Opening Day!

NOW - on Instagram - RodMelotte

Summer is here - it's Opening Day for baseball and the Brewers start their quest for 81 wins.

I took the above shot opening day a few years ago. It was pretty much how I was seeing things at the time.  You see I was invited to the game by balderdash and I asked if anyone was bringing REAL beer.  The answer was no, so I brought some Hopalicious. WELL - seems they have a drinking game tradition (what! are they in high school?) and it seems every time you lose you have to take a swig of beer.

WELL - I'm swigging 6.5% ABV and they are swigging 3.1% ABV beer.  I'm not sure who is the winner on this one.  

--------------------------------------------

The Badgers are 2 point underdogs next week and I would take that bet if I was a gambling man. Not because I'm a homer but because it's a smart bet.  So far 57% of gamblers are taking Kentucky -2 which is a good thing.

Kentucky will concentrate on Kaminsky but from what I have seen this year the Badgers have gotten this far  because when one player has a bad game someone else picks up the slack.  WELL, ALL players had a bad offensive game except Kaminsky.  Get a few more hitting and all is well.

Point spread is wrong and catered to the stupid public bettors.  While the Badgers had a 37% chance of making it to the Big Dance they NOW have a 31% chance of being National Champions according to FiveThirtyEight who are stupid good at this sort of thing. They have a 58% chance of beating Kentucky.

-----------------------------------------------

Council will be talking about adding a Pay Day legalized Loan Shark store near the assumed Sentry (rumors have it that Sentry backed out but we shall see).  Stay classy Columbus.   However they will also talk about buying a street sweeper and I'm all for that and have heard complaints from a number of people about the cigarette butts downtown near the dive bars.   

Also on the table will be talk about giving all Columbus government employes a paid day off the 3rd Friday of July to celebrate our awesomeness.  I wonder how much that will cost Columbus, I have not seen the numbers yet.
-----------------------------------------------

Happy birthday Eiffel Tower.  Columbus should have a replica of the tower downtown.  In 1889 Sir Bickerstaffe, the Mayor of Blackpool visited the tower and was so impressed he built one just like it.  I feel we should send Sir Crombie to France so he can build on that towers over Mullins.

In 2008 a woman actually married the Eiffel tower and changed her name to Erika La Tour Eiffel.  I guess the French are not as anal over marriage as we are in the States.

Did you know that in cold weather the tower shrinks 6 inches?  That's what she said!

In 1960 Charles de Gaulle proposed temporarily dismantling the tower and sending it to Montreal for Expo 67.  Bright idea but rejected.
-----------------------------------------------

Remember to vote Tuesday. 


Sitting - not running
Bomcamp Dist 2 -  Auxiliary Police Officer 

Running District 1
Davidson  - Auxiliary Police Officer
Rick Royem - NOT Auxiliary Police Officer

Running District 2
Larry Herzog  Auxiliary Police Officer
Rod Melotte NOT Auxiliary Police Officer

Do we need THREE Auxiliary Police Officer's that don't recuse themselves from voting on Police matters?   Just sayin'
    

Friday stuff

Columbus and Madison and most areas around here received about 1/2 inch of sky water.
------------------------------------

Funny - I was talking about zombies yesterday and before I went to Home Brew Club last night (I'm treasurer of the Sun Prairie Worthogs , more on this later) I watched an episode of The Walking Dead.

Now mind you, I am not a horror fanatic, in fact I'm anti-horror for the most part. Ever since I saw Alien in the theaters where I was SO SHOCKED at that one scene I was turned off to gore for my life.

RIP sweet Mika and psycho Lizzie

HOWEVER - friends kept telling me that The Walking Dead was so amazing and it IS the #1 scripted show on television which blows my mind.  Every season the ratings have gone higher then the next . . . . .anyway . . I started watching it and am totally hooked.

But back to my original thought . . there was an episode last week where it's like watching Old Yeller.  OMG seriously.

The episode was acted and scripted so well I wanted to applaud and be totally sad at the same time.  For anyone that watches it was The Grove  or  the "Look at the flowers Lizzie" episode.


It's been nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama and the demographics of viewers say the majority of viewers are woman.

-------------------------------------------

Sun Prairie Worthog competition judging

Back to reality - My oatmeal stout came in 3rd place last night out of 10.  Not disappointed. An oatmeal stout is not my forte and frankly I've never had a true oatmeal stout that knocked my socks off anyway.

I just did not get enough points in the mouth feel category.  I had all the other cat's but only got three out of five points for how the beer feels in your mouth which is important in an oatmeal stout.

Next up is my Saison which is a Belgium beer with fruity esters and a tricky fermentation process.

Beer normally needs to ferment rather cool in the low 60's.  But with a Saison  (French meaning season) you need to slowly raise the temperature of the fermentation a couple degrees a day up to the middle 80s.  This will bring out some of the special nuances of the flavor.        

So how was I going to do that?  How about a 35gallon container filled with water and a 55 gallon fish tank heater.

Saison heating up to 85

On a side not I'm hoping to brew my East Indian Porter at Hydro Street Brewing. We shall see.
--------------------------------------

The Broadway Theater group had a great announcement. The Columbus Theater Association is now a  non-profit organization.  Next month they will attend the League of Historic American Theatres regional conference in Chicago.   Knowledge is Power and I am so excited for these guys! 

-------------------------------------------

After working a little on project #1 (the billboard maybe thingy, as yet to be announced) and today is #2 as I talk to a magazine about the cover of their June Issue.  busy busy!  

OH - Winter Parking Rules are no longer in effect!  No Easter Sunday parking tickets this year, which is good because that would be April 20th. 

And one last thing - I was asked about the Columbus Police Department issuing warrants for arrest because of 3 month overdue library fines.  I was shocked and thought this was outrageous.   I looked and there were something like 20+ warrants for hundreds of dollars and  jail time  WTF? this is what they do is look for overdue library book offenders? 

So I went to there source.  Those mean librarians at the Columbus Library putting people in jail. 

WELL - here is the deal.  

It's NOT for overdue fines at all. It's for stealing books.  When you have an overdue book they will send out FOUR notices over a 3 month period and if they are totally ignored after three months they feel the book has been stolen (one person has not returned 17 books).  All anybody has to do is talk to them and all is well, BUT - DO NOT IGNORE YOUR LIBRARIAN!

So the $$ I saw on the warrants are not "fines" but the actual price of the missing and stolen books. 


 

GEEK

Note to knowitall - I can never run out of hobbies if I don't remember what they all are!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've got a secret.  
I was approached to do a project that could involve a lot of Columbus and a billboard and involves the word GEEK!  I'm looking into some new equipment this morning.   All I can say  ;-)

-------------------------------------------------------------

WELL - the good news out of Washington is that Wisconsin is ranked 10th in the U.S. for surviving the Zombie Apocalypse.

Taking 11 categories that researchers theorize are the best things to have we are #10.  Alaska is #1 and the first state to fold up is New Jersey.

Here is how we rank in each category.

Military Personal 49th.
Veterans 34th
Physically Active 14th
Martial Arts 28th
Survival Skills 10th
Knowledge of Zombies 26th
Laser Tag 1st
Gun Owners 14th
Obesity 37th
Paintball 10th
Ironman Triathlete 3rd

Should the zombies enter an office building in Wisconsin, they’ll face a large number of people prepared to shoot zombies in confined areas because Wisconsin is home to the most laser tag enthusiasts per capita in America.

Whew!  At least now I can concentrate all my energy into removing Andrew Jackson from the Twenty Dollar Bill.

WHAT YOU SAY?

Well, considering that Andy Jackson made his living before he was President as a slave trader and even had slaves while in the White House (or whatever color the house was back then) should he really be on a $20?   And while president he believed in a Native American genocide and conducted the removal of 90,000 American Indians ( remember the Trail of Tears from your school days?) from their home.

“This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government for white men…”    Andrew Jackson

 -----------------------------

 BTW - I've been watching the new show called "Believe" and find it very enjoyable.  I have not watched the 2nd episode of Resurrection so I guess it didn't make the cut.

Speaking of Survivor.  Last night we were watching the show and right at the very end. where Probts is about to tell us who got kicked out . . . . THE SCREEN GOES BLACK!!!!!  CBS losses the feed!!   AHHHHHH!!   Facebook lit up like a Christmas tree!!

You know, Facebook will be very handy in the Zombie Apocalypse.    

------------------------------

The sad news is that Milo has some sort of cancer/tumor. I won't say Milo has been the greatest cat ever but he certainly has had the most personality and is a great mouser.  We can't spend $1000 to prolong his life and he is in no immediate danger but his days are numbered and as long as he is happy we're good.  sigh!  The mice population in the neighborhood will ZOOM once he is gone!

That's a full size baby crib, he's huge!

He has always been gentile but aggravating.  You can't leave a cup of coffee unattended because he will stare right at you as he pushes it off the table.   He will MEOW literally for HOURS until you let him out. But at the same time is Mr. Cuddles.       sigh!   He's the last cat standing.    The winner of Melotte pet survivor.

Have a great Thursday

Life is a game

First think I must do is apologize for the word "pubic" which should have been "public" in yesterdays blog.  I believe that could be the 1st word I have ever gotten wrong.  Of course if you have not seen Hunger Games or the Divergent trailers the entire joke would not make any sense ANYWAY!
-----------------------------------------------

Speaking of Columbus and why I'm bullish for growth in my community while many are not.  The argument is that we have not grown in 100 years why start now.

One of the problems has been Sun Prairie. People want to live in rural America which for years was Sun Prairie - just outside of Madison.  But, as Sun Prairie slowly merges with Madison the NEXT town is Columbus.

On facebook here is what one person wrote.

Sun Prairie use to be a nice small town now it sucks since Madison people are coming into it. More traffic and morons. This was the reason I moved away from Madison. I live in the country near the new stores and if houses are going up, we are moving.

We are just far enough away so there is be no merging for MANY years with Sun Prairie! BUT, we will start to get people that would have moved to SP now coming to Columbus.

And that is why we need SMART growth, not just growth for the sake of growth!  I don't want to be like Sun Prairie and many people in Columbus LIKE being a small town as I do.  

---------------------------

Very interesting CDA meeting last night.  Remember when you were in high school and you would walk into the room and see the projector or a TV in front of the room and the day just got a little brighter?

Same thing when you walk into the Council Chambers and see Jason the City Engineer.

The whole 16/60 reconstruction is picking up steam and the corridor will be cement which helps in making other decisions.  We will have $166,000 in grant money plus any funds the city wants to invest which I HOPE will come about.  We don't get to re-due a street scape too often in a lifetime.  

HOWEVER - all of a sudden the DOT says we need plans by late June!   WHAT THE WHAT?  Sure, it's a 8.5 million dollar project and BAM, all of a sudden we need decisions NOW!

I say make the 73/63 (Park Ave/James Street) intersection into a big round-a-bout.  Sure we might have to take out Sharrows and level The Whitney Hotel built in 1858 and probably the Sargent block (1866) and the Corner Drug Store the oldest building in Columbus but that is falling down anyway.

HEY - if we can get more cars and semi's going through the middle of Columbus it's always a good thing and those buildings are old anyway.  We can replace them with prefab aluminum buildings at a quarter the cost and even make huge multi story parking lots! 

 BTW -  speaking of The Corner Drug Store a 1853 Vernacular Italianate which was continually occupied from 1865 to 2002 and is made of soft red brick and had an oyster bar in the basement.

Yes - oyster bar.  You see Oysters were big in Columbus, HUGE actually.  They came from the so called Crawfish River which was chock full of Oysters . . . . until they built that dam which pretty much ruined the water because all the chemicals from up stream stop at the dam and are now in the Mill Pond unable to filter south.

ANYWAY - here is my idea for that building with the bulging side.  Why not put an old style historic mural on the side of the building.  I bet the owner would be OK with that if it did not cost him anything.  It hides the bulge by putting focus on something else! 

 -------------------------------------------------

Life is a game if you think about it. The key is to win whatever you do isn't it?   When I sent my tape into Survivor it was not because I wanted to suffer and sleep in dirt. It was because I wanted to win the game and under stood non-cooperative games.

Survivor and Big Brother are probably the most ingenious games ever played. Seriously.  Big Brother especially.  People you poo poo Big Brother don't understand this is the greatest chess game ever played*** and it all has to do with Game Theory! The study of mathematical models of conflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers.   Big Brother and to a lesser extent Survivor.

*** (Chess is NOTHING like Survivor  . . . unless you are playing some new version of Chess where there are sixteen players, none of them actually have their pieces on the table, all players move whenever they feel like it, at regular intervals players are forced to checkmate someone but at any given time there's at least one player you aren't allowed to checkmate, and players are allowed to make agreements behind each other's backs.)

But Game Theory is used in business all the time.   Look at what CVS Pharmacy's did when they decided to not sell cigarettes. It's GREAT game play.  Many people are talking about how much money they will lose (about $2 billion a year in cig sales) and does the amount of good will really make up for this?

No - HOWEVER, it totally screws over Walgreens and Rite Aid their competitors.

CVS takes about a 1% hit in overall sales but they paralyze Walgreens and Rite Aid who now can't do ANYTHING!  it was a brilliant move.   If either one of them wants to follow CVS they will NOT get the big positive press bump and they give the other pharmacy ALL the cig sales.  They both get a small spike in sales but there is pressure to dump cig sales.  

So CVS has moved to be the "different" chain store, the one that gets recognition.    Walgreens and Rite Aid could collude and BOTH stop cig sales because there is pressure but then lose brand power.

Sorry - I just love watching how things play out like this.

OH - back to Survivor which

FOR MY AGE? REALLY?

Weather - we are going to get a LOT of rain Thursday/Friday. This will bring a lot of frost out of the ground and turn the grass green-er. We also have a huge system heading our way for NEXT Wednesday - this looks major but it's a week off. A mostly rain event but we will be close, 40s?

Unless you have been living under a rock you know these two dudes as the Irianians who had stolen passports.

Well . . . . HAS ANYONE LOOKED AT THEIR SHOES???   See anything wrong??

There is certainly a disconnect when it comes to the Chinese families of the loved ones that were on Flight 370.

You have photos like the one above which is just weird. You can't watch CNN for 4 hours a night as talking heads dissect every possibility because China does not believe in the "information age" and you must rely on the Malaysian officials who at first I thought were doing the best they can but now I believe they are just incompetent.

I mean really?  Texting families that they are calling the time of death?  And then for what reason??  OH - no real reason, it was just time I guess. Then they retract all of the hard evidence they have been spewing out?

On a different note.  This whole tragedy is increasing our knowledge base for satellite technology 10-fold I bet!  The science world is being allowed to spend ten of billions of dollars researching things that they could never look for before.         
-----------------------------------------------------

With last nights snow squall I thought I had better post a photo of our patio.  This is from July 8th 2014.  

Hopefully most of the snow will be gone by then.

--------------------------------------

Yesterday I spent 6 hours at the UW Sleep Cohort Study for Cardio tests!    NOT STRESS tests (whew).

It was fascinating really.

First they wanted to see my reaction time so I had a box with a button and a red 5 digit LED opening, like old calculators had.  My job was, for 10 minutes, watch the number thing.  When anything appeared press the button as fast as you can.  The numbers would zoom in milliseconds!! so you can see how fast I am and the numbers would come at random intervals.

Easy right?

Well, yea but we're talking milliseconds.  My AVERAGE was probably in the 210 range.  But I swear, if your brain wanders on ANYTHING else - BAM  275 the next one.

Or when I had a good run  195, 201, 200, 165 and at 165 I'm congratulating myself,  410   DAMN IT.

10 minutes is a long time to focus.

Then they took me down to the bowels of UW-Hospital and hooked me up to computers and so forth.  One technician is doing one thing with different pulse areas and another is Doppler radaring my heart.    

I found out my blood flows at 8.2 yards per second!  Seems fast!  But the technician said it was perfect for my age. (WTF!).  Too fast means arteries are not flexible.

FOR MY AGE?  When did this vernacular start to rear it's head.  It's one thing when I get a call asking for my opinions and then when asked my age they hang-up.  But now I have the "for your age" when if comes to health.  sigh!   

But the technician probing my heart had my attention. First of all she lives two blocks from me and her husband is a fire fighter, but watching her do her magic inside my heart was awesome.

I got to see my valves working and commented they look rather frail and flimsy which she said was a good thing.  You don't want stiff valves. Those suckers really work a hard.  I got to look at all the openings and coming and going and valves and directions of blood  inside my heart.  Hearts are even more amazing to me now!  I'm glad I have a working heart. And get this, it never gets a break.  No vacation time.

And who knew your heart is NOT on the left side.  Pretty much in the middle of you chest!  And your body holds 6 quarts of blood and it makes a circuit, three times a minute!  ZOOM!!!!  Your heart beats 35 million times a year, but MORE if you ever need to be on a candidate forum!

Then we measured the arteries going to my brain and face to see how they were functioning (I didn't hear any groans to sad "I'm sorry" looks.

Back up stairs for more cool tests and a good one you can do yourself.

This test took blood pressure readings but only looking at Systolic.  This is the 1st number and when  pressure is highest in the arteries and occurs when the lower part of the heart contracts.

If you go to a pharmacy, take your blood pressure and remember that first number, mine was 118 (my typical BP is 120 over 75.  Then put your ankle through the pressure gizmo and take your blood pressure on your ankle.  You SHOULD have a number that is 20 above the arm number if you are healthy and not about to die.

If you do do this can you take a photo of that last part. A video would be even better.

Then a 200 question questionnaire (seems redundant) in which I said roads were the biggest problem (but then again roads are the biggest problem in 99% of all communities)  and do I feel happy?  friendly?  run down?  wish I was dead? somewhat?  all the time? never?

BUT - finally the true test.  Getting up from a chair test.

Sit in a chair, stand up, walk to a spot on the floor, turn around and walk back and sit down.   Seemed easy.

Next - same thing HOWEVER, this time count backward BY THREE. starting with . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   125  GO!   LOL  I actually messed up!   125  122  118  115  112.  It's probably good FOR MY AGE!!

Next - same thing HOWEVER - she but a shoe box on the floor and I have to walk over it.  Start counting backward by 3 starting with . . . . . . . . . 90  GO!    Well, all was fine until that blasted shoe box was right in the perfect spot, do I take a small step? large step, trip and sprawl on the floor thrashing wildly spewing random numbers?

I got the numbers correctly and did not fall.  And I'm done!   OH - balance tests!

Stand next to a railing. Both feet forward, like you are  . . standing.  Let go of the railing and stand as long as you can.   ummmmmmm  I said this could take a while as I'm a pretty good stander.  She stopped around 10 seconds as I did not looked like I would fall soon.

Couple more like that and I was done.

Had a NYStrip Steak and baked potato lunch and drove home and a nice check in my pocket looking 4 years down the road IF they get funding from the government.

--------------------------------------------

Remember - next Tuesday is Reaping Day when Columbus will have their Choosing Ceremony and I must decide what faction I will be in, the Dark Side, (Government) or the Uninformed side (Public).

No no the test will be non conclusive but, I don't want to be only Government or only Uninformed, I want to be BOTH! 

I'm Sorry Rod, you are . . . . . . .CONFLICTED!

Have a day
RM





  

   

Economic Development

I will not have a blog Monday (not that there is a schedule) because I'm taking part in yet another UW-Hospital study for big bucks.!  This one is a 10 hour cardio study.  A cardio study sounds a little harder then a sleep study.  I hope they don't make me do any exercise.

Also - I was hoping I was not going to get the question about Economic Development because I thought I had a good chance of winning ONE BILLION DOLLARS of which I would donate $100 to the City for Econ Development.  I do what I can.   BUT - I went 13-3 in the brackets and I sent an email to my good friend Warren Buffett for a do-over.  Harvard??  COME ON!!             

How should the city approach economic development in both the downtown and outlying areas. 

NOTE - in my response I completely forgot about THE NORTH EAST GATEWAY into Mullinland.  I forgot because I just figured that area has it together and does not need help.  HOWEVER - a river walk would be awesome cool.
 -----------------

When we lost Steve Sobiak our Economic Development Adviser to Portage we lost a huge salesman for Columbus and his shoes will be hard to fill. I’m concerned that no one ever asked Steve for any recommendations on who to fill his shows.

 I feel Columbus needs to grow naturally and organically when it comes to business.

What does that mean?

It means if we make Columbus a place that is people friendly, business will come naturally without giving away huge risky long term financially unstable incentives.

We should not have to beg for business. We have so much going for us as it is. Our marketing should not be “Come to Columbus because we are cheap” it should be “Come to Columbus because you will grow and your employees will love living here”.

Let’s talk about the three Economic areas.

The Commerce Center – it is what it is, a place where people can go and buy STUFF. It ain’t pretty but every town needs an area like this and it serves a purpose. It captures people traveling through the area and makes then stop and every time a car stops someone makes money. I wish it was Columbus but it’s not. The only thing we can hope for is that some of the employees live in Columbus.

The taxes we get from business do not even come close to the long term fiscal burden that area puts on Columbus. Anybody that tells you that business fills our coffers is a short term thinker, not long term.   BUT – again, it serves a purpose, a place for people to buy stuff which makes them happy and makes Columbus a better place to live which is what I’m all about.

The (south west) Gateway – Totally different animal. I’ve talked briefly to Curt Hanson and I like his vision. If the Commerce Center is quantity, The Gateway is Quality.

I personally have a man crush in the Enerpac facility and it will keep looking better every year as the Maples grow. It’s a huge calling card for Columbus. I have not seen the plans for the area but if we can keep a tight control making sure this area continues grow in a beautiful and architecturally vibrant direction it will only help draw people into . . . . . .

the downtown.

Here is where Mr. Optimism trips of the sidewalk a little. If you could have been with me during the filming of Public Enemies as I interviewed people from all over the world you would be amazed at the compliments!

BUT – like all towns our size it’s a problem. Columbus is unique in hit beauty but not unique with the business problem. There is hope on the horizon but it comes at a price.

We have The Broadway Theatre moving forward and you can not underestimate the impact this will have to downtown. We also have the 16/60 reconstruction which will be like pulling off a giant scab, it’s going to REALLY hurt but the results will take the “tired” and “old”label off the downtown area. The difference between now and 2 years from now will be amazing.

To answer the question – Columbus should grow naturally, like all cities did for hundreds generations, it’s a time tested proven strategy. We need to stop looking desperate and stop giving money away that should be used for Quality of Life expenses. We need to put the citizens of Columbus first because by doing that business will follow.

Clowns Selling Cheeseburgers

Kaasa farmstead

I took this and a few other photos on what used to be Curt Hanson's land (maybe it still is??) .

The reason I bring this up was Tuesday night I attended the Columbus Agribusiness Dinner and a few of my images were on display. One of them being my Cows which was a gift to Ben Brencel the Secretary of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection and I'm told will soon be hanging in their office.  (I should have asked him about my stolen laptop from that "business" in Columbus).

This means that I not only have an image hanging in the Secretary of the  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection but also The Attorney General's office in the Department of Justice.

My goal is to infiltrate all Government Agencies! 

It was a pretty entertaining time but to be honest I was totally lost when it came to the speakers and I did not have a clue what they were talking about.   Oh, I understood the words but they were meaningless to me and I thought perhaps I was having a stroke.

I believe at one point the speaker said something on the order of:
 
Dark night, that from the eye his function takes,
The ear more quick of apprehension makes;
Wherein it doth impair the seeing sense,
It pays the hearing double recompense.

WHAT???  I know the words but . . . . .I quickly took a few aspirin and survived the night.

I gave a 8x12 of the Kaasa farmstead (or what is left of it) to Curt Hanson a few months ago and Tuesday I had a 20x30 printed on metal impregnated paper and got it back Monday and it looks AWESOME!!  Not sure what to do with it but I gotta say it looks sweet, it almost glows.

ANYWAY - I've been under a little stress the last few weeks (4 days actually) as I had a candidates forum. Some of you might remember that I'm running for City Council as the Moderate candidate (who knew I would be the moderate) and last night was the big TV show in front of a crowd of literally thousands (maybe 20).

All went well except my opponent was a no show.

We were given 12 question to prepare for and I was ready, but then we found out that each of us would only get to answer four of those questions which was rather disappointing because I had a drinking game all set.  Every time I say "family first community" take a shot.

Not once did I have a chance to say those famous catch phrase words. sigh!  It was a conspiracy against me and the tavern league is investigating.

HOWEVER - I did get to say one thing which I'm pretty sure will be headlines in newspapers across the country and I'll have to go buy a USA Today today so I can save it.

CLOWNS SELLING CHEESEBURGERS! 

Sadly the Mayor of our fine Community is filing paperwork as I speak to have me excommunicated from Columbus because he mistakenly thinks I was talking about him.  You see he also owns Mullins Shortstop which sells great cheeseburgers in the NORTH EAST Gateway to Columbus and is in the middle of a massive land-grab and was last seen wringing his hands and laughing with evil glee as he levels historic (old) gas stations.

But I digress. 

The actual quote was about the SOUTH WEST Gateway to Columbus. The question was:

What should the City's role be with future development on the Gateway area? 

Obviously, I should have countered with . . . "WHICH Gateway area!!"

Enerpac already draws attention to Columbus and we need to make sure the quality of this development matches or augments this area. I don’t want this area to be crowded with Clowns Selling Cheeseburgers. When we develop this area, this needs to have class!

I  was asked some good questions though but a few good ones I missed.

I did not get the question about our Library which might be good because I might have found out that half the city was born in Kentucky when I said:

At the Public Library Association's bi-annual conference last week, someone referred to our square footage  as "Kentucky levels."

But the Senior Center question I wish I would have been asked:

Many people when they think of the Senior Center they think it’s a place where old people go to hang out.

True true

I toured the Senior Center last year and was flabbergasted with how many different tools are at their disposal.  YET – every year their budget seems to drop another $10,000.

My father in law is 88 and a living survivor of the USS Indy and my mom is 87 living in Illinois with my bother and both love being around people their age so they can talk about us crazy youngsters and how we don’t really know what we are doing. 

I consider the Senior Center as one of the most important parts of the city because it offers a wide range of health, recreation, education and most importantly social interaction to the greatest generation and soon my generation, the 2nd greatest generation.  Our senior center is a huge social support system that combats loneliness and depression.

After all the seniors that frequent the Senior Center are responsible for you and me.  They deserve our attention and respect.

There was a study of 800 seniors that started going to a senior center and after one year,

46% felt less lonely,
48% had reduced levels of stress,
43% were more satisfied with life and
40% either increased or started exercising and here is the kicker,
49% laugh more frequently

To say our senior center is important is an understatement  

OH - I was just informed that someone thought I said our SCHOOLS are failing. The infrastructure is failing not the schools.

AAAARRRGH - my cat is DRIVING ME CRAZY!! This is him 10 minutes ago when I called him a good kitty.  NOW - he is walking back and forth on my keyboard and and stepping on everything he can find, I can not get rid of him.

Here is the forum  - ARGHH  DAMN YOU CAT . . . in it's entirety - I can't watch it.  I wish we had teleprompters.

http://vimeo.com/89573523


Columbus Council Candidate Forum from Columbus Wisconsin on Vimeo.

I'll have more question I did not have an opportunity to answer in coming blogs!

Go Bucky

Rod 

Columbus Agribusiness Dinner TONIGHT!!!

In a move to reallocate money in the Columbus budget and redirect it to roads the city is planing on laying off all of their "knocker-up's" that roam the city.

 No longer will sleeping fire fighters be woken in the middle of the night with peas hitting their windows alerting them of a fire. A new state of the art "siren" will be used which many fear will awaken all sleeping residents.

Once again technology rears it's ugly head.  
***
Meanwhile with Enerpac moving into their new facility the need for "lectors" will be coming to an end in their factory.

 No longer will factory workers be read The Columbus Journal over and over during the day.

On a side note I have heard that Enerpacs new bathrooms are really nice and much better then the old bathrooms. I feel I must go and check out the new bathrooms and take some photos! (Actually I would love to get inside Enerpac and take some shots!
***
John Wolcott will now be offering daguerreotypes with his new camera camera obscura so if you are looking for Senior photos check him out.  Here is a lovely cheerleader Hortense Morganstern.

 

Actually that would be pretty cool of he could do that!  There has been a small scale revival of  daguerreotypy photography in the U.S. 

--------------------------------------------------------

All right all right! 

 I'm attending The Ag Dinner tonight in Columbus at Kestrel Ridge which was sort of fun last year  and I started looking at some of my "ag" images.  

These monster type contraptions have always fascinated me  

  The above would look awesome printed on metal impregnated paper. I think I'll have to do this and put it up at Hydro.  

I took the below image when it was over 100 degrees out.

I suppose I need to put this on my website.  

OH - I took this yesterday.   My cat!

Have a great day!  

Rod

STUDY: Columbus Residents Have Unusually Large Bladders

So the Crimean's "voted" yesterday to join Russia.  What I would have done was have a write in vote for another Country, let's say France.  That would have made things interesting.

Crimeans' Vote to Join France 

 
-----------------------------------

  
 ------------------------------------------

Good news for downtown Columbus and other towns around Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp approved increasing the tax credit  for property owners who want to fix their historic buildings from 10% to 20%.  This HAS to help The Broadway Theater group.
----------------------------------------

There has been news that robins have returned to Columbus - I have not seen any yet. They love red chokeberries (of which we now have 7) but so far no Robins in my snow covered yard.

HOWEVER - I do have red wing blackbirds as of yesterday. Welcome back
--------------------------------------  

The Referendum.

There is a lot of miscommunication out there about the School Board and the newest school referendum.   This is NOT about building a new school.  All this is doing is asking permission from residents to purchase land, for FUTURE building  (we are talking 7 to 40 years down the road).

This is the last bit of land available inside the city limits and right now the price is cheap and will not get cheaper.  It will cost residents of Columbus nothing in taxes.

Just sayin'.
-------------------------------------

In a resent study conducted by the State of Wisconsin Department of Urology it was found that in the small community of Columbus Wisconsin residents have overly large bladders.

Dr. Pee Kegel commented " I believe these people have some of the largest bladders we have ever seen, truly remarkable".  

Further research has found that this all goes back to Schools and the Columbus School Board is looking into the situation. "We don't want to take all the credit" an unnamed source was heard saying.   We must also credit The Columbus "Green" initiative with help from The Tavern League.  "We all had our hands on our enlarged bladders.  It was quite ingenious actually".

The first to lay his hand on our bladders was the Energy and Sustainability Director.  "The problem comes to the cost of water.  How can we, as a community, save the earth and at the save time save money.  We all know that future wars will be over clean water".  So he came up with an idea.

We need the residents of Columbus to flush less often.

Enter The Tavern League.

We all know that the many bars in Columbus that offer weak fizzy yellow beer use up a lot of water with the constant toilet flushing. So they put the call out to Tavern League Architects.

We need to nip this problem where it begins, our youth.

So since Columbus had just passed a controversial referendum to build their first indoor school (roofed schools were deemed to expensive for the first 120 years and after the 78th try it was finally passed)  the Tavern League Architects went to work designing a school that would not only teach children about the pros and cons of electricity but also teach our children to "hold it".

By designing a high school with the only bathrooms at the very very far corner of the school, over time the youths bladders will be forced to adapt.  Some say it was like "Playing god with our urinary systems" and  "The Tavern League called it "augmenting evolution". 

Now, 50 years later Columbus is a community that flushes less, and saves water and we are more productive.

The City Slogan stands outside of town.

Columbus, a Green Community 

We Don't Go, Because We Don't Have Too.

It's Friday - Whoo Hoo!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've been updating my website (RodMelotte.com) with more images of Columbus after I saw the above image of the City Hall, NOT on the site.

A woman that works at Enerpac (I love that building) purchased a framed canvas image and when I told her West James Gallery had closed she was shocked. "It was such an amazing place where you could find gifts and art work that other stores did not have".   SAD!! 

With the Snack Shack now being closed for 3 months and a certain Antique store open whenever they feel like it the downtown becomes more and more vacant.  Well, at least there are plenty of store fronts to choose from if you are a prospective business.

Somehow I'm optimistic though.  We are reaching the bottom and Columbus is STILL not a ghost town. That is a good sign.  People have to understand what Columbus is, a bedroom community, not a thriving business hub.  Many people do not work in Columbus and buy merchandise elsewhere.  That is why I believe we need to reinvent ourselves.

What worked in the past does not work now.  We need to reinvest in PEOPLE, make Columbus a place families want to move too!  Sidewalks, bike paths, better roads, great parks, a Compassionate Police Department.  We have a lot of things going for us.

Build a community organically and naturally, over time.  Just like building wealth, its not an overnight process.

----------------------------------------------------------


My East India Porter is so good it's label worthy.

I have to add a description of what the beer actually is, a highly hopped porter. An EIP was more abundant but lesser historically known beer that traveled the seas. Basically the EIP was consumed by the sailors whereas the IPA was consumed by the officers way way long ago.

---------------------------------------------------------

OH - speaking of Police Departments!  There is a town in Florida, population 480 with 17 police Officers!   WHAT THE WHAT?  you ask?   Seems the town annexed 1200 feet of highway and put up 55mph signs for 1200 feet and then all day long catch speeders.

Here is the problem (as if you didn't think THAT was a problem already).  For the last few years they were taking in about $300,000 a year, and spending it for personal stuff!  The "town" never really saw any of it.

Now the entire City Council and the Mayor have resigned their positions and the State of Florida is considering disbanding the town (or whatever they do).  The residents are a little ticked off and wondering where all their money is!
----------------------------------------------------

Here is a fun fact I learned last night.

What you see is actually 1/10 of a second behind what is REALLY happening.  It takes you brain 1/10 of a second to compute things BUT, because your brain is really good at what it does, it forecasts what will happen 1/10 of a second in the future with pretty good accuracy . . . most of the time.  What you see NOW is always in the past!

The test was that a person follows a fast moving left to right dot on a screen and when it flashs point to where the position was at that point.

100% of the time people would point just a little right of where it actually flashed.  Your brain was forecasting where it was going to be, not where it actually was.

SO COOL!!!
-----------------------------------

I have three Downy Woodpeckers on my suet!  I'll have to attached my GoPo on top of the feeder and see if I can get some shots. 
-----------------------------------

     

Shirley and Jenny! Flightradar24, Divergent.

OMG - this is so awesome I had tears in my eyes!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF8em4uPdCg

)

When I was at the Circus in Columbus I and many around me left sad.  Seeing the elephant in chains and obviously not happy was heartbreaking.  OH - they said they were well taken care of but if I had a servant and took care of him and was nice BUT kept his legs in chains is that OK?

OH - he's fine we love him, never mind the chains, it's for his own protection! 

Watch that video and tell me that elephants are only big animals!  They are beings with a soul.

Ringling Brothers has the biggest fine ever for abusing their Elephants.  In 2015 England will ban all use of elephants in circuses! 
------------------------------------------------

I have a new mindless awesome app.  Flightradar24.

It shows real time data of all the planes in the air in the world.   I see a plane flying over Columbus and can instantly see what kind of plane, where it's going, where it came from, it's ETA, how fast and how high it is and can even click to see what they see from the cockpit.

I can even see a plane, point my iPhone or iPad at it and get all the info.  If I want I can go to an airport and see all the arrival times.

Since I have been observing many planes we see flying over Columbus are either going to Minneapolis or Seattle!  

  Right now there is an Airbus A320 over Columbus out of Chicago WITH NO DESTINATION!

---------------------------------------------------------

Since the MSNBC website has dumbed down and is just big photos and not the wonderful news they used to have I've been searching for a new news site and found one.

Business Insider is GREAT!!

There is an article about software developers fearing becoming 30!!  And I totally understand.

The problem is that when you get into the business of software developing like games and so forth in your 20s you are REALLY good.  By the time you are 30 you have written the same code over and over again on different platforms and are relearning new languages but doing the same thing  over and over.   

"If all you do is 'write code' then you have to be prepared to write the same code in a new paradigm over and over".

Relearning your job skills every 2 years can really get to be a pain. So what do you do?  You move up in the organization and move away of what you really liked doing.
--------------------------------------------

Reading Divergent - awesome book.  sort of a fast read but I am so pumped to see the movie - I'll be disappointed of course but the book is pretty good. 10,895 reviews with 9,922 4+ stars.

One review that I agree with " The story transported me and I had a hard time pulling myself out of the book in order to continue with my every day things. In fact, when I closed the book after finishing it, I was struck by the desire to start over from the beginning because I didn't want the experience to stop. It was THAT good." 

------------------------------------------------

  

Well, I'll be Flocculated & Lady Gaga & Blast from the Past

My biggest multi tasking concern in the next few days that will be on the back of my mind is all about yeast.

You see I'm going to enter a beer in competition, a Saison (French for "season") a highly carbonated, fruity, spicy beer and with this style it's all about the yeast. In fact the yeast is so important I have to concern myself with the exact temperature the yeast ferment at.

As you know yeast eat sugar but they eat the monosaccharides in order of preference.They will consume all of the dextrose first and then glucose and so on. How much they consume can be determined by fermentation temperature. 

WELL - this means I have to invent a way to raise the temp of my fermentation vessel so I came up with an idea. Buy a big plastic bucket thingy, fill it with water and put my 55 gallon fish tank heater in it.  If I can start at 70 degrees and raise it to 85 (normal temps are near 65) I can really bring out the character.

BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM.  My order of ingredients came in without the special yeast. I was going to brew on Friday and I COULD use another yeast but it has a poor flocculation, meaning the yeast do not clump together and drop to the bottom as much as I want them too.  Does not sound THAT big of a deal but it's the dozens of little things that make a winning beer.

Oh Well,  I'll bottle my Milk Stout Friday and brew on Monday!

BTW - My East India Porter came out GREAT!!!  Seriously.  Elwood says it could be the best beer I've ever made. His remark was "This is professional!".  LOL  I have to agree.  With 86 IBUs (International Bittering Units) it's a BIG hoppy Porter but very balanced. I used Noble British hops for an earthy character (as opposed to American hops which are more grassy, citrusy).

I hope my Oatmeal Stout which is being entered into a competition is as good. It'll be ready to drink on the 21st.
------------------------------------

On this day in 1997 Paul McCartney, a former member of the rock band, The Beatles, was knighted by Queen Elizebeth II.    I was not invited.

-------------------------------------

You know what I'm craving right now? 

A Double Decker Mac & Cheese Stuffed Bacon Weave Taco.

I hope its gluten free

---------------------------------------

I watched Resurrection.  The newest TV show about dead dudes returning.  I did not really hold a lot of hope for it because I thought it would be some sort of tear jerker with a new dead guy returning every week and everybody living happely ever after . . or not.

BUT - it was rather good and I am temporally hooked.  OH, this could be like The Dome which was a great idea  like "really? they like it? now we have to think of MORE episodes".

But rather then people going "OH, he's back, lets move on with our lives".  It's like "OH, he's back WHAT THE F*CK".  At at the end of the 1st episode it's  ANOTHER ONE???

There are higher forces at work here.  Another LOST style show full of puzzles! I love it. 

Speaking of that puzzles. One show that keeps getting better is Revolution. talk about a show that has sustained growth (it will probably be canceled).  this has become true science fiction entertainment and the great thing is questions are always answered.

We know how we lost electricity and why and who did but now we are dealing with a God-like entity and how do we kill it and do we want too?  PLUS - time travel.  It's an awesome show.        

FROM THE PAST - MARCH 9th 2009!!!! 
 And guess what - roads were a problem 

Columbus To Get New Glass Dome Over City

--------------------------------------

I have become entranced by Lady Gaga. This generations Madonna.  In fact one song I THOUGHT was Madonna but I guess when I saw her perform it in the Grammy's . . . . . its not LOL  Who KNEW!! 

http://youtu.be/xl0N7JM3wZk

)

The thing is I like a lot of her NON-hit songs more then her hit's.

---------------------------------------

Are YOU? Looking an ME? & The Water & Light Miricle

Rest in Peace Wild Bill Guarnere - one of the Band of Brothers and Greatest Generation. A true hero and this always makes me sad.
-----------------------------------------------------------

DJ and I watched Taxi Drive for the first time Friday night.  One of those movies that we just never got around to watching even though it is the 5th greatest film ever on its directors' poll.and is considered "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant by the US Library of Congress.

Hell ya!  WOW. It is such an odd  "we can't STOP watching" movie.

Filmed in 1976  the climactic shoot-out was considered intensely graphic but I think I have seen worse on The Doodlebops on Saturday morning. (OK OK maybe that is a stretch but The Doodlebops REALLY creep me out.  It is what nightmares are made of).

BUT of course seeing where "Are you looking at me? comes from is a highlight!  They should combine "Are you looking at me? with "Look at me, Look at me"

"Look at me, Look at me, I'm the Captain now, are you looking at me? are you,,, looking at me?  Look an me!" 

--------------------------------------------------------

Thursday I was a volunteer for the UW-Wisconsin Cohort Sleep Study. The longest sleep study in the world.  I guess 20 years ago I agreed to be part of it.  I found out that I was chosen because I worked for The State and they believe that State Employees are stable and don't move to other states (at least until the Walker Administration and then knowledgeable employees left in droves like lemmings on a sinking ship, poor pay, no benefits and aging tools, only MG&E has older equipment).

SO - as you all know I filled out a 30 page questionnaire every year and collected  $40.

This year they wanted me to sleep over for $150 and free food. SWEET - the one thing was this would be only the 3rd time in 18 years I would not be in the same sleeping location as DJ.  But - for $150 and an adventure . . . . how can I turn that down (sorry DJ).

I arrive at 4:30pm and fill out 4 more questioner's have 5 separate doctors examine me, push, tap, press, do all the test drunks take (try this one . . . .take off your shoes and socks (important), and walk in a straight line heal touching toe for 10 feet.   Harder then you think.

They give me a menu to order food, as much as I want whatever I want.  UW-Hospital has a pretty Las Vegas style cafeteria and a large menu.  I order a New York Strip with bake potato and salad with corn.  Basic but what can I say, I was overwhelmed.

I fill out more forms and the meal comes.  Pretty darn good, I was happy.

So now comes the memory tests that sound fun because I have one.

WHAT A FREAKING NIGHTMARE - OMG, totally humbling.  I THOUGHT I had a memory! I was proven wrong. The examiner said no one ever likes that test.   

Another test was just as hard but WHY!! 

Time - 60 seconds (the key as it adds stress).  Name all words (not names or places) that begin with . . . . . . . L  GO!

The first 9 or 10 are easy right but then you still have 45 seconds left?  We did that a few times with different letters to bring me down.

So I get to relax for 15 minutes and then this new nurse comes in that I have not seen.  Nurse Brünnhilde Fraulein.  Not the chippy happy pretty nurses I've been dealing with at all for the last 4 hours.

But before she can do anything another Doctor comes in and a pharmacist to interview me.  While they are asking questions I have answered 5 already, scary nurse is playing with THE WALL OF DISCOMFORT!

 
Dr #6 leaves and Scary Nurse says it will take about one and a half hours to hook me up!  WOW!!

Scary Nurse turns out to a REALLY good photographer and we talk about techniques and so forth but then back to business.

4 cords on my legs, two straps around my chest, 10 things inside my hair, more on my cheeks and under my chin and a few more on my back and then one on the tip of my finger that glows like ET.  OH - and finally a couple up my nose and I'm all set for a nice relaxing night in a too soft bed near the heliport.

a glamor selfie! I am going to sleep SO WELL!      DON'T LOOK AT ME

This is the best hotel EVER!

And . . . . . . I gotta pee.

Now they have to get all the machines talking to each other.  This stuff tells them EVERYTHING

They can measure which way my eyes are looking and what my tongue is doing.  Which toes are wiggling and am told to inhale and exhale all the air in my body and hold it as long as possible to see how my body recharges O2.

NIGHT NIGHT!

Oddly I had some bizarre dreams.

One dream it was raining really hard (we all know what THAT means).  And the last dream I was walking around with all this garbage on me in a brewery and realize I looked like a monster and had to go back to my room.

I wake up about 6:00 and they are there immediately, and un-hook me and at the same time are drawing blood.  Then I get my breakfast and fill out 2 more questionnaires and told to leave whenever I want.   

I'll get the results in a month but they said I'm a good sleeper and went to sleep quickly (which is odd because I normally take a while, DJ hits the pillow and is sleeping within 5 minute, it always amazed me). 

But the thing is it really threw me off on Friday because my routine was so out of whack. I felt out of sorts all day.   I think this will not be the last time I do this or maybe I slept to well.

-----------------------------------------------------   

Seems I can start saving money on bird food. When I was super cold I was filling the feeder up at 6:00am and 5:00pm.  Now it's gone a day and a half and there is still food in it.
------------------------------------------------------

It'll be interesting what Water and Light does with reimbursement.  Looking at my last 6 Februaries we average using 2,730 gallons of water a month.  Here is something weird that I had never noticed before.   February 2011 and February 2012 we used the EXACT number of gallons of water 2,917!  How does that happen, what are the chances!  IT'S A MIRACLE!!
++++++++
Wait - looking at the numbers, all of the "cubic feet of water used" is rounded to the nearest 10 so it makes it easier.  We used 390 cubic feet which is (390 * 7.48051945gallons).   

Actually we have used 390 cubic feet of water four times.  Guess it's not THAT uncommon.  

-------------------------------------------------

Have a great week.
Rm

  


 

Columbus Council votes to move Politics backwards 154 years

In a stunning but not surprising move the Columbus City Council  reversed their previous decision (against public opinion) and on the fly voted to keep Columbus, a historical community, by ignoring common sense and voting against having elections, in lieu of just having clubs and organization decide who will run Government.

My friend Fritz Kline as Lincoln in Columbus

"This is how it was done 154 years ago when Lincoln was elected with 30% of the popular vote so it must be the right thing".

Quoting one of Abraham Lincolns most famous words "NOW!  NOW! NOW! " is the time to move Columbus backwards 150 years.

Just because 100% of the cities in Wisconsin and the Country follow standard procedure and have primaries when more then 2 candidates run for office, why should we follow a tried and true political process that works for all other cities in our Nation.

This blogger called 11 other City Clerks in the area and asked about what their city did and 100% were shocked, but not surprised, that Columbus found a way to make the news again with oddball and bizarre politics. Most comments were in the "Why would they do that?" area.

In other news from the Council, roads were discussed and the fact that the citizens of Columbus continually fill out outdated questioners with the biggest complaint, year after year, on the condition of roads.

To fix this problem perhaps the most cost efficient way would be to take all questions about roads off the survey completely.  "At least we won't have to listen to our constituents about why we don't listen to them". That survey has been a real pain" one Aldermen was maybe heard commenting.

But I have a better plan.  With the 16/60 reconstruction coming in a few years, why not just tear up all the roads in Columbus and do away with the problem completely.  No roads, no complaints!!

Two members of the City Council who are both Auxiliary Police Officers and vote for anything the Police Department wants (conflict of interest worked in 1860 and it continues to be healthy in Columbus)  decided that personal cameras were what was needed, but other members of the council who don't have a conflict of interest decided that all citizens of Columbus be issued personal cameras, why does the Police Department only get them.

But because no decision could be made on what kind of camera, 5216 film  cameras (as opposed to digital) were purchased. They can be picked up at the Fire Station.  Be warned that each camera weights 6 pounds and MUST be worn when out in public, IT'S THE ORDINANCE.    

THEN - since Columbus will not have actual roads it was decided, just like in 1860, that the Columbus Police Department should be issued BRAND NEW, STATE OF THE ART HORSES!!

But there is trouble on the horizon and if not for the smart thinking of  Eric Anthon, the Water and Light Czar, disaster was diverted.      

You see once business and industry across Wisconsin heard that politics were set back 150 years in Columbus and that we were now a stable (yet laughable) community with all citizens working on one goal, to move Columbus backward 150 years, should they rethink relocating to this small yet fiercely divided community?  The main question was "Do they have running water?" (like in 1860?).

Eric Anthon to the rescue!

He blasted out an email to all citizens of Columbus.  From here on and until further notice you shall run your water 24 hours a day showing visitors and business  "YES, COLUMBUS HAS RUNNING WATER AND WE CAN PROVE IT!".

Then there was talk about Heads in Beds and not The Walking Dead variety (a new nickname that seems to be floating around when it comes to the City Council).

Seems some on the council do not like the idea of giving room tax money to organizations that bring people into Columbus.  Why give money to the carriage people or the Xplosion softball girls. All it does is bring people into Columbus and they use our roads and look at our buildings. We should only give room tax money to advertise in the same publications that everybody else, with no real vision, does.  The last thing we want to do is become "creative" when it comes to spending money.

And seriously, give money to help The Broadway Theater?  Why would we want to help this people anyway.  What good will a vibrant theater do to our downtown?   Lets not give them ANY help so they get used to it.  Look what happened to Lincoln . . . . .  IN A THEATER!!            

Photo bombing the Lincoln family

 Of course now I would be arrested and thrown out of schools because my hand looks like a gun.

sigh!  So once again negative political news about Columbus is being broadcast to Wisconsin because of an archaic loophole our politics.  I thought we had grown out of that dark period but once again we have become newsworthy in a bad way.

I have nothing to say

I've decided to not sleep for the next two days to make sure I'll sleep Thursday night for the UW-Wisconsin Sleep study. 

I'm sure being hooked up to dozens electrodes and sleeping in an odd bed is a sure way to get a good sound sleep!  I wonder if anybody has accidentally been strangled by wires "oh, Mr. Melotte sleeps so soundly". 

----------------------------------------------------------------

How awesome is this - only $3.49. But be careful not for Children under 3.   

If Ryan Braun can continue to hit .800 in league play I will be totally over his past indiscretions.

Baseball Prospectus is predicting the Brewers will win 81 games this year and come in 3rd.  The are normally pretty darn accurate. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------
This is something the Columbus Police should post on their Fade Book Page (seems we keep losing officers or something . . . maybe I should apply).   
 
Did you know that there is a way to break into any garage with an electric door in 6 seconds?  Well, it might take you a minute the 1st time but with practice 6 seconds.  It was on You Tube and I'm not even sure I want to show anybody LOL   

this is how it's done

http://youtu.be/kSO_HTBHLFI

And this is how yo can fix it- go to the 2:00 minute mark for the fix

http://youtu.be/nDw8DOblGB8

---------------------------------------------------------------

And then there is Tiger Woods.  Remember 18 years ago when people were wondering if his body could hold up with "that swing"?  Seems the answer is no.  Good Grief, the guy is like 38 and he is falling apart.  I think his body is like a 60 year old.

----------------------------------------------------------------

West James Gallery is Closing.  OK OK - this is getting serious.  Every newspaper and magazine I get hired to write for goes under.  Every place I go to get married either blows up OR burns down and my two main galleries have both closed their doors this year.

And to top that off in 3 years I have never ever had the correct order for a delivery pizza from Napolies - HOWEVER - every random pizza we have ever gotten tastes outstanding so I can never complain!

---------------------------