This Week on the Island 07/18/2010

'This week on the Island' is written by Doug Bennett and is an update to friends about happenings in Key West last week. Everything is true except for those parts that are lies.----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The picture this week (click to enlarge) is ‘Howard Livingston and the MM24 Band’ on the corner of Duval and Green (In front of Sloppy Joe’s) Friday night for the Mel Fisher celebration. The second picture is a Key Deer.

Weather: Hot and humid with a chance of rain and in the 80’s.

This week I completed ‘Writer of the Purple Rage’ by Joe R. Lansdale.

No oil yet.

No dogs in bars yet, maybe July 20th.

Jo, my wife, had jury duty on Monday. You have to dress for the occasion (no shorts or t-shirts, etc) one guy showed up dressed like a pirate. We were all waiting to see what happened. The judges have been known to send people home to change and come back. All the cases had been settled so the judge dismissed everyone.

The baby sea turtles started hatching this week. The city had the lights on on South Roosevelt so the turtles headed for the light. Many were captured and returned to the sea, but a few didn’t make it. The lights will be off on South Roosevelt for a while.

The space station was supposed to be visible from Key West on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Always to the north with the longest time of visibility of 4 minutes. EXCEPT it was overcast every night.

The Mudd’s were in town this week. There were 300 to 400 of them. You remember the John Wilkes Booth /Abraham Lincoln story. Mudd was the doctor the fixed Booths leg and he was sent to prison at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. He was given a pardon by President Andrew Johnson for saving lives during a yellow fever outbreak at the prison.

Friday was another trip to the Miami VA to have an x-ray of my titanium knee. I am trying to get the VA to increase my percent of disability. On the way home there was a traffic tie-up in Big Pine Key because of a Key Deer playing on the side of the road. Key Deer look like any other deer except they are the size of a middle size dog.

Mel Fisher Days were this week. He is the guy that discovered the Spanish ship Atocha. They continue to pull emeralds and gold and other treasures from the wreak site. They have acquired over $450 million in treasure so far. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Fisher

Wednesday I left Winn Dixie with my groceries. The woman next to me was unloading her cart into the back of her car. I got in my car and started to backup when I hear a dragging sound. The woman had put her cart behind my car when she got thru unloading her groceries. I moved the cart to the back of her car. She backed into it. I told her that now she knows how I felt.

BP wants to hire some locals. Rumor has it that of over 100 applicants less than 20 passed the drug test.


Key West, You have got to love it
'Living the life that others dream'
Doug Bennett
Lat 24.55967N, Long 81.80169W

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Sassi dancing to Schooner Wharf Bar Dog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbxD3D-rPqo