Archive for the 'Travel' Category

St Petersburg and a taste of Cuba

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Andrew
on 19 June, 2008
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Day Three might have gone either way really but by the end I think it turned out well. St Petersburg skylineMy vague plan had been to check out any attractions we deemed interesting in downtown Tampa, although unusually I hadn’t really done much research prior to arrival apart from a cursory perusal of the Rough Guide before bedtime. So after breakfast the hotel internet connection was put to good use looking up what might be worth seeing. We settled on a trip to St Petersburg (named by a homesick Russian apparently) not because it enjoys on average 361 days of sunshine a year, but it has a pier to wander along and some sunken gardens with plenty of photo opportunities. The plan was to look over the bay from the pier and get a view of the Tampa skyline but the way the day started I think we were there on one of the “sunless four”. Maybe the grey weather was a factor, but somehow on the drive from Tampa to St Petersburg we got on to the morbid subject of funerals and how they differ in the UK and the USA. For the record my chosen funeral tunes were…

Wheeled in: “In my life” - The Beatles
During service: “There is a light that never goes out” - The Smiths
Closing of curtain: “It will never be over for me” - Timi Yuro
Congregation departs: “Imagine” - John Lennon
If I’m being greedy ;-) I’d like to sneak in the “Intermezzo” from Cavalleria Rusticana (an opera by Pietro Mascagni), and if I had to have a hymn then I’d go for “The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended”.

Anyway on to brighter things… For the Americans the short traipse along the pier at St Petersburg is too far to walk so for $3 you can park your car and take a trolley to the entrance. Tina and I being being more frugal and energetic parked for free a quarter of a mile away and walked it. It was actually a bit grim to enjoy the skyline of Tampa especially as it is 10 miles away, but we saw a couple of pelicans perched on the pier, and we made quick work of the “attractions” inside apart from a magnificent music and movie memorabilia shop in which I could have easily spent a lot of money. Having ticked the pier off the list we ventured forth to find the Sunken Gardens made more attractive by a two adults for the price of one coupon (thank you hotel receptionist!). Thrift and prudence Gordon Brown would be proud of.

The journey to the garden looked straightfoward, drive straight off the pier for four blocks and turn right up 4th Street for a mile. Hmm shame it was a one way street. So taking the next right and running parallel soon we worryingly disappeared into the suburbs and local neighbourhoods of beautiful old wooden houses, brightly painted in pastel colours. The American system of organising everything on a grid basis made it easy to get back on track and find the gardens apart from one incident with an irrate Mercedes driver who clearly felt I hadn’t pulled in enough to give way to her as she hurtled towards me. Well madam if by slim chance you are reading let me offer this advice… next time you start waving your hands about in pantomine fury at a fellow motorist, consider the following: First get a smaller vehicle that you might be able to drive without needing a bus width to pass others, secondly don’t drive while holding your mobile phone to your ear, and finally DON’T DRIVE THE WRONG WAY DOWN A ONE WAY STREET!

Thankfully not only were the gardens beautiful, they gave the chance to relax after the near miss, and as suspected offered lots of photo opportunities as you can see in the gallery. St Petersburg Sunken Garden DragonflyBy this point the sun had come out too and it was very hot. For lunch a quick drive down to the waterfront found us at a park under a shady tree having a picnic looking out at the pier we’d wandered along earlier. The drive back to the motorway to Tampa meandered along the shoreline for a while passing some beautiful homes with garden placards proclaiming “No to the waterfront stadium”. Bearing left and heading away from the waterfront, placards appeared in gardens demanding “Lets build the stadium now”!

Back in Tampa we bypassed the downtown area and continued the short distance to Ybor City, founded in 1886 by cigar magnate Don Vincente Martinez Ybor, and settled mainly by Cuban immigrants. Ybor City restaurantParked up in a “parking garage” or multi-storey car park for $1 per 3 hours (take note NCP), we strolled down the main street which retains much of its Cuban character and architecture. There were ornate metal railings on balconies, palm trees growing at the street corners, and many of the Cuban coffee houses also produced hand rolled cigars. The large cigar factory that once employed the vast majority of the city’s inhabitants is now a series of trendy shops and bars. The whole area is undergoing a revival and is the place to be seen at night by all accounts. Second of course to staying in with a microwaved meal. We settled for a late afternoon coffee before the two hour journey to Titusville on the East coast.

The sky turned black on the way and passing Orlando the rain came down heavily as we hurried past the exits for the theme parks and Disneyland “attractions”. Caution Snakes - You won't see that at Keele Services!Another toll road had us in Titusville fairly rapidly and it brightened up for our arrival. The trip over was unremarkable accept for a sign I saw as we stopped for a comfort break in some services between Tampa and Orlando. (See left). It didn’t encourage me to hang around for long that’s for sure, and it’s not something you’d expect to see on the M6! Apparently there are two snakes over here with yellow, red and black rings that look very similar (the Scarlet Kingsnake and North American Coral snake) but have different consequences (basically a bit of a nip or rapid death). If you are ever faced by one of these hissing horrors remember the following rhyme… “Red on black you’re alright Jack, red on yellow you’re a dead fellow”. Nice. Anyway, once again our accommodation for the night in Titusville was decent, but minus a computer in the lobby, and praise be there was no microwave in the room. Therefore I was spared another zapped veggieburger and in fact we treated ourselves to an excellent Mexican meal in the Rodeo Restaurant which shared the Super 8 motel’s complex.

The Tampa Bay Burgereaters

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Andrew
on 18 June, 2008
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Day Two of the Road Trip started with thunderstorms, and waffles for breakfast. When it rains here it really rains. America doesn’t seem to do drizzle. It was bouncing of the roof with a rapid drumming sound, but happily it stopped before we started our planned walks, giving us a hot sunny day for our wanderings.

First stop was the Crystal River State Park and a 2 mile trail that started at Mullet Pool, a spot for fishing not east European haircut disasters. Many signs warned of alligators operating in the area but they were not to be seen on our route, although I did photograph a number of birds at close range. Incidently I’m sat at a motel pc as we didn’t bring along Tina’s laptop so I can’t edit and upload any photos until back in Jacksonville I’m afraid. After completing the pleasant and scenic walk we headed north to Curtis Tool Lane (honest) and the Crystal River Eco-Trail another 2 mile trail but this time through a varied environment of different ecosystems.

Before we set off we called in a the ranger hut to use the “restroom” and were made welcome by Gary, a magnificently bearded archaeologist with Welsh ancestry who was a friendly font of all knowledge about the surrounding areas of natural beauty and surprisingly the porcelain wares of North Staffordshire. By all accounts it was the tableware of choice of the middle classes around the time of the American Civil War. He used to dig pieces up. We could have talked most of the day but there was a walk to do so we bid farewell and set off round the loop trail. It was a stunning route and we saw birdlife, butterflies, huge grasshoppers, and a had a brief glimpse of deer running across our path. At the end as we ate lunch a woodpecker hammered away at a nearby tree. Best of all though was we had all this to ourselves.

Heading 8 miles south to Homosassa Springs Wildlife Refuge we arrived in time to catch the last manatee programme of the day, in other words a brief talk on the manatee by a ranger who spent most of the time in the water feeding carrots to these incredible creatures. The springs were simply stunning, crystal clear waters allowed some fine photos of the manatee. “The girls” as the ranger called the manatee then headed off to a special pool to receive their big meal of the day, three crates of lettuce and one crate of cabbage. We wandered around the rest of the springs complex which is home to a hippo, black bears, alligators, bald eagles, and countless other birds. Endangered species they may be, well looked after too by State Park Rangers, but there is an uncomfortable feeling about seeing animals in enclosures rather than their native habitat. To be honest I hadn’t realised this was the format of the park, reading it had a 1 mile trail with places to observe manatee.

Our journey to Tampa was largely uneventful other than using a toll road that cost $1, or so I thought. Arrriving at the first toll plaza I scoffed at the paltry sum which Tina insisted would be all we had to pay to use the road. Five toll plazas and $4.75 later we were at Tampa, but it was a cheap price to pay for a 70mph road with very little traffic on it. In keeping with recent times the arrival was later than expected despite finding the hotel first time, so instead of the intended decent meal out we scuttled over to the Publix supermarket to see what culinary delights we might purchase there. So tonight I sat down to veggieburger done to a turn by microwave, and some sort of spinach and feta pastry creation that claimed it could be microwaved, but clearly would have been best in an oven. Alas there were 4 burgers in the packet so I seem to be in for a second helping tomorrow night. At least before then I have a day in downtown Tampa to look forward to.

Follow that dream

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Andrew
on 17 June, 2008
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Day One of the Road Trip and it goes to show meticulous planning doesn’t always bring results. All seemed well this morning as bags were packed, Google maps were printed off and the rental car (a Ford Focus for the record) was successfully collected from the Enterprise manager who was rushing around like the proverbial, and sweating bricks as a result. Even a brief thunderstorm and soaking didn’t dampen spirits as the sun came out again before we were due to set off following Tina’s return from work.

Yet somehow the intended departure of around 2pm somehow drifted to way past 3pm. Then getting out of Jacksonville proved more involved than expected. Eventually we did reach the University city of Gainesville, our intended rest stop, although finding Lake Alice added to the time delay thanks to me trying to drive, read a map, and negotiate large junctions simultaneously. However the exercise was ultimately in vain as there was nowhere to park to view the lake. Well not strictly true, there were places to park if you had a special permit. Obviously you can’t visit “on spec”. Indeed closer inspection of the Rough Guide revealed the need to park 2 miles away downtown and walk. So what brief glimpses we saw of the lake seemed very pleasant as we repeatedly trundled past at 20 mph, but we could not get on the observation points to look for alligators. The closest we got was seeing the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, home of the University of Florida Gators football team.

When you reach a junction and it says US19 to the left and that’s the road you want you expect to turn left so I did. Ah but not over here. No I should have proceeded a hundred yards or so further straight on and then turned left. Silly me. So a pretty, yet deserted detour through some decidedly hick settlements where the Confederate cause apparently still burns strong, eventually led us to the desired US19 South, a desperately needed toilet stop, and the town of Inglis. But it was worth the detour to spot the streetname of Follow that dream Parkway. Frightening but true.

Thankfully Crystal River wasn’t that far down the road after that and we were soon in our room at the Comfort Inn some while after my intended arrival time. I clearly still have a lot to learn from the Owd Mon. He’d have been there enjoying his marmalade butties long before then. We in fact dined in style on microwaved veggie curry purchased from a supermarket in the town, watching the Larry King Show on CNN where a lively debate about McCain v Obama was taking place. But the highlight of a day that did not go to plan was a moonlight swim in the motel pool, under the stars listening to the crickets’ and frogs’ night chorus. That’s living the dream never mind following it.

Downtown with Dallas

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Andrew
on 17 June, 2008
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Tina was working most of Monday so I arranged to meet fellow Stokie Dallas Cowboy for a morning coffee in downtown Jacksonville in the bohemian area of Riverside. Surely he should now be changing his Oatcake Message Board moniker to Jacksonville Jaguar?! Anyway I took the bus from the beach into town and then the recently introduced “trolley” to Riverside. I shall impart some wise words found on an advert inside the bus…

“Talking loud… saying nothing - don’t cuss on the bus!”

Dallas Cowboy (otherwise known as Calvin) wandered around the corner just as I was approaching the rendez-vous point. Settled down at a cafe table overlooking the famous Five Points junction, we supped coffee, talked Stoke City, and watched confused motorists try to navigate the junction without having a prang. There were a few close calls in a free for all, mainly due to dithering by drivers not aware they had the right of way. Our morning coffee stretched to lunch, and then to early evening. It was around 5:30pm when I finally left, walking back to The Landings along the St John’s River walkway, and then running the last leg to the bus station catching the bus just as the driver was closing his doors. Phew.
Old and new in downtown Jax
One of the many topics of conversation were the new Premiership fixtures out today which of course Stoke City will now be part of. It still hasn’t quite sunk in. But what is beginning to sink in is the enormity of the task in hand and the frightening nature of the fixtures. We start away at Bolton Wanderers on 16th August which is likely to be a Megson-Pulis bore-athon but we might get a point. That is followed by games against Aston Villa, Middlesborough, Everton, Liverpool and Chelsea. I can see us struggling to get a win until 22nd November when we play West Brom at home. They always seem to come unstuck against Stoke. Even more worrying is a recent piece from Stoke’s Director of Gardening Football John Rudge where he apparently said we just need a couple of new quality players. There’s being positive and there’s being downright deluded. I think saying we have a couple of Premiership quality players already and need about ten more is closer to the mark.

Anyway I was glad to meet up with Calvin for a second time during my visit, a thoroughly decent bloke and passionate about Stoke City and playing the game in the right style and spirit. Hopefully our paths will cross in the future. I loved listening to his graphic descriptions of his memories of past Stoke teams when we did have true quality throughout the side and were admired for our football style not pilloried for it. There might have been no cussing on the bus but there was plenty at our table during the day.

Just before I turn in for the night my bus journey made me think of another ludicrous thing about the USA (well certainly round here). So in the continuing series here is number 7.

7. The snobbery about bus use. Buses are seen as a last resort, the transportation for the poor who cannot afford a car, not a useful, cheap and environmentally friendly mode of travel.

Today I travelled around 40 miles. I had a seat to myself in a clean, comfortable, safe, air-conditioned bus and the trolley bus. What did I pay for this service? $2.50 in total. It would have been another 50c but I walked back from Riverside to downtown. You show me a car that could do 40 miles for that price, especially since it’s over $4 a gallon now here. I think a few Americans will start changing their views about bus travel…

Georgia on my mind

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Andrew
on 15 June, 2008
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Cumberland Island dunesI had a shorter bike ride this morning partly because it was early so the sea hadn’t receded as far as usual and the sand was still wet in most places making it ‘aaaard work (© Anthony Pulis Snr). But another reason is that yesterday Tina and I crossed the border into Georgia to visit Cumberland Island, and if it wasn’t bad enough getting up at 6am to get to the ferry in time, we then walked for about 6 miles in sweltering conditions.


Cumberland Island is Georgia’s largest barrier island. It takes 45 minutes to travel to it by ferry from St Mary’s, a pretty town full of traditional architecture and the Southern warmth as two separate strangers called out friendly greetings as we were walking over to the landings. The island is steeped in history, settled by Native Americans, Spaniards, the British, and the cotton plantation owners. Part of it is still private land but 90% is now owned by the US public. We started with a one hour long guided tour given by the ranger Rene who thanks to 26 years living on the island knew her stuff and delivered her talk with passion and mild audience participation. It finished at the ruins of the house at Dungeness.
Wild horses Cumberland Island forest
The island is 18 miles long so the best idea is to camp. However we settled for the first ferry out at 9am and the last one back at 4:45pm. After the talk we walked along a boardwalk over the dunes to the beach. The island is a diverse mix of beach, marshes, and maritime forests. It is home to a wide range of wildlife including wild horses. We walked northwards up the largely deserted beach for a mile until we reached Sea Camp site stopping for a much needed break in the shade and lunch. A rustling in the bushes turned out to be two wild horses which carried on grazing unperturbed by our presence. After our picnic we pressed on for an hour into the forest along the Parallel Trail aiming for Stafford Beach 3 miles to the north, but we turned back just short. Retracing our steps we veered off towards Sea Camp landing stage, and after a well earned rest in rocking chairs at the ranger post, headed down the River Trail back to our morning starting point. On the River Trail we encountered two armadillos rooting in the undergrowth. The ferry trip back was spent in the shade and in a half doze. But less of the waffle the photos start on page 2 of the gallery.

Stokies here, Stokies there…

Published
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Andrew
on 15 June, 2008
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The world is getting a smaller place thanks to the Internet. For years I have posted messages on the Stoke City fanzine (The Oatcake) messageboard. One of my fellow posters, usually kind enough to support my views, is known as Dallas Cowboy as he moved to the USA to marry and settled in Texas. By some odd coincidence he and his wife moved to Jacksonville around eight months ago. Last Friday evening Tina and I were able to meet Margaret and Calvin for a meal and had a lovely evening in their company, so I could finally put a face to a name. Calvin and I were that engrossed putting Stoke City, Jacksonville, America, and the world in general to rights that the poor waitress had to return three times to take our order as we hadn’t looked at the menu. The night flew by and we were out far later than intended, but no complaints as it was good fun. So it goes to show as the song says there are Stokies here, Stokies there, Stokies {beep!}ing everywhere.

The Plan

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Andrew
on 13 June, 2008
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Right the Plan. Put together with the usual Pointon military precision as fostered by Pointon Snr (aka The Owd Mon), the man of 4am starts, memorised A Roads and marmalade butty breakfasts on Paignton sea front by 9am sharp.* Here’s what we’ll be up to next week. Atten…shun!

17 June – Leave Jacksonville when Tina gets off work around lunchtime. Drive to Crystal River in the west calling in at Gainesville to break up the journey and visit the architecturally interesting University, its pretty gardens, and Lake Alice complete with alligators. Overnight at Crystal River.
More of this?
18 June – Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, and Homosassa (no sniggering in the ranks!) Springs Wildlife State Park for walking trails and manatee observation points. Drive to Tampa in the evening and stay overnight.

19 June – Downtown Tampa attractions. Drive east to Titusville late afternoon (maybe a quick flit via Orlando) and stay overnight.

20 June – Walking trails and looking for alligators and manatee at Merrit Island Wildlife Refuge near Kennedy Space Center. Return to Jacksonville and have the night at the apartment.

21 June – Drive north-west to Florida’s capital, Tallahassee. Do the Leon Sinks Trail in the Appalachicola National Forest and maybe Walluka Springs if time. Stay the night at Tallahassee.

22 June – Return to Jacksonville calling first at either Ellaville or White Springs to do trails along the Suwannee River.

Stand at… wait for it, wait for it… ease! Dismissed.

* Not forgetting of course the obligatory stop at Taunton Deane Services and coffee in a flask.

Riding back in time

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Andrew
on 10 June, 2008
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I had a lie-in this morning… I got up about 7:30am. As is becoming the custom I took to the beach for my morning bike ride. I love the sound of the ocean, it is one of my favourite sounds in the world. I don’t know if it is because it evokes happy childhood memories of family holidays in Paignton blissfully ignorant of mortgages, taxes, and the other complexities of life, one’s concerns limited to finishing the sandcastle before the tide came in or whether the icecream man had strawberry. While Goodrington Sands may have preserved steam trains working hard up the embankment that runs along its length, the beach here does manage to eclipse it. For starters it is huge. From Mayport Naval Base towards the north it runs southwards for best part of 30 miles to St Augustine where it is split by an inlet before carrying on miles further.

The section I have ridden has almost white sand, the properties separated from the beach by a narrow strip of dunes and vegetation. Thanks to its size the beach never seems crowded despite its popularity. Today I rode north almost at the water’s edge looking to my right at waves crashing in to shore. They are getting big enough to attract the surfers, a number already out at that time. They were joined by anglers with large rods thrust into the sand, the walkers and runners, and today’s oddity, a young woman collecting shells with a large bright green parrot watching proceedings from her shoulder. You see it all here I tell you. I rode for 25 minutes on the beach, enough to start feeling stomach muscles working, yet an easy task that flew by when compared to the same effort on a exercise bike in a grey Beeston living room. I returned by back road through the pretty neighbourhoods to call at the bank and health store at Neptune Beach “village”.

No doubt you can’t say this about all the rest of United States but one striking difference about this area is the polite and friendly nature of its people. Without exception fellow beach users will greet you with either a smile and wave of acknowledgement, or a “how ya doin’?” as you go past. The same goes for neighbours and strangers alike on the streets. A stark contrast to the streets at home where I’d be lucky to get a surly scowl from a passing Beestonian, trousers tucked in socks and fag on. At the risk of sounding like an old giffer, good manners cost nowt and it is a refreshing change to see people have them.

I got the map out this morning and worked out that yesterday Tina and I rode 10 miles. I’ve probably done about 5 today. Slacking. Tina has gone to work and I’m listening to some Ska and Reggae through the iPod speakers sorting out the travel for next week’s road trip. I’ve had my healthy breakfast with lashings of fresh pineapple and strawberries. I have to be good, I think we are going out later for a meal at a new Mexican restaurant with Tina’s friends. Apparently the sweets are enormous and delicious and I’m under instruction to have one. One final thought for today, cold showers might have been dreaded at school but after a ride here they are positively de rigueur.

Ponte Vedra en velo

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Andrew
on 10 June, 2008
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Anyone who knows me at work will raise a wry smile at this or maybe even laugh… Given that I perpetually struggle to haul myself out of bed on a morning resulting in me sauntering into the office usually around 10am these days, it will come to a shock to my colleagues to learn that this morning I was not only up at 6:00am, by 6:30am I was setting off on a bike ride with Tina. The recent temperatures have been about 33′C (or 91′F in old money) so it makes sense to do any exercise early doors while it is still relatively cool. A decent plan, but slightly flawed if you don’t get back until around 11am when it’s close to maximum frying levels.

We started off along the beach and here’s one of the snaps I took en route. Jax Beach early doors There were plenty of folk about even then, running, walking dogs, just walking, and one receiving tution from a personal trainer lifting weights. After a while we headed back to the road which runs parallel to the beach and took it all the way to Ponte Vedra, a district which seems to be just an enormous golf course with multi-million Dollar properties littered neatly around it. While the houses were enough to make you gawp, the highlight was stopping on a couple of bridges where we saw an alligator and turtles.

The return journey was broken up by a visit to Target and Publix, two staple US stores which I’m becoming very familiar with as I always seem to be in them. Amongst other things I swooped for Duffy’s “Rockferry” album seeing as it was only $9.99 (approximately a fiver back home) so I thought it rude not to. To give sustenance for the last leg we wolfed down a bagel and coffee in Publix’s deli seating area, and after collecting some books Tina had ordered, set off for home now in quite oppresive heat. It was a relief to get off the road on to the beach again and benefit from the sea breeze.

We’ve spent the afternoon roasting ourselves on Jacksonville Beach and while Tina has been at work this evening I’ve uploaded some photos from the trip so far. You can find them here, click me. I’m quite pleased with the ones from this morning’s ride.

Transatlantic travel tales… or maybe tails?

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Andrew
on 8 June, 2008
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No doubt sensing the nervous tension in the air, Orlando Cat chose the morning of my departure to the USA to do a runner. Her usual tour of the backyard takes about 20 minutes before wanting to come back in for food and ablutions. However she’d been gone for around one hour and I was just getting to the point of frantic panic looking down the back alley under cars, in neighbours’ yards, when she turned up at my front door. She never ever turns up there. I’m surprised she knew it was my house. So it appears that the trademan’s entrance around the back is no longer good enough for her Ladyship.

This unscheduled part of yesterday morning unsettled the strictly planned regime and I missed my intended bus and subsequently the airport train. Despite fearing the worst and filling my head with potentially woeful scenarios, it proved not too much of a problem as I got the next train saving me from an extra half hour hanging around Manchester Airport’s Departure Lounge. It also meant I checked in at the same time as the footballer Paulo Wanchope who was on my flight to New York and in front of me in the queue. The full extent of Orlando’s disruption became apparent when Security emptied my hand luggage and I realised that in the kerfuffle I’d left my reading glasses on the dining table. I had at least packed my prescription sunglasses. An initial period of cursing and calling myself all sorts of names for my stupidity was replaced with the resolve to live with it as there was nothing I could do, just forget it and move on. In the great scheme of things in the concept of what is going on around the world, it was no great disaster.

My flight was uneventful, I managed to catch a bit of sleep to add to the previous night’s five hours, and I saw nothing more of Mr Wanchope until Immigration as I assume he was enjoying the comforts of First or Business Class and not in with me and the rest of the proles. I wasn’t looking forward to five hours at Newark Liberty Airport having done it to death on my last trip, but this time I got the mild excitement of going on the monorail between two terminals. Having bought USA Today to read the latest on the Obama v McCain tussle, I settled down to kill some time with simply the largest veggieburger I’ve ever seen bought from the rare mirage of an airport wholefood cafe. I wasn’t sure whether to eat the burger or thrust a flag into the top and claim it as some remote British outpost. It was too tall to actually get into the mouth without breaking a jaw so I set about it with a knife and fork, although I might have been better equipped with an oxyacetylene blowlamp.

Now replete with carbs and feeling alive again I spent the time until my Jacksonville flight reading the paper, listening to Northern Soul on the iPod, and chuckling at “It cracks like breaking skin” a series of short stories set in Stoke-on-Trent written by fellow Stokie, the novellist and manbag carrying Stephen Foster. It was a godsend and helped the time to pass quickly. The chapter called “Bubblegum” was a particular masterpiece which had me laughing out loud resulting in quizzical glances from the person sat next to me.

Finally we boarded and thankfully the flight was actually early arriving in Jacksonville and Tina was there for an emotional meeting. Bags squeezed into her two seater sports car we headed back through the humid night to Jacksonville Beach. At 10pm it was still around a sticky 80′F something I’m going to have to get used to but will struggle with I’m sure. As I sit and type this it’s just around 9am on Sunday, and it’s already quite oppressive in here. Tina has gone to work and I might head out soon to get some “groceries” before it gets really hot. I’m cat-sitting as I can’t escape mad felines, Tina has just taken in a 5 week old kitten abandoned at a friend’s vets. Hadley the kitten is very cute, and has taken a shine to my feet, biting them mid-typing. How anyone could dump an animal beats me especially one as cute as Hadley. I’ll leave you with a photo from this morning, me bleary eyed and Hadley full of beans doing her impression of a parrot. See y’all later.