TONIGHT, TONIGHT…..

The Presidential Debate this evening is going to be fantastic! West Side Story’s classic song words have been running through my head all morning: Tonight, tonight won’t be just any night…..

The shame of it all is that the subject matter won’t be what it should be. Sex should not form the basis of one’s vote. We have heard extremely little in this campaign re issues.

A corporate America type activity took place yesterday that could have had disastrous consequences. I refer to the Notre Dame/North Carolina State football game. Played in Raleigh, North Carolina. In the midst of Hurricane Matthew.

The bottom line the motivation for the game to proceed. Money. Not the health and safety of the players.

I watched the game awhile in the afternoon. The field in most places was covered in water. Appeared at least six inches in many places. Heavy rain off and on. Players falling and sliding all over the place. A broken leg or arm possible. Fortunately, one did not occur.

The young men on the field had talent. Some big time talent. Notre Dame’s quarterback DeShone Kizer is expected to be the #1 pick in the draft. A serious injury could have negated his professional career.

Universities are run like corporations. Been this way for at least 40 years. The schools playing yesterday receive hefty pay from TV for performing. Reschedule the game and who knows to when, whether advertising fees will be the same, etc.

So everyone from TV to league officials to university leadership opted to play.

Sports writer Keith Arnold said it best, “An act of God is no place for a football game.”

The final score was North Carolina State 10, Notre Dame 3. The game  not representative of the talents of either team.

Another great dinner with Liz! Hot Tin Roof.

The Hot Tin roof is different without Joseph. Probably just me. I sensed his not being there.

Amazes me. In spite of every negative thing impacting Trump this past week, Liz is still voting for Trump. My sense is not because he is the better of the two. Rather because she is a die hard Republican.

Oh Syracuse, my Syracuse. Another bad football day. Syracuse lost to Wake Forest 28-9. Fortunately, the basketball season is less than two months away.

I watched the Syracuse game when I got home last night. Caught the last quarter.

Key deer continue to be in the news. The screwworm problem. A killer. The disease easily transferable from one animal to another.

Key deer are small deer. Tiny. A subspecies of white tailed deer. Only found in the mid Florida keys. In the area of Big Pine, No Name Key and a few small islands off the keys. No where else in the world.

In the 195o’s, Key deer were close to extinction. Only 25-50 left. The federal government considered them an endangered species. The National Key Deer Refuge was established in 1957. Key deer were protected.

Today, there are more than 1,000 Key deer. A far cry from the 25-50 of the 1950’s.

The screwworm has invaded the Key deer refuge. Already 50 euthanized. Eight since last Sunday.

There is a cure. Sterilized male screwworm flies. Successfully tested and used over the years to rid an area of the problem. Safe for humans, other animals and anything that grows in the earth. Planes will start dropping the flies this week. 2.5 million of them. Then 1,000 more a week for several weeks.

I wrote about the screwworm problem a couple of days ago. Repeat it today.

With an additional observation. The sterilized male screwworm flies are not genetically modified. Merely radiated. Nothing added. The male flies shoot blanks.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

 

“NOBODY RESPECTS WOMEN MORE”

“Nobody respects women more.” So says Donald Trump.

From the heart the mouth speaks. Trump’s words opens his heart for viewing. Clear viewing. Gropping/debasing women ok.

“I did try to fuck her.”

“I moved on her like a bitch.”

“”Just start kissing them.”

“Grab them by the pussy.”

The last statement and especially the last word of the sentence reveal most clearly what we knew about the man: He is not Presidential timber.

Trump has already advised that he will attack Hillary tomorrow night re Bill’s misdeeds. Won’t fly. Yesterday’s news. No one is interested.

He will further attack because Hillary spoke poorly re some of the women who claimed sexual affairs with her husband. I thought then and think now that she was a woman defending her husband against attacks that at the time she considered false.

Few marriages are perfect. Hillary opted to make hers work. Apparently it did. Trump is in his third marriage. He bailed out of the first two when his prick led him in different directions.

In the meantime…..Last night after the Trump revelations had become public, Wikipedia came out with some more e-mails. Some of Hillary’s speeches to Wall Street and corporate America.

Hillary obviously has changed her position on things said 3-4 years ago. Hell, Trump changes his position on things he said last week.

A wonderful evening last night. The Chart Room. John back from his Puerto Rico vacation. It was exciting!

Sheila and Cori at the bar. Spent my time with the ladies. Sheila is at the Key West Citizen. Cori is Curator at The Key West Art and Historical Society aka The Custom House.

Good conversation. We got into everything. Interestingly, little Trump. More of what is going on in the world. The Middle East, Euro Union, London, afterlife, etc.

Tonight special. Dinner at the Hot Tin Roof with Lizabeth. Love talking with her. Liz’s former life included the Deanship at two law schools. Stetson and Cleveland State.

The Key West Airport has an unusual problem.

There is an all glass cross walk from the second floor of the garage to the second floor of the main airport building. Birds are flying into it and either being killed or injured. Especially warblers. The County has allocated $25,000 to tint the windows in a horizontal pattern to warn the birds.

Screwworms. The federal government this coming week will drop 2.5 million radiated male flies over Big Pine and No Name Key. A proven tested method used for years to eradicate a screwworm problem. For several weeks following, an additional 1 million per week will be dropped.

Matthew still out there. Now a category 1. Beating the hell out of Georgia and the Carolinas.

Key West has been advised not to be concerned about Matthew looping back. If it does hit, it will be sufficiently dissipated so as to do no damage.

I loved Great Balls of Fire. Jerry Lee Lewis standing up at a piano keyboard bellowing the song out. One of his best sellers.

Raised in the southern Assembly of God Church. At first, Lewis did not want to record the tune. Said it was anti-religious, contrary to his upbringing, etc. Finally gave in.

He was the new Elvis Presley. Not for long, however. His reputation went downhill after he married his 13 year old cousin. Apparently not contrary to his religious upbringing.

This evening at 7, Syracuse/Wake Forest. Dinner with Liz will be more fun than watching the game.

Enjoy your day!

ARROGANT PARKING RATE PLAN

Key West is a small island. One and one half by four miles. It has been buried with too much construction, too many hotels, restaurants, bars, vehicular traffic, and tourists. I am surprised the island has not yet sunk. Key west is a new Atlantis in the making.

The Key West City commission is money crazy. Always the need for more money. Only to be not spent or spent to do totally illogical things. Last night, the Commission voted to increase parking rates by $1. Parking is already too expensive. Street parking $2 per hour, Mallory Square $4 per hour, the Bight $2.50 per hour.

The Commission says don’t worry, tourists will be paying it. They forget there are people like me. I do not live in Key West proper. I am 2.5 miles outside Key West in Key Haven. However, I drive into town twice a day. Costs me $8-10 a day to park. Now to go up by a dollar an hour.

In addition to which I spend a ton of money in Key West.

Key West workers have been told not to worry. They can park at one of the two municipal garages and be bused wherever.

The Commission is also going to require the Parking Department to chalk mark ties to better control time/overtime. Brilliant! Most if not all cities were doing it 60 years ago. None today. They depend on more sophisticated means to ascertain time violators.

The Commission does not realize this is the 21st century.  Get with it, guys!

Hurricane Matthew. Wow! By the grace of God, Key West will miss it. However, the mainland is in for a beating. This is one of the worst hurricanes ever. A high 4 with the probability of becoming a 5. Destruction galore!

Tomorrow morning at this time, Matthew will be over Palm Beach.

Good sized water vessels have already come into Key West for shelter from the storm. More expected. They are primarily dropping anchor in the Outer Mole and the Coast Guard sector.

Don’s Place first last night. Good conversation with Don, Stan and Clare. Clare promoted! She is now the Manager of Dion’s at White and Truman. A big place, a big job.

Then to Back Door and Mark Watson.

David stopped by. He educated me. The sky had a golden hue. He said it was called the Golden Light and appeared when a hurricane was on the way.

Met Jan and Kim.

Jan is a snowbird. RV lover. A retired Marine master sergeant. Drove to Key West from northern Georgia. I enjoyed her company. A knowledgeable person re world events. Especially Russia and the Middle East.

Kim arrived in Key West a few hours before appearing at Back Door. From Los Angeles and Portland. Came a long way to spend some time in Key West. She is here for several months, perhaps forever. A biologist by education and a journeyman electrician by experience. She appeared to enjoy the electrical work better.

October is the tenth anniversary of Girls’ Night Out. From 16 the first night to 2,000 ten years later. Good job, Mary Lou Hoover!

Greater love hath no man…..A tale of morbid obsession. The story of Carl Tanzer aka Count von Cosel. Tanzer is the whacky hospital employee whose love died. He dug her body up two years after burial. Took her to his home. Kept her in his bed seven years before being discovered.

Tanzer was arrested on this day in 1940.

Syracuse/Wake Forest saturday. Wake Forest a 2.5 point favorite. I suspect Wake Forest will beat Syracuse by a much higher number. This not the year for our football team! We continue to wait. Patiently.

One of the giants of the 20th century was Anwar Sadat. Egyptian President, Nobel Peace Prize winner, peacemaker with Israel.

Sadat was assassinated this date in 1981. He was in a stand reviewing troops. Islamic extremists did not like him. Two reasons. First, his peace efforts with Israel. Second, that he permitted the deposed Shah of Iran to remain in Egypt to await death from cancer. He refused to return him to Iran to be tried for war crimes.

A vehicle with armed troops drove up in front of the stand Sadat was standing on. Their guns blazed, grenades exploded. Sadat took four bullets and died.

The event was filmed/recorded. I can still see Sadat standing tall and glaring into their eyes. He never budged, never attempted to duck nor avoid the assassins.

Enjoy your day!

 

SUDAFED

I bought Sudafed for my cold. Interesting how it works.

The pill is non-drowsy. The last time I took a cold pill, there were no no-drowsys for sale. The pill knocked you on your ass. Today’s pill obviously much better.

The pill is good for four hours. Then almost immediately, the symptoms return. A negative.

I will stay home today and continue nursing myself.

The only item on the agenda is to write this week’s KONK Life column. Research completed. Ready to go. Title: A Late Night Diner. The story of Edward Hopper’s famous painting Nighthawks.

Getting sexy with the column. I will run a picture of the subject matter. A first time thing. It will be a picture of the Nighthawks painting. Most will immediately recognize the work.

Crazy weather. Yet, typical January. Problem is we are spoiled. Januarys have been great weatherwise the past four years. This January a tough one.

You live long enough in Key West, you develop your own sensors as to what the weather will be. For me, it is the two palm trees on my deck. Maybe a half dozen times a year, they bend northward. Means the wind is coming from the south. A guaranteed storm!

Yesterday, the palm tress were bending north, wind from the south. Actually, southwest. I noticed this when the sun was shining and the wind moderate.

There is a tornado out there somewhere. Came up on Florida from the southwest. The wind started in the middle of the night. Loud! Weather reports indicate gusts 39 miles per hour. This morning cloudy. The winds still at a good speed, though less than 39 mph.

Weather report says high today of 79. Terrific! However, tonight it will drop to 60 degrees. Cold! It will stay generally cold the rest of the week.

I feel bad for tourists who catch a bad week. All that money and they sit cuddled up somewhere trying to keep warm.

Syracuse beat Wake Forest decisively yesterday 83-55. Duke monday night.

Enjoy your Sunday!

PROJECTS MOVE AT SNAIL’S PACE

My cold first. No better. Worse. Going to shower and go buy something over the counter to relief symptoms.

Key West does not get things done in a timely fashion. When it finally gets to a project, the costs are much more than anticipated.

Monroe County is guilty of similar sins. Especially in the lowers Keys.

The big news this morning is that Wal-Mart is closing 269 stores. More than half in the United States and a significant number in Brazil. Appears not to be a big deal. The cut backs represent less than one percent of Wal-Mart’s global revenue. Wal-Mart has 11,000 stores worldwide. The dent by reason of the closings insignificant.

A Wal-Mart has been scheduled for construction up U.S. 1. Not far from me and Key West. Everyone excited.

Where is the store? Construction not even started. Three years so far since the announcement.

I recall an article in the newspaper a couple of month’s ago that things were moving slowly. No one particular person’s fault. Enough guilt to go around.

It is a project in Monroe County. Monroe Country should ride herd on it and make sure things move. Enough of the excuses.

Key West the worst. The Truman waterfront property has been in the works 15 years. Ground breaking finally late last year. I do not believe any actual construction has begun.

Fifteen years has to be a record!

The Key West City Commission has the obligation to ride herd on projects within the City. No excuses. The City Commission is in charge.

I fear Wal-Mart is going to pull out and the Truman waterfront never gets done.

Between sneezes, a running nose and watering eyes yesterday, I researched for a column topic for this week’s KONK Life. Have not zeroed in on one yet.

Search your heart. Be generous. There but for the grace of God could go you and I.

Today’s Crime Report in the Key West Citizen tells of a 22 year old homeless person who was arrested in the 600 block of Duval yesterday for panhandling. He had $1,000 in cash in his pocket.

Syracuse plays Wake Forest at noon. I have no idea who will win.

Cruz’s $1 million loan from Goldman Sachs has come under scrutiny. Trump says he feels sorry for Cruz. However, the matter should be investigated and he hopes Cruz has no problem.

Cruz is not that old. I was not aware he was so rich he could borrow $1 million dollars and do it on margin. A high roller. Or, something amiss.

My concern is Trump and his banking. He has borrowed everywhere and in voluminous amounts. His projects very costly. The media should look into his banking record.

Fair is fair.

Enjoy your day!

SHERIFF’S ANIMAL FARM

One of the lesser known Key West attractions is the Sheriff’s Animal Farm. A shame. The Farm should be a must on everyone’s agenda. Young and mature alike.

The animals are varied. Some I have not even heard of. Not the typical zoo nor zoo type operation. The Farm is run by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department. A deputy Sheriff in charge. Help provided by inmates.

The Farm is open only two Sundays per month. Today is one of those Sundays. From 1-3. The Farm is located on Stock Island. College Road just off U.S. 1.

There is no charge for admission. Donations appreciated.

There are so many dangers confronting society and government. Some must be dealt with. I am specifically referring this morning to Oath Keepers. A group 30,000 strong. Most former military people.

They were at Ferguson. Carrying guns. Doing whatever they wanted. Police avoided dealing with them.

They are the same group that defended the farmer in the 2014 Nevada stand off involving the Bureau of Land Management.

Oath Keepers announced in the past few days that they would protect Kim Davis from the Judge and U.S. Marshals. They planned on  having “boots on the ground” to prevent Davis from being arrested by U.S. Marshals. The group announced that Davis was under their protection stating the “Judge needs to be put on notice that his behavior is not going to be accepted and we’ll be there to stop it…..”

Not the way things should be done.

As a point of information, one of the most powerful persons in the United States is a federal district court judge. You don’t screw with them.

Fortunately, Davis’ attorney declined Oath Keeper’s offer of assistance.

Finished research re Gertrude Bell yesterday. Bell  known during her time as Queen of the Desert. She is frequently referred to today as the female Lawrence of Arabia.

I will be writing the column for KONK Life this afternoon.

Sloan here for a while in the afternoon. I have a new computer. She was helping me get everything on it.

I caught the last minute of the first half and the last three minutes of the second half of the Syracuse/Wake Forest game on TV. I was surprised it was being shown. It was on CBS.

Syracuse won 30-17. Can it be?

Living on a small island has a few negatives. One is rats. They used to be all over the place. The reason there were so many cats on the island. Almost every home had a cat.

There are few cats today. I read somewhere that iguanas have killed the cats. Apparently, rats do not scare iguanas.

One showed up dead in my home a few days ago. The smell was there. I could not find where it was coming from. The smell of a dead animal. Nor could Keith. Anna finally found the body. In a small closet under the stairs, the door off the kitchen. The rat apparently had come up from the crawl space under the house.

I am a coward at heart when it come to certain things. A rat, dead or alive, is one. It was Keith’s headache.

Keith removed the body yesterday. Washed the area down with Clorox.

The smell last night was Clorox. This morning, dead rat. The odor remains. There is a special odor item which will remove the rat smell completely. Keith’s headache. He will be at Home Depot today buying it.

There has not been a hurricane in the Keys for 10 years. Yet the biggest writer of insurance in the Keys, Citizens Property Insurance Co., wants to raise rates for wind damage. In 2013, the rates were raised 10.5 percent. In 2014, 8.1 percent.

Give us a break!

Bocce stats listed in the Sunday paper. We are alone in 2nd place with a 10-2 record. A good start! Actually, fantastic! May we continue to play well.

Enjoy your Sunday!

TOM AND FRAN DIXON

Two dear friends are Tom and Fran Dixon.

We first met via this blog several years ago. Then Tom and I happen chanced to meet in Key West. At that time, I became aware that both are frequent visitors to Key West.

Tom and Fran live just outside Buffalo. Tom a retired negotiator.

The thing that really glued us together was that Tom is a die hard Syracuse fan. Our bloods run orange.

Tom has another claim to fame. He owns a piece of the Ocean Key House.

The three of us had dinner together last night. Met first at the Chart Room for drinks. Fran evidencing the beginning of a good tan. She told me the temperature  is down to 60 in Buffalo. Fall has arrived in upstate New York.

We talked about many things. Children, grandchildren, their lack of any grandchild as yet. Syracuse football and Boeheim. The freshman quarterback Eric Dungey.

Dinner at Hot Tin roof. A fun time. Only way to describe it.

We are scheduled to meet again 6 monday night at Tavern ‘n Town. By that time, we will have the result of today’s game between Syracuse and Wake Forest to discuss. Syracuse this morning a 4 1/2 point favorite.

My day yesterday began with the anti-gravity treadmill. I have been doing it three times a week. Time to go to four. I made arrangements to do a 4 day week beginning a week from monday. Hopefully in a few months, I will have it up to five times a week.

Then back to the Santorini volcano.

Anna tells me the refugee problem in Italy is on the rise. The refugees are not coming from Syria or the Middle East. They are from the war torn countries of North Africa.

Taxes continue to rise, especially on real estate in Italy. Businesses continue to close. The unemployment rate keeps going up.

Anna asks how can Italy feed, clothe and house these refugees if Italians are on the brink of not being able to care for themselves.

I was able to watch the last fifteen minutes of Serena Williams’ tennis match in the afternoon. I assumed I would be watching Serena reach another milestone in the tennis world. It was not to be. Serena lost to the Italian Roberta Vinci.

Vinci was a 300-1 underdog. When asked how she felt when she got up in the morning knowing she had to play Serena, she said she was calm. Told herself to go out and play an enjoyable game. She had absolutely no expectation of beating Serena.

That is the way of the sporting world. American Pharoah recently got beat.

I have decided on the subject matter for next week’s KONK Life column. It is one I began researching last saturday when I got hung up on my Tennessee Williams research. I have about two more hours research which I will do today. Then write the column tomorrow.

It is the Gertrude Bell story. Gertrude Bell is known as the female Lawrence of Arabia. Gives you an idea of whar the article will entail.

Enjoy your day!

MEA CULPA

I screwed up!

Recall that tuesday evening, I could not get the Syracuse/Wake Forest game on TV. The game was at 8. I went to bed and fell asleep. Woke around 10:20. Tossed around a bit. Suddenly recalled the game. I was anxious to know the score.

I went downstairs to the computer. A basketball game is normally 2 hours. I assumed the game was over. It was not. Anyhow, I came up with a score that showed Syracuse losing by 1 in overtime. Not correct! The game was still on and the score represented the game to that point.

I marked down on my pad the score and that Syracuse had lost. Such led to my tirade in yesterday’s blog about good bye NCAA and hello NIT.

Sorry. Mea Culpa.

Surprisingly, only one person commented on what I consider was a big time error. Don of Don and Chris. Normally when I misstep, the world crashes down on me.

Worked with Sloan late in the afternoon. Some of you will be pleased with what has finally been accomplished. My KONK Life weekly column will be available on keywestlou.com starting today. Now.

The column can be found under the second narrative title at the top of the page. Click it. The phrase Key West Lou KONK Life Column will repeat itself. Hit on the repetition. The second line. And you will be there!

I cannot advise the day the column will appear each week. It depends when I write it. Any day wednesday thru sunday normally. It will be available on keywestlou 1-2 days later.

The column will be archived. Starting with this week’s article. Rank Insubordination. Concerns the NYCPD and Mayor de Blasio. My right wing readers will be tickled by it. Not favorably. I expect a slew of comments tomorrow morning from  them.

Dinner last night was at Tavern ‘n Town. Ran into Dr. Jackie Lefferts and husband Michael in the lobby. Jackie is my internest. Good people!

Weddings have been held for years on the beaches of Key West. Especially Smathers Beach. Lovely to behold. Part of the Key West ambiance. The couples marry and leave the beach.

The City of Key West is not happy unless it taxes everything. Where ever a dollar can be made, the City will be there.

The City has been concerned with the private use of public property. Any use of public property is private. Think about it.

Wedding planners are a key component of the Key West way of life. At a recent meeting, the wedding planners agreed to pay the City a fee and also carry liability insurance to indemnify the City. In return, the wedding planners could use the beaches and Bayview Park to marry people. The wedding planners were also promised a better beach clean up and a 2nd bathroom facility on Smathers Beach. The City will also maintain  a list of “qualified and licensed” wedding planners.

Once regimented, always so. Wedding planners have come under the thumb of the City and will remain there forever. In future years, they will be imposed upon more.

Sissy Spacek’s new Netflix show Bloodline will be available sometime in March. People have been asking me when.

I believe that any action has an equal and opposite reaction. The tide may be turning against New York City’s PBA President Patrick Lynch.

Lynch has been President for many years. The last time he had an opponent was 12 years ago in 2003. A slate of officers have announced they are running against Lynch and his ticket in the June elections. Their position basically is that they do not care about an apology from the Mayor. They believe the PBA should be more concerned with their grievances and problems. Proof again that all politics is local.

Bocce party tonight. Our end of the season bocce banquet. Will be fun!

Enjoy your day!