Life in Florida - useless information

People seem to love Florida. I was born here in Central Florida back in 1973. Up until high school, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. Now I can't wait to get out of here.

Crime has gone thru the roof. 

I'm pretty sure there's not a single orange grove left here in Orange County. 

It's over crowded. People are rude. They can't drive (well they can, but they're paying more attention to shaving, talking on the phone, reading the newspaper, texting...everything other than the road when behind the wheel) - it gets that much better when it rains. The first sign of water falling from the sky and they turn on the four-way flashers and drop their speed down to 20mph.  If you can't see and / or are not comfortable driving in the rain. DON'T. Pull over and turn on your flashers...don't turn them on and continue to creep along at 20mph...you are going to be the cause of a wreck (that's not an accident...that's caused by someone being a total moron...an accident is your brakes failing or a tire blowing out...anything caused directly by a driver's actions is a wreck in my book). 

Did I mention it's hot and mosquito count rivals the population of China? Seriously...it does. Between 1824 and 1845 Orange County was Mosquito County. While Mosquito County no longer exists, Mosquito Lagoon is still here and it is a very popular fishing spot on the Indian River.

This is a sticker that you will see on many a truck here in Central Florida...

Or that you have to provide your entire life history to renew your driver's license? Yep - that's on my to-do list since mine expires next June. Since my name changed when I got married, I have to have bring a certified marriage license (God help any woman who has been married more than once and or changed her name for any other reason in between...you have to have documents showing EVERY name change back to your birth certificate - which needs to be certified as well, not a hospital copy). You also need your Social Security card or a valid passport. Proof of address (mortgage statements, homeowners insurance, 2 utility bills that are not more than 2 months old...) oh and your first born child. If you don't have one, you're out of luck (ok, i'm kidding about the child). If you can't produces some of these documents, you have to go thru a whole process of getting a waiver from the state. Ummm so if you can get a waiver...what's the point of requiring it to begin with again?

We also have those dreaded hurricanes - and ridiculous rates on homeowners insurance because of them - and companies that won't insure Florida homes.  I don't really get that...sure we have hurricanes...and the Midwest had tornadoes that wipe entire towns off the map, while California has earthquakes, wild fires and mudslides...and of course things like flash floods and tsunamis and all that jazz. We get WARNING and can take precautions with hurricanes. Same goes for Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina - we all deal with the hurricanes...are they getting the same abuse from insurance companies?

Ok, done with my ranting for today... 

Here are some interesting (or not) Florida facts:

• 2 of the top 5 deadliest highways are in Florida. #1 I-95, #3 I-4 (which I drive to and from work every single day) Driving Dangers

• Rain is the most deadly atmospheric condition when it comes to driving. (Did I mention that from March thru August it rains pretty much every single day here in Florida?)

• Gatorade was invented in Florida (duh...Florida Gators...)

• Most of the episodes of Sea Hunt were filmed at Silver Springs near Ocala. The springs there are beautiful.

• Key West has the Southern Most Point in the continental US. (Hawaii is actually farther South.)

• The St. John's River flows North (because Georgia sucks - ha! Florida Gator humor at it's best my friends) - it's one of the few rivers in the US that does
• Delta Burke is from Winter Park (hey - me too!)  and was Miss  Florida in 1974

•  In the quirky Key West Cemetery there's a crypt proclaiming "I Told You I Was Sick"

• Cape Canaveral is America's launch pad for space flights

 
 
 Bonus Fact...that has nothing to do with  Florida (other than ME)...

• My birthday is the most dangerous day to drive - June 10. So everyone should stay home and celebrate my birthday by NOT being on the roads. Driving Dangers