Semi-pro

Just been to see the new Will Ferrell movie, its the usual laughs and silliness. There are some laugh out load bits especially the free throws at the end. The pic below says it all well almost. There was some annoying septic in front of me who insisted on talking to his wife throughout the entire movie. If he wasn't doing that the obnoxious t**t was talking on his cell phone.

Got the fluids changed on the car today, engine oil, rear diff and power steering. That lot cost me 150 bucks and they tried to get me to have the front diff and the transfer case done too by offering special discounts. Had the dash apart too today as one of the instrument lamps has blown and there are 3 different types to choose from. I'll get the new lamp tomorrow or sometime. The computer is telling me that the rear lights aren't working but they are so guess there's a loose wire or something. I'll check that out too. Apart from those niggles everything is great with the beast. Stuck some gas in it today....apparently it needs 91 Octane or better and that's $3.50 a gallon and so with a 23 gal tank that totals about 80 dollars.

It looks like I've solved the wireless internet problem I've been plagued with recently. All I'll say is don't buy a D-Link wireless router they are sh*te.

It's a BEAST

What can I say, my man has come up trumps. He's only gone a got me a BEAST of a car, 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with the 5.9L V8 and 4x4!!!! It's done 119,000 and the interior is so clean. It's loaded and has a sunroof, heated seats, Sony CD player, full leather interior and electric everything (and it all works).

Let's wait and see

Two important things have happened this morning

1) I've got a job interview on monday at a company in Jax

and

2) I've had a call from my auto man and he's bought a car for me. All I know at the moment is that its a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4 door. I can't get over to pick it up til later this afternoon and I'm bursting with excitement. The inevitable pictures and opinions on it will appear here later..

Job done!

After running out of excuses to myself as to why I couldn't finish the job I went and got the paint for the house. Ace Hardware did an excellent job of matching the paint from a bit of the old siding that I took in.

The bug season has started a little early here, I guess the last couple of weeks of warm weather has enticed them to breed. I only need to be outside for a couple of minutes and I'm guaranteed to get a bite. I've turned to Deet as the best bug repellant. It was developed by the US government for jungle warfare in WWII (and then refined in 'Nam) and it really works. Trouble is it stinks and leaves the skin a bit sticky. The normal stuff comes in 30% concentration but I've got some Badboy stuff from the hunting store that's 90% Deet.

Not what you know....

Damn that wood is expensive, I managed to get it for $2/ft as it was the last of their stock. It cost over $60 just to get that bit of the siding replaced, and although its been primed it still needs a top coat, but as I don't have the paint that can wait for another day.

Went to dinner at a friend's house last night and they've just bought a sailboat. It's about 20-25ft and is best described as a fixer upper. Just the sort of thing that I'd be interested in buying. Obviously I volunteered to help him fix it up in return for some sailing trips, so that I can learn what to do. Aay aay Captain.

No car yet, I went to see my "inside man" today and he told me that there was nothing at the auctions. Everything that was within my budget had over 150,000 miles on it and anything that was under my 100,000 miles target was over my budget! Fingers crossed for Wednesday when the next auction is at Daytona.

Applied for a job today at the County. I've also got an "inside man" there who's going to do his best to point them towards my resume. I have to call it that as they don't know what a CV is over here.

Jobs and chores

The new suit has already come into play as I had a call from an employment agency on Thursday. I went to their offices in downtown Jacksonville to meet them but I'm not optimistic about what they can offer. The journey home was a nightmare and took 1 1/2 hours and confirmed that I don't want to work downtown. On the plus side there's a job opening that's local so I spent yesterday afternoon rewriting my resume to match the description.


Other chores for this weekend include repairing the siding on the house. I had to remove it following a burst pipe back in November and haven't got round to fixing it yet....

Suits you sir

Oooh, ooh, ohh, in anticipation of leaving behind the life of the great unwashed (aka jobless) I bought a new suit today. A rather natty grey pinstrip for the princely sum of 28 bucks. Yes it was reduced, but due to a pricing error on the jacket I only paid $9 for it instead of the really reduced price of $41. Now I just need to get a job, something Mrs P keeps reminding me!!

Gardener's question time

Another busy weekend and this time I've startedand finished a project in one go! A new raised vegetable bed has been created and all I need to do now is order 2 cubic yards of dirt to fill it. The seeds were planted last weekend so fingers crossed in a few weeks time we'll be eating fresh veg from the garden.

I've got a trip to dentist this afternoon, not sure what to expect but I know I'm having a crown fitted. Now should I go gold or porcelain???

Helping the US economy...

Well there's been some progress on a car today. I met with the ubiquitous "friend of a friend" who's an auto dealer. I told him my budget and what I want and he's off to the auctions next Friday. I'm after a gas guzzling American SUV either a Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ford Explorer or Jeep Cherokee. Hopefully I'll get a V8 loaded with options but at the moment I'll take pretty much anything. Next Friday seems a long way off so in the mean time I'll have to content myself watching the new Knight Rider on NBC

Where to start?

Let's face it Florida is a swamp. A glorified, commercialized, disneyfied swamp, but I love it. I moved here from the UK in July 07 and married Janna, an all American girl. We live a couple of blocks from the ocean in North East Florida.

I've got many "projects" on the go and my thoughts and ramblings on these may or may not appear here as I see fit. Currently I need to get a job, buy a car, repair the house, sort the garden, sell my house in the UK. I've started all of these and now need to Git R Done as some might say in these parts.