•   Musings and History


    Quote of the day:
    I came into work one day and the secretary was not there and I asked the boss where she was and he said “She called and said she would be late but she is out front right now parking her broom.”
                                          Harland Lore (RIP)

    From a while back:

    According to the New York Post this is what happened Tuesday morning. Hillary announced that she was dropping out of the Presidential race. After this Rep. Trey Gowdy announced the cancellation of the Benghazi hearing slated for Thursday. About an hour later Hillary announced she was rejoining the race and made plans for Iowa. She said that she was just trying to prove a point. Was her point to prove that Trey Gowdy et. al. are after her because she is running for President or was her point to prove she would get out of that inquisition anyway she could including lies and deception?. I think it is the latter...she is good at it. But keep in mind that all of this came to me on the Internet which has proven to be more fiction than fact.

    From where I normally usually stay on Pensacola Beach to get to downtown Pensacola requires the crossing of two bridges. The first (Bob Sykes Bridge) is about 3/4 mile long. The second is the Pensacola Bay Bridge, it is 3 miles long. When coming from Pensacola and crossing this bridge eastbound, you will come to a small town called Gulf Breeze where the cops are very tense about speeders and the speed limit is 35 MPH. The speed limit on the bridge is 45 MPH. It aggravates the crap out of me that people will go 60 and 65 MPH (or more) on the bridge knowing that they had better slow their ass down to 35 before leaving the bridge and entering Gulf Breeze. On many occasions I have had people pass me on the bridge and behave in a very aggravated nature because I am going 45 only for me to pull up beside them at the first traffic light in Gulf Breeze and laugh at them. Somehow that seems to enrage them even more. Why hurry to get to a slower speed zone with traffic lights and mean cops? The same is true when crossing the Bay Bridge going into Pensacola. People will go 60 to 65 (or more) knowing that when the bridge ends there is a 35 MPH speed zone and a traffic light within 70 yards and mean cops. Some people are stupid.  BTW this bridge  is closed after being severely damaged during hurricane Sally.

    During the reign of British queen Elizabeth I the realm expanded so it was said that “The sun never sets on the British Empire” meaning they dominated countries world wide. One of her greatest explorers was Walter Raleigh. He was responsible for gathering a fortune many times over in land, precious gems and gold for Elizabeth and the Empire. He was her favorite explorer and he was dedicated to her. He introduced tobacco to the British. Not only did they use the crap out of it by grinding it into a powder and sniffing it, they smoked it their clay pipes. That ain't all. The British all but cornered the market on tobacco and made a fortune that way also. Walter was knighted by Elizabeth for his contributions to the realm making him Sir Walter Raleigh. Elizabeth died and named a blood kin relative as her successor and that being James VI of Scotland who then became James I of Great Britain. James was a greedy bastard and sent Captain John Smith to establish British settlements in the New World and Jamestown (Va.) and Plimouth (Their spelling) Ma. resulted. He sent Sir Walter to explore South America where he establish gold producing settlements for the empire. Raleigh came home and was aging. After a period of time and weary of paying him his pension, James found no further use for him and accused him of being against him becoming king. Keep in mind that James was named in person by Elizabeth. Anyway, James had Sir Walter beheaded at the age of 65. Like I say, “What have you done for me lately, Walt?”

    From the past:
    I went on a pilgrimage to Joe Patti's seafood market in Pensacola. I got 1 pound of sushi grade yellowfin tuna (my personal favorite for sushi), 2 pounds of 20-25 shrimp which I had steamed on site using Old Bay seasoning, a quart of select oysters and a slice of coconut cream pie from the deli. This held me for a few days. By the way Joe Pattis has a web site and they will ship.

                         This Date in History October 22

    1779 On this date South Carolinian Henry Laurens is named as Ambassador to Holland. Soon thereafter he was on his way to Holland to negotiate a treaty to secure them as an ally against England. He took with him a proposal written by William Lee that was accepted and signed by Holland. On his way back to the US, Laurens’ ship was intercepted off the coast of Newfoundland by a British warship and he was arrested. While the British were going through Laurens’ personal belongings, they found the treaty signed by the Dutch. The British used this document to declare war on Holland and Laurens was sent to London, tried and convicted of treason and spent 15 months in the Tower of London. Laurens was eventually released in a prisoner exchange in return for the British retrieving Lord Charles Cornwallis that had been captured at Yorktown by US General George Washington. After returning to the US, Laurens retired to his plantation near Charleston, SC. He was approached several times to become a candidate for Continental Congress or the governorship of South Carolina but Laurens refused in each attempt and chose to stay down on the farm until he died in 1792. By the way, there is a county near Greenville named for Henry Laurens.

    1805 Napoleon Bonaparte has the all of Europe under his heel and is looking into the invasion of England. Napoleon knew he must have an overpowering Navy of his own to keep the British Navy in check during any invasion. On this date, the British Navy, 27 warships strong and under the command of Lord Horatio Nelson, sighted the combined navy of France and Spain 33 warships strong off the coast of Trafalgar, Spain. The Franco/Spanish fleet deployed in a “line-of-battle” meaning that all of their ships were in a straight line sailing in the same direction. They were expecting Nelson to deploy his ships in a straight line and sailing in the opposite direction and they would exchange broadsides. Instead Nelson signaled his ships into two divisions and sailed into the enemy fleet at right angles. The British fleet took a few broadsides at the onset but when they broke through the Franco/Spanish line of battle, they delivered a series of devastating broadsides of their own. The Franco/Spanish fleet was all but destroyed with the sinking of 19 ships and the loss of 14,000 soldiers and sailors while the British did not suffer one ship loss but did lose 1,500 troops. The greatest loss was when Nelson’s flag ship HMS Victory was closely engaged in battle and a French Marine sniper up in the rigging found Nelson and delivered two shots into chest and lungs. Nelson was taken below and died soon thereafter. Before dying he was told about his victory and said “I am satisfied now. Thank God I have done my duty.” Nelson’s corpse was stashed into a barrel of rum to preserve him until they got him back to England. Nelson was acknowledged to have saved England from invasion in the destruction of the Franco/Spanish fleet. He was buried with honors in the cemetery at Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London (been there). From this event the daily ration of grog (rum) to the English sailors is called “Nelson’s Blood”. There is a park in London that is known as Trafalgar Square with a column and statue of Lord Nelson at the entrance (been there, too).

                           Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow