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Why is it still dark out there?

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Steve Otto sotto@tampatrib.com Steve Otto

sotto@tampatrib.com

Published: November 2, 2009

At first I thought it must be a furlough day and that it was supposed to be dark outside and time to go home.

Then I remembered daylight saving time had come during the weekend and this is the way it is going to be for the coming months.

A lot of us are becoming all too familiar with furlough days. The county took the first of its five furlough days on Friday, and we seem to have survived without them. On the other hand, the offices that were closed, including senior service centers and the animal shelter, were geared to help those who probably can least afford to be without services. But isn't that the way it always is?

From the readers

Gene McDonald writes to say he was downtown last week and saw the first buzzards coming back for the season. My old friend "Buzzard" Bob Bishop, who passed away a few weeks ago, would want me to write something about marking the return of the buzzards to Tampa with some kind of festival.

The birds get a much better reception when they return to Ohio in the spring.

Speaking of big events, Thomas Beatty wrote to say that I missed the corn tossing tournament at the Ellenton Arena. He wants everyone to know there will be a bigger event at Raymond James Stadium in March, with more than 1,200 teams attempting to win money by tossing corn into targets. That's all I know about it. Winners will go on to the "Super Bowl of Corn Tossing" at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. If the Bucs go 0-16 this might be something to get involved with.

If that's not enough excitement for you, more than 10,000 pilots from across the country are expected in town Thursday through Saturday for what is billed as the "Aviation Summit" at the Tampa Convention Center. They are going to have all sorts of activities, including hot-air balloons, flying lessons and aircraft displays.

There is no truth to reports air traffic controllers at Tampa International Airport are considering putting up a giant lighted arrow pointing down, so incoming pilots will not overshoot Tampa and keep going until they get to Key West and realize they missed the airport.

The political page

From the political page came a release last week from the "Bill McCollum for Governor" campaign. Listen, I know that interest in any political race before January is almost nil. It's just that after every election people sit around and say it will be better next time; that they will clean things up and concentrate on the issues.

This particular release is about alleged misuse of state money by McCollum's likely Democratic opponent and the state's chief financial officer, Alex Sink.

If I were McCollum, I think I would launch my campaign by trying to point out to voters that I didn't have the charisma of a lizard, before going on the attack.

Finally, Disney Cruise Line has announced that its Disney Dream cruise ship will include "virtual portholes" for passengers with inside cabins.

I think we're headed in the right direction. With the Great Recession apparently finding its second wind and the Frau hinting for a cruise, a solution might be virtual cruise CDs you play on your TV with the picture in the shape of a porthole.

Keyword: Otto Graphs, for more of Steve Otto's musings.

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