GREAT REUNION

 

Reunited with Bob and Helen after 20 years. Good friends long ago. Still friends. I was best man at their wedding 30 years ago.

We hugged and talked. Talked endlessly during lunch at Louie’s Backyard. It was as if we had last seen each other the day before.

An emotional meeting for me.

They are on a Viking cruise. One day in Key West. Several in Cuba. Both anxious to see Cuba.

The three of us are anxious to see each other again. Before we move on to that place in the sky.

Hurried home following lunch to watch the Syracuse/Kansas game. Syracuse lost 76-60.

The game was fine the first 10 minutes for Syracuse. Then it was Kansas. Syracuse’s problem is the team is not seasoned. They have not played together enough. Syracuse generally moved the ball well. Could not shoot, however. The ball was not finding the basket.

I have not given up on the season. Never give up on a Syracuse basketball team and Jim Boeheim.

Missed the Christmas Parade. Thought I would. I was comfortable lying around the house.

Don’s Place made the playoffs. The playoffs yesterday. Only 3 Don’s Place players showed up. Need 4 to play. Several out of town. Arrangements made for a team that had not made the playoffs to move up and play.

Game plan for today is the Gardens and Handel’s Messiah. Two separate events, two different locations.

Parking a problem for Handel’s Messiah. I probably will miss the Gardens.

Handel’s Messiah has been performed for more than 30 years at the United Methodist Church on Eaton and Simonton. The Church’s Chancel Choir performs together with musicians who come in from the middle and lower Keys. They practice for three hours beginning at 2. The show begins at 7.

Admission free.

I have never attended this holiday musical event. It is time.

Irma was the first instance I had the opportunity to view FEMA in operation up close. Their performance left/leaves me absolutely impressed!

An example. It has been announced that FEMA is hiring local residents to assist with the Irma recovery. Jobs! Much needed. Many Irma victims still without work. Their places of employment not yet operating.

Pedophiles are society’s worst. Adults who prey on children.

Some get caught and are prosecuted. Then there are those like Alabama’s Moore who are never arrested.

A New Jersey Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force exists. In a sting referred to as Operation Safety Net, the Task Force caught 79 of the predators last week. Deviates pursuing children as young as 4.

Included in those arrested were a police officer, postal worker, and teacher. The Task Force arrested at least one person in every county in New Jersey, as well as persons from outside New Jersey.

Justice performing at its best!

Slavery caused Lincoln to say in 1858 that “…..a house divided against itself cannot stand.” We are a house divided today. Never in all my years have I seen two sides so opposed.

Do not forget Irma and Me. Available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and KoboBooks. The only Irma book written.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

BUBBA SYSTEM

Bubba system. A term used mainly in the Florida keys. Means friends taking care of friends. In Key West, Conchs taking care of each other as well.

Almost a year ago on July 14, 2015, my blog was titled Bubba System At Work. Concerned the Key West City Commission and its treatment of Uber. Uber drivers were being arrested.

Key West is still with out Uber. Many want it. Tourists and locals alike. Thus far, their requests ignored. The City Commission finally discussed the issue last night. Passed the buck.

The City Commission entertained allowing Uber to operate on the island. Fifty persons present. Many spoke. The City Commission decoded to delay a decision. The excuse was that the Florida legislature was studying the issue and Key West should take a wait and see attitude till a State decision was forthcoming. It was contemplated the decision would take one to two years.

A bubba decision! There is no reason why Key West could not take a position at the present time. No State law prohibiting Uber. No assurance the State will take a position at any time.

What the City Commission did was take care of their local friends. The people who own the cab companies.

Money was not involved. Perhaps if it was, a swifter decision could have been made. Like the $12.5 million Peary Court decision. A bubba action if there ever was one. Key Westers are still waiting to find out who the principals are who will benefit from the decision.

Vote those City Commissioners not acting in the best interests of Key West out next election! Replace them! How many times do the people of Key West have to be screwed before they act/react?

Yesterday was cholesterol blood work and an echo test. See my heart doctor next thursday for the results.

Following the blood letting, I went to the Creperie for breakfast. Second tine I have been there. Should go more often. Terrific food! Great coffee!

The Creperie is in K-Mart Plaza.

Started my night on the town with a visit with Mark Watson at the Back Door Bar. Zoey joined us. First time I met Zoey. Charming company. Zoey works at Havana on Duval. The old Camille’s.

Orlando and American medical treatment discussed at length. Good conversation.

Then to Duffy’s for another Maine lobster. I’m hooked!

This week’s KONK Life hit the stands yesterday. My column this week is The Rape of Social Security. Read it. Revealing.

The column was posted thus morning to my Key west Lou website. It can be read there also.

One of the Orlando victims is Patience Carter. She survived. Shot in her legs.

A 20ish Afro-American. Lovely.

Yesterday morning, I came across a video of her reading a poem she had written while in the hospital concerning the shooting. Tears sliding down her cheeks.

I noted she was an intern at FOX in Philadelphia.

Read the Wall Street Journal yesterday at breakfast. Patience’s picture on the front page. Large. The by line stated she got out of the Pulse Club ok. However went back in to find her friends. That is when she was shot.

Rudolph Murdoch owns FOX. He also owns the Wall Street Journal. Patience has a great career ahead of her. A jewel inadvertently discovered. A star rising out of tragedy.

I am considering a trip to Europe. Italy. Greece too dangerous. Italy has some safe spots. If I go, it will be to two places. One is Courmayeur. I have visited before. Chalet living half way up Mont Blanc. The other, Camogli on the Italian Riviera.

We shall see.

In 1858, Abraham Lincoln was running for the U.S. Senate. A race he lost. He said on this date that a house divided could not stand. He was paraphrasing a passage from the New Testament: “…..a house divided against itself cannot stand.”

We are a divided nation once again. The issues different. Yet we are divided. Divided for many years.

How long can we survive so divided? The division is like a cancer eating away at a body. Will it be cured before it is too late?

Enjoy your day!