JET LAG

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It finally hit me big time. Jet lag! It is 2:30 in the afternoon and I am just getting to today’s blog. My head is not functioning, my body tired.

Interestingly, today is the first day I have knowingly experienced it.

I tried working on this week’s KONK Life column this morning. Good luck! No way, Jose!

I have been pacing myself since my Wednesday night return.

Yesterday, I worked a while with Sloan. A pleasure to have her!

Then visited the grandkids. I had not seen Robert and Alley in two months. They just returned from a two week vacation at their grandparent’s home in north Florida.

Both grew. Especially Ally.

They make me feel good.

Laid in bed and watched some golf. Hope Jim Furyk wins. I met him several years ago at the Indian Casino outside Utica. Turning Stone. He was staying there a few days with his family. Soft spoken. A regular guy. He has won 16 times on the tour. One of the wins a major. He has not won in a few years. A win here would be big. It would guarantee him a place in the Golf Hall of Fame.

The Chart Room was packed last night. Like sardines in a can.

Saw JJ, Peter, Jean, and Sheila. Met Dori, a friend of Sheila’s.

Though I was not able to observe, Dori has some sort of disability. Ergo, she has a specially trained dog to assist her. I met the dog.

Big!!!Bigger than that!!!

A great dane. Great being the operative word. He had to be the biggest dog I have ever seen.

White with black spots. Like a Dalmatian. It would take at least four Dalmatians to make one of him.

Very quiet and reserved. Sat by Dori. Never moved in spite of the people mulling around. Then laid down behind Dori’s bar stool.

When I went to leave after kissing Sheila good bye and meeting Dori, I stepped on the dog’s paw. He never moved. Lucky me!

A bug and fish are in the news.

The lower Keys has a Mosquito Control Board. It does an excellent job. Without the Board, living in Key West would be primitive.

This year the Board started introducing something into the mosquito population that made the males sterile thereby preventing the females from getting pregnant. Pretty smart, I thought. The results of the endeavor are not known yet.

Starting late in August, the Board is going to experiment with drones. Planes without pilots.

Water pooling is a natural habitat within which mosquitos breed. The drones will fly around and identify the locations so personnel can go out and get the pools cleaned up.

The Keys mosquito guys do not screw around!

Now comes a crocodile. The croc has been named Crocodolly. Keynoter recently reported the following.

Crocodolly is eight feet long. A female. She has been showing up in an area off Plantation Key since 2010. She has been captured three times. Tagged the first time so there is no question it is the same crocodile. The tag on her tail is #5 in case you run into her.

Crocodiles are endangered species. Each time Crocodolly was captured, the authorities took her far out into Florida Bay. Crocodolly returned each time. Like the dog that can find its way home from many miles away.

The people of Plantation Key do not fear her. They look forward to seeing her in their canals.

Crocodolly has over 400 friends on Facebook.

What a world!

I am back on the air Tuesday night. Blog talk radio. Nine in the evening. A quick interesting half hour. Greece and the growing power of the Greek Nazi Party will be the topic. Join me. I guarantee you will find the talk revealing. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Enjoy your Sunday!

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

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Key West is into it! Memorial Day weekend!

Key West alive. The town packed with tourists. Driving a pain. Bars and restaurants full. I wanted to eat at the Hot Tin Roof. Good luck! There was hardly standing room.

I complain…..but it is all exciting! You sense it, feel it.

Unfortunately, it rained a couple of times. Not long each time. However, heavy! Big drops. The first storm lasted all of five minutes. Enough to start flooding some of the streets.

I wrote of the crocodile shot in  the head recently. I am still getting emails on the subject. The  emails continue to support the crocodile(s). Man cannot win!

I started my day with Sloan. We worked hard on expanding my tablet usage. It comes slow to me.

I started my evening with a stop at Don’s place. Most of the bocce team there. David, Don, Erika, and Hershel. One night left and the season is over. We are already talking possible trades. Negotiations go on off season and players are traded one team to another.

Serious business.

Then the Chart Room. All tourists, except for David and Sheila. JJ bartending. Enjoyed a drink.

I ended up at the Wine Galley for dinner. An excellent one! French onion soup and bread!

As usual, Larry entertained. Christine joined him in  singing occasionally. Larry’s mom Helen was in the audience. She has to be proud of Larry. English friends John and Ali were there. As was Pati.

Michael Dennis was in attendance. He is the well known author. He is a former entertainer. He once owned a bar on Duval and played the piano and sang all night. He played and sang a while last night. I love his music!

No Steven. Steven has been the premier bartender  and caretaker of the Wine Galley for years. He is no longer employed by the Pier house.

I knew something was wrong as soon as I walked in the room. Steven gone. Emily bartending. Emily has never bartended the Wine Galley. The Chart Room is her post. She had been asked to come in last night to help out.

Steven could bartend and wait tables all alone. Rarely needed help. Last night three persons were working the room in his place.

I have a practice blog talk radio show at 11 this morning. I am trying to run it through Skype at my end.

Enjoy your day!

YUICHIRO MUIRA

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Last summer I was on the Greek island of Santorini. You will recall the volcano. I could not make it to the top.

I was 77 at the time. Obviously out of shape.

Today’s Japan Times reported regarding Yuichiro Muira. He is 80 years old. He reached the top of Mount Everest yesterday, the tallest peak in the world. Not his first time. He did it 3 previous occasions, also.

Muira once skied down Mount Everest. A helicopter dropped him somewhere high up. He needed a parachute to help him stop at the bottom.

To make even more of a hero out of Muira, he had heart surgery in January. His fourth heart surgery.

I have been shamed.

Another beautiful Key West morning. A slight breeze.

I worry. The past year has been one of the best. I cannot recall one better weatherwise. We experienced no winter. Two weeks of cold. Meant long pants and a sweater. Otherwise, it has been summer all year.

The hurricane season is around the corner. I walk with a black cloud over my head regarding a hurricane this year. The weather has been so perfect that only one thing can spoil it. A hurricane.

I hope not.

This crocodile thing is out of control. The 19 foot female crocodile that someone shot in the head.

Last Sunday, a memorial service was held for the croc on the beach at Lower Matecumbe Key. The Vice-Mayor spoke. Thirty people in attendance. The Vice-Mayor eulogized the crocodile. Someone commented the crocodile had been assassinated while sleeping. There is a $6,000 reward for the capture and conviction of the vermin who did it.

Another comment was that the land belonged to the crocodiles. Man had displaced them.

A crock!

The Keys have never been a crocodile habitat till recent years. They have been moving south into the Keys in limited numbers in recent years. Man and crocodile cannot live together in peace. Crocodiles are dangerous beasts. They contribute nothing to the natural habit. They only have the capacity to take away.

I was up early yesterday morning. Why, I do not know. Did my blog right away. Then shopped a bit at Publix and Walgreen. Amazing! I who never shopped anywhere in my previous life. It was all done for me.

The evening was fun. I was out with good people. Keith and Jen. Friends and bocce teammates.

We ate at Roostica. A first for all of us.

Roostica is a pizza and Italian food place. Hogfish owner Bobby opened it on Stock Island. The food is basic Italian. All good. Huge portions. I went for the lasagna. Half of it is sitting in my refrigerator. Too large to finish last night.

Word is Bobby spent 10 days in Italy researching pizzas. Put on 10 pounds. He came up with what he describes as a Neapolitan pizza. Good!

The restaurant itself is deceiving. Looks small from the outside. Huge once inside. A big bar. Many tables. Nooks and crannies. Liked it. It is a locals’ hangout in the making.

Tonight, bocce! We play Larry’s team. A blood match. For first place in the 4 team side bet we have every season.

Tomorrow morning at 10 my time the Key West Lou Legal Hour. Available on television and the internet. Comcast Channel 87, U-Verse Channel 19, and www.weyw19.com.

Normally, I spell out topics to be discussed. This morning I am not. Many things have happened and are happening world wide. Many issues to pick from. My program will not be finalized till tomorrow morning.

Join me for the show. You will not be disappointed.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

KEY LARGO TO KEY WEST MARATHON…..WHEW!

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I left home after the Preakness yesterday to go to dinner. There were runners, police cars and people all over. Obviously a marathon. This took place around 7.

As I drove along the beach, I noticed the end of the marathon was Higgs Beach. A big blue tent, a tastey barbecue smell, music and tons of people!

I drove home around 10. Dark outside. Pitch black. There were still runners. In town and out of town. All the way up to Key Haven where I turned off US 1. I suspect some were further  up US 1 still running in.

The runners could not be missed. They all wore blinking lights around their necks. By 10, the pace was slower. Some were walking.

I figured it had to be a long run. I found out this morning how long. From Key Largo to Key West. Wow! One hundred miles, give or take.

The marathon was the Coast Guard Run To Remember. To honor fallen Coast Guardsmen. There were 90 runners entered. That number included some family members of fallen guardsmen.

The Boston Marathon is 26 point something miles. This run was four times longer!

Sloan worked with me yesterday morning. I am in the process of mastering my tablet. We also added apps and subscribed to the New York Times and Key West Citizen.

I am from that generation that is not mechanically inclined. I have to be taught everything in steps. Repeatedly before I grasp what ever it is.

It tires me out!

Tuesday, Sloan starts showing me how to add pictures to this blog. Finally! It will be a major achievement!

Mid afternoon I was upstairs sleeping. Heard noise. Kids yelling, a woman’s voice, a dog barking. It was Lisa and family. They had come to swim. Jake still does not like the water. I doubt he ever will.

I stayed home to watch the Preakness. From the comfort of my bed. My favorite place. I hope the bed is with me in my next life.

I was disappointed Orb lost. I thought he got boxed in and could not get to the front. From news reports this morning, it appears he just did not have it yesterday. Oxbow did. Ran a good race!

Felt like a change of venue for dinner. I wanted to be outside with an ocean view. It was the Southernmost Beach Bar. I sat, enjoyed the scenery and people, had a couple of drinks and a cheeseburger. A perfect evening!

The Beach Bar is the picture on my website. The picture at the top of this blog. That is where I was last night! Sat at the bar.

During the week, a dead crocodile was found in Lower Matecumbe Key. Nine feet long.

Turns out crocs are an endangered species. It is illegal to kill them in the State of Florida. Back in the 1970s there were about 300. Since protected, the croc group is estimated to have grown to between 1,500 and 3,000.

That is 1,500 to 3,000 too many.

There is now an investigation to find out who did the croc in. Whoever did will be arrested, etc.

Sometimes, I do not understand the law. There is no worthy reason why Florida should want crocs running around. They are dangerous. The only reason justifying their protection is that the species was dying out. So what?

Crocs are nasty. Let one of them snap off a person’s arm or chomp on a youngster playing in the backyard. People will be aroused. They would clamor for better protection. They would ask how could the State have permitted this too happen? The cry would be rid us of the crocs!

The problem is it will have been too late. Too late for the person with a missing arm or the maimed child.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CROCODILES

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The Keynoter reported this morning a crocodile was discovered in a canal behind a Marathon home. Georgiana Hosek’s home. Georgiana was attempting to launch her kayak off a ramp into the canal. Surprise! The crocodile! The kayak will remain unused till the croc moves on or is removed.

Crocodiles are rare in the Florida keys. Wildlife experts belief that the crocodile might have layed eggs near the ramp. They are investigating the situation.

The crocodile is 6 feet 7 inches long.

I did a little research into crocodiles after reading the Keynoter article. Came across Nile crocodiles.

Nile crocodiles have healthy appetites. For humans! Very dangerous to our species. Florida never worried about  Nile crocodiles till the past year. The reason simple. The Nile crocodile was native to Africa. Florida is not a Nile crocodile habitat.

Recently three Nile crocodiles have been observed in Florida.

For once the government acted properly and immediately. The Nile croc is an endangered species. As such cannot be killed. The federal government decided better the Nile crocodiles die rather than humans. In August of last year, the federal authorities issued a shoot to kill order. Highly unusual. Evidences the concern the government has regarding this predator.

I suspect Florida and the federal government are worried that the Nile crocodile will become a problem similar to the python one.

I did my blog talk radio show last night. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. An informative half hour.

Yesterday in and of itself was an interesting day. It was reported there will be a Senate vote thursday on some phase of the gun bill. Then there was the Texas community college stabbings.

I additionally had time to chat a bit about the drug company game which screws purchasers and a recent example of why we do not want Sharia law in the United States.

The half hour went by fast.

Today is April 10. My father would have been 99 today. He died last year at 98. Happy birthday Dad, where ever you are!

Which brings up my grandfather. My dad’s father. Grandfather Louis died at the age of 94. May I be so lucky!

I wrote about Annette Funicello yesterday. A former Mouseketeer and 1960s movie star. She was originally from my home town Utica. Several people have contacted me since the blog was published yesterday to tell me my grandfather and Annette’s were best friends/pals. I never knew. They arrived in Utica from the old country at the same time.

Key West weather continues to be summer like. I can feel the humidity as I write this blog. It feels good. Not too heavy yet.

Enjoy your day!