Joel Dawson is our neighbor. We had a little birthday party for her - she is 75. That is her husband George next to her. Lulu cooked and also served an ice cream cake.
To make a little space in the garage - I have sold my white Honda Helix scooter. The scooter is in great shape - it is 29 years old and only had 2800 miles on it.
The Honda Helix was a scooter made for long cruising by old men. It had a long wheels base and a large on cylinder 250cc water cooled engine. It was belt driven with a continuously variable transmission - well ahead of its time. Today - they are just starting to put this type of transmission in autos.
John - the fellow that bought it - plans to drive it to work every day - 15 miles each way.
Other features of this Honda were - digital dashboard - plastic body - windshield - electric start - water cooled engine - giant trunk - and two large seats. It could go 70 MPH all day. It got about 80 miles per gallon and held about 3 gallons of gasoline. It has the step-thru body that old men love.
Some people said that the body reminded them of the Jetson's TV Show.
I delivered the bike using the Nissan Electric Leaf and a Lowes trailer.
We are now down to a BMW - the Leaf - a Vespa Scooter - mower - tools - gas grill - sweeper - in our garage. There is enough room in there for our trailer if we wanted to store it inside.
Lulu and I enjoyed the 4:30 PM show of "Love and Mercy" - story of the heartbreak of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys
After seeing the real Beach Boys last month down the street in Cascades Park - we were disappointed when no local theaters carried the movie "Love and Mercy" - the saga of Brian Wilson the man who wrote all the Beach Boys songs.
We drove 800 miles to Richmond for our grandson's 7th birthday party - and to our surprise - an old local theater was showing the movie - they even had tons of early hour showings. The theatre was in a small downtown near The University of Richmond. The old - single-standing - brick structure looks like it may have been there when Lincoln came to visit after the Battle of Richmond. To our surprise - the inside was beautifully done. We found out later that it is closing at the end of the year.
The movie was superb but very sad. Brian Wilson had mental problems - and a quack psychiatrist took advantage of them to control the artist's wealth. Wilson's father Murray was abusive and controlling - adding to his problems. Wilson languished for years in bed. He became very fat.
He was eventually saved from that mess by Belinda - his future wife. Today they live together in Los Angeles with their 4 kids.
We stopped in Florence SC for a little break and walk at the Magnolia Mall. Same stores as back at home.
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We have had clear weather so far. GPS says 300 miles to go and will arrive 7:15.
I-95 has grown. Many places it is 4 lanes each way. BMW has very long legs. Quiet. Smooth. We are staying in right lane at 75 mph. We expect pop up storms soon.
We left home at 7 am in the BMW. We have driven 1000 miles on our way to Richmond to celebrate the Everhart 8. It is sunny and 83. The traffic is very light. We have covered 100 miles. Lulu is driving now. Much of I -10 has been repaved. I am guessing we will reach Richmond around 6 pm. More updates as we go.
DENVER, CO. -- It's official. Tallahassee is an All-America City! Judges from the National Civic League named Tallahassee as one of the ten cities to win the prestigious All-America City (AAC) award this evening from the 2015 All-America City Conference in Denver. The All-America City award is the most coveted award that a community can win. The annual award recognizes exemplary grassroots and problem-solving efforts of communities that cooperatively tackle challenges and achieve measureable results. Judging is based on the overall level of community involvement in solving critical problems, including public-private partnerships. This is the second time that Tallahassee has won the All-America City award; it was first recognized in 1999.
Today we sold Lulu's Dodge. You may recall that in August of 2014 - Lulu bought a BMW Convertible in FSU garnet color. When she got that - her old Dodge languished in our garage.
You may remember the story of the old Dodge. Lulu had one in Pennsylvania - used to drive the kids to school in it - Drew even took it to Duke for a year. A few years later - she decided she wanted a Miata sports car. Every now and then she would pine for her old Dodge. I found another Dodge in the middle of nowhere - Illinois. I hitchhiked there - and drove the Dodge back to Tallahassee. Lulu drove it 6 more years since then.
Repo Man - Gone in 60 Seconds!
Recently - we listed the car on Craigslist. Yesterday - Chris drove over from New Orleans. This morning - as I type - he is towing it across I-10 to his home.
We are now down to 2 cars - 2 scooters - a mower - and a lawn sweeper - in our garage.
The Dodge is in remarkable shape. It only has 16,500 miles on it. It has original paint - original leather interior - and original top. I replaced the battery - tires - and brakes on it. We wish Chris the best of luck with it - we plan to visit it some day during Mardi Gras.
I wanted it to work. I wanted to fall in love, like so many of my friends. “It takes a while,” they said. “Don’t expect a coup de foudre. Let it build over time.”
So I did. I knew other people looked at what I had with envy. But a month and a half after we first got together, I have decided it is time to — well, call time.
I am breaking up with my Apple Watch. The relationship was, despite all expectations, not what I needed. All the focus on San Francisco and Apple’s next big innovation this week (streaming!) made me realize it was not playing my tune.
Still, I will never regret the weeks we spent together. They taught me some valuable truths about myself.
Go here and figure out how long you will live. This means I have 18 more years to break the Pennsylvania Retirement System. Lulu will have at least 8 years without me. I predict that she will outlive me by 20 years.
Monday it was 91 degrees in Tallahassee. The sky looked like rain - but the radar weather said the coast was clear. Ever since Lulu and her cousins went to the beach and bought back our tent in tatters - we were looking for a time to try out the new beach tent. Lulu loves sitting in the sun - but I am the gray head old man that insists on sitting in the shade. Get off my lawn.
Our new beach tent opens like an umbrella - everything is connected in one piece. You simply pop it up and then put 4 tents pegs in the corners to keep it from blowing away. I can sit in the shade - open up for screened windows to let the wind blow through. It can also be closed up to tight to provide a private place to change your clothes. It is not a motor home - but it will do.
The beach was lovely - less than a dozen others there. There was a group of guys flying their kite/boards. We had the rest of the beach to ourselves. I was very surprised that the water temperature was 84 degrees - certainly not as good as the hot tub - but much higher than the 45 degree water we just visited in Alaska.
We arrived at 5 PM just in time to eat our picnic basket supper. Still there was 3 hours of sunshine. As the sun went down - the rays angled more and enhanced the colors. We took a 2 mile walk on the beach and then literally popped the tent - put the convertible top down and drove home. It takes under an hour to cover the 44 miles.
On the way home - the car thermometer said it was 77 degrees but when we got back into town was 81.
There is nothing that seems to put Lulu in a good spirit than sitting on the beach a couple hours. When Lulu was a kid back in Pennsylvania - her family spent a week every summer sitting on the Jersey Shore. In my opinion she enjoyed this time with her cousins - the beach was secondary. I like the beach as long as I have a radio - some reading material - the Internet - or food. Then I can enjoy sitting there. After 2 hours - it is time to do something else.
One thing nice about having a camper - you have a nice shower to clean off the crud for the ride home. Here we go again.
When we moved to Tallahassee - Lulu threatened to buy a house at Alligator Point - and commute to campus 44 miles each way daily. The place is a ghost town - no store - no restaurants.
My 2012 Nissan Leaf - after 3000 miles and 6 months of driving
I have owned electric golf carts - electric motorcycles - electric weedwackers - electric lawnmowers. Yes - my Apple laptop and iPhone even run on rechargeable batteries. But I always wanted a real electric car. Finally - in November of 2014 - I got my chance.
I was planning to buy a street legal golf cart for $8000. Lulu did not like that idea and told me to go buy a real car - like the Leaf. I went to Kraft Nissan to drive a new one - and the sticker was $42000! I loved the car but that was just way too much for a second around town car. Lulu did a search on Craigslist and found this car for me.
It is a 2012 Nissan Leaf that had 30000 miles on it. A 60 year old fella bought it in town - drove it 2 years - and died. His wife wanted to sell. It was in like new condition - I checked all the service records at Kraft Nissan - and it was in great shape. I bought it for $12,700.
The interior is roomy and nicely appointed. The doors open wide.
I have been driving it for 6 months and 3000 miles. Of course I think I am an expert now :-) I am going to give you my completely biased opinion.
Since we bought this car - we have hardly used our other vehicles. Lulu's garnet BMW convertible sits in the garage collecting dust. Every time I go for the keys to the Leaf - they are gone. Lulu loves driving it around town. Why? We both love the car because it is so quiet - peppy - nimble - easy to park - and you never have to put gasoline in it. It has all the latest electrical gadgets - GPS - iphone connection - rear camera - elegant air conditioning. It has roomy seats for 5 people. The 5 doors open wider than the dentist requires. When you come to a red light - and stop - it is silent.
The car goes 80 miles on a charge. There is a big number on the dash board that says how many miles are left. It has been pretty accurate. Usually we got maybe 20 or 30 miles in a day. We plug it into a 220 volt outlet in our garage. Usually it is fully charged in less than an hour. It costs about $3.20 of electricity for a full 80 mile charge - about 4 cents a mile. Our longest trip was to Tallavana and back - about 50 miles.
I think Fred is the only guy in the neighborhood that has bought more cars than me. In the short time I have known him - he has owned a Honda Ridgeline - Honda Element - Mazda Miata - Subaru - 400 horsepower Ford Mustang convertible. Now he bought my favorite car - the Honda Fit. This car is tiny on the outside and gigantic on the inside. He gets 51 MPG on a trip.
I know they make an electric version - but it is only available in California - New York - and Maryland.
Life in the South. Our friend Joan Varner brought us some peaches yesterday. Lulu made a scratch peach pie with them. I always loved a pie with a lid on.
Alaska is over twice as big as Texas - yet it only has 770,000 people - compared to Texas' 25 million. It is a giant wealth of minerals. We purchased it from Russia for $7 million. What a bargain!
Look at the red area on the map. That is where we spent our week - on a ship cruising thru fjords. We visited three small towns - Juneau - Skagway - and Ketchikan. We visited during the best weather possible. I know as much about Alaska as someone would know about Florida after spending a week in Disneyworld.
Our hot tub arrived yesterday. We bought it at the factory in Clearwater FL. They have been making them there for 30 years. Meg Baker is the salesman.
It is 72 inches by 72 inches by 30 inches. It has wood cedar sides.
It can seat 6 people tightly - 4 people okay - 2 people fine. They have molds at the factory and lay up their own fiberglass. The fiberglass is 1/2 inch thick.
It has digital controls for temperature - pump - light - air.
There are 10 stainless steel jets. Each one can be turned on and off separately.
It has a standard size filter that gets replaced every year. You can buy them anywhere. It has an ozonator to add ozone from the air to the water to purify it.
It cost under $3000 delivered. It holds 200 gallons. The tub weighs 250 pounds empty. It weighs 2000 pounds full of water.
This tub is almost exactly like the one we owned in Tamaqua. Our friends still are using that tub 25 years later. It has a Balboa controller - ozonator - and pump.
It runs on 110 volt power - you just plug it into a wall outlet. We filled it with a hose from our laundry. With the Rennai water heater - we filled it with 100 degree water. The heater and pump come on to keep the temp you prefer - 80 F to 104 F.
We plan to put a coat of varnish on the wooden cedar box. We will drain it when we travel.
