The Woodpile

And this is shocking?  As long as I can remember, the media has always investigated EVERY presidential and vice presidential candidate within an inch of their lives.

Isn't this part of the media's job?  Why is someone calling "foul" just because she is a female?  Do you think she can handle the stress less well?  If we want equal rights, then we have to put up with equal horse hockey as well!  It just irritates me that people are crying no fair just because she is a woman.  IMHO, if she can't stand up to the same scrutiny the boys can, then she isn't the right person for the job.

not only drive me crazy, but are currently getting what's due them!  You know who I'm talking about, all of the rude, self-important people in this area that think the rules apply to everyone but THEM because they are better than the rest of us.  The ones who drive around Arnold are getting theirs tonight!

Currently, paving is being done to improve the intersection of Richardson and Jeffco in Arnold.  As a result, the right lane of Eastbound Richardson is closed just past the entrance to Ponderosa.  First, you have the normal problems of people who merge properly and those who are too good to wait butting to the front of the line and demanding in.

Those who are too good to wait thought it would be best for them to cut through the Ponderosa parking lot to skip the lane closure.  Granted, this intersection is crowded every afternoon.  Today, the other exit to Ponderosa is CLOSED do to paving on southbound Jeffco which is actually the same improvement project.

So now there are a large mass of cars stuck in that parking lot, making a LARGE circle and trying to get back into the traffic they were too good to sit in in the first place.  They are not having much success because of the normal agressive merging there anyhow.

Why is it that children by the age of 10 understand that if everyone waits their turn and shows a little courtesy that we all get where we are going faster and in an orderly and kind manner, but drivers cannot grasp the same subject.  We St. Louisans are nice face to face, but pretty rude behind the wheel.  I get stares of amazement when I tell out of town friends that turn signals can lead to accidents when people speed up to keep from letting you in (and don't tell me it hasn't happened to you!)

In another site I blog on, someone had posted that the mint they planted around their house took over their yard.  On the upside, when they cut the grass, it smells pretty  good!  I just had to ROTFL!  Could it be a new trend?  Lawn aromatherapy?  I wonder how mint looks as a ground cover?

While checking to see if the roads were open to my Grandma's house in Eminence, I noticed MODOT labeled 106 closed at Alley Spring due to road damage.

Grandma said that the road basically has crumbled there. I think it is just down the hill from E highway just past the old put put golf place and old water slide. These would be some great pictures! If I manage to get down there in the next couple of days, I will take my digital camera and send some pics.

Since my dear MIL is not allowed to drive to Herman to visit relatives anymore, the train has become a real lifesaver.  She can travel there and back pretty cheaply and quite frankly, the Kirkwood station is by far the nicest train station I have ever seen. 

She never has a problem traveling there, but there is ALWAYS a problem getting her back.  The train coming east bound is never on time.  AT least tonight she will be in 2 hours late, not like a month ago when she got home at 2 a.m.!

I know Amtrak is trying to get more riders on our ONLY missouri route, but if they want some reliable ridership, they are going to have to figure out some way to get better priority on the track.

It is really too bad.  The train trip I took was very enjoyable with the exception of the chronic lateness of the trains.  Thank God my dear hubby scheduled a 3 1/2 hour layover in Chicago, we nearly missed our train as it was! 

Robert Jordan passed away this weekend after a long illness.  My husband and I started reading his books when we were in college together.  The are SO GOOD!  We would fight over who would get to read the new book first (we still have those arguements, just about the only thing we fight about).  The Wheel of Time series is phenominal and currently has my son hooked an on his 4th reading. 

Thanks, RJ for the great stories.  You have been a great gift.

My brother in law has mesothelioma and was horrified to discover signs all over the school stating that asbestos was being removed from the building.  The kids (including my niece) all thought they were just doing normal construction demolition last year.  So did the school board allow all of these children to be exposed last year?  I would LOVE to see Eliott look into this, only it will be a "who will pay for it?" in 20 years when all these kids get sick.

I am horrified and angry at this possiblity.  I hope the people in Hillsboro are outraged!

First of all, I am a musician.  I understand and fully support the right of my fellow musicians to earn a living.  However, sometimes the organizations who overlook these things go a bit to far (remember when ASCAP wanted money from the Girls Scouts?)

Tonight we went to McDonald's because it was late and the air conditioning at Waffle House was broken (it was hotter inside than out!)  My friend and I sat down and at first I didn't notice the sign on the wall.  The television was on CNN and Closed Captioning was on.  We noticed the Breaking News symbol come on and a few minutes later I noticed the sign which said something to the effect that:

"Due to copyright infringement concerns, McDonalds restaurants are no longer permitted to broadcast the audio of television broadcasts."

So does this mean that every restaurant that uses TVs in their dining rooms will be forced to eliminate the sound?  I don't get it.  What makes the sound coming from the TV more special than the image you are watching?

Anyone know what is up here?

(How hot was it?)

Another band parent told me between 2nd and 3rd rehearsals today and had to see for myself.  The fish are dying in Arnold City Park.  They are pretty large also.

My hubby is eagerly anxious about Les Mis this week.  He doesn't go terribly much, just picks one or two favorite shows a summer.  But this is his FAVORITE (as well as mine).  We are hoping that with less dancing in this show, they hired really excellent singers for this gig (occasionally they will opt for better dancing and not as good singing). 

I am truly hoping that the intonation trend continues on its current track.  The violins have problems every week in the 2nd act.  It's better than last year (when it was REALLY BAD!, even my cousins in HS could hear it!), but has been getting a little better every week.  Don't know if one of them needs to come back 1 minute earlier or what.  My cousins sit next to me and giggle every week when I get "that look" on my face.

My son is a freshman this year.  Freshman camp started last week, while full band starts tomorrow.  It always seems that the hottest part of the summer waits for band camp.  On the first day last week, Ben passed out, he locked his knees.  He fell face first into the grass and messed up his face, but not too badly.  It didn't hurt until he had to play his bass clarinet (I know, weird instrument to march, but you can't march your mom's 70 year old bassoon!)

Unfortunately, the band director has had quite a time with the new athletic director and they don't have a space at the high school to put together their show.  Hubby and I find this ironic since the football team is not good and our joke is that "The band won again!"  I will have to do extra shuttling next week because of the location they will be in.

Hey Patrick, are you old enough to remember our "one time at band camp" when Craig did a drum roll down the hill?

I will put no spoilers here, just inside.

Our problem is that in order to keep anyone from blabbing about the book, we are having "story time".  The 5 of us gather round while hubby and I take turns reading chapters.  It was the only way we could keep 1) mouths shut and 2) huge arguements over who got to read it next away.

We made the most progress today with 9 chapters, but we are still only on chapter 25!  I am hoping we can finish up before my son goes to Band rehearsal on Thursday, where I fear he will hear the ending!

Warning!  There are spoilers inside!  Do not open if you don't want to know my thoughts about how this is going.

Since they have Drew Carey doing the price is right if they replaced the Barker girls with Mimi and her sisters?

LOL