THE REST OF THE STORY

MOST of our time at Indian Rocks Beach has been wonderful. It has been very sunny, the surf has been beautiful, our condo is beautiful with a balcony facing the gulf and another balcony facing the road, the pool area is lovely. We have taken a long walk most days.

 BUT good is always mixed with a little bad and now I'm going to tell you "the rest of the story". The directions for access to the condo were sent to me via email about a week before we left home. The elevator key was locked in a box similar to a mail box in the parking lot under the building. We had the combination to open the padlock in our hands. If anyone was watching they surely thought we were a couple hillbillys. With his "new eyes", Jerry can't see to read so he asked me to do it. It was a little too high for me and I got frustrated very soon. So he got his little reading glasses and eventually got the numbers lined up and opened it. We took the "key" which is a credit-card-type electronic key that allowed access to the elevator. We got to level three, got off the elevator into our personal entry to the condo and there was another lockbox with the door key in it with the same numbers to line up to get in. Rerun of the downstairs fiasco.

 Another problem was the toilet - we're used to a "high" toilet. So we bought one at Walgreens, saw another at Walmart for half the price so bought that and took the other one back. One evening I did laundry while we were watching TV. We heard a bang followed by a "grinding" sound. I ran to the laundry room and turned the dryer off. The items were mostly dry so I emptied the dryer. Jerry turned it back on, it made the same loud noise so we turned it off and emailed the owners who sent someone out to fix it a few days later. The ball-bearings and the belt were broke. In the meantime, we found a laundromat with interesting people.

 We have done a lot of "eating-in" for weight-control purposes and it is definitely a money-saver. I noticed that the dishwasher wasn't getting the dishes very clean. I had purchased cheap detergent at the dollar store, but on next trip to Publix bought some good cascade which didn't do any better. Then one night when I emptied it, the dishes were just plain dirty and dry!! We ran the cycle again and watched it closely and could hear no water running or anything. So we turned it off and again sent an email that the dishwasher wasn't working. Same repairman came back the next day - and kinda laughed at us. He fixed it very quickly - and as he left the kitchen he put his hand on the refrigerator and said "now I'll put you on my list to come by tomorrow morning to fix this for you" - smiled and walked out the door. As of now, he has not had to return.

 BUT - and I really hate to admit this one! Yesterday I needed to go to Walgreens and renew my prescription and Publix for food. Our parking lot is very difficult as there are posts supporting the building everywhere! I was very slowly backing out of our spot when I very gently hit a post. Nothing major but enough to leave a scrape and a small crack in the rear light. We never know what tomorrow will bring. The pictures shown are our breakfast this morning as we are cleaning out the fridge. If you ever need to microwave bacon and don't have any paper towels, I recommend coffee filters and toilet paper!