Fort Lauderdale, July 2006
Part II
After Part I
July 14-25, 2006
An end of an era. Approximately 3,000 of my corkscrews will go up for auction on e-Bay sometime in the next few months. Fellow corkscrew collector, Don Bull, packed them for their journey to Virginia.
Watcharee and I drove to Namfon's Thai Video and Gift Shop. Having just turned 16 Namfon hopes her parents will buy her a car.
PS: Here are the latest photos, from July 10, of the Athenee Residence. It is now up to the 26th floor.
Stephani and Robin have a new car. They celebrated by taking it to the parking lot next to the Elbo Room.
My daughter Christy made the headlines.
Watcharee prepares her signature sauce for the steamed New Zealand mussels: garlic, fire-hot chili peppers, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar all mashed together with a mortar and pestle.
Hey, I kept some!
Don Bull explains how my (*) most bizarre corkscrew works.
(*) But, not mine for long.
Alf's arm has interchangeable hand, fork, hook, and corkscrew (slightly bent!).
In order to properly demonstrate it, I had to cut off my left arm at the elbow. The upper arm part was a little short for me but, with a little effort, I was able to operate it. First I removed the hand and inserted the mechanism that holds the worm, the fork, or the hook. They can be inserted in the end or in the side and are secured by a thumbscrew.
Obviously I couldn't turn the worm into the cork. And then I found the worm had a right hand twist. By turning the bottle onto the worm instead of turning the worm into the cork, the cork can be removed.
Having given up part of my left (*) arm to help Alf in the sale of this unique piece, I feel Alf owes me a superior bottle of wine for further testing of the tool and for me to drown my sorrows.
(*) Please note that I would not have given up my right arm for Alf!
The real "Independence Day".
What is this BOMB?
The answer: It was just part of an hour of our shopping spree at the Oriental Market.
By the way, on Friday night Robin and Stephani joined us for dinner at Trina's for something more western.
Another casualty of Hurricane Wilma: For decades a decommissioned F-86 Super Sabre jet fighter has sat on a pedestal at the entrance to Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale (*). All that now remains after the big blow is the concrete pedestal with its commemorative plaques. According to the park ranger, when the wind speed reached 110 miles per hour the plane broke free from its moorings and soared into the sky. Eventually it crashed into the sea. (**)
(*) A footnote: Jean Mark's father was part of the military crew that first placed the plane on its pedestal.
(**) The last two sentences are lies.
PS: This is a Canon Panorama 'stitch shot' of Holiday Park. It includes frames "A" through "I" (9 pictures stitched together by Canon software). Out of the 360 degree pie it is approximately a 290 degree piece of it.
While I was parked in the lot at the Oakland Boulevard Shopping Mall waiting for Watcharee to finish her shopping at Target I noticed that our local Big Brother has a new eye. I wonder if it is bullet proof. Bulls Eye (*)!!
(*) Notice the cam on the roof.
PS: OK, that was bad.
Next: Part III
