the mini move

Boy am I beat. The movers came at 8:45 am & it took 3 hours to move the apartment furniture, etc. I was up 'til 2:30 am wired & packing. There's not much left at the apt, maybe 2 or 3 car trips. When we got to the house, one of the movers said, "you got some crazy birds here! There's one in your garage & another one smashing into you car mirrors!" My car wasn't even in the driveway. Needless to say, I moved my car in the garage after they left. I wasn't told that this house came with "pets." Moving sure seemed to be a lot of work. I'm REALLY dreading the move from Weston. That's gonna be a NIGHTMARE!!!

Since it was a little cold in the house & I was wearing shorts, I opened the back sliders, put the Lafuma in the sun & huddled under a blanket. It was really nice.

"Walter" clouds

While walking back to my office after delivering some CDs to Golf 20/20, I noticed the sky was filled with amazing Walter clouds. They're actually Altocumulus clouds, but I've always called them Walter clouds (named for Walter Iooss, since they magically appear whenever he has a shoot). Altocumulus clouds, composed primarily of water droplets, are located between 6,500 & 20,000 ft above the ground. They're beautiful!


After work, I made one more run to the house with a carload of stuff. I had another bird-related incident. When I opened the garage door, a little bird flew in & wouldn't fly out. Instead, it continuously slammed itself into the ceiling of my garage. It wasn't the little cardinal that was attacking my car a couple of days ago. This one was about the size of a sparrow & had a yellow belly. After about a half hour of it flying around like a kamikaze, I called Evanne since she's so good with animal rescue. I ended up taking this huge piece of cardboard from the washer/dryer box & was able to corral it so it would fly out. Whew ... talk about an adrenaline rush! I'm exhausted!

a Colossal Squid is in the news

I'm not sure why, but I've ALWAYS been intrigued by the Giant squid. Today, a Colossal squid was caught by a fishing crew. I didn't even know Colossal squid existed! They're up to 46 ft long & are found in Antarctic waters. They're not related to Giant squid that grow up to 39 ft long & are found around the coast of New Zealand. Can you imagine swimming & seeing one of these?!? If calamari rings were made from this squid they'd be the size of tractor tires. This species has the largest eyes of any living thing ... they're the size of dinner plates. CRAZY!

installation, estimation & mirror pecking

This morning I had to be at the house for cable, high speed, & phone installation. I also had the master bedroom measured for an estimate since I might change the carpeting. There's a female cardinal in my driveway that is constantly attacking both sideview mirrors of my car. She's been doing it everday. It's a little crazy. Everytime I go outside, she's there. I guess I'm gonna have to park in the garage.

mmmmm ... cookies!

Today I got a surprise FedEx from Carolina Cookie Company. It was a house-shaped container with the most delicious cookies I've ever had, from my mortgage broker Mark. They were a big hit in the office.

exotic dentistry

Today I sent Dr Bellows an article on elephant chainsaw dentistry. Dr Bellows (Tally's vet) is one of fifty-five board certified veterinary dentists in the country. He does root canals on the tigers & lions at the zoo & has been a guest on Good Morning America. There's a great picture of him hanging on his office wall doing dental work on a gorilla. Here's a shot of him "working" on a lion. Note her missing tooth & the 2x4 propping her mouth open.

a stroll on the beach

Today I shot a portrait of my mom & Hank on the beach. It was REALLY cold!

Is my hat on straight?

Mary borrowed Chris' hard hat & we went over to the clubhouse to shoot some pix. It was a beautiful day.

the picky eater

Today I accidentally dialed Tally's house when I was trying to call my mom. I asked Lucy how Tally was doing & she informed me that she didn't eat yesterday. She said Tally didn't like chicken anymore. That's CRAZY since she's always loved chicken. Lucy was gonna see if Tally wanted steak for a change. I wonder what's next ... lobster?!? I think Tally was just depressed I wasn't there.

Ugh!

Today I closed on the house in Ponte Vedra Beach. I'm officially a dual homeowner. I was feeling sick about it all day! Ugh ... I have a BAD headache!

Ambiance at Allianz

Allianz Championship

We're in Boca for this week's Champions Tour event. This nice golfing Snoopy was posted on the calligraphy board in the media center to recognize Craig Stadler's nine under 63 in the first round.

10am, 10pm & somewhere in between

This morning I had the patio, driveway, & sidewalks pressure cleaned.

The Weston house is looking good ... and clean!

If my Powerbook would have been opened a little further, I think Tally would have wedged her head between the keyboard & display! It doesn't matter if it's day or night ... Tally will most likely be found hogging the couch.

Afternoon delight

Tally has been photographed sprawled out on the living room couch so much in the past few months. This time she didn't even wake up.

A dip in the pool & a roll in the mud

I went to pick up Tally this morning. As usual, nobody was home at her house except Lucy. She told me that Tally is very depressed when I'm not around. Lucy told Tally I was on my way over so she perked up & got very waggy. We hung out in the backyard for a little while. She kept jumping on the first step of the pool & getting her feet wet. Then she started showing off. She overshot the first step & went completely under. Luckily, I was making a movie when it happened, so I captured the whole thing. I wasn't happy since I was getting ready to drive her to my house. It turns out she wasn't done. A dip in the pool is nothing unless it's followed by a roll in the mud. I know it looks like she's rolling on the grass, but by the time she was done, she was covered in mud. We had to take a shower as soon as we got home.

"Super" flight ... NOT!

Okay ... what are the chances that my Southwest flight tonight originated in Chicago (to pick up Bears fans), then stopped in Indianapolis (to load up on Colts fans, including 47 Peyton Mannings), then JAX before heading to the Superbowl city??? It was a little crazy! I was the ONLY person on board NOT wearing a football jersey. Thank god I had my noise cancelling headphones! It was a VERY rowdy group. As soon as we started taxi-ing in JAX, the flight attendant announced that they were out of beer (obviously all the football fans drank it on the first 2 legs of their flight). You can imagine the reaction that got. Luckily they had plenty of wine & hard liquor. I told Mary that she'd easily spot me curbside since I was the only one at the airport not wearing a football jersey. Here are the signs at baggage claim to prove that I'm not making this up ...