Sunday, March 31, 2019

Why did the Alligator Cross the road- to get to the Christmas tree

Strange title I know but more about that later. An early start and we finished the last bots of cleaning and Noel did the bathrooms and then finished loading the car with our overnight bags and all the last bits of food that we were going to take with us. Jennifer made the sandwiches for our journey and by 10.00 we were ready to go when the chap who monitors the cleaners and check on property turns up and so delays us for a few minutes.
We left the house shortly after 10.20 and headed down to the petrol station to fill with with fuel for our journey and then headed off to the I 75 towards Tampa. The motorway was quite busy really considering it was a Sunday although perhaps less trucks than usual. We continued North and then left the motorway to travel on more country roads. Its strange when the Sat Nav says turn right in 98 miles and then 98 miles later is says turn left for 58 miles, that's how you the distances you travel.


Anyway you get in to a routine with these roads as there is 98 miles of pretty straight road and so you put the car in auto cruise and just keep going with few cars around and the suddenly out of the blue a small alligator appears from the side of the grass and starts walking across the road about 40 yards ahead and were were travelling at around 65 mph and so a quick manoeuvre around it as no chance to stop and a couple cars behind me had the same difficulty but by this time I had put my warning flashers on for the cars behind. So on we continued through the odd interesting old towns with the occasional nice views but we have no time to stop and take photos unfortunately.Then further down another road which was about 60 miles long and miles from anywhere was a four foot Christmas tree covered with decorations and heavens knows what it was doing there, but again travelling to fast to take a photo.
We finally arrived at the town called Perry which approx. 35 miles South of Tallahassee and we checked in to the Hampton Inn and we were so lucky as just as we were unloading the car the rain started and then came down in torrents as soon as we arrived in the Hotel reception, gosh that was close. After a nice cup of tea we looked in to restaurants and several were closed as it was a Sunday but there was an Italian Restaurant down the road, actually it was a lot nearer than we thought and we could have walked there but by  we we had already gone by car.
The waitress at the restaurant appeared at out table and I explained some of my food challenges and said it really was important that the instructions are followed, and she I am the owner and boss so the kitchen staff will be told what to do, and it worked out well for us. Then back to the Hotel and we some some Tv before going to bed.

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Last complete day here

Well this is last complete day in this house and we have had a great time with really good weather and lots of swimming in nice warm pool.

Its been good take the time to to relax before going home and continuing with the house sale and all that entails. However today we finalised most of the cleaning and packing the car and so we can have a good start tomorrow without delay.In the afternoon we BBQ’d some loin pork steaks , some for a late lunch and one to make in to sandwiches to be used on our travels tomorrow.

We watched some tV and and went to bed early as we would be having an early start tomorrow.

Friday, March 29, 2019

Nearly there

Another nice morning with the sun shining down although overnight it was little cool, but not cold in any way.
Today is our packing day and so after the usual breakfast and washing up etc, Jennifer did some washing and Noel after cleaning one of the bathrooms started packing his case and of course after using loads of pills etc there is now more room in the case so should be no problem for when go home. With our plan to meet friends we are all now ending up in Santa Rosa beach for three nights for Brian and Sheila and four nights for us and so it should be a good time for chats.
We decided that when heading to Tallahassee it would be a good idea to do some last minute shopping at the Costco Branch there and I mentioned it to both other couples and so now we have a shopping list which is quite large and will probably take us a couple of hours to complete, but we don't mind. So by mid afternoon both cases were packed evening the overnight ones were nearly there and so all we have to do is add the jammies and washing gear and away we go and hopefully it should be a quiet day with a mid afternoon BBQ of Pork Loin Chops and then leave the Barbie to cool down and then give it its final clean. I am not sure if this is usual in the USA but it seems that people really don't clean Barbie’s except by scraping a rather crumby looking brush up and down the grill which can only add germs and not take them away. So when we first got here Noel spent about half an hour cleaning up all the bits that he could but some of it in the depths was to bad to even attempt but as those bits don't come in to contact with  food we had to leave it. Our UK BBQ outfits are always spotlessly clean and always following a party or whatsoever  the first thing we do is clean up..
Dinner tonight was a chicken stir fry with rice and then we finished the UK Detective series which attempted to prove a lot but actually seems to have achieved nothing. Whilst flicking through the Netflix lists we came across a film about the ‘Rolling Stones’ South America visit in 2016 and so we watched that for a while and it is very good and the director a Mr Paul Dugdale has made a number of films about pop groups including Coldplay and many others and is a very talented English guy who has won quite a few awards.
Oh well last full day tomorrow with final clearing up and possible start packing the car.

Thursday, March 28, 2019

A complete day of doing almost nothing but laze around

When planning our last few days and knowing we would have to pack up our clothes and also clean the house and take all our bits and pieces away we decided that we would do this on Friday, tomorrow rather than having a busy day on Saturday and then a long day driving North. So as part of that plan Thursday would be a day in the sun buy the pool and we fully succeed in achieving this.
So what with the usual breakfast most of the day was spent relaxing by the pool and with the occasional burst of sitting in the sun to to[p up the tans before returning to the safety of the shade. During the day sent off a couple of Birthday wishes and also completed the letter of condolence to a ex colleague. Yes unfortunately another one bites the dust.
in planning our visit to Santa Rosa we asked our hosts if they wanted something from Costco Tallahassee and of course being Coscochololics ! a bit like us the list has grown a bit but no worries we have a large enough car, we hope.
For dinner we are finishing off the fish and prawns and together with a beer was nice. Watched an old BBC programme on an ex detective who runs his own investigation company where he is looking for a young girl who went missing in the early 70’ without any trace of her car or her body, quite interesting but they always keep repeating bits just to make the programme longer it seems. 

I wont mention the UK Parliament otherwise the blood pressure will blow the top of my head off I fear.

Oh well off to bed

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Shopping and another quiet day

Needed some fuel for the car before we leave this weekend and so went to the garage nearest to us only to find they had run out. There is another garage with different brand but not sure the credit card trick will work and so will need to try again this Sunday when we leave here. We visited our local Publix Supermarket probably for the last time this year to purchase some basics which we will need over the last few days of our stay.
Not sure if I have mentioned this before but Publix, probably others, employ elderly and disabled people to assist packing of your food bags and helping you carry same to your car if you need help. This is a great idea as it give employment to the over 60’s and 70’s and sometimes 80’s also those in a electric wheelchair, one guy in his wheelchair was collection used supermarket carts in the car park to return them to the storage area. There is an added benefit is that they help speed up the bag packing process thereby reducing waiting time of those people in the queue. We also noticed that certain supplier, like Coca Cola and certain other suppliers come and top up the shelves of their products with their own staff which means the supermarket does not need to store any product as the main supplier come each day with own staff and do the job for them. Not sure of any UK supermarket chain using this method?
So we have enough stuff to last us until Sunday having worked out a daily menu and hopefully that's it.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing by the pool and enjoying the sun and in the evening spagbol for dinner followed by the remaining episodes of the series called ‘Delhi Crime’ and then early to bed.
On the political front I would say that Trump seems to have come out of this enquiry quite well although many democrats still cannot accept the Muller report, more fool them. And as for the UK PM and all the member’s of Parliament from all parties they should be fired for incompetence. I still cannot get over seeing the photos of Mrs May arriving in Brussels for important Country negotiations with a smile on her face and kisses and cuddles for EU Presidents etc, Mrs Thatcher would turn in her grave as she knew how to fight

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Lots of doing nothing really

Quite a nice day today and the weather is fantastic and around 27 C and the pool around 32 C so really nice for swimming. Jennifer is still learning her crochet and Noel did some paperwork and then had a pleasant zizz in the afternoon ending with a warm swim and a BBQ of rib eye steak and salad.
I am, beginning to realise that unless I write this blog the next day one tends to forget what you did when actually you did no do much, maybe its a sign of age. The Osprey was whizzing about yesterday and lots of birds here which keeps Jennifer busy with her binoculars, the Lanai is great as it keep out any flies or mozzies etc but if you want to take a photo you need to go outside and so by the time you have gathered the camera and gone through the swing door the bird has usually gone somewhere else. Maybe I will just arrange to be outside with a sunshade and try and take some photos, we shall see.
We have only five nights left at the house and by pure chance our friends form New Zealand who have an RV in USA have arrived in Atlanta to collect it and may be able to meet us with our friends in Santa Rosa Beach next week but we will have to wait to find out as they may need to do some work on the RV, but we hope they make it.
On Netflix last night we started watching a series called ‘Delhi Crime’ which about the appalling rape of an Indian girl who subsequently died and the efforts by the police to locate and track down the offenders.Its a six part series and we watched three episodes it was so well done which meant a late night which I think I regret today. The story is so well presented but the police methods were something else, crime scenes walked on by anybody, they have a lot to learn. However we will aim to watch some more tomorrow night as it is really good TV although a very sad story.
And so to bed as we must do some shopping tomorrow to tide us over till the end of this week.

Monday, March 25, 2019

A slow news day in Rotonda West

Not much to report really, we did some much needed shopping but en-route took another look at the house we plane to rent next February and March, we cannot go inside as it is currently occupied, but just to get a feel for the place. The building plots seem larger in the location with a number of houses having double plots perhaps half an acre in size. It is only a three bedroom house this time but from the agents photos seems well decorated although we do understand that the pool is not quite so large as the current one.

So we spent a short while in Publix just topping up bits and pieces and now starting to work out what, if anything, we will have left at the end of the week as our last full day here is next Saturday the 30th March and we have to check out by 10.00 on the 31st March, give or take a minute. Last year Noel made a big mistake about the check out date thinking that the actual date was one day later and then at 0800 when making tea a further check was made and then all hell let loose as we had two hours to pack and clean the place. So we do not want to repeat this fiasco and so we will do most of the packing up and sorting out on this coming Friday and have a relaxed Saturday and then leave  the house around 10.00  and then start our journey to see friends in Santa Rosa beach arriving on Monday 1st April after an overnight stop in a hick-town called Perry.
We received a call from our New Zealand friends who have just arrived in USA and currently on the West Coast but making their way to collect their RV which is parked near Houston, I think, and they are heading down to Tallahassee which is about two hours from where we will be staying with our friends in Santa Rosa and so we hope to get together sometime before we leave for Orlando.
To finish the day we had a salmon salad and then watched the BBC detective series called DCI Banks which is quite well made if not a little violent in content. Oh well off to bed and its a bit warmer tonight.

Where is Guy Fawkes when you need him??

Well it was pretty quite today for us and it was getting warmer and reached 28 C and the pool reached 31 C where are the eggs???

Noel watched the football where England thrashed Montenegro 5 goals to 1 and unfortunately there was considerable racist comments towards some of the English players which I understand has been reported. In the evening a nice port stir fry and then a couple more episodes of DCI Banks prior to an early bed a some light reading before turning in.

During the day I had time to catch up on the UK Brexit stuff and it is quite despicable what the PM and Member’s of Parliament are doing by trying to hijack the vote of the people, I will never ever forgive them for this or vote again conservative, lets hope the Brexit party starts up and I will vote for Farage and hope that he starts to really implement what the people voted for. Perhaps we should ask for the opportunity to re do the last few years General and local elections or even ask Chelsea to play the Carabao cup again a few times so that they can win perhaps. Perhaps we could also have a another go at invading USA and have another go at resolving the famous Boston Tea party. Yes its quite ridiculous, who do these MPs think they are and I still don't have a reply from mine yet. Just wait till I get home.

And all the bulls**t about how we need green cars for car insurance and International driving licences etc, all EU citizens would need to do the same and they would object and so it would not happen, likewise the EHIC card which numerous Europeans take advantage of the NHS would be stopped and so the Europeans would cry foul and that would change as well. such utter rubbish. Time to stop before I blow up.

Saturday, March 23, 2019

A day to relax in the sun

The sun was shining as we woke and soon after breakfast we were on the pool side enjoying the good weather. Jennifer has now finished her embroidery and is starting to relearn the art of crochet and so spent quite some time on this and the little piles of squares are slowly building, perhaps a blanket is in sight.
Noel finished one book and started another apart from the usual paperwork and blogs and watching how the rather stupid Prim Minister could not follow the will of the people and perhaps she could not the way out of a paper bag. Whether you are for or against Brexit people must stand back and look how the PM and all ministers have treated the British Public with complete disdain. We pay for the government in out taxes and there are our servants and should do as we wish and not what they want , do you remember the duck ponds and all the other crooked ministers all taking the ‘mick’ and still they do it. Perhaps its time for a revolution and brand new parties made up from the ordinary people and not the career politicians who don't care what happens as long as they have a job and recognised by the press, even the bent press who still make up the news.
Whilst typing this I understand that the Muller report exonerates Trump and his people, what a waste of 3.5 years of investigation caused by the democrats who so wanted to win they would use a dodgy dossier to stop him, they should be jailed for their wasting the peoples time.

Anyway, it was a nice evening and so we BBQ’d a few lamb chops, two each for dinner and the other’s for cold at a later day and it was nice to be at the BBQ as the sun came down.

Friday, March 22, 2019

A quiet day in Rolonda West and so time to reflect on our stupid politicians.

As the weather is a lot warmer today, after the cooler couple of days, and with all the rain on Monday the pool was little cooler and down to 25 C.
However with everything pretty much up to date Noel finished some blogging and photo uploading to Amazon Storage ( for extra safety) and then in the afternoon watched England beat The Czech Republic 5-0 so a satisfying match and certainly Southgate seems to be doing a good job, lets hope it continues.
Spent a little time reviewing the US Political situation with the Anti Trump Party (apparently called Democrat’s) and the main Trump Party which still seems to be pretty popular. The Judicial Watch Organisation ,You Tube and Fox news are full of the Deep State which support the allegedly corrupt Clinton’s and The Clinton Foundation is trying to bring Trump down. In football they say the best form of defence is attack and that is exactly what the Democrats are doing and quite frankly most of them are making a fool of themselves. JW ( Judicial Watch) has uncovered a load of extra previously unknown emails from the Clinton email scandal including some from Tony Blair which make interesting reading which HC sent from her Blackberry on a non secure email programme.
The Jeffrey Epstein Case is hanging in the background about underage girls and rich people with pictures of Mr Clinton, uhh, we shall have to wait to see if this is true.
Trump is also pretty pissed off as he allowed the organisation of a Military Funeral for ex Governor McCain only to find out that it was him that spread all this stuff about Trump on the famous dirty dossier written?? by a so called spy called Christopher Steele.
The Michael Jackson documentary is now coming under scrutiny as more and more people who knew him well are coming out in his defence and one of the biggest complaints is that the documentary maker did not at all question the accuracy of these reports so hardly a fair judgment. Its all about money which the two guys involved in the film say they are owed by the Jackson Estate.
Now with regard to the Government Handling of Brexit. The People voted and it is the duty of the Government to follow the wishes of the people and not that of their own interest. We pay our Taxes and the politicians are government employees and should do what they are told. I would not be at all surprised if Mrs May has been offered a lucrative job in the EU after this debacle as I cannot see any reason why she would not follow the INSTRUCTION of the people. The following pictures beautifully sums up our view of politicians.

Oh well enough of that and back to more mundane things like finalising the caravan insurance whilst yesterday we found the the travel insurance company has charged us twice, idiots but now thankfully restored.

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Its market day again

Its amazing how Thursdays arrive one after another and it does seem like a week in between but that is what happened and the market is on today in Englewood and Noel wanted to get some photos.



So following an early breakfast, early for us that is, we left the house around 10.00 and drove the twenty minutes to downtown Englewood Old town where they hold the market and it was quite busy again. There is the usual range of stalls from fresh fish? to cheese and German food through to glass ornaments and even the local Democratic Party looking for people to sign up on one side of the road and on the other was the Republican Party. So we wandered around for about half an hour taking photos and then had a cup of iced tea and a cake in the local shop before heading back to Publix to for some shopping. Noel bought some Sushi for lunch which was quite good and then afternoon was spent with Jennifer reading and Noel catching up on Blogs and photos.
When travelling it is easy to amass a large amount of photos and particularly when filming flying birds and so set the camera to auto and it fires of as many photos as you like until you take the finger of the button, hence loads of photos and some of them need resetting but will leave this till I get home using my fast home computer and large screen so as to see what I am doing.
Noel went for his usual afternoon swim and the pool was a little cooler following the recent rain and cooler overnight temperatures and the water was down to 27 C from 32 C so we just have to swim a little faster.
After dinner we watched an updated version of the film called Papillion based on the exploits of a Frenchman in the early 1930’s who was sent to French Guiana Penal camp for a crime he did not commit. It was a hard film to watch but well done with a happy ending, well I say happy if you don't mind being locked up for years including at least 7 years solitary confinement and being beaten up by the guards and fellow prisoners.
And so to bed

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

An afternoon cruise on the Peace River

After a late breakfast and Noel made some sandwiches for our travels we departed the house around midday in the direction of Port Charlotte and then on to Punta Gorda which looks like very much a tourist area with a few Hotel and Resorts and the car parks were very full which was not what we had expected. After about 215 minutes driving in ever widening circles we eventually found a place to park and then walk back to the Fisherman Wharf to try and locate the Cruise Line office.
We wandered down a shopping arcade and whilst Jennifer checked out a swimsuit shop Noel waited outside looking after the bags and then along came a rather large couple with two dogs and both in fancy dress. The female dog I assume was wearing a purple dress whilst the male dog was being pushed in a child pushchair which is common site in this country and many people were coming up to the couple and swooning over the dogs. Jennifer returned from the dress and swimsuit shop where all the swimsuits bar one had the upper bra padding and the only one that didn't that she likes was not in her size. We found the little portacabin where the cruise line have their office and collected our tickets and say down to wait with quite a few other people, mostly with grey or no hair.
The boat left at 14.00 complete with a Captain and two crew plus an excellent Gentlemen Naturalist ( No not a naturist as he had his clothes on) who was to give a full explanation of our journey and what we could expect to see during our afternoon trip. We went under the two bridges and as the river go narrow you could see the mangroves taking over and the smell of methane gas wafting through the air whilst everybody in the boat looked at each other!. We visited two bird colonies which were islands and for security Alligators also hang out ready to catch a falling bird or anything that turn up. The Naturalist provided excellent descriptions of the birds and their habits which was really interesting and he interspersed this with a few bit of humour and its the first time for years that I have heard a commentator that we enjoyed listening to as he did not overdo it.
On the way back a couple of guys on jet ski’s tried to be cleaver and come racing up to the boat and swirled around to push water in to the boat but one of them made a mistake and crashed against the side of the boat and slightly damaging it  and it was lucky he was not hurt. The Captain was going ape at them and some of the words he sent in their direction will not be repeated here. However they will be reported by the Captain to the marine police or coastguard
As we were getting to the end of the cruise we were joined by about four bottle nose dolphins who played in the ships wash for about ten minutes before getting bored and clearing off. I was lucky to get some good video and will add to this if its not to large for Blogger.- which it was. So
a photo instead
By the time we got back to the car it was close to 18.00 and we decided to avoid the restaurants at the pier as they were jam packed and so we headed of a tried a chain of restaurant called ‘Beef O’Brady’s’ which is sports bar type place with lots of television showing baseball,American football etc. Jennifer had the fish and chips and Noel grilled shrimps which should have come with rice and broccoli but we the waitress checked and confirmed there was garlic in the rice and so that was replaced with some chips and bot of us enjoyed our meals.
We got home around 20.00 and watched part one of a series called Jack Ryan based  upon an ex Southern Irish Guarda (police) who turns private investigator but it was all a bit naff and so I don't think we will watch anymore.
Well that was enjoyable afternoon out and tomorrow morning we go to the Englewood market for Noel to take some photos as he forgot his camera for our last visit.

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

A really wet day and Boeing what are you doing?

Well it pretty much rained all day which meant that we had a quiet day doing odd jobs around the house, cleaning bathrooms and Jennifer did some washing, so a really exciting day!
Noel caught up with some paperwork and bills which always follow you around the world and also started reading more about the fateful Boeing B737-8 Max aircraft crashes and was not happy to learn that there seems to have been, possible malpractice between the FAA and Boeing to enable the manufacturer to certify its own aircraft.
Back in the Obama Government days budgets were cut including that of the FAA and so no doubt aircraft Safety and Cortication was getting slower and Boeing was getting behind its main competitor Airbus who were developing new aircraft. Boeing decided, it is alleged,  took a short cut by reusing the original B737 aircraft design but added new bigger engines which due to size had to be moved to a different location on the wing or they would scrape the ground but this changed the balance of the aircraft. To overcome this balancing problem which could make the aircraft to stall in a high rate climb they introduced a new software, which was suspect, and it would appear they did not really give Airline crew training on this.
The short training was a 45 minute briefing on an I-Pad which you could read, or not as the case may be, this method was to be used as it was cheaper for Boeing and Airlines than retraining all the crew who had been told that this aircraft was virtually the same as the original 737 and so no doubt some crews did look at it but just to make matters worse it was not in the aircraft handbook?
So the US Department of Justice has become involved to look in to this matter and find out if Boeing risked peoples lives by hiding a known fault. Lets see what happens.
In the meantime I have written to my MP Mr Philip Hammond to tell him that I am disgusted with the PM and Government about the handling of Brexit and  still waiting for a reply which I doubt will not happen as he is too busy trying to save his own skin rather than follow the wish of the people.

To end the evening we watched an old British film called, Death at a Funeral, great slapstick film directed by Frank Oz of Muppet fame.

Monday, March 18, 2019

We did a lot of things today but don't buy a BMW

Well quite a busy morning really as we needed some shopping and Noel needed a haircut as it was growing so much it was beginning to restrict his vision, Ha

The Hairdressers is part of a chain called ‘Great Cuts’ and before you can have a haircut you need to give them your telephone number and address to see if you have visited before and no doubt to send you advertising rubbish. Anyway after going thro the interrogation I was sat in a chair with a cover and this middle aged lady set about me with electric clippers, not quite I was expecting , and after 8 minutes declared all was complete and what about your eyebrows. During the attack on my hair I tried to make conversation, as one does in the UK, and said “ Its a little cooler today”? , Yes she said. Umm. Have you live in Florida for a long time?  ‘December’ she said umm oh and where did you live before ‘Chicago’. And so I gave up and sat quietly. In the UK the ladies or guys who do my hair and if they are not busy it can take 30 minutes due to the chat and this one took about 8 minutes I guess. But if was $13.00 about £10.00 and slightly cheaper than I pay in UK.

When we arrived in the mall car park I parked in a space and Jennifer got out and said I should perhaps move forward a bit and so I restarted the BMW 530i and put it in to ‘D’ and it immediately jumped out of ‘D’ in to ‘P’. I tried again with the same result. So then I tried ‘R’ thinking that perhaps if it wont go forward then go backward and I had the same result. The car has electronic braking and also auto brake hold so that if you are at a the traffic lights you don't need to put your handbrake or footbrake on as it holds the car in the same position without creep and when you are ready the car restarts and off you go. So now I was unable to go forwards or backwards and so I thought that when you PC breaks down you reboot it. So I left it where it was and went to the hairdressers whilst trying to fathom out what was wrong and should I call Alamo Car rental or BMW direct? but after the haircut I joined Jennifer shopping and we returned to the car hoping it had sorted itself out, which thank heavens it had. They make these cars too complicated today with unnecessary electronics.

When we got home Noel continued the fight with the caravan insurers and hopefully by tomorrow we can finalise with the existing or another provider. We then had ‘What's App’ calls with the family.

Noel came across an independent organisation in the USA called ‘Judicial Watch’  Web address.https://www.judicialwatch.org/ and they investigate Government wrongdoings and right now they are on the tail of the The Clintons, The Clinton Foundation, The ex FBI Seniors plus many others looking at the handling of the ‘The Benghazi Disaster’ by the Hilary Clinton which discovered the Clinton private email server and subsequently the money collected by the foundation from foreign Government's under the ‘Pay to play’ heading. Should be an interesting few weeks when considering the Democrats are trying to get themselves organised for the next Presidential Election.

And Finally, I have had enough of the stupid UK Government and its servant’s on Brexit and so I have written to my MP Mr Philip Hammond and told then what a bunch of idiots they are, but in much nicer terms, and lets see if he replies.

Sunday, March 17, 2019

Time flies sometimes

Well the days are flashing by it seems and we have less than two weeks left in this house before moving on to see friends and then flying home. The sun was shining most of the day yesterday and so it was time to relax after catching up with emails and blogs. Noel took a few photos of the ‘Turkey Vultures’ which settle for roosting every night in trees across the river although I do not get to close due to the proximity of a rather large alligator which swims past the house quite frequently.
However we did get up early to watch the Australian Grand Prix on ESPN Replay, as they call it, as the race was due to take place around midnight Florida time and that is not when we want to be gutting up in the middle of the night. Not a bad race really and Ferrari lack of performance was a surprise and the other surprise was the McLaren going better. I still think that they should have stayed with Honda as the Red Bulls are doing better with Honda than the Renault team and also McLaren with Renault engines, only time will tell. Bottas did well but I don't think it will last as Hamilton is much better than him.
Jennifer is still working on the embroidery and is nearly finished and so while she was doing that Noel watched the football where Everton beat them, a disaster of game.  After the game we both had a swim and demolished rather a large sirloin steak which was enough for three but we did leave some for a sandwich at a later date.
In the evening we watched the film ‘The Sweeney’ which was quite good and its nice to watch a British made film than watching American Films.
It appears there will be a US Investigation in to the affairs of the Clinton's and the Clinton foundation finally and this will take place as the preparation for the 2020 elections, should be interesting to see what they do .
And so an early night

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Bloomin Caravan Insurers!¬

I have recently received the renewal notice for our Caravan and in the past if may have moved up 5 per cent but now they want 53% I don't think so. Well I well net back to them and complained and they said the increase was due to many other caravan, not ours of course, being damaged and stolen and they suffered a hefty loss. So I set about looking for a new insurer and of course the devil is in the detail. New for Old is available but some use 5 years age as maximum whilst others use 15 years and some cover you for abroad but they don't say that if you caravan has an accident is not roadworthy they will not bring it home whilst some do. Oh well have it sorted in the next couple of days.
Was reading the paper prior to watching two game of football and came across a very good map showing where its safe to drink tap water and where it is not, and a couple of EU countries get dragged in as not being safe. Perhaps the EU should  have known and stopped spending money straightening bananas and getting all countries to have safe drinking water.

Watched both Manchester and Manchester City play their respective games and Manchester City only one due to lack of VAR as a penal;ty was given incorrectly to Man C plus their player was clearly offside for the third goal. Not sure what the referee and guys on the side-line were doing but to let this happen is ridiculous and so Swansea should have won this game. VAR was not used as its only available at premier league Clubs??? don't other clubs have the need for it and this was a vital match for Swansea, not fair. As for Manchester United they never really turned up for the match and their main players were there unlike the PSG game so Man U need a kick.
Apart from the above we had a quiet day as it rained heavily in the morning and was cloudy for most of the day but not in the least bit cold. Pork Stir fry tonight with rice together with a beer, really nice. In the evening we watched a film on Amazon about an early 70’sd robbery where they stole loads of cash plus photos of Princess Margaret allegedly having sex with two guys in the Caribbean and the all the events of MI5 trying to get the photos back.Quite a good film really.
As mentioned we are staying in a place called Rotunda West and below is a photo for your info. If you can see the blue dot on right hand side that's us..


Friday, March 15, 2019

A bit Political today

Why do we always blame somebody else for our misdeeds???? I am referring to the appalling shootings at the Church in Christchurch, New Zealand where 49 people were shot down by an Australian with a selection of Guns.
The papers and TV stations around the world are reporting that it was Mr Trump's fault plus also Chelsea Clinton who got a battering for the same problem in New York yesterday whilst the gunmen also blamed the Rotherham Pakistanis who sexually molested and raped hundreds of girls. However this problem did not on happen in Rotherham only but at about 20 other locations in the UK where there were lots of mostly Pakistani’s immigrants. 
The fact is the people involved were mentally deranged and it could have equally been any other reason which was receiving prominent press coverage. They were calling and blaming Mr Trump and Chelsea Clinton and no doubt the Clinton Clan ‘White Supremacist's ‘, they are more likely to be crooks than labelled a ‘supremacist’. Anyway its an appalling business and also New Zealand allowed this guy to have five legally owned weapons including machine guns, quite ridiculous and so they should accept some of the responsibility. But our thoughts are with the families affected. Don't forget this also happen a lot in USA for varying reasons and its usually Mr Trumps fault.

Mr Trump is also being blamed about the B737-8 Max aircraft crash for not stopping it flying earlier when the rest of the world did. Its is the FAA responsibility to do this and they failed and only when Trump, took over the decision did suddenly Boeing agree saying they had received new information, the same information that Canada received 48 hours earlier which resulted them in grounding these aircraft. 

The following article which I came across gives a pretty good insight into the reason why Boeing delayed their grounding order.

The Boeing 737 MAX : a cocktail of a devil in the system, uber-pilots and negotiable safety

By Guy Leitch• 15 March 2019

A Boeing Co. Max 737 jet sits parked in front of a hangar at King County International Airport in Seattle, Washington, U.S. Photographer: Mike Kane/Bloomberg Less
431 Reactions

Airlines have always liked to claim that safety is not negotiable. However, the events surrounding the Ethiopian 737 MAX 8 crash show that this is simply not true.

The Devil in the System
Mary Schiavo, former Inspector General of the United States Department of Transportation, said in a CNN interview that the Boeing 737 has outlived its useful life but is being kept alive because “Boeing has more clout than the FAA” and that is why it still flies in the US.
It was evident, within minutes of the Ethiopian crash, that there were striking resemblances to the Lion Air crash of 29 October last year. It may be premature to speculate on these crashes in the absence of official findings, but the similarities speak volumes.
Boeing’s 737 has been progressively developed through various generations of models. The engines have become vastly larger compared to the earlier models which had small cigar-shaped engines attached to the bottom of the wings. Later models have big turbofan jets which had to be mounted in front of the wings, and the bottom of the engines needed to be flattened to improve ground clearance.

The MAX uses still bigger engines and these changed the handling characteristics of the MAX compared to the previous generation. To save Boeing from having to re-certify the aircraft because of the handling differences, and to save airlines buying the MAX from having to spend money on expensive pilot training, the FAA agreed to Boeing’s request to install a system called MCAS (a stabilator-trim system) to automatically lower the nose at low speeds to prevent the plane from stalling.What Boeing omitted to do was to tell the pilots about this new stab-trim system and to build in proper redundancy for its data sources. So the 737 MAX did not need to go through the same certification testing as a clean-sheet aircraft design, as they relied on the ‘grandfather rights’ from the original B737-100 certified in the 1965. This not only saved Boeing a huge amount of time and money in development but also reduces the training requirements for the operators.
But now the MAX has been described by a retired captain as “an old necklace, with too many charms added.” And this may be the root of the devil in the system.
When the Lion Air MAX crashed into the sea off Jakarta the ‘black box’ data recorder showed that the airspeed indication was wrong and this had caused the MCAS to constantly try to lower the nose of the aircraft, despite the pilots’ best efforts to raise it. Eventually the stab-trim forced the nose so far down that the aircraft dived near-vertically into the sea. And judging from the radar and satellite returns, this is also what happened to the Ethiopian MAX 8.
At risk of being sensationalistic, it’s worth reviewing what it must have been like for the pilots and passengers. As the stab-trim system pushes the nose of the aircraft down to increase speed, the pilots pull back on the control column. But the stab-trim continues to push the nose down. In the Lion Air crash, the crew lost control after more than 24 progressively increasing oscillations. And so a tug of war ensues with the aircraft porpoising wildly through the sky. Any unrestrained passengers will be slammed against the ceiling and if the pilots haven’t done up their seat belts properly they will be flung up and down and so find it extremely difficult to hold onto the controls, let alone operate switches. For the final 30 seconds of the flight the aircraft will be screaming almost vertically into the ground. It is too ghastly to contemplate.

The need for uber-pilots
After the Lion Air crash, Boeing recommended a procedure requiring the pilots to use cut-out switches to stop the stab-trim. These switches do not turn off the MCAS system, which is currently believed to be the root of the problem, they merely stop the electric trim working. But if the pilots are properly trained, and sharp enough, at the first sign of the plane trying to lower its nose on its own accord, they can flick two switches to turn the stab trim function off. The passengers should hardly notice the blip.
Shortly after the Ethiopian crash, Donald Trump cast aspersions on the Ethiopian and Lion Air pilots, specifically their failure to cut-out the MCAS programme. Trump is notably close to Boeing, and his Acting Secretary of Defence, Pat Shanahan, worked for Boeing for 21 years. This close relationship between POTUS and Boeing has caused the Ethiopians to distrust the Americans.
But the quality of the pilots in these two crashes nonetheless poses a real question. Boeing argues that simply switching the stab trim off is a basic skill required of all pilots for all 737s, even the fifty year old first generation ones. It is required training for all 737 pilots in the simulator. However no matter how realistic they are, the one thing simulators cannot do is replicate the often violent G forces. When you are porpoising through the sky and being thrown about the cockpit like a rag doll, finding and using small switches requires a cool head.
For passengers, having to hope that your pilot is an unflappable uber-pilot is scant comfort. But in support of the cool head proponents, it is important to note that there have been a number of other incidents reported where the MCAS was successfully neutralised, and these were handled by the pilots applying Boeing’s basic training.
As a side note, for those who reckon that the age of pilotless airliners is imminent, the need for uber-pilots in these instances shows that a ‘fleshware’ pilot will always be required for when the computers run amok.

Profits vs Safety
What these two tragedies have done is shine a spotlight on the age-old conflict between profits and passenger safety. And some airlines have failed the scrutiny.
Understandably, many passengers said that they would refuse to fly in a Boeing 737 MAX until the cause of the two crashes is identified and fixed. The problem passengers face was how to know if you had been booked on a MAX, and what to do if you had been. For those who asked, I attempted to explain the key visual difference between the two, and that is that the MAX has a sawtooth edge to the back of its engines. But naturally, if there was a possibility of them flying on a MAX, many passengers would refuse to fly on any Boeing 737. Despite this, South Africa’s Comair, and most of the American Airlines, initially refused to ground their Max 8s.
It brings things close to home to know that the Ethiopian MAX’s take off immediately preceding its fatal crash had been from OR Tambo Airport, carrying many South Africans. A commentator said; “If this error [with the MCAS] had happened one sector earlier we would have been clearing up aircraft parts, human remains and debris from the eastern suburbs of Pretoria today.” This explains why Australia and then other countries banned all MAX flights from their airspace, not just their local MAX fleet.15
What is, however, hard to swallow is that Comair and all the American Airlines initially refused to ground the MAX. For the American Airlines, such as South West with 31 MAX 8s already flying, a grounding is a financial catastrophe. But Comair has only one MAX 8 flying, (with another to be delivered shortly). And yet even with the exposure of a single MAX, being just 4-percent of their fleet, Comair chose to put profits ahead of passenger safety. Uncertain which way to jump, the South African Civil Aviation authority sat on its hands until Comair decided to ground its own aircraft.
Not knowing what the problem buried in the MCAS system is, and relying solely on uber-pilots to be sufficiently cool headed to switch the system off, is simply not good enough, particularly in the age of social media. It was only when the overwhelming opprobrium bubbling through social media impacted Comair that they changed their minds. And perhaps the realisation that if there had been a third crash, it would have wiped out the airline.
This mass of public opinion is almost certainly what finally forced Trump to ground all MAX 8 and 9s. The weight of public opinion indicates that the world simply no longer trusts America, its Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing, to be honest about safety. It is significant that Ethiopia has insisted that the ‘black boxes’ not be sent to the US for analysis.
The fallout from the Trump administration’s grounding of the MAX is profound. As long as the airlines chose to ground the aircraft themselves, Boeing was not responsible for their losses. But a grounding by the FAA makes Boeing responsible for the airlines’ losses for all 371 MAX planes flying worldwide. There is nothing more expensive to an airline (short of a crash) than a brand-new airliner sitting idly on the ground. Norwegian Air Shuttle has already said it will send the bill to Boeing after it was forced to ground its fleet of 18 MAX 8s. The other airlines will no doubt follow suit.
The scale of this disaster for Boeing is colossal. The narrow body MAX’s make up much more than half of Boeing’s total airline sales. Boeing has nearly 5,000 737 MAXs on order and they are producing them at the incredible rate of 57 new planes each month. It’s no wonder that $25-billion has been wiped off Boeing’s market cap by the Ethiopian crash.
The war between Airbus, with its A320 family, and Boeing with its heritage 737 design, is intense. These two crashes have shown how far Boeing had to go in its attempts to keep the 737 competitive. Major Boeing MAX orders are mooted to be switching to Airbus, which must be smirking all the way to the bank.
It is also a great loss to Africa’s safety record – after years of being the most dangerous place to fly, Africa cleaned up its act and had not a single fatal airline accident for the past two consecutive years.
But more worryingly, these MAX crashes remind us how both the airframe manufacturers and the airlines are able to pressurise the regulators and make ill-judged decisions about putting profits ahead of passenger lives.


Thursday, March 14, 2019

Visit’s to Dentist always make me nervous

With an appointment at 0940 I thought I would forgo breakfast and headed the 30 minutes down to road to the surgery where we arrived in plenty of time to check in and get ready for the beating up.
The Dentist was apparently running about twenty minutes late and I think I know why as it looks like that each Dentist has two separate operating rooms and whilst the assistant prepares the patient with photos of the tooth and X-Rays he is working in another room and when finishes moves over to the next patient. Anyway the assistant who was a nice lady but had obviously received some facial surgery and her speech was difficult to understand together with an accent and so I kept on asking her to repeat what she said which was a little embarrassing. The Dentist arrived and numbed to tooth area and set about with his drill which sounded like an aircraft engine starting up and as unfortunately it was a very back tooth it was a most unpleasant experience.
So by 11.00 I was done and a little sore and so demolished two paracetamol and $ 300.00 lighter, lucky the travel insurance will pay. and then back home for some serious resting as my Blood pressure always goes through the roof when visiting people in white coat’s, even the butcher worries me.
An afternoon watching Chelsea thrash and Ukrainian team 5-0 and then we had fish for dinner in the evening and then started watching a BBC series an Agatha Christie story with Bill Nighy. and so to bed.
With regards to Brexit came across this which clearly explains the problem.

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Ah the Dentist!

As you can imagine Noel was not looking forward to the dentist Visit and so after a quick breakfast we headed up South McCall Road to the Englewood Dentist practise which clearly was quite large. The waiting room would easily accommodate 40 people and so Noel checked in and had to fill out his complete life story before he could see a Dentist.
After a short wait a rather elderly lady arrived to say Welcome to the practise and I would like to show you around the practise as you are a new patient of ours. I explained that we were here only on a visit but anyway it was her job and so I was shown the team of six hygienist’s and they have four full time Doctors/Dentists and the total amount of staff is 22.
They have a small conference room which can be used to discuss patients care programme and then on to the sterilisation room, I thought about explaining that I had already been sterilised, but perhaps she would not see the funny side of it and then on to the Doctors/Dentist individual rooms and of course all I want to do is get in and out as fast as possible.
Finally I could see a Doctor but before that they needed photo of the damaged tooth and also an X-Ray but as this tooth is right at the back I suffer from a gagging problem and so getting the X-Rays took much longer than usual but finally after four attempts e made it. I further explained that the Insurance company only cover without approval and amount up to about $ 650.00 and then the Dentist arrived and poked around for a bit and then finally he had two options, one expensive and the less so. The  most expensive was about S 1211.00 for a crown which would take a little while to make and fix and how long are you staying or a quick fix for $ 275.00 which I finally chose and yes we can do it next week. Oh that means I have to be careful for the next week but I also mentioned that I am on holiday and very flexible and if there was a cancelation I could possibly come. Within an hour of getting home the phone rang, can you come tomorrow at 0940 Yes no problem I said and so hopefully tomorrow we will be fixed up
We had done a little shopping on the way home from the Dentist and so we had a quiet afternoon with Noel continuing to look for Caravan Insurance quotes and the watched the Liverpool  game which they won much to the shock of the German league leaders.
Finally some swimming and a nice salad for tea and then watched the last episode of the Formula 1 Netflix programme, which is really good. The Australian GP will be on at some unearthly hour here of around 0200 in the morning and we have now found out that it will be repeated during the day and so we will watch the re-runs, you never know perhaps the result will change.
Oh well bedtime beckons and an earliesh morning for us as we have to leave the house just after 09.00 to reach the Dentist for an 0940 appointment, not looking forward to this at all.

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Where is the tooth fairy when you need him??

We both had a good sleep after a very busy two days and as it was quite warm tonight with the house being closed up whilst we were away it was very warm inside and wooden houses retain the heat and so time for the air conditioner to play its part.
Shortly after a morning cup of tea and sitting up in bed Noel suddenly noticed something in his mouth which turned out be a rear molar filling with part of the tooth and there was  quite a large hole, damn. Its funny with our travel insurance I have really only called upon in four times and three of the cases it was always teeth and yet this is strange as I only had a check up shortly before we came away, Oh well need a dentist.The housing agent provides a list of types of emergency contacts and so I called a  company in Englewood which is about twenty minutes away and and got an appointment for tomorrow, morning, so lets see how that goes. There is always something to do when travelling for 2.5 months and this time its the UK Health Insurance Policy and also the Caravan Insurance are both up for renewal on the 1st April. and so after chasing the suppliers to send me information on renewal via email and not via the post I can then organise it.
Well the Health insurance has gone up by about 12% which is not so bad considering what they have spent on me over the last few years and its still a good deal compared to some insurance companies but the most important things is they are really exceedingly efficient and never bat an eyelid at a claim. Well this is no problem and I can use Skype phone to finalise. The caravan Insurance over the past few years has crept up by anything between 5% and 7% which is not bad but this time it has gone up by 54% and so there must be a mistake and so Noel is busy looking for new quotes, dealing with Lloyds Bank Travel Insurance because it turned out they had cancelled our Travel Insurance Policy,.  What!!!
In the meantime Jennifer spotted an Alligator sunning himself/herself or non gender specific Alligator and so we got a couple of photos and lets see how they come up including a small bit of video.

Well what happened is that late last year an elderly neighbour asked Noel to find out how to cancel her current premier account and she did not drive, or travel etc and was paying £300 per year for things she did not need it. So Noel looks at the Lloyd's Bank website to find out how to do it and its not easy but they have an online help which will guide you through and so following these instructions I successfully cancelled our Bank account and all the benefits which I did not realise at the time as I thought is was a demo site, but no it was live. So a quick visit to the Bank Manager to explain the position, no problem he says and when I mention I have a travel extension from the usual 45 days to 92 Days he said not problem and it wasn't a problem for him as he did nothing it would appear. Anyway after about 40 minutes on the phone using my Skype credit all was resolved and this will enable me to claim for my tooth repair over the next few days.
Oh the fun of being away but frankly its great as its nice and warm and the pool is currently about 32 Centigrade, which is absolutely beautiful temperature.
Well its dinner time and so its time to wrap this up and start to wonder how a British Government and all its MP’s can be successfully removed from office and let the people run the country

Monday, March 11, 2019

Lets go home

We got up around 0930 and had a cup of tea and sat by the pool with same and had a drink and took some photos.
then left the Hotel around 11.00 and headed back to Rotunda West. As before we decided to take the non freeway route and although there were a few more trucks on the road it was still easy enough to use the auto cruise on the car.
We stopped initially to pick up some fuel and the trick of using our UK post code number plus two zeros worked again and so $ 24.00  later the car was full up and we headed off via the outskirts of Fort Lauderdale and then followed Route 27 and then 25 to Punta Gorda. we stopped at a Subway take away and inside was the largest 15 year male who was massive , such a shame.
We finally got home at about 16.00 which is roughly the same time as our friends  ship was departing and following a nice cup of tea and a biscuit we both had a rest and then a swim which livened us both up before having a salmon salad outside on the balcony. What with the time change it will now only get dark around 7.30 pm as against an hour earlier. We finished off the evening with a few more episodes of Formula 1 on Netflix, good series and then to deserved early night with air con as it was still rather warm.
Was very to read about the loss of the Ethiopian Airlines B 737 Max aircraft, very worrying considering this is the second one to go down in five months and being brand new aircraft something is seriously wrong.

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Fort Lauderdale here we come

After an early light breakfast, we loaded the car with overnight stuff and hit the road to Fort Lauderdale and as we had elected not to use the Freeways but use the the normal roads it would take just under four hours to get there. The roads were pretty quiet and on one road it was in a straight line for 48 miles and with one set of traffic lights. Because of the roads and light traffic we could use the auto cruise control which makes it easier on long distances which is good.
We arrived at our friends Hotel the Embassy Suites just after 12.00 , and the place was like a mad house with lots of cruise liner passengers and had a quick glass of iced tea in the garden and then went round to Publix Supermarket just round the corner for  a sandwich before leaving on our tour down the coast to Miami.
The route took us via Dania Beach area and then through the high rises of Hollywood and the roads were a little busy as it was a Sunday and finally we arrived in downtown Miami and went down Ocean drive where all the bars and restaurants and historic art deco houses are and the place was teeming with people. This place is very much like an up market Benidorm and the only difference was the all the cars you see are hugely expensive, one Lambo after another and then you have the Ferrari’s and Rollers. The bars were packed and the noise was incredible and there were lots of nice you ladies promenading in their bikinis up and down the street.
We agreed that we would  not stop here as it was packed and as we were going in the direction of the famous Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel we would stop there instead.
We arrived at the Biltmore and had a good look round and a few photos taken although did not not bother as he took lots of photos last year when visiting. After a nice walk round and ignoring the afternoon which about £40.00 per head we took the faster roads back to their hotel and then on to ours. It took much longer to get to our hotel than planned as first of all the bridge had been raised which stopped traffic for about ten minutes and then the beachfront was absolutely packed with standing room only on the beach itself. And then we realised what spring break meant as its a week off for university students who each year come to Fort Lauderdale to celebrate and get drunk and anything else they feel like doing and their were thousands of people with cops everywhere and so it took almost 45 minutes to achieve the 8 miles or so.

We were staying in a small boutique Hotel called the Nobleton which turned out to be quite nice, it only had about 20 rooms but it was clearly a very old Hotel with a building L shaped with the rooms and a pool on the middle. Nice place as you can walk right out from your room and sit by the pool.

After we had checked in we took an Uber Taxi back to the Outback Steak Restaurant where we were meeting at around 20.00 for dinner, there was a slight confusion initially as the website said it was closed , however the website was wrong and we had a nice meal together. So we took another taxi back to the Hotel whilst our friends walked back to theirs and we wished them bon voyage!¬!

Saturday, March 09, 2019

A quiet Saturday by the pool and then we understand a clock change

Well we had decided to have a quiet day by the pool as on Sunday, tomorrow, we drive to Fort Lauderdale to meet up with some friends who are passing by en route to their Caribbean cruise.

So most of the day was spent by the pool and swimming which was very pleasant and also both of us read for a while and Jennifer also carried on with her embroidery.In the evening we had discovered that the Netflix series on Formula 1 had just been released and so we started watching a couple of episodes before going to bed. However we were rather surprised to find at the last moment, and only by chance, that the clocks go forward by one hour at 0200 Sunday morning which was a bit of a pain as we were already having to get up early, well early for us when on holiday, and so instead of getting up body time of 0730 it would now be 06.30. Umm not brilliant.

Oh well nothing we can do about it except to go to be a little earlier.

Friday, March 08, 2019

An extra blog moan for today…

Michael Jackson- was he really a paedophile?
There is a strong chance that all the latest information as a result of a TV documentary may put MJ in a bad light but there are many people[le who can still make money out of his name many years after he has died. Yes he was a little strange in his interest with young kids, mostly boys, but there are many people out there who deny it ever happened and MJ is not here to defend himself and it seems today you are guilty until proven innocent.
MJ in his day was perhaps the greatest ever pop star and he was a revolutionary and this should not be forgotten,. In America today there are efforts to pull down statues of people who took part in the US Civil wars in other words trying to eradicate history, boy just live with it. These kids in the photos with MJ look very happy and smiling and yet all teachers will tell you any abused child never smiles, or joins in and is silent, so what is really the truth here?

the baby son of Shamima Begum died in a Syrian camp.
First of all there is not proof that was her child and now people are blaming UK Government officials that the child is dead, or was there ever a child? . To run away at 15 years old indicates poor family life and then spend four years living in a moving  rubbish dump and then expect a baby to survive is really stupid. The baby may easily also have dies whilst in the UK but it is s easy to blame somebody else for your mistakes than take responsibility.
As they say, you made your bed so lie in it

An easy day by the pool and some interesting TV

In the morning Noel caught  up with blogs and emails and Jennifer continued with her embroidery and we decided not to bother with lunch but have an early BBQ of Loin pork chops and salad.
The day was nice and temp only reached about 26 C and so the pool was a little cooler than usual but it was nice and kept you moving and was refreshing. It was nice doing a little sunbathing and perhaps a quick zizz but not in the sun.  The BBQ was great and Jennifer had defrosted two rather large Costco Pork chops and they took about 20 minutes of so to grill properly so that the chop was cooked all the way through. One chop was at least two inches thick  and so we decided it was all to much to eat so one chop went in to the freezer for sandwich filling and the other shared and there was plenty for both of us.
In the evening we initially watched the latest episode of ‘The Grand Tour’ with its usual rubbish and then understanding that Netflix were starting their multi part series on Formula One I came across the recently released documentary on
Sir Frank Williams of Motor Racing fame which was really excellent and most interesting particularly the wife's views on her husband, she is now dead but interesting to see Claire Williams trying to keep the family together. Frank was a bit of a bastard it looks like and the family unit is split as the sister and brother don't talk to each other but both live off the Williams car business.
There was good video of motor racing from the past and some lovely interviews with some of his ex retried colleagues who used to work for the team. Well worth a watch and then to bed.

Thursday, March 07, 2019

Inglewood Market and shopping for swimwear



You might be wondering why I have put this advert at the top of the Blog but more about this later.
We had planned to go the Inglewood Farmers Market this morning and so overnight Noel charged the batteries of the camera to make certain there was enough power for photos and videos only to get there and find he had left the camera at home. Bit of shame really however it will mean we will have to go back next week and take them. To be frank we did a drive through as not knowing how large the market would be as a few years ago Weybridge announced a Farmers market and we duly went along and it had three stalls, one selling jewellery and another selling potatoes and carrots and I think the other was a charity but there there must have been well over 100 stalls. 
There were many food stalls and for Noel it was a bit liking walking in to a Torture cell as there was really good looking fast food which would have tasted great but ruined his next few days so we abstained.
Prior to arriving at the market we stopped of at two Pharmacies looking for various bits and pieces and the Walgreen's and CVS shops, both huge shops, on the building it says Pharmacy but actual its about 10% pharmacy and the rest is everything from soft drinks to hats to newspapers but eventuality we got what we needed.
We stopped for an iced tea in an Engelwood coffee shop and shared a blueberry scone.
Driving back to home we went by the Car wash and so decided to have the car done, the lady said do you want 'The Works' well not having been here before I did not know what the works are and so she led me over to a board with a car wash menu but actually settled for the works.  The car is now nice and clean .
Now back to the advert at the top, Jennifer has , as previously reported been looking for a new swimsuit but all, and I mean all, have padded bra's which she does not want and its to do with so called prudish America where you cannot have a non padded bra as your nipples might get cold and grow as in the advert above which was banned throughout America. B..... Stupid really
Some good friends of ours from the UK are arriving in Fort Lauderdale on Friday 8th March to join a Caribbean cruise leaving next Monday 11th March and we had said we might meet up but for us it would require a three hour drive each way and a nights Hotel but when looking a couple of weeks ago at Hotel prices were, to say the least, stupid eg £ 250.00 for a Hampton Inn  or Hyatt Place and £ 800 for a Hilton so no go we thought. However after checking each day we found one we could afford and so we are having an early start on Sunday morning and drive to Fort Lauderdale, have a snack with them and then do a tour down via Hollywood to Miami Beach and the art deco area and then on to see the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables and finally return to Fort Lauderdale and have dinner somewhere. Should be good day out.
After the shopping I rushed back to see the Chelsea game against Kiev only to my disappointment found it was not being shown but we won 3-0 so suddenly and hopefully the team is turning around and Sarrie is getting his act together although there are still rumours of his demise. Time will tell and let see how they do against Wolverhampton this Sunday. Oh well off to sitting by the pool in the sun, life is tough but somebody has to do it.