PoliticsThe Sunshine State

Let's try this numbers thing again

Here’s a few numbers I saw in the Times recently. These concern the (FL) House budget proposal that was released last week. $2.5 Billion – what you get when you subtract state revenues from state expenses (ideally that number equal to, or less than $0). $1 Billion – proposed cuts to human services. 8,000 – terminally ill Medicaid patients who’d have their hospice care…
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The Sunshine State

When in Rome...

If you live in a cold climate, you may not want to read this post. It may not amuse you one bit. I’m going for self-parody with this one, but I’ve been a bit sick this week – so my sense for these things (normally spot on, of course) may be a bit off. — We’ve got a little problem – that’s getting bigger with the US $ in the toilet: people don’t show…
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The Sunshine State

Filler post

There’s no real point to this one, other than to speed up the time it takes for the movie post to disappear (I think only the last ten posts appear on the front page). I think I mentioned last week that it was finally fall in Florida. Well guess what? It’s only been a week and signs of spring are here! I do really love fall, when we finally get a reprieve from the heat of summer, but…
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The Sunshine State

A weather moment

There’s been a bit of severe weather talk this afternoon. We even got an email at work suggesting we keep our NOAA weather alert radios on through the night. In a way it almost feels like hurricane season (though we didn’t have to bag the computers at the office before we left). I suppose it’s better to be safe than sorry, but it seems like our weather people cry wolf a little…
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PoliticsThe Sunshine State

Government can work when there's sufficient will to let it

Newsvine: Florida’s much-maligned child welfare workers will soon begin carrying handheld devices, like the ones delivery companies use to track packages, that show whether they really are checking in on the children under their supervision… Child welfare workers currently record home visits on paper forms, then type the information into a state database. That can take up to 60 days…
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Family and FriendsThe Sunshine State

A little sunshine ain't so bad

My wife, my friends, my coworkers… just about everyone who knows me thinks its strange that I don’t like sunny days. Frankly, I think everyone else is a little strange for not yearning for a little more variety. At the same time, I must consider the odds. Either everyone I know is strange, or it’s me. It don’t look too good friends. I must admit that today was a nice day…
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The Sunshine State

Now where was I?

I was about to sit down to some serious writing before I was so rudely interupted by a software bug. Ah yes, I was going to tell you everything you never wanted to know. Actually, tonight’s post is inspired by the weather. You see, every time it gets really cold out I think about New England. I shouldn’t, because I haven’t lived there for… jeez, I’m fresh out of…
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The Sunshine StateTravel

Life isn't just a beach

The number of pictures I take at the beach is as much a function of proximity as anything else. It’s not that I don’t enjoy doing anything else; quite the contrary. In fact, some of the best times I’ve had outdoors have been at some of our state parks that are miles from the nearest beach. Some of you have probably had enough of me gushing over our camping trips at Gold Head…
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Family and FriendsThe Sunshine StateTravel

A pinch of fog

We almost never get fog here on the west coast of Florida, but this week has been full of exceptions. An evening fog is almost unheard of, even out on the barrier islands. I took Adam out for a sunset walk on the beach this evening, and even though we didn’t see much sunset, it was still really cool… mostly because of the rare conditions. It reminded me of those early morning bike…
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BethThe Sunshine StateTravel

Otherwise today was a great day

Beth and I finally made it out to Honeymoon Island for a good hike. I’d been waiting to take my new camera out to the park to hunt for some good pictures, and by golly, today was an excellent day for it. We had a high around 80 with a nice sea breeze to mix up the air a little… what you might call a chamber of commerce kind of day… one for the brochures. I posted a bunch of the…
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