Sarasota News Leader

06/20/2014

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for me, night and day, any time of day, gave me great comfort. And, most importantly, you never, ever complained. You were my strong and silent companion. At Stage Two, the depression set in when I realized I had lost you and your never-ceasing dependability forever. I really did cry, rant, scream and yell when I tried to understand that you were gone, out of my life, and that no matter how much I prayed and wished for a miracle, it was not to be. Stage Three is called "Anger," and why not? For the past few weeks, I have been very angry with you, my trusty and reliable friend, for leaving me in the lurch like this. I do not want to start over, looking for a new friend to replace you, the one I liked so much and with whom I felt so safe. And, finally, we arrive at Stage Four, "Acceptance." I am not sure I accept any of this yet. Even though I now have a replacement for my dearly departed friend, one that is suppos- edly designed to help me in future endeavors, I do not really believe it yet. I am still heart- broken and suffering from withdrawal pains. By now, I bet most of you have made some kind of guess about my dearly lost compan- ion. Of course, it is my old desktop computer, the one with easy, simple, enjoyable Windows XP software (really, really old). Included in my new computer is Windows 8 — so strange, foreign, complicated and unfriendly — some- thing I never asked for. It was thrust in my face when we set up the PC. The owners of my favorite bookstore must be happy. I just bought Windows 8 for Dummies. I must really be dumb because I am having trouble understanding the book, too. Honestly, I would really much prefer learning Italian. % LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CITY NEEDS TO TIGHTEN ORDINANCES TO HANDLE PROBLEMS On May 19, downtown merchants appealed to City Attorney Robert Fournier to "tighten" existing ordinances or craft new ones to deal with problems caused by vagrants on Main Street. Mr. Fournier responded, "Nothing was specific. What ordinances?" I submit that the merchants are entitled to more than the view that they, themselves, should engage in ordinance drafting. It should be enough for them to say to the city, "We have a problem. Fix it!" The city attorney went on to say that the city does not suffer from "an inadequacy of ordi- nances. The answer is having more police officers in place downtown … When police officers have been stationed in public places, OPINION Sarasota News Leader June 20, 2014 Page 98

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