Midway through our year of dining suggestions (see back story in Jan. 1 RANTS) – a tried and true favorite – O’Keefe’s on Fort Harrison Avenue near the Morton Plant campus. Try the fish and chips, shepherd’s pie or a bowl of their excellent French onion soup.

Little people with too much time on their hands

A few weeks ago, we ambled back to a site where we used to spend some time – a site that deals with local history. Right away we were assaulted by a post from one of the site Nazis spouting about this person and that person – anything but local history. The post reminded us why we don’t go there so often anymore. Back at the old home owner’s association, we have another midget who must meddle with minutiae. Fortunately, this individual is in the minority of the association’s board but nonetheless impedes progress. Folks, there is yoga, Pilates, knitting, cycling and a million good books to read. Find a productive hobby – and a life.

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1. Last week (RANTS June 18) we bemoaned the outrageous amount of money being spent on the St. Pete mayoral campaign that could easily be won by “None of the above”. But in Georgia, a record $50 million dollars was spent on the District 6 Congressional race for a chance to be lower in House seniority than the pride of Pinellas, Charlie Crist.

2. There’s a reason for the smile on your Realtor’s face. Homes are flying off the shelf at a record pace – and at record prices.

3. Surely there is a middle ground between the Obama policy of “okay Cuba, we are going to give you a lot of concessions despite your horrible human rights record” and the Trump retreat to the Kennedy era of the early sixties.

4. Just an idle thought: Given his pronouncements and actions, why is John McCain a member of the Republican Party?

5. You’ve lived in Clearwater a long time if you remember many of the fine jewelry stores in downtown – Korones, Mijares, Smith’s, Tilley’s and Trickel’s – just to name five.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. Headline from the St. Pete spin doctors last week Attorneys General plan to sue Trump. You wonder what has our nation’s attorney generals all stirred up. Turns out it’s two AGs – barely plural, and from Maryland and D.C. – the swamp – and over some non-issue - other than that, straight forward journalism.

7. Given the wobbling of long time household names like Sears, Penney’s and Macy’s, we shouldn’t be surprised to hear that Neiman-Marcus is in trouble. For over a century, the store has radiated class. Your humble blogger was privileged years ago to meet their late CEO Stanley Marcus, who, like his store, emanated class.

8. Happy Birthday to Babe Zaharias who would be 103 this week. If you’re not familiar with her athletic accomplishments, google her. She was, without question, the greatest female athlete in our nation’s history.

9. We made our first visit to Rotisserie Duck a few weeks back to view 71 reasons why guys love baseball. It got us coming back for more – last week the baseball blog had a terrific article on Jimmy Piersall well worth a read.

10. So many of us have a long list of what we would do if we were baseball commissioner. Add to that list; be embarrassed by our signature on every official ball – nothing but squiggles and curves.

MLB at the three month mark:

“All rise, here comes the judge” has become the theme of the renaissance in the Bronx this summer. It appears, despite spotty pitching, the Yankees are back and they are reminiscent of the 50s where it was Whitey Ford and a bunch of no name pitchers who got seven or eight runs scored for them every night. In the AL Central, Cleveland, to no one’s surprise, has made it to the top and then there’s the Astros in a different galaxy from the other 29 teams.. The Nats lead a very weak NL East by default; in the Central, the ’16 champs Cubs must overtake the Brewers to make the playoffs as they are 9 games out of the wild card. And who would have guessed at the half way mark, the Rockies would have the best record in the NL – a lot of that has to do with Bud Black. The next few weeks get cool with the trading deadline less than a month away.

SNEAK PEEK AT NEXT WEEK: SOME BIRTHDAY WISHES FOR OUR NATION