TODAY SUMMER SOLSTICE

Good morning!

A lovely Key West day in the making.

Today is Summer Solstice. the longest day of the year. the day the sun is highest in the sky.

Happens twice a year. June 20 and December 22.

Last night began with Dueling Bartenders at Aqua. Tom Luna and Rick Dery. Lovely Heather guest performer. Heather adding a special touch.

The singing outstanding! The bar crowd mostly seniors. A lot of 50’s and 60’s tunes. A 70’s or 80’s thrown in here and there.

Met Sally. a Key Wester for 8 years. In her other life, she was a San Francisco police officer. Retired a detective.

Sally wanted a life in the law. Did a year of law school. Too subdued for her. Left law school and joined the police force.

Moved on to Tavern ‘n Town. You have no idea how thrilled I am that the season is over. I can now get a seat at the bar any time I want.

Enjoyed some good food while reading the newspapers.

George Bueno has been bartending at Tavern ‘n Town for 2 years. He had 10 plus years at two other places before Tavern ‘n Town grabbed him.

George is being recognized this week. He is Bartender of the Week. His picture and column appearing in the weekly Key West Week.

Any reason for a party! That’s Key west!

The Key Lime Festival saturday July 1. An only in Key West type event. At the Key West Lighthouse. A gravity defying key lime pie drop. From the top of the Lighthouse. Also  known as the Key Lime Drop Contest.

Pies provided. Four inches in diameter.

Goal is to drop the pie to a specified target without splattering it. Pie in the best condition wins. A trophy and a crisp $100 bill.

Contestants are permitted to create a device or container to protect the pie during its fall and impact.

Finally! Key West is getting Uber! Beginning July 1. The City Commission and Bubba system prevented Uber from operating two years ago when it wanted to begin. New state law prevents Key West from keeping Uber out as long as it meets state requirements.

The City Commission has a propensity for screwing up. Especially when erecting or remodeling a building. The cost goes up dramatically. The Commission always buys some half assed excuse and pays the additional monies.

This time it is the repair of the Frederick Douglas Gym in Bahama Village. The original estimate was $1.7 million. When the bids came in, the cost went up to $2.1 million. Now has ballooned to just under $2.3 million. And the work nowhere close to being done!

Working for the City many times is like having an open check book.

Another folly. There are three sight seeing franchises in Key West. Trolley, buses, etc. All three recently renewed their contracts with the City.

Traffic is a major problem these days. Actually, the major problem. Each of the agreements contain a clause that permits duck boats. In the event the Navy changes its mind and permits them.

Why do we need duck boats? There is not enough room for anything more on Key West streets. Previous duck boats were 39 feet long and 8 feet wide.

Permission should not have been granted. All parties should have waited till Navy approval or some remedy to make the duck boats acceptable. Then an amendment to the agreements could have been negotiated. With the traffic issue a main item of contention.

Ingenuity, mostly American, exists in our penal institutions. Contraband has been smuggled into federal and state jails in increasing numbers over the past five years. Contraband consisting of mobile phones, drugs and pornography.

Drones the method of delivery. Authorities are not equipped with the necessary technology to prevent the deliveries.

One of the finest persons I have met in Key West is Betsy Dietz. A kind charming woman. A good friend of Lisa’s. We have done Christmas Eve and Christmas Day together for over 10 years at Lisa’s.

Betsy recently passed on. A Celebration of Life will be held tomorrow at 5 at the Ocean Grill in Duval Square.

I am confident the crowd paying her honor will be overwhelming.

My podcast tonight. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Join me at 9. A quick half hour of interesting topics. Many eye opening. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Enjoy your day!

A CHARMING DINNER COMPANION

I made a new friend a couple of weeks ago. Lizabeth Moody. We had dinner together for the first time last night. The bar at Berlin’s.

Liz is an exceptional person. At 82, mentally sharp.

Liz’s life is one of dedication and success in the field of law.  A Yale Law honor graduate, person to score highest on her bar examination, Dean of two law schools, Cleveland State and Stetson, a good friend of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, active in the highest levels of the American Bar Association, first woman President of the Cleveland Bar Association, and on and on.

A lover of Key West, also. She and her husband purchased their Key West home in 1981. Her husband now gone.

Liz was President and CEO of the LSAT operation. The organization that runs the examination that dictates whether you are qualified to be accepted in law school. During her time with LSAT, she worked arm in arm with Craig Christensen. Craig was Dean at Syracuse Law when I was Chairman of the Board.

Intellectually superior. When studying several weeks taking a cram course for the bar examination, she and a girl friend slept late, played 18 holes of golf and attended a 4 hour lecture in the evening. Every day. Liz scored the highest of all taking the bar examination. A feat!

I contrast her bar exam cram course experience with mine. Did the same 4 hour lecture in the evening. Out at midnight. Studied till 2. Up at 7. Studied all day. For six weeks. Only one day off. The Fourth of July.

I was happy to pass. Liz was happy to be first.

Liz Moody, a star in the legal profession.

We chatted and laughed over  a few drinks. Each of us had a 2 pound Maine lobster.

A great evening!

Yesterday, a manicure with Tammy, the Key West Aloe Store for after shave gel (Men: I have been using it 20 years. Absolutely the best.), and stopped to look at the former Sq.1 now the Ocean Grill & Bar.

The Charlotte videos confuse me. There is something we are not being shown.

Early yesterday morning, I saw a video on TV of a police officer wearing a red shirt bend over and drop a gun on the road. In the same place in an earlier video where the gun did not appear.

The video has never been shown again. All day yesterday into this morning.

We seem to have a negative impression of protestors who cause property damage. Destruction of property appears to make a protest illegitimate.

Recall the 1773 Boston Tea Party. Property damage big time. I guess one’s conclusion is based on which side he or she is on.

As with the Boston Tea Party, you must admit it got the Brits to pay attention. Not enough, however. A war was still required.

The blacks want to be heard. The problem ended. The protestors are doing whatever it takes to get the nation’s attention riveted to the problem.

The Civil War ended 150 years ago. The problem still exists.

Trump talks about building a wall. Not a new concept. I am not referring to the Great Chinese Wall.

France and Great Britain are experiencing the immigration problem big time. Black Muslims are coming out of Africa into France. From France, the route for many is to Great Britain.

All kinds of issues. One, whether the immigrants be searched/vetted in France or Great Britain?

France and Great Britain got together. Decided to build a wall at the Port of Calais. Sixteen feet high. Coils of razor wire running along the top. Cost was $29 million. The two countries split it.

Great Britain out foxed France in one respect. The immigrants would be searched/vetted on the French side by the French. Turned out to be cumbersome and costly. Britain has agreed to pay France $20 million a year to do the job.

I suspect I have gotten Diane Millikan involved in my William Hackley comments. Diane has begun digging behind what is written. Good show!

Her present search involves the Kate mentioned in today’s diary. Hackley paid William Randolph $8 for her services. Diane suspects Kate was a black slave owned by Randolph and rented to Hackley.

Lets see what she comes up with.

Syracuse/Connecticut at 1. Connecticut a 3 point favorite. Just maybe Syracuse will win this one.

Enjoy your day!