Let's Get Froggy! A Beachy MMP.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

(I almost forgot, too, FCM.)

We arrived in Daytona Beach around 3:00 pm on Saturday, Sept 1, after starting at 7:40 am in Houston, and a layover in Atlanta of 3 hours. We were still energized! A slight damper was the fact that it was raining. We stopped briefly at Mr Rebo’s sister’s, to pick up a cooler, a beach umbrella, and a couple of lawn chairs. Onward to the store to pick up ice and beer and supplies, then we checked into our hotel. Very low budget, but we had stayed there before and knew what to expect. It was ok, but it seems Mr Rebo forgot to request a king size bed, so we had two doubles!

We went out to dinner at the Oyster Pub, which was within walking distance. Then we headed down to the Ocean Deck, a bar and grill about a mile and a half down the beach. We walked down the beach, and hung out listening to music and hoisting a few. Around 9:15 we went outside to watch the fireworks display. The Fourth of July fireworks had been rained out, and this was their makeup date! Woo-hoo! They were great! (Sorry no pictures, we forgot the camera! :smack: ) Then we grabbed a cab to take us back to the hotel, and another to take us down to Froggy’s Pub, my most favorite bar in the world. Turns out they were having a street festival, and all the streets were blocked off and street vendors were everywhere! Live bands everywhere, too. What a blast! It felt like, with the fireworks and all, that we were being welcomed personally to Daytona. :smiley:

Sunday morning and our first sunrise. This was taken from our balcony. Waterfront room, baby! So purty.

So we get it together, and head on down to Froggy’s for breakfast. That’s our favorite bartender, Diane. She’s the best, and makes the best Bloody Marys in the world! If you’re ever down there, tell her Tom and Robin said hi!

The order of the days has blurred by this time, but I think on Sunday afternoon we went fishing on the Main Street Pier. We only caught some seaweed, however. And the damn birds stole our bait!

We spent Labor Day at Mr Rebo’s sister’s house, with the nephews. (the tall one is Mr Rebo!) We ate ribeyes and my contribution was sautéed portabella mushrooms. Yum!

Tuesday was the first sunny day. We spent it at the beach. We fed the birds. What a mistake! They were everywhere, and would not go away!

The next day, we headed down to visit the huge Harley dealership – the largest in the world, I’m told. Here are a couple of their display bikes. We bought a few t-shirts, and a shot glass for my collection.

Thursday we headed down to Alexander Spring. We were snorkeling, (never mind the size of my butt – it’s an optical illusion, I swear!), when a guy on shore hollers to us that a ten foot alligator was swimming near us! :eek: We got out pretty quickly, and watched him for a while. Finally, he went back around to the right to go sun, and we headed out to the spring source again. It was beautiful! A deep white limestone cave, with fish swimming and aquatic plants. I was saying, “Oh my God” into my snorkel, and Mr Rebo thought it was the gator making noises! Heh.

Thursday night was dinner at Park’s. This was theview of the river (the Intracoastal waterway) across the street. Beautiful!

Friday included shopping on Beach Street. I loved the architecture. Oh yeah, we can’t forget the Drive-In Church! Just like a drive-in movie.

Ok, the rest of the pictures are of bars. This is Rowzie’s. This is the Boot Hill Saloon. Notice the bras hanging from the ceiling! Babe’s Blue Room. This is the Main Street Station. It’s more of an icehouse, really. And this is my beloved Froggy’s. Froggy’s has a tradition of wrapping a dollar bill around a quarter and a thumbtack, and throwing it up and pinning it to the ceiling. This girl tried about 30 times, and finally succeeded! I love this sign. Oh, and did I mention the Bloody Mary’s? :smiley:

And that’s what I did on my summer vacation. :smiley:

2

W00T! I’m in first! Looks like you had fun, except for the gator. Maybe you should have offered him a Bloody Mary?

3

Great OP, Rebo, looks like you had lots of fun. It’s good to put faces to names too.

I’m at work, just contemplating another cup of tea now. Tin Knickers has been her usual sympathetic self, I can carry on doing non-computer-based jobs when I feel the need to get away from the brightness of the screen, provided I divert the phone (which hardly ever rings) to whichever office I’m in. It’s great to be such a valued employee, right?

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Lots of links! Can’t sleep… Links will eat me…

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Well, it looks like you had a nice time. This is why I need to become independently wealthy. I need to write MMPs from all over the globe at around noon, when I wake up from a night of carousing.

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Hi!

Nothing to say (well, except “nice OP!” of course) – but I might as well say it and get auto-subscribed than go through the whole Thread Tools business…

Morning, all! (Or good afternoon, if you’re anywhere (relatively) near me)

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Howdy all - nothing to add at this point. Looks (and sounds) like you had a nice vacation, Rebo. I was starting to worry that we would end up with another substitute MMP when I couldn’t find the new MMP by 1100GMT!

Off to feed HRH her lunch. More later!

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It’s popcorn and lawn chair time, Mumpers, for this is the long and drawn out tale of How Bob Crashed The Ambulance.

Saturday dawned bright and early. VWife and I had lots on the plate for the day. She had a shopping safari planned to buy stuff for a quilt she’s making and wants to finish while she’s in rehab; I was on the schedule to do the inspections on the fire trucks; and together, she had one last doctor’s appointment with the GP for her blessing on the knee job, and we had to visit the dog sitter to see how the furry ones got along. GP reluctantly blessed the 2 at once plan, BTW. Busy day.

Something very cool happened that I was not a part of, but I wish I was. My neighbor Fred, the old guy across the road, got a room makeover courtesy of one of the local churches. He’s old and poor, and his house has been neglected because he can’t do the work. The church came in, took him and his wife to Suffolk for breakfast, hauled away his car to fix it, emptied the living room of furniture, and proceeded to paint the walls, lay new carpet, and put in threshold tile. Then they brought in lightly used furniture to replace what he had. The living room looks real nice. My contribution was that I told them on my own that they could park in my yard so the vehicles were not in the road.

Saturday night, we dragged ourselves to bed, worn out. About 2300, a page went out for a cardiac arrest at the Mayberry Nursing home. Unlike me, I rolled over and went back to sleep because people answered that one right away; usually with CPR calls, I go regardless. I found out later the old guy flat lined before anyone got there. 

About a half hour after that page came another for a second crew. That got me out of bed, because the first one had not cleared. This one was for an old guy who fell and had a bleeding head injury, and it was close to home, but not close enough to consider him a neighbor. I called in, dressed and went.

While I was driving, the dispatcher came back and said deputies were on the way, because the patient was being combative. :dubious: When I arrived, I got out of my car, and promptly locked my keys inside :smack:

Well, the patient was an old guy, and he was beyond drunk. He was trying to fight his young adult son, and the son was doing his best to stay out of the way but also keep dad from hurting himself. Dad had a scalp wound and several similar wounds on his arm, which we found out were from fighting with the kitchen table :rolleyes: Two deputies were there, as well as my buddy Eddie. Eddie and I patched the old guy up, and spent half an hour there trying to settle this mean drunk down so we could either transport him, or get a refusal. It ended after we talked him into sitting in a recliner, where he passed out. The son, who by this time was nominated for sainthood, signed a refusal form, and we left.

I have lots of fun with the adage, “God made firemen so cops could have heroes”, but after watching Rick and Brandon talk this guy down, I might take that back. I got home around 0030, and went to sleep.

About 0600, the dogs got me up for the morning nature calls, so I stumbled out of bed and walked them. I came back in and laid back down while I contemplated whether or not I was going to go get churchified, because it was just about time to start if I did. You guessed it, here came another rescue page, for a young guy who was unresponsive, and possible heart attack or stroke.

“So much for going to church…” I said to VWife, and I went to get the ambulance. I was joined by Claude, and my buddy Eddie and his wife Sue, who I’ve been trying to get to adopt me as her grandson, were going to meet us at the scene.

Claude and I were about a half mile from the scene, and we met Sue and Eddie at an intersection. I led the way in. We were looking at the mailboxen for the number, and I saw the proper one too late to make it into the driveway. I hit the brakes, and there was a BANG from the back end. At first, I thought the stretcher got loose and rolled, but I realized what it was. Sue ran into me.

I got out to look, and the step bumper was torn off on one side and pushed underneath. The ambulance was drivable, and we could transport, but it was not call worthy once that one was done. Eddie yelled to me, “Get to the patient and worry about this later!”, so I grabbed the bag and sprinted to the door.

Our unresponsive patient was conscious, but very confused. I did a quick neuro exam (fine), took his BP (good), and then I looked at his eyes. They were dilated, equal, and unresponsive. Hmmm. We found out soon enough that he was unresponsive after a cocaine high, and was coming out of it. Another no transport.

Sue, who has the best people skills of the four of us, talked to the patient and wife while us three guys looked at the unit at length, and Sue’s car. The step bumper sheared off the mounting bolts on one side, with one bolt hole torn. The other mounting flange was intact, but bent. The whole bumper was mildly warped. Sue’s car had a hole punched in the plastic part of the bumper from a corner at the fold up step. All in all, an easy fix, but expensive if we had to buy a new bumper.

The highway patrol came to take the report, and he was someone the other three knew well. He said he liked Sue’s story of me backing in to her over the real one, and she was most upset because she knew she’d be razzed forever when this story got out to the squad. Unfortunately, she got a ticket for being careless, but we think we can beat it because we were all responding to a call. I’ll certainly back her to the judge and prosecutor.

We got back to the station and tried to fix the bumper, but couldn’t pull it in to place to rebolt it. I don’t know where they took it, but Sue found someone with the right equipment on a Sunday morning, and I parted ways with them all when they took it to be fixed. Around 1300, I heard over the radio that the ambulance was back in service, so it must have been a happy ending with the metal shop.

I spent the rest of the day at home being domestic, and heard no more pages up to the time I left for work today.

9

Bob, you’re my hero.

Rebo, it sounds (and looks) like you had a great time. Glad you enjoyed the weekend.
Need tea, then off to laundrify. Maybe tea and cereal. That would be unfortunately rare foresight that woluld prevent me from starving at the laundromat, the way I usually do.

10

How did you get back into your car–do you carry extra keys? (see? I do pay attention when I read).
Rebo–it sounds like a fantastic time. I love snorkeling, but I try to leave the gators alone. Someday read Bill Bryson’s book on Australia*, where he talks all about the salt water crocodile. Yikes!
I am off today to join a girlfriend for coffee. I got two pages done on that CDP draft last night and then I got squirrely. You can only write policy for so long. I had to make up a community and its demographics–that was the best thing about the assignment.

*unless you’ve already read it, of course.

11

Good Monday morning, all. Eggsellent description of Daytona, rebo! Glad you had a good time (and pretty good weather if memory serves me right). Finally cooling down a tad this week. Fall is my favorite season in Florida. Why, yes, we do TOO have seasons.

On the whole, my weekend was pretty much a relaxing one. Got chores done and did some shopping for some new duds. Made stuffed peppers on Saturday night that were really nummers, and a roast chicky and smashed N.O.T.s last night.

Glad to see that the bear was just AWOL.

bobbio, good on vwife for opting to do both knees. Hope you got caught up on your sleep. And I am wondering about the keys, too.

Off to earn my paycheck.

Tupug

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Brandon the Deputy had a SlimJim, and I left my window cracked enough that he could catch the manual unlock thingy…

I forgot my PSA: If you’re an alcoholic or drug user, get yourself clean. I hate having to clean up after you.

13

Right.

:Throws out massive stash of cocaine. Wait. That was powdered sugar. I need it for baking!:

I did mean the bit about you being my hero. I am impressed and grateful for what you do, car-key-locking and all. You routinely haul yourself out of bed to go deal with horrible situations. Thank you.

I think the baby is hiccuping.

What do I want for my birthday? Mr. Lissar wants me to produce an answer. It’s in three weeks. I think. I guess he’s doing long-range planning. my standard answer of a Manul cat hasn’t gotten me one yet. I’m sure they’re good with small children!

14

Morning. Caffeinated, breakfasted (slab o’ banana bread) and workin’ on a Monday once again. I feel surprisingly rested this morning, which is about as unusual as it gets not just because it’s Monday, but because I was up by 7:30am on Saturday (totally unusual, but I had to pick up the laptop) and by 10am on Sunday. Sunday is relatively usual as I don’t like to sleep in the day before I have to go back to work, lest I find myself unable to sleep at a proper time that night. Saturday though, I’m never up that early. That is usually my Work Week Recovery Day, wherein I sleep ‘til the crack o’ noon. Or 11, or whatever, but definitely longer than I normally sleep.

Work is slow this morning though. I’ve taken all of two calls in the last hour and a half. Mondays are a crap shoot though. It’s Tuesdays and Thursdays when we tend to earn our paycheques.

Rebo - Great OP! Y’know, Florida gets a bad rap (and not just for its hurricanes), but it looks like a great place to spend a week or two. Great pictures, too. The beach pics were great, but for some reason I always love pics of the city/town.

BBBobbio - Well, at least you didn’t get into an accident while there was a patient inside! Sounds like an eventful weekend though, but at least it wasn’t wasted. :slight_smile:

'Tis time to return to work.

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Thanks, but it was 10 days! Can’t fit that much drinkin’ into one little weekend… :smiley:

BBBobbio - what a wild night! I’m glad no one got hurt in the fender bender.

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May I suggest a gift certificate for a day of pampering at a spa after the baby is born? You know, a massage, a pedicure, whatnot. You will really enjoy a little time off after about a month.

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Morning, all. I’m up and caffeinating. It’s another heavenly cool morning. I could definitely get used to weather like this!

Fun vacation, Rebo! And no, your ass didn’t look big. But am I the only one who couldn’t find the gator in that photo? :frowning: I looked and looked but didn’t see him anywhere. Could someone with better eyes than me tell me where to look?

I don’t know how you do it, BBBobbio. Except I’m glad you do! And I don’t see how the cop could give Sue a ticket when you guys were on a call. Sheesh. Way to penalize people doing a tough job for nothing but the rewards of service. :rolleyes:

I’ve got another thrilling and exciting day of work in front of me, so I’d better finish caffeinating and get back to it. O frabjous day.

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Lisslar–sweetie. It’s time we had the Mother talk. You must get rid of all that stuff: the whip, the cocaine, the bungee sex chair, the blow up dolls, the crack pipe, the anal bleach. Out with all of it! We’ll be checking in on you to make sure you have purged your place of all deviance.

That cat looks like it wants to eat the photographer! :eek:

I’m wasting time. But I’m enjoying the wasting!
Yay for Slim Jims and people who know how to use them.
Feel achey and cold this morning–start of a head cold (teeth hurt-I know it’s my sinuses). Bah-away with you, cold virus! You shall not pass!

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Morning all. Sounds like a great trip, Rebo! Great pix too.

That’s a bit more exciting than I like in my weekend, bobbio! I really appreciate that there are people like you who are willing to do that. Sorry about the ambulance accident though!

Good weekend here. A friend of KeithT’s from college came up for the weekend, and we went to the zoo on Saturday. She studied zoology in college so she knew all kinds of stuff about the animals that we didn’t know. It was a lot of fun, and this was the first time I’d gotten to spend some time with her and get to know her a bit, and I really enjoyed hanging out with her. So far KeithT and I each like the other’s friends, which is really good!

I (unintentionally) tortured our poor hamster on Saturday. KeithT’s friend said she’s had rats before that liked honey and asked if we’d ever given Thor (the hamster) honey. We hadn’t so I put some on my finger to let him lick off. He got all excited as I was sticking my finger into the cage and started dancing around on his hind legs. Because of that I couldn’t get my finger into a horizontal position, and a big drop of honey went SPLAT right onto Thor’s face. He FREAKED. He couldn’t get it off, and it was sticky, and he thought we were trying to kill him. You could practically hear him going “Get it off. Get it off! GET IT OFF!!” as he ran in circles, rolled around, and madly swiped at his nose. All while we were laughing our heads off. It’s a good thing that it was the hamster and not the cat, because the injury to the cat’s dignity would have been much worse. As it was, he cleaned himself up within a couple minutes and was none the worse for the wear. But it was a bad couple minutes for an innocent little hamster. I don’t think I’ll be trying to give him honey again for a while.

Poor KeithT’s got a bad back right now and is in a lot of pain. He went to the chiropractor on Friday and has an appt for tomorrow, but right now he’s suffering. Having been through the same thing - same muscle even - a couple months ago, I know what it’s like: not fun at all. :frowning:

Did we ever find out what happened to swampy last week? I didn’t have a chance to read over the weekend.

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He was afflicted with overtimitis.