What I’m Thankful For:
-An amazing husband
-Wonderful friends
-Terrific nieces and nephews
-My quirky family
-The most loveable dogs EVER
-Co-workers that make the days go by with laughter
-A home we love in a town we love
What I’m Missing:
-Loved ones that can’t be with us
What I Won’t Miss:
-The Chipmunk Christmas Song
-The Barking Dog Christmas Song
-Waiting in line for twenty minutes to buy one item
Merry Christmas!
I’m trying to understand everyone’s angst over the raised fine for parking on a snow route. Yes, the raise from $40 to $200 is hefty, but obviously something needs to be done to make people aware that you are parked illegally if you are parked on a snow route when there is snow. Believe it or not, that’s why the signs are there. People should just take responsibilty for parking their cars or leaving their cars on snow routes. Sure, there will be circumstances when a “freak” snowstorm happens and for that-the fines should be waived-but-for something we’ve heard about days, if not weeks, no.
If someone is visiting a downtown watering hole and leaves their car parked in a private lot overnight, chances are, even though they did the right thing by not driving while impaired, their car will be towed the next morning. Double edged swords suck.
I once parked my car on Jefferson, the day after Thanksgiving at 3:00am to go to work. I got a ride home (left my vehicle on the street) and received a call from the city. My car was along the Santa Clause Parade route and would be towed if not moved in fifteen minutes. I can’t believe I actually got a “warning.” Walker luck specifically states that no warnings will be issued, cut straight to fines and towing.
The exception that I do think needs to be made is when a house on a snow route doesn’t have a driveway. Where are they supposed to park and how do they get their vehicle off the street?
We need to enforce the parking bans so people stop looking at the signs as some ancient pieces of tin that don’t affect anyone. If the average joe would have paid a little more attention, things may have turned out differently.
So much to blog about but so busy with the holidays.
I hope to get a post in this week.
Even if Christmas wasn’t right around the corner, the weekend was busier than usual and of course, I had to have a head cold on Sunday-which I’m still feeling today. I had two promotions this weekend that have been taking up quite a bit of my time, so the good news is that I’m on a downhill slope for the rest of the year (she says with fingers crossed). While I managed to get out to a couple stores yesterday, I also found time to watch Sunset Boulevard. LOVED IT!! The campiness and overacting = priceless. So, now I’m on the hunt for other movies I’ve always wanted to see but never found the time to watch. After Christmas. When I’m on vacation. And I don’t have to get my home ready for family and friends.
Rob and I had fun last night at the Patio! It was great meeting the “newbies” and seeing the “old stand-bys” again. Plus, anytime we get to see Alex-the bartender-is a good time. We’ve known him for EVER since he’s been a bartender for as long as I can remember. When I was working at Pepperoni’s (now Hoops) I’d go into ZZ Pops before my shift to study and chit-chat. Of course, the fact that he often refers to me as Bridget Bardot doesn’t hurt either. Billy at Peoria Pundit is right though, it’s not quite the same without Alejandro around. I could really use another get-together to get some tips about blogging. I must be brain dead but I have no idea how to post links and other technical do-das. I was looking forward to seeing Pammy and Eyebrows but alas, I was the lone girl blogger at the event. Hopefully next time!
With our good friend Emily (aka Bama) leaving this weekend to return to Birmingham, the week has been filled with “We have to have ______, before I leave.” To be fair, Emily’s moving back south doesn’t mean we’ll only see her sporadically. Since she moved here last year I think she went home at least six-eight times some trips being a month or so long. Anyway, she’s still leaving and that means no Agatucci’s whenever she wants, no small filet from F Scott’s whenever she wants, no small pizza from Firehouse Pizza whenever she wants, no pizza bread from Avanti’s when she wants and certainly no grilled cheese from Sullivan’s whenever she wants.
I think I can answer for Rob in saying he would miss Gebby’s biscuits and gravy, Schooner’s wings, the large ribeye from F Scott’s, the bbq chicken pizza from Firehouse and cheese soup with a 1/2 gondola from Avanti’s.
What would you miss the most?
It’s time to vote for the River City Times Best of 2006, http://www.rctimes.net/ so think about your local favorites when you vote. If I have to read that Taco Bell was voted as best Mexican or Ned Kelly’s as best steakhouse or Pizza Hut as best pizza, I’m going to go ballistic. However, I trust the judgement of the average River City Times reader more so than the ever bland Journal Star people’s choice poll.
Did I hear correctly that the Rivermen are pissed at the city and blaming them for loss of revenue from Friday night’s game? First, the recorded attendance was somewhere around 800 for the game. The number of pre-sold tickets was over 4,000 likely due to the Christian concert that was supposed to follow the game but was indeed cancelled a few days before the snow hit. I believe they’ll make that up again when the concert is re-scheduled. Second, why did they play? Yes, I understand both teams were here but it made no sense. The message being sent to the citizens of Peoria all day Friday was plain and simple: “Don’t Go On the Roads.” It was all over the television as well as the radio. I understood the message. Rob understood the message. Most everyone I spoke with understood the message. Yet, the little news ticker let us know that the Rivermen would be playing Friday night. What did that do? Encourage people to drive on streets that weren’t plowed as well as hinder snow removal efforts. Downtown Peoria wasn’t ready to accomodate people going to an event at the Civic Center. Yet, let’s bring them in anyway and then complain. Sorry-absolutely no sympathy from me. In fact, it irritates me to think they expect it.
Rob and I watched the entire city council meeting Tuesday night. Yes, it was extremely long but I’m sure it was also one of the more viewed meetings in recent history. I completely agree that essential services people should be trying to get to and from their jobs during such a storm. I also understand that by me staying off the road, the road crews had an easier time getting through, plowing and salting. Yes, I use that term loosely because I still don’t think our street has been plowed but that’s not the point. Like I said before, the major message as I understood it on Friday was “Do Not Drive” unless absolutely necessary. Anyone that did so frivolously should have expected the hazzards and helped derail the efforts of the crews. Yes, things need to be changed and new plans implemented but let’s take some responsibilty of our own. The Rivermen management also needs to take some responsibilty as well.
The dogs are in heaven with all the snow. The Labs act like there’s nothing out of the ordinary going on. By Friday morning, they had worn down an entire area by the fence so they could watch Rob shovel and enjoy the sun in comfort and style. The dog room by the way was a warm 65 degrees but they chose to watch the daddy all morning. Sophie had to spend both Friday and Saturday outside with the Labs because I caught her RED-HANDED. She had knocked over the kitchen garbage can and was completely inside it TWICE. No, she didn’t get to put on one of her sweaters either. It obviously didn’t bother her since she did the same thing the next day.
Vito didn’t quite understand all the snow. He put his face down and immediately had a snout full of snow. He started sneezing and sneezing but continued to put his face in the snow. He made it over a few of the mounds and got to a place to “do his business.” He promptly got stuck. He moved back and forth and finally got loose, much to our amusement. The only problem, Chunky’s so wide, there’s no ‘angels’, just holes in the snow. Some people see holes, we see Chunky Angels.
Thursday night really sucked. We had to travel up and down Knoxville a few times and my knuckles were absolutely white from the stress of not being able to see the lines on the road.
Friday morning, Rob got dressed for work and handed me my cell phone which had a message regarding someone ‘being snowed in like the rest of us.’ I made a couple more phone calls and let Rob know that there was no way he was going to make it in to work. Thankfully, he got right to work shoveling and digging the Explorer (which normally sits on the street facing the creek) out. Eventually, he was able to get the vehicle into the driver “just in cast the plows came down.” We’re a bunch of wishful thinkers. Neighbor Dave was able to get out since his truck has the most awesome tires ever. We gave him some cash for necessities, like Bacardi and soda and waited. We saw an ambulance on Forrest Hill almost getting stuck and a huge truck on North being dug out. We watched as one neighbor dug himself out of his driveway and the street at about 8pm. It took him a good two hours and he stacked the snow a good six feet but he made it. Another neighbor returned home from work (and delivering people home from his office) only to get stuck pulling into his driveway. By the time Rob had put on his waders to help, his wife had pushed him out.
Saturday morning, the snow had been packed down well enough in certain areas so we could follow some tracks out onto the main roads. We thought we saw an orange plow stuck at War Memorial and Sheridan but it turned out it had actually collided with a van. We ran to Kroger’s to stock up and get dog food. Because I had heard the ramps were bad, I was nervous about taking Rob to work and coming back home. As we were leaving the house, another good samaritan was trying to help plow our street.We made the decision that I would drop him off, run to the office and then just go hang out at the restaurant until he was off. Just to prove my point, when we were coming down Knoxville (right at 74) a car had slid into the snow bank and had blocked all the traffic. My breaks locked up and we skidded. By some miracle, the Explorer stopped just in time. Several cars behind me were able to go around and get on 74 while I waited to go around the stuck car. Another vehicle had stopped to help and dig that car out. Needless to say, I had no problem drinking coffee and waiting for Rob to get off work. As a side note: The day after a massive storm is notorious for being an insane day/night at a restaurant. Everyone feels cooped up and wants to go out. Saturday was no exception.
Friday night, I heard that only Sullivan’s and Hoops were open in downtown Peoria. I also heard that Whitey’s was open Friday for a short time before they closed. I can’t believe people were actually able to get out of their homes to go out.
I’m still not sure if a city plow ever went down our street. I just want to say thank you to the gentleman who used his own plow Saturday afternoon. Also, with road conditions like they were this weekend and to that extent, now, how about staying off the cell phones? Anyone else notice the abundance of people dialing their phones while crossing intersections that were down to one lane?
