We left Key West, Thursday September 19, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. It was the end of what could have been an ideal workampers position. It is not that we wanted to go, nor were we asked to go…we left because poor Paulie wasn’t able to keep up with the job requirements. *Sigh*. Nothing to do but admit we had erred in thinking general maintenance would not include climbing trees, fixing automated sprinkler systems and learning the art of Japanese gardening. Perhaps we erred in not asking more specific questions although I had listed them carefully, and when asked about the physicality of the maintenance position, some things were not clearly defined. Paul feels terrible. His replacement shoulders were shot after just two days on the job. He was expected to cut palm fronds with an implement that was heavy and had to be held above his head. You all know Paul cannot lift his arms past his shoulders due to the severity of his shoulder impairments. He pulled dead plants for four hours in heat of over 95 degrees and 95% humidity. He was lost when the other workamper disassembled a professional grade refrigerator in one of the million dollar lots, cleaned and repaired it and put it back together again. He was flummoxed when the other workamper revamped the tubing in an automatic watering system in another million dollar lot. Nope. This was not a job for Paulie! For the first time, I was confident my part was a snap…checking emails, responding to inquiries, making reservations and keeping the accounts all on a kool pc program called Campground Master. We were provided free wifi, a cell phone and even the laptop. The 13 sites were privately owned and managed by our boss. We were here as on site assistants, so we were parked on a $500,000 site with lush tropical landscaping, a Tiki Hut and lanai with an outdoor kitchen, and our own private dock on the canal. It truly was paradise IMNSHO! I really was crushed when we had to decline the position. How can I fault Paul…never once did he ever voice impatience with me when I had problems (with cleaning the bathrooms in Branson mostly…not hard, but difficult for me with fibro…).

We drove back up north through the beautiful Keys, stopping at a sandal and t shirt factory in Islamorada. While I was looking for bargains (which was a joke…some discounts…$20 per shirt and $149 Berkies) Paul took both puppies for a walk. Pepe was fine. Mack walked into some kind of “plant eating puppy” plants and in seconds, he was covered with stickers, burrs and some exotic things that wrapped around his legs and clambered up his chest onto his face, neck and ears. Poor Baby! I walk into the rig and there is my baby just crying. I look at Paul and ask WTF? OK, he bellows, I made a mistake. I swear after dropping the poor baby on his head, letting him fall off the table and other misdeeds, I told him he must leave my baby alone! He is a hazard to Mack’s health!

For the next hour I tried to get out all this sticker things. Mack’s fur is soft and these suckers wouldn’t budge. Out came the scissors and whack, whack there goes my baby’s pretty little fur coat! He looks like an escapee from a puppy prison! I had to clip almost all the fur off those lil’ chicken legs. He looks pathetic…but, it will grow back!

We stopped Thursday afternoon in Naples, just down the road from the place we stayed in two years ago…at a place called Kountry Kamping…an older park with older seasonal rigs that were not gosh-awful but will be soon. Off season, it was $3l per night (!) in season….$65! Jeesh! Pricey here in Naples…but I LOVE Naples…it is so clean and well kept…well maintained landscaping and buildings…I am sure there is a slummy part, but I haven’t found it so far!
We slept in on Friday, and Paulie and I went out, grandpa wanting to stay in the park. We were walking through the Tin Can Mall, my phone rings and grandpa tells me that my puppy LOVES the pool! He took my little puppy to the pool and threw him in!!!! I told him through gritted teeth I think, that if anything happened to my puppy he’d better start hitch hiking back to the RGV!

While shopping I found the deal of the century….SILK Capri’s and SILK tops (all washable silks BTW) on sale, marked down from $70 to $15 each. I could only buy one pair of bright lime green Capri’s and one kinda celadon top. Wow…I wish I would wear a size 4…I could have gotten a new wardrobe for under a $100 bucks! And NICE stuff…I told Paulie I couldn’t find this kinda deal at Wally World…Capri’s and top for $30! He just stared at me…and the sales clerk then castigated him to my utter delight…she told him I was a bargain shopper and just hit the jackpot. Riiiigggghhhht. LOL!

Later in the car going home, we had an argument to beat all arguments…for those of you who know us…arguing with Paul is my favorite past time…he gets so flustered when I nail him with facts that he sputters stupid words in order to refute me. Silly man. Anyways, this was a corker. We finally stopped to grab a bite to eat at, what else, Taco Bell. Local delite abound in Naples and I hafta eat fake tacos? Arrrgggh! We finally get home and I have a headache and a tummy ache from the tacos so I lay down for a while. We just spent the evening watching TV…

Saturday
We slept in again after deciding to stay at KK for another night. I wrote my new article for Bella, did some emailing and started to update the blog. Paul wanted to have lunch/early dinner at a local place called Cracklin' Jacks. Grandpa had fried oysters, Paul had fried catfish, and I had fresh fried grouper. Oh my. Very good. I ended my meal with a slice of homemade Key Lime pie...not too sweet, not too tart...icky plastic whip cream...what's up with food service places lately. The whipped cream is "stabilized" now...it is like marshmallow fluff mixed with Cool Whip...its really disgusting! Give me the can of Ready Whip and I am happy. Ugh...I never order anything with whip cream nowadays...even Dairy Queen is using the plastic make believe stuff. And forget about buying a cake in the store bakery. UGH UGH UGH. The butter cream is crisco and marshmallow fluff. Looks beautiful as it stays firm and doesn't melt. However it cannot be DIGESTED either! What happened to bakeries? God I miss Chicago and it's neighborhood bakery shops. A dying figment of my childhood I guess. I am gonna look up how to make real butter cream and start making my own cake. Then I can put raspberry filling in it and pig out to my heart's content...yellow cake, raspberry filling and creamy buttery icing. Ah. The stuff of my dreams!

Sunday
We are now on the road…I75 moving towards the Tampa area. We plan on staying at the SKP park in Bushnell. It is about an hour from Tampa but we may park for several days there. Grandpa is flying out of Tampa around 11 am tomorrow, Monday. I hate to say this, but I am glad it will be just the two of us again…there is too much tension with him around. Paulie waits on him hand and foot…he seems to want to make him an invalid and the old fart is far from that stage. He drinks beer and smokes cigars daily…he’s NOT an invalid! He is a bit demanding also. Well, I won’t burden you all with my complaining…I am just about done with taking care of old people…its been over 8 years since grandma got bad and it has been a LONG 8 years. Thank goodness I have three sisters to help with my mom. We had just ourselves to care for Paul’s folks. Oh well.

So, that’s it up to now. Paul is very down on himself for throwing in the towel. I told him to grow up and deal with it…and he better get his ass to the doctor…those replacement shoulders should NOT be a source of agony for him…that’s why I thought he had surgery…to relieve the pain!

hugs to all

dee