Great breakfast with Robert and Ally yesterday morning. Two whole hours at Date and Thyme. Nothing like an opportunity for an 88 year old grandfather to be with his 19 and 18 year old grandchildren. A learning process for each generation.
The two impress me no end. Both contribute heavily to their educations at FSU. Both worked this holiday season to make necessary bucks for the coming semester. Robert needed $1,200 to complete his tuition cost. Ally only $84. Both handle money differently. Does not mean either is a spendthrift. Rather, they approach paying their bills differently.
Robert has spent his Key West time the past two years working at the restaurant next to the Green Parrot. Nothing fancy. A busy place however. Ally works as a hostess at The Reach. They each make different levels of money. Table waiting for Robert decidedly the more remunerative.
Be impressed by what I am about to share.
They both returned to Key West for the holidays December 9. They both were working within two hours, having made arrangements before returning to go to work.
Robert worked everyday, except for Christmas Eve. Ally a few days less.
Robert earned $3,200 in tips. Wow! Ally a bit over $1,000 hosting. She intends to be a waitress from this point forward.
Robert is exhausted. Can’t wait to return to school to rest.
Both had bank accounts with several thousand dollars salted away prior to this holiday. They handle money well.
Robert wants to do something special for himself. Feels he deserves it. He is going to buy a “good pair of shoes.”
Love the two! I am not worried about either.
Our conversation covered a multitude of items besides money. Their heads are in the right place.
Last night was a pleasure also. Dinner at the new Bob’s on Margaret Restaurant. So named. Located on Margaret Street. A winner!
The old Michael’s closed a couple of years ago. New owners. The same people who own Seven Fishes. They gutted the building and redid it entirely. The food was outstanding. I enjoyed an escargot appetizer and a rack of lamb. The desert was not to my liking, however. Can’t recall at the moment what it was. It is a class restaurant. Stands with the best on Duval and elsewhere in Key West in quality of the food and ambiance. And even better, though still expensive, about 25 percent less than those restaurants.
Try it. Guaranteed you will enjoy.
Suzette the bartender. She was bartender at the old Michael’s for years. Denny working the bar with her. I was with Jean and Joe Thornton. Suzette introduced us to Janice who was seated next to us. A pleasant woman. Sure we will run into her again.
The new Bob’s will be one of my spots going forward.
Staying with food, today’s podcast is 5 years old. Deals with one of then President Trump’s phony medical reports. Guaranteed you will enjoy!
Robert Frost: “In three words, I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.”
The Florida Supreme Court will hold a hearing on the abortion rights proposed amendment to the State Constitution on February 7. I hope the Court’s decision will not be a political one.
Nikki Haley knows how to handle Trump “when she wants to.” Which is not often enough. Trump has been increasing his attacks on her. She refers to them as “temper tantrums.”
Love it! She refers to Trump as the child he is.
Jesus’ existence as God a myth on the increase. Is nothing sacred?
Some are referring to Jesus more as having been a “man.” As God, less frequently.
Yellow fever was the COVID of Key West in 1899. In less than 3 months, 5,000 cases of yellow fever were reported.
The X-ray was reported to have been discovered in an article in an Austrian newspaper published this day in 1896. The article named William Roentgen as the discoverer of a type of radiation which came to be known as x-rays.
Henry Ford was progressive minded. On this day in 1914, he announced he was going to pay workers $5 for an 8 hour day, as opposed to $2.34 for a 9 hour day. In 1926, he reduced the 6 day work week to 5 days.
Ford’s brilliance was motivated by the fact he wanted his employees to have the money to buy the cars they were making and the time to enjoy them.
Trump unquestionably was an “economic pig” when it came to gutting taxpayers while Presidnet. An example his overcharging the Secret Service protecting him and his family members.
It has been revealed by a House Committee on Oversight and Reform that Trump’s properties charged rates far above government approved limits. In effect, prompting concerns that taxpayer funds were funneled into Trump’s private business interests.
Examples include Trump’s International Hotel in Washington charging taxpayers a $1,160 per room per night rate despite the government rate being $242. Another charge was $1,185 per room per night despite the government rate of $201.
Christofascists have become the heart of the MAGA movement. The 2024 election will be an historical one. The American people will be deciding whether to remain a flawed democracy or succumb to neofascism and autocracy modeled on Putin’s Russia or Orban’s Hungary with Donald Trump and his Republican fascist successors as dictators forever.
Such is the issue facing the American people in November. Pure and simple. Other considerations of no consequence.
Tonight, Grady’s Irish Pub. Carola and Pierogis.
Enjoy your day!
Looks like NJ Menendez will be prosecuted, or at least SMEARED for deeds, Trump and his kids – did too. But they won’t.
That’s the difference between Democrats and Republicans, in a nut shell!
Lou, you need to get your grand kids out of Florida, now before it’s too late. I am a huge believer that “you are who you’re with” and being with other Floridians is not so good these days! Florida is repressive, and not likely to get any better for a long time. Yes, it is growing, but with the wrong people. KW is one thing, but they’re likely not to return there anyhow. Use you influence and money if you have to and get them someplace where they grow, not suffer.
Hey Lou, Ford increased pay to $5 to reduce employee turnover. The increase had very little to do with Ford wanting his workers to be able to afford his cars. That’s a nice story but not true. This is the simple concept of capitalism as it applies to labor supply and demand. The increase was part money and part bonus. He was losing workers to other companies and this increase was to keep workers because keeping them was cheaper than hiring and training new workers.
Lou, you may also want to let Karen and Alaina know their references to someone going to Popeyes as a way one would contribute to the African American community is stereotyping and could be construed as racist on their part.
P.S- Suzette is the best!!
“In EYW” is just a persistent pedantic troll whose interest is only to create problems on Lou’s blog, particularly when it comes to the African American community.
Your mother would describe him as “troubled.”