Journal #5

In the center of South west Florida is a town named Ft.Myers. Originally named Ft. Harvey. Usually, a town is said to be named after a famous  general or someone who has accomplished something memorable, but the name Myers came from a man, a colonel, who was engaged to a captains daughter. In 1886, the permanent settlers came to Ft.Myers. The first school was established in the 1880's, but was burned down by some kids later on. After the burning,the 300 some residents of the Ft.Myers area drove to the commission in Key West to try to get help to build another school. However, the commission turned them down and said for them to build another school on their own. Around the 1920's, Collier and Hendry county came about. A short while later, around the 1930's, after the Ft. Myers area started to become a tourist hot spot, Thomas Edison and his friend/mentor, Henry Ford came down to visit. The reason for Edison's visit was to search for bamboo. After his findings, he became interested in Ft.Myers. So interested, that he bought 13 acres of land, which is now called the Seminole Lodge. During that time, the Arcade Theater, located in downtown Ft.Myers, was a popular entertainment spot not only for the residents and visitors of the town, but also for Thomas Edison. He had a special seat in the theater rigged with a hearing aid just for him. He was kind of like the celebrity of Ft.Myers, and was treated as such. After Thomas Edison's death, his wife had the brilliant idea of creating a library, in his name. Edison Community College, now Edison State College, was born.

Journal #4

"A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash", really did open my eyes about oil. I never realized all that it is in! It is amazing to think that it is in the clothes and shoes we wear, to the plastics our food is stored in, to the walls surrounding us. The video described oil as "the blood of the earth." Before watching this video, I used to think we just used oil for gas, little did I know, that 70% of one barrel of oil is used for fuel. What about the other 30%? Since oil is referred to as "our God," it is a big deal when the price of oil increases. Because when the price of oil goes up, so does the price of everything else! The video mentioned an interesting fact about how one single barrel of oil equals 25,000 man hours. That is also equivalent to twelve people working all year round. THAT IS INSANE TO THINK OF IT THAT WAY! When oil was first discovered in 1914 in Venezuela, it never crossed anyone's mind that eventually, one day, it would run out. I felt sad when they were showing all of the plentiful oil in the early 1900's, pumping it out all over in Venezuela and Texas, and then cutting to the shots of the same places, only there was no oil and completely desolate. How sad that no one saw the supply decreasing. Because oil is used for almost everything these days, it is very believable that it is known as a magnet for war. Countries would fight over it. It’s crazy to hear that many wars in history started because of oil.