LOOKIE LOU

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My name has been misappropriated. A public agency has a program which encompasses Lou in its title. Lookie Lou. The agency is the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. FWC for short.

Lookie Lou involves state wildlife officers searching for violations, safety errors, etc. while out on a separate mission. Ever vigilant.

Yesterday for example 29 Cubans successfully made it to American soil. Good for them! They set foot on Loggerhead Key. The FWC went out to pick them up. On the return trip, the FWC crew came upon fisherman with four undersized snappers and also made several boat safety stops.

Lou is universal. A name from the ages. I have used it for eight years as Key West Lou, 79 years as Lou. The FWC has been in business since 1999. I do not know when the FWC started Lookie Lou.

My blog talk radio show went well last night. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. I had a good time doing the show.

No boots on the ground appears to have drawn the most comment. Obama says no U.S. boots on the ground. The European and Arab nations who have joined with the U.S. to combat ISIS have all said no boots on the ground from their end. All willing to provide air assistance. Nothing more.

Who fights the war then? Unless nuclear bombs are used (which I cannot conceive the U.S doing), a war cannot be won by air action alone. Soldiers on the ground are always required.

My conclusion was and is that military contractors would be hired by the U.S. to do the fighting. Mercenaries. Solely in the beginning and partially later on if American ground troops are sent in. My question was why have we not been told this? The government should be honest with the American people. Lay it all out now. The good, bad and indifferent.

A physiotherapy session yesterday. I was not impressed with the treatment. Be that as it may, I threw my back out while doing it. The therapy exercises were extremely simple. One short movement however and my back hurt! Hurt all night and still hurts this morning. I am back to where I was.

My back hurt, I felt sorry for myself. Decided I was entitled to a treat. My lunch was a chocolate milk shake at 2Scoops. Didn’t help my back. Did help my state of mind.

Some afternoon time was spent in final preparation for last night’s blog talk radio show.

The line re saturday’s Syracuse/Maryland game has changed. It dropped from 2 to 1 1/2. Syracuse still favored.

I know I am sticking my neck out. However, I think Syracuse walks away with this one. By a significant number. I was impressed with Syracuse’s play against Central Michigan last week.

Enjoy your day!

 

NO BOOTS ON THE GROUND A JOKE

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Tonight my blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk With Key West Lou. Nine my time. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou. A quick moving eye opening half hour.

One of the topics involves Obama’s representation that the U.S. will have no boots on the ground. If we do not have soldiers fighting and the other nations joining us do not, who is going to wage the ground war? I suspect mercenaries. Military contractors will provide the boots.

Why is this not mentioned? Why the secret? Who will be paying the mercenaries?

Other interesting topics include the Pentagon providing college campus police with grenade launchers, Guatemala striking down Monsanto Law, and Pope Francis’ statement that World War III may already have begun.

Yesterday started with a visit to the main Post Office downtown. I did not receive mail this past week. They are looking into it. I get too much mail to miss even one day.

The Post Office is a good place to run into people. Caught David walking back to his job with his lunch in hand. Ran into Jim from Joy Gallery. He has my Jack Baron’s for sale. We had a good conversation.

Next was a business meeting at the Marriott Beachside. Every time I walk into the lobby, I think how lucky we are to have this hotel with a touch of New York City situated in Key West.

Roostica for lunch. Megan at the bar. Not working. A guest. What a beauty! Got two hugs and kisses. One when I first came in and one when she was leaving.

Worked on Growing Up Italian. Wrote a chapter, refined and rerefined. Got to get my ass in gear with the bookwriting. It comes in spurts.

Stopped at Don’s Place for a drink early evening. Chatted with Grant. Petey at the other end of the bar. Petey from saturday at JDLs. She came over and gave me a hug and kiss. I love the attention of these young beauties. Even if it is only because I am a likable old man.

Then to the Chart Room. Spent some time chatting with Che. I have not seen him in a couple of months. Che my friend with a Cuban name who is a New York City Jew. Love it!

Syracuse plays Maryland saturday. Syracuse a 2 point favorite. Which means no one knows who is going to win.

The Key West Citizen ran a front page article on tegu lizards. Every kind of lizard eventually finds its way to the Keys. Tegu is new. Was found in Key West. First one. Experts say probably a pet that the owner did not want anymore and set free.

Only four have been discovered to date in the Keys. Not nice guys. They have sharp teeth and claws and are aggressive. The one found in Key West turned out to be a honey. It is now at the Sheriff’s Animal Farm. The attendants say the lizard is docile and likes to be touched. Not consistent with its purported nature.

Enjoy your day!

ANTS IN THE COFFEE POT

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Live on a sub tropical island like Key West and inevitably you will run into all kinds of bugs, insects and other creatures. Recall last week. It was a rock lizard who had taken up residence in my home.

This week it is ants. The tiny tiny small ones. Almost invisible to the naked eye. They are in my Keurig coffee maker. The one that uses small K-cups.

Five or six days ago, I noticed the ants swimming around in side water holder on the unit. Ugh! The thought immediately occurred that I might have drunk some in the previous 24 hours.

My problem. These little ants are impossible to get out of the Keurig machine. Everything has been done. Anna washed everything three times. No help. I finally placed the water unit in the dishwasher. That did it for the water unit! Ants gone.

The ants still are in the main unit. The part I cannot put in the dishwasher. There are fewer, but still there. I went to TERRO two days ago. The best ant killer in the keys! Not this time.

There are not nor have there been ants on the kitchen cupboard on which the coffee machine rests. Only on and in the machine itself.

I am at wit’s end. Guess I will be throwing out the coffee maker and buying a new one.

I have also been suffering withdrawals symptoms. No coffee, no caffeine.

My blog talk radio show Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou went well last night. I finalized the show during the day. Added a section on Steven Sotloff who had been beheaded earlier in the day.

Only six subjects covered. All heavy.

Post show comments indicate the topics were equally liked/enjoyed. First time. Another first time was no one disagreed with me. A big first time!

Dinner at Roostica before the show. Two pieces of Italian sausage. Delicious! Ran into Ray Sigsimondi. A good guy. He came to Key west about the time I bought my home here 16 years ago. He plays a mean electric guitar. I miss his playing with Larry Smith on occasion at the Wine Galley.

The Key West Citizen had a heart warming front page story this morning.. It concerned Julie Johnson who was in Key West for several hours. She was traveling through on a cruise ship. Julie is 46 and blind since birth. Her friends were going to take a bike tour around Key West. She wanted to go, also. She found bicycle provider Lloyd Mager. He provided a tandem bicycle as the solution. Lloyd drove and Julie had the back seat. She pedaled along and took in the sounds and smells of Key West.

Lloyd makes stops so the tourists can enjoy first hand many of the special delicacies Key West has to offer. Julie got to enjoy key limes, sea grapes, touching a turtle and animals. Everything everyone else on the tour was doing.

God bless Julie! God bless even more Lloyd Mager who was here in Key West and knew exactly what to do to make Julie’s experience the pleasure it was.

My back, my back, my back! What a pain! Spasm! It is causing my shoulder to hurt because of the strange movements I make. Especially in bed.

Enjoy your day!

FOREVER FAMOUS

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I went to Smathers Beach yesterday morning. Not to sun or swim. To attend the plaque dedication in Diana Nyad’s honor. A good sized crowd present.

Last year, Diana swam from Cuba to Key West. Without the aid of a shark cage! The swim itself a  first ever feat. She did it at age 64. Another feat.

A plaque was dedicated honoring her and the event. In addition to the plaque, Diana was made an honorary Conch. A bigger tribute than the plaque!

My blog talk radio show tonight. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Join me for a fast moving interesting half hour. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou. Nine my time.

Topics tonight include the question why the U.S. bombed Somalia over the weekend instead of Syria, a police officer who believed he did not have to follow the Constitution in making arrests because he claimed Obama was not following it, personal data of thousands of Homeland Security personnel hacked, an exploration of whether the U.S. is becoming a third world country, U.S. Tripoli abandoned embassy pool being used by jihadist militants for fun and pleasure, Monsanto and American justice, Russia/China gas line construction  begins, Berlin trying to build one church to house 3 religions: Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Plus more.

It was mid sunday afternoon yesterday. What to do? Decided to take Robert and Ally to No Name Pub for a late lunch. They love the place! They were not home. At the beach.

Decided to go alone. I had visions of a Philly cheese steak sandwich. They make the best!

It was the car top down and my baseball cap on backwards.

I enjoyed the sandwich. Sat at the bar. Chatted with people around me. A typical Florida Keys time in a back woods bar.

Bad sleeping night! My back started up again. Could not get comfortable. Caused me to place too much strain on the injured shoulder when I turned.

Enjoy your day!

A LIZARD IN THE HOUSE

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There was a lizard in my kitchen yesterday. I was not sure at the moment precisely what it was. However, no question it was a member of the lizard family.

I was working at the counter in the kitchen on tonight’s blog talk radio show. I happened to look up. There at the far end of the kitchen was this reptile of old sitting. I yelled hoping to scare him. I did. He scooted off as fast as he could.

I had seen him/her before. For a couple of months, in my garage. Running around. I was not concerned. Figured it was a good neighbor. Ate the bugs.

Somehow junior got in my kitchen. Probably the other day when I left the door connecting the house and garage open in order to bring in the groceries.

The garage was ok for the reptile. Not the house itself.

I opened the door to the deck and got a dust mop. The lizard was hiding behind a plastic garbage bag. In ten seconds, prodding him delicately, I had the lizard out the door and running like hell!

The body of the lizard was 6-8 inches. Plus, a curled tail of 4 inches. Light to dark green in collar. Sort of fat. The body was like a thick cigar. About 1.5-2 inches in diameter. The body smooth.

What was it? At first I thought a gecko. A member of the lizard family, also. Too large and the color too dark. Then I considered an iguana. A lizard, also. No way. None of those things sticking out of the head and body.

Keith and Jenn stopped over for a while. I told them about my lizard experience. Did they know what it was? No. However, an hour later Jenn e-mailed me and said a rock lizard. She gets the prize! I looked rock lizard up on the internet and there it was. There are many species of rock lizard. My visitor fit one of the pictures.

Can you imagine waking in the middle of the night with one of those things running across the bed covers?

I finalized my blog talk radio show for tonight in the morning. Half the show will be dedicated to unholy police activities in recent years. A discussion of beheadings. My thoughts on chasing IS into Syria.

Overall, an interesting and thought provocative show. Join me. You will enjoy. Nine in the evening my time. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Ray the pool man came over in the morning. Fixed the motor. No big deal. A joint blew out. Pool wall needs a little something to cover the seam opening. This will be done sometime in the next few days.

Lisa and the grandkids took me to dinner last night. Roostica. Robert and Ally did the pizza dough thing at the table. I helped to flatten the dough even more after they were done. Robert showed me how to do it. You make your hand into a fist and pound.

Three pizzas were ordered. Lisa wanted pizza also. The grandkids’ pizza was the same size as an adult one. I wanted baked ziti and wings. We had too much food!

I took the leftovers home. I could have a pizza party with what is in my refrigerator. I did. This morning. I had a cold slice for breakfast. First time in years. Delicious!

This is primary day in Key West. Those of you here be sure to vote. Primary races for Mayor, Judges, and School Board.

I have the second half of my physical today at 1. I get the test results from last week and the Doctor herself will do today’s prodding. My internist is Dr. Jackie Lefferts. I have a lot of respect for her ability. I remember the year she told me I had a heart condition. I told her she was crazy. She was correct. A year later, she told me I had a new and separate heart problem. Again I told her she was wrong. Again, she was correct.

I respect her judgment.

Enjoy your day!

ANNUAL PHYSICAL

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I had the first part of my annual physical yesterday. Two hours. I will complete the physical next week with Dr. Jackie Lefferts herself. Yesterday, her staff mauled me over.

I have been doing an annual physical since I was 32. Now, 79. A lot of years. I was very sick when 31. Spent four months in bed. Turned me into a hypochondriac of sorts. I worry about my health probably more than most persons.

Physicals have developed over the years. Longer. More detailed.

We started with a urine sample. The nurse used to hand me the bottle and I understood what it was for. Now I get questioned first. Will you be able to do it?

Then an eye test. My eyes have been a problem my entire adult life. I jokingly always say I can’t see. A semi-true statement. I find as one ages, the eyes get better. Yesterday, I did the eye test without glasses and missed not one letter.

Blood pressure, weight, oxygen. My weight a disaster! Blood pressure under control. All the pills I take work.

An EKG. Followed by some kind of a test where both the nurse and I could hear my blood flowing. Tested at both ankles and arms. It was a gusher!

My blood next. I hate giving even a small amount of blood. When I was 21 and ready to marry, New York required a blood test. I passed out. Ever since, I think I am going to pass out again. I look the other way and close my eyes.

It has been years since blood has been taken from my arm. The veins are too soft and move around. It is now from the back of my hands.

The final test involved blowing hard into something. Purpose I assume was to test my lung capacity. You blow till you think your eyeballs are going to pop out.

Two hours of fun. None of it bothered me. However, I was tired when we were finished. I return next week for the results and some doctor prodding.

Stopped at Lisa’s afterwards for breakfast. I was starving.

As a result of the physical work up, I was late doing the blog. Started around noon.

Spent a bit of time in the afternoon fine tuning last night’s blog talk radio show. All Ferguson! The show went well. I hit a lot of points big time radio and TV people do not touch. If you wish to listen, the show is archived and can also be found on Facebook and Key West Lou.

Per my usual tuesday pre-show custom,, dined at Roostica’s. Delicious buried in oil wings. Megan came from behind the bar to wait on me. She has taken me under her wing.

One of my observations re Ferguson is that a grand jury had not heard the case yet. Today one will start. I do not understand why we are now 11 days post the shooting and no arrests. If black Michael Brown had shot the white police officer, he would have been indicted by now and sitting in jail awaiting trial.

IS is crazy! They love to behead people. I read yesterday that IS beheaded 700 people in Syria the past two weeks. Last night’s news blew me out when I read IS had beheaded an American reporter who they have held captive for two years. Then posted the video on the internet. the reason given was in retaliation for the American bombings recently in Iraq.

Sick people!

Enjoy your day!

SHIRREL RHOADES…..MAN OF THE YEAR

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My publisher received a big time award! Shirrel Rhoades was honored recently at a gathering in Montreal, Canada. He received the 2014 Professional Man of the Year Award by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.

Shirrel is a full time Key West resident and an owner of Absolutely Amazing E Books, the publishing house.

Congratulations, Shirrel! Keep up the good work!

North Roosevelt Boulevard. Grand opening yesterday. Don’t know why all the politicians were taking bows. It took 2.5 years to complete a 1.5 year job.

Yesterday technically was the first day for 5 lane traffic. It existed Monday, also. Monday must have been a practice day.

I drove the Boulevard twice yesterday, in and out. It is lovely! The palm trees in perfect order. Reminded me of the flags at the United Nations. All the same height in perfect line.

Traffic was moving well. Moving along. No slow downs or one way traffic. To a point. I was driving with the palm trees and water to my right. All of a sudden, traffic slowed down to a snail’s pace. All cars moving into the left lane. The problem. Two police officers on bikes had pulled a speeder over. Same thing again a quarter of a mile down the road. Crazy! All I could think was what the hell good is this new road if we are going to be faced with new delays!

I recalled reading in the Citizen earlier in the day that the speed limit was still 25 mph  because of some final work being done. There is a regular and higher speed. I cannot remember it, however. It has been that long!

Did an MRI of my right shoulder in the morning. I was concerned because the doctor had told me the MRI was closed. Those of you who have had MRI’s will understand.

My age came into play. My first MRI has to have been 30 plus years ago. When the machine first came out. It was a closed box all the way around. Smaller and tighter than a casket. The top of the box inches from my face. I panicked for a moment. A bad feeling!

Several years later, they came out with an open MRI. Much better, depending which part of your body was being observed. If the stomach, your head and legs were not covered. If a shoulder, as mine was yesterday, then the head and shoulder covered. More room, however.

Now they have what is described as a truly open MRI machine. Space all around. No chance of claustrophobia coming into play.

The MRI machine I was subjected to yesterday was described as a closed one. Obviously the medical people were a generation or two behind me. I was in the middle one. The original I had my first MRI in was for real closed!

Time different, also. My first MRI took one hour and a half. Yesterday, 20 minutes.

Spent the afternoon fine tuning last night’s blog talk radio show. I thought the atrocities being committed on Mount Sinjar would garner the most response. I was wrong. It was the story of the man who went into a hospital for a circumcision and left with his penis having been amputated. The penis comments were all from men.

Dinner at Roostica. Megan bartends and was bar tending last night. I was sitting at a table. She generally comes over to get me started. Not her job. Just a real nice person. Bobby is blessed with a good staff.

The Islamic religion is the fastest growing religion in the world. Over two billion members. Many kill non-believers. Especially Christians. Convert or die. They believe the killings will get them into heaven. If such is the case, how can we ever hope to stop the killings? Our enemy is religious fanaticism.

Enjoy your day!

BREAST FEEDING

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Good morning! I am at Lisa’s this morning doing the blog. The realtor is showing my house.

There was a breast feeding event saturday in Key West. I was unaware of it till this morning. Not that I would have gone. My involvement with breast feeding is a thing of the past. One of my daughters did it. If ever I will observe the activity again, it will be with one the grandchildren.

There is a national organization known as Big Latch On. A fitting name! A world wide event takes place each year. The day was this past saturday. Forty five babies breast fed publically at Higgs Beach. The purpose obviously to promote breast feeding. No question, the right thing to do. Healthy. Great for the baby. Comforting to the mother.

Respect for Peter Anderson is ongoing. It does not seem to fade into the sunset.

Last April, Renier Rodriguez visited Key West from Cuba. He joined the Conch Republic, received a passport and obtained a Conch Republic flag. All from Peter Anderson himself.

Rodriguez lives in Candelaria, Cuba. This past week the Conch Republic flag flew over his home in memory of Peter Anderson.

Yesterday afternoon was spent in final preparation for last night’s blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Did the show at 9.

One of the topics involved the OPA. Not the OPA of World War II. The OPA of today. The Office of Population Affairs. A federal agency. It is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. The OPA has been in business as a federal agency since 1970.

The OPA’s purpose is to control/limit population growth. The thought is that some day there will be too many people and not enough to feed them all.

The agency is pro-abortion, pro-sterilization, and pro-contraceptive use. It also has a Family Planning Clinic, one of whose purposes is to get rid of unintended pregnancies.

Plans contemplated are extremely discriminatory as regards women. Additionally, the agency has researched the legality of its proposed programs. The programs are referred to as they would be at an appropriate time. Compulsory Population-Control Laws. The suggested laws are claimed to have been legally researched. The agency’s conclusion is they can be constitutionally sustained if over population becomes sufficiently severe so as to endanger society.

The agency has a budget. In the past several years, it has averaged between $280 million and $298 million. Recall, the House of Representatives controls the budget. They decide what agency of government gets what and how much.

I find it difficult to understand how the Republicans in the House who are anti-abortion and anti-contraception can vote yearly to fund this agency and at the same time fight like hell against abortion and contraception

It does not make sense to me. Gross inconsistency.

OPA was the topic last night that garnered the most interest.

In between preparation and the doing of the show, I had dinner at Roostica. The lovely Megan took care of me.

A public official in  Ankara, Turkey is as anti-female as some of our legislators. Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister wants to prohibit women from laughing in public. He claims women who laugh cannot be honorable women. Turkish women are aroused. They have filed a discrimination complaint against him.

My column in this week’s KONK Life is titled Black Jesus. It will be available at 5 today. Read it. You will find the article interesting.

The San Antonio Spurs announced yesterday that they had hired Becky Hammon as an assistant coach. Becky is female, as her name connotes. A terrific move. What is good for the goose, is good for the gander.

Enjoy your day!

LA LA BELLE

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Another Key West luminary passed on. First, Peter Anderson. Now, La La Belle. La La Belle was L. A. Meyer’s professional name. Meyer was a female impersonator. One of Key West’s best and most popular.

Meyer was a community activist, one of the first public supporters for gay rights, and very active in charitable fundraising. Meyer at one time also hosted a popular TV talk show, The Southernmost Queen.

Meyer had the distinction of being both Queen and King of Fantasy Fest. Different years, of course. He was Queen in 1997 and King in 2000. The Key West Citizen this morning referred to Meyer’s death in the following fashion…..Key West lost a member of its own royal family.

I am going to be critical for a moment. My complaint is aimed at both the Key West Citizen and KONK Life. Peter Anderson was as big as life! A Key West icon. So popular that two separate celebrations of his life were held. The second celebration was the parade down Duval and party thereafter saturday night.

Neither paper reported on the parade to any significance. The Citizen published a photo of it yesterday. KONK Life did likewise today. Hey guys…..You both missed the boat!

Both papers did print lavish reports following Anderson’s death. Especially, KONK Life. Never the less, the parade deserved more recognition than it got.

I lost my gold star! The air conditioning broke down again. I went two nights without air. Water was leaking. I had two big pans and a huge towel catching the leak. All fixed now. Not major. A pipe plugged somewhere and a minor thermostat problem. Not fun during the two nights I slept without air. Fortunately, I had a ceiling fan which helped.

Tuesday again! My blog talk radio show tonight. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine my time. A quick half hour of political and social commentary. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Tonight’s discussion will include commentary re the net worth of Americans having dropped 43 percent since 2007, the fact that the recovery claimed is not a recovery for most, the U.S. Office of Population Affairs support of abortion and sterilization to stem population growth, an example of police arrogance.

Join me.

Jim Brady died. May he rest in peace.

Brady was President Reagan’s Press Secretary in 1981 when Reagan was shot. Reagan almost died. Brady was hit by a bullet, also. The bullets used were the type which would explode when in its target. Of the several shots fired, only one exploded. The one that entered Brady’s head. He was never the same again.

Brady and his family became big time advocates for gun control. In 1993, Clinton signed into law the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act. Probably the last time there has been any significant gun control legislation in the United States.

Spent last night enjoying food and drink at the Hot Tin Roof. Enjoyed good company, also. Andrea.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

I’M BACK!

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It is a little past one in the afternoon. Finally, I am back!

Computer problems. Two days. Repair person worked at his home and mine.mine. He visited me today. Brought his super dooper tablet. Would not work in my home. Nor would my computer which he had fixed. He had a long conversation with Comcast. Problem in the house wiring or outside.

When does he repair man come? We all know how Comcast is. I am supposed to get a call telling me re tomorrow morning. Hopefully! We shall see.

In the meantime, I am at Lisa’s. Working on  my computer. No problem!

I missed one blog and last night’s blog talk radio show because of the situation. Sorry.

The mini lobster season  started today. I watched the boats go out. I watched them drop anchor out on the sea. Does not appear to be as many as in  previous years. The newspaper will provide the numbers tomorrow.

I had two interesting stories ready to go. One concerning Florida sharks and the other lionfish. Too late for today. I will fit them in sometime this week.

Till tomorrow. I expect tomorrow to be late also. The repair man and I have an appointment with an orthopedist for my shoulder.

Enjoy your day!