Suguay Productions

Ah, summer. In Florida and the Southeast United States that generally means Hurricane Season. It starts here on June 1 and ends November 31. Most of you probably know that.

This year has started odd and then mercifully quiet. We had a big rain system the end of May that had it occurred a couple of weeks later might have been the first named storm of the season. It was outside the time frame and not tropical enough so we got days and days of rain and flooding and no name for that system. And then hurricane season started. Nothing. June comes and goes with nary a whisp. July comes and goes with a hint but nothing. Then we get to August.

August is usually when things really kick in. In August we have the anniversary of some of the most recent not to be forgotten storms. We had the 5 year anniversary of Charlie on the 13th and coming up on the 24th is the anniversary of Andrew. Yes, 1992 had a quiet start to the hurricane season. I can say that until then I didn’t really register hurricanes. Central Florida isn’t usually impacted by hurricanes but minimally. 

Until that is 2004. That year had a slow start to the hurricane season and then Mother Nature let loose with a fury. First there was Charlie and then just as things seemed to be getting back to normal there was Frances, about two weeks later. We were finally cleaning up from both of them and giving thanks that Ivan decided to take a different route. It still didn’t miss us. It went to the Panhandle and knocked them to bits and came back around and socked us as a tropical storm or depression I’m not sure which. And the finally Jeanne ran up off the cost of Daytona Beach, did a loop-de-loop before she decided to come ashore right about where Frances did. There was a place in Polk county that the paths of all 3 of those hurricanes intersected.

And that’s the historical or recent historical bit of Mother Nature’s seeming mercy only to see it wane in August. This year is yet another example. Here we are just a few days after the anniversary of Charlie and we have not 1 not 2, we have 3 systems in the tropics and once again, Florida looks like it is being targeted on all sides. Ana, Bill and Claudette. What a crew. 

I’m still hoping for a quiet season here in Central Florida. I’d like to not have to exercise my hurricane plans and check all the batteries again. I’m just really not interested. And yet, Mother Nature will do what she will do.

Cheers.

Originally published at: suguayproductions.com/joomla which has been discontinued.

I took vacation recently. It probably wasn’t what most people would do for their vacation though it was very reminiscent of the types of vacations we took when I was growing up. I live in Florida, for my vacation I went to New Mexico and Oklahoma. Yes, really.

The New Mexico part of our trip found us based out of Albuquerque. Most of the barrels are gone from the freeways from when we lived there. The place has really grown. Though Old Town Albuquerque is much the same. People still selling their wares on the sidewalk. Shops with kitsch and t-shirts and some not. And a great restaurant. While in Old Town we met up with a guy from the San Domingo Pueblo and he gave my mother some help with information about her turquoise ring and as promised, after we looked at his jewelry, he pointed  towards a really good glass of iced tea and a really good meal at the Church Street Cafe. Oh, and bonus, Flamenco Guitar music played live. I’m a Flamenco Guitar fan. This was truly a bonus.

The next day we decided to head down to White Sands. It’s only a 3 hour drive, if you don’t take the scenic route.

Man am I glad I upgraded the rental car to the luxury model. We took the scenic route to get there. And while I joke it really was cool. We dis see a lot of open land like this.

Lots and lots of it. It turns out that there are or were, depends on how you look at it, lava flows in New Mexico. You can be driving along and in the distance you start to see this dark patch that almost looks like a lake. It’s not. It’s solidified lava. Like along the road there. Or like this…

As you can see we had to get out an have a look. 

After we took pictures and looked at what were likely snake holes and then started hearing disturbing rustling, we got back in the car and continued on our way. We made a wrong turn. Ok, I did. I didn’t believe the GPS or Dad’s directions, it just looked odd. We got to see a really nice looking church though. And then on we went. We stopped some place and got drinks and Mom had to get this peanut candy thing that turned out to be too sweet to be eat. And a local paper. She decided to read the police blotter outloud to us. Why not, we can use the entertainment. Seems there was a recurring theme. Maybe you can guess what it was. We went through Tularosa, where I made some really funny turn arounds and arounds and stopped so Mom could take a picture of a cool gate and then at a store so she could get pictures of the ristas out front. It was her desire for those pictures that prompted the funny turns. Inside she got a rista and Mexican Vanilla.Yum. 

We finally made it to White Sands around 5pm. Since we got there so late we went through the welcome center and the gift shop first. Money was spent and I learned something cool. Seems that what makes the sands there white is gypsum. This is the stuff in wall board and plaster of paris. It also turns out that White Sands is the world’s largest gypsum deposit and 40% of it is protected by the White Sands National Park and the other 60% is protected by Uncle Sam because it is within the bounds of the White Sands Missile Range. It was a really cool sight to see. I was glad we got there as late in the day as we did. With the sun reflecting off the white sand it was still very hot and it was bright. Talk about eye strain. After we had been there a while, and probably because I was driving, my eyes were really fatigued. Yes, the sand really is white.

 

The trip back from White Sands had it’s own amusement. Dad drove, Mom rode in front with him. I tried to sleep. Not easy to do while he’s going 75 miles and hour trying to figure out the cruise control in the dark. And then there was the check point. We were so close to Mexico that they were stopping cars and checking for illegals. Mom started a count down with the clock and gps as to how long it was going to be to get back to the hotel. I slept finally.

To be continued…

 

Originally published at: suguayproductions.com/joomla which has been discontinued.

In these economic times I’ve been fortunate. I’ve taken a hit or two and yet nothing like so many out there have. And so today when I got a letter from one of the credit card companies that gave me an account that said they were closing my account because of inactivity I probably should have gotten indignant or something and called and protested. Really, after all it was my first major credit card and this means my FICO score will probably take a hit. And yet…

I’ve already resigned myself to the idea that due to the current economic claims and a change in my living arrangements/status that my credit will be getting hit by a likely foreclosure here sometime in the next year. While this doesn’t make me happy it was/is an inevitability. Then credit card company probably should upset me. It doesn’t. I haven’t used the card in over 4 years. It was probably time.

Keeping these two things in mind I guess I could panic and get all upset. It wouldn’t really do much good. I am in better shape than at least one of my neighbors. I work hard to at least maintain my job and a place to live. I meet my bills. I am very blessed and thankful every day. 

So moving forward I have the options of, when things all work their way through, I can work really hard to rebuild my credit. Or I can decide to go back to just paying for things and move on. It means I will have to put off my wants and put my needs first. It means I won’t have as much room to be impulsive without a little planning first. It means that I don’t have to pay more for everything I purchased on credit. It means that when it comes down to it I will have the opportunity to have more cash each month and not be at the mercy of a credit card company who might decide to up my interest rate or change my due dates or any number or other things that they have the power to do. 

No I have not had such extreme treatments. I have, along with many other people, had the interest rate on my primary card increased. I understand it even if I don’t like it. It wasn’t worth calling and getting worked up about. And no I probably won’t completely quit having a credit card. They are handy for some things, like renting a car. 

I will strive to be more mindful of where I spend my money and hopefully that will lead to being more mindful of how I spend my time. And perhaps it will help me to do that little bit that I can to help keep the world from facing an economic mess even bigger than this somewhere in the future. 

We forget that we have the power to make a difference just by doing. Or not doing, as the case may be. Sure I could protest. It will raise my blood presure and upset me for the evening and even if I could get the account reinstated it would likely be at the cost that I have to use the card. I think I have only one card with a higher interest rate. Who wants to protest that. Please I want you to charge me more for that item. Please here take more money for that $10 item. I’ll give you $10.50 for it instead. 

No, I see no reason to protest. I will move forward in the world with the opportunity to live in a more responsible finanical manner and take solace in the thought that it is one less opportunity to get myself into more debt.

Why protest a fortunate event.

Cheers

Originally published at: suguayproductions.com/joomla which has been discontinued.

I recently read about the professor in Colorado, I think, that had been fired apparently for an opinion he expressed. Though the jury awarded him a dollar he did not get his job back as it was determined that he had not been fired on grounds of his exercising his right to free speech. In the article there was mention that if there are consequences to what you say then it’s not free speech.

My first though on this is duh. Most of us learned at a reasonablly young age that while we could say whatever we wanted, there could be consequenses. You don’t call a kid several times your size names without expecting to get beat up. You don’t mouth off to your parents without expecting to be punished. Ok, you might do it once. And then you learn. 

I sometimes wonder if we dont’ take this ‘free speech’ thing a little too far.

How about we call it ‘Responsible Speech’. In our electronic/internet age we seem to have forgotten the concepts of lible and slander and that the law in the U.S. protects people from these to some extent. I understand the internet is a new media platform. Just because laws haven’t been written to specifically address it doesn’t mean we should through common sense and propriety out the window as we go screaming down the information highway at speeds our brains have yet to comprehend. 

Just because the rules of speech and opinion were written so long ago does not mean that they do not still apply in the astounding new world that is evolving. Once you hit send on that email or publish on that article, just like this one, it’s out there and a person’s opinion will be on display for everyone with internet access, and a few without, to see. We have a way to reach an unprecedented amount of people from our electronic soap box and we are bound to offend somebody. 

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t express opinions. It means we need to be aware of how we express those opinions and that there will be consequences to what we say. It’s like I was once told, ‘it’s ok to break the rules as long as you know what they are and are willing to pay the price.’ So many want to break the rules and so many don’t seem to know what the rules are or aren’t willing to pay the price. 

So instead of exercising the “right” to free speech, how about we learn to express our opinions responsiblly. Take into account what might happen if you make snide remarks about your company on your facebook page. Or if the company offering that job you want will really be happy seeing your blog article that is totally against either their product or their industry. Do you really want to say your boss is a jerk and provide the name of the company you work at? Come on. It is the same with anything we choose to put out on the internet. Or voice in an op-ed sent to a newspaper, or a call-in line for a tv or radio show. Just stop a moment and think. Then if you still believe you want to world to know how you feel, go ahead. 

I’ll get down off my soap box now and let everyone alone. I know someone will come back with something. I got my story wrong, I didn’t site my source, I don’t get it. And so be it. You may leave your comments and I will either respond or not. That is what free and responsible speech is.

Cheers

 

Originally published at: suguayproductions.com/joomla which has been discontinued.