Menace in the Park

Years have gone by and friends come and go, but in Washington Park some friends never leave. Like the person who never picks up after their dog which always seems to poop by the old Band Shell.

Local taxes pay for the extra bags and waste handling, and guess what, the people who don't tend to their pets leavings still pay for the services whether they use them or not.

If you're going to pay for it, you might as well use it or complain at the next city council meeting.

Another menace awaits underfoot everywhere. Some will be waiting under the snow for you to step on and roll you off your feet. The price we pay for the rich fall colors of the American Sweetgum tree.

These damn things can be deadly if not cleared from the sidewalks.

I know someone who fell and hit her hand so hard on the concrete that it took two years for her mobility to return to normal, and she plays a lot of tennis, even at age eighty one.

The park can be lovely when you have time to actually look up from watching every step you take, on the grass and the pavement.

I've been getting neck pains lately and I figured out it's from walks in the park.

The Prodigal Son Returns

West Washington State was good for a while, but in mid 2015 the cost of housing, utilities, food, and other staples nearly doubled while wages stagnated.

The city of Seattle is in the process of raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, but if the federal minimum wage was pegged to inflation from the mid-1960's it would be well over $20 per hour by now.

Things are just getting too expensive out here. Luckily I have a family that loves and mostly tolerates me back in the midwest so I'm coming home.

I'm going to dust off this old blog and start catching up on what's going on around Springfield, Illinois.

• I wonder what the gangs are like?
• What do the people west of MacArthur call the people east of MacArthur?
• I wonder if the class line has moved from MacArthur to Old Chatham Road? I know it moved from 5th Street to MacArthur when they built Veterans Parkway, it made a nice socioeconomic barrier. Maybe it happened when they developed Falling Brook
• Will anyone send me leaked dirt on local and state politics? Did someone  already start a blog called Springy Leaks? The reports must be worded in such as way that the sources are not exposed.and the subjects are not specifically identified.
• Could I get a regular full time job as a media analyst in Springfield?

I'm preparing to sell all of my stuff here as I prepare to move home so it will take a while, but I'm coming home.