Leisure … more than a word, it's a lifestyle

Thought I’d dig back into the memory banks for today’s blog …doesn’t time move so fast?

It was FOUR (4) years ago that Freddy v Jason and Michael Myers (Halloween) came to see us. As I dug out the old pictures of that day it set my mind racing as to where all the time had gone.

We had some fun that day, hundreds of people came through the store and Robert Englund – Freddy Krueger (blue shirt), Brad Loree - Michael Myers  (centre) and Ken Kirzinger – Jason Voorhees (right) gave everyone who attended some great memories to go home with.

And talking of going home, that’s just what Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers did when they stayed at Florida Leisure Vacation Homes … so are you going to sleep where they did? Scary thought eh?

Here’s a clue… Robert stayed at a house with a jukebox… yes, some of our homes even have jukeboxes!

Florida Leisure Vacation Homes … The homes that the Movie Stars choose!

A friend just sent me an email as follows:

In a local restaurant my server had on a “Obama 08″ tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference–just imagine the coincidence.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need–the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I’ve decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed the money more.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

Think we have problems in Florida with aligators? If so, check this out in Alabama:

This picture was taken by a KTBS helicopter flying over Lake Wiessabout 90 miles north of Birmingham , Alabama !
  
 The helicopter pilot and the game warden were in communication via radio’s here is a transcript of their conversation.
  
 ’Air1 have you a visual on the gator, over’
  
 ’Approaching inlet now, over’
  
 ’Roger Air1′
  
 ’Gator sighted.. Looks like it has a small animal in its mouth. moving in, over’
  
 ’Roger Air1′
  
 ’Holy Crap it’s a Deer!’
  
 ’confirm Air1.. did you say Deer?, Over’
  
 ’Roger.. a Deer in its mouth.. looks like a full sized buck.. that’s a big gator, were gonna need more men, Over’
  
 ’Roger Air1..can you give me a idea on size of animal, over’
  
 ’Its big 25 feet at least, please advise Gator is heading to inlet.. do I pursue?, over’

That has to be a HUGE gator to have a whole deer in its mouth!
 
The deer was later found to be a mature Stag and was measured at 11feet!

Are you ready to go skiing on Lake Wiess ?!

If you ski at the west end of the lake — try not to fall.

This alligator was found between Centre and Leesburg , Alabama near a house! Game wardens were forced to shoot the alligator - guess he wouldn’t cooperate…

Anita and Charlie Rogers could hear the bellowing in the night.
Their neighbors had been telling them that they had seen a mammoth alligator in the waterway that runs behind their house,
but they dismissed the stories as exaggerations.’

I didn’t believe it,’ Charles Rogers said, but they realized the stories were, if anything, understated.Alabama Parks and Wildlife game wardens had to shoot the beast.
Joe Goff, 6’5′ tall, a game warden, walks past the 28-foot, 1-inch alligator 8.5 metres he shot and killed in their back yard.

On October 5, 2008, an article titled “Skirting the Pitfalls of Private Rentals” appeared in the Travel section of the New York Times. The article (click here to read it) focused on just one family’s bad experience renting directly from the owner of a vacation home in Puerto Rico. It went on to suggest that this family’s vacation nightmare might have been avoided if only they had chosen a “professionally managed rental” that offered a “certain level of quality control.” The reporter added that “no such quality control exists with owner-rented properties found on certain web sites such as VRBO.com.

And to a large extent this is true IMO. I have rented homes all over Europe, the Caribbean and the US and I have had some problems. I have experienced lousy management and owners who only wanted my $$$. But today I’m wiser or am I? 

Just this year my family rented a home from a UK based owner in Barbados and the hot water wasn’t working when we arrived…it still wasn’t working properly when we left 10 days later! Perhaps I should add that the repair man only came on day 8 but I just put it down to the typical Caribbean way and that I was lucky to have water! The question now is…will I stay there again? In truth…probably not.

Yes, we enjoyed the property on the whole, we enjoyed some great family time and we enjoyed everything Barbados has to offer but the experience was a little tarnished by the apathy shown to us and the lessons learned from it have only helped our own company Florida Leisure Vacation Homes to be stronger.

Ever since day one in this business (over 15 years now) Florida Leisure has been built on one simple foundation; Ensuring that we pay attention to the customer and the customers needs. As a result we have approaching 3,000 regular guests who rent our properties because we do pay attention and when a problem happens we are there…. pronto! The Barbados experience reinforced what we have always believed; good businesses are built on attention to detail and making sure we fulfill the needs of our guests. It’s really that simple. And that’s where renting from an owner can fall down.

The fact is, the owner isn’t there. He or she isn’t able to quickly fulfill my needs or solve a problem if and as when it occurs. Instead he relies on a manager or a managing agent and the simple fact is, that person rarely has the same incentive to look after you the way you should be looked after.

So, what to do? Well, when I am going away to stay in a vacation home elsewhere in the world, I now tend to look for professional management companies and owners that are with professional management companies who are’t frugal with maintaining their property. I want to make sure my vacation is the best it can be and in order to do that, I need to know that when I have an issue it’s going to get resolved quickly. This just can’t be done by an owner miles away and the only time I’ll book with one directly nowadays is when I’m sure they have a competant and professional management company who pays attention to detail and who can fulfill my needs. And to do this I need to check them out.

Checking them out is so important and it means looking at their web site and seeing if they have videos, photo’s and customer testimonials. An example of which can be seen here. It also means contacting them to see what type of service they give me on the telephone…and if they fall down here…I run… fast. After all, if they can’t get the basics done properly…what chance does my vacation stand when a problem occurs?

So renting a home does have it’s issues but when you consider the advantages over staying in a hotel then it’s well worth a little time making sure you get it right.

The fact is, vacation home rentals represent a travel experience that is among the best available and among the most economical. When you reserve a vacation rental, you’re booking an entire home. Complete with kitchen (no need to eat every meal at a restaurant), washer/dryer, maybe a hot tub or a swimming pool, possibly a wide-screen TV and DVD collection, free wireless Internet, maybe a game room, and lots of other amenities. You’ll often have nearly six times the square footage of the typical 330-square-foot hotel room at as little as half the price.

Spend a little time doing your research and you’ll find a great home. And of course, when you’re in Orlando… look no further than here!

I recently received the following in an email and it gave me cause to pause and think… maybe this actually could work:

I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.

Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend. To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.. So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend. Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife team has $595,000.00.

This article is reprinted and does not necessarily reflect this blog’s view.

Australia’s Herald-Sun reports that Donald Trump’s first speaking tour of Australia is in “doubt after an Ipswich-based promotion company collapsed this week, leaving about 1500 ticket holders owed more than $1.5 million.”

Ever the gentleman, Trump is reportedly refusing to return the more than $1.5 million he’s already been paid and is even demanding more money. Malcom Quinn, the promoter behind the bankrupt firm that had booked The Donald, told The Sun that “He has provided no services for the moneys he has received and he has indicated to me in writing on two separate occasions that not only will he be keeping the funds he has received but expects to be paid the balance regardless of whether he does or doesn’t come out here.”

What went wrong? It turned out that Trump wasn’t the draw Quinn had hoped he would be. Tickets costing up to $2500 have been available since June but only a quarter of the seats have been sold. Ouch!

Here’s my theory about why so few people bought tickets to see The Donald: almost no one who has $2500 would be stupid enough to blow it on a meet and greet with a blowhard like Donald Trump.

But this saga also reveals a little bit more about Trump’s true personality: Mr. Quinn mortgaged his house to book Donald Trump for the event and stands to lose nearly everything — and Trump, who professes to be a billionaire, is holding out for more money for an event that didn’t sell.

What a jerk!