A MIXTURE

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There is much I wish to share this morning. Ergo, the title A Mixture.

My back! No better. In fact, worse. It started up again yesterday morning. I am taking pills. Gone to a heating pad. Last night, I said screw it! I had been in for several days. I decided to go out and have a few gins. I figured gin would take care of the pain.

After the first two at Don’s Place, the pain was gone. I had one or two more to make sure. Then to Tavern ‘n  Town for dinner. And a couple more medicinal gins. I know. Too much. Especially when driving.

Whatever, I was painless till two this morning. I woke with big time pain. Lower back around to the front. Down the side of my left leg to the knee. My hip was especially sore.

I was not going to drink in the middle of the night. Popped some Motron and got out the heating pad. The heating pad is almost instantaneous relief. However when the pad is turned off, the pain returns equally as fast.

I continue to hurt this morning. I have the heating pad propped between my lower back and the chair. Great! However, I can only take so much. I am beginning to cook my back end!

Don’s Place was not my first stop. It was Bottle Cap. ML is running for Fantasy Feat Queen. I support her. I had not attended one of her fund raising events yet. I decided to do so last night. At Bottle Cap.

There was a fund raiser. Not for ML, however. The Shriners were having a party. I knew no one. Smiled, said hello, and left without even having a drink.

Then to Don’s Place. Two fast pain relievers as previously indicated. Sat with Joanie, Jimmy and John. Stayed quite a while enjoying their company. Michael was bartending.

Football season has arrived. Much of the bar talk concerned football. With a little bocce thrown in. John had picked 12 out of 14 college winners last week. He asked my thoughts for this week. I told him with a 12 out of 14 record, you need no help from me!

Don fixed the air conditioning in the bar. What a relief! Thank you, Donald!

Tavern ‘n Town was quiet. Very few people. I was glad. Last month it was packed every time I went. I sat a the bar, spread out the newspapers and had some more pain killing medicine.

Mike Emerson was entertaining. Great music! I was humming to myself as he was playing. Manager Judy there. She did double duty last night. Played bartender and then returned to the floor as manager. She changes her clothes in between.

I never went out on the back deck this week. I should have. When I stepped outside yesterday, the pool was only about one third full. A leak! The man who fixes pool leaks came. He has been doing it for thirty years. He wears the black diving suit which also keeps him warm. Uses air tanks. The leak was in the deep end and he had to go underwater.

I am refilling the pool now. I am going to have a hell of a water bill this month!

There is a new U.S. Navy vessel in Key West for the weekend. It is the USS Winston S. Churchill. A guided missile destroyer. Over 200 sailors aboard. All will be on liberty in Key West. Enjoy, guys!

I read a front page article in the Key West Citizen this morning that disturbs me. Apparently birds nest in rooftops of commercial buildings in Key West. Probably all over the United States. Probably all over the world.

The law is that if a roof is under repair and a nest is discovered, construction must stop. Most of the birds are a protected species. A mid keys biologist wants Key West to adopt an ordinance requiring the contractor to check first before construction begins.

An example of over government. I was an environmental attorney. Protect water and air. I had no problem with that. However when it came to protecting some species of small animal, fish or vermin, I drew the line. As protection of this nature generally increases the cost of doing business dramatically, I was opposed. Everything in life should be a balance.

Back to Ferguson, Missouri for a moment. I listened to Attorney General Holder’s report to the nation this week. I was not impressed. His office  is examining the situation and the Ferguson police department in general for civil rights violations. There needs to be a federal investigation of the shooting itself. I do not trust the local authorities. On the other hand, I am not sure the federal government has jurisdiction to investigate the shooting as an isolated incident.

The US Post Office announced it is making price cuts. Significant ones. Hopefully to increase business. Fed Ex and UPS are upset. I use Fed Ex. However the price of doing business with them has risen to the point that it is burdensome. US postal authorities have come up with a good idea. A pleasure to see the price of a service/commodity go down instead of up.

I spent more time yesterday researching income inequality. Sounds boring. Not. I am excited and cannot wait to share with you what I have discovered in next week’s KONK Life column.

I said at the beginning this blog would be a mixture. It is. It is also longer than usual. For which I apologize.

Enjoy your day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLY

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Granddaughter Ally is 8 years old today. Happy Birthday, Ally!

Ally is maturing. She is her own person. Refuses to have her hair cut, for example. Her second teeth are coming in. The four stall garage  is now one.

I remember vividly Ally’s birth. Lisa insisted I stay with her for both Ally and Robert’s deliveries. Cory had one leg up and I the other as we both kept telling Lisa to push as she was shouting….. I can’t do this! Suddenly Ally came shooting out. A beauty! Pink faced and screaming.

The Key West Lou Legal Hour tv/internet show went well yesterday morning. Post show comments indicated McCain’s Syria visit and the Catholic hypocrisy issue garnered the most interest. Close behind was Myrtle Beach’s new thong banning law.

The show is You tubed. All the shows have been. For whatever reason, the shows are You tubed one week after being aired.

Previous shows are also rerun on television saturdays at 4:30 and sundays at 3. Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19.

Womankind is alive and strong in Key West. The local group promotes happy and healthy women big time.

Womankind had a fund raiser cocktail party at the Bottle Cap at 5. Lovely Jenna Stauffer was one of the celebrity bartenders. She stood out behind the bar. Gorgeous! One problem. A bartender she was not. I asked for Beefeater on the rocks. She poured bar gin. She did not know what Beefeater was. When I got my drink, it was a glass full of gin. No ice. Womankind made no money on that drink!

I am glad Jenna invited me to the fundraiser. I met the author Rusty Hodgdon. I never would have met him had I not been there. His novels include Insanity, The Subway Killer, and Suicide. There was a bonding. We became instantaneous friends.

Michael Shields stopped by to say hello. Michael you will recall is a film critic, theater critic, arts promoter and author. Michael did a show on KONK Broadcasting. It was immediately after mine. That is where I first met Michael and  got to know him.

World famous Jean Carper was in attendance. Our paths had not crossed in quite a while. We did our hellos, how are you and exchanged a kiss. Jean is a world famous authoress. Most successful. Her works have been on the New York Times Best Seller list many times. She writes about food and health.

I recall several years ago I was up north in the snowy cold of winter. I had a big time head cold. I could not stop sneezing. My nose was bright red and tender.

In desperation, I looked up what to do for a head cold in one of Jean’s books. Her recommendation…..eat a clove of garlic. When the effect wore off, eat another one and so on till the cold is gone.

I hate garlic. But I did as Jean suggested. Within minutes, I stopped sneezing and my head cleared. The remedy was good for two hours. Then I started sneezing again. Another clove of garlic. So it went on all day.

My then wife returned home at dinner time. She wanted to know what I did. She said I reeked of garlic and the house did also!

She did not sleep with me that night.

I opted for the Marriott Beachside bar for dinner. I enjoy the bar/restaurant better in the off season. The crowd had been too much.

Melanie and Michael own Michael’s Restaurant. One of the best in Key West. They were at the bar eating, also. I suspect they were having a date night.

The singer was Mike Emerson. We had never met before. He came over to say hello. Mike has lived in the Keys full time for eleven years. His wife Jenny is an artist. Either her work or she or both are somehow affiliated with the Ambrosia Guest House. The background noise interferred with my hearing.

I was running behind yesterday. Never got to do next week’s column for KONK Life. I have to do it now. It is going to be a combination of Catholic hypocrisy regarding birth control coverage and Father Andrew Greeley who recently died.

Enjoy your day!

MINIMUM WAGE AND WORKING POOR

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Another great Key West Lou Legal Hour yesterday! I love doing the show. God is good!

My minimum wage dissertation interested many. Especially when tied in with the working poor. The topic drew the most response post show.

Yesterday’s show is available 24 hours a day on You Tube. A few You Tube wrinkles still being worked out. However, it is there.

I wrote next week’s KONK Life column. On the minimum wage. Tied it into the working poor. Felt the issue was newsworthy as so many people seemed to be into it. I liked the completed article. Published it immediately on Amazon Kindle as well.

Key West experienced one of those monsoon type rainstorms thursday night. My cell phone was charging at the time. When I took it off charge after the storm, everything was screwed up. The face was different. The icons different. Nothing where it had been. I could find nothing. Could not even figure out how to call out.

After yesterday’s show, I went to Verizon to get the phone fixed. There was no problem. At the same time as the storm, Verizon was changing over to something new. That is why my phone was as it was. It was not broke.

I was not intertested in the new format. I was comfortable with the old. I wanted the phone changed back to the old system. No way, I was told. You have to use the new. So teach me, I said. It took all of two minutes.

Mechanically inclined I am not. I get nervous when something changes or goes wrong.

Visited the Chart Room alone last night. All the people! We are into a three day holiday weekend. Tourists arriving in droves.

I saw Peter sitting by the wall. I joined him for a drink.

Had a date. Jenna at eight. Picked her up. We headed to Ambrosia for dinner.

Jenna never eats. Runs 5 miles a day or roller blades. I should be so thin!

She eats sushi, however. More than me! We had a good time. Sipped champagne along with the meal.

I had not been to Ambrosia in a couple of years. I prefer Orgami for sushi. Not because of the food, but the ambiance. Very calm and settled. Whereas Ambrosia is a modern high ceilinged emporium with a Las Vegas flavor. Interesting and pleasant in its own way.

I had seen in the paper earlier in the week that the Bottle Cap was having a ’50s, ’60s and ’70s music night last night. From eight to midnight. Apparently for the old folk such as myself.

Jenna was really not interested in going. She is a mere 27. Not here type music. She went to accomodate me.

The Bottle Cap was empty. At 9:30. Only Jenna and me. The bartender said no one had come to the event. They were not even playing the old music when we arrived.

Jenna and I had one drink at the bar and left.

Remember Becha? My Becha! The manager at La Trattoria for years. No more. She is now working at Bottle Cap. After a 20 year run at La Trattoria. We hugged. Love her hugs. Intoduced Becha to Jenna.

I dropped Jenna off. Then to Don’s Place. Don had telephoned earlier and said drop by.

Don and I spent a long time at the corner of the bar chatting. Without a doubt, Don is one of Key West’s nicest people.

Syracuse basketball tonight. Against Seton Hall. Eight o’clock. I will be at John Lukas’ Big Ten Sports Pub. John is doing a Syracuse night. Free pickies during the game!

The meteor that zoomed over Russia is some thing! The news reported it had the force of 30 Hiroshima atomic bombs!

Betweem now and the game tonight, I am going to screw off. Just lay around. My body is telling me to do it.

Enjoy your day!