The USPS transformed some of their blue mailboxes into R2-D2 across several cities, to promote up and coming Star Wars stamps, and Tampa happened to be one of the locations. So here’s my picture of the droid, we found R2 downtown today at the corner of Kennedy and Pierce. The force is strong with Danielle, as she spotted the mailbox from miles away.

Dear Verizon,

I absolutely cannot handle your fluctuating speeds every minute of the day. Fluctuating between dial-up speed and “DSL speed”.

Also, I’d like to know why you “have no control over news server speeds?”

jebus, I’m about to smoke, dkjafldsfjdaflasjdfja1!$#!$!!!

For all you Tampa folks out there, the Royal Palace on S. Howard will be open every Monday this month and 100 percent of their sales will be donated to the Tsunami Relief Fund. I went for the first time this past Monday and the Royal Palace is by far one of the best authentic Thai food restaurants in the bay area. Not to mention the service is fantastic. If Thai doesn’t float your boat you can always go a couple of streets down to Sally O’Neals for lunch, ask for Danielle, and tell her Jessica (whoneedsoxygen.net) sent you ;).

Here’s a few belated pictures from Frances and Jeanne. I have 3 albums to upload but haven’t setup the new gallery yet. More to come.

1. First picture was from Frances, after being frustrated being without power for several days.

2. Second picture is from Jeanne that just passed, a branch that was impaled into the roof of the front porch.

3. Third picture, also from Jeanne, was a branch that caved in the fence and tried to dismember our BBQ that’s hidden underneath it. Don’t worry, BBQ is fine

Alright, as a resident I’m obligated to chime in on the local news, subject being hurricane Frances. Hurricane Frances has a projected path to swoop into the east coast of Florida and sweep across to the west. While it’s entirely possible for the hurricane to change its course as we previously witnessed with Charley, it’s still worth being updated on its path. There’s no doubt that Frances is bound to cause serious damage wherever it lands.

I just read that the port of Tampa is closed and won’t be opening until Frances is gone, from what I’ve read this means that there will be no shipments of gasoline into the bay area until after the storm. I don’t know if this has been officially confirmed yet, but if it is, what gas is here is all there is until it’s reopened? Who knows, all I do know is that everyone who does have to refuel to be alert of price gouging. This happens around here EVERYTIME.

If by chance you feel you were a victim or have seen a store that is participating in price gouging you can call the state hotline at 1-800-646-0444 and report them. You can also visit www.800helpfla.com. Businesses that are found to be guilty of price gouging are subject to civil penalties of $1,000 per violation, and up to $25,000 for multiple violations in a 24-hour period. This isn’t just limited to gas either; this includes food, water, etc.

Some interesting info on Hurricane Frances:
1. Frances is currently a category 4, with its winds being 145MPH
2. It’s REALLY FARKING BIG, twice the size of Charley, it’s been said that it’s larger than Texas?!
3. It’s diameter of destruction is equal to the distance from the southern tip of Florida to Altanta, GA.
4. 1 Million people have been evacuated thus far

I’ve been humbly invited to join the Tampa Bay Blogger Fest. Thanks to Sarah for posting the evite to me.

Event description from evite:
“This is a get together for all Tampa Bay bloggers! If you’ve got a blog then you are welcome to come. Whether you use EE, MT, TP, LJ, WP or whatever! If you blog, come on down and party! SO’s are welcome! Please RSVP. Splitsville is 21+ after 8 PM. Please note this event is for those of us over 18.”

I might make it, I wonder if any of my LJ friends are going to go?

Hurricane Charley is on his way to Tampa. This is the first time that a hurricane has ever hit Tampa since I’ve lived here. I’ve been getting hammered with phone calls all morning from people trying to find out what’s going on and where we’re going to evacuate to. I have two ferrets and two computers, so I’ll be right here. However, I’m pretty bummed for not getting a UPS. The last thing I’ll be doing is evacuating to some crazy hurricane concentration camp. I still don’t know what the big deal is, I mean, it’s only a category one. The only thing I’m a bit concerned about is the possibility of tornadoes popping up. Shudder to think. In the picture you can see the Tropical Storm Bonnie by the panhandle, why didn’t they name Hurricane Charley Hurricane Clyde instead?

Just a brief update, been busy this past week, sprained ankle and digital crack has taken up my free time.

George W. Bush, a compassionate man, a man with family values, a man of many stuttering, mispronounced words. Ol’ Bushy visited Tampa last week and was greeted by a loving bunch of protestors. I know, sounds strange, but there were people out there not so happy of his arrival. And in Florida, of all places! Turns out some people are a bit angry with Bush’s new travel policy.

New Travel Restrictions to Cuba:

Yeah, I think he definitely won the Cuban-American vote with this one.

Last night I heard a small blip about Verizon rolling out fiber optic lines in New Tampa, I think, but they didn’t really go into much detail. I decided to scour to find more information about it, being I use Verizon DSL.

As it turns out, Verizon is indeed going fiber-optic with the new service being called Fios. Verizon will be offering three tiers of this service, 5 Mbps, 15 Mbps and 30 Mbps. From what I’ve read so far its cheapest package will be the same as its current DSL price, $34.95. Boasting that even the slowest Fios package will be able to deliver a 2 hour video in 15 minutes as opposed to an hour (an hour and a half in my personal experience).

Besides blazing speed, Verizon is looking to further expand their grip on the market by adding VoIP service and eventually television.

The project is underway in Texas, California, and (_drumroll_) Tampa Bay. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to this.

A welcome sign across the street from the Ice Palace, greets visitors coming to watch hockey.