A Catch-Up Post for Restart Purposes


Well, just like that it's been a solid month since m last post.   Before embarking on weightier matters, I thought I'd do a catch-up post on recent events.   Blogs and best intentions go hand in hand.

Most recently, we've returned from a 9 day trip to Florida and over the weekend I played in the WA Senior Chess Championship Chess Tournament with about 20 other over types. 

The trip to Florida was great.    I had a board meeting to attend, so we built a few days in the sun around the meeting date.    We spent 5 days in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, then travelled BY UBER to a couple of other destinations, staying with friends and ending up near my brother and his family in a city called Stuart on the east coast of Florida.

Our stay in  the St. Pete area was very enjoyable, with decent weather for much of the stay.   I have to admit, Anne and I agree that we've been dragging bad weather around with us since our trip to Palm Desert.    We had a couple of windy days in St. Pete, and on the last day we were there a real downpour of a type I've not seen in that area.  Usually, downpours last five minutes and in another 15 you would never know it rained.  This went on for hours, including the start of our car ride to our next destination.   Scary.

Our hotel was nice but expensive for a four-star (the Don Cesar).   It is a cool building constructed in 1928, with an obviously long history that includes time as a World War II hospital and many years of being shut down.   AND they have GHOSTS.    Nothing too gruesome, but some definite stories.

The room was somewhat small but nice enough, but they definitely zing you for all extras, including beach chairs, umbrellas, etc.     Eighteen bucks for a pot of coffee is a but much for me.  You can't eat their beach however, and we really enjoyed it (a little too much, as my sunburns attest.   We never got sa sniff of the pool until the last day, when the Easter holiday crowed dissipated a bit.   

We enjoyed visiting friends in the area, and had some GREAT food in St. Pete.    We found a little restaurant in a former actual diner called the Mad Fish (I kept calling  Bad Fish but that would make no sense).    THey had an incredible menu that included some of the best New England lobster I've ever had, and is one of the few restaurants I've been to that offered Chateaubriand.    We went there twice it was so good.    The lobster was a huge tail for only $27.    We went back for the chateaubriand, which WOULD HAVE been excellent but it was served barely warm - partially because the waiter stopped at almost every other table in the place to show it off and "sell some" s he put it.    The flavor was excellent.   If you get to St. Pete, try the Mad Fish.

The highlight of the trip was our visit with my brother Mike and his wife Anna, and my nephews Luke and Ben.    Ben was the newest McNall until midway through our visit, when my nephew Brandon and Natanya announced the newest McNall, young Caden (sp?) McNall.    Funny story - both Luke and Ben were the youngest McNalls for only a short time, before the spot was usurped - first Mike's son Luke by Brandon's son Caleb, and now little Ben by Caden.   I digress.   It was awesome to spend more than a few minutes with Luke and Ben, not to mention Mike and Anna.

My brother Mike has built a career in golf, working as a club pro and a caddy at high-end resorts.  He's built up a clientele at a club on Long Island as well as a club in Florida, and the family travels to New York in the spring/summer months, then back to Florida for the winter months when glolf is still played.   Mike is 16 years my junior.   While I'm the oldest of my siblings, Mike is the oldest of my rather's two children with Judy (called "Gramma JooJee" by Luke), so we've always had an interesting dynamic between us as competing eldest siblings.   There's no competition when it comes to gold, at which I was never of any account even when I could see the ball.    Mike's the best golfer I've ever seen with my own eyes.   He t3ells me of the vast gulf between pros and even excellent golfers like himself - which I'm sure is the same in every sport.

My nephew Luke has an extra gear too - of smiling glowing cuteness.    He literally attracted a crowd at the hotel cafe.    One lady kind of kept going on and on about Luke - perhaps his first official groupie.    She even started up the next day when they came back to hang at our hotel pol. 

Anna's a schoolteacher and a great, calm mom.    She also takes terrific pictures.   We enjoyed being able to renew our relationship, as we simply haven't been able to spend a lot of time with our only East coast close family.

I mentioned we Uber'd all over the state, and that actually went quite well.    We had a 2 1/2 hour car ride from St. Pete, then a 3 1/2 hour car ride to Stuart.    In both cases it was far less expensive and less time consuming than flying would have been.     One thing I learned is that Uber has changed their car types:  Uber  X is now much less well-cared for cars than it was, and they now have a new class "Uber Select" that seems to be what UberX was, and which is still below Uber XL. 

We got back in good order, and after a plane ride that needed at midnight Friday I hgot up to play chess on Saturday AM.   This was a two day tourney at the Seattle Chess Club.    I played well the first day, then equally not well the second day.    Still struggling to regain my former strength and starting to realize I probably won't.   

As the tourney was only for 50 year olds and above, there were no kids present.    While this was good from the standpoints of noise and crowding (the chess club is not very big and gets packed in many cases), I actually missed the energy of the little buggers.   While I've developed a phobia  of losing to 12 year old girls, I have to be quite pleased at their level of skill and the growth that competitive chess has experienced because of the youngsters. 

Next, we're heading to Vegas for 3 days in the sun.    We don't really gamble, but friend Tod has offered to show me how to play craps.    Hopefully we can find a 50 cent table to learn on.

Medical news:   Annual visit to the eye doctor.  She indicates I'm legally blind - corrected vision of 20/200 in both eyes.   I've noticed the bad progress in the last couple of years, but it's been a pretty steady decline for the last 25 years.   Still no treatment - although the doc says I also have developed cataracts and she wants to operate.   Mom had a bad experience with this operation, so I have to think about it.   Everyone has their problems; my vision is mine.    What sucks is that this is hereditary:  Gramps McNall had it, my dad has it, one of my brothers has it, and one of my sons may have it.    I hope and believe they'll come up with treatment in my kids' lifetime.

The only negative about traveling is losing the thread on my exercise regimen.    I think it is making a difference, so I'm looking forward to getting regular again.  So to speak.

Ok, we're caught up.   Be well.