News from the oil front. Well it seems that the beach health advisory has been lifted, but it hasn't? According to the Escambia County website, all beach advisories have been lifted as of 6/28/10. According to the Pensacola News Journal and Health Department health advisories are in place for Pensacola Beach. WTF? Is anyone in charge here?

In other news, according to the local Mullet Wrapper:

Pensacola Beach is seeing a higher coverage of tar balls and tar patties today.

Great.

Also apparently Vice President "smart-ass" will be visiting our slice-o-heaven tomorrow for a photo-op situation-report of the cleanup operations. If this goes as well as the President's visit we can look forward to an entire day of road closures and loss of business. I wish these guys would go try to "help" someone else. It's mass chaos every time one of these no-load apparatchiks comes to town.

Now everyone is asking about the potential effects of TS Alex on the oil leak. Some say it will be the apocolypse, others think it will help to dissipate the oil. I don't think anyone knows beyond a SWAG whatinthehell it will do. I guess we're about to find out.



My resolve remains unshaken. I have adopted a new mantra today from of all people, Monsieur Bonaparte: “Circumstances - what are circumstances? I make circumstances.”

No victim status here, boss. I have some sneaky ideas in the works which I think will help me offset some of my lost revenue. Story at 11:00.

Damn...

Well, it's finally come ashore in a big way. I spent the better part of yesterday defending my position on the positive side of this oil fiasco, only to wake up to several thousand pounds of it on our beach this morning. Everybody is using the same descriptors for how they feel about it; "sickening, tragic, horrible, et. al." I'm just tired. It's been rough going so far, but all in all I can't complain too much. Today was a "crude awakening" (bad pun). I think things are about to get a lot worse for us here. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to give in; not now not ever. Setbacks are disheartening and watching what's happening to our marine environment is painful on a personal level. The bottom line is that I have quite a few folks depending on me and my decisions for their livelihood and well being through this mess, and I'm just not going to get distracted. A little motorcycle ride this afternoon eased me up a little, but I think I'm going to start really steeling myself for some harder times to come. Breathe in, out, in, AW the Hell with it. Bring it on and let's get's this party over with. I'm game.

Nuge does it again.

Yet again in as many tries the Nuge is pulling at my heartstrings with his colorful commentary. If the WaTimes had asked me to write the same article, my only difference in verbage may have included some gratuitous profanity. (I don't like being crude, I'm just a passionate writer with a limited vernacular). Good on ya' Mr. Nugent, you are truly a "blood brother".*

* If you don't get the joke, you may have to read up on more Nugent goodness. Hint: it's not an evil terrorist redneck bloodthirsty code word...

To my Oil Spill "Truthers"

Well, I've had a few folks slinging spears and arrows in my direction since I started giving my perspective on the media bias of the oil spill fiasco. It's disturbing to see the outright anger from some directed at anyone who doesn't jump on the fatalistic bandwagon. I've been call a "denier" and "absurd". HMM. I don't remember referencing any conspiracy, only the usual media bias. At any rate, I've never said it isn't bad. It's really F***ing bad. Got it, not a problem. The salient point to remember is that the negative images of our area have been well covered already by EVERYONE, thank you very much. I get calls every day from people who think we're covered from head to toe in this shit. I am going to balance that out with anything positive I can find. Remember, the world is watching. If you want to scare them off for good, then keep it up. If you refuse to believe that we're not all going to die from this, so be it. But if you can't stand the positive energy I'm cooking up, you need to get out of my kitchen. If it's really that bad already, why don't we just give up, close up our doors, rollover and die? Maybe everyone would be happier if I did just that. We may end up jobless, homeless, and eating cat food under the I-110 underpass, but at least we acknowledged how terrible things are. FUCK THAT.

Funny though, I just looked up water sampling data from EPA right where we were swimming, and levels for every chemical associated with oil product and dispersants showed up ND (None Detected). Maybe they're just not sampling right.

We all have our own soapboxes, so feel free to use yours any way you want. That's just what I intend to do.

Wastin' Away Again in PensacolaVille

Well, another "Chamber of Commerce" day out on the old Gulf of Florida. (No, that's not a typo, Mexico has their part, this part is MINE) Amidst myriad news reports of tarballs, sheen, boom, skimmers, and general B.P. tomfoolery we managed to have a wonderful afternoon on the beach. We did a little swimming, snorkeling, laying out in the sand, and rum-n-coke sipping. The Coup de Gras was the live music at the boardwalk with a little sunset action. Oh BTW, not a tarball to be found. Ooh boy, how I love summertime in P'Cola.

Media Wars Continued

Here's another media interview I did with Scott Jones of DiveNewsWire.com and Examiner.com on conditions in Pensacola. Keep putting out the good word my friends. The Gulf Coast is alive and well. Things may yet go to Hell in a bucket but I just looked up and the sky has not, in fact, fallen.

BP oil spill update: Negative media reports damage dive industry across Florida, Gulf of Mexico

Media Wars, Part 1

I did another media interview this afternoon, this time with travel writer Dennis Schaal of TNooz.com. I've put the word out on the street that if you want the straight scoop on local conditions, give me a call. So far several media outlets have taken me up on the offer. CNN can tell it the way they want, and I'll tell it the way it really is.

http://www.tnooz.com/2010/06/21/news/pensacola-dive-shop-provides-no-bs-update-on-local-conditions/

The Erl' Spill

That's "oil" spill to my non-coonass friends. And yes, we're finally up to our eyeballs in it here in Pensacola. I think it's been around 60 days since the Deepwater Horizon had her catastrophic failure and caught fire, eventually collapsing under a barrage of flame. Since that day millions of gallons of crude oil and natural gas have been violently forcing their way into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, a piece of which I happen to call home. We all know the facts and have been watching the non stop underwater ROV footage of the ugly stuff gushing forth like such demons from Hell. Got it. The point that sticks in my craw is the omnipresent wailing and gnashing of teeth since the beginning of this crisis. I understand the potential long term economic and environmental ramifications of the oil. I understand the gross incompetence of both BP cleanup subcontractors and the .gov bureaucrats. What I don't understand is why the citizens of my community have been falling apart like Chinese drywall on a humid day over this since the get go. Why have you been crying into every microphone you can find about how bad things are, only to piss and moan later about there not being any tourists coming this season to spend their hard earned money in our town. What is it about cause and effect you don't understand?

GAH. We may all, in fact, be Doomed and are "gonna diieee" yet because of this, but until that time comes I'm going to keep pressing on with a positive attitude and productive intent until I am forced to do otherwise. As for the rest of you, either jump in and help or shut the Hell up and get out of my way.

The Genesis

Well, here goes. For years now I have kept the greater portion of my personal perspectives on many issues reigned in. I have reached a point in my life now where I just can't tolerate watching ignorance and deception go unchecked. This is my "no shrug policy". No longer will I shrug my shoulders and keep my opinions to myself. Hence the reason I've finally set up this little blog. This will probably just be a venue where I can have a conversation with myself, but what the Hell. If anyone else stumbles in, the opinions expressed here are mine, go get your own. Also these will be my PERSONAL opinions, observations, and general ruminations. I am in no way here acting as a representative of my employer. That being said, let's do this...