While some people may claim one city or town as the only place they’ve ever resided, others may have a long list. I am one of those fortunate, or unfortunate, people, depending on how you look at it.
While I was born in Wild Rose, my parents originally lived in Wautoma. During my toddler years, a job took them to Peshtigo and then Oconto.
The only thing I remember about Peshtigo was being in the car when my parents brought my younger sister, Kelly, home from the hospital. I have quite a few Oconto memories, with one of the earliest being a time when I sat on the side of the road throwing rocks at vehicles passing by, much to the dismay of a local police officer and then my parents.
In kindergarten, we moved back to Wautoma, where we stayed until I completed fifth grade, although we lived in four different rural locations during those years.
I spent my junior high years in Neshkoro, a town I had already been familiar with because my dad worked there and it was where I was enlisted in Boy Scouts. The school was so small that two grades shared a classroom and teacher.
At the end of eighth grade, we moved to Berlin, where I spent my high school years. While I liked Berlin, I never felt like I was part of the community or the school; probably because I didn’t share the experiences growing up there my classmates had.
So, I was happy to move to Ripon after high school to attend college, although I came back to Berlin often for a job and during the summers.
With no real job prospects after college graduation, I got an apartment in Oshkosh, mainly because I wanted to live in a bigger city than the ones I had lived in growing up. I lived in Oshkosh for only one summer, though, as a job as news editor of the Waushara Argus took me back to Wautoma that September.
I lived in Wautoma for five years until proposing to my future wife, Jenny. For some reason neither of us can really figure out, we decided to get an apartment together in Ripon, where we lived for one year. Hating the drive, we moved to Redgranite, home of the state rock (Funny story: A friend’s brother once asked, “What is the state rock?” upon entering the village and seeing a sign that said “Home of the State Rock.”).
We chose Redgranite because it was a point that cut down both of our commutes – Jenny to Oshkosh for school and me to Wautoma for work. It was a weak reason, though, because neither of us cared for the village.
Fortunately, one year later and shortly after getting married, we bought our first house, in Wautoma of course, in 2003. We loved the house and thought we’d live out our lives there.
But life is funny, as a golden job opportunity for Jenny at Marshfield Clinic was too good to pass up. So, we put our house up for sale. It took more than a year to sell, during which time I found a job at The Gazette and in which we commuted from Wautoma to Marshfield and Stevens Point, often together.
When we finally sold our house, we decided to get an apartment in Plover, temporarily for one year, as we looked in depth at permanent options.
That year extended to three years, but in two weeks our stint in Plover will end when we move to a new home on the north side of Stevens Point.
I’ve made a lot of friends and learned many things by living in so many places. I would love to definitely say the rest of my life will be spent in one location, learning about the benefits and negatives of stationary life, but I’ve learned enough from my nomadic lifestyle to know that may not be the case. You never know where life may take you.
In my case, probably back to Wautoma. It seems to draw me back enough.
****
Orginally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, May 27, 2011.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Signnapping committed in front of Gazette office
A crime was committed in front of The Gazette office at 1024 Main St., Stevens Point.
The victim – a virgin Portage County Gazette sandwich board sign.
The crime – the sign was signnapped from the sidewalk while making its debut performance.
The perpetrator – most likely some college student who thought it would be cool to have a Gazette sandwich board sign decorating his room, although at this time police officers have no official leads.
After The Gazette moved from Church Street to Main Street last summer, we’ve had a number of people ask us “Where exactly on Main Street are you located?” Although a large sign on the front of the building says “The Portage County Gazette,” many people still couldn’t find us, calling us from their cell phones and asking what businesses we were next to on Main Street.
Realizing it must be difficult for many people to read the big sign, we decided to get a white sandwich board sign with our name and logo on it. By the time we received it last fall, though, people had figured out where we were and it was no longer needed.
So it sat in our lobby at 1024 Main St. throughout the fall, winter and most of the spring.
Last Thursday, when some staff members were cleaning the lobby, they decided the sign needed to be used for its original purpose. Plus, they thought, the weather was finally nice and maybe it would like to catch some of it.
So they put it outside on the sidewalk.
Since bringing the sign back in at the end of the day wasn’t a normal part of the daily routine, it remained there after all the staff members left for the day.
It most likely will never see the lobby again, as some time between 5 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. Friday it disappeared.
When a Gazette staffer realized it had been left outside Friday morning, he went to check on it, discovering the signnapping.
After a search through the Gazette offices, as well as with the hair salon next door, it dawned on us that the sign was probably now some college kid’s trophy, decorating his or her dorm room much like a dead deer head might decorate some hunter’s garage.
We could be wrong with our theory, but that seems like the most logical explanation. Even the police officer who took our report said we’re probably right. I just hope he doesn’t spend any more time investigating the sign’s disappearance, as pretty much every crime that’s ever been committed deserves more attention than this one.
But that won’t stop me from writing about it, as maybe a few words in this column about it might inspire someone who has seen the sign as a trophy to call us, letting us know who the perpetrator is and where it can be found. Or maybe the perpetrator will read this, realize he or she has stepped onto an ugly criminal path that could lead to bad things down the road, and will anonymously return it to our front sidewalk.
Perhaps, a reward may be offered for its return, such as a case of beer for those 21 or older, or a case of Ramen noodles for those who aren’t. Either one are probably way more valuable than a sign that holds worth for only one business in the entire world.
Even if we don’t get it back, The Gazette has learned a valuable lesson. If we need to get rid of something, all we need to do is put a Gazette logo on it and set it out on our front sidewalk. Maybe we can finally say goodbye to the broken newsstand box in our backroom holding a Gazette dated Aug. 4, 2000.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, May 20, 2011.
The victim – a virgin Portage County Gazette sandwich board sign.
The crime – the sign was signnapped from the sidewalk while making its debut performance.
The perpetrator – most likely some college student who thought it would be cool to have a Gazette sandwich board sign decorating his room, although at this time police officers have no official leads.
After The Gazette moved from Church Street to Main Street last summer, we’ve had a number of people ask us “Where exactly on Main Street are you located?” Although a large sign on the front of the building says “The Portage County Gazette,” many people still couldn’t find us, calling us from their cell phones and asking what businesses we were next to on Main Street.
Realizing it must be difficult for many people to read the big sign, we decided to get a white sandwich board sign with our name and logo on it. By the time we received it last fall, though, people had figured out where we were and it was no longer needed.
So it sat in our lobby at 1024 Main St. throughout the fall, winter and most of the spring.
Last Thursday, when some staff members were cleaning the lobby, they decided the sign needed to be used for its original purpose. Plus, they thought, the weather was finally nice and maybe it would like to catch some of it.
So they put it outside on the sidewalk.
Since bringing the sign back in at the end of the day wasn’t a normal part of the daily routine, it remained there after all the staff members left for the day.
It most likely will never see the lobby again, as some time between 5 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. Friday it disappeared.
When a Gazette staffer realized it had been left outside Friday morning, he went to check on it, discovering the signnapping.
After a search through the Gazette offices, as well as with the hair salon next door, it dawned on us that the sign was probably now some college kid’s trophy, decorating his or her dorm room much like a dead deer head might decorate some hunter’s garage.
We could be wrong with our theory, but that seems like the most logical explanation. Even the police officer who took our report said we’re probably right. I just hope he doesn’t spend any more time investigating the sign’s disappearance, as pretty much every crime that’s ever been committed deserves more attention than this one.
But that won’t stop me from writing about it, as maybe a few words in this column about it might inspire someone who has seen the sign as a trophy to call us, letting us know who the perpetrator is and where it can be found. Or maybe the perpetrator will read this, realize he or she has stepped onto an ugly criminal path that could lead to bad things down the road, and will anonymously return it to our front sidewalk.
Perhaps, a reward may be offered for its return, such as a case of beer for those 21 or older, or a case of Ramen noodles for those who aren’t. Either one are probably way more valuable than a sign that holds worth for only one business in the entire world.
Even if we don’t get it back, The Gazette has learned a valuable lesson. If we need to get rid of something, all we need to do is put a Gazette logo on it and set it out on our front sidewalk. Maybe we can finally say goodbye to the broken newsstand box in our backroom holding a Gazette dated Aug. 4, 2000.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, May 20, 2011.
Foo Fighters make best album of career with ‘Wasting Light’
When Kurt Cobain killed himself 17 years ago, it appeared as though the Nirvana legacy would only live on through the music the band recorded during those few years the band existed. But its drummer, Dave Grohl, has kept going with his own band, Foo Fighters, which just released an album nearly every bit as good as “Bleach,” “Nevermind” and “In Utero,” Nirvana’s groundbreaking and monumental albums.
This new album, “Wasting Light,” is the band’s follow-up to its 2007 album, “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace,” which claimed several Grammys in 2008.
Unlike that album, which featured a balanced mix of rockers and acoustic numbers, this one is pure rock. It opens with Grohl shouting “These are my famous last words! My number’s up, bridges all burned.” And the adrenaline doesn’t stop over the course of 11 songs and 47 minutes.
The next song, the first single, “Rope,” became only the second song to debut atop Billboard’s Rock Songs chart, and with good reason. The hook is probably catchier than the common cold at a school following Christmas break. “Give me some rope, I’m coming loose. I’m hanging on you,” Grohl sings, inspiring me to actually want to give him some rope to help the poor guy.
The third song, “Dear Rosemary,” is my favorite, most likely because it features background vocals by Bob Mould, lead singer of Hüsker Dü, a 1980s punk rock band that never achieved the success it deserved but which influenced many of the biggest “alternative rock” bands of the 1990s, such as Nirvana.
The next song, “White Limo,” is unlike anything else on the album, and in the entire Foo Fighters’ catalog, because it showcases Grohl’s hardcore influences from bands he grew up listening to and playing with while growing up in Washington, D.C.
The midsection of the album features some solid rockers, like “These Days” and “Back & Forth,” but the final two songs, “I Should Have Known” and “Walk” are two of the finest songs in the Foo Fighters discography.
“I Should Have Known” reunites Grohl with Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, which is the first time the two have performed together on an album since Nirvana’s tragic ending. It’s appropriate the two are on the song together, as it may be about Cobain’s suicide, although it’s probably about a failed relationship with a woman. In either case, the song makes you yearn for more semi-Nirvana reunions.
“Walk,” though, could be the song that helps Foo Fighters sell millions of copies of “Wasting Light.” It’s the type of rock song we may hear on the radio, at bars and in any place with music playing for years to come. In fact, it’s featured in the new “Thor” film, which recently earned $66 million in its opening weekend.
“Wasting Light” is Foo Fighters’ seventh album, and bands are not supposed to make their best ones this late into their careers, especially when the career started in the ashes of a band as legendary as Nirvana.
Hopefully, when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame considers the band for induction years from now, it’ll remember this accomplishment.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, May 13, 2011.
This new album, “Wasting Light,” is the band’s follow-up to its 2007 album, “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace,” which claimed several Grammys in 2008.
Unlike that album, which featured a balanced mix of rockers and acoustic numbers, this one is pure rock. It opens with Grohl shouting “These are my famous last words! My number’s up, bridges all burned.” And the adrenaline doesn’t stop over the course of 11 songs and 47 minutes.
The next song, the first single, “Rope,” became only the second song to debut atop Billboard’s Rock Songs chart, and with good reason. The hook is probably catchier than the common cold at a school following Christmas break. “Give me some rope, I’m coming loose. I’m hanging on you,” Grohl sings, inspiring me to actually want to give him some rope to help the poor guy.
The third song, “Dear Rosemary,” is my favorite, most likely because it features background vocals by Bob Mould, lead singer of Hüsker Dü, a 1980s punk rock band that never achieved the success it deserved but which influenced many of the biggest “alternative rock” bands of the 1990s, such as Nirvana.
The next song, “White Limo,” is unlike anything else on the album, and in the entire Foo Fighters’ catalog, because it showcases Grohl’s hardcore influences from bands he grew up listening to and playing with while growing up in Washington, D.C.
The midsection of the album features some solid rockers, like “These Days” and “Back & Forth,” but the final two songs, “I Should Have Known” and “Walk” are two of the finest songs in the Foo Fighters discography.
“I Should Have Known” reunites Grohl with Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, which is the first time the two have performed together on an album since Nirvana’s tragic ending. It’s appropriate the two are on the song together, as it may be about Cobain’s suicide, although it’s probably about a failed relationship with a woman. In either case, the song makes you yearn for more semi-Nirvana reunions.
“Walk,” though, could be the song that helps Foo Fighters sell millions of copies of “Wasting Light.” It’s the type of rock song we may hear on the radio, at bars and in any place with music playing for years to come. In fact, it’s featured in the new “Thor” film, which recently earned $66 million in its opening weekend.
“Wasting Light” is Foo Fighters’ seventh album, and bands are not supposed to make their best ones this late into their careers, especially when the career started in the ashes of a band as legendary as Nirvana.
Hopefully, when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame considers the band for induction years from now, it’ll remember this accomplishment.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, May 13, 2011.
Kitchen helper moonlights as singer while attempting to work
I never imagined the $50 fee for a two-day newspaper training session in Madison last weekend could include tickets for two high-profile acts – Joe Cocker and Rod Stewart. Heck, I didn’t even know they were playing in Madison.
They weren’t, but someone imitating them was, much to my pleasure and the pleasure of my colleague, Matthew Brown. While eating the Howard Johnson’s continental breakfast Saturday morning, happy the food was somewhat better than the horrible thing called “lunch” that was served the day before, one of the kitchen helpers making sure the cereal dispensers were working properly suddenly burst into song.
It started with a simple conversation he had with someone getting breakfast. The hotel patron was complaining to the kitchen helper about the Styrofoam cups the hotel offered for people to use, telling him she wanted something “beautiful.”
Pressing his hand on her back, he asked if she wanted a cup “beautiful like her.”
And seconds later, he broke into Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful.”
His voice wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t one people would normally make public. However, his confidence in his singing ability and his charm more than made up for his lackluster voice, and it was definitely a step up from what his kitchen offered.
The full dining room of people didn’t know what to make of this singing spectacle. The regulars there didn’t seem to notice, but most others gave each other uncomfortable looks and looked in every direction except his.
Matthew and I ate it up, though. If the food was going to be awful, then we were going to get our fill on entertainment.
Seeing he had an audience, the singing kitchen helper kept going, turning one Joe Cocker song into a medley of Joe Cocker songs. Halfway through the medley, he decided he no longer wanted to be Joe Cocker and instead wanted to be Rod Stewart.
“Ladies and gentleman, Mr. Rod Stewart,” he said in introducing his new persona.
The medley continued for about a minute until he slipped back into the kitchen, presumably not to spend anytime with the food to make it better.
Matthew and I applauded his performance, the only ones to do so. We were hoping he would come out for an encore, but alas it was not to be, as we never saw him again.
The Joe Cocker/Rod Stewart kitchen helper had the gall to do something I avoid at all costs – embarrassing one’s self.
They say some people would rather die than speak in public. This is only partially true, because I don’t think it’s the speaking in public that bothers people. It’s the worrying about potentially embarrassing themselves by saying something idiotic or stupid that makes them fear it so much. I have no problem with public speaking, as long as I’m well prepared and know exactly what I want to say. But put me on the spot and I’m more likely to fear the occasion.
But our singer clearly didn’t have that fear, even when the majority of his audience believed he should have kept his mouth shut. Later, though, I’m sure some of those people were telling their friends about the guy, and how much they enjoyed his performance. In the end, he came across as a likeable guy people wouldn’t mind knowing.
It’s a good lesson to remember the next time you’re faced with public speaking situations: even the not-so-great singer couldn’t really embarrass himself.
His job performance is another matter, though. He never checked the cereal dispensers, because if he had, he would have noticed the Fruit Loops one wasn’t working. And those Fruit Loops could have been a big help to some unsatisfied stomachs.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, May 6, 2011.
They weren’t, but someone imitating them was, much to my pleasure and the pleasure of my colleague, Matthew Brown. While eating the Howard Johnson’s continental breakfast Saturday morning, happy the food was somewhat better than the horrible thing called “lunch” that was served the day before, one of the kitchen helpers making sure the cereal dispensers were working properly suddenly burst into song.
It started with a simple conversation he had with someone getting breakfast. The hotel patron was complaining to the kitchen helper about the Styrofoam cups the hotel offered for people to use, telling him she wanted something “beautiful.”
Pressing his hand on her back, he asked if she wanted a cup “beautiful like her.”
And seconds later, he broke into Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful.”
His voice wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t one people would normally make public. However, his confidence in his singing ability and his charm more than made up for his lackluster voice, and it was definitely a step up from what his kitchen offered.
The full dining room of people didn’t know what to make of this singing spectacle. The regulars there didn’t seem to notice, but most others gave each other uncomfortable looks and looked in every direction except his.
Matthew and I ate it up, though. If the food was going to be awful, then we were going to get our fill on entertainment.
Seeing he had an audience, the singing kitchen helper kept going, turning one Joe Cocker song into a medley of Joe Cocker songs. Halfway through the medley, he decided he no longer wanted to be Joe Cocker and instead wanted to be Rod Stewart.
“Ladies and gentleman, Mr. Rod Stewart,” he said in introducing his new persona.
The medley continued for about a minute until he slipped back into the kitchen, presumably not to spend anytime with the food to make it better.
Matthew and I applauded his performance, the only ones to do so. We were hoping he would come out for an encore, but alas it was not to be, as we never saw him again.
The Joe Cocker/Rod Stewart kitchen helper had the gall to do something I avoid at all costs – embarrassing one’s self.
They say some people would rather die than speak in public. This is only partially true, because I don’t think it’s the speaking in public that bothers people. It’s the worrying about potentially embarrassing themselves by saying something idiotic or stupid that makes them fear it so much. I have no problem with public speaking, as long as I’m well prepared and know exactly what I want to say. But put me on the spot and I’m more likely to fear the occasion.
But our singer clearly didn’t have that fear, even when the majority of his audience believed he should have kept his mouth shut. Later, though, I’m sure some of those people were telling their friends about the guy, and how much they enjoyed his performance. In the end, he came across as a likeable guy people wouldn’t mind knowing.
It’s a good lesson to remember the next time you’re faced with public speaking situations: even the not-so-great singer couldn’t really embarrass himself.
His job performance is another matter, though. He never checked the cereal dispensers, because if he had, he would have noticed the Fruit Loops one wasn’t working. And those Fruit Loops could have been a big help to some unsatisfied stomachs.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, May 6, 2011.
House painting may lead some spouses to ‘fire’ their partner
I’ve never been fired from a job, but I kind of got the boot from one this past weekend.
Heartland Homes of Plover, which is constructing a new home for my wife, Jenny, and I in Stevens Point, gave us the opportunity to paint the interior rooms of our home over the Easter weekend, before flooring, doors, light fixtures and outlets are installed. Translation: take advantage of this now, or spend a lot of time later taping around these things.
We were sort of ready for this endeavor. We spent months looking at color samples, and we debated the merits and pitfalls of each color until we had our choices. At one point, Jenny even taped nearly 100 color samples on the wall of our apartment so we could have conversations about colors at any given moment’s notice.
Purchasing these colors got off to a rocky start, as I left the store soon after we got there. The teenager working there asked if we planned on purchasing a lot of paint, because the paint store was closing in 45 minutes. Yes, we planned on purchasing a lot of paint, and if that was going to inconvenience him, I didn’t want his store to get any of our money.
Fortunately, the next store was much better and within an hour we had all seven gallons of paint we thought we needed. The lady who helped us was super nice and definitely knowledgeable about her department. She even helped me convince Jenny to go with a color for the office my wife wasn’t really feeling. Any married man would probably agree with me that that’s quite an accomplishment.
After Jenny was done working the next day, we went to the house with Jenny’s sister, Raechel, to begin the painting task. Although I knew I wasn’t much of a painter, I was looking forward to the experience because it meant I got to spend time in my future home.
We started with the master bathroom. Using a purple color, we had painted half the room by the time Jenny’s dad, Brad, arrived to inspect our work. A plumber by trade, but truly a McGyver with his vast knowledge of pretty much everything involving construction and even nonconstruction, he was there to make sure we were painting properly.
He took one look at my work and just shook his head. I was getting paint on the ceiling and leaving paint lines everywhere.
Jenny and Raechel were also leaving some lines, but not to the extent I was leaving them. They quickly learned from their mistakes and were soon perfectionists.
I tried to learn from my mistakes, but I think I made it worse in going back over my work.
Later, Raechel worked with me some and I got to the point where I was a C- painter, rather than an F one – and “F” could stand for a word other than “failed” as an adverb for such words as “awful” and “horrible” – but with only one weekend to paint all the rooms in the entire house, they didn’t have time to watch and guide me, so I was effectively fired from the job.
They did it nicely, though. I was relegated to other duties, such as the guy who ran to the store to get more paint and supplies, the guy who picked up food, the guy who watched the kid and the guy who assembled the closet organizers for the master closet.
Later, I became the guy who got to go around and touch up spots on the ceiling, which they accidentally painted. Even that was a learning curve for me, as I got white paint on areas they had painted different colors.
I’m proud of teaming up with the lady at the store to convince Jenny of a dark gray-blue color for the office. It turns out that color is her favorite one in the house. At least I can take pride in one thing when it came to painting.
People who want to see how well I painted, excuse me, how well I didn’t paint, will have the opportunity to do so Friday through Monday, June 3-7, during the Golden Sands Home Builders Association Parade of Homes. Our modest house is one of 16 homes on the annual tour.
****
Orginally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, April 29, 2011.
Heartland Homes of Plover, which is constructing a new home for my wife, Jenny, and I in Stevens Point, gave us the opportunity to paint the interior rooms of our home over the Easter weekend, before flooring, doors, light fixtures and outlets are installed. Translation: take advantage of this now, or spend a lot of time later taping around these things.
We were sort of ready for this endeavor. We spent months looking at color samples, and we debated the merits and pitfalls of each color until we had our choices. At one point, Jenny even taped nearly 100 color samples on the wall of our apartment so we could have conversations about colors at any given moment’s notice.
Purchasing these colors got off to a rocky start, as I left the store soon after we got there. The teenager working there asked if we planned on purchasing a lot of paint, because the paint store was closing in 45 minutes. Yes, we planned on purchasing a lot of paint, and if that was going to inconvenience him, I didn’t want his store to get any of our money.
Fortunately, the next store was much better and within an hour we had all seven gallons of paint we thought we needed. The lady who helped us was super nice and definitely knowledgeable about her department. She even helped me convince Jenny to go with a color for the office my wife wasn’t really feeling. Any married man would probably agree with me that that’s quite an accomplishment.
After Jenny was done working the next day, we went to the house with Jenny’s sister, Raechel, to begin the painting task. Although I knew I wasn’t much of a painter, I was looking forward to the experience because it meant I got to spend time in my future home.
We started with the master bathroom. Using a purple color, we had painted half the room by the time Jenny’s dad, Brad, arrived to inspect our work. A plumber by trade, but truly a McGyver with his vast knowledge of pretty much everything involving construction and even nonconstruction, he was there to make sure we were painting properly.
He took one look at my work and just shook his head. I was getting paint on the ceiling and leaving paint lines everywhere.
Jenny and Raechel were also leaving some lines, but not to the extent I was leaving them. They quickly learned from their mistakes and were soon perfectionists.
I tried to learn from my mistakes, but I think I made it worse in going back over my work.
Later, Raechel worked with me some and I got to the point where I was a C- painter, rather than an F one – and “F” could stand for a word other than “failed” as an adverb for such words as “awful” and “horrible” – but with only one weekend to paint all the rooms in the entire house, they didn’t have time to watch and guide me, so I was effectively fired from the job.
They did it nicely, though. I was relegated to other duties, such as the guy who ran to the store to get more paint and supplies, the guy who picked up food, the guy who watched the kid and the guy who assembled the closet organizers for the master closet.
Later, I became the guy who got to go around and touch up spots on the ceiling, which they accidentally painted. Even that was a learning curve for me, as I got white paint on areas they had painted different colors.
I’m proud of teaming up with the lady at the store to convince Jenny of a dark gray-blue color for the office. It turns out that color is her favorite one in the house. At least I can take pride in one thing when it came to painting.
People who want to see how well I painted, excuse me, how well I didn’t paint, will have the opportunity to do so Friday through Monday, June 3-7, during the Golden Sands Home Builders Association Parade of Homes. Our modest house is one of 16 homes on the annual tour.
****
Orginally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, April 29, 2011.
World’s greatest driver isn’t immune to traffic laws
I like to think of myself as the world’s greatest driver, mainly because my wife often says I am.
“That guy just cut me off,” I said one day last week.
“Yes he did. Not everyone can be the world’s best driver, like you,” she replied, repeating something she often tells me in the car together.
So when I got pulled over in Plover last week, I was flabbergasted when I learned it wasn’t for some type of mechanical error on my vehicle, such as a burned out headlight.
“Do you know why I pulled you over?” the officer asked me.
“Not really,” I said.
“You failed to fully stop for the stop sign back there.”
“Really? I thought I did stop.”
“Nope.”
Thinking about it, though, I knew my stop was too quick to be an actual stop, so the officer was correct in pulling me over. So much for being the world’s greatest driver.
Stopping quickly and then resuming your drive just as quickly at an intersection is a difficult habit to break, as I noticed after the officer let me go with just a written warning. It’s especially difficult at intersections in which you can easily see the other traffic and know when it’s safe to go.
Watching others since then, I’ve noticed many other people have the same potentially fatal habit. We live in a fast-paced society after all, and fully stopping takes too much of our precious time. God forbid we don’t get to work or school on time, even though many of us complain we don’t even really want to be there.
Because I am now fully stopping at all stop-sign controlled intersections, I’m irritating many others following me on the road. One morning this week, a guy behind me literally rode my bumper through the intersection to make up for the seconds he lost as I made my full stop.
He wasn’t pleased then when I kept my car at the 25 mile per hour speed limit on the road, and I could see him cursing when I turned a direction he also needed to go. When we got on a four-lane road, he quickly passed me, probably much to his relief. He gained a lot of time then, without me blocking his path, but I caught up when a traffic light stopped him. I shouldn’t take pleasure in his frustration, but it did make me laugh.
I’ll probably irritate quite a few more drivers because of my commitment to making sure I follow all traffic laws to a tee, as I’m sure many of those drivers will irritate me by not being the world’s greatest driver.
But I earned this title, as I’m sure many other commentating drivers with spouses have also earned. Hopefully, they are not as surprised as I was when an officer revealed I wasn’t perfect.
****
Orginally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, April 22, 2011.
“That guy just cut me off,” I said one day last week.
“Yes he did. Not everyone can be the world’s best driver, like you,” she replied, repeating something she often tells me in the car together.
So when I got pulled over in Plover last week, I was flabbergasted when I learned it wasn’t for some type of mechanical error on my vehicle, such as a burned out headlight.
“Do you know why I pulled you over?” the officer asked me.
“Not really,” I said.
“You failed to fully stop for the stop sign back there.”
“Really? I thought I did stop.”
“Nope.”
Thinking about it, though, I knew my stop was too quick to be an actual stop, so the officer was correct in pulling me over. So much for being the world’s greatest driver.
Stopping quickly and then resuming your drive just as quickly at an intersection is a difficult habit to break, as I noticed after the officer let me go with just a written warning. It’s especially difficult at intersections in which you can easily see the other traffic and know when it’s safe to go.
Watching others since then, I’ve noticed many other people have the same potentially fatal habit. We live in a fast-paced society after all, and fully stopping takes too much of our precious time. God forbid we don’t get to work or school on time, even though many of us complain we don’t even really want to be there.
Because I am now fully stopping at all stop-sign controlled intersections, I’m irritating many others following me on the road. One morning this week, a guy behind me literally rode my bumper through the intersection to make up for the seconds he lost as I made my full stop.
He wasn’t pleased then when I kept my car at the 25 mile per hour speed limit on the road, and I could see him cursing when I turned a direction he also needed to go. When we got on a four-lane road, he quickly passed me, probably much to his relief. He gained a lot of time then, without me blocking his path, but I caught up when a traffic light stopped him. I shouldn’t take pleasure in his frustration, but it did make me laugh.
I’ll probably irritate quite a few more drivers because of my commitment to making sure I follow all traffic laws to a tee, as I’m sure many of those drivers will irritate me by not being the world’s greatest driver.
But I earned this title, as I’m sure many other commentating drivers with spouses have also earned. Hopefully, they are not as surprised as I was when an officer revealed I wasn’t perfect.
****
Orginally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, April 22, 2011.
‘Extreme Couponing’ can inspire people to save money
A new show on TLC, “Extreme Couponing,” has inspired my wife, Jenny, and me to do something we do too little of – couponing.
The show focuses on two “extreme” couponers each week, showing how they greatly reduce their grocery bills through the creative use of coupons.
They are called “extreme” because many of these people dedicate 40 or more hours per week to couponing, allowing them to save thousands of dollars and to stockpile groceries as though it were 1961 and the threat of Communists invading this country was imminent.
Some examples of these extreme couponers featured in the show:
One lady said she spends 60 hours or more per week finding coupons, organizing them and then making shopping plans to get the best bang for her buck. On a trip to the store in the show, she got approximately $1,000 worth of groceries for $6. She spent more than two hours in the check-out lane with her haul and her coupons. I wouldn’t want to get behind her in that lane.
One man brought a trailer attached to his vehicle to the store to bring everything he bought back to his house, which is more of a warehouse since he basically has a grocery store in every room to store stuff. Fortunately, he is also of the giving sort, as he donates much of what he buys to the local food bank.
A couple with six kids is able to put away thousands of dollars for their kids’ education with the money they save through extreme couponing. Their house is also more like a warehouse, too, as they even store food under their children’s beds. It would make for an easy midnight snack, I bet.
In each case, these people save between 90 and 98 percent of their grocery bill through extreme couponing.
It’s hard work, though. One lady dumpster dives for newspapers to get more coupons, while another has a map of the store to plan her trips. All spend hours at the store during trips, and some often abandon plans to go to the store for limited-time sales.
They also keep updated on stores’ coupon policies, as double-coupon specials are what allow them to often get the really good deals.
Personally, I hate the grocery store, so I could never do what they do. But, watching the show made me realize we should at least do a little couponing, as leaving the store with only a handful of groceries for $100 or more seems awfully expensive when compared to what these people could do with that amount of money.
To get started, we bought a couple of Sunday newspapers for the coupons, and also picked up local store fliers for the week to see what the best deals are. Jenny has also been scouring the Internet for online coupons.
While we haven’t been to the grocery store, yet, I’m keeping my fingers crossed it’ll save us a good amount of money.
And since we’re not doing it “extreme” style, people do not need to fear getting behind us in line.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, April 8, 2011.
The show focuses on two “extreme” couponers each week, showing how they greatly reduce their grocery bills through the creative use of coupons.
They are called “extreme” because many of these people dedicate 40 or more hours per week to couponing, allowing them to save thousands of dollars and to stockpile groceries as though it were 1961 and the threat of Communists invading this country was imminent.
Some examples of these extreme couponers featured in the show:
One lady said she spends 60 hours or more per week finding coupons, organizing them and then making shopping plans to get the best bang for her buck. On a trip to the store in the show, she got approximately $1,000 worth of groceries for $6. She spent more than two hours in the check-out lane with her haul and her coupons. I wouldn’t want to get behind her in that lane.
One man brought a trailer attached to his vehicle to the store to bring everything he bought back to his house, which is more of a warehouse since he basically has a grocery store in every room to store stuff. Fortunately, he is also of the giving sort, as he donates much of what he buys to the local food bank.
A couple with six kids is able to put away thousands of dollars for their kids’ education with the money they save through extreme couponing. Their house is also more like a warehouse, too, as they even store food under their children’s beds. It would make for an easy midnight snack, I bet.
In each case, these people save between 90 and 98 percent of their grocery bill through extreme couponing.
It’s hard work, though. One lady dumpster dives for newspapers to get more coupons, while another has a map of the store to plan her trips. All spend hours at the store during trips, and some often abandon plans to go to the store for limited-time sales.
They also keep updated on stores’ coupon policies, as double-coupon specials are what allow them to often get the really good deals.
Personally, I hate the grocery store, so I could never do what they do. But, watching the show made me realize we should at least do a little couponing, as leaving the store with only a handful of groceries for $100 or more seems awfully expensive when compared to what these people could do with that amount of money.
To get started, we bought a couple of Sunday newspapers for the coupons, and also picked up local store fliers for the week to see what the best deals are. Jenny has also been scouring the Internet for online coupons.
While we haven’t been to the grocery store, yet, I’m keeping my fingers crossed it’ll save us a good amount of money.
And since we’re not doing it “extreme” style, people do not need to fear getting behind us in line.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, April 8, 2011.
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