SPIT IN BABY’S MOUTH

I was enjoying a quiet Saturday evening meal last night at Roostica’s. A large bottle of water was on the table. A drink, of course. My meal. Braised short ribs over a bed of brown rice covered with some greenery. Delicious! The ribs especially. No bones. Small chunks of meat that had fallen away from the bones during the cooking process.

My date was a tablet. I was reading yesterday’s New York Times.

An article on the Iraqi/ISIS/Mount Sinjar situation caught my attention. Heavy stuff!

There are 30,000 people on Mount Sinjar. They have been there for a week or two. No water, no food. The article reported that parents are spitting into their children’s mouths to provide them with some liquid.

Most of the 30,000 are Yazidis. A religious group. Neither Muslim nor Christian. ISIS is grabbing women and young girls off the mountain. They are offered a choice. Convert to Muslimism and immediately marry a jihadist. Or die. Most convert. Some prefer death.

Mount Sinjar is a humanitarian crisis.  As is the Mexican border crisis in the United States where some 70,000 children have come into the United States this year alone. Congress has failed to act to help these kids. Obama has reacted to Mount Sinjar and is having food and water dropped.

There is another aspect to the numbers. Kurdistan is part of Iraq. Technically. However it acts independently and governs itself. ISIS is causing havoc in Syria also which is next to Kurdistan. Between refugees from Syria and those who are trying to escape the Iraqi war itself, 580,000 refugees have arrived in Kurdistan. Two hundred thousand since last Monday.

Some in the U.S. complain about 70,000 children. Look at what Kurdistan is dealing with!

I spent most of yesterday laying in bed watching the PGA. Great golf! Some of the finest I have seen. Most of the players are on in 2 and regularly sinking long putts. Today’s final round is going to be some contest. Any one of a dozen players can win.

This weekend has been Lobsterfest time. Today is the last day. Featured is what has been described as a decadent lobster brunch. Included are lobster tails, lobster ravioli, lobster benedict, lobster paella, lobster lasagna, lobster mac and cheese, and more.

Plus water.

I started this blog with 30,000 people on Mount Sinjar without food and water. Now a lavish Key West spread. Hard to relate the two. Life goes on.

Today is Captain Tony’s birthday. He was born August 10, 1916. There will be a birthday party tonight at 8 at Captain Tony’s.

What a life the Captain had. Four wives, 13 children, a saloon keeper, booze runner, boat captain, gambler and who knows what else. Even mayor of Key West. One of his campaign managers was Jimmy Buffett.

Enjoy your Sunday!

CAPTAIN TONY AND MARVIN HAMLISCH IN THE SAME BREATH

I was correct. I have pink eye. Dr. Lefferts confirmed it yesterday morning.

Prescribed drops. She had her office call the prescription into Walgreens to be ready for pick up at noon. I received a recorded message around 11 that it would not be timely ready and they would call to tell me when.

It was six in the evening. No call from Walgreens yet. My eye was no better. Perhaps worse. I drove to Walgreens to see if the prescription was ready. It was not. I was told the drops were rarely used and they did not stock it. The clerk told me he did not know when the prescription would be filled.

I got upset. My problem is today I told him.

I asked to speak to the pharmacist. He tried to be helpful. Said he would call around to other drug stores to see if they had it. I played that game once. A pain in the ass! And not successful.

In the end, the pharmacist screwed around on his computer a while and told me the prescription would be available tomorrow (today) at one.

Not the way to run a business! Especially one that makes Walgreens a ton of money daily.

I spent some time at the Chart Room last night chatting.

Michael bartends at Smokin’ Tuna. He recently turned 40. He was enjoying a bus man’s holiday at the Chart Room.

A few days ago Michael was watching the sunset somewhere at Mallory Square. He saw two people a distance out in the water. They were in the water waving their arms. Obviously in distress. Michael dove in and swam out to them.

It was good that he did.

One of the persons in the water had scrapped his thigh against something. It had to be a hard blow. He had ruprured his artery. Blood was flowing out rapidly.

Michael got the person to shore. He ripped a branch of a tree, took off his tee shirt and wrapped both tightly around the guy’s thigh. Soon the Coast Guard arrived and the injured person was helicoptered to Miami.

Michael does not know who the person was that he saved. The injured person does not know it was Michael. Perhaps they will learn of each other through this blog.

Michael…..A genuine hero!

JJ was bartending. Leslie at the bar aslo.

Captain Tony Days start today and run through Sunday.

Captain Tony can best be described as a son of Key West.

His biggest claim to fame was Catain Tony’s Bar on Greene Street. He ran it for almost 30 years. In addition to being a bar keep, Captain Tony was a charter boat captain, gun runner, gambler, politician and at one time Mayor of Key West. Along the way, he married four times and fathered thirteen children.

Captain Tony ran for Mayor four times before being elected. One of his unsuccessful campaigns was headed up by Jimmy Buffett. Buffet and Captain Tony were obviously close. Buffett wrote a song about Captain Tony. Last Mango in Paris. The opening lines of the song…..I went down to Captain Tony’s / To get out of the heat / Heard a voice call out to me / Son come have a seat.

The girls leave today. Donna and Terri are packed and ready to go. Their ultimate destination is Los Angeles. They are moving there permanently. They came to Key West to get their furniture out of storage. The next stop is New York to get their furniture out of the apartment there. Then onward to Los Angeles.

They rented a huge Budget truck. They are driving the furniture from Kest West to New York and then Los Angeles themselves. Their car hooked on the back.

Crazy! I wish them good luck. They will make it. I told them this morning to record the events of each day. The trip has the makings of a good book.

Marvin Hamlisch died yesterday. I feel the loss of a contemporary. The world, including me, enjoyed his music all our lives.

I was aware Terri knew and was a personal friend of Hamlisch. When I read the news of his death on the internet, I telephoned Donna. She and Terri were at Aqua. Terri was judging a singing contest.

Terri took the loss hard. She got up on the stage and sang one of his songs. What I Did For Love from Chorus Line. With tears running down her face.

May he rest in peace.

That was my yesterday.

Enjoy your today!