The Disappearing Lake

Scott Lake is about 1 mile away from our house. After the 1st hurricane went through (Alberto) a lot of water was dumped on the lake causing the sludge on the bottom to be pushed into a cavity and cause a large hole that has eaten the lake and everything in it. Now the beautiful homes, on what used to be a bank, over look a huge sand pit with a few puddles and stinky dead fish. It has been one of the top stories in the Tampa Bay area news all week. Our neighbor was quoted in the paper today. It’s a sad situation. If you want to read today’s article go to: The Lake Is Dry.

News from Copenhagen

Bob reporting…

Our room is fabulous. Most rooms are small but we reserved a “superior” which is really a small suite. If you look at the picture from the Ibsens Hotel website, we have a corner suite right above the front door on the 4th floor. There is no air conditioning… but it really isn’t needed. Will probably leave the windows open over night but that will likely make it noisy in the morning.

After checking in at the Bella Center (the conference center where the Rotary Convention is being held), we tried to schedule some tours. They seemed pricy but very “complete.” There are so many Rotarians here, I’m sure that Rotary International has all of the major tour companies booked up. After waiting in line for 30 minutes and having moved only 3 feet, I made an executive decision. Forget it! We were hungry and tired. I didn’t feel like spending 2 hours in line only to be told that the tour we wanted was already booked up!!

Tomorrow, we are going to buy a 2 day Sightseeing and boat pass that we saw on the back of the map they gave us. They had wireless internet at the Bella Center, so I looked up information on their web site. We also have an unlimited pass for all of the trains and buses in Copenhagen. It was included with the Rotary registration. The Metro station is only 4 blocks away… so it’s really convenient.

We got into our room and took a short nap… I feel slightly human again!! Carol just showered and looks her normal beautiful self. I had to borrow a hair dryer for her. While she was drying her hair, I walked a block away to get some Coke and OJ for the duty free rum and vodka we acquired at the airport in Newark. I also got some ice from the front desk… a special request!! I gave Carol half (4 small cubes) and I took the other half. Everyone has been very nice and helpful.

I did run into a snafu with the power converter I bought at Radio Shack. It has an outlet with only 2 prongs, no ground wire. I didn’t think this was a problem for my electronics… but my computer needs a 3 prong outlet. The cord that runs from the wall is unique to the power adapter for that computer specifically… but good ole American ingenuity kicked in. I used the power cord from my video camera power adapter. It was close enough… without the 3rd prong but I had to make a slight modification with a pocket knife from my shaving kit! Don’t worry… it’s safe! And better yet, it works!!! So now I can now charge my computer!!

I’ve attached 2 photos with views from our window on the 4th floor.

Bob (Dad)

Soarin

We are so lucky to have our season passes to Disney. We have been lots of times since January. We can’t go from June 11th-August 17th because our passes are blocked then. We went to Epcot the other day. The first time we went to Epcot it was cold and rainy. We missed so many things. It was our first park visit so we weren’t sure how things worked anyway.

My 2 favorite attractions were the ride called Soarin’ which is inside the “Land” building. It is amazing! I also loved seeing Crush from Finding Nemo. He’s the turtle Dad dude. There is an interactive show inside the “Sea” building. It is incredible and hilarious.

If you decide to go to just one park it is $63.00 for the day. I might have suggested MGM which is great, but now I think Epcot is the best. I do really like Animal Kingdom too.