Thinking Inside the Box

~ JodiLea

Remember that TV show where these alien creatures sat in a movie theater and dissed whatever movies, or music videos were being featured?

This is my version of that… The grey text was taken directly out of an online Travel website article. The purple text is me.

“The world’s first and only underwater inn is the Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida. Guests scuba dive about 20 feet to enter the inn, which is a converted naval station. You enter through a pool and an airlock; once inside, you breathe and walk around normally. At night, escaping air creates a soothing, bubbling sound that is supposed to encourage your body to have an astonishingly restful sleep.”

Let me interject for a moment. There are a few lies in the above statement:

  • No one (except for the military) is allowed to convert naval stations, into anything. Oh, and even submarine bases are above the water.
  • Bubbling sounds of escaping air will not encourage any part of my body to have a restful sleep, and if so, I would be astonished! 

“Typical rate is $375 a night, per person. As a rule, only certified divers can visit. But, for a fee, you can learn enough about diving to qualify to float down to the entrance. And for an extra charge, you can get an advanced diving certification during your stay. Breakfast and dinner are served at set times. The lodge typically hosts two couples.”

Oh my!  My ribs are killing me and I want to pee so bad…

$375 per person, per night? HA!  HA!  You cannot get a Hilton hotel, for less than $450 per night in California, and it is a non-exciting, bland room. In fact, some of them don’t even have room service.

The true cost must be $3,750. Typo, you know.

Only Certified Divers are allowed to access the hotel, BUT for an extra, (undisclosed amount, did you see that?), fee, they can teach you enough so you can float down to the hotel. So, which is it? Dive or float

Multi-room underwater hotels may be on the way. Four companies claim that they will open hotels underwater within the next few years in Fiji, Istanbul, Korea, and Dubai….

HotelChatter has been tracking many of these announcements and doesn’t believe a word of them. Even if the hotels do materialize, they won’t be for budget travelers. Room rates will start at about $1,500 a night.

Did you catch that? Starting at $1,500 a night. For what is bound to be the formerly trashed room that leaks.

I think for my money, I will take my $1,500 and stay at a Hyatt Regency, where I will relax on the beach, and not under it.

♥  TTFN  ♥

 

Is It Finished Yet?

~ JodiLea ~ 1 Comment

My current novel is in a computer file on my laptop – I have notebooks and files stuffed with notes and research. Oh yes, and the draft resides on a couple of DVD’s and flash drives as well.  It waits impatiently to be finished. In January of this year, I set a goal to have it finished by Dec. 31st 2018. I will need an extension on that goal, but I want to at least get back into it this fall. The National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), is in November and will be a good time to get myself back to writing every day. And my volunteer work will slow down a bunch when October is over.

I can’t wait!        

And apparently, neither can my family…

I do not blame them at all for wondering if they will ever read the rest of the story. It has been a few years since I emailed them a chapter. In fact, more than a few cousins told me they were “hanging in limbo”, waiting for the end.

I apologized (to many people) and assured them they will get a copy as soon as I finish the (probably the 7th one by now), draft. I admit that their interest flatters me greatly – which made the guilt even worse than it already was. I know what they are going through. I am still mad at Stephen King for not finishing his story, “The Plant”. Just when it was getting really spooky and exciting.

I don’t want to abandon my story like he did. I really love my characters and the story. I do not want to disappoint my “fans” either. I prefer the term “fans”, and not, “all those relatives breathing down my neck*”.

It just sounds nicer.

 

 

* BTW, they don’t really make me feel like that, but I do enjoy pulling their legs from time to time.

♥  TTFN  ♥

 

 

Vintage Treasures

~ JodiLea

Everybody has at least one.  I have been blessed with a ghastly amount of them – more on that later…

I can’t remember exactly what year I got the coat, but I believe it was the summer before I began college. You don’t really need to bundle up much when you live in central California, but I was going to attend South Missouri State University that fall.

How I love that poofy coat! It blocks out windy cold and wet weather – it’s only flaw was not having an attached hood.

My daughter HATES this coat. Not only the coat, but she’s too embarrassed to be seen with me, wearing the coat.
“Mom!” she tries to explain, “That coat is so out of style and so ridiculous looking!” Then she further disses the coat by telling me, “It’s looks like it came from the 70s!”
“It IS from the 70s.” I say, a bit proud of that fact.
“OMG!” my 14-year-old granddaughter exclaims, “The nineteen seventies?!”

So a few weeks after the last dissing of the coat, I tried it on and found I had gained enough weight that it didn’t fit right anymore.  OK, you win, girls. No more vintage coat.

It is still at the thrift shop and I’m tempted to buy it. I could put it up for bid on eBay and earn some cash. SOME people appreciate vintage fashion.

Then again, I could just buy it back and wear it to my daughter’s this coming winter…

♥  TTFN  ♥