Happy Wiccan New Year!!

Halloween comes from the Celtic tradition called Samhain which was the end of the  . . Old Year in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man  (home of a bucket list music festival) so this is the start of the new Wiccan year and it is believe that this was the date that faeries and spirits could enter our world.

Many people set and extra plate at the table.

This is the #1 kid holiday and no matter how cold it was this was the night I would look forward too all year.  Not as big as Christmas but pretty close.  I have more memories of Halloween then Christmas.

Since this is a good day for witches here is a poem from my moms book

Snapshots Along the Way which is now on the top 9,323,382 books sold on Amazon . . . and with zero advertising!!!!

Geneology

My ancestor, Lydia Gilbert
was accused of witchcraft in Hartford
in November of sixteen hundred and fifty-four.
Her son was the Marshall of Hartford.
He arrested and jailed his mother.

Her accusers sat as her jury.
She was convicted and sentenced
to die on the gallows at Albany Street and Vine.

In Hartford the hanging of witches
was one of the duties of Marshall.

There is no written proof of her hanging.
That page has been torn from the records,
but in January her husband left Hartford, alone
He moved to the village of Nayuag.
In sixteen-sixty he died there
Without ever seeing his son, the Marshall, again.

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WELCOME TO COLUMBUS Motoclasico 

It's been in the works for a few weeks/months. The Columbus First National Bank Building, after a lot of renovation will become the home of Motoclasico.   Jose Rivera will specialize in restoration and sales of classic motorcycles along with retail sales of bike apparel and an online website presence for his own line of classic bike related apparel.

Jose has a background in marketing and understands that Columbus is not a hot bed for tourism . . YET.  But see's what many people see in our downtown, an opportunity.

In the CDA we were talking about what Columbus needs in our downtown and unique and interesting shops was the hot topic.  Not hardware stores and so for (not that we have a choice in the matter). We want outside money coming in and not money that is already here.  Motoclasico fits this bill perfectly and it's a fantastic location for this business.

The plan is to open in mid winter after morphing the Bank into something else.

Looks like Hydro Street will have some classic bike images on their walls next summer.

And then speaking of images.  The new Columbus Area Historical Society Christmas ornament is ready.  I took this image last Christmas and maybe I'll go out this morning for more winter scenes for 2016 (I have 2015 all ready).

Here is last years Columbus Historical Society ornament . . .

This was sent all over the U.S. and I THINK they might have a few left, not sure.

If you wait a little bit they will be signed and dated by  . . .me (blush) but really, they are good without my scribbling on the back.

Collect them all, trade with your friends.

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Did you know that on Hollywood there is a $1000 fine and or 6 months in jail for using Silly String today?   City Ordinance "use, possession, sale or distribution of Silly String in Hollywood from 12:01 AM on October 31 to 12:00 PM on November 1."

Halloween is the second most commercial holiday in America behind Christmas.

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Anti-Affordable Care Act people must HATE it that it's working.  OH - MY INSURANCE WENT UP!  Well, that is because YOU HAVE MORE COVERAGE!!!!

Check out these to maps

This shows how many did not have insurance coverage in 2010

And this is what it is in 2014

States that embraced the AHC planned expansion of Medicaid (not Wisconsin) saw a 40% drop in uninsured people.

Have a great weekend, stay warm.  Columbus had 1 inch of snow as I reported to NOAA and CoCoRaHS.  Butternut in Price County had 3 inches. It looks like we got the most snow in the area.  YEA!  

Rod

16/60 - no real news

Seems some people love to argue publicly here AND on Facebook!  What can I say!   And who says my opinion isn't popular?  Are we in a popularity contest now?  Do I kick and scream over other peoples opinions?  No.  Life is way way to short to get angry and point fingers. Wasted effort.    

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Anyway.

I attended the 16/60 reconstruction meeting last night and there was really no major news.   Seems some people getting a new road do not want to have to pay for it.  

Well attended - no real news

On the Columbus Journal there was an article about the 16/60 reconstruction and a comment was "WHY DON'T THEY FIX THE ROADS INSTEAD OF THIS"

wait . . what??  Do they understand what the 16/60 reconstruction is.   And I'm going to start asking people who complain - What road exactly do they want fixed, or is it just a general complaint without really thinking about it.  People want roads fixed UNLESS it's their road that they will have to pay for.  

In the past there was little communication between the three departments.  A road would be fixed and then a year later torn up because no one asked the sewer people or Water and Light people what THEIR plans were.  Hopefully we are getting a grasp on this and all sides are now talking and coordinating.   

It seems people want everything RIGHT NOW!  Well, in the real world things take time. Old towns have old roads, it's a fact of life. We're not Cottage Grove - they have GREAT roads because they grow and put new roads in but then THEY complain to their government because they don't have a downtown like Columbus. Has there ever been a town where the citizens didn't complain about something?  Not that I've ever lived in. 

Even without Enerpac stalling road construction for a couple years Columbus has been slowly improving and hopefully the pace will quicken. Folsom and Mill Street are being talked about and that is about 1.3 million dollars.  But it seems we have a ton of money now that we can borrow. 

I personally don't like borrowing money for anything, even roads. A 1 million dollar loan at 2% interest will cost another $214,220 over 20 years.  BUT, if that is what people believe will make Columbus vibrant, so be it.  I attended a town hall type meeting that the Library put on last week with about 20 people. I sat in the background and listened to them list off all the problems with Columbus. Roads were not even mentioned as one of the 20 problems,  the lack of a bike path was though!

I suppose now I will be called anti-road.  No - there are many things to focus on and roads are only one thing. 

  

If we do borrow money why not THEN borrow money to fix the 100 year old pavilion which will give us a pay back with extra rentals. Then the extra we get can go for roads . . . . down the road.

How about combining the Senior Center and Library into one building and have a Community Center, use the old library as a museum. That would save money.  How about seat belts for school buses or maybe hire another adult to ride on school buses (I suppose that would be a school board issue).  Maybe a new Fire Station?  

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Well, I would love to anger more people but I have a brand new bed arriving and some work to do with the old platform and like 500 screws to unscrew with a hand held screwdriver.  My tool box is at The Workshop.  

Carry on, be calm. 

  

Evil Cloud Seeding - I think we can all agree!

Quote of the Day - John Gruden "Anything goes on any given Sunday especially on Monday Night". ++++++++++++++++++

I was going to write a blog yesterday but felt like crap with flu like symptoms. I immediately felt like I should call Chris Christie because he seems to be a doctor now and knows what Ebola symptoms are and what to do by watching FOX news.

But then I thought that I really did not want to be in quarantine and maybe it was the 42 Twix bars and 21 Kit Kats washed down with beer during the Packer game that was the problem. It certainly FELT like Christie's ebola.

But then I was think and it could have been even more evil.  We all saw it Saturday - it was clear as a bell. 

YEA - illegal cloud seeding right over my house by someone in the Columbus government.  Was it our Mayor?  The Police Chief?  Another Aldermen trying to keep me quiet?  Staff ( you gotta watch those guys like a hawk)??? 

All I know was I was standing on my deck and as I watched the evil chemicals flow over my house I was getting warmer and warmer AND IT'S OCTOBER!!!  Yea - that's science man!!!

Let me explain why it could be any one of those above causing this. 

First the Mayor - the prime suspect. 

This guy has been trying to corrupt me ever since I got on council with our differences of opinions but then last night I agreed with him on a few things!  Yea - seems like the chemicals have taken hold doesn't it.  He said some things that made sense, AND I AGREED! (unlike when he says things that make sense and I disagree)  OMG - the cloud drugs are working. 

You see in Columbus we have this HUGE 16/60 reconstruction coming soon and the powers that be have been anticipating about a $4 million price tag.  WELL, we found out last night that the price tag will be more like $600,000.  SAVING 3.4 million dollars which staff says we now have all this money we can spend now.  

Wait . . . . isn't this like not having any money, taking your car to the shop and instead of a $400 price tag it's $60 so now you can go spend the $340 savings? 

ANYWAY - The Mayor says he would not be so quick to come to the assumption that the price will be a mere $600,000 and perhaps we should wait for high fiving the State Government (who has no money at all) at least until Tuesday.  So yea - I agree.  

Then it could be our Police Department seeding above my house.  After all they spent $10,000 over budget on gasoline alone (budget $20,000 used $30,000). Never mind seeing their squad cars STILL zipping up and down 151 catching speeders before they enter Columbus. Perhaps the cloud seeding was to blind me of this.  Just seems wrong to protect residents by stopping speeders outside the city limits. 

A fellow aldermen who I agree with on most things but he sees absolutely no good in Enerpac which I see as a calling card to the world, intrinsic value  - a giant beautiful billboard building that shows Columbus is a home to world class companies and to take us seriously.  And no - I would not have approved of the sweetheart deal they got from PREVIOUS administrations but it's there so let's not bash it.  BTW - the last thing you want on a city council is a bunch of individuals that all agree on everything. We had that for many years and I think it's why we have 6 new council members now!

Staff???   Yea - here is the thing - they assumed 4 million and at the moment the deal is $600,000. Well, perhaps they SHOULD have said 8 million and we could have saved a LOT more money and fixed a many more roads! They seeded the clouds to cover their error.  

I think it's Crombie though! He is in charge of everything? Next time you see those trails run inside the house or all of a sudden you will be agreeing with EVERYBODY!!  Look what happened to me!! 

DAMN YOU CROMBIE!!! 

  

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As I said I felt horrible yesterday but had to leave to Madison with an appointment for the sweet sting of the needle.   I had part deux of my tattoo at The Blue Lotus which I am really impressed with.  

For anyone wondering about tattoos and since I had 3 hours to think about this yesterday let me say one thing.  That first half hour hurts like a SON OF A BITCH!!  No getting around it. but then your endorphins kick in and seriously, it's like a prescription to Oxycontin, you feel the pain . . . but who cares.  Plus as a side effect my stomach problems and headache all went away! 

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Speaking of the above 8 million we could have saved. 

Today the NBA kicks off and I got this NBA system that we could really use that extra 7 million in savings to make some real money - just sayin.    The Bucks are 426 to 1 to win the NBA!! seems like a good bet!   I don't even like the NBA but it's all about numbers.  +121 units last year but I tweaked the system. 

30 years ago yesterday Micheal Jordon played his first game for the Bulls and had 16 points.  In his 2nd game against the Bucks he scored 21 points and on the final seconds to win the game he shot an air ball.  In his 3rd game, also against the Bucks he scored 37 points, changed the game of basketball forever and never looked back!

Did you know that Jordon did not make his highschool basketball team and that he was the one that started the baggy short trend.  WHY?  because he insisted that he wear his University of North Carolina shorts underneath his Chicago Bulls gear during every game.

OH - and then there is the Bucks and their young super dude Giannis Antetokounmpo. He's 20 years old and still growing.  he is listed as 6'9" but is actually 6'11" because he grew another 2 inches this summer.  He has 7'4" wingspan and 10 inch hands but get this.

There is a video where he took a steal at the foul line and dunked the ball on the opposite of the court, 72 feet away with two dribbles!

OOPS - wrong blog

balderdash contacted me and asked if I was still alive and I said . . . I THINK so - but then I looked and I posted this on a dead blog by accident.  No wonder people were still talking to me!!

Anyway - it's in the past but . . . . WHY NOT REPOST IT!!!
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I spent an amount of time this past week (last week) shielding myself from an  attack from a Facebook page called Columbus Speaks who was pretty much like Columbus Underground (worse actually) and Truth in Columbus Politics combined.

The problem was that since the creator of the page had a hidden agenda and refused to tell anybody who she or he was there was no trust and I refused to answer questions on that page.

However the big complaint (among many) were about Enerpac and how we should have let Enerpac move to Sun Prairie instead of giving the 1.5 billion dollar a year company a sweet deal to stay in Columbus.

I think my views on this situation are different then some other council members.

First of all I don't blame Curt Hanson for getting a great deal, this would be like saying"oh, I don't need THAT big of a raise, you can pay me less".  And I don't blame Enerpac as they are a world class company that can do whatever they freaking want.  If ANYONE is to blame on anything it's the previous administration.

But blame?  Was this really a bad deal?

If Enerpac would have left Columbus would it really be a bad thing or should we said don't let the door slam behind you?

The average property tax in Columbus is $3,620,  If there are 100 Columbus residents that have those high paying jobs which Enerpac offers and they moved away from Columbus the city would lose $362,000 a year in property taxes.  Enerpac has been in Columbus for 58 years and if they would have stayed for another 58 years that is 21 million dollars in lost property tax alone.

The average rent in Columbus is $632 a month.  If all those employees rented that is $758,400 a year in lost rent to landlords or 43 million dollars in lost rent for 58 years.

I'm not saying all those employees would move but you get my point.

And this does not count the high pay income these residents bring to Columbus, the millions in bank deposits, the hundreds of thousands in retail sales they bring over the lifetime and lets not forget utility sales, water, and electricity and so forth which are all for-profit organizations in Columbus. More water and electric sales mean it's cheaper it is for residents.

The sweetheart deal Enerpac got HURTS right now - no doubt about that.  But are we only concerned about the short run? It seems so.  This isn't like letting a low pay grocery store slip through our fingers.  Enerpac is the kind of company Columbus wants and needs they held all the cards.  We let them go and we lose ten's of millions over their lifetime.

So you can get mad at me all you want but I feel the long run is more important and while I am also a little pissed off at the current pain and secrecy of the past administration, it's in the past, nothing anybody can do about it. Let's look at the future.    

And we all know that if everybody agreed with everybody else, Facebook would be a pretty boring place.
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I had a wonderful opportunity last night to attend a special Columbus Library meeting at the High School and could listen incognito to a combination of our Hispanic community and other residents of Columbus talk about Columbus and it's problems.  NOT what I expected to hear at all.

Besides the normal complaints about the heavy handed Police Department hurting Columbus (they REALLY have a community likability problem) were concerns with a communication gap.

The lack of or the need for more English courses (more and longer) in our schools, the lack of knowing about what is going on in Columbus because of a language barrier. They have no clue when there kids can join soccer leagues or anything that happens in town (the meeting had an interpreter).

The group was concerned about business downtown and they REALLY wanted more bike paths. Oddly in the 30 things wrong with Columbus, roads were never mentioned.  Things that were brought up were the same concerns I have, more things for youth, more multi-generational activities (perhaps a community center?) a plaza where people can hangout downtown and mingle (something the whole world does but not America) a brand for Columbus (who are we ???  Discover Columbus - Celebrating Small Town America).

It was great listening to people talk so casually.

I do not believe people fully understand how our Library is becoming more and more of a bonus to Columbus with it's many many programs.  The Columbus Library is becoming something of a big deal across America and I'm sending images today about Columbus that will be on the American Library Association website (3 million views per year), print media and newspapers around the country . . . . somewhere.

The Columbus Library is not just a room of books.
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My friend in Madison, Elwood, is the caretaker for a few condo's and he had me take some images of one of his building last weekend that he is pretty proud of.  He is looking into becoming a Master Gardner but I believe he is already - just not certified. Sort of like a Rainman master gardener without the official badge.

Drives me NUTS sometimes.

 

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On the Dan Patrick Show they offered special "Aaron Rodgers says R E L A X" tee-shirts.  They had 300.  In 24 hours they have orders of over 900 now.

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And this is awesome.   I flipped past this 4 minute video six times before I decided to watch it and OMG - this is a MUST watch and is amazing.

What incredible things happen when you reintroduce wolves into Yellowstone not only with species but with the actual physical nature of Yellowstone - AMAZING!!    

http://youtu.be/ysa5OBhXz-Q

Friday stuff

Inside of my eyeball

You, me and most people can see about 6 million colors because our cones in our eyes have a 3 cell structure.

There is a woman with tetrachromat which means she has a 4 cell structure and she can see 100 million colors!  Is that a good thing? I can't imagine what the difference would be. What color am I missing???

She's like a color super hero but I can't think how she could fight crime this way.

The weird thing is her daughter is colorblind!  But wait - it seems she is an artist that teaches painting and has color blind students and she says they actually have a very good appreciation of color. Just not what WE can see!!!

There are many people with tetrachromat but do not know it because they have never trained their brains to notice it. Fascinating.

OH - that image is of the inside back of my eyeball. The black dot is actually the very center where everything goes into my brain.  The focus point is the bright area with the nerves and so forth.  I guess off center is the norm.

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Yesterday at The Workshop  I gave some "demonstrations" on digital photography to kindergartners.

They were fascinated with turning horses pink.  Oddly pink was the most required color for almost anything.

I tried to teach them layer masking but they were more interested in turning horses into different colors.    
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Seems Aaron Rodgers is better then we thought.  In fact Rodgers is 2nd only to Peyton Manning in 4th quarter comebacks between 4-8 points.

But unlike Manning it's when the team is down by 9 or more where Rodgers fails.  15.6% of Mannings drives end in interceptions BUT - he wins 28.6% of those games. (14 out of 49 chances) Rodgers drives end in interceptions 8.1% of the time  but he has NEVER won a game ( zero for 21).

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Played 2 rounds of disc golf yesterday - Beaver Dam and Columbus.  Note to self, when jumping across the creek in Columbus, that far side might be farther then anticipated. Had my best round ever in Beaver Dam, no wind!!   Then got back to Columbus and that course is very wind dependent. Not many trees to hit but it's all about air movement.  The long holes are also into the prevailing westerlies making them longer.

Here is my average scores for each hole so far.   I play the course 3 times to get in 18 holes and so far there is no statistical advantage in that 3rd time around.

4.0

3.6

3.7

3.2

3.9

2.3

Right now Beaver Dam is easier then Columbus and I have an 814 DGCR Player Rating (maybe like a 16 handicap in ball golf).  I was using a new driver disc, a Nuke and I think I was getting 10-15 more feet out of it.  I can fling about 235 feet now with a variety of accuracy. but mostly forward.  Not bad for an old dude.

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Saw a wolf in a field just going over the HWY 73 overpass going to Madison, he was munching on something.   Saw 4 vultures munching on something in the woods by the truck driving school yesterday.  Probably a dead deer or something. They looked happy.

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What is faster on average - multi line checkouts of single line.

 
Obviously the single line is fastest - HOWEVER - one thing to remember is with multi-line you have a chance to make a decision.  Do you know the cashier?  Do you know the people in front of you?

There are some people that I see are coupon freaks that EVERYBODY hates.  They are a hideous group that slow the entire world down and raise prices for the rest of us by giving all their deals away or just throwing them out.  They buy $500 of groceries for $100 and give most of it away BUT, slow the whole checkout to a crawl.

Sorry - I experienced this the other day.  

OK - wasted enough of your time.

See ya 

Don't get in front of MY dream!

Russell Wilson "There will always be things in the way your dream"

What?  There are things in the way my dream? The only thing in the way my dream is if I have to go potty!  "No this, no that, no the other".  Wait, what are we talking about??  I'm so confused.  Being confused is my comfort zone.

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I have to do something really scary today. Two things actually.  One is take down my desktop computer and set it up at The Workshop (I have no laptop). And the other is give a demo to a bunch of kids.

In other news I had lunch at The Shamrock Bar yesterday which is a bar in Madison I normally do not go to.  I believe the patrons had their straigh-dar beepers going off. I could hear whispers "that guy is overly friendly and over compensating, I bet he gives a big tip".  I did
 
I ordered a burger and really?  What temperature do I want it cooked?  sigh.  151 please.

A good friend of mine who does frequent to bar said they have a wall with artwork and I should see if I can get my stuff displayed because people there actually buy artwork.  Its not like a gym that wanted me to put art on their walls saying maybe I could sell some.  Yea - I'm sure people pumping iron are looking to buy artwork on the walls.

But inebriated people? That is a different story.

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Almost done with my Civil war book about the Overland Campaign and people who believe Gettysburg had the most casualties (51,000) are correct . . . .but there are other battles that are much more gruesome and horrifying.   Knowing what really happened at Spotsylviania and Cold Harbor and The Wilderness is crazy bad and when the Union blew up a hill and then sent thousands into the crater who were then trapped.  OMG

Oddly the British did the same exact thing in WWI with the exact results!

I'm at a point in the book now where confederates are crossing the lines in winter to get warmed by union fires and then going back across the lines by daylight.

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Looks like some disc golf this afternoon as it warms up a little.

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This ebola thing - blame the media for getting everybody all worked up.  They gotta sell their wares.

There is NO problem in America. Yea - there has been stupidity but it's a learning process. When was the last time America dealt with a real plague.  Think if this was 200 years ago when washing hands was a new thing. Ebola is an amazing killing machine but it sounds like Canada is close to a vaccine. It's working on animals with human testing soon. Contain and control.  So far it's working.

And remember only 4,000 people have died.  200,000,000 died of the Black Plague, 75,000,000 died of the flu in 1920.

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WOW - lots of death stuff in this blog today.  hmmmmmmm

OK - here are 17 American foods that foreigners think are really gross.

Cheese Whiz - “It tastes like plastic and cancer.”
Grits
Velveeta Cheese
Hershey's Chocolate
Red Vines - I'm not even sure what those are. Supermarket Bread
Casseroles
Root Beer Floats
Twizzlers - They don't even taste like red liquorice. They taste like cardboard.
Pop-Tarts - They were revolting. People actually eat them for breakfast??
Snow Cones - Ice and syrup actually pass for food??
Beef Jerky - It tasted like plastic and had the texture of worn shoe sole. Impressive how they took a bit of cow and made it entirely inedible.
Corn Dogs 
Biscuits and Gravy 
American Bacon 
Meatloaf - Why would I want a loaf of meat?
Breakfast Cereal - No wonder why many kids struggle with obesity Read more:

Council votes to rename Columbus to Indigenous People's Land

In a stunning vote the City Council of Indigenous People's Land (formally known as Columbus) voted to rename their city.  Citing that Columbus never actually set foot in America (formally called

Spain or something) and much to this authors surprise never actually sailed up the Crawfish river in the Nina but in reality might have sailed to Neenah down the Fox river.  I stand corrected!!

In more newsworthy voting by this group of ne'er do wells voted to make Thanksgiving NOT on the 4th Thursday of the month but starting the Sunday before the 4th Thursday it will become a three day holiday of gluttonous partying. 

Halloween was talked about moving to Halloween which makes no sense to some residents because how will they know when Halloween is and does ANYBODY else in the country do this?  but this was deemed too important to talk about in one meeting.  Instead they voted to move Christmas to January 6th because this is where Eastern Christianity celebrated the birth of Jesus which happened to coincided with the Epiphany.

4th of July celebrations will now be the day after the 3rd of July unless it already falls after the 3rd then it will be the day before the 5th of July.  The City lawyer will be spending a good amount of time writing this ordinance.

There was a motion to move the January 1st celebrations (called the, New Year,  in some circles) to March 25 which is the date England celebrated, New Year, but we American changed it on them when we decided to drive on the correct side of the road just to piss off England (which is partially true).  March 25th is already celebrated with John and Yoko Ono holding their first Bed-In for Peace so . . . . need I say more!

There will be no parking in June through August on any Indigenous People's Land streets if snow is forecast with Council voting to not plow streets if it DOES snow thereby saving money.

"We try to be proactive" one Council member was believed heard muttering under his or her breath.
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On a more serious note GET YOUR FLU SHOT!!!  This year you REALLY do not want to go to the hospital with flu like symptoms.
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I went to my first dentists in 34 years that was not named Dr. Samuels.  Oddly my new dentist in a new location informed me that my x-rays were backwards (seriously) and they do things differently on the 21st century.  No more wooden teeth I was told.  YIPPEE!!!!

In a related story my Mayor who shall remain nameless told me in confidence "Rod, don't tell anybody that I said this but dentistry is the most crooked profession".  I told Kelly  this person I would not repeat this but then I was thinking . . . . this is coming from a lawyer . . . . . .

You know when you are leaning back in a chair and JUST before you tip backwards WHOA! you catch yourself.  You know that feeling?  That is how I felt when  lawyer said that - it was like a double negative.

Of course I am/was a Government employee/politician so . . . . I am very confused now as I thought "I" was the most crooked lazy profession .

Nuff
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This is a hole at Alpine Golf in Door County!  175 yards out, many feet down.

And as I was looking for some images for the kids at The Workshop to work with I came across a shot of Amtrak.  

 Now I must write something for my photo newsletter that has been on the back burner for a while.  Have a great day!!

Rod
        

I'm over it

Am I becoming a grumpy old man like knowitall??  Has politics made me cynical?

YES and YES

HEY YOU KIDS, GET OFF MY LAWN!! 

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Maybe I'm finally getting over losing a $5 wager last Sunday. I had Tennessee winning by 1 point and they were up 28-3 at halftime. Then Cleveland staged the largest road comeback in NFL history and I lost by 2 points! 

OH - San Francisco. Just catch that meaningless touchdown from the 8 yard line at the end of the game on 3rd down - BUT NOOOOO, he drops the ball and they kick a meaningless field goal.  And as one famous sportscaster once said "That was big in some circles". 

OH - Jacksonville - really?  A pick 6 with a few minutes to go?   sigh.

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Good news - I might have a person siting beside me on city council.  The Mayor appointed Trina Reid and the council voted "yes". Well done Mayor and I hope she accepts the position.  I am on Library board with her and have been in a few other meetings and I'm happy. We need more young thinking people in Columbus politics.

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There is still time to invest in Lakeland Industries. They make Hazemat suits and their stock is taking off like the plague! On October 1st the stock was 6.95.  Today it is 18.42.  

Want to know why stocks got crushed yesterday?  Maybe instead ask why they went up the last few years.

The S&P is at a very critical stage hitting all sorts of bearish trend-lines but this all goes into why the last few years were so awesome and what the future holds. 

At the start of 2013 everybody was in cash and gold and so forth and under-invested in stocks.  The Fed started dumping money into the market like there was no tomorrow. America was super pessimistic at the start of 2013, American companies started to smash expectations and the world economy was improving. 

Stocks took off for a few years.

BUT NOW! 

Investors are no longer under invested, the fed is stopping the dumping of money, not as much cash and gold to sell, and the world is going into a deep shit hole as Europe is about to go into a triple dip recession, Japan going nowhere, China is unwinding (I worry about Enerpac who are deep into China).

Yea - October is always the most volatile month but I'm not bullish on stocks. 

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Speaking of Ebola - I saw a video of a dude who made a joke on a airline saying  "I have ebola and you are all screwed".  Well, he was booed and everyone remained calm.  when the plane landed a team of Lakeland Industry garbed hasemat garbed beings came on and escorted him off the plane. 

The head stewardess was great.  Over the loudspeaker she called him a "idiot". 

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If the goal of the Columbus Community Calendar is to help people that LIVE in Columbus don't you think they should have governmental events and meetings and agendas?  It really does not help people that live outside of Columbus and are looking for things to do.  

That is where Columbus Connects helps out and should get recognition for it's Facebook page that helps visitors and townies alike plan and see what is going on if they visit Columbus.

For instance

Columbus Connects  "Creative Kids Art Class at The Workshop"  "Columbus Discovery Orchard" "Exploring Creativity Class at The Workshop" " Friday Night Fish Fry at Columbus Country Club"  " Friday night at The Capri Steakhouse"  "Weather forecast" and  "***Reminder - Leaf Pick-Up "

Columbus Community Calendar - Two Senior Center Exercise events at the Senior Center and a 4th Grade girls basketball practice.

I'm not cutting down the Calendar as I hope that this is not the finished product.

If you are on Facebook LIKE Columbus Connects - 403 daily readers! 

Back from Walker-land

All over up north there are huge 4x6 foot Walker signs that he has given people money to put in their yards ($50 I hear) and then there are the small Burke signs that people purchase for $10 next to the Walker billboards.

I dislike yard signs because they make people angry and I can not fathom why a business would put ANY political sign in front of their building.  I don't care if someone is left or right when I need to buy a widget of some sort but if they advertise someone that I dislike, they automatically lose my business forever.  NOT because I disagree with their view but because they are not very bright in running a business.  I could sell many of the shots on the right in art fair but I don't want to piss off the right!

And furthermore.  You don't need an ID to be in a political office but you need one to vote? Seems weird.  Who really knows who I am.  No one has ever checked!  Maybe my real name is Klemm.  

I really do not know what went on in City Council. The council session I really wanted to attend because I had issues but they put all the stuff "I" wanted to talk about on the week I was gone. Maybe next time I won't tell them I'm leaving. I wanted to talk about Winter Parking Rules two months ago.

I did hear through the grapevine that Trick or Treat will be on a boring Sunday because it was to soon to change and I 100% agree.

Winter Parking Rules - seems some people are afraid to think outside the box and try something new. Could be chaos you know. If we never try anything new we can keep everything the same. FOREVER.

I believe the Constitution was outside the box thinking and people were afraid of change. It's never been done before so should we even be thinking about it?   Lets stifle any new ideas because we have never done it that way.  Let's not even TRY to make Columbus better.

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ANYWAY - I'm back from da nort with nothing to say. Beautiful weather, amazing fall colors.

Spent time in Fish Creek and went to a Fish Boil which was invented at The Viking Grill.  I remember my parents taking me to one in the late 60's and I hated it. FISH?  BOIL?  OMG

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Today I set up for a "gallery" opening at The Workshop 336 N Spring Street Columbus 2 to 4PM.

I should have about 20 pieces up with smaller ones and they will be there all October.

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OK - nuff said today - got catching up to do in many other things!!  

Later!

RM


  

The Workshop and Two Guys and a Beer Landscaping..

Knowitall commented  "You neglected to mention that the drop in gun deaths coincides with almost universal concealed carry. Coincidence?"

Actually balderdash reminded me that the drop in gun deaths actually can be attributed to Rowe vs. Wade.  According to either Freak-o-nomics or Nate Silver. But that's a whole different topic.

ANYWAY - before we take off to the hinterland.

This coming Saturday 2PM to 4PM I and 20 of my favorite pieces will be on display at The Workshop in Columbus at 336 n Spring Street.   Just across from the Railroad station and that large building up the tracks from Julies Java House.

MEET THE ARTIST (did I say that out loud?).

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I hope everybody in Columbus got their free light bulb at the Firemen's Pancake breakfast yesterday. I heard the event smashed records in attendance. The bulb should last 25,000 hours. I figured it will burn out in 17 years.  I put a date on it to remind myself when I got it.

I do that with a lot of things.  My big box of trash bags I get from True Value last about a year.  I had a date on my salt - took like 3 years LOL.  So on my 60W LED light bulb I have 10/05/14.

I'll let ya know when it burns out!
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Two Guys and a Beer Landscaping. 

This is the rock wall Elwood and I have been working on for a few years - nothing but dirt and rocks when we started - clean slate.  Lookin' pretty lush Saturday.

 
That ground cover would look great around the Water Tower and not hard to grow.  What would be needed would be a LOT of dirt to fill in the crevices.  It would look GREAT!!

Two Guys and a Beer could be hired out very cheaply (but not for free) if we had dirt. It would be a summer project.   We have a lot of experience on what works and what does not work and what needs to be done to make rock walls self containing.  And that ground cover looks GREAT when it blooms in the spring!   Just sayin'.  The biggest problem is filling in the cracks and holes with dirt.

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Going to miss my first Council meeting in like 2 years and I've only been on Council for 6 months - and of course this is the one that had all the things "I" wanted to talk about.

Winter Parking Rules is the big one but looks like Trick or Treat will be talked about along with a new council member.

BUT - we have gone to Door County the 1st week of October since the middle 90s so . . . . . . . it's the perfect week for fall colors.

Fear of terror makes people stupid., plus Scathophagidae and Beef Cuts

An opinion which is not set in stone.

Police body cams – I don’t like them and feel that they can put officers in danger as they double think something that might come naturally.  If confronted with an iffy situation where the BEST thing to do is get hard on someone an officer might hesitate for one second because they have a body camera.

At what point do citizens start to wear body cams and we have already seen the push back from Google Glasses and a privacy issue.  Do officers need to tell you first that you are being recorded?

HOWEVER – that is my personal opinion and in reality the future will have all officers in America wearing body cameras SADLY because of mistrust in police department which is a real problem. Body cams  it will happen, no doubt about it.

But not so fast.  Because everyone knows it will happen and more and more departments will be purchasing them the cost of these cameras and storage will be coming down dramatically in the next year or two and that is why I feel Columbus needs to hold off.

It’s not like we are a bastion of crime here even though the fear mongers believe 911 is coming to Columbus any day now so we need to be prepared.   We can afford to wait a year or two and move slowly. It's not like we have extra money laying around.  Plus, there are hidden costs to body cams.

After every use, from what I have read, that camera needs to be downloaded which I assume takes an officer off the street and puts citizens in danger once again. If there is someone being recorded there must be a good reason and that needs to be saved ASAP.

We are constantly being warned that a school shooting can happen anywhere and anytime and we must be prepared.  Well, sort of true.  A meteor could also hit a school but no one seems worried.   Let’s look at some facts.

According to Fox News (weird I'm quoting Fox News) "firearm homicide rates have plummeted as much as the firearm murders at school since 1992 (a 52 percent drop by 2012), but a recent Pew poll shows 45 percent of Americans believe that firearm homicide rates have gone up, only 10 percent realized that the rate had actually gone down."

But let's look at some numbers - There are 33,370 public schools in America. An average school year is 180 days.  Since 2012 when the  Sandy Hook shootings took place there have been 34 school incidents. There have been 12,013,200 total days where there COULD have been a shooting in a random school.  So that is a 0.00000283% chance that a particular school could have an incident.  Or to put it even more scary, once every 1,962 years for any one random school.

My heart goes out to all that have lost loved ones and I’m not trying to down play tragedy’s but purposely putting fear into people’s minds so we can arm ourselves with more weapons is not only wrong but irresponsible.
 
“Fear of terror makes people stupid.”

Note – the number of school shootings comes from FactCheck.org.  One group that lists more shootings uses a very broad definition that doubles the numbers.

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But then there is Scathophagidae or the dung fly which is going to cost Columbus some money!

That’s right the dung fly, the thing we all laughed about when cable TV was in its infancy with shows about the life history of the dung fly (or was that the dung beetle).  Here is the problem, seems these fly love dung and excrete liquid which in turn waters down our sewage which needs to be stacked and with watery poop you just cannot stack it.  FASCINATING!!

Or something like that – this could be one of those 50% correct posts!

On a serious note – we were told the number of spiders were amazing.  HEY – they should try, just for shits and giggles (no pun intended) hedge balls which are spider repellents!  It would be a good test.

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JOBS REPORT - SMASHES EXPECTATIONS!!  

Unemployment plunged and is at it's lowest point since 2008 and nonfarm payrolls LEAPED 248,000 way way over expectations.  DAMN YOU OBAMA!!  (insert evil laugh).  This is the perfect storm for the stock market and a great sign the economy is really ticking (except in Wisconsin).

Earnings growth was low which means inflation is in check.  "Jaw dropping numbers" said some talking heads.    I expect a good day in the market.

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And as a public service.

China King - WOW

Just to get things straight - "folf" and its derivatives are largely disliked and actively hated by most members of the disc golf community.

"frolf" is when you play with any Frisbee but you ONLY make up your object targets and you play in parks or forest ,etc . . .  but, do not play on actual courses and do not have baskets. If played on a real course with baskets it is disc golf.  Also, "frolf" has no rules or etiquette, and you make up pars as you go. They are 2 different games entirely.

If you are wondering about how many courses there are in the area here are the courses within 50 miles of Columbus.

There are a lot of players waiting to play Columbus and review it. I was down at Glide Disc Golf in Madison yesterday working on getting a bunch of disc to Columbus and 4 people in the store said as soon as I list the course on the National Registry they will be playing and reviewing it.  

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I'm a little ticked at the moment.  Yesterday I wrote a blog called "Fear makes you stupid" that listed the REAL chances of an active shooter hitting a random school (once every 1,900 years in America) and I put it on a flash drive which my cats played with last night and now I can not find it.  They were wild last night.

photo bombing my own cat

For instance.

DJ was cleaning the frig and had all sorts of Tupperware out on the counter for cleaning. Sofie was, of course, curious and looking around the counter full of bowls and pans and so forth.

All of a sudden a metal pan falls of and hits the floor with a CLANK which startles Sofie so much
she BOLTS but since the counter is slippery all she is doing is knocking off all the bowls with her back feet which scares her even more.  I'm watching her running in place kicking things off and it's like in slow motion.

HOWEVER - I see that if she ever gets traction she is going to collide with a row of recycling bottles sitting on a cookie sheet on the edge of the counter right in front of her . . . . . like a bowling ball and pins.

By this time Iggy, who was on the floor, is freaking out and just as he has decided its time to bolt Sofie has gotten traction and has collided into the bottles sending her and the bottles and the cookie sheet over the edge on top of Iggy who is now also running in place on the hardwood floors freaking out.

Now both cats are looking like Wile E Coyote running in place as their world is tumbles on top of them.

DJ and I are both laughing hysterically.

So Iggy hid my flash drive somewhere.  sigh!
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Took a walk down to Five Guys Burgers yesterday for lunch and stopped in to the Overture Center and snapped a few photos. Here is one.

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The NL Wildcard game last night was not as exciting as the AL Wildcard game for sure.  Oak/KC was one of the best baseball games I have ever seen.  Last night SF/Pitts  zzzzzzzz  8-0  If the Brewers would have played the game would have been much more exciting, maybe 3-0.

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Quantitative Easing

Not that you should listen to some dude on the internet and knowing that most people lose more money trying to time the stock market then what they would actually lose in a correction . . . . . there are a lot of investors looking for a reason to get out of the market.

The QE3 market rally (Quantitative Easing where the fed pump $$ into America) could be coming to an end and we are at a deciding point.  There has not been a 10% correction for a long time and it seems investors are actually wishing it would happen to get it over with.

Just sayin'

 
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China King

We all know China King closed for the summer to remodel . . . or something.   They opened up last week and I have to think that they are the most important restaurant in Columbus. There is no substitute.

We decided to order last night and instead of the normal 10 minute wait it was 40 minutes, DOWN from 1 1/2 hours!!  They have been inundated since they have opened.  

The place looks about the same actually, new tables and a little more open in the kitchen but the food . . . .what happened???  They were always good before but last night it was AMAZINGLY good. DJ and I both looked at each other and said "this is REALLY good, what changed?".    Same food but something is definitely different.

Well done China King!  Bravo and welcome back.