The Smell of Bleach in the Morning

From the It's always Something Department...

The sewer pipe broke in the basement. What a mess to start a Friday Morning. The Plumber did a quick good job of replacing the pipes. The Cleanup goes on.

Elbow grease and the lingering smell of Chlorine Bleach is making the project come to a good conclusion.

On the positive side the garden is coming along great. Tomatoes on the vine, Marigolds and Zinnias are popping up. Rabbits munching on the Hostas.

An unusual site in Downtown Peoria

Tonight while heading Downtown to the Peoria Post Office I neared Oak Street and Washington. You know the spot, Every weekend and most weeknights Photographers are down there taking pictures against the older buildings. Many a wedding shot has been taken on Oak Street, Senior Pictures etc.

Today was not one of those days, there was a train coming up the tracks near What would be the start of Water street. I looked and saw a movement. No it was not Willie York. As I came up to the corner there it was standing at the Corner of Oak and Washington. It was a Deer. Maybe the Deer wanted its picture taken and was looking for a photographer.

This was my second sighting of deer along Washington. The other siting was two deer in the lot of Deluxe Limousine on morning at 4:45.

Watch out when you drive Downtown, you never know what will pop out of a side street.

The economy- an observation for a Saturday Night

After a day of Yardwork decided to go out for supper. Traveled to a dinin spot in Peoria and got in immediately. Normally on Saturday Night at 6:30 I would have expected a wait. Not last night. The place was half empty. Talking to the staff they inferred that it was dead all day. Had a good meal and left.

On the way home I stopped at a retailer. It was 7:45 and there was hardly anyone there. In checking out I was talking to the clerk. She said she came on in the afternoon and it was not busy all day.

With the county unemployment rate over 9% and the City above 10% the town was showing it last night. Groceries are on the agenda today. People shopping for staples will probably be a different look.

The River is finally falling- Some visitors to the area

The river is finally going down. We may get below flood stage for the first time in Three months.

If you have been watching the skies you may have seen a large population of large birds. The flooding seems to have brought in a lot of Vultures. While traveling along 474 and crossing the Shade Lohman bridge there was a large group of Vultures resting on top of the oil tanks along Wesley Road.

It also time to get out and visit some of the festivals and sights of the weekend. Strawberries in Elmwood, Titanic Exhibit at Grand Prairie and opening weekend for the new Peoria Zoo.

Enjoy the weekend, check the skies for those unusual visitors.

pedestrians wake up its 5:00 and your Jay walking on Knoxville

Today while driving up Knoxville at 5 tonight. I could not beleive the number of people standing in the turn lanes trying to cross the street. All within a block of a light.

Had one of the people been hit by a car we would not have heard the end of the driver not obeying the law....etc. When will the pedestrian learn the laws of the land. On of the pedestrians was 20 feet from a crosswalk at McClure.

Come on folks wake up.. use some common sense. Be Safe.

Food Network Triple D

I may have to attend a 12 step group, being addicted to the Food Network. When I travel out of town I search the food network site for places to visit.

It seems the mention on the Food Network has the same effect as being on the cover of Sport Illustrated. It sometime carries a jinx.

I guess I should get to my point, when are we going to get Guy to come check out the Diners and Dives of the Tri County. Sorry all you people waiting in line at Red Lobster, the Tri County has some great eating places that are locally owned. It not like we live in Bloomington or Litchfield the home of all the franchises.

Guy needs to come check out some of our great establishments. One of my Fave's is the Burger Barge in East Peoria. The place is great, come casual or they will think your selling insurance. The Burgers are fantastic, the atmosphere is very Illinois Riveresque. The Onion Rings, Chips, and fries are great, the fish and chips are worth the trip.

We have some great diners and dives. Over the summer we will give a shout out to other locations. Suggest one if you want!

Guy needs to come and check out our great Triple D locations.

June is Busting out all over!!!

That song from Oklahoma is true tonight with the arrival of Thunder, Lightning, Hail and water. Plenty of water.

Living not far from the Illinois River and the Kickapoo Creek this latest downpour will have a big effect on these waterways. Look out down stream this water will be headed your way.

Hope this latest outpouring from the sky will not affect the planned festivities with the Chiefs and the Riverfront events in the coming days.

This will help the garden, and make the mowing more frequesnt the next few weeks. With this rain do I really need rain barrels for the Garden?

This is Central Illinois, like they say wait a minute and the weather will change.

New Month- New Economy

It is a new Month, February, the shortest month of the year.

I noticed this week that there are ads on TV promoting a 3D show. Instead of putting on those 3D glasses lets put on the Rose Colored glasses.

What can we do at an individual level to help our economy?

Do we run for office in the local elections. Campaign for a candidate in those elections. What can we do to make a difference.

Let me know, if you are reading any of the blogs I know you have an opinion. Make that on the local level. Let us see what we can come up with to make a difference.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Infrastructure- How do we pay for the changes needed.

Look around the city and you will see the need for more infrastructure improvement. The roads are filled with potholes.

We are short on salt for the basic street use this winter.

Driving from the Southside of Peoria downtown you will find 3 watermain breaks.

Now the feds want the city to come up with a huge amount of money for storm water diversion.

We have all seen the requests for new and improved items. Fancy new Hotel Downtown- Great Idea!
Build the Block- Another Great Idea!
New Childrens Hospital Addition- Great Idea!
Addition on Methodist Medical Center- Great Idea!
This is just a partial list of the Great New Ideas and Opportunities.

These are great things, would like to see all come to fruition. But, (You knew it was coming) how can we fix the basic services and infrasrtucture in order to get to and enjoy these Great new ideas.

Lets come up with some plans to solve the mundane daily problems that abound. Then we can enjoy these New Opportunities.

The Digital TV conversion

The Digital TV Conversion, is it a boondoggle of major proportion?

This is from PC Magazine website.
"Demand for digital TV converter box coupons is up, and while that signals an increased awareness of the impending DTV conversion, the surge might require an additional $330 million in government funds, according to the Commerce Department.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is housed within Commerce, projects that it will receive 6.5 million requests for DTV converter box coupons in December – a significant jump from previous months.

With this increase cost of 330 Million over the already allocated $1.34 billion to cover the cost of the coupons, plus $160 million for administrative costs that Congress has already spent. "

This is the public money. Now we have old tv's headed to the landfill or recyclers to be recycled? or at least disposed of properly.

The original idea of the change was to free up the telecommunication band that the current TV signals are on. There is a planned auction of these airwaves for increasing bandwidth for WIFI Access. With the current economy it is now predicted those auctions will be will be a bust.

The roll out of new HDTV's were not a real help to the US Economy. As we have seen many retailers deep discounting HDTV's and some Electronic chains on the throats of bankruptcy.

Do we need additional airwave space for our Blackberries and other portable computing and telecommunication devices, sure we do as we become more mobile. But what is the true cost. An additional $330 Million is chickenfeed when we do not even notice a headline unless it is is Billions and Billions of Dollars.

How could the government have been 30% wrong in their estimates of converter needs?

How has American industry benefited from this large outlay of funds. Labor for the infrastructure, some retail, and the rest is with the major telecommunication companies. The majority of the equipment is produced in foreign countries and imported. Making our Balance of trade at a bigger deficit. Why can not Congress pass legislation that will help the U.S,

Lets see what the new Administration will do as it creates stimulus projects.

New Year

The New Year has arrived.

It should be an interesting year.
In the Early hours of the New Year we have seen action by Isreal into the Gaza Strip.

We will see a new President and Administration.

What will happen to the price of Oil and the Economy have all the prognosticators giving there best guess.

Everyone has there New Years Resolutions, many are the same year after year. Many are new. Hope all can be sucessful.

It will be an interesting year at home and abroad.

Wish you all well in the New Year.

Welcome First Day of Winter

The Sound of Winter arrived before the actual start this Morning. The sound of ice rattling in the trees last night. The sound of footprints crunching in the snow. The fresh crisp air. The cold radiating from the inside of the windows. In preparation for the official beginning of Winter.

Today is the shortest day of the year. For you affected with Season Affective Disorder this is a day to celebrate. Tonight at Sunset starts Hanukkah. Guess in this below freezing weather it really is a day of celebration.

There is a saying for a spring month "in like a Lion out like a Lamb". We can only hope that this applies to Winter as well.

ISU Graduation

The Winter graduations were held today in Redbird arena. The building was packed with family and friends of the graduates. It was a great event.

The Basketball floor was gone and the chairs were filled with robe clad graduates and their professors. It reminded me of a ceremony that I participated in Horton Field House, many years ago. It was nice that every student could walk across the stage and get their diploma covers. The ceremony was straight forward with the graduates coming into the ceremony to the familiar sounds of Pomp and Circumstance. The ISU Symphonic Winds made a wonderful performance of this music.

The crowd braved the blustery wind into the arena. The Administrators and the Faculty with their various colored robes were quite unique. The Board of regents were in Bright Red Robes. Dr. Al Bowman was in A Bright Red and White robe.

The professors accompanied each Doctoral Candidate and placed the Hoods on the candidates as they accepted their degree. It was a moving experience.

Seeing my nephew get his PHD was priceless.

The Big Hunt for Fabric

I visited one of the 4 Tazewell County Wally's looking for some fabric for a Christmas Project. I entered and saw that it had been remodeled with all kinds of fancy shelving, bright displays and all the products moved. So I got a chance for some Aerobic exercise, As I searched for the fabric department.

I roamed down Aisle after Aisle, Found the hardware, spotted some Artificial Flowers! Thought I was in the home stretch. As I went around the corner I spotted more Craft items, saw the popular Cricut. Am I near the fabric. The next aisle had 5 sewing machines. Voila, the fabric must be near.

Then the truth came, the new remodeled Wally does not have fabric. I spotted a person wearing a spiffy smock and name tag. I asked her wear the fabric was located. She informed me that it was no longer in the store. I asked why. She said that they had reduced the store by 25% of the items. Moving the slow moving items out the door.

And who said that capitalism was dead. It is alive and well in Tazewll County.

TAX on Cows- New revenue source

The Feds have a new idea for taxes. Taxing livestock for emissions of methane.

"Some consider cow gas a major contributor to global warming. So the feds have floated the idea of charging farmers for their bovines' gastric eruptions.
You might cows them as a source of milk, but the Environmental Protection Agency sees them as a source of methane gas -- the kind that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere and contributes to global warming.
"You can hear them burp as they ruminate, when they bring back up to chew it again. That's what emits the methane," explained Charlie Hanehan of Hanehan Dairy Farm.
The EPA has floated the idea of taxing farmers for each of their cows.
Hanehan estimates it would cost about $175 per cow, per year. He milks 1,300 cows."- WNYT

Other ruminants would be taxed as well.

Great Idea- many benefits
We can hire the unemployed to be cow counters to collect the tax.
Will provide instant meals for the homeless shelters etc. as farmers reduce the size of the herds.
Will increase price of Hamburger at least $1.00 per pound.
And you thought the price of milk was high now!
Lower the prices of Rawhide Chews and leather coats as supply of raw material increases.


Will fast food go veggie? how can you make a 2,000 calorie vegie burger?

Stay tuned, I am sure we have not seen the last of the new taxing ideas.

Underage drinking in Washington

The PJStar reported that there was an underaged drinking party in Washington. In reading the comment section on PJStar website. Made me wonder where the real responsible people are in this world.

Many of the commments were in favor of the underaged drinkers.

What if someone was hurt from the activity? Would we have this same group saying where were the police?

Lets be responsible and have a safe and sane Holiday season.

What happened to the classified ads

In looking at Saturday and Today's PJ Star the classifieds have been shrinking in volume. If it were not for the unfortunate foreclosures, etc. There would be even less.

These pages are the real revenue producers.


Being a big fan of the printed word, It is hoped that it can be turned around.

Attitudes

Shopping today was quite an experience. Having my list set, I was pretty detached from the actual shopping experience.

This gave me time to look at the surroundings and the attitudes of the shoppers and clerks. It was quite interesting.

First stop was at the Farm Store. Got to get your Carhartt's for your Christmas folks. The place was bustling with shoppers, the clerk at checkout was happy and most helpful. It was a good shopping experience.

Next stop was at one of Tazewell Counties 4 Wally's. Surprisingly it was not packed. The crowd was quite friendly and the clerk festive and friendly.


Then to Radio place for some electronic goods. No one in the place, In and out quickly with my little purchase. The clerk was helpful here as I have no idea about electronics.

Then to the big new K store in East Peoria. The place had more merchandise than aisles to walk down. Good thing they do not have conventional carts. You would never make it through. What happened to recycling, I bought three items and have 3 new hangers. The checkout was a mess, 4 lanes open and a minimum of 6 in each line. The clerk was a robot. No banter other than telling everyone to have a safe holiday.

Then to the less than 5 dollar store. They are always fun to go to. Got some stockings to hang by the Chimney I do not have. And a Santa Hat to wear with my new Dr. Suess Christmas Tie.

It was a fun day. Now to Wrap the goodies and get them on thier maeery rounds.

No Bah Humbug today. Clue"Stick to the list!"

Is the Weather Bear MIA? Who in local media do you go to get the best Winter Weather info?

Weather Bear Where have you gone? Do we need to send out a Missing Bear Report.
None of the three local stations are having the on screen graphics of the weather.

Well, I guess it is not officially winter, yet.


In looking at the various media outlets who do you believe?

WHOI Website says there are no collision or parking bans checking it at 3:30 this Sunday afternoon.

CI Proud website says that Bartonville WMBD WYZZ states that Bartonville has a parking ban and Washington has a collision alert.

CIPRROUD also reports a Winter Storm Warning.

WHOI has nothing about a Winter Storm Warning.

WEEK TV reports a Winter Weather Warning in effect. Nothing about Parking Ban or Collision alert.

WMBD Radio reports that there is a Winter Storm Warning with the Parking Ban and Collision alert.

PJStar was up to the minute on all the details of the collision and parking bans.

Weather.com and the weather channel on Comcast channel #2 are reprting the Winter Storm Warning. Although early this morning we were without the weather channel on cable.

Be safe when bad weather strikes. Do you really need that trip to the Dollar Store?

Have a safe day.

It is Bird Feeding Time

It is that time of the year to get the feeders full. The Suet cakes in the holders and plug in the Bird bath heater.

Feeding the birds is quite the enjoyable hobby. Seeing the birds and other creatures interact is most interesting. We now have two kinds of squirrels visiting the feeders. The newest is the black squirell. The are much smaller than the grey squirrels that have been in the area for a few months.

This year one of the early arrivals have been some Cardinals. The bright red is quite flashy against the vegetation.

Last night as I went outside there was one of the neighborhood feral cats trying to get a drink out of the birdfeeder.

Feeding these little critters are a pleasure.