Time Change

Food for thought from "M" concerning the Anonymous campaign.

 The Anonymous movement is one of the most fascinating in modern history. Most people don't understand that there is no central Anonymous brain, no accepted spokes-Anon or umbrella organization. ANYONE can call themselves Anonymous, whether one is an expert hacker SJW to a 4chan troll or neither. What's really interesting is when enough of them to coalesce for a cause they deem fit, such as the current anti-ISIS campaign, or past campaigns against Scientology, the Westboro Baptist Church, North Korea, and rapists and child pornographers. Many of the campaigns are international, and Anons are based worldwide. I wouldn't say they've "switched sides." And again, using the term "they" will always be a generality.

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I'm going to have to rethink my blogging times.  There has been a major time change in my household that has rocked my world.  When DJ retired I no longer get up at 5:45 every day which means I don't start writing at 7:00 every day like I used too.  And by the time 8:30 rolls around I'm more ready to go work out then sit down and type. 10:30pm seems a better fit when I'm not doing anything . . . but who knows what my tiny brain is thinking about THEN.

Time will tell.

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The holiday parade came and went with a good crowd downtown.  Dave the Econ/Tourism dude (I have no idea what his real job is anymore)  was there with an exchange student he is hosting from Norway.  I asked her where in Norway and it was "just above the Arctic Circle".

I made a comment about how it must be warmer here and she said it was MUCH warmer in Wisconsin.
+++
As I was mingling around a few people asked about why no Art Walk this year and well, no funding and no one with energy to organize it.  If you want events you need to find someone to head the event and there needs to be an incentive to do all the footwork behind the scenes labor.

COMING UP - The holiday train

The CP Holiday Train will be stopping in Columbus on Friday December 4th at 10:45pm. This will be a 25 minute show with musical performance. Event is free.

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I hope we go back to when hair styles were REALLY cool.  Just sayin'

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The Macy's Thanksgiving parade was REALLY open minded this year!  Well done team.

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Have I mentioned that Donald Trump is a racist and now mocks disable people and that I have no respect for the candidate OR the people that back him.  Zero.

The good thing is that the polls are completely worthless at this point.  Yea he is (or was) leading but it's not like his group is growing.  It's just that the other 25 GOP candidates are also taking people away. Once they start to coalesce he will die on the vine and blame the media.  I'm GLAD the process of elections take 2 years, otherwise he would have been elected 2 months ago by all the loonies they like him.  And if I just pissed off someone because I called you a loonie - GOOD - grow up and act like an adult, start thinking with your brain and listen to what he is saying. 

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NETFLIX - wow - they have it dialed in!   hmmmm  why is my font changing . . . hold on! 


TESTING - OK

First there was Batman - The Dark Knight Comic which changed comic books forever and brought adults into the mix.  Then the Batman movies where things got a little more real and recently on Netflix a series called Daredevil came out that got attention because it dealt with how Matt Murdock became Daredevil.  Less superhero and more character development.

NOW a new series called Jessica Jones and it is the closest thing I have ever watched that makes me
want to binge.  She is a former superhero who opens her own detective agency after an end to her superhero career. She has PTSD, drinks too much, has a short fuse and this show is REALLY adult dealing with rape and mind control and just WOW!!

"strikes a balance between self-aware noir and Marvel’s first flirtations with psychological horror....not just another hit for Marvel and Netflix, but a landmark moment for female superheroes on TV."


If you have watched Supergirl, this is the exact opposite!

Marvel has grown up.

Crazy good.  So I started read up on this character and the show.  How does she fit into the Marvel Universe.  WELL - it seems there will be four of these types of shows. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist will all have shows AND they will all link up in a series called The Defenders sooner or later.

Check it out!

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Looking for Christmas gifts?   I'll have 2015 calendars for sale soon and I have poster prints and soon 8x12 matted prints at The Workshop.  Also if shopping downtown don't forget Sharrows and if you have kids take them to Cardinal Comics downtown for toys and so forth.

 
OK - nuff said IN THE MORNING.

Did you know that Woodstock was going on at the same time as Hurricane Camille?  The book I'm reading is giving a good account of both and how Camille and Woodstock did not get along!  I did not know they were at the same time.

Albido Effect

Dan Patrick called the call in the Wisconsin game the worst call he has ever seen in NCAA Football!

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And then there is the Albido Effect.

One of the hardest things for a weather dude to predict is the amount of snow in a snow storm.  So many little factors that can influence the amount.  But another hard thing that many do not know about is called Albido Effect.   This is concerned with temperature after a snow fall and is REALLY a tough one.

As we all know the sun warms the earth but when there is fresh snow on the ground 80% of the sun rays bounce back into space. Fresh snow REALLY lowers air temps a LOT.  They also make the new snow are much colder at night as the snow creates an insulation so the warm earth can not warm the air above it.

This is why Watertown, Lone Rock and Middleton got down to 1 degree the day after the storm. Columbus was down to 6.8 degrees with our 4 inches.

SO - if you are ever asked "What is the Albido Effect" it is a measure of how much of the Sun's energy is reflected back into space. Overall, the Earth's albedo has a cooling effect. (The term 'albedo' is derived from the Latin for 'whiteness').

Next - "Isallobaric Wind" which is REALLY interesting.

Rain rain rain on Thanksgiving - probably over an inch. Then cooling off for the holiday parade which will have wind chills near 20 so dress appropriately.

OH OH - this guy is hilarious and this is what I strive for.  The whole thing is great!

https://youtu.be/AYfBUUlYeso
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There is a whole lot of badness going on these days after "Paris" which makes zero sense to me.  People are saying America is not doing enough and we need to take care of the bad guys and stop waving our fingers.  Trump wants to register all Muslims like we did to Japanese in WWII.  Yea. that seems like a plan. Worked 73 years ago didn't it?

First of all - do people actually know what terrorists are?  It would take AT LEAST 250,000 American ground troops AT LEAST 10 years of fighting to come close to winning. Do we really want to do that?  ESPECIALLY when the countries in that region with huge armies that could attack ISIS with ground troops are not?

I LOVE what the hacker group called "anonymous" is doing.  They have been a pain in America's ass for a while and now they switched sides and have unified to attack ISIS.  That is so awesome.  They have disrupted ISIS communication already deleted 20,000 Twitter accounts.

Now you might say - "big deal".  Well, how do YOU feel when your facebook account has been deleted right before you want to pull off a major coordinated bank robbery or something.  Or when all of your ISIS websites are now are blasting some dudes 1980s rock video.

But what is really troubling me are the Republican Governors closing their doors to refugees - it's the height of hypocrisy and embarrassing.

In the wake of the Paris attacks, 25

Republican Governors (and 1 Democrat) have vowed to

block all Syrian asylum seekers

from entering their States, since

ONE of the terrorists snuck into

France with other Syrian refugees.

In addition to being devoid of that

most basic human integrity, that

reaction is in height of 

unadulterated hypocrisy, because

whenever there is a domestic gun

massacre, those same Republicans

are the first to insist you can't

blame all the good gun owners for

the acts of a few madmen. 

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OK - lets lighten it up a tad.  You know that meteor we landed on a while back?  This is what that bad boy would look like on earth.  THAT would cause so damage! 

   

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And it what many consider the boring-est news. Pfizer and Allergan PLC are merging. A $150 BILLION deal.  Big deal you say?  Well, this allows Phizer to headquarter in Ireland and not have to pay American taxes.

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Is a Bacon Rauchbier really a good thing?

Here is an interesting fact - between 2009 and 2014,  870,000 Mexicans moved to the United States, BUT, at the same time 1 million US Citizens moved to Mexico.

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The baffling storm is on its way - the forecast would be so much easier if we lived in Madison but Columbus is right on the edge so we could get 1 inch? Or if the storm wobbles 20 miles 6 inches.  Whatever we get it should start about 8ish tonight and last 12 hours.

Anyway you look at it some people are going to get pissed when they see a ticket on their car tomorrow morning if we get 2 inches!  At least we don't live in Janesville who could get 10 inches!  I'm being really conservative and thinking less then an inch.

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New brewery in Sun Prairie is moving forward after another investor meeting and banks agreeing to fund a major portion of the project. This will be a 10 barrel system with expectations  to break ground next spring next to Market Street Diner.

Looking for a chemist at the moment as you can't really brew this much beer without one.  You really don't want this happening in a 10 barrel system.

I woke up this morning and my Double Chocolate Stout decided it wanted out!   Pretty active yeast I would say.

Speaking of beer- I tried a Bacon Rauchbier last night.  Tasted like bacon. Is that a good thing?  It was for a few gulps but man - all I could smell all night was bacon.

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In the stock market some guy shorted an online site and lost $106,445.  The site?  GoFundMe.com

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Pizza - A study was done and it seems when a male eats pizza with a woman he eats 1.5 more slices on average compared to when he eats pizza with another male.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY WINDOWS!!  - On this date in 1985 Microsoft release it's very first version of Windows.

The door has opened to winter

I was called out before City Council by the Mayor over a prediction last year about a powerful storm which never materialized.  YUP - got that one wrong.  And sort of missed one a few weeks ago where the wind never materialized HERE but it did south west of Madison.

However - I did predict this mess we just got through a week ahead of time.  Still, weather prediction has gotten much much better in the last couple years, people only remember when the talking heads (and me) are wrong and that actually influences the weather forecasters.  

I was also asked when the first accumulating snow would occur and while I knew Saturday was a good chance I wasn't going to put that out there because this thing coming at us was still pretty fuzzy.

NOW though it's taking shape.

We have a pretty strong jet stream right above us and "warm" moist air moving north  and cold dry air north of us.  This is a small nasty system.  It's a little eddy of energy.  Fast moving and very potent and it's carving out a section of the US as it moves towards us.  HOWEVER - the European model has thrown a wrench into the works saying this storm will have a negative tilt and will dump a large quantity of it's snow before it gets to us!  The moist air is not AS moist as we assumed.

SO - at one point the word EIGHT inches which was in the conversation (well for a few hours at least) is waning and now it looks like things are getting more conservative.  Maybe 1-3 inch.  I tend to look at which way the forecasters are trending and at the moment the trend is less and less.

Can't get away from the cold though.  Sunday, sunny and a high of 27 low of 16. Then warming to 40 and Thanksgiving rain (sorry, a month ago I predicted a thunderstorm but it's only rain :-)

The holiday parade will be lower 40s with spitting rain. NOT like last year with freezing rain.

BTW - It's 8:30 and the average sustained wind speed is 25mph!! NOT a good day for disc golf.

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October was the warmest October in 136 years of record keeping.

"Reclining Nude” (don't google that at work) by Amedeo Modigliani, a painting, was sold for 170 million dollars and paid for with an American Express Card!  YIKES, seriously?  I'm not sure I have a limit that high!  That is about 422 million Express Points, or, 28 million frequent flier miles!

The odds for the Packers to make the playoffs has taken a hit and is now down to 83% and only 3.7% to win the Superbowl.

OH  - weather geeks - I'm reading a fantastic book called "Roar of the Heavens" about Hurricane Camille in 1969.  I was on a vacation to New York New York with my neighbors and was so pissed I was missing what many believe was a once in 10,000 year event.

What happened in Virginia is amazing and one study says it was so rare that you need to go beyond human history to see this again.  It rained so hard birds drowned in trees with the lack of oxygen.  NOAA suggest that the "maximum rain rate that is theoretically possible" occurred.

I read the preface and had chills.  

Speaking of terrorists - I hear a lot of people talking about sending an army to get the bad guys . . do people understand what terrorists are?  They actually don't wear uniforms you know.

All you hear about on TV now is terrorists stuff which is spreading fear - YET - we live in the safest period of our lives (well except for the 25,000 gun deaths per year in America).  One cool thing happening is that while the US will not speak to Russia and Russia will not speak to the US, we will BOTH speak to France and work with them.

OH - probably a bad time to show this photo I captured yesterday - I put it on facebook and immediately caught flak about Whitewater and Monica and cover ups by the Left (no mention of Iran Contra cover ups by the Right though).

Bill was outside The Madison Club.

 

   Hey - I would take Trumps photo if I was next to him, OR Carson's if I could wake him up!

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had a 4:15 Council session last Tuesday.  Drug sniffing dogs took up a BIG portion of that and it's the newest debate we are grappling with. The question is - does Columbus really need a drug sniffing dog?  There are many things to think about.  Cost, effectiveness, need among other things.

OK - gotta run.  Brew day

Putting the prelim wraps in the budget

Just a few notes - our budget workshops are FINALLY over and I feel we did a good job with what we had.  Mill rates will tick up a bit but not much you can do about that until we get more growth in the city which is coming I feel. The new AND old TIFs are gaining momentum and all the new housing this year will help NEXT year.

I have to give compliments where they are do which go to our Mayor and Alderman Thom who I believe were the stars.  There will be a public meeting Tuesday where we are inviting the public but please leave your pitchforks at the door.

In some other news that I have not mentioned yet but since I hear people talking about it in lines at the grocery store I guess it's not a BIG secret.  We're getting a new pizza place on James Street and it's not a start up but one that has been in business for a while in another community - and in the words or Ulysses Everett McGill, it's bonafide!

January could be a big month for James Street with other news in the works.

County Side Ford is moving from James Street way out Maple Street under the highway.  I tell ya - I have Water and Light meetings and that area has to be the darkest spot in Columbus.  I'm going to go out there for meteor showers and star photos.  It's uncanny dark!

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OK OK - Weather - the storm was a "let down". Southwest Wisconsin got hammered but we only had GUSTS to 38.  We had/have sustained winds of 18 but no HUGE threat!

We will get warm next week 15 degrees above average BUT . . . .rain rain rain and then NEXT weekend I would not be surprised to see snow  Friday night Saturday morning. One Columbus resident contacted me who must winter in Cable (I think she is mixed up - GO SOUTH IN WINTER) had lots of snow from this last storm.

After a warm Sunday head under the blankets as I doubt we will see sunshine for until the NEXT Sunday rain rain rain rain snow.  BUT 15 degrees above average!

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6% of Americans could not watch the football game last night if you were color blind!  GOOD LORD - seriously?  PURE RED AND GREEN ON A GREEN FIELD?

40% of Republicans in Iowa believe their economy is doing poorly because that have been told that - ACTUALLY, Iowa's economy is doing very very well!!

Anyone see Trumps speech last night?  I think this is the beginning of the end. He is no longer having fun and is just ranting that Carson is a child molester and all sorts of hate speech.  I thought he was having a stroke or something.  He even called the Iowa voters a bunch of idiots!  YEA - That always will get you more votes!



  

Bike Path Taskforce

Thanks for the comment yesterday knowitall, I actually didn't know how brackets worked as I never had to worry about them being in a low bracket - not that it helps the overall situation but handy knowledge.

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I also want to thank all that showed up to the Council listening session and left their pitchforks at the door!  A lot of good information was brought forth.

The one thing I want to emphasize about the James Street project.  Being on the CSS Taskforce we were charged with creating and adjusting the look and feel of the project and we literally went over every detail in minutia.  Many things we wanted and found reason to not have and every decision was discussed the pros and cons over and over again.  Details as small as electrical outlets on the new light poles.  Some very serious discussions from turning radius of semi trucks to alternate routes and lighting, sidewalk widths, car speeds and so forth.

The one thing that I thought was weird on this whole James Street thing (not a CSS Taskforce thing) was the entire intersection near Walgreens which will be completely redone.  Several different plans were presented to us and then they asked which ones does council wanted.

What?  Us?  We make the decisions on the best vehicle movement plan? Aren't there professionals that know the science of vehicle movement?

ANYWAY - just saying the CSS Taskforce did not just meet just once and make quick decisions!

As for the rest of the budget - seems all this growth in housing has come THIS year and is not reflected in last years growth.  We're a little tight cash wise (as always) but I have not seen any major shake-up or changes.

One thing that would be nice to hear about is there is a movement to get MORE billboards surrounding Columbus.  Those big flashing LED billboards which  cause light pollution and distract drivers but bring in a small amount of money (like 10Kish).  PERSONALLY I'm totally against them from an aesthetic point of view - I think they are butt ugly and we need LESS billboards.  If we allow these why can't we just have electric signs downtown.  Do we want to look like that Oshkosh area?

Will creating ugliness really be offset by mammoth growth to the city?  I am in contact with the Mayor of Richmond who voted down these thing because citizens hated them.  I don'tbelieve the small amount of money we get offsets making the outskirts of Columbus ugly.

Just me very personal opinion.

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Seems like my goal on making Columbus more bicycle friendly so we will have less cars on the road is being put on the back burner as fixing our one bicycle path was called a luxury.

I feel bicycle paths and sidewalks are a very very important part of our transportation network especially with more and more young families moving into Columbus asking for more bike paths.

Get people OUT OF CARS and onto paths.  Everything seems to be all about moving people in cars while ignoring other more ecologically sound modes of transportation.

OK - I'm off my non-motorized band wagon now!   I'm looking to create a Bike Path Task Force - if you know anyone who bikes, tell them to contact me - my goal is to have a posted bike path that goes around Columbus in a circle tour utilizing marked good roads and paths.  Make Columbus a place people enjoy.

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A trailer of one of the specials that will be broadcast on HBO came out.  Here is the odd thing.  In order for HBO to show this series it needs to come from a book.  Well in this case the series came out before the book.  HBO says "we love it" but we need a book. So some famous author is writing the book from the screen play.  Coming in 2016, there are also 2 major motion pictures in the works.

This is from Serendipity.



https://youtu.be/v5QAdf6c-G4

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Happy Diwali and here come da cyclogenesis

Happy Diwali - one of if not the biggest Hindu festival. its one of my favorite days at work because if you work in the IT areas for the State of Wisconsin most programmers are now Indian and they are all dressed very colorfully and very happy!

Diwali is one of the largest and brightest festivals in India. The festival spiritually signifies the victory of good over evil.  This is the happiest holidays.

"Before Diwali night, people clean, renovate, and decorate their homes and offices. On Diwali night, Hindus dress up in new clothes or their best outfit, light up diyas (lamps and candles) inside and outside their home, participate in family puja (prayers) typically to Lakshmi – the goddess of wealth and prosperity"

AND bring good and interesting food to work. 

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But lets get serious for a moment - the weather.

We have basically a mini hurricane heading our way and it's been fascinating and is called a cyclogenesis.

A LOW moved across the Rockies and if you can imagine a merry go round as the LOW.  As it moves into and over the Rockies it's compressed and flattens out.  But as it leaves the Rockies that column of circling air stretches vertically.  As it stretches up and down it's like a top and starts spinning with greater speed.  The merry go round shrinks horizontally but expands up!

NOW a very very powerful jet stream starts to spin it faster and faster with relatively and moist air and BAM.

We should start to see some spots of rain later this afternoon as this cyclogenesis starts to approach this very impressive Wisconsin and winds start to increase and if there is sever storms we have a window of 3 to 9 o'clock.  Most BAD weather will be south of Wisconsin but this is a very active system and some could move north!  Wisconsin is in a TOR-CON 3ish which means a 30% chance of a tornado somewhere in Southern Wisconsin.

BUT WAIT - Once the rain passes tonight the LOW will be right over our heads and winds wll calm down like in a Hurricane - we will be in the eye.

Once that eye starts to leave - THEN we get really REALLY windy conditions - damaging winds for that matter.  Constant 30mph with gusts as high as 50mph.  This all starts around midnight tonight!

* Impacts... driving may be difficult... especially for high profile
  vehicles. Minor tree damage is possible and light weight objects
  will be blow around. Structural damage to ongoing construction
  projects is also possible.

Just sayin! 

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I learned something out my Deferred Comp that DJ and I have been contributing for a combined 55 years.  If we take any of that $$ out we go into a 10% higher tax bracket.  It's being held hostage. 

The Witch of November

The BIG news this week will be the weather - the Witch of November is coming Thursday and Friday - a BIG one.  Luckily we are warm enough for no snow but rain will begin Wednesday night and once that leaves the area we will get BLASTED with heavy wind - we're talking sustained 30mph with gusts near or even above 45 mph Thursday afternoon into Friday. I'll have my weather station on the once a minute broadcast level.

The highs Friday will hit 40 but with a 30 mph wind it might feel a tad cooler.  Hang on to your hats!

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Then there is the Keystone pipeline.  Well, what about that pipeline that you drive over every day going to Madison on The 151.  When you drive south look for a couple seemingly abandoned orange barrels. That is where 950,000 barrels of the nastiest heavy tar sands crude oil flow every day.  This stuff is REAL REAL bad for the environment and they are going to boost it up to 1.2 million barrels of that shit next year!  

Keystone which would have been 860,000 barrels a day would have created 45,000 TEMPORARY jobs to build it and then 50 full time jobs to run it and basically giving nothing back to America. We don't want that crap, China does. The pipeline would go through Montana and over the ONLY aquifer in Montana.  Mess that up and Montana basically has NO WATER.  What could possibly go wrong.

But Enbridge who owns the pipeline going through Wisconsin has been in Walkers ear to get laws changed so they can pull out the eminent domain card.  If they can't buy your land the government of Wisconsin will just take it.  OH WAIT - that is already in the new Wisconsin budget!  That one sentence on page 24,000 or something.

We really don't need that farmland anyway if anything happens.

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600 BILLION - and we are concerned with 8 Million?

So everyone is getting all upset over the military spending 8 Million of tax payer money and giving it to Sports venues to promote the Military.  But you do know that the military budget is over 600 BILLION right? (you can fit 8 million 75,000 times into 600 billion).

Of course 10 million is a lot of money to you and me but it's a days advertising budget to someone like Fan Duel (well not really, Fan Duel spends only 3 million a day in advertising).

Wisconsin government agency's waste 10 million a year EASY on much worse things like ineptness and needless programs or knowing systems will not work but because they are in charge if they cancel the program it will look bad for THEM.  Might as well wait and have the next guy take the blame.

But I digress.
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Columbus received about 0.40 inches of rain last night and a good amount of wind just after midnight!  Expect 50s to a little higher for the next week. Our average high is 47 so still above average.  warming up for Thanksgiving!!

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The jobs report came out and it CRUSHED expectations  . . well . .except for Wisconsin which had the 2nd most job loss in the US last month.

The unemployment rate dropped to 5% the lowest since 2008.  Most economists say 5% is considered full employment.  Not sure how that is but . . . . 62.4% of Americans that CAN work are working.

The hourly rate of workers grew 0.4% which was better then forecast and shows that empolyers are having some trouble finding workers.  Weird.

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I wonder if dogs can get sick on moldy bread put out for birds  LOL   hmmmmm

BTW - DO NOT let your dog eat sugarless gum - almost a sure way to kill them. Xylitol, a sugar substitute is very very deadly to dogs!!  Look at what you have and KEEP DOGS AWAY! Check all of your sugar free products!
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We're going to sound proof our basement with recycled denim. Who knew!!   I'll tell ya one thing - finishing an entire basement is not cheap. I think my beer island will be made out of Styrofoam to save money  . . .or maybe made out of Lego's or something  GULP!

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Every American paid NASA 41 cents to land a vehicle on Mars.  Pretty cheap if you ask me!

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Got this from the Chief!

 I would attend but I have gov meetings Monday, Tuesday and 2 meetings on Thursday! I need ONE day off!!

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have a great weekend!

Thursday stuff that is on my mind

So a while ago I said JEB! was the winner in the GOP race without a doubt, 100% guaranteed.

I was wrong.

The problem is that the GOP is in so much in turmoil no one really has a clue on what REAL candidate will win.  Trump and Carson have zero chance when the REAL votes are being cast, they are entertainers.

The very best predictor on who will win their sides primary is endorsements from other politicians and is called the invisible primary which is voted on by party elites. Oh you may think you are voting but not really.  The party elites are in charge.

Over the last 30 or 40 years the elites reach a consensus and the rank and file voters follow. Works like clockwork.

WELL - a few months ago JEB! was getting all the early votes but for the last couple months the party elites (at least on the GOP side) have raised their hands and have not really had a clue what to do.  It's chaos.

The votes are like this - 10 points for governors, 5 points for U.S. senators and 1 point for U.S. representatives.  JEB! was winning with 37 but that has dried up.  The only candidate who has gotten ANY endorsements in the last 2 weeks is Marco Rubio and he is still in 4th place with 18 points (getting 12 points recently).

So it's still up in the air for the GOP.

For the Democrats - Clinton as 391 votes and in 2nd place is Bernie with 2. Oh it's not fool proof. At this point in 2008 Clinton had a small lead over Obama, something like 40 to 20.

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In other news!

Here are the roads we are going to fix in 2016.  At the moment the theory is most of them will be done at about the same time starting early May.

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The Sun Prairie Senior Center is having their 5th annual beer fest featuring 60 beers and wine and cheese tasting.  I'll have my East Indian Porter on tap for the event

Tickets are only $25 in advance, $30 at the door and can be purchased on line or in person at the Colonial Club, 301 Blankenheim Lane in Sun Prairie or at Cannery Wine & Spirits at 240 E. Main St.

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Weather - good things coming after a small break in the 20+ above average days.  There is a little kicker up dare in British Columbia that has unattached itself from the arctic and with so much humidity in the air we COULD see some hail tonight and thunderstorms could erupt later tonight. COULD be the last of the season but . . . .we have more warmth coming after NEXT week. when we get 10-15 above average for Thanksgiving.

The weekend looks cool (like 3 or 4 above average) and sunny!

OK - gotta run

cheers
 


 

I'm BACK . . .sort of!

So a large number of people (my mom) noticed I had not blogged for a while and were worried for one reason for another. One reason was that as one person said, he did not know what was going on in Columbus (even though he does not even live in the State), which is a sad sad commentary.  Oddly there is a woman in England who grew up in Columbus and one in Sweden that was a resident for a while and one in Montana who's farm has been photographed on some pretty big name artists album cover all concerned.   Seems once you have lived in Columbus you are attached for life.  

But basically I had nothing to say and was forcing it. Sure sure I could talk about how in reality Democrats are also trying to suppress the vote (which they do with off-cycle elections, well, according to Nate Silver's pretty smart team) but I won't go there because I have many friends who claim to be Democrats but it's only because their parents were Democrats.   It's like how I cannot and will not ever buy a Ford, can't do it, it's not in my DNA . . . .well . . . . now I don't know because I have a NEW DNA, not the DNA I THOUGHT I had a few months ago once it was checked and now instead of eating a lot of maze I eat fish and chips.  My dad hated Fords thus I hate Fords.  I'm actually not a fan of any American car except Saturns but they are no longer.  

But I digress. 

I have a lot to say about non-local politics but that will wait

Basically I was forcing myself to write something and it had become a chore.  

WOW - I just erased about 12 lines that MIGHT be controversial - WHAT HAVE I BECOME!!!


ANYWAY - there are so many tiny little things that are meaningless but certainly interesting that I need to share so here I am again.

For instance - last Sunday. The Sports Equinox! Only 15 times in history has there been all 4 major sports leagues playing on one day!  NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB. THAT is news.
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Or if you go to Sharrows Downtown you can pick up a copy if InSpire and see my wife and father in law on the cover.

Personally I have been deep in a basement renovation/kegorator project and I believe I am personally responsible for global warming as my CO2 tank had a leak for carbing my beer and this is why the weather is so warm . . . my bad!  Elevated CO2 readings across Columbus!

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WEATHER YOU SAY - It ain't over.  Sure after Thursday we drop down and get really cold to only a few degrees above average.  Next weeek we will be only 6 or 7 degrees above normal before dropping to normal for a few days but then we heat up again by week #3 of November.

This has nothing to do with El Nino and is really just a jet stream anomaly. El Nino is still coming. 

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I also have a new place for my images at Soular in Waterloo. As you come into Waterloo on The 89 it's one of the first places on the right.  Great pizza and super sandwiches! Check them out.  The place is owned by a fellow home brewer.

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Boiled potatoes!  OMG.  Ever have the headache of pealing boiled potatoes.  Try this. Score the potato in a circle all the way around the potato. THEN boil and when they are ready the skin will just glide off in two pieces!!   BINGO!! 

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I played with this image from Gills Rock in Door County.  The photo turned out boring so I was playing last night and created this.  Not AS boring.

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We went to a Milwaukee Bucks game in Madison and actually saw a few people from Columbus there.  Here is my action photo. I took this with my iPhone BEFORE I upgraded the camera with all sorts of good tools.  I can now set the SIA and shutter speed and all sorts of real camera settings.  

OH OH - does ANYONE know the name or address or how I can get a hold of Stoplight Dude from Public Enemies time?  I have another stoplight fanatic who wants to get a hold of him!

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Another iPhone photo of Sydney.

And here is Sydney and Caydence with their Halloween costumes. Once they were done getting candy Sydney LOVED giving out candy to the "children" coming to the door.  

The kids LOVED Halloween at night.  I was asking them their feelings and many said "it's SCARY" with HUGE smiles on their faces!!   I hope we keep it ON Halloween and at night.  Kids loved it.

That is it for now!  I'll have more in the coming days.

Rod