Florida Checking In.

[kv0925]

It's been pretty toasty here the past few days, and by all indications we're just about done with spring and heading full-bore into summer. Yay, I guess? As the photo indicates, we went to the beach yesterday. Not swimming per se, just playing in the surf. Fun, though! And then when we got home, the girls went in the pool, even though the water is just now getting up to 70F. That's too damn cold for me, but they sure don't seem to mind.

The beach we went to was Ponce Inlet, which is just south of Daytona Beach. It's home to an awesome lighthouse (the tallest in Florida!), but we didn't do that this time. We did the Marine Science Center there again, that's always fun. Nice little place. And then we parked for a little playtime at the beach, which was also fun. Kind of a boring stretch of beach in terms of unique features or wildlife, but nice and broad with hard-packed sand and a nice long littoral zone. Mostly we saw coquina clams (Dorax variabilis), the tiny little ones I grew up calling periwinkles. I always like to look and dig for sand fleas (actually little crustaceans also called mole crabs, in the genus Ermerita), and I did spot a little one swimming but never saw one after that. Anyway, it was fun!

My allergies still suck because the pollen is still everywhere, but my eyes are much improved. Yesterday at the beach was a good choice--between the lack of oak trees and the steady sea breeze, there was probably not much pollen to speak of. But after we got home I made the mistake of spending some time outside, and my eyes got all itchy again. I'm going to try to stay in as much as I can this week! I really hope we're past the peak of it by now.

And I'll get a break from the pollen later this week, when I head up to Canada! Forecast says it's going to be nice and chilly up there. I need to start packing, I guess. I also looked into some tips on cold-weather photography, and avoiding condensation and all that. Hopefully I won't have any problems. And it remains to be seen how much time to explore I'll actually get anyway.

Did I mention the squatters? There's a house across the street from us, the previous owners were foreclosed and moved out maybe 3-4 months ago, and it had been vacant. Suddenly a couple weeks ago, we spotted a couple guys over there cleaning, and we're thinking okay, maybe the bank hired some guys to come clean it up in preparation for going on the market. But they were back the next day with a trailer of furniture (looked like a bed and not much else, really) moving it in. And these are fairly young guys, definitely not the type who seem likely to buy a house. It seemed very odd to us because there had been no activity over there, certainly no For Sale sign or anything. I'm on the HOA board so I asked around if anyone had heard about a sale, and was told no. One of the other neighbors called the bank to ask, and of course they couldn't give out any information, but apparently did eventually confirm that they did not sell the house. But there's not much we can do aside from that--it's the bank's property, so it's up to them to investigate and try to get the people out. And they apparently said they'd be sending someone to inspect the property and ensure it's vacant, so we'll see what happens there. It's not like they're being loud or obnoxious or even doing anything to call attention to themselves. But it's so squicky, and sad that people need to resort to that sort of strategy. Not that it's difficult around here, I think we're still foreclosure capital of the US, or at least in the top 5.

Last week we got an e-mail from the owner of the company that owns the company I work for, downplaying an unspecified rumor that our company is being sold off. It was the first I'd heard of it, so I dug around and found that sure enough, there were reports that a larger cable company had reached a tentative agreement with our owners to acquire us. It's all a rumor right now, and I think any decision will hinge on whether the FCC approves the merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable (though I suspect that will be approved, politics and payola being what they are these days). I kinda hope it doesn't happen, frankly. Currently we're owned by a privately-held company, which is nice because we aren't answerable to the whims of shareholders and all that. If we're acquired by a public company, that would all change and I imagine there would be a lot of downsizing and added corporate nonsense. Not to mention they would probably chop up our service areas and sell some off--namely the ones I primarily support, which would make me a bit redundant. A little scary to consider, anyway. But also still a ways off in the future, if anything happens at all. For now we just keep on truckin'.

Okay, that's all I can think of for now, and it's about time to call it a day and head home anyway. I hope everyone's week is off to a good start!

Comments

[cinnamonbite.livejournal.com]

I just washed my truck. Couldn't wax it because the pollen was settling into the water droplets as I dried it. Didn't want to wax the pollen into the paint.

Sigh.

[cp.livejournal.com]

Yup, I hear ya. I rinsed the yellow off so my car could be red again, but there's no waxing happening right now. I really, really hope we're on the downswing of this, it seems particularly bad this year. Catkins everywhere!

[cinnamonbite.livejournal.com]

a good rain would help settle it down

[musicpsych.livejournal.com]

Good luck with everything with your job/company. Hopefully it's nothing to worry about.

[cp.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm not worried yet since nothing is official and surely any changes are at least a year away. But the pessimist in me thinks it's going to happen. What changes it brings, we'll have to wait and see.

[audamy.livejournal.com]

I love spring but I am dreading allergy season getting into full swing. I'm super allergic to oak trees and unfortunately our neighborhood is full of them (why I decided to live in a neighborhood called "Oak Park" is beyond me).

And that's nuts about the squatters. One of our neighbors had his house foreclosed a few months ago and so far nothing has happened with it. It seems like the bank is just sitting on it for now and squatters are definitely something I worry about because Asheville tends to have a pretty large transient population.

[cp.livejournal.com]

Ha, our neighborhood has 'Oaks' in its name too, and every year I joke that we were nuts to move to a subdivision with that name. Usually it's the deluge of fallen leaves that make me gripe, but this year the pollen just seems absolutely bonkers! I hope it's nearing the end.

We were suspicious of these guys from the moment we saw them, they just look out of place in a nice suburban neighborhood. But they do seem to be trying to keep a low profile--the only evidence they're even there is the SUV parked in the driveway, the utility trailer they leave parked by the front door (in case they need to beat a hasty retreat, I figure) and a little light through the entryway windows. We've seen a couple small kids come and go with their mother too, but they don't usually seem to sleep there. Anyway, it's all very strange to me. I'm glad they aren't causing trouble, but I do hope they get shooed along soon.

[audamy.livejournal.com]

Haha. My mom reprimanded me for moving into Oak Park because oak pollen is probably one of my worst allergies but honestly you cannot escape oak trees here so it wouldn't have really mattered if we moved somewhere else.

That's very strange. And even if they aren't causing trouble, I'm sure I'd be worried and eager for them to go anyway. The house next door to us is unoccupied and our neighbors said some people tried squatting there about 5 years ago but our other neighbor basically chased them out of there within a week.

[re-vised.livejournal.com]

The squatters are both sad and scary. It's too bad people are resorting to that sort of thing, you know? But it's also scary as a homeowner/parent to have them around the neighborhood. (Not saying they're harmful, but you can't exactly get to know them in the same manner. Not that knowing your neighbor doesn't mean he isn't a serial killer... Anyway, you get what I mean!)

It was almost 80 here over the weekend. Not typical for this time of year, but not unwelcomed after all the snow and cold. Nice break. I do hope we get a spring though. And I hope your allergies clear up soon! That's miserable.