Ok, anyone who knows me even a little bit, knows how much I LOVE technology.  Making people look at me like I have three heads is actually fun, and sort of a talent I have built a lot of skills around the last 10 years….

Every once in a while thought, I get totally blown away by some technology I find!  This morning is one of those times!  I just have to share…

We were having storms come in from the Gulf around 5am.  It woke me up.  I have what I endearingly call “Barometer Head”.  No, it’s not contagious!  What it means is that when storms are closing in, my head feels like it is going to explode.  When it gets drier (like in the Fall or Winter here) it feels light and like it may cave in.  It’s not a fun feeling when you live in the TROPICS, but eventually I have grown used to it and may even be able to turn it into a tourist business when I get older….now that I am in college pursuing a degree in Internet Marketing, I could sell it to hotels along the beach using mobile technology for their guests.

LOL….I DIGRESS!

So, I am one of those coastal freaks who looks up the weather map on line to see what is in store.  Must be because we lose power so much of the time when we get a good rainstorm and with so much expensive equipment in our house that is tormented by electrical surgest and outtages, I like to be very careful (this is when Barometer Head comes in handy!).  So, right after I woke up this morning, I was online checking it again.

Now, our local website has put in a whole new “interactive” weather map that I have played with before — with much frustration…. because I am like a bull in a China store with my touch pad and one minute I am looking at the west coast of Florida – the next I am on the east coast of Africa, all because I drew my fingers across the touch pad accidentally. ARGH!  I was more delicate for some reason this morning and was able to drill this map down to street level!  At one point, it had stopped raining over me, but was still raining at the end of my street!!

Heck, with information like that imagine what I could do – it would almost be like those carnival psychics….I could go all folklore with the ‘barometer head’ and use my iPhone to drill down to the street level right in front of a particular hotel and then report my findings – which would always be accurate.  LOL OK! OK!! I am not going to really do that, but come on, it’s 5am!!

Here is a caption of what I saw.  I took it up a bit from street level so I would get a two color dimension on the rainfall. I had to wait until it slowed down at 6:59am so I could get some variations, we were all red for a long time there…

Interactive Weather Map - West Central FLorida 09-12-09

I was in light rainfall (green), while only THREE STREETS away, they were in medium (yellow) rainfall…and 11 streets south it was POURING (red).

If I were traveling, I would head north to get off the beach to the mainland! LOL  How do I know?  Because I brought it up a few notches to get a better/wider view…..

Interactive Weather GEO Mapping of West Central Florida 09-12-09-2

As you can tell by the color codes, heading SOUTH is a bad idea.. but the good news is that it’s light rain off the coast (light green) as opposed to a bank of severe rain (red), like what woke me up.

Cool!  I can leave and go get a Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte from my favorite Starbucks on the mainland, after all, I am now fully awake and excited about the possiblities of this new interactive radar, especially for more severe storms and potentially any hurricanes; but more so for my new business idea!  LOL

Wanting to know how much time I had to make this Starbucks run, I widened it again, and found out there is more coming, but I have plenty of time to get my treat and head back home before it gets here…it also looks like my friends in Orlando area are high and dry – for now, anyway!

Peace, Love, I’m out!  After all, once i get my coffee, I did promise you a full report on Florida’s Choice Health Care program so the truth is known.  I have charts to do and a story to write —right after i get that Pumpkin Spice (10,000 calorie/only meal of the day) Latte!  Look for the story later…right before I go to the Obama HealthCare Reform Bus Tour in Tampa this afternoon!

Yeah, yeah, no! no!!! I am not so much politically inclined, as I am just a firm believer and Evangelist that Health Care should be a RIGHT not a privilege!

I am watching the local news tonight (Tampa Bay FL).  I was just listening to the local stories about last night’s Healthcare Reform Speech.

They interviewed Charlie Crist, our Governor, about  it.  What he said was ridiculous!  He suggested  that the government should look at Florida’s Healthcare Option program and learn something from it.

My ONLY response to his statement is this:

YOU SURELY HAVE TO BE KIDDING GOVERNOR CRIST!!!

Wow.  He makes the statement to the press and walks away.  Not me!

Tomorrow’s post is going to be entirely about this crazy “Florida’s Choice” program for the uninsured….we will expose the REAL numbers and prove that the uninsured of our fine State will STAY UNINSURED BECAUSE of Governor Crist’s lame Florida plan!

Be sure to check back for the breakdown tomorrow.  I had high hopes when this plan was announced for Florida…until I ran the numbers… and the truth sunk in….then I was just disgusted by the sheer B.S. of it all!

Well, it’s Friday.  No better time than for me to have a bit of a rant.  Besides, I’m past due!  Once I get it out of my system, the weekend should be a good one.

What am I ranting about now?  The  Spin Doctors in D.C. and how I keep reading in CNN and various other spin outlets that “things are looking up in the Economy”.  I would LOVE to see the source list for these stories!

I am not Debbie Downer….in fact, I have been repeatedly accused by my fellow students and probably many others who simply mumble under their breath, that I am an eternal optomist.  I think the term really is more explicit than that…but hey, all I have to say to that is GUILTY AS CHARGED!

That aside, I can’t even put an optimistic view on some things….like for instance, the unemployment numbers for July in Florida.  Specifically in my west central part of Florida!

I remember when the ‘De-cession” really got moving at the end of last year, and we were told, “well it won’t be a depression unless unemployment hits 10%”.  Oh yeah?  Well spin these numbers for me then:

In the Tampa Bay area, the July 2009 unemployment rate

in Hillsborough County was 11.1 percent.

In Pinellas County it was 11 percent.

In Pasco County it was 12.2 percent,

Polk 12.3 percent, Manatee 12.2 percent, Sarasota 11.5 percent and Hernando 13.2 percent.

(source:  Tampa Bay Business Journal )

I thought about taking out my white flag and waving it hard to see if it would get noticed, but I knew better.  I do have some thoughts that have turned into questions though……

Does ANYONE  know who the Cash for Clunkers program benefitted?  No new jobs were created.  No one who was out of work  qualified to get a new car under the program.  No one who had to buy a clunker because they lost their job and had their newer vehicle repossessed could get one either.

To me,  it was like taking out a long term car loan from the government which is to be paid back by the taxpayers.  I never agreed to pay a $4500 loan so someone could get a new car.  Hell, I didn’t get to even get a new car under that program.  I suspect there are a LOT of others just like me who didn’t either.  I love that we are mortgaging our children’s future in order to provide new cars to people who could afford them and still had a job.  The part that makes me even angrier is that the “clunkers” had to be destroyed.  They SHOULD have been donated to non profits (like Wheels of Success, right here in Tampa) that could put those cars into good working order and help out families who can’t afford transportation.  What a total waste!

Be quiet! I KNOW it was supporting the “green” movement to get the guzzlers off the street.  Really!  Is NOW the exact time that has to happen? Seriously!  Even in consideration of that greening investment, what if the said families who NEEDED those cars (Desperately I might add) were only allowed to keep them on the road for 24 months and then they had to be destroyed?  That would have worked too, and guess what!  It would also have given those who needed it a hand up, and the auto dealers a new customer in 24 months when that person had to relinquish the car and would likely be in a position to buy a new car.  Don’t EVEN go trying to tell me it would be too complicated.  Don’t even start!

Then, there is the question of Health Care.  I dont’ even have the energy to go into that one right now.

I voted for Obama for Change.  I want his administration to quit whitewashing this ordeal and throwing money at it in places where lobbyists have paved the path.  I want the PEOPLE to come first and I want to see some REAL change.  On that note, I will keep my eye peeled and keep moving ahead – one foot in front of the other – for as long as it takes.  Just understand, it doesn’t mean I have to absorb all the B.S. they are trying to feed us.

PLEASE NOTE:  This rant in no way evidences that I think we are in a negative situation.  In fact (here we go, I will be accused of being overly optimistic again) that we are in a rare time when we can actually make significant and good changes.  Our businesses can flourish and we can find new ways to do things.  Those who get stuck will perish.  Those who don’t will flourish.  It’s the law of the land:  survival of the fittest.

In the Tampa Bay area, where I live, 49%  of the respondents to a 2008 AOL email survey say they are addicted to their email.  When writing an email, 88% of them are careful of their spelling, which is good -  because 66% report they are ticked off by misspellings in email they receive.  However, 73% of them stated they forgive misspellings when the email comes from a mobile device – must be the tiny keyboard, not the sender!

It gets weirder here..

59% of us have checked our email from the bathroom!?!?

30% of us have checked our email while in church – what, are you expecting a text or email from God?

ahem….63% check our email while driving….PLEASE tell me you are at a RED/stop light!

The telltale sign of the times:  41% leave the mobile device/blackberry on the table next to their bed all night so they can hear the chime of an new incoming email.   You wonder why you drink so much coffee, or are so exhausted?  What are you waiting for, an email from Ed McMahon with your million dollar prize?!

People – UN-HOOK!  Seriously!  I remember — not so long ago,  when you left the house – the next time you would know who called, (yes, there were ONLY landlines not so long ago), was either: (a) when they called back; or (b) if you had one of those new-fangled answering machines!  Ahhhhhh those were the good ole days!

If you live outside Tampa Bay, and want to see how your area stacks up, look at the results here:  2008 AOL SURVEY ON EMAIL