Lincolnite

I am a longtime Union Bank customer. I like Union Bank, in large part because I have always been very impressed by their customer service. They have been good to me, and I reward that with my business. But Union Bank's online banking system? Awful. Horrible. Terribly, pitifully, laughably bad. And that's after the "upgrade" that went into effect today. The user experience is -- I'm running out of synonyms for awful -- atrocious. Seriously, Union Bank, it's 2007. The rest of the world is on Web 2.0 and you're on, what, Web 0.8? It's a good thing I like Union Bank for other reasons.

If you aren't a dog lover, you may as well skip this post. Daisy the Wonder Schnoodle turns three years old today. Happy birthday, Daisy! A few photos to celebrate the occasion:

Assistant Fire Chief John Huff was reinstated by the City Personnel Board yesterday, and he plans to report for work today. Ultimately the City's contention that Huff's role in the firetruck fiasco warranted his firing came down to he-said-he-said between Huff and Deputy Chief of Maintenance Dennis Klein. It seems like a reasonable outcome given the relatively weak evidence. That's not to say that Klein's word is no good, but simply that it alone isn't enough to take Huff off the job. What do you think? Was the right decision reached? Should the City now appeal to District Court?

Five topics to write about if you want to be sure to get published on the LJS opinion page:

1. Fire trucks (hurry, time's running out!)
2. Snow removal (seasonal)
3. Lincoln's awful traffic (a classic)
4. Property taxes (another classic)
5. Chuck Hagel (he is God; he is a terrorist; he ate my baby; etc)

Wow, I totally spaced off my promise to start up a new Lincoln-related food blog. How come nobody bothered to bop me upside the head? Anyway, this blog needs a name. Something better than "A Lincoln-related Food Blog". I have a couple not-especially-profound ideas, but I know one of you has a real winner. Fire away with your suggestions!

Anybody out there from the LSE Class of '97? I just checked, and so far there are no plans for a 10-year reunion. That's just not acceptable. Didn't certain people volunteer before we graduated to get the ball rolling? Where are they? It's getting darn close to being too late to start anything now (if it's not too late already), and I certainly don't have the time to lead the charge. But I will pony up some time and energy to help. Anybody else out there? Hello?

I'm feeling craptacular today -- if it isn't a mild version of the flu, it's doing a good impression -- which makes these three local restaurant updates seem especially sad. First up, Doughboyz: The Missus and I planned to go get a DBQ pizza last night, but when we called to see if the restaurant had reopened, nobody answered and there was no message. That's not a good sign. Likewise, it's not a good sign that at Crawdaddy's the sign on their door still says "See you after the New Year". It said that in December, too. Major, major bummage. No more crawfish pies? No more big ass burritos with mofo salsa? I weep at the thought. Lastly, I want to vent a little bit about Lazlo's. I have always held a special place in my heart (stomach?) for Lazlo's, for various reasons. But you know what? I have grown increasingly disappointed with it over my last several visits. It doesn't seem like the same care goes into the food these days. And remember back when Lazlo's was famous for its stellar, unmatched service? Now it's famous for its once-famous stellar, unmatched service. The team service approach used to work so fluidly and seamlessly; now, it has a tendency to be schizophrenic and invasive. Maybe I'm mis-remembering what it used to be like. Or maybe it just seems like Lazlo's has slid a bit thanks to so many other restaurants getting better. Maybe. Anyway, those are my three sad bits for the day. I'm going to go think happy thoughts now to see if I can make myself feel any better.