One of the most interesting men in Pinellas County - or anywhere else

His name is Don Ardell - a St. Petersburg resident who ran for mayor of Tampa in 2003 as the oldest, fittest, fastest and prettiest of the five candidates. He’s still older, fitter and faster than most people (maybe not prettier anymore); he's won more than a dozen national and seven world triathlon championships. He holds a Masters in Urban Planning and a Doctorate in Public Health. He’s also the founder of the REAL wellness concept - a philosophy based upon quality lifestyles focused on reason, exuberance, athleticism and liberty. He’s written 14 books, including High Level Wellness, which started the general wellness movement in 1977. His latest is kind of off-the-wall: Wellness Orgasms: The Fun Way to Live Well and Die Healthy. He recently designed (and patented) a breakthrough running shoe design for fast transitions in triathlon. Don is also a freethinker, entertaining speaker and favorite companion of Carol, his partner of nearly 20 years (the last ten as wife) and very popular (he likes to think) dad of his two children and“Popadom” to three mighty grandchildren.

Around the bay:

1. Hillsborough County has wisely decided to move their probation services in-house rather than hiring a for-profit organization with a spotty record. Better yet, they have decided,unlike Pinellas County, to keep the costs to a minimum and focus on rehabilitation rather than profit.

2. Do two 75-story residential towers fit the Tampa landscape? You’re right, they don’t. Any sort of review board that would rule otherwise has to be looked at with suspicion.

3. A good friend, great American and man whose genius is vastly underrated, suggests that henceforth hurricanes rather than be named should be corporately sponsored – the Home Depot, Rayovac Batteries and Zephyrhills Water hurricanes come to mind.

4. State-issued driver’s licenses instead of going to your local tax collector – why not? A lot of tax collectors are playing the “could take two weeks” card. It’s not about that. It’s about the six plus bucks they scoop up on every transaction. Try to get a passport in a day. Why should a driver’s license be any different? It’s called planning ahead.

5. You’ve lived in the bay area a long time if you lived through the Buc’s first 0-14 season – almost 40 years ago! But John McKay’s light touch made it somewhat bearable. Example, “Every time I look up, it seems we’re punting”.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. The recent Don Trump surge aside, Las Vegas still likes a Clinton-Bush race with Clinton prevailing. Clinton is at 11/10, Bush 4/1 while Trump is at 13/2 odds.

7. Speaking of presidential politics, the last person to serve as our nation’s chief executive who was not a former Governor, Senator or Vice-President was Dwight D. Eisenhower.

8. Poor William McKinley. He is about to lose his “naming rights” to the magnificent mountain in Alaska. More importantly, his premature passing probably prevented him from being recognized as one of America’s 10 best presidents. So many of the major reforms credited to Teddy Roosevelt actually had their birth in the McKinley administration.

9. So Buc’s coach Lovie Smith is turning it over in his head whether to try for two-point conversions after the Bucs put the ball in the end zone. Better he worry about how the Bucs are first going to put the ball in the end zone during the regular season.

10. Factoid: Winningest teams in major league history. No surprise in the American League – the Yanks and Red Sox are 1-2. In the National League, a bit of a surprise, the Giants and Cubs rank 1-2 ahead of the Cards and Dodgers. Most losses - by far it’s the Phils with over 10,600 losses.

Fire a client this week

A few weeks back, we ran a list of time wasters authored by local attorney Alan Gassman (RANTS – August 16). Number one on the list was “Clients who don’t pay their bills”. In an earlier life when your humble blogger commanded a small business, we made it a practice to fire a client or two a year. The client had to meet two criteria – they were overly-critical about the goods or services provided and, secondly, they were slow pay. You could get away with one of the two, but not both. The firing was always done in the nicest way possible (not you’re a no good #&@*!). Usually something in the manner of “We don’t think we can meet your criteria as a vendor”. Frequently there was begging to keep them on as clients. Wisely, we never did.