A Good Day

As creatures of habit we all have routines that make it difficult to differentiate one day from the next. But every once in awhile a fabulous day comes along that's so special that it makes all the other days sit up and take notice.

Dropped this tile at the former CVS Pharmacy, 17th Street and Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, on the south side of the store in the blue newsbox for a publication called Florida New Homes and Condos. It's in the pile there. Not exactly a happening spot. I spotted my last tile there by the phone that I'm guessing doesn't get used much. It feels like time is standing still at that place ... Some big moving truck pulled up to the front of the store one or two weeks ago and has been sitting in the same spot ever since .... like maybe someone forgot to return it.

This will be my second to the last tile for a little while as I'm taking about a week off.

Darcy's tiny dream

The tinier the dream, the bigger its chances of coming true. Left Darcy at a Texaco pay phone at at 17th Street Causeway and Cordova Road in Fort Lauderdale.

Telecommuting in Jammies

Despite professional advice, Deb telecommutes in her jammies, but she does carry her briefcase from the bed to the desk in the corner of her room, just for the sake of a ritual. At noon, she asks Shiloh, her kitty, to hold her calls while she goes and eats her sandwich. Shiloh doesn't mind. She's just glad to have company for a change. At the end of her workday, Deb gets dressed and goes out. What choice does she really have? At this point, staying home past 7 in the evening just feels like working overtime, because home is where the work is --- all of it.

Left Deb on a counter in the girls' room at Barnes and Nobles, 2051 N. Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. There are telecommuters in the cafe there, but compared to Borders, it feels like a library ... a little too much. Too quiet. Also, the people with laptops don't look at home and there's not much room for spreading your work out on a table.

Because He's Rory

Rory felt hurt, rejected and like an idiot for even thinking of letting himself get close to someone again. He couldn't talk to any of his guy friends about it, because they never felt this way and couldn't possibly understand. They'd just make fun of him again and call him Emo Rory. But Rory was getting tired of that and tired of feeling hurt.

Instead, he vowed to be more like his untouchable friends who emerged unscathed from every bad relationship they had - and there were plenty. In fact, Rory's down there at Lowe's right now buying barbed wire. He plans to wrap his little heart up so well that he'll never feel anything again.

But it won't work, because Rory's not one of the tough guys. Deep inside, he's just a truly sensitive person. It's why all the girls love him .... because he's Rory. If Rory doesn't feel loved, it's because he's sometimes busy feeling just a little scared. He's not alone. Even his untouchable, cool friends are scared. They're just not in touch enough with their feelings to realize it.

Dropped Rory at Panera Bread, 2101 N. Federal Highway in Pompano Beach.

Taylor Packs Her Bags

We're trained to think that running away from our problems is a bad idea, but Taylor thinks that sometimes it makes perfect sense. Not all of life's obstacles are surmountable, and sometimes the insurmountable stuff is just too big to work around ... So now, when Taylor gets to feeling that way, she just hits the ground running and doesn't look back. Well, actually she doesn't run. She walks with her backpack and her little lunch bag. And she does eventually look back. Actually, she walks back. ... She's done about five of these walks so far, and she gets a little further each time. It makes her feel like she really can escape it all, and it gives her a little space to be away from everything, so she can think. While on these little journeys, she also encounters many people on the street who actually don't have other options like she does. Somehow it puts everything into perspective. So even if she does return home 27 hours later .. tired, hungry and worn down by the road ... she knows things will be a little different. She'll whine a little less and appreciate the life she does have a bit more.

Left Taylor at a Sunoco station (that houses a Dunkin Donuts) at Powerline Road and Copans ... in the ladies room. We'll see if this post makes it through ... because Blogger seems to have obstacles of its own right now.

Sara Ponders Life's Big Questions

Sara's mom always told her that anything that seems too good to be true, probably isn't. Much as Sara loved her mom, she respectfully disagreed and instead chose to believe that lots of things that seem good, are in fact true. It just felt like a healthier way to look at life, and somehow, it worked for Sara.

Left Sara in the ladies room at Starbucks at 1501 SE 17th Street Causeway in Fort Lauderdale, right next to Cold Stone Creamery.

It was a good day for painting, pondering and procrastinating, the three P words that go so well together. I added a new feature to the right ... in case you didn't see Found in the big letters and exclamation point over there. It's a list of links to found tiles and comments from the people who found them. Sometimes, it takes awhile before one is found, as some of them are actually pretty well-hidden. So now, if one is found from three months ago, it will go to the list on the side, which makes it easier to read about. Recent finds will be at the top of the list.

It's a great idea, even if I didn't think of it myself. The suggestion came from Rick at South Florida Daily Blog which sifts through South Florida's blogs and daily newspapers to find the hidden treasures. His site also has Wordles. Yes, Wordles. I just like saying that word. Wordles.

In other news ... Restaurant Gal wrote a post today about traveling to Fernanda's International Market to find a tile hidden under the sink in the restroom. I read her blog all the time. She writes in a way that makes you feel like you truly are along for the ride.

Emma's indulgence

Most days Emma feels strong, confident and able to tackle all that comes her way. But occasionally she'll have one of those days where you could just look at her wrong and she'd cry ... when she'd wince at the sound of a loud noise ... and even the tiniest little emotions feel intense. Usually, the feeling passes. If it doesn't, she'll indulge in art supplies, a little hunk of dark chocolate and glass of pinot noir, and that usually breaks the spell.

Dropped Em off under the mailbox at Southland Shopping Center in the 900 block of W. State Road 84 in Fort Lauderdale ... in the a.m. rather than the p.m. when the alert parking lot security man is rolling around in his golf cart looking for suspicious activity.

Rosie Realtor

When the real estate business slowed down Rosie picked up some work as a costumed character at kids' parties. Sadly it turned out to be her main source of income. So far, she's been a bear, a pink panther, an Easter bunny, an elf, a princess, a frog, a kangaroo and a leprechaun. So it's a little more diversified than her previous job, and she doesn't really have to think about what she's going to wear to work ... so at least there's that.

Dropped Rosie at the phone at what used to be CVS Pharmacy, Andrews Avenue and 17th Street, caddy-cornered from Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale.

Return of the Personal Fairy

Deep inside us -- even during life's heaviest moments -- there's a whimsical and adventurous little fairy trying to escape. Setting it free is sometimes the best thing we can do for ourselves, and everyone around us.

This tile is well-hidden at Fernanda's International Market, 3045 N. Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale ... the closest hiding place I could find to the one on the dock by the water taxi ... It's in the restroom (in the rear of the store with the sign that says "Toilette") ... in the little cabinet under the sink, smack up against the side near cans of cleaning sprays etc. Here's hoping the whimsical fairy finds a good home, right in the neighborhood.

Pushy Patty

Patty's co-workers found her pushy and annoying. They had no idea how afraid she was of losing the only job she ever loved. It was her identity, and all that mattered, the thing that made her get up every morning. Without it, she'd be lost.

Left Pushy Patty under the Andrews Avenue bridge along the river in downtown Fort Lauderdale, because it was kinda rainy and I didn't want her to get all wet.

Ingrid of the Dark Shades

Ingrid was browsing the cereal section of Publix, trying to decide between the Crunchy Granola and the Lucky Charms when a complete stranger approached, looked directly into her eyes and said, "Ya know, the eyes are the window to the soul." Suddenly, Ingrid felt naked. If she'd known the eyes were the windows to her soul, she woulda put up some curtains or something. Now, she is known as Ingrid of the dark shades.

Ingrid is now lurking around the pay phone at the very empty and totally deserted CVS Pharmacy at the corner of 17th Street Causeway and Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale. Careful if you go there. It's dark and lifeless, and just a little bit creepy, but you know, not all these little people can wind up in ice cream stores. And Ingrid, well, she's tougher than she looks.

Joan's clothes dilemma

Joan was smack in the middle of a clothes dilemma. Her friend James was in town exhibiting his giant painting at one of those fancy places where people wear suits and little black dresses. Joan always had a crush on James, so she wanted to go, but she's just not a little black dress kind of girl, and it was a little black dress kinda place. So after she bought the dress, which she sorta hated, she called her brother for advice.

"Take it back," he suggested."Just wear your jeans and sneakers and be yourself. You're one of his oldest friends, What are they gonna do, kick you out?"

"But Jason" Joan says, "I'm gonna be the only one there in jeans and sneakers."

"What do you care?" he replied. "Look, you wear a little black dress, you set a precedent. Next thing you know, you have to get a whole closet full of little black dresses to keep up this crazy charade. Then one day, years later, you wake up and realize you’re married to a man who doesn't even know you and your whole life is a sham, one lie after another. Nothing but little black dresses."

Joan laughed hysterically, told him he was absolutely ridiculous, and wore the little black dress. She deeply regretted it, and couldn't be herself in this thing. She felt like a complete sham, and her heels were blistered from those damned high heels she bought to match. She kept wishing she'd worn her jeans and red sneaks. She hated when Jason was right. Damn him.

Joan's hiding, in her little black dress, at Chicken Grill in Cordova Shops off 17th Street Causeway in Fort Lauderdale. And the person dressed like a chicken in the parking lot is doing a fine job of being a chicken. In fact, I hope the chicken gets the tile, because that chicken might know what's it like to wish you were wearing something else. Then again, it could be fun to be a chicken.

Backgammon Betty

Every Thursday night Betty hits a different bookstore or cafe with her backgammon set. She opens the case, sets up the game and starts reading magazines. Inevitably, someone says "Oh my God, I haven't played backgammon in years!" So Betty will always say, "Well, c'mon then ... Tell ya what. Loser buys chai tea." Betty hasn't bought a cup of chai tea yet. She so sly, that Betty.

Left Betty at the Starbucks at Davie Boulevard and Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. She's leaning against the wall in the ladies' room, just waiting to catch someone off guard.

In other news, I finally made someone's Top 5 (at least for today) ... but it comes with a price ... a "scheduler." South Florida Daily Blog now has a Top 5 in the sidebar to the right. It lists the blog and the most recent post title, and just below that, there's a little line that says how long it's been since you last posted. I try to put a tile out there every day... which somewhere in the back of my mind means every 24 hours ... but then, when I see that little thing approaching 24 hours ... my obsession kicks in. So as I post this, I have 10 minutes to spare until the 24-hour thing kicks in. So I'll take a minute to say thanks to Rick at SFDB for always finding new ways to motivate local bloggers ... like "schedulers."

And still, I have seven more minutes to kill, which isn't quite enough time for a game of backgammon.

Sean's Sob Story

Sean's always whining that he's lonely and can't find the right person. He had a secret crush on his friend Sue for a year, but when it became clear that Sue liked him too, he became all cool and distant and downright weird. Confused, and annoyed by Sean's mixed messages, Sue ended their friendship. Now that she completely ignores Sean, he is tortured with his desire for her ... because Sean is just that kinda guy.

Dropped Sean at Cold Stone Creamery, 1501 SE 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale, so he could comfort himself with a cone.

I think I've passed the halfway mark on this tile project. I started with 297 tiles that were taking up space in my closet, and since acquired some more tiles found by the side of the road ... small purse-size ones. ... This week, several finders reported back. Shannon & Taylor of Dogma Grill promised to display Queen Helga. A guy named Dan reported that Froggie apparently caught someone named Monica off-guard, and just today, someone wrote in that they found Hannah at Firehouse Subs and that Hannah was the second tile they had found. This wouldn't be surprising if they read about it and then went looking for it, but I got the feeling these were random finds. With 190,000 people in Fort Lauderdale, what are the chances of one person finding two of the approximately 150 tiles out there, even if Moe's and Firehouse are in the same shopping area?

I never know where these little characters I create will end up, so it's kinda fun to hear about the finds. Thanks to all who adopted them. If you ever tire of them, just put them back out in the world and see how much fun it is to hide them.

Sue Suits Up

The economy being what it is, half of Sue's friends have already lost their jobs and have been actively seeking work for some time now. They were totally unprepared for this moment. Sue knows her day will come too, and she's scared. So she updated her resume, bought a new suit and has been going on interviews for jobs she doesn't even want and can't afford to take, just to get some practice.

Left Sue at Brew Urban Cafe on SW Second Street near Riverfront in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Mmmm. Good coffee here. Sue's on a round wooden table in the ladies' room.

Melancholy Jade

Inspired by an old movie called "Adam at 6 A.M.," Jade's husband Jimmy headed out to the store for vanilla ice cream. He never returned, but some say he lived happily ever after. Jade's been craving vanilla ice cream ever since.

Jade is leaning against a mailbox in Rio Vista at SE 9th Avenue a few blocks north of Davie Blvd in Fort Lauderdake. but probably not for long ... Seems like a busy spot in an otherwise very quiet neighborhood. If you find Jade, maybe you could take her for some vanilla ice cream.

Soft-hearted Hannah

Soft-hearted Hannah. That's what Hannah's mom always called her. She was always telling Hannah that she better stop wearing her heart on her sleeve or she was gonna get hurt. As usual, her mom was right. So once in awhile Hannah removes her heart from her sleeve and sticks it in her dresser drawer. But eventually it winds up right back on her sleeve again, because Hannah prefers that to the alternative ... pretending she doesn't have a heart at all.

Dropped Hannah earlier today at Firehouse Subs in the Harbor Shops at 1824 Cordova Road in Fort Lauderdale.

Grace's Cleaning Party

Sometimes Grace feels like an outsider who is looking in ... at a party. It may not actually be a party, but Grace tends to imagine people having much more fun than they're actually having. She does this even when she's thinking about people and wondering what they're up to. Like, she'll think about her brother and she pictures him riding roller coaster at some amusement park or singing Nights in White Satin after several beers with the other brother or running through the park with his little dog ... but in reality he could be cleaning out his garage, but she never imagines him doing that. On Friday night, when she's home cleaning her floors and emptying the kitty litter box and cleaning out the fridge, she imagines that all her friends are out at the movies, or listening to live bands downtown or having a leisurely meal over at Tipico. But seriously, most of them are probably at home doing their own chores. But if all of them were having as much fun as Grace imagined they were always having, well, they might actually get bored with all that fun ... because it's all the dirty little chores we've gotta do that make everything else fun by comparison. So in reality, while she's scooping the kitty litter box, she's working on her future fun.

Left Grace under the mailbox at Southland Shopping Center on State Road 84. The mailbox is out there by the road, near one of the two groups of newspaper boxes (not the one by Dunkin Donuts, the other one).

E-R-I-N spells Erin

Erin's whole life revolved around letters and words - writing them, reading about them, thinking about them ... If someone talked about Florida, she didn't necessarily envision palm trees, beaches and coconuts, she just saw the letters F-L-O-R-I-D-A. She wondered if it was the same for everyone, if they saw words spelled out in their mind the way she did. It's always been that way for Erin ... words, nothing but words, all the time. Sometimes Erin worried that she might have hypergraphia just like one of her favorite artists, Vincent Van Gogh. But other times, she thought that it was just her hypochondria talking.

I dropped Erin at a brand new Dunkin Donuts, around the 1400 block of Powerline Road in the same plaza as a bingo hall and the now-defunct New Mermaid House Restaurant. I stopped there a few weeks ago for my free iced coffee on a Thursday and DD was closed. I assumed it was an old store that had gone the way of other businesses at this center. Tonight I was driving in that area and saw a big DD-now-open sign out by the road. I decided to stop in .... and all I can say is "Wow."

It's unlike any DD I have ever seen. This place not only has couches and chairs and nice tables, but there's Wi-Fi access and a little counter around back that I immediately scoped out as a good place to put a laptop and go to work. There are other spaces, but that little corner appeals to me. The only person in there using a laptop apparently thought the same thing, and looked pretty comfortable over there in my corner. But, you know, it's big enough for two. So if it turns out to be his corner, I'll slide way down to give him plenty of space. But seriously, I won't hang there all day, maybe just occasional afternoons. But if I were going to hang out at any DD all day, it'd be this one.

Get this: There's a huge conference room, with big comfy chairs ... There's even a big flat screen plasma TV (not that I'll watch TV, but in case others are interested). Even the ladies room was fancyish, with a tree in a pot in the corner ... that's where Erin is right now. Alright, I'll stop. But there was just something about seeing this fancy schmantzy Dunkin Donuts in the middle of this weird little shopping center that just made me smile. I'm really not sure why I felt so amused. Sometimes it's better not to question it.

Froggie's Rejection

Froggie was upset because he wanted to see Sex and the City, and even though all of the girls in his office were going, they insisted that no boys were allowed. Froggie wanted not to care, but he thought of those girls as his best friends. He was deeply hurt. All he wanted was to go to the movie with the girls and then out for Cosmos and laughter ... It's not like any of the guys in the office would go see Sex and the City with him. All they wanted to see was Indiana Jones and then, of course, they'd have to sit two seats away from him, so no one would think they were a couple. Afterwards, they'd slam beers and shots and play pool or watch sports or some ridiculously stupid shit. It's like they all watched too many idiotic movies about what men are supposed to be. Froggie believed that what they all seriously needed was a good cry and a cosmo.

Left Froggie in a basket at the Frog and Toad (Powerline Road near Cypress Creek Road) where he will surely fit right in among the hundreds of other frog and toad knick knacks. Plus, Froggie had an affinity for Quiz Night ... which is, as always, on Wednesday.

Queen Helga

Helga barely weighed 100 pounds but when it came to arm wrestling she never met a man whose hand she couldn't slam to the table. She was strong, no doubt. But her real secret was her ability to gaze into men's eyes in a way that made them weak. ... A year ago, she quit her boring cubicle job and went full-time with the arm wrestling. Every time she beats a guy in arm wrestling, she collects $50. For $100, she'll let him win. The owners of Raincloud, the little pub where it all takes place, give her free draft beer and dinner just for bringing people in there in the middle of the week.

Left Helga leaning by a wall in the ladies' at Dogma Grill on Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale, 'cause that's where she grabs a hot dog right before she heads out for a night of arm wrestling.

Darla's Dilemma

Too many ideas and too little time lead to too much coffee and not nearly enough sleep. But, hard as she tried Darla couldn't really fathom a decaf future. Giving up coffee would be like losing a good friend -- a very, very good friend.

Left Darla by the sink in the restroom at the Dunkin Donuts on Northeast 33rd and Federal Highway in Pompano Beach. It's right near a place called Duffy's Diner. She'll never have to worry about running out of coffee for as long as she's here.

Land of the lightning bugs

Ariel doesn't want to spend another July 4 fighting traffic and battling for parking spaces at the beach. Instead, she's dreaming of the natural fireworks back home in the land of the lightning bugs. She never realized how unique fireflies were until she moved to South Florida. Now she missed them. A lot. Ariel is fascinated with bugs. Her favorites are those cicadas that burrow underground, emerging just once every 17 years.

Ariel photographs bugs and then she Googles them and compiles files of all their interesting characteristics. That's how she learned that lightning bugs use their glow to attract mates, and that each species of lightning bug has its own special flash pattern that can range from a continuous glow to series of multi-pulsed flashes. According to Backyardnature.net, the reason each species has it's own flash pattern is so they don't attract a firefly of a different species. Ariel prefers to think fireflies are more open-minded than that, and that they're just being individuals.

On one site Ariel learned that after mating, the female firefly often stops signaling, but that occasionally she'll continue flashing and then, once she lures the male lightning bug, she just eats him. Ariel thought that was funny. She wished reincarnation were real and that maybe she could come back as a firefly.

Dropped Ariel at Birch Park, where there's plenty of weird little bugs to keep her busy.

Dana's Deep Denial

Dana thinks denial is an underrated coping mechanism. So every morning she tells herself: I will still have a job tomorrow ... All those species aren't really becoming extinct ... there is no so-called global warming ... and no recession. Dana knows there's no recession because she can still afford the gas to get to work, as long as she cuts back on groceries and continues borrowing from her increasingly small nest egg. When Dana gets to wondering how much longer she can afford the luxury of remaining in denial, she doesn't drive herself crazy with thoughts about how to cut expenses. She simply tells herself that everything will get better soon. And it has to, because if it doesn't, Dana could become homeless. And she knew that THAT could never happen. Right?

Dropped Dana downtown at the Downtowner, in the ladies room, in a nice comfy wicker chair.

Lily pours her heart out ....

Some bloggers inform, some entertain and others pour their hearts and souls into posts. Lily knew she had officially joined the latter category when she wrote something so ridiculously heartfelt that she wanted to disown it the next day ... to delete the whole damn post, or at least the part of it that makes her seem as vulnerable as she really is deep inside. Very deep inside. Oddly, this is what we subconsciously do in life ... bury the truest, most beautiful feelings -- the ones people could use to hurt us. Having those feelings documented forces us to consider this process, to acknowledge that by deleting those words, we are in fact, trying to disown a part of ourselves. After considering that for awhile, Lily chose to let those words remain ...

Left Lily on a bench on the south side of the New River, just east of that big condo that's east of the Third Avenue bridge. It's off the path just a little bit, one of those little scenic side routes.

The return of Bridget
My very long walk eventually landed me at Dough Boys on 17th Street for a slice ... so while I was there, I checked the cabinet in the ladies room ('cause I left a tile there on May 18) and there she was -- Bridget. She looked absolutely noodled, so I snatched her up and walked her over to a very nice little haven of sorts where a lot of retirees seem to live, somewhere off Cordova. They're really cute little places with a big lit fountain in the middle, and one night when I walked through there, a whole bunch of the residents were gathered around picnic tables out there by the little lake, drinking wine, eating and laughing heartily, like so hard that you had to laugh with them even when you didn't know what they were laughing about. This is where Bridget belongs. I think she'll do fine there. So now, not only do I hide tiles, but I go and find them too. ... I'll have to process that.

Transitions

Lee loves those rare moments when all her little thought bubbles connected, like tiny little transitions dropping into place. Sometimes she couldn't write everything down fast enough. Why are such moments of clarity so fleeting? Then again, if we had them all the time, I suppose they wouldn't be so darned special.

Left Lee on top of a Sentinel box, next to a mailbox just east of SW 9th Avenue on SW 14th Court in Fort Lauderdale, alongside some big church. It's kind of an odd place for a newspaper box. Must be a lot of readers in the neighborhood. As I was pulling away, I saw a walker in a blue shirt headed in that direction. Maybe they'll take Lee home. I hope so, because it kinda looks like rain.

Hush Zone

Some days Meg doesn't feel like chatting. She'd rather deeply bury herself in wordless music and imagine herself in a peaceful underwater environment where everything moves slower and life isn't so noisy and disruptive and she's just completely in the creativity zone. Chatting can be a fun way to spend time, but there's a lot more to life than talking. Sometimes it's just about being comfortably quiet. So shhhhhhhh.

Left Meg in a quiet bookstore -- Barnes and Noble, around the 2000 block of Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. Meg is on a table that pulls out from the wall in the ladies room, having a little peace and quiet and thinking time.

Meanwhile, one of her tilemates, Lisa, who was dropped under a seat at Cinema Paradiso, was found and is now in Utah preparing to travel to Hawaii, Colorado or Peru. Looks like her checkered present is paying off.

Eve's Economic Depression

After 17 years spent working for the same company, Eve was forced into the growing ranks of the unemployed, and she felt like a big fat loser. She didn't realize that this was not personal failure ... just the end of the economy as she knows it ... the end of her being able to pay her bills, or go on vacation, or help out her kids when they're in a jam, or afford the rising cost of groceries. On the upside, she's started growing her own vegetables and trading seeds with neighbors. She also began riding her bike, creating art and donating her time to help homeless people. She's thinking of putting some of them up in her home, so they can get jobs and help her to pay the rent. She's still deeply worried about what will happen when her severance runs out, but she's starting to see that maybe there's a way to make all of this work. ...

Dropped Eve at Five Guys in the Cordova Shops off 17th Street Causeway. She's become a decoration near the sink in the big stall in the ladies room, until someone finds her, and they should, because she could teach them a thing or two about gardening now, and she needs to stay busy so she can do good things and stop worrying so much.

Tardy Theresa

Theresa has a hard time waking up on Mondays. Worried that she'll get fired for being late, she wisely tells her boss that she's been standing in line for awhile getting all those donuts she brought in for everyone (including his favorite toasted coconut). In reality, she buys the donuts on Sunday night, so she can sleep a wee bit longer, and still have a guilt-free morning.

Left Theresa at a recently abandoned CVS Pharmacy at the corner of Andrews Avenue and 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale. She's in a red AutoMart newspaper box around the side of the store, in between some of the little AutoMart magazines.

Alice's Personal Fairy

Sometimes it amazes Alice how that little voice in her head can remain so happy, confident and comfortable, even when Alice is terrified about her future. Clearly, the woman upstairs is far wiser than Alice realized. Left Alice on a dock near a water taxi pickup on the West Side of the Intracoastal and south of Oakland Park bridge alongside a building that says 3000 Intracoastal Office, like any of this matters. But there it is. She's out there listening to the therapeutic laps of water. Not a bad place to be either. So it's totally OK if she's out there for awhile.