WORLD’S LONGEST PARADE

Key West is enjoying Conch Republic Days. More festive than Fantasy fest. Cleaner in many respects, also.

Different strokes for different folks.

Tonight at 8 is the World’s Largest Parade. Part of Conch Republic activities. The parade runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. Shore to shore. Along Duval. All of 1.25 miles. That is why it is called the Longest Parade.

If you are in town, join the parade. Then to Schooner Wharf to party.

Stopped first last night at Tavern ‘n Town. Picked up the newspapers, enjoyed a drink at the bar.

Then to Don’s Place. Everyone there. Don, Stephanie, John, Billy, Keith, Stan and Clare. Stan and Clare just returned from Washington, DC. Stan had business there.

Kevin, who I played bocce with a couple of weeks ago, stopped in. We had a great conversation. The Chart Room and GM mosquito problem.

Politics the big item of discussion with the others. No one seemed to like either Donald or Hillary. Interesting.

Stopped later at Duffy’s for dinner. I wanted to see Jennifer. She was hosting.

Anna leaves this week for a two month vacation to Poland. She will be visiting relatives. Jennifer stepped in to help me while Anna is away. Jennifer agreed to help again.

Ordered the prime rib. Good! Amazing! Might be the best in Key West. The cheapest, too.

Met Jana. She is the manager at Duffy’s. Been here ten years. Originally from Czechoslovakia.

Jana was all excited. She recently became a U.S. citizen.

I plan on taking it slow again today.

Enjoy your day!

LAZY LUNCH AT LOUIE’S BACKYARD

Lunch yesterday could not have been better! Lazy and long. Great company. Excellent food.

Donna, Terri and Louis at Louie’s Backyard. We lunched as one. Too many bloody marys, followed by Maine lobster rolls.

It was catch up time. We have not been together in at least three years.

My lesbian wives are returning. In six weeks they will be back in Key West. Forever.

They have already rented a lovely condo near Salute’s. Two blocks off the ocean.

My blog talk radio show Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou last night.

I stayed away from politics. The primaries are crushing.

I mentioned Venezuela’s Maduro had shortened the public employee work week two weeks ago to four days a week. Not enough electric power.

This morning a news flash popped up on the internet. Maduro has further slashed the work week to two days. No bargain. The employees only get paid for two days.

Maduro says it is because of a drought which is affecting water necessary to produce electricity. A crock. It is because Maduro has not spent monies to keep the dam and electrical system in good shape. Everything is falling apart.

Shades of what could happen to our infrastructure.

Keep in mind that Maduro’s first debacle was running out of toilet paper four years ago. Still not enough toilet paper.

I share this item with you, also. I got into government waste again. Congress authorized and the President approved $600 million to boost the Afghanistan economy.

Part of the money went to transport nine blond male goats to Afghanistan. Female goats were waiting in Afghanistan. Purpose to help the wool cashmere business.

Monies also went to build a laboratory to certify that the wool cashmere was the best ever. The scenario was to produce 350 jobs.

There is no record of monies spent. Where the money went, etc. unknown.  There also is no cashmere business. It is suspected the Afghans ate the nine goats. Could be. Goats are the number one dish in Afghanistan.

Manatees in the news. Tomo-Belle is a female manatee that has been under observation since 1993. She recently gave birth to twins. Tomo-Belle and her two calves were seen swimming this past week in a Siesta Key canal.

The shame of it all. On this day in 1867, John Milton was blind and broke. He sold his copyright of Paradise Lost for ten pounds.

Greece has a special place in my heart. When in Athens, I stayed at the Grande Bretagne. The finest hotel I have ever spent time at anywhere in the world.

I recall one of the staff telling me that the Germans used the Hotel for their headquarters during World War II. I thought at the time and still do, a shame!

On this day in 1941, the German Army ended Greek resistance throughout Greece. Except for Crete. Fifteen thousand seven hundred Greeks died defending their homeland.

The Cretes would not give up. They fought the Germans forever. Ultimately, they too were overcome.

My KONK Life column this week is Lincoln: Nomination and Election. Hits the stands today.

Wednesday! Love wednesdays! Wednesday is my screw off day. I write almost full time saturday through tuesday. Wednesday is the start of my weekend. My friday.

Enjoy your day!

BEWARE GREEKS BEARING GIFTS

Porn eliminated! Finally, yesterday. Godaddy did the fix. Supposedly will not happen again. My apologies those who received the porn.

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts! The Greeks in this instance being Keys Energy Services. Keys wants to transfer the old power generating plant at Truman Waterfront to the City. Free of charge! Something for nothing!

Nothing is for nothing! Keys will transfer as is. Keys will bear no responsibility if environmental problems are discovered/exist within the plant.

Guaranteed, environmental problems exist! The nature of the facility makes certain hazardous substances remain. Any clean up will be expensive. Extremely expensive.

City Commissioners will be buying a pig in the poke should they take title without an environmental review of the property. And not a cheap one to save a buck. An in depth expensive one. It will prove much cheaper in the end.

I spent the last 25 years of my career as an environmental attorney. A significant portion of my work involved the cleanup of hazardous waste sites.

Spent most of the day researching this week’s KONK Life column. Lincoln: Nomination and Election. Except for a couple of hours in the afternoon when I snuck downtown to watch the Conch Republic Drag Race.

The curbs were crowded with spectators. Everyone whooping it up! Having fun!

Something struck k me. Something unusual. Many were using their cell phones to take pics. Most of those taking the pics were women.

Dinner last night at Geiger Key. Sat at the end of the bar watching the natives and reading the newspapers.

The Sheriff’s Animal Farm will be open to the public this afternoon from 1-3. Something to see. Adults and children are provided the opportunity to get close to the animals. A winner!

Whenever I see Truman’s name for any reason, I make mention of it and the activities surrounding it. Even where Key West is not involved.

On this day in 1945, Truman learned for the first time the details of the Manhattan Project. The development of the atomic bomb. He was told 12 days after taking office. In less than three months, he approved the dropping of atomic bombs on two Japanese cities.

Woke at 5 this morning. A good night’s rest. However I woke at 5. turned on the TV. Armed and Dangerous was playing. A 1986 movie starring John Candy.

Candy and two lovelies were attending a black tie function. A first for them. Tables full food.

Candy had to check out something. He was leaving the ladies for a few moments. He said to them…..Don’t eat too much, we’re going out for pizza later.

Enjoy your Sunday!