budget season, oh joy!

Well - it's budget season, oh joy!  Just when I free up a night with golf league vanishing I have extra City Council duties.

Last week we went over "infrastructure" (I don't like calling it "roads" as there are more to roads then meet the eye) and last night was Senior Center and the Sewer Budget along with a "how can we please you" session which was a good thing. This means "what numbers and in what format is best for doing budgets" for you guys!

Last year seemed rather  . . . . convoluted with a number of surprises but now that a majority of us have been through this once it should be easier.

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So far this year Columbus has had 10 new single family homes and 7 multi family homes!  Seems like a good thing.

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In things you could really care less about . . . or actually you could not care less. I had my fantasy draft Friday night.  I upped the stakes a level this year as the last two years I have been in the money coming in 2nd place both times.  Ching ching.

So using the same technique as in the past 2 years I THINK I did well but in an unconventional way according to the "experts".

I picked 7th and my #2 pick overall dropped down to me and I picked up

HB Marshawn Lynch - SWEET

but by the time my 2nd pick came around there were 8 running backs chosen and the top 4 WRs so I picked up

QB Andrew Luck which was my #1 pick for QB - SWEET

but then I had to wait 13 more picks.  The 3rd round is where things start to get weird and the top 10 WRs were gone and I NEEDED one.

WR DeAndre Hopkins - I would later see WR is my weakest area which does not really concern me because in the last 2 years I'm always able to fill in with weekly pick-up.

The other picks went great

I got my #2 overall TE pick Jimmy Grahm and My #1 overall DEF pick Seattle

SO - we shall see how things go.  Big money riding this year!  I seem to be a Seattle fan this year (along with the Packers).

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Then there is BIG BROTHER.  I know I know  snooze!  I get it.  But for people that love "game theory" or have played thinking strategy games this is just an outstanding show.  Pure 100% strategy, not what you think it is if you only watch 1 episode.  It's like the board game Diplomacy, seriously.

Last year the game was dominated my an undercover cop who morphed himself  into the people he was playing with. Changed his talking patterns, his looks to fit in and dominated.

This year we have the #2 female poker player in the world who at first I hated and now I am in awe.  Being a rather good poker player myself (at one time with literally 1.2 million hands of online poker - I had specialized software) I can appreciate how she is controlling the other contestants to do whatever she wants them to do.

Just when you believe she backed herself into a corner with a wrong move, the next week you see that she was thinking way way farther ahead then you believed.  It's truly awesome.

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Weather - I've been really curious to see what happens temperature-wise Friday and Saturday.  The talking heads on TV have been SO conservative for a week when every scientific forecast says something else.       

Heads - middle to upper 60s Friday and Saturday.  Science says 61 and 62.   LAST Saturday the Heads were saying lower 70s and Science was saying 63.

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Did you know that only 18% of student loans of $100,000 go into default?   Loans of $1000 to $5000 34% are defaulted.

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Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting from the Big Bang Theory (I dislike that show) and Sofia Vergara from Modern Family (I LOVE that show) tied as the highest paid female TV actors last year, each making 28.5 MILLION dollars on their shows!  

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McDonalds uses 2 BILLION eggs annually and will switch over to 100% cage free chickens this year and all antibiotics will be gone by 2017. And remember - McDonalds will go ALL DAY Breakfast starting next month.

 OK - nothing else at the moment

Doctor B and Bubba

SO! Brady got off on a technicality - basically the Players Union said that since no one told the players WHAT the penalty was of obstruction of justice or whatever they could not be penalized.

Now we see why lawn mowers have a warning that you should not pick them up to trim hedges while the mower is running.  

But in the grand scheme of things this is not a big deal as the REAL penalty that actually means something and really hurts New England is the loss of draft picks.  This is a long term hurt and is much much more harmful then an elderly QB missing 4 game.

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An image of the hops I picked except I can't find a square old barnwood frame.  I can find a 22x28 frame so I might have to redue it.

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Final night of golf league was last night and I went from great shots to suck. Disappointing season after last years best ever season.  I think it was boredom, lack of concentration and a set of new clubs.  I only golfed at one other course this year which leads me to think my concentration a little null.

When I made contact I was really pleased but unlike last year way way to many mishits.  Add another new used driver with a new shaft and never hitting it outside until league play . . . that was a little tough.  Plus I was in my best shape in at least 15 years. Wasted year.

For anybody who cares.  sigh

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I was contacted by the Weather Underground asking if I would like to make a guest appearance on the Weather Underground Show which airs 5-7pm on the Weather Channel, If . . . .anything exciting happens in Wisconsin.  WELL, WHERE WAS THAT LAST MONTH!!

I sent in all my information.   My station had 3000+ hits last month and 280 so far this month,

Vista Circle KWICOLUM2

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I cannot believe Walker blamed all the Police shootings on Obama. Seriously.  Heard it last night. In fact he said that since Obama took office police shootings are up.  Fact checking that is just another lie as they are actually down.  Good God is this guy for real?  I think he is dry trumping for attention.

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I have a new app for my phone.  I knew of the website but not its an app.  It's for movies.  It's called Run Pee.  It tells you when the best time to run to the bathroom during a movie.

For instance - a really good movie I want to was Mission Impossible Rogue Nation (the best of the series)   it says the recommended time was at the 51 minute mark right after Iisa says "He'll fine me. I've seen to that"  You have 4 minutes.  But if there is an emergency pee go at the 1 hour 20 minute mark after the motorcycle chase. a 3 minute break.

You can also set it so there is a timer that will vibrate in your pocket of an upcoming pee break.

Ya gotta love technology.

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Then there is Doctor B and Bubba who chased done a drunken driver on their horses in Madison. Too funny!

Police Incident Report

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My new best friend Helen Avakian (we're still on a two name basis) who reads the blog will be performing at The Hop Garden in Paoli this Sunday.   DJ says try the Farmstead Ale - it's awesome . . .and she is not a beer drinker.  Yea - when I have a new beer I made and ask her to try it she will put literally one drop on her tongue and say "that's good".  sigh

I've asked her to perform in Columbus (she said yes). . . .when we actually have a venue (there is hope).  Speaking of venues, I'm working on getting a beer garden going in Columbus at Firemans Park. It would be great to have something every Friday evening outside with performing artists and GOOD beer but NOT in that caged in area where it feels like we 're trapped in some dive road house. Something where people can sit under trees on the grass, sipping beer listening to music. We could even utilize the outside of the Pavilion.  It's a vision held by a number of people.

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This image will be in a new book about Columbus that is at the printers.  

Nope nope not that one - sorry - I found this in my files

It was this one of Enerpac - I always get the Enerpac ones just to create controversy!  :-)

I have not seen the book, all I know is that it's all about Columbus and its history and since Enerpac has been part of Columbus since 1910 and makes the worlds largest hydraulics it gets mentioned.

They were part of building Miller Parks roof as one of their small projects!

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Goodby summer - hello summer

A lot of Autumn Blaze Maples in Columbus have started to turn color already - seems early but when I drove around it was not just mine. 

Here we go with the heat.  Very interesting weather.  A huge change in the overall weather patterns in the entire US.  This is a big glob of heat moving north, way north into Canada.   Here is the odd thing.  A lot of the moisture making it feel sticky is coming from evapotranspiration from the corn. 

The corn is releasing moisture into the air as it dry's.  WHO KNEW!!   Yesterday was the last day of meteorological summer.  On average evapotranspiration reverses and streams and ground water start to refill because crops no longer need the water as before.  However that is the "average" date and with our cool summers that we have had the past 3 years it's a little longer in Wisconsin.  

Expect the next two days to flirt with 90 and then into the upper 80s until at least Sunday but that end date for heat has been slowly sliding so I would not count out Monday still being warm. 

Longer term we are looking at a very defined El Nino effect and Wisconsin will have a much warmer fall and into winter.  The Godzilla El Nino is still growing and I will not be surprised if we have a thunderstorm on Christmas this year.   This will mean big rain for California and a much warmer winter for the upper midwest  . . including fall.  

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Speaking of politics.  

Bernie sander still is struggling and don't get your hops up.  He is way way way behind where Obama was and still gets only 5% of the black and Hispanic vote. And he is not even a Democrat so . . . .

Then there is Biden would would be the oldest President EVER if he ran (he won't).  The Clinton media problems are only media and while it looks like she is eroding a little that is what it is. a LITTLE.  She is so so far ahead of anybody it's crazy.  

On the other side we are still dry trumping with the Donald who loves attention but Ben Carleson (the guy with zero political ability but a very large brain) could be a problem but Ben has zero chance of anything.  Walker keeps sliding as he misspeaks and then has to ask the Koch Brothers what he SHOULD have said. 

OH the Canadian wall thing, "I was confused - sorry".  YEA - hard to confuse BUILDING A 5000 MILE WALL!!!     

It's Bush or MAYBE Christie vs. Clinton. 

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Then there is Auschwitz - sigh.   Europe is in the middle of a huge killing heatwave and the people at the Auschwitz Museum thought they were being so kind when they installed a mister system to help people cool off.   You walk into the museum and sprinklers over your head would mist a gentle spray on you . . . . . . . seems some people did not appreciate that.   

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