The Seven Social Sins, Flight Delays, New Friends, Two Wives, Challenge Accepted

"The Seven Social Sins are:
Wealth without work.
Pleasure without conscience.
Knowledge without character.
Commerce without morality.
Science without humanity.
Worship without sacrifice.
Politics without principle.
- Frederick Lewis Donaldson

Good morning; I'm sitting in an Air B and B in Fort Lauderdale, a block off the beach. We arrived yesterday and will be here for the next few days returning home to Indianapolis on the 3rd.   Our Air B and B is nice and simple, a bed, two dressers, a table, a small kitchen, and a bath.  

We left our home about noon to catch our 2:20 flight; we sat down to get a bite to eat at Sun King Brewery. We sat next to a lovely couple also going to FL on our flight and began conversing. About 2:00, we got notified that our flight was delayed until 4:40. We sat with the people at the bar and had a small gathering of new friends.

About 2 hours into our visit, the computer system shut down, and they would not allow any new customers. So the few of us enjoyed the time, and the staff was terrific; we fly so much we know most staff members at Sun King; it's an extension of our family.

We finally took off at 4:30, we landed safely, got an UBER, and got to our place by 7:00, we unpacked and then hit the road to find a grouper sandwich. We found our sandwich and then got some bottled water, coffee, and other supplies for our pad. Finally, we came home and watched some football before starting a fantastic night of sleep. My wife is still asleep to my left as I type these words.

We plan to work a little this morning, go for a long walk on the beach, stop and get some breakfast and then meet up with Cousin. He gets in town from Michigan, and our other friend Greg will be visiting as well. So I think some other former Indy dwellers will make their way for a reunion.

I pulled up my smart news app and saw that Tony advised us to NOT connect for the New Year's celebration. But, instead, we should stay home, lockdown, and chip away at the reserved amounts of sanity we retain through this madness. Here's a question, how does this man still have a job? Well, Tony, we have dinner plans, and after going out last night, there is no open seat in any restaurant. Florida has seemed to dodge the COVID bullet, somehow not locking down. They are faring better than the authoritarian state of New York.

The CDC has revised its protocol for Omicron. Instead of isolating for ten days, you now only have to isolate for five days. I guess they know that we all will get this thing eventually after your five-day isolation must mask for an additional five days. It's interesting to me all the double vaxed and boosted people who have come down with the new strain. Does that mean that the vaccines were not as effective as first touted? Did they not know the virus would mutate? So many questions for the so-called "experts."

My OURA ring has become like a second wife,  advising me to pay attention to my movement. Sorry OURA, I guess I could have walked the airport instead of meeting our new friends, we are social animals, and yes, I'm sorry, I promise to move more today. I'll blow through any activity requirement you have in store for me. My sleep was good, as is my readiness; two out of three ain't bad.

Update: The most beautiful woman in the world is awake, has her coffee, and scrolling through her phone. She made an executive decision not to bring her laptop instead use only her Ipad. I can't type long-form on my Ipad, so I lugged down my keyboard with a screen. It's a little bit silly, but we do miss our pup. She's hanging out at our daughters, but on the plane ride down, we looked through all the photos we've taken since the day we got her; we have a beautiful creature in our family.

It's supposed to be in the '80s all week; looking at the weather back home; it appears it is about 26 degrees but with sunny skies. The temperature at our mountain house is 25 degrees and looks like rain. I think our choice of a bit of getaway paid off. You never know the weather you will get this time of the year in Florida; thank you something bigger than ourselves for giving us good weather. My mother calls that God's Favor.

Well, that will do it for today; not much spice here. Some days I make a simple broth-style soup, and I fear that's what this little batch could be labeled. I'm committed to getting my Ted Talk completed before returning home and then spending the month of January presenting the 20 minutes talk a couple of hundred times. I go live on February 3rd, then am off to Mexico with my wife to hang out in Cabo, just the two of us, I live a blessed life, and I hope you do too. A few days ago, I challenged my readers to out-happy me, and one man sent me a photo of him on the beach and said, "I accepted your challenge!"  Well played, Jason Ulm; encourage others to do the same!

"The Seven Social Sins are:
Wealth without work.
Pleasure without conscience.
Knowledge without character.
Commerce without morality.
Science without humanity.
Worship without sacrifice.
Politics without principle.
- Frederick Lewis Donaldson