SOME KEY WEST INFO

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Current Key West information.

Marriott Beachside is an exciting hotel. Perhaps the most exciting in Key West. Marriott announced it is adding to its facilities. Marriott guest facilities. A marina and a boat taxi service to downtown Key West.

Melody has been a Key West fixture for more than forty years. An exemplary entertainer. A lovely voice. She is leaving Key West. Sad. She is moving to Ashville, North Carolina.

Wednesday evening Melody will be giving a good-bye performance at The Little Room Jazz Club.

The Key West Brewfest has been ongoing this week. Ends sunday. Venued at the Southernmost Beach Resort. Saturday afternoon through evening the 1400 block of Duval will be closed for street partying.

On this day in 2013, Diane Nyad completed her record swim from Cuba to Key West. One hundred ten miles. She walked out of the water at Smathers Beach to the cheers of hundreds.

The hurricane season is upon us. Hermine doing its dirty deed in northern Florida and soon along the eastern seaboard up to New York City.

There was a more devastating hurricane in 1935. This date in 1935 was Labor Day. A class 5 hurricane hit the mid keys. Four hundred killed. The Overseas Railroad wiped out never to be rebuilt.

My yesterday began with a visit to my primary care/internist physician. Dr. Jackie Lefferts has cared for me for 10 years. I received good and bad news yesterday. Your health is good, I am retiring in one month.

One of the problems of aging. At 81, I have outlived certain of my doctors or seen them retire.

Change bothers me. Most people. A doctor change especially. Dr. Lefferts and I have come to understand each other. I am not the easiest of patients. She can be a tough doctor.

I consider her an excellent diagnostician. She has helped me over the years. Discovered problems early before they might have become serious.

Early on, she told me I had a heart condition. I told her she was crazy. How could I have a heart condition? I fought her on the issue for a year before I agreed to see a heart doctor. I had a heart condition. It has slowly gotten worse. I am alive, however. Were it not for Dr. Lefferts, I might not be here today.

Drove over to Lori’s for a haircut after meeting with Dr. Lefferts. Lori recently did a three day Bahamas cruise with girl friends. Actually, a bachelorette party. Big time fun, she said. The men did a fishing trip to Islamorada.

Then lunch at the Cuban Coffee Queen. No Ruby. A new guy doing her job. A young man. From England. Only here one month so far.

My KONK Life column this week is New Face In Price Gouging And Political Influence. It appears in this morning’s E-Blast.

When 99L was in the news last week, we were told it would be named Hermine if it turned into a tropical storm. It did not as it passed near Key West. Turned out to be nothing. 99L went out into the Gulf. Then turned around and headed northeast towards northern Florida. It hit north Florida yesterday as a class 1 hurricane.

The first hurricane to hit Florida in ten years. May it be ten years before another hits.

I must make a Trump observation. There are those of you that will disagree with me.

I have written and spoke of the following for 1 1/2 years.

Trump is a bully and thug as was Hitler. Hitler made the Jews the cause of Germany’s problems. We know what happened to the Jews.

I believe the immigrants of today are the Jews of yesterday. Trump is using immigrants as Hitler did the Jews.

Some say I am obsessed with Hitler. It is not obsession. It is recognition of a fact. History repeats itself. Unless we have learned from it.

Trump seems to attract fleas. Disruptive people. Not necessarily for the common good. It was announced yesterday that David Bossie has become Deputy Campaign Manager for Trump. Bossie’s name may not be familiar to you. His organization is. He is President of Citizens United.

I spoke briefly about North Korea President Kim Jong Un on my podcast broadcast tuesday night. Merely for background purposes, I mentioned the President not only kills his people in large numbers, but also those high in government. For bullshit reasons. Summary death.

Kim Jong Jin was 63. A Vice-Premier of North Korea. Jong Jin slouched during a Parliament meeting at which Jong Un was speaking. He was executed. His slouching was considered an act of dissent under North Korean law.

This whack has nuclear weapons. Can you picture he and Trump having a dialogue? Followed by Trump misrepresenting their conversation after the meeting. As Trump did with the Mexican President re the wall.

Enjoy your day!

UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER

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The 99L tropical wave was supposed to dump rain and wind on Key West sunday. Nothing happened. Not one drop of rain.

Yesterday, an 80 percent chance of rain. Wind from the south. I thought also we would have rain. Not a drop.

Today, an 80 percent chance of rain. I give up. I don’t know. Neither do the weather professionals.

Did my podcast broadcast last night. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Interesting. I covered happenings in Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Indonesia, Russia and China. Plus, occurrences in four States. A fast moving half hour.

Revealing material. Some sad, some humorous.

A busy day ahead. An early business luncheon at Salute’s. I am looking forward to it. Salute’s has great mussels at lunch. Martin’s Happy Hour with Joseph from Hot Tin Roof. Then, Donna and Terri at Back Door.

No laying around today.

Anna, where are you?

Anna reports this week she is in three different villages hanging off the side of Mont Blanc. Traveling with friends. They presently are at her chalet in Courmayeur. Tomorrow, they cross the border into France. they will be visiting Chamonix and Megeve.

What a life!

Everywhere they go,   there will be chic chalets and cobbled medieval streets.

An historic morning! At 9:45, the first commercial flight between the U.S. and Cuba takes off. Fort Lauderdale to Santa Clara. Santa Clara in central Cuba. A Jet Blue flight. The last commercial flight was 50 years ago at the time of the Cuban missile crisis.

Trump knows how to get publicity. He lets little slip through his fingers in that regard.

This afternoon, he will be in Mexico City for a meeting with the Mexican President. Tonight, Trump is in Phoenix giving his much awaited immigration speech. I am curious what this version will be.

The Mexican President is as foxy as Trump. I wonder who comes out ahead. He could make Trump look bad. Not that Trump needs help.

Hillary was in California last night at a fund raiser. At Jimmy Buffetts’ home. Hillary and the Beatles’ Paul McCartney danced.

Enjoy your day!

GROOVIEST EVENT IN MUSIC HISTORY

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After three days, Woodstock ended. This date in 1969. The event described by many as the grooviest event in music history. I don’t know. I was not there. However, Larry Smith and Larry Flynn were. Two Larrys. Today, Smith lives in Key West and Flynn in the Utica, NY area. Contact them personally to get their thoughts.

I do have a recollection of Woodstock even though I was not there. It took forever to leave. To get out. One to three days. Woodstock was in the middle of no where.

A client’s son telephoned me. He was stuck in Woodstock. Asked if I could get him out. How? Helicopters were not even permitted in the area. I recommended patience.

Spent a bit of time yesterday afternoon fine tuning last night’s podcast show. Good show! In a quick half hour, I covered topics involving Libya, Wyoming, Iowa, Germany, Monsanto, Malia Obama, cannabis, Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, and more.

Roostica for a light dinner. Artichoke dip. I was not that hungry.

I stopped my beloved anti-gravity treadmill last week. It was making me tired. I had cut back from five days to three days. Still tired afterwards. Went at slower speeds. Tiredness lasted 4-5 hours.

I am not tired this week. Feel terrific. Wide awake. Me thinks the treadmill was too much for me. Got to figure it out. Has to be my heart. Enlarged problems. I get tired exerting myself. Even a little. The heart has to pump harder to move the blood through.

Exercise is a must. Some type. Not as much. I am walking, but not that far nor fast. Will be visiting with my doctors. We’ll work it out.

I mentioned the other day that Maine lobster was cheaper to buy in Key West than local lobster. Now, I learn that fish is being trucked in from outside the area. The reason claimed is that local catch have become too expensive. Does not surprise me. Everything else has shot up dramatically in Key West the past few years.

Greed part of the problem.

The Key West City Commission is jumping into the hospital problem with both feet. As I suspected. Not healthy for resolution of the problem. The Commission has authorized the City Attorney to explore several avenues. One, a lawsuit.

Local politicians have a propensity to screw everything up. Why should the hospital problem be any different.

Another example of political lunacy is what the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District board is doing. The board is elected.

The board announced a 45 percent increase in taxes. To pay for a new building they claim is needed. It was announced yesterday that Oxitec will lease space in the old building to rear genetically modified mosquitoes for other counties. At $25 a square foot.

I fear the board has already made up its mind re the referendum. Recall, it is non-binding. I see the board rejecting the referendum result and going ahead with the testing.

I call the residents of Key Haven guinea pigs. Someone recently referred to us as lab rats. Both fit.

Common Dreams published an excellent article on 8/16/16 re the problem. Florida Keys Residents Resist Controversial GMO Mosquito Trial. Interesting reading.

An item in the article involves profit. Oxitec is a subsidiary of Intrexon. It is estimated Intrexon will profit $400 million if tests are successful and the GMO mosquitoes can be sold nation wide. The only test scheduled in the United States is Key Haven.

Trump gets his first intelligence briefing today. I fear he will not be able to keep secret that which he learns. I visualize him at some future date spouting of during a speech something he learned at one of the briefings. The man is a loose cannon, not stable.

My column in this week’s KONK Life is Mommy, I’m Hungry. The story of starvation in Venezuela. Hits the stands later today. Recommended reading.

Enjoy your day!

 

SCHOONER WHARF and WATERFRONT BREWERY

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Last night was my only time out yesterday.

Schooner Wharf and Waterfront Brewery. Drinks at Schooners and calamari at the Brewery.

A quiet evening.

Early afternoon watched Trump’s speech. Thought it was going to be a foreign policy talk. Not. Turned out to be primarily about ISIS.

The talk contained nothing new. Discussed by him in the past. Many parts erroneous. His basic thrust he was going to stop ISIS. Details few as to how.

I suspect he wrote the speech himself.

A lot of nothing. All bones, no meat.

Brought to mind one of the passages from Macbeth. The passage deals with life and death. However has application to Trump and what he says. “…..a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Trump is on trial in federal court in West Palm Beach. The trial started yesterday. A civil suit. Breach of contract. $6 billion by unhappy golf club members. Trump testified yesterday. By a recorded deposition made in April 2015.

Most of my day time hours were spent preparing for tonight’s podcast. My blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. As usual, a fast moving half hour of interesting topics. Some revealing.

The show begins at 9 my time. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Topics include Argentina’s two recent victories in battles with Monsanto, a “Deputy of the Year” who raped three girls, Malia Obama’s purported pot smoking, US presently in four ground wars, DEA continues to claim cannabis has no medical value, 6 year old Chicago student handcuffed for taking candy off teacher’s desk, Merkel on the downslide, recollections of Woodstock, the Venezuela famine, and more.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

FLAG FLOWN UPSIDE DOWN FREE SPEECH

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It bothers me when I see someone in our country or in a foreign one desecrating the American flag. Like burning and stomping. Gets to me.

The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that such conduct is not criminal. It is the expression of free speech. Constitutionally protected.

Homer Martz is an Iowa farmer. Conservative, God fearing, patriotic. A Chinese pipeline was laid next to his well. No one told Martz it was coming close or that close to his well.

Martz opted to protest. No one would hear him. He hung the American flag upside down. Not to show disrespect. To be heard. Note that the flag pole had been there. He daily flew the American flag.

He felt he had been denied due process because of the failure to advise, give him an opportunity to complain, etc.

Martz was arrested. Iowa law makes it a misdemeanor to misuse in any fashion the American flag. The word misuse is mine. The statute actually has a number of instances where the conduct is considered illegal.

Sticking specifically to the law,  the arrest is a bum one. Again, the Supreme Court in two instances said American flag desecration is constitutionally protected free speech.

I address Martz’s problem for a reason. State and local governments should have known Martz’s conduct was proper. Failing in that regard to do so now subjects Martz to the expense of an attorney, his personal loss of time from his farm work, the taxpaying public  forced to pick up a prosecutor’s bill, a Judge’s expense, and salaries for a full court staff.

The Iowa law should have been removed from the books years ago.

I consider today a significant one in American history. President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act this day in 1935.

I am confident I will receive a number of negative comments re my position concerning Social Security.

Sixty years from now someone will be writing as I have here regarding the Affordable Care Act.

Has to be difficult be a President’s child! There is a video floating around the internet claiming to show Malia smoking a joint. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

Melia was in a group of peers at some event where everyone was jumping and yelling. Kid stuff. Something persons her age do.

As to the toke, I question whether true. The video has only a quick shot of Malia. It is her. Took all of a second and gone. The toke part not clear. At all. Very interpretive she was smoking pot.

If true, I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when Michelle addressed the issue with Malia.

Worked with Sloan yesterday afternoon. Learning the new cell phone, utilizing it together with the computer, etc. A pain in the ass for me. I call it mechanical retardation. Generational.

Some of my readers commented the phrase was incorrect. Technologically retarded appropriate.

Whatever, it is still hard for me. And I am sure others of my generation.

It was Tavern ‘n Town last night. I decided to skip Lobsterfest. Let me share two reasons why.

Summer festival time with stands and shoulder to shoulder crowds, etc. on Duval is a steam bath. Twenty degrees warmer. Body heat. Pictures in this morning’s Key West Citizen show the crowd.

The other reason is that I am not a fan of Florida lobster. I prefer Maine lobster. Not being a snob. Florida lobster is tougher and has a different taste.

I read somewhere this week that the Maine lobster which is available for purchase at Publix is cheaper per pound than the Florida lobster.

What that means besides cheaper, I don’t know. Just sharing.

Ran into an old Syracuse University friend at Tavern ‘n Town. Steve. We had dinner together. Several years back when Steve was not so busy, he used to join me for Syracuse basketball games.

Met Katie Sottak. Steve introduced me. She is a hostess at Tavern ‘n Town. A lovely personable young lady. Twenty seven. Originally from New Hampshire. Has lived in Key West three years.

Her real love is art. Her works are presently being shown at Island Wynds Gallery on Simonton. The gallery next door to Books & Books.

The Hackley baby continues to concern me. I wish Hackley would write the baby’s name in his diary once so we would know.

Today’s problem as described by Hackley was wind and pain. He gave the baby some gin.

The gin thing does not shock me. All families have home remedies that have come down over the years. I recall when my sister Joan was teething. My mother would pour a little Canadian Club over her finger and then rub the finger over Joan’s gums.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

 

 

SQUARE GROUPER / COFFEE BUTLER

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A pleasant afternoon and early evening yesterday.

Visited with a friend in Sugarloaf. Then to an early dinner at the Square Grouper.

The company good! The place special! The meal outstanding!  Enjoyed fried oysters and a crispy fried hogfish.

Tonight special, also. Coffee Butler sings!

Coffee was born and raised in Key West. Sang all over the island. Retired in 2oo5.

Tonight, he and many others will sing soul. Key West soul. The show is called A Night of Key West Soul. A similar show was held last year. A hit! Tonight’s should be also.

Many local luminaries will join with Coffee. One is my friend Tom Luna. He joins with Will Thompson in singing Who Put the Pepper in the Vaseline. One example of Key West soul.

Tonight at 7 at the Key West Theater on Eaton.

This afternoon Sloan. Tons of little things to work on.

Tonight, I am not sure. Either Tavern ‘n Town or Duval for Lobsterfest.

Enjoy your day!

SCREW OFF WEDNESDAY

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Wednesday again. Screw off Wednesday for me. Starts my three day weekend.

I do have a bit of work this evening for about an hour, however. Around six. Sloan will stop in. Miscellaneous things to deal with. Will go out when she leaves.

Spent parts of yesterday fine tuning last night’s podcast. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Did the show at 9. Trump and Hillary took up the first half. I could not avoid political talk. Especially after Trump’s comment re the Second Amendment and Hillary.

I was watching live on TV. My immediate reaction was that Trump was espousing doing away with Hillary. My vision was Klu Klux Klanners in the night, guns drawn, riding to attack her.

An early dinner at Roostica. Holly Ann took care of me.

Discovered Holly Ann has had some interesting years. She lived two in Sicily. Said it was outstanding!

Country living. Drank a lot of wine, ate a lot of food, and just enjoyed.

Key West is located in Monroe Country. Monroe County announced its first Zika case. A woman in Marathon. Marathon is a 1.75 hour drive north from Key West.

The report indicated she did not acquire the disease here. She was infected while traveling outside the U.S.

I forgot about the Big Latch On. This past weekend. Women nationwide breast fed their children at the same time. The purpose to encourage breast feeding.

The event was held in Islamorada and Key West. Only 9 mothers and their infants participated. I thought their would be more.

Nationwide, 17,223 mothers breast fed. A record breaking number.

The Big Latch On leads easily into William Hackley’s life this date in 1855. His new born still suffering from a lack of milk. A Spanish woman was to have stepped in to breast feed tree times a day. No mention of her today.

What is mentioned is that Hackley bought a canister of solidified milk. $4.50.

Sounds like a forerunner of some sort of formula. Formula 1855.

The Department of Defense’s budget for fiscal year 2016 is $585.3 billion. Big bucks!

With all the dramatic tax cuts Trump is advocating, I wonder where the money would come from to meet such a Defense budget and all other budgets. Lower taxes require cuts in all budgets.

Enjoy your day!

 

EMOTIONAL

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I read a story in yesterday’s New York Times that touched me. To the point of tears. It may you, also.

Jeni Stephen was 16 when her father was murdered. She and her mother decided to donate his heart. They lived in Pennsylvania.

Arthur Thomas lay in a bed in a New Jersey hospital. Four days from death. He received the heart.

That was ten years ago.

Jeni’s mother and Arthur kept in touch over the years via Christmas cards and an occasional telephone call. They never met face to face. Nor did Jeni with Arthur.

Jeni was being married.

Jeni wanted Arthur to walk her down the aisle. Not in place of her father. As her father in a sense. Her father’s heart lie in Arthur’s chest.

Saturday, Jeni walked down the aisle  on Arthur’s arm. When they reached the point where they were in front of the altar and Arthur was to hand Jeni over to her husband to be, Jeni raised her hand and placed it on Arthur’s chest.

She was touching her father.

The Key West Citizen made an excellent decision when it opted to run William Hackley’s diary. His 1855 Key West life.

Not merely interesting, Hackley’s story is educational. It exposes every day life from another era. One we do not know as much about as we thought.

The little things.

William’s wife Matilda had a baby. Back in those days, the mother’s breast was the source of milk. Sustenance.

Matilda was not producing enough milk. The baby in trouble. William bought a goat from Havana. The goat ran dry. Then a Mrs. Hew breast fed the baby. She ran dry. Baby was then on starch and water.

Today’s entry advises a new source of milk. A Spanish woman. She has agreed to breast feed the baby three times a  day.

Lets hope her milk supply holds out.

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

Interesting topics. Like a recent study indicating that 81 percent of persons living today are living poorer than their parents, Miami’s attempts to fight Zika, pesticide Nald being used, and FDA gives approval to use GM mosquitoes on a test basis in Key west suburb Key Haven.

Plus, Hillary has physical problems that need to be revealed, a new third party candidate, sex scandals in the Secret Service, a Federal court denying Libertarian and Green Party candidates the right to participate in Presidential debates, Swedish refugees scheduled for deportation disappearing, and more.

Last night began with a manicure at 5 with Tammy. She and husband Ricky do a big business. The place was packed. Fortunately, I had an appointment.

Then to Aqua for the Dueling Bartenders.

Tom Luna behind the bar. Dressed as Tom Luna. The two drag bartenders Goddess Galore and Beatrix Dixie.

I have mentioned previously that Rick Dery is a marvelous Goddess Galore.

Beatrix Dixie new to Aqua. Only a couple of weeks. Wow! He/she could fool me! Tall, thin, an ass, great breasts, lovely face, and a lovely blond wig I could not tell was a wig.

No, I am not jumping the fence. However, Beatrix is a rare beauty.

Sheila was at the other end of the bar. She came over, looked at Beatrix, and said…..Would you believe? First time she had seen Beatrix.

John Nolte was sitting with Sheila. She introduced us. A Key West resident six years. From the Chicago area. Radio stations a big part of his former life.

A nice guy. Look forward to running into him again.

My choices for dinner were crispy duck at La Te Da, a prime rib at Outback, or the Chinese restaurant in the Sears Shopping Center. Chinese won out. I enjoyed egg drop soup,orange chicken, and conversation with a lovely Asian waitress.

I listened to Trump’s economic talk at noon yesterday. He was cutting everyone’s taxes. All I could think was how would we run the government? There would not be enough money.

Enjoy your day!

 

FRUSTRATION SELF INDUCED

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I was 95 percent finished with the rough draft of this week’s KONK Life column yesterday afternoon. Mommy, I’m Hungry. About Venezuela’s starving children. All of a sudden, the screen was blank.

I must have hit a wrong key. Went to retrieve the column. Good luck!
Nowhere to be found.

Called Sloan and had her search. No luck.

Frustrated I was. No question.

It took 3 hours to draft the material lost. It would take me another 3 hours to rewrite. Then edit. Another 1.5 hours. I already had 3 hours in. No way. I did not have it in me to do. I was already tired.

So…..There will be no KONK Life column this week. Mommy, I’m Hungry will appear the following week. My apologies.

I watched the Olympics off and on yesterday. Not long. I could not get into it.

Early evening drove to Walgreens. Out of my acid reflux pills. It was 6:10. Pharmacy closed. Now closes at 6 on saturdays and sundays.

Then to Hogfish. Sat at bar. Watched some Olympic basketball. Enjoyed fish and chips. Hogfish fish and chips.

The Hackley saga for today. Mrs. Hews can no longer breast feed the baby. She is drying up. Matilda cannot. The Havana goat was dry. What to do next? Starch. Hackley reported the baby was taking to it.

Starch mixed with water is what mothers are feeding their babies in Venezuela. Makes for a full stomach. Not healthy, however.

Think how lucky we are. How far we have come. If a mother cannot breast feed, there are all kinds of baby formulas on store shelves.

This weekend’s newspapers uniformly mentioned that the FDA had approved testing for Zika in the Florida keys. The whole world may be thrilled. I am not. My message: Stay out of my back yard!

I forgot all about Battle of the Bars.

Somewhere this weekend, I came across mention of John Keats. Poet supreme! He died at the age of 25 in 1821. In Rome.

Thirty five years ago, I accidentally came across his home/the place where he died. I was walking around Rome. In the area as the Spanish Steps. The first building on one side of the Steps had a small dated bronze sign. Home of John Keats. A two or three story building.

I went inside. Walked to the top floor. Saw Keats’ bedroom. The place where he died. The rest of the floor was a museum of sorts.

Among the observable items were a number of original Keats’ works. His poems handwritten on crumbled paper. Under glass, of course.

I found the experience exciting and moving.

Big talk on TV this morning re a third party candidate with Republican dissident backing. Morning Jo said it’s for real. He received two telephone calls. The announcement supposedly will be made at noon.

During these days in 1975, Vice President Spiro Agnew came under attack. It was claimed that he accepted kick backs from contractors while Maryland governor.

He subsequently resigned.

Agnew was a hard ass. I think that is why Nixon selected him to run as Vice President. These were the days of campus unrest. Agnew frequently spoke out against the demonstrations. In tough guy fashion.

I never liked Agnew. For two reasons.

He constantly used big words. His vocabulary excellent. Much better than mine. It was as if he was trying to impress people all the time.

The other reason is that out of law school he became an Allstate Insurance adjuster. Allstate was a rotten company back then. Despicable the manner in which they ran their claims department. No respect for anything or anyone.

To this day, I think of Agnew as an Allstate adjuster rather than Vice President or crook.

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni had an interesting comment re Trump in a recent column. The thrust of the column was that the GOP was indulging Trump.

Bruni stated in his last paragraph that America “…..needs a grown-up who honors our values, not a brat who shreds them.”

Peggy Noonan wrote a column in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal re whether Trump was crazy. Her last paragraph introduced me to the word kakistocracy. Never had heard it before. From the Greek. Noonan said, “It means government by the worst persons, by the least qualified or most unprincipled.” Suggesting we might be on our way there if Trump were to be elected.

Enjoy your day!

A DAY LIKE ALL DAYS

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Busy yesterday. Did nothing out of the ordinary, however.

Started with a noon haircut appointment with Lori. Always a pleasure to spend time with Lori. Fifteen plus years now.

The Cuban Coffee Queen is around the corner from Blown Away. The heat/humidity too heavy to eat outside. Decided to pick up some things at Publix and feed myself at home.

Driving the Publix motivation was the fact that I had been dreaming for a couple of days of a home prepared chicken sandwich.

Bought a lemon pepper chicken.

Lunch was the desired chicken sandwich. A large soft roll. A thick slice of white chicken breast. Covered with a slice of tomato. A bit of salt and pepper. Then mayonnaise.

A dream come true!

Screwed around on the computer in the afternoon searching for a KONK column topic to do. Came up with nothing that excited me.

The Chart Room first last night. John told me Tom and Fran had been in earlier looking for me. Telephoned them. They were at Kermit’s enjoying key lime pie. Told me they would shortly join me.

Spent some time with Tom and Fran enjoying a couple of drinks. Then they were off to do sunset. Knew one of the entertainers and wanted to visit with him. The man with the cats jumping through hoops of fire.

I went across the street to the Hot Tin Roof for dinner. Enjoyed lamb chops again.

Joseph still on the mend. There is a new general manager. JP. We were introduced.

The Noble Group is not screwing Joseph. As I understand, there is an office job awaiting him when he returns.

Joseph has graduated from a walker to two canes. Progress slow.

Hello Jim Wenzel! Close friend of Tom Dixon. Both Buffalo bred. Jim now resides in Tampa. Tom told me he turned Jim on to the blog and he now reads it daily.

Welcome and thank you, Jim!

On the way back to my car, I passed the Chart Room. Ollie was at the bar. One of the heroes of the Zika test spraying fight. I stopped in to congratulate him. He believes Key Haven will defeat the test spraying proposal.

This week’s KONK Life column is German Persecution of Jews. It was carried this morning on E-Blast and also linked to my Key West Lou column. www.keywestlou.com.

My conscience Patrick posted a comment yesterday morning. He wanted to know why I had not commented on the $4 million/Iran/hostage situation. Simple. I only had the first blast of news. Accusatory. Did not make sense. Thought I should wait a day to see how the story played out.

Glad I delayed. Nothing wrong occurred.

Better safe than sorry. I concede I occasionally jump the gun. Rarely however. Sorry when I do.

Trump was terrific. Claimed he saw the whole thing on video. There was no video. He still kept saying he saw it on video.

Ronald Reagan was a tough guy.

On this day in 1981, he fired 11,359 air controllers. None to ever be rehired. When they struck and walked out two days earlier, he gave them 48 hours to return to work.

The union thought it was calling Reagan’s bluff. no way. He called theirs.

Reagan’s action was the beginning of the fall of union dominance in the United States.

Enjoy your day!