Fred Posner dot com

Back in 2007, I was floored by the University of Florida’s President (Bernie Machen) accepting more than $200,000 in bonuses. I was so floored, I sent him a letter (below) and asked him to decline the bonus. After all, he already receives in base salary more than 10 times the annual income for a Florida family sending their child to the University of Florida.

As expected, I did not receive a response and there was no mention of donations, declines, or anything else from Bernie Machen. Read the rest of this entry »

Update June 11, 2009: The Chief is now leaving in early July – 4 months earlier than he had advised.

Norman Botsford, the current Police Chief of Gainesville, Florida, announced that he would be retiring from his position. Although the following Gainesville Sun article highlights his history, they don’t mention how in recent years he has helmed a department who’s morale has dropped faster than, well insert your metaphor here… it’s way low.

This is a good thing.

Here’s what the Gainesville Sun said: Read the rest of this entry »

I ranted today about YET ANOTHER security breach at the University of Florida (Go Gators). It’s a decent rant:

http://www.voiptechchat.com/tech/245/university-of-florida-security-strikes-out/

I like ranting now and then

Fred with family at Thanksgiving

Good morning world and welcome to the snowed in Monday morning edition of Fred Posner dot com. Let’s discuss the weekend…

Not much happened. Let’s see, in random order:

• Yeni and I had Pizza so good I reactivated Fat Freddy Says
• The Gators beat Alabama and are headed to Miami for the Championship Game
• My Harley is back from the dealer… and is pretty much packed away until March (but sounds GREAT with my new pipes)
• Thanksgiving Pictures were posted
• Blogged about an idiotic FBI Warning
• Yeni and I started on the Holiday Vegitation
• and the Chicago Tribune filed for bankruptcy.

And how’s your day? Feel free to comment

Fred enjoying Dunkin' Donuts

Yeni and I started early — very early — Saturday morning. After loading the truck and topping off the tank, we hit I-94 somewhere around 4 am. It was BEYOND cold with the truck showing outside temperatures ranging from 10 – 15 degrees. Normally, I make as few stops as humanly possible; combing fuel stops with rest breaks (and yes, “rest breaks” means exactly what it sounds like). I learned quickly, that while traveling with someone else (aka Yeni) brings great joy, it also requires more frequent “rest breaks.”

Our first break was near Dayton, OH. Finding a Dunkin’ Donuts, we stopped for “rest,” coffee, and an egg bagel. Mmmm, egg bagel. After topping off the tank, we heading back on the highway hitting a major traffic jam in Cincinnati, OH. After staying in place for the better part of an hour, we were able to cross the bridge, enter Kentucky, and put Ohio behind us.

When we reached Lexington, KY, we got off the main road and visited a college friend of Yeni’s (Maria Fernanda and her husband Diego). After a nice visit and a great breakfast, we dropped Mafe at the Univeristy of Kentucky and continued south. I’d never been to the University, and it’s always nice to visit a place where the Gators have dominated (this year we destroyed Kentucky, but that was a home game).

My favorite part of driving to/from Michigan is the leg from Lexington, KY to Knoxville, TN. The trip takes you through the Cumberland Mountains (southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains) and provides beautiful climbs, views, and scenery. Although best experienced riding on a Harley, the trip is still enjoyable from the truck.

Little Lil puts a smile on Fred's face

After reaching Knoxville, we called my good friend Patrick and met with him, his daughter, and wife (Jessi) at a local Italian restaurant. It was great to see their family and playing with lil’ Lil put a big smile on my face. After eating some pasta, rolls, and cannoli , we were back on the road — this time with Yeni at the wheel.

Chattanooga is only a few miles north of Georgia, and the drive through Georgia is long; very long. Did we mention construction? Georgia’s I-75 passage can be described in three words: Pecans, Outlets, Construction. Despite being on the road for more than 20 hours, Yeni was determined to drive through Georgia by herself. She made creative efforts to stay alert, such as talking to the GPS device, counting Juanes songs, and singing.

We reached Florida around 2am and I took over the wheel. When we arrived to the house in Gainesville, Yeni wisely suggested we inflate the bed, grab some shuteye, and rest for a few hours. We rested until around 7 am, loaded Grandma’s chandelier into the truck, grabbed breakfast at DD, and hit the road. Yeni had never seen Florida’s west coast or the Everglades, so I decided to take I-75 straight through to Fort Lauderdale.

Spider-bear at the Gulf of Mexico

When we reached Tampa, we took I-275 to visit the Tampa Bay and see the ocean. I-275 takes you over the Sunshine Skyway bridge (the world’s longest cable bridge) and the ocean view provides a great contrast to the snow we woke up to on the previous morning. Yeni seemed to enjoy the ocean, and Spider-bear was excited to play on the rocks (during one of the “rest” stops).

We continued driving (well, I drove while Yeni napped), and after crossing the Everglades reached the Casa de Parientes. I cannot wait for the rest of the family to arrive and celebrate my favorite holiday.

Yeni sleeps in the Everglades

The plan was (originally) to quickly stop by the house in Gainesville, check on it’s condition, and continue on to South Florida. The new plan is to arrive in Hogtowne around 2 AM and crash for a few hours.

Our day started at 3 AM in Ann Arbor, so a little rest will be nice. Yeni’s set on driving until she hits Florida so she can have driven all through Georgia.

It’s always nice to be in Gainesville after a big UF win. Go Gators.

Quote of the moment: “Georgia construction sucks. Literally. “– Yeni

GAINESVILLE, FL — So I’m back in Gainesville trying to get the house ready for selling. I had chosen a realtor who made some amazing decisions that would be sure to get me that “quick” sale. Here’s the short story:

Apparently my built-in entertainment center was something that made the house un-sellable, and according to the realtor impossible for anyone to imagine their furniture in my house. So, Ms. Realtor and her hired handyman remove the entertainment center, leaving some big ol’ holes in the wall and about 40 sq. ft. of hole in the wood floor. They start painting over the kitchen, because apparently the house should be a uniform color.

So, after about 2 weeks of seeing concrete in my wood floor, I start to stress. And stress hard. I call her and explain that I don’t know how the house will be ready for the deadline of 3 days. She goes nuts and literally starts yelling at me. Long story short — she says she cannot work with a client that won’t give her unconditional trust. And then she’s goes buh bye. Never gives me back the key… nada.

So after changing the locks (nice unexpected cost), I go to look for wood floor. No one makes the matching parque… NO ONE. I called Armstrong / Hartco (the manufacturer) who informs me they have discontinued the product and have not had inventory for at least 5 years. YAY!!!!

So, I’m now looking for carpet pricing and finishing painting. Trying to smile… thinking basically of Little Nemo and trying to “just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

It’s that time of year in Gainesville… the time where the gators play the gators in the ultimate fight over alumni donations.

But, the great thing about Orange and Blue weekend, is that usually a good ol’ friendly alumni comes to town. This year, it was The Egan’s who graced our lovely town with their beautiful baby Grace.

Had a great time smelling the flowers, eating a burger at Cafe Gardens, and hanging out with great friends.

The rest of the weekend I spent catching up on films I never saw in the theater; which means I can scratch Dan in Real Life, The Dewey Cox Story, and No Reservations off my list.

My favorite of them? Clearly the chick flick was going to win.

For more pictures of the weekend, check out my photos at Picasa:

Fred’s Picasaweb Gallery

Has to be my new favorite phrase. If you haven’t see the video (or videos), You tube is going crazy with them… You can find some at this link here. Or play the small selected catch phrase portion below…

Anyway…. I don’t know if it were a set-up or whatever… but I can’t say it looks like the police handled this very well at all… and anyone who knows me, knows it’s very hard for me to be critical of law enforcement officers… Agencies? Sure (gpdsucks.com anyone?)… but not officers… except if it’s something as pathetically handled as this little taser incident.

Go gators.