I’ve been tending to them for a year since they’d been hit by a blight-like bug, and the work is paying off!
In other news, I have been living in Florida for ten years, and it’s beginning to show.
Category: Florida
I’ve already filled up our portable tanks for our generator with ethanol-free gasoline, in case the power goes out. The gas lines near me were only a little longer than usual, but that was at 10:30 a.m., which isn’t a terribly busy time. If you need gas for your car or generator, get it as soon as possible, because the crowds will get worse as the day progresses, and by tomorrow, all the gas stations are going to be like the old Mad Max movies.
This morning, ethanol-free gas was selling at the Wawa at Florida and Waters (which has 4 pumps that dispense it) for US$4.49 a gallon (CDN$1.62 per litre for my Canadian friends and family).
Gasoline has a limited lifetime — 3 to 6 months — and ethanol-infused gasoline lasts half as long. My typical approach is to stock up on eth-free gas in late August (a little before the hurricanes typically come) and, if I don’t use it in the generator, pour it into the car’s gas tank in December, after the end of hurricane season.
Once again, because a hurricane watch has been announced for Tampa Bay for Tropical Storm Idalia, the graphic above provides a quick explainer for the often-misunderstood terms hurricane watch and hurricane warning…but with tacos!
Simply put:
- If the atmospheric conditions are ripe for a storm, tornado, or hurricane to occur, weather a services issue a watch. A watch basically says “It might happen; be on the lookout for it.”
- If a storm, tornado, or hurricane has formed, weather services issue a warning. A warning basically says “It is happening; get to shelter NOW!”
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Florida history teacher job interview
Florida does have a history of slavery, and it joined the Confederacy, a fact that Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, is whitewashing, in an attempt to throw some political red meat to an increasingly radicalized, repressive, and racist Republican base of voters, which in turn is a smokescreen for a cronyist agenda.
One “achievement” of DeSantis’ is Florida’s new history curriculum, which includes the old “slavery may have been beneficial” excuse. Florida’s public schools will now teach that some Black people benefited from slavery because they may have learned useful skills while being used as forced unpaid labor.
So be warned: if you’re planning to teach high school history here in the Sunshine State, be prepared for a job interview that goes like this:
And hey, if you think Florida’s curriculum is all right, come do an internship with me sometime. I have some yardwork that’s best done in the midday sun, and I’ll only whip you because I care about your career advancement.
Further reading:
- Axios: Florida Board of Education approves controversial Black history standards
- NBC News: Most of Florida work group did not agree with controversial parts of state’s new standards for Black history, members say
- Verdict: The Real Problems with Florida Teaching About the “Benefits” of Slavery
- CBS News: Read Florida’s Black history teaching standards document to get details on controversial new curriculum
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Motto of the day
Words to live by, especially in these DipShantis times.
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Florida job application
I have nothing but respect and admiration for this Florida job candidate’s candor and swagger.