Amtrak Leaving Columbus???

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I found out last night that Amtrak had plans to have a High Speed Rail from Milwaukee to Madison to St. Paul. I was worried about Columbus being out of the mix but I believe they are talking about six trains a day so it would have to be a commuter rail system and The Empire Builder would not be touched.

I THINK Columbus is safe. In other train news it is sounding like (if the above is correct) the train station will be enlarging. When it was first built there were two waiting rooms. One for men to spit, swear, rub their crotch and chew tobacco and one for the ladies and children. What we have now is only the male waiting room with the female on used for equipment and so forth.

The Rod who is not me says that they are talking of vacating that extra room which would be at the disposal of Columbus. It could be used as a small museum or gift shop or whatever. I feel this would be a great place to have a "History of Columbus" theme room.

SO - that is my take on the Amtrak news.
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Speaking of Columbus.

The City Council has annexed four acres of farmland on Highway 16/60 to the west of Columbus. What does "annexed" mean?

Basically annexation is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity. That sounds pretty cool when you say it like that. Go ahead, say it out loud. . . . . . . come on . . . repeat after me "annexation is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity. . . . .see?? don't you just feel a lot smarter now?

Of course annexation could also be referred to as expansionism and you could talk about our Mayors "expansionist policies" which sounds aggressive. I don't think you could term it as Unilateralism as this is a one sided policy. But - I digress.

Bottom line - Columbus grew by four acres.

Columbus also purchased a Mega Utility Vehicle and a 2009 Prius with an electric/plug-in conversion. This with the LED street lights are making Columbus greener.

What I believe a Mega Utility Vehicle looks like.

Last Monday I managed to miss the Columbus Auditorium Corporation meeting. They have a financial balance of $28,229 (you guys put them over the $28K mark with your $300 donations). They also received $2,500 from Public Enemies Production.

Dale Schirmacher will serve as President and FINALLY we can stop seeing all of those inflammatory ad's on TV day after day. "If you don't vote for Schirmacher/Witke we're tearing down City Hall".

Voting Tuesday- Make sure you bring food with you for voting. NO NO NO it's not because of the long lines. (although I could have a Obama Dog and a Palin "open a can of rage" Stew stand hmmmmm) . Anywho, they are collecting food for the Columbus/Fall River Food Pantry. They are looking for complete meals, canned fruit, canned tuna, peanut butter and jelly, cereal, pasta sauce and other canned stuff (my personal favorite are those little Vianna Sausages).

The Columbus Fourth of July organization is having a meeting on Monday at 6:30. They can always use more people. Yes They Can!

Mullin Short Stop announced they are creating a $500 scholarship in appreciation for the local students who helped in this years flooding (actually that should read who helped STOP this years flooding). Right on!! THAT, is what I like to see in local businesses. Makes me proud I went there to eat this year.

I know many people that live in Columbus work outside the town but I hope those same people will spend money in Columbus. Why give other town people your money. Buying local is actually giving yourself a tax break
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So - I was just casually discussing bars on the HB forum and a some aggressive guy says "Grinder, have you ever managed a bar or restaurant before?".

My answer was . . .

Well - I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once!





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This is always a stressful weekend for me. A group of friends and associates fly out to Las Vegas every year and on football Sunday they wager a LOT (up to $1000) on the games my football system picks.

One year the chants of GRINDER GRINDER reverberated through a casino as I had a pretty good day. Others years . . . . not so much! NO PRESSURE!!

Oddly my past could have taken a few twists. One time a guy in Las Vegas wanted to have me as a partner and was making plans for him and me to move to the Dominican Republic to run an online casino. I think I dragged my feet long enough to nix that plan.

What could possibly go wrong.

This iteration of Grinders Island is actually Grinders Island 2. During the Tech frenzy (have I mentioned this before??) I was sort of a leader of lemmings with a group of online investors. One time a person commented "Grinder, if you purchased an Island and told us to move there we would follow". And thus was the first Grinders Island.

I think they all ended up drinking Kool-Aid when the market crashed (only old people will understand that one).
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Speaking of markets crashing - 79 years ago today the stock market crashed. Black Tuesday. The Great Depression soon followed. Stocks were way higher of their real value. Low wages, the proliferation of debt, a weak agriculture, and an excess of large bank loans that could not be liquidated attributed to the Depression.

The market had been in a decline for a month but on October 18th (Black Thursday) panic set in. Investment companies and leading bankers attempted to stabilize the market by buying up great blocks of stock, producing a moderate rally on the following Friday. But then Black Monday hit and the market went into a tail spin followed by a free fall and complete collapse on Black Tuesday.

Half of American banks failed and the unemployment rate was 30%. Compare that to today's 6% unemployment rate and you can see how the link between our current financial crisis and the great Depression is just silly talk.

Nuff said.

OH - I'm eating Diakon today - naver had one before - pretty tasty!!
Rod