[at-l] Hello all!

[GoVolsKelly at aol.com (GoVolsKelly@aol.com)]

I would like to wish everyone a belated Christmas, Hanukkah, Bodhi  day, 
Kwanzaa or whatever it is you all celebrate during the winter  holdiays.  Happy 
New year, Chinese New year too!  
 
All things are good here in Sunny South Florida.  I've been spending a  lot 
of time at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino out at the Seminole Indian  
Reservation, playing Texas Hold'em which, I am REALLY good at! Tee  hee!    
 
A downtrodden friend moved in with the boy and I to save some money.   This 
is a good thing, since after Hurricane Wilma which destroyed every single  
utlitity pole in three counties, Florida Power and Light decided to raise our  
rates about 25% to pass on the costs to us, even though they were  warned that 
the poles were dilapitated beyond repair and needed to be  replaced.  So now, 
since our electric bill is about $4,685,165.79 a month,  it's nice to have a 
roommate to help cover the expenses.  Also, and  this is the best part, she LIKES 
TO HIKE!!  I finally found me a  hiking partner!  We've done one trips so far 
and have two more  planned.  We went out to the Ocala Forest several weeks 
ago.  We were  going to hike in from Hopkins Prarie to Hidden Pond, but the area 
was so swamped  out, we decided to head further south.  We ended up hiking in 
to Farles  Lake, which was absolutely GORGEOUS and highly recommended.  The 
next  weekend we found out that a couple who braved the swamp like coinditions 
on the  trail to Hidden Pond had been murdered... shot to death.  Needless to 
say,  it kinda freaked us out.  
 
Hurricane Wilma threw us for a loop.  We were without power for 15  days at 
home, and I was out of work for almost 3 weeks.  We lost part of  our roof, the 
fence to the west of our house, the entire structure that was our  screened 
in pool, and our poor royal palm is bald.  Luckily, we have a  
generator...However, buying gas for said generator was a nightmare.   You can't power the 
pumps at the gas station without electricity, so most gas  stations were running 
on generators which only provided enough power to run one  pump.  Gas lines for 
several days were 1-3 miles long and the wait was  sometimes 8-12 hours.  The 
restaurant of course, lost power so the cases of  lobster, shrimp, steaks, 
scallops, duck, etc. were going to go bad.  So, we  ate it.  We had BBQ's every 
day, feeding all our friends and family and  neighbors hot meals.  And damn 
good hot meals at that.  Plus, we had  ICE!! Tons and tons of ice from the 
insullated ice maker at the  restaurant.  
 
How's life been treating y'all?  I have I missed anything?
 
Anyway, the reason for my sudden appearance on the list was just to ask for  
Shelly's email addy!  I didn't mean to ramble on and on and on.  
 
So Shelly Bo Belly.. What's your addy?  
 
GoVols
(Who is still PISSED that the Steelers beat the Colts)