Ralph De La Cruz

Trapped in the $4 a gallon gas bubble.

Wed, 14 May 2008 13:04:38 -0500

I have a car that requires 91 octane fuel. Of course, mid-grade only goes up to 89. So, I'm stuck paying for 93-octane premium. So I'm right at the $4-a-gallon threshold these days. And fighting it for all I'm worth. Literally.

'm determined enough not to cross the $4 line that I've made note of the last few gas stations in Broward that still have sub-$4 premium, and I gas up when I'm near one. Last time I spotted a sub-$4 in Palm Beach County was a week ago. Late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning, I headed off to Boynton Beach in search of a strip club that the city of Bownton Beach was considering buying (hey, it's a tough job but somebody's got to do it). Only problem was, I was well under a quarter of a tank. It was 1 a.m. And my nearest sub-$4s were closed. By the time I hit Delray Beach, the engine light was on. And to make matters worse, I missed a turn and ended up on A1A rather than Federal Highway, where the club was located. I was trapped in $4-plus Palm Beach County. The entire drive back was one long argument between my cautious side and side that's resolved not to pay $4 for premium:

"Don't be a fool, forget the principle and pull over for the $4.15 gas. The time and expense of waiting for a tow will make $4.15 look insignificant." "No way. I can make it. And if I give in now, I'll be saddled with $4-plus gas the rest of my life."

I barely managed to limp back to the one sub-$4 station still open. A RaceTrac station on Sunrise with premium for $3.99. But how much longer can I hold out? There's a part of me that's optimistic. That's the part that decided to make a dash for the Broward border. That part believes the price of gas is going to collapse within the next month. And then there's the cynic in me. The part that says, considering the way prices have been lately, the "under" on how soon I'll be paying $4 is, oh, three more days. The "over" is a week. I'll keep you posted.
Staff photo / Steve Remich

The only real gas relief: Consume less

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:51:54 -0500

For the last 30 years I've driven a four-cylinder car or pickup. That's because I began college the same year that gas went from 25-30 cents a gallon to more than a dollar. Quadrupled. We were reminded that petroleum is a finite resource. And the closer we got to using it all up, the more we'd pay for it. For me, the lesson stuck. So, I was puzzled over the past 25 years as people and institutions moved forward as if what happened in the late 1970s really didn't happen. Governments rolled back the speed limit from the fuel-conserving 55 miles per hour to 70 or even 75. And gas-sucking behemoths such as the Hummers, Escalades and Armadas became the rage. Well now, people practically can't get rid of their guzzlers. And people -- and airlines -- are voluntarily slowing down. Demand is down 190,000 barrels a day. And I can't help but wonder: Where would we be today if we hadn't backslid after our late '70s lesson. Let's see...30 years is 10,950 days times almost 200,000 barrels is... Reason enough to not fall for reducing the gas tax or trying to artificially keep prices lower (although that also doesn't mean gas companies should be allowed to keep prices artificially HIGH). Now's the time to invest in research. To search for alternative engines and alternative energy. Because it's not going to get better in the next 30 years.

Kids + condoms + Make-Out Booth = X?

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:40:47 -0500

Don't know if you've heard about this one, but Lifestyles Condoms has come up with a new idea for getting condoms into the hands of kids. They took one of those old-style photo booths where you sit down and get five small pictures printed out on a strip. And decided to dispense a strip of condoms to come out along with the strip of photos. The name of this photo/condom area? The Lifestyles Make-Out Booth. So class, let's review for a moment: A couple of hormone-laced kids. In the dark behind a curtain. With a camera. And condoms. In a self-titled "make-out booth." What could possibly happen?

Signs of de-evolution in the Florida capital

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:35:35 -0500

I've always believed in evolution. But then, I look at the state legislature, and I it does make me wonder. I mean, evolution suggests that organisms adapt and change to fit and survive in their environment. But the Republican majority of the Florida Legislature shows no signs of adapting. Once again, they're sticking their fingers into our kids' curriculum. In the name of casting doubt on evolution. The economy is collapsing, state revenue is not keeping up with state spending, we're zooming toward $4-a-gallon gas (and higher), and the hurricane season is almost here. But the most important issue for our lawmakers is how evolution is taught to our kids in science classes. To see how dangerously silly this is, consider that the legislature has turned its laser-like focus on a subject that's a few paragraphs in most science textbooks. In a child's entire public school life -- a 12-year odyssey that takes him daily through things such as bullying, experimentation with sex and drugs, and our FCAT-obsessive system -- he will likely spend a day or two on evolution. And our state leaders are wasting precious time sharpening the finest edge on a law that would tell science teachers how to teach those paragraphs. Silly to the point of being dangerous, I tell you.

Jamie Lee Curtis...looking gray-t

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:58:04 -0500

Been under the weather lately. So, I was doing modern convalescence -- sitting at home watching a lot of nothing on the tube -- when all of the sudden an ad for a healthy yogurt comes on. And who is pitching the yogurt, but actress Jamie Lee Curtis? She's got gray hair and still looks GREAT. Best thing ever to happen to gray hair. Made me, as someone who's been prematurely gray for years, feel instantly better. Of course, if you're a bit younger and your hair is a little darker, you can't resist having a little fun with it.
via videosift.com Parodies notwithstanding, I hope they find someone to do the same thing for thinning, balding hair, Then, I'd be set. Let's see...maybe Bo Derek in her "10" coif? With a third fewer cornrows?

Budget cuts for lobbyists? Things may finally be looking up.

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:21:35 -0500

Finally, something good seems to be arising from our receding economy. The good news comes to us from Tallahassee, in a story about politicians' problems in a tumbling economy. Maybe you missed it in a long story full of numbers and, um, politicians opining. It's on the second-page of the web entry, in the third-from-last graph. Here, let me help you out: "The pots are smaller," said longtime Miami-Dade lobbyist Ron Book, whose clients span the spectrum of health-care, transportation and education concerns facing budget hits. Finally, somebody other than the working person is getting trickled-down upon. Yep, the economy is falling apart so badly that EVEN LOBBYING MONEY is drying up. Goes to show you...even in the worst situations, something positive always seems to leach out. Wonder how long before The Next Big Bailout.

Pope finally taking responsibility for sins of the church

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:10:38 -0500

It's only about a decade late, but I finally heard what I needed to hear from the head of the religion of my family. "We are deeply ashamed," Pope Benedict said before he had even stepped on U.S. soil. He was speaking, of course, of the pedophile priests scandal that rocked the Catholic church in America, and led thousands of Catholics to bolt. Me and Maria included. For awhile, our little family attended a Catholic Church in Long Beach, Calif. I enjoyed it, and Maria absolutely fell in love with the church -- until the day I told her that a pedophile priest had been at that parish. We haven't been back -- except for Christmas Eve masses with my family in Texas -- to a Catholic church since that day. To Papi, what was almost as infuriating as the actions of some of its priests were the actions of the church leadership itself. The Long Beach pedophile, for instance, was actually hidden away by the church. He ultimately hanged himself. Just as deplorable, once victims began going public, the church quit paying for their counseling. Not the kind of moral, charitable response I expect from my religious institution. So, although we've occasionally broached the possibility of returning to the church (hey we're both Hispanic immigrants with STRONG Catholic roots), I've refused. One reason being that the church has never truly owned up to their misdeeds, or said it would take steps to make sure it wouldn't happen again. "To repair the damage," Benedict finally said, "priests and bishops have to be vigilant, use the judicial system, where possible, and better screen applicants to the priesthood." Let's see where it goes from here. But that's certainly the right answer to get many of us Catholics talking again.

NRA blasting away private property rights

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:14:21 -0500

I'm always amused how the NRA's gun extremists have the ability to see only one constitutional right. According to the NRA's lobbyist in Tallahassee, Marion Hammer, property rights don't exist. Not when it comes to gun rights. "Nowhere in either the U.S. Constitution or the Florida Constitution are businesses given this mythical right they claim they have to control everything on their property," she wrote in a commentary last week. Uh, Marion...if I walk onto your property, don't you have the right to tell me to leave? If I carry a gun onto your property -- and you don't want me packing heat -- don't you have the right to kick me off? In an NRA extremist's mind, apparently not. "Do law-abiding people have the right to carry and store firearms in their personal vehicles for lawful purposes and keep those firearms locked in their vehicles in parking lots?" she asks rhetorically, before offering HER answer. "The answer is yes" Maybe the answer would be "yes" if it's public property. But why should you have the right to do something on PRIVATE property that the private property owner doesn't allow? Private property rights are what allow businesses to say they don't want smoking on their property. It's what allows businesses to require drug testing. Anybody who doesn't like it has the right to not frequent that business. Has every right not to work there. And THAT'S the right guaranteed to someone who HAS to have a gun in their car at all times -- even at work: If you hate your employers' rules so much, find another employer.

Lots of insecurity in South Florida over jobs

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:30:00 -0500

I refer anybody with illusions about the state of the South Florida economy to check out the Sun-Sentinel poll from Sunday. It asked folks whether they felt their job was in jeopardy. Almost half the people said they were either out of work or worried that they would lose their jobs. Only a little over half, 51.8 percent, feel secure in their jobs. Think about that. Half the folks aren't making money or are worried they may soon not be, I'm no economist in any way, shape or form. But seeing that poll, even I will offer an observation that it's going to be a wild ride this summer for purveyors of non-essential items. I'm happy I'm not selling cars, hoity-toity coffee or expensive soap. Wait...I'm in the newspaper business. Uh, I think that 51.8 just got nudged down a little further. We better own the green revolution because there's not much other manufacturing or industry we can compete against the rest of the world with. And we better quit sinking hundreds of billions into Iraq fairly soon. Or the only people in the United States with a job will be soldiers, politicians or hedge-fund managers.

Papi to FEMA: I'll take my water frozen, please.

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:21:26 -0500

At this point, FEMA telling us what they're NOT going to do for us after a hurricane is a little like Britney Spears saying she's going to quit putting so much effort into parenting. It's a "duh" statement. After being unbelievably efficient at being inefficient -- managing to give millions to the wrong people and nothing to the right people -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency is now preparing for the hurricane season by announcing what they won't do. No generators, which I don't have an issue with, and NO ICE. Yikes. The guy in charge, R. David Paulison, says, "We're going to focus on the basic needs of people, and that's food and water." It's hard to believe the guy lives in Miami and doesn't think ice is a need in summer. If it wasn't such a basic need, why do thousands of people line up for hours to get it? For the company? Because they want to save $3? Give me a break. And it's a heck of a thing to hear as we gear up for the hurricane season. I thought Frank Bruno, Volusia County Chairman, nailed it when he said, "It just seems irresponsible for FEMA to even be coming out with a statement like that, especially after what this country has been through." I expect no less from an agency whose acronym should be changed to FIMA. The Federal Irresponsibly Managed Agency. Food and water, huh? Wonder if Mr. Paulson realizes what happens to ice when it gets warm?

Say (your town) and people think...

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:26:23 -0500

My Thursday column is about the Boca Raton attitude and how it conflicts with a hot dog stand on the beach. It was a fun piece because people have such strong views of what is Boca-tude. But seems to me that almost all our communities have a certain flavor. Their own certain attitude. Taking the beginning of the column a bit further: say Fort Lauderdale and you think...beach. Even though I'd be willing to bet most of the residents of Fort Lauderdale haven't seen a beach in months. Say Lake Worth and I think...activism. Say Weston and I think...South Americans. So...what other preconceptions do we have about our other communities?

Raul's revolution: The freedom to buy stuff you can't afford

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:58:16 -0500

OK, letting people buy old, over-priced cell phones -- some that even (gasp!) took pictures, didn't impress me. Or putting DVD players or outdated computers on the market. I thought the fact that those things were being trumpeted as major "reforms" in Cuba merely emphasized how oppressive and backward Fidel Castro's totalitarian regime had been. But when Raul Castro's new government followed those edicts by pronouncing that Cubans could actually stay in hotels in their own country, I sat up and took notice. Even if Cubans are unlikely to avail themselves of this "privilege" (a night in a tourist hotel could cost up to a year's salary), that form of self-apartheid was an extremely sore point to Cubans on the island. A real symbol of how they've been treated as lesser-than by their government. THIS was real change. Raul was allowing Cubans to buy stuff they couldn't afford. Why, that practically made them Americans. And now, this week, came news of agricultural reforms: Cuban farmers would be allowed to till unused lands. Unbelievable. Next thing you know, they'll be able to go to tourist health clinics and actually buy aspirin and other medicine previously reserved for foreigners. Someday, people might actually be able to own their own home. Or buy a car. Or -- dare I dream? -- write and speak their mind without going to jail. You go, Raul.

I turned 50 and survived

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:25:25 -0500

Well, I survived the journey across The Threshold. Turned 50 this weekend. Maria, my wise and beautiful wife, put together a surprise party. Which was nice. But the best part was the birthday present she gave me. I forward the idea as a present to y'all, the followers of this blog. It's a phenomenal idea for anyone whose mate or close friend is turning 50. Or 40, or 21, or any other memorable commemoration. She got 50 friends from all eras of my life to send in their recollections/reflections/well-wishes. Then she printed them out in different fonts and special paper and put them into a book. Many of them were too personal to place here. But one friend sent an anecdote titled "40 quarts" that I can share. He recounted a summer of our adolescence when we were playing tennis two and three times a day. Every night, after playing, we'd go to the local A&W shop for root beer. They offered a promotion: every time you bought a quart, they'd stamp a card for you. After 40 stamps, you'd get a free gallon. By the end of the summer, we each got a gallon. "I took my gallon home and put it in the refrigerator," he wrote. "It sat there untouched for weeks. I finally emptied it down the drain. The next time I saw Ralph, I told him I never drank my free gallon. He told me he never drank his, either." Let me tell you, there's nothing like getting 50 great anecdotes and fond memories from people you dearly love on your 50th birthday. I highly recommend it. And for those who might be wondering...50 feels FABULOUS..

State politicians on the verge of getting the right answer on FCAT -- finally

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:32:43 -0500

Yesssssss. Somebody finally seems to get it in Tallahassee. At long last, there's talk of reforming and de-emphasizing the FCAT. About time. There are so many reasons, from the strain it puts on young children to the strain it puts on schools and resources. Here's one of many e-mails I received from teachers after I wrote a column about the FCAT earlier this month:

"I'm an 8th grade Language Arts teacher with more than 35 years' experience in middle school, high school, and college classrooms. "I've taught in both Broward and Palm Beach. "I'm still teaching, but I'm basically an FCAT teacher, and a damned good one, but I'm no longer a good English/Language Arts teacher. "I've taught fewer than six short stories this school year. "I teach grammar only as necessary for kids to score a 3.5 (passing) on an expository or persuasive essay. "No way would I want my own daughter as a student in my class. "No way would I want my own daughter in a FL public school. Because I'm in a school that has not met AYP for four years in a row, the heat is on. "That means attending learning team meetings one out of every six planning periods. "It means handing out candy to kids who return free lunch forms. (This is connected in some way to learning, but I haven't figured out how.) And this also means I'm an FCAT ho."

But one of the most compelling comments came from a senior in Palm Beach County who raised a simple question: What do you think happens to the juniors and seniors when the freshmen and sophomores are focused on the test? At this senior's school, they spend hours and days basically being baby-sat in large groups. Listening to iPods and playing hand-held video games at one of the most critical times of their academic lives. Thank you Sen. Don Gaetz (R-Niceville) for pushing FCAT reform forward. Gaetz is a former educator. Of course. If you want to thank Gaetz yourself and express support, here's his web page. And if you want to ask your representative to support the reform in the House of Representatives, here's the listing of House members.

Israel "Cachao" Lopez: Another immigrant's burial

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:50:06 -0500

Israel "Cachao" Lopez, a musical pioneer in Cuba, is being buried today in Miami. The focus, appropriately, will be on the music. But it makes me think of my grandparents. For decades, they yearned for one thing: to be buried in Cuba. Finally, in the last few years of their lives, facing the inevitability of time and their homeland's politics, they gave up that hope. They each died at age 99 with the realization that they'd be buried in Brownsville, Texas, instead. That's a lot of yearning. But I'm thankful they didn't make it back. Because some of the most magical moments our family has had are the times when we gather at the cemetery during holidays, singing songs and making that important link into the past. And because my parents have seen -- and believe in -- the power of that link, they've chosen to be buried in the U.S. as well. For me, there's no question. I was thinking about all that and realized: that's the path followed by millions of American families before me. This process of yearning and accepting has been followed by immigrants who were Irish and Hungarian and Indonesian and every other nationality and ethnicity and race. Some have six or seven generations of graves. Some have one. But the moment we put our mother or father, grandfather of grandmother into American soil is the moment we all really became American families. Welcome to the family, Cachao.