Published Tuesdays and Fridays. Letters to the editor with pictures. Since 0202.
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 [Tree Removal Bobcat Damage] Irma toppled a large tree in my side yard. I called around and phoned a guy for an estimate. $600 to remove the tree but not the stump. I reluctantly agreed because other estimates were higher. While I was gone for the day he showed up and removed the tree and stacked it on the road with other similar debris. When I returned home I found that his Bobcat had destroyed the entire yard. The ground was still soft from the rain and his equipment left ruts 8 inches deep over the entire yard. My lawn care person has told me that they will not be able to service the yard until I get it smoothed out. I estimate the damage to be another $400 for someone to come in with the equipment to smooth it out and let the grass regrow. My mistake was not getting references for a reliable person to do the work. Live and learn. Wisdom comes from experience. Experience comes from our mistakes.Video |
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| How is Big Pine Key doing? All we hear about up here is Puerto Rico’s situation. Do you have water, electricity, and mail service? Telephones or cell phones working? Garbage being picked up? Help with storm debris? Is everything back to ‘normal’? |
[Normal] Conforming to the standard or common type; usual, not abnormal, regular, natural. As in, “your state of norm”. We’re all normal. Hurray! |
| I suffer from toxic mold exposure and as part of my recovery plan I had my first ozone treatment about 48 hours ago. In the approximately 12 hour period afterwards I felt notably good / better, including staying up way past bed time due to added energy and alertness.
However, since then I’ve had some concerns, yesterday, 24 hours after treatment, I felt worse than I was prior to the session, with my skin, in particular, feeling more sensitive that usual requiring repeat itching. In two areas I itched near my ankle and my wrist I developed small wounds which would never have developed previously with the same level of scratching. Can anyone advise on the likely explanation for this occurrence? Fast forward to today, I’ve just had one of the worst reactions I’ve ever had, if not the worst. I had a cup of coffee with oat milk to start my day along with added coconut oil. All seemed fine for the first hour then I experienced what felt like an adrenal attack. Usually eating helps with this anomaly, so I stopped at the nearest shop and got some guacamole, carrots and some salted potatoes chips. Within minutes I started to feel very sick and headed home in desperation. By the time I got there I was trembling and felt very sick with stomach pain and very itchy palms and soles of my feet. Even lying down on my bed felt difficult and stressful resulting in me having some serious thoughts as to what was happening to me. I’m not one that’s easily worried and always believes every problem has a solution, but I felt so Ill I was both scared and worried on this occasion. I forced swallowed some activated charcoal then went to the toilet with extreme diarrhea, I continued to feel bad for a spell afterwards before notably picking up thereafter. Can anyone advise what likely just happened to me and whether the ozone likely played a part? Just to clarify, my mold exposure in the past gave me some harsh experiences, including an extreme period immediately after I was detoxing in infrared Saunas but this reaction was at a whole other level. Thanks in advance. |
Does the County bug people try to control no-see-ums too? I’m dying here! |
| (Ed: Comcast is coming to headquarters this morning to fix the internet. What a pain this has been. Oh, happy day! Whoopie!) |
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| [1856: William Hackley’s Diary] “William Randolph’s child died in the night. It is well it is dead for I do not think it was of sound mind. Wrote to the Treasurer. The things for the sewing machine did not come. Went to the funeral in the evening, very few persons were there. I did not go to the grave as it was late and commenced raining slightly. Rev. E.O. Herrick officiated.” |
So much for the clean “air curtain” burning on Cudjoe Key’s Blimp Road. The pungent odor, and billowing clouds of smoke are nauseating, spewing another poison into our air. Any Cudjoe Key residents that didn’t have breathing problems before, surely will have them now. |
| [Unsafe Hurricane] Where is the Department of Transportation? Stop signs, no passing zone, and speed limit signs are missing, or bent by the storm. US1 is dangerous with broken glass, and debris fallen from their debris hauling trucks. Lord help anyone who has to pull off on a shoulder, filled with sharp metal, nails and glass. Oh, that’s right, the DOT is busy planting full size palms only 5’ to 8’ apart, in the midst of debris piles on Summerland Key |
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| I want to volunteer in Big Pine Key. I am an older woman so I’m not much help in construction but can cook, serve and hand out items. Can you point me in a direction where I could be of help? By the way, I really enjoy your writings! Thank you, Martha Ms.mjtm@gmail.com |
I need some help. I just heard that the clocks go back this weekend. I can’t even remember where I got them from and I don’t have any receipts. |
| [Be One With The Force, Luke] To all my neighbors, mainly the ones who don’t live here full-time. Yes, we know it’s almost been two months since hurricane Irma hit us and yes, we know it still looks like a hurricane hit. Guess what? It isn’t snow. It’s not ice. It’s not going to melt. The clean-up is going to take time. The grit and dust is not going away. The canals will look like shit for a very long time and your property values may take a hit. But guess what? those of us who have lived here for any length of time and don’t have to rent our houses out to tourists have been through this before. The Lower Keys will come back! I know the politicos and a radio DJ from the mainland say, “the Keys are open.” The funny thing is the DJ had to stay in Key Largo because the hotels in Islamorada took a big hit from the storm. Welcome to paradise, now suck up the fact that your perfect paradise isn’t so perfect and get in line for a contractor to come fix your stuff. |
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| [Rhapsodizing on the Keys] I like your website and I love the Keys. I’m not from the right. I’m from the Russian River and owned a coffeehouse there for 10 years, roasted my own coffee. I noticed a bagel shop for sale there, pretty cheap. Again I love the keys. I’ve lived in the Fort Lauderdale area until I couldn’t take any more. I have two rescue dogs as well, one I just got from Houston and named Bayou.
I mention the Russian River of California because I have extensive experience with FEMA and the feds. We had 50 homes slide down a hill. I worked or let’s say, pushed around, FEMA a lot. The River has a threatened species of steelhead in it. Most of the town was flooded 3 times in two years. But I kept my coffeehouse open thru it all. I know a hurricane is much different and you can lose everything instantly. At 62 you guys sound like you’re protecting a quality of life that is constantly under threat. I don’t even know about your housing situation there. I aint after some high-priced condo. I wouldn’t mind another coffeehouse with fresh roasted coffee, and I did some counter baking, for breakfast and used to do some nice salads and sandwiches like a cashew and fresh chicken salad. Anyway, I like a small area, a place to create something cool and that gorgeous water and sunshine. And the Key Deer. Amazing. Just wanted to let you know you have a great website, keep it up and I’d sure contribute to that woman who lost her dog. Or anything else you guys got going on. Good luck to you all and so very glad you’re on your way back. I may drive down in the next month or so |
Terrorists pose a very small threat to Americans. |
| [KW Orchid Society] We have a meeting this Sunday. It’s the 2nd Sunday instead of the usual 3rd so as not to conflict with Thanksgiving week. And we also have a new venue. Congregation B’nai Zion has kindly offered us the use of their meeting room. We can’t meet at the Fort until they have dealt with the mold in the meeting room dungeons. B’nai Zion Synagogue is at 750 United, corner Royal in Key West. Usual time, 1 pm with the program to begin at 1:30. We are happy to have our friends Segundo & Yolanda Cuesta from Quest Orchids back as our speakers. Segundo gives a good talk & they’ll have lots of lovely orchids to replenish our diminished collections. |
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| Public records requests can be made through the city’s website to ensure quick, thorough responses to document requests. Visit http://www.cityofkeywest-fl.gov and click on the drop-down link from the “How Do I?” navigation tab. Hover the mouse over the tab and you’ll see two options: “Submit a Police Records Request” and “Submit a Public Records Request.” |
 Which way is the bus below traveling? to the left? or to the right? Pre-schoolers all over the United States were shown this picture and asked the same question. 92% of the pre-schooler’s gave this answer. “The bus is traveling to the left.”
When asked, “Why do you think the bus is traveling to the left?” They answered: “Because you can’t see the door to get on the bus.” |
| [A Politician’s Position on Whiskey] In 1952, Armon M. Sweat, Jr., a member of the Texas House of Representatives, was asked about his position on whiskey. What follows is his exact answer (taken from the Political Archives of Texas):
“If you mean whiskey, the devil’s brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean that evil drink that topples Christian men and women from the pinnacles of righteous and gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, shame, despair, helplessness, and hopelessness, then, my friend, I am opposed to it with every fiber of my being. However, if by whiskey you mean the lubricant of conversation, the philosophic juice, the elixir of life, the liquid that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer, the stimulating sip that puts a little spring in the step of an elderly gentleman on a frosty morning; if you mean that drink that enables man to magnify his joy, and to forget life’s great tragedies and heartbreaks and sorrow; if you mean that drink the sale of which pours into Texas treasuries untold millions of dollars each year, that provides tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitifully aged and infirm, to build the finest highways, hospitals, universities, and community colleges in this nation, then my friend, I am absolutely, unequivocally in favor of it. This is my position, and as always, I refuse to compromise on matters of principle.” Don’t you just love it! ~Coconut s Bar & Liquor Store |
 The Big Pine Moose Lodge is open. We have cold A/C, ice, all beverages available as well as a full selection of sports on our big screen TVs. Although we are a private organization, you are welcome to stop in and talk with one of our Lodge officers or a member about joining this fine organization and pick up a membership application. It’s not expensive to join us and as a member your annual dues (also not expensive) will help with in our charitable efforts to support seniors and children. We have a lot of fun with team trivia on Sundays, games and drawings during the week. We will be restoring food service for lunch and dinner as soon as possible after kitchen repairs from Irma damage are completed. In the meantime, our Social Quarters (bar) is open for your relaxation and enjoyment! |
| [Canal] The most polluted (and taxed) canal in the Keys get no attention at all. Large sunk boat + all is still there no matter who you call. Thousand gallons of chlorine down the drains of Winn Dixie would help. Figure that out? |
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| [“Fast Eddie’s blog week 10”] Great stuff, although the Michigan fans may not be thrilled getting lumped in with UF & FSU. Link |
[Devil Bug] One of my clients (what the hell!) tagged me in this (hell naw) post of a (kill it with fire) bug she found on her washing machine. |
| Emergency authorization for repairs, replacement, restoration, and certain other measures made necessary by hurricane Irma. All 37 pages. Link |
Does anybody have a good idea or resource for installing customer poles for electricity? |
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| Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there |
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| [Fake News] Jenna Abrams’ tweets were beloved, at times, by both the alt-right and the celebrity blogosphere. Now, Congressional investigators have confirmed that her Twitter account was actually run out of St. Petersburg, Russia. Link |
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| Extreme Rightists and Leftists make us realize value of the democratic middle course. ~FDR 1939 |
[Fast Eddie’s Blog Week 10] Week 10 has just been published after another round of fits and starts. I hope, and expect, you will love this week’s adventure. Link |
| [Location, Location, Location] According to today’s Citizen, City Manager Scholl is going to be directed by the Key West City Commission to “list all government owned parcels that could be used for affordable housing, according to city documents.” It would be a great public service if the School District did the same for all of the property that it owns throughout the county, property other than schools. My understanding is that the School District owns an array of properties from Key West to Key Largo. Perhaps the committee investigating the possibility of affordable housing on the property adjacent to Sugarloaf School could work with Scholl and develop a parallel list. |
OMG! Who’s will be indicted next? Flynn, Flynn Jr., Kushner, Ross, Ivanka! |
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