Travels with Fred

17 January 2025

Lunch at Mister 01 was very nice.

It’s located at the intersection of 4th St. and 4th Ave. How often do you get to write that? We shared a massive salad and a margarita pizza. Both were delicious.

I noticed something attached to a street light that looked like an anemometer. I asked the waiter about it and told him at first I thought it was a wind device to produce electricity (and cancer). He opined it was to scare off parrots which had become a pest. The place is condo canyon and it’s always shady in that area which attracts parrots. The condo across the way, before it was fully occupied, did not have screens on the dryer vents and the parrots made nests in them. Imagine showing the condo and hearing parrot screeches through the dryer.

A very vivid dream waked me at 4:30 am. I was back at Ole Miss as a work study student in the periodicals department. Mrs. Bernice Johnson was the head of periodicals and she could scare the hell out of you. She brooked no nonsense from any of her student workers. She also felt she was there to serve the students who were doing research.

For some reason, she had me doing a photosynthesis experiment in my dream. No idea why but you would say yes ma’am or no ma’am, not ask why. I will never forget the day a student was called in for taking a periodical out of the library. We knew who it was because you had to show student ID to check out periodicals for use in the library. The stacks were closed so there was no student access.

Mrs. Johnson put the student through hell – very politely and very much in control. Finally the student asked her why she was talking so loud. Mrs. Johnson upped it a notch and said she was not doing any such thing. I bet that student never tried to take a periodical out of the library again.

Once, she took me with her and her assistant down into the bowels of the library to a loading dock. I never knew the Ole Miss library even had a loading dock. Mrs. Johnson shocked me when both she and the assistant lit up cigarettes. I didn’t know she smoked. The assistant accidentally burned a hole in Mrs. Johnson’s blouse and the assistant said “Bernice, I’m so sorry!” That was the first time I knew her first name. It was always yes Mrs. Johnson or no Mrs. Johnson.

The entire north wing of the library was periodicals. I used to be student librarian at Morton High School under Mrs. Aycock – she even looked the role. Morton High may have had 2 or 3 thousand books. Ole Miss probably subscribed to 4 thousand periodicals from all over the world. I have no idea how many books the place had.

Before you left your shift at Ole Miss, you spent the last 30 minutes of your time straightening up the periodicals reading room. This entailed putting into order the various indices: Reader’s Guide, Great Speeches, etc. Woe be unto you if you didn’t do a good job.

The worst part was accessing old newspapers for students. Many were on microfilm or microfiche but there were many that had been bound together into large tomes. The old newspaper room was in the basement and to say it was dusty is a gross under exaggeration. You would sneeze for days. Some of those bound tomes weight at least 40 lbs.

Periodically (no pun intended) magazines and newspapers were gathered to be sent to the bindery. This was always a big process and Mrs. Johnson could be a little more short tempered on those days. However, she always made time for students.

We typically had two work study students at the desk to cover student requests but if we got overwhelmed (when some professor assigned some research) she always pitched in to go find whatever the student needed.

Years after graduating, I noticed she was still at the periodicals section, got in contact with her and asked if she remembered me. She did. She even remembered writing a letter of recommendation for me years ago.

My experiences as a student worker in periodicals was invaluable. I knew how to find things other students didn’t. I was exposed to a world of periodicals that I never knew existed. It spurred me, later in life, to get a masters in Library and Information Science at Florida State. I never pursued a career as a librarian but I used the knowledge to help my students in the sciences.

Later, I became the Chief Archivist at Stonewall Library and Archives and used my experience at Ole Miss and Florida State to bring some order to the collection. I still love periodicals. It’s an exciting world of adventure reading things from all over the world.

Wonder what my next dream will be? Stay tuned!

16 January 2025

Movie night got off to a rough start with Mrs. Miniver. I couldn’t get the disc to load and after repeated tries, we settled on Summer Lovers staring a very young Daryl Hannah and and equally young Peter Gallager who end up on vacation in Santorini (the film came out in 1982). Michael (Peter Gallager) has a roving eye and eventually he ties up with Lina (Valerie Quuennessen). Cathy (Daryl Hannah) finds out and eventually they end up as a threeseome.

After a riotous birthday party for Lina where a gallon of olive oil is involved, Cathy’s Mother and Aunt appear to find the ménage à trois. One memorable scene is where the Mother and Aunt are checking into a hotel and two girls are checking out and the desk clerk asks if one of the girls douched. The other girl explains that’s what is meant by shower.

It’s a cute romcom threeseome with some angst but everything turns out well in the end. I’ve always heard about the donkeys taking you up to the top of the volcanic caldera and they showed that in the movie.

Since seeing that movie, I’ve always wanted to go to Santorini and actually rent the place the thruple did.

What I forgot was how much nudity there is in the movie full frontal for both men and women. Of course, virtually everyone in the movie was a tourist and in gorgeous shape. Daryl Hannah and Peter Gallager weren’t bad either and if you want to indulge yourself, you can see both totally neckid.

I didn’t walk today. I have lunch with Barbara and Joel. We plan to go to Mister 01 at Fat Village. That will be a new experience for me. We wanted to sit outside but there’s a distinct possibility for rain today – we need it.

After that, I suspect I’ll read a little, nap a little, and eat a little.

Stay tuned!

15 January 2025

We’re halfway through January, can December be far behind?

I walked 1.5 miles today. On the route there is a house hidden by dense vegetation in a state of disrepair. It’s been that way since I moved here 30 years ago. Today there were signs someone is renovating the place. For years it was like a spooky old haunted house that you walked by. It’ll be interesting to see what the outcome of the renovation is.

I did a light cleaning of the house today: vacuum floors, cleaned the bathroom, emptied garbage, mopped the kitchen, etc. It won’t take too long to get it dirty again.

I’ve got a call in to Eye Surgeons of Hollywood to talk costs of cataract surgery. My impression is that these people only do panoptic lenses with laser. I’m still up in the air as to whether to go with Monofocal or Multifocal lenses. There are pros and cons to both and it’s basically whoever you talk to last that determines these things because they are so confusing.

One friend told me that it cost her $1500/eye with laser and multifocal lenses many years ago. A web site suggested $5000/eye. Apparently India leads the world in developing lenses and many American companies produce their lenses in India. Maybe a trip to India would be cheaper if I got the lenses and surgery there.

I started to swim laps in the pool this afternoon but after putting my foot in the water, I decided I would wait a while – until May. Actually, I’ll try again sooner when the outside air temperature is a little warmer.

Slowly, I am getting my stamina back. I’ve pretty much gotten the strength back in my hands. My legs look like toothpicks in a maypop. My weight is constant but my waist is not. It keeps increasing. Maybe it’s due to those Klondike Bars I keep eating.

I still need to call Viet Nam Vets for a pickup and I still need to get rid of 90 books. Patience was never a virtue for me.

Stay tuned!

14 January 2025

Today, I’m just lazy. It’s an overcast day with hints of rain.

I have plenty of energy, I just don’t want to do anything. There’s an unlimited amount of stuff I could do but will put off until another day. Slacker 101.

I slept until 8:30 am and went through my morning routine with the exception of the walk. I just wasn’t into it today.

Dylan Revette posted a photo of the Morton Depot on the Group “Old Family and Friends and Memories from Morton, Mississippi on Facebook.

My family has a long history with this depot. Mother told me that Papaw had some big position with the depot (I inherited his pocket watch/railroad watch which I gave to Louis). My brother Archie tells me we would sometimes catch a passenger train to somewhere from the depot.

My cousin Jimmie (or Jo) has a photo showing her Dad and her Dad’s best friend as little boys seeing troops off for WWI. Her Dad built a miniature railroad at Papaw’s place with tracks and everything.

Mom and Dad moved to a house just across the street from the depot (not good memories) and I loved watching the trains come and go through the depot. By then, passenger trains were no longer running through the town.

Archie and I and Mom were driven to Meridian by Grandfather Hollie to catch the train at the Meridian depot – much fancier – to go see Daddy at Havre de Grace, Md before we moved there.

I remember Archie and I putting coins on the rails in order for the train to flatten them (Mother was very tolerant of our idiocy back then). We would rush in front of the train to put the coins on. If you didn’t put them on just before the train came, the vibrations would knock them off the rails. Somehow, we survived childhood. I would not take bets on doing so again.

Back then, the trains were coal burning with thick black smoke coming out of their stack with a distinct aroma (I won’t say odor). My first time at Coal Fired Pizza, I was taken back in time to smell the coal from their oven. By the way, their pizza is pretty good.

As a very young kid, I learned to say “Choo Choo” every time I saw a train. Dad bought me and Archie a Lionel model train that you could put a pill-like structure in the smokestack and add a drop of water and you could get smoke to come out. The headlight of the engine worked. There were three rails to the track instead of two.

Later, as an adult, I got into the smaller gauge trains and kept that going for a while until it got too much for my frequent moves and I gave it to my nephew David.

To this day, I love train rides. I took the train from radio school in New York to Atlanta. I’ve ridden the City of New Orleans from Jackson to New Orleans at least twice. I remember getting on the train in Jackson, Mississippi as a kid and being amazed at the expansiveness of the waiting room, which in retrospect, wasn’t that large.

The renovated Hotel King Edward looks remarkably like the original hotel. Mother, at one time, worked as a waitress in their dining room. The hotel was perfectly sited directly across from the Jackson depot. All you had to do was walk across the street to the hotel.

Notice everyone called it the King Edward Hotel even though the name was Hotel King Edward. At one time, it was the most exclusive hotel in Jackson.

You might deduce from today’s blog I am somewhat of a railroad enthusiast. I still enjoy riding on trains. My one big goal is to eventually ride on the Rocky Mountaineer. …then there are other train trips I could take.

Stay tuned!

13 January 2025

I feel great! No idea why, but I’m going with it. I was awake at 4:30 am and got out of bed at 5, made coffee, had cereal, did the internet stuff, walked 1.45 miles, came back for my second breakfast and coffee. It’s like I felt I could do anything.

I started my walk before daylight with the temp at 56°F. It was nippy. I bundled up and by the time I finished my walk, I was unbundling. I did notice that whenever I got near the New River that I would get little areas of warmth coming off the water. That was a strange feeling.

After clearing the dishwasher and making my bed, I decided to start to tackle the unholy mess of my heliconias.

I hate the look of the dead leaves and unless you really keep up with it, it’ll get like this in a hurry.

I started in with my trusty knife and the yard waste bin. I had to stop, not because I was tired, but I soon filled the yard waste bin. I figure I’ll fill it up twice more before this looks decent.

I hope you can tell I did clean them out a little. After this bunch, there’s another on the side of the house that needs attention.

I needed to drop off a box at a FedEx drop off. It was a continuous glucose monitor that came loose when I fell. Abbott Labs wanted to analyze the monitor and perhaps see why it quit working. Duh, it fell off.

From the drop off, I headed to Wilson and Holley’s to drop off their Christmas present. Santa was a little late this year. Before I could leave, Wilson came out and we had a long talk about insurance, tree trimming, sprinkler pumps, and pretty much anything that came to our mind. It was good seeing him. Hopefully we’ll all go out for happy hour soon.

From there I dropped $600+ for pool supplies: alkalinity plus, calcium hardness, multi-tabs, and a new pool filter. I won’t have to see them for a while. They were kind enough to give me 10% discounts on every item.

As I headed home, I stopped for diesel. I don’t like to let it get below half full. The price was $3.69/gallon which is a little higher than the last time I filled up.

In summation, I spent a lot of money (pool supplies and diesel) and got my two excursions done (FedEx and Wilson) and lugged all the pool supplies onto the back patio storage bin.

I’m not going to take a chance and overdo it more than I have already so it’s nap time. Stay tuned!

12 January 2025

Oops! I originally typed 2024 instead of 2025. It’ll take a while.

It was another luxuriating day. I was awake at 5 am and got out of bed around 7:30. Fresh sheets on a bed is a real luxury. I change sheets weekly. I know some change monthly. I had a roommate at Florida State who didn’t change his for the entire summer session (3 months).

John and I went to lunch at Rendez-vous. It’s a French bakery and bistro on Oakland Park Blvd. Two of the waiters were obviously French speaking and I suspect more of their personnel were multilingual. The food has always been good here. I had their ham and cheese crepe or should I say Jamón et fromage crêpe? It was delicious. John had eggs Benedict.

The coffee was outstanding. I asked about it and apparently it is an Italian coffee, mild roast but prepared the French way. I’m dubious about the last part. I didn’t see any French presses, just the normal cafe coffee urns. In any case, I liked the coffee.

John managed another BOGO for the min-Bundt cakes.

This one is Reese’s Chocolate Peanut Butter. It was a dollar more than the other mini-Bundts because this is apparently a promotion. I thought promotions were cheaper.

I’m getting things together for a Viet Nam Veterans pick up. I’ve got lots of tee shirts, regular shirts, pants, jackets and a massive roll of bubble wrap. I also have 90 books to donate. I understand Broward County libraries no longer accept books but the Wilton Manors library (private) does. I’ll also call around to the Stonewall Library and see if they still accept donations. Most of the books are like new and have either never been read or read only once.

January means it is time to think about taxes since you get forms from whatever income you have. I’ve already received the Florida Retirement System form and all I’m waiting for is the Social Security form and the form for my savings account from which the interest is so small, it never counts. The one other form is for my HELOC which will be nonexistent next year. I generally get my forms into my tax accountant by the end of January and usually get a check back from the IRS sometime in March.

I could easily do my taxes now but I got used to the CPA doing them when my taxes were more complicated. I just send him the forms and his questionnaire and he takes care of everything and e-files it for me. I pay him $300 and if there is ever an issue, he will deal with the IRS with me. It makes my life easier.

It’s that time of year that South Florida is warmer than any other part of the country. That results in Snow Birds arriving and adding to the local economy. It also means traffic is worse, getting reservations are more difficult and you have to watch out for anyone with a Quebec license plate since they drive like the French. Otherwise, life is good.

Stay tuned!

11 January 2024

It used to be that in the mornings, I would wake up, lie there for a minute, get up and get the day’s routine started. No more. I tend to luxuriate in the bed. For example, my phone told me it was time to take my meds at 6 am. I finally got out of bed around 8:30 and only dozed once during that time. Most of the time I didn’t even have my eyes open, I was just soaking up the goodness of lying in bed and thinking. Nothing deep, of course.

I’m not sure when this began to occur. Normally I’m bright eyed and bushy tailed in the mornings as opposed to my brother who looks like he’s been on an all night bender after he gets up. He staggers around until he’s found the coffee maker and after the second cup of coffee, he’s slightly more human.

I don’t think it’s the sheets nor the bed. I think it’s just the idea I can lie there and not do anything, doze back off if I like, and not be rushed to get up, and in this case, start the laundry.

When I finally do get out of bed, it’s more for the want of breakfast and coffee.

We have 70% chance of rain today and, of course, I added water to the pool yesterday. I checked before adding the water and no rain was in the forecast. At least if it does rain, I won’t have to add any for a while.

I’ve been reading where Oxford, Mississippi has received some snow. Snow is relatively rare in Mississippi but it does occur. As a freshman at Ole Miss, my bunk was right by the window and I stuck a thermometer in the window so I could check the outside temp every morning so I knew what to wear.

One morning in March, I checked the thermometer, and did a double take. There was about 6 inches of snow on the ground. They even had to cancel the Red and Blue football game that day.

Mississippi is more prone to ice storms than snow storms which are considerably worse. You can drive on snow but not ice. Trees and power lines would come crashing down from the weight of the ice. I’ve probably been in more ice storms growing up in the state than snow storms.

Two stick out in my mind. The first one was windy and rainy and cold. The trees all froze in a bended formation with ice crystals all over them. The second that stands out was coming back from Archie’s wedding. It started sleeting as soon as we left the church and we had miles to go. Dad got out and poured Coca Cola over the windshield because it was freezing over so fast. When we pulled in to my Grandmother Ruby’s drive, we had to leave the car about halfway down the drive because we couldn’t get any further up.

As I mentioned, today is washday which also means I strip the bed and put fresh sheets on the bed. That means I’ll luxuriate again tomorrow morning.

Stay tuned!

10 January 2024

This morning there was a mist arising from the surface of the pool. The pool temperature was 84°F and the air temperature was 46°F. I’m probably going to be shocked at the cost of heating the pool this month. I should turn the heater off since I haven’t been in the pool in months. I keep holding out hope that I’ll get back in there and try swimming.

I would have tried sooner but my right elbow is still giving me trouble. One day it’s fine and the next it is painful. Today it is painful. The elbows tend to be a little essential in swimming.

Part of me is beginning to realize I’ll never be back to my old self where I could hike for 6 miles up a mountain or snowshoe at 9,000 feet. I just don’t want to admit it. I managed 1 mile today but really didn’t want to go any further. I could have done more but I’m thinking why? My neuropathy is really obvious when I walk and I think that if I try to walk too far, I’ll get a blister.

My last hike in Georgia, I found my left big toe was aching and I thought I was developing a blister. Once I got back to the Jeep and took my boots off, I realized there was no indication of a blister. It was simply the neuropathy trying to get my attention.

Today is clean the pool filter day, check the chemicals, hose off the patio and maybe clean the pool deck. I’ll wait until we hit 70° for that. Getting wet at 46° is no fun at all.

Fortunately, those are the only chores for the day unless I find another bookcase to dust. I foresee more hot chocolate in my future.

Stay tuned!

9 January 2024

It was 46°F this morning when I got up and that was cold to me. I’ve been in South Florida too long (40 years) and my blood has gotten a bit thin for cold weather.

I didn’t walk this morning because I slept late and needed to be at Tom’s by 10:30 to take him to see his neurological surgeon. In essence, he was told that from a surgical point of view, there wasn’t anything for him to do so there would be no need for follow ups.

Tom later treated me to lunch at Doc B’s. The place was packed so we sat at the bar and ordered food from there. The food was good, the service slow but effective. That’s the third or fourth time I’ve eaten there and the food is consistently good.

After dropping Tom back home, I headed to Walgreens to pick up another prescription. I’ve lost count of the number, the names, and what they do. Maybe that’s for the best. Otherwise it would drive me crazy.

Once home, I crashed. I was more tired than I imagined. When I finally got up from my nap, I had a test result comment from Dr. Dunhill. My PSA test was 2.92 which he considered still high and recommended seeing a urologist (which I have already scheduled for March).

A high PSA test doesn’t necessarily mean I have prostate cancer. It could simply mean I have a high PSA test. One good thing is that there is some evidence that the Signatera test that I take every 3 months can detect prostate cancer and so far I’ve had 5 tests that were negative. What I don’t know is if the test I am administered is looking for breast cancer markers only.

When I lectured on cancer, I always told my students that if you are male, the best cancer to get is prostate. It’s tends to be slow growing and if you are in your 80’s, a lot of physicians recommend no treatment because you’ll die of old age before you die of prostate cancer. I haven’t checked lately to see what recommendations are these days and in any case, I’m not 80 – yet.

My Dad had prostate cancer but that’s not what killed him. He also had lung cancer, liver cancer and brain cancer. It’s debatable as to whether the prostate cancer spread on him or if he simply had additional cancers in place.

Regardless of whether or not I have prostate cancer, I don’t anticipate undergoing treatment for it. I’ve had enough of chemo and don’t think I’ll be a fan of radiation. We all have an expiratory period and there comes a time when enough is enough. In any case, I won’t have to worry about it again until March.

Last night was movie night with Chris and Tucker. Tucker was happy to see me but it may have been due to the treats I normally give him. The movie was Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell, Forrest Tucker, Fred Clark and Peggy Cass. (When was the last time you said Peggy Cass was in a movie?) It’s a great, silly movie based on a book by Edward Everett Tanner III (under the pseudonym Patrick Dennis). The character Mame Dennis is based on the real life Aunt Marion, his father’s sister.

We started the movie off with homemade hot chocolate and finished it off with a Pinot Noir. Can’t complain about that!

Stay tuned!

8 January 2025

I’m getting pretty good at using 2025 as a year. My only problem is with my MoneyDance checking account where I keep making entries for 2024. Hopefully, I’ll get used to that quickly.

It’s a beautiful day again. A Chamber of Commerce Day even though the morning temperatures were in the low 50’s. I bundled up for my walk along Riverland Road but by the midpoint, I shed some clothes and enjoyed walking back in a tee shirt (1.45 miles).

I’m a counter. I count everything, from strokes in the pool to the number of cards that play in solitaire. On the Riverland walk, I count Jeeps. I had eight today. My high was 15 a few years ago. I didn’t realize it but Jeeps are one of the biggest sellers today. I still have Jeep dealerships calling me about buying my Jeep and it’s 10 years old.

Tonight is movie night and Chris and Tucker are coming over. I told Chris that unless I slip into a coma between now and 6 pm, I was doing movie night. I had to cancel the last two. Tucker will be excited, and so will I.

I was looking up something and pulled the file that said “Personal.” I found what I needed but since it is a rather thick file, I decided to go through it. One of the things I found was an envelope from Grandaddy Searcy’s store in Pulaski.

I knew he, at one time, was in business with Mr. Miles but I didn’t know when the partnership dissolved, nor for what reason. I have his ledger of debits and credits for the store and it’s interesting who bought what over the years and who was given credit. I love finding things like this.

I miss general stores. You could find just about anything in these stores. One year I asked Archie to look for a bottle of bluing agent. My gas dryer was giving my whites a little yellowish tinge. He found two bottles and some offbeat road general store and sent them to me.

Back when Granddaddy owned the store, there was an old gravity gas pump. At the top of the pump was a glass vessel that had markings for the volume of gasoline you needed. You then hand pumped the gas up to the volume you required and then took the hose and put in your gas tank to release through gravity feed into your tank. I guess that’s where they got the term gas “pump.”

One year, Aunt Sue and I were going through the old place looking at things and we ran across the original deed to the land that Granddaddy and Grandmother Searcy lived. I was very envious of the tax stamp attached to the deed which dated somewhere back in the 1800’s but knew enough not to remove the stamp. I was a big stamp collector back in the days.

My cousin Jimmie and Stephen moved into their new apartment at Carolina Pines. Moving is stressful and I should know. I moved sooo many times over the years. Hopefully everything went smoothly for them.

Stay tuned!