Category: Tampa Bay

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Florida It Happened to Me Tampa Bay The Current Situation

Hello no-eth my old friend…

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.

Categories
Florida Tampa Bay The Current Situation

Hurricane WATCH vs WARNING, explained with tacos

Taco watch vs. Taco warning: “Taco watch” features taco ingredients and the caption “The ingredients are in place for tacos to happen.” “Taco warning” features an assembled taco and the caption “We’re having tacos RIGHT NOW!”
Tap to view at full size

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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funny Tampa Bay

This is the only time I’ll tell you to vote for Ron DeSantis

The 2023 edition of Creative Loafing’s “Best of the Bay” is now open for votes, and you can select the best people, places, and things here in Tampa Bay. You may be amused to know that Ron DeSantis is one of the candidates for the “Best Stripper” category.

You know what to do, and here’s where you do it. Let’s make it rain!

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It Happened to Me Tampa Bay

Get outside!

Joey deVilla in biking gear, with the sky and tall palm trees in the background.

It’s a lovely day — or at least, it’s a lovely day here in Tampa. Get outside!

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funny Tampa Bay Work

Once again, another reminder to double-check your work

Parking spots, where one is labeled “Delivery area” while another is labeled “DELIRYVE area.”

The place I go to for car maintenance has great service, but they need to work on their spelling.

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It Happened to Me Tampa Bay

A snapshot from my daily bike ride

I try to do a 10K bike ride most weekdays and on at least one of the weekend days, and I manage to fit in most of my grocery runs on these rides (unless I need to buy stuff that won’t fit in my backpack).

As a result, I’m not as tubby as I could be, I’m lowering my risk for lots of health problems, I get to catch up on a lot of podcasts and audiobooks, my mind is clear for the day’s work, and I have to gas up my car once a month or even less.

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It Happened to Me Tampa Bay

A sneak peek at “Big John,” the triceratops at the Glazer Children’s Museum

Joey deVilla and Anitra Pavka stand beside a “triceratops” (actually two museum employees in a pretty realistic costume) in the lobby of the Glazer Children”s Museum.

Anitra is on the board of the Glazer Children’s Museum, the home of the world’s largest triceratops skeleton — lovingly known as “Big John” — for the next three years. Big John’s exhibit opens to the public this Friday, May 26th, and we got a sneak peek at the VIP party last week.

Joey deVilla and Anitra Pavka on the balcony of the Glazer Children’s Museum.
Side view of “Big John,” a triceratops, on display at the Glazer Children’s Museum.

I wrote about Big John back in January, in a post titled The world’s largest triceratops is moving to Tampa Bay! Since then, the museum has been hard at work getting this 66 million year-old beast and his room ready for the public in time for the Memorial Day weekend.

Front view of “Big John,” a triceratops, on display at the Glazer Children’s Museum.

The museum’s CEO, Sarah Cole, gave us a quick welcome speech and thanked everyone involved in bringing Big John here, with a big special “thank you” to the Pagidipati family, who purchased Big John in late 2021 and have arranged for him to be publicly displayed instead of being tucked away in a private collection.

Glazer Children’s Museum CEO Sarah Cole speaks beside “Big John” in front of an audience.

Since the occasion called for it, I brought my triceratops sunglasses…

Joey deVilla wearing triceratops sunglasses.

…which came in handy with the viewing domes underneath Big John:

Joey deVilla, smiling and wearing triceratops sunglasses, “pops up” in a clear plastic dome located underneath “Big John.”
Joey deVilla, smiling and wearing triceratops sunglasses, “pops up” in a clear plastic dome located underneath “Big John.”

If you’re downtown and driving down Ashley Drive or in Curtis Hixon Park, you’ll be able to see an inflatable triceratops atop the museum:

The front of the Glazer Children’s Museum, looking upward. A large inflatable triceratops is visible on the roof.

If you’d like to see Big John, he’ll be available for viewing at the Glazer Children’s Museum for the next couple of years, starting this Friday!