Lowest Gas Prices in Ages and Flowerless V-Day

Home in Holiday / Tarpon Springs area, FL

First, the gas price.  Yes, this is not fake…gas at 1.009 per gallon.  WOW, have not paid that for decades!

So WHY stop it at 20 gallons?  Well, it was a special price due to our grocery purchases at Winn Dixie, which is a hop, skip and a jump away from where we live.  It is our go-to place to get most of our groceries.  And as you buy, you rack up points, which are automatically converted to $$$$….dollars off at the pump (selected Shell Stations) or at the register itself.  Well, I picked off at the pump, and it was $1.25 off, but up to 20 gallons. 

Oh how nice it would be if gas was this price all the time….well, I will enjoy it while we are here, and before we take off at the end of March, I hope to put another 20 gallons in it at or near the same price….that should fill us up.

I first got the oil changed at a place called Take 5, which replaced the Havoline Xpress Lube which stood here until 3 years ago.  Better yet, a Havoline Xpress Lube was located just 2 miles from where the RV is stored…but Take 5 bought out many of the Havolines in the area, and shut the one closes to our RV down…so I have to travel the 10 miles to the town of Dunedin, just to get the oil changed.  YES, there are closer places…but they don’t let you just drive in and stay in your vehicle (RV), and one in which the RV will fit…kind of fit.  After I pull in and they change the oil, I have to reverse in order to get out due to the tight left turn to exit the facility.  I decided to get Bubba and take him with me.  He is such a GOOD DOG, so calm and quiet.  As I waited my turn behind this white pickup, I noticed the flock of Geese that was feeding on the lawn as I pulled in had flown up onto the roof…and later to the lawn to my right.  Didn’t think a thing about it…until the guy came up to tell me that it was my turn to pull in…and BUBBA lets out this HUGE ROAR of a bark because one the geese was just outside his window teasing him.  I was oblivious to this…and his growling roaring bark startled me just as the guy approached my window.  Not a good time NOT to have spare clothing to change into that’s for sure!

For the past eight years, I have sent Marcia flowers on Valentines Day.  The first year, about 2 weeks before we got married, and I am fairly sure each and every year after that.  Well…this year was no different…and if you do it early enough, you can get a real good deal…like the one above, 18 Red Roses for $29.99 (plus delivery and tax which makes it just over $40).  They come out of southern Florida, and last for a number of weeks.

But this year, something went wrong…If you look just above “Billing Details” it says, "We are unable to process your order.  A few suggestions...."  I tried again, and got the same thing.  I tried a different Credit Card, and got the same thing.  All the information they requested was correct…it just would not go through.

OH, but it did, in a way….both of my credit card accounts were “Dinged” with the “Processing” charge….which is not really a charge until the company says the order went through.  So IT WAS NOT my credit card(s) that were the problem…it was their website.  This was Wednesday night, about 9 pm eastern time…the promotion was good through Wednesday, and I could not call without letting Marcia know that her Valentine’s Day surprise (although I send it each year, she never remembers…) would be spoiled.  So Thursday, I told Marcia I was going to get Bubba and take him to the Dog Park…but instead, we went to the RV where I could make a phone call and straighten this all out.  WELL, that did not go well.  After nearly 30 minutes, the best I could get out of the representative was “I can take 15% off the price of either a dozen roses or two dozen roses from the NORMAL price.  Well, that discount would be around $45 to $65 before shipping and tax…and it was not acceptable.  I ended up giving her 10 seconds to make good on my order or lose me as a customer…well, the 10 seconds were counted off and I hung up.  Yes, I should have talked to a supervisor…but I had already wasted 30 minutes….good bye to 1-800-Flowers….they have lost a customer.  BTW: the credit card charges vanished after a few days.

Sooooo, plan B.  Our neighbor gave us a lovely snow globe for Christmas, so I decided to get Marcia a snow globe for Valentine’s Day (above).  In that “oval” area under the heart I was able to put a personal message…which I did…and since it is “PERSONAL”, I am not going to tell you what it says.    Right under the heart in the water are words that come with it…something like, “Happiness is to be loved, and to love”.   The only problem is…I did not know when it would arrive…just somewhere between the 7th and the 15th.  Thank goodness it came on the 7th…while she was taking her afternoon nap.  I put it in our display hutch, and around 11 pm I made a comment about how the hutch just did not look the same.  She finally saw it…and tears came to her eyes.  SCORE!  And this is better than flowers…she can see this whenever we are in the condo.  DOUBLE SCORE!!!

On a sad note….my Aunt Florence’s mother Fern passed away last week.  She is shown above on the left, next to Arny’s mother Euleda on the right.  This picture was taken in October of 2017.  Although she was in a wheelchair, she could still stand and walk at the time, unlike Arny’s mom.  Both are the same age, around 95 at the time, with Fern being a few months older than Euleda.  I think we all expected that Euleda would pass first…but Fern caught a bug or something, stopped eating, and the end was fairly quick and easy.  At this age, death is a blessing no mater how hard it is on those who will miss their loved one.  And boy did she leave a huge amount of loved ones behind…  We miss you Fern, and our love goes out to those who mourn due to their loss