It’s amazing the things that can take you back in time in your memories.
Sometimes it’s just a simple something that sparks a memory.
Like yesterday for me.
I was driving through Big Pine, something I do a lot of, and a song came on the radio that I haven’t heard in a number of years. There’s probably a reason for that, like the song wasn’t that popular when it was around, or it just doesn’t get aired that often since I listen to either old rock-n-roll or country most of the time.
But this was an old Otis Redding tune. Hopefully there are more folks than me out there that remember Otis Redding. Until R&B went hip-hop or reggae or funk or whatever it is they call it today, I was a great fan of old Motown music. I’m still a great fan of old Motown music.
It had been one heck of a night.
Circuit Court Judge David Audlin did no one any favors last month when he punted the decision on the potential electrification of No Name Key to the Public Service Commission.
All sides were looking for clarity from the courts in the quagmire that has become the decades-long fight to electrify the remote island off the northeast shore of Big Pine Key.
Even though it doesn’t seem that way to me, there is actually a lot of work that goes into bringing you this weekly newspaper.
For me it’s a labor of love. For the rest of our tiny staff, it’s a job with nice working conditions and not much pay. For my beautiful wife, it’s simply supporting me in a life-long love affair with something other than her.
And I’m selfish enough to say thank you.
Two bills are currently working their way through the state Legislature that could have some dire consequences for Monroe County residents in the future.
Both and House bill and a Senate bill are being discussed that would prohibit local governments from requiring a developer to obtain and needed state and federal concurrence for the project before acting on the building application.
And that would immediately shoot down any hope Monroe County might have of shifting the burden for first-line enforcement of the federal Endangered Species Act to the federal agencies with whom it should reside.
Yours truly has discovered that he is suffering from high cholesterol counts.
Yes, I am aware of the dangers of high cholesterol at my age. That doesn’t mean I’m necessarily overly concerned, although I know I should be concerned.
And I really try to ensure that I’ll still be around in 20 years to enjoy making my kids and grandkids miserable with the need to take care of me for a change.
So it is with much regret that I have embarked on a new diet. I want to avoid medication if I can, first because I’m a cheap SOB when it comes to spending money on me and don’t want to spend the money on medication, and second because I’m also a forgetful SOB and would just forget to take it anyway.
So we did a little research into dietary needs to help lower cholesterol.
I was really bummed.
Election season has begun to heat up in the Florida Keys and this promises to be an exceptionally busy year with races of local importance as well as the selection of a President.
As if I didn’t have enough reasons to dislike cats, the cat that has been adopted by our commercial strip has given me more.
I don’t know if I’ve ever fully explained my aversion to cats. The reasons are many.
First, I find it impossible to deal with the attitude of cats. They will only show people attention when the cat is darned good and ready. You can’t show a cat any affection unless the cat deems you worthy.
Second, cats like to play, but they are also pranksters. The last cat we had, which my lovely wife talked me into bringing home despite my aversion to cats, would hide under the stairs and take pot shots at my feet as I walked up or down.
He usually connected, leaving small claw marks all over my feet.
Third, cats make me sneeze.
Fourth, I used to wake up in the middle of the night sweating like a workout king because the cat would be wrapped around my head.
Fifth, many years ago I let someone else talk me into bringing a cat home. That cat was the devil incarnate. It would jump onto the end table and knock off the lamp just because it wanted to. It would jump on the dinner table and sniff your plate. No amount of squirt-gun training ever broke that cat of that habit.
And finally, that same devil cat once burnt my house nearly to the ground. Continue reading ‘So many reasons to dislike cats’
Monroe County officials are still waiting to hear from regional Federal Emergency Management Agency staffers what they think of the county’s position on the mandated extension of the pilot inspection program for downstairs enclosures.
As the year closed, FEMA regional staff notified the county that it had not made significant enough progress on the nine-year-old program to inspect homes with lower level enclosures prior to renewal or purchase of flood insurance.
And it said the program would be extended until 2013 so the county could force compliance with the inspection program on the folks remaining who the federal agency felt needed to be inspected.
Gentlemen, every year I try and do my level best to warn you of “The Holiday That Must Not Be Missed.”
This particular holiday, which if missed can cause you loads of grief for an entire year, happens at the same time every year. It’s kind of like Christmas. It happens on the same date of the same month year after year after year.
And yet, there are still those among us who forget this particular holiday. And there are still those among us that pay for that oversight with really ticked off significant others for the entire next year until this holiday rolls around again and we get a chance to redeem ourselves.
The holiday of which I speak is Valentine’s Day.
For the counties in Florida that take growth management seriously, which are primarily the smaller, rural counties with environmentally sensitive areas—yes like Monroe—the state is trying to force them to play catch up.
A bill currently making its way through the state Legislature would prohibit local governments from requiring concurrency updates from developers seeking to build, build and build some more.
The prohibition comes down hardest on transportation concurrency, a term for making sure that vehicles can traverse the existing road system in a reasonable period before more, and more, and more building can take place.
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