I’m getting together with another former work colleague this morning, on what is an absolutely beautiful Florida day. The temperature is 69 degrees with blue skies. We’re meeting at the house for a beer before we head over to Englewood for lunch. As a snowbird from Lafayette, Indiana, he hosts a couple of annual golf tournaments for his buddies, but age has taken its toll. Apparently, there were only two other friends that made it down for this one. He’s about four years older than I am. I hired him at WLFI-TV as my General Sales Manager after he had left the station to form his own advertising agency. As an “outsider” in the market, I needed a hometown wing man to dispel of rumors that the station was no longer serving local interests after its sale to the company that employed me for many years. 

One of his friends that came down is interested in moving to Englewood where my grandparents settled for half of the year. We’re going there to look at storm damage and potential real estate opportunities. I’ll enjoy meeting his friends and sharing stories of the past. I’ve seen his Facebook posts for several years now, but probably haven’t been face-to-face with him in twenty years. We’ll try to narrow that down when he arrives. I get to show off our new outdoor kitchen and the refrigerated beer drawers that go with it. The grill portion has served us both in Portland and by the pool here in Venice, but on a cart. It has now secure in a permanent stone enclosure with the gas burner at its side. I was surprised that everything worked, even the electric rotisserie, after being moved from place to place. Last night, pork chops were are first meal on the new setup.

The only bad news about today was that the refrigerator repairman moved our appointment to next week. It’s the only other storm-related damage that needs to be addressed. Warranties are always questionable, so I’m leery of the builder’s promise, considering that it might have been fried in a power surge. No one was home to witness that but the faint smell of spoiled food is disguised with the odor of bleach and other cleaning fluids. The change in dates does free me up for this trip to Englewood, but I would still like to get this issue resolved, even though we still have two other sources of refrigeration.