I believe everyone needs a hero to give them some guidance and inspiration. Today, I found a new hero. Her name is Abby Sunderland and she is 16 years old. You might wonder what she did to become my hero. Well, I can only tell you what she is trying to do. She is sailing around the world on a 40 foot sailboat all by herself.
When I was about 16 I read a book called Dove. It was the true story of Robin Graham. He set out at 15 to sail around the world. He did it on a 24 foot sailboat. It is a great book. I highly recommend it. If I recall correctly it took him about 4 years.
So, I run across this article on Abby who is sailing around the world and it re-kindled my old dreams of becoming a sailor on a boat, sailing the blue seas of the world. Who knows, I just might sell everything I have, buy a boat, and do it myself.
I was driving down Castle Drive as school was letting out at Cynthia Mann Elementary School. The flashers were flashing and I had slowed down to 20 MPH. As I approached the cross walk in front of the school I’m watching the activity. Kids standing on the sides of the road waiting to cross, some with parents some without. Another kid with a vest and a stop sign is standing there waiting to jump into action. It seems everyone was waiting on the kid with the sign to get things going. Well, he did. Without judging the distance between myself and the crosswalk, this crossing guard starts walking out in front of traffic holding up the sign as if it could stop anything. I was close enough that when he stepped off the curb I started to wonder if he actually intended on stopping traffic. Again, I was close. So close that my brain was figuring out if it was safer to try and stop or if it was safer to keep going. I decided to step on the brakes. Going 20 MPH doesn’t make your tires skid when you hit the brakes, but it does make any loose objects in your car go forward. Loose objects went forward.
I was surprised that he did this and a little angry as well. I let out an “Oh, come on”. My window was cracked and he heard it. So did some of the parents. One in particular started dragging her daughter through the crosswalk. She was giving me this grin as if she relished in my surprised anger. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw one car stopped behind me. There was a gap between that car and the ones still approaching. The little boy needed to shoot for the gap.
My anger at the crossing guard quickly faded when I put everything in perspective. At that point I became angry at the woman in the crosswalk. She is an adult and was standing just a few feet from the crossing guard when he and his sign stepped out into oncoming traffic. She didn’t seem to mind. She said nothing. She ignored it. She acted as if this is the way it is. I would expect an adult to be a bit more responsible and worry about the safety of the children. I thought about stopping and saying something but felt that the current mood I was in would not help any. I didn’t notice any teachers monitoring the little boy. Are these kids monitored? I don’t know. One little girl down the road a bit doing crossing guard duty had an adult with her, but I don’t recall seeing any teacher/adult monitoring this little boy.
The little boy is not at fault even though my initial reaction was towards him. He needs to be watched and corrected if he makes mistakes. I make them and don’t expect perfection from others, but, when a persons well being is on the line, especially a child’s, there should be some oversight.
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I stopped in at “Main Street Burger” yesterday and was pleasantly surprised. I ordered a double cheeseburger, a fry, and a med drink. I don’t recall the size of the fries. I think they were small. I didn’t get very many.
Anyway, I got my hamburger and was very happy with it. The meat was HOT. the veggies were FRESH and the bun was a real bun with real flavor. It wasn’t a flavored bun it just tasted good. My hamburger was built properly. The meat was on the bottom of the burger. Not stacked on top of the lettuce and tomatoes like other hamburger joints do it. The meat was juicy and tasty. The lettuce, tomatoes, and red onions (my favorite onion when it comes to a hamburger) were all fresh and cut to the proper thickness. The fries were seasoned fries and were also served hot. The drink, a Dr. Pepper, was just a drink.
The downside to the whole meal was the price. $9.56. That is a bit more than I like to pay. They don’t have combo’s like you might find at other burger joints. All items are ordered separately. This should change I believe. I didn’t stand there and study the menu so if this is not the case then let me know.
The restaurant itself is nice and cozy. The temperature of the restaurant was comfortable. Some restaurants have there temp set too low. The workers are up and moving around so they are staying warm but they don’t consider the customer who is sitting there in a chilly restaurant. The seating area is a L-shaped so you can sit there and watch the front counter or you can move around the corner and eat in seclusion.
Main Street Burger is located in Meridian just south of Cherry Lane on Main St. April marks their 5th year in business.
What is going on with this whole streetcar discussion? I’m a little confused about the whole deal.
They want to put a street car in downtown… is that right? So, they will be putting in tracks I guess. And along with the tracks comes the wiring overhead to power this thing. That seems like a lot of stuff to install permanently on a not so sure thing.
What is this thing going to cost to build? How about operating costs? Will it pay for itself? Will it be subsidized?
I don’t know much about this whole deal but I can really foresee a few problems. Like… very few people are going to use it.
Here’s the deal. I am going to miss my house payment this month and possibly next month. Who knows beyond that. I hear this thing is going to cost $40,000,000 bucks. I could really use some of that cash. To throw that kind of money into a gamble is, well, stupid. Really, it’s a stupid thing to do. I can only imagine some people are sitting in their offices downtown dreaming of movies being made here in Boise or whatever, but it probably won’t happen. You might get a commercial, but a real movie. No.
Use that kind of money to give people jobs. Hire people to pick up litter. Hire them to fix things around the city. That money will go directly back into the economy and help boost the economy. A streetcar is just a waste of money.
This is blasphemous… I KNOW. But, I think it is time for the smurf turf to go. I don’t go to the games but I enjoy watching them on TV. The one big glaring eyesore when watching the games is the blue uniforms against the blue turf. It is one big blue mess.
I’m considering taking a vacation. However, I can’t afford it. How about a minivacation. I could probably pull that one off. A minivacation to me is simply taking Thursday and Friday off. Leave on Thur. morning and return on Sunday afternoon.
Where would I go you are asking. Well, I’m a water guy. I’m kinda partial to the coast. Whenever I need to see some waves and seagulls I always visit Bandon.tv. It’s a great website. My last vacation was spent over there. Its a great place to go.
MOSCOW, ID – Horizon Air announced today that they have produced a University of Idaho themed plane. The plane has been designed in the black and gold Vandal color scheme, and features the U of I logo.
Due to the lack of popularity of University of Idaho athletics, Horizon Air’s budget for the production of this plane only allowed for one (1) single piece of standard stock 8.5″ x 11″ Office Depot Ink Jet Printing Paper for the body of the plane, and a very small portion of an HP 75 Ink Jet Color Cartridge for the black and gold painting of the plane.
The plane will be based out of the University of Idaho Kibbie Air Hangar. The plane is expected to transport zero passengers, and was simply constructed by Horizon Air to appease whiny-ass Vandals who feel they “deserve a plane, too”.
