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Larry and Felicity in Larnaca, CyprusBeats the hell out of Blackpool
June 18 Another Long NightI'm on night 2 of my 3 night stint at easyHotel.com in Larnaca. I did sleep better this morning, managing about 5-6 hours and should get some more sleep tomorrow. The 2nd night seems to be the toughest for me, my body clock is still on normal time. But on the upside, after 3 days on, I get 3 off, then go to the day shift. A few musings.We had the USA Navy make a port call in Larnaca last week. Sailors and Marines stopped by enroute to the Persian Gulf. Really nice guys and great ambassodors for the USA. It gave the local shops, restaurants and bars a much needed boost. They were spending a lot of money, of course, where they are going, they won't have a chance to spend a lot. Evidently the navy is giving a ride to the marines who will deploying either to Iraq or Afghanistan. We hope they stay safe.
Felicity is off to the UK for her son's wedding and will be stopping by Munich for a few days on her way back.
The job is going ok, it can be tiring, 12 hour shifts, especially the night shift, but it really makes you appreciate the 3 days off. The day shift seems to go faster now that we have guests, but the last few hours of the night shift can really drag. Most of our guests seem to be quite happy with their accomodation and things are picking up.
Poor Sassy has to spend 12 hours a day on her own, since I'm on the job and Felicity is away. She will spend most of that time in a cool spot sleeping. I wish I could sleep as well as she does, dogs can sleep anywhere at any time.
I hurt my back the other day, I was going to sit down and missed my chair completely, landing on my tail bone, I could hardly move for 2 days and it is still tender. Vanetta, a friend of ours, gave me some pain killers and anti-inflamatories. A few more days, I hope, and I'll be back to 100%.
Better close for now,
Larry
April 30 It's Been A WhileI've gotten lazy about updating my blog, the last one was Feb 10th. Since then we have been to the USA, visiting my brother in St. Louis, and the rest of the family back in Indiana. While in Indiana, I managed to get my driver's licence back, it had expired back in 2000, so I can now drive legally, at least in Indiana, until Sep 2015.
It's looking more like summer here in Larnaca, Felicity still gets to the beach everyday for her swim, I'm still waiting for late May or June before I brave the waters. There was quite a bit of rain in the winter and early spring months, some of the smaller reservoirs even over flowed, so the water shortage isn't as critical, there is still rationing going on.
The big news is that I finally got a job. Felicity was absolutely thrilled. I am working reception at easyHotel in Larnaca. The hotel will be opening in June, but we have started working our shifts, basically for security of the premises. As I am typing this, I am currently working the grave yard shift, 11:00PM-7:00AM, it has just gone past mid-night. We are starting our new hours on Friday, 3 days of 12 hour shifts followed by 3 days off. At least I should be able to get into some kind of sleep pattern again.
Better close for now.
I better be careful about what I write, one of the hotel owners said he found my blog on the internet. Anyway, I'm really enjoying it here, they are great guys to work for. That ought to get me a few brownie points. February 10 Off we goNot long now, less than 15 hours until we board our flight for the first leg of our journey to Frankfurt, 2 or 3 hours in Frankfurt, then we are off for Chicago, arriving around 1:00 pm local time. We will then be driving to St. Louis to see my brother and a friend of mine that I used to work with about 17 years ago. After a couple days in St. Louis, we will make the trek back to Indiana, loads of family and friends to see there.
The weather in Indiana has gotten milder now, thank God, it will be around the freezing point when we are there, better than minus 19 f. It will still be a shock to our systems as we feel cold when it is 55-60 f. Anyway, I have packed lots of sweaters in anticipation.
Sassy will be staying with friends of ours for the time we are gone. January 31 Off to the USAWe will be off for the USA on Feb 11th for a flying visit, only 2 weeks. It has been very cold back in Indiana, at one point reach -19 F (-28c), I checked the weather today, temps are still at 0 F with a snow cover. It is 64 here in Larnaca, but looks like rain is on its way. After the last couple years of severe drought, it is good to see the rain, though we need constant rain for a few months to refill the reservoirs. January 15 1955, God, am I that old?Comments made in the year 1955! That's only 53 years ago! 'I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20.00. 'Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2,000.00 will only buy a used one. 'If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. 25 cents a pack is ridiculous. 'Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging 10 cents just to mail a letter. 'If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store. 'When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage. 'I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying "DAMN" in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it. 'I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas. 'Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the President. 'I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now. 'It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet. 'It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work. 'I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business. 'Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to government. 'The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on. 'There is no sense going on short trips anymore for a weekend, it costs nearly $15.00 a night to stay in a hotel. 'No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $35.00 a day in the hospital, it's too rich for my blood.' 'If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it.' January 05 Another YearIt is hard to believe how time flys by, it is already 2009. I remember when I was younger, thinking how far off the year 2000 was, and that it would never arrive, at least not in my life time. But now 2000 has been and gone and I will turn 54 this year.
We will be going back to the USA for a visit this February. We will probably freeze, we have been cold with the temps around 45 F here, imagine how will feel in a real winter climate. We are rapidly depleting our supply of logs, having a fire in our wood burner every night, but it does warm our living room up. Felicity still gets down to the beach for a swim when it is sunny.
Anyway, hope you all have a Happy New Year. December 17 Choir ConcertWe recently had a very successful concert, the Mediterranean Choir performed at the Dhekelia base to a crowd of about 150. I must say I was amazed at the tremendous improvement shown since I took over in September. At first, I had wondered what I had gotten myself into, but the choir showed steady improvement culminating at the concert. They all paid close attention to me and we made music, not just notes in a scale. We are looking forward to starting up again next year....hope we get some tenors. December 04 December----AlreadyThe year has flown by in Cyprus once again. Another Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas is upon us in 21 more days, 28 for the new year. It is still getting p to the low 70s F here, Felicity still goes for her daily swim.
Had a little excitement today, a fire in the apartment above the Sports Bar, just around the corner from us. Hopefully nobody was hurt, there was a lot of black smoke coming from the windows and the firemen were climbing over the balcony with their breathing apparatuses. The police finally arrived to stop cars from entering the street after the fire seemed to be out.
November 29 Scanning PicturesI've been busy scanning pictures onto the computer, as time goes on the photos start to deteriorate. I couldn't believe the way the house looked before we moved in. Somehow we got it finished. I've posted some pictures of the pre-renovation and the start of the renovation. November 25 Happy ThanksgivingNovember 23 Thunder StormsAfter hardly seeing any rain for a year, I can't believe what a novelty it is. Yesterday started out beautifully, not a cloud in the sky. As noon approached, clouds started rolling in, by 1:00PM the clouds were getting darker and dark, and faint rumblings of thunder were in the distance. Felicity was out having a coffee with a friend, she made it home shortly before the heavens opened. There was then a brief respite, and we walked down to Paul and Marys' apartment to catch a ride out to Phil and Sharron's' house, most of the time we were driving into bright sunshine. As soon as we reached our destination, we found that they had no electricity and a thunderstorm was moving in. There were some fantastic bolts of lightening in the area, the thunder scared their poor cats. On the way home, we were greeted by a rainbow, then it clouded over and rained some more.
When we got home we found a puddle of water just inside our back door. We leave our court yard door open so Sassy can get out if she needs. The wind normally comes off the sea, the front of the house. Yesterday it came from the mountains and blew rain into the rear.
Everything seems so fresh and clean now, the dust is washed away and the air smells great. It is nice and sunny once again today, Felicity will be going for her swim soon, and I'll take Sassy for a walk. November 16 Weekend WalkWe had a nice walk with Sassy around the Larnaca salt lake. Her little legs can really go. She seems to be completely recovered from her surgery and just tears around the park. With the recent rains there is a bit of water in the lake now. And with the water, the flamingos have returned. They winter here in Larnaca and in Limossol. They were difficult to see, because the water is not that close to the shore line yet. All being well, we will have a lot more rain this winter and the lake will fill completely, and more importantly, the island's reservoirs. Water is still being rationed, we have water from the mains every other day. On the off days, it comes from our storage tank.
My football team(American college football), the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, won yesterday, this season is going much better than last year, still a lot of room for improvement. There is always next year.
Better close for now,
Larry November 13 SassySassy is recovering nicely from her surgery, nearly back to normal, and of course no puppies around now to irritate her. We went for a nice long walk on the salt lake today and she was bounding all over the place.
We had thunderstorms yesterday, really cleaned out the atmosphere. It was quite a bit cooler today, but will warm up as the week goes on. November 09 Puppy UpdateUnfortunately, the person who was going to take the puppies had to back out, so we are taking them to the Nicosia dog shelter today. They are puppies and cute, so they should find a home. Thanks for visiting Larry and Felicity in Larnaca. Please leave a note.
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