charli's Blog

Only caught part of the story (WC break) but my question is this... were all decorations banned, or just Christian related ones?  We are coming into a holiday season celebrated by many civilizations... Chanukka, the ancient celebrations of good crops and getting ready for the new ones... just to mention a few.  The ancients celebrated the time with decorating trees, lighting candles, etc.  Jesus was not born in December but the new Christians took over the days of the ancient's celebrations to force them to celebrate his birth. 

Holiday decorations are okay... reds and greens, lighted trees, family dinners, Santa Claus (who was originally a man who went about giving gifts to children at the hard time of the year... when times were tough)... but keep religion out of it.  It was not a religious holiday!

As FOX, and other stations, flood us with the DTV conversion coming up, there is one thing noticably missing from all the reports...  how to get rid of old TV sets.  Yes, the converter boxes are cheap but we are coming into the holiday season and many people will opt to get new TV's. 

Did you know that over 70% of heavy metals found in landfills come from TV's and CRT's?  That your TV or monitor contains up to 8 pounds of lead, as well as mercury, cadmium, and others?  FOX has been asked repeatedly to inform people of this, and the proper disposal, whether you live in the county or the incorporated areas.  The City of Tampa used to hold collections, but they are few and far between.

So... the county holds 3 collections a month.  They prefer that you take electronics to the collections and not go to the other facilities and toss them into the dumpsters (that go to the landfill because they are mixed in with other waste!)  You can call the county for the information on the collections or go to the website.

for the bad!  5:30PM newscast announced that there were more changes being made to the Trib, including laying off one of their best writers.  The excuse given was that they wanted to concentrate more on the on-line version.  The last thing I want to do in the AM is get on the computer to read the news, down load my crosswords, etc. 

Rec'd something in the mail this week from the Trib... they now have a "Reward" program and I had earned 750 points!  They go on to mention how well the changes were rec'd by readers. 

I am canceling my subscription first thing on Wednesday morning!

If the Trib were affiliated with FOX these changes would not have been made.

Started out as only 3 voting prescincts, people receiving only one page, finding some votes already entered when they got their "sheets" as they checked in, then went to include a problem with USF not receiving enough ballots, then spread to absentee votes, then some early votes.  What part of "record turnout" did Buddy not understand a few months ago.  Blame the soft ware.  Odd that the only position left hanging (sorry about that) was the one between Buddy and Phyllis. 

What is even harder to understand is why Buddy got so many votes after all that came out in the news about him.  I've known Phyllis for years, before either one of us worked for the county.  Hadn't seen her for many years and was happy to see that she was running.  My only fault to find was that she didn't campaign hard enough... but Buddy was messing up his campaign without help from anyone. 

Local stations are running programs on the upcoming conversion.  None of them address the serious situation of what we face if a hurricane comes our way.  How much money were the stations paid by satellite and cable companies?  If a 'cane comes to Tampa, our emergency battery operated TV's will be useless... first off, cable is always the first to go out.... when the electricity goes out we go to our battery operated TV's to keep track of the storm... the converter boxes do not work without electricity!!!!!!!  Not everyone lives in an area that they can have emergency generators... condos, apartments, etc.  Not everyone lives in an area where cable is available.  I got a big kick out of the WFLA show a few minutes ago.... the conversion was done, this is funny, so that "Public safety" issues could be handled... using the analog frequencies... duh... not being able to get updated weather news is not a Public Safety issue. 

It is bad enough that Brighthouse switched the local county info channel to a "upgraded" (aka more money for service) channel so that I can not, as a county employee, get the news and "calls for duty during an emergency" updates.

Driving while drunk is looking better every day!  You have to be drunk to put up with drivers texting while driving or talking on cell phones while driving!  I  hit the bottle the minute I get home from work... dodging people on cell phones while driving is very unnerving!  Previous surveys showed that driving while on a cell phone was worse than driving drunk...  they even did a test on "Myth Busters" that showed being drunk scored better than being on a cell phone.

My drive home today took 20 minutes longer than normal... no traffic jams... just people on cell phones not driving the speed limit (slower), weaving in and out of traffic or drifting into my lane, not seeing light changes.  I had to use my horn 3 times... and all 3 drivers were on cell phones!

There is no reason for the prices of gas to go up so much before and during the weekend.  People panicked because of news reports that the prices would go up, thanks to Ike.  I know of one station in Apollo Beach that was limiting to 10 gallons... Friday AM!  I know of one station in Brandon that had a big sign out listing Regular at a very low price. .. $3.57.  People got in line, only to find the pumps not working, forcing people in line to fill up with medium or high test.   A coworker who lives near the station saw them put the sign up, drove home to switch cars, and found the "switcheroo"! My BP gas station, on Habana and Sligh, raised the price of regular to nearly $4, and the other grades are over $4!

As Suntan Christ said, there is plenty of gas available... no reason for the outrageous prices.  If the prices go up, it should not be for a few weeks, until the damage is assessed.  REPORT YOUR LOCAL GAS STATIONS! 

I agree that there are some problems with the rural bus routes, but the one mom on the hoity toity Harbor Island... Drive your kids to the bus stop, or to school.  Why make us tax payers pay additional money for the job you do not seem to want to do... be a good parent!  If you do not like the system, take the care of your child into your own hands... do not make the rest of us do it.

When I was in 1st to 5th grade I had to walk to school, up hill, in the snow.  I lived a mile or so from the school.  When I was 11 or so I moved to a very rural area and, literally, had to walk up hill, both ways, to catch the school bus.  When I was a young teen, we moved to Miami Beach... I had to walk to the junior high through the neighborhood.  For high school I had to take the public bus... we were inside the "school bus limit" but too far to walk to school.  THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SEXUAL PREDATORS! 

Again, I say... do not blame others for what you should be doing!

Yippee!!!! We are finally getting some rain... not the normal spring/summer schedules but...  Do not know which board to post this on... Weather? Traffic?  Maybe both.  Apparently none of the regulars go to the Weather Board ;-) (I can see why... a FOX person starts a board but never come back to it!)

There are certain rules for driving in the rain... obvious is to drive slower, avoid areas that flood, pull into a parking lot if the rain is coming down so hard that you can't see! 

Just because you drive a ATV/SUV does not mean that you can drive the way you do.  Just because you can drive through high water at a high rate speed does not mean that you should.  Think about others.  The other day I drove through an area that the streets were flooded.  I was new to the area and did not know that the road flooded.  I slowed down and rode in the midde of the road, as I was trained, pulling over when on cars came  toward me.  The drivers of the ATV/SUV's?  They sped down the road and the splashes blinded other drivers.

And... do not drive with your flashers on!  The flashers are meant to be used when you are at a stop... I got caught in one of Sunday's storms and was driving on Waters when I saw at least 2 drivers with their flashers on! 

Tired of high/rising gas prices?  Thinking of riding the bus?  (I can't because the bus stop is too far to walk to, and I don't trust the people in the area to make the walk in the dark....)  Government cuts to transportation/bus routes.  This is ironic.  A young man at work, doing a college thesis on government spending (and whose father is a supporter of the light rail system that keeps getting shot down..) did some research.  It costs $7M plus for 4 miles of road... it would cost less for 90 miles of light rail!  Proposed routes would be New Tampa, Brandon, USF, St. Pete, West Shore area, Carrollwood/TnC areas. 

Ironic that the same day this young man told me about his thesis that I got a call from an old school friend in Miami Beach (I'm talking "friend from the 60's!).  I have always said that Dade County had the best transportation system.  Well, she told me that bus routes are being cut.  Years ago, Miami had put the light rail system into place, using AmTrac.  It was great... take the bus from the Beach to the AmTrack station, go to South Miami, or up to Broward County, do your business, reverse the route to come home... always find a bus to get you back to the Beach.  Forget that now... the bus route has been cut, working the train schedule... train runs late... forget catching the bus!  Especially the last "run" of the day.... you get stranded at the train station!

Look out... the same thing may happen here!

I hope this young woman sues the cemetary and wins.... big time.  The cemetary had no right to allow the removal of the remains.  Afterall, they were probably paid by the wife... not the parents.  I would file charges against the parents as well.  The fact that she remarried has nothing to do with the parents' or the cemetary's action.   She still loved him, visited his grave often.

I was brought up to know that until you got married your parents had the say so.  Get married and your spouse had the say so... in matters like this (Terry Schiavo case comes to mind.). 

In other words... until married, your parents came first... you come first with them.  Get married, spouse comes first, then parents... parents "butt out" as spouse's decision comes first.  Have children... they come first, then the spouse, then the parents. 

Why are the prices so high?  This is in response to the 4PM news clip about  bay area gas prices.  Something is very fishy!  Everyone is blaming other people/sources.  What we, the US, need to do is go after our own sources. .. and keep the oil to ourselves.  But then again, the US has an ego problem.   We always have... helping other countries instead of seeing to our own.  A coworker stated that we should bomb Iran and Iraq Oil fields.... let them come to us for oil and charge them outrageous prices.  This person is a very peace loving person!

It's a holiday weekend and the prices went up.  During the bad hurricane seasons the prices went up... just because Texas got hit!  There were still plenty of "reserves".  Face it, if the president of BP dog gets sick, the prices will go up!

And, FOX 13... where was that gas station in the news clip that had regular for 3.99 but premium for .14?