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The man on the other line, Richard, told me every mechanic in town was so busy, most would take days or weeks to even look at it. But because he could empathize with foreigners stranded on a trip of a lifetime, he would at least try to diagnose the issue, but could not promise more than that.

My guests told me how Richard at A-1 got them on the lift as soon as the tow truck pulled in, and even offered to drive them to Little Torch if need be, after that he ordered the parts for overnight delivery. That is service I do not often see anymore, and doubt I would see it in Miami. He fixed the problem, got them on the road again the next day. Then when they broke down again from an unrelated issue, he did the same thing; got them on the road to back home. Very quick, very courteous.

I just wanted to share this, as I do not really know Arnolds towing or A-1 from Adam, practically. But their efforts to help visitors to the Keys, when they did not have to go the extra mile really impressed me. We all complain from time to time about “Keys disease” and lack of professional customer service down here. Well, both businesses will be getting my business from now on.

[Robots] A new version of Atlas, designed to operate outdoors and inside buildings. It is specialized for mobile manipulation. It is electrically powered and hydraulically actuated. It uses sensors in its body and legs to balance and LIDAR and stereo sensors in its head to avoid obstacles, assess the terrain, help with navigation and manipulate objects. This version of Atlas is about 5′ 9″ tall. Video

Wednesday the water sparkled like diamonds off Little Spanish Key looking towards Annette Key

I wish cats made a more pleasant sound when they meow, then sounding like a torn rag.

Officer McKay investigated an illegal campsite inside of Dagny Johnson State Park in north Key Largo as reported to him by a Florida Park Service employee.  A subject was recorded on a game camera carrying camping gear into a remote section of the park and then seen coming and going at odd hours for the past several weeks.  Officer McKay found the site, but no one was there.  The following day, Officer McKay returned at night with Officer Pestka where both officers found the campsite occupied by the tent owner and his visiting friend.  Both were from out of town and working locally for the season.  The owner of the tent was issued three park rule infractions and three written warnings for the various violations.  Both subjects were trespassed from the park for a year, but were first given three days to remove their belongings and to clean up the site before any items left behind would be considered abandoned and removed by the park service.

[“Septic reuse tank idea”] I think it’s a good idea to raise tilapia, but skip the ‘clean it’ step and you’ll save money on fish food. Tilapia are raised in s**t.

Ceiling over St. Mary’s Altar, Krakow , Poland

[“Hide a Key–nothing metal to stick the little box”] Tell him to stick it inside his tailpipe.

Is there a product or treatment that will clean wire strands to accept solder?

How are you?
He stated that he was very busy. George enjoys his job.

How do you handle Planning Department and being the Assistant City Manager?
George’s typical week can be as high as 60 hours. Sometimes he works on the weekend. George has proven to be a good leader. For example, staff provides their own reports in a timely manner. Staff does well on long term jobs.

Holly Raschein serves as our house representative from District 120. Our senator is Anitere Flores from District 39. They filed bills House 447 and Senate 770. Among other items it provides 25 million dollars per year in a ten-year period. The bill covers the futher improvement of our water quality. Also there is 100 million dollars for new water quality projects. These figures could change up or down.

Does the Code Board affect other projects?
There is little correlation, except in some instances. If a permit process finds a code violation, the Code Compliance Department takes over in trying to get a code violation in compliance. The building official inspection could find a code compliance violation, which may go to the Code Compliance to resolve the violation.

What are the important projects you may handle?
Wastewater and operations, 17 million dollars from the Mayfield legislation, Area 3 plant, and city hall are those projects.

What about Planning Department projects?
Marriott opening very soon, Knight’s Key, Code revision, platting ordinance, BPass scoring, vacant land analysis, and Trust for Public lands are some of those projects.

On the subject of city hall, what do the new offices look?
He said that it’s a process. Major departments will be in one of the four corners. George and I talked about Marathon’s new meeting place for city council and all the various committee. www.TikiLIVE.com TV will be Marathon’s channel. George said that Aaron Arnett is the IT specialist covering all media including network tying all the various users together securely. The phone system is updated, which is a single phone system.

What is your favorite part of the new City Hall?
George answered that it is more functional than the trailers. The city is going paperless. File storage will be more efficient. The entry area is very good.

How do you handle controversies?
Deal with it based on fact and rational thought through active responses.

Any last thoughts?
The city is moving forward in a positive direction. One particular item is the planning issue of workforce housing. His department works hard on this issue.

[“Bushido – Only by facing death can one really know what it is to live”] Visit the Winn-Dixie during the season if you want to experience Bushido.

If the sewer line was pressurized to 150% of the system design pressure on the previous day, the initial expansion occurred then and there should have been no acceptable loss of pressure during Mr. Eckler’s test. Mr. Eckler’s first two-hour test performed between 7:45 and 9:45 showed a drop of 4 psi. The manufacturers technical procedures require if a test is not completed due to leakage, equipment failure or for any other reason, it requires the test section be depressurized completely and allowed to relax for at least eight hours before pressurizing the test section again.

Mr. Eckler’s second test was performed two and a half hours after the first test and the test section was never allowed to relax. From the report it appears that the test section was never completely depressurized because the pressure had been maintained at 80 psi when Mr. Eckler arrived. Mr. Eckler’s report indicated an actual leakage of 10.0 gallons in two hours at only 150 psi.

In none of the tests performed did the pressure remain constant and the report shows the maximum test pressure of 150 psi which is not 150% of the system design pressure. Is 6.455 gallons an hour sewage leak an allowable loss? The would mean a 4,644-gallon monthly sewage spill is acceptable.

The FKAA has issued connection notices to the property owners on Ramrod as of February 11. Once a property connects and has its septic system abandoned they will not be able to disconnect from the central sewer system. When or, if, it is determined that the sewer line under the channel is leaking after it is placed in service it will create significant complications.

If the system is placed into use before it has been properly tested any repairs may be the responsibility of FKAA and not the contractor who installed it.

Why do we want to spy on our people? Because of national security, that’s why. Let’s be more like China! That’s why they do it.

Can you see the difference? I don’t. You say not to worry; we have the First Amendment protecting our right to privacy. Privacy is protected until it isn’t and it’s always because of … national security. Privacy is guaranteed in the First Amendment. The very first thing they thought of! What could be more private than private phone conversations? Privacy is protected until it isn’t — because of, that’s right … national security.

Since Snowden confirmed what we already suspected about our government spying on us, there’s been bigger and bigger cracks in the bell of liberty.  That bell has, until now, sounded the alarm when the prying eyes and ears of government spies on Americans. If Apple caves, that crack will destroy the bell and we’ll be just like China. Yea, I know, we still have our guns. Don’t touch the Second Amendment, just the First. That’s how you think. Think of our future without privacy. Famous last words of the narrow-minded, “I have nothing to hide. I don’t mind them listening.”

How to fix our government and the FKAA. On St Patrick’s Day everybody should take a super dump and flush at exactly 12 noon.

The password screen that appears each time you start Windows 10 is a security feature Microsoft added to help protect your computer from other people. If you do not share the laptop with anybody else and do not use it in public where others may have a chance to tamper with it, disabling the login screen is less of a security issue, but keep in mind that it does remove a level of protection.

Press the Windows and R keys on the keyboard to open the Run box and enter: netplwiz. Press the Enter key. In the User Accounts window, select your account and uncheck the box next to “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.” Click the Apply button. In the box that appears, type your password where prompted. Click the O.K. button.

Restart the computer. You should not be asked for a password now to get into your Windows 10 PC. Later, if you wind up creating another user account for

someone to share the laptop (or you take the computer on the road where someone else could potentially get into your files), consider reversing your steps and reactivating the password requirement in your Windows 10 set-

tings.

Africa has a deer problem too.

Later, as I reflected on the miracle of a 20 millimeter shell piercing the fuel tank without touching off an explosion, our pilot, Bohn Fawkes, told me it was not quite that simple. “On the morning following the raid, Bohn had gone down to ask our crew chief for that shell as a souvenir of unbelievable luck.
The crew chief told Bohn that not just one shell but 11 had been found in the gas tanks. 11 unexploded shells where only one was sufficient to blast us out of the sky. It was as if the sea had been parted for us. A near-miracle, I thought.  Even after 35 years, so awesome an event leaves me shaken, especially after I heard the rest of the story from Bohn.
He was told that the shells had been sent to the armorers to be defused. The armorers told him that Intelligence had picked them up. They could not say why at the time, but Bohn eventually sought out the answer. “Apparently when the armorers opened each of those shells, they found no explosive charge. They were as clean as a whistle and just as harmless.
Empty? Not all of them! One contained a carefully rolled piece of paper. On it was a scrawl in Czech. The Intelligence people scoured our base for a man who could read Czech. Eventually they found one to decipher the note. It set us marveling. Translated, the note read, “This is all we can do for you now. Using Jewish slave labor is never a good idea.”

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

By the way, United Parcel Service is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident!

[ The Microwave Was Invented by Accident] Today, we know that the low doses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by microwaves are generally considered safe (though, the FDA admits that no studies have been done to assess the impact of low levels of microwaves on humans over time, and there are those who still firmly believe microwaves are killing us). Link

I think there’s a dirt in the needle valve by the float or in the carburetor. It has a new coil, spark plug, gas, gas rejuvenator, and air filter. Ran great when I brought it home from Lawnmowerman. Does anyone know how I can fix it or who can?

I was there this morning and watched as cars and trucks keep running into, or over, the obstacles in the parking lot. Who designed this disaster and why? This parking lot is dangerous and ugly.

Take a look at keysso at those losers. I think it’s time we just start dropping douch bags off a bridge. Pick a bridge, any bridge. Full Menu > Arrest Reports Mug Shots

Is this the sunset or has Key West just been vaporized by aliens?

[Helium Beer] These two guys from Germany are testing Helium Beer for the first time. Beware, Their laughter is contagious. If you have never inhaled helium from a balloon and then tried to talk this will have a slightly different impact. I want some!  Video

We tried it one more time, and we’re glad we did. JR, the chef from the Big Pine Restaurant, is now at Bistro and he’s brought many of the menu offerings that always kept the Big Pine Restaurant filled with visitors and locals.  Several of the wait staff from the Big Pine Restaurant are now at Bistro 31. We’ve been there about half a dozen times in the recent past.  The food is now excellent, the prices are right, and the service is as friendly and efficient as it was at the Big Pine Restaurant.   We’re now ‘regulars’ at the new Bistro 31.  Try it, we think you’ll be very happy campers.

[“Parking Lot”] I hate the new landscaping at the Big Pine Key shopping center. Maybe in 25 years if the Keys are not under water, they will have some shade again. Meanwhile be prepared to wear sun glasses inside the stores with windows as the glare is blinding.

[Shoupie] Another fine Chinese knock off of a Sharpie (real one is on the bottom). I found the Chinese one at work.