How to fill time in retirement

Everybody has one every year. I know some people only have one every four years, but we typically celebrate our birth date each year and ponder the number of years we have been alive. As that number gets larger, we start to wonder where the years have gone. Celebrating a birthday is not a bad way to spend some time, even in retirement. My niece Lori had her Birthday on July 23, and had invited some friends via Facebook to a small party on Sunday evening, July 24. The event was going to be at Joe's Crab Shack, the one located in Sanford on Florida route 46.  I had never been to that establishment, or any other Joe's Crab Shack. Therefore, I was getting my new restaurant for the week. Double Whammy! My cousin Patti and niece Lori (Birthday Girl) My cousin Patti, who lives in Palm Bay, rode over with me to Sanford. The party was at 7 PM and we arrived at 6:45.  Lori said we would be outside on the patio next to the playground. Having never been to one of these places I sai...

I have known Teresa since 1980. At that time she was Teresa Smith. She started working at ENSCO at about the same time as I did. She was a recent graduate of Florida State University and was working software for the "Seismic" group. I was working data analysis and software for the "Nuclear" group. We had a tennis ladder at work and she was my partner in doubles. I went to her wedding to Tim Short in Tallahassee. They moved to Sweden so Tim could work on his post-doctoral at Manne Siegbahn Institute of Physics in Stockholm, Sweden. They had two children, Robert and Anders. On Sunday morning, I woke up at my normal 7 Am and I went to the bathroom. As I was in there a smoke alarm started to go off. Of course, it woke Teresa, the cat and would not reset with a push of the button. I had to remove it from the ceiling. Nice start to the day. Teresa said she could make breakfast or we could go out. I said I just needed some coffee so she took me to the Kahwa Cafe on 2nd A...

Last visit was to New Smyrna Beach, this visit was to "The Burg", "St. Pete", or "Home of the Rays."  My friend Teresa had invited me over to go to a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game with her.  She has season tickets (limited games - mostly weekends) and knows I like baseball. So I headed over on a Saturday morning and returned on Sunday. The game was at 6PM against the Baltimore Orioles, leaders of the American League East. I told Teresa we could do lunch and some visiting then attend the game.  The ride over was uneventful but I still have not figured a route to avoid traffic. I tried the 192 route through St. Cloud and Kissimmee but of course that has lights and many cars. Interstate 4 is also always busy too. It is about a 3 hour drive to Teresa's home in north St. Petersburg from my house in Melbourne. I arrived a little before noon. Teresa gave me a tour of her home remodeling done since my last visit, and then we headed out to have lunch. I aske...