna Beach and we decided to drive down on the beach and look at the ocean. No, I wasn’t looking for beautiful women parading around in swimsuits that have less fabric in them than the average Chihuahua’s collar. No really, I wasn’t. It’s not my fault if some of them insist on sauntering by, showing all of that tanned, sweaty flesh. It was a distraction, really. A couple of times I almost dropped my binoculars.

As it turned out, the beach was closed to vehicles because of high tide, so instead we parked at the parking lot near the Flagler Street entrance. That still gave us a nice view of the beach. Of course, it would have been better if that well endowed girl with the long legs in the black thong that wasn’t really any more than butt floss had not kept getting in the way. It was all I could do just to ignore her. No, really, it was!

Back at home we spent some time catching up on email, watched a little bit of television, and then called it a night.

I’m not sure what’s on the agenda for today, probably writing and weaving, and saying a silent prayer of appreciation for the man who invented air-conditioning. I like him almost as much as I do the one who invented thong bikinis. Not that I’d ever notice somebody wearing one, mind you.

Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an RV camping journal donated by Barbara House. Barbara makes several variations of these, and they all have pages where you can list the date, weather, where you traveled to and from that day, beginning and ending mileage, campground information including amenities at RV sites, a place for a campground rating, room to record activities, people met along the way, reminders of places to see and things to do the next time you’re in the area, and a page for notes for each day. To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.

Thought For The Day – A bad day with a bald head is still better than a good day with a man bun.