Pedal to the metal…

Earlier tonight I dropped my 8 year old off at a “Kids’ Night Out” fundraiser. These are relatively common in our school district. A bunch of adults with a cause set up the event, usually with the help of a good number of high schoolers who need community service hours. Elementary school kids go and play games, run around in the gym, and eat hot dogs and pizza purchased in advance.

It’s a fun Friday night sort of thing, and I am all in favor of this as a fundraising tactic. Of course, the mindless enthusiasm of the parents who’ve just dropped off one of these Elementary schoolers? Not so cool.

I was nearly sideswiped three times driving that last miracle mile to the school to drop off my guy. I know it’s nighttime and all, but 50 in a school zone is acceptable exactly NEVER.

I’m thinking I should run a crowdfunding campaign for the best best vocal mic for 200 bucks and a good set of external speakers for the car to preach the message of peaceable speed within a 2 mile radius of the school. Makes sense, right?

Greenin’ it up

On my recent trip to Kansas City, I stayed several nights in a Westin Hotel with a cool program. The globe trotters among my readers have surely encountered this before, but I think it is worth noting. They actually offer an option for no room tidying while you are there. No one comes in and makes your bed or refills your soaps. It is a way to reduce washing linens and towels while you’re there, waste fewer cleaning supplies, and overall reduce housekeeping costs.

There was a daily discount to their lobby restaurant as a perk which was nice, but I would have jumped at this opportunity. I loved not worrying about running to the gym and coming back to find that housekeeping cart parked outside my door. Really, I can make my own bed. And if I needed anything like extra soaps or coffee, I just had to ask.

They refer to it as a “green” program, and in some ways it surely is. But for me, it was also a bit of added convenience.

On the Road Again

Actually, just back from being on the road. I was in Kansas City for about 8 days. And before you ask, let me tell you – I was in both Kansas City, Missouri AND Kansas City, Kansas. I know… breathtaking wonder in every word.

What do they take very seriously in KC? On specific order, these are some of the points of distinction I uncovered through observation and conversation with the natives:

– Barbecue
– Fountains
– Statues
– War Memorials
– Mexican and Vietnamese hole-in-the-wall Restaurants that are “actually really good.”

Who knew?

I mean, besides the millions of people who live there.

Back seat with Simone

It’s not that I don’t appreciate the intent of a program like COBRA, but let’s face it, people, we’ve put things in the wrong hands. Seriously. If you want to keep health care accessible to the average person, you really need to put it in the hands of someone other than insurance companies.

Think about it. They make money providing potential coverage. Not actually covering people. If everyone takes full advantage of coverage, the rates will go through the roof or some of those insurance company executives will need to take hefty pay cuts. This isn’t rocket science. When you stop and think about it, don’t you see that the insurance companies only profit when the insured DON’T use the service. Sure, paying for insurance is terrific. It buys all kinds of hot tubs, hookers, and private jets. But when individuals start filing claims, well… goodbye cross country flight with Cherry and Simone to rock the whirlpool jets. If you were googling limo service St Pete FL, well you can just forget it because sick people need meds.

 

 

Derby Days

Speaking of the upcoming Pinewood Derby, I’m not convinced that we have to go plain and simple and old school. We’ve been talking about kicking this thing up a notch or two. I’ve got hese ol checkerboard sheets from when I was a kid, for example. I think one of those is going to be tricked out into a quickie collapsible photo booth. All we’ll need is a camera and a kid with a car and FLASH instant winner’s circle!

New Track for the Cubbies!

If you know anything about Cub Scouts you know that one of the biggest events of the year is the Pinewood Derby. Ours is coming up this week and I’m pretty psyched about our newest addition. We picked up a new aluminum track. This weekend I got together with the Cubmaster and set it up in the garage. Well, we started in the garage and it went right out onto the driveway. 32 feet long… that’s a lotta feet!

So this year our Pinewood Derby event may be in the same old cafeteria with the aluminum bleachers and stage the kids can’t go on, the linoleum floor and improvised track protection barricades, but the track itself – shiny and new!

Lookin’ Good

You know what I need to go with my kickin’ hard core camping gear? Customized sunglasses. They’ll go good with my speeding too, even if we all know that speed may be a factor… implying that it “might” be a factor but is not “definitely” a factor. Is the combination of style and car accident humor wrong? Maybe this is a path I should avoid. But really, shouldn’t we address the truth here? I mean, stylish sunglasses could be as responsible for a serious accident as a lot of other things.

Speed May Have Been A Factor

A couple days ago there was a fatal accident a couple miles from our house. A young woman went off the road, flipped her car and was “partially” ejected from the car. No seat belt so no seat belt cutter necessary, and multiple speed “may have been a factor” quotes from the powers that be. Yes, officer, I agree that she “might have been speeding” when she rounded the curve, rolled her car and ended up upside down in a swamp.

The dissembling is what bothers me. See, we all know she was driving like a bat out of hell. It’s really hard to flip a sedan if you’re not driving at a decent rate of speed. And the curvy part of the road where she crashed… yeah, it’s like a 30mph zone. So yeah, speed was most definitely a factor. Conjecture about cell phone use or intoxication might require careful speech, but really? Speed. Uh… duh! But, of course, everyone is afraid of the almighty libel suit. Who wants to take a chance that the survivors won’t start the good old litigation machine, right?

Heavy Equipment

I’ve really enjoyed all of the this Mad Science The Card Game nonsense. I still have some mixed feelings about Kickstarter, but knowing it is a business and not (as too many people believe) a charitable organization i any way, shape or form, that’s probably okay. And at some point in the future I very well may go ahead and do another project.

That said, I totally have to get back to Skateboard Heroes. I have kept the comic on the backburner for too long. So long, in fact, that the kids are growing and the photos I got of Booster battling a front loader may not work. And that would blow. Do I need to start trolling for used skid steers for sale? When you combine a world class skateboarder with a front loader operated by a claw-wielding megalomaniac… tell me that doesn’t rock you tonight?

Bike Tires

Specifically, motorcycle tires. Okay, I know this is a strange aside, but I have always wondered why the tires you see on bad ass custom motorcycles on TV shows always have those mostly smooth, very rounded tires with slash marks for treads. They just seem so far away from automobile tires. Sure, scream Conti Road Attack 2 with joy, but all I can see is road rash. Horrible, horrible road rash. Isn’t grip, like, the point of treads. When your tires look like sideways inner tubes, aren’t you risking your neck, like, big time?

Maybe it’s just me. Clearly I’m a lot more comfortable on 4 wheels than 2, but I can’t help but wonder.