Published Tuesdays and Fridays. Letters to the editor with pictures. Since 0202.
| Click here to send in a post or something. Contact Us |
| Deer Ed, thanks for your hard work getting the CoCoTele out. It’s part of the “getting back to normal” that we all need. If you have a working cell phone with AT&T service, you can get internet by running a hotspot on your phone. You probably already know that, but if that is an option and you want to know how, feel free to email me.
Tuesday I’m supposed to get a T-Mobile SIM card overnighted to me, so maybe I’ll have internet tomorrow. I promise you I won’t be downloading any more movies.) |
 |
| [Paradox] A “free” nation that forces its citizens to be “patriotic” takes away an essential reason for that patriotism. |
[“Bad medicine”] Think of the coverage gap as a donut hole. As you work your way through meds for the year you might hit the hole with a coverage gap until you get through the hole to the other side. Medicare Part D enrollment opened 10/15 through 12/7. Look at all the plans for your area by entering your scripts. Understanding costs and picking the best for your drug needs for 2018. Link |
| [The Next World War Begins In France] France is “in a state of war” ~Interior Minister Gerard CollombIt’s not just rhetoric. Bombs turn up in a posh Parisian suburb. Two young women are butchered at a train station. And it’s just another week of an Islamic World War III being fought in France. If they start WW3 lets make sure they draft all the trash and trouble makers first. Link |
[One Human Family] I had my DNA checked out and found out I is related to everyone on this here planet |
 |
| Irma’s impact on housing could be felt for years. Irma’s trail of tears. Link |
 [Emergency Management] There is a deeper problem than posted below. The county’s entire “emergency management” was a complete failure. No plan to open schools because of county policy that no schools open in cat 3 or more. Yet Friday night, in the middle of the county Emergency Management conference call with all the agencies, oops, Roman says we have to do something for people staying behind and, poof, the county schools are open. Never mind that all law enforcement have already left, so no cops to provide safety. Then there’s all the calls for fuel for rescue vehicles, we need info, we need power, water… Emergency Management response, “We hear your concerns.” Whoopdeedoo. Finally the real responders, the people running FKEC,FKAA, MCSO, the whole county alphabet of agencies, who have been through this before said, “Enough of that. Do something. Make a decision.” County emergency management’s inexperience and lack of adequate pre-event planning, meetings, drills all contributed to county response being dismal.
I stray from the point because no relief agency was prepared and that is just the tip of county emergency management’s failure. And so far it’s not being addressed at any county level. From Friday CT. “No relief agency was prepared for a hurricane in the Keys. There were almost no chainsaws, lodging for volunteers, and portable showers. They didn’t know there wasn’t any hotels in the area. they didn’t know that we had to get through trees. There was no central information desk. All info was scattered and haphazard.” |
| The county should advertise the Koehn boat ramp as a kayak ramp. It’s not good for much else. |
Do you think birds shit on us on purpose? |
| I’ve lost my hipness. Sometimes I feel like Garrison Keeler on the Prairie Home Companion commenting on things like the return of certain birds. |
 W/D liquor store weekly ad |
| I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious. ~Albert Einstein |
 A boatload of cuties |
| [“Bad medicine”] Why does it have to be so complicated? I thought government was trying to make it easier? They’ve been working on this for fifteen years and it’s getting worse instead of better. |
 [Seven Stages Of Grief] You need not lose a loved one, pet or family member, to be feeling grief. You may not even be aware you’re grieving. Losing your home, our home, our island is more than enough to qualify. I think this article may be appropriate for Piners right now. It may answer a few questions about what your feeling & why.Shock & denial Pain & guilt Anger & bargaining Depression, reflection, loneliness The upward turn Reconstruction & working through Acceptance & hope Link ~Coconuts loves ya’ baby! |
| [Fantasy Fest Guidelines] So much for tradition and a good time. Fantasy Fest has got religion now and that will kill any thing close to what FF was all about. But you can still have your Fantasy, just dress up looking like a closet. Link |
 |
| [Making Waves] How come it’s always the weirdo’s, freaks, uglies, and frustrated useless-eaters who cause all the waves in this world? Legalize prostitution and all this will go away! |
 Two days after Irma a large cabin boat sinks in the canal West of Almond in Whispering Pines. It leaked diesel, oil, and whatever else, in the canal for weeks. Coast Guard comes by two weeks later and says nothing we can do. On Saturday, Oct 21, a guy comes in and puts a yellow containment collar around the boat. I guess it’s to keep the FKAA canal sewage out of the boat. I sure would like to see trash removal instead |
| I was trying to shoot a small iguana on my hurricane ravaged bougainvillea, but I was too close and kept missing. In frustration I smashed it with the barrel of my pellet pistol. That did the job |
 |
| [“Bad medicine”] I had a friend who worked for a big pharm company and he knew what their costs were for meds. When he told me some costs and sell prices, I get sick to my stomach. 10,000% mark-up is normal! Don’t give that crap about R&D costs either. |
Color blind man solves Rubik’s cube in 5 seconds. Video |
| There is a feral cat population of about 20+ cats on County Road. Cats are being fed daily by cat lovers and their numbers are increasing almost daily. These cats are afraid of the rats, who are joining in on these daily feedings, and whose numbers are increasing also. Could someone come in and kill the rats so we can see how large a feral cat population can grow when fed without competition. You can call it an experiment. They’re easy to find, just follow your nose after turning left at end of County Road. |
Is this my destiny to be carrying around this damn phone? When I go from room to room I pick it up and bring it along. It has so many wonderful uses it’s become indispensable. I don’t like that one bit. |
| It looks like the best border wall design is a bunch of M16s! |
 |
| Jimmy Webb—Just This One Time |
The mosquitoes are horrible. |
| FKAA, “No water, no sewage, no problem.” |
The vultures are finally back (10.20.17). The smell of rotting flesh from Irma is too great a draw to ignore |
| [Bike Path] Hopefully the powers in charge will sweep the bike path off along US1. Its still not passable in some areas such as Summerland Key. We see that the crews are planting the new trees & landscaping. Maybe they can clean the pathway while they are in the area so that our children can use them again. |
 |
| Sunday September 24. 7:30 am It’s been 16 days since we’ve slept in our own bed and I am revitalized. Our once peaceful neighborhood now hums with generators and chainsaws. I’m sitting under the house in my rocker, enjoying morning coffee. When Kent awakens we’ll check if our “relocated” boat starts and determine if there’s any life left in our washer and dryer. With anticipated hope, the washer filled with water then died. No response from the plugged in dryer, boo hoo. Thank God our neighbors Ashley and Jason have a working pair and lets me wash Kent’s uniforms for his next round of pipe leak repairs. 3:00 pm We’re all here at Boondocks, watching football, eating, drinking and enjoying the fans blowing in our faces. I wasn’t thrilled that my vodka, tonic, and cranberry was all ice, no liquor so I asked for another with no ice. Anyways, right now Pittsburgh lost in overtime against Chicago (Kent’s bummed), Patriot’s just pulled off a nail bitting win against Houston, we’re off to grill some steaks and begin night 2 of our return to home sweet home. I am confident the following weeks/months will be filled with daily debris removals, announcements of electric back on, internet restored and 3rd world country living conditions ceasing so I am finalizing this journal. I will not bore you with those updates so thank you for allowing me to share this unbelievable experience with you. God Bless and please continue your prayers for the many lives altered by a storm called IRMA and the tremendous number of volunteers and rescue services that have popped up to help in the recovery and rebuilding of these treasured islands called the lower Florida Keys. Amen.
Sunday September 24, 2017, 6:31 pm, power just came on, crank the ACs, YIPPEEEEE |
[Fast Eddie’s Fabulous Forecast] October 22. Week 8 recap. Link |
| [The Nerd Blog] How we make stuff. A new publishing system brings a refreshed design and improved features to our site. Link |
 |
| [Key West Film Festival] As Florida recovers from the devastating effects of Hurricane Irma, Key West Film Festival organizers are hoping the event will deliver light and joy during a challenging time through the power of cinema by showcasing some of the medium’s brightest talents, past and present, through what is quickly becoming a critical stop on the fall festival circuit just as awards season gets underway. |
 [Racist Football Players] I’m retired Master Sergeant E. E. Nanay Jr. 80% Wounded Warrior and I’m one of the millions of veterans who has shed blood or gave their lives so that you could entertain us in a respectful manner. However if the NFL has no problem with a small portion of your racist employees disrespecting the lives and blood that was shed to give you the ability to continue entertaining Americans then there’s no reason for your continued existence. Your continued pacification of these spoiled racists is a slap in America and it’s veterans’ faces. And you, Commissioner Goodell, as the leader/ spokesman for the NFL should be ashamed of the behavior of these racists. |
| [Debris] I just drove back from KW to BPK and am amazed that all the trash is still along the road. Where are the cleanup crews? Lots of debris on private properties that are open lots. People seem not to care and will dump their garbage anywhere but on their own property. |
| Submit anything but National Politics to island@bigpinekey.com For National Politics go directly to that page, log in, and post your comment. NATIONAL POLITICS |
(Ed: Thanks. I discovered how to set up a telephone hot spot Friday. I thought I was in heaven. I watched Netflix to my heart’s content. I downloaded all kinds of stuff I’ve been waiting for, but then it stopped! No more wifi. It jusy stopped. Consumer Cellular said I used over 13GB of data in a couple of days and I’m only allowed 10GB a month. I tried to buy more but they wouldn’t let me, so I swore at the nice lady something fierce [of which I’m now ashamed] and canceled my account. I lost my temper because they just stopped my service, no warning. I can’t text or get on the internet with my phone until the first of next month. They didn’t even let me know they were stopping my service. It just stopped. What am I to do? So, it’s back to the library for wifi. I’m sitting [Monday evening] here hoping I can finish before they throw me out.
