Sorry, No Images.

Today this olelongrooffan was driving home from work and crossing the Main Street drawbridge across the Halifax River/Intercoastal Waterway down in Daytona Beach. Just as I was approaching the the part of the drawbridge that actually draws, the barricade came down and the light turned red signaling to this olelongrooffan that, unless I was feeling like the Blues Brothers, I should probably stop the Comanche, midstream, as it were.

And I did.

Well Counters this olelongrooffan knew it was going to be a wait of considerable time as the huge sailboat the bridge had drawn for was under power via the jib out front and a brisk northerly wind.  I stepped out to stand on the sidewalk of that bridge and just watch it go on by. 

Sorry Counters, no pictures but it did happen. 

The pilot of that vessel as well as his first mate were in the open air portion of that boat and were bundled up in sweaters, jackets, windbreakers, hats and gloves.  They both looked at me as they passed and I gave them a big "thumbs up".  They broke into the same sh*t eating grin I was sporting and then they were gone.

And it made me realize something.

This olelongrooffan is one lucky sum beach.  And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

True, I am grossly underemployed and have pretty much blown through my life savings during my multiple years of un and under employment but those are the only two cr*ppy parts in the life of this olelongrooffan.  And while many would say those are pretty significant things, they are.  But as thejeepjunkie pointed out to this olelongrooffan a long time ago, "Don't worry longroof.  Something will come up for you.  It always does."  And I believe it will.

However, in the meantime, in my quest to Celebrate Life, I seem to find things that are pretty d*mn good for me.

Between my workplace and that drawbridge is the Salvation Army Center.  Today, there were a bunch of bundled up folks out front just waiting for a free meal and maybe a warm place to sleep.  And this olelongrooffan was not one of them.

And on just another, what could have been another mundane, work/home commute, this olelongrooffan got to see that adventurous couple on their beautiful sailboat and possessing their ability to Celebrate Life in the manner they see fit.  And Counters, when was the last time you saw a huge sailboat sailing in international waters with the entire world at their beck and call?

So, after seeing that couple and climbing back into my cool, at least I think so, rare, little pickup truck, as I was driving back to my little bungalow style condo two blocks from the Atlantic Ocean beach, this olelongrooffan got to thinking how great life is for me and about creating this blogpost to share my sense of satisfaction with you Counters, as well as the world in general.

I mean, this olelongrooffan has a roof over my head, a job, a cool means of transport, great friends, family I like a bunch living nearby or just an email or blogpost comment away.  I also have my health, the ability to scrape up a smoke and a coke when desired, and a great 88 year old neighbor who has taken to me like peanut butter and jelly.  Plus, I am a pretty d*mn good cook.

I'm becoming more tech savvy everyday and have the honor of you Counters being in my audience here at By The Numbers as well as my fellow Hoons over at Hooniverse.com. 

Yes, I got to thinking about all the great stuff this olelongrooffan has been able to experience on my quest to Celebrate Life, doing most of it is on a pretty tight budget.  And a couple times a year, I can scrape together a couple bucks to send my landlocked great nieces and nephews a Florida t-shirt.

If you have been Counting Along With Me, you know about all the cool car related cr*p I always get to enjoy and even find by accident.  I know that the "cars" tag here on By The Numbers is the most used one.  And you also will know how much those experiences are enjoyed by this old longrooffan!

Plus when I checked the mail over at that remote mail kiosk, there was a crisp twenty dollar bill inside a cool card from the Bus for a flatbed trailer I had purchased years ago, stored in thejeepjunkie's garage for so long he thought it was his and then stole it back from him to sell on ebay for $20, shipping included.  But the Bus found out it was in the possession of this olelongrooffan and bought before ebay and paypal could get their grubby paws on my sale.  Thanks Bus.

See?  Just another way to Celebrate Life.

Well, that's about it Counters.  Just wanted to share how fortunate I feel in life and this olelongrooffan looks forward to every day and the experiences tomorrow will bring.

This olelongrooffan hopes you Counters do the same and will continue to Count Along With Me as I

Celebrate Life.

Another Day On The Farm

One of my older brothers, thehorsefarmer, together with his family members, barngoddess, barngoddess1 and The Little Princess, live on a small farm in the Ozark Mountains of southwest Missouri.

It is a working farm with cows, calves, chickens, vegetable gardens, hay bales, tractors, mowers, big *ssed trailers, stage coaches, and manure spreaders..... the mechanical kind as well as the human kind.

On that farm are also a whole boat load, well fields full, of miniature horses.

It is called Haven Lee Farm. Like the Halltown Edition of Haven Lee Farm where this olelongrooffan was raised, it is a tranquil and unassuming place where noone is a stranger for long.

This olelongrooffan had a great time up there a couple summers ago and wish we were in closer geopraphically proximity to each other.

Like all Lee households and on a Lee farm, there is always a project, or three, going on.


Usually under the barngoddess's supervision although sometimes they let

this olelongrooffan be the "Straw Boss", but only for a short while.

I blogged about their farm a few times as well as the Haven Lee Farm, Halltown Edition.

My niece Sara has her Five Acre Dream with quite few horses also. She had thehorsefarmer set some fenceposts for her last year.

When this olelongrooffan was preparing those blogs, I always tried to find a humorous way of the sharing of the adventure. Sure there were lots of times it wasn't fun and making difficult decisions are never easy.

Unfortunately, on Haven Lee Farm this week, an extremely difficult decision had to be made.

I am confident a few tears were shed, there as well as here, for this little pony. Know this, members of Haven Lee Farm, you have been on my mind all day but can only offer my condolences.

Yeah, living on a farm ain't easy and you face reality every day of the week.

But knowing this little pony is in a better place and no longer suffering is a way to

Celebrate Life.

Sort of.

I Gotta Agree

And remember to

Celebrate Life.

On The Road, In The oleragtop

thejeepjunkie, derisively, will tell you that the olelongrooffan is the only person he knows who can make 3 hour trip into a 5 hour trip. I told him, when he mentioned this to me prior to my leaving for the Cards game with the boys, "H*ll yes, I don't deny it." But as I have previously told the Bus, I am doing it for you Counters.

Well, last week, I took just minutes over 3 hours to hotfoot it down to see my nephews to attend a Spring Training game. The ride home? 7 hours, 25 minutes. Beat that jeepjunkie!

Ater attending that victorious Cards game on Thursday and, the next morning, dropping those boys over at that high-faluting golf course, I headed over to A1A, the United State's easternmost highway, and turned north. South Beach was inviting but just not in the budget. The beachside highway down

there in Jupiter, Florida is pretty scenic with its limited beach access and some nice landscaping to boot! Although this image does not show it, there were tons of folks out for their morning walk in this balmy 65 degree weather.

I then had to head over to the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, just for the CDM. Are you at the end of the Rainbow?

And, I just have to wonder, if God loves John at 3 and 16, does God still love John at 49?

I then was heading through Fort Pierce, Florida, an active port town and saw this cool 1973

Chevrolet Impala Station Wagon.

I remember when I was a kid, living on Haven Lee Farm, Halltown edition, a friend of my folks, John Dattola, had a similar longroof. He sold pharmacueticals and based on what those dudes earn these days, I guess he did alright by his family. But the Dattola family is another blog in its entirety.

Oh yeah,

Thanks again National City Bank. We did 'Perk Up With $100' worth of food and drink at the Cards game. Those are the details.

It was funny, when I stopped and got this shot, as I was walking back to the oleragtop, these two cute National Bank Employees came out and the really cute one asked, in kind of a semi hostile way, if she could be of assistance.

Well, I walked over to those babes, or is that babies as they were probably less than half my age?

I mentioned to them I had spent the previous day at the Cards game with my nephews from Boston and Washington state and that your company hosted a party there.

They both nodded and said yes.

I then confided with them the fact we had snuck into that party and ate and drank for free all afternoon.

They started smiling and giggling.

I then finished my conversation with them by stating I had to stop and get a shot of their sign as I was going to blog the whole thing.

We all started laughing heartily and I gave them a big wave and said "Thanks for the great time".

The really cute one said, through her ear to ear grin, "Glad you guys had fun, wish we had been there."

We do too.

It is through times like this I can Celebrate Life.

A ways up US 1, I spotted the winter sleeping spot for this show.

And, after consulting my old fashioned, tree sacrificing road atlas, I thought it only fitting I head over to cruise along the River via Midway Road.

Now Indian River Drive follows closely along the Indian River for the most part. Once, when I was not riverfront, I saw a road off to the right with the name, Rocky Point Road. I passed it by once, whipped a Ueee and got to see those coquina rocks along to coast of that river.

And in all my 49 years, I am still thankful that

Slow Children still get to Play outdoors.

And the following image, well, let's just say that "OJOHN" is the reaction I get from telling a corny joke more times than I get from someone of the opposite sex these days.

But a little further up the road, I did get to see this Corvair Sedan alongside US1.

I whipped a Ueee and got these images, just for you. Love those louvres in the rear window.

I saw this old Willy's down in front of an antique shop in, I think, Titusville.

A cool old piece, but it is two wheel drive?

I had originally seen this, and had not noticed the Willys in the preceeding images until I cut around the block in this downtown area. NASCAR teams have similar modes of transport, usually for tool boxes and the like.

While I was shooting these images at this location, a friendly afternoon walking elderly, although, again, probably only 10 years my senior!! woman stopped to chat. "Taking pictures of unusual things," she inquired. I mentioned that it seemed to be my life these days and proceeded to tell her about the By The Numbers blog, at which point her eyes glazed over, having no comprehension as to what I was speaking of. I then stopped and asked her if she had seen any unusual things lately. "Just down the street I saw a blue convertible with a Michigan license plate but had an Ohio State University bumper sticker." Well, Counters, if you know of the rivalry between the universities in those two states, you know this is unusual, but not unusual enough to get the olelongroof to go back and get an image of it. Try Google.

Now the vehicle in the following image? That I will whip a Ueee for. Although, in this particular case, I had the opportunity to see it from a distance and no Ueee was necessary. Due to my job search and ebay duties this week, I have not yet had the chance to determine what it is, although I have seen one before. Stay tuned, this mystery will be solved!!

Less than an hour's drive south of the Taj Mahal, I saw this chrome bumpered MG GT parked alongside US1 and had to stop and get a couple shots of it.



These images are headed right over to my favorite, still in print publication, Classic Motorsports for their "Ran When Parked" section. The placement of the outside rear view mirrors on this sports car are interesting. The driver's side is on the door while the passenger's is on the fender, although, most of the ones I have googleimaged are similarly situated.

I, subsequently, passed by the AMVET's location down in Port Orange and saw these two beauties.

A 55 or 56 Ford Sunliner.

It is an absolutely stunning piece of history.

Aqua green and white and just as desirable at that oleragtop in the background.

With a dashboard possessing more gauges than the olestationbus.

In the same parking lot was this sweet Oldsmobile 88.

I have a jet similar to this one on a shelf in the Taj Mahal. Always wondered what that emblem was original equipment on.


Yeah, a sweet olecoupe

with the 88 numbers on the rear

and dig that tri split window in the rear.

Well, Counters, that was the end of the ride for me.

I got home to a freaking ton of job search, kitchen cabinet remodeling, ebay, and blogging.

I have to, once again, thank Shawn and Eric for inviting me along on this adventure and thanks to thehorsefarmer for his particular involvement in this matter.

Got an email from Shawn, this evening, mentioning they had fun with his Aunt Reenie, Uncle Rick and Cousin Jessica on Saturday and that Jessica was "to smart for her own good". Ahhhh...Family. Gotta Love Them.

And, By The Way, Best Wishes to Kristin, Lil Mom and Jim, NotSoLilJim, on their upcoming addition to the Lee Family.

And it is these ways, we can

Celebrate Life.

"Take Me Out To The Ball Game"

It all started with this email I received last Friday. I was reluctant to open it but since I thought it might contain a link to a $100,000,000.00 from an offshore account, I did.

It contained something worth a whole lot more.

To My Long Lost "Favorite" Uncle

Where to begin?

Well I'll start by telling you a little about what is going on with me. I just became the father of a little girl Ellyette Josephine Nuckolls, born 2/13/09. Bought my first house in October 08, in the little town of Orting, WA.

I've been working as a union commercial electrician, until last Friday when I was laid off.

Which means that I am in a perfect situation to "Celebrate Life", and jump on a plane heading to sunny Palm Beach, Florida. My brother, Shawn has a place for the week of March 9th to the 16th.

I realize this is short notice, and since I don't know where you are located in the large state of Florida, I'll understand if you can't come visit. Although, I would be rather disappointed.

So if you can find the time come on down and Celebrate Life with the Nuckolls brothers once again. Anyway, whatever happens this next week I would still like to hear from you.

Eric


I received this email from my "ex-nephew", Eric, a week ago Friday.

What is an "ex-nephew"?

My daughter's Mom, to whom I am no longer married, has a large family, but not quite as large as the longrooffan. As we were together, either, as childhood friends, living together in sin, or as married adults, for over 25 years, I was a part of her geographically closest sibling's children growing up. I first met Eric when he was born. His older brother, Shawn, was one year old when I met him.

Eric is turning 30 this year, as Shawn turns 35. Their youngest brother, Daniel, is around 28. I last saw Shawn on my way to a race up in Wisconsin a decade or so ago but had not seen Eric in nearly 15 years.

Eric is the one with the Honest Abe beard to the right in the following image. Shawn is the Wise One, wearing that floppy skin covering hat to the left.
I contacted Eric and he had Shawn call me. Turns out Shawn had gotten a "guesthouse" at Frenchman's Reserve down in Palm Beach Gardens, about 220 miles south of the Taj Mahal and was taking his family and inlaws down for a weeklong vacation. Eric was coming out from Washington state to spend some time with his Boston based brother.

Both Eric and Shawn graciously invited me down to spend some time with them. I was honored and immediately accepted. I know those boys were excited to see me, but not nearly as excited as I was to see them.

I pulled up directions to the "guesthouse" and headed down that way Thursday morning, arriving around 10:45 am.

I pulled up to the address of that "guesthouse" and this is what I saw. I was thinking a small home to the rear of a larger residence, so I called Shawn to verify I was in the correct location and he comes walking out the front door of this 4,000 square foot, 5 bedroom, 5 1/2 bath "guesthouse".

Turns out Shawn works for Toll Brothers, a home building company, and they keep a number of these "guesthouses" around the country for the use of their employees. This one, complete with pool, spa, marble floors, granite countertops and 20 foot ceilings, overlooks a lake at the 15th fairway. It is sweet. I have built a ton of homes like this but have rarely spent the night in one.

The reason I had gotten up before dawn to head down to visit them? Well, part of the reason Shawn had gotten this house during this week is it is baseball Spring Training time down here in the Sunshine State. He and Eric, both St. Louis natives, had scored some tickets to the Cards/Boston Red Sox game starting at 1:05 that afternoon. Since we had bleacher seating, we needed to get there early enough to get some good seats.

Somehow or another, our plans changed and we headed for the front row seats along the first base to try and score some autographs from the Card players. Me, not really being an autograph kind of guy, I just watched the only John Deere impliment I know of that is not in either thehorsefarmer's or BBB's fleet do its stuff. At least that is what I thought at the time. As I am typing this blog up, I remembered Broke It Day.

So, as it turns out, the Cards ball players come out of the dugout just around the corner in the next image and fans line up down here to get some autographs.

Now Eric and Shawn had come to a game on Tuesday and were able to sit in these seats for the whole game and even managed to score Tony LaRussa's autograph.

I asked the Card's fan Nuckolls boys who this guy was. They didn't know and mentioned he was probably an invitee to spring training.

This pitcher is Chris Carpenter, the mainstay of the Cards pitching staff but he has still not totally recovered from shoulder surgery last season. Doesn't bode well for the Cards this year.

These dudes are just out there warming up. Our bleacher seats are just beyond and face the western sky. It is going to be a hot afternoon.

An interesting fact about this stadium. the Kid has an Uncle on thesungoddess's side of the family who used to play for the New York Mets and the Mets utilized this facility for their spring training at the time. the Kid, while a diehard Cards fan, got to spend some time in the dugout with the Mets at one of those games.

That is Tony LaRussa with his arms crossed in the following image.

We had originally planned on spending some time in the shade of this facility but it was closed for a private party for National City bank. The dude serving as guard for the entry was extremely diligent at his job and we were unable to slide by earlier.

So we are sitting down in the "front row" at a sold out game and just biding our time until the owners of those seats show up and we have to move again. I remember doing this with these boys at Busch Stadium when they were kids. We always seemed to luck out into some pretty good seats back in the day.

No such luck this day. I looked over at our bleacher seats and the bleachers are packed. We just stood in the "Standing Room Only" portion of the walkway for a while.

Suddenly Eric pops up with, "Hey Shawn, remember the back staircase to that pavillion we found on Tuesday? I just saw two guys go in and they are now up there. Let's go"

And we did.

And this is the view we had from that perch. Great view of field and a cute brunette. .

As we didn't have the required wristbands, we kept a low profile down away from all the goings on. The boys finished up their $6.50 beers and I thought we would head back out into the general public and replenish them.

Well, apparently, some of the olelongrooffan has rubbed off on them. Eric decides he is going up to the bar on the other end of the pavillion and see what the story was on the beer they were hawking down there.

He comes walking back, solemn faced and announced, "Boys, the beers are free." Thanks National City Bank. We stayed there from the top of the second inning on.

Around the bottom of the seventh inning, Shawn decided to head over to that free food bar and get a pulled pork sandwich for himself and a burger for Eric while Eric went for what turned out to be an afternoon long cumulative 12 pack of that St. Louis based beverage thejeepjunkie enjoys so much.

While they were gone, I heard a National City badged woman walk up to a couple guys not far from me and was checking their wristbands.

Well Counters, the fun and free beer train has reached the station. Eric walks up with four beers and I told him to get his brother and get the h*ll out of here. He finds Shawn over at the food bar and we all beat it down to the picnic tables situated out in the hot sun. I suggested we move it over into the shade of the landscape buffer situated just outside the perimeter fence of that complex.

We all enjoyed a bit of rest and those boys consumed those sandwiches, all the while trading stories. Both Eric and Shawn related, much like the Kid did at the end of this blog, when they were growing up, every time we did something together, we had fun.

There is nothing better than having a nephew tell his Uncle he always has fun with him. Well, boys, all of you, the same is true on this end also.

As we were sitting there chewing the fat, Shawn pointed out all of the fans exiting the stadium as it was the middle of the 8th inning.

And he also pointed out, there are some empty seats, let's go.

And, guess what?

We did.

And ended up in the third row, just above the Cards dugout.

And we got to watch the final inning and a half of Cards/Red Sox baseball.

And the Red Sox were up 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning as I was taking these images.

And the reason I included the blurry image below?

Well, that dude stepped up to the plate and hit a two run homer over the left field fence,

to win the game.

And, joyously, at least for us, make a helluva fantastic ending to a great afternoon. Thanks again, National City, for the $78 worth of the Wise One and Honest Abe's favorite beverage and for $22 worth of sandwiches. And, oh yeah, my $4.00 Dr. Pepper.

So while there, I scored a Cards quilt to sell on ebay, yeah my life these days, job hunt, ebay and blog, plus I get to drive on the beach once in a while, anyway, Shawn and Eric gave me a ration about how that thing isn't worth anything and I was barking up the wrong tree.

So, after watching the victorious Cards play ball, and picking up some hurricane supplies, we headed back to the "guesthouse". Shawn's family had gone up to the clubhouse to spend some time with his two toddlers, grandparents, and mom at the kiddie pool there. We boys had an hour or so of just fun times.

I had been asked to spend the night in one of the unoccupied bedrooms there and did so, after a very satisfying meal grilled by Shawn and cooked up by the womenfolk. Eric and I did the dishes, by the way.

Friday morning, I dropped Shawn and Eric off at their golf cart so they could hack their way around that high-faluting golf course. I politely declined their invite to join them and got on my way.

As I was cruising down around that morning, I recognized the fact that I was not nearly as cold as I was on the drive down. On that early morning drive to see those two, no longer, nephews, but now friends, I had my ragtop quilt around my legs, an ultra cheap Daytona Prototype windbreaker and winter gloves on while I hotfooted it down I-95 toward those boys.

I remembered the front of the Kid's CJ5 now sports a St. Louis Cards license plate, similar to the one I have hanging on the wall at the Taj Mahal. So I decided to prove Eric and Shawn correct and backed out of putting that Cards quilt on ebay.

It is now in the possession of the Kid and in a ziploc bag in the built in tool box under the passenger seat of that ole CJ5. In the most remote way, and while they may never meet, those nephews of mine are interconnected.

Well, Shawn and Eric, it was great to see you two and glad to note you have grown into fantastic young men.

I am honored you chose to get in touch with me and wanted me to share a part of your vacation and create more fun memories.

It means alot to me and sincerely hope the occasion arises again.

I am honored and it is situations like this that allow all of us to

Celebrate Life.

Special Thanks to thehorsefarmer.