Friday, November 8, 2013

Should I live in Florida? (some is true and some is not)

I had been hanging out in the Northeastern part of the United States for the last few months. I plan to
go back to Africa in February. As I continue to search for my next place to live I thought Eastern Africa and climbing Kilimanjaro would be a good place to check out . I have just about given up on being able to live in the United States, the cost of living is just to high compared to other places in the world.

I have a few more months before I head back to
Africa, I hate to leave any stone unturned, and thought I would try a few more places, just in case.

Fall is setting in and the temperatures are dropping in the Northeast, I figured Florida would be a great place to go. I recently read an article about a 9 year old boy that flew from Minneapolis to Las Vegas without a ticket. My funds are getting low and a flight to Florida is out of my budget, but if a 9 year old boy could do this I should be able to do this. I hope the NSA is not reading my post.

Here is what I did.

I am a member of the Global Entry Program. I am not going to tell you what that is, if I told you I would have to kill you. Being a member of the Global Entry Program increased the odds of success.

1) Take an Old Boarding Pass from a past flight 2) Scan the Boarding Pass into a program like Photo
Shop 3) Look on-line for flights going to Florida that have very low passenger count. 4) Look for an empty seat on the flight. Pick a middle seat toward the back of the plane, as they are the last to fill up. 5) Using Photo Shop changed the scanned copy of your boarding pass to reflect the flight and seat you want to take.

Now you have a boarding pass for the flight and it was free. As long as no one else shows up for the flight and is assigned your seat you are golden.

Not to bore you with the details I made it to Florida and the flight was free.

I plan to visit the East Coast and West Coast of Florida a few days at each.

First stop was West Palm Beach. The weather was perfect slight breeze 70 degrees at night and 85 during the day, low humidity. I was visiting my buddy Gary, I have known Gary since I was 5 years old. Yep that is a long time. Gary and I drove from Florida up the East Coast back in 2009, he had gone with me to Las Vegas, and Reno.

I hung with Gary and his family for a few days. His Parents also live in West Palm Beach. He has a lovely daughter Fallon.

Gary gave me a good run down of the area, we toured the beaches as well as some of the residential areas. While the area was beautiful and the climate perfect, it was way out of my price range, my range is free to a few dollars a week. Gary did suggest the homeless shelter. He said the
services are real nice and the food is top notch. The only issue with the homeless shelter is they force you to have a roommate, you get stuck with whomever they stick you with, I need my privacy.

After a few days in West Palm Beach I was off to Sarasota. From West Palm Beach to Sarasota is about a 4 hour drive, there are three routes, I decided to take the shortest in miles but longest in time. Highway 70 all the way across.

I would be staying with my Favorite Cousin Robyn. You may remember I visited Robyn last year.

When I arrived at Robyn's she had chores set up for me. She had read about me losing my income when the Unites States shut down the On-Poker sites. Robyn was trying to help me build my funds back up.

The first chore she had me do was clean the out side windows of her apartment. This might sound easy but she lives on the 22nd floor. Next she had me hanging some pictures in her Pent House. Robyn is not hurting for funds. Once my chores were done we went out for a nice dinner at PattieGeorge's Fine Coastal Cuisine, dinner was wonderful and the view of the Inland Water Way was fantastic.

Robyn really wanted me to stay in Sarasota so she lined up a job interview for me as a Tour Boat Captain. I had no idea it was a job interview I just thought we were going out for a ride on a friends boat. What a beautiful day we took the Inland Water Way from Long Boat Key up to Marker #60. The day was so clear we could see the Sunrise Bridge from there. We stopped for Lunch at Mar-Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub then headed back to Long Boat Key. On the way back we spotted a guy training for the Swim from Cuba to Florida. He was towing his own supply boat. This guy was an animal. He plans to swim from Cuba to Florida without any support crew, towing all his own equipment.


We had a great day out on the water, I was offered the job as a tour boat captain, but working is not for me. Once back at Robyn's, I found some free Photo Shop Software for my Ipad and created a Boarding Pass to get me back to the Northeast. I hope I never have to buy a plane ticket again.

On to my next adventure.

Cheers,

DUG



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