day #1 and 2 - 2016!!!

Is this year #13? or #14? I don't know.  It has been quite a few!

Wildness at MCO, waiting for the shuttle away from the terminal there was a monster mass of people like I've never seen in over 20 flights.  Then I quickly saw why.

One of the two was working and about 200 people were fighting for it.  I hope they get that fixed soon.  The flyer kind of makes it look like they are actually upgrading perhaps to a newer, better train.  Though like most things, it seemed like the old one was good enough for me.

I was trying to demonstrate that the luggage tag was really strong and would not rip.  I tried to show this by seeing if I could lift the luggage by the tag.  But doing it with my left hand while sitting is not very easy.  Maybe my sleeping Brazillian friend could have done it?

Arrived late, but it was worth it, tickets were cheap.  Got in about 815pm and immediately had some IPAs and grub down at the bar and blew nearly $90 in about 30 min.  Ouch.

Today went down to Publix and bought a shit ton of groceries.  Made an awesome sandwich with chicken breast I smashed with a sauce pan, kale, cheese, tomato, bacon.  All on toast, then cooked in the pan, patty melt style (which reminds me, definately need to make patty melts this week).

Went for a beer run as the bar is so damn expensive.  Went to CVS first to try and snag a 12 pack of Stella.  Knew it would be expensive, grabbed Jen's CVS card thinking that would help.  But no sale and the wildest price I've ever seen!

Figured there was no way that it would be that expensive everywhere, so I went another two miles down to I-Drive Liquors which I have seen from the bus so many times but never went in.  Things were not much better down there.

So I scooped that plus a 6 pack of a new CCB brew for a total of about $40 (for 18 beers).  Ouch yet again.

So already done about 8 miles between those two runs today.  No problems with the bike, installed my new 2-piece stem that I've been holding for months, just got done retaping the handlebars.  I have some spare brake pads I'd like to put on but I assumed they used a hex key and they have a nut so I need an adjustable wrench which I do not have.  The old pads aren't that beat, I don't NEED to change them but I'd sure like to.  Going to see if I can get maintenance to borrow me a wrench for 5 minutes - the new pads do use a hex key.

Bike Ride Completed

All told was gone over 6 hours. Just got back, feel like I got worked over with pipes and bats. Exhausting day but fun. Took tons of videos, editing now, here are some pics for now.

Bike Rental

I had been planning for a while to rent a bike but I was unclear...why. I considered renting one for the whole week, so I always had it at my disposal. I considered renting it for a couple days (to save money) and lately I had been thinking about getting it for a specific purpose and when I'm done bringing it right back.

I had a rough plan to visit downtown and ride up there for karaoke, general intoxication and maybe a decent place for dinner. But I am so far southwest of downtown that it would be nearly a 50 mile round trip (I'd stay the night out there in a hotel and break it into two days).

Once I decided I had no reason to go downtown (karaoke had been the main influencer) I looked at other options. I already knew that Evolve Cycles in Celebration was to be the place to rent, it is about 8 miles away but the cheapest and closest. So I looked at what there is to do in Celebration...not much. Then I started looking at nearby cities. I looked into any beer related locations (breweries/brewpubs) then remembered, oh yeah, I've already dominated central Florida's (and other regions as well) beer scene.

The only nearby city I could find that was neither too close nor too far was Kissimmee. So I relegated myself to a meal being the 'event' for traveling to. I found a couple places but distance is an issue. I can hit city limits in under 5 miles, that is too short of a trip. I have ridden home from work more then a few times at 10 miles one way and its not even a challenge. Then again 20 miles one way would probably be too much when I hit the return side.

So I found this place at about 8 miles one way. Perfect. Thinking about doing this Wednesday, the bike shop opens at 10 but its going to take almost 90 minutes to get there because the trip distance is doubled; it begins with my old friend link 111 but going all the way to some kind of ticketing center 30 minutes away (but only 2 stops between!) as a half way point.

If I leave around 8am, I'll get there at 10. The 8 miles to Fat Boys should take maybe 45 minutes. If I'm early, I'll cruise around. I bought a handlebar mount for both my GPS (good for the 'crusing around' part) and also a camera mount to document this trip. I'm going to call the bike shop tomorrow to check availability and make a reservation for possibly Wednesday.

Monday's Beginning

Slept like a rock floating on a feathery cloud, sinking deep within in. Bizarre dreams fleeted through my mind and I rose at 8am.

First priority is to go get a bus pass. I can take the 111 bus which I took here from the airport back to OBT and Sand Lake Rd., a convenient stop near the Florida Mall which is also near one of many Ace Paycheck Cash stores. Once I cop the pass, I can take the 42 bus west on Sand Lake road and get off on I-Drive to stop at Ron Jons to buy some postcards and souvenirs. I can take that same bus continuing on all the way back to Central Florida Parkway and Westwood and walk back.

They just called to throw away another $100 on the 9th sales presentation I've sat through. Will knock that out tomorrow at 8am.

Still trying to decide when and how long to rent a bike for. I'll be getting it from this place but I don't want to spend upwards of $100 on it. So I don't think I'll go today but I'm still unsure.

It would be nice to have the bike today just to run to Publix but I'll probably bite the bullet and just walk.

Leaving now for the above outlined journey. Should take a few hours. Video forthcoming.