Local Tampa Weather Icon & Legend Dick Fletcher Passes

For all that have ever lived in Tampa Bay most have at least heard of Dick Fletcher but more likely most have watched his weather reports on Tampa Bay’s 10 news. For 28 years Dick Fletcher was an integral part of South West Florida. Mr. Fletcher covered the weather like no one else and displayed so much passion for his job.

Dick Fletcher was extremely well known in the Tampa area and many other parts of the country. 10 News spent the day reflecting on his life and the legacy that he leaves behind. I was very impressed with the amount of work they put into the 1 hour special that aired this evening at 8 pm. From the interviews from friends, colleagues and even competitors he was a very well-liked and caring man. He was a role model for students and spent many hours in local schools teaching kids about weather. In a world such as ours today it is a shame there are not as many men like Dick Fletcher out there. My sympathy’s go out to the Fletcher family.

McCain puts some distance between himself and Ultra-Con Bill Cunningham

This is ridiculous to me that behavior that was condoned 100 years ago is still finding its way into to mainstream America. Bill Cunningham made some hateful comments today about Obama that even John McCain was offended by and immediately distanced himself from this whack job.

If you don’t know who this guy is they have a great bio of him on wikipedia.

Cunningham was part of a republican political rally in Cincinatti, Ohio today and before John McCain was able to step foot on the stage BC was running his mouth in his usual fashion. He attacked the mainstream media, saying that they have treated Obama better than any other canidate in the race. He also had the audacity to call Obama a “Hack” and a Chicago Style, Daley politician. Cunningham went even further to refer to Obama by his middle name of Hussein and try to draw on fear and hatred. This guy should be pulled of the air faster than Imus.

This excerpt is from MSNBC:

“At some point in the near future the media — the stooges from the New York Times, CBS the Clinton Broadcasting System, NBC the Nobody But Clinton network, the All Bill Clintonchannel ABC, and the Clinton News Network — at some point is going to peel the bark off Barack Hussein Obama,” Cunningham said. “That day will come, then you’ll know the truth about his business dealings with Rezko, when he got sweetheart deals in Chicago and the illegal loans that he received.”

Where Mr. Cunningham is mention of FOX news? Not one mention, so I guess if the media is inline with your political views it’s all fine and dandy. This guy is a joke and I feel for the people that listen to his show and continue his closed minded approach to the world.

The Day (5) That Never Came

Day 4 went mostly to plan, until, about 10:30 Saturday night. The bottle of Skyy came out and made friends with Gatorade, I know, you’re thinking how ghetto is that. Rewind like 6 hours ago and I was at the gas station looking for a half-way decent drink to mix my vodka. Choices were very slim; pure high fructose corn syrup or…well there wasn’t anything in the store that didn’t contain hfc except for the water and part of me is still skeptical.

I don’t know what it is with people my age, it is difficult to go out an not drink. I am guessing that people my age are in a similar situation. Out of college and out of money. The way I look at it, is that when I can afford to go out and spend a reasonable amount of money and not feel guilty, that is when I can move on from this lifestyle. I really like comma’s and feel that they truly improve the thoughts that I am having. Random, I know…

Rainy day special, clean out the closets and find old memories

I woke up this morning to the rain pounding on my bedroom window, ruined my plans for a trip to the beach today. I decided that it would be a good time to get organized, since that was one of my New Years resolutions, better late then never.

It’s funny when you start digging through stuff that you haven’t touched for years and wonder why you ever hung on to the stuff in the first place. I mean there is stuff like pictures that have a great deal of sentimental value but some of the stuff I have found I really wonder about. Old notebooks filled with lectures from my college classes, never really thought that I would keep them for this long. Clothes from high school that I felt might come back in style. The pictures are cool because it was like stepping into a time machine because most of my new pictures never make it off the computer. It’s weird how in just four years the technology has changed so much. I found an old camera, 3.2 Mega Pix, and was like what can I do with this thing?

Anyways, I am now getting organized for 08′ and I am going to try to keep less stuff and simplify my life. Think about it and maybe some rainy day you might do it too.

Crunched for time but want to be well-informed try Newsmap

I found this website while reading an article online at fastcompany.com

The site Newsmap is perfect for the time starved individual who wants to see what news is happening and how important it is. The site has boxes with news headlines that are linked to the story but the interesting part is when the story is more popular or important the bigger the text box becomes. So spend five minutes before you go to work or class and you can catch up on the big news of the day.

Day 4 Beer Free

I woke up this morning and felt great. Last weekend this time I was nursing a nasty hangover. I’ve been out of college for a full semester and a half and am trying to get out of my college party days. I’m not sure how it is going to work out or how long it will last but I am going to try my hardest.

It is really hard when almost all of your friends from college still continue to do the same thing that we did during in college. I’m not saying it’s all bad, it’s a lot of fun when you are hanging out but the next morning is always the toughest. I’m doing this is somewhat of an experiment and to improve my weight training results. After all those late nights in college I’m sure my body is ready for a rest. Staying up until 6 am and playing beer pong and drinking off the keg all night takes a lot out of your liver I’m sure.

We’ll have to see how this turns out because I am supposed to go to a party tonight but I might have to make some other plans to avoid the temptation because it is really difficult to show up to a party and drink water all night.

Bean Town College Student Strikes it Rich…Penny Slots

Maybe this is fate telling us that the penny does still hold some value. A 21 year old community college student from Sommerville has won $3.5 Million from a penny slot machine at Mohegan Sun in Ct. I loved the comment at the end of the news piece on WBZ, the anchor stated that she was very attractive. I think shes wicked hot is what he should have said.

Here is the video if you want to check it out for yourself.

A different kind of gift from China…A Malware Virus

So let’s recap for those of you who have been living under a rock or were on-board Oceanic flight 815.

Poison dog food from China

Childrens toys containing lead paint

Now digital picture frame that contain a malicious virus that can capture your personal information

 I won’t try to paraphrase the article so here is a quick link to the story so that you can make sure you don’t have one of these frames lying around from the holidays and decide one rainy weekend to upload the fams fav photos and end up compromising your personal information.

Anyways my parents always told me you get what you pay for and I feel that as consumers we have demanded lower prices and we are now paying for the lower prices in our safety.

Ralph Nader making another presidential bid?

According to the AP, Our old friend Ralph Nader might be planning something to revive his Green Party. Nader is scheduled to appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Is this his way of stirring things up or is it his way of getting back into the spotlight. We will wait and see…Nader and Paul 08′ they should find a way to team up and maybe they can get 3.7% of the national vote come November. Maybe Ross Perot can come on-board as their campaign finance adviser.

The true cost of a penny…$134 Million and my 2 cents

Basic economics 101

The U.S. Produces $80 Million dollars in pennies each year at an actual cost of $134 million. 1.3 billion nickels cost $124 million dollars in 2007 (CBS_60 Minutes).

Demand for the zinc and copper used in producing pennies and nickels has caused the price increase in recent years. Personally, I would not miss the penny. I rarely carry pennies and if I do I try my hardest to get rid of them quickly. The portrait of Honest Abe, I would miss. It seems that a government that pays $1000 for a hammer mine as well keep producing a currency that doesn’t make financial sense. Change, it does seem to take a longtime (Pardon the pun). But when the Lincoln penny was first introduced in 1908 debit cards were not even a thought in the most inventive individual.

So a penny for your thoughts but with inflation the way it is, I should phrase it more like a dollar for your thoughts.