"Guess this is a good time as any to go Christmas shopping," a colleague said, putting on his coat as he pondered braving the Wednesday night chill and the mall or two, as well.
Why the rush? I kidded. There's plenty of time.
Christmas is still at least a week away.
Most of my shopping is done.
My wife has seen to that. Everything she's bought for others is a gift from both of us.
Another advantage of being married, you might say.
Of course, that doesn't include the gifts I'm giving Sherri.
Though I've bought some things here and there, I've still got a few stops to make before I'm done.
Plenty of time before Christmas.
I think.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Looks like another day for long johns
A hard freeze warning.
Never heard feeling cold put like that.
According to the weather story in the Bradenton Herald, that's when the temperature drops below 27 degrees and stays there for three hours.
Which it's supposed to do tonight.
Maybe Tuesday night, too.
It says it'll be 30 degrees on the coast, but in the 20s further inland.
Which always makes me wonder --- how far inland is that?
Myakka City?
Or just on the east side of US 301 like where we live?
Sherri wasn't taking any chances.
She put blankets around the croton bush and the outside pipes.
Me? I'm planning on throwing another blanket on the bed.
And wearing my long johns again Tuesday
Never heard feeling cold put like that.
According to the weather story in the Bradenton Herald, that's when the temperature drops below 27 degrees and stays there for three hours.
Which it's supposed to do tonight.
Maybe Tuesday night, too.
It says it'll be 30 degrees on the coast, but in the 20s further inland.
Which always makes me wonder --- how far inland is that?
Myakka City?
Or just on the east side of US 301 like where we live?
Sherri wasn't taking any chances.
She put blankets around the croton bush and the outside pipes.
Me? I'm planning on throwing another blanket on the bed.
And wearing my long johns again Tuesday
Friday, December 10, 2010
Elected officials ignore public trust at own peril
Gwen Brown has performed another public service.
The former Manatee County commissioner probably won’t see it that way, of course, and that’s understandable.
Getting taken to task by the Florida Commission on Ethics stings.
Yet it is a lesson, rendered by Brown, a State College of Florida adjunct professor, for some of our town’s newly elected public officials.
Do not conduct private business on the public’s dime.
Take heed, Jim Boyd and Greg Steube, as you settle into the Florida House of Representatives.
That goes, too, for our new county commissioners, Michael Gallen and Robin DiSabatino.
Read more in Sunday's Mannix About Manatee.
The former Manatee County commissioner probably won’t see it that way, of course, and that’s understandable.
Getting taken to task by the Florida Commission on Ethics stings.
Yet it is a lesson, rendered by Brown, a State College of Florida adjunct professor, for some of our town’s newly elected public officials.
Do not conduct private business on the public’s dime.
Take heed, Jim Boyd and Greg Steube, as you settle into the Florida House of Representatives.
That goes, too, for our new county commissioners, Michael Gallen and Robin DiSabatino.
Read more in Sunday's Mannix About Manatee.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Urbanator's decision not a surprise at all
I remember the first time I'd heard his name.
Bowling Green, my alma mater, had just hired a Notre Dame assistant as its new head football coach.
Urban Meyer?
His decision to step down after the upcoming Outback Bowl brought back memories.
Even if they're just 10 years old.
It was 2001 and in two seasons he made the Falcons winners again.
Meyer encored that success at Utah in 2003-04.
Then came Florida and, pardon the cliche, the rest is history.
Two national championships. Two SEC titles. A 64-15 record -- including this season's 7-5 lackluster finish -- in six seasons as Gator head coach.
Simply spectacular.
On the field, Meyer made Florida matter again.
Off the field? Thirty arrests belied the Urbanator's reputation as a disciplined coach who ran a tight ship.
I did not like how he handled the Chris Rainey situation, either.
It's just one of the things that defined Meyer's last season as Florida head coach.
Yet it should not define his remarkable run in Gainesville.
Surprised Meyer made this decision?
No.
In fact, when I heard it early Wednesday afternoon on the radio, I wasn't shocked at all.
After a 24-hour stress-related retirement last season, a tumultuous year like this was bound to make the intense Meyer regret going back on that original decision.
He'll be back on the sidelines somewhere sometime, but not soon.
Urban Meyer's 10-year ride as an NCAA D-1 head football coach was meteoric.
And all meteors burn out eventually.
Bowling Green, my alma mater, had just hired a Notre Dame assistant as its new head football coach.
Urban Meyer?
His decision to step down after the upcoming Outback Bowl brought back memories.
Even if they're just 10 years old.
It was 2001 and in two seasons he made the Falcons winners again.
Meyer encored that success at Utah in 2003-04.
Then came Florida and, pardon the cliche, the rest is history.
Two national championships. Two SEC titles. A 64-15 record -- including this season's 7-5 lackluster finish -- in six seasons as Gator head coach.
Simply spectacular.
On the field, Meyer made Florida matter again.
Off the field? Thirty arrests belied the Urbanator's reputation as a disciplined coach who ran a tight ship.
I did not like how he handled the Chris Rainey situation, either.
It's just one of the things that defined Meyer's last season as Florida head coach.
Yet it should not define his remarkable run in Gainesville.
Surprised Meyer made this decision?
No.
In fact, when I heard it early Wednesday afternoon on the radio, I wasn't shocked at all.
After a 24-hour stress-related retirement last season, a tumultuous year like this was bound to make the intense Meyer regret going back on that original decision.
He'll be back on the sidelines somewhere sometime, but not soon.
Urban Meyer's 10-year ride as an NCAA D-1 head football coach was meteoric.
And all meteors burn out eventually.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Hanging outside lights always an adventure
Putting up Christmas lights can be an adventure.
Like Sunday.
Sherri and I spent a good portion of a beautiful afternoon hanging strands of lights around the front of the house.
First the garage side, then residential side.
When we plugged in the former, every light turned on.
Yaaay!
Then when we plugged in the latter two separate spans didn't.
Booo!
So we took down the faulty ones and drove to Walmart to buy new ones. Sherri had gotten them -- a garland style -- there two years ago.
Only they didn't have any in stock. Or they didn't make that style anymore.
Then we drove to Target.
No luck there either.
Well, rather than return home empty-handed, we bought some hanging icicle style with colors.
By the time we hung those, it was getting on toward 5 o'clock.
So we decided the garage side of the house will have to wait.
Until next weekend.
Like Sunday.
Sherri and I spent a good portion of a beautiful afternoon hanging strands of lights around the front of the house.
First the garage side, then residential side.
When we plugged in the former, every light turned on.
Yaaay!
Then when we plugged in the latter two separate spans didn't.
Booo!
So we took down the faulty ones and drove to Walmart to buy new ones. Sherri had gotten them -- a garland style -- there two years ago.
Only they didn't have any in stock. Or they didn't make that style anymore.
Then we drove to Target.
No luck there either.
Well, rather than return home empty-handed, we bought some hanging icicle style with colors.
By the time we hung those, it was getting on toward 5 o'clock.
So we decided the garage side of the house will have to wait.
Until next weekend.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Drilling ban good for us, tourism, Florida
There was the Norwegian helicopter pilot and his family.
Four British sun-worshippers.
An older fellow from Ohio on his annual spring fishing trip, too.
Tourists.
What brings them to mind is the Obama administration’s decision last week to let the drilling ban stand along Florida’s coastline.
A welcome decision, indeed.
One vital to our tourism industry.
Florida’s lifeblood.
Something those visitors said showed how fragile it can be.
They had come to Anna Maria Island just days after BP’s Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank in April, a catastrophe that poured nearly 175 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over the next five months.
Nary a drop would touch AMI’s pristine shores.
Yet it did not matter to those visitors.
Had they been able to change their plans, they’d have done so.
It was the perception of the threat that would’ve kept them away and sent them elsewhere to spend their money.
Read more Sunday in Mannix About Manatee.
Four British sun-worshippers.
An older fellow from Ohio on his annual spring fishing trip, too.
Tourists.
What brings them to mind is the Obama administration’s decision last week to let the drilling ban stand along Florida’s coastline.
A welcome decision, indeed.
One vital to our tourism industry.
Florida’s lifeblood.
Something those visitors said showed how fragile it can be.
They had come to Anna Maria Island just days after BP’s Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank in April, a catastrophe that poured nearly 175 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over the next five months.
Nary a drop would touch AMI’s pristine shores.
Yet it did not matter to those visitors.
Had they been able to change their plans, they’d have done so.
It was the perception of the threat that would’ve kept them away and sent them elsewhere to spend their money.
Read more Sunday in Mannix About Manatee.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
We hardly knew 2010 hurricane season
So long 2010 hurricane season.
We hardly knew ye.
Which is the way we like it.
Nineteen named storms, the third most on record, but nary a one crossed our path.
Sweet.
That we avoided a major hurricane for a record-tying, fifth year in a row is nice and all.
But we just take them one year at a time.
Each June 1 ushers in another six months of waiting and watching, punching up the National Hurricane Center Website umpteen times a day whenever another tropical depression is forming over the horizon and rolling this way.
Not to mention checking our plywood hurricane shutters, making sure termites haven't dined on them in the offseason, and that all the wing nuts are accounted for just in case.
Thankfully, we never had to pull the trigger and go to battle stations this year.
Again.
The 2010 hurricane season is a fast fading memory.
A gentle giant, a National Weather Service official called it.
Right.
We hardly knew ye.
Which is the way we like it.
Nineteen named storms, the third most on record, but nary a one crossed our path.
Sweet.
That we avoided a major hurricane for a record-tying, fifth year in a row is nice and all.
But we just take them one year at a time.
Each June 1 ushers in another six months of waiting and watching, punching up the National Hurricane Center Website umpteen times a day whenever another tropical depression is forming over the horizon and rolling this way.
Not to mention checking our plywood hurricane shutters, making sure termites haven't dined on them in the offseason, and that all the wing nuts are accounted for just in case.
Thankfully, we never had to pull the trigger and go to battle stations this year.
Again.
The 2010 hurricane season is a fast fading memory.
A gentle giant, a National Weather Service official called it.
Right.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
