Those of us that live in the North have the problem of our vehicles getting stuck in the snow on occasion. When this happens sometimes you need some help digging it, or more to the point towing out your vehicle. You need to be very careful, if you donÂ’t bad things can happen. Bad expensive things can happen. If you are curious as to what IÂ’m talking about, watch this video of some idiots trying to tow a car out of the snow improperly. (Completely work safe, and not at all disgusting)

Yea, their dadÂ’s would be proud.

Posted by: Contagion at 10:09 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Why? Why did this have to happen in Ontario? This is something that we need in Illinois. What is it? The Ontario Beer Hunter (Not to be confused with THE Beer Hunter). What is it? You put in the city or region that you want in Ontario Canada, and they show you where all the open stores where you can buy beer, wine and liquor. Only the stores or their liquor departments that are open at the time show up. They even have different flags to show you what kind of alcohol can be bought at each location.

Someone really needs to pick up the ball and do this in Illinois. Sometimes at 8:50 in the morning you just need to know where to go get a beer.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:54 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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It seems like the latest and greatest trendin blogging is to find some online game and link to it. Since I'm just another cog in the machine, I felt it wasn't my place to go against this trend. Thus, here for your amusement is a nice little time waster.

How can you not want to play a game called Robobug Blaster?

Posted by: Contagion at 08:43 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Just a reminder to everyone that this weekend is Fritz Fest in good olÂ’ Stillman Valley, Illinois. T1G has been good enough to give directions on how to get there, even if you are coming from Galena, IL. It took some quick thinking on my behalf to get them, and one very unpleasant task that involved shards of glass and a certain orifice of T1G's. Hey, he asked for it! Harvey was even nice enough to provide the address for those of us that like to know exactly where we are going.

For those of you that donÂ’t already know, this is the list of people that are going to be there:

Some people are just way too sensitive. How sensitive, how about this? We have a guy that is offended at the Bucs/Saints game. What offended him? IÂ’ll give you a hint; it was part of the half time show. Still donÂ’t know? It involves cheerleaders? Are you guessing costuming?

RRRRNNNNNNTTTTT!!!!! WRONG!

ItÂ’s not the costuming; it was the song that offended this man.

Bob Corry, Offended By Song:
"The first song that I hear is 'Rock You Like a Hurricane' by The Scorpions and I thought to myself, 'Is it me, or is this just totally out of place and inappropriate?'"

During the halftime show, the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s Cheerleaders (Yes gratuitous hotty link) did a routine to “Rock You Like a Hurricane” by The Scorpions. Why was this offensive? Duh, people, the Bucs were playing the New Orleans Saints. You know, New Orleans, they had that incident back in late August. You may have heard once or twice about it, Hurricane Katrina.

IÂ’ve only been to a couple of hundred profession, semi-pro and college sporting events in my lifetime. Yet, I seem to have the impression that this is a fairly common song to be played. IÂ’m not thinking any malice aforethought was meant. To me, this was just a common dance routine song. Hell, you may not like the song, but you have to admit that it does have a catchy beat for the cheerleaders to dance to.

Also, I know that Katrina didnÂ’t devastate Tampa, but unless IÂ’m mistaken and you Floridians can correct me, Tampa Bay has been affected by numerous hurricanes over the years. Okay, it wasnÂ’t almost scoured off the face of the earth like God was using water vaporous Brillo pad to remove some caked on filth, but still itÂ’s not like itÂ’s hurricane immune.

If the BucÂ’s cheerleaders had intentionally based their routine around that song just to rub in the fact that the Saints lost their home to Katrina, fine. If they didnÂ’t this guy has no basis to be offended. That would be like those of us being offended in the Midwest by some network showing Twister. That just doesnÂ’t make sense to me.

Ya know what? Screw it, IÂ’m going to be offended that this guy is offended.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:06 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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A co-worker of KtrevaÂ’s is having a problem. The doctor advised that it was all stress related and she should reduce the amount of stress in her life. She started doing various activities and life style changes to help her cope with stress. She was doing real well until a couple of days ago.

Her son is in Iraq with the army. HeÂ’s been overseas a lot, and has multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. She occasionally gets e-mails from him and the even rarer phone call. In the midst of her stress reduction plan, she was pleasantly surprised when her son called. He was just giving her an update on how he was doing and checking on her, his father and sister. They when all of a sudden her call is interrupted by three loud bangs in rapid succession.

Nervous she asked her son what was happening. His response: “Don’t worry about it mom. That’s just Bob on the .50 cal shooting back.” (BANG BANG BANG) “Bob, Say hi to my mom!”(BANG BANG BANG) Bob, “Hi Mom!” (BANG BANG BANG). Son, “I had my cell phone with and thought I’d give you a call while you where still awake.” He was on a rooftop in Baghdad when he called.

Apparently, the thought of talking to her son during a firefight didnÂ’t help her stress any.

Her reactions while reciting the story made me laugh.

Posted by: Contagion at 01:05 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Over at the Spoon and Blade we have up our latest Mortar Maiden. Go check out Anice McPhie Ms. January 2006.

I was contemplating on doing a Mortar Maiden of the Year, but I don't know exactly how I could do that. Plus I'm worried their may be some favoritism as Ms. January 2005 is my wife.

UPDATE: Just for Tammi, I'm going to see if I can't get Ms. January and Tammi together for an Artistic photo shoot. Based soley on Tammi's comment.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:53 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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It seems that Boopie is having a problem on the bus. HeÂ’s being picked on. Today some kids took his hat, that he just got for Christmas, and where playing keep away with it. He never got the hat back. IÂ’m not exactly sure what else happened as Boopie changed his story six times in ten minutes. My wife is very upset about the whole thing.

What I do know for a fact is that Boopie did not tell the bus driver about what was happening. Now, when we got home, Ktreva contacted the transportation department regarding the incident. To me this is a perfectly acceptable course of action to take. It makes the district aware, as well as the bus driver by default. The school district does have a strict no bullying policy.

My thing is originally she wanted to me to get involved by confronting the kids. Personally, I obviously have no problem doing anything like that. My issue was that we donÂ’t know which kids were involved. The information from our son is sketchy at best. Most importantly, I feel this would just bring on more harassment later on.

I remember when I was a kid, whenever another boyÂ’s parents got involved in a schoolyard conflict, that just made life more miserable for the boy. Heck, the worse butt kickinÂ’ I ever received was when my mother, unbeknownst to me, got involved in an altercation between me and another kid. A couple of weeks later the other kid and some of his friends used me as a punching bag.

What do you all think? Have we done enough in contacting the school or do I knock off work early tomorrow to intercept the bus and have a “talk” with everyone on it?

Posted by: Contagion at 05:03 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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1 I wish I had an answer for you. I'll need it in a few years. The only time I had a real problem was about that age. Someone at the bus stop had a knife and came after me. I made it close to home (faster runner) and my teenage sister was outside. She beat the crap out of them. End of story. Yes, it was two kids. Don't ask me. I have no clue to this day what started it. They never bothered me before nor after.

Posted by: vw bug at January 05, 2006 06:23 PM (UA4mV)

2 Dunno what my reaction as a parent would be.

As a wee lad, oh so many years ago, I utilized the best tools I had available. A sucker punch followed up by swinging a fully loaded backpack.

Knocked the little bastards two front teeth out.
Never screwed with me again.

Of course that was twenty years ago. Today, they'd probably charge someone that committed the same act with attempted murder.

You could always have him teach the other kids the capital of Thailand. A nutshot is always a very effective way to get a point across. As pops always said, there's no such thing as a fair fight.

Posted by: phin at January 05, 2006 06:40 PM (DGPlf)

3 I think having a "talk" with the little bastards will eventually come to bad for Boopie. You've experienced it...

Notifying the company or school is a good start. Send him to school with a stainless steel thermos, with training on use as a club...

Posted by: Tammi at January 05, 2006 06:54 PM (lfQya)

4 naah. While I like that idea, he's more likely to get caught for retaliation.

Nail him down on details and then make him stand up for himself by telling on whoever did it.

Posted by: caltechgirl at January 05, 2006 10:04 PM (uI/79)

5 but first, make sure he didn't just lose it and is making up stories to cover his ass.

Posted by: caltechgirl at January 05, 2006 10:04 PM (uI/79)

6 Yeah, confronting them on your part is just going to bring the bullies down on him harder because he "had to have his daddy stand up for him."
Unfortunately, and saying this as someone who got picked on a lot when I was about that age, the only one who's going to be able to stand up for him is himself.
All the more reason to try to get the boy into weight training or a sport or something I guess

Posted by: Shadoglare at January 05, 2006 10:32 PM (x+/cX)

7 I would teach him how to beat the ever loving shit out of people so he can defend himself. That being said I would also find someone a lot bigger than the others and have him hang out with boopie, that always worked for me.

Posted by: Machelle at January 06, 2006 07:29 AM (ZAyoW)

8 I was always the one who hung out with the smaller kids so that they wouldn't get beat on. I was, afterall, a bully in my own right, sorta. Never picked on kids, I was the revenge bully. So when the stupid boy called me a chink, he got beat up by me, when another boy picked on the little girl around the corner for stuttering, he got beat up by me! Boopie needs lessons in fisticuffs, and possibly a bigger buddy.

Posted by: oddybobo at January 06, 2006 08:52 AM (6Gm0j)

9 First impulse is to step in and take the boys on. Further thought says, "Bad idea", as much as it sucks. At this point it is a hat. Step in when it escalates. Save that trump card.

You started in the right place. Now your son needs some boxing lessons. Perhaps you could have him take some Martial Arts. He needs to know when to walk away and when not to and how to seriously defend himself.

And get the details pinned down. Does he have a friend on the bus you can call their parents and get more info?

Posted by: Bou at January 06, 2006 11:31 AM (iHxT3)

10 I have to go with not interjecting yourself yet. I know Boopie, and I know how hard it would be to teach him to "beat the everloving snot" out of the other kids. So I say, teach him to at least go to the proper authority figure and try to take care of it. (Even though my gut says that is just going to cause more bullying also.)

Posted by: littlejoe at January 06, 2006 11:51 PM (vBIjH)

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I am the most reviled man at work right now. Due to some changes in goals, IÂ’ve had to implement some new procedures and policies that are very unpopular. Mainly because it makes the employees take accountability of their own items and doesnÂ’t give them much of a time frame to get it done in. Unfortunately, the time frame issue is not something I can do anything about. New corporate guidelines dictate what the time frames have to be.

What really makes me laugh about the whole thing is that I’m being single-handedly blamed for these new procedures and policies. What isn’t realized is that I was just a part of the brain trust that came up with them. They are more stringent then I had originally thought they would be because of others that where in on the decision. Since it was “super happy fun” bad news that would get the troops up in arms, and it directly had to do with my job, it was decided I got to be the one to send out the notice. It seems to be that way with my job, if there is good news someone else gets to send it out, if it’s bad news I get to be the messenger.

This doesnÂ’t bother me, except I drove my truck to work today. IÂ’m afraid someone is going to key it, slash the tires or even worseÂ… piss on the tailpipe! Maybe I should buy just a cheap POS to drive until things cool down. That way if anything is done to it, I wonÂ’t care.

Posted by: Contagion at 12:51 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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The pack of free roaming Chihuahuas is back. This time they came up to my family and I as we were getting out of our vehicle and heading into the house. After the incident with the officer last week, I was taking no chance. These could be bloodthirsty man-eaters that would attack my family.

Deciding action was needed; I contacted Animal Control (AC) and had this conversation:

AC: Animal Control, how can I help you?

Me: I need to report a pack of Chihuahuas roaming through my neighborhood. I live at (address and street intersection given).

AC: Have they done anything to you?

Me: Well, they barked at my family and came into my yard. This isnÂ’t my first run in with them, I believe these are the same ones that attacked me 3 months ago. After last week when that police office was attacked, I donÂ’t want to take the risk. These may be vicious man-killers.

AC: Â…(silence)

Me: I have a two year old! The three of them, using the pack mentality, may entrap him and try to eat him while heÂ’s outside.

AC: (long pause) Sir, are you joking?

Me: NO! There are three Chihuahuas right now standing in my front yard looking at me as I am speaking to you. My boys want to go outside and play, but I canÂ’t. The last thing I need is for them to be attacked by these brutes.

AC: You did say “Chihuahuas” right? You’re talking about the tiny dogs that people carry around in their purses?

Me: EXACTLY! They carry them around as a weapon. All they have to do is throw the blood crazed little boogers at someone and theyÂ’ll rip out the victims jugular.

AC: (long pause) Sir, okay I have youÂ’re information, IÂ’ll send an officer as soon as possible.

Me: Please hurry, they are still sitting outside and I need to go someplace tonight. The last thing I need is for one of those little bastiches attacking me.

AC: Yes sir, right away. Is there anything else?

Me: No, I just want those things locked up. They are a menace to society, and a threat to the safety of the people in this neighborhood.
AC: Thank you for calling Animal Control.

(End of Call)

ItÂ’s been 20 minutes and that officer hasnÂ’t shown up yet. IÂ’m thinking I might have to go vigilante and take matters into my own hands. I wonder what a .347 magnum will do to a Chihuahua?

Posted by: Contagion at 04:53 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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I was just on the radio doing an interview regarding my opinions about Home Rule in Rockford, Illinois. There was even a plug for Miasmatic Review on there. Well, there goes my 15 minutes of fame.

Of course it was a local radio station that really isnÂ’t known for itÂ’s hard hitting news as much as for itÂ’s music, but still, kind of cool.

For more information on Home Rule in Rockford, Illinois see the Home Rule Archive.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:22 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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As a follow up to my earlier post, tonight when I emptied the remnants of the then warm keg I measured the amount of sweet golden nectar that I was pouring down the drain. It came out to be just over 6 pints. Six pints people! ThatÂ’s about three quarters of a gallon. I could have finished that off!

I would have been able to shite through a strainer, but I could have finished that off. If I only hadnÂ’t let it go warm! Why, why did I do that?

Posted by: Contagion at 05:11 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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After the last four days, I no longer doubt that I am indeed aging. When I was in college, I could drink for days on end with no side effects. My partying could go on until the sun came up; IÂ’d go home sleep until noon, get up and do it again day after day. Apparently, I donÂ’t have that ability anymore.

For my party I bought a quarter barrel of beer. Yes, it was overkill, but I really enjoy draft beer. Knowing I had more then enough to last, I tapped her Friday night and started drinking on it. Saturday during the party, I think I was the only one doing any kind of serious damage to the contents of that barrel. The reason I say that is because I was constantly drinking from it using a 36 oz mug and I remember filling it a dozen times. Sunday morning when I checked it, ¾ of that keg was still there. DAMN!

For those of you not in the know, a quarter barrel/keg of beer holds 7.75 gallons of beer. That is the equivalent of about 71 pints of beer (With a half-inch head) or 3.4 cases of 12 oz cans. It would be morally and ethically wrong of me to waste that much beer. Being the honorable man that I am, I moved the keg next to the couch. While watching football on Sunday with a friend that came over I kept filling my glass with out having to get up. Guys, if youÂ’ve never done this, I highly recommend it.

I donÂ’t know how much I had to drink on Sunday, but my friend (whom doesnÂ’t drink beer) said I had 8 pints by half time of the Packer game. According to Ktreva, I pulled my last pint off it around 8:30 Sunday night. Monday morning when I checked it, I figure I must have drunk close to 25 pints on Sunday. There was still ice-cold beer just waiting for me Monday morning. It was my duty to make sure that beer was consumed.

Calling for re-enforcements, I had my buddy Shadoglare come over and give me a hand. I even pressed Ktreva (good for about 3 pints) into consumption service. Sure enough, I started pulling pint after pint out of that keg just before noon on Monday. I finally decided I could not drink another drop of beer around 7:30 PM. I believe there is about half a gallon left in there.

Not once over the last four days did I get a hang over from drinking all that beer. Nope, not even a hint of one. However, today I as I sat at work I could feel my stomach and bowels revolt against my mainly liquid diet of the last 4 days. My head feels like itÂ’s in a thick fog, my hands are a little shaky and I can NOT get the taste of beer out of my mouth no matter what I do.

The part that gets me the most is my stomach and bowels. I sit here with ulcers flaring in a gastro-fireworks display. I can feel my stomach churn and cramp with every move I make. My bowels have decided that they donÂ’t want to handle anything solid. IÂ’d go into more detail, but IÂ’m sure you get the picture. IÂ’ve spent more time in the bathroom then doing anything else. Of course, Ktreva has no sympathy for me, not that IÂ’m asking for it. She believes, rightly so, that itÂ’s my own fault IÂ’m in this condition. SheÂ’s right; I thought I could do something I hadnÂ’t done in 9 years.

God IÂ’m getting old.

Posted by: Contagion at 04:59 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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A commentor, Marianne Garvens, left this comment in on this post. I felt her comment was so good it deserved it's own post. She did a wonderful job of posting the downsides of Home Rule.

RockfordÂ’s Home-rule Debate began in 2003
Many of the following excerpts I wrote in mid-2003
Guest Column by Marianne L. Garvens

Local government spending/incentives is what drives the need for more
tax revenue - ultimately leading to higher fines, fees and property
taxes.

Control spending you control taxes. ItÂ’s that simple!

KNOW THIS - Home-rule communities have NO bond limits! That means
Rockford would have an ‘open line of credit’ and ‘no direct accountability’!
You see, the city wonÂ’t need your permission by referendum anymore;
granting home-rule powers is like giving officials a vault full of blank
checks!

‘Freeport is my home community. I believe in its potential, but I have
seen repeated abuse of home-rule authority and I believe that this
power needs to be repealed from the Illinois Constitution, especially since
the concept violates the Federal Constitution.

Based on my experience in Freeport, I can only see the re-establishment
of home rule in Rockford serving the interest of growing government and
enriching preferred developers/businesses while stripping citizens of
their basic rights and more of their hard earned money.Â’

Home-rule communities are supposed to adhere to a ‘stricter standard’
for more openness, not less. They are not supposed to use home-rule
powers, consultants and attorneys to find new ways to cut the citizens out
of the publicÂ’s business.

There is a reason Rockford citizens voted out home-rule – their
‘representatives’ were abusing their home-rule powers to tax and spend and
they werenÂ’t asking the peopleÂ’s permission.]

On May 17, 2003, Rockford Register Star guest opinionist, Jim Ryan, a
City employee, used ‘factoids’ (instead of citing facts) in his attempts
to sway public opinion to re-establish home rule.

Simply put - a factoid is “a half-truth, unproven theory, wild
exaggeration or flat lie posing as scientific fact ... structured to mislead
...

Factoids play on our fears or suspicions ... [when] repeated over and
over, even reasonable, well educated people tend to go along ... No
matter how preposterous, the factoid will almost always be accepted as true
if it is repeated often enough. ...

Many of us [believe] that the truth will always triumph over ignorance
and error. ... The battle can easily be lost, and often is, before the
truth has a chance to catch up. ..." The CitizenÂ’s Guide to Fighting
Government, Senator Steve Symms & Larry Grupp, Jameson Books, Inc.

First, while Jim Ryan is a citizen, and is certainly entitled to
express his opinion, as an employ of the City of Rockford; Ryan wields
tremendous authority while overseeing a substantial portion of the cityÂ’s
budget. – home-rule would certainly make his job easier and him far less
accountable. Also, based on a conversation with the Illinois Attorney
General's Office and George Ryan and Mike Curran's conduct - I know it
is improper for public officials and full-time elected officials to
campaign with public resources (of which time is one) or use their
position to influence the results of an election.

QUESTION: What is Jim RyanÂ’s real interest in this debate and why did
he resort to using ‘factoids’ and belittling the character of Rockford’s
majority when he said:
"By voting out home rule, we basically said that we want to be more
dependent upon the state legislature and have less freedom from
legislative mandates." RRS 5/17/03

On what basis did he reach his conclusions? He said, "As I stated, we
as citizens threw away home rule powers in 1983 under the guise that it
would lower local property taxes. Tax cap legislation has now fixed
that problem." RRS 5/17/03

State tax caps DO NOT prevent home rule communities from raising taxes;
home rule units can do what they want, when they want, unless the
people challenge the policy IN COURT!

[In Freeport, under the leadership of then Library Director Frank Novak
(RockfordÂ’s newest Library Director), officials used home-rule powers
to go around State library law and the IllinoisÂ’ TaxpayerÂ’s Bill of
Rights to avoid a referendum officials knew they could not win.]

Another problem? The media often avails public officials with unlimited
commentary space, usually without requiring factual citations or
substantiation; simultaneously, the media often edits or limits public
comments to 250 words or less once per month. How is this equitable, just or
fair?

The publicÂ’s participation is also silenced/ obstructed at what are
supposed to be public meetings – usually the public gets little notice
and/or no access to agendas; the public must make their comments within
two minute time constraints at the end of public meetings - even on
agenda items. My experience is that each unit of government interprets and
implements open government laws very differently and so there is no
consistency for the public to know how they can participate in their
government.

Why does media allow/accept unsubstantiated claims and print conclusory
statements as fact? The people deserve ‘fair and balanced reporting’;
we depend on it in a 'healthy' representative democracy.

I suggest before entertaining discussions of re-establishing home rule
the public be fully educated.

KNOW THIS- a home rule government need only abide by the U.S and
Illinois Constitutions, and a hand-full of statutes that specifically limit
power. That means that policy challenges can only be heard by HIGH
courts.

District courts and administrative hearings have no jurisdiction for
constitutional opinions, they can only certify a constitutional question
to a higher court, or dismiss a case when a statute has been determined
unconstitutional on its face - like the ‘dangerous and unsafe building’
statute.

[Freeport, with its home rule, thinks they can ignore the higher courts
and deny real property rights without statutory authority and contrary
to the constitution and Bill of Rights.]

I do not believe the people of Rockford’s vote said: ‘ "take care of us
Springfield, because weÂ’re too stupid, distrusting of each other, and
stubborn to get along and take care of ourselves. Â…" Â’ Jim Ryan RRS
5/17/03

How arrogant! What is Mr. RyanÂ’s purpose of distorting the results of
the referendum, misrepresenting the facts, and speaking so poorly of the
public he was hired to serve?

Pretty good huh? Remember people, Home Rule is not going to ease our troubles, it's just going to make more in other places.

To read the rest of my posts regarding Home Rule in Rockford, Illinois see this archive.

Posted by: Contagion at 12:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It appears the City council is going to vote on Home Rule tomorrow night. The proponents of Home Rule have decided that instead of getting the petitions signed by the people of Rockford, they are just going to go to the City Council to get them to vote it onto the ballot. I sent the following letter to my alderman in hopes that maybe sheÂ’ll vote no.

Ms. Johnson,

I live in the eighth ward, as you are my alderman I would like you to be aware of my feelings on Home Rule. I am strongly against it. The way Illinois has legislated the guidelines behind Home Rule, tends to leave too much room for potential abuse. The people that are trying to reinstate it are well with in their right and authority to do so. However, in 1983 when the people of Rockford decided it was time to remove this abused tool of government they where forced to have the petition signed by enough citizens in order to get it on the ballot. Now the powers that be, including our own Mayer, are already demonstrating how they my possibly abuse Home Rule by bypassing the citizens themselves.

Instead of getting the people to sign the petition to have this referendum added to the March ballot, they want the city council to pass it for them. How is this fair or representative of the people in the city? If they are sure this is going to pass, why not have them collect the votes themselves? Unless they want to bypass the citizens right to vote, and take away our freedoms even prior to Home Rule being voted on.

Please, do what's right. Vote no to have Home Rule added to the referendum with out the signatures on the petition.

If you live in Rockford, you should understand the dangers of Home Rule as it is designed. Please contact your Alderman and tell them you donÂ’t want it in our city. Remember these are your rights they are taking away.

See the rest of my Home Rule posts in this Archive.

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How You Life Your Life

You tend to deprive yourself of things you crave, for your own good. You say whatever is on your mind. Other people's reactions don't phase you. You tend to have one best friend you hang with, as opposed to many aquaintences. Some of your past dreams have disappointed you, but you don't let it get you down.

AND

You're A Crazy Drunk

When you drink, you get wrecked - and it ain't pretty.

I'm not saying these are accurate, but my wife looked at them and wondered how detailed the questions where.

Posted by: Contagion at 01:09 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The New Year is here, and IÂ’ve seen everyone making resolutions. The only New Years resolution IÂ’ve ever lived up to was one I made 6 years ago. I resolved to never make any more New Years resolutions. Over the last six years, I havenÂ’t made a resolution.

However, I do occasionally decide I need to make changes in my life, and the New Year seems to be a good time to do it. With some of the troubles I’ve had over the last year, I decided that it’s time for me to do something about it. Starting today I’ve been weeding out the “friends” I no longer want to associate with. The ones that have been either causing me problems, the ones that irritate me, or the ones that I’ve just decided I don’t want anything to do with anymore.

Yes, it’s kind of assholish, okay it’s very assholish, but I’m doing it for my own selfish reasons. These are people that have done nothing but given me grief, pissed me off, or just plain make me want to re-shape a frying pan over their heads. Technically I started doing this back in December, but I’m putting it into overdrive today. Some might want explanations, which I’m not about to give. I’ll just spout off my standard, “I’m making changes, and getting rid of the people I don’t want in my life anymore” when asked.

You might remember I was lamenting over whether or not Ktreva and I had a New Years party. Well we decided we were going to, and just not invite those people we donÂ’t want to the party. Some people we did want to attend werenÂ’t invited just to not put them in the middle of a bad situation, like a couple of my re-enacting friends. I feel bad for those friends as, I personally felt like I did wrong by them. When I get a chance to talk to them, IÂ’ll explain.

When we sent out our invites, we included a slip of paper that stated not everyone who was invited in the past was going to be invited this time. We also included on there that if they decided not to attend because of this, we fully understood. We did have some guests that opted not to come so they werenÂ’t in the middle of the unpleasantness.

The party went off with out a hitch, which was great. We invited some new friends of ours to join us. Harvey and TEE-n-t. At one point I found out a guest of mine wasnÂ’t going to come because she had told me she wasnÂ’t going to make it and her plans changed at the last minute. Normally IÂ’m shy, but when IÂ’ve been drinking I had no problem calling (yes, dear readers I actually used a phone) and telling her she had to come or I would come and get her. When Tammi finally showed up it was nice to have her. She always brightens up a party.

Our party was much smaller this year then it was in years past, but that was kind of nice. We werenÂ’t as crowded and it was nice to be able to spend more time with each guest. Of course I did maintain my party tradition of being slightly inebriated before the guests started arriving. Harvey helped me drink down a bottle of Glenmorangie 12 year Port Wood Finish single malt Scotch. Not as good as their 18 year, but still a damn fine Scotch. TEE-n-t kept giving me crap because I couldnÂ’t pronounce her name properly. I had one crasher at the party, but since he I was about to legally declare him dead, I felt it was okay. It wasnÂ’t that he wasnÂ’t invited; it was just that he didnÂ’t RSVP.
IÂ’d like to think that everyone that was showed up had a good time. I know that Ktreva, Boopie, Clone and Myself did.

Posted by: Contagion at 11:37 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 It was a wonderful party and I had a great time. Thank you so much for making sure I made it. I wouldn't have changed a thing!!!

Posted by: Tammi at January 02, 2006 03:18 PM (lfQya)

2 Happy New Year... I'm glad you got Tammi's butt out

Posted by: talulazephyr at January 02, 2006 08:09 PM (/Vg0b)

3 Sounds like fun was had by all!

Posted by: Oddybobo at January 03, 2006 08:04 AM (6Gm0j)

4 Exquisite :-)

Posted by: Harvey at January 03, 2006 08:52 AM (ubhj8)

5 I had even more fun 'cause I didn't yakk all over your basement... again... and *finally* got to meet Harvey and (once you wrenched her arm out of it's socket via the phone) Tammi. ;^)

You throw an awesome party, dude. Thanks!

Posted by: Wes at January 03, 2006 03:30 PM (XKQLY)

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The regular football season is over, that means itÂ’s time for me to award prizes to the winners of my Salary Cap and PickÂ’ems Football contests.

The winner for the Salary Cap League is:

First loser is:

For the PickÂ’ems, The Winner is:

First loser is:

The winners have been notified by e-mail of their victory. A nominal prize for the football team of their choice shall be sent to them. For the first losersÂ… you get an honorable mention and the Nelson Muntz laugh. HA-ha!

I hope that everyone that participated enjoyed themselves. Of course I will be running both again next year, so sometime in August you can expect to seem me sending out invites. If you didnÂ’t get to play, there is always next year!

Posted by: Contagion at 09:56 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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If you are reading this, then you survived whatever celebration you had last night. I was a little worried that my head wasnÂ’t going to survive. This morning I woke up a little rough, mainly because Clone was awake bright and early and I got up with him. Why that boy wonÂ’t sleep is a mystery to me. He didnÂ’t get to bed until well after midnight. Now he is running around all bright eyed and getting into mischief.

I used this time to get some dishes started and clean up around the house while Ktreva sleeps. Ktreva was so tired, and she looks so beautiful while she sleeps, IÂ’m letting her sleep as long as possible.

Boopie is still sleeping as well, he fell asleep on the couch last night, I had to wake him up and send him to his bed. HeÂ’s at the age where heÂ’d sleep 12 hours a day if it were up to him.

Me? IÂ’d say I drank too much, but that depends on your definition of too much. No headache, no upset stomach, no nausea, nope IÂ’m doing just fine. Actually I currently am heating some chili cheese dip to make nachos out of. I always found an extra greasy breakfast makes the stomach feel better.

No strange or incoherant posts were made lastnight. There was some concern that something might get posted that would be difficult to explain the next day.

What a good way to start off 2006.

Posted by: Contagion at 09:16 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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