A1A north, with rockets

I knew the time of the launch (10:19) and we were travelling along the Space Coast towards Cape Canaveral. Maybe we were still 20-30 miles away, when we saw the plume of smoke/water vapour curling into the sky. 

'Is that it?' we asked one another. Yes, it was. Another 23 Starlinks being put into orbit. The video goes through all the stages. Theres around 7000 starlinks that have been put into orbit so far.

Road trip

It's time to move on from the villa to a new location on the Treasure Coast in a 100-year-old dwelling facing the Atlantic Ocean. We added supplies from Publix on the US27, so we are well set. There are sailfish, including this replica over our door.

And just when I thought the cars couldn't get any bigger, next door showed up with a 4-ton electric Hummer Hev.

time slipping into the future

Mark VI Magnetic levitation monorail, arriving in the hotel. Introduced in 1971 as Mark IV and 'momentarily' updated in 1989.

Souvenirization : Parking Lot Tram

 

For someone who has everything else. A souvenir parking lot tram? Dory 409, if you catch my drift.

floating

I'm enjoying floating in the pool staring the sky. Every so often I see an eagle ofsometimes two, floating around, idly looking for tidbits.  It's not the only wildlife. We have small lizards too 'lizards on the lanai' and I'm not sure what the white fencing prevents from getting in, but my instincts tell me it could even be alligators. 

I remember they even bask in the roadside ditches in some areas.

February in the Sunshine State.

 

X-wing and spherical coke bottles

Off-world, it is interesting to see the recreation of various lands from Star Wars, with casually parked X-wings and similar crafts in amongst the convincingly re-imagined scuffed-up Coca-Cola droid cart franchises.

Kilimanjaro

Managed to glimpse cheetah, elephant, hippo, rhino, giraffe. and lions. The hippos were mostly underwater, so here's a picture of a lion.

pink

I looked for the pink flamingos in WalMart, but couldn't find any, so these real ones on our travels today in Harambe will have to do instead. 
 

Hogwarts Room

Excerpt from a wall of the Hogwarts room. Inside a wardrobe there's a full sized wizard.

When we had our own villa over here, there wasn't quite such an arms race to add features. It means this modern villa has extras which we couldn't have imagined. Like the Hogwarts room, and the game room, and the cinema room (themed on Marvel superheroes), in case the 6 other televisions are insufficient. Still it's all very plush, although I don'. think we'd have kept up with the competition.

Blue

We found our way to the villa, using my iPhone sat nav, which I audio blue toothed to the car's radio. I know my way around this area in any case, so the majority of the route was on familiar roads, although late evening in a new car on the wrong side of the road still requires extra concentration. We arrived and didn't even check out the swimming pool, although by the next morning it was all fine, even as the sun was rising.

I'll be heading to WalMart for a couple of lilos tomorrow, then everything will be peachy. Water temperature is about mid 20s and the air temp is 25+, so we are pretty well set. Skies are as Blue as the House of Blues.

I get around

Back to ICE automobiles for the next few weeks. I'm in the land of the gas guzzler and they gave me a shed on wheels. Compared with many vehicles, this one is probably a compact model. it's the third car because of the usual car rental scams that everyone except Hertz appears to operate at airports. 

I booked the car and full insurance online before we travelled, via a reputable company. Arriving at the airport they were out of stock of the car I'd ordered and suggested an 'upgrade'. I said no, yet they were so insistent to give me the car (a BMW shed) that they removed the surcharge of $600 from it. 

I could see why when we got to the car pickup and realised it was a smoker and not entirely clean inside. We refused it and they came up with vehicle number three (pictured). I noticed it had New York plates so they were still trying to give us a car that the office didn't want. Anyway, we took it, but I'm still suspicious that they have tried to charge more for it. Ironically, parked next to it was a car like the one we'd ordered, but it was pre-allocated to someone else.

When I use Hertz, I get great service and a car that I order, waiting to go. I was foolish enough to believe the offer for a car at a too-good-to-be-true price this time. When I've used any other firm they are set up as hustlers, attempting to rob me and foist me with something I didn't ask for. Exactly what happened this time.

Anyway, this car works, although the Hold function is erratic, CarPlay won't display anything and there are so many fewer of the creature comforts than I get with our EVs from home.

Still, we are getting around.

Dancing with the moonlit knight

I still send stuff by Royal Mail, but note that the latest improvement opportunities comprise de-rating both of the primary services. 

The second-class service will shift to alternate days, and the delivery targets for first class are being reduced. 

As it is now set to be acquired by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský for a mere £5.3bn, perhaps they should also consider dropping the word 'Royal'?

So much for Ofcom protecting the public? As it says,  “(The) world has changed...with people in the UK...sending a third of the letters we were 20 years ago. " (ie 20bn letters ->7.6bn) "We need to reform the postal service to protect its future and ensure it delivers for the whole of the UK,” 

Another example of selling Britain by the pound. Like these few examples.

• P&O: In 2006, the historic British shipping and logistics company P&O was acquired by Dubai Ports World, ending over a century of British ownership.  
• The Body Shop: In 2006, French cosmetics giant L’Oréal purchased The Body Shop, a British ethical beauty retailer.  
• Pilkington: 2006, Pilkington was acquired by Japan’s Nippon Sheet Glass in 2006.  
• O2: 2005, Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica acquired O2, a major UK mobile network operator.  
• Harrods: 2010, Qatar Holding, the investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, purchased the luxury department store Harrods.
• Cadbury: 2010 The iconic British confectionery company Cadbury was taken over by American firm Kraft Foods (now Mondelēz International) in 2010.
• Jaguar Land Rover: 2008, India’s Tata Motors acquired the British automotive brands Jaguar and Land Rover.  
• British Steel: 2020 After facing financial difficulties, British Steel was acquired by China’s Jingye Group in 2020.
• Royal Mail: This one, in 2024, the UK government approved the acquisition of Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distribution Services, by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group, marking the first time in its 500-year history that Royal Mail came under foreign ownership. 
• Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN): Operated by Govia Thameslink Railway, a joint venture between the UK’s Go-Ahead Group and France’s Keolis, which is majority-owned by the French state railway company SNCF.
• Greater Anglia: Like many UK buses, operated by Abellio, a subsidiary of Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the Dutch state railway company.
• Arriva UK Trains: A subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, the German state railway company, operating services such as Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, and Northern.
• c2c: Operated by Trenitalia, the Italian state railway company.
• DHL: owned by Deutsch Post AG - the German Post service. 
• (etc.)

No wonder we need another LHR runway so the foreign execs can commute. Rachel, I'm reminded of the old consulting credo that 'Everything works in PowerPoint'.

"Can you tell me where my country lies?"
Said the uni faun to his true love's eyes
"It lies with me!" cried the Queen of Maybe
For her merchandise, he traded in his prize" 

- Dancing with the Moonlit Knight - Genesis.