So C-c-c-c-cold

By: Mr. Wilson on October 23, 2005
There is good soccer weather, and there is bad soccer weather. Yesterday's weather definitely fell into the latter category. Yesterday I reffed two soccer games up at Midland, in Fremont. Our friendly, ever-so-competent weather dudes here in Nebraska promised me a tiny chance of light showers in the morning and late afternoon. They didn't mention anything about a steady rain all stinking day. One game in the cold rain would have been bad, but tolerable. Two games -- over four hours worth, because of overtime in the women's match -- was a bit much. On the plus side, I managed not to wipe out in the mud even once. Both the men's and women's matches were relatively interesting. And a mere ten minutes after the games we got pelted with sleet while changing into dry clothes; at least the sleet held off until after the game. Overall, the weather goes into my top-five list for worst weather I've ever refereed in. But it wasn't #1 on that list. Not even close. It was too "warm" (40 degrees) and not nearly windy enough to make it to #1. Now, please excuse me while I try to do something about the sore throat I seem to have developed.

Griping Just Got Easier

By: Mr. Wilson on October 21, 2005
The City of Lincoln's new ACTION online complaint management program is a laudable step in the right direction for government transparency in this town. After a very superficial peek at the system, I have to say that I am pleased by its simplicity. Now I just need to come up with a complaint so that I can try out the submission and tracking process. Does anybody out there have a complaint we can follow? My only disagreement with the program at this point is the name. I'm not a fan of contrived acronyms, which ACTION -- Acting with Citizens to Improve our Neighborhoods -- most certainly is.

Was That an Insult?

By: Mr. Wilson on October 21, 2005
Student: Mrs. Wilson, do you wear a bag of gold around your neck? Other Students: Oooooooooh! [Translation: "We can't believe he just asked that!"] Mrs. Wilson: ??? That exchange happened today in The Missus' classroom. The student didn't offer any further explanation. She's baffled, and Google isn't helping. Can any of you help us out? Was Mrs. Wilson insulted? Is she unhip to the latest teenager slang? What the heck happened?

Another Tasty Meal at Crawdaddy’s

By: Mr. Wilson on October 21, 2005
The Missus and I dined at Crawdaddy's last night. The food and the atmosphere didn't disappoint. Crawdaddy's is an odd little restaurant. Located at 700 'O' Street, Crawdaddy's can be difficult to find. But like all diamonds in the rough, it's worth looking for. Here's a hint: it's under the O Street viaduct south of the Creamery building and the old train station. Crawdaddy's has atmosphere up the wazoo. Like its predecessor, George's Red Pepper Grill, the emphasis is on the food, not on the decor. It's a bit of a dive. That's ok, though; in fact, it helps give the impression that you're in an old restaurant somewhere off Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Don't go in expecting the Applebee's Chipmunk Quintet to sing you a happy song on your birthday. A sign at the bar puts it bluntly: "I am not a bitch. I am THE bitch." And yet, although the servers won't win any Miss Congeniality contests anytime soon, they have great personalities. Our waitress last night made fun of a couple out-of-towners for not knowing about Dorothy Lynch, and she harassed another guy for not being able to finish the huge plate of ribs he ordered. She had no problems eviscerating his manliness in front of everyone. The people at Crawdaddy's actually have personalities. It's refreshing. The food is diverse. Crawdaddy's serves variations on cajun, barbeque, and Mexican. My favorite entree is the Ultimate Big Ass Burrito, a honkin' meat and beans burrito smothered in the homemade salsa of your choice and topped with jalapenos. If you're ordering something called the Ultimate Big Ass Burrito, you'd better be asking for the mofo salsa. The Missus goes cajun with the crawfish pie, a cajun pot pie of sorts. It's a cornbread shell filled with crawfish, tomatoes, red peppers, and all sorts of other goodies. Last night her dish was overflowing with crawfish. I ordered the crawfish etouffee last night, a fir st for me. It featured a tomato-based sauce filled with crawfish and colorful veggies, served around a mound of rice. It was no Big Ass Burrito, but it was pretty darn tasty. Prices at Crawdaddy's vary widely. The cheapest entrees begin in the $6.00 to $7.00 range, and they max out at $49.99 for some sort of massive shareable barbeque platter. Most cajun items come in at around $10.00 to $13.00, while the Mexican items tend to be a bit cheaper. On Sundays Crawdaddy's features its famous $.25 tacos. (The less frugally minded can still order off the menu if they like.) It's a college student's perfect meal, and the taco line often snakes out the door. My personal best is 17 tacos. (I actually set that record at Knickerbocker's on a Thursday, but they're the same tacos.) Maybe we can have a Lincolnite.com taco-eating contest some day. If you've never been to Crawdaddy's, give it a try. You'll love it. Even my ultra-picky father-in-law enjoyed it when he ate there last year. And if you just haven't been there lately, what's your excuse? Support one of Lincoln's tastiest hidden gems!

The Ethics of Blog Panhandling

By: Mr. Wilson on October 20, 2005
What ethics rules, if any, govern the solicitation of funds for oneself via one's blog? I ask not because I plan to do it myself, but because many bloggers have done it before, and many will do it in the future. Blog panhandling has never directly affected me, however, until today. A blogger I read regularly is soliciting money to help pay his bills. Not blog-related bills, but household bills: rent, car payment, utilities, and so on. He has been unemployed for quite a while, picking up the occasional scrap of work here and there. When I read his request, my first thought was "How tacky!" It struck me as "wrong" somehow. Now, though, I'm not really sure what's so wrong about it. In the loosest sense he is coming into my house and asking for money. But by reading his blog I invited him in and allowed him to say whatever he wanted. So what are the ethics of begging for bill money via one's blog? Is it ever ok? Is it always ok? Is it fair for a blogger to put that kind of pressure on his loyal readers? How many requests are too many? If it is ok, where does blog begging fall in the begging hierarchy (parents, family, friends, strangers, etc.)?

Flock Me

By: Mr. Wilson on October 20, 2005
I've been Flocked. Envy me. Update: Hmm. Well, Flock browses just fine. It should, since it's based on Firefox. But darned if I can get it to do any of the stuff that's supposed to make it unique, like in-browser WYSIWYG blogging. Oh well. At least it's perttier than Firefox.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning!

By: Mr. Wilson on October 20, 2005
Ahh, autumn rain. Not quite as nice as spring showers, but as dry as it has been around here these past two months, how can anybody complain? Besides, a nice steady shower like this means I don't have to water all that grass seed I've put down. The only bad thing about this morning's rain was that Daisy still made me go for a walk. Usually she hates rain. If I try to take her out in the rain she'll run back to the front door. I have to drag her under a tree, yell at her until she squats, and then run back inside. This morning, though, she took off on our normal route as though nothing were wrong. She finally got a little tired of the rain with about three blocks to go. She didn't start running, but she was definitely doing the doggy equivalent of power walking.

Shame on the Journal Star

By: Mr. Wilson on October 19, 2005
The Journal Star printed an interesting letter to the editor this morning:
Saturday evening’s full-house performance of “Blast!” was interrupted by a fire evacuation after their first number. It seems the stage smoke effects set off the alarm system (although hardly the first time such effects have been used). The staff is to be commended for the swift and orderly move of the 2,400 or so to the streets where all stood around for more than 20 minutes before two fire department trucks finally showed up. Any alarm from a public building should have resulted in an immediate and substantial response. I understand that only the fire department can reset the alarms. While it was a false alarm, the slow fire department response reminded me of FEMA. Lincoln police were not even dispatched until the audience was returning to their seats. Many did not return at all. Mayor Coleen Seng, who attended this performance and did return, needs to investigate this serious breakdown in emergency procedures. This Lincoln fire and police response was pathetic and would have been disastrous had it been a real fire. William R. Ramsay, Lincoln
That's not good. That's not good at all! Fire the fire chief! I demand an investigation! But wait, what's this?
More than a thousand people — including the mayor — evacuated the Lied Center Saturday night after the smoke machine used during the first number of the "Blast!" performance set off a fire alarm. The drum and bugle corps production was interrupted by an alarm and repeated intercom warnings to "proceed to the nearest exit, there is a fire in the building." The audience evacuated the building safel y and was left to stand outside for some 15 minutes, waiting for firefighters to show up and wondering what was taking them so long. Fire Chief Mike Spadt said a university operator was alerted but did not notify the Fire Department. Instead, a maintenance person was contacted. Meanwhile, an off-duty firefighter in the audience called the department. Once the Fire Department was alerted, firefighters arrived within 40 seconds, Spadt said. Spadt said he has asked the Lied to discontinue the practice of not calling the department and engaged the state fire marshal to help make sure "it never happens again."
Doesn't the Journal Star read its own articles? Wouldn't it have been appropriate for the LJS to either: a) not run such a misleading letter, or b) include an editor's note saying "Hey, go check out our other article that explains what really happened"? A lot of newspaper readers go straight to the letters to the editor. All of those readers who did not also read Deena Winter's article exonerating the fire department will now be angry at the LFD for something that is clearly not its fault.

The Man of My Dreams

By: Mr. Wilson on October 19, 2005
I slept oddly last night. It was a fairly deep sleep, and yet it wasn't very restful. I have a vague recollection of dreaming a lot, but I don't remember any of my dreams. Well, I didn't remember any of them until I read an article on President Bush just a few moments ago. One of my dreams is coming back to me. I dreamt about George W. But this wasn't just any dream about George W. The entire dream was basically a highlights clip of Bush's verbal goofs, along with peoples' reactions to them. I recall the goofs being pretty funny -- and slightly embarassing -- but I can't remember any specifics. Too bad. I wonder why my subconscious decided to pick on the president?

Loss of Privacy?

By: Mr. Wilson on October 18, 2005
Let me get this straight: Harriet Miers may or may not support the privacy rights protected by Griswold v. Connecticut. But she's not really sure. It freaks me out to think that the right wing of the Republican Party wants Griswold overturned. And it really freaks me out that Bush's nominee for the SCOTUS can't even clearly enunciate her position on basic privacy rights. The confirmation hearings are going to be very, very interesting.

De-Thatchification

By: Mr. Wilson on October 18, 2005
I dethatched a small area of the yard last night. I'm too cheap to hire somebody or to rent a machine, so I did it by hand. I'm fairly sore today, but I enjoy the exercise. Afterward I threw on some grass seed. Hopefully the seed will take and next spring I'll have a much better lawn base. I still want to dethatch and overseed a bit more of the yard, but I don't know if that'll happen. I just don't have the time to do the labor. Plus, fall is passing by awfully quickly. The grass I planted in the back yard is coming along well. Well, some of it is. The area I planted is fairly small -- about 200 square feet. I manually dug up the whole area, worked the soil, and so on. About 2/3 of the area's grass is coming up just fine. But in the final 1/3, nuthin'. What's the difference? There's not a blade of grass in the area that is always in the shadow of our privacy fence. That area is fairly large right now due to the autumn sun. I planted shade-tolerant seed, so that shouldn't be the problem. Will that seed just take longer to take? Is the soil staying too wet since it's always in shadow? Anybody out there know their grass?
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