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Here it is, August and the hottest summer I've ever experienced.
Every single day, high temperatures of high 90s (35C and up) and heat indexes in the triple digits (42-43C.) Every. Single. Day.
I don't want to go outside at all, and that makes me really sad. One of the things that I miss most about touring is walking and exploring everywhere. Public parks and cities and suburbs and museums and gardens. Lots of outdoor options.
Not here.
Anyway, at 9:30am it was 87F (30.5C) with a heat index of 101F (38C.) Sigh.
I went for an introspective walk.
( Go for a walk with me? )
- I shared this with a friend over on DW, and thought it might provide some perspective to LJ friends as well. Mostly regarding my attempts at making Uber Eats deliveries...but also to show what it's like to commute, in general, in Central Florida, with Disney's big butt right in the middle of everything.
The blue dot is me (by the way, I have a Kissimmee zip code...but notice that Kissimmee is actually a 40-minute drive due east of us!)
The red circle is the theme parks, Disney and Universal property AND also the highways that encircle them and are impacted by tourist traffic.
The blue circles are some cities and towns where ACTUAL Floridians live and work: Orlando, Kissimmee, Clermont. There is also the airport, which as you can imagine with tourists and retirees and snowbirds and businessfolks and layovers en route to the Bahamas or Cuba or Atlanta or wherever, is a total hellscape at all times.
See how BIG Disney property is, and how it is directly between me and essentially everything. In order to reach universities, business parks, shopping centers, restaurant hubs, etc, my choices are to fight theme park traffic on those highways surrounding Disney, or take much longer circuitous routes (which are ALL toll roads btw.) See Winter Park up there above Orlando? That's where I spent three hours delivering Uber Eats last week. It took me an hour to get up there for just $20 in earnings, then an hour drive back.
To my west is a wetland/wildlife preserve. Although the road to Clermont north of us is usually free of tourists, it's still a 30 minute drive (I am considering testing Uber Eats up there also.) And eventually Davenport down south will be worth visiting too, but not for at least a few more months while they're building it up. But anyway I hope this gives some perspective on not only Uber Eats, but also commuting ANYWHERE in the Orlando area.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
The rest of Thursday was fine. I got cleaned up from the walk and put the meatballs in the crock pot for dinner, then practiced trombone and made us some no-bake cookies for no reason other than I wanted them. I did a half recipe which was only 13 cookies. Decorated some with Lucky Charms marshmallows, and some with butterscotch chips.
Dinner was sticky meatballs with mashed potatoes and lemon pepper green beans.
Despite looking so juicy the meatballs were somewhat dry, probably because they're turkey and because I was doing a half-recipe and let them simmer for too long. Lesson learned for next time. Still, it wasn't bad and Jameson even had seconds.
Meanwhile my firefly petunia is blooming for the first time since shipping, and put on a spectacular light show last night!
The flowers are small, about nickel-sized, but beautiful.
Here is daytime vs nighttime! I couldn't BELIEVE how brightly it was glowing.
For contrast, here is the photo I took the day I received the firefly petunia in the mail.
Same phone camera and same exposure settings!
The flowers were larger when I first received it, but the foliage was very weak. To be honest I'd rather have a healthy leafy plant than one with lots of blooms or bigger blooms.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, my Papa Pal canceled on me so I had the day free. After breakfast I cleaned the patio sliding doors, cleaned our bathrooms, and confirmed my Papa Pal visit for Saturday morning. The Saturday evening Pal called to cancel as well, idk what's going on this weekend but it's kind of a bummer for me.
I'd meant to swim in the pool or run misc errands but wasn't really feeling it. Didn't want to practice today either.
I want to start my job and waiting is difficult.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday morning was my Papa Pal visit. This was a 60-something male who recently herniated his back. I cleaned the oven and microwave, wiped down the cabinets and countertops, wiped out some silverware drawers, cleaned the glass coffee table in the living room, swept, and mopped. Unlike all of my other Papa Pal visits to date, this guy was talkative and kept up a steady stream of conversation about life, health care, politics, weather, tastes in music, his background, my background, etc. I actually preferred that, it made the time go faster and made me feel less like a servant. I also didn't have to scrub any toilets for once, a pleasant change.
This guy had a big white 90-pound pit bull who was a total sweetheart. I love how big and blocky pit bulls are in the head! Just wanna waggle their noggins and smoosh their dopey faces! Unfortunately this dog was rather stinky, so I had to stop at a gas station on the way home to wash up because the dog-smell was *gag*
I went to my bagel place (pumpernickel, egg, blueberry) then Publix for ingredients for Cubans tomorrow. Lunch at home, a little rest, trombone practice. It was weirdly breezy, I suppose because of the tropical storm headed our way (which no one cares about because tropical storms are not worth bothering about here.) And I was finally scheduled for three shifts at the hat shop, 18 hours' worth. Yay! It's a big relief to ACTUALLY be scheduled for shifts.
Scheduled myself another Papa Pal for Monday with an older woman who "needs help with yard work" and wants to "play board games." It's a two hour visit so my hope is that we'll garden for an hour and play games for an hour! But we'll see what actually happens.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday was quiet. I went for a walk after breakfast, ahead of Tropical Storm Debby. There were lots of people doing the same, walking their dogs or getting exercise or doing last-minute pre-storm yardwork.
The most interesting thing that I saw on this walk was a little garter snake sitting very still in a field, head raised above the grass, staring directly up into the sky. I thought he was a stick until I got closer and he angled his head back down to look at me. I wonder what he saw up there? Was he watching the storm bands rolling in? I didn't know that snakes looked up.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Back home I got the mojo pork marinating and got cleaned up. After lunch Jameson went to the masseuse and I confirmed my Papa Pal visit for tomorrow.
The daughter answered the phone, and we talked about what would be expected of me. This one will be unique: it's an elderly woman and her husband who has dementia. They are Spanish-speakers and I don't speak a lick of Spanish, but I have Google Translate and the daughter says this will be less about conversation and more about simply being present. They have no actual chores that need doing, so the plan right now is to make tuna sandwiches together and play some games (Chinese checkers was mentioned.) Since we're supposed to be in the thick of the tropical storm tomorrow, this honestly sounds like a lovely way to spend a few hours (and get paid for it!)
After that I cooked the tenderloin in the oven, cooled and sliced it.
Jameson gamed and I watched anime.
For dinner I made simple cubanos: Cuban bread from Publix, sliced pickles, the mojo pork slices, low sodium deli ham, Swiss cheese, and coarse mustard. Smash it all as flat as you can under a hot skillet, and you've got one delicious sandwich.
It rained for most of the evening, which isn't unusual but the 20mph winds and cooler temps (76 degrees, yay!) were a pleasant addition thanks to the tropical storm. It was still insanely humid but otherwise a lovely rainy day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow I've got my Papa Pal during lunch, otherwise the only things to do are practice trombone and prepare for my first day of work at the hat shop. I'm excited and nervous but will do my best.
Every single day, high temperatures of high 90s (35C and up) and heat indexes in the triple digits (42-43C.) Every. Single. Day.
I don't want to go outside at all, and that makes me really sad. One of the things that I miss most about touring is walking and exploring everywhere. Public parks and cities and suburbs and museums and gardens. Lots of outdoor options.
Not here.
Anyway, at 9:30am it was 87F (30.5C) with a heat index of 101F (38C.) Sigh.
I went for an introspective walk.
( Go for a walk with me? )
- I shared this with a friend over on DW, and thought it might provide some perspective to LJ friends as well. Mostly regarding my attempts at making Uber Eats deliveries...but also to show what it's like to commute, in general, in Central Florida, with Disney's big butt right in the middle of everything.
The blue dot is me (by the way, I have a Kissimmee zip code...but notice that Kissimmee is actually a 40-minute drive due east of us!)
The red circle is the theme parks, Disney and Universal property AND also the highways that encircle them and are impacted by tourist traffic.
The blue circles are some cities and towns where ACTUAL Floridians live and work: Orlando, Kissimmee, Clermont. There is also the airport, which as you can imagine with tourists and retirees and snowbirds and businessfolks and layovers en route to the Bahamas or Cuba or Atlanta or wherever, is a total hellscape at all times.
See how BIG Disney property is, and how it is directly between me and essentially everything. In order to reach universities, business parks, shopping centers, restaurant hubs, etc, my choices are to fight theme park traffic on those highways surrounding Disney, or take much longer circuitous routes (which are ALL toll roads btw.) See Winter Park up there above Orlando? That's where I spent three hours delivering Uber Eats last week. It took me an hour to get up there for just $20 in earnings, then an hour drive back.
To my west is a wetland/wildlife preserve. Although the road to Clermont north of us is usually free of tourists, it's still a 30 minute drive (I am considering testing Uber Eats up there also.) And eventually Davenport down south will be worth visiting too, but not for at least a few more months while they're building it up. But anyway I hope this gives some perspective on not only Uber Eats, but also commuting ANYWHERE in the Orlando area.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
The rest of Thursday was fine. I got cleaned up from the walk and put the meatballs in the crock pot for dinner, then practiced trombone and made us some no-bake cookies for no reason other than I wanted them. I did a half recipe which was only 13 cookies. Decorated some with Lucky Charms marshmallows, and some with butterscotch chips.
Dinner was sticky meatballs with mashed potatoes and lemon pepper green beans.
Despite looking so juicy the meatballs were somewhat dry, probably because they're turkey and because I was doing a half-recipe and let them simmer for too long. Lesson learned for next time. Still, it wasn't bad and Jameson even had seconds.
Meanwhile my firefly petunia is blooming for the first time since shipping, and put on a spectacular light show last night!
The flowers are small, about nickel-sized, but beautiful.
Here is daytime vs nighttime! I couldn't BELIEVE how brightly it was glowing.
For contrast, here is the photo I took the day I received the firefly petunia in the mail.
Same phone camera and same exposure settings!
The flowers were larger when I first received it, but the foliage was very weak. To be honest I'd rather have a healthy leafy plant than one with lots of blooms or bigger blooms.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, my Papa Pal canceled on me so I had the day free. After breakfast I cleaned the patio sliding doors, cleaned our bathrooms, and confirmed my Papa Pal visit for Saturday morning. The Saturday evening Pal called to cancel as well, idk what's going on this weekend but it's kind of a bummer for me.
I'd meant to swim in the pool or run misc errands but wasn't really feeling it. Didn't want to practice today either.
I want to start my job and waiting is difficult.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday morning was my Papa Pal visit. This was a 60-something male who recently herniated his back. I cleaned the oven and microwave, wiped down the cabinets and countertops, wiped out some silverware drawers, cleaned the glass coffee table in the living room, swept, and mopped. Unlike all of my other Papa Pal visits to date, this guy was talkative and kept up a steady stream of conversation about life, health care, politics, weather, tastes in music, his background, my background, etc. I actually preferred that, it made the time go faster and made me feel less like a servant. I also didn't have to scrub any toilets for once, a pleasant change.
This guy had a big white 90-pound pit bull who was a total sweetheart. I love how big and blocky pit bulls are in the head! Just wanna waggle their noggins and smoosh their dopey faces! Unfortunately this dog was rather stinky, so I had to stop at a gas station on the way home to wash up because the dog-smell was *gag*
I went to my bagel place (pumpernickel, egg, blueberry) then Publix for ingredients for Cubans tomorrow. Lunch at home, a little rest, trombone practice. It was weirdly breezy, I suppose because of the tropical storm headed our way (which no one cares about because tropical storms are not worth bothering about here.) And I was finally scheduled for three shifts at the hat shop, 18 hours' worth. Yay! It's a big relief to ACTUALLY be scheduled for shifts.
Scheduled myself another Papa Pal for Monday with an older woman who "needs help with yard work" and wants to "play board games." It's a two hour visit so my hope is that we'll garden for an hour and play games for an hour! But we'll see what actually happens.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday was quiet. I went for a walk after breakfast, ahead of Tropical Storm Debby. There were lots of people doing the same, walking their dogs or getting exercise or doing last-minute pre-storm yardwork.
The most interesting thing that I saw on this walk was a little garter snake sitting very still in a field, head raised above the grass, staring directly up into the sky. I thought he was a stick until I got closer and he angled his head back down to look at me. I wonder what he saw up there? Was he watching the storm bands rolling in? I didn't know that snakes looked up.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Back home I got the mojo pork marinating and got cleaned up. After lunch Jameson went to the masseuse and I confirmed my Papa Pal visit for tomorrow.
The daughter answered the phone, and we talked about what would be expected of me. This one will be unique: it's an elderly woman and her husband who has dementia. They are Spanish-speakers and I don't speak a lick of Spanish, but I have Google Translate and the daughter says this will be less about conversation and more about simply being present. They have no actual chores that need doing, so the plan right now is to make tuna sandwiches together and play some games (Chinese checkers was mentioned.) Since we're supposed to be in the thick of the tropical storm tomorrow, this honestly sounds like a lovely way to spend a few hours (and get paid for it!)
After that I cooked the tenderloin in the oven, cooled and sliced it.
Jameson gamed and I watched anime.
For dinner I made simple cubanos: Cuban bread from Publix, sliced pickles, the mojo pork slices, low sodium deli ham, Swiss cheese, and coarse mustard. Smash it all as flat as you can under a hot skillet, and you've got one delicious sandwich.
It rained for most of the evening, which isn't unusual but the 20mph winds and cooler temps (76 degrees, yay!) were a pleasant addition thanks to the tropical storm. It was still insanely humid but otherwise a lovely rainy day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow I've got my Papa Pal during lunch, otherwise the only things to do are practice trombone and prepare for my first day of work at the hat shop. I'm excited and nervous but will do my best.
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