Christmas

I’m back in Kissimmee for 2 weeks for Christmas.  When I’m in the area, I stay at an RV park about 2 miles from my Mom’s.  The park is an older park and there are several permanent residents.  The people are so friendly.  Each time I visit, I stay in another area of the park, so each time I get to meet different  people.  My 2^nd day here, I got up early and went to walk Brutus.  As I rounded the corner, I noticed one of my bikes was missing.  WOW, I’d been ripped off, someone stole my customized street bike!   I had the curved handlebars and gears converted to a mountain bike configuration.  I loved this bike, I rode it on all the century rides and triathlons and had plans of getting back into century riding.  (100 mile bike rides)  The handlebars had specialized cushioned pads and it allowed me to change my grip on the long rides.  I was so bummed!  I walked all over the park looking for it and along the way I discovered about 6 more bikes had also been stolen.  Apparently, a group of thieves had hit the park.  I called the sheriff dept and they sent a deputy out.  While she was taking my report,  more people knocked on my door to file their report as well.  At one point, I had 6 people standing in my RV. 

I spent the rest of the day visiting pawn shops and bike shops in the area.  They told me they match bikes being pawned to a police list of stolen bikes.  I noticed that I listed the wrong serial number on the police report and called.  To make a long story short, in the 2 weeks since the bike was stolen, that report has been sitting on someone’s desk.   It hasn’t been ‘input’, so no one but the detective can see or change it.  That means my bike is not on the list to be matched with pawn shops, so that bike is gone. 

I visited a Trek dealer and bought a replacement bike, for about half the asking price since it was last year’s model.  It is a Trek Cronus , a super light carbon frame racing bike.  Oh what a sweet ride!  On my old bike I cruised along at about 12 MPH average.  I took the new one out and was just putzing along.  I looked down at my speed and it was about 18 MPH!  I wasn’t putting out any more effort, the increased speed was due to the better quality bike.  I can’t wait to get out on it again.

For Christmas, my friend Barbara came to visit for a week.  I met her this past summer at a Habitat build and we’ve stayed in touch.  On Christmas day Mom cooked a wonderful dinner and we spent the day eating and playing Wii games.  I’m sad to report that between the  3 of us, we are Not Smarter than a 5^th Grader.  Barbara is also doing Weight Watchers and we agreed to suspend it for the day, mainly so I could polish off a pecan pie.  The next day Barbara and I got back on the wagon and walked 2 hours.  We had a great visit, it was so nice to have a good friend to just hang out with. 

When she left, I headed to Virginia.  I spent a few days with my cousin Jennifer and her family in Reedville, VA, about 2 hours from DC.  I had a great time meeting her friends and family.  My mother and her father are 1^st cousins.  It was a lot of fun ringing in the new year, and celebrating her husband Stuart’s birthday with such a fun group.  I’ll be sure to stop by again on my way north, and hopefully spend some more time with them.  On New Year’s day we headed into DC for a visit to the Smithsonian and the Holocaust museum.  It was nice being back in the DC area, wish I had more time to catch up with friends. 

After the museum visit, I headed to billeting at Ft. Belvoir, where I would stay for the next two nights. I hauled my luggage and cooler to the front desk to check in, only to be told I would be staying in another building.  No problem, I hauled it back out and wandered through the streets of base housing to my building.  I got there, got luggage and cooler out again and dragged it all up to the door, which the key would not open.  I dragged everything around to the front door, which also wouldn’t open.  I tried it on the building next door and it did open.  OK, everything back in the truck, wander around base housing again and back to the billeting office.  When I told the desk clerk the card would not open the door, he said “you’re kidding”.  Buddy, do I freaking look like I’m kidding!”  He gave me a new card and I wandered back through base housing and to my building.  This time I left everything in the truck.  The key still would not open either door to my bldg, but again, did get me into the next bldg.  Back I went, through base housing to the office.  This time I got a different clerk.  I told her this was the 3^rd key, could I please just stay in this building.  She said no, these rooms are much more expensive.  I said if I have to come back, I’m going to another hotel.  She gave my key card to the shuttle bus driver and sent him with me.  As we walked up to the front door he made several comments suggesting that I just didn’t know how to work the key, like maybe I put it in upside down.  I told him I knew how to work a key card just fine, in fact, it worked in the bldg next door.  I finally got pissed and told him not to talk to me like I was an idiot, the card was obviously keyed wrong.  This key worked in the front door, but the ramp and elevator are at the back door, so I drove around and lugged everything out again.  Son of a bitch, but the key didn’t work in the door, so I had to drag everything around to the front then back through the bldg to the elevator.  By this time my dinner was cold and I was really pissed.  What put me over the top was the condescending attitude of the driver. 

The next morning I went back to the billeting office and asked for a manager.  I explained the situation to her and as I talked, I could see her face showing more and more anger.   By this time, the desk clerks were all involved in the story.  They knew exactly who I was talking about and the manager said she would be having words with everyone involved.  And she gave me my room free for the night. 

The next day I spent going around to the various bike shops gathering receipts to prove its value to the insurance company.  That evening I met my friend Ann and her daughter Nora for dinner.  Nora is 5 months old and I will say, a most adorable little girl!  She did get a bit fussy, but eventually fell asleep.  I held her while Ann went to the bathroom and of course she woke up.  I clearly explained to her that there would be no crying with auntie Lisa.  She seemed to understand the rules and not only didn’t cry, she even smiled at me.  This was as she was pulling my hair, so I’m not sure what was going through her mind. 

The next day I cleaned out my storage unit and headed back to Florida. 

On the way home, I called my mom to check on Brutus.  She has an older Westie Terrier named Max.  Like Brutus, Max likes to sleep, a lot.  He also likes to sleep in his bed.  I bring Brutus’s bed, so they each have one, but Mom has an extra one for Max in her bedroom.  She said she was on the computer and heard Max muttering to himself, so she turned to see what the problem was.  Max was digging in his bed and seemed to be unhappy with something.  Eventually, he just plopped down in the middle of it.  The problem was, Brutus was already occupying the bed. Max just laid down right down on top of him!  I laughed all the way home at the picture in my mind.  Too bad she didn’t have a video camera. 

 

Next stop a Forest River Owners Group (FROG) rally in Moore Haven, near Lake Okeechobee.