Tampa Bay Rants and Raves (TBRR) is a weekly chronicle of politics, sports, lifestyle and historical notes from a politically incorrect viewpoint. Some of this content should not be taken literally.

First thing on our mind:

Blink twice if you are reading this tripe against your will.

Leading off: Saying goodbye to lots of cars

Auto manufacturers are going every which way in culling their fleets. Acura has dumped its TLX sedan after a long run and its all electric SUV after just one year. Other companies dumping parts of their SUV fleet include BMW, Cadillac, Ford and Lincoln, Infiniti and, the biggest disappointment, VW’s third generation minibus after just one year. Two very affordable cars, the Nissan Versa and the 15-year-old Kia Soul are going away. A good friend managed to snare one of the last 2025 Souls in the state. Volvo is doing away with two long time products, its V-60 wagon and S-90 sedan. Finally, Chevy bids adieu to its full-sized Malibu, a name plate that dates back to 1964. Even with all these cuts, dealers don’t seem to be wanting for inventory on their lots.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

Related to our lead article, we have been driving the same model SUV since 2010. We’re on our seventh edition (lost one to Hurricane Irma in 2017). We wonder if it will still exist when we’re ready for a new one come 2028.

So, with being off the grid for the better part of the week; did anything happen last week?

Biz factoid: One industry that has yet to recover from the 2020 pandemic is the theater business – still off a third from pre-2020 numbers. The industry continues to consolidate screens in nearly every market.

Number of the week – 35%, that’s the percentage of Florida residents who were actually born here. We thought it would be even less. On a national level, 64% of a state’s residents live in the state in which they were born.

On a related note: welcome to Florida Mark Zuckerberg.

Idle thought: Sooner or later, credit card companies and others are going to start charging us old geezers who still want to get a paper statement each month.

After many years of absence, Whataburger has returned to the bay area on Ulmerton Road in Largo. Thus far, we understand it’s SRO.

Born one hundred years ago this week in Minneapolis, MN was actor Peter Graves. “Good morning, Mr. Phelps.”

Sports and random notes:

From the editorial office of the 5:05 Newsletter: I have never seen anyone jogging and smiling, so that’s all I need to know about that.

Ad blast from the past, Come Alive, you’re in the Pepsi generation as sung by Joanie Sommers.

Someone we’d like to meet: political pundit George Will.

Perhaps we are among the few who care about such things, but the best selling Girl Scout Cookie is the Thin Mint with 36% of all sales. Next is the Samoa with 22% of all sales, but the top seller in Florida. It is followed by the Tagalong at 16% of sales. Then comes Do-si-dos and Trefoils. Some regional Girl Scout cookies make up the balance of total sales.

Random note: The adjective for metal is metallic, but not so for iron, which is ironic. (With thanks to JB3).

Gee, it’s fun to have your computer in the shop for a week and have it returned with some 250 emails to be, for the most, part erased.

Welcome to daylight savings time; as you struggle to adjust your sleep patterns over the next month, thank your congressman.

One last thing: 12 years of drivel

Last year with our health at a low point and age 80 looming, we drafted a farewell to this 12-year endeavor. But with our health improving somewhat and a major burden off our shoulders (more on that next week), we decided “hell, this is too much fun, let’s press on.” So here we go with the beginning of our 13^th season of political stuff, Tampa Bay insights, sports, history, focus group views and items stolen from the 5:05 Newsletter. As always, we thank the surprising number of you for playing along.

NEXT WEEK: Made in Florida; Free at last; Pickle Ball

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