Green Fire

I was surprised to see this fire truck in this color. Green Fire! I wonder what is behind this decision to take away the fire red color that is the traditional color for these vehicles.

Croque Mort

The financial news nowadays in the US is rather depressing. Is there a business that is safe? You'd think that medical doctors would do well, but that is not true. The consumers of their service may choose to stay sick rather than to pay for care, unless of course it is a matter of life and death, talking of which, this funeral home in South Miami is also coping I am told. Rather than getting buried in high end caskets, many opt for cremation. Where is this world heading to?

Fire Cracker

This is my faithful Dtps. Fire Cracker. Its hybrid name is Doritaenopsis, which is an orchid cross between a Doritis and a Phalaenopsis. The flower spikes are multiple and with length up to 2 or 3 feet. The flowers are long lasting and they stay in bloom for several months. This is the last spike this year and the flowers have started to drop from above, but this spike will stay for at least another month..

First Cold

Today sees the first cold snap arriving in Miami. The weather is beautiful and crisp. This is the time that convertible cars flood Miami's streets. The yellow car in the rear view mirror is parading with its top down. It looks brand new and may not be one of the usual classic cars seen locally. Sunny, with a high near 66 degree F. Breezy, with a north wind around 17 mph. My kind of weather!

New Concrete

A new ramp finally opened a couple days ago, on November 12th that allows Miami commuters to get connected to the N-S Don Shula Expressway (SR 874) from a main E-W through fare that is N Kendall Drive. That is a nice fix for an oversight when SR 874 and 878 were designed decades ago. Of course, I've got to try this new segment. This brand new ramp rises high above street level and the new white concrete shines nicely under the Miami sun. No tire or oil marks yet! I can say this was a nice piece of work and this ramp seems to be able to support the weight of my car.

Helping Hands

In the US, there are several nationally prominent charitable organizations, one of which is the Salvation Army. One of its functions is to collect donations of all sorts (they got to be good, and not discarded and useless items) and redistribute them to needy causes. They also take cars and boats in good working conditions that the owners no longer want to keep. Some donations can qualify for income tax write off.

Here is one of their trucks picking up of some household items.

Double Trouble

First, the security guards got noticed. Then the police was called to intervene. These youngsters are getting some headaches with the local law enforcement. Not nice!

Free Sweet

A local university is recruiting for potential students to their campus in Miami-Dade county. They set up information tables with advisers to answer questions and as it is always the case, handing out free promotional material and the free cotton candy and popcorn that are very popular.

Dadeland Today

This is today's look of the Miami Dadeland Village skyline. The building in construction seen on the right is the Town CenterOne office building. The windows are being fitted now starting from the lower level.

DraculaMobile

I missed my September annual blood donation this year so I stopped by this morning for a "feel good" moment. It was quite painless, and it's one of very few things we can give because we can manufacture it for free.

Teenager Bear

A new look of Bear. He has happily grown from a baby to a toddler to a teenager today, at about 2 year old (14 in human term.) As he matures, Bear is less turbulent and no longer dashes around like a bullet. This is what a happy life looks like.

Pretty in Pink

Here is my faithful (as in blooming reliably) bromeliad growing totally unattended along a fence. Aechmea fasciata is an epiphytic Bromeliad from Brazil and there are about 150 species of them in the wild. This plant grows on trees in mountain forests at 1,800 to 4,000 feet above sea-level. Aechmeas are among the most beautiful of all Bromeliads for indoor decoration thank to their large, colorful blooms that rise high above the leaves.

Veterans

November is a nice month to be in Miami. As soon as the weather cools, signs of the holiday season in the US start to appear. One that never fails is that showing charitable organizations seeking money to help those in needs. This is for the US veterans from all wars. They do need a lot of help.

Neo Miami Skyline

Here is the most recent look of the Miami skyline from the Rusty Pelican restaurant across Biscayne bay. The photo was taken at 1PM today. Many new high rises are dwarfing the older tall buildings. Economic downturn or not, they keep rising.

It's Barack!

I am sure all newspapers in the US have a similar front page as the Miami Herald's this morning: the US has a new President starting January 20th, 2009. The insert shows the US electoral map. The tally is not completely finalized but it scores electoral vote 338 - 163 in favor of the "Blue" team: Barack Obama - Joe Biden won big.

The US presidential election system keeps track of two scores: the popular vote (52% for "Blue" and 47% for "Red";) and the electoral vote which is the one that counts (338 for "Blue" and 163 for "Red".) The magic electoral number is 270 for a win. The result was known at 11:00PM US Eastern Daylight time last night, November 04, 2008.

Ylang-Ylang II

This Ylang-Ylang tree blooms all the time. Every time I look, just like today, it shows perfumed flowers. The tree is full of these hard to see green flowers that permeate the surrounding air with fragrance.

Blue Wins!

OK. Instead of beating around the "Bush," here is my prediction for tomorrow's US presidential outcome. If you pay attention, you may notice that this sign is the same as one of that is used by tog . I think this prediction is in line with all the polls to date. It gives a feeling of inevitability. Get it over with, already!

No Luck

It's impossible to find a BIG "Red" political banner lawn sign in Miami so I gave up after some search! This may be a bad omen for the "Red" team this Tuesday. Instead, this is a shot inside Dadeland Mall of Miami. Not too many people there today partly due to rainy weather, but more likely because of the slow economy. I hope things are better in other parts of the world.

e-Books

I am converted many years ago to favor e-Books. The good side is that I can get thousands of e-Books free from the Guttenberg project on the internet. These are books that are in the public domain and there is no copyright to worry about. I convert these books to read them in my cell phone, a Nokia E62. Once in a while, friends would loan me their favorite books. That is when I grumpily carry around these heavy books with real paper pages inside them to read. So, what's the bad side? I do have to buy contemporary e-Books that are protected and I have yet to be able to convert them to my cell phone format. I can do it, but get the correct permission for transporting these paid e-books away from my lap top is a pain you know where. My books are GREEN (and mostly free.) There are hundreds of them in my cell phone, and they are all bookmarkable. I love it!

Fright Night

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!

Big Blue

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.

Sleeping with the Enemy

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?"

Mother Load

How does one move big earth mover equipment from one construction site to another? Here's how.

Twinkle Little Stars

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.

Pro Audio

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.

Lunch Break

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.

In the Blue Corner

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.

In the Red Corner

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.

Red vs Blue

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.

Curbside

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.

Big Rat!

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!

Face of Loneliness

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.

Entrana, no Filet Mignon

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.

Out Of My Way!

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.

Stranded

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.

Men At Work

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.

Carts & Carts

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.

Magic Wand

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!

Slow

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.

Mom-and-Pop

Lunch at a different spot in town brought me for the first time to this Chuck Wagon on Bird Road in South Miami, just West of the Palmetto Expressway. It's a very unpretentious diner from the old days and it looks like it is run by a Mom-and-Pop operation The food was good and down to earth.

AED

An Automated External Defibrillator or AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient, and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of electrical therapy which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm. This sign is placed at every location this device is available as it is here inside a South Miami hospital.

AEDs are designed to be simple to use for the layman, and the use of AEDs is taught in many first aid, first responder and basic life support (BLS) level CPR classes. It is argued that AEDs are better than CPR (mouth to mouth resuscitation... YUK!)

Well, I think the US financial sysem can use this right now.

Towed!

This is one way to get quick and easy supplementary income: tow away cars that park illegally. Remember my earlier blog warning about the "line of death?" That was no joke! This is serious money and it takes big "bucks" to get a towed away car out of storage because the cost gets larger every day.

Army Strong

The US armed forces have career officers and volunteers who enlist to serve in exchange for a free college education after service and other benefits. Annual recruitment occur periodically at college and university campuses. This is one such event and it's the US Army's turn. The registration table is always next to an attention grabbing device to attract the youngsters. In this case, it is a machine to test how strong you are, by punching a ball hung like a punching ball used for boxers. This fellow is fierce and this is his second punch. I am glad I am not at the receiving end.

Awareness

Today is the second day of the week long Disability Awareness event at this college and this jazz band performs for a free audience as a token of support. The US is the leading country in the world promoting means to make the lives of people with disability a bit more easy. Sure, the US has all kinds of huge problems for the world to see, but I do like this aspect of its quality.

Organic, Really!!!

Here is how "fresh" vegetable are sold in a typical grocery supermarket in Miami. They are supposed to be fresh, but they are refrigerated on the shelf just in case they cannot be sold timely. Organically grown produce are in and they cost more. Not for me, no organic, please. The less the gimmicks, the better life is.

Blue Tooth

Testing out the merchandise, a typical American youth is making rock star dreams with a Sony PlayStation 3 game machine and a Guitar Hero. I think this guitar may be connected wireless via Blue Tooth. Please do not ask me what that is because I don't know. All I know is when I walk around in this electronic jungle today, my Blue Tooth headphone got all kinds of interference and does not work well.

Wine Colored

On an all day grey and rainy day like today, this flowering hedge gives
some cheers to brighten your mood. It does mine.

Bimmer

This is a shot inside the South Motors BMW automobile dealership at 160 Street on US1. Their showroom is packed with brand new cars for sale. Even in this wildly uncertain economy in the US (and the world,) I see plenty of people buying new cars here today. While credit is still available, I guess...

Goner

Anywhere you go in Miami, you can find dead or dying pine trees. It seems like there is no way to stop this phenomenon. There are many causes that contribute to the demise of these trees: root rot, fungal disease, southern pine beetles, hurricane die off and many other natural causes... The 2004 storm's winds rocked the native Florida pines causing invisible damage to roots and tissues under the bark was blamed for the death of many pine trees here.

Line of Death

Don't even THINK of parking here! Your car will vanish without a trace and you will need to bring all the cash you have to bail it out. In this city, yellow lines are the lines in the sand. Beware! We mean business!