I've been watching this storm shortly after Hurricane Fiona formed. The early predictions and trajectory from the National Hurricane Center all appear to be correct.
Tropical storm Ian will pass to the East of Jamaica on Sunday, cross over the Cayman Islands early Monday as it intensifies to Hurricane strength, strike the Eastern coast of Cuba, strengthen when it reaches the Gulf of Mexico, then hit the West coast of Florida centered around the Tampa area Wednesday.
Florida's sun coast residents, you've got plenty of warning... prepare and don't panic. I've heard reports of long gas lines already.
Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in several counties in preparation of the upcoming storm.
Now that I have a subscription to satellite radio, I'm listening to lots of 70's and 80's bands I may have known, but didn't actually listen to all of their songs back then. There is a channel called Deep Tracks that feature songs from famous groups that probably didn't get any air play or B-side material. Good stuff, just obscure from FM classic rock stations.
Between song breaks, the announcers (called disc jockeys from an earlier time) sometimes give history about the bands, albums with a little interesting trivia. On occasion, they mention artists who have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
A good example would be 3-time inductee, guitarist Eric Clapton. 1992 with the Yardbirds, 1993 with Cream and 2000 as a solo artist. His career spans more than 55 years!
There was a time I was influenced by the aura created by the R&R Hall... but little by little, I'd see Hip-Hop/Rap artists eclipsing some long time rockers. I mentioned this to a musician friend of mine about one band that were front runners to heavy metal and his comment was "It's political" as the singer in the band we talked about had a big mouth, especially when their albums received poor reviews. His mouth got the band black-balled.
Curious, I went to
expecting to see some museum tours and memorabilia. Instead, it's a whole community of membership, classes, lectures, calendar events, swag and other stuff to buy... much more than I expected.
It's too soon to poo-poo the idea, so I won't write them off for now and one day if I retire and decide to take a road trip or an extended vacation to see my brother in Dayton, I'll have to head east to Cleveland, less than a 90 minute drive.
38 year old actor Rich Rotella was always concerned about his height. As an actor, he felt it was an impediment to his career. Rich stood 5 foot 5 inches as a teenager and never grew taller.
Looking for a solution, he researched leg-lengthening surgery, an expensive process.
For those of you who might puke over the details, they basically were able to make his femur bones 3 inches longer. He was unable to work for months and required lots and lots of physical therapy.
The cost: $100,000 and none of it was covered by insurance.
I'm thinking, if it boosted his career and he started getting acting parts right after, that could be a tax 'write-off' the same way actors/actresses improve their appearance to further their careers.
As a way to pay for the surgical procedure, Rich is working on a documentary and plans to release it in 2024.
Going from 5'-5" to 5'-8" looks like he reached the height of his career!
Yahoo link from Business Insider:
Hurricane Ian passed through Tampa, Florida last month and flooded the entire west coast. Photos of waist high waters in several counties were on the news. Many of the cars had to be totaled due to salt water intrusion. Once water enters a vehicle and soaks into the wiring harnesses and electronics, the reliability lost and the vehicle can become hazardous with all sorts of irregularities both mechanical and electrical.
What happens to these vehicles? That depends on the decision of the insurance company. They could write checks to the owners of cars and pay out current value. They take the cars and dispose of them. If the damage is minor, they could offer a lower settlement for the owner to keep the car but have to re-register the title. That puts the vehicle in a different classification similar to rebuilding a junker! Your old car isn't what it used to be.
Reclaimed cars in the hands of insurance companies often get sold at auction, many of them are bought by wholesale companies who special in the used car market. They get cleaned and appear aesthetically 'in good condition' only to be moved around the state and sometimes other states to be resold. Some get shipped out to foreign countries.
This isn't a new problem and happens after hurricanes, floods and other disasters.
If you are planning to buy used after a hurricane, make sure you have a reliable technician/mechanic go over the vehicle and do a careful inspection specifically looking for signs of water damage. What to look for? cars with a mildew odor, late model cars where the interior and seats were replaced is a good starting point.
All cars have a history and it's recommended to pull the 'car fax' report to see the history and location of every time it was bought and sold. Also if there are any damage reports.
Taking that further, be wary of buying a used car in (or from) Florida...
Every 'dollar store' in America is filled with inferior products made in China. You can find forks... 2 for a dollar. With inflation they are now $1.25
Okay, they are machine stamped and not hand crafted, the tines differ in width.
I often use them as pry tools so it's not important if I bend one.
When the subject comes up about Chinese 'junk' I sometimes I speak about the reality. I've been known to say "What company in America ordered things to be brought here?"
They didn't magically appear on a boat, make it to the port, get shipped to stores without some intervention from American companies.
Terms were agreed on, what's to be made and what price they are to be bought and sold at. The American people didn't make that choice, it's what we've been fed.
Logically, if they can make cellular earphones for a buck and someone is making a profit, are they capable of making some high-quality devices? Yeah, but the buyers are bringing in the inferior stuff and not the good stuff... to a point.
IKEA sells sets of stainless steel flatware. Attractive, polished, smooth flawless curves. Prices as low as $20 for a 20 piece set. Unbeatable, if you're asking me.
Good stuff, good price... why did it take a generation to happen?
It's a busy Monday, so I put on a Focus - Energy - Concentration video on YouTube and moved the graphics down so it wouldn't distract me.
About 15 minutes into the video, I had to stop it because I couldn't focus on my work!
So much for focus energy... I think it's time for some aspirin.
Jury selection for the Trump Organization criminal trial is going slow and could be two weeks for them to pick a jury. The problem is finding jurors who are impartial.
One prospective juror was excused because her response was "There is no chance in Hell"
A current blog took a tangent and not to get lost, I'm making my own blog on the subject.
"Leaving the toilet seat down"
There, I said it. No arguments when growing up. Respect for my mom, my dad, brother and I had the seat down when we exited the bathroom. Pretty simple... I cannot recall any discussions about it.
I did know a guy who said it wasn't an issue. He never raised the seat to pee!
That may have been a factor is why his marriage only lasted a few years.
I had a few months of free satellite radio in my car and saved a few channels of favorites, like Classic Vinyl, Beatles, Blues and Rock.
Sometimes, they would advertise what's available on the other channels and I would skip around trying music I don't normally listen to, like Smooth Jazz. Depending on the time of day, one channel called 'Watercolors' does Jazz that's okay. One night it seemed like saxophone was in a marathon. I thought I would vomit. Enough... that was gnawing on my ears.
So, I spun the dial to see what else is out there. Dave Matthews... nah. Jimmy Buffet... nah. Bob Marley... nah. Ozzy Osborne's bone yard... nah.
A little more spinning got me to
Liquid Metal... the channel of head-banging, dark and despair, demonic kinda music every mother wants to censure their kids from listening!
Having played music professionally. I can understand it... and found my tolerance for no more than 15 minutes!
Here's a taste of SOiL
I recognized the singer Ryan McCombs who left SOil to join Drowning Pool for 6 years then returned to SOil.
C'mon people, get with the program. The abbreviation for etcetera is etc. and not ect.
Please... stop typing ect.
I've been delaying a trip to see my brother in Ohio. The last few times it was cold... I'm a Florida guy and dislike cold. Growing up in New York and some band tours into Canada during winter has nightmares of body parts freezing and breaking off!
Like the time I was driving in Nova Scotia Canada in an old Ford van with a broken heater and rotted out weather stripping on the doors. I had a blanket wrapped around my left leg and couldn't feel my toes.
I don't want to travel on a holiday weekend so my window is before Thanksgiving.
The weather has already kicked with nights into the 40's (Fahrenheit) and the leaves on the trees changing color. So, I need to book flights and pack some heavy clothing!
As of October 17, 2022 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed hearing aids available over the counter (OTC) and that is good news for people who are hard of hearing yet cannot afford expensive hearing aids, even when Medicare has limited coverage.
The ability to purchase aids without prescription is potentially a way of saving thousands of dollars less than prescription hearing aids.
It is believed the volume (no pun intended) of increased sales will open a new sector of the industry and allow new and innovative hearing assisted products to enter the market.
That's good news for the hard of hearing...
Huh??
I SAID THAT'S GOOD NEWS FOR THE HARD OF HEARING !!
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