TUESDAY, AUGUST 3rd...

[cklaurence]

GOOD MORNING, SWITZERLAND!

Just 9 a.m. and it's already over 90 degrees outside. I just got back from my walk, which started at 6:30--and the temp was pushing 90 then. The other night when I was leaving my dad's house at 6ish, it was still 96! The killer is that it won't let up until late October. I'm so happy that our games are pretty much all night games in August and September. If Jimmy Johnson was still here, they would all be 1 o'clock games. That was good mojo for the Phins because they were used to it. We did have an edge, but not enough of one to risk losing players to heat exhaustion. I remember what it was like in the stands--the paramedics earned their salary then. Fans were always dropping dead (just an expression), and the paras were rushing in with oxygen and cots to take them into a/c.

[cklaurence]

Oh yes--and then there were the Shula years. Games at 1 and NO fans by our players' benches. Had to be hell for them, watching the other team retire to benches that had the iced down fans blowing on them. In the Orange Bowl days, most of the seating was wooden benches (that's the fan-seating I am referring to), so we were not only hot, but uncomfortable too. Ah, but we did love our OB--that was back in our glory years! Time for us to recapture some of the joy. In my heart, I am hoping big-time that the Tuna can make it happen...

I just realized... I should be putting this stuff in "The Teal Zone." I need to remember that when my thoughts and words turn to my Dolphins, I need to be visiting the page I created for them .

[Emeritus]

Same here, ck. I don't enjoy the heat and humidity, but I can endure it by being careful. I'll be happy if I can go a year without a hurricane evacuation. When Rita came the roads were jammed and traffic stalled and the temperature was 101 degrees. It took a day and a half to get where I was going and I was aware that the hurricane was moving faster than the traffic.

[cklaurence]

Yes, they sure do beat us up with the hurricane panic, don't they? We just sit tight in Laurence Manor--so far we haven't been forced to evacuate, just told "it could kill you." Our home is old and built incredibly well. (((((knocking on wood here!))))) We are, however, surrounded by water: a couple of blocks from the ocean on one side and Biscayne Bay on the other1 They just make us crazy with the news reports geared to panic anyone watching/listening, and the forecasts putting everything in the middle of our living room .

I have an appointment at 11, so I need to start getting ready. I have a few things to do, but I'll probably be around here a good part of the day. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around!

[Emeritus]

I always evacuate, because I've returned and seen the damage. After Ike, it took eight months to haul off the downed trees and there was wasn't a privacy fence standing in town. I know people who stayed for one or another of the hurricanes and they regretted it. There was no electricity, no water, no sewer service. They couldn't go anywhere because all of the streets were blocked with debris. The evacuations are no fun, but I go anyway.

[cklaurence]

We have the same problems Em. When the kids were little, I used to go to my Aunt's, but the kids are grown and mostly gone away and Aunt Pearl is long time dead and buried, so I figure I'll just stick it out with Peter.... er, that's till the a/c goes--then I await the end of the storm and find my way to a hotel with a generator... while Peter takes care of clean-up...

[Emeritus]

LOL, half of the people that I know own generators, stacks of five-gallon water jugs and such. I just go some place that I like anyway and try to entertain myself there until all services are restored. During Ike I toured the Hill Country wineries, which I wouldn't mind doing again. The last two evacuations were mandatory and they wouldn't let anybody back into the area until things were secure. One my way home I passed hundreds of line trucks and they filled all of the Wal-Mart parking lots.

[cklaurence]

Walmart... The next best thing to "Big Brother." That place just scares the bajeezes out of me!

[TryThinking]

Walmart... The next best thing to "Big Brother." That place just scares the bajeezes out of me!

The greeters scare me.....

[Emeritus]

I don't go to stores that have parking lots bigger than a family farm. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart prospers because they have figured out that Americans will put price above any other considerations.

[TryThinking]

I don't do WalMart, but Costco gets a fair share of my money...

[cklaurence]

And according to the facts, it looks like they do put price first, above any and all things. I can't bring myself to go near the parking lots, but I've passed them and I am appalled by how full they are. It works on me much like BP gas stations, although they make me even angrier. I can't go around trying to give this country a conscience...

[cklaurence]

There you go again, Try. We're a Costco family here. I do so love their Jelly Beans, yummy yum yum yum yum!

[Emeritus]

Did you see Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Price?

[maineiacgirl]

There you go again, Try. We're a Costco family here. I do so love their Jelly Beans, yummy yum yum yum yum!

They have Jelly Bellies MY FAVORITE! mmmmmmmmmmmm

We can't go to Costco without dumping a few hundred dollars.
I stay as far away from Walmart as I can.

Mostly try to shop local whenever I can. It's becoming harder every day for small business owners to keep their business. We have a national landscape company trying to buy Shadow out and steal his customers...... Greedy bastards can't just let little guys enjoy their own little piece of pie.

[maineiacgirl]

OH!
And the heat......... UGH!!!!!!!!!
NOT a good summer to be in my condition. I barely leave the house these days ....just too darn hot to be without central air for a minute.

[TryThinking]

Did you see Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Price?

Yes and over 400 other documentaries, one of my favorite sources of information.
If others have not yet seen it, they can here --> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3836296181471292925#

[TryThinking]

There you go again, Try. We're a Costco family here. I do so love their Jelly Beans, yummy yum yum yum yum!

Many things I love there if they can be consumed before expiration time... sometimes you have to buy in the volume quantity and just need to be sure that you can use it all before it expires... otherwise it no longer becomes a deal!

There are many things I like at Whole Foods (we call it Whole Paycheck) but you have to pay the premium for the natural/organic items.
My must have item from there is Raspberry Nectar vinaigrette dressing made by "Cindys" and it's in the refrigerated section. Only place I've been able to get it unfortunately.

[Emeritus]

Unhappily, my diet limits what I'm able to eat. I hate it, because Cajun food is one of my passions. I mostly stick to the bland pap that my doctor recommends (since I pay for his advice I usually follow it), but once or twice a week I decide that longevity isn't everything and I have some gumbo or jambalaya.

[dredwak]

my sis has 4 diets...heart...renal...diabetes...and i forget the other one...she has them in a 3 ring notebook...all of the diets are not compatible...its a head scratcher trying to feed her...