Weekend update
17 April 2006 23:49![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plunkybugWe'd planned on getting out of Orlando, and going to Tampa to visit with my brother, for a while, and this weekend we finally did it. We had some problems trying to rent the car, but finally they gave in on Saturday afternoon and let us rent. What a load of hoops we have to jump through! Not getting into that now though. We hung out for a bit in my brother's condo for a little bit, watching the cruise ships departing, and watching the wildlife on the bay. He lives on the 14th floor, so the view is pretty good.
We decided to go to the IMAX theater at MOSI (the Museum of Science and Industry) for the film on Greece at 7pm. As it was a double feature with Mystery of the Nile, one we had already seen, we got tickets to the controversial Bodies exhibit and saw that for the first 45 minutes. The exhibit is controversial, for those who may not know, because all the bodies are real. They are mostly dead Asian prisoners, but they have a preserving laquer of sorts so the bones and muscles and such are all real. We were rushed, so while we saw everything (including black lungs from smokers), we did not have the time to properly read all the display info about the bodies or the organs on display. The sad, and somewhat sick, part of it all was how much we wanted beef jerky and/or steak afterward. Seriously. I know, we're sick fucks, we are. After the time at MOSI, we headed out and had sushi at a nearby restaurant. Yep, sushi won over after all. And we ordered a shitload of sushi, OMG! So full afterward, but we still headed to the Tampa Bay Brewing Company, where my brother's friend was celebrating his birthday. It was a good time, other than this asshole cop giving us a parking ticket for a meter violation, when we had 45 minutes on the meter still, *and* when members in our party (who didn't even know it was our rental) asked him about it, and he still left it. They even asked if that car was allowed to be parked there, and he said it was, and did not indicate that the ticket was for anything other than the meter, which had NOT expired. My brother was simply going to take the ticket and pay for it, without us knowing about it, but he did not know the girls had come in from smoking and told us about it, which made me go out and check our car. The ticket is not for much, just $25, but we still want to dispute it, BECAUSE ASSHOLE COPS SHOULDN"T BE ALLOWED TO GET AWAY WITH THIS KINDA SHIT! We walked around Ybor City for a bit, then came back to my brother's place, watched a comedy special and then went to sleep.
Sunday we slept in late, and then went over to my brother's friend's house for Easter. While I brought my bathing suit to go swimming, I decided not to go in the pool, and instead, sat in a comfy chair and looked at some catalogues. I saw this Indian wok, which captured my interest, as did the recipe the pages featured. I helped Correna and her MIL with making the food. Most of it was already semi-prepared the previous night. We stayed in Tampa much later than we'd planned, but that's ok, because we had fun. Got in late last night, and went to bed.
But, on this trip, I came to a realization. I realized why, or at least partly why, seeing downtown Vancouver at night was so moving. I mean, it is not like I have never seen skyscrapers at night before, but it WAS different. That is what I discovered last night, coming home. The big difference is that in downtown Vancouver, many people *live* in the skyscrapers, whereas here, most of the skyscrapers in downtown are for offices, that meaning that at night there are far more lights in the buildings at night in downtown Vancouver than downtown Orlando. There are differences in the building materials, and I think that it gets darker in Vancouver too., but I think the number of lights on in the building was actually a big factor. Well, at least that is my rationale. :)
Well, gotta go to bed early becaause I have to leave for the doctor appointment fucking early in the morning.
We decided to go to the IMAX theater at MOSI (the Museum of Science and Industry) for the film on Greece at 7pm. As it was a double feature with Mystery of the Nile, one we had already seen, we got tickets to the controversial Bodies exhibit and saw that for the first 45 minutes. The exhibit is controversial, for those who may not know, because all the bodies are real. They are mostly dead Asian prisoners, but they have a preserving laquer of sorts so the bones and muscles and such are all real. We were rushed, so while we saw everything (including black lungs from smokers), we did not have the time to properly read all the display info about the bodies or the organs on display. The sad, and somewhat sick, part of it all was how much we wanted beef jerky and/or steak afterward. Seriously. I know, we're sick fucks, we are. After the time at MOSI, we headed out and had sushi at a nearby restaurant. Yep, sushi won over after all. And we ordered a shitload of sushi, OMG! So full afterward, but we still headed to the Tampa Bay Brewing Company, where my brother's friend was celebrating his birthday. It was a good time, other than this asshole cop giving us a parking ticket for a meter violation, when we had 45 minutes on the meter still, *and* when members in our party (who didn't even know it was our rental) asked him about it, and he still left it. They even asked if that car was allowed to be parked there, and he said it was, and did not indicate that the ticket was for anything other than the meter, which had NOT expired. My brother was simply going to take the ticket and pay for it, without us knowing about it, but he did not know the girls had come in from smoking and told us about it, which made me go out and check our car. The ticket is not for much, just $25, but we still want to dispute it, BECAUSE ASSHOLE COPS SHOULDN"T BE ALLOWED TO GET AWAY WITH THIS KINDA SHIT! We walked around Ybor City for a bit, then came back to my brother's place, watched a comedy special and then went to sleep.
Sunday we slept in late, and then went over to my brother's friend's house for Easter. While I brought my bathing suit to go swimming, I decided not to go in the pool, and instead, sat in a comfy chair and looked at some catalogues. I saw this Indian wok, which captured my interest, as did the recipe the pages featured. I helped Correna and her MIL with making the food. Most of it was already semi-prepared the previous night. We stayed in Tampa much later than we'd planned, but that's ok, because we had fun. Got in late last night, and went to bed.
But, on this trip, I came to a realization. I realized why, or at least partly why, seeing downtown Vancouver at night was so moving. I mean, it is not like I have never seen skyscrapers at night before, but it WAS different. That is what I discovered last night, coming home. The big difference is that in downtown Vancouver, many people *live* in the skyscrapers, whereas here, most of the skyscrapers in downtown are for offices, that meaning that at night there are far more lights in the buildings at night in downtown Vancouver than downtown Orlando. There are differences in the building materials, and I think that it gets darker in Vancouver too., but I think the number of lights on in the building was actually a big factor. Well, at least that is my rationale. :)
Well, gotta go to bed early becaause I have to leave for the doctor appointment fucking early in the morning.
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no subject
Date: 18 Apr 2006 08:02 (UTC)I like Ybor City. I like the way its designed and the roads.
I like how it's so different from Orlando.
I would love to live in a skyscraper. Way up high...
no subject
Date: 18 Apr 2006 12:48 (UTC)Ybor is nice, and has great history. Chas once worked on a book about Ybor with Ferdie Pacheco (sp?). I admit I felt a mite unsafe walking down that main drag, but luckily I had my two men aound me to keep me ok. :)
Skyscraper living would have it's pro's and cons. Can you imagine moving in to a highrise condo with all the furniture and such? Or bringing the groceries up? :P
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Date: 18 Apr 2006 15:20 (UTC)no subject
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Date: 19 Apr 2006 04:37 (UTC)