Just before rollover, Lisa Zack sent me a fruitcake, symbolic of the old TB2K lot. Today I had the honor of passing it on to Barefoot Mailman. I envision it being passed around to various and sundry doomers over the years.

The Hungarian and I had an absolutely wonderful time with Barefoot and his SO--one of the most compatible couples I've met in a long time. We showed them all the sights--Duke Chapel, Club Boulevard, the state boarding school for gifted science and math students, the tobacco factories and converted warehouses, Grannie's, and so on. We ended up at the Mexican joint and had a really good meal. It was a very happy visit and I really did hate to see them go but I was beginning to fade.

And BF gave me the most thoughtful and imaginative gift--a rain stick!!! It's a treasure!

Must go and take a nap--see y'all later.

-- Anonymous, September 30, 2002

Answers

WHAT!!! He didn;t give you my HUG????????

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2002

LOL, yes he did--I forgot! Sorry. It's just that the rain stick is so beautiful and sounds so glorious it completely overshadowed everything, even if there had been a hug from Mel Gibson!

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2002

It was a blast! So hilly around there our ears were popping. [now there's a picture!] LOL

We were feeling a bit knackered ourselves once we got back to New Bern. Made it by nine thirty, which wasn't bad. Seems they only do road work in the day time, except for one bridge near Goldsboro. Bright lights shining right in the driver's eyes, one way to get people to slow down, I s'pose.

It was so nice to have the Hungarian driving us around on the tour of the city. It was fun hearing all about the various sites from a local's point of view, adding in the politics involved, and sometimes even the gossip. LOL Not that they gossip of course.

On our next trip I imagine we'll run into them at Charleston. I wonder if there are any Mexican places there?

Now, who can I send this fruitcake too next?

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2002

Well, let's see. It came from Texas and it's been in North Carolina all this time. It will reside in Florida for a bit. Hmm. There's always Ohio, Massachusetts, Virginia, Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma. . . others? Be nice if we could make sure it went to as many states as possible.

I'm kinda flaked out meself. Went to sleep very early, woke up at 3 just in time to catch a homicide, which the station hadn't hear about at the time. Was up with that, then a chase ensued from a wanted felon who's been eluding them since Saturday, kinda like a Scarlet Pimpernel. He's very good, been in three or four chases since Saturday involving local, county and state, Highway Patrol chopper too. Must have been analyzing those police chases on TV! I shall just put my feet up this morning, wait for the joint stuff to take effect.

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2002

Barefoot, if you're still meandering northward, you can deliver that fruitcake here... Glad you had such a pleasant time!

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2002

If that fruitcake makes it to OH, I'm locking my doors! (:

If I get it, it's going to Deb Mc. (very evil smile)

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2002

Fruitcakes aren't permitted in Ohio...

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2002

LOL!

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2002

Good thing you are all east of the Mississippi :)

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2002

Got back from the outer banks at 1 am this morning. We went up to see Manteo, Lost Colony theatre [where I did a short stint one summer] then on to Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brother's monument. I bet they were sad to see what their invention was used for last year! We walked all the way to the top of that one. Whew! fortunately we had already gone to the bathroom cuz there ain't none up there.

After that we went south to see the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. You recall they moved that one not too long ago. We got there just as they were closing, but it was still being finessed and had a lot of construction stuff around. Then southward to the ferry to ockracoke.

That ferry was neat. I'd last ridden on one when I was like 10 years old or so. The sun went down as we were riding that to the next island, it was a 40 minute ride, and then we drove straight to the next ferry dock. Got there at a little after eight. The last ferry there to Cedar Island [the last one for the night] was at 8:30. That was a bigger one and took a little over two hours. It was fun wandering around the ship. They have a tv monitor in the lounge that showed the [windows] program they were using to navigate. [shudder~!]

We took a little nap in the car, and then drove from that landing in Cedar to home in New Bern. Couldn't find a gas station with a car wash that was open. We really wanted to get the salt off the car quickly, but today will do. Not much in the way of bug splats until we were within a mile of the house which was when I mentioned that phenomenon, so of course the bugs had to make up for lost time, right?

Today we're off to New Bern for a little more sight seeing. We'll do the Hatteras Plant thing, that is, going into their little store and buying some shirts with the logo on them. They have polo shirts now, too. Then a few stores around town, all after washing the car of course. We have to get to bed early tonight. We leave for the ocean fishing trip at 3 am the next morning.

Then it's fishing as long as we can stand it, or as long as the bait lasts, and back home. Then Friday early we leave to go back to Miami. We hope to leave about 5 am latest, so should arrive at our house by 830pm. Unless we stop somewhere for the night.

Sure would be nice if we could have done a longer visit around Raleigh/Durham. The idea of relocating came up, and that would be the area since both our employers have facilities there. Not that I want to lose all my seniority at work, though. It isn't much but it's more than some have.

-- Anonymous, October 02, 2002

Barefoot, I think highly of the Raleigh/Durham area and am giving much thought to retiring there, depending on what keeps happening with the economy and such in the next decade. I love Cols, but these winters aren't going to be good for me when I get older.

I'm just worried they'll lock me up in Cary if I move there -- Control Area for Relocated Yankees. (:

-- Anonymous, October 02, 2002

If you all are thinking of this area, choose Chapel Hill, Cary or Raleigh. DO NOT choose Durham. The demographics are changing fast. Also bear in mind that for some reason the facilities in Research Triangle Park are closing down and unemployment is high. We still check the tech page of the paper and there are few or no suitable jobs advertised. The biomed firms are now laying off. Also bear in mind that the state is in a severe budget crunch--here in Durham the real estate taxes just went up five percent and the sale tax will increase by half a percent to 7% in January. This area has a very high cost of living. And, of course, you might also want to check out Asheville!

-- Anonymous, October 02, 2002

...but...but...I thought there was a house for sale in Durham...

-- Anonymous, October 02, 2002

There are many for sale in Durham, lol! The woman across the street is interested in buying this one. We'll see how she feels after I have the deck fixed and the rest of the stuff in order.

-- Anonymous, October 02, 2002

Well, I'm not quite ready to retire, yet, and I'll be very surprised if the Triangle Area doesn't bounce back after we pass through this latest recession garbage

Ashville seems to be getting a lot of picky yuppies. I'll keep an eye on it, though.

-- Anonymous, October 02, 2002

"The woman across the street is interested in buying this one. We'll see how she feels after I have the deck fixed and the rest of the stuff in order.

yeah.....but will she still be interested if the toilet is not included in the deal?
hehe

btw....what's a "rain stick"
anything like a didgeridoo?

ps.....i don't think they allow fruitcakes here in arkansas, either
i think they passed a law right after the clintoons left (so they couldn't get back in : )

-- Anonymous, October 04, 2002

Rain stick--a 3' long, roughly 3" dia length of bamboo (?). It has seeds inside which slowly pass through a small hole inside the bamboo and make a sound like rain falling gently on a tin roof. It's got a very soothing sound and is beautifully decorated with what looks like a burned in pattern, then it's been lacquered. BF said he tried all of them at the store until he found one whose sound he thought was the best. It is. The best, I mean! Thanks again, BF.

(BF didn't know this but I have a modest assortment of foreign "ethnic" stuff--a neat mask made from a coconut husk--has an evil grin, deer head made of woven wicker, folkloric cat made from a piece of tin, several Indonesian carved and painted wooden cats, bamboo wind chime, that sort of thing, so the stick fits in just right.)

-- Anonymous, October 04, 2002

Whew~!

We be home now. Left New Bern at 10:15am. Arrived Mia 12:35am. Not bad, and that's door to door, btw. We be a bit south of Miami as it's shown on a map, mileage-wise.

We unloaded the car, checked mail a bit [found my pay stub so the rest can go in the trash -er, bill payment pile. Yeah, that's wadiment.

So, till later,

-- Anonymous, October 05, 2002

Glad to hear that you arrived home O.K. -- I always dislike the first day back -- bills, dead leaves, litter. Yuck!

-- Anonymous, October 06, 2002

Hopefully the mower dude will be by tomorrow. The lawn needs it, and the neighbors on either side just did theirs today. makes it look worse.

Just sitting around watching Star Trek tapes. We just watched Insurrection, and now we're starting First Contact.

Life is good.

-- Anonymous, October 06, 2002

"The lawn needs it, and the neighbors on either side just did theirs today. makes it look worse."

That's why I call mowing my lawn Renewing-My-Neighborhood-License.

-- Anonymous, October 07, 2002

Mine definitely needs a trim. I'm waiting for the cool front to come through. Maybe tomorrow. And maybe not, lol!

-- Anonymous, October 07, 2002

I may be "stuck" at home Wednesday afternoon. That was my excuse for not mowing it this past weekend.

-- Anonymous, October 07, 2002