“The emphasis on personal hygiene”. Shouldn’t that have been true before the pandemic? Maybe that’s just me. It wears on. For no, no more. I mean, I could go on the whole Blog just with my thoughts on masks. My thoughts, quite well taken by my college professor. He called yesterday. He always questions me on things: Usually Economics stuff but this time it was about the global situation. He was intrigued by something I had to say: Who decided the six feet? Why is it not ten feet. If it was ten feet, how much less of a spread would there have been? Seriously. I didn’t buy the six feet from the start. I have maintained more like 20 feet plus the whole time. I don’t want to catch it. For the whole country: How many people caught it because six feet wasn’t enough? My professor said “I’d vote for you if you ever ran for the presidency.” That kind of floored me. He’s the one that should be in contention. I could be a staffer that insults people or something. The CDC. Are they right? Or did they get it wrong and they made people die? As far as cases around here: I read the numbers. There’s cases. But absolutely noone I know. My suspicion is, when this is all over, the people who are morons and too stupid to stay 10 to 15 feet away from strangers are the ones who caught it. No adults I know have caught it. None. And I know a ton of people, nationwide. Coin shortage? Aluminum cans? Come on.
The Neil Blog has achieved an even new “high.” A lot of people responded to the last one. One of the guys that has read from the beginning said “It wasn’t your best.” OK. I’ll try to step it up. In all honesty, if I didn’t think it was up to par: I wouldn’t publish it. Sometimes it just might not be as interesting. The world has to give me the material. I like doing it. If I didn’t, it would just disappear. For now, it continues.
Not mentioning all the other ones I’ve already covered.
The media. “Polls”. I have some suspicions. Honestly, some of the things that are said in these polls, there’s no way. Trump is going to lose. Sure. He’s running against a guy even Democrats don’t want to vote for. Your poll: Not sure I believe you. Not showing any bias. My friends who are Democrats and will vote for Biden, they don’t want to. What’s that say about all the people who are on-the-fence? Trump wins pretty easily. He is not a politician and “he did the job.” Hell, he didn’t even get paid for it.
Fishing: Pretty good for July. I’m surprised it’s still July. The days start to drag in this heat. The building of hurricanes tells me summer is getting later. What will we get? Predictions on the new one, it isn’t coming here. As quickly as I say that: The news gives a forecast where several of the tracks bring it here. They don’t know. Staying south and going to Mexico. Normal paths, this one had a chance of coming here. Supposed to weaken, I’d have taken all the rain. But. We have been getting it. No need to turn on the hose. They are even saying “it might fizzle out” at the beginning, which tells me it is worth watching. Had a trip, bad enough, I will be taking them again. It just never happened. Odd, at sunrise, there are fish feeding all over. They couldn’t catch them. Jigging pompano: They each got one. And neither was very big. I didn’t get any, unusual. My fault for changing locations. I’ll be taking then to the other spot next weekend.
Contacted Major League Baseball for the first time in 15 years: My name is Neil Taylor and I was an umpire from 1995 to 2004. Worked the Gulf Coast League to the International League.
Restarting of games is good. On social media I can see where you are getting killed. All these people I know in Boycott of the sport.
You guys could put a stop to this trend. On the field “Taking a knee is no longer allowed.” It’s this easy: It’s called a Press Conference. If you want to protest something, they’ll point cameras at you. Get it off the field. Save the game. It’s going the wrong way. These people I see boycotting are the older people who watched baseball their whole lives. Honestly, I can’t believe it has been allowed to get this far. I have my own thoughts on it. These athletes being paid by you and the teams: They need to be required to have respect. I agree with these other people: There is too much disrespect. Want to take a knee: Stay in the clubhouse until the anthem is over. Want to make a bigger deal out of it: Press Conference.
Will they respond? Probably not. I thought it should be said. If they do read their emails, they should think about mine. It’s what I see. A lot of people are finished with baseball.
On the field, painting the pitcher’s mound: The spelled MLB backwards.
“Keeping it real.” What does that mean?
Pompano are back on the radar. That should impact the schedule. The schedule? Pretty good. Not every day but it has been pretty good. Lots of 3 and 4 person trips. With the fishing being decent, the people have been happy.
I’m still not sure how I feel about tampon commercials.
So, second time: Dropped a phone in the Gulf of Mexico. Just stupid. It was my mother’s phone. Replaced several hours later: Easiest it has ever been to activate and rebuild a phone. All the things I have on the phone uploaded way easier than ever before (how it should have been before). So, new phone and this one is more moisture resistant. The port to chare the phone created a story. I thought they gave me the wrong charger cord. Went back in the next day. The girl who set me up with the phone walked out. I told her. Handed her the charger cord and the phone. She flips open a little lid I didn’t know was there and plugged the charger in. I was trying to put the charger into the earpiece port. Duh. She was really nice. She said “Your previous phones probably didn’t have it so you didn’t know to look.” True.
The other realization. The girl who got me my new phone. She was cute. A little big but cute. Years ago, I’d be going out with her. Now, knowing she is more than half my age I don’t make an effort. It doesn’t bother me. In some ways I guess it’s too bad but for me and my life, I’m better off alone anyway.
I do see some good things in this world. Usually the Neil Blog is about the other stuff. But there are some good people and there are some good things being done. It is good to see.
A Neil fact: I never asked a woman to marry me. There were chances. I chose not to. I would say: I made the right choice. People who are married, regularly, telling me I made the right choice. I would have liked it. Everyone thought I’d be a guy who would have ten kids. No wife. No kids. No problem. It sure has kept things simple.
Neil fact #2: Not since my mother, when I was a kid, has anyone done my laundry. No girlfriends, no one. When I graduated high school and started college, I did it and ever since, I’m the only one to do it.
Neil fact #3: Spiders don’t bother me that much. When I was in college I had a pet tarantula. Spiders eat bugs. Snakes: A lot of people don’t like snakes. Snakes eat mice and rats so spiders are good for bugs and snakes are good for rodents. Because I dislike bugs and rodents more than I dislike snakes and spiders.
There are so many things just aren’t worth mentioning. I could mention them and be done writing the Blog fast. If it isn’t somehow amusing or interesting, it doesn’t make it in.
Going to the doctor, I’m old enough where it’s twice a year now. My cholesterol has been up in their tests. Did stuff to help but it’s still a little high. Summer. Heat. Every year, I lose weight. I’d already lost 40 pounds. At the doctor’s two days ago, I lost 15 more. I knew that because my pants will fall down. The big one was the blood work. My cholesterol still isn’t great. Buy it’s better. She pitched cholesterol medication again. Which, I again rejected. My father told me to never take it. I will go by what he says. “Change your diet or do other things but never take cholesterol meds” But the addition is going to be red yeast . In pill form, like a vitamin, a friend has had it work for her.
I think it’s interesting that I haven’t met the doctor yet. A year and a half. I’ve only dealt with the nurse practitioner. Call me old school: I don’t like it.
Three guys murdered in Polk County. Going fishing. Pretty fast over there: They nail three people. One of them, why wasn’t he in prison for life already? If I was in charge….
One of the best things I have ever heard “Don’t be a statistic.” I agree with that one. Be a special case or something. But don’t be a statistic.
OK, back to Negative Neil for a while.
A new one for the Blog: Reparations. So, one of my best friends is a black man. I’m a white man. Color of our skin doesn’t matter to either of us. Anyway, he and I had the same feelings on reparations. It’s 200 years later. No one alive owned a slave. So, you are going to make people pay who had nothing to do with it? So, it comes up because I ran across a guy I thought my friend might like. Time went by and I hadn’t heard from him and then he emails “I’ll call you tonight.” So, he talked to the guy. He calls and he says “You were right. I’m glad I talked to him. We had one major conflict which as pretty much an argument. Reparations.” He pretty much laughed it off but I know it kind of bothered him. I’m not sure I’ll ever understand. Slavery an issue in 2020? Come on.
“Police reform”, getting rid of the police. How is this still a story? Honest to God, how stupid would you have to be to think that there should be no police? A sign of the times. Where our country is. The common guy is that stupid. The people who used to argue it with me don’t have much to say these days. I’ve said it for over ten years. This: Just pure evidence. “A police less society”. Good luck with that. All that would mean is I’ll buy more guns. These 20-year olds that are on the news talking about it. Who cares what they think? The older people need to make policy, not these buffoons.
It all reminds me of the FWC. The Florida Wildlife Commission operates in ways similar to this. Don’t know what the real deal is: Just make something up. They could vote to defund those guys. They wouldn’t be eliminating that many jobs really.
Alzheimer’s makes the news still. Do you know the best thing about having Alzheimer’s? You meet new people all the time. But seriously folks.
I wonder if the Mayo clinic has good sandwiches? You would expect they wouldn’t be too dry.
Flounder regulations have changed. 5 fish, minimum length 14 inches. That was my exact recommendation. Are they finally listening? Their news release, they say flounder are overfished. Simply not true. Most people never even try for them. It’s been four years, if not five, since they have been good. Moving forward, what will they do with snook and redfish? Redfish could use regulation changes but, in my opinion, should remain closed for a while longer. Bluefish rule changes: I find that one funny. I treat them like an invasive species. Those regulations are an east coast thing.
Baseball restarts. No fans but they are playing starting 7/23. This is a good thing. I put my email to MLB above. I see so many people excited about the game. I see so many people down on the game. A lot more people in boycott mode than I expected to see. Football is also getting the pushback. National League, DH and pitchers not hitting. Not good. How about the pitchers hit in both leagues? My opinion. I just don’t agree with the way things are going in this world. NASCAR, right there with them. I’ve been out 16 years now. Reconnected with umpires, I don’t miss it. I had my time. I enjoy sleeping in my own bed and eating out of my refrigerator.
I don’t care. Baseball, football, basketball: Whatever. I don’t care. I like hockey. But I don’t really care who wins or loses. Following the local team, I like to see them win. But I don’t really care.
The rain, not bad. It will be back and forth. Tropical some of the time. What will we see with major storms?? Time will tell. The tropics have come alive. First couple, no threat to the US. That wave coming off Africa, worth watching. I can tell you, being July, I’m most likely to be sitting in the air conditioning. It’s hot. I’m ready for summer to wind down.
Through a very busy stretch, it’s to the store and restock on materials: Back to tying. I have a schedule that’s wide open again. The phone will ring but until it does, I’ll do teasers and flies. Those end product supplies, at a point where I can retire from tying at any time. It does fill some time. And I figure, eventually, people will want this stuff. Life is funny. I should have sold 10,000 of these teasers already. But, whatever.
Mentioned above: Fishing was not good today. We quit early and I’ll take them again another day. We went back and dug the seaweed out from the launch. Probably 2000 pounds. It was bad. Now, a path has been dug. 80% done, I’ll be taking another guy down with me to finish it and to dump shell. I dig crushed shell from another bridge and haul it down there. Everyone who uses that launch owes me a six pack. Miguel Bay launch. Installing tomorrow: A barrier to keep floating grass from drifting in. Old boat bags attached to posts, hammering into the ground at the waterline. Dumping Courtney Campbell shell where the mud has been dug out.
Cholesterol level: Lower but still up, I’m trying “Red Yeast Rice” pills now. On a tip, can it finish getting my levels down? My father, “Don’t let them ever put you on cholesterol meds.” Changing the diet: No red meat for six months, oatmel every day, improved my numbers but still not perfect. Maybe the Red Yeast Rice will do the trick. Been on it for three days. I will find out in three months.
The Neil Blog continues. What to talk about next time? The world will figure it out for me. Like Mike Tyson fighting again. Stuff like that happens every day.
“Sometimes I meet people and feel bad for their dog.”
It’s too bad, but it’s happening. I’m not the only one to see it.
There are still bad stories being seen. You hate to see it:
Copied from the net: To the couple cleaning trout at Lil Harbor Marina it is illegal to keep them or snook or redfish. Read regulations before you go fishing.
Time marches on: I’d like to be able to fast-forward. My newest vines are growing good but I’d like to see what they will look like in four months.
- The Neil Blog… - July 26, 2023
- The Catfish - July 26, 2023
- update - July 22, 2023
