After working, hanging out with the family, and exercising, I only have a little bit of time in each day for writing. Right now I have a few other projects of more interest to me.
If I get inspired, I may pick things back up here. But for now, I’m moving on.
“He” was a 17-year-old boy bending down to touch the sand in waist-deep water on Sunday at Ormond Beach, about 20 miles away from where we were that same day at New Smyrna.
The “something” was a shark.
Mindy’s stance on going no further out than ankle-deep has been emboldened. The kids and I remained undeterred.
First things first. I was told the the stadium where they play, the Citrus Bowl, was a dump. It’s not really a dump, but it’s not very nice either. No backs on seats, but plenty of college stadiums that I’ve been to don’t have them either. That coupled with the fact that I wore jeans that I probably need to lose five pounds or so to fit in comfortably meant that my back was a little sore at the end of the night. Also, the stadium is in a part of town that feels more like New Orleans’ Ninth Ward than Central Florida. So it was interesting learning that Orlando even had this part of town.
But as for Orlando City, it was more of a thing than I would have thought. It seems to have more than its share of super fans, all dressed in purple, wearing club scarves, chanting in unison and letting of smoke bombs. Mindy even bought one of the scarves. According to Wikipedia, nearly 9,000 people were in attendance. That seems like a lot to me for minor league American soccer.
I watch the EPL on TV, so I’m already sold on the sport itself, especially the game length. Kickoff was at 7:30, and we were back to our car at 9:30. And I did enjoy the wide open style of play of Orlando City, even if it did seem a whole lot sloppier than what I’m used to seeing in the world’s highest level. If they built a soccer only stadium and get into the MLS–a prospect that is looking likelier and likelier–I think I could get into it. I’ve always daydreamed of being a season ticket holder for something. And this would be much cheaper than the Magic.
As for the game itself, City scored two goals and the first 6 minutes and added a third in the 19th minute, so it took a lot of drama out of most of the game. Though their opponents closed the gap to 3-2 with about 30 minutes to go, so the end stayed exciting enough. But City held win the game match, advancing to the championship game match of whatever minor league thing they are in. So that’s nice.
So there it is, Orlando City soccer. Not bad at all.
I’ve been running outdoors a lot more since moving down here–no basement, thus no good place for the treadmill. So we sold it. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as I’ve been enjoying getting re-acclimated to outdoor running. Though it does present its fair share of issues.
1. Heat/humidity – I lump these two together because they are one in the same in my mind. Yes, I understand at the 90 degrees in Florida feels different than 90 degrees in Arizona, but when I say “it’s hot outside”, I’m taking all of that into account. People that correct you, saying “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity”, are like the people that insist on announcing that “it is tomorrow” when you’re up past midnight or tell you “see you next year” when leaving work on December 31, that is they’re annoying. Regardless, the summer weather here in Florida relegates my outdoor running activity to the rule of 9s, before 9 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
2. Sprinklers – Because of #1 above, it means that I am running when people’s sprinklers are going. And sure, at the very end of a run, the idea of cooling off by running through a sprinkler doesn’t sound terrible. But not the first mile. Running in water-logged sneakers is no fun. And by the way, we’ve lived in this house since the end of April, and we haven’t turned on our sprinklers once. Because it rains everyday. I realize that this may stop at some point in the fall, but for now I assume the rain should be sufficient.
3. Leaf blowers – If by the grace of God it’s only 84 degrees at 4 p.m. on a Saturday and I decide to sneak my run in before dinner, I avoid the sprinklers, but suffer a much worse fate. I’m not sure how leaf blowers are even legal. They produce so much noise pollution and actual pollution for such minimal benefit. We have these things called brooms and rakes, and yes, your gardener will have to work an extra 15 minutes causing you bill to be $2 higher, but isn’t that worth it for a little peace and quiet and the ability to breath on an afternoon stroll through the neighborhood?
4. Cars parked over the sidewalk -I chalk this up to our small yards. At least here in the Orlando suburbs, lot sizes seem to be smaller than they were back in Cincinnati. And the pool takes up pretty much the whole backyard, so the house is closer to the street, thus the driveway is shorter. And no one parks their cars in garages down here because there are no basements. So everyone pretty much has two cars parked in their driveway at all times. A third car means street parking or on the driveway but blocking the sidewalk. And in my development, the parking option of choice seems to be the latter. So your choices as runner is the street at all times or weaving around parked cars. Neither option is ideal.
Yeah, but still – This is Florida, so I’m fairly positive that running outdoors throughout December, January and February will be pretty great.
Yet the political system seems strangely reluctant to explicitly encourage more mobility as a possible economic fix. In part, people seem to think it’s heartless or condescending to note that many people could improve their job prospects by relocating. But in other respects, keeping relocation off the table is the real condescension. We take it for granted that talented people will leave their hometowns (if only to go to the flagship state university campus) for education, and need to be mobile to maximize their job opportunities. Abigail Wozniak’s 2009 research showed that college graduates are “several times” more responsive to geographical changes in labor demand when deciding to relocate than are non-graduates. Cadena and Kovak confirm this for the recession era, finding “considerable mobility in the expected direction” for college graduates while “among those with no more than a high school degree, only foreign-born populations move in substantial numbers to stronger labor markets.”
I don’t think Mindy and I would have ever just up and moved (on our own dime) to greener pastures even though the Ohio’s ho-hum economic prospects were always in the back of my mind. We were fortunate to move to a place with seemingly better economic growth potential via a corporate relocation.
That said the aforementioned corporate relo is still for an Ohio-based company, who knows for how long we will call Florida our home? Now, making this big move once, I think we are probably up for anything. We will adapt because, as sappy as it sounds, my family (i.e Mindy) has my back.
Once of the first things that crossed my mind when reading Yglesias’s post was something Megan McArdle wrote a few weeks back on marriage:
Marriage has basically followed the same path as income over the last 50 years. The college-educated have it better than ever — they are enjoying what Harvard researcher Kathryn Edin calls “superrelationships,” characterized by extremely high levels of rapport, cooperation and satisfaction. The bottom two thirds, on the other hand, are in unstable relationships that tend to break apart under stress. They typically have at least one child before they marry, experts told me, and when they do marry, it’s not to the father of their child. This is bad for the people in these relationships, and for the children they produce.
Now, I have never thought of Mindy and I having a “superrelationship”, this picture notwithstanding:
But I do know that if I told her I think we should consider moving to North Dakota to take advantage of the shale gas boom, she would be open to having a conversation about it. I would never be able to have the career focus that I do if it wasn’t for Mindy.
That’s the point I think Yglesias left out. If the working class has less stable marriages, that is, having kids before marriage, both parents not living at home with the kids, then you will not be able to relocate. Or at least it creates a situation that makes relocation much more difficult or unlikely.
So, Mindy, thanks for everything, I love you.
Zack Lowe on Grantland ranks all 30 NBA team names from worst to best. Orlando’s comes in at 26, which is fair I suppose because “Magic” is pretty terrible on paper. However, it’s sort of grown on me, and I don’t know what I’d change it to anyway.
What kind of magic is this? Some deadly Harry Potter or Voldemort stuff the team can use on enemies — Avada Kedavra or Sectumsempra, maybe? Birthday party magic, involving playing cards and rabbits, perhaps intended to distract opponents while Anthony Bowie tries to sneak in a triple-double? Gandalf standing in the lane, bellowing, “YOU SHALL NOT PASS”?
I realize this is just a lighthearted middle-of-the-off-season piece so he’s working his jokes in. But isn’t this an argument against any team name? You could go on a comparable riff on any of the 2nd through 8th ranked nicknames: 76ers, Celtics, Pistons, Knicks, Jazz, Pacers or Rockets.
As you probably know, it’s something even more sinister — a clunky marketing ploy designed to siphon some of Disney’s “magic” and transfer it to the local team.
Sinister?
“Magic” was perhaps the least-inspiring nickname among a group of nominations that included Challengers (in honor of the doomed shuttle), Orbits, Floridians (another ABA homage), Aquamen, Tropics, Heat, and Juice.
Miami took the Heat. And the rest are pretty terrible, no? Challengers sounds cool but that’s too morbid. I could see Orbits, Floridians or Tropics being used. But those are all so boring. And Aquamen and Juice would be laughable.
“Magic” won out when the daughter of Pat Williams, the team’s first GM, spent a day visiting local attractions and, awestruck afterward, told him, “This place is magic!” Ugh.
I don’t know, that doesn’t seem so bad to me.
The name has brought along a few nice touches: the spell-casting sound effect the team plays after made free throws, and Stuff the (Magic) Dragon, a good-natured beast who shoots streamers through his nostrils.
There you go. He even admits it’s not all bad.
There are plenty of sports teams’s nicknames that are in need of changing. In my opinion the Orlando Magic is not one of them.
We moved to Florida from Ohio, and yeah, we’re in Orlando and not right next to the water, but we have to take advantage of the opportunity every once and a while, yes? Not so fast. As someone who has hyper-vigilance in identifying the overratedness of things conventional wisdom deems to be good, I have decided to put together a pros and cons list of a day at the beach. (Admittedly, much of this is pretty specific to me and my situation.)
Here it goes.
That moment you decide you’re going to go to the beach next weekend – You couldn’t go last weekend, too busy. But this weekend coming up, you’re all set. You have a lot of stuff going on this week, so telling yourself that on Saturday you’re going to the beach as opposed to running errands makes the monotonies of the workweek easier to endure. Verdict: Pro.
Telling your kids on Friday evening that we’re going to the beach tomorrow unless they don’t finish their carrots – You don’t have much to hold over your kids to get them to do something besides threatening no more TV. But they’ve already watched too much TV today, they won’t be watching any more tonight anyway. And man, they kind of don’t mind carrots, so why are they making a big stink about eating them lately. Aha, beach. No beach if you don’t eat your carrots. Verdict: Pro.
Preparing to leave the morning of – You need to decide on a time, don’t want to get there too late and deal with traffic and not be able to find a good spot. So 9 a.m. it is. But that means your feeding the kids and yourselves breakfast at the same time as packing the cooler, getting the baby stuff together and locating everyone’s swimsuit and towels. Then there’s packing the car. Hopefully, you remember everything but you won’t. Oh, and now since you are doing all this running around trying to get out the door at a reasonable hour, you ask your kids do to one thing on their own, like put on their swimsuits and they start crying because they are right in the middle of building a tower out of Legos and need just one more minute to finish. Verdict: Con.
The drive – It’s an hour. All back roads though, so the first few times driving through the new-to-you Florida landscape is charming. But now, it’s just boring. Verdict: Con.
Setting up – This should be annoying, but you still can’t believe how cool that mini-shovel you got from Lowe’s for only $10 is and you don’t mind digging the holes for the umbrellas because it makes you feel useful. However, this is the point at which you realize the one critical thing that you have forgotten. This time it’s the chairs so you have to rent them at $8 each. Verdict: Push.
Having a coffee on the beach – Other that first cup of coffee at your desk after a 45-minute drive then 10-minute walk to your office from the parking garage on a windy and grey 28-degree February Ohio Tuesday, the beach is my second favorite place to have coffee. Verdict: Pro.
Seeing the sun – Ohio is quite possibly the greyest place on earth. This is something I never realized until I was adult when this was pointed out by numerous people I met from other parts of the country. I liken it to someone growing up poor who never realized it at the time, but looking back at all the powdered milk and hand-me-down sneakers, was able to put two and two together. I will never take the sun for granted. Verdict: Pro.
Slathering ourselves in sunscreen – Considering my complexion is somewhere between pale and translucent and Mindy’s only a few shades better off, copious amounts of sunscreen is necessary for us to enjoy the sun. Constant application of the white stuff on ourselves and the kids gets annoying. And after four hours in the sun, you somehow get burnt anyway. Verdict: Con.
That moment when your shirt has been off for a few minutes and you start to compare yourself to everyone one else – You have to lose a few pounds, so you’re pretty self-conscious. Your a grown man and a father, when are you going to stop caring about this? But maybe this is motivation to lose those few pounds, that’s something. And besides, there are many more people here with many more pounds to lose. Verdict: Push.
Getting into the ocean for the first time – It’s Florida. It’s August. It’s hot. It’s humid. After all that set up. All that sunscreen. That first headfirst dive into the cool saltwater is wondrous. Verdict: Pro.
The kids’ first wave of the day – We’ve been to the beach before. They know the drill. But still, the first big wave comes and they’ve suddenly forgotten every other time they’ve been to the ocean and freak out. I have no idea why this is. But they go running and crying back to our umbrellas and that “all of this effort has been for nothing” feeling starts to creep in. Verdict: Con.
The kids finally getting the hang of the whole wave thing – Playing in the waves is awesome. Being a grown man playing in the waves while your kids play in the sand is not. So it’s great when they are out there with you, yelling “Dad, here comes a big one, jump!” We could stay out there all day. Verdict: Pro.
Getting out of the water soaking wet and cold, opting not to towel off, sitting there until you air dry, getting hot, then getting back in the water and doing it all over again – This is the best. Verdict: Pro.
Just sitting there – You’re listening to and watching the waves come in. Maybe you’re under the umbrella, maybe not. Glancing over at your kids as they play in the sand. Verdict: Pro.
Eating lunch – Nicer scenery than the norm. No worries about spillage. You didn’t bring much for yourselves, so no worries about trying not to over-eat which is nice. But you you have to watch the kids like a hawk so they don’t put their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches down in the sand when they take a drink out of their Capri Suns. And the baby still needs bottles. Verdict: Push.
When the baby naps in his stroller – Awesomeness. Verdict: Pro.
Getting out of your chair and actually playing with your kids in the sand – They seem to have fun. Life is good when the kids are having fun. But sand is getting in your swim trunks. And this is the only one you have so it’ll need to be washed. So if you want to go swimming at home in the pool tonight or tomorrow, you’ll have to use a pair of workout shorts. Thus, chaffing. Verdict: Push.
Packing up – Somehow takes three times as long as setting up. Verdict: Con.
The drive home – You can now enjoy this because you’re no longer in a rush to get anywhere. Plus, two of the three kids fall asleep, making you feel like a good parent for facilitating an afternoon of healthy activity. Verdict: Pro.
Unloading the car – Grrrr. Verdict: Con.
Feeling like you’ve done something – You are probably not going to live in Florida forever. You want to look fondly at your time here. You think you read something once that said the having memories of good times are more important than initially experiencing those good times. So to implant these happy memories of days at the beach, you are going to need to do this more than a couple times a year. Verdict: Pro.
The result:
11 Pros, 6 Cons, 4 Pushes.
A day at the beach is, in fact, worth it.
Not the type of thing I would normally watch, but in the interest of getting my Orlando Magic fandom reps in, I DVR’d their midsummer special that aired on local TV earlier this month. I just like watching games, not puff pieces on how hard everyone is working. And that’s sort of what this was.
It’s weird though, the whole tankapalooza thing going on with several teams in the NBA this season. I’m actually fairly interested to see how the local media and the team portray what will be going on this season.
They sort of danced around the issue for the most part. They definitely threw around the “rebuilding” term pretty liberally. But they didn’t overtly mention that they are intentionally going to put an inferior product on the court this season to position themselves for the 2014 draft and free agency class.
General manager, Rob Hennigan, was asked something along the lines of, “are you satisfied with where the team is at right now?” And he put on a decent of front, indicating that they were progressing on schedule.
The best foreshadowing of what’s to come this season was the interview with #2 overall pick, Victor Oladipo. He was asked if his experiencing rebuilding in college at Indiana will prep him for the current situation in Orlando. He said, yes, IU didn’t win may games the year before he got there, didn’t win many games in his first year there, but after that things were great. Sounds about right.
The silver lining is we should be able to score some decent tickets for not a lot of money.
Naegleria fowleri is a naturally occurring amoeba that can be found in any body of fresh water such as lakes, rivers, hot springs, and poorly maintained and minimally chlorinated or un-chlorinated swimming pools. It can cause an infection known as primary amebic meningoencephalitis by traveling up the nose to the brain and spinal cord.
“Infections usually occur when it is hot for prolonged periods, causing higher water temperatures and lower water levels,” said Dr. Swannie Jett of the Department of Health in Seminole County.
Although infections are rare, most prove fatal. Seek medical care immediately if you develop a sudden onset of fever, headache, stiff neck and vomiting, especially if you have been in warm fresh water within the previous two weeks.
OK, I was just asking Mindy in the car yesterday, while driving over one of the many small lakes in the Orlando area, how come we never see anyone swimming in them? It was my impression that in places like Minnesota and Wisconsin, using these lakes for recreation was common. (When I first looked at map of Orlando before interviewing for my job a few months back, my initial reaction was that it looked like Minneapolis.)
But now I know why. We will stick to our heavily-chlorinated swimming pool or the Atlantic Ocean.
So We Moved to Florida 