BOB AND SUSAN

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My base of those I call friends has expanded greatly because of this blog. Many e-mail me from all points of the world. They share with me their joys and sadnesses. I learn of their children and parents. They offer comments and political observations to what I may have written the day before.

The friendships are genuine. Though we rarely meet face to face.

One of my blog friends is Bob Saraceno from the Buffalo area. He reads me daily, e-mails every couple of months.

Bob is in Key West this week. We made arrangements to meet last night at the Chart Room. The evening turned out to be one of the most pleasant I have experienced.

Bob is here with Susan. They are a couple. They have purchased a home in Fort Myers. Key West will be their vacation spot. It is a mere four hour ferry boat ride away.

No question, I am a liberal at heart. Bob, a conservative. Our respective political leanings have never affected our relationship.

The three of us talked about everything. We were together quite a while. At least three hours.

Bob is Sicilian. I am not. My people are from the Naples area. I told him I was fearful of Sicilians. They had a reputation of cutting throats in the middle of the night. I also offered that my mother in law was Sicilian and we never got along. I attributed it to her Sicilian ways.

We drank a little too much. Laughed more. Had a great time!

They asked for a place to dine tonight. I suggested the Hot Tin Roof. I am having dinner there tonight with Donna and Terri and will probably run into them.

Key West has a reputation of being a drinking town. It is. Tourists, especially. Many indulge a bit too much. Something bad occasionally occurs as a result.

The word on the street last night was that someone had dived into the water at the Hyatt, struck his head, and could not feel from the neck down. Terrible. Potential for a serious injury. As bad as a paraplegic or quadriplegic.

The morning paper ran the story. It was not the Hyatt. It occurred at the Galleon. The Galleon’s Tiki Bar.

A 40 year old tourist dove off the pier at the Galleon. Normally shallow, it was even more shallow at the time. The tide was out. The water only three feet deep. Hard rock at the bottom.

A tragedy.

It is not easy to dive into the ocean off the Galleon deck. There is a thick rope fence/barrier. Formidable.

An article in this morning’s Key West Citizen projects an easy hurricane season ahead.  Minimal. The report worries me. I would rather it was predicted that a bad hurricane season was ahead and nothing happened.

Key West got hit bad by hurricanes for a number of years. The last big one was Wilma in 2005.

My recollection is Wilma was only a #1. It was the water that followed. Like a tsunami. About an hour after the wind departed, the water arrived. There was no warning. The water height 6-7 feet. Lisa ended up with  6 1/2 feet of water in her home. Larry and Christine were sitting on their back porch chatting about how lucky they were that there was no damage to their home. Larry says all of a sudden the water started trickling in and within seconds was one foot deep and on its way up.

I learned something from reading the article. Key West and Pensacola are the two most hurricane prone areas in Florida. One end of the State to the other. Key West to the extreme south. Pensacola is part of the Panhandle. An area to the extreme northwest of Florida.

Enjoy your day!

GREAT BASKETBALL

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It cannot be denied. Last night was great basketball! Both teams should be proud. Unfortunately, both teams could not win.

From my perspective, the game was won by Duke in the last 5 minutes and won because of coaching. Krzyzewski slowed his team down. They held onto the ball and did not attempt a shot till there was only 7-8 seconds left on the shot clock. Duke only had a 3 point lead when they started playing in this fashion. Turned out it was the thing to do. Duke won by 5 points.

One negative re the game. Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan’s interview comments following the game. He was hurt. Dejected. Two years in a row he had been to the final game and lost.

Ryan’s bitterness showed in his comments re the refereeing. He thought not enough nor proper foul calls were made when his guys were being pushed around.

I did not see it, could not agree. Yes, it was  a hard fought game. Neither team had a referee calling advantage or anything else, however.

Bo Ryan is a great coach. He will be back. He probably regrets his comments this morning.

My blog talk radio show tonight. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine my time. Join me. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Topics include California’s water problem and Nestles, another police shooting full of apparent lies by the police officers involved, a Monsanto employee inadvertently revealing Monsanto has a whole department dedicated to destroying anything and anyone who speaks out against Monsanto, Iceland’s dramatic success in handling banks, and more.

Sloppy Joe’s. Began at the present location of Captain Tony’s on Greene Street, then moved to its present location on Duval. The Key West Citizen’s This Date in History section indicates the move occurred on this date in 1935. I think the date is wrong. It was May 5, 1937.

Whatever, it is easy to make a mistake re historical facts. I know.

The weather has been outstanding and will continue to be so the rest of this week. Mid 80s. Still not humid.

I fell two weeks ago and injured my left hip. Would you believe, it still hurts! I could not lie in bed for 10 days. Had to sleep in  a recliner chair. Not the best, but better than the bed. The last 3 nights I have slept in bed. Only half the night. The pain moves me back to the recliner chair.

The hip was x-rayed. No fracture.

Interesting is the bruising. Note, I am on a blood thinner. The bruising began two days after the fall. It is an expanding bruise. It now covers my entire left hip and buttock. Has moved along my lumbar back and appears on the right buttock. The bruise also runs down the side of my left leg and then moves around behind the left knee. Every place a deep purple.

I have never seen such bruising on my body before. Though I have seen it. My father fell a lot and had similar bruises. No question, I am my father’s son.

Buffalo’s Bob Saraceno arrives today. A loyal Key West Lou fan. We are scheduled to meet friday night at the Chart Room.

Enjoy your day!