I MET STEVEN

There is a mean ill tempered individual named Steven who Comments re this blog. Not a nice guy. Enjoys beating me up.

I was having dinner last night at the bar at Tavern ‘n Town. A man shows up. “I’m Steven.” “You’re Steven?” “Yes, I’m Steven.”

A few more words and I realized Steven was not the bad one.

Steven advised he has been reading my blog for years. Never commented, however. Enjoys the blog tremendously. He and his wife Sandy have a place on Sugarloaf. Their home Cape May, New Jersey.

I am familiar with Cape May. On the Jersey Shore. Visited many Cape May restaurants when a guest at Frank and Lois Paladino’s summer home in nearby Stone Harbor.

We had an enjoyable conversation. Steven and I are at different ends of the political spectrum. He likes Trump. No problem, we agreed. We could talk civilly.

He and the wife are returning to Cape May in five days. They came down to evaluate the Irma damage to their Sugarloaf home.

We agreed to get together when he returns in January.

I finished dinner and went to pay the bill. Steven had already paid it. Went over to thank him. Met Sandy. I  look forward to our January meeting. Dinner on me!

The evening was unique in a sense. I started at Aqua. Dueling Bartenders. Tom Luna and Rick Dery at their best.

Liz and friends at the bar. I sat next to Liz. I was pleased to see her out. She spent about 10 days recently in the hospital getting her life long diabetes under control.

Liz and friends left to have dinner at Mangoes. Invited me. I declined.

David was seated on the other side of me. Had him working on my cell phone. I lost my messages app. David a cellphone/computer guru. Like the children of today. He found the app. However could not place the icon on the screen for me. Told me to talk with Sloan.

I asked for my bill. No bill. Liz had picked up my bill. The evening was unique in the sense I paid neither my drinking nor dinner bills.

I can now afford to go our another evening this week.

Joking, of course..

Spent yesterday afternoon working on tonight’s podcast show. Interesting topics. Like reptiles in toilets, abortion and Congressman Tim Murphy, the government back in our bedrooms and sex lives, third Charlottesville confrontation since 8/12.

Also, Sally the Salad Bar Robot, post-Irma Key West recovery, Happy Birthday Afghanistan, Puerto Rico still without power, Trump and Venezuela, bankers legal thieves in the U.S., fish fall from the sky, and more.

A fast moving half hour. Some topics eye openers. All shared from my perspective, of course.

Join me. Nine my time. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Yesterday, Columbus Day. I wrote yesterday I  expected turmoil. Protesters who want the name of the day changed and Columbus statues removed.

Turns out protests were minimal. Not at all in many cities.

New York’s parade was its 73rd. Thirty five thousand marched. No demonstrations. A couple of incidents reported.

Denver was the place for the action. Denver is recognized as the birthplace of Columbus Day. Demonstrations described as peaceful. One hundred forty seven arrested, however.

Demonstrators showed up. Primarily Native Americans. They were asked by police if they wanted to be arrested. One hundred forty seven volunteered. The rest quietly watched the parade.

Native Americans want the label for the day to be changed from Columbus day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, aka Native Americans Day.

They say Columbus brutalized and enslaved West Indians.

The chant of the Denver protests: Sitting Bull would be proud of us.

I’m missing something here. As I recall, Native Americans scalped, killed entire white families after torturing them (including rape of the women), and kept captured whites and Indians as slaves.

Native Americans who want a day Sitting Bull and their ancestors would be proud of should pick another date to honor their heritage. Leave mine alone. I am of Italian heritage. My mother and both sets of grandparents were born in Italy.

Curb debris continues to be a challenge. The debris of epic proportions.With all the removal so far, only 17-18 percent has been removed. It is estimated there were 400,000 cubic yards. Seventy thousand removed thus far.

There are many trucks involved in the removal. FEMA is sending four more. The removal a big time task!

I have to hustle. A test at the hospital at 12:30. The beginning of many tests. Primary purpose to determine why I am tired all the time. Close to exhaustion some time.

Enjoy your day!

 

TO GARAGE OR NOT TO GARAGE

Pru Sowers…..one of Key West’s finest newspaper writers.

She reports in this morning’s KONK Life E-Blast re the on and off Greene Street garage proposal. The title of her article similar to Hamlet’s soliloquy…..To be or not to be. Pru’s….. To garage or not to garage.

The article a reflection (from my perspective) of the City Commission’s disarray.

Parking a recognized problem. Two new parking garages bandied around since 2011. One on Greene Street. The City Commission in its divine wisdom voted unanimously in September no garage on Greene Street.

Not a group to let sleeping dogs lie, the City Commission voted to reexamine the issue on November 15 by a 5-2 vote. The vote does not signify that the garage will pass. It is thought most who voted to reexamine will subsequently vote against the garage.

So why waste time looking at the issue again? To accommodate the desire of Commissioner Richard Payne. A retired Florida State Judge. He has a tendency to screw things up.

Kate Miano is one of Key West’s leading citizens. Owner of the highly successful Gardens. The Gardens is across the street from the relatively new public parking lot behind the new City Hall.

Kate walks her dog three times a day by the parking lot. Pru’s article reports Kate’s comment that the lot is never full. I can attest to that. I park there almost daily. Only twice in a year was there not a parking spot.

Kate went a step further. She walked over to the City Parking Department and asked questions. She learned that in the year running from October 2015 to October 2016, parking lot revenue was down. Fell 18.7 percent from the previous year.

Key West needs parking. Desperately. Not a garage on Greene Street, however. Part of the parking problem would be relieved if the City Commission voted to allow Uber and Lyft to operate. Difficult. The Bubba system stands in the way.

Dinner last night with Liz and her house guest J. Richard Hunt. An enjoyable evening. Liz an excellent cook.

I learned that being the Dean of a law school has become a business in itself. Liz was Dean of two. Richard, one better. Of three.

It is cold this morning. Second day in a row. Cold is 70-74 degrees. Yes, such is cold in Key West. I am wearing a sweat shirt as I write.

My home town Utica in upstate New York is experiencing big time snow the past 24 hours,. More today. Already 12-15 inches. Temperature in the low 20s. Chill factor even lower.

One thing I have learned living in Key West these many years. when it is cold cold up north, it is cold in Key West.

Installment 19 of Key West Rotary history.

Disaster strikes. Sometimes we do not appreciate the practical impacts.

The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane was a 5. Blew out many Flagler railroad bridges. Parts of the highway gone. People could not get back and forth to the mainland. Miami not accessible. Ferries could not operate. Mail significantly reduced. Food prices shot up, where food was available. The law of supply and demand.

The Key West Rotary’s Annual Report issued January 1, 1936, stated the greatest community need was the reestablishment of adequate transportation facilities with the mainland. Noted specifically that parts of the railroad and highway were destroyed by the hurricane.

At the January board meeting, the Club took several steps.

First, the financing of a delegation to Cuba. Interesting why. To obtain the assistance of Cuban government and commercial agencies in having the railroad rebuilt.

I could not determine if the delegation ever went and what, if any, was its success.

The board formed a special committee to correspond with U.S. agencies directly or indirectly concerned with the problems caused by the hurricane.

The February 17, 1936 board meeting centered on air mail and passenger service. The need to improve them. Without the railroad, highway or ability of the ferries to operate, airplanes were the only thing left.

Passenger planes only carried four passengers. More seats on the planes required.

Mail service next to non existent. The suggestion was the airplanes be used to carry first class mail.

The lack of bus transportation a concern.

Key West had become isolated.

The March board meeting noted some progress. The highway had been cleared. Bus transportation began in late February. No vehicular traffic, however.

Letters of support, etc. had been received from Postmaster Farley and Florida’s two federal senators.

Bascom Grooms was outspoken at the meeting. He convinced  the Club to support the conversion of the railroad bridges to handle vehicular traffic.

Enjoy your day!

RACIAL BIAS IN PARADISE

Racial bias/selective police enforcement in Key West was a primary topic at the ACLU town hall meeting last night.

I had intended to attend the town hall meeting. Unfortunately, I could not. This morning’s Key West Citizen ran an informative article re the event.

I have spent a quarter of a century in Key West. Having had previous experience with police (I represented 55,000 full time civil service police officers at one time in my legal career), I probably have paid closer attention to police than most. This includes the Sheriff’s Department.

I have never seen the racial bias/selective enforcement complained of. That does not mean it does not exist. I do find fault with Key West police re the Charles Eimers case. Regardless of the official outcome, it leaves me concerned and worried.

Sheriff Department personnel are more congenial. They talk in a respectful manner. Key West officers come across tough, their tone intimidating on occasion.

Perhaps Key West has more difficult problems than Monroe County. Ergo, a different attitude is required. I do not know

Such are my impression of things.

I spent a good part of yesterday working on tonight’s blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Great topics! One involves the major thieves of all time. Banks.

Water is predicted to be the oil of the 21st century. The mega banks are buying water sources world wide. It is possible at some point that water will be as costly as gasoline and as profitable for the banks as derivative trading, exorbitant interest rates, etc.

Join me. Nine my time. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

I finished Elizabeth Warren’s book A Fighting Chance. Read it. Worth while.

The narrative portion of the book is outstanding. Warren writes in a talking fashion. Her story easy to follow.

The only negative I thought was what followed at the end of the book. Pages of excerpts from records of her daily professional activities. Boring. I could not complete that portion. The only thing I can think of is that the excerpts were added to give additional volume to the book. Bulk/number of pages enters into the cost of a book.

Pru Somers has done it again. The woman can write. I recommend her article in this morning’s KONK Life E-Blast. The topic involves affordable housing. She points out there is a lot of room for construction. However, the City cries it has no money to build.

Key West does not spend its funds in a thoughtful process. It overpays for public buildings, replaces public multimillion dollar structures after 20-30 years, talks of building more parking garages, spends money on studies never used, on and on. In the meantime, the working people of Key West do not have affordable housing.

I have to hustle. Physiotherapy this morning. I hope the program cures my falling incidents.

Enjoy your day!

 

KEY WEST BORDELLO HISTORY

Key West was a different island 50-70 years ago. In many ways. One was the existence of bordellos. Houses of pleasure. A place where a small fee paid brought lots of pleasure. Customer friendly operations.

Bordellos as such no longer exist in Key West. Today similar services may be available in a gentleman’s club. More expensive however before the evening is over. Less friendly. Money  and not the  customer’s pleasure key.

I tripped onto a bit of Key West’s bordello history via this morning’s Key West Citizen’s History section. Mention was made that on this day in 1953, Mom’s Tea Room was closed. Mom’s Tea Room was a house of ill repute on Stock Island. Local authorities closed Mom’s because of Navy pressure. Back then the Navy had a huge base in Key West and exerted significant influence.

My curiosity was triggered by the mention of Mom’s in the Citizen. I did a bit of searching re houses of ill repute in the Key West area. There is not much recorded.

I discovered that a Rose Rabin apparently was the proprietor of such an establishment. I am not sure she was connected to Mom’s. I suspect she was.

Rose did run a bordello on Truman Avenue before World War II. The Navy forced her out. She opened up again on Stock Island. The Navy forced her out from there.

Rose was back in Key West after the war running a place called the Imperial Club. In a two year time frame, Rose opened and closed the place two times. The Navy forcing her to close each time.

Anyone for tea?

Yesterday was the first day of a process I believe will be good for me. Because of falling frequently in recent weeks, Dr. Lefferts referred me to physiotherapy. Body Owners on Stock Island. I was impressed.

I was there for evaluation. Took most of the hour. Inquiring questions. Concern for my problem.

Heather Smith evaluated me. Turned out, she owns Body Owners. A pleasant professional personality.

Body Owners has a tread mill which will be part of my treatment. A different tread mill! It is anti-gravity. Exercise without pain. The tread mill is a bit monstrous. You are put into a bag, for want of a better description, which is tightly bound around your waist. An air chamber inflates and it appears the wind lifts the person up. The exercise is the same. Pain and tiredness at the moment, not.

I did 15 minutes. Big for me! Felt great during and immediately thereafter. When I got home, it was another story. I was exhausted! Took a two hour nap. Slept well last night. Probably because of the 15 minutes on the machine.

Heather is a nice name. Reminded me of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. A great love novel. True to form, I could not remember the name of the book. I did when I returned home and e-mailed the information to Heather.

Heather’s name significant because the book frequently speaks of the heather on the hill. A place where the lovers met.

My evening was pleasurable. Started at Don’s Place with Don, David, Stan, Clare and Grant. Bocce the key item of discussion. Big match tonight. We are ranked #2. We play #1. A tough evening ahead!

Don and I left. Later had dinner together at the outside bar at La Te Da. Tonto bartending. Debra and Patrick gone.

I have more to share. However not the time. I slept late (blame the tread mill) and have to hustle. A hair appointment with Lori.

Enjoy your day!

OBAMACARE?

I had a strange experience yesterday. One you may have had.

I was scheduled for my annual dermatologist visit. When I arrived, the waiting room was empty. Unusual! Generally full, sometimes standing room only.

I signed in for my 11 o’clock appointment. I could see from the sign in sheet that there had already been many patients treated before me. I sat and waited to be taken. Less than 2 minutes. Again, unusual.

I was taken into the examining room. A nurse asked me a few questions. Took less than a minute. Then, a brief wait alone till the doctor came in. However, the doctor did not come in. A nurse practitioner or comparable professional did.

I said I always see the doctor. She told me no problem. I will get him. I am not offended. I opted to stay with the nurse practitioner.

Warmth was not one of her virtues.

She examined my body, up and down, sideways, etc. Nothing was found. See you in a year.

Her exam took all of a minute. Two at the most.

I was done. I had gone into the examining room at 10:55 and was out at 11:02.

The whole thing was cold, efficient and brief.

Is this the new way? In and out quickly? Has Obamacare affected a doctor’s charges that dramatically?

I blame neither the doctor nor his staff. There was something different involved however. Dramatically. I could only think of Obamacare.

Interestingly, my primary care doctor and heart doctor still take the usual time to perform their duties. I do not walk out of their offices feeling cheated and wondering if the exam was sufficient.

My blog talk radio show last night. I spent a lot of time discussing Lou Harris and Ho Chi Minh. The Ho Chi Minh portion having more to do with how we fight our wars. The show is archived and available on Blog Talk Radio, You Tube, and the Key West Lou Facebook page.

Will we ever learn? When will the public and/or our political leaders recognize a rip off in the making?

I refer to the proposed changes re building heights and flood insurance.  I sense the changes will pass.

Unfortunately, the program is a rip off. No bargain for homeowners. To save $1,000 to $2,000 a year will require at the very least a $25,000 improvement to property to lift the house 1-5 feet. The dollars do not work.

As to insurance savings, by the time the homeowner pays off the cost of the property lift, insurance rates will have naturally gone up. The anticipated savings will no longer exist.

The Brooklyn Bridge is being offered.

Pru Sowers has an excellent and more detailed review of the issues involved in her column in today’s KONK Life’s E-Blast. Sowers lays it out factually. Takes no position.

KONK Life hits the stands today. Read my column for this week. Ho Chi Minh. A story of the Vietnam War.

Enjoy your day!