What do you do about boom box cars?

At times when I am sitting traffic, next to one of those obnoxious boom box cars, I think of this.



Top Gear - Jeremy Clarkson.

Read any good books?

My readings habits tend to primarily lean to science fiction and fantasy. I get enough serious reality at work.

Currently I am reading "One Good Knight" by Mercedes Lackey. What is interesting about this book and others in its series, is that it pokes fun of the whole fairytale storytelling tradition.

One reviewer called it a "delightfully twisted fairy tale."

Traditionally, marauding dragons are soothed only by a virgin sacrifice. And so the frightened people of Acadia devise a lottery system to choose the victims. Things are going fairly smoothly - except for the women chosen, of course - until practical-minded Princess Andromeda is picked. She accepts her duty, though she would prefer to defend herself. And so Andromeda faces the dragon alone.

Until a Champion arrives to save her - sort of. Sir George doesn't quite defeat the dragon, but as Andromeda finishes rescuing herself she discovers that beneath the Good Knight's well-meaning though inexperienced heroics lies a further tale.…

Still, Andromeda can't leave her seacoast country in further jeopardy from the dragon's return, and so she and…er… George join to search for the dragon's lair. But in the Five Hundred Kingdoms, bucking Tradition isn't easy. It takes the strongest of wills, knowledge, quick wits and a refusal to give up, no matter what happens along the way.

Somehow, though, none of this was taught in princess school.…"

I just finished a book outside of my usual reading types, The Book of the Dead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

"Bestsellers Preston and Child have come up with another gripping, action-packed page-turner in this concluding volume to a trilogy pitting their Holmesian hero, FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast, against his Mycroft-turned-Moriarty—his younger brother, Diogenes. Picking up shortly after the events of 2005's Dance of Death, the book opens with the arrival of a package of fine dust at the Museum of Natural History; Diogenes has returned the diamonds he stole earlier. Meanwhile, Aloysius is in prison, having been framed for a number of murders. As his friends plot to spring him, his adversary lays the groundwork for a crowning criminal achievement. A mysterious benefactor funds the restoration of an ancient Egyptian tomb at the museum, but the work is beset by the mayhem Preston and Child's readers have come to expect—gory murders and suggestions of the supernatural. This entry, tying up many loose ends from its predecessors, is less likely to work as well for first-time readers, but followers of Aloysius Pendergast's previous exploits will find it a satisfying read with a tantalizing, ominous twist at the end."

I enjoy the character Aloysius Pendergast. This book is the third in a sort of a trilogy, starting with Brimstone. The character is in several other books.

What are you reading?


Speaking of books, an email I received:

"Our donations for this years book sale seem a bit shy. Could you get the following out and about? Any suggestions as to how we might attract more contributions?"

Seminole Heights Branch Library

Book Sale

The Seminole Heights branch library is now accepting donations for the 2007 book sale, the lucky 13^Th annual book sale. The book sale will be Feb. 9 (5:30-7pm) and Feb. 10 (9 am-2pm). The library is at the corner of Central and Osborne, across from Hillsborough High School.

We need your donations of books, records, DVD’s, CD’s, tapes, quality magazines and software, etc.

All proceeds go to the library. Most of the money is used for children’s programming.

You can take your donations to the library even on the day of the sale.

For more information call Steve Gluckman, 238-9115.

Things I don't understand

Front doors left open all day. There was a red frame house on Giddens east of 15th Street where the front door was open (no screen). People came and went and hung out. Flies, Mosquitos and other creepy crawlies.

Car windows left open/rolled down, sometimes over night. Rain, cats urinating and theft. I have seen several in the neighborhood repeatedly this way.

House siding left open for 4 to maybe 6 months. I drive by this house alot

Photo taken in November.



Taken recently. That is a cat peeking his head out from the interior of the house. I would think the owner would be concerned about rain damaging his plaster and having mold on the lower interior walls. He and his family lives there. 

Pictorial History

One of the cools things at Tampa General Hospital are the photos on the walls on the way to the cafeteria, showing historical and current pictures of activities at the hospital.

Here are some operating room photos.


Click on this to enlarge. Look at the old style operating room uniforms.


You should see the photo of the patch cord telephone operator station.

Dear readers, where else can someone find photos of Tampa history like this, in a business or building? 

Saying Yes Becomes an Accomplishment

Gwen Miller's tenure on City Council amounts to nothing more than political welfare.

Here are some of her own words about her accomplishments in the Times (via Blurbex)

"And she regards the construction of a district police headquarters in east Tampa as one of her biggest accomplishments, she said.

What was her role in that?

"The mayor asked me if I thought it was a good idea, and I said yes," she said."

I can do that. Yes. YEES. Yeees. YEEeeeEEES.

Want a bigger Seminole Heights Branch Library?

Start attending some of the Library Board meetings. The Library Board's meeting schedule can be found online at www.thpl.org, click on the Library Board link, and then you can click on links for the different committee meetings under the "2007 Notice of Meeting Schedules".

While it is important for the concerned residents of Seminole Heights who want to see a bigger library built in the area to attend as many meetings as possible, a particularly important one is the the Planning Committee's Feb. 20th meeting. It will be at the John F. Germany Library on that date at 3:00pm. This is an important meeting because they will be talking about and possibly deciding items/issues concerning the next budget cycle.

"The Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library Board was created in 1984 by Laws of Florida, Chapter 84-446. It consists of twelve members (3 from each of the 4 Hillsborough County Commission Districts) who are appointed by the Board of County Commissioners for three-year, renewable terms. The Library Board advises Library staff and the Board of County Commissioners regarding planning for new and existing libraries, the library department budget, Internet use, public art and library policies.

Library Board Members:

James B. Johnson, Jr., Chair
(District 4)

James Martin, Jr., Vice Chair
(District 1)

Sandra Cameron
(District 4)

Michelle Schofner
(District 1)

Margaret Fisher
(District 3)

James J. Harkins
(District 4)

Dr. Alma Hires
(District 3)

Kay O'Rourke
(District 2)

Dora L. Reeder
(District 3)

William Scheuerle, Secretary
(District 2)

Robert "Bob" Argus
(District 2)

Laura Vickers
(District 1)

Members of the Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library Board may be contacted via e-mail at: board@thpl.org or via the Director's Office at 813-273-3660

Tinted Windows - The Cheap Way

I am in traffic on Nebraska and some idiot next to me is loudly boom boxing away. He pulls in front of me and I notice his solution to a problem.

Problem: Can't afford to tint your windows?

Solution: Lightly spray paint the inside of the window with some black spray paint!

 

Cuba and the Embargo

A little national politics intrudes in this little blog. A chance of pace. This is an issue that I have thought a lot about for many years.

Today the Tribune has an editorial titled "U.S. Must Engage Cuba Today To Foil Tomorrow's Dictator"

"The long, tight embargo of Cuba makes less and less sense with each step Fidel Castro takes toward his grave.

The time has come to relax the trade restrictions, allow freer travel and permit relatives here to support family members in Cuba. If a half century of U.S. hostility were going to change Cuba, it would have done so by now."

Finally, so sense on this issue. I have felt for a long time that our embargo of Cuba was dumb. Dumb only because it was not working. If you kept spraying a roach with an insecticide and the roach did not die, you would find something else to kill it. For more than 40 years, we had this embargo in place to try to get rid of Castro. And it did not work. He is still there. Only a natural death is going to cause him to leave. This embargo was kept by spite, not for any real reasons.

Who has been hurt by this embargo? Not Castro. Instead it was the Cuban people.

I believe in the power of the US dollar as a subversive tool. I think that is one of the many factors as to why the Soviet Union fell. Money and corruption changes politics. If the embargo were lifted and Americans went to Cuba, I think the current communist government would fall much quicker. I think that had we lifted the embargo 10 to 15 years ago, we would have seen a different Cuba today. Once people have money, expectations change. Change is demanded. I think the dollar in Cuba would have created something Castro would not have been able to control.

We in Tampa would majorly benefit. Before Castro, for a long time, Tampa was a major trading point with Cuba. If we lifted the embargo, we would be both a major air and sea transit point to Cuba, generating much jobs and dollars for our City. Also hundred's of 1950's antique cars would show up on our roadways, as collectors bought them from Cubans. Who knows, maybe even our Tampa cigar businesses might get a shot in the arm.

For this reason, I was always surprised the pro-business Republicans kept supporting the embargo. Cuba represents a new close market for US products. More resources for us to take.
This was the one thing I agreed with Dick Greco about. We need to send trade groups to Cuba and seize the opening spot when the market opens up. Mayor Iorio and City Council needs to lead this effort. This issues needs to be asked of the candidates.

What would this mean to Seminole Heights? Trickle down. With more jobs and money for Tampa some of it has to get to us. More money to be spent on our infrastructure.

The Library Joins The Calendar

The Seminole Heights Branch Library now has its schedule of events in the Blog Calender at the left side of the blog, near the bottom, joining SESH and BGOSH. If you are an Seminole Heights non profit/neighborhood organization and want your events on the blog calendar, email me and I will send you an invite.

Still missing. South Seminole Heights, OSHNA, Alley Cat Players.

Found Max

Good news:

"I just wanted to let you know that Max showed up at our door step about 4:00am this morning. Very dirty, smelly and thin but in good spirit." . . ." Today I will be making my rounds to take down all my posters." Kathy & Jim

In other news The found cat may have been claimed by her owner. Someone was going to take a look to see if it was hers.

Now if someone would find Pearli

Dang Those Dung Dolts

A raging rant from a responsible Lake Roberta reader:

"I am so very tiring of the people walking their dogs on Lake Roberta.....and not cleaning up after their pets (some just look around to see if anyone is looking and walk away, some just don't give a crap and walk away oblivious). Then on top of that, they believe that they have the right to yell at someone who is speeding around the circle???? C'mon peeps....get a grip...if your dog's poop is quite ok to allow to leach into the water system, why the heck do you give a crap about someone speeding? If this lake is so very important to you that you choose to shout at speeders, why do you not clean up the crap from your dog??? This is incredulous!!!

"May your own dog's poop fill your shoes and socks and invade your home with filth!"

and ps.........Rest In Peace Barbaro"

Perhaps what is needed is a dog poop bag holder somewhere at the Lake.

From the recent TBO article:
"The feces carry bacteria that can force beaches to close and add more nutrients to water already laden with algae feeding material.

Excess nutrients in the water can encourage algae blooms that can lead to fish kills when the algae decays and robs the water of oxygen.

"I've had people say they leave it because it's fertilizer and good for the grass," Holland said. "It is fertilizer. The problem with our waterways is they already have too much fertilizer."

The trouble with the tons of abandoned dog scat isn't just degrading water quality. The feces can pose health problems, too, said Nilufer Wilkins, a veterinarian with Hillsborough County Animal Services.

Dog and cat feces can carry roundworms and hookworms that can infect children or people with weakened immune systems, Wilkins said.

"It can be a health issue," she said."

From the Tampa Bay Estuary Program
An average-size dog dropping produces 3 billion fecal
coliform bacteria.

Research has shown that up to 95% of the fecal coliform found
in urban stormwater comes from animals.

Top 5 Reasons People DON’T Pick Up After Their Pets
Because it eventually just goes away
Just because
Too much work
Dog goes on the edge of my property, where I don’t walk
It’s in my yard (where it doesn’t bother anyone)

Top 5 Reasons People DO Pick Up After Their Pets
It’s the law
Environmental reasons
Hygiene/health reasons
Neighborhood courtesy
It should be done

Pooches for the Planet
www.tbep.org

Now someone is going to say, the ducks eliminate excrement extravagantly, why can't I?

The answer is, not much we can do about wild animals and ducks. A lot we can do about domesticated ones.

Florida Avenue: Another Line of Site Accident.

From and email............

Another traffic accident happened this afternoon at about 4:00PM on FloridaAve at W. Chelsea in South Seminole Heights. Again, like others, line ofsight at West Chelsea is a contributing factor. It is unknown if speed wasalso a factor. The responding officer was still writing up the report. Thesecond vehicle that hit the car at West Chelsea stopped when hitting a fencea block away (about 200 feet). To the best of my knowledge, no one wasinjured, so we as a neighborhood dodged the bullet again. The driver of thevehicle pulling out from Chelsea is familiar with the area. She lives ahalf block away from the scene of the mishap. Even with her knowledge ofhow dangerous the intersection is, she wasn't able to avoid an accident.

We Need Books, CD's, DVD;s, etc!!!

Seminole Heights
Library Book Sale

The Seminole Heights branch library is now accepting donations for the 2007 book sale, the lucky 13th annual book sale. The book sale will be Feb. 9 (5:30-7pm) and Feb. 10 (9 am-2pm). The library is at the corner of Central and Osborne, across from Hillsborough High School.

We need your donations of books, records, DVD’s, CD’s, tapes, quality magazines and software.

You can take your donations to the library until the day of the sale.

For more information call Steve Gluckman, 238-9115.

Victim of Hit and Run dies

Thanks to Cristi for informing me of this:

Hit-And-Run Victim Succumbs To Injuries

"TAMPA - A pedestrian who police say was hit and seriously injured in November by a mother driving her daughter to school has died.

Ricky Lee Brown died of injuries he suffered in the Nov. 30 accident. Brown, who was homeless, was being treated at St. Joseph’s Hospital. He was 50 at the time of the accident."

Our condolences to Mr. Brown's family.

Previously
More on Hit and Run

Hanna Speedway

House Where Nobody Lives

There are two songs that I connect to regarding this "town" of Seminole Heights. The people in the "town" and the houses.

The first one is Our Town by Iris Dement (posted previously.) The second is "House Where Nobody Lives" by Tom Waits, from the album "Mule Variations". Several years ago I stumbled across this album in the library, not knowing who Tom Waits was. This one grabbed me as I thought about driving through the neighborhood and see empty, abandoned houses in the midst of happy, living homes. It is not only the words, but his voice that makes this song.


There's a house on my block
That's abandoned and cold
Folks moved out of it a
Long time ago
And they took all their things
And they never came back
Looks like it's haunted
With the windows all cracked
And everyone call it
The house, the house where
Nobody lives

Once it held laughter
Once it held dreams
Did they throw it away
Did they know what it means
Did someone's heart break
Or did someone do somebody wrong?

Well the paint was all cracked
It was peeled off of the wood
Papers were stacked on the porch
Where I stood
And the weeds had grown up
Just as high as the door
There were birds in the chimney
And an old chest of drawers
Looks like no one will ever
Come back to the
House were nobody lives

Once it held laughter
Once it held dreams
Did they throw it away
Did they know what it means
Did someone's heart break
Or did someone do someone wrong?
So if you find someone
Someone to have, someone to hold
Don't trade it for silver
Don't trade it for gold
I have all of life's treasures
And they are fine and they are good
They remind me that houses
Are just made of wood
What makes a house grand
Ain't the roof or the doors
If there's love in a house
It's a palace for sure
Without love...
It ain't nothin but a house
A house where nobody lives
Without love it ain't nothin
But a house, a house where
Nobody lives.


Note: Thanks to Susan, I live in a very grand palace.

Getting on the sidebar

Every so often I get asked, how do I get on the side bar? How much does it cost?

It costs nothing. If you have a business in Seminole Heights, whether bricks and mortar or out of your home, and you have a web site, blog, myspace site or other online presence, send me an email with the site and I will add it.

Also, if you live in Seminole Heights and have a blog, email me and I will add it to the blogs section.

I just ask that, if you have links on your site and it is appropriate to do so, please add a link to this blog.

Cell Phone Numbers

So aside from friends, family and work, what numbers do you have in your cell phone that someone living in the neighborhood might want to have in their phone.

I have:

TPD 231-6130. See a crime occurring, or someone or something suspicious? Call TPD. See a broken water pipe after hours as I walk the dog? Call TPD so they can a hold of the emergency water crew . See a shopping cart on Davis Island Bridge that could easily get knocked over into the roadway? Call TPD. Drive by Rivercrest Park after hours and see a Port O' John turned on its side? Call TPD so they can notify the after hours Parks people.

Carrollwood Lowes (249-6091) and Florida Avenue Home Depot (933-0302). Instead of wandering around the store looking for a particular item or looking for a associate, while in the store I call the main number and their customer service reps not only tell me what aisle I need but whether it is stock. They can also page a associate to my location.

Cappys (238-1516) Blue Sea Seafood Restaurant (234-5085) and Stephanno's (232-9486). Hot food waiting for me instead of me waiting for hotfood. Often I am away from the house when we decide to order there.

I C E - In Case of Emergency - Susan's name and my home number

TECO - 223-0800 - When the power goes out, no stumbling around in the dark looking for the phone book.


Whatis in your cell?

Fun Lan Drive In

Ever been to Fun-Lan drive in? Bike Stories Alan Snel takes you there.

Sometimes I wonder . . .

Sometimes I wonder about people who run things.

Illegal roosters. Sounds like a simple thing to deal with. Not according to this blog commenter.

"I have a homeowner a couple of doors down from me who thinks having a rooster in their back yard is cool. The F!$@%ing rooster starts at about 4:30 every morning and has done so for a month. The owner has told other neighbors that the rooster isn't going anywhere, and it's legal to own one in Tampa.

So, I wait for it to go off at 4:30am and call TPD to file a disturbing the peace complaint.

TPD response: Call Animal control, we can't do anything about it.

My response: Call animal control, report rooster in city limits.

Animal control response: As far as we're concerned, having a rooster in the city limits is legal, it's a city code violation, call code enforcement.

My response: Call Code Enforcement, report illegal rooster.

Code's response: We'll send a letter and wait 21 days to inspect the property, if the rooster is still there after 21 days we'll send another letter, wait another 21 days and inspect again. If it's still there after that we'll send another letter and wait another 21 days. If it's still there after 21 days we *may* file charges and bring the owner to court where we *may* give them another 21 days, or we *may* fine them.

So I guess I have approx another 80 days of being woken up at 4:30am with absolutely nothing I can do about it.

In my short experience with Code, Animal Control, and TPD, I think they all suck."

Here is my solution. Tampa City Council passes an ordinance that provides Animal Control the authority to deal with any illegal roosters, hens and other fowl. If farms animal are not allowed in City limit, then Animal Control can deal with it. Anonymous - ask your City Council representative about this and let us know.

Helping Black Kids

Today I read how Miami Herald Columnist Leonard Pitts is seeking to use his column further making a positive difference in the lives of black children.

"And here, I'm thinking specifically of black children. Black girl shot in the head because she lives in an urban war zone. Black girl going to school hungry in hand-me-downs. Black boy who couldn't tell you where his father was if you paid him. Black boy who couldn't diagram a sentence if you threatened him. Black girl who thinks she is unattractive because she is a black girl

"violence, poverty, fatherlessness, miseducation and self-esteem"

"Here's how it will go: I want to see e-mails from you on how we should approach -- how we can fix -- any or all of the five areas of concern (violence, poverty, etc.) listed above. But -- and this is important -- I don't want generalities and pet theories. Rather, I am asking you to steer me toward specific, concrete, up-and-running programs anywhere in the country that are showing demonstrable and verifiable results."

"Who in your community is doing good, forward-thinking work that the rest of us can learn from? Let me know. I will visit the most promising-sounding programs and profile them in this space. The idea is to share what we know and create a database of workable ideas that drives the discussion forward and inspires change."

Email him at lpitts@MiamiHerald.com. Let us on this blog know also by posting a comment.

Read his column for more.