All Over The World

 

All over the world, we see violence...

• Europe
• China
• Africa
• Middle East
• South America
• Central America
• Mexico

And, in theory, the United Nations was designed at the end of WWII to prevent that from happening but the organization has not really been effective in its role and mainly because the rest of the world does not respect its global role.

Methodologies

Aggressive Governments

Greed-Power-Control

Long Standing Animosity

Racism and Hegemony

The Guilty Countries

Russia

China

Iran/Iraq

Mexico

South Africa

Who will win?

This is the real question that no one wants to answer because the answer is not what NORMAL PEOPLE want to hear...

The USA no longer cares about the rest of the world...  they only care about Black Lives Matter and Critical Race Theory and White Privilege and being WOKE...  

How STUPID is that?

BETTER LEARN TO SPEAK MANDARIN...

Social Security

This year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment was 1.3%, yet many of the costs seniors face are rising much more quickly.  In 2021, the estimated average monthly benefit increased by $20 per month.

Many expenses have dramatically risen in the past year, according to a new analysis of Consumer Price Index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics done by The Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan senior group.

From March 2020 to March 2021, the fastest-rising cost was car and truck rentals, which went up by 31.2%. That was followed by laundry equipment, which climbed 24.2%; gasoline, 22.2%; and home heating oil, 20.2%.

Some prices, such as prescription drug and medical costs, stayed constant, although physician services climbed by 5.3%.  Admittedly, all consumers are grappling with those rising price tags, not just seniors. The Senior Citizens League selected the list based on which costs affect retirees most.

Because older Americans often live on a fixed budget, which typically includes Social Security benefits, having to absorb those higher costs can hit them harder.  “With inflation rising so fast, what’s going on right now is an erosion in buying power,” said Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst at the league.

When measured by the index used to calculate Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment — the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W — inflation has risen since last year.  The CPI-W was more than 3% higher as of the end of March than it was a year ago.  TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...

Life Goes On

Life in America now is different than life in America was...  at least for the old timers...  who were around in the 1960's with the Vietnam War, Demonstrations on college campuses, Race Riots, and Woodstock...  although, there is more to it than just that...  it also includes an increase in the quality of life that revolves around:

• higher wages
• better healthcare
• quality education
• housing
• clothes
• technology
• transportation
• communications

AND...  just when life starts to get interesting, my mentality is to retire and extricate myself from the rigors or employment which is mainly because of asshole bosses who are more incompetent than government workers.

Retirement is good...   and, it is good not because I can sleep in or not shave or wear what I want to, but because I have enough money to do whatever it is that I want to do even with my limited resources...  in other words, I can go out to dinner and order the $13 Salmon rather than the $25 Filet Mignon...   or, I can go to a resort area on the East Coast and get an efficiency condo for $1,200/week rather than an efficiency condo for $2,500/week.

During the winter months, I pretty much stay inside but when the weather is warm, I am on the back porch or I am working in the yard; however, regardless of the weather and my physical location, I spend an enormous amount of time writing.  My writing consists of articles that I publish on my 3 blogs, most of which I write myself, others borrowed but given credit, publishing poems on my 4th blog, and writing a few pages each day on a novel.

To date, I have written two and a half novels, and am working on my 4th without finishing my 3rd.  Why did I do this?  No sure...  other than I got tired of writing or questioned my ability to write and when I returned, decided to start something new.

Will I contact publishers?

Not sure...

Am I writing just to be writing or am I writing to be published?

Again, not sure...

But, writing keeps me busy and occupied and in retirement I suppose that is a good thing.

However, some people like to continue working and continue building up their wealth.  I have no desire to build wealth as long as I have enough money to meet my needs and the needs of my wife after I die.

Am I being un American?

Perhaps...  but, I have never like the concept of GREED or the concept of climbing to the top of the ladder just so I could say that I got there...

What is Life?

A question from the 1960's that lead to the purpose of life...  our reason for existence...  and, many people from the sixties and from today really don't give a shit about the purpose of life as long as they continue to have opportunities to make money or take advantage of positive situations that have been presented to them...  for example, a friend of mine recently told me that his neighbor "back in the day," convinced him to purchase Walmart Stock at the time that Walmart was just opening its first couple of stores and needed cash.

He purchased that stock for about $1.25/share.  And, over the years, the dividends from that stock paid for college tuition for all of his children.

He was in the right place at the right time and for some reason LISTENED to the advice that he was given by a neighbor...  he could have just as easily ignored that same neighbor...  but, he did not...

SO...  what caused him to take that action?

No one can actually say...

BUT...  some people simply have GOOD FORTUNE on their side while others do not.  so...  is this what life is?

OR...  does life tilt to a religious side of awareness?   There is no doubt in my mind that there is a CREATOR but there are many questions in my mind regarding our global myths of gods and goddesses and the fact that it could be nothing more than visits from extraterrestrials.

OR...  does life focus on SURVIVAL?  The key word for life regarding humans, animals, fish, and fowl revolves around this concept of SURVIVAL...  Our sole purpose on earth is simply do what we can to continue to live.

Life does not have to be just for the wealthy or the well off.  In fact, if we look at those two categories, only about 20% of our population reside in those two categories...  and that 80%  of our population live life for the most part, paycheck to paycheck or perhaps just a little bit better than that.  

And yet, their lives for the most part are just as fulfilling as the wealthy and well off...

Money does not always make you happy...  it just allows you to do what others cannot do...

BUT LIFE IS LIFE...  and DEATH IS DEATH...  and what happens in between is LIFE.

US Populations Slows

The United States population has slowed to its lowest rate since the 1930s, the Census Bureau said Monday.

Every ten years, the Census Bureau counts the country’s people. The total U.S. population is now 331,449,281. It is 7.4 percent more than ten years ago, but the second slowest increase ever. Experts say the slow rate is due to an older population, less immigration and the effects of the Great Recession. The 2008 economic crisis led many young adults to wait to get married and have families, which slowed the birthrate.

The only slower growth of the U.S. population growth was in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. The slow rate in the 2010s had a similar start because of the Great Recession and the long recovery that followed.

Demographers do not think population growth will pick up soon, and some believe growth may slow down even more. Americans are getting older — the median age in the U.S. is 38, up one year from 37 in 2010. Immigration had been decreasing, and the pandemic mostly ended it.

William Frey is a demographer with the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.  “Unlike the Great Depression, it’s part of a process where we’re likely to keep having slow growth,” Frey said.  A slowing population growth may create problems for the country’s future.

John Lettieri is the president of the Economic Innovation Group. He said that the U.S. now has more Americans aged 80 or older than 2 or younger.  “The big demographic advantage the U.S. once enjoyed over other rich nations has evaporated,” he wrote in a tweet.  TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...

Just Whales

When a killer whale slowly circled back toward wildlife photographer Brian Skerry in the middle of the ocean after discarding the giant sting ray it was devouring, panic is not what came to mind: "Part of my brain is thinking, 'I can't believe what I'm seeing,'" recalled Skerry. "'Don't screw it up.'"

It's a fascinating moment between man and ocean predator revealed in "Secrets of the Whales," a new National Geographic docuseries premiering on Disney+. The incredible four-part series follows various whale species across 24 locations around the globe.

"The latest greatest science is showing that they have cultures, they have traditions," said Skerry, who released a book of the same title earlier this month. "If we can begin to see our planet through the lens of culture with these charismatic ambassadors for the ocean, maybe it's a bit of a game changer—we change our view of how we see our own planet."

Executive produced by Academy Award-winning director James Cameron and narrated by Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver, the series is split into four episodes focusing individually on orcas (killer whales), humpbacks and belugas, with the final episode featuring both sperm whales and narwhals.

Cameron is no stranger to the world's oceans. In 2012, he dove a deep sea submarine he built nearly 7 miles down to the deepest point of the Mariana Trench. The filmmaker, who's produced various-ocean themed projects, documented the dive in his film "Deepsea Challenge 3D."

"What this series strove to do was to make them a who, not a what," said Cameron from his New Zealand editing studio where he's working on "Avatar 2." "What we learn from what we see, including a lot of things that have never been recorded before, is that they are people. They have family bonds… They have love. They have grief. They're very much like us in many ways."  TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...

Komic Korner Kartoons

 

Stupid People

Our world is full of stupid people and while one might think that a vast majority of them life in the United States of America that is simply not true...  we have more than our fair share, but a majority do not live here...  unfortunately they live in other countries...  Americans, we can safely attest to are mostly smart...  that is to say that most of our stupid people actually think they are relatively smart in comparison to those they hang around...  which makes our situation actually worse than it really is.

Teenagers by far are the most stupid of the lot but all we have to do is look at their parental influences to understand why that is.  And, it is not their parent's fault that they are stupid especially since a large majority of them graduated from US High Schools.  US High Schools are ranked around 15th in the world making those graduates with straight "A's" were probably only earning straight "C's" instead...  there is nothing more crazy than someone who is stupid thinking they are smart and then attempt to raise a child with that false level of intelligence.

My father used to say that this person could not pour piss out of a boot with directions written on the heel...  and, while that is an ugly way to describe a fellow human being, it is undoubtedly the truth...  and, during my lifetime, I have had the pleasure of working around all sorts of smart people who also wore boots.  Yes, the logic has been presented to be questioned...  not just accepted as the gospel truth...  However, that same father once told me that the best part of me ran down his leg...  and, I spent the rest of my life wondering if it was the physical part of me or the mental part of me.

Our television commercials are based on stupid people watching them.  Our street signs have been specifically design with stupid people in mind, especially the SLOW MEN WORKING signs posted all over the highway when construction on our roads is in progress.  They must be getting paid by the hour and not the job because there are never any FAST MEN WORKING signs.

A Retired Influence

Mornings begin slowly...  here in the valley...  what with coffee and cats and pills and cable...  food around noon - not always breakfast but more along the lines of what I am hungry for.

Blogs come next as I decide what it is that I want to accomplish with each one and how far ahead in the schedule do I want to be...  so that I don't have to post something just so I can continue to say that I post daily; although, I am reconsidering that mindset what with my daily visitor numbers.

My Reflections blog for my poetry publishing has been around since 2009, over 12 years, so it has over 14,000 pageviews or about 1,000/year or  83/month or about 3/day.

And while my other 3 blogs have been around since 2019/2020 they are averaging about the same daily pageviews as Reflections so I have a small group of readers that enjoy reading what I want to write and/or share...  because I do share articles written by other people who are writing articles that appeal to me and don't want to take the time to research and write my own opinions; however, many of those ideas I have already research before I started posting articles on blogs.

Right now, posting articles on these 4 blogs keeps me busy during my retirement...  and if I did not have these blogs to maintain, I am not sure what I would be doing...  because I really don't have any other hobbies or interests...

I am writing novels as well but I am not sure if I am going to do anything with these novels like try to find a publisher.  That effort could be emotionally stressful and I am not confident that this is what I want to engage in at my age.

I am simply comfortable with who I am right now and no longer have to worry about being something else or trying to be something else as if I am not happy with who I am...  and, I am happy with who I am.

Robert McGinnis Art

About Robert E. McGinnis


The most recent book about Robert’s career is The Art of Robert E. McGinnis (2014; Titan Books, www.titanbooks.com; and there is a Standard Edition and a Limited Edition). You can obtain a copy through a local bookstore or online. (The first two books on Robert’s career sold out. Those books are Tapestry: The Paintings of Robert E. McGinnis (2000) and The Paperback Covers of Robert McGinnis (2001).)

Robert is a world-renowned painter whose prolific, award-winning artwork spans more than six decades. In recognition of his excellent paintings, in 1993 he was elected to the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame. (The Society of Illustrators is a New York City-based nonprofit educational organization dedicated to celebrating and educating people about the art of illustration; http://society illustrators.org.) In the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame, Robert joined the likes of Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, Winslow Homer, Robert Peak, Frederic Remington and Frank McCarthy.

Robert’s artwork has been viewed by billions of people around the world, but most of them probably did not know, when they saw one of his images, that it was Robert who created the artwork.

Robert created paintings for many magazine articles (The Saturday Evening Post, Good Housekeeping Magazine, Guidepost Magazine, National Geographic). And he also created paintings for the covers of more than 1,200 paperback books, playing a significant part in the pulp fiction boom in the 1960s and 1970s. His work covers many genres and subjects, from detective novels to thrillers, Gothic novels, murder mysteries, romance novels and Old West novels.

Robert also painted the artwork for more than 40 movie posters (including the James Bond 007 films Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, and Live and Let Die; Breakfast at Tiffany’s; The Odd Couple; Barbarella; and more recently, The Incredibles). His movie poster scenes depict stars such as Audrey Hepburn, Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, Burt Reynolds, Raquel Welch and James Coburn.

Robert also creates gallery-quality paintings from his own imagination and depicting such favorite subjects as fashionable ladies, tranquil nature scenes, and Old West scenes (such as the one that depicted John Wayne’s character in a scene from the movie The Searchers; the name of that painting is “Ethan” — the name of Wayne’s character in the movie — and that image appears on the cover of the book “Tapestry: The Paintings of Robert E. McGinnnis”).

Robert is a very humble and unpretentious person, and he is very grateful to be able to do what he loves. He loves, and lives, to paint.

Paid For Not Working

I like the idea of receiving money from our Federal Government for not working...  my wife and I are in that situation now, getting paid Social Security for not working...  and, it is a damn good feeling to sleep as long as one wants, in my case shave whenever I want to, and work in the yard whenever I want to, watch cable on television whenever I want to, and do absolutely nothing whenever I want to...

Living in East TN, our combined SS just about pays our monthly expenses which is also predicated upon the fact that we have been debt free for 20 years, and due to our age, have all the clothes that we could possible ever need for the rest of our lives.  So, there are some mitigating circumstances that allows us to live like this...  understanding, if we were 20 years younger, it may/may not be that possible.

I also like the idea of THE FRIGGING WEALTHY paying for everything.  I understand that they worked somewhat for their money but once their money was earned, their cumulative interest was earned faster than they could spend it...  and, consequently, should be FORCED to take care of everyone else...  as if we were all their family members.

However, there are some wealthy family members that don't give a shit about the rest of the family and share as little of their money with the rest of the family as possible.

THE KEY TO DOING NOTHING in order to maintain proper mental health is to keep yourself busy...

BUT...  as far as our economy is concerned...  if people don't want to work because of receiving benefits from the government, then businesses cannot properly staff their organizations and actually conduct business the way business used to be conducted.  These businesses will be short staffed and the result will be customer dissatisfaction.

This will eventually cause the US to fall off the top of the mountain economically and no longer be a superior country...  This will leave China picking up the slack.  Once that happens, the US will have hell to pay trying to get it back...

DAMN...  I am glad I am retired and don't have to see much of this shit.

I've Been Thinking

Gasoline cars are bad...  and, I understand the logic of that and the impact on our environment...  so, leaves us with electric cars which are now in production or its alternative which might be hydrogen cars.  I would assume that electric cars will win out and I know people who currently own an electric car and there are both pros and cons of their ownership but they are impressed with the electronics in the electric cars hands down...

But, it is not the electronics that concern me but the lack of recharging stations locally and across the country...  so, as long as you are local and make short trips, you can recharge at home...  but if you drove around all day (for some reason), you might run out of charge somewhere along the line and be shit out of luck with no way to get back home except call a gas burning taxi.


In February 2021, the U.S. had almost 100,000 charging outlets for plug-in electric vehicles (EVs). A considerable sum of these chargers is found in California, with almost 32,000 power outlets. Plug-in power stations and charging outlets are essential to increase U.S. plug-in electric vehicle sales.  SOURCE:  Statista.com

Morning Yawl

First morning back in East TN feels good...  our three cats were waiting at our closed bedroom door for their morning treat...  my medicine container had returned to its counter location...  my coffee came from pods rather than from a full pot reheated in the microwave....  my laptop was found charging in the office...  and my thyroid pill was taken right after feeding the cats...  BACK TO A PREVIOUS NORMAL.

FOX News on the big screen

Coffee in the YETI

Familiar surrounding of our living area

Very little had changed except for me trying to elevate my swollen left leg due to driving and sitting in a car seat for 9 hours...  however, a night spent in my own bed caused it to reduce somewhat so by tomorrow or the day after.

Returning to our home and returning to a country managed by Democrats and Progressive who HATE

• the police
• the conservatives
• white people
• white privilege

For 6 days I was not inundated with this political shit...   all I needed to concern myself with was whether I had put on sun screen or not and for most of the day, I could watch and be mesmerized by something more powerful than me...

Fellow beach goers were united in our desire to be there, but I have returned to a DIVIDED AMERICA  and to a country being told that it is better to HATE than to compromise.

Electric Cars

From Clean Technica, we learn...





Andy Slye put together a neat comparison: Tesla vs. Gas: the true charging cost after 75,000 miles. One of the main reasons Andy bought an EV was so he’d never have to gas up again, and since owning his Tesla Model 3, he hasn’t been to a gas station in three years. “I gave up gas stations and replaced them with charging stations,” Andy said in his video and then pointed out that charging is one of the main reasons people are hesitant to buy an EV.

He shared a survey from Auto List that showed that two out of the top 4 reasons that people don’t buy an EV have to do with charging the car. This inspired Andy to create a video sharing his experience charging his car for the past three years. Andy hopes that his video will help allay the fears of those still doubting. Andy explained that this totaled up to 75,000 miles, and he compared what he paid to what that would cost in a gas car.

“Keep in mind that the cost of electricity and gas depends on the geographic location,” he said. Andy, who is located in Kentucky, noted that these numbers reflect his area and will be different depending on where you live. However, it’s generally less expensive to charge a Tesla than it is to fill a gas tank. Here in Louisiana, I’ve even seen friends charge their batteries at a Supercharger for way, way less than you would spend filling up the gas tank.  TO FIND OUT COSTS BETWEEN ELECTRIC AND GASOLINE, CLICK HERE...

Back in the USSR... not really... East TN... much better

We left Destin at 7:00 am EST which was 6:00 am Central Time which means we were up at 5:00 am this morning in order to get home at a reasonable hour since we had an 8.5 hour drive ahead of us...  and no telling how long we might be delayed due to construction, or traffic, or an accident...  

We stopped once for gas and use the restroom and a second time for something to eat most of which we ate in the parking lot before we returning to the Interstate.  We were delayed a little by construction and even less by traffic but it took us 9.5 hours to return to our home which means we were delayed about 30 minutes by our 2 stops and another 30 minutes by either traffic or construction or both.

In another hour, we had unloaded the car and put everything away from our trip although we are saving mowing of the lawn until tomorrow after we have gotten a good night's sleep....  so, in 10.5 hours we have just about been able to return to normal.

Two of our 3 cats met us at the door but our Siamese who gets really pissed off when we leave for more than a day or two, decided that he not show his face until a couple of hours after our return...  I guess he did not want to appear too eager to let us know that he missed us.

It was nice to have a vacation and eat out every night and it was nice to sit in chairs and watch the water...  even if it was the Gulf and not the Atlantic Ocean...  but, if the truth be known, I did the same damn thing down there that I did here, plus I had to spend all that extra money and drive for 18 hours...  not really sure if it was worth it or not... and unlike the Caribbean commercials my wife and I did not fall in love with each other all over again.

Capital Gains Tax Increase

From Market Watch...

Avid readers of this column may have had a sense of déjà vu on Thursday. Last month, a Need to Know column explored what would pay for President Joe Biden’s infrastructure spending — and quoted a former Biden aide, Evercore ISI analyst Sarah Bianchi, who said it would “probably include nearly doubling capital-gains taxes on those with income over $1 million.” Not that it was any state secret — the Biden campaign’s website suggested such a move too.

In any case, the stock market reacted negatively to the Bloomberg News report that the White House was considering doubling capital-gains taxes on the wealthy to help pay for social spending, as the S&P 500 SPX, +1.09% dropped by the most in a month. The news was particularly jarring to the highflying cryptocurrency space, with bitcoin BTCUSD, -3.39% and ethereum ETHUSD, +2.59% slumping.

One question now is whether the closely divided Senate will go for it. “Frankly, I suspect that these proposed tax increases will be knocked down at the hands of Senator [Joe] Manchin who remains the ‘swing’ vote in the Senate,” said Louis Navellier, the chairman of Navellier & Associates. An alternative is that the Senate could increase the capital-gains tax, but by a smaller amount — analysts at Goldman Sachs suggest they’ll settle at 28%, up from 20% currently. Another question is whether the tax will be applied retroactively or not.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs — in October — ran the numbers on the stock market impact of previous capital-gains tax hikes. While there is only a modest impact on the stock market as a whole, momentum stocks usually get socked before they are levied, they found. That makes sense — investors logically are more motivated to sell the stocks where they would save the most by avoiding higher capital-gains taxes.  TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE...

2015

My wife and I have been retired since 2015, so we have 5 years of retirement behind us...  and...  it is my opinion (whatever that is worth) that I will live at least another 2 decades which would take me to age 93...  My mother lived to almost 96 and my father lived until 89...  but, does that heritage support my longevity?  Maybe...  maybe not...  but, it is what drives my motivation.

At the beginning, my wife and I traveled a lot that included flights to Europe, Cruises to the Caribbean, and auto trips to various places of our interest all around the United States.  About the time that COVID hit us, my wife and I had pretty much decided that traveling no longer suited us.

Airports and Customs more than anything else caused our traveling dreams to end....  not to mention the fact that very few people in Europe these days seem to have made the decision that they no longer wanted to speak english....  and, more importantly, the food in Europe was not necessarily cooked to our Southern Tastes, at least those foods we could recognized.

A few years ago, we donated all our luggage to a local Church to sell at their Yard Sale and in order to travel now, we would have to purchase new luggage that to us seems like a needless expense.

The Great Smokey Mountains is only about 90 minutes away from our home in East TN and the Cherokee Gambling Casino is only 30 minutes beyond that...  although, neither my wife nor I have that much interest in gambling these days...  and if we do decide to gamble our limits are about $20/night.

While using our combined Social Security income, most of our monthly expenses are covered because of where we live in East TN...  this is not the case in other parts of TN or the case in other nearby States.  Our savings covers the other part of our expenses and allows us to travel in an average way...  so, we elect to focus on Myrtle Beach even though we have tried other places from time-to-time...  and, each time we do, we quickly realize we should have gone to Myrtle Beach.

Democratic Disaster in America

 A PERSONAL OPINION...

I have always been told that opinions are like assholes, everybody has got one...  and, it would appear that these comments do in fact bear resemblance to the truth...  My opinion(s) is/are as follows:

First>  the open door policy to illegal immigration will eventually bite us it is just unknown if that bite will be sooner or later.  Why do I think that?  Well, it is because of jobs, drugs, disease, crime, justice, education, drain on resources, and a bias towards politicians.  Rebuttal - well, our country has been based upon immigration and the fact that immigration has made us stronger rather than weaker.

Second>  spending tax dollars like a drunken sailor on 96 hours of liberty.  This will force taxes to be raise.  This spending will cause inflation.  This spending will increase our National Debt.  This spending will put a financial burden on future generations.  This spending will allow our enemies and competitors to become stronger both economically and militarily.  Rebuttal -  it will make our society stronger because it redistribute wealth and offers more equity and equality.

Third>  defunding the police movement (a byproduct of BLM)  and the killing of George Floyd by a racist law enforcement officer who was later convicted of murder.  Crime needs to be regulated, controlled, and contained.  Crime does not need to be allowed to flourish.  Defunding or Redirecting Police Funds to help BLACKS become more aware of their options, will not stop crime.  Rebuttal - Americans are intelligent enough to monitor, control, and regulate themselves.

PERSONALLY...  I don't give a shit or a rat's ass what the democrats do or don't do because being a retired person living off of social security, these democratic policies will simply give my wife and I more income and advantages that our children's children will have to pay for...  My wife and I will be long dead by then...

I also am concerned (just a tad) that because of what the democrats are doing will bring us closer to being forced to learn to read, write, and speak mandarin chinese.  The reason why I think this way is that mandarin is extremely hard to learn and i fear that only about 20% of americans have the intellectual capacity to learn mandarin easily...

Last Day In Destin

Everything that we do has a beginning and an ending without fail and today represents out last full day on the Gulf Coast of Florida.  Northern storms have finally found their way down south and have impacted this area adversely with falling rain.  For the last several days, we have been faced with overcast skies and afternoons where the sun unsuccessfully tried to break through...  but, it never rained, and we remained under the umbrella all day...  watching the rhythms of the Gulf crash along the shoreline.

As mentioned before in previous posts, my wife and I are not impressed with this area even though we like the deep white sands.  The restaurants are more expensive than other areas we have visited and remind us of prices you find UP NORTH in cities like WashDC and NYC...  and, while we have enough income to pay these increased prices when we want to, we would rather visit coastal areas like Myrtle Beach, SC where restaurants have cheaper prices and the cooked food is just as good.  Higher prices does not necessarily mean better taste.

It takes my wife and I over 8 hours to drive down to the Gulf and if you are wealthy, you can fly in 3 hours...  but, a better area for us to visit with LOTS TO DO is Myrtle Beach, SC which we can drive to in a little over 6 hours...  The beaches adjacent to the shorelines are about the same as are the living accommodations but the price to rent a condo is a couple hundred dollars less and the meals cost $10-20 less which includes at 15-18% tip.  The road traffic is about the same as well

THE BIG DIFFERENCE between these two resort areas are THE THINGS TO DO whether or not my wife and I want to take advantage of them...  they are still available to us whereas this is not the case in Destin.

GOOD BYE FLORIDA...

Cinco de Mayo Foods

Cinco de Mayo (the Fifth of May) is a traditional Mexican holiday created to commemorate the unlikely 1862 victory of the Mexican army over French adversaries at the Battle of Puebla. Since the Franco-Mexican War, people on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border have celebrated Mexican resiliency through hosting Cinco de Mayo parties featuring traditional and not-so-traditional Cinco de Mayo food. Our collection of Cinco de Mayo food ideas features Mexican cuisine favorites and Cinco de Mayo recipes inspired by Mexican traditions and cultures. From appetizers to desserts, the following list of Cinco de Mayo food options will help you plan your Cinco de Mayo party menu!

1. Guacamole



You can't have a Cinco de Mayo party without guacamole! This easy guacamole is the perfect appetizer because it only takes 15 minutes to make and is extra delicious.

2. Fresh Salsa Recipe with Tomatoes



Similarly, no Cinco de Mayo party would be complete without some salsa! This sensible salsa recipe can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours before serving.

3. Fresh Corn & Avocado Salsa



Combine the main ingredient of salsa with that of guacamole and you get delicious avocado salsa. This corn, tomato and avocado salsa recipe is ready for dipping in just 10 minutes. Don't forget the tortilla chips!

4. Shrimp Ceviche



Supplement your scoopable starters with Shrimp Ceviche. This Latin American-inspired seafood recipe features cooked shrimp and can be prepared in advance.

5. No-Fuss Chiles Rellenos Skillet



Roast some poblano chiles to make this delicious meatless main dish. You can also include some rice or corn tortillas on your menu to pair with your stuffed pepper skillet.

TO SEE ALL 15 FOOD CHOICES, CLICK HERE...