Vonage?

Anyone out there using Vonage for their phone service? I have been looking at it and have some questions.

(Is anyone even out there reading this? ~laughs~)

Community Budget Issue Requests for 2004 - 2005

A list of requests for (our) money, for various projects, throughout the state of Florida. The requests are sponsored by our Senators.

Community Budget Issue Requests

Ocala Freecycle

You've got stuff that someone else could use or even needs. Someone else has stuff that you could really use. Take a peek at Ocala Freecycle.

It's a yahoo group so you will have to join with your yahoo ID. This is from the group's main page -

Our goal is to reduce waste by matching up people who are throwing away unwanted items with those who would like those same items. No item is too big or too small. The only rule is that the item must be completely FREE.

For more information on Freecycle, visit www.freecycle.org.

By the way...

I liked Ric Keller's web site. I liked it's layout and colors. It looked like what I would have expected to find on that type of site.

I am a bit disappointed in the "Constituent Services" links on the right of the main page. There are 6 links.

Mr. Keller, why do you have "Grant Information" there? I appreciate that you may be asked about Grants fairly frequently and that is why you have chosen to list it among other "Services" but I would personally prefer that you didn't advertise "free government money".

And here is why. Mr. Keller already knows this, I am just writing it here for any reader who stumbles along on this blog and doesn't realize the basis of government grants.

There is no "government money". The government has NO money. It is OUR money. MY tax money, and yours.

And some grants DO provide good results useful to the community at large. Some, do not.
Should our representatives be advertising and making it easy for others to just use our money? Is there a feeling of "Well, sure, have some....we can always get more from the community through taxes!"?

Here is a radical suggestion - how about taxing us based on what is NEEDED?

The grant system looks to me to work soemthing like this - "Hey, we got all this money now from taxing the people - what would you like to do with it? Write a proposal! We've got millions!"

That's just wrong. Especially when it ends up funding some weird thing like an artist coating her naked body in chocolate.

I've got nothing against that activity per se, I just don't see why I should be forced to pay for it.

Let them do it with private funds. Charge admission for others to watch.

~coughs~ Well, I hadn't meant to write that much but there are some of my thoughts on how things are.

Helping other people figure out new ways to spend MY money is just not a "service" I want my representatives to offer.

Local Government Representatives

I tooks some time last night, eye-balling the maps on the Florida Government site, and figured out exactly who represents ME in government. (Big Bad John would be so proud!) (I think ~smiles~)

Anyway. I don't know why I didn't already know. But I didn't.

So here it is.

Evelyn J Lynn, Republican, is my representative in the Florida Senate.

Dennis Baxley, Republican, is my representative in the Florida House.

Ric Keller, Republican, represents me up in Washington.

Now that I know, I should be watching them, huh? We all should - right?

Do they really represent ME? Or you? Can they represent us if they don't know what we want and need? I don't think we can blame them for trying their best if we haven't given them any direction.

Find YOUR Senator

Gas Prices - again!

Maybe one of the reasons that we don't have any gas prices recorded at the Gas Price Watch site is that it may not be as simple as it seemed.

I checked prices at two stations I drove by this morning in the NorthEast section of Ocala while taking my daughter to the Tuscawilla Youth Center. Back at my computer, I logged in to the site, proud and smiling, to report the prices. But the two gas stations I checked aren't listed on the Gas Price Watch site. I added them to their database, but it may take a few days before they are in there. Sadly it appears that many gas stations are not listed. Oh well, I will add them here and there as I go. Hopefully you out there will too.

Since I got the information anyway, I am going to post it here -

The Amoco / Pac A Sac / Jiffy store on NE 8th Ave & NE 14th St
$1.97(9)
$2.06(9)
$2.15(9)

The Citgo / Subway on NE Jacksonville Road & NE 28th St
$1.99(9)
$2.09(9)
$2.19(9)

There. I've done my "good deed" for the day. Now, who out there knows of lower prices? Hopefully some that wouldn't take a quarter of a tank of gas to get to?

I'm feeling chatty today. Look for more posts through the day.

Tuscawilla Youth Center

This is the first year I have become acquainted with this place. My daughter entered kindergarten last year and so this was the first summer of "no school, what to do with the kids?"

We signed her up for the Summer Camp at the Tuscawilla Youth Center, and I have to say, so far I am very - very pleased with their operation. She has come home every evening full of excitement and stories of what she did each day. And at bedtime she conks right out - worn out from whatever activities had kept her busy. Girl Scouts, swimming, playground, air hockey, games, movies, ice cream (that's a favorite!), Field trips, Carnivals, and now she brought home a flyer for baton twirling.

I had no idea this even existed before. Of course, I didn't need it then either.

I guess that is one of the points of writing this blog - to share these kinds of things with others - my community. Hopefully too, soon we will see contributions of others sharing their "finds" and opinions & such!

Gas Prices revisited

I know I said I was going to post some gas prices, but my computer went haywire and tonight is the first night I have it back. For the record, it *still* is not operating properly. Anyway, I will get some up to date prices tomorrow or Friday. My promise to myself - and you out there.

How's your garden?

Anyone in Ocala got an overflowing garden this year? Mine didn't do so well since it was so dry there for a while - I thought I kept up with the watering but apparently not like I should have.

Meat sale

I usually go through the grocery store flyers each week when they arrive, but last week for some reason - I didn't. So it was a complete surprise to me on Thursday when I stumbled onto the Buy 1 Get 2 Free sale at Winn Dixie. I bought one, got two free, and that night DH (That's "Dear Hubby") fired up the grill. The meat was really good.

I went back today for more. I feel good now with the meat in my freezer, since that is usually the one thing I don't have a lot of on hand.

$4.39 a pound divided by 3 equals $1.46 per pound. Stock up, Ocala! (Well, after I go back and get just one more good buy out of it, ok?)

Did you know about the Free movies?

Regal Theaters have something they call Free Family Film Festival for nine weeks while school is out. The movies are shown at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays - FREE (First come, first served)

Why didn't I know about this?

Gas prices...~sigh~

Now here is something we can all be doing to help each other - be a spotter for Gas Price Watch!

Sadly, no one (including ME!) has been entering any information at all about local gas prices in the Ocala area. I am going to fix that this afternoon.