Day2

I walked for just under an hour on the beach this morning. The tides are all wrong for shelling just now, so there wasn't a lot to distract me. It was awesome!

Shelling is abyssmal - the tides and moon are all wrong, but it should improve by the end of the week. It's what I call "Kibbles-n-Bits" shelling - lots of bits and pieces, everything that is whole is very small, and there is a severe shortage of gastropods - most of the kibbles are small arks, venus rays, or cockles.

Adding insult to injury is the red seaweed/kelp - some have referred to it as brown, but if you wear polarized lenses, it's definitely red. There are two basic lines of Kibbles-n-Bits - the "cruncher line", which people insist on walking upon even though there is an aisle of bare sand right above it, and the "nanny line" - so called because the kelp hovers like a nanny over it and won't let you see things that you just KNOW are there. The nanny line diminishes as you make your way around the lighthouse point toward the bay, or at least it did yesterday. There's still not much in the way of kibbles, though - just mostly the bits.

Today I am working in the hotel. The Holiday Inn is on Middle Gulf Drive, at the foot of Donax. It is very nicely landscaped, with what looks like new-ish pavers instead of asphalt/blacktop to drive on - walking paths are made of pavers, too.

The staff here are really friendly, especially Bruce in the tiki bar down by the pool. The smell of jasmine down there is overwhelmingly intoxicating, and so are these particular drinks they serve called "Gilligan's Island" - coconut rum, blue Curacao, and pineapple juice served on the rocks - mmmmmm!

The internet connection is once again on the bed stand, clear across the room from the desk - which is useless anyway, because there is no power cord anywhere near it. It does reach the little round breakfast table - which is directly in front of the air conditioning. I tell ya, I can't win!

Well, that's all for today - gotta go make it look like I am working.

After I logged off work, I took off for the lighthouse beach. Still just kibbles n bits there, with The Nanny still hovering. The Nanny starts to disappear as you approach the pier, and for the first time in my life, I found more on the bay side of the pier than on the Gulf-ish side. Still only kibbles, though. Out of what is not bits, the only things I like and will pick up are cockles, but I did find ONE very tiny mac-n-cheese down there.

I was thinking a rake might work to move The Nanny out of the way. She's entirely too protective!

I will select a mover tomorrow, at which point I will know when I am moving in. I'm shooting to load the truck circa May 9th, drive to D.C., and take the auto train to Sanford, Florida. Bro, SIL, and Nieceling will be in Orlando at that time, and Sanford is only 1/2 hour from there. I will stay overnight in their hotel probably one night (securing ear plugs for Bro and Breathe Right strips for myself beforehand) and then drive to Lehigh to meet the furniture.