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Vol. 14 No. 40 Thursday, May 22, 2003 NewsObserver@netscape.net
Pilots, Crews Reunite as Past Meets Present
By: Scott Cook
Titusville Keeps Pace with ‘Assisted Living’ TrendBy Scott CookDue to advances in medical care and technology, people in the United States are living longer. Individuals 85 years and older - the oldest old - are the fastest-growing segment of the population, according to the 1999 U.S. Census Bureau. In 2000, there were an estimated 4 million people 85 and older in the U.S. That figure is expected to increase to 18 million in the next 50 years. Let’s face it folks - we’re all getting older. There is a trend in the U.S. toward people receiving a combination of formal and informal caregiving. One informal way that many opt for is ‘assisted living.’ Most older people are independent. But later in life - especially in the 80s and 90s - people need help with everyday activities like shopping, cooking, walking or bathing. That’s where assisted living comes into the picture. The National Center For Assisted Living reports that there are more than 28,000 assisted-living residences in the U.S., housing more than 1 million people. The Titusville Towers at 405 Indian River Ave. in Titusville has geared up with special renovations to accommodate the area’s low-income elderly and is set to celebrate its ribbon-cutting ceremony sometime in June. The project cost $1.6 million, with $400,000 coming from the Affordable Housing Council and the rest coming from Housing and Urban Development grants given to the Titusville Housing Authority (THA). THA Executive Director Bob Lambert said the facility right now is in its ‘punch-list’ phase of construction. He said that some of the amenities that have been installed include items like pull stations and fire-protection sprinklers. Lambert said that a community kitchen serving three meals seven days a week has also been added. Other larger cities have refurbished uninhabited buildings in the past, but the Titusville Towers conversion from public housing to assisted living is the first in the nation to renovate with the renters staying put.
Flooded new patio resulted in leaving no stone unturnedOne day I'm going to learn to leave projects I know little about to professionals. But, being ego driven and erroneously believing I'm smarter than the next guy, I continue to get myself in trouble with some do-it-yourself projects I'm not mentally equipped to handle. I have this genetic shortcoming where any type of logical landscape engineering is concerned.Last week was another such incident that could have been a costly disaster, but was not due to the timely observation of the president of our neighborhood homeowners association. It all began when I decided to dig up and relocate a couple of large pepper plants from a 65 square foot area in back of the house and build an outdoor patio. After uprooting the plants I made my measurements and determined that I would have to dig down about 6 to 7 inches below the surface, remove dirt, add 7 bags of leveling sand and then lay about 56 12-inch concrete pavers. Simple job. I began the project in earnest on Saturday morning and planned to complete it by Sunday evening. There were, however, some complications. One of the previous owners must have been trained in the art of public works, irrigation, and canal building by the early Romans but was apparently never certified. That, or he consumed too much Pinot Grigio while on the clock. Shoveling six inches below the surface I found a labyrinth of PVC pipes connected in a pattern similar to the designs of Rube Goldberg. The creator of this maze had the pipes connected from the A/C overflow to some other pipe on the outer edge that seemed to go nowhere and for no other purpose than to save the A/C dripping to use as irrigation for the pepper plants. I never bothered to inquire what it was connected to the at the other end that seemed to serve no purpose. I then proceeded to cut away all the pipes,(including the one at the end) and threw everything out. This was Saturday. On Sunday morning I began the arduous task of laying down the pavers. Finished by about 6 p.m. I moved all the outdoor furniture back in place, sat back and admired my talent. I went into the house to ask Sue to come out and take a look, but she was on the phone with the wife of a friend and golfing buddy, explaining that her husband had inadvertently cut some pipes under the back lawn while working on a stone path leading from the front of the house into the back yard and they were being flooded. "Fred is doing the same thing out back," said Sue, unaware that just about the time my next door neighbor and the head honcho of our house association began yelling something about water rushing around the corner and down between our two houses toward the street. Old Faithful had erupted at dusk and the concrete blocks were sinking into the sunset while the patio table and chairs were sliding into a sinkhole. "If you come over you better bring your life jackets," said Sue before hanging up the phone and coming out to see what the hell happened. My neighbor and I began to remove the deck chairs on the Titanic and began to dig up the pavers to see where the water was coming from while Mike Nardone (the discoverer of the condition) was rushing to turn off the sprinkler system. In the meantime the water was rising rapidly and threatened to engulf the indoor carpeted patio/bar as well as flood the inside of the house. If the Johnstown Flood happened, (as some wag would later report) due to a leaky faucet, this would have been a close second. After an hour or so we learned what caused the problem and much of it resulted from my not bothering to find out when the sprinkler system was activated - and that we had reuse water piped in from SR 50 over Knox McRae which was what that last pipe I cut was connected to. What happened was that I cut the pipe between waterings and had no clue what I had done - because I had neglected to ask anyone. The ground was always dry when I worked on the patio, and besides, I never figured there would be a sprinkler head under the pepper plants. There wasn't. Just a lousy pipe that I thought served no purpose. I was wrong, obviously. Early Monday morning Mike ran over to Lowe's, came back and capped the pipe end. Problem solved, except that I spent most of the day replenishing the dirt, adding more leveling sand and re-laying the pavers. They're not as even as they were originally, but for some reason I lost interest in perfection. More critters in city than there are in the boonies of the county.....I suppose, at one time before all the development at Fawn Lake, the area was abundant with wildlife. We would sometime see fawns, but rarely squirrel's, rabbits and the wide variety of birds we now feed since we moved to LaCita. It's probably due to the fact that immediately behind us there is nothing but woods where the old par 3 Executive Golf Course was off Knox McRae.The place is a menagerie. A verdant zoo where one learns the pecking order of wild birds, who's the boss, and watching the blue jays elbow out other winged creatures for the early bird special’s . I'm told that a few years ago a couple of gators were spotted crawling out of the wetlands but posed no threats because of their small size. What I did object to was seeing the squirrel's climb up the metal pole housing a feeder on top and depriving my feathered friends of their seed. I moved the feeder a couple of times but the rodents always found a way to jump from some object, or climb up and pig out. I solved the problem (temporarily) by smearing 3-in-1 oil on the pole. They soon discovered that after repeated attempts they would wear the oil off the pole and continue their journey upwards. The solution was to wipe a thick coat of Petroleum Jelly on the pole. Now, I get a sadistic pleasure as I watch the frustrated squirrel's start up - hit the jelly - then begin their rapid descent where they hit bottom with a thump on their rear end. The methodology used is saving us boo-koo bucks in bird feed and the birds are as happy as a lark. Some things I can do well. Getting advice about the terrain from those who live here is not one of them.
By BOB SOCKS Downtown Titusville NewsI am pleased to announce that two new restaurants will be opening in the downtown area in the next few weeks.SHOWTIME, a new sandwich-and-ice cream shop with a heavy Coca-Cola theme, will be opening in the former STEAMERS location. In conjunction with the restaurant will be the open area plaza behind the facility with beer, wine and that great Indian River breeze. MICHAEL’S East Side Bistro will open in the former Renaissance location. This will be a semi-gourmet restaurant, open for lunch and dinner. Both locations will try to be open for the downtown street party slated on Friday evening, June 6 from 6 - 10 p.m. Come on down and see for yourself! National DebtWith the war over, Congress now centers part of its attention on the national debt. How bad is it? Bad....The present debt ceiling is $6.4 trillion but must be raised this week in order to avoid the U.S. from defaulting on its debts. Plans call for raising the debt limit to $7.38 trillion, but President Bush’s budget expects the debt to grow to $9.4 trillion in four years, not counting the cost of the Iraq war. History of the national debt: After WWII, the national debt stood at almost $200 billion, or more than the annual output of the U.S. economy, mostly to pay for the war effort. In 1981, the national debt hit $1 trillion, prompting President Ronald Reagan to complain of its “incomprehensible” size: “If you had a stack of $1,000 dollar bills in your hand only four inches high, you’d be a millionaire. A trillion dollars would be a stack of $1,000 bills 67 miles high.” Today it’s 429 miles high and climbing. Who owns the debt? More than $3.7 trillion of the debt is held by the public - in savings bonds, treasury bills and federal securities. Foreigners hold $1 trillion worth of debt backed by the “full faith and credit of the United States Government” and is considered the safest investment around. Another $2.7 trillion is owned by government entities themselves, including the Social Security and Medicare trust funds which invest excess payroll taxes that the retirement programs don’t pay to current beneficiaries. In return, both programs collect interest on the securities. How much is each American’s debt? Every man, woman and child has a $22,256 piece of the debt today, according to the National Debt Clock in Manhattan’s Times Square. Get out your check books... Strictly My OpinionWith NASA knowing that it had foam problems for 22 years, I can’t understand how they allowed the shuttle to fly. You would have thought that over 22 years they could have come up with a positive solution. But they didn’t.Also, I don’t know how the special investigative committee can be paid by NASA and still be forthright to NASA. Each of the members of the committee is paid $500 per day plus expenses, with the exception of the military appointees. They should be paid directly by the U.S. Government, with Congress approving a special investigative budget. This would allow the committee to at least be at an arm’s length from NASA. I went to Boca Raton last week. The city is beautiful, completely manicured, not a leaf out of place. The least- expensive homes in Boca are in the $300,000 - $400,000 range. Hundreds of $1-million-dollar palaces all over the place. The traffic is horrendous. And this is off-season. Titusville is a world of difference from south Florida. They are even walling in I-95 - starting at PGA Boulevard - with a 20-foot-high concrete wall backing up to people’s yards. ess the noise is mind-numbing from the interstate, 24 hours a day. But if I had a 20-foot wall in my backyard, I’d have to move. Just a note to remind all my readers that MEMORIAL DAY services will take place on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26 at Veterans Memorial Park on Broad Street at 9:30 a.m. Everyone is welcome to join in, and please don’t forget to bring the children.
Quote of the Week:
Great Outdoors Golf and Plantation on the Green wants you to know they are still open and are offering a special for all their golfers. Take in your golf receipt and receive a $4 lunch. See both ads for all their specials.
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