A Tragic Love Story

Okay, I don't normally read the paper from start to finish. I'll check out the sports section, the weather, and Sunday's ads. But tonight a headline caught my eye. Something has happened which just makes no sense at all. And yet it makes perfect sense. The title of the article?

"Free parking era at Beach is history"

And so now they will be charging either $1/hr or $2/hr, depending on location, at previously free beach access points. So if you want to go to the beach for the day, be prepared to shell out a lot of money for your trouble. And this is AFTER waiting for almost an hour (or more) some days to get on to the island in the first place! There are a few places which charge only 75 cents, but they are few and far between. And most likely they will be the first ones to go. Don't think that you can sneak away without paying, either. The ticket for not paying the fee is $32. If you haven't paid within 72 hours (!!), it becomes $40, and after 10 days it jumps to $60. So if you plan to go to the beach, bring lots of money. Now, the way they have it set up are automated booths, and you can pay with bills, coins, or Visa/Mastercard. Okay, and here's the kicker. This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. (Well, not necessarily the STUPIDEST, but it's up there...) Fort Myers Beach residents (yes I said residents) can get FREE parking as much as they want with a valid permit. (Well, there is a fee for the permit: a paultry $10.) So people who own property on the beach, and who have their own driveways to park in, can take up the public parking areas for free. Isn't that nice of the FMB advisory board (made up of mostly business owners) for suggesting the fees. I guess I won't be spending too much time at the beach. Oh well, not like I do much anyways... only when my friends are here.

Wow, what a day at work. I woke up a little late, and called Scott to let him know that I would drive straight to the jobsite. After all, we were only going to be working one job today, and it's silly for me to drive a half hour south just to turn around and drive 45 minutes north with Scott. So I met him there. I made sure to wear the oldest crap I could find. Well, not really. I wore some of my new jeans which had rips in them already (from barbed wire fences on the job), and my new socks which had paint on them from working at Catherine's. And, of course, my old boots. The reason for all this dress-up? We went trekking through 40 acres of cow manure and water. Remind me to call in sick, next time we have a job like that. It was just not fun at all. Of course, if I didn't lose at least 5 pounds today, I'll be extremely disappointed... :P But I must have walked around 5 miles today. Back and forth, trudging through water carrying all the equipment. I had to go back for the shovel and metal detector, because Scott decided he needed them. That added a half mile to my distance by itself. Granted, Scott was right there with me, doing the same... And I was really worn out after that. So I wound up falling asleep for a bit at home.

I can't believe how early I got done at UPS. Oh wait, yes I can. Because I wasn't technically done until 9:30pm. Even though I had all but one driver in, and all my paperwork done, by before 9pm. Doesn't count, if the last driver isn't in. But still, I actually got home before 11pm. Woohoo! Now let's see if I can actually get to bed early tonight.

Hmmm, maybe I'll work on my Star Wars, quiz tonight. Actually, no, because I don't have enough questions yet. But I will. I just haven't had the time to work on them yet. And so I'll go now. And maybe work on that, and maybe not. But don't worry... it'll be here. Later all!