March Blizzard 2013

Posted on March 9, 2013March 9, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Oh it was tempting to skip work today but I am getting close to the end of my employment. With that deadline looming I dragged myself out the door about 9 AM. Here’s what greeted me.

The tree by the front door

The decorative bench on the front lawn. Pretty clear we have a bit of accumulation.

Along Rt 44 trees weighed down and other snowy vistas

Christmas tree anyone?

Can you believe it was still snowing? This isn’t Alaska. It’s Southern Massachusetts!

It’s supposed to be 50 degrees tomorrow! Talk about weather extremes.

But my favorite…Here come the plows.

I got this picture of the west bound plow by holding the camera out the car window as I drove eastbound.

End of the Line

Posted on February 17, 2013February 17, 2013 by Dusty Roads

After viewing the gorgeous sunrise

as we pulled into Miami we headed into the Horizon Bar and Grill for our last breakfast while the ship docked and prepared for our disembarkation.

We’d tagged our bags and left them in the hall outside our cabin the night before. The tags had been left by the staff and each bag had a number. Ours was 23. That would determine when we could leave the ship.

Everyone congregated on the Lido deck by the pool to wait for their number to be called. It seemed to take forever to get to 23 but once it was called we were processed off the ship pretty quickly. We were disappointed that at no time did we collect a stamp in our passport. The passport was essential but I guess traveling by cruise ship accords some shortcuts and one of them is by passing the custom stamp.

One glitch. We left our cell phones in the car because I had heard that even if the phones were off if a call or text came through to voice mail that we could still be charged for international calling (roaming). Not wanting any surprises on our bills we left the phone behind. Now we were standing in front of the terminal with no way to call for the shuttle to the Park & Cruise. There were no old-fashioned pay phones anywhere and no courtesy phones either. Tensions started to rise when I had an inspiration. I approached one of the security personnel with our parking tag and explained our situation. She chuckled a little and made the call for us . Within half an hour we were back where we started, loading up Joe’s car.

Next stop is Fort Lauderdale Airport where I have a rental car waiting. That’s where Joe will drop me off and head back to Orlando and I will head into Fort Lauderdale to find my hotel. I’m going to spend a couple of days here in hopes of getting to the Everglades for some serious photo opportunities.

We found the car rental return but not the pick-up so Joe dropped me off at the return and I hoofed it to the lobby. It’s not even noon yet. With luck I’ll have most of the day to explore.

Storm Stories

Posted on February 9, 2013February 9, 2013 by Dusty Roads

The New England Blizzard of 2013 is winding down. The storm centers are starting to compare past major storms to this one. My favorite storm was the Blizzard of ’78 but I’d say this one was handled much better. With a driving ban starting yesterday at 4 pm they avoided having cars stuck on the expressway and stranded drivers which was one of the most horrific memories from ’78. The storm surges are still battering the coast with widespread evacuations but I haven’t heard too many reports of homes being washed into the sea the way they were in ’78.

I was a property insurance adjuster in 1978 so had first hand exposure to the devastation. Now in 2013 I’m a dispatcher for a telecommunication company so still on the front lines, just in a different way.

Here are some pictures from 10:30 last night.

Our Entryway door at the condo in Taunton