I’m optimistically allowing 2 days to purge paperwork, cull through books and choose what’ll go to charity and what I’ll keep, and go through the hundreds of small slips of paper I seem to always write my passwords on.

I’ll return to regale you with tales of the move (and other things too) on Wednesday, August 1.

Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Home Office, Getting Organized, Clutter, Books, Jacksonville Writer, Publish, Florida Writer

Tickets for the Jacksonville Jaguars preseason game August 18 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers go on sale Sat. July 28 at 9 a.m. Fans may purchase tickets online at the official Jaguars site, or by calling 904-633-2000 (extension 3). By going to the stadium ticket office, located in the North End of the stadium, on Saturday, July 28, from nine a.m. until noon. This will coincide with the Jaguars’ first day of training camp.

The Jacksonville Municipal Stadium ticket office, located next to the West Crown Royal Touchdown Club, is open Monday-Friday from nine a.m. until five p.m.

Single-game ticket prices for the 2007 season are as follows: $42, $52, $57, $70 and $95. Crown Royal Touchdown Club seats are also available upon request. Single-game tickets for regular-season games will go on sale on Saturday, Aug. 18, at nine a.m., based on availability.

Season ticket and group tickets for parties of 10 or more are currently on sale and can be purchased by calling 904-633-2000 or 1-877-4-JAGS-TIX. (Photo of Coach Jack Del Rio is from official Jaguars press room.)

Tips for fans

The first preseason game I attended in Jacksonville taught me a few things. Here are some tips to maximize your fun:
~Dress for the heat.
~Leave early. Traffic is heavy.
~Avoid alcohol (I know it’s breaking your heart, but it’s all about the heat.)
~If you tailgate, prepare light foods that have a low spoilage index.
~Hydrate before, during and after the game (water not alcohol).

Michael Austin Davis of Jacksonville, Fla., has been missing since June 25. I promised to keep this story in the public eye in hopes someone will come forward with information. To learn more, visit these links:

Our About Jacksonville FL column July 11.

Michael Austin Davis pages at MySpace.

Web site about Michael Austin Davis at iticomputers.com.

Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Jacksonville Jaguars, Preseason NFL games, Football Fans, Tailgating, Tickets NFL games, Tickets Jaguars, Michael Austin Davis missing

The book is a collection of Hansen’s personal experiences as a single parent, and is an offering to the families who are currently navigating a divorce or separation. The work has already received advance praise from Dr. David Brooks. “Excellent!” he said. “This is a must read book for everyone who is going through a divorce or for those counseling divorcing couples.”

Hansen’s experience isn’t confined to being a single parent. A veteran teacher, she worked with teenagers for fifteen years, and most recently has trained teachers, administrators, and parents on the importance of positive role modeling in raising children of character. She founded JDC Educational Enterprises, Inc., a consulting firm that focuses on parent workshops and providing support to school systems in the implementation of character education.

Hansen is also a veteran county court mediator and journalist. Her regular column, “Building Kids of Character,” appears monthly in First Coast Parent Magazine as well as on the Web. She has also written articles for Women’s Digest and Kids ‘n Sports, and she provides a monthly column on divorced parenting to attorneys. She is currently under contract with Young People’s Press in San Diego, California to write a literature-based character education curriculum for middle school students.

Hansen will launch ‘Broken Strings: Wisdom for Divorced and Separated Families” in Jacksonville at Truffles Coffee House, 11362 San Jose Blvd., on Saturday, August 11, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. The author will sign books and talk to guests. Music by Dot Wilder will be featured. The public is invited.

“This event is to thank all the people who made this book possible,” Hansen says, “and to introduce it to the public.”

Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Divorce, Separation, Single parent, Divorced Parenting, Character Education

Young professionals may rely on a cell phone as a primary phone.

If you don’t have the NOAA Weather radio receiver or scanner, you do what I did once when a late night tornado warning was issued. You stay up. But now that the Duval County Emergency Operations Center has implemented a telephone emergency notification system, I can go to bed. The system is capable of automatically contacting residents in the event of a potential or pending emergency. Local officials now have the ability to deliver a pre-recorded message to residents in targeted areas of the city, or to the entire county, if necessary, at a rate of up to 60,000 calls per hour.

There’s an added advantage to this new system. It’s common for the under-forty crowd to use a cell phone as a primary number. This money-saving option traditionally would keep a cell phone number off an emergency notification list. There’s good news for these residents, and for business owners and those with unpublished numbers. (more…)

What do you do if you’re in a car and there’s a warning for your own area?

As soon as I returned to the office, I checked out the FEMA site for some ideas. “Get out immediately,” FEMA advises, “and go to the lowest floor of a sturdy, nearby building or a storm shelter. Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from tornadoes.”

However if you’re on the stretch of US Highway 1 I was driving on, there aren’t a lot of public places to seek shelter. So here’s what I’m supposed to do if I don’t see a sturdy structure:

Lie flat in a nearby ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands. Be aware of the potential for flooding. Do not get under an overpass or bridge. You are safer in a low, flat location. Never try to outrun a tornado in urban or congested areas in a car or truck. Instead, leave the vehicle immediately for safe shelter.

I can just imagine parking my car on the highway and heading for the nearest ditch. Talk about a dilemma.

We’ve lived through a number of tornado watches here in Jacksonville as well as in my previous home state of South Carolina. We’ve survived two major hurricanes. But of all the inclement weather we can face, the tornado is most frightening.

We have a small interior room here at the house—soon to become my new office—that serves as our safe room. We’ve only fled there once in the years we’ve lived here. But I keep a quilt handy. My grandmother stitched it years ago, and it weighs at least 10 lbs. dry. I figure we can cover up with that sturdy material if it looks like our house is going to fly apart.

But to be honest, after seeing the damage a tornado did to my mom’s property years ago in South Carolina, I don’t think there’s any place you’re truly safe from a tornado. I recall seeing her sturdy storage building reduced to a pile of matchstick-sized debris.

Some more FEMA advice echoes in my brain—Watch out for flying debris. Flying debris from tornadoes causes most fatalities and injuries. Not a very comforting thought.

Luckily, there haven’t been reports of any injuries from the morning storms we had today. But we’re early into hurricane season and inclement weather is bound to come our way at some point. On the way home this morning after my interview, it was raining so hard I could barely see to drive.

My next project: do additional research on hurricane preparedness. Jax is long overdue for a hit in my opinion.

RELATED LINKS

http://www.fema.gov/hazard/tornado/to_during.shtm
FEMA advice on what to do during a tornado.

http://www.floridadisaster.org/citizen_emergency_info.htm
http://www.floridadisaster.org/eoc/Update/Home.asp
Emergency preparedness from Florida Disaster, Division of Emergency Management.

Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Severe Florida Weather, Emergency Preparedness, Tornado, Hurricane, Weather Warnings Florida

All manuscripts have been returned from the acquisition editors who ranked the finalists. Names of the winners have been a closely-held secret for the past month. DiGenti says, “Contest Chair Terri Ridgell has refused to tell even me, saying she’s keeping the names frozen in a carton of Ben & Jerry’s Berried Treasure ice cream.”

Light snacks and drinks will be served. DiGenti invites you to come and cheer on your favorite writer or just be there for the party. Finalists are:

MYSTERY/SUSPENSE
Jean Osborn
David Pereda
Mary Kilgore
FICTION-GENERAL
Bill Barbour
John Holley
Leonard Emmel
YOUNG ADULT
Karen Harvey
Gertie Poole
Suki Litchfield
Bill Dougherty

DiGenti says finalists may bring family and friends and “pose for the paparazzi on the red carpet” before the awards ceremonies if they wish. First Place winners should also be prepared to make a brief “Thank you” speech.

DiGenti credits Terri Ridgell and all of the preliminary judges for making this first contest such a success. He says a special thank you goes to the three acquisition editors — Barbara Moore/Midnight Ink, Julie Doughty/Penguin Group and Andrew Karre/Flux.

RELATED LINKS

Visit FWA Ponte Vedra group on the Web: http://www.fwapontevedra.blogspot.com/

Visit FWA state organization on the Web: http://www.floridawriters.net/dnn/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Lighthouse Book Awards celebration, Florida Writers Association, NE Florida Writers Association, writing contests, writers’ groups

The heat index in Jacksonville on Thursday topped 100 degrees—not a good day for anyone to be outside for long without water or shade. A resident of Beachwood Apartments on the Southside decided to take her trash out. What she found in the dumpster will likely be a memory she’ll carry for the rest of her life. Inside a pillowcase, along with the garbage, the female resident found a newborn baby girl. The fact the child was alive is a miracle.
(more…)

Yellowcard was formed in Jacksonville. The band has sold more than 3 million albums.

Van’s Warped Tour 2007 comes to Jacksonville today, with dozens of bands playing at Reynolds Park Yacht Center, 1063 Bulkhead Road, in Green Cove Springs. Fans are itching to hear the music crank up; there are many comments at the official Web site.

The band Yellowcard, formed in Jacksonville, will be there; Bayside, K-OS, and Pepper are among many others performing.

According to the Web site at the time we’re posting this column (11 a.m.), tickets are not available online. There is a map available, and a stage grid you can print out.

A fan’s post at the Web site message board provides some sound advice–here’s a verbatim:

Have fun everyone today, also please if this is your first concert stay in the back please, if you go to the front more than likely your going to be pushed alot and hit by alot of crowd surfers and youll be miserable and hate it so stay back and have fun.

My daughter has gone to this concert, and she had a lot of fun. She also says the place was packed. “I got stepped on, hit on and everybody had water guns.”

It gets very hot, so hydrate yourself before, during and after. Temperatures will rise to the upper 90s, which means a heat index topping 100 degrees. There’s a 30 percent chance of rain.

Another fan gives some great advice, “Don’t be a poser. Make it back alive.”

~~~~Recommended links:

For full details, visit the official Van’s Warped Tour Web site:
http://www.warpedtour.com/warpedtour/concert5.asp?id=28237&tour=52

Visit Yellowcard’s fan site:
http://www.yellowcardrock.com/bio.aspx

Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Warped Tour 2007, Jacksonville FL, Yellowcard, concerts, bands, heat, music

Many homes in Jacksonville have backyard pools. They provide great fun, but they bring great risks as well.

I had a heart-stopping moment a few days ago. My daughter who is 17 years old was swimming with a friend. I was working on a story—my office windows provide a great view of the pool. Suddenly I heard the unmistakable sound of someone choking.
(more…)

Donna Jou (bottom) was last seen in Los Angeles, leaving with Jacksonville native John Steven Burgess(top) on his motorcyle June 23 at 5:30 p.m.

John Steven Burgess was the last person seen with 19-year-old college student Donna Jou of Los Angeles. According to the Orange County (Calif.) Register, Burgess, who also uses the alias Sinjin Stevens, grew up in Jacksonville, Fla.
(more…)