CNN reports that Fort Hood is going to tighten security.  This is what I call knee-jerk security.  Something happens and then you change security.  I worked, part time, for one hospital for one year.  I worked the midnight shift and most of the time we had three officers on duty.  If someone had a day off or was sick then we only had two officers.  One officer had to be in dispatch at all times.  This was a high crime area of Kansas City.  Well before I went to work for them their was a crime in the parking garage so we  had an order to have an officer go at 0500 and park on level five of the garage.  So you would sit there for two hours.  Then something happened (stealing) on the ground level of the garage and we were ordered to sit there for two hours.  Then after I quit the hospital they had someone walk into the business area of the hospital and walk off with a bag filled with money and they made a change… So it went over and over again.  Knee-jerk security and this is what I see happening all over now days in all areas.
  I am not looking to blame anyone but security at a military base should always be at a very high level.  It should be higher than if you are traveling by air.  That is just the way it should be at a military base.
 
  I think part of our problem is that we depend so much on our reserve forces.  We should not be depending on state national guard units.  We should not even be depending on our reserve units so much.  We need a full time large well paid first class professional military force.  Do not get me wrong I am not saying that the national guard and reserve units are not professional.  Those forces should be reserve and back up units as sort of a last resort. 
 
  I can understand that a military base wants to have good PR with a community and most of all when it is a small community.  But a military base is a military base and not a community social club.
  Continue reading »

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  Next year I am going to have a great view of an air show right from my patio.  I am on the second floor and my apartment even sits on a bit of higher ground than apartments around me.

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  I used PriceLine to buy  the tickets.  Russell and I will be flying from Miami to Fort Worth on Friday the 13th.  We are flying direct.  It will be a three hour flight. 
  We could have got a non-direct flight on a different airline for $75.00 and that is a great price.
  Our ticket cost us $120.00 and that does not include taxes and any extra charges the airline may have for bags and stuff like that…. Ken will drive us to the airport.
  Right now the plan is to get a cab at DFW.  The cost of the cab will be about $80.00 to get us home.  YES, almost the cost the flight and more than the discount ($75) flight.  We will look into something cheaper than a cab … but right now that is the plan…  I do not have a problem flying on Friday the 13th.

  I checked the price of boxes at the The UPS Store…My God … their boxes must be made out of gold.  But they are nice boxes and they have all sizes of them. 

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  I have not heard from the people doing the background check on me yet.. So I do not know if I have been approved for the apartment or not…I think they will approve me.
  When I move from Kansas City to Orlando (FL) Jimmy and I moved the computers in the rental car.  When Jimmy and I moved from Orlando to Carrollton (TX) we shipped them and I forget what company ….  When I moved from TX to Miami and Ken moved from Kansas City we shipped the computers by UPS if I remember correct.
  Anyone have a recommendation on the best way to ship the computers from here to Fort Worth (TX)?

  Now I wish I just had a laptop.  That would be so nice not to have to worry about shipping computers.  I need to get set up with just a laptop computer. 
  On the 1st of the month I will switch my pay as you go plan with BoostMobile to the unlimited $50.00 a month plan.  I am not sure I will even have a land line phone in Texas.  I may just use the cell phone from now on.
  If I had an iPhone or one of those smart phones I would use it to blog on the way from here to Texas but it is NO fun trying to do anything on a Motorola i776 phone. 

  I wonder what my first video will be about from Texas.  I will take video on the way to Texas so I guess it will be about the trip from here to Texas.  But I wonder what the first video will be when I get to Texas.  I bet it will be of the new apartment.

  I guess I will need to buy a coat.  I have not had owned a coat since I left Kansas City in 2000.  Any ideas on what type of cowboy western hat I should get when I get to Texas?  When I get my gun permit what sort of handgun should I get?  It will be an auto.  What make and cal do you recommend.  Price may be the deciding factor…. Just for a basic one you are talking $500.00 for the gun.

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  Here is a little video I made about moving to Fort Worth.  When I am in Texas I can watch this video and remember the good old days.

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  I filled out the online application for the apartment in Fort Worth.  They wanted a lot of information.  I expect to be approved.  I am sure there is going to be more that I have to do.  I am sure they will send me a printed form to fill out and want a deposit.
  Russell and I plan to move about the middle of next month.
  
  We have lived in Texas.  Jimmy and I moved from Orlando (FL) to Carrollton (TX).  Then Darlene, Russell, Jimmy and I moved from Carrollton to Hillsboro (TX).  Then Ken and I moved to Miami (FL).  Russell moved here later to join us.
  We have been in Miami for about  five years.

  I did think of one good reason, other than family being there, to live in Fort Worth.  I am a amateur radio operator (“ham”) and they have an excellent D-Star repeater network in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

“D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) is a digital voice and data protocol specification developed as the result of research by the Japan Amateur Radio League to investigate digital technologies for amateur radio. While there are other digital on-air technologies being used by amateurs that have come from other services, D-Star is one of the first on-air standards to be widely deployed and sold by a major radio manufacturer that is designed specifically for amateur service use.

D-Star compatible radios are available on VHF and UHF and microwave amateur radio bands. In addition to the over-the-air protocol, D-Star also provides specifications for network connectivity, enabling D-Star radios to be connected to the Internet or other networks and provisions for routing data streams of voice or packet data via amateur radio callsigns.

The first manufacturer to offer D-Star compatible radios is Icom. As of December 30, 2008, no other amateur radio equipment manufacturer has chosen to include D-Star technology in their radios. Kenwood re-brands an Icom radio and distributes it in Japan only…”  Wikipedia

  I am not sure there is even one D-STAR repeater in the Miami area.  Now, of course, there is one little problem for me.  I do not own a D-Star radio.  It would cost me $500.00 to get the radio above and that is the lowest priced radio they sell.  I am not sure when I can afford one.

  If you can think of any other good things about Fort Worth PLEASE send me an email or post a comment.  My email address is:  showmeblog@gmail.com

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  I have not fill out the application yet for the apartment in Fort Worth but I do not see any reason they would not accept me.
  I was thinking taking a rental truck from Miami to Fort Worth but everyone says they cost way to much.  Even a van would cost around $850 and that is to much.  A rental car I am told would be around $500.00 and that is a lot of money but we could take our computers and I could load a lot of other stuff in the car.
  I did that when Jimmy and I moved to Orlando (FL) from Kansas City (MO) and when Ken and I moved to Miami from Kansas City we loaded up his small car. 
  It is going to cost $300.00 for Russell and I to fly from Miami to Dallas/Fort Worth airport and then we will have to take a cab to the apartment. 
  So we will think about renting a car and if we do not rent a car then it will be flying and we will have to spent at least $100.00 to ship our computers.
  We are talking 21 hours and 1364 miles.  I am not sure what sort of miles rental cars get but I am going to say 25 mpg and that would cost about $140.00 for gas.

  Now if I could just find some way to blog on the trip.
 

  Dick, a friend, points out to me that we would have the use of the car for a few days in Fort Worth after we got there for that price.

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“BY ALFONSO CHARDY

achardy@MiamiHerald.com

The Florida Department of Transportation formally committed itself Friday to building the first segment of a high-speed rail line from Miami to Tampa — so long as the federal government awards the state the $2.53 billion it wants for the project.

Competition is intense, but transportation experts said Florida is well positioned — along with California and Illinois — to share the $8 billion the Obama administration is offering to develop a national high-speed rail network. Awards will be announced in December…”   Miami Herald

  I think a high-speed rail line would be great for Florida and for the United States.  I am 68  years old and I do not think I would live long enough to see it complete but I still think it would be great.
  It would create some good jobs here and that is an extra.
  It would be built in phases and the first would be Orlando to Fort Pierce, then Fort Pierce to West Palm Beach and then from West Palm Beach to Miami.  The route would run from Orlando International Airport to Miami International Airport. 
  Just think you could fly down to Orlando for all that Orlando stuff and then get on the high-speed rail and pop on down to Miami for all our stuff.  It would make this an even better place to visit for vacation.  I hope it gets built. 

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  My legs hurt from that long walk.  Russell says he has had to walk it before due to missing the last bus.  I am not sure what it would cost to have a cab take you nine miles.  
  I looked on the Internet and for LA it looks like the cost would be about $18.10 for a nine mile trip.  I did not add in time delays because there was little to no traffic at that time of the night.  It would have been worth $18.01 to get home the other night.  I am not sure what the cab rates are in Miami. 
  I found an interesting web site:  TaxiFareFinder
 

“Are you visiting a new city? Planning a night out in town? How much will the taxi cost? What are the taxi rates?

Get your Taxi Fare Estimates before you leave, so you can plan and travel with confidence!

Taxi Fare Finder.com calculates how much your cab fare may cost in your city. Just type in the addresses and go! …”

  Pretty neat site.  It says that I walked 7.8 miles and that it would take 17 minutes by cab and the cost would be $2.50 for initial fare, $22.09 for metered fare, $1.00 fuel surcharge and a 15% tip would bring it all to $29.28 for the trip.
  I see they also have information about each city and flat rate trips etc. That will be something a person visiting Miami should check.

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  Someone sent me some photos of a man nude in Spain walking around all over the place.  The guy that sent it said it was hard to believe that nudity was legal in Spain.

  I did some research on the web.  Nudity is not legal in Spain.  It is that being nude is not a crime in Spain.  There is no such crime for being nude in public.  You can be nude in Spain if you are on or near a public beach, river bank, lake or other area like that as long as they allow public swimming. Even in other private areas they can not arrest you for being nude.  They might charge you with trespass or some other crime.
  I am surprised…Catholic being a very Catholic nation.  If just goes to show how strange Americans are with the subject of nudity. 
  Sounds like a nice nation to visit for a vacation.

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  Talk about bad news….This is the first I have heard of MRSA on beaches… In fact when I think of MRSA I think of hospitals and that it is a good idea to stay out of hospitals for that reason.

“Staphylococcus aureus is a common bug that can cause serious infections. An antibiotic-resistant strain, called MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), has increased dramatically in recent years. It typically spreads in hospitals. But it’s also found in healthy people in the community. It spreads from skin-to-skin contact with someone who is infected, or by touching surfaces contaminated with the germ.
Little is known about places in the environment where MRSA can hide. A study presented today, however, is the first to show that public beaches may be reservoirs for the bug. Staph was isolated in marine water and in intertidal beach sand in nine of 10 public beaches in Washington state, and half of the strains were MRSA, according to the study from researchers at the University of Washington. When examined, those strains appeared to be the type that spreads in hospitals rather than community-acquired MRSA…”  LA Times

  Infectious Superbug Invades Beaches

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“Watch the dolphins at SeaWorld Orlandos Dolphin Cove as they artfully create and play with underwater bubble rings and hear what SeaWorlds trainers, educators and guests have to say about this fun and fascinating behavior.”

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  CNN has a video story on a bare bottom statue causing controversy in one small Colorado town.  Here is the video.

  I think it is great.  If I lived in the area I would go and have my photo taken standing next to it.  If I could get away with it I would get nude and stand right next to it.  I think it would be a great photo as long as I did not end up in jail.

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  Oh what did my eyes just see?  I have lived in Miami for over five years and I have never seen the Miami police do a traffic stop!  We have the worst drivers in the United States.
  I see drivers run red lights, speed and run stop signs and not use turn signals…You name it and I see it all the time at ever corner.  One day I am going to set up my camera and just made a video so you can see …it is hard to believe.
  In over five years of living in Miami-Dade I have never seen the police do a  traffic stop until today. 
  Hell, I would have taken a photo but I had my hands full.

  It was a Miami motorcycle officer.  He was giving a ticket. 
  Wonder of wonders…shock and surprise…Wonder if he was new?
  My guess is that the only way to get a ticket here is to almost run into a police officer or cut him off or do something right in front of him to him.
  It must be policy in Miami not to enforce traffic laws because we have so many tourist coming down here. 

Continue reading »

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  CNN has another of those reports from Money Magazine and this one is on small towns with a lot residents that have high incomes and that are great towns to live in.
  I have lived right next to two of them Overland Park (KS) and Plano (TX).  They list 28 small towns.  I was sitting here and thinking OK if I won a big lottery would I move to one of these towns.  The answer is no way. 
 
  I live in Miami (FL) and no town was on the list.  I can understand why they did not list any town in FL and I agree with them.  Now I would never want to live in TX but if I had to live there Plano would not be a bad place.
  Now Overland Park (KS) I know a great deal about that city.  I never lived in OP KS but I worked in Overland Park.  Keep in mind the last time I was in Missouri was 2000.
 
  Overland Park is a town with a lot of people that think they are better than other people.  They had some nice shopping malls and I would go to the malls and take my kids.  I spent a summer working security at a the Oak Park Mall.  I worked for a different security company as a patrol officer and checked on sites in OP.  I had all the car dealers on Metcalf except for one.
  When I worked hospital security from 1972 to 2000 most of the directors of security live in OP.  It was like a code word between them. 
  Let me give you one small sample…I was working security at Oak Park Mall.  I was making my rounds a walked by a jewellery shop.  The owner was standing by the door and he said to me “Lot of people here today from Missouri.”  I said yes and walked on but I was thinking how does he know unless he went out to the parking lot and looked at the car tags.  Then I noticed the people.  There were a lot of black people shopping.  That is OP Kansas.

  I been watching HGTV and enjoy it when they are showing high priced real estate.  I like to think if I was rich which one of those homes would I buy. If I was rich I would not be living in Overland Park KS.  I would not be living in Kansas.  I might live in the South of Missouri.

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  Curtis Morgan has an excellent article in The Miami Herald on “Florida hopes to start hunting pythons” and it looks like it is going to happen soon.
  Check out the story.  It has a lot of interesting information in it.
  Yes, pythons are a big problem in FL.

“…Florida wildlife managers are poised to unleash a team of trained hunters to track and kill the giant snakes on state lands.

F

''We've got to start doing something,'' said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “Gov. Crist wants to take action to stop the spread of this snake.''

The program, which Barreto said he expected the governor to sign off on Wednesday, would be the first of what could turn into a two-fanged assault on a serpent that routinely grows longer than a Hummer. Florida Sen. Bill Nelson on Tuesday also called for organizing a controlled hunt in the federal lands of Everglades National Park.

''There's one way to do this: kill the snakes,'' Nelson said in an e-mail…”

  There is talk about a bounty being put on pythons.  FL is an interesting place.

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  I was watching a travel show on TV today.  It was on Tuscany (Italy).  If I won a lottery I think I would go and visit Tuscany and look into living there full time. 
  I love cheese but I would have to learn to drink wine.
  One thing that got my attention was that the government pays family farms money to help them remain small family working farms.  What a great idea.  We should have done something like that here in the United States.
  Now I just need to win a lottery.  Smile

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  The Miami Herald has a report that slot machines could come soon to the Miami International Airport.  Miami Dade County needs new sources of cash to meet rising airport costs.
  I think that we have to stop looking at gambling to pay for everything.  Where will it end?
  Now having said that…  Miami is a place that people come to for travel, recreation and leisure.  I could see slot machines at the airport.
  But the addition of slot machines at the airport is going to add problems.  Will the machines be in a public area for all people to use or just those that are using the airport?  They would add to security problems at MIA.  You have to worry about crime and crooks.  If it is open to the public you would have additional traffic and parking problems.
  If MIA can not make money with the thousands of people flying in and out of MIA then maybe they just need to shut down.  Or they may need new management.

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  I have posted a number of post on Howard’s Notebook about the ATC problem.  There were warnings about this sort of problem.  I hate to keep blaming President Bush and the Republicans but they are the cause of this current problem we have with ATC.
 
 

WASHINGTON (CNN) — “A student controller was directing planes during two runway mishaps in the past month at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, apparently giving instructions that placed planes on possible collision courses, federal investigators say.

Federal transportation safety investigators say the exact causes of the mishaps are still unknown. But in both cases, potential accidents were averted only after pilots recognized that mistakes had been made, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

In one instance, two commercial jetliners came within 500 feet of each other, the NTSB said.

Both incidents involved a "developmental" controller — a controller who is not certified in every position in the control tower. The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates aviation in the United States including air traffic control, said Tuesday the developmental controller was under the supervision of different trainers during the two incidents, and that it is the controller/trainers — not students — who are held accountable for mistakes.

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown did not immediately know what action, if any, was taken against the student.

But a controllers’ union representative said the controller was still on the job, and deserves to be.

"This particular trainee had a total of 11 hours of training in the entire month of June. That’s less then an hour a day," said Bob Kerr of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "He’s brand new; he’s going to make mistakes."

The student had completed about 30 percent of his training hours at the position, Kerr said. "He has plenty of time to not only learn from the present situation, but to continue learning and develop into a fine controller in that position."  …”

  President Bush and the Republicans wanted to break the ATC employees union.  They wanted to cut pay and take other action.  They would not hire and train new employees to do the ATC jobs and massive numbers of employees were leaving their jobs and retiring. 
  President Bush is gone but we still  have the mess that he has left behind and it is going to take years to clean up this mess.  It may cost lives.  It takes a long time to hire and train ATC employees.  Even after they get out of the school they still have to spend months, if not years, learning the job.

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