Hieronymus' Blog

LOL!  I had to love the comment about the women in the aerial dance segment; "those women sure look strong"!

Oh, I agree they did!  Such wonderfully sculpted musculatures!  How some women fear the results of strength training baffles me.  Just behold those strong women... in the air.

It's a reminder that strong women are the sexiest.  It's not a matter of having the "perfect" body; it's a matter of having a strong one.

No women are sexier and more sensuous than those who are strong of body... and mind.

Don't you agree?

 

I had to drive through Pine Hills last night on W Colonial around 7pm.  While Pine Hills is never a "pleasant" drive and I'm always hoping I never break down there, this time it made my jaw drop in amazement.

W Colonial was cordoned off, completely, around John Young, to mercy Dr, I believe, then the eastbound lane past Pine Hills Rd.  Police cars were blocking EVERY parking lot in this zone (so much for me being able to return my water pump core to the 24 hour parts store).

I saw nothing on the news after I got home.  There's been nothing about this on the 5am news this morning.  I see nothing online here.

It's perplexing that such an amazing police deployment wasn't plastered on the news.  What caused this?  I have never seen such a police deployment in Orlando in the 10+ years I've lived here.

This also raises the question - is there an online police blotter somewhere, where we might look up things like this (or even smaller calls)?

 

Is there a list of locations for upcoming flu shots, whether they're free or not?

The only "free" shots have been to the NE of town; the one today is 45 minutes away.  The gas alone would cost more than a discount shot (and then there's the extra 90 minutes spent driving during work hours).

It would be appreciated if a comprehensive list of flu shot locations for the next couple weeks would be posted.  With luck, there are at least some locations giving them away at a low cost without having to make an appt with our doctors.

 

We always hear about "heat index" but there are a couple of ways this could be measured.  Hopefully one of the weather experts on this site can elucidate for us.

Obviously, there's temperature itself.  However there's the actual heat energy in the air (which increases with water vapor / humidity).  Yet there's also the efficacy of the body to consider, not to mention effects like sweating.

When they say "it feels like...", I sometimes feel they're not taking into consideration the effect of evaporative cooling on the body, since a hot summer day in FL at 94, when it is said "it feels like 103", for example, I know it feels hotter than in the high desert at 110.

Anyway, a more detailed explanation of the measurement of the "Heat Index" used in weather reports, when it is said "it feels like ...", would be appreciated.

 

Since there's no category in the blogs for "support" or "website issues", in lieu of such a division, I'm starting a thread that maybe others, as well, will make use of.

 

I have had a few issues worth mentioning, for starters:

 

Email Notification:

The e-mail notification for new posts wasn't working for a couple weeks.  Then it was this past week.  In the past couple days, however, it seems to have quit working again.  Have others also had this problem?

 

Paragraph Formatting in HTML:

I'm finding that while in the formatted text editor, the paragraphs display correctly, when going back to read them, the paragraphs spacing (the return after each paragraph) is no longer displayed as it was in the editor.  Putting DOUBLE returns in doesn't help as they seem to be automatically removed.  Only by using TRIPLE returns after each paragraph is the single space preserved.  One must either to this or enter the HTML "BR" command in the html source after the fact.  Is there a setting to correct this or is it a bug in the HTML display?

 

Uploading Avatars:

While this is clearly not a problem for all, I find myself unable to upload an avatar.  I've tried different image formats and sizes as well as disabling pop-up blockers and changing certain settings.  I get the "uploading" animated icon which doesn't go away, even when let for hours.  Has anyone else had this problem and/or know how to correct this?

 

If anyone else has a technical issue this is a good thread on which to post it....

 

If you were to "demonstrate" a unit designed to alert people in the case of an emergency AND you knew people were stationed at various distances to report if they could hear it, would you send an underpowered, crippled version?

For a "demonstration" of an alert system, is not the very POINT of the demonstration the kind of warning it gives?  If you wanted to demonstrate the lifting power of a crane would you send a partial-capacity version?  If you wanted to demonstrate the effectiveness of a fire engine's water pump would you send one with 1/2 the PSI?

It matters NOT whether you are "demonstrating" or "testing" an alert siren, the very point is to showcase the effectiveness of the unit.  Whelen's excfuse just doesn't hold up to the most basic logic...!

The officials at Whelen are either counting on the public's stupidity to buy such a story or they are incompetent themselves.  Either way - it doesn't bode well for them.

 

Just what IS the penalty for those who run from police at high speed?

From what I gather, it's not NEARLY stiff enough.  People who run, at high speed, from the cops are endangering the public as significantly as if they discharged a firearm in public.  Indeed, the penalty for high-speed evasion should be comparable to those for committing armed robbery (e.g. MANDITORY jail time).

Maybe this would give criminals a little pause before running and putting lives at risk.  At the very least it would remove such blatant disregarders of life from society for a while.

With all the discussion about sirens and weather radios it's clear that while sirens might be somewhat effective, weather radios are MORE effective for warning about severe weather. They also give more detailed reports and information. They also can be set to be county-specific.

The obvious problem with the radios is that not everyone will buy one. Sirens are the only way to reach everyone.

Would a possible solution be for the state to GIVE weather radios away?

Admittedly, many of us don't like the idea of the government spending money for hand-outs. YET - we should compare the amount of money which would be spent on sirens to that of issuing basic level weather alert radios.

Purchased by the state in volume, they might be fairly inexpensive. Especially if a company is willing to offer a discount in exchange for the publicity during the giveaway.

It would be interesting to compare the numbers and hear what people think...

This was a comment I had posted as a reply but reckoned it was worthy of it's own thread.

 

---

 

Judge Carolyn Freeman:

She's been mentioned in national news and on America's Most Wanted where a very serious criminal, Emmanuel Veiga, was put on HOUSE ARREST by Freeman so that he could continue to go to work. He promptly cut off the ankle bracelet and went on the run.

 

So what were Veiga's charges that he was essentially let go? Robbing a 7-11? Breaking into a car?

NO! He RAPED a minor, KIDNAPPED a child, was tailed by police and had multiple witnesses. Yet Freeman sees this creep's freedom as more important. My father in another state called me after the second time Freeman was mentioned as having let Veiga go. He asked "what kind of incompetent judges do you have down there anyway"?

 

I'm not saying Freeman is corrupt. Nonetheless she is, at best, negligent and I hope she sleeps poorly at night knowing she let a child rapist get away.

Does anyone know under what eBay ID's Thomas Thompson was operating?

This is not really a privacy issue since he's being accused of a crime. It might be important for people to KNOW what his IDs were in order to determine if they were victims of his scam.

Why did the URL for Fox 35 change to "MYfoxorlando.com"? For that matter, why is the new 65 going to be called "MY" 65?

Isn't "MY" overused enough in our computers? Hasn't attaching "MY" to EVERYTHING, regardless of whether there's actually anything personal about it, become hackneyed and passe?

I see no reason why "MY" applies to a network. Maybe if they managed to deliver customized content and individualized broadcasts, "MY" might apply. Yet for now, it seems as much "THEIRS" as any other major network, no matter what a hackneyed and worn out marketing strategy might try to imply.

"MY"foxorlando. "MY" 65. My goodness....

I was just watching the latest report on Ernesto as done by the capable Shannon Butler.

During her report, she repeatedly used the pronunciation "SUM-ur-nah" for New Smyrna Beach as opposed to "SMUR-nah". Amy Kaufeldt also used this pronunciation.

I have noticed this being done quite commonly, not only by FL residents but also by media professionals.

This blog is to help put the question of pronunciation to rest once and for all.

The original pronunciation for "SMYRNA" is, indeed, "SMUR-nah", with TWO syllables, not three. The name comes from Greek myth where an Amazon posessed the name "Smyrna". It was given to the name of an ancient city-state in Greek Ionia in Asia Minor.

While the Greek origins of the name are unquestioned, the one remaining issue is - has the name become not only anglicized but "southernized" enough such that the three syllable "SUM-ur-nah" pronunciation is now valid?

It should be noted that the original anglicized pronunciation has been, and remained, the two syllable "SMUR-nah". Only mispronunciation of the city's name seems to have added the third syllable. The question; has this mispronunciation been used long enough and become widespread enough to be considered "valid"?

I would love to hear opinions (and maybe we'll get lucky enough to hear from Amy and Shannon).