And The Winner Is....

I think it's time to put this fish naming thing to rest. After not being able to think of anything really clever to name this fish, we have settled (by default) on Ryan's suggestion of calling him "Alfie" which is short for "Alfie Betta" - remember he's a Betta fish? Anyhow we've racked our brains, looked at names for fish and pets on the web and couldn't decide on anything. Actually I liked the name "Hendrix" as in Jimmy Hendrix but it didn't go over well in my house. But when it was all said and done it came down to "Alfie" and "Blue/Blue Too". But since we already had a Blue we decided to try something new. I actually tried calling the fish by different names but Kathy has been calling him Alfie so long that it didn't feel right calling him anything else. So Alfie it is. Ryan - the Filet-O-Fish is yours my friend.

The other night I was sitting on the couch in the living room and I heard Kathy come home from work. She was in the kitchen and I heard her say "Hi sweetie how you doing?" to which I replied "Fine" but I'm not sure she heard me. In her "sweet voice" she continued by saying "I missed you sooo much - How was your day?" - I thought to myself "Wow - this is cool!" - thinking something special was in the works I replied "I missed you too honey - my day was good." Then suddenly her tone changed and she pointedly said to me "I wasn't talking to you - I was talking to the fish!". Oh...that was embarrassing. Least I know where I stand now. So I guess this means this fish is now part of the family.

Been a wild and crazy week - work is nuts. Kathy had her 2nd flat tire in 3 weeks this week. Gonna start buying tires in bulk if this keeps up. Next weekend we are going to go to Orlando and see Kiel. Since we didn't get to go last weekend because of the hurricane we are going next weekend. Family weekend has been rescheduled for then too. We're all looking forward to seeing him and spending Friday, Saturday and Sunday with him. Not much else except Katlin is going to go to New York City in March for a week with school. He got invited to go by one of his teachers from the school TV station. He's pretty excited (he's never been) plus they'll be doing and seeing some pretty fun stuff. That's all for now...

Well...

I haven't updated in a while. Let me see:

The garage sale went fine last Saturday. We got the garage cleaned out and have actually been parking Kathy's van in the garage since Saturday night! We sold quite a bit at the garage sale and what we didn't sell went to Good Will. We made a $150 on the garage sale. I gave $100 of it to my mom and dad so they could go buy me some sod. I'm extending my front yard a bit and need some more sod to bring it out. The remaining $50 went to buy a shelving unit for the garage. So much for all the profits. Kathy had a weird moment during the garage sale. She was outside by herself watching over the garage sale. While my mom, dad and I were inside the house (eating breakfast). This man about 60 years old came to sale and thought Kathy was there by herself. He started hitting on her in a very lewd way. He couldn't quite convince Kathy to abandon the garage sale and run away with him. I won't tell you what this guy was saying and insinuating to Kathy but suffice it to say there are some sick people in this world. He made her feel very uncomfortable but finally left when we started getting suspicious and he saw activity in the house. He got out of there before dad and I had a chance to thump on him.

This weekend was supposed to be Family Weekend at UCF. We were going to take off in the morning and drive to Orlando for the weekend. However, since the hurricane will be hitting Central/South Florida this weekend our plans have changed. UCF has canceled Family Weekend and moved it to sometime in November. We are not going to be going to Orlando this weekend because of the storm. Instead Kathy's dad (Warren) and his girlfriend (Jean) will we coming up from Avon Park to stay with us. Chances are that their house will be in the path of the storm in some fashion.

We not sure what Kiel intends to do concerning the storm - whether he will come home or not. He started a new job at the Marriott/Ritz Carlton Grand Lakes Resort near Disney earlier this week. Since it is a huge resort they may stay open for the duration of the storm. If so they will need all the help they can get to support the resort. What this means is that they will let the employees(Kiel) stay on property at the hotel in a room. And then work them to death the duration of the storm. Kiel normally works in a restaurant called 'Primo' but during the storm he may stay and work at the Starbucks they have in the hotel. He's not sure what he's going to do yet - he said he would decide tonight after his shift at Primo.

I'm still going to take tomorrow (Friday) off since Warren and Jean will be coming up. I also need to lay sod in the front yard. Hopefully I'll get it done early so Warren, Kat and I can go play some golf. The weather is perfect for playing golf. Not sure what else we'll do this weekend - maybe go to Destin for some shopping, dinner and a movie.

Haven't decided on a name for the fish. I don't like the name 'Gus' - that name has been spoiled. Some folks we know have a little boy named Gus and I don't want my fish named after him. What's up with this Fuzzybritches and BaitBreathe crap? That ain't happening either. I like Alfie Beta and Blue Too but still not completely sold on either. Kathy's dad suggested 'Jaws' - made me laugh. I know they have baby naming books - anyone know if they have fish/pet naming books?

That's all I got.

Attorneys, Garage Sales and Nameless Fish

Well, I went to meet with the attorneys on Monday. We were going to go over my deposition and what questions they were going to ask me in court. I went to the hotel (netrual ground) to meet the lawyers. I hung in the lobby for a bit and no one was there. After about 5 minutes or so I went to the front desk asked if they knew where they were. The lady at the desk said "You must be Mr. Cravatta?" I told her I was and she gave me message to call the attorney's office. I called and the lady on the other end told me that both sides had reached an agreement and had settled. Would have been nice if someone would have let me know. Another reason why I love attorneys (sarcasm). Anyhow, all this means I don't have to go to court and testify. But I am keeping my $25.

Garage Sale this weekend, at least Saturday morning. My goal is to be able to park a vechile in the garage by the end of the weekend. Think it will happen? I don't, but it is a goal - something to shoot for. I think we're going to have the sale at my parents (our old) house. Great location on a very busy street - great place to sell stuff.

We (Kathy) bought a beta fish. Our neighbor brought hers over for us to 'fish sit' and Kathy decided she wanted one. I think I'm gonna take a picture of it tomorrow and post it here on the blog. Then after seeing him, you guys can help us pick a name. Sort of a name the fish contest - except there's no prize - so it's not really a contest. Oooo - I know. The winner would get a gift certificate for a Filet-O-Fish Sandwich. I love irony. Name the fish, then eat one - how cool is that?

That's all I got - be thinking of name for the fish!

Time For Change? Nah, Just Bored

As you can tell I changed the background of this thing. Why? I don't have a clue. I guess I get tired of looking at the old background after about six months. But I also believe that I was just bored sitting here so I changed it. I have to tweak some things on it, like my links but it will have to do until I get bored again. Oh well.

Kiel made it home for the weekend. Got in yesterday afternoon. We're going to go to breakfast on the beach in a little bit. A fairly new place Kathy and I went to last weekend called 'Andy's Flour Power Bakery' - the omlettes and baked goods are great. After that I'm not sure what we're gonna do. Just hang out with the boys I'm guessing.

Hope everyone's well and enjoy the weekend. Time to go wake up my wife...

'Blast' From The Past

Here's a 'Blast From the Past' so to speak. So five (5) years ago, in August of 2000 Kathy and I went to dinner with some guys I work with. There were a total of six of us - us and two other couples. We were working a project and my co-workers were in town to do some work. Anyhow this particular evening we decided to go to a beach front restaurant called Schooners. If any of you have ever visited here then we've probably taken you to Schooner's. It's a pretty neat place, the food is decent, the beer is cold but the view is spectacular.

Well on this night back in 2000 it was a windy night and had been raining. We sat on the deck so we could look at the beach and the water. Schooners has a tradition that they stole from Key West where they shoot off a signal cannon at sunset to celebrate the end of another day. A signal cannon is a fully functional, miniature brass cannon except they don't shoot a cannon ball. At the time, the would choose someone from the restaurant to shoot the cannon. On this particular night they choose this guy who was a Marine Corp helicopter pilot to do the honors. When normally lighting the cannon they use a long lighter, like the kind you use to light a BBQ grill. But since it was so windy this particular evening they passed. Instead they had the guy use a lit cigarette/cigar to light the fuse. Well, the guy bent down and lit the fuse the first time and nothing happened. Upon seeing it wasn't lit the guy bent over a second time to light the fuse. When he did, the cannon went off in his face. Unbeknownst to him, the fuse was lit from the first time he had bent down and lit it. Anyhow, he caught the full back blast from this cannon directly in his face. He was in bad shape and they had to call an ambulance and take him to the hospital. Found out he was burnt pretty bad on his face and lost the use of an eye. Because of that he lost his flight status and could no longer fly helicopters.

A few months later Kathy saw an add in the paper looking for anyone who may of witnessed this. We called and gave a phone interview to what we saw. About eight months later we were asked to give depositions. We gave the depositions four years ago next Monday. As you probably figured, the guy has decided to sue Schooners for what happened. Since so much time had passed and we hadn't heard anything we thought that they had settled out of court. Nope. Last Friday Kathy is at work and a guy shows up asking for her. He ask her to step outside cause he wants to speak with her which scares the crap out of her. He tells her that the case is on and that both her and I have been subpoenaed to appear before the judge and testify in this case. We go to court next Monday, October 10th to testify - which is four years to the day from when we gave our depositions.

It looks like we are considered to be defense witness's. Which is kind of hard for me to believe, since I think the guy was a moron for lighting an explosive device with a lit object hanging out of his face. Actually I think both sides are culpable and bear some negligence - but hey that's not my call. I'm just there to tell them what I saw. Anyhow, since we have to go to court, if not we would be in contempt of court. Kathy and I were each given checks for $25 to cover some minimal expenses. They didn't over do it did they? To me it only seems appropriate that we cash the two $25 checks and take our $50 and get appetizers and a couple of drinks at...where else....Schooners....at sunset….....but without the cannon. Whatdaya think?

So......

I got a very unnerving email from Kiel this morning, here it is. Click on the link to read what happened.


-----Original Message-----
From: kiel cravatta
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 6:41 AM
To: Ron Cravatta
Subject: Fireworks?

I thought it was fireworks.. :( and yes it was right under me...

http://www.local6.com/news/5048616/detail.html


This is Kiel's apartment building and happened below Kiel's room. Kiel's room is on the second floor and the rooms that got shot were on the first floor. So this is what I know. He was awake and studying for mid-terms at his desk (1:30AM). He said he was listening to music and heard what he thought were fireworks. At the time he didn't think much of it and went to bed. When he woke up this morning he heard a lot of activity outside of his building. He went outside and saw all the yellow tapes and cops and then found out what happened. He gave a statement to the cops about what he heard. He also had to talk one of the cops into letting him get something out of his car for classes. The cop reluctantly agreed and gave him a minute to get into his car. He then left to catch the shuttle to go to the main campus and go to class. As he rounded the corner of his apt. building he was swarmed by TV cameras crews wanting to interview him. He said he was interviewed by about 4 different TV stations. After returning from class Kiel said that he cops still had his apt. building on lockdown. They didn't want the neighbors talking to each other about what happened and still wouldn't let them near their cars cause it was still considered a crime scene. Kiel said now since he has had time to think about it he's a bit shaken up by 'what could have been'. But…all praise and thanks to God who kept him safe.

Half a Lifetime

So what's up with this? Two post on the blog in two days? I better slow down or I'll run out of things to say.

Well I've gotta hand it to my wife. I don't know how she does it. She should get a medal or some type of award. But I don't see that happening. Instead I think dinner and movie in Destin will have to do. Not much of reward but it's best I see in her future. My motto is "Nothings too good for my wife (and nothings what she'll get)" - kidding. In case you didn't know today is our 22nd wedding anniversary. Which is why I think she deserves a medal for patience, perseverance and just for being able to be in the same room with me. As most of you would easily guess, she puts up with a lot being married to me. ::Make your jokes about Ron here:: Hard to believe we've been married 22 years. I've now been married half my life, which is simply amazing to me. Last night I told Kathy that and she asked if it was the best half or the worst half of my life. Of course, I said it was the best half. I had to she was sitting right there, what was I supposed to say? Again I'm kidding, it's been an awesome journey so far and I'm just glad that Kathy has chose to experience it with me. I just hope the next 22 years together don't go as fast as the last 22 years.

We're going to celebrate by spending the day together and going over to Destin. I think we'll do some shopping, catch a movie at the Rave Theater and then go to dinner at The BoneFish Grill (our favorite restaurant). Nothing to special - we usually save that for anniversaries that end in zeros and fives - the big ones. I say that…but next year on this date we are booked to leave on a seven day cruise on the Royal Caribbean ship the Mariner of the Seas to the Eastern Caribbean. We were not really planning on doing a cruise until our 25th Anniversary, but then through a series of only-God-could-do-this events did I get a great,great deal that I couldn't pass it up. It's not so much an anniversary cruise but a cruise that just happens to fall over our anniversary. So...If anyone's interested in going along let us know and I'll give you the details about the cruise (we're serious). Anyhow I'm sure we'll celebrate it up big time next year since we'll be on the boat.

I've got some post that I have written and then for what ever reason haven't posted them. I'm thinking that I'll knock the dust off of some of them and post them next week. Plus we have a very strange event going on in our lives that I want to write about. Hope everyone is in good health and spirits. Take care and enjoy your weekend.