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We live in Punta Gorda Isles, at the north end of Charlotte Harbor, between Sarasota and Ft. Myers in Southwest Florida. We purchased a wonderful seawall with a nice house attached. We try to live as green as possible. The City of Punta Gorda provides recycle pick up so all paper, glass and plastic are placed into the green bins. Aluminum cans are crushed and taken to the drop off in Ponce Park at the door to the Bird Sanctuary for their fund raising efforts. Kathy planted Sunshine Mimosa ground cover (a Florida native draught resistant plant) so we could eliminate the need to water the lawn. I also installed several rain barrels for use in hand spot watering. After living on Millennium Dragon for several years we are very water use conscious. We usually take “Navy” showers. Our monthly water bill usually shows about 2,000 gallons. Neighbors who irrigate their lawns use between 15,000 and 18,000 gallons per month.
I purchased a new Smart (for two) Passion trading my 1995 Chevy Caprice Classic in July 2008. We had seen these small commuter cars all over Spain when we were there during the Louis Vuitton Challenge series prior to the 32nd America’s Cup. We ordered the car on line at an internet cafe while in Denia where we stayed for two months. In July 2009 Kathy purchased a 2010 Prius trading in the old 2000 Ford Taurus. We wanted a “Green” very high MPG road car for our traveling between PGI Florida and Smithville Texas where our daughter Jill and her family live. We love the car but after I drove it a few times I noticed an irritation on the side of my right knee. When long pants are worn there is no problem but in Florida we live in shorts and T-shirts. In my usual driving position my right knee rests against the center counsel. The center counsel cap piece does not fit well against the lower section and has a sharp edge where my knee rubs. As I have had a right hip replacement I am always very careful about any abrasion to my right leg. We picked up a package of wide sticky back black Velcro at Walmart and I cut a piece to be fitted on the lower counsel part up tight against the sharp edged upper panel. This seems to have solved the problem. A few pictures of our cars and home (and my knee) follow:
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