Monday, December 26, 2011

Holidays



We didn't do any dancing, but we have been getting out more now that I'm feeling a lot better. Tuesday, Jeff, Geoff, Robb and I drove to Maguire's Hill 16 for lunch. Geoff and Robb once again had the Fish and Chips, which Geoff swears is the best he's ever had outside of England. Jeff had the Lasagna Special and I had the Chicken Curry. Jeff liked his lasagna and the chicken curry was great. Jeff drank iced tea, while the rest of us had the Irish Cider. The cider is alcoholic but not overly so. After eating, we drove over to A1A, the road that runs along the ocean. We stopped at the Pelican Grand Beach Resort and spent several hours sitting on the veranda just a few feet from the shore.

Thursday, Robb and I drove down to Hollywood to check out a new French restaurant, Le Comptoir, about which I read a review online somewhere. All the reviews, except one, were raving about the food, the service and the excellent prices. We used to live in Hollywood, so we had no trouble finding it. Since we lived there, Hollywood has acquired a lot of cafes, most with sidewalk seating. But apparently, very few of them open before 17h00. We found that surprising since it is the middle of the tourist season and you would have thought there would be people sitting out there drinking and eating. The weather is great right now; not hot and not cold, so it was disconcerting to see virtually no one at the cafes and most of them closed till later. I had read that Hollywood had fallen on difficult times and I think this would go a long way to explain it.

Christmas Eve was nice. It started with a small holiday gathering in the lobby of our building. Several of the guys prepared snacks and dips with a variety of drinks. It wasn't a huge gathering of people, but it was nice and we met a couple of new people. We hung out and chatted for a couple hours, then we went up to our apartment, changed clothes and drove down to Le Comptoir in Hollywood. Le Comptoir, we discovered, is run by a French couple from Montmartre in Paris. The husband, who is also the chef doesn't speak English, but his wife and children (two girls and a boy) do. Our original plan was to have the moules avec frites (mussels with fries), but when we got there, we checked the menu and saw Canard a l'Orange (duck with orange sauce). It was excellent and way more than either of us could finish. We weren't going to have dessert, but when the madame mentioned it was a Bûche de Noël....well. It was great, of course. Our only disappointment was the espresso, but we were otherwise impressed, and we will return one day for the moules-frites.




Dumb Law of the Week: In North Carolina, it is a crime to move two hotel beds together!

Á la prochaine, mes amis.

Monday, December 19, 2011

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!



Last Saturday (10 December), Robb drove our neighbor Dave and a couple of his friends over to see the 2011 Holiday Boat Show. They expected traffic to be heavy and Dave, in anticipation, had left his car at a friend's place on the water. Thursday night, as a way of thanking us for the favor, Dave had us over for dinner at his place across the hall, along with his friend Richard. He prepared an excellent meal of chicken parmigiana, with baked potatoes and spinach. Dave doesn't drink wine, so we brought our own Pinot Grigio. Everything was very good. We learned some interesting facts about Richard, who is from Jamaica. I didn't go so far as to ask how he supported himself, but I did find out that he doesn't work (he's around forty-ish). And he's been around Europe a bit, having been to Amsterdam and the south of France. 

  
Lunatics of the Year?  I mean, I've always heard the phrase " talking out your ass", but really, cell phones?

Obviously, it's time to start jailing some people, regardless of their age. Driver sent or got 11 texts in 11 min before crash

Dumb Law of the Week: In North Carolina, you cannot have sexual intercourse in a churchyard !
                                                             
                  HAVE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Flash Gordon Returns



I went back to the doctor's office for what I thought was going to be a consultation with results of my stress test, but turned out to be another test. An echocardiogram. You know that thing they do with pregnant women when they smear the goo on her abdomen and use a 'wand' to get a picture of the baby? Well, an echocardiogram is the same thing, except of course, they're trying to see your heart. Apparently, it doesn't work that well through bone, and since the heart is behind your ribs, the technician had a difficult time trying to get a good picture. My next appointment isn't until 19 December, so I guess they'll do the consultation then. 

Skype co-founder's latest company signs deal with LightSquared, promises free broadband and voice services. I expect it will come with tons of advertising like most "free" things on the internet, but we'll see. 



Dumb Law of the Week: In Nevada, you cannot legally ride a camel on the highways!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Monday, December 05, 2011

Paradox



I went for my stress test today. It was one of the most relaxing days I've ever spent in a doctor's office. The staff were extremely knowledgeable and friendly. I actually fell asleep during the so-called "stressful part."   My follow-up meeting with the doctor is on Wednesday.

If you needed any further proof that Americans are incredibly stupid and mentally ill, this should do the trick. Gun club invites children to pose with Santa... and their choice of firearm!



Dumb Law of the Week: In Nebraska, it is illegal to spit against the wind!

À la prochaine, mes amis.