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 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.

A Taste of Home?

Link 42 is ultra convienent: pick up and drop off are 100' from origin/destination. Got lots of grub but who could resist this? It is not possible to travel far from Chicago without having something 'Chicago-Style' offered to you. It is actually quite good however. Super chewy and lightly dry crust and pillowy soft interior.

Big name grocery stores often are measured by a standard of off-cuts of meat, for me. If you are lucky you can find a smoked turkey neck of wing. Slightly more fortunate: a neck, maybe a ham hock. And what did I find?

Local (Tampa) smoked pork necks? Encore! I also grabbed some smoked sausage (not kielbasa!) from Atlanta. Going to make black/red beans and rice tomorrow and I'll have plenty of eat for the rest of the week.

Right now going to make some simple pasta (jar sauce) then commence to drink. Have to get up early for the sales presentation (and my $100 'paycheck') which I will use to launch me into my day early - back on the bus by 9am. To where, not yet sure. They had a good beer selection and an outrageous wine selection but not a single bottle of real liquor. I require Jameson or at least some scotch soon but I assume state law prevented them from carrying it. However, plan B makes more sense: with the cornucopia of food and the few restaurants I want to hit up (Mellow Mushroom, Middle Eastern Deli and Tu Casa) I probably won't eat much if at all here in the resort. I'll have to waste the $100 I have from last year on $5/shot whiskey. Going to have a few beers after dinner then go down to the hot tub and bar to patrol for foolish women and damage my liver and brain.

3oz toiletries and grocery shopping

So I stopped at the local store (at home) before I left to pick up a 3oz deodorant. I already had a bunch of small tubes of toothpaste. Usually I check a bag and therefore do not worry about such things but this time around I decided to continue my frugality (not acquiring a rental car) and smash my belongings into a duffle bag and my messenger bag. They only had ladies deodorant (Degree), it kind of just smells like baby powder. And I've long been disgusted with 'manly' scented things (besides cologne). I always buy the most girly body wash I can find, perhaps these things are to blame for my being so irresistible to the opposite sex.

But I also came across small containers of Gold Bond powder. I use regular Johnson's Baby Powder at home in copious amounts on my dick, balls and shoveled/thrown into my ass crack. The long running joke is that when a woman dares to disrobe me it is like an airbag going off. I have always been intrigued by the Gold Bond and heard plenty of stories from friends. I just completed my first application and my balls are ice cold and its bordering on scary.

I am very tired of being hungry with limited or no options available so I am finally going to to the grocery store. For the 100th time I tried to figure out the best way to go about it, there are two Publix nearby but both would be nearly 3 mile round trips. However I had a revelation regarding link 42 today and realized that it does indeed travel all the way up/down Westwood, link 111 is not my only option. I have always shopped at the Publix on Central Florida Parkway but no more; today I shall shop at a different location at which the bus will deposit me directly. In 30 minutes the next shall arrive and I'll be waiting. I assembled a list on one of my bus rides today and I'm ready to eat proper cooking in proper amounts rather then $9 sandwiches from the airport, TV dinners of portions only fit for a child, processed pizza containing red #5 and fast food prepared by mongoloids with hands previously exploring places that I do not want associated with my fuel.

Awaken

9:31pm, half hour until Breaking Bad starts. Upon my arrival and inventory of soaked luggage I found all survived the ordeal (but did I? still not sure). I changed clothes and immediately went back out (it had stopped raining, of course) and went back to CVS. Until I can get a bike over here to make a proper run to Publix for a proper amount and quality of food rubbish would have to suffice.

All I really wanted was a frozen pizza, of course they had an awesome sale - which I had just missed. They were selling two DiGiorno's for under $5! Cooler was barren. Settled for a 2-pack of Red Baron personals which weren't bad. Also grabbed a Banquet TV dinner and a 12 pack of Heiniken for only 12.99, universally as low of a price as you will find anywhere, anytime. Shocking considering the location of this store serves only the nearby time shares and its tourists, the choice not to fleece them is bold and welcome.

It was probably a 1.5 round trip journey, I don't know how I made it back after everything else today. I drank 2 Heinikens and ate the pizzas and went to sleep. I'm going to properly unpack now and clean up, I've been tossing shit about at will since I got here and its time to organize and prepare for my show.

Worth of note: when I checked in I was a sight. I walked up to the guard shack soaked while it was still raining. That drew an interesting look from the guard, I just said 'Williams, reservation'. Usually they check a clipboard or something to verify that, this guy just paused and pointed towards the welcome center and I said I knew where it was.

Inside I got typical excellent service save for one interesting moment. Again, I look like an alley cat, totally soaked with water running down my face. The check in process went underway and she asked 'how many room keys?'. 'One'. Later: 'how many vehicles?', 'None'. A quizzical smile and we continued. Finally 'how many children?' -- 'None'. At this point she smiled and said 'you must be here on business?' and I replied with a smile of my own, 'why would you assume that?'. I did not press the issue.

Got villa 1461, fulfilling my annual request of building 14, high floor (top floor in this case). Building 14 overlooks the pool, the only other building I've ever been in is #15 which is actually attached but does not face the pool.

I did a 5 hour nap on the couch, easily. The flavor lurking inside my mouthhole is unpleasant to say the least. Time to clean up around here, myself included.