Monday, March 10, 2008

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.

11 comments:

  1. Kudos to OWHS boys basketball. They left their hearts on the court.

    My street is clear except for right infront of my driveway where the street is lowest and the storm sewer basin is located. I'm not complaining though. Who would I complain to? Certainly not the streets department because they can't control the freeze-thaw cycles. I could complain to mother nature, but I'm sure she is busy trying to figure out another way to screw you over Jonathan. I can't find a soap box either. I guess I'll just get on a blog and whine!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The darn city employees want more money but they don't take responsibility to do their jobs and keep the streets clear.

    Heres an idea. Get a street plow and plow off the melting muck so it cant re-freeze!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jonathan, I know what your talking about. My steet is like a mine field. Either its the ruts and holes caused by ice and snow that wasn't plowed good enough or its the pot hole from the tar thats missing. either way my car is jaring itself into a wreck. Thanks for bring this up. I see anytime anyone has anything to complain about the city crew gets all pissy about it. They better get a clue cause alot of us in Oshkosh are not happy about our streets.

    ReplyDelete
  4. How do you clear the road when it's 10 degrees? The rain fell, and then the snow fell, and then the temp dropped, so the sluch froze. How you clear that?

    Before anyone screams out, yes, I am a city employee. But I can't figure out how to get rid of the ice pack on the secondary and tertiary streets, so I am wondering if anyone can tell me how we should do it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "The rain fell, and then the snow fell, and then the temp dropped, so the sluch froze. How you clear that?"

    Make it a priority to plow the street before it freezes.

    I get weather updates on my computer. Maybe the street department needs to check weather.com and see the forcast and adjust staffing and manpower alotments accordingly.

    ReplyDelete
  6. To suggest every street can be gotten to before it freezes is preposterous. Glad you think it's possible though.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well as a city employee, I never expected you would agree. There is always an excuse if you want one bad enough.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Our city at work.

    From the Main Street Oshkosh blog-

    This morning I happened to be looking out the window when the trash men came to take the trash. I watched them take the first can, empty it into the back of the truck, then toss the empty can over both the terrace and sidewalk into the front yard, a good 20 feet. They then took the second can and threw the whole can, with trash, into the back of the truck, and then drive off.

    Yes, they threw my trash can in the back of their truck.

    So I put my shoes and coat on and tried to track them down. They went around the block but I caught up with them down at the next corner. I walked into the street and said to the guy on the back of the truck: "You took my trash can!" pointing up the street.

    He looked at me and yelled back: "Yeah. The trash wouldn't come out. It was full of ice."

    I must have made some face like "Are you retarded or something" and turned around and started walking home. Arguing with him would get me nowhere, I would just call up the city and file a claim for $10 to replace my trash can. He yelled something else to my back but I didn't make out what he said. I kept walking home. He had a job to do, I had a job to do.

    But I just keep thinking - couldn't he have just left the trash can, with the trash in it. Why throw it out. Its like throwing out a clock because the battery is dead, or throwing out a typewriter because the ribbon is out of ink. The trash can has some ice in it, the trash bags (apparently) wouldn't come out (I repeat, apparently, because they wiggled just fine last night), so you just throw the trash can out with the trash.

    Stupid.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Our tax dollars hard at work... just think about how often this could occur and how much the city spends to replace trash cans and/or mailboxes that didn't actually need to be replaced.

    THAT is the stupid part.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 10:21 is the next best thing to a plagiarist.

    ReplyDelete
  11. ...and mailboxes.
    I've had my mailbox knocked down 4 times since I've lived in my house. The plow guys just blow it over. I asked my mailman and he said my box met the post office requirements height, and street setback, but somehow the plow guys keep hitting it. I can only image if you live in the country how bad it is cause the city is bad enough. Funny thing is my box gets plowed but my street doesn't. Hope the sun will melt it off in the next couple days.
    Hope you get money for your garbage can.

    ReplyDelete