Spring, where art thou?

I know just how he feels!

Old dog, new tricks? How to Netflix?

OK, so I'm about convinced to give Netflix a try. But I'm totally confused about how to set it up. I mean, if I hook something up to my current DSL modem/router/whatever it is, which has maddening issues when it rains... or gets real cold... or a squirrel chews a wire, am I going to get cut off in the middle of a movie? If I do a separate dealie, will there be conflicts? Why do the all the streamers have to be so expensive?! I don't have a Wii or Blu-ray or X-box or any other handy dandy black box. We don't do any of that stuff. So I shell out $75-$100 (or more) just to receive the Netflix stream? I mean, what if I do the free trial and decide it's not for me, after all? I now have a $100 black box to collect dust, and it doesn't even have any redeeming decorative qualities.

Once I get it, IF I get it, how do I hook it up? So far, all the 'instructional' pages I've found are quite obviously aimed at someone who has a clue to begin with. I don't. It's actually pretty discouraging and I've just about lost the will, knowwhutImeanVern?

Anyhow, have any of y'all tried Netflix? Will I love it? I do like the thought of being able to watch Monk whenever I'm in the mood. And I'd certainly enjoy seeing Pushing Daisies and Beakman's World again. It's the little black box and the intimidation factor that cause pause. So, who wants to come over and set it all up while I go to Applebee's? 8-}

Tallahassee Italian Family Festa - 55% Discount!!!

I know some of my local readers will be taking in the Festa, so thought I'd save y'all a few lira.

$9 for Two Adult Weekend Passes to the Tallahassee Italian Family Festa February 19 and 20 ($20 Value). Children 12 and under get in free. As always, be sure to read the fine print; it's brief. 8-]

Florida Factoid Friday

In the Fakahatchee Strand, near Copeland, grows the largest concentration and variety of orchids in North America. With 44 native orchids and 14 native bromeliad species, it is the orchid and bromeliad capital of the continent. The ecosystem of the Fakahatchee Strand is the only place in the world where bald cypress trees and royal palms share the forest canopy.

HALF off Amazon Gift Card!!!

This was WAY too good to not share!

This is a blue moon deal, for sure! For $10, at LivingSocial, you can get a $20 Amazon Gift Card! You know this one will go fast! Limit one!
Oh, and they gave me $5 (Deal Bucks) to use on my next purchase! 8-]

Disclosure: If 3 people snag the deal using my link, my deal is free!

Winter of our discontent

This has been one bodacious winter, particularly for someone with multi-generationally thinned blood who tends to hibernate whenever temps get below 50. Here's hoping the worst is over and I can crawl out of my cave and bask in the sunshine again. Not that there's any sunshine in which to bask today.

Not much new going on in our little patch of forest. I don't make resolutions, but I have determined to get on with commencin' to start to get ready to prepare for thinkin' about maybe adding a little more active activities to my days. My brand new, as yet 'unrid' bicycle is gleaming at me, longing for a non-frigid, non-rainy, non-peekid day to hit the pavement. Soon, Bikey, soon. The mini-tramp has been seeing more of me, as have the light weights. I still can't get to the treadmill, but the path is beginning to open up.
We have been noticing an occasional ammonia-like odour in the bedroom. I finally MADE Duller drag out the big turns-the-dark-to-daylight flashlight and peer under the house last night. As I suspected, a cat has made his/herownself at home under there. Not EVEN wanting a repeat of last year's kitten escapade, we are taking measures to make its new home as unattractive as possible. Aluminum foil on the back step really did keep them off a few months back, so we might start out with a giant tin foil hat. 8-} My first thought, of course, is to call Dobie for a Day. Sorry, cat lovers, but I like them less and less every time some dropped off unwanted pet drags cat fleas into our yard. (And I thought I couldn't possibly like them less).


Today's outstanding Groupons:
*Orlando:Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
*Gainesville/Ocala/Pt. Charlotte/Naples: Earth Origins Market
*Dunnellon: Dunnellon's Florist

*Lakeland: Cookie Jar Bakeshop

*Jacksonville: Matthew's Restaurant

*Montgomery, AL: Smoothies-N-Things Cafe and 'Faust' at Opera Birmingham

Florida Factoid Friday

The world's largest climate simulator, McKinley Climatic Laboratory, is at Eglin Air Force Base in Valparaiso. The facility, which can create a variety of climates, has been the government's primary indoor weather testing center since opening in 1947.