BEAR IN TOWN

There is a bear in town. By name only.

Donna and Terri’s family now 3. A dog. Named Bear. A golden retriever. Eight weeks old.

A baby!

Met Bear last night. Enjoyed dinner at Donna and Terri’s with Bear.

Bear arrived the night before. Flew in from Detroit. Spent 11 hours in a cage.  A 3 hour stop over involved.

Cried all night. Can’t blame him. Stripped from his mother and 8 brothers and sisters. A new environment.

Talked with Donna this morning. He cried again all night. Terri does the night shift.

The game plan is to have Bear trained as a guide dog. Terri is blind in one eye and the other is going. The eye problem has nothing to do with the cancer. Terri is in remission and beaming.

The new Key West Amphitheater presently featuring a four day musical festival. Appears a success. Many tourists in town for the concert. When not at the Amphitheater, they are filling the downtown bars known for good music.

Apparent reason for the early morning shooting at Banana Bay Resort coming to light. Drugs. Police found 4 adults, 3 children and the drugs in one room. Lots of drugs. Marijuana, crack and powder cocaine, MDMS, and drug paraphernalia. All wrapped for sale. In a car outside, oxycodone pills.

Frequent Key West visitor Don Teich spends most of his year working in Asia. He and Chris Maxam are to be married in several weeks here in Key West at the Hyatt.

I mentioned Hemingway recently. For some reason, Don was in Spain. Pamplona to be exact. Where the bulls run. He sent me a photo of him running on the street where the bulls run. At night. Don running, no bulls behind him.

Courageous!

Pebble Beach Golf Tournament this weekend. Watched a bit.

What a course! I played it and its sister courses several times. Pebble Beach the most difficult course I ever played. The pros have their work cut out for them this weekend.

What does a husband do if his wife cheats? Leave, shoot the wife, shoot the lover, whatever?

Marital infidelity appears to have been dealt with in a different fashion in 1829 in Key West. A Mexican Naval officer named Charles Hawkins fought a duel with William Allison McRes, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Four shots fired. One man shot in the wrist, the other in the thigh.

Satisfaction obtained.

Why the duel? Hawkins saw McRes leaving his wife’s bedroom via the window.

Anna wrote to tell me one of the African negros involved in the voodoo killing was apprehended in the Milan railway station. Brought back memories.

About 10 years ago, Anna and I were in the Milan station. I fell down the stairs. Did a number on my arm. An open cut and bleeding.

Anna panicked and rushed me to a drug store in the plaza. She was going to take care of me. Needed bandages, etc.

The bandages, etc. were behind the counter. Anna is yelling for help. The girl was slow. Anna went behind the counter, grabbed what she needed, and wrapped me up.

As I think back, it may have been the first of my falls.

A new mosquito killer is being tested in Miami. The concern dengue fever and ZIKA. The company MosquitoMate.

Male mosquitoes are sterilized in a lab. They are then incapable of impregnating females. The males do not bite, have healthy sex drives, and will mate with females whose eggs then won’t hatch.

Six thousand were dropped on Brewer Park in South Miami thursday. It is expected that over a six month period, a total of six million will be released.

What is good for the goose is good for the gander. And vice versa.

California Assemblywoman Christina Garcia has been active in the local and national #Me Too Movement.

A male staffer said that in 2014 following an Assembly softball game, Christina approached him, squeezed his buttocks, and tried to touch his crotch. He told two friends immediately afterwards.

Both the Assemblywoman and male staffer agree she was drunk. She has no recollection.

The matter is under investigation.

Ian Welsh is an English blogger I recently began reading. His most recent blog concerned gender pay equality. Women should be paid as much as men for doing the same job.

He reported how the British Broadcasting Company was handling the situation. The BBC is the largest public broadcaster in the world. Twenty thousand nine hundred fifty full-time employees. An additional 35, 402 part-time, flexible and fixed contract staff.

Rather than increase women’s salaries, the salaries of men are being decreased. As much as 30 percent. All in an effort to tackle the gender pay crisis.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

 

I PAINTED THE FORDHAM RAM GREEN

So much to discuss today. Material galore. Don’t think I will be able to cover it all.

Lets begin with my yesterday. So much, I may not get beyond Key West exploits.

My car was filthy. I am not a clean car fanatic. When it gets to the point I cannot stand it, the car gets cleaned.

I drive a 2010 Volkswagen Beetle convertible. Only 38,000 miles. Last time cleaned about a year ago.

Stopped at the car cleaning place on White Street. Fausto’s a bit down the street on the other side. The car was detailed there a year ago. $50. Told the owner to do it again.

Could I have the car back in 2 hours? No problem.

Walked down the block to Blown Away. Haircut time with Lori. She has been cutting my hair close to 20 years. Takes all of 3 minutes. Includes a rinsing afterwards.

I have next to no hair. She never wants to charge me. I always give her $20.

Close to 2 hours remaining till the car would be ready. Decided to have lunch at the new Sandy’s Cafe a couple of doors down.

Sandy’s Cafe recently opened.  Run by the group that ran Sandy’s for 17 years at the corner of White and Virginia. They had a rental dispute with the building’s owner. Moved to the new place where I had lunch.

A major war has erupted. The landlord at the old place opened a Sandy’s at the old place. Both using the same name. Who has the right? A federal court issue. For real. A lawsuit already pending.

The new Sandy’s had a steady crowd. Very attractive. It is a restaurant. Booths, a bar with stools, etc.

I grabbed a handful of local newspapers. Knew I had to kill almost 2 hours before the car would be ready. Enjoyed a cheese toast with tomato and diet coke. Excellent!

Almost fell asleep in the booth. The waiting seemed like forever.

Went for the car.

Oh, so beautiful! The sun sparkling off it. The owner of the establishment showed it to me with pride. He knew he had done a good job.

To be frank, the car looked new inside and out.

The question is whether I can go another year before getting it cleaned/detailed again.

Late in the afternoon, stopped at Don’s Place. A while since my last visit. I needed to talk with Stan. While there, I also briefly chatted with David, Clara, John, Angus, and Michael.

Ran into Don as I was leaving. Looks good, feels good. Told him not to worry. What will be will be. Enjoy! Don is into heart problems. A stent and pacemaker the past several months.

Bocce opened last night. A new season. Just spoke with David. Don’s Place won all 3 games.

From Don’s Place to the Chart Room.

Two women down the bar from me. We began chatting. Turned out one had gone to Fordham. I went to Manhattan. A huge park separated our two schools.

A fun conversation ensued.

She told me Fordham girls used to come to Manhattan looking for boys. We referred to ourselves back then as boys and girls. The Green Leaf Bar down the hill from Manhattan is where they camped. A good place. Where Manhattan students did their drinking..

I laughed. Manhattan was an all boy’s school. We searched for girls. At the girl’s colleges in Westchester County.

Never the twain did meet! I never met a Fordham girl…..till last night.

A collegiate rivalry existed between the schools.

Fordham’s mascot was a ram. Always a real one. Tradition being what it was, a tall statue of a ram was also on the Fordham campus.

As the annual Manhattan/Fordham basketball game approached, the respective schools did evil things to each other.

Green was Manhattan’s school color. The year 1954. The game a few days away. A group of Manhattan men sneaked onto the Fordham campus and painted the ram statue green.

Ho, ho! A big deal! And we didn’t get caught!

Finished the evening at Tavern ‘n Town. Enjoyed the prime rib medium rare. My diet meal.

Stuck at 18 pounds.

Enjoy your day!