Brakes and the weekend

Brakes are a wonderful thing, but not when they wear out (as they did this weekend), and force one to spend $550.00(!) to replace them. As Paula Poundstone put it: "you want new brake shoes, I buy you new brake shoes; you won't wear them."

However...

I got to spend a wonderful weekend with Kathi, my signifcant other (please, somebody come up with a better term than that!), and hang out with all the Ravenslake people (Lake County Illinois) up at Border Skirmish. It wasn't quite the same without Lochlainn around, but we still had a grand old time, and about 75 more people than last year (most of whom stayed friday night). The shire did very well this time around.

Apparently though, earwigs love tent poles, cause when we broke camp we were cleaning out dozens of them: yick! Could be worse I suppose (giant, flesh-eating slugs maybe?).

Anyway, no photos this time. None were taken (of me anyway, which is just as well considering how unphotogenic I am). If photos get published online I'll put a couple on the blog. in the meantime, have a great 4th everyone!!

Me and Kathi in St. Louis

(yes, that should be 'Kathi and I', but I claim poetic license)


Kathi and I spent the weekend in St. Louis these past 3 days. If you haven't been to St. Louis lately, go! They have done a ton of work there, even in the 2 years since I've left, and it shows.

City Museum is really beyond description; just go, and you'll thank me. (preferably in small bills, ha ha.)

some updates, and traveling

Well, we had the funderal service and post-memoriam for Lochlainn (Dan) thursday. It was sad, and solemn, and stunning, and all the adjectives you can think of to describe it. I'm still in shock that he's gone. It's not just that it's wrong, but it is just so odd; he lived with megawatt intensity, and poof! it's no longer. That's tough to take. Everyone passes, but I figured he'd be around for another 20-30 years. Having been through this once before I'm a little better with it, but it's still a blow. (of course, I could see the Universe sending him back saying 'uhhh, we're not quite prepared for him yet. Could you keep him for a little bit longer?')

Coming back to the quad cities from Chicago, I took Il 30 for most of the way instead of US 88. Ever since 2002 when I discovered MO rt. 94 to St. Louis, I've looked for these roads; literally the 'road less traveled'. And it does make all the difference.

On the plus side, there is almost always less traffic; in fact sometimes there is almost no traffic at all. Between US 39 and Rock falls I saw a handfull of cars in 30+ miles. This also means you can goose the speed...but one still has to be careful: I was pulled over in Kankakee once upon a time. Also, the scenery tends to be better. Maybe that has to do with being closer to it, but you really get a sense of being part of the environment, as opposed to watching it pass by on a film reel.

On the negative side, these routes are typically 2 lane roads, which makes passing an adventure. Moreover you have to go through every small town along the way, which are nice, but that means you slow down to 30 mph and slower each time. That does add travel time. It's all part of the choice; instead of dedicated highway where you can go for hours at speed, with rest stops and gas stations every 10-20 miles, it's more of a meander, with all the uncertainty that that entails. On that point: taking side roads can mean an awfully long time between rest stops, so plenty of gas and snackage is critical....

One interesting bit I got to see from a closer vantage (that I've been hoping to see for some time) is the Mendota HIlls wind farm. I only know the name because I looked it up for this post (ain't the internet wonderful?!); you can see it from US 39 near a town called Paw Paw (yes, this town really exists). I love wind farms because they look so alien. They're sort of a cross between 1950's pod-people horror flicks, and some sort of futuristic stonehenge. Perhaps we could build a wind farm next to a landfill. Then, 1000 years from now, if society collapses, our descendants can wonder just what the heck we were doing.

Here are some photos:

A funny point: these turbines are standing in the middle of cornfields, so you have wind generation and ethanol side by side. There's a joke in there somewhere...

(A wind turbine walks into a bar; the bartender asks 'do you wanna drink?' the turbine replies 'no. I just came here to vent.' ba-dum bum)

...Allright, it's 4pm on a beautiful saturday; I should get my bum off the couch and be productive. Later folks!!