Wednesday, 3/30

Oh, joy. The barf is back.

Living where I live and walking where I walk I will often see the aftermath of what happens each evening at downtown Marquette bars & clubs. You can go up any of the hills leading out of Washington Street, and by the time you get to Ridge Street—two blocks up the hill—you will see where someone tried to walk up the hill but lost the contents of their stomach before they made it.

It's one of the great things that makes Marquette Marquette, I guess.

During the pandemic, when bars & clubs were shut down, the absence of barf on the sidewalk was quite striking. And even in the year or so since they've reopened, it does seem like I've come across not quite as much vomit as I normally did. I don't know if that's because fewer people were at the bars or if the city was cleaning it up better, but I didn't see as many piles of puke as usual.

And then I walked to work yesterday.

At the northwest corner of Front & Ridge—the corner right in front of the Federated Women's Clubhouse—was perhaps the biggest spew I have seen in all the decades of coming across vomit spews. It was at least four feet on every side, and looked as it someone had eaten at least a gallon of honey mustard colored oatmeal, and then lost it.  In fact, it was so impressive I almost took a picture of it to include in here, but decided that it was bad enough I had to see it, so why make you go through the same agony?

That's okay. You can thank me later..

The bad thing about it all is that there may be a sign of the barf on the corner for months to come. Even if the bugs (or a random dog) manage to eat it all, or even if the freezing rain we're being subjected to this morning or snow we're supposed to get tomorrow doesn't wash it away, the stomach acid from spews that big will often etch itself into the sidewalk and remain there for months or years. In fact, you can walk along the sidewalks I tread on a daily basis and see black spots bigger than a Frisbee everywhere, signs that someone else tried to make the walk up the hill in years past and had to eject the contents of their stomach in order to do it.

So, if you're in that area, make sure you avoid that particular corner for a day or two. Or, if you need to be at the corner, just don't look down. While the barf may be gone by the time you get there (although it was still there when I went running this morning, 24 hours after first seeing it) I can almost guarantee there will still be signs of it around for a long time no matter where you look.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 3/29

I'm assuming they thought I was okay.

For whatever reason, I haven't been officially told that they were even considering this, but one of the items on the agenda of the Marquette City Commission last night was to approve several new members of several city boards & advisory committees. One of those (potential) appointments was to the city's Harbor Advisory Committee, and that would be the appointment of, uhm, me.

Assuming, of course,members of the City Commission just didn't laugh so hard when they saw my name on the list that they forgot to actually vote on the matter.

Because, you know, I could actually see that happening.

How did this all come about? Well, as you may recall, at the beginning of the month my pal Jack & I did our “What's Up, Dock” show at the Ore Dock as a fundraiser for the Marquette Maritime Museum. Out of that show came a couple of things, one of which was an inquiry from a couple of community members wondering if I'd be willing to serve on the committee, which advises the City Commission on everything from marina use to lakeshore development. Almost everyone who's ever served on the committee has had a background in either boating or urban planning, and they figured that it might be nice to have someone with an historical perspective join them.

And since, thanks to “What's Up, Dock”, I seem to have this savant-like ability to name off every single dock, where it was, and when it was built, I guess that means I fit that qualification.

I filled out the application to serve, as asked, and heard nothing more about it until I was looking at a copy of the agenda of last night's meeting for a news story I was writing. There, in black & white (or, more precisely, gray & white, because it was a PDF copy) was the agenda item regarding the appointments of several people to different boards. It actually took me a second to realize what was going on, considering that when I filled out the form I had to use my “real” name and had no idea just who the heck the “James Koski” is who was mentioned on the agenda.

But I'm thinking that was probably me.

Hopefully, someone will actually let me know—officially--what's going on, and I can then start serving on the committee, hopefully providing good advice to the people in charge of Marquette's most valuable community resource—its lake shore.

It's a big step. I've never done anything like this before, and look forward to seeing what goes on and if there's anyway I can help. So here's my promise--I'll try not to screw it up.

Honest.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 3/28

I'm gonna cheat a little today if you don't mind.

You don't mind, do you? Thanks.

Before I head to work this morning I have to go and take care of the annual oil change for Loraine's car in just a little bit. Yes, it's an annual oil change...she's had it for three years and it has less than 7,000 miles on it. But that requires me to actually drive it somewhere and then wait while said oil gets changed. That, of course, means I don't have a lot of time to write one of these, so instead I'll leave you with the latest edition of “Pieces of the Past”.

But it has stories about the stupid things people do while drunk, so already it promises to be more entertaining than 90% of these are in the first place. Hope you enjoy it, and I promise—I'll actually write something with more than a paragraph or two tomorrow. And it's some rather interesting personal news, as well.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 3/25

I don't know why I'm doing it again. But maybe one of these days I'll figure it out.

I've written in here many times before about this weird habit I have, the habit of fixating on a song. Every so often I hear a song that does something to my brain, and I have to listen to it over and over and over. I don't know where that comes from. I don't know if the problem affects people other than me. And, most importantly, I don't know how to stop it when my “condition” flares up.

You know, like it has this week.

The song this time around is a smooth little piece of pop by Sabrina Carpenter (fun fact—she's apparently the “blonde girl” mentioned in Olivia Rodrigo's “Drivers License”, if you're into following the gossip about ex-Disney Channel stars) called “Fast Times”. It has a great groove, an amazing string (or synthesized string) section, and, like songs ranging from “Superstition” to Monsta X's “You Problem” it has taken up waaaaay too much space in my brain and won't leave.

You know, some days it's really not easy being me.

(And that, by the way, is a joke. I know how lucky I've been in my life, especially when you consider the state of parts of the world these days).

Anyway, I checked my iTunes program, and it shows I've listened to the song 84 times since buying it. Now, you may not think that's a big deal, but I bought the song, uhm, Tuesday. I'm writing this before going to work on Friday. That means since buying it I have listened to the song, on average, 28 times a day. At three minutes and thirty one seconds that means I have used up, uhm, a whole lot of brain time that could have been used doing something else. I mean, sure, I was listening to it while doing other things, but think what I could have accomplished if I devoted that brain time to a worthwhile project.

Heck, I could have probably solved the problem of cold fusion. Or world hunger. Or, at the very least, why I was wondering about Buddy Ebsen's head yesterday.

Oh well; I guess having that particular problem is one of those things that makes me uniquely “me”. I'm not saying it's necessarily a good thing, but it IS a thing. So in the spirit of sharing what makes me me, here. You can get the song stuck in YOUR head, too. Just be aware this particular video is not safe for work, if you know what I mean.

Have a great weekend. I know what I'll be devoting a little of my brain time to.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 3/24

I saw Buddy Ebsen's head floating over my bedroom dresser last night.

Actually, I didn't see his head floating over my dresser, or anywhere else in my apartment. I haven't thought of the late star of “Beverly Hillbillies” & “Barnaby Jones” for years now, and I personally don't believe that his disembodied head would be paying me a visit. After all, I don't have a cee-ment pond or an unsolved mystery anywhere.

However, I was going through a stack of papers yesterday in my lame attempt at doing a little much-needed ice storm day spring cleaning in my office, and on one piece of note paper was written the line that started this blog. I have no idea why it was on the paper; I certainly have no recollection of actually writing it, but there it was, in my handwriting, describing the floating head of Jed Clampett.

Now I just need to figure out what kind of break of reality led me to writing it.

Seriously; I have no idea why I would've written that line down. If I was prone to drinking a lot or taking mind-altering chemicals...then, it might've made sense. But I do neither. I'm pretty much as straight and narrow as you can get, at least as far as that's concerned. But then, I apparently don't NEED a lot of alcohol or a handful of mind-altering chemicals to enter another mental dimension; no, I just need to write something on a piece of paper, shove it under a stack of other pieces of paper, and then come across it years later, wondering just why in the heck Buddy Ebsen's head is supposed to be floating over my dresser.

Some days, I amaze even myself.

I'm now almost a little apprehensive about continuing my spring cleaning. Do I really want to know what else I'll come across? Have I written even stranger things in the past, stranger things that I've now forgotten even writing? Will I stumble upon a string of numbers, and then start to wonder what they mean? Is it a phone number? A locker combination? The password to an online bank account worth millions of dollars? The key to the secrets of the universe? I wouldn't be surprised by anything. After all, I wrote a line about Buddy Ebsen for no reason and then entirely forgot about it.

Who know what else is lurking in those stacks of paper.

So if you ever have the chance to stop by the station and wander back to my office, don't be surprised if you see stacks of paper everywhere that I'm afraid to look at. It's not my fault.

It's Buddy Ebsen's.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 3/23

It's taking a little bit to get used to them.

Monday I had new lenses put in my glasses for the first time in three years. My annual eye appointment two years ago was canceled because, you know, the world was canceled, and then I didn't get to it last year. So a few weeks ago I trudged out to get my vision checked out, and found that I needed a slightly different prescription for one of my eyes. Hence, the new lenses.

It usually takes me a day or so to get used to the new lenses, but here we are, almost 48 hours later, and things are still kinda...funky. When I look at some things I get an almost 3-D like effect (which, admittedly, is kinda cool), while I'm looking at things really close to me it's almost better to take my glasses off and look at whatever it is. Things are better than they were the first time I put them on, had that super 3-D effect on everything, and then had to ride my bike back to work, so I'm sure I'll eventually get used to them. But for now?

It's strange. Let's leave it at that.

****

Speaking of riding bikes (and yes, the bike paths in Marquette were clear Monday so I rode my bike instead of driving), the people who work at my optometrist's office still remember my visit from 2013 and still comment upon it every time I pop in. That visit occurred several days after my infamous bike accident—you remember, the one where I lost a tooth, had cuts everywhere on my body, and had four stitches near my right eye—and it apparently left quite the impression on them.

Especially, as it turns out, when I ride my bike to their office, like yesterday, and get new lenses. Their comment each and every time, with a smile--

“Are you SURE you want to do that?”

It's nice to know that some people care about a klutz and his health.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 3/22

The book almost seems too strange not to read.

Loraine was glancing through one of those weird book catalogs that we get on a seemingly daily basis, and one of the titles popped out at her. It's a book that's over 100 years old, and was described in the catalog as a “cautionary tale for children aged 8 and up with an ironic sense of humor”. I'm certainly a child aged 8 and up, and I certainly have quite the ironic sense of humor, so why shouldn't the book appeal to me? Well, maybe it's the title--

“Jim, Who Ran Away From His Nurse And Was Eaten By A Lion”.

Seriously; that's the title of the book. It was written by Hilaire Belloc in 1907, and was supposed to teach children the importance of listening to their elders. However, Mr. Belloc didn't take his assignment totally seriously, which is why the book is recommended for kids with an ironic sense of humor (you know; kids that grow up to be like me). Apparently, young Jim does NOT follow the advice he's given, wanders into a zoo, and (spoiler alert) does get eaten by a lion, with only his head remaining as evidence.

Yup. They had some really good methods of teaching kids lessons back then, didn't they? And is it just me, or does that book sounds like a movie Tim Burton's been waiting his entire life to direct?

Like I said, I have no idea if I'll buy the book and check it out. It's a mere 22 pages, most of them filled with Edward Gorey-inspired drawings, and I'm sure it would be a fun & quick read. But still...

It's a about a boy named Jim who sometime has trouble with authority and gets eaten by a lion because of it. You don't think THAT would cause nightmares???????

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com), waiting (with bated breath) to see if winter returns to us today and tomorrow after teasing us with a week of Spring-like conditions...)