u/KentuckyLucky33

We still have the Skee-A-Rees.

But there's also an uninhabited island named "Skiiers Island" on Google Maps that suggests the practice used to be much more common.

I've never seen anyone recreationally water ski on the water here, but I've only been out on the water a few times.

The depth levels are so low in the bay (especially at low tide and outside of the ICW) and there's so much fishing and sandbar traffic where it actually is deep enough, that it seems like a bad idea to even try.

So my question is two-fold:
* Is there a reasonably-likely-to-succeed and safe way to do this in SRQ ?
* If you currently go out on the water frequently, do you ever see anyone water skiing?

My turn to ask dumb questions about the weather

Winter = Extremely dry, leads to dangerous drought conditions
Summer = Extremely wet, leads to long standing puddles everywhere you look

It's been that way for several years in a row now for SRQ. It's pretty much the "normal" weather pattern for Sarasota these days.

If you've been here decades, can you remember years where we had ONLY a *modest but materially significant* amount of rain in BOTH seasons (And not one of two extremes) ?

Just curious, pls and thank you

Not the sexiest topic

This may be the naiveté of a child, but I used to think:

if 10,000 products all come from plastic by way of oil, then if you want to recycle them and repurpose them - as anything else that's plastic, then you should be able to. It's all the same material - plastic - right?

A plastic water bottle can become a toothbrush, a toothbrush can become sunglass frames. And on and on.

But yeah no, that's not a thing in recycling as far as I understand it. Burn it, send it off to a landfill, or make some of the old toothbrush part of a new toothbrush. That's what actually happens in the real world.

So I'm wondering - is this kind of industrial reverse processing even possible? Maybe it's doable but just insanely expensive? Is anyone out there trying to work on it, and make it scale?

Only one Earth, as they say....

Been here a while; dream of boat ownership ($$$$) someday

Seeing the 0-3 hour flash downpours in the summer has me wondering, if you have a boat - how often do you use it in the summer?

Do you ever cancel plans due to summer thunderstorms? How often does weather, not counting hurricanes, actually impact your plans on average during the rainy season?

And in general, what's your winter activity like, relative to summer activity (assuming you're here full time and not a snowbird) ?

before you comment: I know about the boat clubs and boat rental companies. Ownership means you're on your own schedule and no one else's.

As I said, I don't have a boat but am trying to research how often weather would impact use in the summer time, so I'm looking for people with first-hand experience on the topic.

Very appreciative of any info you may have on the topic

Assumption: aging is cured in the most fantastic and problem free way possible. 25 year old minds and bodies forever.

Then, what happens when you get an evil dictator with an iron grip on their power, who enjoys slavery genocide murder and torture unapologetically, even brags about it.

Today, they'd eventually die. And sometimes this actually is the ONLY way to change anything in a large society with a tyrant ruler.

What happens to our world if that option goes away?

Just something I think deserves more attention in the immortality anti-aging sphere of discourse.

This new policy might, or might not, make it to the ballot next year. Our current governor, who is not seeking reelection, is pushing for it pretty hard.

If it does make it to the ballot, everyone should be educated about what it means.

What is it:
It would be a bill ending all property taxes for "Homestead" properties in the state of Florida. Homestead properties in Florida are primary residencies and have certain exemptions and benefits not available to vacation and commercial properties.

While everyone would love less taxes, there are going to be consequences from doing this.

What goes away, in Dollars, for Sarasota County:

the estimated annual property-tax revenue attributable to homesteaded properties in Sarasota is approximately $534 million per year.

Pass this law, and that would go to $0.00.

This is the breakdown of how much that money is, by department:

53% goes to schools - $308 Million
21% to Sarasota County government - $122 Million
11% to the Sheriff's Office - $64 Million
11% to special districts - $64 Million
4% to other constitutional officers and boards/agencies - $23 Million

What are the potential consequences?

The local government would have to cut spending and raise revenue. There's just no other way around losing over $500 million dollars per year.

How the local politicians would choose to do it is anyone's guess (they would want to be re-elected), but it would almost certainly include some of these things:

Cuts

* Layoffs for schools, police, and government bodies like the DMV
* School Closures
* Reduced hours for libraries, the DMV, and everything else run by the local gov't (closed for the day more often)
* Cancel or delay infrastructure improvements and capital expenditures (like the upgraded water treatment plants we've been getting)
* Less spending on public parks
* Less spending on grants for the arts

Raise Revenue

* Raise the sales tax
* Raise taxes on non-homestead properties
* Increase taxes on utility services like electricity, water, and internet
* Drop sales tax exemptions now in place for landscaping, home repairs, and personal services like gyms and fitness centers

* Rely on the state's trust fund that could come out of this new policy/law. How much would be distributed to ease the pain? No clear answer on that to date (purposefully leaving it vague makes it more defendable)

A lot of local officials across the entire state of Florida call this out as creating an addiction that makes the state of Florida the lord and master over every city and country.

Meaning, local municipalities would have even less agency and independence than they do now. As an example: remember the sidewalk art removals? These were fun and innocent non-political sidewalk drawings that gave Sarasota more of a cultural identity, that got caught up in a culture war and are now gone forever.

My hot take

I like the idea of paying less taxes. Who doesn't?

But I don't like the idea of our schools, roads, beaches, parks, art scene, libraries, and more all becoming significantly less good than they are today. I don't like the idea of non homeowners having to pay more (more sales, service, and utility taxes) than they did before.

My concern is voters will just see a free lunch on the ballot box and vote for no property taxes without thinking it through, and put us squarely in "Leopard ate my face" territory

"And then it got worse"

Your hot take?

I'd like everyone who lives in Sarasota to take some time, think it through, have some civilized discourse about this.

Please be respectful and avoid personal attacks, as I can see the comment section going south in five minutes.

Alternatively, I could also see the comments becoming an actually good and useful conservation where people make good points and share their insights.

Considering a subscription to supplement CR, netflix, etcetera

What content, if any, makes it a compelling service?

Subjective of course, interested in your opinion especially if you use it actively

looking for specific show suggestions, not genres or general content summaries

Ty!

Robotaxis are on the road, being tested now.

But that's never been the dream for me - its always been a self driving personal vehicle.

If you take a cab or ride share everywhere you needed to go your going broke, fast. And there's a sense of your car being a second home away from home. Your own personal private space fully under your control. Its even the law.

Still, driving consumes resources. Driving in rush hour gridlock traffic tires you out. To have your own private space you own and control but don't have to expend mental energy on in stressful traffic would be amazing.

Other than Tesla, who's working on this? How far have they come?

And how do we navigate misuse? Example: "go get a rockstar parking spot at the venue and hold it till I arrive 8 hours later in my other car"

Thanks guys