Adventures in Being Myself

We're not supposed to be here. It's summetime, when the the living is supposed to be easy. My definition of "easy living" does not include a 10-day Special Session in Tallahassee. In June. It seems like we never left; only five weeks have passed since the 2007 Regular Legislative Session adjourned sine die with a veritable fit of congratulatory back-slapping and self-praise for a (do-nothing) "effective" and "successful" Session. The Session was so successful that the Legislature called itself back into Special Session (the second Special Session of the year, so far...) to enact " the most significant and historic property tax relief in Florida history ." I mean, really, why do in 60 days what you can put off to a 10-day Special Session? This week promises to be loads of fun. We START floor session tomorrow at 6:00PM. I'm looking forward to all the compensatory time I will accrue this week. By the end of 10 days, my comp time balan...

It's all over. Actually, it was over before it even started. Tropical Storm Barry, the area of "disturbed weather" that sent The Weather Channel team into a frantic twirl of giddiness on Friday, limped across Florida today with so little oomph that all weather warnings were cancelled before the squall even made landfall. Whew! Dodged that bullet! All kidding aside, I'm hoping all of the "tropical systems" we experience this season will be rainmakers a la "Tropical Storm" Barry and not horrific monsters like Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Katrina, Rita and Wilma. That list is already too long. Barry dumped more than 7 inches of much-needed rain on the Sunshine State, dousing rampant wildfires, clearing the atmosphere of the acrid smoke, and drowning the exceptionally large swarms (and when I say "swarms," I mean SWARMS!) of lovebugs that have invaded Florida during the past three weeks. Closer to home, the rainshowers lovingly nourished o...