Between Venice and Naples, but it's Not Italy

Florida is filled with places with warm names - Lake June in Winter, Frostproof, Winter Haven... but it also has a few Italian places like Venice Beach and Naples.

The real Venice uses waterways for roads:


But I bet you didn't know that you can do the same thing in Cape Coral, Florida:


I've been studying the southwest coast of Florida in the last week because later this week, we'll be going over there - for 3 months! The station is sending Rob there to set up new stations in Ft. Myers and Naples. They decided it's was better to send him for one long trip than for several shorter trips involving rental cars and hotels. We (the station) will be renting a condo in Ft. Myers. We found a guy who needs to rent out his home temporarily, which works well for him, but also for us, because it's completely furnished. Plus he doesn't have any issues with our dog, which is fantastic. We will be in Miami from time to time, but Rob will spend the bulk of those three months fundraising and setting up things over there.

When I told my dad about it, he said they'd definately drive down to visit - noting a couple of places along the way that they could stop and visit family to break up the long drive. I pointed out that we had suggested the same drive, but coming to visit in Miami, which he had never wanted to do - even though Miami is less than 3 hours from Ft. Myers. It's sort of a "nice place to visit, wouldn't want to live there" thing, except it's like Miami isn't really a nice place to visit and I'm having trouble finding people who don't secretly want to move away from here. So we'll find out how the saying goes for Ft. Myers.

I don't want to beat Miami up too bad. There ARE nice things to do in the area, but I have never thought Miami was particularly tourist friendly in it's layout. You'd kind of need a guided tour. But the food is very good.

Snack Time

If you check my other blog, you know that I try to involve Caleb in the kitchen as much as my patience will allow. It's not because I'm trying to raise a little Emeril; it's because at least then I KNOW where he is, what he's doing, and exactly how much mess he is making :)

Still he seems to like helping out and during dinner proudly tells Rob that "Caleb made it" when he's helped slice olives (with an egg slicer), spray Pam, or dump a scoop of flour. So today (because I wanted snack time to last longer than 38 seconds), I gave him some ingredients and let him put it together on his own.



Yes, he offered me one and yes, I ate it and yes, I would have thought that was utterly disgusting before I had kids.

What Rob Does at Work

People often ask us what Rob's job is at the radio station. The easiest answer is, "Whatever needs to be done!". Occassionally his job title is "Pirate Hunter". Specifically pirate radio broadcasters, no swashbuckling ;) Every few months a different pirate broadcaster picks the Call's frequency to set up shop. It's been everything from Israeli dance music to hardcore, ultra-offensive rap. This time it was a Haitian station. Rob made the bust in just two days and here are the pictures to prove it!

What there are no pictures of is how he found the pirate. Pirates notoriously broadcast at night; some of the more brazen ones are on during the day. So last night Rob got a couple of friends to go with him to the area he suspected to find the station and they located the antenna. Basically the way you do it is to get a small battery powered radio with a telescoping antenna and drive until you get closer to the signal. As the signal gets stronger, you push the antenna shorter. When the antenna is folded up and you can still get the signal, you know you are very close. After that you can wrap the whole radio in aluminum foil to block the signal. It will only pick the station up when you are right next to the antenna.

This is a picture of the antenna being used to broadcast the Haitian station on 91.9. You can see police cars next to the building - Rob used to call the FCC first, but he's found he gets faster results by involving local law enforcement. So he called the police and they came out to meet him at the location. The police asked Rob to go with them to look around the building (it was a club) and let them know what he thought looked like broadcasting equipement.

This is what they found. Rob said that this type of radio equipment could easily be moved to another location to "set up shop" - which might happen. But hopefully they will think twice about picking 91.9!


These are just some other pirate antennas Rob found in the same area.
South Florida is a real hotbed for pirate radio. For whatever reason the FCC doesn't have a very good handle on what is going on down here.
Sometimes the landlords don't even realize what's on their roof. A few years ago the Call was being pirated by a guy who just wouldn't quit. Finally they were able to shut him down by winning a lawsuit against his landlords, who finally kicked him out and off the air! Since then, all Rob really has to do is approach the landlord of the building and tell them about the lawsuit and they take care of the pirate.

So tomorrow Rob can get back to his regular work :)

Pictures that Need No Words, Words that Need No Pictures

Do you ever think about what it was like before there was electricity? I find it hard to imagine mostly because there is so much electricity around me. This has always fascinated me.

I can imagine how the world was still active and colorful(even though old photo- graphs are still and grey), but I have the hardest time imagining what it sounded like. My ears are so full of sounds that are dependent on electricity - the hum of the a/c, a chugging dishwasher, the fan in the computer, a car on the street. So sometimes I just wish I could get everything electric quiet enough to hear what they heard "back then".

Chirruping bugs no doubt (and they can be quite loud), but I just wonder if the rest was noisy or if it was quiet. And if that quiet was as pleasant as I imagine it to have been. But still there are times when I turn on the radio or tv - just for some noise. And I don't know why I want it to be that way.

From the "And They Were Delicious" Department...

I don't think I've ever mentioned it, but we have a home-based business. So one of our clients had a issue that Rob addressed pro-bono. The client was so appreciative that he sent us a box of Easter chocolates - gourmet, handmade, artistic chocolates...from New Hampshire.

Here's the classic hollow bunny
The hand-painted egg with a crispy surprise
And their signature hand-piped chocolate bunnies with almond ears

Happy Easter...from Miami ;)

Hey Baby!

I totally underestimated how cute it was going to be to watch Caleb interact with Annalise. Yesterday she was playing on the floor and he plopped down and pulled her blanket over her eyes saying, "Where'd Annalise go?" "Peek a boo!". He also mimics how we'll talk to her. For example, we say, "Hey baby!" a lot and he'll get up in her face and say, "Hey baby!" in this funny little kid voice.


I think she likes him :)


We recently got a children's Bible for Caleb. It is a really neat Bible even though it is still a little over his head. Still the stories are pretty short and include A LOT of Old Testament stories. We love this picture - it's Jacob when he realizes Laban tricked him into marrying Leah, heh heh!


And I tripped over the bouncy again today - actually the upstairs bouncy, which is yellow. I hurt my pinky toe and how it aches! I did the same thing (different toe) a few weeks ago. It hurt so bad I thought I might have broken it...until I learned how much worse a broken toe actually hurts.

Publix, China and enviro-socialism

It's Tuesday, which is traditionally our "Publix Day". I look forward to grocery shopping because - it's a guaranteed outing :) and because I always get to spend money, not just window shop! Plus our Publix is particularly nice, mostly because of the EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE - a trait I've seen in most Publixes. I have not yet discovered how Publix is able to provide service superior to basically every other grocery store I have ever been to.

Going to the grocery store today reminded me of going to China. When I went to China, it was impossible not to notice the chaos on the roads how different the roads are to here in the US. The basic rule of the road is simple - if it is bigger than you, get out of its way. For example, instead of having traffic going in different directions on opposite sides of the road, whatever is biggest, just drives down the middle of the street. The other Americans who were with me (fearfully trembling inside) all laughed at how backward that was compared to how we do things over here...except, I have now noticed, at the grocery store. Now that I have two small kids, I need to use the giant grocery cart - the sort that accommodates 3 children - at least. Once you get it going, it's work to get it to stop; so basket toting shopper, beware - I rule the aisles now!

Otherwise at Publix, and I suspect at your grocery store too, they are marketing new eco-friendly, "green" bags. They are 99 cents each. I'm sure someone is buying them, but I haven't seen anyone using them yet. I think that's interesting considering how popular environmentalism seems to be these days. Maybe it's because, once you get to the checkout, you realize that the plastic ones are free.

Although I have never considered myself an environmentalist, I do love nature. I don't like how they build luxury townhomes on every square inch of grass they can find. I don't litter and I recycle. I even recycle those free plastic grocery bags (they have a bin outside of Publix). Every time I come home from Publix I have at least 15 new bags (which is another reason I haven't bought the green bags, I don't want to have to buy 15 of them and I don't want to have to take them back to Publix every time I go.)

Still I don't see very many people bringing basically weightless empty plastic bags back to Publix to recycle either. I'm starting to think whoever is pushing the anti-grocery bag wagon is going to need a new tactic.* If being "green" is the latest fad, well, I'm curious to know what the next color will be.

I am fully convinced that you cannot make someone do what you think is right and make them like it. That is, in a nutshell, why socialism will not work.

*I think it would be fun if they offered an incentive to bring the bags back. My idea is to offer a store coupon for each pound returned. They could make a machine similar to a coin machine that accepted the bags and weighed them, then you could get a custom printed coupon based on the amount you returned (for example 1lb=$1 off, so 8oz.=50 cents off.

Half-way to Five

Call me a copy-cat - I loved Lori's idea about having a half-birthday!

A great excuse to make a cake...er well half a cake :) I looked at it as an opportunity to practice with my icing tool. I still can't get the icing a good consistancy to make them look like they do in magazines, but it tasted good...
Caleb said he wanted a car cake, which is new. The last few (very few) days he has been all about cars and trucks.
Annalise says, "Can I have some?" Ha! Not for 7 more months!!
Happy 2 1/2 Caleb!

Q

I thought this was interesting:

Last night Caleb made a "Q" with his spaghetti. :) He is not yet able to draw letters with a crayon or pencil. Actually he doesn't draw anything other than scribbles yet. But I thought it was interesting that he knew how to make a Q with something he could manipulate - his food!

Caleb really likes the letter Q. He doesn't know the whole alphabet, but has a few favorite letters and Q is number 1 for now. I think he likes it because it sounds funny, but also because he is fascinated with circles and ovals. And since Q is an oval with a tail...well that's just hilarious!

Other-Caleb-wise, is there any really effective potty training method? I have tried a few different things - stickers, cotton underpants, potty-training Bob, setting timers, bare bottom days, and nothing seems to be making the difference I want to see - that is, Caleb telling me -at least some of the time- that he needs to go to the bathroom (other than when he just wants to get out of bed!). Is this something that we will just have to wait for him to grow into or is there something that will actually nudge him along in the process?

Convention Wrap-Up

We're back!

And to follow up my last post, I didn't get to go to either of the events I mentioned!

Still, the Opryland resort is a beautiful place - an indoor garden, but more. They have an indoor river, an island, and the most garden-y room is called a conservatory, like in Clue :)

Rob said there was a ballerina dressed in ivy who danced through the "town" (i.e. shopping area on the island) and wrapped her arms around lightpoles. He said when she was still she looked like a plant and if you didn't know she was a dancer, you wouldn't have known she was any different from the rest of the foilage.

We did not stay at the Opryland, we stayed across the street at the Radisson. The first night, we forgot to ask for a crib before bedtime was imminent, so Annalise bedded down in a dresser drawer!

Caleb slept on the floor the whole time.

Back to my last post - we WERE all planning to go to see the president speak, but to ensure a seat, you really needed to show up 3 hours early. I was trying to imagine how we would manage this with Caleb's intense need to climb things, so I backed out and my mom stayed back with me. But Rob and my Dad went. This is one of my Dad's pictures. He said that the secret service man in the picture made eye contact with him a couple of times!

Rob took this one. The two men President Bush is talking to are Tony Evans and James Dobson. In case you need further clarity, Dr. Evans is the black gentleman, and Dr. Dobson is the balding one nearer to the camera.

And we opted out of the Expelled preview - mostly because about the time it started, Caleb was melting down. So we found a quiet corner and had "tummytime".

Back at the Radisson, Caleb and Rob went swimming.

Fun!

I DID go to the closing banquet with Rob and Annalise. The original plan was for my parents to babysit Caleb and Annalise while Rob and I had a childless outing (otherwise known as a date). But I (groundlessly) expected that our hotel room would have a mini-fridge to store pumped milk. It didn't, so I didn't have anywhere to store milk.* So I figured I'd just strap on the Maya Wrap and take her along - which I did. And that would have been just fine except when I packed I didn't think she'd be coming to the banquet and packed a one piece dress. Yeah. Fortunately the Opryland is a very very nice hotel with very very nice, relatively private sitting areas in their ladies rooms.

So our adventure in the country music capital came to a close. Our flights today were on-time and uneventful. Now we just have to adjust to the time change and get back to normal.



*It is okay to leave expressed breastmilk at room temperature for about 3 hours, but I didn't know how long the banquet would be and wanted to leave enough for 2 bottles just in case. I knew I wouldn't be able to pump enough at the last minute for that.

Springing Around

I'm blogging from Music City USA - Nashville, Tennessee. When most of you sprang forward, we fell back to Central time, then sprang forward to central daylight savings time, but really fell back to vacation time, which means when we fly back to the Eastern time zone on Wednesday, we'll lose two hours...at least.

Time changes are different when you have little kids! It's not like they have watches. It's actually easier to spring forward than to fall back - because suddenly they sleep an hour later in the morning! (For a few days).

On Saturday, our first flight was scheduled for 8am, but was delayed 3 1/2 hours, so we missed the second flight and had to get on stand-by for another flight. Somehow we made it even though there were only 6 available seats and we were numbers 19-21 on the stand-by list.

We're actually here, not for vacation, but for the National Religious Broadcasters convention, which Rob is attending. Caleb, Annalise and I are just here for the free candy and pens in the expo hall. My parents drove up to see us too, so it is a little vacation-like.

This is a pretty big convention and a lot of famous people are here - relatively famous - I guess people who Christians would recognize as national figures, but no real celebrities. I saw Joni Eareckson-Tada and Charles Stanley last year. This year, Dr. James Dobson is speaking at the closing banquet. The president will be here tomorrow, I guess he is a celebrity...and I will be very surprised if John McCain is not here as well. Also they're going to show a preview of Expelled - a new documentary by Ben Stein - tomorrow. They told me in the expo hall that Ben Stein will be here. Since he was in Ferris Buller's Day Off, I think he probably counts as a celebrity ;) I'd like to go to both, but the logistics seem pretty improbable to me. I've already seen the president and I know that it will involve standing in a crowd for a long time; I'm kind of hoping to see Expelled instead.

Dog Bed Pictures

You might remember that we bought Mako a dog pillow a few months ago. He really liked it, but he's had some skin issues in the last few months, mostly a food allergy I think, but we decided to replace his pillow too. It was a pretty simple project, but it took me a long time because, well, naptime is only so long and sometimes I like to take it too.

This is the foam core I used for the bed. It's 3 inches thick. Foam core isn't cheap! Another reason it took me so long is I had to wait two weeks for a 2nd JoAnn's flyer to come with another coupon.
I originally drew a pattern on two brown grocery sacks taped together, but I ended up not really needing them. I made a "box pillow", which basically has two identical sides and a running wall that connects them.
The first few times I sewed anything, I realized how very vital pins are to getting things right! So I used a lot of them.
A whole lot of them...
A lot lot lot of them.

I also used courderoy for my first time. I didn't realize that courderoy has to all lay the same direction or it looks like two different shades. Guess it's good I made a dog bed and not a pair of pants.
I spent so many little bits of time working on this that I really had more time to think about how I was doing it than I usually would. It really made me consider how doing something slowly and carefully produces a better result. If I had been hasty, I definately would have pulled out a lot more thread than I did! But really it's a life lesson about how I need to go about doing anything if I want to do it right.
Oh and I added a zipper. I was pretty proud of that because it looked really nice when I was done.
Just making sure it fits.

But you can see where the fabric looks two different shades in this picture.
All done!
Mako approves!

Too Cold!

As a side note, Caleb is wearing his ultimate all-time favorite shirt - the "Striped Shirt". Almost everyday we have a conversation about the striped shirt's status (usually dirty). When it is clean, he runs to his closet and literally embraces it like an old friend! It has held up really well, but the white stripes have a lot of stains.