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We all need a break so let's celebrate the American traditional Halloween, October 31st every year. The kids go "Trick or Treat" for candies and adults have fun dressing up as monsters to go bonker in all night parties. Here are two party goers posing in their car next to mine. Happy Halloween!
Driving around Miami these days, you can get your own "scientific" poll of the US presidential race by tabulating the signs in the front yards. This is the biggest "Blue" sign in town. Trust me, it's the biggest! To be fair and balanced, I'll try my best to find a worthy "Red" retort by tomorrow. Come back to see if I can succeed.
With only 6 days to go, the US presidential race's shadow is everywhere, especially here in Miami/Florida. This is one of the biggest battle ground between the Red Elephant and the Blue Donkey. Equally in Americans' minds are the election and the deep worries about the economy tanking, the Miami Herald newspaper eloquently said this in its front page today. When the husband roots for the Red Elephant, what is the Blue Donkey wife to do? Especially when both have just lost their jobs? Can we vote for a "Purple Dragon?"
How does one move big earth mover equipment from one construction site to another? Here's how.
Brassavola Little Stars (B nodosa x B cordata) is a primary hybrid (which means for you non-orchid readers a cross between two original species) of the nodosa and cordata species of Brassavola. I got this from tog a few months ago and just dumped it inside this green plastic basket. You can see how easily this orchid grows and flowers: no requirement whatsoever, just my ticket. I used to have several Brassavola nodosa plants, known as the "Lady of the Night" orchids. I love the scent of this orchid at nights: Out of this world. I am not sure if the Little Stars hybrid smell as good. I'll find out in a couple days.
This is the Miami warehouse selling professional audio equipment and Peavey musical instruments (guitars, amplifiers, mixers etc...) and public address systems for outdoor concerts. This warehouse is typical of the old time Miami when buildings are predominantly flat. Nowadays, new high rises are the norm.
Police officers need time off for lunch too, and this is the proof. This is a very popular sport grill on Sunset Drive in South Miami. Chicken wings from here are to kill for. A ritual here on weekends is football parties. The ads say US $8.00 for Miller and $9.50 for Heineken beer pitcher. I can't tell which is a better deal because I do not drink beer at all. I vote for wine.
Yesterday, you had a glimpse of the American political "Red" team. Here is its counterpart, the "Blue" team. This sign is on the lawn of a house not far from the one blogged yesterday. I hope that this competition does not turn ugly like the legendary battle between the "McCoy" and "Hatfield" families in the old wild West days. Come to think, it did turn ugly and the news showed people driving around Miami in SUV to rip the adversarial signs up and take them away.
The general US election that elects the next US president is in 12 days. The whole country is excited and the competition is fierce. I get "RoboCalls" all day long from both sides who bad mouth each other and that is very annoying. It's a good thing I don't answer the phone. For those of you who do not know about the political system of the US, there are basically two teams, the Republicans (symbolized by an elephant and it likes the color Red,) and the Democrats (with the symbol of a donkey and its favorite color is Blue.) Others claim there is more such as the Independents, but they don't really count. When the rubber meets the road, citizens pick either the Red or Blue color. That's it! This household in Miami supports the "Red" team. For the life of me, I can't understand why the banner is in the "Blue" color. They should know better. Tomorrow, you will see the other side of the political coin. Come back here to see the "Blue" team in action.
Here is a sample absentee ballot that US citizens living in Miami receive in the mail (if they ask) as it is an example of the official ballot for Miami Dade County. This is a big deal because this year election on November 4th will decide who the next US president will be: McCain (Red) or Obama (Blue.) Place your bet! I voted and sent my ballot in today.
There is a lot of road work in Miami these days despite all the gloom and doom talks about the economy downturn. Nobody has any money but roads and infrastructure do get deteriorated. What can you do? I am glad they are still able to fix things up.
Halloween, an American tradition, is to celebrate scary and gloulish things on the night of October 31st. As that date approaches, symbols of Halloween are everywhere in town. Here is the biggest rat I have ever seen in my life! Ben's look is downright scary! Do you notice all the teeth? These are at the front door of a local dentist. No wonder!
It takes about US $5 to pay for a meager lunch at a fast food place in Miami. This one always plays temporary refuge to occasional visitors who are obviously down and out. This man radiates loneliness and destitution as he finishes his solitary lunch and on the way out with a shoulder bag that seems to contain everything he possesses. It's a sad scene.
This little local restaurant, La Nueva Argentina, on Sunset Drive at 101 Avenue is very good and not too expensive, the right place to have lunch in this merciless economy. I am told the food here is authentic Argentinian: entrana, papitas, ensalada, cerveza, churrasco, parrilla, chorizo... The kitchen is behind the counter seen in this photo. My lunch here was excellent.
This confirms my strong opinion about the skill level of drivers in the city of Miami: Quite low! Actually, sometimes the fault is attributed to drivers' aggressiveness. The cell phones do not help either. This accident at a busy intersection clogged traffic for a while when the only way to get through is to squeeze past the right side of this SUV.
I return to the roof top garage today for a new inventory of the new cars stored here. The situation seems to be stagnant compared to the last time I was here about a month ago. The entire roof top is full of brand new Cadillac from a giant car dealer in Miami: Williamson. This row has CTS models with sticker prices of around US $45K each. Lots of money stuck here under the blue sky.
If you sometime wonder how traffic lights in Miami are maintained, here's how. Electric companies have similar equipment to maintain and repair their electrical network. Basically, it's hard and hazardous work, the price for any civilization.
Grocery Shopping carts are herded like cattle and brought back from the parking to be used carrying grocery items. Many homeless people in Miami "borrow" these carts as their personal storage for all their belongings. The police cracks down on that practice because the stores do not like losing money replacing their carts.
Here is another piece of land in South Miami poised to be metamorphosed into a new structure, most likely a new office building or condominium. It is always amazing to see small parcel of land like this one transformed into a huge building. The architects are truly magicians and they can work magic with these tiny lots of land. Bad economy or not, here they come: Abracadabra!
A very nice benefit we have living in Miami is that the government really takes good care of the city's streets. Rarely encountered pot holes are very quickly filled and streets resurfaced at regular intervals. This is SW 72nd Avenue getting its Eastern half resurfaced with asphalt soon over the wire mesh and drainage sub-layer that was recently laid.
