a bunch of biased, corporate, word-cabbage.

When we moved to Columbus 11 years ago we were signing papers at the Poser Clinic building that is now occupied by Just the Numbers.  One of the things our realtor said  as we were leaving was something on the order of  "Don't be a stranger and we hope to see you around"  DJ said, off the  cuff  "Oh, I'm sure you will"  and we all laughed.

11 years later with 4 years of being on City Council, a blog with 700,000 pages read and seeing how slow government works (for good reason) an award winning blog with 700,000 pages read, being in a parade and now understanding that you can't just snap your fingers to get things done . . .   here I am STILL making the Columbus Journal paper in an article called as I try to fade into anonymity.

 Columbus School District examines future

Rod Melotte, a Columbus resident and former city council member, wasn’t impressed with the survey. Melotte said he was excited to take the survey, but after digging in found it to be “a bunch of biased, corporate, word-cabbage.” He felt the questions were too wordy and often meaningless.

Melotte thought it was important to release a survey, but believes it didn’t address some pressing issues. He also thought it was geared too much in favor of the district and didn’t allow objectivity.

 “There is not one question about if we even want a new school building,” Melotte said. “I think there should be another survey.”

SO I then have a secret meeting at the Middle School with the School Superintendent and the President of the School Board which I won't go into because of doctor/client confidentiality but it was a very nice meeting and we went over some plans on how to get information out and the fact that they were surprised that parents were so angry with the school system and non-parents seemed to not be so angry and how to fix this mess.

The ONE thing I do want to say is the rumor that Annette Deuman the SUP is using Columbus as a stepping stone for greater goals is false.

Being someone without a real filter that says what is on his mind (whether he believes it our not at the moment)  I asked her point blank if this was the case. 

NO!  She has three children that live in Wausau? Waupun? and that is the only school district that she has ever put in her resume'.  I have zero issue with this.

I also expressed that the community need to not only know WHAT is happening but WHY it is happening. 

A lot of things were covered in the hour meeting which was too boring to write about - Nuff said

But really - things take time.  I have a Facilities Study that dates back to 1968 and there has been SIX referendums since 2007. ALL failed except the one that passed approving MAINTENANCE for the Columbus Middle School. 

So unless there is a concerted, grass roots effort and NOT like the one in 2014 which to me - just looked like a desperate plea, I believe they are a tiny bit gun shy - YET - they also want new schools.  I mean really - do you believe anybody that works in the children industry would NOT want new schools?

The demographics of Columbus are changing with 30+ new homes in the last 3 years and most of those are families moving here.  Personally I believe the time is right for another stab at it.

**********************

I need a 

In other news (beside my freaking tooth ache) is that IT SEEMS our house has an issue.  When finishing our basement the plumber installed the toilet but there seems to be an issue.  The line that runs to the wastewater connection - IS SLANTED TOWARDS the house   WHAT THE F*CK?

It's really only a real issue when flushing the toilet.  So it looks like a power toilet is on my future. I hope it's gas powered.

*******************

What a day in politics yesterday - so exciting  . . let's see.

The US has a new Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, but lost the VA secretary do to heavy drinking and handing out opiates to anybody like there is no tomorrow. . . . The EPA Admin had a tough time answering questions to Congress and . . . . Paul Ryan is requesting the House chaplain resign because he prayed for "justice and fairness?" (“Catholic members on both sides of the aisle were furious)  and of course there is the man that holds the nuclear codes getting booted off Fox and Friends for going bonkers and ballistic and sounding like a crazed banana republic dictator  . . . . OH - he did say that Michael Cohen DID represent him in paying off Stormy.   All is well in Washington.

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Speaking of teachers - tens of thousands are rallying in Arizona demanding a 20% pay raise and school funding be restored to pre-Recession levels.

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Watching the Brewer game the other night and saw this -

And here is the more funny thing.  He was eating french fries though his mouth  LOL   HOW????

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Did you know there are 6 secret locations that contain 133,995 pallets of medical countermeasures  in case of a nuclear or biological attacks. I believe one of those is near Columbus.

Ever wonder what is going on just over the bridge on 151 and 73?  That big cement area?  Missile storage?  hmmmmmmmm  It's in GREAT condition for being "ignored".

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GOLF - our golf league begins next Wednesday  70 with scattered thunderstorms.  sigh  Otherwise lots of sun and warm weather coming. a little rain today - cooler this weekend but sunny.

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Kim Jong Un, the comedian who has taken over Kim Jong Un's body made a joke. He told the South Korean President he would no longer wake him up out of his sleep with early morning missile tests.
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OH OH - I never watched Smallville when it was on TV but the lead actress is being charged with sex trafficking.  SERIOUSLY??   This is what you do with fame?

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OK - I gotta call a dentist!

Have a great weekend.

Who exactly is reading your email?

Since we are not allowed to put of a  physical fence on Vista Circle because of a "covenant" ruled by

absolutely nobody as there is not really anybody in charge. . . OH - there is a name but only a name with no actual humans behind it . . . . . we needed something so Gus could be FREE to wonder around outside.

Against my inner demons and hating electric fences we bit the bullet and activated the one we had installed for Blake 6 years ago.

Blake never liked it and refused to ever go into the backyard.  We tested it of Gus and and he learned in only one day. 

It's amazing how an electric shock to the neck is a good teacher!  Perhaps we should put collars on school kids?  KIDDING KIDDING!  

What I was looking for was discomfort in wearing the collar (on Gus, not me).  Was Gus shaking his head? trying to get it off?   Does not seem so. We ONLY put it on when he goes into the backyard.  Of course the week we activate it and put up flags is the same week those same flags are covered with snow. 

The test was this past weekend and yesterday.  Yesterday there were a lot of golfers and Gus was fine. He sat in the middle of the backyard and just watched. LAST year he was the greeter at the 16th tee and often we would have to go get him as he would greet the golfers trailing his 14 foot long tether that he would pull behind him. 

Sophie and Iggy

It WORKS!  He is completely happy rolling around in the grass like when he was a puppy. 

Now if we could only get Sophie and Iggy to wear the collars.  We tried one on Milo 5 years ago but he would only get a running start, jump over the electrified field. His body would JOLT as he crossed but he did not seem to mind.

Cats are cats. 

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Speaking of golf.  We have our first meeting at The Oaks for golf league tonight and I got my clubs and went to the range . . . . pulling every muscle in my arms in the process and finding out that my workouts at Anytime Fitness seemed to miss my golf muscles.   

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Another special election and another really bad sign for the GOP as a very very red contest where the GOP wins by an average of 24 points only won by 5 points.  The blue wave keeps looking more and more obvious.  There have been nine federal special elections now with 8 of the 9 because of Republicans deciding not to run.  

Of those 8 Republican seats that average a 23.5 point margin of victory in the previous elections there has been a 17.12 swing to the left. That is A LOT. The one Democratic election saw a swing of 18 points MORE left. 

This could have an historic outcome in November on par with 1994 and 2010 when republicans took control.  

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Three Days in Britain.  Not one speck of coal was used to generate power in Britain for 3 days. A record.  And add that a few days earlier the United Kingdom went 55 hours with zero electricity generated by coal.     

The plan across the big lake is to completely phase out coal-generated power by 2025. 

MEANWHILE in the U.S. coal miners are NOT being retrained for other jobs because Trump has promised them that the coal industry is coming back and the Trump administration is phasing out many retraining programs.  

SO - all of these coal miners are just sitting and waiting for those jobs to come rolling back. They are confidante Trump will carry through on his promise. 

There are suckers born every day. 

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 GUS THE WEATHER DOG!

Unlike Madison, Columbus did not hit 70 yesterday - only 69.3 and boy can you see when the cold front went through last night! 

If you are looking for my weather page that uploads to the net every 2 minutes go here   a lot of information if you snoop around and it's the same data that is now being used on the City of Columbus webpage 

But the good news is if you look at Canada there is not a lot of cold air north of us so don't expect any surprise surprises. 

70s next week and my first golf league Wednesday will be 70 and very windy. NOT complaining at all. 

**************

Here is something shocking.  Check out our cleveland pear tree from 2 years ago to this year 

2 years ago today

This year - today

And while I was downloading the images Yahoo wants to make sure that I accept that ALL of my emails can be shared with pretty much anybody if I say YES - I ACCEPT.  

Now that Verizon owns Yahoo it's all Verizon  data. If you think Facebook is bad - you really need to check out Yahoo/Verizon

“It’s pretty much the fox taking over the henhouse,” said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.   The merger, he said, is "an opportunity for greater profiling and tracking of Internet users." 
  

Of course I was surprised when I blogged about a few great deals at Bob's Liqueur going out of business sale and 2 hours later those exact wines were in an advertisement on Facebook.  Who is watching the watchmen?

Under the new Yahoo terms of service, all emails can be analyzed and used to deliver personalized advertising and services.  sigh! 

By using the services, you agree that you have obtained the consent of your friends and contacts to provide their personal information (for example, their email address or telephone number) to Oath or a third party, as applicable, and that Oath or a third party may use your name to send messages on your behalf to make the services available to your friends and contacts.

Nuff said! 

School Board Survey critique and painting by numbers for adults

Before I get into my Columbus School System rant I'm going to paint a pretty picture.  No really - I am (will).

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All of those paintings you see at Target and Wal-Mart and so forth that look like real paintings for $20  . . Well, they are real paintings . . .from Chinese painting factories.  What they do is have 70 "artists" in a row and each one has one paint and when the painting comes down the assembly line they paint there little spot and the artwork moves on to the next guy (or girl).  It's a literal painting assembly line.

SO . . . . . I decided to try this with adult paint by numbers.  I ordered an image and am waiting.  For instance - this is one of the paint by numbers paintings - not the one I'm doing but it gives you an idea.

YUP - paint by numbers . . .many many many numbers.  16x20 images on canvas.  I think I'm turning Chinese!

Skills required:

• Ability to color inside the lines
• Ability to color outside of the lines

OH MAN - I did not read the fine print! 

But honestly there are some pretty incredible looking images to paint  

My Paint By Numbers

******************************************

So I get home from the School Board meeting and want to put my face under freezing water just to wake me up. OMG, how can they suffer through that meeting.

BUT - I'm at my computer and decide to listen to a baseball game while I type.  I turn on the San Diego Padre**  broadcast and they seem to be just starting an inning that goes on FOREVER.  48 minutes and 68 pitches in one half of an inning. 

It's never good (for the other team) when a pinch hitter comes to the plate twice in one inning and gets hits both times.

** I have 3 players on my fantasy team so . . . . .

Yea yea yea OK OK - school system.  Here is my rant. 

They (somebody) sends out a questionnaire to the community. I don't know if the school board green lighted it or not but this never should have gone out as a serious questionnaire.  I believe I called it a "bias corporate word cabbage survey" that had nothing to do with the science or the collection of real data.

The good thing is the very first thing the survey says is that the school boards (or somebody) NUMBER 1 priority  is "building needed facilities and amenities".  PRIORITY #1 it is called.

Then they ask what kind of adult education should be housed in the new campus.  WHAT?  why not concentrate on the children first.

And when I said "word cabbage" (actually romaine lettuce more like) with a question asking "what is your favorite facility".  Seriously?  What is my favorite?  This is a real question?   

There is a question asking the community "which facility (of the 13) needs to be studied."  Ummmmm  ALL OF THEM!  These guys are on the school board, they know better then us guys!  Should they ignore "infrastructure of the High school" because everybody says ignore it?

They have to explain what the following questions in Priority #2  mean and what STEAM (the newest trendy business approach) is but that is fine.  I personally believe these business approaches are invented by people looking to justify their position.  They come, they go.  My latest one I had to learn was Six Sigma.  But . . I digress.

By this time most people are bored and no longer interested in the survey which is a real problem
with poor surveys.  You need to keep people interested with less words and more meaningful questions . . . . . or at least questions where people don't have to read over the questions multiple times trying to understand their true meaning.

All is good until it comes to the point where you are suppose to tell the School board (or whoever put this out) how you feel about the School District.  In Priority #4 many of the questions have four positive answers and only one negative.

This is a ploy by corporations that are looking to get a certain outcome.  Of the five answers teh* 2nd worst is "slightly well" which is a victory for the School system.  So if you feel the School District is not COMPLETELY failing, just a little failing with Art and Design you mark "slightly well" which tells the District . . everything is OK. A positive answer.   

* My dyslexia was showing through a lot in this post - bear with me if I missed something. 

But the WORSE thing is that anybody can fill out the survey as many times as they want making any of the data collected completely useless.  I filled it out 3 times, not to try to sway the numbers but I was amazed that I was able to fill it out on my iPad, then on my computer (thinking I would be flagged) and for giggles I could fill it out AGAIN on my computer, didn't even have to be a different device.  I could have hired a Russian bot for $100 to fill it out 40 times (average price of a Russian bot is $10 an hour . . .  a comrade has told me) and this issues was not caught by the nine board members? (or whoever)  Unless the board never saw the survey and in that case . . . why even have a school board.

I believe our school system has a HUGE issue that is heading in the wrong direction when it comes to community support.  Parents have no confidence, the communication for disseminating actual information is nill (null?) or if it is getting out there and people are getting it wrong. 

The School District needs to have a listening session like City Council has done in the past with great success as parents are losing confidence.  Parents believe nobody is listening to them and it's a problem.

Also - if you REALLY want a REAL survey why not do what most School Districts do and use School Perceptions for their surveys. They have questions like " Would you support a referendum to build a new Elementary School".    Not once was anything even NEAR that question on our survey and THAT is the biggest issue there is!

They also have Staff Engagement Survey's that will find out why our teachers are leaving the school district.

And there is a Parent Survey with questions like "Does your child feel safe" and "A climate of openness and trust exists between school and administration and parents" from strongly agree to strongly disagree.   

OH  - they are not free like the one we got but you get what you pay for right?

and that is the rant.

******************

One last thing that I am finding amazing on a TOTALLY different subject - this past month has been the biggest month moving towards legalization of legal cannabis since 2012.  With John Boehmer and now Mitch McConnell coming out pro medical cannabis it looks like both parties are all of a sudden seeing that this is a voting issue and neither one wants to lose votes.

Oddly conservatives are more pro cannabis then us liberals.  Polls in the southern states that are red have  stronger pro- cannabis numbers then in blue states.

West Virginia became the 29th state to have access to medical cannabis and Vermont became the 9th State to permit adult use this year.

The American Society for Addiction Medicine who are anti cannabis acknowledges that opioid overdoes deaths rates are 25% lower in States with legal cannabis.

The train is gaining steam (a different STEAM).

My ex-wife had osteogenesis imperfecta and in the lat 80s cannabis was the ONLY thing that took away chronic pain and we tried EVERYTHING. That is why I am on this bandwagon - it works!! 

Nuff said

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GUS THE WEATHER DOG says it will be a good day for fetching.  Turning  a little cooler after today but the weekend looks like middle to  upper 50s and sunny  70s Monday and next Tuesday but very windy and daddy's first golf league will be 60s NEXT Wednesday

Gus the straight haired Golden Doodle 

What a freaking cowinkydink.

Got a couple other things on my mind this morning so this will be short.

Brewers won THE BULLPEN OF THE WEEK award from  . . . somebody in some article that does this every week.  Nuff said about that prestigious award.

++++++++++++++
School board meeting at 7:00 tonight
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I see the robins made it through hell week.  On Facebook one woman said "GOOD LORD that have survived for 10 thousand years".  Well, as a friend said . . . "so did dinosaurs."

**********

The NFL schedule came out and everybody is talking about the most useless meaningless statistic ever - strength of schedule.  A league where half the teams that make the playoffs miss the playoffs the next year and everybody assumes a team will mirror it's record from the previous year . . just does not make sense.

In baseball if you want to see how a player will do look NOT at his last year stats but look at the year BEFORE last year.

But in football if you want to predict what a team will do, look at Pythagorean wins which is based on points scored (PS) and points allowed (PA) rather than win-loss record.  ((PS*PS) / ((PS*PS)+(PA*PA))).

Looking at Green Bay WIN-wise they have the hardest schedule in the NFL.  Yet if you use Pythagorean wins they have the only 7th hardest.

+++++++++++

There is a game near the top of the best board game list (30,000 board games) called POWER GRID that looks REALLY interesting

Energy Czar Anthon adjusting someones bill

"The objective of Power Grid is to supply the most cities with power when someone's network gains a predetermined size. In this new edition, players mark pre-existing routes between cities for connection, and then bid against each other to purchase the power plants that they use to power their cities.

However, as plants are purchased, newer, more efficient plants become available, so by merely purchasing, you're potentially allowing others access to superior equipment.

Additionally, players must acquire the raw materials (coal, oil, garbage, and uranium) needed to power said plants (except for the 'renewable' windfarm/ solar plants, which require no fuel), making it a constant struggle to upgrade your plants for maximum efficiency while still retaining enough wealth to quickly expand your network to get the cheapest routes."

*****************

The GOP tax breaks are working out GREAT for banks - JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America all have an extra $3.68 BILLION in there profit margins and the average CEO got a $186,000 bonus!

**************

That Waffel House shooting - yea - the guy had issues before but the police gave the guns back (after attacking the White House) to his dad so his dad could give the guns back to the kid.  I believe anybody that gives a gun to a killer must ALSO go to jail.

And the shooting in Tennessee - the guy purchased guns off the internet.  I've seen guns for sale on the Fall River Columbus Facebook page.  ANYBODY can buy a gun on Facebook.  What could possible go wrong.

**************

It was my moms birthday yesterday - miss ya mom.

************************

Don't look now but extended forecasts have "70" in the predictions in the future, a week away. The REAL good news is that there is not a lot of cold air north of us FINALLY.  Canada is all warmer the average so we are good to go! 

**************

OH - those wines that I blogged about Friday?  I posted the blog and 2 hours later I logged on to Facebook . . . and those exact wines are in an advertisement from Wines.com.  What a freaking cowinkydink.

Have a great day!! 

Rod

Analytics for Curling?

Good-bye snow!  Glad to see you go!  Today will be the coldest day for to foreseeable future.   After Saturday (the 2nd coldest day 56 and cloudy) we should be in the 60s for a long time . . .well . . maybe not Wednesday when a small rain system enters the state but otherwise . . .

WITH THAT SAID - I AIN'T GOT MUCH

I think I'll have to dust off my golf clubs and see if my body is capable of swinging a club.

In other news . . .hmmmmmm

*****************

I was relieved to see Freddie Freeman back in the line-up for the Braves last night. Last year he was having an MVP season when he was hit on the wrist and broke a bone and was out for 7 weeks messing with my SOM team.  Well a few days ago the EXACT same thing happened.  Luckily it was 1/2 inch away from where he broke the bone last year. . . and I can breath again.

Did you see last night for the Brewers?  Luis Brinson who was traded by the Brewers to the Marlins was about to be sent down to the minors . . until he hit 2 home runs.

*******************

OH - Did I mention that I was contacted by the President of the School Board and the Superintendent of the School system for a "chat".   More on this as details emerge.

**********************

Seems Curling, that Olympic sport that a few of you watched is going through an analytic surge with stats and there are some interesting revelations. A data set of 175,000 contests have come up with some strategy's that are just wrong in curling.   DANG SCIENCE IS RUINING EVERYTHING.

hmmmmm - the problem is I have ZERO idea what the original strategy is in the first place.  For instance:

According to CBCSports 

what's the likelihood of a team winning a game if they go into the final end leading by one point without the hammer, as opposed to trailing by one with the hammer?

"It was a long-held belief that being down one with hammer in the last end was the preferred position to the opposite," Geurts says. "But with the numbers, we were able to show that [those] teams were only winning about 40 per cent of the time." 

OK . . what?

**************************

FUN FACT - there are 329 news stands in New York City, down from 1,500 in the 50s.  But the odd thing is there is a law that says the most expensive thing you can buy at a news stand cannot be more then $10.

*********

The GOP controlled Tennessee government canceled giving Memphis $250,000 that was ear marked for the city . . why? . . . because Memphis took down a monument that celebrated the founder of the Ku Klux Clan Nathen Bedford Forrest a Confederate General.

++++

You want cockroaches? We got cockroaches. There is a cockroach factory in Xychang China that houses over 6 BILLION cockroaches.  28,000 roaches per square foot.  They use them for medicine and potions ( such as snake oil?).

Near by residents are worried about a national disaster that would release them.  That! would totally suck.

***************

Bob's Beverage is going out of business - 20% off all wine over $10. I got what I need.  There are some fine wines to get.  Intrinsic Cab Sav 2015 - beautiful art work - average price is 19.99 and it's a lot cheaper now.

Gnarly Head Old Vine Zine 2015  excellent Zinfandel (only 10% off but a great value) was $9.99

Borne of Fire Cab Sav 2016 another great value - normally $19.99 - produced by Chateau Sean Michelle which worried me a little but still excellent.

Both Cabernet Sauvignon's will age well to 2024 if you want to wait. Could be a little chewy if you are looking for something NOW.  Put it away for a year and come back.

I also picked up a little 10 pack of Fireball's that is actually cheaper then a big bottle.  $7.99.  I love that stuff a little too much.

Speaking of THAT - I made my first Moscow Mule the other day - what a refreshing drink.  Juice from 1/2 a lime, 3 shots of Ginger beer and 2 shots of Vodka.  gulp gulp!  yummy! yummy!

HAPPY 420

SUN is HERE FINALLY!!!! is it Spring?

WELL - saw THAT one coming!  I submitted 4.6 inches and 0.28 inches of quantitative precipitation

(would you believe I spelled both of thsoe words corectly teh first time?) to NOAA.

side note - I receive a letter last month from NOAA, thanking me for being a member of CoCoRaHS for 15 years (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network). 


Not sure where the big numbers are coming from in snow totals.

I measured 3 different spots and 7.5 inches are the TOTAL on the ground right now from BOTH storms.

Take a look - the snow will not be around very long.  46 degrees today and it only gets better.  a LOT of melting sun the next 10 days and highs in the 60s by Sunday.

OH - if you look at the City website that is my weather widget on the upper right hand corner.

BTW - www.cityofcolumbuswi.com  is down this morning 

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In other news I pulled the trigger on a small investment - Canopy Growth (TWMJF).  They advertise themselves as a cannabis growing company but ACTUALLY, they have been gobbling up Canadian cannabis delivery infrastructure companies.  The PROBLEM is that Canada might have a glut of cannabis but these guys recently purchased an international morphine company which gives them inroads to all sorts of nations that are about to legalize medical cannabis.

There is a BUNCH of risk but the upside far outweighs the downside.  If you look at all the numbers like a normal company it's a "I pass" but this is an industry that is brand new so you really can not compare this to pretty much anything.

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Brewers - for ME the big thing was seeing Yelich play CF. WHEW - I have a CF for next year.  No catchers but a CF at least.

And when was the last time a batter hit a 2 run home run in back to back games to win 2-0 in BOTH games?  NEVER.     

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I'm going to make a formal request to the city to give the Council President SOMETHING more then more work.  And extra $50?   NOBODY wants to be Council President, it's a pain in the ass and I thank Alderman Traxler for taking this on. He did a GREAT job at the first meeting. 

Of course this will not help Andy since the rules say a ruling party can not give them selves a raise unless they are Federal Government and can always give themselves raises.

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We had plumbing finally come in and install our wet bar and bathroom downstairs.  OH OH - problem . . for some reason there is an obstruction somewhere in the downstairs toilet plumbing.  They ran a roto about 30 feet and found nothing wrong and will now video.  I THINK our wastewater connection is in the backyard ??? and not the street.   This could get messy.

We also got a NEST sensor for the basement and it works GREAT.

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OH - one quick Strat-o-matic thingy - I predicted I would win 85 games this year. That was before I started the season 20-7 (12-3 on the road).  GOOD LORD my pitching staff as an ERA 2.17 and a WHIP of 1.01.  Granted I played against some REALLY bad teams so I just have to hang on now with May games getting harder.

******************

and then there is Sean Hannity who's producer Jack Hanick has deep DEEP ties to Russia.  He left FOX Entertainment News (no really - they will start running a banner in May saying their network is Entertainment/Opinion Network, NOT an actual news network).

ANYWAY - why did Jack Hanick  leave FOX? Because he was hired by Russian billionaire Konstantin Malofeev, who has been under US sanctions since 2014 for funding separatists in Crimea, and was hired to set up and launch the Orthodox Christian network Tsargard TV which went on the air in 2014.

Jack Hanick was also invited, by Konstantin Rykov, who has boasted on Facebook of having recruited the former Apprentice star (Donald Trump) to run for President as part of an “insane plan” in Rykov’s own words.

OH - Hannity says HE FORGOT Michael Cohen was his lawyer which is why he never mentioned it when he was blasting everybody about being bad to Cohen.

Fox News has been deliberately pushing Russian bot propaganda because it dovetails with their Conservative agenda.

Fox Entertainment/Opinion News is a danger to democracy and to America.

REMEMBER

Robert Mueller – Republican
Rod Rosenstein – Republican
Andrew McCabe – Republican
Current FBI Director Christopher Wray – Republican
Judge Kimba Wood - currently in charge of the investigation of Michael Cohen – appointed to her Judgeship by Ronald Wilson Reagan Republican 
Geoffrey Berman - The NY Prosecutor in the Southern District of NY whose office was overseeing the raid on Michael Cohen and recused himself from it - REPUBLICAN

this is NOT a liberal witch hunt 
*************************************

Donald Trumps approval rating from Evangelical Protestants? 75%

Imbruvica, a blood cancer drug used to cost $148,000 a year but Doctors found that taking a LOT less of the drug yielded the same results.  So the drug making changed it's pricing strategy to $400 a pill regardless of the dosage.  Triple the cost of the original pill. 

Who needs those pesky regulations right?

Sort of like banks who are making BILLIONS and BILLIONS with the new tax code. YET - still are stingy on home loans.   

*****************

Seems baseball umpires don't like extra Innings.  A study of 32,000 pitches show that in extra innings the strike zone changes depending on who has a better chance of winning.  A team that gets a man on base all of a sudden has a smaller strike zone then in the first 9 innings.

******************

Priests from around the world are flocking to the Vatican for a course called “Exorcism and the Prayer of Liberation,” which teaches the rituals behind expelling demons and how to identify demonic possession.

Of course LOL

Have a Great Thursday

A Party Pooper

I was called a party pooper this morning.  Someone posted this hideous looking meal which had french fries covered with gravy and a pound of cheese and then put it on a chili dog with more cheese and then placed the entire thing in a bowl.  OMG it looked horrendous. And the thing was the guy who posted it is obese! 

OF COURSE hearing I was a party pooper I had to call up this little gem.

https://youtu.be/gjwofYhUJEM

Best pee's of all time. )

Of course I'm a party pooper because our first golf meeting is tomorrow and there is a good chance "we" get 3-5 inches of snow on Wednesday as a fast moving clipper zooms by west to east causing some pretty bad drive home time roads.   11:00 to 11:00 will be snow / freezing rain / rain . . who knows. With the temps hovering around 34 tomorrow it's a crap shoot. 

HOWEVER - a warming trends starts Thursday and we should hit the 60s by next week . . . if the snow melts fast enough. Lots of sun after Wednesday for a long time. 

******

But the real reason I have had 701,000 pages read is this . . . .

Do you remember your most classic pee's?   I have a few in my memory brain. 

The first one was when I road Ragbrai with 12,000 of my closest friends across Iowa.  You know it's bad when you actually remember a pee from decades ago.    

But what got me thinking was April 2, 2018 - Brewer game.  OMG - the pain the pain.  Waiting in line for 20 minutes.  It's bad when you are talking to a woman you have never met and are discussing  the difference in pain between a woman and a man pee-wise.   Nothing brings humans together more then a good pee line.

*******************

OH - NEW BIRD - yesterday as I was watching the confused Robins I saw a weird bird on our suet.
Took some fuzzy photos and started looking in my bird books.  it was a female Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. I don't think I have ever seen one before.

**************  

Tonight will be my first city council I purposely miss in 5 years.  I went to every council the year AFTER I lost my first bid.  

*******************

Got allergies? Do they seem to be getting worse?  YUP!  Concentrations of carbon dioxide are up 400ppm in the atmosphere which has doubled pollen production of ragweed  . . . climate change baby. 

++++

DISH Network has to fork out $61 million for illegal telemarketing but many people are opting out of receiving $2000 to $30,000 in rewards because they are hanging up the phone thinking the call is a telemarketer. 

+++++++

Before the election Donald Trump made a fortune marketing his name and putting it on everything he could find. There were 19 products that had his name on it.  Of those 19 companies only 2 remain, a  Panamanian company called HomeStudio, and a Turkish company called Dorya.

***************

Is today the day all the losers stand in line to mail their tax returns because they procrastinated? 

++++++++++

Netflix beat earnings again as  7.1 million new subscribers signed on in the 1st quarter.  Jessica Jones is listed as one of the bigger reasons.

Krysten Ritter the star is so so different in real life.  In Jones she is a hard drinking, moody, violent and sort of a downer.  And in real life TOTALLY different, happy, peppy, perky and funny.

      

I purchased Nightwishs "newest" CD.  Endless Forms of Beautiful.  Not one song would be short enough for American Radio.  Probably why they are one of the biggest groups in Europe but play at tiny venues in America.  They sold out three  50,000 seat shows last year and fill up 2000 seat venues in America.   Symphonic rock is just not a thing Americans want.

Check out this cut from The Greatest Show on Earth - it's beautiful. Sort of Trans-Siberian-ish (they are from Detroit) or Yannie-ish?  How often do you get so see Uilleann Bagpipes in rock music

https://youtu.be/aTAaEHiGjvU

   
Cheers!   Have a Laurel and Hardy day  - FEED THE BIRDS!!!  

Ridiculous - and not done YET

I need to not be so mean when I wake up and I need to drink more coffee.  It's the quantity of animals on the bed that has been issue. THUS - we had a king size bed delivered yesterday.  MUCH MUCH better - I apologize to all the people I have offended of late.  Sleep was MUCH MUCH better last night.

WITH THAT SAID

The biggest snow storm of the year happened this weekend (as advertised) and WE AIN'T DONE YET.   With our first golf meeting Wednesday DON'T LOOK NOW - WINTER IS COMING!

There will be a 2 or 3 hour window Wednesday where temps will be warm enough for some freezing

Gus the Weather Dog is tired of winter

rain changing to snow and a good chance (or at least a CHANCE) of 3-5 inches.  it's a timing thing again on how fast the LOW is and when do the temps drop enough to create snow . . or freezing rain. Quantitative precipitation amounts are running in the quarter inch range.

The GOOD news is after this last storm moves on we are scot free (not really as we were punished already) with lots of sun and melting - COULD even hit 60 after the coming weekend.  The warm up will not start until Thursday and middle 50s on the weekend with Sunday being the best day. But the snow cover might keep things cooler the advertised as the snow REALLY east up any warming.

********************



Here is something - the minimum wage in 1968 was $1.68.  In today's money that is $12.27 yet the minimum wage now is $7.25.  Who is making all of the extra money that is NOT being paid to the workers.

*********************

I was watching the Brewers game this weekend and and a banner ran saying Josh Hader, in his last 23 recorded outs, 17 were strikeouts. I said - "THAT is ridiculous" . . . and then watched him strike out 5 of the next 6 batters.

********************

I was talking to the former head of OfficeSupply.com (The Dunder Mifflin of Columbus) - fun fact.  Paper sales are dropping about 5% a year  and think about it, EVERYTHING in an office supply store depends on paper.  Think of one thing that an Office Supply sells that is not paper related. 

OK OK  chairs . . .name another.   OK OK  Computers.  FINE . . .go away!

Maybe they should sell Milk . . . . nope Milk sales are dropping 1.2% a year. Oat milk, soy milk, almond milk are rising 3% a year . . . where the hell are the nipples for that milk.  If you have milk it has to come out of a nipple . . am I right?

And speaking of nipples  - Kendall Jenner has designer nipples! I guess that is a thing now.  OUCH!!  It's a booming business. Perhaps we need to open a store downtown for designer nipples. 

Odd fact of the day - the average American has 23.5 feet of retail real estate devoted to him or her.  Australia has 11.1 feet of retail real estate and Canada as 16.4 feet.  America has a little overcapacity and thus - bankruptcies.

Attendance at Catholic churches is down 39% in the last 10 years and down 75% in the past 50 years.  Protestant churches are getting all the people that feel the need to be churchifide.

The US Census Bureau says there are more people dying in Wisconsin then being born here.  Milwaukee County had the 7th biggest decrease in population among ALL counties in the U.S.

Say so long to a tax write off.  After this year you cannot write off State, Fed and Property tax on your taxes.

The Center for Budget and Policy says Wisconsin had the 7th deepest cuts to education in America.  Thank you Walker  - and where is that money going? Roads?  Nope - FoxConn?
 
***********************

OH - my Strat-o-matic team where I was figuring I would win 84 games this year (compared to 93 last year). My goal was to be 1 game out of the playoffs so I would have better Free Agent picks as I will have a lot of money to play with next year.

WELL . . . . . I'm 19-5  LOL   DID NOT SEE THAT ONE COMING.   I'm 11-1 on the road (games played NOT by me).  I will not be that good all year as I have to rest a lot of players because you can only have 110% of the actual plate appearances and I will struggle in September.   GET A LEAD AND HANG ON is my philosophy.

Zack Godley of ARZ a REAL good starter I picked up in a late round last year has an ERA of 1.30 after 34 innings and a WHIP of 0.78.  I even used him as a pinch hitter for a suicide squeeze (he is a fantastic bunter) that worked to win a game. 

SADLY my #1 catcher is out for the year in real life so I'm out a catcher for next year.

******************************

Trump continues to market Comey's book. Who do you believe - someone who lies about EVERYTHING?  Or somebody who does not.





 

DONE / SAD

I had my last official meeting last night as a public servant and feel a little sad. I ain't dead yet though. I can still complain and get in (less) trouble here.

I made a comment on Facebook yesterday about how I disliked the war against the poor in Wisconsin and a woman on Facebook got pissed at me and said instead of complaining maybe I should volunteer my time and try to help the poor.   Perhaps I should get into politics?

ummmmmm . . . .  she also believes Ron Johnson and Scott Walker are doing a fantastic job for Wisconsin so . . . . I took it with a grain of salt. LOL  ;-)

Salt was thought to cure poison issues at one time    

************************

ANYWAY - if I was a Brewer fan I would be elated after thirteen games to be 7-6.  WHAT LUCK.

Thirteen games into the season and there have been injuries to Yelich, Cain, Knebel**, and Pina. Nelson is out for much more time, Vogt is still out.  

The pitching staff has 7 blown saves and the defense has commented 16 errors and before their last game the Crew had a total of 3 innings where they lead by more then 1 run (now a total of 9 innings after the last game vs. the Cards). 

Knebel** - I'm replaying the Brewers last year in Strat-o-matic and Knebel is awesome.  What an amazing pitcher he was last year.  You see the box score and see he pitches another scoreless inning but when you are actually "managing" the team his innings are totally stress free.

I don't think Craig Council can say the final inning is stress free this year. 

************************

Bucks called it in Wednesday against the 76ers.  They pretty much told the world they were not planning on winning.  It worked.  They play Boston in the playoffs and many talking heads on TV are saying this is the series that could be an upset. 

Not that they have any chance of winning a championship or anything.  There has never been an NBA champion that was worse then a #3 seed in the tournament.  Too bad Cleveland. 

****************************

Weather - expect high wind warnings to come online later today with sustained winds nearing 40 and gusts to 50.  But the cool (literally) thing is we are in a 87 hour temperature slide that started about 4:00 Thursday and will end about 7"00 Monday morning when we hit 23.  87 straight hours of dropping temps.  Well, maybe 1 degree up from time to time as we were at 37 at 6:00 this morning and now we're at 38.2 but no real "high".

It's a dicey forecast as a 1 or 2 degree drop or rise will give you snow or freezing rain or rain.  sort of reminds me on 1816, the year without summer when there was still ice on the lakes in Pennsylvania in August. When massive starvation happened in the US and Europe and the temps in June were still dropping below freezing and there was a snow storm on June 6th. On August 20th Virginia had frost. 

THAT WOULD SUCK.   It was all caused by volcanoes. 

Oddly many famous writings occurred in these depressing times.  Frankenstein was written  and many paintings of that time have an orange tinge to them.

Justus von Liebig, a chemist started to study plant nutrition and  and introduced fertilizers.

Hopefully it won't be THAT bad and there are no foretasted volcanoes.

*****************************

Some poll numbers - A Quinnipiac poll (a good pollster) found that 84% of democrats have a favorable view of the Parkland students while only 22% of republicans like them.

In another poll of 6000 teenagers only 8% said facebook was their favorite social media.  It's all about Snapchat.

***************

A 10 meter long dead sperm whale was washed ashore in Spain.  His (or her) stomach had 30 kilos of trash in it.

      
+++++

In Mark Zuckerberg's testimony he promised 43 times to follow up on information.   Of course the old boy Senators are pretty clueless on this whole "internet" thing with questions like "How does Facebook make money if it's free".  "ummmmm . . . we sell advertisements?".

I have no real issues with Facebook security and if anybody DOES have issues . . . do they give their credit card to a stranger in a restaurant and have them disappear with it for 10 minutes?   Just sayin'.

***************

TAKE THIS SURVEY if you are concern with the Columbus School system (you REALLY should be concerned).  Why is there such a HUGE teacher turnover.  Why are teachers so afraid to speak out on what is happening inside our schools.  There have been REALLY disconcerting leaks on some pretty bad things.

TAKE THE  SURVEY but be careful as some questions are just weird.  Did anyone look at these questions and who wrote them.

Are you an owner, manager or leader of an employer within the Columbus School District area?   

Am I the owner of an employer?  What?  Weird way to ask a question.

And there is this

How well is the Columbus School District currently doing in preparing students to be college, career or community ready in these curricular areas?

Extremely Well?
Very Well?
Moderately well? 
Slightly Well? 
Not at all Well? 

WOW - no slanting of opinions THERE.  4 positive answers and and one negative.  What is the School District trying to get you to say.   

TAKE THE SURVEY - takes about 10 minutes.

**********************

From people that have seen the second season of Westworld it's suppose to be even better.  Woman are in charge and  . . .I got chills!!! 

https://youtu.be/sjVqDg32_8s

*********************

geez - I gotta turn a light on and it's 9:00 -reports of golf ball size hail north of Columbus

If you want a REALLY good weather app for your phone download STORM.  BIG BIG storm JUST missing Columbus.

OH - was asked about wireless rain gauges.  I have not tried this one but AcuRite is a good company.  I would not trust anything my Ocean Scientific.  I have a Davis Station but it's up there in price. 

AcuRite 00899 Wireless Rain Gauge

*****************

You know those hand dryers on bathrooms?  Many places are removing them now that they have shown to be REALLY good at spreading germs.

*******************

Ever fly on a plane?  You are being watched the moment you meet the flight attendant

What kind of clothes you're wearing. 

What kind of bags you're carrying. 

If you're travelling alone or with someone. 

How patient you are while waiting in the long line during boarding. 

If you're an able-bodied passenger. 

If you're intoxicated. 

If you're a frequent traveler 

What kind of book you're carrying or reading — "If you are reading a medical journal ... we know who to approach for First Aid." 

If you give a helping hand to those ones in need, like an "elderly passenger or that pretty lady who needs help with the bags. 

Trust me, if a gentleman can do [that] without asking [the] cabin crew he would earn a lot of respect from the crew for [remainder] of the flight." 

If you're carrying food with you or are "just waiting to pounce on that free meal."

Good to know! 

       
So there ya go

Have a great weekend 

CRAZY anger all across the sports and dog world Wednesday.

Now that I got THAT crazy idea out of the way (the soccer thing)  . .  . . Ever feel that you are just a character trapped in an oil painting?  Nope, me neither. Not sure how that would feel but I can't imagine . . . no really I can't.

And I need to make a correction from a couple blogs ago.  The guy that directed A Quiet Place was not Andy from the Office, it was Jim.  My bad.  I realized this as we were watching Jenna Fisher (Pam) in her new sit com  "Splitting Up Together" which is still in the "good" category for us so far.  

******************

Weird angry day yesterday for many people and dogs it seemed.  In MLB there were 4 bench clearing brawls (2 in one game) and these were REAL angry ones with real punches.  BUT WAIT, here is more.  

I was at the dog park with Gus and a bunch of us were having a great time.  There was one dog there that was actually faster and would fetch more then Gus.  He was a rescue dog with a temper (it seemed) and Gus stayed out of his way for the most part but then it happened. 

Violet was there, a very large, sweet, docile bull dog who was minding her own business and all of a sudden the other dog attacked her.  This was the first time I had seen a real bench clearing brawl at the dog park and it was rather . . entertaining.   

All of a sudden this other dog has latched onto Violet's head and ears and was not letting go.  ALL the other dogs in the park came running, it was like watching the bullpens clear out and there was a scrum. WHERE'S GUS WHERE'S GUS and then I see him and I almost break out laughing.

Gus runs 50 yards as fast as he can and joins the OUTSIDE of the scrum, dodging and weaving and darting about on the outside of the scrum, not really doing anything but being REAL active.  Just jumping around back and forth with a big shit eating smile on his face on the fringe as the big dogs all are protecting a 100+ pound bull dog.   

The humans separated the dogs and the instigator was dragged off for a time out and left the park.  We all gathered around Violet who seemed shaken but not stirred.  Sort of took the energy out of the park.  She was fine and wagging her tail and our eyes met and she was fine, happy for the attention. 

+++

Gus seems to have had a epiphany in the last month and has become a much better dog on commands and actually had a little girl pick him up a few times and he was following ANYBODY'S SIT command.  There has been a significant change in his behavior.  Not that he was a bad dog before but something clicked in the communication between humans and dogs in the last month. 

******************************

Speaking of bench clearing brawls

A Padre pitcher beans a Rockie player and breaks his ribs.
The next day a Rockie player hits a Padre batter and justice is served and all is well . . . .except the next inning when a Padre pitcher hits another Rockie player.  In the series up to that incident there were 5 players hit by pitches. 

https://youtu.be/QCaL_4CLn8w

   
BUT WAIT - Yankees /Redsox was exciting also

https://youtu.be/DARJuHDPeXQ


and this this one gets going after about a minute of chest pounding

https://youtu.be/5EAVA0parWc




I tried to record the Dog park brawl but was too slow

**************************

Paul Ryan quit and this is a real problem for Republicans (another real problem). His district is 11.3% MORE Republican then the rest of the Unites States on average and at the moment the rest of the US is  7% more blue then 18 months ago.

Now that does not mean that a Republican will not win in that district but the issue is 38 Republicans have decided to not run and 25 of those have quite politics altogether.  The most since WWII. The Democrats lost 17 with 9 quitting politics.

The real problem is that this might spur MORE retirements as Ryan was seen as the "adult" in charge has had enough of Trump buffoonery. The REAL Republican Party (the one with fiscal responsibility) is dead.

+++

Since he has taken office nine of Trumps companies are suing communities and city's to get special tax breaks.

And of course all of the critical Syrian targets that Trump wants to bomb are emptying after he warned them of a coming missile attack.    Smart move telling the enemy the military plans.

*******************

 I watched the old people in the Senate  "grill" Zuckerberg about Facebook and I have come to realize . . . they really do not understand The Internets!  Seriously, it was embarrassing how the people that run this country are so clueless about technology. Questions a 3rd grader would ask.

*******************

OH - James Comey compared Trump to a "mob moss" in his first interview.  Yea - well, I'm pretty sure most people that were actually paying attention in the election already knew that. No surprise there at all.  I mean the groper in chief does have a "fixer" (or did).

Seems Trump paid off more people to stay quiet, not just two.

********************
Did you see that former Speaker of the House John Boehmer came out and said he is pro-legalization of cannabis?   61% of Americans are pro-legalization, up from 31% in 2000.

“I’m convinced de-scheduling the drug is needed so we can do research, help our veterans, and reverse the opioid epidemic ravaging our communities,”

Well, perhaps not exactly "pro-legalization" but . . . . .

**********************

and the weather - getting better LOL  well, at least from yesterday.

a good chance of only 3-5 inches on Sunday, Saturday rain/freezing rain and wind with a high of 36.  Thunderstorms Friday and 57 degrees today.

The European model still says 3-5 inches but the GFS who has been off lately is a little more conservative with only a few inches. Friday will be the exciting change direction day.  Freezing rain Friday night.

********************

Did you know there really is a cure for the common cold?  YUP - but it is so expensive it really can't be marketed.

*****************************

If you have a few minutes check out this Seth Meyers video about the birth of his 2nd child - it's rather hilarious!

https://youtu.be/BYG1qf3XJNM


Have a great Thursday.

Rod 

NO - A Major Winter Storm? Seriously?

WOW - talk about my last night on Council where I just wanted to stay in the background and the very last thing had me so pissed off.   I wanted to say something but kept thinking it's not my place, I'm no longer in the mix.

Having some woman who spews hate and lies about Whole Body Strong really ticked me off.  There is a reason that organization is universally loved and why the city soccer program has a bad reputation.

If it was up to me I would dump Columbus Soccer completely, save the city money and have Whole Body Strong take over. It makes fiscal sense. Why should a city have a program that takes up the directors time and money when an outside organization can do it cheaper and better. Then we could concentrate on new things for Columbus residents - not duplicating something we already have. 

Why spend so much energy on chest pounding when we could have MORE things.

BUT - no longer my worry . . . . . . I just have to keep saying that for a while. 

OH - I'm really not as mad as I sound - that woman really ticked me off with her fabrications of the facts. 

ANYWAY - I'll get off my bandwagon.  I've mentioned this before at budget time and won't mention it again.

I actually had a teary moment for a bit in the COW as I was realizing how much I would miss the mundane adventures . . . it passed.

******************

So with 4 vacations coming up this summer we finalized hotels in Denver next the Coors Field and Winter Park, I'm learning a little French for a trip to Quebec, will practice some card counting for Las Vegas and of course Door County.   Hopefully there will be no snow in June.

SNOW?

A European model  (the good one) is saying Sunday there is a chance for 5-8 inches of snow.  Green Bay could have blizzard conditions.  The main energy will be north but it COULD slide more south.

From the NOAA scientific conversation - The 00z European model (ecmwf) solution is rather interesting showing the potential for a rather impressive snowfall for mid April. The GFS on the other hand shows a much more conservative scenario although still some snow to contend with Sunday into Monday before the system exits.          

SHIT!

************************

Then clueless Walker signs a bill saying my buddy Elwood who works 23 hours a week at $9 an hour and how he will no loner get his $70 in food share because he has to work 30 hours and not 20 now.

The GOP says the bast way to get people working and out of being poor is to make them work.   MORONS - do they think people WANT to be poor?  are they that stupid?  Tell the homeless to go home?  Just screw the poor because they are the boogyman.

How about raising the minimum wage so when people DO work they can afford to buy food.

Meanwhile New York is HELPING the poor by making all bus and subway fairs half price if you are below the poverty line.

And people wonder why Wisconsin is one of the few States LOSING population?  OH - The GOP will say it's because the poor are moving to other states to get free food. Yea - because the poor are SO able to just move around the country at will. 

**********************

HEY - I didn't mention I won the Master Qualifying Tournament 3 weeks ago in virtual golf.  I was bumped up to Class-A on TGCTours and am struggling.  Class-A is just below the "pro" circuit.  I think I'll be bumped down to Class B after this week.   I did have a 183 yard eagle yesterday :-)

We have our first REAL golf meeting Wednesday at The Oaks.  Forecast, high of 44 with snow showers in the morning. sigh!

***********************

Is LeBron James the next Steph Curry?   James is shooting 3-pointers better then anyone since 2000-2001 hitting 52.3% of his shots.

The last team the Bucks want to face in the play offs is Cleveland even though the Cavs are the 29th best defensive team.  The Bucks have no answer for James.  Milwaukee WANTs to play Boston in the playoffs to have a chance to lose in 7 games.

Then there are the 76's ers.  If Philly beats the Bucks in the final game tonight they will go into the playoffs with the longest winnings streak EVER for a team entering the playoffs and will probably play the Bucks in the playoffs.

*********************

A department store in Minneapolis was being remodeled when a mummifies monkey was found in a wall.  There was a rumor 50 years ago about a monkey escaping from a pet store on the 8th floor.  Only a rumor though . . . . NOT!!   and people were wondering what that odd smell was?

********************

Paul Ryan - so long.

Iggy (front) Sophie (back)

********************

SO this is how my morning goes.  6:00.  Iggy the 16 pound cat (only 2 pounds over weight) wakes up and climbs on my chest sticking his nose to my nose to see if I'm dead yet.

Gus sees this and thinks Iggy is eating my face (as cats do) so he paws at Iggy,

Iggy then wakes up Sophie, the tiny enforcer, and then they have a fight which Gus thinks looks like great fun and jumps in.

Then since he is up he might as well ring the out out bell.

AND . . . . .  WE'RE UP!

**************************

Glad I stayed up for THAT Brewer game last night!  Seriously?  Our fireman closer comes in with a man on 2nd leading 3-2 in the 9th, throws a wild pitch, a ball, another wild pitch to score a run and another ball to walk a guy.

Then in the 10th. with 2 outs the walks a batter where the announcer said just put the ball on a tee and let him hit as he is no threat to get on base.   And it goes down hill after that.

sigh!

***************************

and that is my gripe session for today.



 

Last City Council for me! Actually sad :-(

It seems every time I go to Pic-n-Save they decide to not stock one more thing I used to buy there.

First it was small bottles of Cholula, then it was a large size of kitty treats, then they decided to no longer carry chipped beef, (you know for that dip or shit on a shingle salted beef stuff ) and now onion bagels and still no Sassy Cow Milk.

Separately no big deal but it all adds up. I want to give business to Columbus but if it's not offered here there is HyVee and W W W Woodmans.

And another thing - the snow we have on the ground now just looks stupid.  Look at it!  Just chunks of what looks like fake white snow globs.  That is the weird thing. The snow rocks are so white and not dirty at all.

 ************************

Let's talk weather - SADLY the amazing forecast is going downhill. Wednesday and Thursday will be great good not SUPER great as first advertised. The issue is clouds.  Too many.  So mostly cloudy both days and highs around 60 (not nearing 70 that SUN would have given us) . Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday will be . . .  A LOT of rain, a good amount of rain, 1-3 inches of wintry mix and morning snow in that order.  WONDERFUL!

and of course rain Wednesday night. Basically 6 days of wet weather but a couple days of "warm" wet weather.

SPRING!!!

************************   

Brewers - SO - if you had a choice of losing in the last inning would you take:

A. three infield errors in a row or
B.  walking 4 batters batters in a row.

The Brewers won with B. last night!   

*******************************

Columbus 980 News!!

980 News | March 2018 from Columbus Wisconsin on Vimeo.

******************************

Fullbacks - in the NFL last year on average a team took 1,015.7 offensive snaps in a year.  The average fullback in the NFL was in 182.4 of those snaps.  If you are a fullback in collage . . . . you better have another occupation lined up for this dying position.

************************

Remember my MLB favorite player Ryan Schimpf? The guy that was cut out of Rob Deers genes (that sounds weird I know). WELL - he is BACK IN THE MAJORS and doing what he does. Homes Runs, walks and strikeouts.

In 7 (SEVEN) plate appearances since being called up he has 2 runs, 2 RBIs, 1 hit, 1 home run, 2 walks and 3 strikeouts.  Oddly his stats this year in the minor leagues was 0-10 with 5 strikeouts!  Yea - seems good enough to get called up!  LOL 

***************

We're training Gus with a Dog Guard fence. I'm not totally sold on this way of electrocuting a dog if he goes out of our yard and I really hate the metal spikes that are inserted into his throat to ZAP him.  But he seems to have learned pretty quick and never wants to go near the back yard now - VICTORY!

Actually he is doing well. He would not go near the yellow flags unless I go on the OTHER side and tell him to "come".  Then he does like a good dog and I feel so guilty as he gets buzzed.  I didn't know he would actually "come".

So I took off his collar as I'm suppose to and carried him back across the invisible fence.  Of course as I was doing this I was holding the "collar from hell" in my hand and I GOT ZAPPED and yelped!

*****************

93% of all bottled water contains bits of plastic floating around including polypropylene, polystyrene, nylon and polyethylene.  Why do people drink that overpriced tap water garbage. It really is someone else's tap water you know.

Unless you are in Flint Michigan where the Fed has decided that residents will no longer get free bottled water even though they still have lead issues.  There is a border wall to build you know to save us from the marauding Mexican hordes coming our way.

***********************

Tonight is my last City Council.  I remember so vividly my first one council.  We literally had a room of angry people as we dealt with Eisenga-land and the FUBR improperly built Sentry Store. What a total clusterf*ck that was.  Allow the store to be built and it would effect ALL city ordinances. Strip clubs, check cashing stores, loan shops and all sorts of crappy establishments were on the table and Council was taking all sorts of grief for not allowing these outstanding shops.

Mayor Crombie came up with a solution (not that I can remember what it was) but I tell ya - THAT was quite an initiation.

But I digress.

I was just thinking of that as I was tossing out 300 pounds of agendas from the last 4 years.

***************************

Here is a Thank You Professor Obvious headline of the day!

Why the FBI's raid on Michael Cohen's office could spell trouble for Trump

Really?

I like this bullet point

Cohen's mounting legal exposure also raises the possibility that he will "flip" against Trump. 

********************

80% of teenagers prefer iPhone to Android. This must make Apple very happy and 82% of teenagers own an iPhone up from 78% last fall.

**************

Nuff said