ARGGGH!

Once more, I've posted then lost the post. I was able to save it, but when it posted, there were formatting errors I've spent the last 30 minutes trying to fix. ARRRRRGGG!

Okay, I feel a little better. Not much, but a little. I'll be able to fix the errors later, but it annoys me that it's out there and not the way I want it to look!

Update: this is a new post since the post on the Kerry speech and I'm having the same problem. The blogger program isn't allowing spaces between paragraphs. Just damn!

Florida Gas Prices

You might notice that I've added a feature in the sidebar showing gas prices here in the great state of Florida.

The Florida Senate generously gave a one month tax break to gas buyers. For the 31 days of August, we will see a reduction in the state taxes paid at the pump. Out of about $.50 per gallon in state taxes, we will save a whopping $.08. per gallon. I did some number crunching and I personally will see a savings of about $3.60 during August. I fill-up about every 10 days and put about 15 gallons in each time ($.08 x 15 gallons = $1.20 $1.20 x 3 fill-ups = $3.60).

What to do with this new-found wealth? Now, don't get me wrong. Because I am the eternal optimist and want to think the best of all people and their actions until I know differently, I have to believe that the legislature really wanted to do something to help out at the pump. I appreciate the effort, but, $3.60 isn't going to make me or break me. Over a month's time, $3.60 isn't much help.

Thanks, Florida legislators. For what, I'm not really sure, but thanks.

Syrian Musicians

Remember those musicians on the flight with Annie Jacobsen? If you don't know about it, I've got a link in a previous post, Terror in the Skies....Again? Turns out, those musicians were traveling with expired visas. Here's the link.

I don't believe Annie and her husband over-reacted. I've been flying since I was 6 months old. I haven't flown for the last several years, but at last count, I had over 300,000 miles under my belt before I was out of high school and that was before frequent flyer miles. I am a seasoned flyer and don't scare easily. I traveled frequently into and out of Miami during the Cuban hijacker years and learned to observe my fellow passengers. I would have been spooked, to say the least, had I seen what Annie saw. I might not have said anything to anyone, but I would have been making plans about what my actions would be had an "event" taken place. Here's a link to another story about this flight and others where apparent "dry runs" are being practiced.

Florida Votes

I'm not alone in being concerned about the electronic voting here in Florida. I have a friend who's husband was very involved in a campaign last November. There were concerns then about the voting and there are people convinced that his man lost the election because of the equipment. I felt that it should have been brought out into the open at the time so that we wouldn't have this issue come up again in '04. Here's the link to the NYT article. I had more than enough of the recounts and then the endless jokes in 2000. I hate to see my state the butt of jokes not to mention that it gets tiring very quickly.

John "The Bunny" Kerry

I don't know about you, but I think Kerry in the "bunny suit" made him look more human than I've ever seen him. It was humorous, a feel-good type of humorous, not a laugh-at-my-expense type humor. And, I didn't see it as a Michael Dukakis in the tank type of photo-op. Any man who would put on this outfit, that made him look silly, is a man I could relate to. I can't relate to Kerry on a snowboard or skis. I can't relate to Kerry and his many mansions and SUV's either he or his family owns (he doesn't seem to be sure just who the vehicles belong to). I understand that at least two stories (go figure) are floating around the Internet about this photo op. One, no photos were to be taken at all. Another, that the photos were strictly for the press. Uh....if the press takes photos, wouldn't you expect them to be published at some time? If he really thought that they would not be published, he would believe the French are our friends. Oh, wait. He likes the French (as a child he was mesmerized by the French troops in Berlin) and he might actually believe they are our friends. This wasn't Teresa or one of the kids snapping photos on a disposable camera, after all.

NASA calls them bunny suits, others call them sperm suits (from the Woody Allen Movie All You Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask - a funny movie), and still others liken them to the Oompah-Loopahs from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I call it a good photo op that makes him look human. Doesn't mean I would vote for him, but I like him just a teeny bit more than I did before.