05-(17-20)-09

05-(17-20)-09
Sunday is R and R day. It has been raining most of the morning but by 2 it is just a drizzzle. Howard picked up Vicky at the airport, she has been visiting Cristy, and they got to our house at about 4:30. We cook out on the grill, just burgers, corn on the cob, yellow squash, baked beans, and sweet potatoes.Howard still feels like crap but is putting on a good front, Vicky is tired from the trip back from Colorado, and we are still beat so we call it an early night. 05-18-09 Monday, we are at Dixie's office still preping for the sale. The shredder guy will be there tomorrow so there's no turning back after that. We go out about 2 for a late lunch. We decide on Angelina's. They are located on busy Hwy 60 with minimal parking on the front. We have not been here for 2 years. Everything looks the same except now they have the mandatory flat screen TVs. We get to order off of the lunch menu. The meals come with salad, mixed greens, cuke,and tomato and homemade creamy italian dressing. It also comes with a huge loaf of hot bread with parm cheese and garlic all over the top of it with a side of marinara sauce. I got a bud light and Dixie a ice tea, they do have a full liquor bar. Tasha comes out with the meals. My multi layered lasagna, meaty and cheesy. Dixie got the chicken picatta with butter lemon sauce capers and a side of pasta with red sauce. Something wasn't quite right with the picatta, we just couldn't put our finger on it, it might have been too much butter sauce, Is that possible? $24.04 not including tip. Figure bigger helpings for dinner and double the price.There are better places to go if you want to impress but here you get clean, homecooked, solid Italian food. We go back and do a little more cleaning and packing then call it a day. For dinner we don't have a clue what to do. Sometimes eating just gets boring, you shovel something in your mouth just because your internal clock says its time to refuel. We decide on an old favorite of ours. Cody's Orignal Roadhouse. This is one of those places where you throw your peanut shells on the floor. We sit at the bar and Cristy brings us two bud lights, pints at the bar are always 2 4 1. George the resident bar sitter is there,and as an avid Gator fan we talk about the girls softball team 53 to 3 winning season and the daily happenings. Cristy brings us their, all you can eat salad, witl their homemade yeast rolls and cinnamon butter. My 1/2 rotisseree chicken with baked sweet potatoe is as good as it looks and Dixies beef filet k bob comes out tender and cooked perfectly medium rare, Grilled with onions and tomatoes and a sid of fresh brocolli. My appetite is back and we finish it all. Good solid food in a friendly bar. Say hi to George for me because he is sure to be there. $30.57 with 3 beers x2 =6.,without tip. Nothing much else going on so out the door we went. It's boob tube at home, as Bruce sang "57 channels and nothin on"05-19-09 We got to the office and today is again trash day, time to throw out all of the junk that Dixie has accumulated since we bought her building over 10 years ago. I think Dixie has kept everything that she ever brought into this office. After 3 hours of bagging and throwing, there were 3 of us because Claudia was nice enough to show up and help, my truck is filled to overflowing, after lunch I bring it to the dump and there is 720 pounds of trash, I know this because they weigh the truck before and after you dump. You say after lunch, where did they go for lunch? Ok I'll back track. After the truck is loaded we are waiting for the shred all people to come as there is about 4 tons of paperwork that has to be shredded for confidentiality purposes. Also we are waiting for Greg to show up from BIKERSCAP as we are donating 7 of Dixies computers to them. This organization gets computers, fixes as necessary, wipes your old info off of them, cleans them up and donates them to schools so lower income kids have better access to computers and can learn computer skills. We were going to sell them, as all were powerful xp pro systems but we figured that they could use them more that the $ we could have sold them for. Greg is a talker and I have to tell him that we are in a hurry and lets get the stuff loaded and get you out of here. If you have old computers that work but you are upgrading call Greg at 965-4477 or contact him at http:www.bikerscap.org he will pick them up and donate them to a good cause. Tax deductable. We call the shredders and they won't be there until 1:30 so we get to sneak out to Estella's, which is 2 blocks away, for a quick bite. This is another local restaurant that we have not been to for two years. Last time we were there we got entrees with ground beef and they were flavorless and really nothing to write home about. We go inside, the place is all cleaned up, nice Mexican decorations, the usual stuff, it has been expanded since it was two brothers restaurant. It also has a huge dining/waiting deck in front, they have put in a rose gardens that blocks the view of Hwy60-not the sound but the view- , they also have a large seating area on the side. We are seated inside at a table that faces the front. The chips that they bring out are also thinner than the last time we were there, we like, along with home made salsa, a nice medium heat. No charge. I order the lunch Burrito supreme, available in ground beef or chicken. The waiter says get the chicken, obviously they still have the same unflavored ground beef. Dixie gets the Enchelada Mexicanos. We both have work to do so it's ice tea for both of us today. The food shows up so fast, I barely had time to take any pictures, which is good, we are in a hurry. The chicken burrito was loaded with moist flavorful chicken along with sour cream lettuce and a slice of tomatoe. Dixies cheese enchelada is covered with cheese sauce as well as chunks of roasted pork on top, guacomole, sour cream and lettuce and slice of tomato. Both quick, both fresh, both flavorful, both really quick. Exactly what we wanted today, the working man's lunch. We get a call and the shedder guy is there, we were just finishing up and I pay the tab $21.23 without the tip and out the door we went. The shredder guy is backed up to the storage building and is already loading the boxes, there are 200 outside and about double that inside, he realizes that he will have to make another trip tomorrow because his truck will not hold all the boxes that we have. I head home with my fully loaded truck and decide that instead of putting them curbside for the trash man to pick up I would just run it down to the 672 landfill. I make a detour to Dixies Dockside as I have a dozen trash cans that I figured that Jeff could use, then I get to the dump. You have to show a copy of your paid tax bill showing solid waste is included paid and then you can dump for free, I already had this printed out so I'm OK, It has been raining for 3 days so it is a mud hole, hot dog. I finally get to use my 4 wheel drive. I follow the paved road untill I get to the stinky mud clay sloppy road and follow a loaded dump truck in. He unloads and the guy directs me to an area for pick ups, you get to drive through mud about 1 foot deep. I'm locked in hi 4x4 so I didn't even spin a wheel. I dump my load and head home. On the trip back I notice that the aroma of the dump is sticking with me, When I get home the stinking mud is doing what stinking mud does, stinking, and sticking to my truck. I have to wash it and that kills and hour, the next time I go 4 wheeling it won't be in my truck. I get cleaned up and we are going to our monthly Rooster meeting at Stingrays. Cocktails at 6. It is the old Shells that closed down in Brandon. The interior is the same layout except it has been updated and newvowed, Shell on steroids. Everyone says how much better it looks. We are all at the bar and Jen the bartender is keeping up with the 13 or so of us, it is happy yappy hour and all beers $3 on tap are 2 4 1, bottled beer are normally $4 but hapy hour $1 off. All wells are 2 4 1. We make full use of the 2 4 1s and then we are seated at 2 tables. Everyone got a little of everything. Nice crab cakes, conch fritters, grilled shrimp, blackened mahi, fried platters, pasta with shrimp, shrimp scampi, peel and eat shrimp, salmon, tuna and my favorite their mahi italiano. To add a salad was only 99 cents so salads it is. We have two servers so drinks and appetizers and food service was no proplem. The owner Ken came over to introduce himself and to make sure that everything was good. We all had a great time. The place is fresh, fresh decorations, freshly refurbished and fresh food. Our bill with 2 beers and two 20 oz house martaritas(always only 3.95) Mahi Italiano, Crab cake appetizer and house salad $42.44 including an 18% gratutity for our large party. That's a good deal. We finish up and out the door we went.05-20-09
Today is an early day as there is still a lot to do at the office for closing down and the shredder people are supposed to finish picking up sometime between 11 and 1 also Kim our cleaning lady is coming at 9:30 and I do not like to be here when she is working. I am out of the house at 9:15, which is a freakin milestone for me, check the P.O. Box for junk and bills and off to the office. I make 2 more trash runs bringing trash bags to my house to be picked up tororrow curbside, I'm not going back to the dump. It is now 1:15 and the shredder people still are not here. I call them and they said the guy is running late which puts him at a 2 oclock arrival, I have not had anything to eat all day, I told the girl that a phone call would have been nice since I have been waiting and still have not had lunch. 2:35 and the guy calls Dixie's phone and says it will be 20 minutes. I hear that he is going to be late and start yelling in the background so he can hear me. Have you ever noticed that when someone else is on the phone how brazen you can be, I'm telling Dixie to tell him we have been waiting since 11 blah blah blah. Still it is not going to get the guy here any sooner. So Shane shows up and we load the copy machine up into his truck and naturally the shredder guy arrives and wants us to move and it is all I can do to control myself to tell him that if he had been here on time blah blah blah. Oh well this is the kinder gentler Brian and I don't shoot him. We finish up and decide that we will just have a early dinner and skip lunch. We get cleaned up and decide to hit The Italian Kitchen. It is 5 P.M. when we get to The Kitchen. Melinda greets us and we get our regular table. Stefano is cooking tonight. She has been working 7 days a week as business is slower than usual. The place is finally finished being finished. The owners have been doing improvement themselves for 2 years and the place looks great. Tile,drywall faux painting, cornice, fans, all the details and it has finally all come together. We get a couple of Ultras to get us started while we figure out what we want to eat. The kitchen is visible from the main dining area so they are not hiding anything. Wine bottles and expreso machine on display. There is going to be a large private party tonight so they are getting the room ready. Warm bread and oil and spices and BUTTER arrive. I get the chicken veg soup and it is meaty and loaded with potatoes, celery pureed carrots and other vegggys in a nice thick tomato base. Dixie got a ceaser salad. We get a bottle of Sangeioveise $22 and the meals arrive. We are both hungry so no splittingmeals tonight. I got chicken parm as I always do for dinner (For lunch I always get bow tie pasta with chicken, their signature dish.) with a side of pasta. Dixie got the daily special, 8oz filet mignon and grilled shrimp with bow tie pasta and grilled veggys. All great as always. They have daily specials, live music on some days. This is as close to a neighborhood restaurant that you will find, not a chain and they hug you when you come in. Good food, service Upscale and not a chain. $64 plus tip. Did I say not a chain. After the meal we head to Dixies Dockside for a round of abuse from Carol, my favorite bartender. It's Wednesday and everone seems to be showing up, I buy two buckets to share with everyone and the time seems to fly by and next thing I know it's, out the door we went. See Ya. Brian