Lincolnite

I've been curious about local delivery services for a while. When somebody from Errand Bug left a comment recently, I took that as a sign that I should ask about your experiences with these services. I've seen the services advertised for years: Some company will deliver food from any restaurant in town to your door for some fee. In Errand Bug's case they will also go to, say, Target for you, and according to their comment they'll even drive you home from the bars if you're drunk and you don't want to wait for a cab. I don't see myself using a service like this because I'm pretty mobile. I get around just fine, and if I'm feeling too lazy to leave the house I'm probably also feeling too stingy to pay for delivery. If I'm really in a fix, well that's what's great about having so many family members in town. On the other hand, I have on more than one occasion wished that Blue Orchid delivered... Have any of you used Errand Bug or a similar service? What did you think?

I think it's the cold weather. Whatever the cause, I've had food on the brain a lot lately. And since I've been cooped up inside more than usual these past two months, I've lost track of what's going on around Lincoln's food scene. How 'bout we catch up? The only buzz I've heard lately is that the Mexican restaurant inside the gas station at 16th and Old Cheney has closed. I've tried to think of the name of that place for two days now, but no luck so far. Anyway, if that rumor is true, I'm sad to see that place go. I didn't go there often, but I loved talking with the owner when I ate there. The good news is that I've heard the replacement is a cheese steak joint. I love a good cheese steak. Can anybody confirm that (a) the Mexican place is closed, and (b) that a cheese steak place is going to replace it? There's been lots of buzz about Granite City lately -- and not good buzz. Last Wednesday The Missus, Robbie, and I went to GC for supper. First the good news: the food was great. A solid B+, I'd say. But that was the only good thing I can say about our experience. The service was terrible. The food took well over 30 minutes to come out of the kitchen; servers were clueless; one poor gal tried to deliver food to the wrong table three times; and so on. It was bad enough that the manager came over to our table unprompted and apologized. That would have been fine, but he didn't actually offer to do anything about it. He just stuttered and stumbled a lot, hung his head low, and ... left. No "What can I do to fix this?". No "Here's some free food". No "Here's a gift certificate so we can get it right next time". But that was just our experience. Since then, I have heard from two other people who had nearly identical experiences within two weeks of our visit. This wasn't a one-off deal as I had hoped. It appears there's something bigger going on. I'm inclined to call it a management failure. A rumor a while back had Five Guys coming to Lincoln soon. I sure hope so. Ever since I ate at the Omaha location a couple months ago I've been craving their burgers and fries. I don't normally crave burgers or fries. Five Guys hooked me. That's all the buzz I've got for now. Slim, I know, but like I said, I haven't left the house much over the past couple months thanks to a busy work schedule and some home improvement projects. What's the latest food buzz from you folks?

Although we didn't keep up with the breakneck pace from the first half of the year, Lincoln still set a record for drunk driving arrests this year. In fact, generally speaking the number of DUI arrests increased fairly substantially throughout the past decade. DUI is one of those crimes I don't fully understand. With just a little preparation and/or willpower, it's a mostly preventable offense. And it's not like ignorance of the law is a factor; advertising is saturated with anti-DUI messages. Everybody knows the potential consequences of driving while impaired. Regardless of the reasons for the climb in DUI arrest rates, it's a trend I would love to see be reversed. Preferably the pressure to reverse the trend would come from society itself changing its attitudes about alcohol, not from cops or politicians. A guy can hope.

It has been said that it takes a big man to admit when he's wrong. In this case, it just took a very cold, snow-covered man. Every fall I try to predict what sort of weather we're going to have during the winter. I keep it pretty simple, typically going for simple, broad adjectives like "warm", "cold", "snowy", or "dry". This past fall I made a prediction about the upcoming winter. I said it would be the winter without winter, part of a longer year without seasons. Remember how much of summer was surprisingly pleasant? That's what I expected for winter. Wrong! We've only been in winter for a month and already we're above the typical winter average for snowfall. And how 'bout those temperatures? Forty degrees is starting to sound like something you'd find in the Sahara. And wind chills? Try 35 below later this week according to some predictions. Lesson learned: Don't get your weather forecasting from Mr. Wilson. Here's hoping everybody's furnaces, snow blowers, and backs survive the winter.

Many many moons ago -- probably 1990 or so -- I gathered with several other youngsters from around Lancaster County and their parents to plan a trip. The trip would be a two-week journey from Lincoln to Washington D.C. and back. Preparation for the trip would take years. We had to raise money -- lots of money -- and make travel arrangements. We even took dining etiquette lessons. Finally in the summer of 1993 we left in a charter bus, a couple dozen 14 to 18 year-olds, many of whom had never before been away from mom and dad for so long. We went to Chicago, Detroit, Niagara Falls, New York City, Philadelphia, and, eventually, Washington D.C, where we attended Citizenship Washington Focus (CWF). It was an incredible experience that left me with many happy memories. We even won the CWF talent show that year with a hilarious interpretation of a tune from Sister Act, complete with nun getup. I'll have to see if I can dig out the photos... Why do I bring this up? It seems five slots have opened up (PDF) for the next CWF in 2010:

Five spots have opened up for the June 2010 4-H Citizenship Washington Focus (CWF) group. Any Lancaster County youth age 14-18 can join CWF, a summer citizenship program which culminates in a nine-day, intensive trip to Washington D.C. and New York. CWF delegates learn about the democratic process and their role as citizens. Youth who sign up now are able to start earning funds through organized fund-raising. A $100 deposit is needed to reserve your spot. For more information, contact Deanna Karmazin at 441-7180 or dkarmazin2@unl.edu

If you know any area youths who might be interested, please encourage them to give the opportunity a serious look.

My son thinks he's a teenager. He's three. A conversation this morning: The Missus: Here, wear this new sweatshirt you got for Christmas. Robbie: I can't wear that. TM: Why not? R: The kids will laugh. TM: They won't laugh, it's a nice sweatshirt. R: Uh huh! They'll laugh cuz it has Cars. TM: I thought Cars was cool? R: No, the kids will laugh. Nobody wears Cars any more. They laugh at kids that wear Cars. He's three years old and he's already worried about peer pressure associated with his wardrobe. Yikes.

I should have done it. Yesterday I almost posted the following:

So how long will it be before the Journal Star publishes their annual "the City's snow budget is running low on cash" article?

The answer: today.

It sure does stink that the Cornhusker Marching Band didn't make the trip to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl this year. But how cool is it for the Southeast marching band that they'll get to fill in? The coolest Husker-related thing we ever got to do when I was at Southeast was we once played at a Husker women's basketball game. Well, good luck, Knights. Make us proud!

I feel like I haven't sat down at the computer in ages. And I haven't, really. I turned off the computer on Thursday morning and haven't been back until now. That's a pretty darn impressive break for me. Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, I hope you all had as great a long weekend as I did. My biggest and best Christmas present was a gift I got myself. I bought several heavy-duty shelving units from Menards, assembled them, and totally reorganized the storage area of our basement. What once was an ugly series of piles has become a thing of beauty. And there is storage space to spare! There are two related perks, too: I was able to clean up other areas of the house; and I discarded a whole bunch of junk that isn't even of garage sale quality. I still have a little more housecleaning to do -- about one more weekend day's worth -- but I feel so much better about the house right now. Next project for The Missus and me: remodeling our bathroom. A reminder to all you Lincolnites: If you or somebody you know does minor electrical, plumbing, and/or general remodeling work, drop me a note. It isn't a super-complicated remodel, but it is a full floor-to-ceiling job that we want somebody's help with. If the price is right, you can have the whole job. Robbie made out like a bandit this Christmas. Trains and cars and Legos and books and games ... sheesh. The Missus and I tried to keep Christmas small and reasonable, but family and friends pretty much blew that out of the water. The thing I'm most excited about is Robbie's new playroom in the basement. It's not fancy -- far from it! -- but it's all his, and it's a great size for a kid his age. Oh, and I scooped a lot of snow. Darn snow drifts in front of the garage. Sheesh. How was your holiday weekend?

Last night at 8:00pm I purchased some heavy-duty shelving from Menards for my basement. This morning at 7:00am I found an advertisement in the newspaper. Menards is having a sale on shelving. I could have saved $45. ::sigh:: I hope Menards has a price guarantee policy. Most places do these days.

I wish I would have grabbed a screenshot of the forecast last night. It included the phrase "freezing fog". That may be one of the coolest forecasts I've ever seen. Freezing fog. Doesn't that sound like the heart of a Stephen King novel?

Even though I spent the entirety of my K-12 years at LPS, I can't for the life of me recall if we ever spent any significant time learning about Lincoln's history. (I know we didn't talk very much about Lincoln's present.) Whenever I read Jim McKee's columns I think about how I wish I knew more about Lincoln's and Nebraska's history. I mean, have you ever heard of W.H.B. Stout? I sure haven't. Does LPS have any sort of a "Lincoln history" component to any of their social studies classes? Should they?

Ahh, ice. An icy forecast brings back fond -- yes, fond -- memories of my days as a Lincoln Journal / Lincoln Journal Star paper boy. I can't help but smile at the memories of me sliding down hills on my butt with sixty newspapers strapped to my chest and back. It was even fun at the time, in a twisted sort of way. But I bring up this week's forecast for a different reason. Lots of you will be driving this week, or you'll be hosting people who are driving in from out of town. Please don't be stupid and play some sort of macho "No little bit of weather is going to stop me!" game of chicken with Mother Nature. If the weather requires it, grin and adjust. No hamster is worth fighting a tenth of an inch (or more) of ice. And thus ends my nagging for the day.

Lincoln's students are a bunch of weenies. LPS called off classes for three days -- three days! -- over a paltry eight inches of snow. Contrast that with Valdez, Alaska, where not even five feet eight inches was enough to keep students out of class. I'm impressed.