Yesterday’s radio show appears to have been one of the best yet.

The topic that seemed to have generated the most post show discussion involved Social Security. I spoke of the anticipated failure by the present administration to provide for a cost of living increase to recipients for the second year in a row.

I was correct. Soon after the show, Washington announced that the cost of living increase would not be paid again this year.

A shame.

The banks get TARP money, the banks get bailed out, AIG gets bailed out, but 58 million senior Americans get deprived of a lousy 3 per cent increase in their monthly checks.

Before some of you get all crazed out over my position, remember that Social Security is not charity. Every working American payed into the fund over the course of their working career. They are being paid back their own monies. And the return is significantly less than the contribution.

The problem is the federal government has not left those monies sitting in an account to be drawn on as needed. The government has borrowed the funds. There is no money in the account! There has not been for years.

The radio show was interesting. Even more, it was fun to do.

After the show, I joined Lisa and Ally. Ally had the day off from school. Lisa took the day off from work. They were doing an Ally day.

Ally wanted to go to the Butterfly observatory on Duval. She had been there before. I had not.

An experience! Lovely! Peaceful! A huge forested room with butterflies flying all over. All colors.

Ally showed me everything! Took me around on a guided tour of sorts.

We all had lunch at Camille’s. Ally’s choice. Her day, again.

We parted after lunch. I went home to do bills. A chore I hate. Lisa went for a pedicure and took Ally with her.

I was sitting out by the pool later in the afternoon talking with Donna and Terri when Lisa and Ally showed up. To swim. Only Ally swam. The water was cool. The heater is broke. I have to have it fixed.

I am leaving for a vacation tomorrow. My first in years. When you live in Key West, every day seems like a vacation. So you forget to pack the bags and take off for a week or two.

It is time. I am going.

I have decided on Arizona. My base will be Phoenix. I have been there several times before for Syracuse football games so I am not unfamiliar with the area.

There are some things I want to do.

I want to play golf again there. The elevation is high. There is less air resistance. The golf ball travels farther. I want to enjoy that experience.

I have never seen the Grand Canyon. I will next week.

I always wanted to take an air ballon ride. Never did. Will do so next week, also. Preceeded by a sunrise champagne desert breakfast.

There is a town called Cave Creek, just outside Phoenix. A tourist place. A throwback to the old west. I want to visit it.

If time permits, I would like to drive to the border and see the immigration problem first hand.

That is my next week. Maybe I will do none of the above and just lie around the hotel. Whatever, it will be a vacation!

And…..I will write my blog every morning and share with you with my preceding day’s activities.

Enjoy your day!

Radio show this morning!

The Key West Lou Legal Hour!

10 am. Listen from Key Largo to Havana, Cuba on the radio. KONK 1500 AM. Watch and listen on the internet world wide at http://www.konkam.com/.

I am upset! I will be respectfully chastising my President for his approach to the mortgage foreclosure problem, his failure to provide Social Security recipients with a cost of living increase two years in a row, and his handling of the don’t ask, don’t tell issue. Plus other topics such as a walk back in history with Harry Truman. Today is October 15. Sixty years ago on this same day Truman met with MacArthur at Wake Island.

I will update you on the Arizona immigration crisis and make comment on how Russia is handling the uprise in neo Nazism. Plus…..Alabama weird dumb laws, the weird lawsuit of the week and a few stories about some just plain dumb criminals.

Join me!

It rained yesterday. All day. Sloppy.

I started the day with a haircut. At Blown Away with Lori. The shorter my hair, the more frequent I need a haircut. I do not understand.

Then to the Coffee House. Read the Key West Citizen. Leafed through the New York Times. Very few people. It is a quiet time for Key West.

Ally was sick yesterday. Lisa kept her home. A stomach bug. I stopped by to visit the both of them.

Ally seemed to be in good shape. Lisa said I cauget her bewtweeen upochuckings. Poor kid!

Ally read to me. She is proud of her ability to read. I am impressed by how rapidly she is improving her reading skills.

Lunched at Hogfish. Under a thatched roof with rain coming down big time around the place. A lot of people. Maybe because of the rain, people had nothing better to do yesterday but eat. And drink. Except for me.

I fine tuned today’s radio show in the afternoon. Then napped a bit.

Last night I went out with Donna and Terri. They started early. We met at the Chart Room. Then to the Hot Tin Roof for dinner. John was happy to see us. The weather was keeping everyone away. Dinner was good. Donna and Terri always good. It was a pleasant evening.

Remember to tune into the radio show at 10!

Enjoy your day!

A weather man I am not!

I predictred rain yesterday. Did not play golf. Figured it would pour.

I was wrong!

Around 9 the sky cleared and the sun came out. And stayed out! All day! It was a typical glorious Key West day.

Good morning!

Rain! Big time during the night! Paula.

Paula has graduated. From a tropical storm to a hurricane 2. It is presently south of Cuba and near Hondouras. The projections indicate it will miss Key West. Only a 20 per cent chance it will hit the keys at all. Paula is presently bringing rain to Key West, even though it is still 400 miles to the south.

Today is Wednesday. Wednesday is golf day. Not today.The heavy rains during the night and the distinct probablility of rain this morning suggest no golf today.

Yesterday was a good day. A very good one. Especially the evening.

I have house guests. Donna and Terri. I saw Donna for the first time yesterday morning while I was doing the blog. She had just rolled out of bed. Looked terrific! A great hairdo! Ho ho! A wrinkled tee shirt. A hug and kiss for Louis.

I ran errands in the morning. Then to Lady Luck for lunch. My body craved a cuban toast with melted cheese and tomato. The diet was out the window! I capitulated!

Owner Jana looked good! Shorts and a tee shirt. Key West attire for male and female alike. She was wearing a baseball cap. Backwards. Looked terrific on her!

Then home and some paper work.

Terri was sitting on the front porch. It was pouring. Heavy.

Terri is always outside. Generally by the water. Yesterday the water was all around. I commented on how she is always outside. She says she loves it! Especially here in Key West at my home. She said it is impossible to experience the outdoor feeling in New York City. Too many tall buildings. She loves the view, the smell, the taste and the sounds. The water in the ocean passing by and the rain drops on the shrubbery in front especially.

A sensitive woman! Maybe that is why she is a Broadway star!

Donna, Terri and I had dinner at La Trattoria. A fun evening! I love these girls! We get along terrifically! It was laugh, laugh, laugh.

After dinner, we decided to walk the few blocks of Duval to the new Vinos. On the way, Mark Watson came out of Aqua. He saw us and walked across the street. A great singer and bartender. A good person. A close friend to Donna and Terri.

Vinos. My first time there. Just opened a couple of weeks ago. A wine bar. Proprietors are friends Clayton and Valerie.

It is located on Duval, a couple of doors from Croissant de France.

Wow! Beautiful! Reflects careful planning and great taste. I would not have expected less from Clayton and Valerie. Even the unisex bathroom is done well!

They erected an outside porch. Perfect for two tables. Jutting out onto Duval. Good for sitting and watching the world go by. Which is what we did.

Many friends.

Jean Thornton. She has been back about 3 weeks and last night was the first time we ran into each other. One of Mel Fisher’s Golden Girls, she has a personality equal to the gold and jewels she discovered beneath the water.

Another Donna. Donna Ruebeling Bruton. I had only met this Donna one time previously. Last April at the Chart Room. She then returned to somewhere in the west or midwest to live. Recently decided to return to Key West. I feel like I know her better than a one time brief meeting. She reads my blog every day! Religiously! A loyal reader! She writes me. So we have become friends via the internet. I know her well as she does me.

I enjoyed my time with my other Donna last night.

Captain Frank was there also. A Vice Admiral in the Conch Republic Navy, Frank also captains a vessel for another.

Ray was there. I am ashamed to say I know nothing about him. I have seen him and chatted a bit in the past at the Chart Room. Seems to be a nice guy. When I went to pay my bill, I was told he had picked up the tab for everyone.

We all sat at a round table on Vinos’ porch and chatted. And laughed. It was a good time!

Again, Vinos itself is magnificent. Clayton and Valerie are to be complimented. They are proud of their accomplishment. They were walking around like new born parents.

The sun is now up. Sort of. White and gray clouds. Sun trying to peek through. The rain has stopped. Judgment time. Reconsideration time. Can I play golf this morning?

I have decided the course will be too wet and that it will rain further during the morning. I just left Don Manaher a message telling him I was not playing.

Tonight is Larry Smith’s variety show at the Bottle Cap. 9 pm. Listen and watch on the internet at http://www.konkam.com/. Terri is doing a guest appearance. She will be singing Summertime.

Enjoy your day!

Rain! Heavy this morning!

I am not good at predicting the weather. But I am sure it is going to rain all day. Would bet money on it!

Where is it coming from? Paula? Paula was a tropical storm off the Yucatan. This morning it has been upgraded to a 1 hurricane. Its effect is sweeping across south Florida. So sayeth the weather reports. So it has to be Paula.

Son in law Corey knows about these things. Last night he told me there was a storm brewing to the south that would hit Key West next week. Paula? Or another?

Whatever, if it does, it will be the first storm to hit Key West this year.

Golf yesterday!

I could not wait till Wednesday. It had been two weeks since I played. I was anxious to get out. l played with Larry, Chuck and Mark.

I noticed when I was being driven home from the airport Saturday night that the water was high. The tide was obviously in. Seemed higher, however.

Yesterday during high tide, I noticed it again. The water was definitely higher!

I mentioned it to Corey at dinner last night. My observation was correct. The tides were abnormally higher at high tide.

I got an education to boot!

Corey told me that the tide is highest when the moon is closest to the earth. It is called perigee. As opposed to apogee, when the moon is furthest from the earth.

This is the first perigee incident that Corey recalled. The result of the moon being so close to the earth is that the gravitational pull is greater and the tides accordingly higher.

Corey and Lisa live in the middle of Key West. No where near the water. However on Saturday during the high tide, Corey and Lisa observed water bubbling up from the earth in their back yard. It was the effect of perigee and high tide. Remember Key West lies at sea level. You don’t have dig far to run into water.

Corey was concened that the salt water bubbling up would destroy the lawn and plants. He had experienced this problem with Wilma when the property was flooded with 6 feet of water. Everything had to be replanted. Time will tell if these few days of salt water will have a terminal affect on the grass and plants.

Oh, the things I learn living in Key West!

Yesterday was spent in catching up after having been away for a week.

I grocery shopped. Cleaned out the refrigerator. Went to the drug store. Took out the garbage. Tided up the house.

The single life is wonderful!

Never made it to Don’s Place. I was too busy.

The first thing I did in the morning was to visit Lisa and the grandkids. Poppa had returned! Robert and Ally ran out to greet me. A God is good moment!

Sunday dinner was with Lisa and the family also.

After dinner, Corey took Robert and Ally into the street to scooter. From one end of the block to the other. Robert was obviously stronger. He was way ahead of his sister at all times. But Ally moved her feet as hard as she could trying to cach him. A sight to behold!

My day is set.

I am playing golf this morning. I could not wait till Wednesday. It has been two weeks.

This afternoon is the dentist again. While up north, I cracked another cap. Too many nuts on this diet.

That last sentence is possible of two connotations.

Enjoy your day!

I am home!

Back in Key West!

Slept in my own bed last night!

Everything is good again!

Corey picked me up at the airport at 9:30. A terrific son in law!

The weather was just right when I arrived. Neither warm nor cool. Corey and I talked about the weather. He said it was perfect this past week. Like early December. He also told me a storm was developing in the Caribbean south of Cuba. Could be a problem next week.

It was a 3 plane trip home. Syracuse to Philadelphia to Miami to Key West. I left Utica at 9:30 in the morning and arrived in Key West at 9:30 in the evening.

I lucked out on the longest leg of the trip. Philly to Miami. Was upgraded to first class. I was having trouble with those check in machines in Syracuse. A nice female attendant helped me. I asked if I could have exit row seats. She said how about first class!

Ineptness has its rewards!

I bought my ticket over Cheap Tickets. A good deal. Except I had to change airlines in Miami. A long haul from one end of the airport to the other. Even a train ride. And the longest airport walk ever afterward.

It has been years since I flew through Miami. The airport needs cosmetic updating. It is starting to look seedy.

All the newspapers ran front page updates yesterday on the Bank of America story. The sales issue I commented on yesterday was now described as “foreclosures and foreclosure sales.”

Good!

I spoke about the Bank of America problem two weeks ago on my radio show. The newspapers at the time were talking about J P Morgaan Chase and GMAC. What about Bank of America, I asked. A major mortgage lender and sinner, also.

Six months ago I did a whole radio show on the mortgage debacle as I saw it at the time. No one was talking about the bank screw ups then. I knew they had to exist. A bank cannot lend all that money and sell the paper without short cutting the system. Nor could it peform so many foreclosures properly. There had to be improprieties. I was a voice in the wilderness. Glad this phase of an American tragedy is now being exposed for public and legal scrutiny.

Still dark outside. I can hear the water. A comforting sound. That and the wind in the palm trees. Happy to have both surrounding me.

The first thing this morning is visiting Lisa and the grandkids. Missed them!

Then a manicure. It has been two weeks. My nails look like I am preparing for a Dracula audition.

Don’s Place this afternoon. I have missed my friends.

Hope Marty is back in town. Where are you, Marty?

Sunday dinner this evening with Lisa and the family.

I watched my diet this past week while up north. Religiously. I have become a vegetarian of sorts. I did not lose a pound! Pants are looser. But no satisfaction at the scale. I have to add working out to the agenda.

Enjoy your day!

Good morning!

I am up early. I leave this morning to return to Key West.

It is time.

I stopped at Barnes & Noble yesterday. Utica’s Borders. I needed a book to read on the return trip.

Barnes & Noble here is about six times the size of Key West’s Borders. Surprisingly, though physically larger, there were not many people walking about. Key West’s Borders is busier.

I asked one of the sales persons why so few people. She said that is the way it was. It got busier in the evening. Just the opposite from Key West where it is busy by day and slow by night.

I was a bit lost at Barnes & Noble. It is like grocery shopping at a different super market. You don’t know where anything is.

I finally zeroed in on a book. An oldie. Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. Written around 500 B.C. and translated into English in 1910.

It seemed like an appropriate book to read following Bob Woodward’s Obama’s Wars.

I started the book last night. Already I have come across three interesting statements.

“There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.”

“…if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.”

“In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign.”

Wisdom from the ages. Food for thought.

I spent the afternoon visiting with my 96 year old Dad. We talked about everything. His final comments to me in recent visits, including this one, are the same. This may be the last time I see you.

I hope he continues to make that comment to me many more times.

Trust not the banks! Remember their mighty contribution to our present economic state.

Bank of America announced yesterday it was stopping foreclosure sales in all 50 states. It has to do with the paperwork.

I trust them not.

Bank of America did not say it was temporaily stopping all foreclosures or foreclosure proceedings. It said “sales.” A sale is the final step in the foreclosure process. The wrongdoing by the banks is in the paperwork for the mortgage and the subsequenst transfer of the mortgage paper to other banks. Also the foreclosure decision paperwork itself appears flawed.

To continue the process and merely hold off the sale is of limited benefit to the American public. If Bank of America continues the foreclosure process and merely delays the sale, it is like bringing everyone to death row, taking them to the gallows, putting the rope around their necks and then letting them stand for months till the execution is permitted to take place.

Interestingly, the other banks that have stopped foreclosures because of flawed paperwork have halted them where they stand. Not at the sale stage itself!

I could be wrong and Bank of America is stopping the whole proces as it stands. But the wording of the press articles specifically refers to “sales.” I am a lawyer and worry about words and what they mean. Or are intended to mean.

Tonight Key West!

Enjoy your day!

Good morning!

I always enjoyed fall in the north country. Besides the beauty of the color, the cool crispiness in the air is exhilerating. Makes you feel alive and good!

Next comes winter. I do not miss the winters. I could care less if I never see another winter. The brutal cold, rubbers and boots, heavy coats, scarfs, dry heat. No fun. Uncomfortable.

I have become a warm weather freak. Give me Key West all the time in the winter months!

I had lunch with another former employee yesterday. Donna. Lovely Donna. Sweet Donna.

Donna is still young. 41. I hired her when she was a baby! Actually, she worked for the firm for 8 years. She was the billing administrator. An important position! The bills had to get out timely. Otherwise cash flow was affected.

She did a good job!

She no longer works for the firm. She is now employed as an administrative assistant with a non profit that helps children.

We lunched at Friendly’s. She only had a half hour lunch and it was close to her place of employment. Rather than destroy my diet, I limited myself to a diet coke.

Donna is a good person. Typical of many women her age in today’s society. An unwed mother with three teenage children. Every day is a struggle, economic and otherwise.

It was my mother’s birthday. I visted her grave. On the side of a hill. Gray and windy. Damp.

We talked. Rather, I talked. She listened. I cried. I miss her. The feeling never goes away, even though it is now 21 years since she left.

I said hello to some friends.

Tony Leporte lies in his family plot. The Leportes sleep next to the Petrones. Tony was my friend for years. He was a school administrator. Died relatively early in life. Around 50. I was one of his pallbearers. A good person. A kind word for everyone. Always there to lend a helping hand.

Terry Tolles lies across the road from my Mother. Terry was an attorney, McDonalds entrepreneur and businesman. A quiet guy. Knowledgeable. Admired. Well liked.

I had dinner with friends in the evening.

I played intermediary in the afternoon between Larry Smith and Terri White via telephone. Larry wanted Terri to sing on his radio/internet ustreamed variety show next wednesday from the Bottle Cap in Key West. Terri is Terri White of Broadway fame. She is presently vacationing at my home in Key West with her wife Donna. I am into it all these days. Broadway star, same sex marriage. Terri will sing Summertime. You can catch the show from where ever you are in the world wednesday at 9 on the internet at http://www.konkam.com/.

I am ready to return to Key West. My business is done. I have visited with my Father. I talked with my Mother. There is no more for me to do here. Key West is now my home and I miss it and everyone there.

I leave tomorrow morning for my return trip to Key West.

My radio show The Key West Lou Legal Hour is on at 10 this morning. Because I am here, a rerun will be broadcast. Still good. Listen in. On the radio KONK 1500 AM. Worldwide on the internet http://www.konkam.com/.

Enjoy your day!

The trip north goes on.

It was rainy, damp and 50 degrees yesterday. It is rainy and damp this morning. And cold. Typical fall weather in upstate New York.

Contrast it with Key West where it was sunny and 88 degrees yesterday.

It is good to experience the change of seasons, however. Just a bit. No more. My preference has become sunny and warm all the time!

This is a special day. My Mother’s birthday! Were she still alive, she would have been 96 years old. She did not make it unforunately. She left us in 1989.

Happy birthday, Mom!

I had lunch yesterday with Bob. A retired employee of my former law firm.

I had known Bob off and on over the years. He had become a restauranteur in Old Forge. Old Forge is near First Lake in the Adirondacks.

The restaurant did not make it. Bob went bankrupt.

We met soon thereafter on the street. He told me of his misfortune. I asked him if he would come to work for me. He was delighted.

Bob was not a lawyer. But there are a multitude of tasks which require doing in a law firm that do not require a degree. Bob did them. And well.

He worked for the firm for many years. He and his wife were able to purchase a new home. The burden of the past was lifted from them.

Bob is retired now. His wife passed on in March. He is overwhelmed by the loss.

We went to Creekside. A local breakfast/lunch place run by friends. We sat long and talked. It was good for the both of us.

Last night was dinner again with my Father and his lady friend Frances. Outback! I cannot escape Outback.

Once again the discourse was good. We enjoyed. Laughed. How many dinners do I have left with him?

Saw some old friends and acquaintances at Outback. One was Joe George.

Joe and I were never close. We just knew each other. A respectful hello every now and then. A brief conversation.

He is my age. He looked good.

We spoke briefly. Very briefly.

As I sat watching him across the room, our yesterdays came to mind. His father’s small lunch room on John Street. It was near my high school, Utica Catholic Academy. We would lunch there.

Joe worked in the restaurant for his father. Though he went to a different high school.

We would also run into each other in our high school days in the pool rooms. High school boys did that back then.

The final remembrance involved Vinny Esposito. The best of the best. One of Joe’s closest friends. My neighbor.

Vinny was a great economic success. In the laundry business. From Maine to West Virginia. Sold the business. Made mega bucks.

Vinny could not handle success. A mental thing. He committed suicide.

Joe eulogized Vinny at Vinny’s services. Touching. Made me cry at the time. Brought tears to my eyes last night when I saw Joe and thought about Vinny.

Our hello was brief, but full of memeories. For me. I hope for Joe, also.

I was home early. Watched the Larry Smith variety show live from the Bottle Cap in Key West. On the internet!

A terrific show! Hopefully Broadway bound some day!

A little more Utica history. My intent has been to share a bit of my home town’s history with you each day.

Utica is in tough shape economically. It has been so for many years. Typical of the northeast.

When I started practicing law in 1960, Utica had a population of 125,000. Now it is around 55,000. Then the population was a mixture of all ages. Today, primarily senior citizens.

There was a time! A time when Utica was an economic giant. And a political one also! Between the bottom half of the 1800s into the early 1900s, Utica had no peer politically.

The two United States Senators from New York were both from Utica. And at the same time! Frances Kernan and Roscoe Conkling. One a Democrat and the other a Republican. The Governor of New York was from Utica also. Horatio Seymour. Seymour was also the Democratic candidate for President of the United States in 1868. He lost to Ulysses Grant. Another Utican, James Schoolcraft Sherman, was elected Vice President of the United States in 1912.

So it was! Good days. Powerful days. Good times for all.

Nothing is forever, however. It is another day and another time. And things are no longer as they were.

Ally telephoned me last night. You will recall my 5 year old granddaughter can now use the telephone. The shout came through loud and clear…..Poppa! I love you!

God is good.

It is radio show time tomorrow. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. 10 am. KONK 1500 AM radio. On the internet worldwide at www.konkam.com.

It will not be me live. I am here. The show in Key West. You will hear me. A rerun. You will not be able to see me in the rerun on the internet. Only sound will be transferred.

Whatever. Sorry I cannot do tomorrow’s show. I wanted to do it from Utica. It could not be arranged. Listen in however. The old shows are just as much fun and as informative!

Enjoy your day!