Posted on November 25, 2013 under Monday Morning Musings with 2 comments

Rather than my usual Monday morning rant, I thought I would share something I saw the other day. It’s called, ” 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do.”

1. They don’t waste time feeling sorry for themselves.

2. They don’t give away their power.

3. They don’t shy away from change.

4. They don’t waste energy on things they can’t control.

5. They don’t worry about pleasing everyone.

6. They don’t fear taking calculated risks.

7. They don’t dwell on the past.

8. They don’t make the same mistakes over and over.

9. They don’t resent other people’s success.

10. They don’t give up after the first failure.

11. They don’t fear alone time.

12. They don’t feel the world owes them anything.

13. They don’t expect immediate results.

Good stuff, wouldn’t you agree?

Have a great week.

Posted on November 23, 2013 under Storytelling with no comments yet

The state of Florida thrives on tourism.  Yesterday was one of those days when I had the opportunity to get “up close and personal” with the industry.

After a morning walk on the beach, a regular part of our vacation diet, I was charged with the task of getting the shoppers to their destinations.  It is a sacrilege to miss “senior’s day” at Bealls and, believe it or not, there was one mall that a few of the women had never visited.  Every mountain must be scaled.

I piled six happy shoppers into the Dodge Caravan and the day began in earnest.

It was Remembrance Day in Canada and Veteran’s Day in the U.S.  The traffic flows indicated that this is one of the busiest shopping days of the year, only being surpassed by Black Friday.  It took most of the morning to get everyone situated as I headed back to our time share to shower and shave before heading to the airport to pick up my son.

En route to the airport, I stopped at a gas station, a Shell gas station, to be precise.  I always get my gas there. The staff is friendly, the gas is cheap and I get a discount because I get my groceries at one of the national chains.  If you have a Canadian credit card you have to go in and get pre-authorized.  I believe that they think we’re a flight risk.  With the low price here of booze, food, smokes and gas, this is highly unlikely.

I presented my card.  I mistook the lady on the other side of the counter for a human for she was certainly a scorpion, possibly a scorpion who had had a disagreement with its partner earlier that day.    She could barely disguise her foul humor. Her name tag said Becky and I immediately dubbed her “Bad Attitude Becky.”  Too charitable, methinks.

After filling the tank, I then had to go back inside to finalize the purchase and get my discount. But apparently I had gotten the sequencing all wrong and was supposed to provide these credentials before the purchase.  Becky made no attempt to change protocol.  I wished her a good day and went looking for a veterinarian so that I could purchase a distemper shot.

After the run to the airport and some luggage issues, I drove back to the mall in Clearwater to pick up the shoppers.  By this time of the day, every driver in western Florida was on the highways and bi-ways along with road construction crews.

After some precious time in the hot tub, a few of us meandered over to a restaurant.  The stress of the day had begun to wear off.

That is when I was greeted by a voice that sounded much like the pneumatic drill that the construction workers were using earlier in the day.  It was our waitress.  Too cheerful by half, her voice had the quality of industrial grade sandpaper.

There are no bad days in Florida.  Some are just better than others.  And sometimes you take a shellacking.

Posted on November 22, 2013 under Storytelling with no comments yet

In case the acronym doesn’t make sense, let me explain. Just when you thought the shopping was over, just when you thought it wasn’t humanly possible to get a larger discount, you come across a banner like this. And when a banner like this appears, there are brave souls who will heed the call of duty. I was actually going to write a story about this but even you, my loyal readers, must tire from hearing me go on incessantly about the shopping escapades. All I can say is TGIFO…. thank god it’s finally over. I have driven my last carload of women to the mall. Twenty one days in a row. I am NOT lying. I embellish when required but I never lie. Well maybe once in a while.

This will be my last post from Florida other than my Saturday story. You might remember my good friend Becky from the Shell service station in one of my earlier posts. Becky will have her moment in the sun tomorrow If you have young children who read my stories , please keep them away from the computer because I use a bad name to describe Becky. Bitch. Sorry, but sometimes you just have to call it the way you sees it.

I have sent along a few pictures from our vacation. We spend a lot of time at the railing, looking out over the Gulf of Mexico. We meet all kinds of lovely people from many parts of the world. We all exchange stories about our careers and where we come from. The more I describe Antigonish, the more I feel a sense of pride. I decided to write a piece for next week’s Casket called ” The View From Afar.” It is me describing Antigonish to strangers. Most of us realize that we are quite fortunate to have been born and raised in a pretty special community. Yes, it has its bumps and warts but on balance, it is one of the best small towns in Canada. I will also be posting the story here on my website. No humour. Just one person’s point of view on our hometown.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and hope to bump into you on the Main.

And please join me at my book launch on December 5th. in Antigonish and on the 12th. in Port Hawkesbury.