I lost the remote to my new HD video camera. It’s not something I think I’ll use much, but I tried it out today and then it promptly lost it. I’ve searched the entire condo. Traced and re-traced my actions. It’s no where to be found. How can it be lost?

I’m not the only one. Last year, after we’d moved into our new condo, we got ready to go out for the evening. John was ready first. He picked up his keys which included the condo, mailbox, golf cart and car keys and went out to the lanai to wait for me to finish getting ready.

I was soon ready and we prepared to leave but John was no longer holding his keys. They also weren’t on the lanai and we have never located them.

Finding something that’s lost becomes my obsession. I can’t think of anything else. I go back over all my earlier actions, but in this case, it hasn’t done any good.

It’s now getting darker so I’ll wait until morning and start over. One way or the other, I’ll find the !!#@!*^ remote!! (In clearer terms that’s a blankety blank blank blank remote.)

=====================

I found the remote!!

It had slipped down deep inside the loveseat against the wood frame. It was between the T-shaped cushion and the front of the arm. Because it was flush with the wood, reaching down inside the couch, the remote felt like it was part of the frame. This remote is only about 1.5″ x 3″ and only about 1/2″ thick so it was easy to conceal. That was the first place I had looked, but I couldn’t see it.

This supports my theory that lost items are usually where you originally thought they’d be. I don’t know how many times I’ve looked for something and then expanded my search only to find it in the first location. That’s what happened this time.

At least it’s no longer missing. It drove me crazy.

Tonight I videoed all the acts at the Kings Point, Sun City Center, Lip Sync fund raiser. It’ll take me quite a few days to edit what I recorded. Each act can take me an hour or two to edit appropriately and “pool time” is much more important now since we are “short timers.” (We’ll be leaving for home in a little over two weeks.) In fact, I might wait until my three-day trip back to Michigan to do the editing because I can do all the videos over those three days while traveling the 1,300 miles. Please understand and be patient. The videos are really good (I’ve checked) so it’s worth checking back. The latest date could be April 18th. That’s only if we have no gloomy days and I’m at the pool enjoying Florida sunshine every day.

In the mean while, you might want to check out the 2009 lip sync show:
2009 Kings Point Act 1
2009 Kings Point Act 2
2009 Kings Point Act 3
2009 Kings Point Act 4
2009 Kings Point Act 5
2009 Kings Point Act 6
2009 Kings Point Act 7
2009 Kings Point Act 8
2009 Kings Point Act 9

Keep checking back. I will try to get the videos from tonight up on You Tube. You’ll be able to find them on http://youtube.com by using “Kings Point” and “2010 Lip Sync” as the search. I’ll also have them posted here to my blog. It might be easier to find them here.

I graduated from Midland High School in 1960. Our class will hold its 50th class reunion this September.

I have created a website for the class of 1960 reunion.

In an attempt to get in the mood, I have spent some time on-line to check out statistics such as the 1959 and 1960 Michigan Class A Football Champions. I had always been under the impression MHS won the State Championship the year I graduated 1959-1960, but discovered we were only the Arrowhead Conference Champions in 1960 and NOT State Champs:

We were the State Championship in 1957-58, which was when I was in 10th grade.

I started doing more web searches and located this site which includes lots of old photos of tourist attractions from that era: 1950’s and 1960’s tourist destinations. I was reminded that the drive-in movie was called the “Sunset Drive-In” that there were two theaters in town: the Frolic (downtown) and the Midland Theater (on the circle). The Frolic Sweet Shop was next to the theater, and there was a very small hamburg restaurant in the same block as Girnell Brothers Music Store. The restaurant sold yummy crumbled hamburg on a bun. But can anyone recall my favorite drive-in restaurant. It might have been “the Pixie.” That somehow sounds familiar. It was located about where the Boulevard Lounge is now (on the Circle Boulevard). Dog and Suds, on the north side of “the Circle” was big back in 1959-1960, but I’m looking for the name of that drive-in located on the Circle Boulevard until about 1960. Can you remember? The cars would cruise the drive-inns. Those businesses started to fail when McDonald’s opened on Saginaw Road near Haley Street and charged only about 12 cents (or maybe it was 14 cents) for a burger and about a dime for fries.

The story of “the Music Box” is interesting, but unless you were part of that era and attended, it’s impossible to describe. Here’s the history I found: the Music Box at Prudenville, Michigan:

While working on the website for the class, I discovered that a high school boyfriend, Mike Cauchy, had passed away in 2007. (And here I though he was still broken-hearted and missing me.) We’d lost touch with each other about 35 years ago. Since then, I’ve met my wonderful husband, John, and have absolutely no regrets, but I was still sad to hear about Mike, who at one time was the love of my young life.

This whole reminisce experience has me playing music from the 1950’s and 1960’s. I found that the 1960’s tunes that were listed came late in the decade so they weren’t tunes I’d associate with my teen years. Those from fifties, especially 1959, were the ones that really brought back memories. Music by: Ricky Nelson, Elvis, Bill Haley, the Big Bopper. I loved Shirley and Lee. Buddy Holly’s stuff were among my favorites.

I remember buying my last 78 RPM record (“Heartbreak Hotel,” by Elvis). I remember ordering my first 45 RPM of “LaBamba”. Favorites: “Come Softly to Me” and “Slow Walk”.

I was so into music. I think it was in my junior high school (7th-9th grade) that I used to bring in my small 45 RPM player and blast out the latest tunes over the cafeteria PA system during the lunch hour.

Here were some of my 1950’s favorites:
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (The Platters)
My Happiness (Connie Francis)
Stagger Lee (Lloyd Price)
Donna (Ritchie Valens)
Venus (Frankie Avalon)
Charlie Brown (The Coasters)
Come Softly to Me (The Fleetwoods)
The Happy Organ (Dave “Baby” Cortez)
Dream Lover (Bobby Darin)
Personality (Lloyd Price)
A Big Hunk Of Love (Elvis Presley)
There Goes My Baby (The Drifters)
Sleep Walk (Santo and Johnny)
(‘Til) I Kissed You (Everly Brothers)
Mack the Knife (Bobby Darin)
Put Your Head on My Shoulder (Paul Anka)
Cathy’s Clown (The Everly Brothers)
Teen Angel (Mark Dinning)

About 1958 I had a best friend, coincidentally named John but not my husband. Before I could drive to “The Box,” John would take me. He was a sweet guy. We lost touch with each other, but he contacted me a couple years ago. It’s nice to know that he’s also happily married and enjoying his life.

He named his daughter Sharon. Isn’t that sweet?!

On the 12th of April (four weeks from today), we’ll be heading home. I sure hope that we’ll have grand weather between now and then.

We did get to the pool this past weekend a couple times. I was careful not to over-do it, but I do have a little suntan. Hopefully within the next four weeks, it’ll deepen. Today’s not very warm (67 high), and for the next three days that’s about all we can expect, but this weekend it’ll be beautiful.

My friend, Sharon Hall, just sent this to me and I had to share it.

This is interesting! And to paraphrase W.C. Fields, 
I don’t drink water, because fish poop in it.. 
 
 
To my friends who enjoy a glass of wine… and those who don’t. 
 
As Ben Franklin said: 
In wine there is wisdom, 
in beer there is freedom, 
in water there is bacteria. 
 
In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter 
 of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of 
 Escherichia coli, (E. coli) – bacteria   found in feces. In other words, we are consuming 
 1 kilo of poop.. 
 
However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer 
(or tequila, rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification 
 process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting. 
          
Remember: 
Water = Poop, 
  Wine  = Health. 
 
Therefore, it’s better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of shit!. 
 
There is no need to thank me for this valuable information: 
I’m doing it as a public service! 
  

It’s tough to stay up on technology.

I’ve given up trying to stay up with cellphones. I don’t have an I-Phone, and my old flip phone still has an antenna.

My computer runs Vista and not the newer “Windows 7.”

My Pansonic Lumix DMC-FZ-18 digital camera is pretty darn good, but probably there’s a better one now. I use a great Edriol R-09 digital recorder but it’s a couple years old.

I just brought a digital/video editing program which is version 2 and found out the more current version is version 4.

I have Skype installed, but admittedly I’ve never used it.

I run Office 2007 but here it is 2010.

Is it possible to stay “up-to-date”?

Today I bought a reasonably priced JVC camcorder. I could have spent twice as much and probably I’d have been happier, but sometimes a person must compromise and settle for less than the latest and greatest because of finances (and common sense).

On March 24th there’s a lip sync show here at Kings Point (Sun City Center). Some of the participants have asked me to video them again so I can post them to youtube.com. I posted the videos of the acts in January 2009 here: 2009 Lip Sync videos. The camera I’ve been using didn’t let me zoom while videoing so hopefully my new one will allow me do a good job for them.

It’s tough to be a geek, but I love trying to keep my reputation.

I’m 68 years old. I guess I need to accept the fact that I’m over-the-hill when it comes to being a techie-geek, but for my age, I feel I do pretty darn good!!

Before I came down to Florida I promised myself that, once I got down here, I’d walk a lot and tone-up. I’d even like to lose about 10-15 pounds, but I don’t want to be as drastic about my weight-loss as in 2002. I lost 20 pounds and looked older and wrinklier. But getting in shape was my plan for this trip.

Now I’m here and it hasn’t happened. I’m afraid to get on the scales, but I’ll bet I’ve gained because we’ve been eating too good. It’s been cold so “comfort food” has been our mainstay. When it’s hot, we do salads and lite meals.

It’s all the fault of the weather. If I’d been able to “get out” I’d have kept my promise to myself. Every day that it’s been warm, I’ve walked to the pool (sometimes multiple times), but there haven’t been enough of those wonderful days.

I haven’t walked every day, but I will, if “Mother Nature” will cooperate.

So I can blame my lack of resolve on the weather.

Temperatures in the mid-to-high 70’s. Blue skies. Moderate breezes.

We’ve waited so long for a day like today.

I walked over to the South Club pool at 10:45 a.m. and selected a couple of lounge chairs. John arrived before noon.

At about 12:30 (leaving behind our towels to hold our seats) we both took off for the North Clubhouse where they had fired up the grill for burgers. I was back at the pool by about 1:45, John came back shortly after that.

The water was warm and the sunshine welcome. The pool was packed and we saw lots of friends.

Tomorrow it may cloud up and rain. But the temperatures are going to stay in the 70’s until March 22nd and then it’ll move into the 80’s!! I can take it.

Here’s the video of Rose Wark’s gathering Sunday, March 7th, 2010, at White’s RV Park, Zephyrhills, FL.

It was a big group with lots of Michigan friends. We were there and enjoyed the day!!

It was only about 70 degrees when we headed to the pool today. Our favorite chairs on the shady side were a little too cool so we moved into the sun, but that was too hot and we feared sunburn even with sun screen. We were back and forth, covering up when in the shade and when in the sun to avoid a burn. It was almost laughable.

Tomorrow it should be about the same, but Wednesday-Friday it’ll probably be about five degrees warmer. Then next week from the 14th to the 18th, it’ll be a little cooler before it warms up maybe in the high 70’s or 80’s.

For tomorrow, we plan to hit the Kings Point Spring Festival in the morning. We’ll be at the pool by early afternoon. At 5:00 tomorrow night, we will enjoy a Karaoke Tuesday. It’ll be a full fun day.

Count every “F” in the following text:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS…

How many are there? Don’t cheat. Count before you read on.

Did you count?

Ok, here’s the answer:
Most folks will say three. But there are SIX! (Your brain overlooks the “f” in the word “of” and there are three ofs in the sentence.)

Yesterday (Thursday) was my birthday. I’m now officially 68. I don’t feel it and I’m always a little surprised that, when I say I’m that old, no one argues with me any more.

Last night we went to Rockin Rendezvous. It was fun and we stayed longer than usual.

Today we got up and headed to Busch Gardens to enjoy the Osmond Brothers’ show. They were great. One of the best performances we’ve seen. They are really talented and their show was fun. We sat in the midst of the Brothers’ Fan Club. I didn’t realize how fan club members stay in touch. They were a “family” of folks who follow the performances from city to city. They babbled excitedly about up-coming shows in Las Vegas and Branson.

It was fun.

Tomorrow I need to polish up the place so it’ll be ready for company Sunday. Our friends, the Conklins, will be stopping over and Gwyn Besner will stay with us from Sunday until early Tuesday.

We had over-night guests Wayne and Linda Conklin. They arrived Saturday and stayed over until Sunday afternoon. We played a little music, ate a lot of food and yacked.

Sunday we took them to meet, Dale and Trudy Province, who were our neighbors when we lived on Fallow Court, and Trudy is also a real estate agent.

Wayne and Linda have a place in Sarasota but they are interested in re-locating here. I don’t know how it’ll work out, but I felt it was best to have them meet Trudy so she can deal with them directly.

After the four of us returned from our visit (Sunday afternoon) with Dale and Trudy, we had another super meal and then Wayne and Linda left.

Monday was John’s birthday. We enjoyed a pleasant morning then went to lunch. After lunch, we shopped a bit and headed to Apollo Beach to see the manatees. There were a lot of them. It was a warm balmy day but those big water creatures were still hunkered down around the power plant waters to stay warm so I’m sure Tampa Bay is cold.

We stopped at a few bargain type stores and got home about dark. Neither of us wanted dinner. John said it had been a good day. I hope it was for him.

I got him a silk washable sport shirt with a subtle palm pattern and he enjoyed sweets galore when we were at lunch.

John finished the installation of the over-the-oven fan/microwave this morning.

The decorator came about noon and we reviewed a lot of ideas we’re bouncing around. She brought along a contractor. They came up with some great ideas. Depending on cost, I think we’ll probably go with the renovation of the master bath. After that is complete, we may consider a kitchen renovation and/or she’d love to paint our place a lovely color like a pretty sandalwood. (All the walls are currently an eggshell color.) If we did that, we’d also add crown molding. She said she can make this place a high-end show-place. I’d like to see us get started. It would disrupt things for a couple of weeks; probably the last week of March and the first week of April.