Month: September 2005

 

Fellow Libran?

If this is the truth then I’ve got to get a jump on things soon 😛

Bigotry against Hearing Impaired: Performance Computer Group of Tampa

What decade do we live in? The 1950’s or the 2000’s?

I’ve got a laptop computer I basically can’t use not because it’s not in working order but because it doesn’t have the capablity to do what I need it to do and thus it makes the machine expendable. I’ve been looking for a way to move the laptop without losing a ton of money on the deal.

I looked on the Tampa Tribune‘s website and through their classified ads in an effort to look through the Laptop market and see if anyone was trying to purchase laptop computers in Tampa. I found www.tampanotebooks.com which is operated by Performance Computer Group. They’ve got a shop on Dale Maybry and they say that they buy used laptops – working or not.

I figured to call them up and see how much I could get for my machine… A phone call isn’t such a painful thing after all. Even if it is Voice Carry Over through the Florida Telecommunications Relay Service.

So I called up Performance Computer Group of Tampa — three ring slater a man picks up and the text that comes across my TDD phone reads thus:

“Uh, we don’t do any Relay calls. OK, thank you.”

*Click*

Some people don’t get what a Relay call is… It’s when someone deaf is calling you through a carry over service. It is not an excuse for you to treat a caller like a complete piece of shit. I’ve dealt with that from Bright House Customer Service and Capital One customer service as well. Usually I call back and get a representative that isn’t such a moron.

But in this case? The company just lost my business and came off like he was against the Relay system to begin with. “Why bother? Just some deaf clown trying to hassel me.”

Missing Piece of History — Jim Morrison in Clearwater

Missing Piece of History — Jim Morrison in Clearwater

Missing Piece of History — Jim Morrison in Clearwater

I’ve read a couple of books on Jim Morrison and the Doors (favorites? Riders on the Storm by John Densmore and No One Here Gets Out Alive by Danny Sugerman, Jerry Hopkins) and I’ve been enamoured by Jim Morrison’s poetry and lyrical artistry. I’ve always been curious and captivated about his time in Clearwater, Florida after his parents sent him to live with his grandparents and go to St. Petersburg Junior College.

I’ve finally found more than any book would tell. I’ve found more than some books have speculated.

In all of these books, the writers have simply thrown a quick mention to Jim Morrison’s girlfriend for 3 years, Mary Werbelow, and then dismissed her as nothing much but a sideshow to Jim’s life of excess and glamour. The problem is that Mary held a bigger piece of Jim within her than many – including me – are able to comprehend. I’ve been taught that Pamela Courson was supposedly everything to Jim and this Mary girl was just a quick fix before the main course was served in Venice Beach (meaning the Doors formation).

That’s not the case.

Mary has refused interviews for 40 years up until now. His connections to Tampa Bay are further shown and his connections to Mary as well (The Crystal Ship was for her, The beginning and end of The End were talking about her). I’d also say The beginning of Stoned Immaculate is a reference to meeting Mary:

One summer night, going to the pier
I ran into two young girls
The blonde one was called Freedom
The dark one, Enterprise
We talked and they told me this story

The article by the Times talks about how Jim met Mary at Pier 60 on Clearwater Beach while she was with another friend (also named Mary).

At any rate, I’m just real excited about this for no other reason than more information being made clear. Much like Deep Throat finally coming out – some secrets aren’t left up to imagination….

Put a bullseye on E.L. Woodlands Publix

East Lake Woodland’s Publix has been around for… Oh, I don’t know how long… It’s on the cusp of the ritzy and posh Pinellas suburb of East Lake and draws shoppers form East Lake, Oldsmar, Palm Harbor and Saftey Harbor…

…in the smallest Publix in the area.

The store is almost always under renovation — every couple of years things are re-painted, re-aligned and what not. The only problem is that these renovations don’t do much to fix the flaws of the building in general and how Publix is trying to operate the store on less floorspace than most standard Publix supermarkets.

Crowded aisles, support beams int he middle of aisles, lack of selection due to lack of space… It all factors in to simply hurt the location and can’t be remedied by simply white-washing the building over and over again.

I’m counting the days until I hear this store is to be closed, demolished and then rebuilt… And trust me, it will happen. Tarpon Springs (US 19 and Tarpon Avenue) Publix just underwent such a change. Us 19 / Curlew Publix was a former Grocery store – but after the store was leased it resulted in a all out demolition of the where the store would be and renovation of the shopping center. Dunedin has a store that was totally demolished and rebuilt, and Coral Landings Publix (Palm Harbor on US 19 north of Tampa Road) was built just to the south of an existing Publix that served the Highland Lakes retirement community (that stoer is now a Stein Mart).

The biggest problem facing Publix, I would think, replacing the building is the lack of space for them to play around with in the shopping center. They are next to a key driveway for the shopping plaza and a high tension power line cooridor.

Tricky to work with – not impossible though.

Losing the location for a couple of months would hurt but I would think the windfall would be well worth it. A superior store to local rivals and a death grip on North Pinellas as the MUST Super Market with superior quality staff, service and selection…

I've Lost You Again Today

The conversation closed and the good Lord only knows
When I’ll speak with you again
You’re leaving today, winging ‘way on a plane
And I’ve lost you again today

We’ve known each other for quite a few years,
Shared our laughter, anger and tears
We’re lovers of past
Friends of today
Yet something’s been missing in things we say

I lost you once when you needed space
I lost you twice when you moved away
I’ve lost you to another man
Now I’m losing you to a foreign land

But away, you’ve gotta go
The life you chose is the life you know
And your life’s heading in another direction
We’d only crossed at an intersection
Each time you’ve gone, you’ve come back to me
And I hope that’s how it’ll always be

I know you’re happy with the plan:
You’re path in life, your future, your man
But something in me’s been gone a long, long time
The joy you bring and the way you can–
Fill me up with hope and glee
Honey, you’ve always completed me
But the time grows short and the rhyme grows long
I look again and now you’re gone

You’re on your way, with part of me
It seems that you have some secret key
You unlock my smiles and my zany side
Ignite my passions and calm my mind
But you’re not mine — yet you’ll always be
I’ve lost you again, you’re flying free
I’ve lost you again, as you glide ‘cross the sea

© 2005 John Fontana

"The Definitive Lightning Fan blog"

Tampa Bay Times (tbt* ) calls Boltsmag the definitive Lightning Fan blog and all I can say is cool! Now if only I wrote something worth a damn on there… :-p 😉

The Myth of Rain

It is SO FRIGGIN’ HOT!

September in Tampa Bay is supposed to be just like August, or July, or June — hot, humid, and wet… The wetness is supposed to come from not only tropical showers but the chance of a tropical system (Tropical Storm or Hurricane) coming through the area. On average, Tampa Bay gets almost 3 and a half inches of rain in September.

In 2005? We’ve gotten two hundreths of an inch of rain.

Things are drying and dying out at an incredible rate and you have to wonder just when we’re goign to go back to severe drough warnings and conservation in the area…. We’ve grown since the early and mid 1990’s when we were last stuck in a drought and water consumption must be at an all time high…

The reason it’s so dry and hot? Thank both Hurriance Katrina and Hurricane Ophelia. Katrina sapped the moisture in the region as she headed for Louisiana and then Ophelia formed and not only absorbed moisture but blew dry winds from the Carolinas right over Florida…

With that wind pattern — all we have is heat and haze… It’s disgusting, it’s painful and there is no end in sight despite Tropical Storm Rita’s projected forray across the Strait of Florida.

I’m upset I am heading to Los Angeles early next month right now — I’ll be going rom dry and hot to dry and cooler… I’d like MOIST. I’d like RAIN… I’d like WET…

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Writing re-assurance

I haven’t tried this in a long time – the last story I published in part on this blog was never competed (“Peter’s Problem” just rambles on and on) and never got any opinions on pieces fo the story I DID publish.

At any rate, I told people about this story in an earlier entry… There is no title to it as it stands right now and it’s just a few hundred words… Let me know what you think if you think anything about it… Just click on more to view it.

Read More

I'm Down

You telling lies thinking I can’t see
You don’t cry ‘cos you’re laughing at me
I’m down (I’m really down)
I’m down (Down on the ground)
I’m down (I’m really down)
How can you laugh when you know I’m down
(How can you laugh) When you know I’m down

Man buys ring woman throws it away
Same damn thing happens everyday
I’m down (I’m really down)
I’m down (Down on the ground)
I’m down (I’m really down)
How can you laugh when you know I’m down
(How can you laugh) When you know I’m down

We’re all alone and there’s nobody else
You still moan: “Keep your hands to yourself!”
I’m down (I’m really down)
I’m down (Down on the ground)
I’m down (I’m really down)
How can you laugh when you know I’m down
(How can you laugh) When you know I’m down

Don’t you know that I’m down (I’m really down)
Don’t you know that I’m down (I’m really down)
Down on the ground (I’m really down)
Don’t you know that I’m down (I’m really down)
Down, down, down

Madness of Madeline

Madeline is going to be 4 months old tomorrow, which still shocks me… It’s felt like ages since I got my little Whippet and yet it hasn’t been that long at all. That’s actually a good thing because usually certain instances of my life can seem like only an hour ago — let alone something feeling like years removed from actually happening a couple of weeks / months ago.

Maddie’s been pretty good at times and annoying at others. She’s teething of course – has been since I got her in July — but it’s a little worse now because it’s her mid teeth and back teeth and she’s trying to gnaw on anything she can. I can deal with that by picking up chew toys and such… That’s no problem.

What is a problem is her social skills. Madeline is extremely friendly and extremely over-excited to meet people. I mean REALLY over-excited. If she sees a human, she wants to run up to them and say hi. She’ll jump and run circles around them (and when she is on her leash, this can cause problems), or run away for one reason or another… I’m never sure what causes that but it’s usually when she sees someone from a distance.

I’ve enjoyed when I’ve been able to walk her around the block — only twice total. Two factors usually keep me from walking her that far, the first being the Florida heat and my own desire to stay out of it. The second factor is Maddie herself. Not because of her hysterics act but… Well, her hysterics act. I’ll start walking her down the block and I won’t even be able to get her 300 feet from my house before she wants to go back and investigate something she wants to chew. Other times I get her half way to the end of the block and she gets scared off by the sounds of dogs barking (the sad thing is, the dogs barking are a 3rd of her size).

I’ve had more social interaction when I’ve been out with her, which I like… But at the same time I have GOT to get a handle on her social skills and I need to socialize her more — among dogs and humans. Unfortunately no one wants to go to the Dog Park and I’m not entirely interested in walking the 3+ miles with the dog to the nearest park (across 6 lanes of highway and next to a 4 lane highway).

I’ll figure something out, I hope….

The real class warfare

If anyone hasn’t watched TV and seen the faces and heard the stories of people who have been effected by Hurricane Katrina, you’re fortunate.

If you’ve blamed them for staying in New Orleans or where they are — all the while being happy with how the Government has cut your taxes or happy that Corporations are racking up huge profits… you’re part of the problem…

You might have caught Kanye West tonight on NBC’s concert special to raise relief money for victim’s of Hurricane Katrina. If you missed it, Kanye said on air (before a hasty cut by NBC to Chris Tucker) “George W. Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

Though I can grasp Kanye’s sentiment and where he’s coming from, he’s shooting with the wrong gun by making this statement. The race card doesn’t have to come out as-so-much a more observant look at what is gone wrong with this country.

The weak / slow response to Hurricane Katrina (to put it simply) represents how the separation the President and most of the government from the people (both parties are guilty of this at current). There is the aristocratic class of businessmen and politicos, donors and blind supporters that get top-of-the-line treatment with focus on issues that are concerns of theirs (wedge issues that do not effect day to day life – Abortion, gay marriage, FCC decency standards, etc) while the issues that effect the general populous (being of any race, creed or color) get ignored. Infrastructure is falling apart in the US, schools are in atrocious conditions, health care and insurance are domineered by for-profit corporate interests that keeps people from protection and medical care they need. Poverty is on the rise (and has been the last 4 years) yet you are told a rosie economic picture from the government or talking head economists because the only thing that matters is the statistics or the investor class… Not the people working, not the pay rates of the blue collar class. Not the fact minimum wage has not been raised for 8 years. Just profit margins.

I don’t think it’s a black-and-white thing that Kanye said (and other African Americans are going to agree with) as-so-much a rich-vs-poor thing. Aristocrats-vs-commoners thing. Many of us commoners can’t even begin to comprehend how bad poverty is… You can hear it anyplace they talk about the tragedy that is New Orleans: “They should have gotten out! They should have gotten to Superdome, they should have… they should have…” We can assign blame but we can’t understand the logic. We can assign blame but we can’t grasp their lives. We can assign blame but many of us would take the same route in our suburban homes that these people did in their urban apartments and houses.

We truly don’t understand shit with regards to poverty and the plight of the working class if we’re going to keep allowing corporate interests and special interests to control the country with their interests at heart, not the interests of the citizens of the United States. I don’t believe Bush can grasp what the common person suffers. I could never believe John Kerry (or Hillary Clinton) would be able to comprehend it either, or Al Gore… It’s the same-old aristocrat class that is so out of touch with America that we suffer at their ineptitude.

In fact we’re dying because of their out-of-touch status.

Kanye’s blast at Bush is a blast at the fact the government has turned a blind eye on these people — and they’ll continue to do so from both parties unless we wise up and vote with our heads… We need leadership in this country, and we’re not going to get it from someone who doesn’t understand what it is to live among the people.

Aspiration of Romance

Enchant me
Rise up over me and engulf me
Through your sensuality and softness
With your intellect and your persona
Show me the reason to care again
And give me a reason to want

Entrance me
Captivate me so I
Can think of nothing other than
Your very existence while
The world spins its uncontrollable revolutions
Leaving each man to cope with its maelstrom

Intoxicate me
Make me wish for nothing more than your
Warm and unblemished flesh
Held close against me
Where desire takes us into the
Unfamiliar territories
Of bliss and contentment

Save me
Find my cynical and sarcastic person
And convince him there is still good in the world
Simply by being yourself
Simply by pointing out in your everything
That not all is corrupt and lost to lust
Lost to insanity
Lost to the malice mankind unleashes on itself

Teach me to love again
Be my purpose in life
The purpose being having and holding you
Wanting and loving you
Supporting and caring for you
Until the sun sets on this world

© 2005 John Fontana

Web good deed…sorta

Witht he disaster in New Orleans – I’ve donated money through the Red Cross in hopes that I might help out even a little bit…

Yet I felt sorta lost with it… There are tons of bloggers out there and there is no uniting symbol with regards to the need for donations and support towards the disaster down south…

So I created an image and posted it on Boltsmag, I also sent it to several hockey bloggers in an attempt to start something and of course show unity.

It’s working so far as I’ve gotten Eric McErlain of Off Wing Opinion and Lyle Richardson of Spectors Hockey involved with this. Eric is guiding people to the image for their own posting…

And the image in question?

Please Donate -- NOLA Forever

Of course, linking to an image does little. They’re also guiding those who click ont eh image to Redcross.org where you can donate to the disaster relief.

If YOU would like to post this image somewhere on your blog or web site, here’s the code…

< a href ="http://www.redcross.org" target="_blank">< img src="https://photos.stonegauge.com/albums/userpics/10001/NODonate.jpg"/>

Just change the link to the redcross to whatever you want if you have another charity in mind.
Also remember to remove the spaces before < a href> and < img>