Yesterday morning golf!

A terrific time!

I played with the big guys. Don, Kurt, Larry and Nate. All shot in the 80s.

Louis shot 110.

However…..because of all the various side games played, Kurt and I won. Amazing! We each won $5.
Turned out not to be a financial bargain however. The winner(s) buy the drinks. I was in a generous mood. Told Kurt I would pick up the tab. $35!

Some days it does not pay to win!

I would be remiss if I failed to gloat over my play on 18. Good play by me is rare. 18 is a long par 5. Water on the left and woods on the right all the way down. The entrance to the green closes dramatically. Plus, sand traps to the right.

Normally I end up in the water near the green.

I was 160 yards out. I hit the finest golf shot of my life. High and straight. Landed 20 feet short of an uphill green. It was a Wow! shot. Got me applause from the  big guys. I then putted from the fairway up to the green and pin. To the hole was 30 feet. I hit the pin and bounced off to about a foot from the hole.

An excellent finish! Maybe that is why I was so generous in offering to buy the drinks.

It was Don’s Place last night. The conversation? What else. Bocce.

Tonight, we play. Second game of the new season. We won all three games last week. We still are on a high.

We play Larry Smith’s team. A blood match. Larry’s team ended up 2nd in league standings last season. We were close behind in 3rd. Additionally, four of the teams have a league within the league. We play each other for a big free party at the end of the season. Larry’s team and ours are part of that four way group. So tonight is a money game! The losing team contributes $150 towards the party. The winning team nothing.

I chatted bocce with Don, Jimmy, Boomer and Joanie. The lovely PD was sitting nearby.

Don introduced me to Yulena. A wow! As attractive as my shot on 18. She sat next to me.

It poured while I was at Don’s Place. Like a hurricane. Heavy rain and wind. I checked Facebook this morning. Jean Thornton had a photo of the corner of Duval and Green Streets. Sloppy Joe’s corner. Flooded. That end of Key West is a low area. The sewers are not adequate to take a heavy rain. On one occasion, I saw people swimming in a nearby intersection.

Tomorrow’s internet show The Key West Lou Legal Hour is developing well. Included topic wise will be some comment on the many CEO’s of major corporations whose pay is greater than what their companies pay in taxes. In most instances, the major coprporations pay no taxes.

Which…..proves the point that our tax system is out of whack and needs replacing. Too many loopholes. I say throw the whole thing out and go to a flat tax.

Another item to be discussed is the proposed law in California to require minimum wage to be paid adult babysitters. That does not bother me. Most babysitters are well paid. Much more per hour than minimum wage. Lisa is always telling me it is not the cost of an evening out for her and Corey, it is the babysitting tab. She says they have spent $60 before they even walk out the door! $20 an hour appears to be the going rate in Key West. Some work for $15 per hour. None are adults.

What does bother me about the proposed law, which will bother you also, is that the parents must provide a substitute caregiver every two hours to cover rest and meal beaks, the sitters are to be covered by workers compensation and receive overtime pay. The pay is to be determined by a “meticulously” calculated time card or pay check.

It has already passed the Assembly. It is before the Senate for consideration.

An example of something carried too far!

Join me tomorrow for my internet show which is available world wide. http://www.konkbroadcasting.com/. 10 am my time. You will enjoy!

I have to hustle. An early morning appointment with my doctor. Internist this time. Monday was the heart doctor, tuesday the dentist and today the internist. It seems to be a pattern in my senior years. I hate it!

Enjoy your day!

Rise and shine. Not this morning. I rose. But it is black outside. I am up early. Golf this morning.

The dentist was the major item on the agenda yesterday. Saw him in the morning. I had been back into severe pain for a few days. The visit helped. I am better now. Just a bit of pain on one side. Hopefully it will go away. Dentist thinks it will. I was able to chew last night. A simple thing in life. However not appreciated till it cannot be done.

Visited with Lisa after the dentist. Robert and Ally consumed our conversation. They are discovering the world every day. Exciting!

I ended up spending the rest of the day in. In means in and out. Between the kitchen and deck. Blood pressure still out of whack. Dentist tired me out. Thought I would take it easy.

I need to get out though. Tonight. I need people. In the flesh. The computer is fine for interaction with others. But only for a while.

Friday’s internet show is developing fantastically. All this time at home leaves me writing most of the day. Join me Friday at 10 in the morning my time at http://www.konkbroadcasting.com/. for some interesting comments.

Taxation of small businesses absorbed a bit of my time yesterday.

Prostitution is legal in Bonn, Germany. The City has set up parking meters for street walkers, ladies of the night. Prostitutes are taxed in Germany. Those working the streerts cheat on their taxes. They do not report all of their income. So the girls now have a parking type meter on the street which they must contribute to each evening before work.

Texas, a bastion of Conservative Republicanism and the home no and less taxes Governor Perry, has instituted a tax on a small business. A small business tax with a touch of socialism as to how the tax monies are to be spent.

Strip clubs selling alcohol are required to pay a head tax on each customer. $5. The money is earmarked by the State to benefit victims of sexual assault who are uninsured.

A stretch.

Serious money involved. Texas collected $42 million the first two years the tax was in effect.

And more. Like the claim that one Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge choked a fellow Supreme Court Judge during deliberations. The alleged assault took place in the presence of the other five Supreme Court Judges. The alleged assaultor was the Republican Judge who had to run following the collective bargaining debacle. He won a close race. The assaultee was a female Democratic Judge whose philosophy was contrary to his.

Can’t make these things up. It’s life! Life most of us were not aware existed. I love the research and preparation that goes onto my legal blogs and shows. I generally smile at some of the things I discover. Sometimes even laugh.

I listened to Sirius yesterday. Told you to listen to Sirius. No Terri White. Why? Because she was not on yesterday. She was supposed to be, but something happened. Donna assures me Terri will be hosting Broadway on Sirius today from 9 am to 3 pm. If you have Sirius, listen in. Channel 72.

Golf this morning. I haved not played in 3-4 weeks because of my health. It will be good to get out on the course. And play with my less than sane friends!

Still dark outside. I could have stayed in bed a little longer.

Enjoy your day!

Much to talk about today. A lot happened yesterday

Irene. She may have gone, but she left a mess! Even in upstate New York.

My hometown Utica got wet. The street I lived on had many flooded cellars. The street next to my former home was closed. It is at the base of a hill. About a mile up, there is a small creek. It sometimes overflows and runs deep down the street/hill. The New York Thruway was closed from Amsterdam to Syracuse. About a 100 mile stretch. Utica sits in the middle of the closed portion.

The same story all over the northeast. I cannot believe that Vermont got flooded so badly. And poor New Jersey. Wow!

Clean up time! Hopefully everyone will pull togegther. I am referring to those like Eric Cantor in Washington who insists on cuts in other areas of spending for any monies expended in helping those hurt by Irene. When we engage in some sort of half assed war or send relief to a third world country devastated by a hurricane or what have you, no such position is taken. We spend the money and worry not.

It does not make sense to me. For strangers, we do it without question. For our own, we have to make sure there is debt relief. And my dear friends, remember that the money being spent comes from OUR tax dollars.

I want you to know I had this blog finished at 7:30 this morning. I hit the wrong key/screwed up when I went to publish it. Lost 2/3rds of the blog. Ergo, could not redo till now. Had to visit the dentist first. What follows is the redo at about 11 am.

Walked yesterday. Home Depot. What a good boy am I!

I just lost several paragraphs again. If it happens once more, this is today’s blog!

I worked about three hours on Friday’s internet show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Another great show in the making! Not because I am brilliant. Rather it is the subject matter. The world is full of crazy people. They do startling things. Some of which make interesting topics for discussion. Like Michele Backman and her Godly reports on the earthquake and Irene, Glenn Beck’s recent Almighty incarnations, a town in Italy into self help and considering secession, the jury result in the penis amputation case, frustration if you are flying out of a certain Paris airport, condom use during Irene, and the Chinese mortgage bubble.

Then it was to the heart doctor. Spent two hours there. not waiting. Being attended to.

My blood pressure continues to be off the wall. I also had an obvious water retention problem. My ankles were swollen.

Doctor said increase pill dosage and take a water pill. Increased the dosage. Too soon to tell re the blood pressure. Takes several days. Took the diuretic at 3:30 this morning. By 7:30, I had lost seven pounds.

Spent the balance of the afternoon at Lisa’s. The grandkids had just gotten home from school. Ally came in and made some kind of sign to her mother with one hand. It was the love sign. Ally started learning sign language yesterday at Montessori.

I was scheduled to attend a charity fund raising party at Vino’s last night. Passed on it. Good health took precedence. Went to bed early.

Terri White! Broadway star! My friend! Your friend!

Terri is presently in the previews of Follies on Broadway. The show formally opens September 12th.

Terri is not one to sit idly by. Her show has been closed a couple of days because of Irene. In that time, Terri is serving as the talk host on the Broadway segment of Serius. Channel 72. Yesterday and today. Nine am to three pm.

The news was all over Facebook yesterday. Jean telephoned me with the news, also. I missed Terri yesterday. Listened to Sirius this morning returning from the dentist. I must have listened in at the wrong rtime. No Terri. Just continuous music.

Donna also called yesterday to tell me to listen in to Terri.

Be sure to listen!

I had the good fortune to meet Howard Livingston 14 years ago. We became good friends. This was before his singing success. He merely was CEO of a large manufacturing facility in Chicago that made parts for railroad diesel engines.

Howard would take me boating. He always had 1-3 boats. He had a constant companion, also. Ester Mae. A Portugese water dog. Ester Mae loved the water. Was in it constantly.

When Howard and I went out on the boat, Ester Mae was always with us.

I used to sit in the front of the boat facing in the direction we were traveling. Always fearful of getting sick. I sucked up the wind big time.

Animals and I were not the best of friends. Still are not.

Ester Mae would be soaking wet by the time we got on the boat. She would always come forward and sit right next to me. She sat up and faced out in the same direction as I did. With her body close against my bare leg.

All the time!

I was not particularly thrilled. But apparently Ester Mae was. She never left me alone. Eventually, I became accustomed to Ester Mae and we developed some sort of friendship.

Ester Mae was part of Howard’s family.

Ester Mae passed on yesterday. Howard, I am so sorry! I know your pain must be deep. I have a vision that when St. Peter and your parents greet you at the pearly gates, Ester Mae will be jumping around to greet you also.

Enjoy your day folks!

Irene is now yesterday’s news.

However, its residual remains.

There are three parts to a hurricane. The anticipation, the hurricane itself and the aftermath. Each is disturbing in and of itself.

It will take time to remedy the ravishes of Irene.

I recall several years ago after a major hurricane hit Key West. Its name escapes me. I escaped the hurricane. I returned up north before it hit.

Yankee Jack stayed.

After the storm passed, I telephoned Yankee to see how he was. It took four days for him to get back to me. The telephone lines had been down. No power to charge cell phones.

What can I do to help, I asked. He said we need water and electric power.

Yankee lived in a large van at the time. The hurricane took the van. He was talking to me from his girl friend’s apartment. He said there was no electic power and no running water. It was hot as hell!

He and his girl friend had thrown a sheet over the couch. They were sitting naked on it. They were rubbing each other from the one bag of ice cubes provided that day from the back of a federal truck. Their water consisted of one gallon each per day. To drink, flush toilets and any other needed use.

The aftermath of a hurricane.

Yesterday was a good Sunday! A busy one for me.

I started with breakfast at the Waffle House. First time to the Waffle House. It sits in a motel to the left of US 1 as you enter Key West.

Aida wrote to me on Facebook yesterday. I met her several months ago. The only time I was ever in her company. Asked her to read my blog. This blog. Her Facebook message was that she had just found the blog. Some people can be slow.

I recalled that she worked at the Waffle House. So off I went for breakfast.

Aida I saw. We were happy to see each other. We will probably will do dinner some night this week. But, that is not the important part of the story.

It is the Waffle House! Was I impressed!

The place was jam packed. Not a seat to be had. And small it is not. Aida told me it is that way all day and even at dinner time.

I could understand why. The menu was cheap. I had two eggs, sausage, hash browns, wheat toast, coffee and a huge waffle for $6.99!

I stopped at Walgreen’s to pick up some prescription pills. They were not ready. So I went next door to the Home Depot to walk. Did a half hour. Then returned to Walgreen’s.

The three presecription  pills cost me $199. Wow! I am into the donut of my drug coverage. How do people do it? With some, it has to be a choice of medicine or food. An absolute disgrace!

Then to Lisa’s.

Robert has been reading one of the Harry Potter books. It has to be 700 pages long. He is only seven. He reads one page per day. Even takes the book to school. The teacher permits him to read the one page to the class.

I asked Robert to read to me from Harry Potter. He looked me in the eye and said, “I’m not reading today.”

I can’t win.

Lisa and Ally were on the floor playing Scrabble.

It was Publix next. I was out of food again.

The worst time to shop at Publix is Sunday afternoon. Everyone shops Sunday afternoon!

The only thing that makes Sunday grocery shopping a pleasurable event is that I run into many friends. And occasionally make a new one.

Last night was dinner at the bar at La Trattoria with the lovely Jean Thornton. Great company!

We drank and talked a while before eating. Afterwards, we headed over to Vino’s. It was a bottle of water for Jean and a diet Pepsi for me.

Vino’s is beautiful! Earthy and tropical at the same time. Elegant, also. And the absolutely best bathroom in Key West! It is worth the visit to Vino’s just to see and, if needed,  use the bathroom.

Enjoy your day!

It is all Irene!

I get hooked on these things. I slept very little last night. I was watching the storm as it progressed. Stupid, I know. But my nature.

I sent a text to Donna and Terri in New York City yesterday. R u ok? Donna telephoned me. All was well, she said.

Donna and Terri live in the upper east side. Good. Unless the East River overflows, there should not be a problem. They live in a first floor apartment. Bad. If the East River does overflow, they and their possessions will be saturated.

Donna said they had taped all the windows as a precaution. It helps to prevent the glass from blowing in.

Donna lived in  Key West for many years. She is an experienced hurricane person. I do not believe Terri has been exposed to one yet.

I asked Donna if the tub was full of water. It is needed to flush toilets. And to drink if one runs out of bottled water. Donna said the tub was empty. She and Terri only shower. Never soak in the tub.  Yesterday was the first time they ever turned the tub on. It was broke. No water. And no one to call at the last minute to fix it.

Donna said they hustled back to the store and were able to buy extra gallons of water. They had already purchased flashlights, larger battery operated lights and some sort of battery operated radio to receive outside news in the event the electericity shut down. Oh, and candles too.

The theater is closed. Broadway is dark.  Terri will not be singing for at least two days.

Be safe, my friends!

I love watching the newscasters reporting. They are all in a beach area. Nothing is really visible but some water, wind and maybe a bit of ocean. As the hurricane hits the areas where the broadcasters are situated, I admire their courage in standing there half bent over and getting beat up by the rain. My fear is that some day one of them is going to be blown away never to be found. That would really be news!

It seems the broadcasters at the scenes never sleep. They never change. Each was with me all night.

Generally, the pictures of damage shown are not revealing. How can pictures be taken in the dark? The videos which people take after the storm has passed and send into the TV stations are excellent. Post storm pics, the damage, if any, is evident.

There is something called expectation. We in Key West have learned from experience that the national media tend to over dramartize a hurricane. What they preach will occur, genrally does not. The storm is not as strong or damaging as first thought and reported. Ergo as the night went by, it seemed reporters were straining to report the event. Irene was not cooperating.

This is not to mean that Irene is not a bad one! It will be recorded as a hurricane that caused much disruption and did much damage. But, I suspect no where near what had been anticipated. Which is good!

I could be wrong in my observation. Tonight and tomorrow will show the actual damage incurred.

The wind intensity with Irene is not the major problem. Water level is. Surge is the word. The increased water level which rushes over land in varying heights. A danger to person and property.

Key West experienced a 6.5 foot surge after Wilma. Lisa’s home as well as many others were water soaked and ruined big time. Within 48 hours of the surge, streets were lined with water
soaked furniture and walls which had been ripped out. As far as the eye could see. A sight to rip out the viewer’s heart, also.  With the heat being what it is in the keys, mold is the danger. It must be removed/thorn out before it has an opportunity to take hold and destroy an entire structure.

The first floor walls in Lisa’s home had to be immediately ripped out to a height of 6.5 feet. Easy to know how much to tear out. The water leaves a line on the wall.

Fortunately, Key West missed the horror of Irene. It was not our turn to dance. We haved danced too many times in the past. This hurricane sought new partners.

The glorious Key West weather yesterday gave me an opportunity to visit the coffee house on Caroline and read the newspapers. My usual coffee house on Duval is closed for a week. Afterwards, I took a thirty minute wall in Home Depot. Lisa and family arrived later in the afternoon to swim.

I spent the evening in alone glued to the TV set.

I will be out tonight. Jean Thornton and I are having dinner at La Trattoria with Kathy.

Enjoy your Sunday!

The most talked about woman in the U.S. today is Irene! On all the TV channels. Part of everyone’s conversation.

North Carolina did not do too bad so far. Wind and rain. Little property damage. No lost lives reported.

Key Westers have learned that the real problem in some instances comes after the wind and rain has passed. The water surge! Sort of a tsunami.

A few years back Wilma hit Key West. I recall Larry Smith telling me that he and Christine were sitting in their living room and saying in effect…..We missed another one! The french doors to their back yard and pool were open. All of a sudden the water came trickling in. Then more and more.

Wilma produced a surge off the ocean several hours after the hurricane actually had passed. Measured 6.5 feet. Larry and Christine’s home suffered serious damage. So, too, did my daughter Lisa’s home. Six and a half feet of water also. They had just moved in three months before after completing a major and expensive renovation. It would be a year before Lisa and her family could live in the house again.

TV keeps warning of post hurricane surges. Such could be the worst part of Irene.

Let me share with you some of the more prominent off the wall comments regarding Irene and the recent earthquake in the northeast.

Pat Robertson, the world famouus evangelist and host of the religious 700 Club on TV, referred to the earthquake this past week as God’s revenge on gay people. It was a warning. The worst was yet to come unless society straightened themselves out on the issue.

Then there is that governmental official of recent prominence. A man who is getting his fifteen minutes of fame. Eric Cantor. Cantor is Majority Leader of the House of Representatives. The congessional district from which he is elected is in Virginia.

Following  the earthquake (which did some damage in his district) and as a precursor to Irene which was projected to pass over Virginia, Cantor made a public statement to the effect that there was money in Washington to cover such disasters. He would make sure his constituents received what they were entitled to.

An openly generous statement from one of our political leaders who wants to destroy or minimize Medicare and Social Security, who refuses to tax the rich more than they are presently taxed,  and who lead the tea party fight in the recent debt ceiling debacle. But these were his people in Virgina. He was responding to their needs in typical political fashion. His principles out the window.

They were not. Several hours later, Cantor’s office issued a statement that any emergency relief would of course require a reduction to the national debt in equal amount. An impossible dilemma. Emergencies require immediate assistance. Cost is not of concern. Debt reduction requires Congressional action. That comes later. Imagine the Congressional debate on the issue of debt reduction on an emergency spending issue.

The guy’s a creep.

Glenn Beck is back in the news. He has been in Israel speaking this past week. I find this unusual in itself since when he was on FOX he appeared to be anti-semetic. Beck said on his radio show yesterday that Irene was a blessing. It would teach people to be prepared for disasters. That Irene would prove a valuable lesson for those who have not heeded his warnings.

His warnings ???

Beck is off the wall. He has some sort of Messianic complex. I think he thinks he sits at the right hand of God.

The best, and probably most accurate comment, was made by Gweko Wild Phlocker on Facebook this morning. I do not know Phlocker, though we are Facebook friends. He is probably one of the people like you and me.

Phlocker said in effect that in spite of those against a public work stimulus to create jobs, that Irene might very well accomplish such a result. Irene would require huge public works to correct the damage done. Such would in and of itself create jobs.

Irene, to significant damage, to public monies for recovery, to jobs. A brilliant observation. Probably  very true. And Phlocker’s wisdom did not require God in the mix.

Sorry for the length of my dissertation. Sometimes I get a hair up my butt and need to express myself.

Which leaves little time for me to tell you about the terrific internet show I had yesterday, how the Chinese Apple store topic received the most comment, the luncheon with my friday group that was very stimulating, my manicure by Tammy, the Chart Room last night with Emily, Captain Peter, Sean and Sheila, that it was Sheila’s second night out without a wheel chair, she now relies on a cane, that Sean was alone, Katherine was on a girl’s night out, that Sean and I had an enjoyable dinner together at Hot Tin Roof, that John was his usual professional self, that my jaw started hurting like hell again during the day, and that I found gin an excellent pain killer.

There is no room for any of these remarks!

Enjoy your day!  

Whoopie!

We won all three bocce games last night. The way to start the new bocce season.

The first game was close. We won by one point, 16-15. The next two were no contest. We decimated our opponents.

Everyone played well. Each team member made a contribution.

We have two new ladies on the team. Lori and Kathy. Outstanding! Both very good. We acquired them by accident just last night. They were to have been traded to Larry Smith’s team. Somehow he apparentlly was not aware. There was confusion. Don settled the problem in his usual swift fashion. He took them on our team!

All to our team’s benefit. They both rolled well. This Kathy is a killer. I thought she was new to the game. Till she rolled. Wow! She has 17 years experience.

I thought the ladies carried us last night. Michelle, Erika and Lori were terrific, also.

I was at the dentist’s office first thing yesterday morning. A few adjustments were made. Bingo, the pain was gone!

Thank God!

The Key West Lou Legal Hour this morning. Ten sharp my time. On the internet world wide. http://www.konkbroadcasting.com/. Join me for what I assure  you will be an interesting and thought provoking show. From things you may not know about our present Congress, to protests in the streets, to a very basic example of what the economy drives people to do, to the weather, to a funeral parlor losing a body, and more.

Enjoy your day!

My best friend is back! The blender!

I had a dentist visit yesterday. Thought I was on the down side, close to the end of the process. Close I am, but not with out pain. Big time pain again! And what a headache!

Forget chewing!

I am back to the dentist at 8:30 this morning. I called last night and made the appointment. Need some pain relief.

The weather this morning is surprising. When I opened the sliding doors in the kitchen leading to the water, heavy humidity hit me. Very heavy. Unusual. The water is moving fast. Wind a bit strong coming in from the Atlantic.

In my amateurish fashion, I attribute it to Irene. Irene is not even close to us fortunately. But its effects are being felt here in the keys.

I feel sorry for those living in the Carolinas and north. Irene is now a 3. May go to a 4. Could be devistating. I hope people are getting out! There is still a two day window to leave. Two days is the time frame within which to make the decision as whether to run or stay. The time is now for such decision making.

No way was I going out yesterday after my dentist visit. It was bang your head against the wall time! I stayed in all day. Got the blender out of the cabinet. Finished up Friday’s internet show.

Big night tonight! The start of a new bocce season. No matter how much I hurt, I will be there! And…..with an excuse to drink!

My team is excited. Two seasons ago, we were last in league standings. Last season, we came in third. Even made the playoffs. There is an air of confidence about us at the moment. We believe we can be as good or better than last season.

Watch, we’ll lose all three games tonight! Don will deficate all over me for even having such a thought. I can hear him already.

It is rare that I have my Friday internet show ready early. It is a good one this week. But then, every week is good! Not because of me. Because of the crazy world we live in. Life’s reality provides the fodder for my show material.

I am opening with some interesting tidbits about Congress during this August. Items that further prove these guys are not with it. Then some political thoughts about the uprisings worldwide. Followed by Google paying the government $500 million for permittiing Canadian drug advertising, a funeral home that lost a dead body. Interesting is a segment about earthquakes with a touch of Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls, sex on a mountainsude in Spain and Carol King’s “I Feel the Earth Move.”

There is more. A malpractice case presently on trial where it is claimed the doctor cut off part of a man’s penis improperly, the end of the Strauss-Kahn case, a ferry boat captain who was stuck in the toilet causing his boat to go aground, fake Apple stores in China, and more.

Join me. Friday morning at 10 my time. World wide on the internet. http://www.konkbroadcasting.com/.

The thought running through mind…..Pain, pain, go away…..little Louis wants to play! I do not have visions of sugar plums dancing in my head. Rather they are of laying down, having a funnel placed in my mouth and gin poured into me! I need a good pain killer!

Enjoy your day!

Interesting day yesterday!

A surprising one!

Every one along the eastern seaboard is concerned about Irene. An earthquake occurs. And the hurricane is still 2-3 days away!

Wow! A double hit in the making.

My friend Rosanne lives in North Carolina. Irene is projected to come ashore in the Carolinas. We fortunately will miss Irene in Key West. Rosanne emailed me yesterday, “We are worried about Irene. And pow earthquake!!!!”

Hemingway is involved earthquake wise, also. He spent ten years of his life living in Key West. Wrote one or two of his novels here. In addition to partying at Sloppy Joe’s and other Key West establishments.

Hemingway’s earthquake tie in did not originate in a Key West writing. It is from a book he wrote in 1940 while living in a Cuban hotel in Havana. The book: For Whom the Bell Tolls.

I would like to say one of Hemingway’s best. But…..they were all his best!

For Whom the Bell Tolls begins with the famous John Donne quote, “…never…to know for who the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.”

There are other quotes/lines from the book which have survived with lesser notoriety.

At the start of chapter 13, Hemingway’s hero Robert Jordan has sex for the first time with Maria. On the ground. Jordan “…feels the earth move out and away from under them” during the act. Afterwards, he asks Maria, “Did thee feel the earth move?”

Travel in time now to 1971. Carol King was a prominent songwriter and singer of the time. She recorded a song which was a hit then and comes to some minds whenever an earthquake occurs. The song: I Feel the Earth Move. The concept/words for the song relate back to Jordan’s utterings during and following the intimate experience with Maria in chapter 13. Neither the concept for the song or its words have anything to do with an earthquake. King’s words as sung reference a woman experiencing an orgasm.

From Hemingway to For Whom the Bell Tolls to sex on a mountainside in Spain to King’s hit song I Feel the Earth Move. All because of yesterday’s earthquake!

I would like to take credit for all the information just shared. Like George Washington however, I cannot tell a lie. I had a vague recollection of the words Robert Jordan uttered during and follolwing sex with Maria in the book. I had no recollection of Carol King or her recording.

I was emailing with friend Anne from Ithaca, New York. She told me of her experience with yesterday’s earthquake. We got into a back and forth regarding Hemingway’s book and the song. Anne provided the precise knowledge shared with you here.

Enough of earthquakes.

I decided to lunch at the Cuban Queen. The shack off the parking lot in the area of Schooner
Wharf. You will recall there are no tables. One orders from a hole in the shack wall and eats sitting on an outside bench.

The place was crowded. Only one seat left. Not shaded. The sun blazing hot. Not for me!

Instead I walked over to Harpoon Harry’s. Glad I did. Met a new and wonderful lady.

Her name is Jenny. She is 25. That is all I seem to meet lately. Twenty five year olds! From New York City. Worked in her father’s bar. She has been her only three weeks. Came on a whim. Already has a job. Waitressing and bartending at Jack Flats.

Tall, slim and beautiful. A distinctively different tone to her voice.

I asked if she were related to Tiffany. Who is Tiffany, she asked. I said, Tiffany of Antonia’s fame. Tiffany has bartended and waited on tables at Antonia’s off and on for twenty yearfs. No, she said.

Then I proceeded to tell her why I asked. Jenny is a perfect clone of Tiffany! For real! In every respect, including the voice. She is Tiffany 20 years ago. As well as Tiffany of today.

I hope you are reading me this morning, Tiffany. If not, I hope some one tells you what I have written. You two must meet!

Jenny has already discovered Key West. She knows of Don’s Place. Stops there after work at 2 in the morning. Is friends with Kurt. Knew he was on a golfing trip to Fort Myers. Knew Don. Has served he and Stephanie at Jack Flats.

Jean texted me that she and David were taking Wheel Chair Sheila to the Chart Room. It was Sheila’s time to visit the outside world again. Could I meet them at 5:30? I never madc it. Fell asleep. Woke around 5:30. Did not want to hurry to shower and dress and drive into town. So I telephoned Jean at the Chart Room with my regrets and told her to tell Sheila how much I loved her, even though I was not showing up.

Today is Wednesday. Golf day. No golf for me. I would be playing alone. My golf buddies took a golf trip to Fort Myers. They left Monday and return tomorrow. I had planned to go and then backed out.

Instead of golf, I will be in the dentist’s chair at 9. We are getting close to being done! I have been at this mouth/jaw thing since January 7th.

Enjoy your day!

The big band is playing in the sky! Thunder and lightning galore!

It started last night around 10. Continued all night. Big time noise! Lightning shooting through the windows.

Still rumbling and flashing this morning. The sky is clearing, however. The black clouds and noise are moving south over the ocean. A blue sky is moving in from the north.

Irene is less of a concern, though it is now a 2 and projected to be a 3 when it hits the U.S. The cone indicates Irene’s projected path will turn northeast and come ashore, if at all, around Miami or further north. Key West will suffer some increased rain and winds.

The last couple of years, the hurricanes have been making that northeast turn. It has to do with everything. Wind from the north, how the hurricane bounces off the mountains of Cuba, etc. May the hurricanes continue making the turn.

That is not to say we are absolutely out of harm’s way. As I wrote yesterday, hurricanes are fickle. Two hundred mile path deviations are not uncommon. You never know when one will turn from the projected path. Right now Irene is projected hit around or north of Miami. Miami is only 145 miles from Key West.

A weather man I have become! Not a very good one. But one, nevertheless. I like the word nevertheless. It is all one word. I used it often in my legal paper work.

Ally and Robert loved their first day back to school. Especially, Ally. She telephoned me at 3:30 when she returned home. All excited!

This school year has added a new dimension to Lisa’s mothering. Previously, she was employed off home, so to speak. So was Corey. Robert and Ally stayed at Montessori for some sort of play class till 5. Now Lisa is working from home with her businesses. Montessori is only two blocks away. Lisa walks Robert and Ally to school in the morning and walks them home in the afternoon at 3:30.

She loves it!

I had a quiet dinner alone last night. The bar at Hogfish. Very few people. Enjoyed a hogfish sandwich naturally!

I beat the thunder and lightning home. The storm waited till I was settled down in bed before it began.

Oh…..I walked! In the house again. Better than nothing.

Enjoy your day!