The New Apple Store in Covent Garden - London

It stays light later here in London because we are so far north. It is 9:30 and still light out. We took a walk from the flat about 8 blocks to Covent Garden. This is the theatre district of London. Smack dab in the middle of the area is the new Apple Store. It is right near the Covent Garden Tube Station.

Each sales station had a computer and a permanently mounted ipad that told about the product. The sales pitch could be changed at any time on the ipad.

Glass steps go up to the second - third - and fourth floors - and a glass roof.

Note the permanently mounted ipad sales monitor at each station. It was not as crowded as the other Apple Store across town a bit - last year.

The new Apple Store in Covent Gardens - London - has a glass roof.

It is an old building - they matched the new details to the old details. It is 4 stories with wide expanses cascading down one upon the other. The higher up you went - the less people there were.

The front is protected by a wide collonnade. Note the black Apple sign and several open wide and high doors.

It was 8 PM and definitely too hot for the sweatshirt. I thought it would cool off at night. Apple products are more expensive over here than in the USA.

Behind me taking this picture - was the Covent Garden Marketplace. This picture was taken at 8:30 PM - still very light out.

Lulu Meets With Her 4th London Class

Meet Lulu's new class! 19 young librarians will be spending the next 3 weeks - studying at the FSU London Center shown in the background at 99 Great Russell Street. This class is the largest one so far. The students are from all over the USA. 18 women - 1 guy.

Thursday - First Full Day in London

After getting groceries in - we took a walk and bus ride around town. Lulu is meeting her class at 4 PM at the FSU Study Center. One of my weaknesses over her is Coke. Yes - they still make Coke with real sugar. I just had a can for 90 pence - about $1.30 American.

The buses and subways are great over here - clean - prompt - fast. To ride them you buy a card and "put money on it." When you enter - the machine reads the card - and deducts the amount. You can also buy an unlimited card for a day or week. We are using old cards from last year - they are called oyster cards. With $10 a gallon gasoline - most people use the buses and trains. Every day you drive your car into town - there is a high tax charged in addition to parking and gasoline.

This is a Land Rover Defender - a British jeep. Note the platform on the top. People go camping and put a tent on that platform for sleeping. They are very plain jane. Son Keith - the Anglophile - loves Land Rovers.

These flowers were in the Victoria Gardens along the Thames River.

This statue is in honor of the founder of Sunday Schools. That honor in Florida goes to Sandi Jimmerson - she was in Project LEAD and Lulu's first class in London.

These old red iron phone booths are slowly being phased out. Now the only people that use them are drug dealers.

These war protestors camp out across from Parliament and Big Ben.

The Old and New. In the foreground is Big Ben - and the background is the London Eye - a giant slow moving ferris wheel. At first the Eye was considered a Sore - but now it is a favorite of locals and tourists alike. Each car holds about 40 people.

This is Great Russell Street. The yellow row of buildings is the FSU London Campus. The British Musuem is on the same street. Note the rental bikes. This picture was taken form the top of a red double decker bus.

This is the Morgan Hotel near our apartment. This is where Jack Robinson stayed during the 1948 Olympics. He won a gold medal in basketball. Jack is the namesake of his great grandson - Jack Everhart. Jack plans to stay at that very same hotel for the 2012 Olympics here in London.

This is the grand entrance to the British Museum. It is 100 yards from our apartment. It is a free museum - the Rosetta Stone is just inside the main door. Also the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Greece are there. Also - Cleopatra's mummy is there. I do not know about her daddy.

In England - they use 220 volt appliances. Here you see all of my toys plugged into an adapter. Battery chargers - phone chargers - computer chargers. One time we accidentally plugged a 110 volt hair dryer into the 220 outlet - and it burned up and died.

Reviewing the Canon SD1300 From our Bed in London

Our apartment is just off Russell Square. It is just behind this fountain. The Beatles did several photoshoot around this fountain in the 60s. This summer Jack enjoyed playing in the water here. This picture was taken with my $40 Canon SD1300.

This is the Canon SD1300 IS camera. It came out in 2010. I got this one on Craigslist for $40. It takes video and still pictures. It is supper small and light. I can keep it in my shorts pocket without it pulling my pants down.

The camera is also called the PowerShot Digital Elph. 12 megapixel pictures - 4 x optical zoom - 2 x digital zoom - image stability - and face recognition focus. It comes in several colors - mine is silver. At $40 - it is like a disposable camera.

It is 3 AM and both of us are wide awake - lying in bed with laptops in hand. We already got groceries and 6 hours of sleep. Back home it is 10 PM.

Right before we left Tallahassee on Tuesday morning - I had to make just one more Craigslist run - before we went to the airport. I bought another camera.

I really like my Canon G7. It is a great camera - but a little bulky. When I put it in my shorts pocket - it tends to pull my pants down. So I wanted to get something a little smaller and lighter - that still took great pictures. They say the best camera you have is the one you have with you.

Like magic - a nice little Canon SD1300 showed up on the list. The guy was asking $140 for the like new camera that listed for $199. This camera was first introduced in 2010 - takes 12 megapixel pictures - has a 4x optical zoom - an a giant 2.7 inch screen on the back.It also has image stabilization to prevent shake blurs. After a little negotiation - I got the price down to $40 - yes $40. The guy did not have all the accessories - stuff I did not need - but he was driving a nice new Honda Accord - so he seemed save enough. He was an FSU student - probably needed some drinking money :-)

This one is so light and small - there is no reason not to have it with you.

The camera takes very nice pictures - and even video - except the video is not HD - just standard 640 x 480. You can zoom with it while taking video if you use the digital zoom. It uses standard SD-RAM cards that can be read with a standard reader.

This video was taken at the Waitrose grocery store about 2 blocks from our flat. It was taken with the Canon SD1300 - standard definition 640 x 480. Not bad video for a $40 camera.

Safe At Home In 12A Bedford Place London - Who Flies From Florida to England Via Dallas?

You oldsters will recall Love Field in Dallas. It is close to downtown. This is the airport where John Kennedy flew into Dallas alive and then flew out dead after the assassination.

This is downtown Dallas. In the center of the pictures you can see one short red brick building. From the 6th floor of that building - Lee Harvey Oswald shot the president - if you think it was done by one man.

It took us 16 hours door to door. We left our home in Tallahassee at 4 PM EDT. We first flew to Dallas then caught a Boeing 777 for the long - 8 hours trip over the pond. At Heathrow Airport - we caught the Piccadilly Tube Line to our West End neighborhood. We were in the apartment at 1 PM London time - 8 AM EDT. Both flights were excellent. The food was good.The plane was full - but no noise at all. Everything was on time.

We were flying on American Airlines - because Drew found an angle last year. If you signed up for the special credit card - you ended up getting 150,000 frequent flyer miles. Lulu did it too - so we got 300,000 total. It cost me 90,000 for the London trip - much better than paying the $1800 the ticket would normally cost. I already signed up for a trip to Brazil in October. I am using 80,000 miles then - the ticket would normally cost $3000. Brazil is paying for Lulu's ticket - she is doing consulting for them.

We will be in London until August 5th - about a month. Tomorrow - our first visitors arrive - Dan and Ann Novey. They are a couple of old teacher buddies from back in the Valley. Dan is the superintendent of a school in North Carolina. Ann retired from teaching a few years back.

At 1 PM today - we arrived at our London flat.

Lulu is all smiles as she walks from the Tube stop - up Bedford Place to our flat.

This is the playground down the street where we played with grandson Jack every day - last summer.

George "Bonvoyaged" Us At TLH Airport

It is nice having good friends that take you to the airport. Neighbor George never fails.

We are traveling on American Airline for the time. We are both flying free. Lulu's ticket is paid by FSU. My ticket is a longer story.

Last year at this time - son Drew found a great credit card deal. If you signed up for this certain citicard - you got 300,000 free FF miles with American. Lulu signed up too so she has 300,000 free miles to use later.

Funny though - Lulu is paying for her flight - so she only got one free piece of luggage. For some reason the computer gave me TWO free pieces of luggage. So while lulu was checking in - I quickly grabbed one of her bags - and saved another $50. It was also one less thing to carry.

First fee fly to Dallas - then we have a big flight over the top to London. In London - we can take the Tube directly to our flat.

We arrive in London tomorrow morning at 10 AM - their time.

Daytime temps in London are in the low 70s - nights in the low 50s.

Tallahassee is cool - they have had free and fast Internet here for years. It is called the digital canopy.

London Travel List - Good for 3 Weeks - fits in one bag

ibuprofin

aspirin

bathing suit

belt

camera

camera card reader

camera charger

camera cord

cell phone

cell phone charger

usb cord

converter plugs

sweater

sweatshirt

tie

computer

computer cord

contact lens

contact lens cleaner

credit cards euro

deodorant

extension cord

glasses

sun glasses

gps

gps cord

driver license

long pants

short pants

money

pens

razor

shampoo

shave cream

shirts dress

shirts tee

black sneakers

black sandals

black shoes

socks

suit case

tooth brush

tooth paste

underwear

wallet

iphone earphones

keydrive

system flashdrive

pounds money

passport

iphone sound box

business cards

batteries

Happy Birthday To Lulu

Lulu's birthday is tomorrow July 12th. She was 5 years old when we married 40 years ago.

Since we will winging our way to London on her real birthday - 25 folks gathered at our house yesterday for a surprise party. While Lulu and I went to see the movie - Bad Teacher - our friends Joel - Shirley - and Josh were prepping. At 5PM - when everyone was arriving - we had a typical Florida summer downpour. Lightning - thunder - an deluges of rain. We we arrived at 5:20 PM - the party was in full swing. They almost didn't notice our arrival. The party was originally planned to be a pool party complete with basketball - volleyball - and badminton in the the water.

Lulu loves having parties but she frets the preparation. This one was instant. She had plausible deniability - if anything went wrong it did not reflect on her. The party was completely designed on the Net. Invitations went out Wednesday. The guest list was set by Friday. Food was ordered - plans were sent out to the help.

The rain could not dampen the outcome. Everyone seemed to have a good time - and folks were exchanging email addresses. Others were exchanging old times together.

What is nice about marrying such a young lady - all your life you have a young beauty queen. Lulu gets better and better every day - she is always good for a surprise.

Tubing the Ichetucknee River State Park

Cypress tress lined the river.

Shirley floated into the restricted area.

Wayne and Shirley - enjoyed the 72 degree water float.

Josh and Melissa got the boat for two.

This is Sheena - queen of the jungle.

Wayne - Shirley - Melissa - Josh - Nancy - with tubes fastened to Wayne's car.

About 90 miles east and south of Tallahassee is Ichetucknee River State Park. The river is formed by springs and is always about 72 degrees. For decades - on a hot day - locals can be found enjoying the cool water riding tubes.

Simply - you rent a tube or bring your own and pay a fee of $5 to enter the park. Then they tram you to different entry points into the river. You then float downstream for one two or three hours. The tram picks you and your tube up and takes you to the parking lot or back up the river for another run. Some days the parking lot fills by 9 AM - and others are turned away.

Josh - Melissa - Wayne - Shirley - Nancy - and I drove over early Saturday morning. We rented tubes and away we went. We sailed the two hour version because the shoulders were getting burned and storms were heading our way.

We stayed at the park for a picnic lunch - then drove home. No one was eaten.

My Favorite Wedding Video

Warrick Dunn and Lulu's FSU PALM Center Work Together on Library Project

From the Tallahassee Democrat

Former Florida State University and NFL star Warrick Dunn continues to change the lives of single-parent families, recently teaming up with his alma mater to promote literacy.

The Warrick Dunn Family Foundation has collaborated with the FSU School of Library & Information Sciences to present two single-parent families with home libraries. A ceremony is scheduled for late morning today.

The presentation is an extension of the foundation's Home for the Holidays program, which works with Habitat for Humanity to provide furnished homes for single-parent families who are economically disadvantaged.

Nancy Everhart, associate professor in the School of Library & Information Studies, came up with the idea to instill the value of books and reading in young people in hopes that they would then carry on the tradition with future generations.

"We at the FSU College of Communication and Information are very proud of the work that Warrick Dunn and his foundation are doing," she said. "Warrick is an alum of our program and we wanted to support him.

"One of the things we do very well in the School of Library and Information Studies is select materials for young readers. It seemed like a natural fit to include home libraries in his Homes for the Holidays project."

The libraries are filled with books and other educational materials that will be presented to the families of Latashee Daniels and Wannessia Jefferson in Tallahassee, who recently became first-time homeowners through the Home for the Holidays program.

"I'm excited for this collaboration with FSU and our shared commitment to changing the lives of single-parent families," Dunn said. "Now that we've provided them with a stable home environment, the children have an opportunity to focus on building their literacy and education through the home libraries."

The home libraries project is a trial run in which the foundation hopes to set up a similar collaboration with other universities in Florida and expand to communities in Georgia and Louisiana.

Harry Note - Warrick Dunn graduated from FSU with a degree in Information Science. He builds new homes for single parents - and completely furnishes them for move-in right down paper towels - linens - and books. Nancy's PALM Center is working with Warrick to select the proper books to fit with the interests of the kids moving into the new homes.

Instant Classic - Hot Dog Soup

Last night Lulu surprised me with this Hot Dog Soup.

Last month - Lulu had this Hot Dog Soup in Frankfort Germany.

When Lulu was in Germany last month - she sent me a picture of hot dog soup. It reminds me of the hot dog pot pie my Mom used to make. In those days it was encased in a very doughy crust - with a top and bottom.

Basically - it is potatoes - peas - and hot dogs. I imagine that onions and carrots could find their way in there.

Yesterday for supper - Lulu whipped up a batch. It moves right up there to my top 10 favorites list.

I Sold My Truck Today

I sold my 1997 Ford F150 4x4 Truck today. You have to love Craigslist.org. The truck was sitting in my garage - hardly ever being used. I recently bought a little one ton trailer - that can haul as much as the truck.

I am surprised how strong the golf cart is at towing. The tow hitch slides into a receiver in the back. When not towing - it is removed out of the way.

Here is a good shot of the trailer sitting in the old truck's slot. You get a good view of the second floor loft in this picture.

It is easy backing up with the golf cart and trailer because you get a real good view - and you can make the cart go very slowly.

This Fire Happened Two Blocks Down The Lehigh Street From My Boyhood Home

Lehigh Street Fire - After and Before

Copied from The Times News -

6 residences hit, displacing 11 people; 16 pets missing or dead

By Andy Leibenguth aleibenguth@tnonline.com

An ominous orange glow and heavy smoke filled the Tamaqua horizon around 3 o'clock this morning as firefighters from two counties responded to a fast-moving blaze that involved three sets of duplexes on South Lehigh Street in Tamaqua.

My First Car Was A Bike

In June of 1965 - I was 17 years old. I convinced my parents to let me have a Honda 50 Cub. Ever since then - I have had a love for two wheels.

The Beach Boys were singing about Little Honda and Help Me Rhonda. Jack Laughlin started renting Hondas in downtown Tamaqua by the hour. For $2 - you could beat up someone else's Honda for an hour.

My Honda 50 - had a 49cc engine. It had a three speed manual transmission (you shifted with your foot) and an automatic clutch. It's 4 cycle engine squeezed 200 miles out of a gallon of gasoline. It legally sat two people. On a very good day it would go 45 mph on the level.

I had it for a little over a year - when I bought my first car - a 1956 VW Convertible. It was 10 years old - had 36 hp - and cost $100. The top leaked - the engine leaked oil - but it was just enough to cruise the circuit around town.

A few years later - the state of Pennsylvania could not stand people having so much fun - they required scooter riders to wear helmets when they rode and a bathing caps when they swam. Until they removed those laws - I stopped riding. The worm has turned - now Florida and Pennsylvania allow me to ride without a helmet again.

Today I ride a Vespa 150 - it is a little stronger than my old Honda but I weigh 50 pounds more now. Still - when I hop on my scooter - it feels like old times - with the wind blowing thru the hair I have left.

Tasykake Bought By A Local Firm

Our local company - Flowers Foods has bought Tastykake. They will still be made in Pennsylvania.

Yesterday - Lulu and I were shopping in Thomasville GA - a town about 25 miles up the road from us. It is the county seat of Thomas County and also home of Charley Ward - FSU Heisman Trophy winner.

At any rate - the big news is that Flowers Foods bought Tastykake. Yes - that Tasykake - the treat of Philly and the Philadelphia Phillies. We were driving by their research and development labs and also visited their company store.

We saw this sign on the door. We asked the secretary about the deal. She said the beautiful corporate office building is about two miles away. She said although Flowers Food bought the company - Tastykake will still be made in Philadelphia. She said the local Flowers Food Store will carry the products here - wahoo!

Lulu's Dad worked for Tastykake as a sales delivery man for 35 years. His day started at 4 AM and ended at 5 PM. He missed two days of work in that time. He had his own truck - and the family would eat the leftovers - that is why I married Lulu.

Flowers Foods have bought up many brands of baked goods - some not so good.

This is research and development in Thomasville GA

This is a typical Flowers Food Store. We have them in Tallahassee.

If You Want It Done Easily - Ask A Lazy Man

I enjoy taking care of the grounds on both of our properties - in the hot humid Tallahassee weather - it sucks the strength right out of me. But - leave it to a lazy man to find a way to sweep the yard without a lot of noise.

Our properties are 1/2 acre and 1.5 acres. Since we have lots of pine trees - they drop a lot of pine needles - pine cones - and twigs. After a strong storm - the yard looks really messy. I used to use the tractor to sweep it - but that is noisy. In the morning - I do not want to wake the neighbors - but it is the best time of day to work here.

My solution was to get a trailer hitch for the golf cart. I thought I would have to rig my own - but the golf cart shop had trailer hitches in stock that fit my Club Car. Everything was predrilled to bolt it on. I put ball hitch couplers on all my trailers and tools. Yesterday - I tried it - it worked effortlessly. Golf carts are geared to have power at the low end. Not only was it a smooth job - but it is so quiet - you can hear every pine cone hit as the brooms sweeps it into the hopper. Another big help - the golf cart can make a 180 degree turn in such a very small area.

Now - if I could just find a lawn mower reel that I could tow - I could cut the grass in silence too. These are the things that go through the mind of a guy retired 8 years.