Monday 3-10

A few odds and ends today:

I can't tell you how much I hate Daylight Saving Time. When you get up at 3:30 in the morning--moving the clocks ahead an hour is devastating. And to do it this early in the year is absurd. Why do we need an "extra hour" of daylight after the workday when its 18-degrees outside? I'm sure to make good use of that time.

I have a confession to make, I turned off the Oshkosh West-Madison Memorial game when the deficit got to 23-points. Imagine my surprise when I heard the final score on the WOSH Morning News Focus Saturday morning. The Wildcats have nothing to hang their heads about following that loss. A lot of teams would have just packed it in and lost by thirty.

I'm happy to report you can see some of the concrete on my street again. Unfortunately, it's only in small patches where the sun shines directly on it for most of the day. That has created a series of "potholes" all up and down the street--where you're driving along and suddenly the right side of the car drops four inches then pops back up again four inches. On the south end of the street, the concrete sections are a bit bigger--so you have more of a "speed bump" effect where the fingers of icepack extend across the roadway. I notice most of the locals tend to weave all across the road now to avoid the speed bumps and the iceholes. Those without traction control must be going nuts as the wheels struggle for grip on the icepack--then hit dry pavement and lurch forward--only to get pack on the ice pack again and go sliding.

Another problem caused by the icepack on my street: melting water has nowhere to go except at the end of our driveways. There is a good three inches at the end of mine since I chipped out all of the ice on my apron. Unfortunately, all of the ice in the street and the gutter doesn't give the water anywhere to flow. Maybe public works thinks we're still without curb and gutter on my street and that it makes no difference.

Apparently, a lot of people in the Fox Valley think they have what it takes to be in movies. I went by Carl Traeger School Saturday afternoon and it was a zoo. They had three cops out there directing traffic and telling people where to park for the "Public Enemies" casting call. The sidewalks east and west of the school were full of people who had apparently raided their great-grandparents closets trying to get the most "authentic" look possible. Just being honest here: there's a big difference between being real-life "plain" and being Hollywood "plain". Even though extras are supposed to be background--directors still want "beautiful people" in all the shots--if you know what I mean.