It's 29 degrees in Ocala Florida right now... Bizarre and wonderful - if only we could balance that out with the 95 degrees it will be in a few months.
I might actually need the ice scraper my Mom sent me from Ohio!
Why is it that I can happily turn the air conditioner down to 70 for sleeping in the summer, but turn the heater up to 73 in the winter?
I think it's the heat that leaches in or out from the windows that makes the difference.
Showing posts with label Ocala. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ocala. Show all posts
Monday, December 06, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Cute Lil Critter
I don't have all that much interaction with the local wildlife - I try to take a hands-off approach. Some of you might remember the trunk frog from about a year ago.
Today there was a super cute little lizard on my car (I want to say he's a gecko, but that's probably incorrect). We were worried about driving with him on the car and tried to shoo him, but he simply hid under the hood.
We ran our errand and came back, and he rode with us the whole way. Big adventure for a little fella!
Today there was a super cute little lizard on my car (I want to say he's a gecko, but that's probably incorrect). We were worried about driving with him on the car and tried to shoo him, but he simply hid under the hood.
We ran our errand and came back, and he rode with us the whole way. Big adventure for a little fella!
Thursday, August 05, 2010
A Little Local Color
On an early-morning errand today, I was in a picture-taking mood.
When I ran my errand last week, this was a cute, blue mid-90's Toyota. Now it's scrap. The scorched speed limit sign is a nice touch (Sometimes I feel as if in my world, there is a prop-master prepping my sets).
It's creepy to see charred skeletons like this - makes me think of a Mad Max type world I hope we never see.
Yeah. Ocala Florida is 'The Horse Capital of the World'. All of the horse-related advertising makes a guy feel inadequate at times.
This is a horse-training track, with a nifty observation tower.
When I ran my errand last week, this was a cute, blue mid-90's Toyota. Now it's scrap. The scorched speed limit sign is a nice touch (Sometimes I feel as if in my world, there is a prop-master prepping my sets).
It's creepy to see charred skeletons like this - makes me think of a Mad Max type world I hope we never see.
Yeah. Ocala Florida is 'The Horse Capital of the World'. All of the horse-related advertising makes a guy feel inadequate at times.
This is a horse-training track, with a nifty observation tower.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Monday, February 08, 2010
They named it J-Lo!
Last night my sister Michelle (who lives in Cleveland) sent me the following news story.
This news takes place in my local area of Ocala, Florida and is about a chicken with two rear ends.
Cindy and I hadn’t even read the story yet, and we began discussing it based on the link text. Being the kind-hearted gal she is, Cindy felt sorry for the chicken. Being the ever-hungry devourer of egg and fowl that I am (they call me El Voraz Devorador de Pollo), I wondered if this hexed hen could lay twice the normal number of succulent eggs.
Since the chicken appears to be the result of a natural mutation, I don’t feel any special pangs of sympathy for the critter – it’s not as if it’s the unfortunate result of a diabolical gene-splicing experiment gone wrong.
If this hen and others like it could be bred with similar roosters, we might end up with super egg-layers within a few short delicious generations.
After reading the story, we discovered the chicken does not lay two eggs at the same time (which apparently is better for the chicken, since twice the eggs would mean a calcium deficiency – but could we not give the chicken supplements?).
Raising half the number of chickens means fewer to care for while maintaining the same egg production - this should equal more resources for the chickens, and hopefully better conditions, more elbow room (wing room?) in the pens, and etc.
Thoughts?
This news takes place in my local area of Ocala, Florida and is about a chicken with two rear ends.
Cindy and I hadn’t even read the story yet, and we began discussing it based on the link text. Being the kind-hearted gal she is, Cindy felt sorry for the chicken. Being the ever-hungry devourer of egg and fowl that I am (they call me El Voraz Devorador de Pollo), I wondered if this hexed hen could lay twice the normal number of succulent eggs.
Since the chicken appears to be the result of a natural mutation, I don’t feel any special pangs of sympathy for the critter – it’s not as if it’s the unfortunate result of a diabolical gene-splicing experiment gone wrong.
If this hen and others like it could be bred with similar roosters, we might end up with super egg-layers within a few short delicious generations.
After reading the story, we discovered the chicken does not lay two eggs at the same time (which apparently is better for the chicken, since twice the eggs would mean a calcium deficiency – but could we not give the chicken supplements?).
Raising half the number of chickens means fewer to care for while maintaining the same egg production - this should equal more resources for the chickens, and hopefully better conditions, more elbow room (wing room?) in the pens, and etc.
Thoughts?
Sunday, January 17, 2010
75/25 Hope & Fear
This is going to be an interesting year. We're feeling 'done' with Florida and talking about applying for jobs nationwide, finding something worth moving for, and making a move.
Personally, I'm thinking Seattle, but any city on the west coast would make me happy. The idea of going back to Los Angeles is a soothing one, but wouldn't it be more interesting to move somewhere new?
But why not go with what you know? I had good fortune in Los Angeles - I met Cindy, we went from no car, crummy jobs, and a small studio apartment in a questionable neighborhood to good jobs, two cars, and a nice apartment in a great area. (Some might say probably correctly that all that good stuff was thanks to Cindy, not Los Angeles.)
Still, We've done CA and it would be fun to shake things up a bit. I lived in Ft. Lewis, Washington as a kid and it's a beautiful area with great weather. Seattle is the most bike-friendly city in the US - I'm picturing a cute little downtown apartment that allows me to bike to work.
With all the software companies in the Seattle area and my experience with software, jobs for me will be a lot more plentiful than in Ocala Florida, 'Horse Capital of the World'. Jobs for Cindy will be more plentiful too - with all that rain, the culture is dominated by coffee and books.
It's exciting and a little scary to think our lives might be thoroughly juggled in the near future.
Personally, I'm thinking Seattle, but any city on the west coast would make me happy. The idea of going back to Los Angeles is a soothing one, but wouldn't it be more interesting to move somewhere new?
But why not go with what you know? I had good fortune in Los Angeles - I met Cindy, we went from no car, crummy jobs, and a small studio apartment in a questionable neighborhood to good jobs, two cars, and a nice apartment in a great area. (Some might say probably correctly that all that good stuff was thanks to Cindy, not Los Angeles.)
Still, We've done CA and it would be fun to shake things up a bit. I lived in Ft. Lewis, Washington as a kid and it's a beautiful area with great weather. Seattle is the most bike-friendly city in the US - I'm picturing a cute little downtown apartment that allows me to bike to work.
With all the software companies in the Seattle area and my experience with software, jobs for me will be a lot more plentiful than in Ocala Florida, 'Horse Capital of the World'. Jobs for Cindy will be more plentiful too - with all that rain, the culture is dominated by coffee and books.
It's exciting and a little scary to think our lives might be thoroughly juggled in the near future.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
No, Thank You
I would not shop here.
Sadly, I'll bet the local restaurants we dine in...
Do shop here.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Blurred Buggy
You can't quite tell - but that's an orange hourglass on a big scary spider, a Brown Widow, which has made our kitchen window her home.I'm sure my Australian readers, dealing as they do with a myriad of poisonous critters on a daily basis ("Oh dear. Poison scorpions in the breakfast cereal again - ah well, they are crunchy and full of protein, after all.") will chuckle at the idea, but Cindy is a bit rattled at the arrival of this uninvited guest, and has made several complaints to the office. They have politely ignored her.
I've offered to take care of the little critter, but she'll hear nothing of it. She's named her Fred(rica) and almost seems to enjoy keeping a daily eye on Fred - at least this way she knows where she is. Until of course, Fred has thousands of babies...
Saturday, July 08, 2006
When it was still innocent and pure
We took some pics of the apartment before we started moving stuff in. The whole place is a huge chaotic mess of boxes right now.
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This is a view from the living room to the kitchen and dining room. Why oh why the kitchen pass-through is such a source of excitement, I have no idea.
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Maybe if we actually did the whole 'Entertain' thing you hear about constantly on HGTV.."Like, ohmygod, that'll be great for when we entertain!"..it would matter, but we're too antisocial.
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This is a view from the living room to the kitchen and dining room. Why oh why the kitchen pass-through is such a source of excitement, I have no idea.
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Maybe if we actually did the whole 'Entertain' thing you hear about constantly on HGTV.."Like, ohmygod, that'll be great for when we entertain!"..it would matter, but we're too antisocial.
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Thursday, July 06, 2006
Judge Not, and all that there stuff
I was searching online for the closest gym to the new apartment - we live near a commercial area and I hoped I might even be able to walk just a few blocks to a gym.
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My search came up with this. I'm not making this up, it's real.
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My search came up with this. I'm not making this up, it's real.
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.I don't know that I would be comfortable there with my cheap, unblessed bottle of tap water...
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
We've Moved!
The move is finally over! We were sad to leave our lovely apartment complex in Miami, but the new apartment in Ocala is also very pretty and allows us a lot more space - who doesn't love that?
Here's a quote from Wikipedia about Ocala:
"The city has a total area of 100.1 km² (38.6 mi²), all land. The surrounding farms are famous for their thoroughbred horses, in terrain similar to Kentucky bluegrass. Ocala is also known for nearby Silver Springs, Florida, site of one of the largest artesian spring formations in the world and one of the earliest tourist attractions in Florida."
Doesn't that just scream high-tech? I should have no trouble getting a computer job. Or maybe diagnosing horse diseases. Perhaps from a horse-disease database? Wait a minute.....I don't know anything about horses!..I've been practicing "Would you like fries with that?" in front of a mirror, and I think I have it perfect - just the right amount of bitterness tinged with seething apathy.
Here's a pic of the stairs leading to our new apartment. All of the angles and measurements are just a bit off - such as in this picture, where the window is not centered. The whole thing has a kind of Beetlejuice feel.
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Here's a quote from Wikipedia about Ocala:
"The city has a total area of 100.1 km² (38.6 mi²), all land. The surrounding farms are famous for their thoroughbred horses, in terrain similar to Kentucky bluegrass. Ocala is also known for nearby Silver Springs, Florida, site of one of the largest artesian spring formations in the world and one of the earliest tourist attractions in Florida."
Doesn't that just scream high-tech? I should have no trouble getting a computer job. Or maybe diagnosing horse diseases. Perhaps from a horse-disease database? Wait a minute.....I don't know anything about horses!..I've been practicing "Would you like fries with that?" in front of a mirror, and I think I have it perfect - just the right amount of bitterness tinged with seething apathy.
Here's a pic of the stairs leading to our new apartment. All of the angles and measurements are just a bit off - such as in this picture, where the window is not centered. The whole thing has a kind of Beetlejuice feel.
.
Monday, June 05, 2006
More candles than cake
Since we have to move again very soon, we went on an expedition this weekend to scout the area - near Ocala Florida. (From the Ocala Wikipedia entry - The surrounding farms are famous for their thoroughbred horses, in terrain similar to Kentucky bluegrass. Ocala is also known for nearby Silver Springs, Florida, site of one of the largest artesian spring formations in the world and one of the earliest tourist attractions in Florida).
The area where we'll be moving is very very cute and charming - a large retirement community. The little 'main street' (actually an outdoor shopping center) looks like something Disney might make, and maybe they did - it is Florida after all. All these cheerful old folks were zipping around in golf carts - there were golf carts everywhere, and there were even parking lots just for the golf carts.
There many worse places to live - hey, I'll bet the hospitals are top notch. I might have to put my name on the waiting list for one of these pimped out rides.
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