Key West water sucks! The only way to say it.

When I first came to Key West 30 years ago, it was terrific. Even mentioned it to people back then. About 15 years ago, it started going downhill. Taste got increasingly worse. Now terrible.

So much so that I only drink bottled water. That means about 36 bottles a week. Even make ice cubes with bottled water.

Why do you think Publix and Winn-Dixie sell so much bottled water? People are afraid to drink that which comes from the tap.

I recently came across an advertisement by the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority in a magazine: “Tap water…..The Best Drink in Town!” No way, Jose! The worst.

The Authority should do something about it.

Enjoyed a manicure with Tammy yesterday. I have been conscious about my nails for more than 50 years. Take care of them.

There is a very lengthy article popping up on the internet re fingernails. Titled: What Your Fingernails Reveal About Your Health. Its author Jasmin Fox-Shelly.

Read it! Informative and interesting. I never realized how much information a doctor can get just by looking at one’s fingernails.

Enjoyed lunch yesterday at Roostica on Stock Island. More than a year since I last was there. I was surprised the bartender remembered me.

I enjoyed a lunch of meatballs and polenta. You will recall I got turned on to polenta years ago in my many trips to northern Italy. Polenta in north Italy is as popular as potatoes are with a meal in the U.S.

The dish comes with bread. Fresh bread had not yet been made. Garlic bread for the day just completed. So I was favored with the garlic bread. Absolutely outstanding! I mentioned it to the bartender and she said she would remember and serve it to me next time.

A solution to the current high cost of eggs was reflected in this morning’s Citizens’ Voice: Let our Key West chickens help out locally.

Ugh!

The Miami Herald announced Publix “is following the latest trends.” Publix has come out with a new “soft Pub Sub roll.”

A bad day in American history. On this day in 1898, the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor. The explosion killed 260 American crew members.

The Custom House was newly built at the time. A special group of Navy officials met there to determine the cause of the explosion.

The explosion eventually led to the Spanish-American War.

Many of the dead lie buried in the Key West Cemetery. Key West annually honors those dead. Key West remembers the Maine in many other ways. It has become an in intrinsic  part of Key West history.

Some people just can’t win. Even those who do good. On this day in 399 B.C., philosopher Socrates was sentenced to death by the City of Athens for allegedly corrupting the minds of the youth of the City and for impiety. 

Socrates was a principled person. He was sentenced to death by hemlock poisoning. He had an opportunity to escape. Refused. Choose to respect the wishes of the City and willingly drank the hemlock.

Actor Fess Parker has died at 85. Davy Crockett of yesteryear.

Another big Walt Disney movie day. On this day in 1950, Cinderella opened in theaters across the U.S.

On this day in 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President-elect. In those days, a President-elect was not sworn in till March.

An attempt was made on his life in Miami’s Bayfront Park. The assassin fired six rounds, fortunately missing Roosevelt with each. He did hit and kill Chicago Mayor Cermak however, who subsequently died.

I close with California and the natural disasters which continue to plague the State.

Poor California! First the wildfires, now heavy rains. Mud slides and raging floods galore.

Enjoy your day!