Congratulations are in order!

Sheila Cullen has been on the staff of the Keys Citizen for a number of years. I note in this morning’s paper she has a by-line of sorts. Today in History on age 2. Sheila’s name appears beneath the title for the first time. Congratulations dear friend!

Boys Night Out was its usual success last night. Venue was La Te Da. 

Seven of us.

Met Reiley McDonald for the first time. Nice guy. A snowbird. Home is Lexington, Kentucky. He is a thoroughbred horse trader by profession. He buys and sells horse racing’s best.

Reiley (yes, that is his first name) is a Cornell grad. While there in the 1970’s, he played on two consecutive undefeated lacrosse teams. He was an All-American. He still enjoys the sport of his youth. He volunteers while in Key West as one of the coaches to the high school girl’s lacrosse team.

I labeled Reiley a “nice” guy not only because of his personable nature and continued lacrosse contributions. For an additional reason. A selfish one from my perspective. He reads my blog everyday. Love you, Reiley!

Mike Smith. Another interesting individual. He is retired at 50. God bless him! A successful multi-entrepreneur. A snowbird also. Lives in Connecticut.

Louis Celi aka Brooklyn Celi. An economist. Better described as an economic researcher. Works for himself. He is retained by various companies world wide for different projects.

Fred Klein. Fred got me into this group. Might be described as a semi-retired New York City labor lawyer. Gregarious. He is the one who puts these dinners together. A Syracuse graduate.

Bernard “Bunny” Hyman. Syracuse classmate and life long Fred Klein friend. A snowbird, also. A New York tax certiorari attorney.

My contribution to the group for the first time last night Don Teich. Another snowbird. Visits Key West 4 times a year. He, his wife Chris and I met 15 years ago. A match made in Heaven. Miss them when they are gone. Don owns a piece of a South Korean company. Spends much time in South Korea and otherwise traveling world wide.

Table discussions covered a multitude of sins. Politics part of it. Two of the 7 Trump Republicans, the remaining 5 Democrats.

A portion of the discussion involved firearms. One at the table advised he owned 100 guns. The conversation that followed interesting.

Two ladies were seated at a table next to ours. I was the closest seated next to them. I began a conversation with one of them. Bobette Morin. Turns out she is from Fayetteville, N.Y. Fayetteville is a suburb of Syracuse. She was with her snowbird  friend Mary Ann Steinberg from Appleton, Wisconsin.

I told Bobette I was a milk man while in law school and delivered to Fayetteville. She immediately named my employer. Byrne Dairy. I may have delivered to her home in the late 1950’s.

My Father’s birthday was yesterday. He would have been 109 years old. Dad was born April 10, 1914.

He died at 98. His father at 94. His sister Mary at 102.

Will I make it?

More information is available re the Lexington bank shooting which occurred yesterday morning. Five killed and nine injured. The victims ages 40-64.

One of the injured a 26 year old police officer. New to the job. He was sworn in as a police officer only 10 days before. He was one of the first to enter the bank building and confront the shooter. He was shot in the head and has undergone brain  surgery. His condition critical.

The shooter a disgruntled bank employee. He had received notice he was going to be fired. He armed himself with an AR-15 semi automatic. He also Instagram reordered the shooting as it progressed.

His name Connor Sturgon. A three year employee of the bank at the time of the shooting.

The actor Joel Grey is 91 today. He received an Academy Award As Best Supporting Actor for his role as Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret.  He originated the role of George M. Cohan in the Broadway musical George M!.

Hurricane season does not arrive till June 1. Could be earlier this year. Much earlier.

A storm is presently brewing in the mid Atlantic. Warnings are it could develop into a hurricane. If so, a name has already been selected. Arlene.

Experts advise the storm would be more rain than wind.

Enjoy your day!