Nerd Alert!

I just thought I should give a quick heads-up... because some serious nerd content is about to follow.

Ready?

I think I would really enjoy Geocaching.

There. I said it. And I'm glad I got that off my chest.

Rejected, But Not Dejected

For the second time in just over three months, I've received a rejection letter from WIS-TV.
Unlike my previous rejection, however, this time I was rejected for the correct job.

"...Several months ago you applied for the position of Sportscaster. We were fortunate enough to receive a number of applications, all having some of the qualifications necessary for the job..." blah, blah, blah.

I should mention here that I applied for that position back in July. And that this letter was written and signed by the "Newsroom Assistant," which I suspect is a nice title given to an intern.

"...Thank you for your interest in WIS Television and best wishes for success in your employment search."

So, why am I not dejected by this latest rejection? Well, aside from the fact that I already have a job, it's in a much larger market than Columbia, SC. And I have a beach. They don't.

Oh, and one other thing... The company that owns WIS was just purchased by a certain other media conglomerate... the same one that's owned me for the past seven years. So maybe I didn't want to work there anyway. So there.

And a couple random thoughts...

1. We're still unpacking. I spent the last two days sorting, alphabetizing, and matching CDs to their cases (and in many instances, not matching CDs to their cases). There needs to be a law that every CD has the name of the artist and album printed onto the disc label. I didn't do an official count, but I'm guessing that I organized a little over 600 CDs in total.
2. Cory now has two days at his new job under his belt. So far, he seems to like it.
3. Apparently, January 24th is the most depressing day of the year. So if you're reading this, congratulations on staving off thoses suicidal urges for another 365 days.
4. On a related note, if you're ever feeling down about yourself, I have some words of advice for you. Go to Big Lots. Go now. You'll find the dregs of society there. You'll also find some great bargains. And any place where you can purchase cheap housewares and self-esteem is o.k. by me.
5. I have a convicted sex offender living within a half-mile of me. The Cape Coral PD was kind enough to send us a letter... detailing his offenses, his address, vital stats, and a mug shot.
6. It took over an hour and a half to post all those pictures. I hope you appreciate them.
7. I need to go to bed. It's my Sunday night, and I have to go back to work tomorrow.

Show and Tell

Since Cory decided to share some pictures with you last week, I'm going to do the same.
Ready?
Here goes.

First, an explanation. There are 27 pages of real estate listings in the Ft. Myers/Cape Coral yellow pages. You know how in the South, it seems like there's a Waffle House on every corner (for my Northern friends, think Tim Horton's in Canada). That's how ubiquitous realtors are here. Every strip mall, every city block, every office building, has at least one. This particular realty company has found a way to set themselves apart from the competition. A Real Estate Hooptie*.

*By the way, I looked up the spelling of "Hooptie" in the Urban Dictionary, a book I gave Cory for Christmas.

Speaking of advertising, I spotted this bus at a stop in Cape Coral the other day. That's my station! By the way, in true television news tradition, two of the four people pictured on the bus no longer work there. In all fairness, they both left in the last few weeks. One got a job in Indianapolis, the other left the business to go to nursing school.



Cory and I were stressed as hell during our move. Zoe did not share the sentiment. She sat in that spot on the dashboard for about ten of the twelve hours we were on the road, taking occasional side trips to sit in one lap or the other. She did, however, freak us out when we got to the apartment. We couldn't find her, and were starting to worry that she'd somehow gotten out of the U-Haul when we stopped at the realtors office. Panic doesn't even begin to describe our state of mind. Eventually, we discovered that she had cornered herself in a little crevasse behind one of the seats in the cab of the truck. We couldn't see her, and could barely reach her. It took about ten minutes to get her out of there.


Zoe misses her friends back in Columbus. She's been waiting by the phone.


It was kind of cloudy yesterday, so this picture didn't turn out quite as nicely as I had hoped. This is a little roadside park that's on my drive to work. On a nice day, there are dozens of boats on the river, and it's really beautiful


A Florida sunset, shot at the same roadside park.


One of the first things you see when you enter Manatee Park in Ft. Myers is this sign.
Don't harass the manatees. Seriously. They'll sue your ass.

By the way, do you think "harassing" the manatees includes calling them "sea cows?"

There's a little lagoon on the Orange River where the manatees like to hang out. You can only make out about ten manatees in the water, but there were probably 30-40 in this little cove. They float just below the surface, and the water in this spot is pretty shallow (maybe 6-7 feet at the deepest). We visited Manatee Park on a cold morning (at least, cold by Florida standards). The manatees often spend chilly nights in this spot because the water is very warm. There's a power plant just up the river. (Interestingly, the "captain" at Manatee World told us that the power plant is only allowed to operate because of the Manatee Protection act. When the plant changed its process a few years back, it ceased pumping warm water into the river. They had to install a heater that would produce warm water on its own so that they could continue operating in that location.)


Eat your heart out, Hayley... Despite the fact that the manatees are very close to the surface of the water, you don't get to see much of them. Mostly you see the top of their backs, and that's about it (Cory posted a photo in which you can see a manatee's propeller scars on its back). Anyway, unless they're in the mood to show off, the best look you get is when they poke their noses up for air. This is a pair of manatee noses... not an easy picture to take. They only put their noses up for a couple seconds, and if you have a digital camera, you know that there's a serious delay between the time you press the button and the time that the camera actually takes the picture. It's all in the timing.

Random Thoughts on a Thursday

1. Cory beat me to the punch on posting photos. I had downloaded pictures off of my camera last week, but never got around to putting any of them on my blog. Then he posted my pictures. Weenie.
2. On the other hand, Cory now has a job! Hooray! He's been offered a production specialist job at one of the competing stations in town. He starts on Monday.
2a. By the way, we're going to have actual days off together for the first time in over four years! Believe it or not, that's worth the pay cut that both of us have taken.
2b. The sting of the pay cut, by the way, is soothed by the lack of a state income tax.
2c. And having a job where I can actually earn overtime is pretty nice, as well.
3. Though Cape Canaveral is over 200 miles away, I could see the exhaust trail from the Atlas V rocket to Pluto from the parking lot at work.
4. Still haven't finished unpacking.
5. I love my new job. It's very nice to work in a three-person department, doing two newscasts a day... as opposed to being in a two-person department doing three shows a day.
5a. I've also interviewed some really neat people. Last week, I met a high school soccer player who's recovering from cancer. This week, I interviewed a blind triathlete and a 75-year-old World Champion tennis player.
5b. In general, people here are very friendly.
6. Got stung by fire ants today. Fortunately, I didn't have a bad reaction this time. No trip to the emergency room... I just got really, really, really itchy. In fact, I'm scratching my leg as I type this one-handed.
7. The beer selections here are excellent. They sell Labatt Blue at the hockey games. 'Nuff said.
8. I had the opportunity to go to a Florida Gulf Coast University hockey game the other day. College Hockey. In Florida. And they were really good!
9. I drive over bridges on my way to and from work every day. And I don't freak out. Usually.
10. We're still way behind on our TiVo viewing. However, we did manage to watch the four-hour premiere of 24.
11. Dial-up internet access sucks. But it's better than no internet access.
12. Thanks for joining my Frappr map!
13. Zoe loves sitting on our lanai every day. She's outside... yet she's inside. It's perfect for her. I only wish we had some trees in our backyard so she could watch more birdies.
14. Our neighbors are getting evicted. I'm not sure how I feel about this... on the one hand, they're a little strange. On the other hand, the landlord's mother is moving in next door, and that could pose some problems.
15. The do-not-call registry is the greatest thing ever. I'd completely forgotten how many telemarketers called until I moved to a new address and phone number. We get woken up every morning with credit card offers, vacation prizes and mortgage offers. The first thing I did when we hooked up the internet was visit www.donotcall.gov.
16. I went to a bridal show on Sunday. It was only about half a mile from where I work... so I took a long lunch and stopped by. I sampled many cakes, and entered about a million contests. (So much for the do-not-call list). And while I came back with some cool free stuff, there are few things more depressing in this world than going to a bridal show alone.
17. Still waiting to get our security deposit back from our last place. When it arrives, there will be much rejoicing.

That's all I have for now. Adios!

Be My Friend... Take Two

Ok... well, somehow I managed to screw this up. Some of you are on my personal Frappr map, but not on my "group" map. So let's try this again... please be my friend on this Frappr Map, too!

Will You Be My Friend?

Ok. So I've been here, what? Three weeks? And I have no friends. Except for Cory and Zoe, who I had to import with me.

I've already emailed some of you about this... but would you be my friend? Please? Make me feel like I have friends across the nation by joining my Frappr map.

I know, it's a pathetic plea. Humor me just this once, though. If you do, I'll post pictures of Manatees!

Name that Blog!

As you may have noticed, my sad little blog has lost its name.

sigh.

So, I'm asking you for your help. For the next week, "Postcards from the Peach State" will conduct a blog re-naming contest. That's right... one lucky winner will get to re-name this blog! Aren't you excited at this amazing opportunity? I thought so.

You can leave your suggestions in the Questions/Comments/Snide Remarks-- or you can email them to me using the link on the left.

The lucky winner will receive a fun gift pack from Florida! Or, at least a pack of some random crap from Florida.

Doesn't that sound enticing? I can't wait to read your entries!

Happy 2006!

Ok, so I'm a week late with my New Year's greeting... but I thought I'd express the sentiment anyway.

For the second straight year, Cory and I celebrated New Year's Eve with my mother. This time, instead of downtown New Orleans, we celebrated at the Downtown Countdown in Ft. Myers. I had to anchor on New Year's, so I didn't get off work until 11:45. Fortunately, I only work about 1/2 mile from downtown, so I boogied out of work, was lucky enough to find a parking space ($6, which was outlandish, but I really didn't care at the time) and found Cory and Jan with about five minutes to spare, thanks to the new cell phone (Cory tried to hold back the "I told you so" as much as possible. Regardless of the convenience, I still think cell phones are the tool of the devil.)

It also gave us the chance to see downtown for the first time. It's actually really cute... lots of Mediterranean architecture and cute little bistros.

Anyway, I've come up with a couple of New Year's Resolutions... they aren't much, but I feel the need to list them here for posterity's sake.

1) Improve my posture
2) Be more positive. Or at least be less negative.

That's it. Sure, there's a lot more that I could resolve... but you've got to start somewhere, right?

Back In Business

Ok, ok... so I'm finally back on the web... with fewer graphics and less pizzazz... but it is indeed me.

Without going into too much detail, since my last post, I:

1) Experienced quite possibly the most hellish move in history.
2) Worked 11 days straight to start my career in lovely Southwest Florida, and yet still was not present at the station when Mike Ditka showed up (day two).
3) Earned overtime out the wazoo.
4) Juggled parental visits during my eleven-day stretch.
5) Still have not unpacked everything, nor have I sent out Christmas gifts or cards (they're all purchased, and all but one are even gift-wrapped, they're just not in the mail yet.)
6) Stressed about Cory and his job situation (or lack thereof).
7) Went to the beach for an afternoon.
8) Went from being a no-cell-phone technophobe to being a two-cell-phone and pager owner. And I don't like having any of them!
9) Have not paid a penny of rent or a security deposit (the realtor's office burned down the night before we moved in... so she's been a little preoccupied).

At some point, I might elaborate on some of the above. But not tonight. The internet is slow-going for us right now, since we're on dial-up (at least until Cory gets a job and we have some disposable income).