work sheet2

Windstorm insurance rates went up AGAIN, substantially, effective 7/1/04.I haven't gotten my renewal bill yet...my policy expires in November. I do know that shutters still get a credit, but the credit might be eaten up by the rate increase. By the way, I am also an insurance agent and can vouch for the fact that wind & flood rates are the same with every agency. Same info in...same rate out. If you are getting a lower rate on wind & flood please be sure you are comparing "apples for apples."

Wow, has any one tried the pizza at the Big Pine House of Music? (the old Sharks Reef) The best pizza in town bar none. Kudos to the new owners. The place is starting to look better. Keep up the good work . You have a new regular customer!

The only wind insurance available here in the keys is Citizens, which was supposed to have a cap on increases. The first year Habitat (for Humanity) installed the hurricane shutters they gave me a rebate of $200.00, and was told my insurance will be less. Well, guess what? I'm paying the same amount as someone without shutters and was told because the insurance is rated differently now, I'm not seeing the reduction, that I have. How do you like that double talk? I would like to hear some prices out there. $140.000.00 policy=$1,400.00 per yr.

If your hibiscus are getting munched overnight, might that be the deer? If so, there's a harmless spray to discourage that, or Irish Spring soap on a stake works pretty well.

Re: Our Lady of Key Deer Blvd - As a suggestion: Perhaps a donation cup to put money toward a nice meal from the Piners or maybe get one of the restaurants to do something similar.

OK, I'll try again. I asked this about a week ago and no one responded. Does anyone notice the obnoxious van parked in the vacant lot next to Winn-Dixie on Wilder?

Does anyone else care that that piece of crap stays parked there and now displays "SH_T" on the side? How does it get removed?

To answer the questioner looking for a good insurance company. I strongly recommend Bill Danaher at Johnson's Insurance Agency in Marathon. When I moved to the Keys 7 years ago I stumbled into him and he has always been there to answer my questions, save me money, and make sure I was paid after Hurricane Georges. His office number is: 294-5248.

Regarding the asked for advice on low wind, homeowners and flood insurance. As a homeowner I suggest you ask your mortgage holder. Then buy what is required. Then put the extra money into making your home more wind resistant. That would entail making sure your roof is tied down more than is required. Hurricane shutters are key and are available at all price ranges. If you can't, or won't, buy extruded aluminum panels then Habitat for Humanity may be able to help you. It is not if we will be hit again, but when. Good luck to you as you sound like a newcomer. Oh, I almost forgot the generator. A MUST-have.

Just a big thank you to the Lady of Key Deer Blvd. She is out there every day in this heat-wave picking up trash. I think the community should give her some sort of citation for her good efforts. What are your thoughts out there?

Requesting Local Advice Please. What Company is the Best Wind Insurance for the money? Best Homeowners?

Best Flood Insurance Company? Thanks for all the good referrals we get here on Kudos!

The Gang Plank was most certainly a Laundromat. It was never a dive shop.

Two things to say: The OOH so cute pizza boy from 2 for $20 Got into a car accident. Someone just ran through a stop sign and killed his front bumper. Please help me help him fix it - and tip well!

#2: To the anyone that was posting arrest logs - thats what www.keysso.net is for. Please help keep BigPineKey.com Clean!

Today's mugshot arrest of Tussa Hatton. Failure to appear for a felony arrest.

No one said the Raptors would kill all the iguanas--just thin them out. You sound like one of those people that move to the wilderness and then want to take the wilderness out of the picture. By the way, I hope I don't catch you shooting one. Unless you are a perfect shot and kill with one shot, you could go to jail for cruelty to animals.

Yes, evidently you do have a different kind of hibiscus. It sounds like it needs fertilizing or watering or something if you haven't seen a flower in over a year. The iguanas don't eat at night (go to bed with the sun and get up with the sun), so unless you don't get out of bed until mid day, you would have flowers in the morning, before they get a chance to eat them. And by the way, SHE has about six hibiscus plants, all loaded with flowers every morning!

Hey, those iguanas go for big bucks in the mainland pet shops! Maybe local gov't. can work out a fund raising project.

I'm so tired of people complaining about so many petty things...realtor signs, barking dogs, con artists...now the iguanas come up again. Leave the iguanas alone! I guarantee that most of those plants that you say they are eating are EXOTIC plants you planted...so let's see, you're talking about an exotic animal eating an exotic plant...so, what's your point?

We planted native trees, shrubs, etc., in our yard. I guarantee that at any time of the day, you could count one to two dozen iguanas around our yard, and we have a beautiful yard full of plants and trees. If you plant a young tree, just put a wire "cage" around and over it, until it gets big enough that they will leave it alone. They like the fresh young shoots coming out and young plants. We actually planted some hibiscus in the yard for the iguanas, and the more flowers they eat, the more flowers spring out the next day.

Don't worry...within the next month, you will see the numbers diminish, as the raptors (hawks) will start their migration through the Keys, and iguanas are on the menu...Mother Nature taking care of herself.

Good procedure with the "unedited ramblings". It lets the curious check it out till they figure out what a waste of time it is. Spares those who already know, yet gives the 'author' a vent. Sometimes I think it's too bad they made computers so easy and affordable.

Ed, kudos to you for putting insane ramblings in their own category. Some people have been on the rock too long! If he thinks things are bad here just go someplace else and see if they got it any better.

Before the Gangplank it was a dive shop, but it was actually built to be a Laundromat (never opened as such.)

The Big Pine Key Moose has also done their part in the Hurricane Charley recovery process. Thanks to my Brothers and Sisters at the Moose.

Hey ED: I got you beat. You forgot about it being a laundermat and then Jacks Sub Shack before it became the GANGPLANK. Then it became the ect.

Restaurant review: Anyone out there know if the Cracked Egg is under new owners? Went there for lunch and was very disappointed my sandwich was terrible. It seemed like all new people were there too.

VOLUNTEER Fire Rescue Dept. and Parmers Resort: Our special thanks to some of the Keys finest for giving their time helping those in need at Pine Island. I,for one, am proud to know that we have such dedicated individuals within our surrounding area. Accolades and applause. This, my friends, is what the Keys is all about.

Once again Big Pine fire house has come to the rescue. I'm sure the people of Pine Island are ever so grateful to them and Parmers Place. I'm proud to be part of such a giving community.

Kit O'Connor made allegations against someone else not too long ago, of miss-appropriation of funding that were audited and proven false. The new board of the Chamber is attempting to straighten out the Chamber, and O'Connor was hired to help. She was hired by the Board and she has to work with the board to help improve issues at the Chamber. If she quit over this little squabble with the board then she is not the best person for the job. She can't handle it. If you read what O'Connor said in the article, you would notice that her statements contradicted themselves, as to the fact she was ok with the board's decision, but didn't like the fact that the overpaid women didn't offer to pay the money back. Seems to me that she had a few cocktails and then called the reporter and gave her story. When she was hired at the Chamber I knew she was the worst person for the job.

CENTURY 21'S sign is probably smaller than it is allowed to be. The counties sign ordinance allows a signs square footage to be based on how much street frontage there is for the property. So since they are fronted along US-1 and Wilder Rd. they can have a huge sign if they wanted, and probably larger and uglier too. Also seeing as how I have been here since the 70's I remember the old sign being just as large except that it was a painted sign, that always seemed to be peeling... now talk about ugly.

Hokey Pokey forever! Where is the Big Pine Music Bar? Better yet, what was it before?
(Ed: Dockside, Black Swan, Capt. Annies, Shark Reef, etc. Now the House of Music)

Re: electric dog collar. When Tussa or a Burglar come prowling on your property in the middle of the night, your dog won't bark because it doesn't want to get shocked / beaten. At least there will be some Karma.

Barking Dogs. How about the squawking birds that live in cages outdoors? Shall the owners shock them too? What about when my significant other starts barking, is there a shock collar for this person?

So, where are we supposed to walk our dogs when we go down our street and it "sets off" seven barkers, except the dogs who get shocked? I am open to your reasonable suggestions. Do you see many folks dog-walking down Key Deer? No.

My dog only barks when someone is at the door and it is not a chain-link-fence-yard-dog who is bored without toys and walks.

I consider myself a thoughtful neighbor and was helping them during Charley & I walk the dog down my street and in my 'hood'. It is out of my control that the other dogs bark when we walk by & this is no reason to stop taking walks which adds to the canine lifespan.

Don't forget the funraiser for Luther at Key Deer Inn. Anyone know what is wrong with Luther? I do miss him on the radio.

Everybody wants to send kudos to some one who is doing something for the victims of hurricane Charley. Funny how no one dares mention that the Big Pine VOLUNTEER Fire Rescue Dept. and Parmers Resort took a strike team up to Pine Island and VOLUNTEERED their time and physical labor to help the victims of Pine Island recover from hurricane Charley. I think these guys and girls deserve our thanks and admiration.

An extra $100.00 a week. Are they hiring at the Chamber? It is ridiculous that someone would not notice that on their check.

The Big Pine House of Music got some bar tenders and the place is rockin'

I am sure the Century Twenty-One sign has been there longer than most you whiners have, my father built that building in the mid 70's it used to be Bareger & Gibson real estate. If you don't know who either was quit your bitching because the sign has been there since then, all it has done is changed names.

To the arborist @ CoCo's Kitchen please go home and leave our, yes our, tropical fruits alone. I just shop there, eat there and rent movies there. Fruits grow naturally. Thieves are born.

Perry (McLain) had surgery on Aug. 16th to have a small cancerous polyp removed from his colon. The surgery was a great success. He will have a full recovery in 4 to 6 weeks if we can keep him down that long. Thanks for the Prayers.

All you morons and immature people who have a hard-on for this Tussa guy, get a life. Were sick of reading about him.

I See TUSSA had a story about him in the citizen's voice section Sunday. Way to go TUSSA! You've made the paper in the big city!

I wanted to say a special thanks to Big Pine Pizza for their back to school Special: 2 Pizza's 2 Top., 1 Lb. Wing's, 2 Lit. Pepsi for $21.48. Sure has saved me time in the kitchen.

Kudos to Catherine O'Connor for having the guts to bring this example of mismanagement at the Lower Keys Chamber to the public's attention! Ms. Herlehy explained it away as not noticing the extra $400 a month because of having many payroll deductions. However, didn't she notice her W-2 at the end of the year, which would show the gross wages of being $5000 more than they should be. Come on, Ms. Herlehy.

And in their typical fashion, whenever anyone dares to criticize the Chamber, they reciprocate with slander towards that person. Carol Fisher, the previous exec. director, said that her replacement was "blowing smoke" to cover up the fact that she couldn't handle the job. Pllluuueeeeezzzze! It's because of Carol Fisher's rudeness that I quit participating at the Chamber's auction.

My only regret is that Ms. O'Connor didn't stay in the position to clean things up, but I guess one person can't fight city hall (oops, that's what they wanted it to be after the incorporation battle). I think further investigation is in order.

I agree Pizza Works has gone down hill. The only one who can make a good pizza is Tony and I don't know if he is still working there. The pizza is always undercooked. This is a thriving business if you know how to work it. Apparently the new owners know nothing about the restaurant business. You need a good cook, friendly wait staff, and fresh & tasty food .

Thank you Steve Miller. You are going to heaven for sure.

Stay away from Tussa and get a dish. I have one and was watching TV when Comcast went out 5 times this week.

Winn Dixie has donated there Sarasota warehouse to the Red Cross to be used as a distribution center. They also donated 90,000 cases of water. They are a leader in neighbor-helping-neighbor. Thank you Winn Dixie.

Hi, you all. We are currently Key West residents getting ready to move to Big Pine. I'm very excited about becoming a Piner! I'm so glad that I found this website - now I know to look out for this Tussa guy! Question: should we go ahead and get a dish or go with cable? I know the cable down in Key West goes out all the time. Whadya think? Thanks in advance!

My God, Don't you people have anything better to worry about. The Century 21 sign has been there since they built the building. Instead of bitching about the sign and how much you don't like it, why don't you think about the beautiful Christmas lights that they put up every year to the delight of all the children on Big Pine. If you looked more at the positive sides of things instead of the negative you might become happier people!

Enough with the Tussa Hatten overkill already. Has anyone of you thought of how his children must feel? Does he have parents? Come on Piners. We are not so unfeeling as to constantly harp to no end. As for finding another village idiot to pick on please don't. It most assuredly affects innocent people. Why can't we have more Kudos and less Whiners? Can't we all just get along?

Somebody needs to do something about the extremely rude manager (Debbie) at Pizza Works. Perhaps the new owner needs to screen her employees more carefully, or not leave town when she only has one delivery person.

Last night at 7:45 I called Pizza Works with a simple order: 1 chicken Parm sub and 1 chicken Philly w/mushrooms. Easy? Not! At about 9:00 I called back to find the destiny of my two sandwiches to find out that "they were on their way, and that they only had one driver". This has been happening a lot lately. Had I known about the sole driver I would have gladly driven the 3 miles to pick up my own sandwiches. I had hungry kids to feed and it was getting quite late.

At 9:45pm the sandwiches finally showed up. Cold and burnt. One of the sandwiches wasn't even what I had ordered. It was a regular Philly cheesesteak that looked just disgusting. I wouldn't have fed it to my dogs. Needless to say they got another phone call, this time from my very agitated boyfriend. He asked to speak with the manager. She (Debbie) became quite rude and said that "we're closed" and hung up. HUNG UP!

We called again. Now, nobody would pick up the phone. We have been ordering from Pizza Works for many years, sometimes twice a week. I have been a faithful customer and a good tipper. So, I must say "I'm sorry" to the delivery person for the $1 tip. It was not his fault, but the fault of mismanagement and poor customer services.

Take notice, Pizza Works, please don't do as Winn Dixie and make your subs on day-old

bread. I had what could have been a delicious sub at your place yesterday, except for the

fact the bread was stale. Feed the old bread to the chickens not the customers.

Re: Remove that ugly Century 21 sign ... Ditto ... My vote is to remove the sign. It is way too big, does not do justice to the beauty of our community and should go! I remember the 1st time I saw it ... I thought anyone who would clutter Big Pine Key with such a ridiculously large sign should not get my business. It's like littering. Does not look good and brings the place down. If a sign has to be there why not a shopping center sign instead?

That's the 4 different people you've called Tussa in 24 hours. Get it right if your gonna' show a picture. Those other people are in jail but don't condemn them to be Tussa, that's the ultimate disgrace.

There's a different picture every time I look at the mug shot that was placed the 18th changes every time I log on. What gives? The picture I sent you is right and so is the one on the 11th.

Don't forgive TUSSA he's unforgivable. You give him an inch and he takes a mile. Forgiveness is for those who are willing to make a change in their lives. That's not TUSSA.

Based on the picture that showed up today, Tussa may have had a sex change operation.

Actually that was pretty funny to watch. I checked back several times yesterday and Tussa was a blonde female, a black guy with dreds, an Hispanic older lady, and a couple different white guys. I suspect your website was picking up a different photo every time the local smokeys added a new booking.

OOPS! Don't know what happened, but the wrong picture got sent (Tussa Hatton). Attached is the right picture. Sorry.

I see local character Tussa can add "master of disguise" to his resume.

Which pix is the real Tussa the woodcutter? The one on 11 Aug '04 or the one on 16 Aug '04? You have to admit they look a little different.

Ahh...Way wrong picture of Tussa, and I have to say enough picking on him. Yea he screwed us too, but I've made lots of mistakes in my life and FORGIVENESS is what helped me change. Leave him alone now. I think we all know not to use his services for a while!

The picture of Tussa on August 18th is the wrong man. The information is correct, but that is not him. The picture from August 11, 2004 is Tussa.

Dear Dog Owners In Big Pine Key / Eden Pines,

Instead of placing Shock Collars on your "best friend" and HITTING your dogs when they bark as I walk down my street with my dog, perhaps you could keep them indoors and take them for walks once in awhile. Doggies bark. People have a right to walk their dogs down their streets at any time of the day or night.

Maybe you Nazi-dog-owners could adopt a nice, quiet Pussycat at a local Shelter since your dogs natural instincts are so bothersome to you and causes you to Inflict legal (SADLY) physical and emotional PAIN upon your barking dog.

BARK~BARK~BARK~BARK~BARK!

PINERS and Keys Residents - St. Peters Church is planning to deliver much needed supplies and aid in the cleanup for Charley victims and we are in need of RV's or campers to house the workers (for the weekend). Anyone willing to assist please e-mail kikikeys12@aol.com or please call the church if you can help. Let's make a real effort to help those who have helped us in the past. God bless!

Once again, Winn Dixie's has lost all frozen, perishable foods. How many thousands of food have they wasted? Every time the power goes down, they "lose everything." Three weeks or so the dairy coolers went down. They lost everything. It's a crime! I believe an investigation is in order. I have never seen the likes of it. Never at Publix or Albertson's and never in the real world grocery stores. With the loss in $ I would think they could have purchased the best generator money could buy. That's why us locals hate that store! All the hungry humans in the world and they "lose everything." Unbelievable!

FWC, aka Water Nazi's. It's time to clean up the derelict sunken boats in Pine Channel. By the way, where do their excrements go?

Edies Hallmark is not big enough for any fast food place just what we need another

restaurant. We have too many on Big Pine now and all are good places to eat.

Winn Dixie should take that store over, but the landlord is giving them a hard time.

I really enjoy your website and the cam, though I've only visited the Keys once. Sorry if I helped jam it up during the storm!

(Ed: Without you we wouldn't need the cam. Please visit often.)

Anyone out there want to go help the hurricane victims? It's getting organized at St. Peters church to take them supplies and help on Thursday. Please call them if you can go or offer something to take them.

They are a " flock" of "pigeons", even if you can't spell your computer can.

The "pigeons" live under the bridges on the tops of pilings.

Hear there might be a Wendy's coming to Winn Dixie plaza in old Hallmark space. Any comments?

I would like to point out that there is a minimum wage for non-tipped employees and a minimum wage for tipped employees, which is a much lower rate than that for non-tipped.

Tipping is not compulsory here in the US, although a lot of servers think it should be no matter how bad their service is. I tip very well for good service (20% plus), but if the service is not so good, I tip much less. If service is lousy, I leave a penny, so the server knows that I just didn't forget to tip them.

It probably was him. (Tussa) Same m.o.

A woman who lives on my street hired a woodcutter to trim some branches,

She only hired him because he needed money for food and had a little kid with him

After he trimmed a few trees he asked her what she was cooking.

He showed up later and asked if there was any left and she fed him. Was this the same guy?

Regarding the parking at Eckerd's, I wouldn't want you for a neighbor, nor your help during a hurricane.

You know there's too much blow in Coconutz bathroom for anybody to do that.

It is Sat. afternoon, our cable went out again, 2nd time in 2 days. I'm sure many people have the same trouble. I called Comcast 292-8376 and asked for credit for outage. They will give it to you for a whole day, no matter if its out for 1 min or hours. If everyone calls all the time they loose service. I think they would fix this recurring problem of outages. Please call them every time you loose service.

As a business owner on Big Pine Key, I just wanted everyone to know that Andy Griffiths was the ONLY person to remove his sign from our front lawn. There was a mandatory order to remove all signs and he did this personally on Thursday. I am now going to seriously consider his candidacy. Just to mention who didn't - Dixie, Kohl, Gootee, Roth - Thanks a lot.

I've been reading a lot of comments about tipping or the lack of it. However, no one seems to mention that the word "TIP" stands for "To Insure Promptness". There is a lot of lousy slow service out there, with lousy moods and attitude. The end result of poor service should be a diminished or no tip at all. However if the service is great and the server cheerful.... 20% is more than fair. Also, let us keep in mind if there are boys and girls bussing tables, the waiter or waitress also has to share their tips with them to the tune of 10%. Correct me if I am wrong.

IGNORANT PEOPLE. I never knew how many ignorant people there were in the Keys until I went to Eckerd Drug today (Friday 13th.). Seeing every parking spot filled including the space in front and across from the main door, I thought the store was filled with shoppers. I had to park down by Scotty's and walk up to the store. Once inside, there was only one person shopping...It appears that a bunch of thoughtless ignorant people simply chose to park, lock and leave their cars there because of the high groung. What jerks.

Don't complain too much about Charley not hitting us any harder after all the preparation. Keep all the shutters and plywood up, because Tropical Depression #5 has formed about where Charley did, and as of tonight, they are predicting it to follow the same path...yikes!

TUSSA HATTEN Sagas. Tussa came over after dark with his two small children collecting for a candy drive. I gave him $20.00 and mentioned that I would like some coconuts removed before hurricane season. The very next morning he banged on the door about 7AM, and said he needed me to front him $50.00 for some bogus emergency involving his father, and that he would do the tree within the week. I gave him $40.00 and he promptly disappeared for two months. He never turned in the candy money, and never delivered the candy. After a direct confrontation with the threat of criminal action, he handed me his "last $20.00" to cancel the candy deal, and said that he would take care of the tree the next day for the $40.00 that I had already given him. Two weeks later he claimed that he was having problems locating his extension ladder, but would bring it over in the car.

Eventually he cut the nuts and made a big pile on the vacant lot next to me, and once again said he would be back in the morning to clean up the mess. Two weeks later I picked it up myself. A couple of weeks after that he came back and in my absence entered my garage without my permission. He claimed that he was looking for the ladder when confronted by my spouse. I delivered the ladder to his girlfriend later that week.

Mr. Tussa has no excuse to enter my private property and is not welcome. He can be quite charming when he is working a scam. No matter how he smiles, or what song and dance he gives you, he is not to be trusted.

1. Not at all for the whole system....only isolated outages

Thanks to link to bitterwaitress website love it.

Hey, can you guess who didn't take down their political signs (because of the hurricane)?

Our fine Sheriff Roth and Susan Vernon for judge.

Their are still a few more up so think about it as we vote and the election sign was what flew through your window. I only named these 2 because they each have more than 6 signs still up in Big Pine. These signs are on wire posts that will also flatten your tires.

Hey, maybe Charley will blow away Vic Anderson's construction debris and open the plugged canals!

I hope 1:55 is correct. It's too hot without a/c

If you've ever worked as a bartender or waitress, you automatically over-tip and thank your lucky stars that you're not working in such an unhealthy and dysfunctional

environment. Personally, I'd rather be a Go-Go dancer prostitute than to be a Servant (yes) to mostly cheap people whose generosity or lack thereof pays my salary.

I have seen Tip Cups out at Starbucks and the now closed-up Dollar Shop next to Beals in Key West. Now THAT bothers me... tipping a cashier!

Correction: The Little Palm Wait Staff are paid an hourly wage of $2.25/hr and they are worked like mules!

I don't know Tussa but I too suspect a drug problem and agree with the post that perhaps he is in a bad situation and needs help. Maybe the public humiliation of this site and his photo being here will be just what he needs to realize that.

Somebody said on the 8/2 something about shopping before the WINN DIXIE was built... Let's get Big Pine Geography right please.... Pitts was where Another Realty is now, not where the Quick Mart is. That used to be JENS, even though the food at PITTS was really expensive, they did have really good meats there. And it used to be an adventure shopping. Even Marathon didn't have that many choices as far as shopping was concerned. How about the Emporium? The Sapodilla? How many of us passed out in front of Dicks Bayside and woke up with permanent marker pictures? A favorite pastime of mine was sitting in the muddy dirt that is now Winn Dixie's parking lot (on lawn chairs) and watching the tanned bodies of the guys doing the construction of the building.

HI YA'LL ,, JUST MAKING SURE YOU GOT MY ADDRESS CHANGE to realroyboy@aol.com primary and still at onerealroyboy@yahoo.com --secondary. Thanks for your understanding . R Balroyboy@aol.com Prererimary---realroyboy@aol.com

Now that I have told a lot of people to look at the new webcam if they want to see what our weather looks like, I have a question.

Can we make guesses about how much wind the thing can take before it blows off the roof ? I bet on 36 miles an hour.. I wonder if we will get to see it on Friday. Get ready the storm is coming.

MCSO mugshot of Tussa Hatton
(Citizen of the Day)

Our local Bartenders & waitresses get paid way less than minimum wage. Even at Little Palm Island, they only make $2.50/hr. And that's a hoity-toity 4 star Resort. Get the Picture?

I was a bartender in Key West and if I depended on minimum wage to pay my rent I would have been out on the streets. Most bartenders I know do their very best to see that their customers are waited on properly and have a good time. The abuse that we take from many customers is not even fit to print but, we STILL do our job and, we do it WELL! We are not only expected to be bartenders, we are also expected to be caretakers, marriage counselors and psychologists! All this for MINIMUM WAGE! So to all the people out there who TIP us, a big THANK YOU!

I have never had a problem with Earthlink. I really like it.

P.S. I Like the evening update.

Boy, this TUSSA guy gets around. He came by my house also, but as polite as he is he waited until 7am to wake me up. Must be because he's a nice guy and all. He had the same excuse though, his boat broke down with a cooler full of lobster. At least he's sticking to the same story!

Everybody listen: TUSSA HATTON is a crack cocaine smoker and an oxycontin addict, he (snorts) oxycontin "hillbilly heroin." What a winnner.

I also enjoyed the Big Pine House of Music. However if they don't get a real bartender, they will lose some customers. I am a patient person and had to wait several times to get a drink. Other people were complaining. I do wish them success!

Has anyone made the connection to Tussa and a crackhead? Hmmmm...

Summertime in the keys, bugs in your coffee? I put my coffee down for 5 minutes watering the garden and a lizard (Carribean Anole) got in my cup and could'nt get out, so, I go to pour it out and a three foot iguana jumps out of a tree in front of me, almost lands on me and runs to the canal. It's time to stay in for a couple of months.

WD Big Pine is still under the same manager, Mr. Sipple. The co-manager of the Big Pine store was promoted to manager of the Marathon store...so things will remain the same, no better nor worse.

Trivia. If a local runs for office and isn't capable of putting a sign up correctly, then it falls down and they don't fix it, should we trust that person to be the one in charge of anything? Also, if there ever happens to be a hurricane warning and if the sign-putter-uppers don't realize that they become projectiles, we need to question their values. Oh, by the way, those 4x8 signs do make good storm shutters. I have used them before from the same candidates running now that didn't take them down.

If you have not noticed the WD in Big Pine is looking a lot better after the managers left to Marathon. Maybe they will show their faces in the Marathon store more often. And being American has nothing to do with it. The American manager that went to Marathon seemed to be lazy themselves.

Concerning the comment made on August 1. How does being American have anything to do with being a good manager. I know plenty of excellent managers in Big Pine that would put the Marathon managers to shame, new and old.. Some are American some are not...

I heard on the news the other night that the Russian Oil company may well be going out of business and the million and a half or so barrels of oil they supply the world every day will no longer be available. And our gas prices are sure to go even higher. I would like to thank all the "Tree Huggers" and Democrats for NOT allowing The United States to drill in ANWAR (Alaska) to solve our dependence on foreign oil. There is plenty of oil in ANWAR, why can't we go and get it? It could well be the largest supply in the world. Bar none.

About the wood cutter, his name is Tussa and he has done that to many people, he is a big scammer. He did it to us, also. Check out www.keysso.net the Monroe County Sheriff's Website and go to the "Arrests" on the left hand side menu and you will find this person mentioned several times.

Skidding in sideways…

It is obvious that is what you’ve been doing to yourself and also the reasons for all of your troubles, including not being able to have children, because of your “used-up body.” Poverty and alcoholism look good on you… as does the fact that you don’t use sunscreen and look to be much older and rougher.

Keep on smoking & drinking & you kids can go “home” in your 50s while the vigilant & healthy (both physically AND mentally) ones shall live 100 + happy years without carrying around an oxygen tank or suffering the multiple health consequences of your white trashy lifestyle which you live inside your Tikki Hut.

If anyone has an aerobic septic system, or needs to get one, be warned that Third Generation Plumbing in Marathon, is a dishonest company. They have also gone by the name of ABC Sears Aerobic Systems.

To Roy Boy and the rest of the expatriate Piners: You can now listen to US 1 Radio on line. Biz Baz, Morning Magazine, Saturday in the Islands, local news....it's all there at www.US1Radio.com

Warning. We have a really bad woodcutter on Big Pine. He is a nice guy. After he tells you the price he asks for an advance; then shows up a week later and tells you its more. Then has you pay him in advance for removing the pile of wood that he never comes back for.... and to top it off he shows up at your house in the middle of the night with a story about an emergency that he needs money for. HAS THIS HAPPENED TO ANYONE ELSE?

For those interested in how Iraq is building its democracy check this article out. http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/26182.htm

I also heard from friends that live in Marathon, that the WD is looking better and said

it will be 100% improvement over what was there in the past years. Good luck to

the new management team at Marathon WD.

Sure will be a happy camper when web cam is up and running full time. So far, I've only seen it once, and I check the site every day. Especially being out here in the Valley of the Sun, I'd love to see the trees and clouds and maybe even a Keys Sunset

Keep up the good work, I'd be much more homesick without bpk.com. Of course, if I was there, I'd probably be back at Coconutz, or back on the Board of the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce, both could be trouble again!! --The Real ROY BOY.

Go Democrats! Go Kerry! Go Edwards! Go Michael Moore! Read my lips No More Bush!

OK everyone. First of all Winn Dixie is built on a sink hole. You all with hummers and BMW"s might want to park by the Hopefully staying Laundromat. Heard a rumor that is was pulling up PIPES! Going out of business.

So, If all leaves, drive to Marathon and Key West for your needs. That's what was done 20 years ago, and no one whined--we just survived. Growth can be friendly, but difficult to control. Money is necessary to live here, but it does not totally have to be controlled by politics. Stay strong, those of us who can relate to this passage.

For all you Publix worshipers please go there and shut the hell up about Winn Dixie. Winn Dixie does not own the parking lot. If they did it would be deeper. So get on the owner about your stupid fishing tournament and your whiney ass complaints. You need to keep an eye on the Marathon Winn Dixie as the best two American Managers are now getting it cleaned up and running right.

Vote! Tuesday August 31 2004	BAHIA HONDA state park has suddenly become the best place around to poach!!! I was at the beach this weekend and to my surprise people were diving for lobster and what ever else they could find. So I politely told them it is illegal to take anything living from the park. I was trying to avoid them a nasty ticket. Well they got totally rude and said they were from Pinellas county and they had a license and told me to go screw myself . I also noticed all their undersized lobster and CONCHS in their bags! Well, being a good Samaritan I told a ranger that these people were taking Conchs and lobster from the park. The ranger not only didn't search their vehicle, measure any lobsters or bother to look for the conchs which they threw in the front seat when the ranger came. If this was me I would have been on the Keysso website by now. So Ranger "BUD" tells me he is going to call the police because I am the problem and am causing a disturbance. He instead walked over to the trash can to see how full it was, asked me if I had been drinking and let the Poachers ride off without even looking in the cooler. I was so put off by this. Isn't that why we have parks, so people can't rape the earth? So off they went with undersized lobsters and 4 or five conchs. Once again our tax dollars at work. I Asked another ranger on the way out if you could dive in the park he said you can't take anything living. Well I guess lobsters are Zombies or something because you can take those according to ranger Bud. Does this disgust anyone else?
31	OBNOXIOUS VAN: I think everyone with a junk car they want to get rid of should leave them in that area. Hey, there is lots of room, and then when one us locals that drives a heap needs a part, we'd just go and get it. After wonderful Hurricane GEORGES, remember the feeling of social unity? Just look at you now quibbling over the littlest of details and infractions of Code rulings. Hey, you don't like the last of the Florida Keys Island lifestyle? Then move your primpy little butt on down the road, up to BOCA RATON. I'm sure you'd fit right in that constipated way of life and living. Me, I stick to my Island way of life, stretched out in a hammock amongst my glorious Island treasures you may view as Junk.
31	Windstorm insurance rates went up AGAIN, substantially, effective 7/1/04.I haven't gotten my renewal bill yet...my policy expires in November. I do know that shutters still get a credit, but the credit might be eaten up by the rate increase. By the way, I am also an insurance agent and can vouch for the fact that wind & flood rates are the same with every agency. Same info in...same rate out. If you are getting a lower rate on wind & flood please be sure you are comparing "apples for apples."
31	Wow, has any one tried the pizza at the Big Pine House of Music? (the old Sharks Reef) The best pizza in town bar none. Kudos to the new owners. The place is starting to look better. Keep up the good work . You have a new regular customer!
31	MIMES EVERYWHERE -- UNITE Against the horrifying noise of blank tapes . There should be a law!
pm	I saw a couple of trucks backed up to Pepperoni’s on Summerland. Does anyone know if there is anything happening with that building? Another restaurant perhaps?
pm	If you boink someone down here, in this small community, you have to remember at least two things: Everyone will find out eventually; and you have to be especially nice to that person for the rest of your life; because if you’re not always nice, she’ll end up hating you and letting everyone know how rotten you are.
pm	I was glad to see the nice words about Duncan Mathewson. I don't know if he's a professor or not, but I've known him for a bit and I like what he does. I think he's got the right idea; like few of those other school board members do.
pm	Tomorrow is the elections. The only race that I see as contentious is the School Superintendent & School Board members contest. The rest aren’t so immediate to me. We don’t have any kids, so I’m not personally involved, but I’ve always been fascinated with John Padget. He was put here by the governor for some reason; and has been the consummate outsider ever since. I hear he’s arrogant and imperious and other words like that. This really peeves the bubba-teachers a lot.
Monday August 30 2004	John Padget is an original thinker and “outsider” whose ideas can turn around our failing school system. The School Board has treated almost all of his ideas with hostility and derision because those ideas are so different than the status quo and the Board can’t handle that. The status quo is what’s hurting our schools. Failure isn’t in John Padget’s vocabulary; and our school district is surely failing. We need him now. Duncan Mathewson is an experienced educator who embraces new thinking and is committed to making this school district one of the best. Prof. Mathewson is the only candidate who looks forward to serving with Superintendent Padget in order to implement his vision. It’s time to revamp the School Board, get rid of the entrenched bubbas and move this district into the future.
30	I was looking at the handy Business directory on this website and it looks like Big Pine’s major businesses have to do with houses. The Construction page and the Real estate page are the fullest!
30	Last night I played a blank tape at full blast. The mime next door went nuts.
Sunday August 29 2004	The only wind insurance available here in the keys is Citizens, which was supposed to have a cap on increases. The first year Habitat (for Humanity) installed the hurricane shutters they gave me a rebate of $200.00, and was told my insurance will be less. Well, guess what? I'm paying the same amount as someone without shutters and was told because the insurance is rated differently now, I'm not seeing the reduction, that I have. How do you like that double talk? I would like to hear some prices out there. $140.000.00 policy=$1,400.00 per yr.
29	My windstorm insurance is: $90,000=$1,243 premium
29	WIND AND FLOOD Insurance tip: I shopped insurance last year and found Paradise Insurance to be the best deal I could find for all three (wind, flood, homeowners). Don't listen to anyone, even me! Shop it around. I can say that the people (Crystal, etc..) have been real cool to deal with.
29	It’s only been about a year that the Florida smoking ban went into effect; and already it seems odd that they even allowed smoking in public buildings in the first place.
29	You're right - NAPA will be moving into the newly painted "blue" building previously known as Marshall Automotive. However, the Marshall Building is still intact and where you can find 2 For $20 Pizza, the Internet Cafe, Nextel, US1 radio and the dental laboratory. The Marshall Building has also had a 'teal' paint job on its roof and a bit of landscaping done. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
29	Gangplank: I remember the Laundromat and Jacks sub shack. I dont remember a dive shop.
29	In answer to "the problems" with the Cracked Egg. There is a troll in the kitchen.

Saturday August 28 2004	Was the guy that started Napa auto parts depressed? That ugly deep puke blue color he paints his buildings is the ugliest. Ever notice the old Marshall building ,now the new Napa building? It is the ugliest thing on Big Pine. And you all talk about the century 21 sign. Take a look at the new Napa auto parts building.
28	(ED: The web cam is working again. I forgot to renew our Dynamic DNS service subscription...duh! Sorry for the inconvenience.)
28	This week, the Gov't. broadcast, for the first time, TV Marti, from a plane flying over Cuba (or near enough to it to piss off Castro). We’ve been funding TV Marti for many years to the tune of 13 to 20 million dollars a year and to this day, no Cuban has seen it because Castro jams the signal. Another example of the Miami Cubans’ influence on Bush.
28	RE Wrist watches: I'm with you completely! I came to Big Pine more than 25 years ago for vacation, never left . I symbolically threw my stainless Rolex to the Reef Gods and haven't worn one since. Especially now when there are clocks of one kind or another everywhere. Besides , who really gives a s**t what time it is anyway? Hungry-time to eat, thirsty-time to drink, tired-time to sleep, horny-time to...well, you get the idea. Your body and the Moon and Tides are the worlds clock. Besides, never been late yet! Its 5:00 somewhere!
28	If your hibiscus are getting munched overnight, might that be the deer? If so, there's a harmless spray to discourage that, or Irish Spring soap on a stake works pretty well.
28	Re: Our Lady of Key Deer Blvd - As a suggestion: Perhaps a donation cup to put money toward a nice meal from the Piners or maybe get one of the restaurants to do something similar.
28	Unedited ramblings
28	OK, I'll try again. I asked this about a week ago and no one responded. Does anyone notice the obnoxious van parked in the vacant lot next to Winn-Dixie on Wilder? Does anyone else care that that piece of crap stays parked there and now displays "SH_T" on the side? How does it get removed?
28	Call, Johnson's Insurance Company on Big Pine Key. You will get the best service there and the best deals on insurance.
28	To answer the questioner looking for a good insurance company. I strongly recommend Bill Danaher at Johnson's Insurance Agency in Marathon. When I moved to the Keys 7 years ago I stumbled into him and he has always been there to answer my questions, save me money, and make sure I was paid after Hurricane Georges. His office number is: 294-5248.
28	WIND AND FLOOD Insurance tip: If feasible self-insure, or don't get any. A new modular runs around $70,000. So let your house blow away and get another one. After all we live in a disposable society. Insurance companies are rip-off artists. Always have been, always will be. Think of your house as if it were a BIC lighter. If I can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.
28	Regarding the asked for advice on low wind, homeowners and flood insurance. As a homeowner I suggest you ask your mortgage holder. Then buy what is required. Then put the extra money into making your home more wind resistant. That would entail making sure your roof is tied down more than is required. Hurricane shutters are key and are available at all price ranges. If you can't, or won't, buy extruded aluminum panels then Habitat for Humanity may be able to help you. It is not if we will be hit again, but when. Good luck to you as you sound like a newcomer. Oh, I almost forgot the generator. A MUST-have.
Friday August 27 2004	Just a big thank you to the Lady of Key Deer Blvd. She is out there every day in this heat-wave picking up trash. I think the community should give her some sort of citation for her good efforts. What are your thoughts out there?
27	Requesting Local Advice Please. What Company is the Best Wind Insurance for the money? Best Homeowners? Best Flood Insurance Company? Thanks for all the good referrals we get here on Kudos!
27	Unedited ramblings
27	The Gang Plank was most certainly a Laundromat. It was never a dive shop.
27	I Just don't know how they can train the Dolphins to jump as high as the Cows!!! Its absolutly amazing. I thought Dolphins were protected from this sort of thing.
27	Two things to say: The OOH so cute pizza boy from 2 for $20 Got into a car accident. Someone just ran through a stop sign and killed his front bumper. Please help me help him fix it - and tip well! #2: To the anyone that was posting arrest logs - thats what www.keysso.net is for. Please help keep BigPineKey.com Clean!
27	Today's mugshot arrest of Tussa Hatton. Failure to appear for a felony arrest.
27	No one said the Raptors would kill all the iguanas--just thin them out. You sound like one of those people that move to the wilderness and then want to take the wilderness out of the picture. By the way, I hope I don't catch you shooting one. Unless you are a perfect shot and kill with one shot, you could go to jail for cruelty to animals. Yes, evidently you do have a different kind of hibiscus. It sounds like it needs fertilizing or watering or something if you haven't seen a flower in over a year. The iguanas don't eat at night (go to bed with the sun and get up with the sun), so unless you don't get out of bed until mid day, you would have flowers in the morning, before they get a chance to eat them. And by the way, SHE has about six hibiscus plants, all loaded with flowers every morning!
27	Hey, those iguanas go for big bucks in the mainland pet shops! Maybe local gov't. can work out a fund raising project.
Thurs. pm	Raptors, baloney! We won’t have enough raptors to kill all the iguanas. That’s bull. A pellet gun's for them and then into the trash (let that other fella roast ‘em). That’s the most practical way to get rid of them. Traps work, but then you’ve still got to kill them. And he also said that his hibiscus is doing well because the lizards eats the flowers; thus stimulating growth. I must have a different kind of hibiscus because I haven’t seen a flower in over a year. That guy didn’t say a thing about how many flowers he had blooming.
Thurs. pm	I haven’t worn a watch in over thirty years. I now have on my wife’s watch that she just found (a cheap twenty dollar kind) in the hotel where she works. I thought I’d give her a laugh by wearing it. The thing is, the watch has weight! I can feel it’s weight. Every time I move my wrist I feel it. It swung around ,now where it sits upsidedown. I don’t think I’ll be wearing one again. Why should we wear a watch? We’re surrounded by the time. The time is in my car and on my cell phone and on my computer, stove, radio, etc. Why do I need to have this weight that I have to put on and take off every day and keep stuff from underneath? What an obsolete practice wearing a watch is. The last time a watch was fashionable (by the way, I like the Fashion Police contributor to this site) was when James Bond wore one.
Thurs. pm	It shouldn’t be “beheading”, it should be “deheading”. If the head was left on it would “be”.
Thursday August 26 2004	I'm so tired of people complaining about so many petty things...realtor signs, barking dogs, con artists...now the iguanas come up again. Leave the iguanas alone! I guarantee that most of those plants that you say they are eating are EXOTIC plants you planted...so let's see, you're talking about an exotic animal eating an exotic plant...so, what's your point? We planted native trees, shrubs, etc., in our yard. I guarantee that at any time of the day, you could count one to two dozen iguanas around our yard, and we have a beautiful yard full of plants and trees. If you plant a young tree, just put a wire "cage" around and over it, until it gets big enough that they will leave it alone. They like the fresh young shoots coming out and young plants. We actually planted some hibiscus in the yard for the iguanas, and the more flowers they eat, the more flowers spring out the next day. Don't worry...within the next month, you will see the numbers diminish, as the raptors (hawks) will start their migration through the Keys, and iguanas are on the menu...Mother Nature taking care of herself.
26	Viking sent me a letter offering almost anything I need for FREE if my business was damaged in hurricane Charley. That's something!
26	Good procedure with the "unedited ramblings". It lets the curious check it out till they figure out what a waste of time it is. Spares those who already know, yet gives the 'author' a vent. Sometimes I think it's too bad they made computers so easy and affordable.
26	Ed, kudos to you for putting insane ramblings in their own category. Some people have been on the rock too long! If he thinks things are bad here just go someplace else and see if they got it any better.
26	Another reason not to evacuate: They won’t let you back, sometimes, for a week.
26	Before the Gangplank it was a dive shop, but it was actually built to be a Laundromat (never opened as such.)
Wednesday August 25 2004	The Big Pine Key Moose has also done their part in the Hurricane Charley recovery process. Thanks to my Brothers and Sisters at the Moose.
25	Hey ED: I got you beat. You forgot about it being a laundermat and then Jacks Sub Shack before it became the GANGPLANK. Then it became the ect.
25	What a coincidence someone else mentioned the iguanas. I just bought a pellet gun to protect my garden from those pesky iguanas. Anyone for roasted iguana tail? That’s the only solution to this infestation.
25	Maybe you could place shock collars on all of the Keys iguanas who, by the way, live outdoors. Maybe you could put out iguana food and the starving realtors and Tussa could also grab a bite.
25	Fashion Police: Facial hair should not be longer than your head hair.
25	Unedited ramblings
25	Is the head of that County Commission candidate Kim Wiginton a joke? That can't be real. It looks like she should be on Saturday night live. (Ed: the photo was of Edith Head)
25	Restaurant review: Anyone out there know if the Cracked Egg is under new owners? Went there for lunch and was very disappointed my sandwich was terrible. It seemed like all new people were there too.
Tuesday August 24 2004	VOLUNTEER Fire Rescue Dept. and Parmers Resort: Our special thanks to some of the Keys finest for giving their time helping those in need at Pine Island. I,for one, am proud to know that we have such dedicated individuals within our surrounding area. Accolades and applause. This, my friends, is what the Keys is all about.
24	Once again Big Pine fire house has come to the rescue. I'm sure the people of Pine Island are ever so grateful to them and Parmers Place. I'm proud to be part of such a giving community.
24	Kudos to Martha for giving. To Jay, and anyone else who went to Pine Island, Thank You. My children live in Bokeelia. It is an out-of-the-way place; and I know it was very much appreciated.
24	Kit O'Connor made allegations against someone else not too long ago, of miss-appropriation of funding that were audited and proven false. The new board of the Chamber is attempting to straighten out the Chamber, and O'Connor was hired to help. She was hired by the Board and she has to work with the board to help improve issues at the Chamber. If she quit over this little squabble with the board then she is not the best person for the job. She can't handle it. If you read what O'Connor said in the article, you would notice that her statements contradicted themselves, as to the fact she was ok with the board's decision, but didn't like the fact that the overpaid women didn't offer to pay the money back. Seems to me that she had a few cocktails and then called the reporter and gave her story. When she was hired at the Chamber I knew she was the worst person for the job.
24	I do not find the Century 21 sign to be ugly or a monstrosity. I think it is one of the more acceptable signs in town. It is simple, clean and nicely landscaped. If you want to complain about signage here, just look at the decrepit vehicles that are parked near the right-aways in front of businesses.
24	CENTURY 21'S sign is probably smaller than it is allowed to be. The counties sign ordinance allows a signs square footage to be based on how much street frontage there is for the property. So since they are fronted along US-1 and Wilder Rd. they can have a huge sign if they wanted, and probably larger and uglier too. Also seeing as how I have been here since the 70's I remember the old sign being just as large except that it was a painted sign, that always seemed to be peeling... now talk about ugly.
24	Fashion Police: County Commission candidate Kim WIGington's name really reflects her hair-do. She must have been influenced by Edith Head.
24	Thanks for publishing the "Scream". It makes a really freaky desktop background on my machine
24	Hokey Pokey forever! Where is the Big Pine Music Bar? Better yet, what was it before? (Ed: Dockside, Black Swan, Capt. Annies, Shark Reef, etc. Now the House of Music)
24	Re: electric dog collar. When Tussa or a Burglar come prowling on your property in the middle of the night, your dog won't bark because it doesn't want to get shocked / beaten. At least there will be some Karma.
24	Barking Dogs. How about the squawking birds that live in cages outdoors? Shall the owners shock them too? What about when my significant other starts barking, is there a shock collar for this person? So, where are we supposed to walk our dogs when we go down our street and it "sets off" seven barkers, except the dogs who get shocked? I am open to your reasonable suggestions. Do you see many folks dog-walking down Key Deer? No. My dog only barks when someone is at the door and it is not a chain-link-fence-yard-dog who is bored without toys and walks. I consider myself a thoughtful neighbor and was helping them during Charley & I walk the dog down my street and in my 'hood'. It is out of my control that the other dogs bark when we walk by & this is no reason to stop taking walks which adds to the canine lifespan.
24	House-Hammered In Big Pine Key! Don’t Trust Strangers! Knowledge Is Power. Buying or Selling Real Estate? Bring an ATTORNEY with you to your Escrow Closing. The unethical realtors will have their way with you unless you know everything about all of the Codes and Permits here in the Keys. In fact, forget the realtors all together and use that commission money for an Attorney who is really on your side and will protect your rights and your biggest investment. Most of these realtors and title companies will truly watch you walk the plank if you fail to bring your Attorney in before signing papers. When they look at you, they have dollar signs in their eyes and will not protect you because it’s only about money and ugly metal car magnets.
24	I've had it. These damn iguanas have got to go. They munch on all of my plants and shit on my dock and I haven't seen a nickel in rent money yet. I understand that the county frowns on exterminating them, as does my wife so that's not really the best option, as tempting as it might be. I want to know if anyone has any good ways of getting rid of these pests? Traps don't seem like the answer as the SPCA people told me that they would simply release them in the upper keys.. I admit that would get rid of them from here but I don't really have anything against the upper keys people and that idea sounds incredibly stupid. They're breeding out of control and something must be done, and soon. Ideas?
24	Why doesn't everyone with a gripe about Winn Dixie log onto www.winndixie.com and submit a complaint as I did. If enough do it maybe some action to make things better will be taken by the corporate office. I was promised my complaint would be forwarded to the branch headquarters. It may be worth the few minutes it'll take you. Take action citizens!
24	Don't forget the funraiser for Luther at Key Deer Inn. Anyone know what is wrong with Luther? I do miss him on the radio.
Monday August 23 2004	Everybody wants to send kudos to some one who is doing something for the victims of hurricane Charley. Funny how no one dares mention that the Big Pine VOLUNTEER Fire Rescue Dept. and Parmers Resort took a strike team up to Pine Island and VOLUNTEERED their time and physical labor to help the victims of Pine Island recover from hurricane Charley. I think these guys and girls deserve our thanks and admiration.
23	An extra $100.00 a week. Are they hiring at the Chamber? It is ridiculous that someone would not notice that on their check.
23	With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person which almost went unnoticed recently. Larry La Prise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey", died peacefully at age 83. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in. Then the trouble started.
23	The Big Pine House of Music got some bar tenders and the place is rockin'
23	I am sure the Century Twenty-One sign has been there longer than most you whiners have, my father built that building in the mid 70's it used to be Bareger & Gibson real estate. If you don't know who either was quit your bitching because the sign has been there since then, all it has done is changed names.
23	The old Century 21 sign was big and when they replaced it zoning should never have approved the larger replacement. It is non-conforming to our small community's standards and zoning laws.
23	So you think the Century 21 sign is ugly? Have you seen what is going tho be the new NAPA building? If that don't make you BLUE...nothing will!!
23	I find it outrageous that the Norway museum that housed Munch's paintings was so poorly guarded as to allow brazen thief's to walk in and rip two of the most famous paintings in the world off the wall and leave with them. It's more outrageous because the same thing happened 10 years ago! When will the Norwegians learn how to protect treasure?
23	To the arborist @ CoCo's Kitchen please go home and leave our, yes our, tropical fruits alone. I just shop there, eat there and rent movies there. Fruits grow naturally. Thieves are born.
23	If you want to know what DirecTV is all about.....check this out: http://www.directvdefense.org/
23	To the dog owner who states that dogs bark, of course they do and there are lots of inconsiderate people like him who think this is ok. Well it is not. Dogs barking is one of the worst kind of noise pollution and cause stress. Well done, to those who are considerate enough to think of their neighbors and train their dogs. The dog collar trainer is an admirable way to stop unnecessary barking. People who use them on their animals soon have a well-behaved dog.
23	Whatever happened to "we don't negotiate with terrorists?" Four times we've negotiated with Sadr. He's got to go and if that means the mosque, so be it. Mr. Bush, you have my vote if you get back to being tough and stop focusing about being re-elected. Your brother Jeb doesn't have time for the Republican convention cause he's got Hurricane Charley to deal with. You have IRAQ!
23	Unedited ramblings from Saturday
23	Perry (McLain) had surgery on Aug. 16th to have a small cancerous polyp removed from his colon. The surgery was a great success. He will have a full recovery in 4 to 6 weeks if we can keep him down that long. Thanks for the Prayers.
23	All you morons and immature people who have a hard-on for this Tussa guy, get a life. Were sick of reading about him.
23	I See TUSSA had a story about him in the citizen's voice section Sunday. Way to go TUSSA! You've made the paper in the big city!
23	I wanted to say a special thanks to Big Pine Pizza for their back to school Special: 2 Pizza's 2 Top., 1 Lb. Wing's, 2 Lit. Pepsi for $21.48. Sure has saved me time in the kitchen.
6:46pm	Aaaa! They've stolen me!
Sunday August 22 2004	Hey everybody! Go see Martha at Big Pine Unisex this week and get your nails done. She is donating all her profits to Hurricane Charley Relief!! Kudos to you Martha. And to all you Piners out there...go get pampered to help those who need our help so much. Remember, it could have well been our community that got hit.
22	THANK YOU: to whom ever is responsible for the highly creative effort in tree trimming of the PaPayas and Bananas out in front Of CoCo's Kitchen, and in your artistic license I feel you have immeasurably, enhanced the aesthetic qualities and tropical ambiance they afford the Big Pine Key Shopping plaza. Bravo and an encore please.
22	Re: Century 21 Sign: I apologize for sounding like a whiner instead of a Piner. But the sign is mammoth and unconforming like the other person said and I just agreed. Nothing against the business just the size of the sign. You are so correct. Positive is better than negative.
22	So, by yesterday’s big-sign-defender, it’s all right to have an illegally oversized sign to blight our town if they put up Christmas decorations. Did I read that right?
22	Kudos to Catherine O'Connor for having the guts to bring this example of mismanagement at the Lower Keys Chamber to the public's attention! Ms. Herlehy explained it away as not noticing the extra $400 a month because of having many payroll deductions. However, didn't she notice her W-2 at the end of the year, which would show the gross wages of being $5000 more than they should be. Come on, Ms. Herlehy. And in their typical fashion, whenever anyone dares to criticize the Chamber, they reciprocate with slander towards that person. Carol Fisher, the previous exec. director, said that her replacement was "blowing smoke" to cover up the fact that she couldn't handle the job. Pllluuueeeeezzzze! It's because of Carol Fisher's rudeness that I quit participating at the Chamber's auction. My only regret is that Ms. O'Connor didn't stay in the position to clean things up, but I guess one person can't fight city hall (oops, that's what they wanted it to be after the incorporation battle). I think further investigation is in order.
22	Shame on Carol Fisher for accusing Catherine O'Connor (whose astuteness found the $5,000 mistake in the employees' paycheck.) of not being able to handle her job. THAT was her job. The Chamber is in debt and that $5,000 could have gone towards that debt. And shame on the Board of Directors for rewarding the dishonest office manager for hiding the $5,000 over payment. What kind of manager can't even manage her own paycheck? What else has she mismanaged?
22	What happened to Perry Mclain?
22	I agree Pizza Works has gone down hill. The only one who can make a good pizza is Tony and I don't know if he is still working there. The pizza is always undercooked. This is a thriving business if you know how to work it. Apparently the new owners know nothing about the restaurant business. You need a good cook, friendly wait staff, and fresh & tasty food .
22	Thank you Steve Miller. You are going to heaven for sure.
22	To the Key Wester about to move to BP...go with cable or Dish Satellite. Do not get DirecTV they are a VERY disreputable company/corporation that is currently suing over 24,000 people they claim tried to steal their signal. First off, they don't investigate or even try to verify that accusation before they bring suit against you. They then tell you they will drop the case if you pay them $3500.00 and agree to not sue them in return (because a: It's extortion, b: They have zero evidence) I'd be happy to back-up my claim w/ evidence for anyone interested, much unlike Distortion TV and Rupert Murdock.
22	Stay away from Tussa and get a dish. I have one and was watching TV when Comcast went out 5 times this week.
22	What about ED?

Saturday August 21 2004	Winn Dixie has donated there Sarasota warehouse to the Red Cross to be used as a distribution center. They also donated 90,000 cases of water. They are a leader in neighbor-helping-neighbor. Thank you Winn Dixie.
21	Something smells at the Chamber of commerce. An employee has been receiving an extra hundred bucks a week in her pay and when confronted with the fact said she hadn't noticed it. (If I get $20 more a week I notice it.) When the new director complained to the board of directors they said, Ok, let the employee keep the $5,000. This is from an organization of supposed business people. That's not the way things are done. My hat's off to Catherine O'Connor the alert director who resigned over this issue because of the shoddy way the organization is run.
21	Hi, you all. We are currently Key West residents getting ready to move to Big Pine. I'm very excited about becoming a Piner! I'm so glad that I found this website - now I know to look out for this Tussa guy! Question: should we go ahead and get a dish or go with cable? I know the cable down in Key West goes out all the time. Whadya think? Thanks in advance!
21	To the person commenting on Walton's Pet store. I have always found Walton's Pet store to be a fair place to buy both cat and dog food. The food is always fresh and not over priced. I know that the employees are the best and most caring people on this planet and I find it hard to believe there are any sick animals in that store. I understand that pet stores cannot be the happiest places for an animal to be, but I know that the employees at that store are the best and keep that place a clean and loving place for the pets for sale to be in. I think you are totally wrong because I go in there all the time.
21	My God, Don't you people have anything better to worry about. The Century 21 sign has been there since they built the building. Instead of bitching about the sign and how much you don't like it, why don't you think about the beautiful Christmas lights that they put up every year to the delight of all the children on Big Pine. If you looked more at the positive sides of things instead of the negative you might become happier people!
21	What about that huge EXIT Realty sign?
21	Is it just me, or is TIB bank becoming more and more like an uncaring corporate bank and less and less like a friendly small town bank where they know you as a person and not as an acct number? The way they've been treating me lately I am seriously considering closing my accounts and moving them elsewhere.
21	Get Well Soon Perry! You're a VERY nice guy and we all have you in our Prayers for a speedy recovery. Hang in there, Donna & rest up Perry. Love, Your Neighbors
21	Concerning Tussa, if he approaches you for work tell him okay then after he has half the job done & comes to collect- tell him you'll pay him later. Then give him a PB&J sandwich for the child he drags along. Or, here's a novel idea- just say NO.
21	Enough with the Tussa Hatten overkill already. Has anyone of you thought of how his children must feel? Does he have parents? Come on Piners. We are not so unfeeling as to constantly harp to no end. As for finding another village idiot to pick on please don't. It most assuredly affects innocent people. Why can't we have more Kudos and less Whiners? Can't we all just get along?
21	Somebody needs to do something about the extremely rude manager (Debbie) at Pizza Works. Perhaps the new owner needs to screen her employees more carefully, or not leave town when she only has one delivery person. Last night at 7:45 I called Pizza Works with a simple order: 1 chicken Parm sub and 1 chicken Philly w/mushrooms. Easy? Not! At about 9:00 I called back to find the destiny of my two sandwiches to find out that "they were on their way, and that they only had one driver". This has been happening a lot lately. Had I known about the sole driver I would have gladly driven the 3 miles to pick up my own sandwiches. I had hungry kids to feed and it was getting quite late. At 9:45pm the sandwiches finally showed up. Cold and burnt. One of the sandwiches wasn't even what I had ordered. It was a regular Philly cheesesteak that looked just disgusting. I wouldn't have fed it to my dogs. Needless to say they got another phone call, this time from my very agitated boyfriend. He asked to speak with the manager. She (Debbie) became quite rude and said that "we're closed" and hung up. HUNG UP! We called again. Now, nobody would pick up the phone. We have been ordering from Pizza Works for many years, sometimes twice a week. I have been a faithful customer and a good tipper. So, I must say "I'm sorry" to the delivery person for the $1 tip. It was not his fault, but the fault of mismanagement and poor customer services.
21	Take notice, Pizza Works, please don't do as Winn Dixie and make your subs on day-old bread. I had what could have been a delicious sub at your place yesterday, except for the fact the bread was stale. Feed the old bread to the chickens not the customers.
Friday August 20 2004	Re: Remove that ugly Century 21 sign ... Ditto ... My vote is to remove the sign. It is way too big, does not do justice to the beauty of our community and should go! I remember the 1st time I saw it ... I thought anyone who would clutter Big Pine Key with such a ridiculously large sign should not get my business. It's like littering. Does not look good and brings the place down. If a sign has to be there why not a shopping center sign instead?
20	I was just watching a 1954 movie where they struck oil and were jubilant at the fact of $2 a barrel. They never dreamed it would get to $48/barrel!
20	Welcome home to Big Pine, Daddy! I am so glad your recovery is going great! I love you. Thank you for posting this. It is meant for Perry McClain.
20	I was recently in Walton's pet store on Big Pine Key at Winn Dixie shopping center. As I walked around looking at dog toys I started looking at all the birds up front, from little ones to big ones and noticed they all looked very sick. There was a poor, big white parrot in a glass round aquarium surrounded by a smaller bird who barley had enough room to move or do anything. They all looked so unhappy. Two large parrots had eye problems. Do the people that work there not see this? I think Maya the bird lady or Friends of Animals should look into this. It was very disturbing.
20	Welcome to the continuing saga of the woodcutter creep
20	I'm getting bored with the exploits of the village woodcutter. The guy obviously has problems, so let's hope that he gets help and straightens out and flys right. Surely there are other village idiots that we can pick on instead. In a village this small, we really don't have a town drunk so everyone pitches in and takes their turn...Next!
20	That's the 4 different people you've called Tussa in 24 hours. Get it right if your gonna' show a picture. Those other people are in jail but don't condemn them to be Tussa, that's the ultimate disgrace.
20	There's a different picture every time I look at the mug shot that was placed the 18th changes every time I log on. What gives? The picture I sent you is right and so is the one on the 11th.
20	Don't forgive TUSSA he's unforgivable. You give him an inch and he takes a mile. Forgiveness is for those who are willing to make a change in their lives. That's not TUSSA.
20	Based on the picture that showed up today, Tussa may have had a sex change operation.
20	Actually that was pretty funny to watch. I checked back several times yesterday and Tussa was a blonde female, a black guy with dreds, an Hispanic older lady, and a couple different white guys. I suspect your website was picking up a different photo every time the local smokeys added a new booking.
Thursday August 19 2004	Welcome to the Tussa Hatton Web Site
19	This is Tussa. A waste of oxygen.
19	OOPS! Don't know what happened, but the wrong picture got sent (Tussa Hatton). Attached is the right picture. Sorry.
19	I see local character Tussa can add "master of disguise" to his resume.
19	Tussa got a sunburn!
19	Which pix is the real Tussa the woodcutter? The one on 11 Aug '04 or the one on 16 Aug '04? You have to admit they look a little different.
19	That pix was not Tussa.
19	The mug shot posted on 8/18 is not the same person in the mug shot posted on 8/11.
19	Hi, just discovered this site while looking for hurricane pictures on your web cam. My in-laws have a place on Little Torch and I will be down the 22nd for a week plus- can't wait! I love the gossip and the comments about the WD parking lot and the Keys being different are right on. There is no way the guy in the mug shot was born in 1971. He sure doesn't look like the Tussa in the photo you posted on the 11th.
19	Ahh...Way wrong picture of Tussa, and I have to say enough picking on him. Yea he screwed us too, but I've made lots of mistakes in my life and FORGIVENESS is what helped me change. Leave him alone now. I think we all know not to use his services for a while!
19	...but the text is right. Search the arrest date 8/16/2004 for the right picture!
19	I noted with interest the action taken against non-tippers. I am puzzled though. What does publishing a photograph of the contributors best feature accomplish?
19	The picture of Tussa on August 18th is the wrong man. The information is correct, but that is not him. The picture from August 11, 2004 is Tussa.
19	Who ever posted the latest TUSSA photo... it's not him.
19	They want us to evacuate during a hurricane, but they don't tell us where to evacuate too. Should we go to Punta Gorda or Homestead? Instead of spending all those millions on widening the 18 mile stretch (and further ruining the Keys) they should spend that money on hurricane shelters all over the Keys. The accidents blocking the hurricane evacuation routes last week should be enough to prove that evacuation is impractical. Where are we supposed to go? And how are we supposed to go there if the roads are blocked?
19	Dear Dog Owners In Big Pine Key / Eden Pines, Instead of placing Shock Collars on your "best friend" and HITTING your dogs when they bark as I walk down my street with my dog, perhaps you could keep them indoors and take them for walks once in awhile. Doggies bark. People have a right to walk their dogs down their streets at any time of the day or night. Maybe you Nazi-dog-owners could adopt a nice, quiet Pussycat at a local Shelter since your dogs natural instincts are so bothersome to you and causes you to Inflict legal (SADLY) physical and emotional PAIN upon your barking dog. BARK~BARK~BARK~BARK~BARK!
19	Does anyone know what's up with the abandoned ice cream truck in the vacant lot on Wilder St., next to Winn Dixie? That trashed truck has been an eyesore for too long and now displays in large letters, "S**T" on the side. Why doesn't the county remove it?
Wednesday August 18 2004	PINERS and Keys Residents - St. Peters Church is planning to deliver much needed supplies and aid in the cleanup for Charley victims and we are in need of RV's or campers to house the workers (for the weekend). Anyone willing to assist please e-mail kikikeys12@aol.com or please call the church if you can help. Let's make a real effort to help those who have helped us in the past. God bless!
18	Tussa Update: Just saw on www.Keysso.net that Tussa has been arrested for driving with no license. Check it out. Mug shot and all is there. Maybe this time he won't get out.
18	Tussa got busted!
18		Arrest Date: 08/16/2004 CAD #: MCSO04CAD077937 Offense #: MCSO04OFF007739 Name: HATTON, TUSSA RAIN DoB:02/16/1971 Age:33 Sex:M Race:W Address: 30346 WARBLER LN, BIG PINE, FL 33043 Occupation: ARBORIST OWNER in BIG PINE KEY Arrest Location: 2565 OVERSEAS HWY, MARATHON Charges: 1 Felony Count(s) of 322.34.2c TRAFFIC VIOL-DRIVE WHILE LIC SUSP HABITUAL 3RD OR SUBSQ CONVICTION Officer/Agency: JOHNSON, GREGG - MCSO\ROAD PATROL - SECTOR 5 Bond Amount: $0
18	Get Well Soon Perry McClain. We Love You.
18	Once again, Winn Dixie's has lost all frozen, perishable foods. How many thousands of food have they wasted? Every time the power goes down, they "lose everything." Three weeks or so the dairy coolers went down. They lost everything. It's a crime! I believe an investigation is in order. I have never seen the likes of it. Never at Publix or Albertson's and never in the real world grocery stores. With the loss in $ I would think they could have purchased the best generator money could buy. That's why us locals hate that store! All the hungry humans in the world and they "lose everything." Unbelievable!
18	Somebody built a spider's web on your webcam lens.
18	FWC, aka Water Nazi's. It's time to clean up the derelict sunken boats in Pine Channel. By the way, where do their excrements go?
18	There's no Wendy's going in the plaza. I think someone was just trying to be provocative.
18	Edies Hallmark is not big enough for any fast food place just what we need another restaurant. We have too many on Big Pine now and all are good places to eat. Winn Dixie should take that store over, but the landlord is giving them a hard time.
Tuesday August 17 2004	Yes, remove that ugly Century 21 sign, also I have noticed that quite a few real estate agents are posting their agency signs at their home frontage. Is this legal? If yes, then every business owner should follow the trend and post a sign at their home.
17	PINERS and KEYS RESIDENTS - Be thankful that Charley blew on by without damage. Our neighbors to the north didn't fare so well and it has devastated the lives of many. Perhaps those who have excess supplies of water and canned goods should take them to a local church or drop off to be sent to Punta Gorda to those who really need them.
17	I really enjoy your website and the cam, though I've only visited the Keys once. Sorry if I helped jam it up during the storm! (Ed: Without you we wouldn't need the cam. Please visit often.)
17	Far away Piners watched the web cam and prayed for those hearty souls who chose to stay. Between AOL weather and web cam and Cyber US-1 Radio, I felt almost like I was there, except here in Arizona it was 111 outside. Stay well and dry! And get rid of that f**kin woodcutter before he hurts someone. He's not Big Pine people, for sure.
17	Anyone out there want to go help the hurricane victims? It's getting organized at St. Peters church to take them supplies and help on Thursday. Please call them if you can go or offer something to take them.
17	They are a " flock" of "pigeons", even if you can't spell your computer can.
17	The "pigeons" live under the bridges on the tops of pilings.
17	Anybody we know? Or maybe somebody you wish you knew? This is what we do to non-tippers here.
17	Hear there might be a Wendy's coming to Winn Dixie plaza in old Hallmark space. Any comments?
17	Tip Generously or die of thirst and deserve it!
17	I would like to point out that there is a minimum wage for non-tipped employees and a minimum wage for tipped employees, which is a much lower rate than that for non-tipped. Tipping is not compulsory here in the US, although a lot of servers think it should be no matter how bad their service is. I tip very well for good service (20% plus), but if the service is not so good, I tip much less. If service is lousy, I leave a penny, so the server knows that I just didn't forget to tip them.
17	Whassup with the gripe about tipping. I worked as a waitress before too and it was some of the best money I ever made.
Monday August 16 2004	One of our local favorite ladies, when working a brief stint at the County Planning Dept., Ok’d the installation of that mammoth non-conforming Century 21 sign at Key Deer & US-1. Her mistake wasn't noticed until it was too late. Take down that sign! Get all the billboards off US-1.
16	3,000 Pinees looked at the web cam on hurricane day. That's a lot.
16	I saw a herd of about twenty common pidgins flying west on the Saddlebunch Keys yesterday. Until now I’ve only seen common pidgins on roofs in the city crapping on everything. They actually looked good out there in the nature.
16	My wife thinks I'm weird. She says most men get excited when their issue of Playboy comes in the mail. I get all excited when PC World arrives!
7:37pm	I have just read the entry claiming that the person knows that the English do not tip. Untrue, we do but it is not considered compulsory. We tip for good service, we have a minimum wage rule in this country. I suggest that If the USA had the same, then tipping would not be felt to be compulsory. Just stop and think. The person expected to tip may have spent all their savings to come to America and would not be able to afford to subsidies an employer.
7:37pm	I am the English guy who enquired, not complained about tipping. I am very willing to answer for myself. First I reiterate tipping should be for good service received, I have nothing against that. Secondly it should not be compulsory just because the employer is to tight to pay a decent wage. He is able to do this because (a) the person employed is on the black economy, (b) only able to work certain hours because of family commitments, or some other reason for being precluded from full time well paid employment. As to the correspondent who practices ESP, (he/she can tell by a question posed by another person, what nationality they are. Otherwise he/she is an Anglophobe) If the former I suggest they enter a lottery and win the jackpot.
7:37pm	It probably was him. (Tussa) Same m.o.
12:52pm	It seems that at the Olympics this year half the story is about security. What a toilet this world has become now that Islam is out of the bag.
12:52pm	I was in a fast food all-you-can-eat place the other day and next to me was a group of bible-thumping minorities. I think one of them was their pastor. When they had had their fill, each of them went up to the food line, over-filled their plates and each of them took a big serving to go. Mainstream society wouldn't do that. They had to know it was wrong.
12:52pm	I'm sitting here on the shore reflecting on things watching six great white herons feeding when along comes this girl and her dogs. She unleashes them so they can go chase the birds. So much for tranquility!
Sunday August 15 2004	(ED: Please don't type in capitols because we don't always have the time to transcribe them into proper text. Viewers will know your angry by your words alone, not by how large you make them... Keep those cards and letters coming!)
15	A woman who lives on my street hired a woodcutter to trim some branches, She only hired him because he needed money for food and had a little kid with him After he trimmed a few trees he asked her what she was cooking. He showed up later and asked if there was any left and she fed him. Was this the same guy?
15	Regarding the parking at Eckerd's, I wouldn't want you for a neighbor, nor your help during a hurricane.
15	You know there's too much blow in Coconutz bathroom for anybody to do that.
15	I figured that the guy complaining about tipping was English and he confirmed that today. I hate to stereotype people. Maybe the English guy can answer this for himself.
15	I know the English don't tip. I think the English gentleman is understanding of our tipping custom now and will probably let his friends know what to do when they come to the "Colonies" for a visit. Nothing like discourse to improve the human condition.
15	I was in a small village "restaurant" in Mexico, left a tip and the lady chased me down the road trying to return the money I'd forgotten!
15	It is Sat. afternoon, our cable went out again, 2nd time in 2 days. I'm sure many people have the same trouble. I called Comcast 292-8376 and asked for credit for outage. They will give it to you for a whole day, no matter if its out for 1 min or hours. If everyone calls all the time they loose service. I think they would fix this recurring problem of outages. Please call them every time you loose service.
15	Comcast sucks the big one.
15	I like satellite because it only goes out when it rains real hard. It seldom goes out, not like cable at all. It also has a one button instant program guide.

2:30pm	As a business owner on Big Pine Key, I just wanted everyone to know that Andy Griffiths was the ONLY person to remove his sign from our front lawn. There was a mandatory order to remove all signs and he did this personally on Thursday. I am now going to seriously consider his candidacy. Just to mention who didn't - Dixie, Kohl, Gootee, Roth - Thanks a lot.
2:30pm	Hope ya'll got thru Charley's wet sloppy kiss on cheek, and didn't take a bath with him, or you'd be with this guy! That's not the men's room at Coconutz, is it? Call the Plumber! No Charley in the Valley of the Sun. Stay well & dry.
Saturday August 14 2004 The Day After	Thank you for the reaction to my query about tipping in America. I did not mention at the time that I am English and we tip bar staff and others when we feel that a good service has been delivered. When I am in the USA I do tip as required, meanness is not an issue here. The point I was trying to make was if the employers paid a decent wage, tipping should not then be automatic, or compulsory. On my first visit to the USA and entering a bar and ordering a round for myself, my wife and three American couples, I did not tip. A local who had observed this quietly explained the custom, because of the low wages paid. I immediately went to the bar apologized to the bartender and despite his protest, paid the going rate, plus a few dollars. I resent therefore the cheap shots by those who equated my outlook to his own. It was nice to see the more intelligent replies. It seems there are some who cannot read or hear of an opinion different to their own, without assuming the worst of the owner of that opinion. This speaks volumes about the critic and yes we have the same type here in England.
14	I've been reading a lot of comments about tipping or the lack of it. However, no one seems to mention that the word "TIP" stands for "To Insure Promptness". There is a lot of lousy slow service out there, with lousy moods and attitude. The end result of poor service should be a diminished or no tip at all. However if the service is great and the server cheerful.... 20% is more than fair. Also, let us keep in mind if there are boys and girls bussing tables, the waiter or waitress also has to share their tips with them to the tune of 10%. Correct me if I am wrong.
14	IGNORANT PEOPLE. I never knew how many ignorant people there were in the Keys until I went to Eckerd Drug today (Friday 13th.). Seeing every parking spot filled including the space in front and across from the main door, I thought the store was filled with shoppers. I had to park down by Scotty's and walk up to the store. Once inside, there was only one person shopping...It appears that a bunch of thoughtless ignorant people simply chose to park, lock and leave their cars there because of the high groung. What jerks.
14	I am so grateful this hurricane did not directly impact the Keys. Let's not get complacent and not heed the warnings next time. Hopefully we all are a little better prepared than we were prior to Charley. Kudos to this site and Keys Energy and everyone else that helped to make it through in relative comfort. Two days off work with pay was also much appreciated. Thanks Uncle Sam.
14	Don't complain too much about Charley not hitting us any harder after all the preparation. Keep all the shutters and plywood up, because Tropical Depression #5 has formed about where Charley did, and as of tonight, they are predicting it to follow the same path...yikes!
14	Kudos to the postal drivers for not wimping-out. Thanks for the mail.
14	The library has a great assortment of music CD's. I borrowed the entire collection (8) of the Atlantic label rhythm & blues from 1947 to 1974. Cool.
14	Everybody's computers were running lousy during the storm. I think it was because everybody was on line at once in this region. There is just so much bandwidth available and I think we used it all up. That sucks. More bandwidth is needed. It wasn't just Bellsouth, but other ISP's also.
3:10pm	TUSSA HATTEN Sagas. Tussa came over after dark with his two small children collecting for a candy drive. I gave him $20.00 and mentioned that I would like some coconuts removed before hurricane season. The very next morning he banged on the door about 7AM, and said he needed me to front him $50.00 for some bogus emergency involving his father, and that he would do the tree within the week. I gave him $40.00 and he promptly disappeared for two months. He never turned in the candy money, and never delivered the candy. After a direct confrontation with the threat of criminal action, he handed me his "last $20.00" to cancel the candy deal, and said that he would take care of the tree the next day for the $40.00 that I had already given him. Two weeks later he claimed that he was having problems locating his extension ladder, but would bring it over in the car. Eventually he cut the nuts and made a big pile on the vacant lot next to me, and once again said he would be back in the morning to clean up the mess. Two weeks later I picked it up myself. A couple of weeks after that he came back and in my absence entered my garage without my permission. He claimed that he was looking for the ladder when confronted by my spouse. I delivered the ladder to his girlfriend later that week. Mr. Tussa has no excuse to enter my private property and is not welcome. He can be quite charming when he is working a scam. No matter how he smiles, or what song and dance he gives you, he is not to be trusted.
3:10pm	THAT was scary & I am having a cocktail before Noon on Friday The 13th. Can we open our shutters & drain the bath tubs now? At least we know what we need for the NEXT Hurricane. Party On Party People.
3:10pm
3:10pm	I must say, now that it's over, I wish we had had a little more of hurricane Charley. I sure did an awful lot of preparation for such a small wind.
11:45	Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! God, Allah the Devil (whoever works for ya!). BYE CHARLEY!
10:07am	9:45 - I understand that the power failure was a sailboat mast vs a power line down in Sugarloaf. Key West is still out. That could explain why the cable is out.
10:07am	The power just went out, at 8:30+/-. I guess I lost that contest. I said it would not go out. Oh well, my boat is doing fine.
10:07am	Didn't lose power, cable, internet etc. As for satellite...I hope DirecTV loses their everything! Extortionist bastards. They can take their sat dish and Rupert Murdock and return to Australia!
10:07am	1. Not at all for the whole system....only isolated outages 2. Not at all. 3. Not at all. 4. Not at all.
6.54am	(ED: As soon as the TV said we weren't going to get hit my system started working right again. Go figure.)
6.54am	Looks like the hurricane missed us. Sorry Charley! Anyone want to buy gallons of water and some canned goods?
Charley Friday the 13th 2004	(Ed: This might be the last posting because my system is all screwed up. We're not receiving any email.)
923pm	Thanks to link to bitterwaitress website love it.
8:45pm	I think that if the storm is bad, and we are without power, cable and phone line make the best of it. Help your neighbors AND WE WILL GET THREW THIS.
8:03pm	Hey, can you guess who didn't take down their political signs (because of the hurricane)? Our fine Sheriff Roth and Susan Vernon for judge. Their are still a few more up so think about it as we vote and the election sign was what flew through your window. I only named these 2 because they each have more than 6 signs still up in Big Pine. These signs are on wire posts that will also flatten your tires.
8:03pm	Hey, maybe Charley will blow away Vic Anderson's construction debris and open the plugged canals!
6:22pm	Does it mean anything that the hurricane will hit the Keys on Friday the 13th?
6:14pm	We think all of the above will go out BEFORE the hurricane. Thanks.
6:14pm	1. It will not go out. 2. Cable? What do you mean cable? Isn't it always out? 3. Satellite will go out when the outer bands get here. 4. Internet goes with the cable.
6:14pm	I know someone who took the emergency medical helicopter to Miami and it cost her $12,000. At least, she's not dead.
6:14pm	Service workers, this link's for you ! http://www.bitterwaitress.com/
6:14pm	I hope 1:55 is correct. It's too hot without a/c
2:20pm	What's with the internet? I've been truing to get to this site for a very long time. All the sites are slow and many of them say that this page cannot be found.
1.55pm	I'm having the hardest time getting on the internet. I don't think anyone is working, so we're all surfing.
1.55pm	I got gas yesterday in Marathon for $1.98. that's sure an improvement.
1.55pm	It's obvious that evacuation doesn't work too good in the Keys. I think it would be more practical to take those millions of dollars and build hurricane shelters here instead of widening the 18 mile stretch.
1.55pm	I was surprised at Home Depot and Winn Dixie. There didn't seem to be the panic buying that there was during Georges.
1.55pm	Hurricane Contest 1. I do not think the electric will go out. 2. I do not think the cable will go out. 3. I do not think satellite will go out. 4. I do not think the internet will go out.
Thursday August 12 2004	(ED: We'll be publishing Kudos* as we receive them, all during the hurricane. So keep us posted on anything Pinees should know about).*
12	Why are we so angry at someone who obviously comes from another country and doesn't know about tipping? Wouldn't it be better to simply advise a person the facts of service industry in the U.S. than to be angry? In every European country, those in the service industry are paid a very fair wage because tips aren't even expected, service charge is included in whatever you are ordering. Every person I have explained this fact to has felt it truly unfair and tipped accordingly. It usually helps to add that even a tiny cup of coffee in Europe costs 3 or 4 times as much as it does here because you are paying in advance for the service we here provide for a tip. It makes more sense to me to get mad at the Kentuckian who knows how little servers and bartenders make in our country and tip a whole 5 - 8% on a good day. This I know because I was a bartender for many years and a server for a few.
12	Tipping is not a city in China. Tip 20%. Always.
12	To the non-tipper: I would be embarrased to be seen with someone who is too cheap or too ignorant not to tip. Non tipping is considered the lowest of class in America. We also tip our hairdressers, cabbies, luggage handlers, etc.
12	If you've ever worked as a bartender or waitress, you automatically over-tip and thank your lucky stars that you're not working in such an unhealthy and dysfunctional environment. Personally, I'd rather be a Go-Go dancer prostitute than to be a Servant (yes) to mostly cheap people whose generosity or lack thereof pays my salary.
12	I have seen Tip Cups out at Starbucks and the now closed-up Dollar Shop next to Beals in Key West. Now THAT bothers me... tipping a cashier!
12	Correction: The Little Palm Wait Staff are paid an hourly wage of $2.25/hr and they are worked like mules!
12	I have been a waitperson for most of my life and the worse tippers are European, Doctors, Blacks, and Lawyers.
12	Hey Piners - had lunch at Aroma's the other day and had the best Rueben of my life. I also found out they deliver. Kudo's to Aroma's - they support our area youth. Neat pictures inside too!
12	I don't know Tussa but I too suspect a drug problem and agree with the post that perhaps he is in a bad situation and needs help. Maybe the public humiliation of this site and his photo being here will be just what he needs to realize that.
12	Somebody said on the 8/2 something about shopping before the WINN DIXIE was built... Let's get Big Pine Geography right please.... Pitts was where Another Realty is now, not where the Quick Mart is. That used to be JENS, even though the food at PITTS was really expensive, they did have really good meats there. And it used to be an adventure shopping. Even Marathon didn't have that many choices as far as shopping was concerned. How about the Emporium? The Sapodilla? How many of us passed out in front of Dicks Bayside and woke up with permanent marker pictures? A favorite pastime of mine was sitting in the muddy dirt that is now Winn Dixie's parking lot (on lawn chairs) and watching the tanned bodies of the guys doing the construction of the building.
12	Alert To All: The Time Certain for the 8/18 BOCC in Key Largo is 2PM. Hope to see some of you there. -Norman Bohrer
12	HI YA'LL ,, JUST MAKING SURE YOU GOT MY ADDRESS CHANGE to realroyboy@aol.com primary and still at onerealroyboy@yahoo.com --secondary. Thanks for your understanding . R Balroyboy@aol.com Prererimary---realroyboy@aol.com
12	Now that I have told a lot of people to look at the new webcam if they want to see what our weather looks like, I have a question. Can we make guesses about how much wind the thing can take before it blows off the roof ? I bet on 36 miles an hour.. I wonder if we will get to see it on Friday. Get ready the storm is coming.
12	I hope the electricity stays on so we can watch the hurricane on the live web cam. I wish it was there for Georges. I hope bigpinekey.com's server can handle the additional traffic. (Ed: We do too.)
12	We're fighting this war just like we did with the Vietnam War--Politically. Didn't the Bush administration learn anything from Vietnam? We should have gone into Najif (sp?) and gotten the radical cleric Boni Saddar right away; and also gone into the no-man's land near the Pakistani border and gotten Bin Laden and his ilk. That's where the enemy is. If we have to destroy an historic mosque in the process or kill innocents, so be it. That's why they call it war. War is hell.
Wednesday August 11 2004	TUSSA TISSY: Actions speak louder then words alright, I'm guessing he must be emulating our commander and chief George princess W. as he is a lier and thief, and I'd say by appearances Tussa is doing a bang up job. Secondly, having your door banged on a 4 am is truly a pain in the rear, but perhaps you should be grateful for the warming up to such a situation, because if Bush remains in office, you will have the U.N. international troops banging on your door at 4 a.m.( "ver ar your veapons?") in the near future if he has his way. As far as the synthetic heroin, (oxycontin) that is produced by the DuPont family, under license, you know the people flying around in there private jets with transatlantic capabilities. Don't get me wrong I'm not condoning being dishonest or taking his side, just making some simple observations. Kind of like blaming water pollution upon the one percent, of the population that live on boats. Easy prey. Maybe he has a drug problem and needs some help, but I guess it is more fun to kick a dog when he is down, something to revel in. Thought for today: if you were reduced to having no money no assets, no nothing, what would you do? Hope we all find understanding, really I do.
11	MCSO mugshot of Tussa Hatton (Citizen of the Day)
11	I do not know Tussa Hatton. And I do not see crackhead or oxy snorting on his "rap" sheet. If you know these claims' to fame to be true, I suggest that you probably light up or snort with him; else how would you know?
11	Fish and Wildlife and the Army Corp of Engineers are dedicated to letting the canals stagnate (especially the plugged canals) because Vic Anderson, the local representative of the Army Corp of Engineers, had a personality conflict with the developer who originally dug the canals and Mr. Anderson has gone on record as saying that the canals would be open over his dead body. It doesn't matter to him that the fish are dying and that the Army Corp of Engineers has broken it's own laws by dumping hazardous concrete and used construction debris to plug the canals. This is the kind of unprofessional, self-interested, bubba-istic public service that is sadly common in the keys.
11	To the person who replied to my innocent query about the habit of tipping bar staff with the offensive remark " thank god" referring to the fact that I do not live in the Keys. I would like to ask, were you born with your nasty nature, or did it take a lot of practice? you seem to be an expert. I have been an admirer of the US and its people all my life and am old enough not to be put off by the occasional stupid remark you made. Just stop and think, if the employer paid a decent wage, the employee would not depend on the generosity of the customer to make a living wage. It is fortunate that all employed people are not dependent on this way of earning a living. Can you imagine tipping the Editor of this column? I have worked as a bartender and offensive drunks were not served, and just because someone is drunk, does not mean that they are offensive or talking rubbish. (A word that I prefer to the expletive used by your degenerate subscriber)
11	Our local Bartenders & waitresses get paid way less than minimum wage. Even at Little Palm Island, they only make $2.50/hr. And that's a hoity-toity 4 star Resort. Get the Picture?
11	I was a bartender in Key West and if I depended on minimum wage to pay my rent I would have been out on the streets. Most bartenders I know do their very best to see that their customers are waited on properly and have a good time. The abuse that we take from many customers is not even fit to print but, we STILL do our job and, we do it WELL! We are not only expected to be bartenders, we are also expected to be caretakers, marriage counselors and psychologists! All this for MINIMUM WAGE! So to all the people out there who TIP us, a big THANK YOU!
11	Is NAPA moving into the Marshall building? They just painted the front NAPA blue.
	Try www.juno.com it's free.
11	AOL sucks!
11	I have never had a problem with Earthlink. I really like it.
Tuesday August 10 2004	Get AOL!
10	Bartenders usually make minimum wage and have to put up with a lot of drunks. That's worth giving them a tip.
10	You tip the bartender for putting up with your drunken bulls**t.
10	To the person who does not live in the keys (thank god!). Why should you tip the bartender? Long story short: I grew up in the keys, My mother was a bartender at the Big Pine Inn. All I know is waiting on customers. Being a server whether in food or beverage. I have never been paid min. wage. The first time I went up North the people I was with were floored when I left a 20% tip. They are paid at least min. wage & bennies! We don't have that here.
10	P.S. I Like the evening update.
10	Boy, this TUSSA guy gets around. He came by my house also, but as polite as he is he waited until 7am to wake me up. Must be because he's a nice guy and all. He had the same excuse though, his boat broke down with a cooler full of lobster. At least he's sticking to the same story!
10	Everybody listen: TUSSA HATTON is a crack cocaine smoker and an oxycontin addict, he (snorts) oxycontin "hillbilly heroin." What a winnner.
10	TUSSA deserves whatever he gets out of life. Actions speak louder than words. Lying and cheating gets you nowhere in life.
Monday 7pm	I also enjoyed the Big Pine House of Music. However if they don't get a real bartender, they will lose some customers. I am a patient person and had to wait several times to get a drink. Other people were complaining. I do wish them success!
9	Why is that the Fish and Wildlife or the Army Corp or the County seem to want to fill in every possible enjoyable water access? They want to fill in the Old Mariners Park and now the swimming hole. Why don't they want to improve our waterways? Dredging was supposed to be done in our canals after George. That sure never happened. Now the canals are brown and the fish can't breathe!
9	Tussa showed up at my house, also, asking for money for gas either for his boat or car and always tells you that he will bring you some fish back, which you never see.
9	Tussa Hatton "drove" to our house also at 4AM claiming to have a boat that was run aground nearby and needing help. We told him to call the Coast Guard. This was after we had him cut back some trees, and leave a pile of debris that he said would be picked up and never was. Being new here we didn't know any better. We ended up calling Waste Management to have it removed. It's pretty unsettling, not knowing too many people here, having someone knocking on your door at 4 in the morning when you are sound asleep.
Monday August 9 2004	As someone who does not live in the Keys, (but just give me the chance), it never ceases to amaze me that there are so many moans by people who do live there. Any way, I too, am displeased about a facet of America. Why when I go into a bar, is it expected of me to tip the bartender? Surely the bar owner must pay the bar person. Why then should I have to reward someone with extra money for doing the job they are paid to do? The drinks are expensive enough without the customer subsidizing the employer.
9	After wasting yet another day with Earthlink Master Tech people (only accessible through Billing Dept when I called to cancel my account), going deep into the heart of my PC, performing a "lobotomy", deleting all things Earthlink, down to the Registry, then starting all over by downloading E-link's latest TA2005 complete with extras (for the fourth time!), my machine was brought back to life. One problem though. The features I lost the first time I tried to download TA2005, by some mystery, are still lost! In other words, after several weeks of many, many phone calls, live chats online, E-mails, etc. with different people around the world, being mislead, misdirected, and outright lied to, my PC STILL doesn't have the several important features I lost! Some E-link staff even said it was impossible to have those features I speak of! If I didn't have them, I wouldn't know they were lost! So, much to my chagrin, I will be canceling the remainder of my Earthlink Subscription TODAY, before my auto withdrawal date. Earthlink will get no more of my money. I had even considered their Special Offer to upgrade to DSL. Silly me. By the way, the Master Tech who performed the "lobotomy" promised to call me after the first day of surgery, and did not. I finally called him the second day (through the Billing Dept.) after waiting four hours for his call . If anyone else has had this kind of trouble from your ISP, whoever they are, let the Cyberspace community know about it please.
9	Anyone been to the new Big Pine House of Music? Formally the Sharks reef. They have a house band and they rock. They were rockin' to 2:00 am Sat. Had an awesome time and the crowd was great. We all had a rockin' good time..
9	If you think last week's rain was out of control, maybe you haven't been here long enough. Look at the monthly average rainfall in the Keys and please notice we average between 5 and 7 inches a month in the summertime. You can look at www.weather.com and get the average monthly rainfall for the keys for (I think) 100 years with the exception of one or two war years. We didn't have any rain for 4 months . If we got our drinking and bath water from here, we would be in big trouble but we aren't because we depend on the "big lake". The rain we had last Monday was, maybe, one inch. Just sit back and enjoy our tropical downpours. 12 years ago in June, the rain was so severe we had 3 feet of water in our yard and that wasn't either a tropical storm or depression. It was in June and just a spring rain.
9	Has anyone made the connection to Tussa and a crackhead? Hmmmm...
9	Summertime in the keys, bugs in your coffee? I put my coffee down for 5 minutes watering the garden and a lizard (Carribean Anole) got in my cup and could'nt get out, so, I go to pour it out and a three foot iguana jumps out of a tree in front of me, almost lands on me and runs to the canal. It's time to stay in for a couple of months.
9	WD Big Pine is still under the same manager, Mr. Sipple. The co-manager of the Big Pine store was promoted to manager of the Marathon store...so things will remain the same, no better nor worse.
Sunday August 8 2004	Tussa Hatton showed up at my house at 5:00 in the morning begging for work and money. Then he showed up two more times asking for money and got angry at me when I told him I didn't want him to cut my trees. I have heard from many people in Big Pine that he also shows up at their houses at all hours asking for money. Watch out for this guy, you never know what someone that crazy will do for money.
8	Saturday, I saw a man in an out of state white van at Winn Dixie with a pole with a loop attached trying to catch chickens. A local citizen went over and stopped him saying, "What are you doing to my chickens?"
8	How about having the web cam at Winn Dixie? That way we could see people and more action. Also, quit complaining about Winn Dixie. The best thing about the Keys is that things are different. A parking lot lake complete with chickens tells me that I am definitely not on the mainland.
8	Vote NO for the 1/2 cent sales tax. Why you ask? A brand new high school in Key West without enough classrooms, no field at Sugarloaf School, renovation of Coral Shores brand new high school to comply with ADA requirements. How much more money do we want wasted?

Saturday August 7 2004	Trivia. If a local runs for office and isn't capable of putting a sign up correctly, then it falls down and they don't fix it, should we trust that person to be the one in charge of anything? Also, if there ever happens to be a hurricane warning and if the sign-putter-uppers don't realize that they become projectiles, we need to question their values. Oh, by the way, those 4x8 signs do make good storm shutters. I have used them before from the same candidates running now that didn't take them down.
7	If you have not noticed the WD in Big Pine is looking a lot better after the managers left to Marathon. Maybe they will show their faces in the Marathon store more often. And being American has nothing to do with it. The American manager that went to Marathon seemed to be lazy themselves.
7	I say that if they want to fill in the swimming hole and make a park they should just leave it the way it is and forget the park. We need a swimming hole more than another park. What are they thinking?
Friday pm	Concerning the comment made on August 1. How does being American have anything to do with being a good manager. I know plenty of excellent managers in Big Pine that would put the Marathon managers to shame, new and old.. Some are American some are not...
Friday pm	The Real Truth about our Government is contained within this group.............Bush vs. Kerry....one and the same. http://www.hereinreality.com/carlyle.html
Friday pm	I heard on the news the other night that the Russian Oil company may well be going out of business and the million and a half or so barrels of oil they supply the world every day will no longer be available. And our gas prices are sure to go even higher. I would like to thank all the "Tree Huggers" and Democrats for NOT allowing The United States to drill in ANWAR (Alaska) to solve our dependence on foreign oil. There is plenty of oil in ANWAR, why can't we go and get it? It could well be the largest supply in the world. Bar none.
Friday pm	I'm watching this storm on your web cam and it's awesome!
Friday August 6 2004	About the wood cutter, his name is Tussa and he has done that to many people, he is a big scammer. He did it to us, also. Check out www.keysso.net the Monroe County Sheriff's Website and go to the "Arrests" on the left hand side menu and you will find this person mentioned several times.
6	Skidding in sideways… It is obvious that is what you’ve been doing to yourself and also the reasons for all of your troubles, including not being able to have children, because of your “used-up body.” Poverty and alcoholism look good on you… as does the fact that you don’t use sunscreen and look to be much older and rougher. Keep on smoking & drinking & you kids can go “home” in your 50s while the vigilant & healthy (both physically AND mentally) ones shall live 100 + happy years without carrying around an oxygen tank or suffering the multiple health consequences of your white trashy lifestyle which you live inside your Tikki Hut.
6	If anyone has an aerobic septic system, or needs to get one, be warned that Third Generation Plumbing in Marathon, is a dishonest company. They have also gone by the name of ABC Sears Aerobic Systems.
6	FYI: Monroe County Mosquito Control- 1800-276-7493
6	the Chamber of Commerce is having a raffle for $5,000 Aug. 24. Tickets are $100.
6	If Kerry wants the leadership campaign to be about his time in Vietnam, he and his emissaries should be careful about impugning the motives of his veteran detractors. As one of them said, "We didn't lose the war on the ground in Vietnam, we lost it at home, and at home John Kerry was the field general." Here's the rest of the story. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2001996876_collin05.html
Thursday August 5 2004	Maybe there's something to learn from this perspective... Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, smoke in one hand, favorite drink in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming, "WOW - What a f**king ride!"
5	To Roy Boy and the rest of the expatriate Piners: You can now listen to US 1 Radio on line. Biz Baz, Morning Magazine, Saturday in the Islands, local news....it's all there at www.US1Radio.com
5	Warning. We have a really bad woodcutter on Big Pine. He is a nice guy. After he tells you the price he asks for an advance; then shows up a week later and tells you its more. Then has you pay him in advance for removing the pile of wood that he never comes back for.... and to top it off he shows up at your house in the middle of the night with a story about an emergency that he needs money for. HAS THIS HAPPENED TO ANYONE ELSE?
5	Free swimming lessons at the WD lake. Chickens only.
5	Unedited Ramblings
5	For those interested in how Iraq is building its democracy check this article out. http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/26182.htm
5	The first Summerland Seafood Festival is this Sunday at MM25 Gulf. 12-8pm
Wednesday August 4 2004	The Friends of the Big Pine Library have donated a superb collection of music CD's to the Big Pine Library. The growing collection includes an eclectic blend of classic and contemporary albums for all ages and tastes. When completed, the collection will offer over 450 choices in Classical, Opera, Rock, Pop, Jazz, Blues Rand B, Country-Western and New Age. The CD's are available for check out.
4	Coffee with bugs? Please tell us where not to go!
4	What storms we’ve been having lately. First, no rain at all; than a whole year's worth comes all at once. Monday night the winds started from the east, swung to the south and finally ended whipping from the west. What a storm!
4	Boy, did that control burn in the refuge stink last night. Thankfully the big rain drowned all that smell.
4	FYI: Winn Dixie Lake (parking lot) will be getting an improvement to the drainage system in the near future. The new owners of the shopping plaza are going to get the drainage improved.
4	I also heard from friends that live in Marathon, that the WD is looking better and said it will be 100% improvement over what was there in the past years. Good luck to the new management team at Marathon WD.
4	Need your new school clothes hemmed / altered? Kids get sent home from school if their trousers are dragging and frayed. Instead of stapling (!) the low-rise trousers, I paid Kris $10 a pair and she will pin and hem your back-to-school clothes. The new Big Pine Tailor Lady is KRIS oneoldesage@msn.com 872.2590 and she said it was okay to tell the world.
4	The Big Pine City Commission should have a wi-fi hot spot so everyone can stay connected even if they’re on vacation. It would be a unique tourist attraction.
Tuesday August 3 2004	I remember the year.. 1984 the grand opening of Winn Dixie! My big summer job! Due to poor management the company has almost ceased to exist in Atlanta where they had (and squandered) a huge market share, but even though the quality isn't as it once was, it sure beats the days of driving to marathon and often times getting stranded on the old 7-mile as the swing span was stuck again! It may not be perfect but it is quite convenient.
3	I know it's summertime. It's six am and I'm drinking coffee with three bugs in it!
3	How to spot a rich guy. I think this one speaks for itself , and the times (it has Always been thus). Good luck to us poor guys!
Monday August 2 2004	Sure will be a happy camper when web cam is up and running full time. So far, I've only seen it once, and I check the site every day. Especially being out here in the Valley of the Sun, I'd love to see the trees and clouds and maybe even a Keys Sunset Keep up the good work, I'd be much more homesick without bpk.com. Of course, if I was there, I'd probably be back at Coconutz, or back on the Board of the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce, both could be trouble again!! --The Real ROY BOY.
2	I just sent an e-mail to webcam address and was kicked back as "no such address". What's up? Keep up the good work. Cam makes me feel less homesick (when I can get it). Email form the web cam address came on screen while I was watching cam, but was still kicked back. Hang in there. (Ed: We think we've got the camera and email figured out. Having a live streaming video is so much harder to do than stop-frame, like all the other cameras, but we wanted you to be able to see all the live action on this fast-paced island of ours. The camera has infrared, but unless it's a full moon, all you can see at night is a circular glow and a street light to the left. Thanks for the notice.)
2	Go Democrats! Go Kerry! Go Edwards! Go Michael Moore! Read my lips No More Bush!
2	OK everyone. First of all Winn Dixie is built on a sink hole. You all with hummers and BMW"s might want to park by the Hopefully staying Laundromat. Heard a rumor that is was pulling up PIPES! Going out of business. So, If all leaves, drive to Marathon and Key West for your needs. That's what was done 20 years ago, and no one whined--we just survived. Growth can be friendly, but difficult to control. Money is necessary to live here, but it does not totally have to be controlled by politics. Stay strong, those of us who can relate to this passage.
2	Before Winn Dixie we would go shopping at Jen's (now Dion's Quick Mart) and we could have all the Oscar Mayer's baloney, tuna fish or Span we wanted.
2	Re: Winn Dixie: If you don't like WD go elsewhere. Problem solved. No more complaints. Be thankful for what you have instead of complaining about what you don't.
Sunday August 1 2004	How about this? A Zillion should have 26 zeros to be a zillion. (Z being the 26^th letter) 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00
1	For all you Publix worshipers please go there and shut the hell up about Winn Dixie. Winn Dixie does not own the parking lot. If they did it would be deeper. So get on the owner about your stupid fishing tournament and your whiney ass complaints. You need to keep an eye on the Marathon Winn Dixie as the best two American Managers are now getting it cleaned up and running right.
1	We usually go to the Key West fancy-pants beauty parlor for our haircuts from a very popular and expensive swishy hairstylist. This time, for our Full Moon Haircuts (promotes good growth) we tried CynDee’s Snip-n-Sip that is inside Coconuts and she gives The Best haircuts at rock-bottom prices! Her little corner is full of ambience & personality, plus we met some nice boys in the bar while enjoying an ice-cold draft. What a fun way to get a haircut! Why doesn’t she add a nail lady too? Cocktails & Pedicures in Paradise. Kudos to CynDees & Coconuts!
1	Fisherman on Summerland are HATERS!

Archives of Old Kudos and Whiners
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August 2003	September 2003	October 2003	November 2003	December 2003

January 2004	February 2004	March 2004	April 2004	May 2004	June 2004
July 2004	August Opened	September 2004	October 2004	November 2004	December 2004