Thursday, 4/16

I wonder if Motel One will remember us?

Whenever we're in Germany, as we will be when we land three weeks from today (!), we usually stay at a Motel One. It's a European chain that's kind of like a budget hotel but not really. The hotels don't have things like phones in the rooms, and the rooms themselves aren't suite sized, but the locations are great, the staff amazing, the bars and breakfast rooms funky, and the look of the hotels are stellar, if only because just about everywhere you look you see this color blue--

It's a trademark of the chain. The staff wears that color; the sugar packets you see at breakfast are that color; and if you go more than 3 meters without seeing that blue, you know you've left the hotel (or, at the very least, this plane of reality). They take pride in the way their hotels look—in fact, their slogan is “Like The Price, Love the Design”--and that blue is the centerpiece of it.

It would be like McDonald's without the red, or the Detroit Lions without losing. I mean the Detroit Lions without silver and blue. That's how central it is to the chain.

The other reason we like Motel One so much? Loraine's fish.

It's actually not Loraine's personal fish, so much as a fish she likes to see. You see, each Motel One room has a loop of a fish aquarium on their TV system that you can play in the background. It's actually quite relaxing, and we've gotten into the habit of just leaving it on when we're doing other stuff. Loraine's favorite fish is the blue & yellow one in the lower right hand corner (the one that looks like Dory from “Finding Nemo”) We've gotten pretty good at knowing when in the loop her fish will show up, so we'll make sure we say “hey” to it when we first get in.

Yes, apparently we're easily amused.

So if you ever find yourself in a city with a Motel One I highly recommend trying it out. Like I said, the rooms aren't huge, but they have fish. And a blue that will soon sear itself into your brain. And we'll get to see one three weeks from today!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 4/15

What a difference a month makes.

One month ago today marked the beginning of the “Storm of the Century (so far)”, that two day blizzard that (literally) shut down the UP and had far ranging, far lasting effects--

It was a horrid storm, one that people will be talking about for decades and using as a benchmark for winter storms yet to come. But that was a month ago. Here's that same picture yesterday--

It's amazing how a month can make that much of a difference. I believe some of us thought the snow would never leave, but thanks to April sunshine and a lot of rain the past few days most of that dumping of snow has disappeared. Sadly, some of it turned into flooding that's been affecting various parts of the UP the past few days, but an amazing amount of it has disappeared in a very short time.

And we couldn't be happier to see it go.

I've been wondering what kind of effect our “Throwback Winter” will have on our upcoming summer. I mean, I know one's not (necessarily) related to the other, but after what we went through you can't blame someone for being a little gun-shy about things. I don't know what'll happen, but I do take solace in the fact that despite the snow and cold of the past five months Lake Superior never froze over. We've had open water most of the year, which means that the lake will get an early start on warming up, which means we may have slightly less in the way of a cooling lake breeze as the year goes on. There's also a strong El Nino forecast in the Pacific, which usually means slightly warmer summer (and much more mild winters) in the Midwest.

So we'll see.

Like I keep saying, I'm not a meteorologist, nor do I play one on TV, but after what we've been through the past five months, I'd like to think that we deserve a break this summer. And if we can have as much of a change in conditions the next few months as we've had in the past month?

I'd be okay with that.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 4/14

I'm not the only who does it, am I?

Please tell me I'm not the only one.

First of all, it appears that our “Throwback Winter” may finally—FINALLY—be on the wane. Temperatures are finally above freezing, the snow is finally melting, and I saw this on my way home from TV last night--

It's funny I saw that sign of Spring on the way home from TV, as my piece last night was about another sign of Spring. Technically, I'm not sure if it's a sign of Spring for everyone, but I know that for me, it's been a sign of Spring since I was, I dunno, nine years old.

In fact, every time I take part in this particular sign of Spring, Loraine will say something along the lines of “What are you a nine year old?”, to which I proudly proclaim “Why yes, I am”.

And yet she still sticks around. Go figure.

8-)

I have no idea if I'm the only person who takes part in this particular activity. It actually acts as a catharsis for me, shedding the yuckiness of winter for the promise and joy of Spring. Of course, I'm guessing not everyone else feels that way, but I'd have to believe that there's at least one other person out there who does what I do.

Either that, or I'm a lot more unique that I thought. And that might be a little too scary to contemplate.

So what exactly IS it that I do to mark the beginning of Spring? An activity that hopefully at least one other person does, as well? Well, check it out for yourself--

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 4/13

It's nice that we're growing. It'd be even nicer if there was somewhere to put us all.

The US Census Bureau has released their annual County by County Population Estimates, which use all kind of data to figure out whether or not each county in the country is growing or shrinking. As usually happens, it's estimated that Marquette County grew by several hundred residents in 2025, with the county's population topping 68,000 (68, 064, to be exact) for the first time since the Baby Boom and KI Sawyer Air Force Base years of the 70s & 80s. Marquette County, in fact, led the growth of five other counties in the UP, while it's estimated the remaining nine lost population.

In fact, it's estimated that Menominee County had the biggest drop by percentage in the state last year. Hopefully, for them, that's just a blip.

A map (courtesy of MLive) showing which UP counties have grown in the past year (green) and which have shrunk (red & tan)

Marquette County's slow but steady population growth is, of course, a good thing. The bad thing is, of course, that most of that growth is centered around the city of Marquette, where there is already a lack of affordable housing. And that, of course, sets up a cycle—more people want to live in Marquette, which means that the number of available housing units shrink, which, thanks to the law of supply & demand, means that whatever's left goes up in price.

And that's not a good cycle.

When asked about the city's biggest problem, most community leaders agree that affordable housing at the top of the list. And efforts are being made to alleviate the problem, but thanks to everything from the current state of the national economy to a lack of construction workers, those efforts can only go so far. And it'll probably be like that in areas with continued population growth, like Marquette County, for some time to come.

So while it's a good thing people want to keep moving to Marquette, it's also a bad thing, too. Because until things change, there may not be a lot of places to put them.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 4/10

I miss “Stump Jim Day”.

Those of you who've been listening for a thousand years may remember “Stump Jim Day”, which occurred every Friday when listeners were able to turn the table on me. Instead of me asking them a question about a movie, they would ask me one, and if I didn't get it right (which happened on an almost weekly basis) they'd win. The reason I miss it is two-fold—first of all, I got to see just how unknowledgeable (if that's a word) I was about certain kinds of movies or certain actors. I'd like to think that I'm fairly literate as far as film goes, but over the years listeners figured out that I did have certain Achilles Heels—Disney cartoons or Nicolas Cage flicks among them. So I'd often get asked questions about my “heels”, and listeners would (usually) walk away happy.

Then, every so often, I'd get one of those questions right (usually just by sheer luck), everyone thought I had studied up on the subject, and they'd move on to something else. Of course, I really hadn't studied up, but the people asking the questions didn't need to know that, right?

8-)

The other thing I miss about not doing “Stump Jim Day”? Well, the whole concept had kind of turned into a “thing”. People had tried to get through for weeks or months or (in some case) even a few years just to try and stump me, and even if they weren't able to, even if I answered their question correctly, they were just happy that they were able to get through.

And if you're looking for proof that it worked, even though it's been 10 or 11 years since we last did it, I still have people come up to me and (proudly) announce how they stumped me one day. That's the kind of thing that makes me realize we were on to something, and that's a kind of “something” that you don't easily come across in this business.

Now we just need to find a sponsor that'll let us bring it back, and we'll be all set.

On that note, have yourself a great weekend. Even though it'll still be kinda chilly, I hope you can at least get out and enjoy some of the sun that's been forecast!!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 4/9

Have I ever mentioned my life is weird?

I joke, of course. It seems like there have been weeks recently where I do nothing BUT mention my life is weird. But it's happened again twice, and it's all History Jim's fault.

First of all, the annual UP History Conference is being held in Marquette in June, and I was asked if I would give a walking tour. I, of course, said yes, and yesterday the organizers let me know that there have already been a bunch of people who've signed up for the event, not even knowing what the topic is, but because—in several cases attendees coming from downstate—they've heard that I give fun tours and they wanted to experience one for themselves.

Okay.

The other? Well, the quarterly newsletter from the History Center just came out. There's a big article in each edition (I've written a few myself), and when I started to read this quarter's I came across this--

I am apparently now someone to be quoted when individuals write long, scholarly articles. It took me a few minutes to actually remember where the quote came from (I believe from a Mining Journal about the Great Fire of 1868), but my tales are now being used as reference materials by serious people doing serious things.

They DO know who I am, right?

I'm sure there may be a day when stuff like this happens and I won't be fazed, but I'm guessing that day is probably quite far away. All I know is that, on an almost daily basis, something like these two incidents happen and I have no idea why.

Well, actually I do know why. Why? Because my life is weird.

There's just no other answer.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 4/8

I don't have a car, so I don't have to buy gas for a car. But if I did, I don't know that I'd let it sit there just running, and running...

And running.

For those of you not fortunate enough to live a (mostly-car) free lifestyle, just let me say this—I feel your pain. Every time I walk past a gas station and see prices driven sky-high by a war of choice I myself cringe a little. I can't imagine what it's like having to drive 15 or 20 or 60 miles a day.

It must be painful.

So that makes me wonder about the guy around the corner from where I live. I don't know him, but he's one of those stereotypical guys around here who drives a pickup truck. He also, from what I can tell, has a habit of starting his pickup so that it's warm when he gets into it. With the weather we've been having recently I don't begrudge anyone that. I really don't.

But...I went running this morning. When I ran past his truck it was turned on, the engine roaring like the engine of a diesel pickup truck usually does. I finished my four miles, which means that about 35 minutes later, as I was walking up the street cooling down, I noticed that his truck was still running.

And as far as I can tell, it hadn't moved an inch.

Gas is what...four-plus bucks a gallon, at least here in Marquette? How much gas—how much money—must a big diesel pickup truck left idling in a driveway burn up in that (at least) 35 minute span? I mean, forgot about all the toxins you're spewing into the atmosphere by leaving your pickup running for at least 35 minutes; that's a rant for another day. How much money do you (literally) burn by letting your truck run just so you'll be warm?

I just don't get it. But then, I'm not a pickup owner. Heck, I'm barely even a driver of a (fuel-efficient) car. There may be a reason for letting a truck run every morning, just as the money that goes out the tailpipe may not be an issue. But still...you're wasting a finite resource (gas). You're throwing away a valuable commodity (money). Where's the sense in that? Where's the logic in that?

Some days, I see things that make me realize I'm not like other people. What I noticed while running this morning was one of those things.

(jim@wmqt.com)