13.44% of High Schoolers Will be Dead in 5 Years

By: Mr. Wilson on August 31, 2005
It's true. The new federal website Just Think Twice links to Meth is Death, which tells us that:
  • 1 in 7 high school students will try meth
  • 99 percent of first-time meth users are hooked after just the first try
  • only 5 percent of meth addicts are able to kick it and stay away
  • the life expectancy of a habitual meth user is only 5 years.
Therefore, 13.44% of all high schoolers will be dead in 5 years. It's true because our government told us it is true. (Even though they also tell us it's all lies.) (Hat tip: Hit and Run)

Murder

By: Mr. Wilson on August 31, 2005
A Lincolnite was shot and killed around 12:30a.m. this morning. Robert Herndon was murdered by two men who had come to his house, but it is not clear if Herndon knew the men. Herndon's girlfriend witnessed the murder. Often these situations involve gang activity or a drug deal gone wrong. So far no motive has been suggested.

A Skip in My Step

By: Mr. Wilson on August 29, 2005
I recently discovered Adobe Designer at work. It's an incredibly powerful form design tool that makes form creation easy for designers, and form completion easy for users. Unfortunately, it has a couple shortcomings in how it interacts with the user. Those shortcomings nearly torpedoed a hefty portion of a project I've been working on. In fact, we had "officially" decided to dump Designer and go a more old-fashioned route. Fortunately I was stubborn, and my stubbornness paid off. Through a bit of luck I ran across a helpful document (PDF) that led me down a path that led to a path that led to a dead end, which encouraged me to dig a tunnel... Long story short, I found a workaround to do what we wanted to do with zero extra effort on our end, and only an extra mouse click or two from the folks who will be using our end product. And best of all, I earned a healthy scoop of brownie points, which always come in handy. I love the rush you get when you accomplish something you had almost given up on. Considering how much energy we had put into this project, I would have been really disappointed if we had had to back down. Instead, I get to go hop on the bus with a skip in my step. To which I say: cool.

New at Lincolnite: Big Decisions

By: Mr. Wilson on August 29, 2005
The Articles section of the website isn't technically ready to go live just yet, but I have posted my first article in my weekly (give or take) column called The Front Porch. The summary:
My wife and I are parents in need of a child in a world filled with children in need of parents. When the old fashioned approach didn't work as advertised, the decision about what to do next came a lot easier than we expected.
Comments on this blog entry are closed; comments may be posted at the article.

Poop Head

By: Mr. Wilson on August 28, 2005
Daisy rolled in a huge, fresh, steaming pile of poop this morning. Her neck and portions of her head were coated with it. She was pleased as punch; I was not amused. I would have strangled her, but there was no way in hell I was going to touch her. Fortunately, when we got home she jumped into the bathtub on her own, and I was able to rinse most of it off without having to touch her. But it's going to take a long time before I let her cuddle up close to me. Why must dogs roll in foul, stinky things? Why?!

Go Gary Walker, Go!

By: Mr. Wilson on August 26, 2005
I really respect Gary Walker. He's the owner of the freedom flyer, a large bus that sits outside the Hi-Way Diner on Highway 2. The bus serves as the Hi-Way Diner's "unofficial" smoking section, since paternalistic Lincolnites have decided that smoking in restaurants is evil. Unfortunately, the bus runs afoul of another law that restricts using recreational vehicles to supplement a business. (I don't get it either.) Mr. Walker is fighting the issue all the way through -- which probably means he'll end up in jail for a couple days. There is good news in all of this. Apparently the City of Lincoln is now nearly crime free! It must be, or else why would Lincoln's prosecutorial community be spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to press such a tiny issue? Anyway, good for Gary Walker for standing up to an unjust law. Most anti-smoking ban types in Lincoln just sat back and whined (paging Bob Ihrig), while Mr. Walker actually got creative. Good for him! As an aside, has anybody eaten at the Hi-Way Diner recently? Has the joint cleaned up at all? The last time I was there -- probably a half-dozen years ago or more -- it was a tad on the icky side. I'm all for character in my local diners, but the Hi-Way Diner had character literally crawling in the carpets.

Scovilles Aplenty

By: Mr. Wilson on August 25, 2005
I had lunch today with Mr. T and a joint acquaintance, whom for today we will call "The Black Widow." I will spare you the full back story, but Mr. T and The Black Widow decided to make a wager: whichever of them lasted longer in a hot chile eating competition would win a free steak dinner, purchased by the loser. I would act as the judge, and I would supply the chiles from my garden. I just happened to have a couple fresh habaneros waiting to be eaten.

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Now THIS is Democracy

By: Mr. Wilson on August 25, 2005
Democracy is, by design, a bit ugly. What do you expect when you try to let everybody have a say in their government? Its ugliness is one of democracy's most interesting traits. Often the public doesn't want to see the unpleasantries of government at work, but sometimes they really do want to take part and get their hands dirty. When government officials try to prevent citizens from participating, the citizens can get a bit unruly. Case in point: a public meeting in Davis, California, was taken over by citizens when the government officials leading the meeting were a bit too closed-minded about how the public ought to be able to participate:
About 30 minutes into the session, audience members revolted against the format, arguing that residents should be able to speak. [Mayor Ruth] Asmundson abruptly halted the session and directed the panel to leave the City Hall dais. Opponents of the spraying took over the meeting and quickly restored order. They elected as their leader a local woman who had caught the virus.
Good for them! And best of all, "the meeting ended nearly on schedule with a polite round of applause." Those are my kind of citizens. We need more of 'em.

A Visit to Iron Works

By: Mr. Wilson on August 25, 2005
The Missus and I dined at Eighth Street Iron Works this evening. It was our first -- and probably last (see below) -- trip to the Haymarket restaurant. Iron Works is in a bit of a difficult location within the Haymarket. Sitting on the northwest corner of 8th and Q, the site has seen several restaurants fail. Iron Works has a lot going for it, including a cozy interior that invites diners to sit and stay a spell. The servers were very friendly and helpful. The menu is contemporary American, with prices on the high side for Lincoln. The Missus ordered a dish that featured stuffed squash (zucchini) with mushrooms, quinoa, and drizzled with truffle tea. I had the bacon-wrapped meat loaf with mashed potatoes and fresh sweet corn. Both of us really enjoyed our dishes. The emphasis at Iron Works is definitely on quality before quantity; the Missus and I are both big eaters and we could have used a bit more on our plates. Nevertheless, we were pleased with the overall experience. The reason I'm not putting more effort into this informal review is that it seems Iron Works won't be with us much longer. I couldn't help but overhear our server speak with another customer about the restaurant's impending close. I didn't catch many details, but few were needed: if you want to catch Iron Works one more time (or for the first time), get there quickly. That's too bad, because I think the type and quality of food at Iron Works is a welcome addition to the Haymarket atmoshere. I suppose this news should technically still be filed under "rumor" since one server's chat with a customer isn't official. But when a server talks about having to find a new job while on the job ... well, that's not a good sign.

Evans Speaks Out

By: Mr. Wilson on August 24, 2005
Lincoln Board of Education member Doug Evans isn't pleased with a $40,000 addition to a $250 million budget. The money would support two bus routes added after parents in the Everett and Clinton Elementary School areas complained that their children have to make an unreasonably dangerous trek to and from school each day.

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Goofy Menu Bug Fixed?

By: Mr. Wilson on August 24, 2005
I fixed a bug that made the primary website menu (Articles, Blogs, Classifieds, Directory, etc.) display incorrectly in some browsers. At least, I hope I fixed it. Can any Opera and Safari users let me know if the menu is behaving properly now? (Paging Abe of Lincoln...)

Lincolnite Sports Blog On the Way

By: Mr. Wilson on August 23, 2005
A while back I asked a friend if he would be interested in doing some sports-related blogging here on Lincolnite. At the time he wasn't able to commit to it because he had about 12 different jobs and neither blogging nor sleeping fit into his schedule. Now, however, his load has lightened somewhat and he has agreed to share his sports wisdom with his fellow Lincolnites. There's one catch: this new sports blog needs a name. He and I are brainstorming names as I write this, but I figure I should give you all a say in the matter as well. What do you think? What would you call a sports-related blog by a Lincolnite who happens to be a huge Minnesota Vikings fan? Any ideas?
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