TAMMY U.S. CITIZEN TOMORROW

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I got a pedicure and manicure yesterday. Tammy was excited. Very. She could not wait to tell me the good news. Tomorrow she becomes a United States citizen. She takes the oath in Miami.

Tammy was very proud. Justifiably so.

She told me she was in Miami on monday to take the written and oral tests for citizenship. she beamed as she advised she answered every question correctly.

Congratulations Tammy! And God bless!

The more than a week of 80 degree weather ends today. A cold front is coming in. Tonight the temperature will drop to 63. Cold! Tomorrow the temperature will be 70 by day and 64 at night. Saturday the temperature will return to the high 70s.

Most Key Westers are thrilled when a cold front comes in. It is a break from the warm weather. I do not mind a cold front, except in the evenings. Sleeping alone in low 60 degree weather is neither comfortable nor comforting.

Worked a bit yesterday on friday’s TV/Internet show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. The show is almost all put together. A good one. You will enjoy.

The show is at 10 in the morning my time. Airs on television throughout the Keys and Miami-Dade County on Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19. The show is also available world wide at www.tvchannel19.com.

Babysat at dinner time last night.

A first occurred. Robert and Ally were permitted to ride without car seats. They were excited!

We had dinner at Matheesson’s. The grandkids love the place. It has a children’s menu that is really for children. Order what ever and get fries with the order. Plus, ice cream! They each had cheeseburgers.

They get their own ice cream. They go to the counter and pick out the flavor they want. Then the toppings! Each knows exactly which toppings they want.

Afterwards to Publix. I needed a few diet items.

The scenario is always the same. First the fight as to who will drive the cart. Then they each have their own way of shopping. Robert touches everything on every shelf. Takes items off and returns them. Ally spins and dances her way down the aisles. She is always thirty feet or more ahead of the cart.

They both forget they wanted to drive the cart.

Tonight our bocce banquet. Like bowling banquets of old. It will be at Don’s Place. Filet mignon, creamed spinach, potatoes, etc. Always a good meal. I will neither be eating nor drinking. Just a couple of diet Pepsi’s.

I cannot leave without a political comment.

The gun issue is not driven solely by the NRA and its members. The behind the scene primary drivers are the gun manufacturers and retailers. It is all about money.

Two statistics  read yesterday. Two separate articles. I make no claim as to their accuracy. If correct, they are interesting.

One article said more guns were sold in the United States this past November and December than all the guns combined in the Chinese and Indian armies.

The other claimed more than 67 million guns have been sold in the United States since Obama was elected in 2008.

Follow the money!

Enjoy your day!

KEY WEST LOU LEGAL HOUR THIS MORNING

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Another friday. Another show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Ten in the morning my time. Watch! Fast moving and interesting.

The show airs on television in the Florida Keys and through Miami-Dade County on Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19. Elsewhere and world wide via the internet. www.tvchannel19.com.

I am going to touch this morning on the fiscal cliff, the debt limit, Hillary Clinton, Benghazi, the Mayor of London, Silvio Berlusconi, and the Emancipation Proclamation. All from perspectives you may not have considered.

Additionally, the NRA, publishing gun permits in the newspaper, the Indian rape, Columbus, first appendectomy, Nixon, Carter, Olympics, Gingrich, Pelosi, Romney, and Santorum.

A full plate.

Please join me at 10.

I completely screwed up with yesterday’s blog. It was a good one. I lost it just as I finished. Searched for 10 minutes. Could not find it. There was no time to do it over. I had a doctor’s appointment.

Sorry.

One of the interesting things in the lost blog was my grocery shopping at Publix with Robert and Ally. A fun experience! Who drives the cart, who wants what, etc. I went to buy two items. Ended up with eight.

Key West weather continues to be amazing. Mid to high 70s. Calm. No humidity.

We are fortunate. Normally, this is our cold time.

I had an appointment with the heart doctor yesterday. No problem. Feeling well, fortunately.

You will recall my telling you I am part of a national heart study. Something to do with fish oil and triglycerides.

I had been taking fish oil pills daily for years. The first thing I had to do was purge my body of fish oil. Off the tablets for three months. Then last month I received a full physical.

Yesterday, the study began in earnest. I received a four month supply of fish oil pills. Maybe. I do not know if I have the real thing or the placebo.

I am being closely watched. I went into the study with my triglycerides at a good number. 140. If it gets out of whack, it means I am on the placebo. At that point, I am out of the study and back on a daily regimen of oil pills.

The only other event of interest yesterday was a manicure with Tammy.

My life is at such a mundane level. It is the diet. I do not go out while I am dieting. I am naturally weak. Know I will cheat. Ergo, best I stay home.

Again, please watch today’s show.

Enjoy your day!

Christmas Eve and Morning

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Merry Christmas!

A happy time.

I did Christmas eve at Lisa’s. The evening is a big deal in the Italian tradition. In addition to everything else, the meal is special.

Italians eat seven fishes at the Christmas eve dinner. Lisa only does three. However, one is stone crabs. The stone crabs more than make up for the missing four.

Christmas eve dinner with Lisa was a warm event. As always. Robert and Ally were dressed in their new finery. Ally a new dress. Robert a shirt and tie. Robert is in to ties. He was proud of his.

While we were enjoying cocktails and pickies, who should appear but Santa Claus! Big and boisterous, he came through the door. Robert and Ally ran to greet him.

Santa had to leave his sleigh and reindeer several blocks away because of the Boulevard construction.

Santa stayed a while. Chatted with the grandkids. Chatted with the adults. Then he was on his way. Said he had a busy night ahead of him.

Ally loves to sing Christmas caroles. She led us during various parts of the evening.

I had my blog talk radio show this morning at 7. Only my second week. I finally had a call in. My first! I was thrilled! It was Larry Smith  calling to wish me a Merry Christmas.

After the show, I received a telephone call from another person who tried to call in. I missed seeing it on the screen. I felt bad. Hopefully next week she will try again.

The radio station provides me with immediate numbers following the show. I was very impressed by the increase from last week in the number of people listening. Thank you.

This morning’s show was recorded and can be heard on Facebook, Twitter, and Word Press during the week. It will pop up on your screen at least twice a day. Just click the box and you will be able to listen to the show.

Lisa did a big breakfast this morning. At 8. That is why the blog is late. I had to hustle over to Lisa’s for the holiday breakfast. Whereas I cheated on my diet last night, I did not this morning. One time was enough. Strangely, the thing I ate the most last night was bread. I could not get enough.

Santa was good to Robert and Ally. Their major gifts were tablets. Just like yours and mine. Only a bit smaller.

Robert and Ally looked beat. They both stayed up late last night. Then up at 5:30 this morning to see what Santa had brought. They will be napping part of the afternoon away.

Enjoy Christmas day!

 

WILL SANTA CLAUS TELEPHONE?

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I have played a game with my children and grandchildren over the years. The kids all participated till they became aware of the truth regarding Santa Claus.

I told them Santa Claus was my friend and that we talked on the telephone! And because of our friendship, he visited our home each year on Christmas Eve at dinner time to say hello to them. Santa was coached each year to tell the kids that Poppa was his friend. It gave credence to the relationship.

I was a big deal with all the children!

Now, there are only two left to act out this joyful charade. Robert and Ally. They still believe in Santa. With a fervor.

Yesterday, I  stopped at Lisa’s. Robert and Ally were home from school. I told them I had telephoned Santa that morning. They both got excited. Is he coming? I don’t know was my response. He could not come to the phone. He was in the factory with the elfs making toys. But…..he will call me back.

Last night, I worked till 10 finishing and fine tuning tomorrow’s TV/Internet show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. First time in ages I have been totally prepared a day early.

A good show. Watch, if you can. Every week more and more crazy things occur world wide. I am pleased I can share them with you.

The Key West Lou Legal Hour is at 10 in the morning my time. Airs via television on Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19 all the way north through Miami-Dade County. It is available in 250,000 homes. The show also airs on the internet world wide. www.tvchannel19.com.

During the course of the evening, I also published an article on Amazon Kindle: Big Brother. In retrospect, it could also have been labeled Peek a Boo…..I See You. It is the story of cameras and microphones being hidden in television sets for third party viewing.

Walgreen and walking were my two big out of house activities yesterday. Had to wait 20 minutes at Walgreen to pick up a prescription. The Walgreen system sucks.

Key West is unusual in many respects. One is outdoor home Christmas decorations. The locals go crazy! More homes decorated than up north. And better decorated in many instances. I have always wondered why. I suspect it might be the lack of snow. Something additional is needed to contribute to the holiday spirit.

I get out of the house this morning. I have a 10 o’clock haircut appointment with Lori.

Enjoy your day!

 

FOG

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Dense fog this morning.

Fog is rare in Key West. Once or twice a year. I can hardly see the MTV house across the way. Just a shadow of Ed Swift’s. Nothing more. Not even the ocean.

Loved the swim meet yesterday morning! Robert and Ally competed.Tthey both looked good!

Four races each. Ally had 3 seconds. Robert a second and third.

I was impressed. This is their first year. I can see where they will continue with this program through high school. Denizens of the deep in the making!

Key West Christmas Parade last night. One of the finest parades I have ever seen. I say it every year. Because it is. Two and one half hours of pure joy. And at the end Santa Claus!

The floats throw candy to the children along the route. The kids scour for the candy. Robert and Ally included.

Egypt remains in turmoil. A simple reason. Democracy is hard to learn. It does not happen over night. After centuries of pharaohs, kings and dictators, one year is far too little to make the adjustment.

I still think we were better off with Mubarak. The reality of it is that it is not important what you or I prefer. It is what the Egyptian people want. As it should be.

Enjoy your Sunday!

SWIM MEET THIS MORNING

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Big morning! Robert and Ally are participating in their first competitive swim race. At the college. Lisa said they were up at 5:30 all excited. I will be there!

Yesterday, the show! The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Went well. I love doing the show and that may contribute to its success. I especially enjoy doing it live on television.

Two topics received the most post show comment.

One was the report that soon smart phones and tablets will be operated by the eyes. Impressive!

The other had to do with camera and microphones being built into TV sets. The purpose is so others can watch us as we watch TV. To help advertisers decide what we like. Beware! One major TV manufacturer has already dione it with certain of its 2012 models. Quietly and unbeknownst to the American public.

Yesterday was December 7. Pearl Harbor.

It bothers me that in recent years more is not made of the day. We cannot forget. We should not forget. The best tribute I could find yesterday was the movie Tora Tora Tora on Turner Classics.

Pearl Harbor galvanized America. It educated a generation that would never have seen college. Many your grandfathers and fathers. The education created a previous non existent middle class. Finally, the day eventually led to a prosperity the Nation had never known.

It was announced yesterday that the US Supreme Court was going to hear the same sex marriage issue. Finally.

I am concerned with the possible result. The Court has four conservative Justices and four Liberal ones. An even split in the anticipated vote. The remaining Justice swings both ways. Justice Kennedy. I have been saying for two years that I am fearful Kennedy will vote the wrong way. With the conservatives. Defeating same sex marriage.

I could be wrong.

The way around the problem is for one of the Justices to resign or pass on. Then Obama would get to name the replacement. Undoubtedly a liberal and a vote for same sex marriage.

Yesterday was a lot of nothing that kept me busy all day. A manicure with Tammy. A walk starting at Square One and going through the Southernmost and Reach and then back to Square One. Wrote next week’s article for KONK Life. Worked on my new radio show. The Key West Lou Blog Talk Radio Show. The radio show kicks off at 7 in the morning on Tuesday, December 18. Join me. A half hour talk show. Listeners can call in.

Directions as to how to find the blog radio show will follow soon.

Time to shower and head over to the college. A proud grandfather morning ahead!

Enjoy your day!

XMAS TIME IN KEY WEST

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Key West’s Christmas season kicks off this week.

Thursday night is the Yacht Club Christmas Party. For the young. Santa Claus will be there with gifts.

Saturday is the Christmas Parade. Long. As with Macy’s, Santa Claus is on the last float. This is one of Key West’s best events. For young and old alike. All ages enjoy.

The Lighted Boat Parade is December 15. Sponsored by Schooner Wharf, it is a fantastic event. Many many boats will be dressed in Christmas lights. Ingenuity knows no bounds. Several times, I have done the Parade while on one of the boats. A party! Food and drink, music and dancing. Plus, cold! Out on the open water this time of the year, it is very cold. Boat people that night wear everything and then more.

The Parade can also be watched from shore. Two to three thousand will be watching and drinking and partying.

Robert and Ally are members of a swim team. The team is having its first meet Saturday morning. Robert and Ally will be swimming. Exciting!

My day out yesterday was simple. The bank and paid some bills.

The rest of the day was inside. Worked on Friday’s show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Read more of the Ulysses Grant book. I am up to 1858. Grant was a failure. As a soldier, businessman, and farmer. Generally lived poorly.  Hard to believe that shortly he would be the North’s most successful general and later President of the United States.

The diet keeps me in. Away from food and booze. I avoid the near occasions of sin.

The diet has been working well till this morning. The scale said I had gain a pound. From 12 pounds lost to 11. I am not discouraged. Part of the dieting process.

Syracuse basketball!

Syracuse won again last night. Beat East Michigan 84-48. Syracuse is now 6-0. Even better, Syracuse is ranked #4 in the country.

The Orange played sloppy, especially in the beginning of the game. Eighteen turnovers.  Sutherland who scored 35 points in the last game, only scored 4 last night. On the positive side, three Syracuse freshman were in the double figures.

It is still early in the season. I question the ability of this year’s team. The Big East games after the first of the year will tell the story.

Sloan will be in late this afternoon. We are doing another practice blog talk radio show. It’s getting there. The show will be questions, answers, and exchanges between me and the caller.

A chill in the air this morning. Overcast, also. It will clear and be warm later.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

ANOTHER QUIET KEY WEST SUNDAY

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Sunday is a do nothing day for me. The less I can do, the better it seems.

I took a walk early afternoon. Parked the car at the airport. Walked the length of Smathers Beach and back. A bright sun. A bit chilly. No humidity. Perfect walking weather.

I am back into good health. I try frequently. Succeed rarely. This time I am serious. Today is day 3 of my diet. Yes, you will have to put up with it again. Exercise is a part of it all. Ergo the walk.

Afterwards, I stopped at Lisa’s. I was shocked when I walked in! Absolute quiet. Like a church.

Lisa was on the couch reading the newspaper. What is going on, I asked. Turned out Robert and Ally each had friends over to play. They were in different bedrooms and playing quietly. Cameron had a friend in his room. Corey was upstairs doing something on the computer.

Lisa said the kids should have friends over more often!

I babysit this afternoon. Lisa and Corey have a funeral service to attend. The grandkids have swim team practice at the college at 4:30. My responsibility is to watch them practice and then return them home.

The TV/Internet show is off the ground. It has some rough edges. I am working on them.

I have long thought I would like to do a radio show. Why not! So I am going to do one. I did a practice run thursday night. Went well. Have another practice session tuesday night. This one will be a talk show. You can all call in and share your thoughts with me.

The Key West Citizen yesterday had a major front page article on Breeze. Breeze is Carnivals new big boat. It is going to make six stops in Key West after the first of the year. It will carry 3,700 passengers.

I found the article interesting and strange. There is an ongoing furor whether Key West should make the channel deeper and wider. The purpose being to handle the big boats. Big dollars!

If Key West needs bigger and deeper, how can Breeze make it in to dock?

Breeze was commissioned this past June. Has already completed an Atlantic crossing. As stated before, carries 3,700 passengers. Plus a crew of 1,300. The vessel is a 1,000 feet long. Weighs 130 tons. Has a draft of 8.5.

I have seen several pictures of Breeze. A monster!

If it does not get stuck in the channel, I question the need for widening and deepening it.

Enjoy your day!

 

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS AND ERNEST HEMINGWAY

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Robert has been talking about the Symphony since he and Ally attended recently. Perhaps a musician in the making.

Robert mentions on occasion that the Symphony was at the Tennessee Williams Theater at the College. I asked if he knew who Tennessee Williams was. He did not, nor did Ally. I explained briefly.

There was a method to my madness. Tennessee Williams lived on Duncan Street, the same street as Lisa and family. One block and a half away. He had lived there for 40 years. I explained he was an author and had written many books while living there.

I took the grandkids for a ride. Stopped in front of Tennessee William’s house. A well maintained white bungalow. Both Robert and Ally exclaimed they knew who lived there. The people who gave them candy on Halloween while they were treating and tricking.

I explained Williams was dead. The people were different. Williams had lived there some time before them.

They will probably speak of Williams every time they walk past the house.

Since we were into authors, I asked if they had ever heard of Ernest Hemingway. No, they said. I explained who Hemingway was, that he wrote also, and that he had lived in Key West for ten years.

I wanted to show them the large stately home where Hemingway lived. Initially, I did not drive over to the home on Whitehead. Instead I took them to the hotel on Simonton, just off Caroline. I explained that the hotel was where Hemingway had first stayed when arriving in Key West, the car purchase story, and Hemingway having to wait for delivery for several weeks. Deciding he liked Key West and was going to stay, Hemingway bought a house.

I drove over to the big house on Whitehead. The Hemingway home everyone knows. Some day I will take Robert and Ally on a tour of the house. I told them about the six toed cats they would see on that first visit..

Yesterday turned out to be a raising Robert and Ally’s awareness day! A good thing for them and me.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

LOCAL FOLK SUNDAY

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Key West Sundays are relatively quiet for the local folk. Each the same. Laid back.

I watched the Sunday morning talk shows on TV. The furor over Benghazi is too much. They are at the stage of splitting hairs. Our nation’s leaders have more important things to talk about. The debt crisis is looming.

Syracuse beat Wagner in basketball as expected. A little guy playing a giant. Compliments to Wagner for traveling to the Dome knowing that there was little chance of winning.

At one point early on, Wagner was leading. I could read the players’ minds. Just maybe…..

The basketball game was early afternoon. When over, I went to Don’s Place to watch pro football. Don has the pro football package. There are TV sets all over the place, inside and out, showing the games. I sat in back outside with Don and friends and watched five different games at one time. The TV sets were placed  next to each other in a row.

Good company! Besides Don,  there were Stephanie, David, Keith, Larry, Toni, Frankie, Sandy, Boomer and Angus. Always a good time.

I returned home for a while. Read. I have started a new book. A biography of Ulysses Grant. Recently published, the book is entitled The Man Who Saved The Union. Written by H. W. Brands.

From love and BD/SM sex to a presidential history. A jump!

It was Sunday dinner with Lisa and the family.

Christmas  already in the air. Robert and Ally showed me the letters they had written to Santa Claus listing the 10,000 gifts each wanted. I am surprised they still believe. Robert is 8 and Ally 7. Last year some of Robert’s class mates told him what they perceived to be the true story. There ain’t no Santa Claus! Robert did not buy it. I hope he does not buy it this year either. Nor Ally. Santa Claus is good for them.

I was home to an early bed.

I am into the HBO Boardwalk series. Only two more shows before the series concludes. Everyone is getting killed. Worse than the  Godfather trilogy. I hope the “hero” survives.

This Hostess/Twinkie situation is interesting and sad. An example of a little guy taking down the big guy. In this instance, every one loses however. A hollow victory.

Enjoy your day!