GREECE REVISITED

I revisited some of my Greek days yesterday from the deck of the Pier House.

It was open house again. About the sixth Sunday the realtor has had one.  I had to disappear for four hours.

I grabbed my computer and headed out. Not sure where I was going. Ended up at the Pier House.

Merri working. The Beach Bar crowded. Grabbed a Beach Bar table, ordered a diet Pepsi and went to work. The noise and the entertainer’s singing did not bother me. I was working on my Greece book. Editing and rewriting some of the days from the first trip.

I felt guilty after a while. I was taking up a whole table and drinking soda. The waiter was losing money on me. Tourists spending money and tipping big could be sitting at the table.

I went up on the deck extending out from the Beach Bar. Took a table on the side under the awning. People rarely sit there.

Opened the computer again and went back to work.

There were constant distractions. Pleasant ones. The view. Blue water and white boats. Bikini clad lovelies running around.

Hard as it was, I was able to work. Got a lot done in the four hours I sat there.

Spent some money. I got hungry. Ordered a Cuban sandwich pressed and hot.

There I was. Sandwich in one hand and the other hitting the keys. Like riding a bicycle with one hand and eating an ice cream come with the other.

Such was my exciting Sunday. It was ok by me. I was still tired from the day before’s bowling. Age!

Enjoy your day!

BOWLING

Happy Mother’s Day!

My mother is long gone. I miss her. I sound like a child when I say it. That’s the way it is. We are all children when we think of our mothers.

Yesterday, my second bowling event in three years. Prior thereto, sometime back in the 1960s. Total bowling times in my life, 4-5.

It was a Don bowling party at the U.S. Navy Air Base at Boca Chica. There were 25 of us. Don divided us into five 5 person teams. My team mates were Stan, Tom, Clare, and Hershel.

We played well. Very well! We won! We had the highest score each of the three games played. Don’s team was second. We spotted them 15 points in the third game and still won.

I was of exceptional assistance. 84 in the first game. Followed up by something in the 60s the next two. Everyone was better than me! Did not bother me in the least. I had a wonderful time! Did not bother my team mates either.

One problem. The ball was heavy. Every time I picked it up. For real. I dropped it three times as I was in my stride preparing to throw the ball. I attribute the heavy feeling and dropping the ball to my age and being out of shape. More to being out of shape.

The food and drink were appropriate to the occasion. There was no gin of quality. I drank a brand I never heard of. Tom jokingly told me not to light a match near it. The food consisted of chicken fingers, onion rings and pizza.

Travel time and bowling itself consumed five hours. It was six when I arrived home. I had intended to go downtown for the Songwriter’s Festival. Duval was closed yesterday. A stage was erected in the street in front of Sloppy Joe’s. A free concert was scheduled  for 7. I never made it. Did not even try. I was tired. 

Another open house today. Will my home ever sell? I have to find a quiet place to sit with my computer and work on the Greece book.

Enjoy your Sunday!

TONGUE IN CHEEK

Yesterday’s blog was entitled Breasts Neither Genitals Nor A Sex organ. The article was concerned with Fantasy Fest and nudity. What a reaction! Based on comments received, many enjoyed the breast analysis by Key West officials. Which proves most people get a healthy laugh out of a bit of nonsensical sex talk.

Finally! Robert and I sat down at Lisa’s kitchen table to look at my photos of Greece. Ally joined us for a short while. She is a year behind Robert and not into Greece yet. Her attention span was limited.

Out of over 300 photos, I only shared a dozen with Robert. Ones having to do with the Parthenon, Acropolis and Hadrian’s Library. He already knew from school half of what I talked about. He enjoyed viewing those places. He further enjoyed the other half as I presented those with short side stories added. He was particularly taken with the first photo. Louis standing near the top of Acropolis with the Parthenon above my left shoulder. No question Poppa had been there!

Lets skip over to China for a moment. Three years ago, I started  warning in writing and on my TV show that China was on the bubble of a big bust. Though China’s problem had to do with  real estate, it was not exactly similar to the U.S. mortgage problem.

China does things in a strange way. China wanted a middle class. What they did was provide educations cheaply and then good paying jobs on a volume basis. The emerging middle class was earning unwarranted big bucks.

A middle class needs housing. China built tons of houses. There were not enough people to buy the houses. Many lay empty for years while the building never the less continued. They still lie empty. The same with office buildings. Huge ones constructed. Floor space never rented.

I predicted the bubble would burst and in a few years there was a good possibility China would be in trouble. The trouble has begun. China is cracking. As predicted, the bubble is bursting. I have a curious concern. The U.S. owes China lot of money. What happens if China demands payment? We do not have the resources to pay back. An interesting scenario in the making.

Keith went in the pool yesterday to remove the umbrella and ceramic jar. The weather was cold. The water freezing. The umbrella easy. The ceramic jar full of water and difficult to remove. He got it all done, however. Thank you Keith!

The same storm this past week that knocked the umbrella and chair into my pool, broke free from its mooring an unoccupied sailboat. The sailboat drifted into the waters off Key Haven Road and snapped and burned the electric cable.

Keys Energy spent $1,200 repairing the cable. They are now seeking the identity of the owner of the sailboat so they can recover the monies.

This morning’s Key West Citizen reports the Island House is for sale. Something in the $13 million area. Well worth it! I unfortunately have never visited the Island House. It is purportedly Key West’s premier gay guest house. Extremely well run I am told. The two men who own it have done an outstanding job creating a glamour spot for their guests. I will not be surprised if the Island House sells for the asking number or close to it.

Speaking of sales, there is an open house today from noon to 4 at my home in Key Haven. I am not leaving Key West. Merely wish to size down. I now live in 3,300 square feet alone. Too much house for one man. My intent is to move somewhere near downtown Key West into a small apartment. I want to walk or ride a bicycle  wherever I go.

Syracuse this afternoon at 2. Against Florida State. Florida State a one point favorite. I have no further comment to make. I will watch and cheer my team on.

I will be watching the game at Don’s Place.

Interestingly, the regular season ends today for the ACC and Syracuse. Wednesday is the start of the ACC tournament. Then the big tournament. Two weeks ago, Syracuse was touted as a #1 seed in the big show. After losing 4 of the last 5 games, sports writers are describing Syracuse as a hopeful #3 seed.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY

Spent the evening at home yesterday. I was watching  TV from the comfort of my bed. The Turner Classic Channel ran the 1951 hit movie A Place in the Sun. The movie starred Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Cliff and Shirley Winters. A great movie! Cliff and Winters received Academy Award nominations for their performances.

However from my perspective, it was not the movie itself that was important. It was what had given birth to it. Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.

It was 1906. Chester Gillette had impregnated a young lady of lesser means. He was in love with another. A woman of means. He took the poor girl friend out in a rowboat on Big Moose Lake in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. The boat capsized. The young lady drowned. Gillette was tried for her murder and found guilty. He was electrocuted in 1908.

The events of the tragedy occurred in places I am very familiar with. The Adirondack Mountains are an hour’s drive from my home town of Utica. I have visited Big Moose Lake many times. The trip to Big Moose Lake was an overnight one for Gillette and his lady friend. They stayed that night in Utica.

Big Moose Lake was/is located in Herkimer County. Herkimer County adjoins my home county of Oneida. The Herkimer County Court House is located in Herkimer. Herkimer is all of a 15 mile drive from Utica.

The court room where the trial took place still stands. The same as in 1908 when the trial took place, except for the ceiling. I have been told the ceiling was a colorful masterpiece. For whatever reason, it was covered over.

I tried many cases in my  forty plus years career as an attorney in that court room.

Gillette was electrocuted in the Auburn State Penitentiary in Auburn. I tried some cases in Auburn, also. Auburn is the city where my Syracuse basketball friends Dan and Lisa grew up.

While in prison, Gillette kept a diary and wrote letters to his sister. The diary and letters were donated to the Hamilton College Library. Hamilton College is in Clinton. A mere 15 mile drive from Utica, also.

Many were my connections with Hamilton College. A first class liberal arts institution. I was privileged to represent Hamilton College in several significant lawsuits. I attended many weddings, parties, lectures and special dinners at the College over the years.

Yesterday was another open house. I had to disappear for several hours.

My weekly KONK Life column was due to be sent to the editor. I took my computer and notes with me to the Plantation Coffee House. The column was previously researched during the week. It only remained to be written. It took just under four hours to put together.

The article is about St. Valentine’s Day. A bit of the beginning and a bit of the end. How it got started and where it is in Saudi Arabia today. Its beginnings may surprise you.

I lunched while at the Coffee House. A toasted bagel with cream cheese and a cup of coffee. Good!

Then to Don’s Place for some Sunday afternoon fun. I was looking for Toni. She is a die hard Kentucky fan. I wanted to commiserate with her. Kentucky lost Saturday night. Toni was not there.

A good crowd. Chatted  a bit with Don, David, Stan, and Dougie while watching some Olympic hockey. Everyone giving me a hard time about Syracuse. Lucky, lucky, lucky! Who was I to argue with them. I let them talk. Everyone is waiting for that first defeat. Me, too.

Needed some groceries. Stopped at Publix on the way home. Ran into Susan. A former St. Paul’s Church choir/musical person and Thursday night bocce player. A lovely Key West woman inside and out!

Enjoy your day!