Just Another Day In Paradise

Otherwise known as Peoria. The temperature is perfect, not too hot, not too cold. Apparently we paid our dues last winter. Have you checked out the sunsets the last couple of days? Wow! Hawaii doesn't have it any better. Believe it or not, no homicides this week.

So, the question is...

WHY IN HECK ARE YOU INSIDE READING THIS SILLY BLOG?!
This is where I'm eating dinner tonight. After all, Coney dogs have no fat or calories in paradise. Afterwards, I'm getting a vanilla cone dipped in chocolate. Ice cream has calcium. Come on down, I'm buying! We can all gaze across the street at the new Starbucks and the lovely strip mall, er, I mean "neighborhood center" that Bob Manning built. I take back all negative comments I made, back when homes were bought and demolished and more than a few neighbors were ticked. Polly predicted vacancies and blight on the neighborhood. Polly was wrong. The Neighborhood Center/Strip Mwall is the swankest thing the East Bluff has seen in ages. Even more amazing, the City didn't have to bribe anyone with a TIF!!!

Even When I Don't Know What I'm Talking About...

I know what I'm talking about. I don't flatter myself that Jennifer Davis or Terri Bibo got the idea for today's front page article from my silly little post, but I am pleased to see the museum boondoggle come under fire.

Billy posts a rather cute picture of pigs at the trough, but I feel a bit more harsh. Checkout Big Yellow. My, she just gets bigger and greedier by the profitable quarter, doesn't she?

I have nothing against CAT wanting a feather to put in its cap, but I just think it should pay for its own feather. Asking employees and tax payers to pay for a CAT visitor's center is in poor taste, to say the least.

Hey, CAT! There are some companies that pay for educational museums which don't pay homage to the products they sell. Imagine that!

Try This One At Work Tomorrow

I dare you. Go into work tomorrow and inform your boss that you will only showing up to the office twice a month.

After that, inform him or her that s/he will have to limit all criticisms, critiques, concerns to five minutes or less and only after s/he gives apt notice and fills in a card.

See if that doesn't get your ass fired.

Maybe the Peoria City Council doesn't realize who they work for.

I realize most members of the Council have day jobs, but they knew the workload and schedule before running. Cutting Council Meetings to twice a month makes local government less accessible, which is unforgivable. Accessibility has been City Council's best attribute. Unless subpoenaed to testify before a Senate Committee, it's pretty damn difficult for an average Joe to get the floor and the undivided attention of their elected officials. I know that Council meetings often run long. I know some citizens are poorly informed and are horrid public speakers. Then again, so are some council members. Citizens (a.k.a. employers) have the right to grandstand if they want to. Public servants (a.k.a. employees) don't.

My guess? Someone's day job (travel schedule) and/or wife, is making Council duties difficult.

There's No Point In Posting....

Because I can't come close to this. The newbies haven't been around long enough be judged, but I like most members of the Peoria City Council. I do believe we are in better hands than we were Ran$burg Era.

There are some issues that could be handled, should be handled, and we were promised that they would be handled. We still have the stupid, unfair, garbage tax. Do businesses pay the garbage tax? Nope. Do they reap the benefits? Yep. Remember, the garbage fee has nothing to do with Waste Management, or, for that matter, garbage. It is a bogus fee/double tax (check out your property tax bill - you already pay a garbage fee) devised to fill holes in the City's budget. Many campaigned on the unfairness of this issue, but none have done anything to get rid of it.

Station 11 is a dead horse beaten beyond death. Or it would be, if it wasn't a life or death issue. Frankly, I'm sick of harping about it. Anyone should be able to see that taking vital rescue equipment out of service and disbursing the paltry few pieces left throughout the City is just stupid. When the disaster occurs we have only ourselves (and our elected officials) to blame. Grownups know that blame never brings anyone back from the dead.

Hey, Caterpillar! How is that Peoria Museum employee matching campaign coming along? Take the hint. Your employees don't give a rat's ass about a museum praising Big Yellow, the Illinois River, or the 1974 Manual High Debate Team. You want a visitor's center? Well, shut up, dip into some of your record profits, and build one already. Stop trying to present your very profitable corporation as a worthwhile charity. No one is biting.

Blah, blah, blah. There's more, but only the Anti-Pundit (aka Emtromics) still has his humor intact. Hat tip.