So, I am back from Florida, slighty burned but in one piece. The flight down was uneventful, which is the exact way I want a flight to be. Actually, I'll even take mind-numbingly boring.
Overall impression: the more things change, the more they stay the same. We drove by International Drive, which is built up to the point that it's almost unrecognizable. Also visited the old house in Orlando. It was a lot more lush and green than I remember, with a canopy of trees over the road on which I used to play street football. The house looked very much the same, but the lawn seemed smaller. (Maybe because I haven't had to mow it in 15 years?)
Also hit Tampa and saw some killer homes on Bayshore. Also got to meet J.'s new girlfriend during lunch on Monday. Seems like a very nice girl, but a rebulican, brother, a republican?! Just kidding. I hope the next time we all get to spend more time together.
G. and I met up with a girl he's been seeing for a while. She's easy going and quite a bit of fun. I still owe them a drink.
It's nice to have friends where one doesn't have to try to hard. Everything seems to fall into place, and it's like I hadn't left Florida five years ago. I sometimes wonder how my life would be different had I never left, but I guess it's not that good an idea to start playing with illusions.
I wouldn't mind if the facility that I have with my friends in Fla. would somehow transfer to here, but I imagine that has quite a bit to do with me and not only with the people I've met here. Well, I can analyze that later. Back to work.