First Full Day in Orlando

First full day in Orlando

I awoke to sunshine and warm temps. High is supposed to be in the mid 70s today. Made a French Press of coffee, and peeled and sectioned a grapefruit, followed by a ham and cheese omelet for breakfast. I showered and shaved, then registered my SUNPASS toll card online, loaded $20 worth of tolls onto it, and stuck it onto the windshield of the Prius.

I then headed over to Orange County Animal Services to re-introduce myself to Patsy Porter, the volunteer coordinator, and to get on the schedule for the following week. I found Patsy, and she gave me two shifts for next week Monday and Thursday. She said she was grateful for the help, as they are always short of volunteers during December. I then went into the kitty adoption area to see what kind of “herd” they had available. They had TONS of kitties, lots of kittens, but also lots of adult cats, too. They got all new cages for the “cat condo” area, which are really nice. There was no one staffing the area, so I took one eager kitty out of her cage to hold her and play with her.  Then I went into the free-roaming area and played with about half a dozen kitties. Then into the general cat population area, where they had perhaps 30 more cats and kittens in cages. Wow, I don’t know quite know what’s going on, but there sure seem to be a bumper crop of cats. I’m going to do my best to get familiar with them and help adopt out as many as I can!

From there, I went across the street to the Millenia Mall, where the IKEA store is, and I browsed the Marketplace at IKEA (lower floor), buying about $9 worth of household stuff, including a grapefruit knife and a couple of mats to put in front of the litter boxes. Also some drink coasters and a chocolate bar. Then I hiked way over to Winter Garden (16 miles) because I wanted to visit the mall where the Five Guys Burgers place is, and also a Bed Bath & Beyond, and a Target Store. I really didn’t have to go that far because there’s plenty of these stores all over Orlando, but I wanted to see one of my old “stomping grounds” from last winter.

I had burger and a small drink, that ran me $7, and helped myself to the free shelled peanuts they offer. I then went into Bed Bath & Beyond to look at blenders because the owners of the condo don’t have one, and I want one to make smoothies while here, and besides I need I new one at home anyway. So I’ll definitely take it back with me.  I didn’t find any that I liked, so left the store empty-handed. I thought the mall was very crowded for a Friday afternoon, and I was getting kind of tired anyway, so I skipped the Target store and went back to the condo to regroup.

I sat by the pool awhile, reading my Kindle, and also checked out the whirlpool and the fitness center. The pool is nice, but the whirlpool/spa has a sign marked "temporarily out of service" and has a heavy wooden covering over it, leading me to believe it’s pretty much PERMANENTLY out of service! The “fitness center” is bare bones, and is only open during business hours (9-5) due to problems – I’m assuming – with vandalism. So this is where the "real world" meets the owner's description of the place on the Internet. When renting, you can get a general idea of the place off the Internet, but there's just no substitute for "being here" and seeing it with your own eyes!

I went to a Super Target closer to me and bought a few groceries, along with a blender for $19.95 that will serve the purpose, and also a small bedside alarm. I came back to the condo and prepared a chicken and sausage jambalaya with a Zataran’s rice mix that I bought. I was very tasty, but of course loads of sodium. I countered the salty with a sweet fresh fruit salad, and had half of an IKEA chocolate bar for dessert. Watched some old TV shows, including MASH, Mary Tyler Moore, and the Dick Van Dyke show. (Does anyone know that Mary Tyler Moore was just 23 years old when she got the part for that?) Then off to bed.

Expenses today: $9 household IKEA

$7 lunch

$58 supplies at Target

Total: $65

Bruce