Category: Life

Posted in Life, senses

Can you smell that smell

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by ali esfandiari on Unsplash

With about 15 minutes to go in our walk this morning, the big dog and I caught a powerful whiff of cannabis wafting into the street. Yes, at 7:00 am.

I know what you’re wondering. I’ve never partaken, but I did go to college, and became very familiar with the smell of weed. I remember the first time the residence advisor met with us in the common are of the dorm. He basically told us that no one would say anything as long as you kept it in your room with the door closed. That was in 1975, when there were few rules and plenty of beer available at the fraternities. (Yes, I had a few.)

Anyway, I never thought of smoking as a first thing in the morning activity. But every morning I pass certain houses whose residents are having a cigarette, a cigar, or a morning hit. It’s like their cup of coffee or energy drink, I suppose. I know tobacco is addictive, cannabis not so much. Caffeine is. I guess it’s what you’re used to.

Now what I really like to catch a whiff of is a brisket that’s been in the smoker all night. That’s a Saturday or Sunday morning treat. Along with someone cooking bacon in an outdoor kitchen. I slow down in front of those homes, enjoying that moment as I contemplate getting a smoker.

Posted in Life

Treasures along the road

Posted on by William Douthwaite

The big dog and I walk about twenty-five miles a week, around all the streets in the neighborhood plus some bonus excursions through the nearby sports complex. I find something along the road almost every day. A dime, a washer, or a pencil. I’ve found a screwdriver, two folding utility knives, and a Spiderman action figure.

Yesterday was unusually productive. I found

  • A Lego apple. The bright red color stood out in the brown mulch. This is gold. We’ve paid good money to add food pieces to our Lego collection.
  • A one-inch blue ball. It looks like it belongs to some kind of game. I spied it in the grass along the side of the road. It will fit in nicely with our collection of balls the grandkids play with.
  • A twelve-inch zip tie. It was just laying there in the middle of the road. I use these all the time, organizing wires, cords, and cables in our house.
  • An admission ticket to By Brothers. By Brothers is a family owned Cuban restaurant/family fun park in Miami featuring pedal tractors, corn pit, aviary, petting farm, train rides, pony rides, a giant jump pad, camel rides, paintball, an obstacle course, a fish farm, a sprinkler zone, inflatable waterpark, ball pit, and bird gardens. I have no idea why this ticket would be laying along the road five hours north in Palm Coast, but it sounds like a place I’d definitely want to visit!
  • A raffle ticket. Actually, the road was littered with them. I only picked up one. I’m thinking I’ll tuck it away in my wallet, and one day…that number will come up!

Posted in Life

The missing lug nut

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Tekton on Unsplash

For the past few days, I’ve heard an unusual sound from the front end of the van just as I’m coming to a stop. It’s not a squeak or a grinding sound. It’s more like something rubbing. I don’t feel it in the brakes. I only hear it. But not all the time. Hmmm.

I made an appointment with the brake place where I just had some work done a few weeks ago. Today I took the van to Discount Tire for an overdue tire rotation. Balance, too? Sure.

After the initial inspection, the service rep told me, “You’re missing a locking lug nut on the right front wheel.” What? I had no idea. The set of regular lug nuts were still in the glove box. “Just put one of those on.”

Fifteen minutes later, I was out of there. And on the drive home, I didn’t hear that noise. Hmmm. Nice! Could that missing lug nut been the culprit? Who knows? I’m just glad it’s not a brake issue.

But now I’m wondering, “What happened to that lug nut?” The last people to work on the van were the brake guys. From now on, I’ll check the lug nuts when I do my walk around.

Posted in kitchen, Life

A great appliance repair experience

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash

I wrote about our new double-oven a few weeks ago. Worked great and we got a great deal. However, after a few weeks, I noticed that the “hot surface” light stayed on all the time. All the burners worked and both ovens worked, but that light never blinked off.

I turned off the breaker, waited a few minutes and flipped it back on. The light was still on. I got online to see what the fix was. There’s got to be a YouTube video describing an easy fix. But I didn’t find one.

I opened up to the troubleshooting part of the oven manual. The solution? Turn the power off and on. If that doesn’t work, you need a service call.

I’d only had the oven for a few weeks, so the repair would be covered by warranty. I got online to find out who to call. Well, this is 2025, so you don’t actually call anyone. You go to a website, input your information, and make an appointment with a nearby repair company. It was pretty easy to schedule them for the day after tomorrow.

I was really happy when the repair guy called in the first few minutes of the four-hour appointment window and said, “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” The only thing I had to do was shut the dogs in a bedroom. My appointment confirmation email specifically said, “If you don’t have your pets secured before the technician arrives, he’s leaving.”

It took all of five minutes for the technician to open up the top of the oven and say, “I don’t know which burner is the problem. I’m going to order a whole new set. They’ll be delivered, and then I’ll come back to install them.” We agreed on the next appointment time, and he was out of there. If new burners didn’t solve the problem, he’d replace the wiring harness. If that didn’t work, I’d get a whole new oven.

One week later, a huge box arrived with all new burners for the oven. A week after that, he called to say he was on his way. One by one he replaced all five burners on the range top. After replacing each, he flipped the power back on. Four times in a row he said, “Nope. Not that one. It’ll probably be the last one.”

Sure enough it was. He popped in burner number five, turned the power back on, and announced, “There we go.” He tested all the burners, packed up his tools, and had me sign a receipt. Problem solved. He assured me, “I’ve never had to come back after replacing the burners.”

Overall, not a bad service experience.

Posted in Home improvement, Life

Some sad-looking sod finds a home

Posted on by William Douthwaite

I needed 25 square feet of sod to patch a place in the backyard where we had a sandbox for the grandkids when they were younger. The sandbox hadn’t gotten much action in the past year, so I tore it out, spread out the sand where the yard needed some leveling, and tossed out the wood from the box and lid.

I was certain that our Home Depot got a delivery of sod every Saturday morning, so I had no doubt I could pick up some nice pieces of grass. I was so wrong.

When I arrived, there were hardly any pieces under the big “Sod” sign. A woman driving a red Jeep Gladiator was picking through some pieces, rejecting most and having a Home Depot guy put some in her truck.

I carefully surveyed the scene. I saw enough sod for my project. I only needed twelve pieces, so I went to the cashier for my purchase. I said, “I thought you got new sod on Saturdays.”

He replied, “No, the truck comes every Tuesday and Thursday.”

“No problem. I saw enough out there. I need twelve pieces.” He rung up my sale and I pulled my van around to the pile of picked over sod.

The remaining sod was a little yellow around the edges, a bit dry, and broken apart. But I found twelve acceptable pieces to load up. When I got to the last piece, another man stepped up, looked at me and said, “That’s all there is?”

I said, “Yep. I just need one more piece, and the rest is yours.” He shook his head as he looked over the pile of dirt and pieces of grass. “I suggested, “You might want to try Lowes.”

He said, “I was just there. I guess I’ll have to come back.”

Back home, I carried my below average sod through the gate into the back yard and covered up the sandbox footprint. I watered it well and said, “Good luck.”

Much to my delight, thunderstorms drenched our neighborhood the past two afternoons. Nothing waters the yard better than rain from above. I have a good feeling about that below average sod. Just wait until the sun hits it and it starts to grow. It will feel right at home.

Posted in Life, tourism

A very different aquarium experience

Posted on by William Douthwaite

A couple of years ago I wrote about a visit to a disappointing aquarium in Fort Worth, TX. When the Daytona Aquarium and Rainforest Adventure opened in the old Burlington Coat Factory building, I was skeptical. “Great, ” I thought, “A few fish tanks and a turtle.”

Today we took three granddaughters (ages 6, 4, and 2) and we were pleasantly surprised. It’s not Sea World (and they don’t charge Sea World prices), but it was a great experience. The habitats and tanks were well done, and we could see most of the reptiles, fish, amphibians, and mammals up close and personal.

After we bought our tickets, we spent time trying to find the creatures in Frog Swamp, Lizard Lair, Snake Den, and Gator Alley.

We got to touch lots of sting rays in Ray Bay. They (the rays) were happy to see us because they thought we had food in our hands. Sorry, not this time.

The fish tanks in Shark Reef and the Amazon were filled with lots of tropical fish. We loved touching the starfish, sea urchins, and hermit crabs in the Touch Pool. The shrimp were shy and kept their distance.

The Rainforest was open, giving us a view of a sloth, lemur, monkeys, and a few birds.

We spent a lot of time in the extensive gift shop on the way out. It was well stocked with every size of all the stuffed creatures we had just seen, along with lots of t-shirts and jewelry.

I enjoyed my visit, would come back, and recommend it to anyone in the Daytona Beach area!

Posted in Life, trash

More fireworks than ever

Posted on by William Douthwaite

On July 5, it was easy to find out who was launching the impressive fireworks on Independence Day. As you can tell from the remains on the street, this year’s neighborhood celebrations were bigger and better than ever. The American Pyrotechnics Association estimates that $2.2 billion was spent on fireworks in America in 2024. I’ll bet it was more this year.

My dogs voiced their indignation as colorful explosions filled the night sky above the trees surrounding our block. A handful of “quiet moment” treats didn’t do much to calm them down. Fortunately, the evening parties near our house didn’t last long, and we all drifted off to sleep.

A friend who works in the emergency room described a patient who walked in with two blown-off index fingers, three degloved fingers, and only half of one thumb. I learned that degloved describes an injury where all the soft tissue is torn away from the bones. Yeah, I know, that sounds horrible. But this guy wrapped his hand in a towel and drove himself to the hospital.

The US Consumer Products Safety Commission reports there were 14,700 fireworks-related injuries and eleven deaths in 2024. I’m more than happy to let someone else light the fuse so I can watch from a distance.

Posted in Life, trash

Friendly neighborhood Spiderman!

Posted on by William Douthwaite

One of the unexpected benefits of walking the dogs a couple times a day is finding treasures along the way. So far this year I’ve found two folding utility knives, a Philips head screwdriver, a clear plastic 18-inch ruler, and twenty cents. That doesn’t include the dress-form and inexpensive guitar I rescued from a rental clean-out trash heap.

Last week I found this one foot tall Spiderman action figure in the middle of the street. It was on a curve in a road with undeveloped wooded lots. With no houses nearby where his owner may have lived, I picked up the superhero and brought him home.

Spiderman debuted in a Marvel comic book in 1962. He’s been featured in many comic books, television shows, and movies since then. Some of my grandchildren are fans of Spidey and His Amazing Friends, a kids variation of the character. But they recognized the classic figure with a resounding, “Whoa!”

He now keeps watch over the toy room alongside a foot-tall Tyrannosaurus Rex, Woody from Toy Story, a Doc McStuffins doll, and the entire cast of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.

Posted in coffee, Life, waiting

Another impressive coffee machine

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Every time I take my car in the service at the dealer, they’ve upped their coffee game. Here’s a picture of their latest machine featuring espresso, cappuccino, latte, and mocha. Plus, a couple of things I’ve never seen before: a vanilla steamer and a chocolate shot. It served up a delicious latte in less than thirty seconds. Nicely done!

I’ve written about coffee machines before. Waiting areas have come a long way from the days of a single glass carafe one quarter full of burnt-tasting day-old coffee.

Which on this day was good because I had to wait about 2-1/2 hours for some simple service on my car. I had an appointment and the service bay didn’t look busy, but it too them a while before they got around to my oil change and tire rotation. Maybe it was because this was the car’s first service, so it was free.

But I can’t complain too much. I took advantage of the free snacks, including cookies, chips, crackers, granola bars, and fruit. No I didn’t eat all of those. I was polite. I only took one bag of popcorn chips to munch on while watching some home improvement TV episodes.

Eight service advisors were busy on computers. They received service customers, called about insurance, took payment for completed work, and discussed repair options. I suppose snacks and beverages takes the edge off having to get work done, which always costs more than you expect.