The View from Lady Lake

Friday, July 31, 2026

If I ever meet just one of these idiot 'influencers'...

A four-hour wait and a pricey fast-pass lane aren’t just for Magic Kingdom anymore - it’s the new Saturday night at the Jersey Shore. Divey but beloved beach town bars such as The Parker House, Osprey, Jenks and D’Jais - all of which were my personal (off-season)favorites when I lived in Manasquan - once flooded by locals (like me) wanting to slug back a beer while listening to a cover band’s rendition of “Livin’ on a Prayer,” have been transformed into a hotspot feeding ground for young partiers.

Thanks to viral videos of influencer Alix Earle and model Livvy Dunne partying at Jenks Club in Point Pleasant and pop-star Tate McRae canoodling with NJ Devils star Jack Hughes at Sea Girt’s The Parker House, Gen Zers are trekking from all over to endure insanely long wait times and pay upwards of $300 for VIP status to get in on the shore action.

The hysteria (and money spent) is a sharp contrast to how Middletown, New Jersey resident Carol An Mireider recalls her partying nights down the shore. “We didn’t pay much; it wasn’t so commercialized. You could go to D’Jais’ [in Belmar] happy hour and get five beers for a dollar,” she told The Post.

For the record, D'Jai's is a shit hole, and has been, proudly, for 60+ years. It is the true definition of an instutional seaside bar.

This tourist needs to learn the bear necessities...

This is the moment a tourist freezes as a wild brown bear bites his calf and lunges before the man flees in fear. Dash-cam footage shows the man standing stone-still when a bear creeps out of the bushes behind slowly in the Romanian Mountains.

The bear appears to sniff his leg tentatively for a few moments before taking a bite. The man remained still. The dash-cam video shows the driver in the car driving forward slowly to box in the bear with the vehicle in front.

Tourists have previously been warned if they ever travel to the famous road Transfăgărășan, “DO NOT STOP, DO NOT FEED THEM, and just AVOID THEM”.

The warning added: “No matter how chill and cute they might seem on the side of the road, almost ‘begging’ for attention and food, they are WILD animals and can be very dangerous, even deadly as you’ll soon find out.” It comes after a bear killed a motorcyclist in the scenic mountain highway just a few days before.

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They're still holding that price, but today is the

last day of the sale. Grab a couple. I did.

Hats off for this toned and trim HillBetty...

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Someone must have a birthday
or anniversary coming up.
Here's a great new gift idea...
Click on the picture for more information on this cute bracelet

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So - what's up with all that 'Serve and Protect' shit? This ain't either one...

The Dunellen Police Department used a stupid swampish costume to covertly conduct a distracted-driving enforcement operation in the Middlesex County town. The six-hour operation - meant to enforce the state’s handheld cellphone law and promote safety - resulted in 74 citations to drivers distracted by their devices.

“Our ‘shrub’ was busy. We issued 74 citations to drivers distracted by their devices in a six-hour window,” the department wrote in a statement.

The law prohibits drivers from using a handheld cellphone or device - resulting in fines of $200 to $400 for a first offense.

To my used-to-be-a-cop mindset, there is something seriously wrong about doing shit like this. This is about a money grab, with almost nothing to do with public safety as I see it.

Granted, we all know driving and talking on the phone is stupid - texting even worse, but still. I guess there's so little crime in that town that they have to go out and create some. Kinda fucked up if ya ask me. I wonder what percentage of those busted were women. Kalshi?

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It's a classic 'Skip and slide'...

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Have you seen this man?

AOL - A political prankster is roaming the streets of Washington, D.C. - and pulling stunts at Mitch McConnell’s expense. Phoney “missing persons” posters can be seen around the streets of the capital, seemingly poking fun at the Republican senator’s prolonged absence from Congress.

The posters, which are titled “MISSING PERSONS,” also include his description under his photo. It reads: “84 years old. 5’9 Feet. Turtle-like.” The poster also notes that the politician was last seen on June 11, that he is known for “blocking something in the Senate” and his distinguishing feature is his “tortoise like appearance.” A small section in the corner reads, “If you have any information about his whereabouts, please keep it to yourself. He would.”

The goof was pulled by the Save America Movement (SAM), a 'citizen-led' (bullshit) organization that focuses on “defending democracy and restoring common sense.” It is an anti-Trump non-profit that targets Republican-controlled House seats and the entire MAGA movement by staging “high-profile public demonstrations” around the nation’s capital.

He's a Spanish socialist - of course he doesn't get it...

At least 41 people have died trying to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta after as many as 50,000 migrants entered the tiny territory from Morocco in a matter of hours. The large influx of people - virtually every one a male - arriving in Ceuta by swimming across from neighbouring Morocco or scaling the border fence has caught the city of 85,000 off guard and resulted in what one local police association called a “serious humanitarian crisis”.

Spain’s Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who arrived in Ceuta on Friday, described the influx as “a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity” and said he would use all the state resources at his disposal to guarantee the safety of the people of Ceuta. He blamed 'human trafficing mafias' for the incursion. It's so blown out of proportion it's ridiculous.

Open your doors to the muslim hordes and this is what you get...

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Find one for yourself by clicking on the picture or here:

Lodge Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Reversible Grill/Griddle

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When is a tip not a tip? I'll give you a hint - when it isn't...

America’s tipping culture has gone from rewarding service

to fee insanity. Mandatory tips are not tips at all...

Passengers of Celebrity Cruises are pushing back after the cruise line raised its 'automatic gratuity charges' with little notice, with some guests threatening to remove their payment of the fees altogether and tip crew members in cash instead.

As of July 29, guests who do not prepay the gratuities will automatically pay between $19.50 and $24.50 per person, per day, depending on their stateroom category, according to the Celebrity Cruises gratuity policy on the company's website. The increase raises the daily gratuity by $1.50 per person across every stateroom category, according to reports.

Under the new rates, guests staying in Inside, Ocean View and Veranda staterooms will pay $19.50 per person, per day. Concierge Class and AquaClass guests will pay $20.50, while those staying in The Retreat will pay $24.50, the policy states.

If they wanted to avoid all this angst, they could simply call it a 'service charge' instead of a gratuity. People would be less pissed and the staff'd probably end up getting more tips at the end of the cruise. Why these cruise lines don't consult me before they do this shit - well, it's beyond me. I coulda set 'em straight.

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This guy was ahead of me yesterday.

Can't really deny the sentiment, can ya...

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Babs actually watched some of that ludicrous hearing. Later she said it would have been a lot easier - and much shorter - if Fauci had just held up a picture of Sgt. Schulz every time he was asked a question. Sharp wit, that gal has...

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Our protests back in the day were different.

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You'll get a good couple of years out of these,

and they are super comfortable.

See them on sale for yourself here.

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Ya see shit like this every day, but I'll be fucked if I could find a way to verify if he actually said it. I do know from a little research of my own that he was specifically concerned abdout certain groups of people who were muslim. The Immigration Act of 1907 was signed by Roosevelt - the legislation broadened restrictions to exclude individuals classified as "polygamists, or persons who admit their belief in the practice of polygamy". While earlier 1891 legislation targeted active polygamists (primarily aimed at Mormons), Roosevelt's expansion targeted anyone expressing a religious belief in plural marriage.

Social media rumors have reframed this historical anti-polygamy provision as a deliberate 1907 "Muslim ban," though the legislative focus and public debates of the era centered on general restrictions against anarchists, contract laborers, and specific Asian immigration, so who knows...
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Governor Ron DeSantis has confirmed that after finalizing the new budget, the state of Florida will have slashed spending for 4 straight years.

Despite having a similar population to New York, Florida’s budget will be less than half the size of New York’s. The state’s rainy day fund will be 100% full and more than 3 times larger than it was just 7 years ago.

All of this with no state income tax and upcoming cuts to property taxes. Florida continues to lead with fiscal responsibility and strong conservative governance.

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This cartoon is 13 years old and still makes sense.

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Handmade gifts are extra special when

they're for someone extra special.

Click on the picture for more information on these earrings.

Each item comes with free shipping.

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I'm always fascinated by people who can take a simple idea and put it in to a completely different context, making it more enjoyable - kinda like this simple cartoon. What kind of wonderfully twisted mind would put the human Pinnochio on an analyst's couch?

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Spain's socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was heckled today as he arrived in Ceuta while the Spanish government is battling to beat back a wave of 49,000 migrants who swam from Morocco yesterday.

Somebody wanna explain to me how something like that could be organized? That's just friggin' insane...

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Mary Lou's bustin' out...

"The Girl at the Desert Bus Stop (1952)"

April 9, 1952. On a lonely stretch of Route 66 in Arizona, a teenage girl named Mary Lou waited at a sun‑bleached bus stop with a cardboard suitcase and a dream bigger than the desert around her. She had left her small town before dawn, determined to reach Los Angeles and become a telephone operator - a job that promised independence and a paycheck of her own. The bus arrived late, dust swirling around its wheels. The driver asked, “You sure about this, kid?” She nodded. When she stepped onto that bus, she wasn’t just leaving home - she was stepping into her future. That is my colorized version. Here's the original: