FSU beats Purdue 97-57

It is hard to tell if FSU is that good or Purdue was that bad. Anyway - a noisy crowd enjoyed the 40 point win. We went to the game with George - Joel- and Terry - our neighbors. Terry has season tickets. Nancy and I worked the crowd and got excellent tickets for $10 each - directly behind Coach Hamilton about five rows back. We saw Keith at the game in the student section. FSU could have easily scored 120 but the coach made sure everybody got to play. I hope the FSU football team is as successful in the ACC championship game this Saturday. We will be there.

Bill and Louisa Leave Tallahassee in Harry's ebay Camper

Just 14 hours ago - Bill was busy bidding on Harry's camper on ebay. Now they are leaving Tallahassee for their home near Ocala more than 200 miles away. The camper sold for $13,600.

Bill is a the son of a coal miner. He left home at 16 in West Virginia to work in Florida and has been here ever since. Louisa grew up in Manhattan NYC. She came to Florida to go to school and stayed.

They own a 50 acre ranch near Ocala. They also own two Greyhound buses converted into campers. They made one big mistake though - they invited the Everharts to visit their ranch :-)

You may recall that we bought the camper on ebay in August of 2003. It had 20,000 miles on it. We had to go to Boston to pick it up on the weekend of Brad Novey's wedding. Since then we have put 21,000 more miles on it - drove it back and forth to Pennsylvania three times - visited Ben in the keys - and hauled Dr. Drew's car and personal stuff home after he graduated from Miami. We hauled three trailer loads of stuff from Pennsylvania to here and visited Indianapolis with it. We spent a night in the parking lot of Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke and woke up with 5 inches of snow on the roof. We spent about 90 nights in it.

From ashes to ashes - dust to dust - ebay to ebay - what's next?

Camper Sells for $13,600 on Ebay - Buyer Lives near Tampa

The camper sold on ebay Sunday night for $13,600. The new buyer lives in Hernando, Florida. It is very near where Marylou and Carl have their winter home in Zephyr Hills. Also - my friend Dave Martin is "wintering" in his camper near there at Dunellon.

Bidding went up $2500 in the last hour.

The gentleman has a very good ebay rating and plans to pick up the camper tomorrow.

I will post more details when the deal is consumated.

Harry Will Never Go To Hawaii Because He Can't Drive There - CAMPER FOR SALE

Click photos to enlarge




World famous philosopher Dale Kline once said, "Harry Everhart will never go to Hawaii because he can't drive there." That was back in the days when Nancy and Harry owned a tour bus and spent their spare time taking people on trips to Florida, Washington, New York City, and Philadelphia. They made 16 trips to Disneyworld in three years.

Boy have times changed. Nancy and Harry are no longer school teachers in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. They have moved to Florida. In August - Nancy completed her seventh summer teaching a course at the University of Hawaii. Nancy's travels as a professor and writer have taken the couple to Scotland, England, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, France, Iceland, China, Korea, and Thailand. Nancy's profession now has the couple jet-setting all over the globe.

So I guess Dale Kline was wrong. Unfortunately - their lovely little motor home has been sitting in the driveway more and more - and they have been enjoying it less and less. Rather then leaving it depreciating and collecting dust - they have decided to sell it.

No Joy in Mudville

Florida State 7
FU 34

FSU Womens Soccer Beat Carolina at Chapel Hill to Advance to NCAA Final Four

Look at the scoreboard. UNC has only ever lost three playoff games at home - EVER. And the latest one is an overtime loss to the Lady Seminoles of FSU. It would have been worth the price of the trip to see the Noblise Onblige light blue fans try to keep their noses up as they wimpered out of the stadium with their heads down with their little lunch boxes of uneaten wine and cheese.

Camper Sale on Ebay Ends Sunday Night

I have put the camper for sale on ebay. The sale ends on Sunday night. I already have had people call from Wisconsin, California, Boston, and Texas making offers on the camper. Two of the bidders want me to deliver the camper to Boston and San Jose.

One fellow in Texas, Johnny, is a pilot that patrols along oil pipelines. He would use the camper as a "second home" at the airport.

I will deliver it anywhere in the US for a fee. You could follow my web log across the country with photos of the camper in front of places of interest. Two people from Tallahassee are coming by this weekend to drive the camper. I have never had this much activity on an ebay sale. The sale has already had 1100 hits in two days. With three days to go - the camper has been bid over $10,000. Ebay charges a flat fee of $85 to sell a vehicle. Click on the link below to follow along on the camper sale.

Camper on Ebay

Happy Thanksgiving with Wayne and Shirley

Click on pictures to enlarge.



We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with Wayne and Shirley. You have been watching with great interest the construction of their new home down the street. Now you get a chance to see them face to face. Shirley is a law professor at Marquette University. Wayne doubles as a library science professor and world renowned author in the office next to Nancy. Yes - that means that currently Wayne and Shirley work 1000 miles apart. They presently have two beautiful homes and they take turns on their weekly commute to see each other. That is why they are building the new home down the street from us so that next year - they will live together and Wayne will only be 5 minutes from the office.

Notice in the pie cutting picture that Shirley has a bionic arm. Even with that handicap she cooked a wonderful turkey dinner. The champagne was flowing smoothly making for delightful conversation. Nancy made one of her famous "Wenzel Apple Tarts" from the secret recipe she got from George Wenzel. After dinner we took a walk along the golf course in their back yard - we even found a few golf balls.

Shirley and Wayne are married for 40 years - as you can see by the picture - Wayne must have married Shirley when she was five years old - married maybe even younger than Nancy. Wayne is the guy that put the signs in the shower of the new home so the plumber makes sure the shower head wouldn't hit his head.

Two other professors - Barbara and Dennis - were guests at the dinner. Dennis is on a few committees with Wayne at FSU. We never met the couple before - but after driving the 17 miles to Wayne's house - we found out that Barbara and Dennis live just around the corner from our house on Saratoga Street. The two dinner pictures look similar - only the photographers were different.

Only kidding about the bionic arm - Shirley had a fall a couple of weeks ago.

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone.

Duke Beats FSU Girls 3-2

On Wednesday night we had a choice to see either Duke play our girls volleyball or the University of Florida play our girls basketball. We picked the wrong game and the right one. We choose the volleyball game and we witnesses a hard fought back and forth victory by Duke. Our girls were ahead two games to one - but then lost the last two games to a very big and strong Duke team. The right game was at the Civic Center where the Seminole girls were easily handling the Florida Gators. In honor of Robin and Drew - we always like to see the Dukies play here. Many times the Seminoles have sent the Dukies home wimpering but not this time.

The Continuing Saga - The Chipper Arrived!

The day started with a call from AAA Trucking. They called from the warehouse on the west side of town to say there was a package to be picked up. So George and I hopped into the camper with the hitch carrier on the back and off we went to AAA Trucking. When we got there - the guy used a fork lift to load this big factory sealed box onto the carrier.

After we got home - George and I were busily unloading the booty. We opened the box to find the 10HP Troybilt Chipper/Shredder that I bought "off ebay." After careful unpacking to make sure there was no damage - we added oil to the crankcase and gasoline to the fuel tank. After reading the instructions - I flipped on the choke and gave the rope a half-hearted pull. To George's and my surprise - it started right up like it had been running all day. We were so delighted with ourselves. George saw a branch laying on the ground and said, "Let me get a picture of the first one."

You may recall about two weeks ago I saw the chipper on ebay. It was being sold by Greg Germansky of Los Angeles. The retail price with shipping was $1099 plus tax. I made Greg an offer of $600 to take it off ebay and send it to me - shipping included. He said if we can do the deal in the next hour - he would accept. I "paypaled" the money to him - he said he would ship the chipper after he came home from a trip. The chipper was stored in a federal warehouse in Miami. I think Greg buys bulk lots of equipment and then sells them off piecemeal.

I have been very lucky buying things on ebay. But this sale was different. "Off Ebay" is when you make a side offer without the protection of ebay. You send the payment sight unseen and trust the seller to send you the product. Greg was a good seller - he emailed and called me often to make sure I was aware what was going on.

Now I have no excuses left for cleaning up the back yard and lake front. I hope you enjoyed my "off ebay" sale.

Seminoles Win Home Opener, 85-67

Seminoles Win Home Opener, 85-67

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Al Thornton scored 31 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead Florida State past Alcorn State 85-67 in its home opener Monday night.

Alexander Johnson (14 points) and Jason Rich (10) also contributed double-digit outputs for the Seminoles (2-0), who turned 20 turnovers by the Braves (0-2) into 27 points. The teams traded baskets in the game's early stages, but Rich's three-pointer from the left wing gave the Seminoles the lead for good at the 6:23 mark in the first half. The shot incited a 17-5 run for FSU.

Florida State Junior Wins Rhodes Scholarship

Redshirt Junior Garrett Johnson Selected For Rhodes Scholarship
Florida State shot putter Garrett Johnson (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Baptist Academy) was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship on Saturday, November 19, 2005. The 2005 indoor All-American was one of 32 college students from throughout the United States chosen to study at the University of Oxford.

Great Day for FSU Women's Sports

First we drove by the soccer stadium. FSU is in the NCAA playoffs. It was raining but they beat California in the 16 team round - they now advance to the 8 team round this week.

Then we went to the Tully Gym to see the Women's Volleyball team take on North Carolina. North Carolina is the top team in the ACC and they went ahead 2 games to 0. The FSU girls were inspired by all of the Mom's in the crowd. Because FSU has four games at home in a row - many of the Mom's are spending a week in town to see their girls play. Notice the picture of Nancy enjoying a cheer with the Mom's. The girls must have been inspired because they stormed back to win the next 3 games including the final one in overtime to take the match 3-2.

After the volleyball game - we took the car to the Civic Center and caught the last 10 minutes of the Women's basketball game against Washington. You can see the end of the game in the picture with FSU losing at the buzzer.

Note the shirt of the young man holding up the sign in the picture. Everhart is a popular name in Tallahassee. A former mayor and county comissioner are named Everhart - along with the special education "Gretchen Everhart School."

We Visited Wayne and Shirley's House Today

Wayne and Shirley will be our new neighbors in March. They are building this "historically correct" cottage about a block from our house. The downstairs includes a living room with fireplace - the kitchen - and a master bedroom suite. Upstairs are three bedrooms and a bath. The place looks like it belongs in Celebration, Florida.

Walmart Blinks - Tamaqua Wins - Thanks Larry Wittig

You may recall that Walmart has wanted to move into Hometown for the last several years. But they have been dangling a sword over the school board's head. Unless the Tamaqua School Board would give them 10 years of tax forgiveness - they said they would not build. Well guess what - their developers just paid $1,000,000 for the land in question. And thanks to Larry Wittig - Tamaqua Board President - Tamaqua kids will benefit from those 10 years of tax dollars.

Dear Larry Wittig -

Thank you for standing up to Walmart - and winning!

I am so happy your were right. I am tired of businesses in America playing one town against the other - similar to the way NFL owners play one city off against the other.

You were right - these guys planned to built a Walmart there regardless. Thanks to you - the kids of Tamaqua will benefit from the extra tax dollars. After all - tax dollars will be coming out of the money that the locals will be spending in that store anyway.

So Tamaqua will get its Walmart - and Tamaqua schools will get their fair share of real estate taxes.

I hope the borough councilmen and township supervisors remember to thank you for standing your ground - but I kinda doubt it.

Harry

Trophy Crooks are Gators!

Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A staff attorney for the state's utility regulator was arrested Thursday on a felony charge of possessing stolen property for his role in the theft of two Florida State University national football championship trophies.

Jason P. Rojas, 28, was booked Thursday at the Leon County Jail after returning the second crystal football to authorities Wednesday night, school investigators said. He had kept it at his home wrapped in a white plastic garbage bag.

Rojas is the son of former state Rep. Luis Rojas, who served in the House of Representatives during the period Florida State President T.K. Wetherell served as speaker.

Both men are graduates of the University of Florida and neither have any previous criminal record, Florida State police said. Both cooperated fully in case of the crystals swiped from a locked case, investigators said Thursday.

The first recovered trophy was retrieved from a commercial storage facility in Fort Walton Beach where it was in a brown, cardboard box, protected with wadded-up newspaper, assistant Florida State police chief Tom Longo said.

FSU Coach Bowden to Have Surgery Today

Bowden will undergo cataract eye surgery today. He said he expects to do his call-in show tonight.