Lincolnite

I've heard quite a bit of grumbling this summer about all of the road construction going on around town. To the whiners I simply say: get over it. Lincoln is way behind on addressing needs with its streets. We should all be thankful, not cranky, that some of those needs are finally being addressed. Those "Road Closed" barriers? They're beautiful signs of progress and repair. But not all is beautiful in road construction land. Let's talk about traffic lights. I've ranted before about how some of Lincoln's traffic lights are timed more appropriately for lining the pockets of local gas station owners than for promoting traffic efficiency. The traffic light situation near construction zones is even worse. Many of you are already nodding your heads because you know what I'm about to say. Have you found yourself driving around Lincoln, only to be held up by a traffic light that's going about its regular routine despite the fact that traffic patterns have been substantially altered by nearby road construction? If you haven't, you're extraordinarily lucky. Just a few of the intersections at which I've experienced nonsensical traffic light patterns this summer include:

• 48th and Pioneers
• 48th and Calvert
• 27th and Sheridan
• 27th and Capitol Parkway
• 40th Street, South to Highway 2 (because of additional load from 27th and 48th Streets)

It's as though the folks responsible for road construction planning and the folks responsible for traffic signals never communicate with one another. Furthermore, it's as though the folks responsible for traffic signals never get out and drive around town to see how their signals are performing. Both situations are ridiculous and unacceptable. Some unpleasant traffic situations can't be helped. When portions of both South 27th Street and South 48th Street are closed, South 40th will naturally take some abuse. That's to be expected. But what about annoyances like at 48th and Calvert right now. It has become a three-way T intersection with Calvert as the primary street, yet the light is still set up as though it's a 4-way intersection with 48th Street as the main traffic-bearer. The simplest solution would be to turn off the traffic light altogether and put up some stop signs. A three-way stop would be vastly more efficient than what's there now. Similar hiccups with similarly simple solutions are going on all across town. In the big scheme of things these traffic signal quirks are minor annoyances. Yet minor annoyances build up and they do get to people. The situations I've described can be improved at little or no cost. Isn't it worth a try to fix some of these?

I made my first trip to the Trago Park sprayground last night with the family. They all had been there before so I knew the basics of what to expect. Still, seeing is believing. We were at the park with Lincoln Berean's Adoptive Families Support Group, which The Missus helps lead. It's a pretty diverse group -- international adoptions, domestic adoptions, foster adoptions, foster kids -- so if you're interested in that sort of thing give us a holler. The group is associated with a church so there is a religious component, but there is not a particularly heavy religious emphasis. If you're interested in an adoption group but you're not the religious type, I think it's still worth giving the group a shot. As for the park, it's pretty nifty. It's basically a simple playground on the outside. In the middle are a bunch of water features -- misters, bubblers, sprinklers, and that sort of thing. Kids really seem to dig it and it's easy to see why. It's perfect for hot summer days. Unfortunately, although I took dozens of photographs last night I just realized that I can't post the vast majority of them. Most include our foster kids and I don't think I'm supposed to be sticking their little faces all over the web. Maybe one of these days I'll have permission to do that. For now you'll just have to imagine them and the playground equipment they were playing on. Anyway, my point is that the Trago Park sprayground is pretty impressive. I suspect Lincoln could support a couple more throughout town. If we have the cash for it, of course.

The Cornhusker Marching Band's annual post-Band Camp exhibition is tonight. The free performance starts at 7:00pm at Memorial Stadium. Normally a couple entrances on the west side are open, but if you can't figure out where to go just follow the crowd. If you really want to get the full experience, though, I recommend showing up outside Kimball Hall (behind Lied Center) by 6:30pm. There the band typically goes through its warm-up routine, followed by a march to the stadium. Take the kids, take the grandparents, take your friends. It's simple entertainment for an end-of-summer Friday night. I wish I could go but alas it isn't going to happen this year. One of our foster kids is receiving his yellow belt in taekwondo tonight, so we have a good excuse. Speaking of which: congratulations, kiddo!

This blog often turns up its nose at national chain restaurants. In my case I do that not because I see myself as too cool for chains, but because I frequently prefer local restaurants for their food, service or atmosphere, or because all else being equal I prefer to support local outfits over regional or national ones. That doesn't mean I rule out chains altogether. Not even close. Some chains are quite excellent. (And as Fletch always reminds us, many so-called "chain" businesses are in fact locally owned and operated!) This morning I want to give a shout-out to one particular chain restaurant that lately has served The Wilsons well. As per our tradition on Wednesday evenings, last night we went out to eat. We chose Red Robin (27th and Pine Lake) in large part because two of our kids happened to see it earlier in the day. Red Robin works out well for us for several reasons: our kids don't have to be pin-drop quiet; there's a decent selection of kids' items with several reasonably healthy sides; there are a couple video games for emergency kid distraction; service is kid-friendly; and they do the kids' menu / crayons / balloon trifecta. (Translation: if you aren't kid-tolerant, stay away.) One thing last night really made me pleased. Two of our kids have small appetites. We knew getting each one a meal would be a waste. Therefore we ordered a single kids' meal for the both of them. The normal routine at restaurants is to receive the food on a single plate; ask for a separate plate; then try to divide up the food evenly so everybody's share is fair. Last night, however, Red Robin scored a winner. They brought out two of everything, already pre-split into exact halves. As far as the kids knew they had each received their very own meal. No muss, no fuss. It seems obvious, doesn't it? Yet those who have ordered shared items at restaurants know most restaurants don't handle such requests with grace. As a bonus, it just so happened that the meal they ordered (macaroni and cheese) was "bottomless". That's right, even though it was a split meal they still got to ask for seconds if they wanted to. Very cool. So cheers to you, Red Robin. Here's hoping more restaurants steal some of your ideas. In Red Robin's honor I present this nifty mashup:

It's a big day for the Wilsons today. We sent our first child off to school today. Granted, he's in second grade so it's nothing new to him. But for The Missus and me it's a first. Here's to a successful school year! Another child is notable for what he's not doing today. He no longer has to go to a daycare that didn't seem to suit him. Instead he'll stay home with Robbie and The Missus. And by "stay home" I don't actually mean stay home. They'll have all sorts of adventures around town, though they will also do some preschool work here at the house. As for Robbie, the biggest change for him will be having a new playmate around nearly all the time. He will love that. He may not love having to share mom's attention. We'll need to prepare ourselves for any side effects that may have. To Robbie's credit, he has adapted to his two new "siblings" just fine so far. If anything he spoils them too much. And The Missus and me? We're just trying to keep our heads screwed on straight. Going so abruptly from one kid to three kids has been a challenge -- oh how I wish I could tell about all the challenges! -- but overall we're getting along nicely. Perhaps most important is that our relationship is as strong as ever. That's not always true in families that change size quickly and I can understand why. We wish we knew more about what the future holds, but then again who doesn't? Breakfast time; my hard boiled eggs are calling me.

I'm glad to see the Lancaster County Fair reached 140,000 visitors this year. That's a pretty impressive number, even if it's not the 50% increase over last year's 107,000 that organizers had hoped for. I just have one teeny, tiny little question: Who was counting? I would love to know the methodology used to come up with the "140,000" figure. Was it based on the number of tickets collected? If so they missed us and everybody we know. Was it based on the number of tickets distributed? If so they counted families I know who got tickets but didn't attend. Was it based on the number of vehicles? If so that's impressive considering none of the parking personnel seemed to carry a counter. Was it based on revenue generated? If so I'm curious what kind of math they used to make their estimate. My point is not to criticize the fair or it's organizers. I'm genuinely curious how they came up with their numbers. Based on my very limited experience at the fair I'd say it was a success regardless of the attendance figures, although I'll repeat my assertion that I think 10 days is too long for a good, "dense" fair experience. I'm curious what kinds of improvements they'll make for next year. Improving the fair while keeping it free is going to be a constant challenge.

Tomorrow is not only the first day of school for LPS. It's also the first day of school for The Wilsons as one of our kids enters second grade tomorrow. He's the first school-age child to come out of 625 Elm Street. When I was a child my mom always tortured my sister and me on the first day of school by dressing us up in new clothes and -- gasp! -- taking our photograph. Shocking, I know! I'm not sure why I always made such a big deal out of such a simple little thing. I suppose each year I felt like I was "too old" for the tradition. The Missus and I are thinking about what sort of first day of school traditions we would like to start. Photos? A gift? Perhaps something the night before? I'm sure some of you have or had great traditions. What are (or were) yours?

As with most large organizations, LPS has lots of awesome individuals, but at times the overall organizational experience leaves you scratching your head. For example, the principal at our kid's school has been awesome to work with. That's comforting since I'm sure we'll interact with him many times in the upcoming school year. On the flip side, we still haven't received our "packet" of material that we're supposedly supposed to have received by now. Apparently it contains oodles of important paperwork. It sure would be nice to have that stuff considering that school starts 48 hours from now. We didn't even find out our kid's teacher until Friday. When I was in elementary school I remember knowing my teacher in June. In any event, The Wilsons are looking forward to tonight's open house at school. I'll be playing the role of solo parent with one excited second grader and two mischievous pre-schoolers. That should be entertaining. The Missus, meanwhile, will be attending orientation night for Lancaster Learning Link. She will teach two math classes there this fall. She is very excited to get back into teaching after taking a few years off. Her two math classes combined with home preschool for our two young 'uns ought to keep her educator juices flowing this fall. How many of you are prepping for the start of school this week?

Keep an eye on headlines like this: Child welfare reform proving costly for providers. I'm still pretty ignorant of the inner workings, but every indicator I've seen suggests that foster care is in deep doo doo right now in Nebraska. Lead contractors are losing millions; communication between participants is horrible; foster parents are over-stressed and under-compensated; and so on. For a system that's supposed to serve some of the state's most fragile populations, it's in a remarkable state of disarray.

I don't know where I've been hiding lately, but I completely spaced off the fact that Ribfest began yesterday and continues through Sunday. Perhaps my level of busyness of late is to blame. Or maybe it's the fact that I'm mostly pescatarian these days. No matter -- go get some bones this week outside Pershing Center. If you take their word for this sort of thing, the folks behind Ground Zero rated Porky 'n' Beans #1 for the second straight year. In other words, expect them to have a heck of a line. If paying a cover charge and standing out in the heat isn't your thing yet you still like ribs, then maybe you'll be interested in Buffmeat's Best Ribs in Lincoln. It's not a comprehensive list, but it ought to be enough to get you started.

Sheesh! Anyone have a good explanation for why the intertubes were down earlier?

The budget isn't technically final at this point, but for all intents and purposes you can plan on parking enforcement in Downtown being privatized. If you thought tickets were handed out quickly before, you're really not going to like what comes next. I'm curious how this will all work out. Will the parking enforcement company be paid only with the quarters we deposit in meters? Will they receive a portion of ticket revenue? How much control, if any, will they have over meter and ticket rates? Lots of questions. I fully expect the Journal Star's Letters to the Editor page to be filled with complaints once the change takes effect. But practically speaking I doubt there will be many real differences from the status quo. I hope not, anyway.

Love or hate the notion of moving Lincoln's bar closing time from 1:00am to 2:00am, surely you can agree that the world isn't going to end if the City Council takes a few weeks to come to a decision. It seems obvious, doesn't it? Yet certain City Council members are in a big rush. Why? To change the time before the first Husker football game? Helping Husker fans get super-extra-mega drunk (as opposed to just super-mega drunk) doesn't strike me as a compelling reason to hurry the political process. In any event, it seems like a 2am closing time is all but assured at this point, doesn't it?