Sunday snicker

June 4, 2023

A man is sleeping next to his wife, when he hears a loud knock on his door.
He rolls over and looks at his clock, and it’s 3 AM.

“I’m not getting out of bed at this time”, he thinks, and rolls over.

Then, a louder knock follows.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” says his wife.

So he drags himself out of bed, and goes downstairs.

He opens the door and there is man standing at the door.

It didn’t take the homeowner long to realize the man was drunk.

“Hi there,” slurs the stranger, “can you give me a push?”

“No, get lost, it’s 3 AM. I was in bed,” says the man and slams the door.

He goes back up to bed and tells his wife what happened and she says, “Dave, that wasn’t very nice of you. Remember that night we broke down in the pouring rain on the way to pick the kids up from the baby-sitter and you had to knock on that man’s house to get us started again? What would have happened if he’d told us to get lost?”

“But the guy was drunk.” says the husband.

“It doesn’t matter.” says the wife.

“He needs our help and it would be the Christian thing to help him.”

So the husband gets out of bed again, gets dressed, and goes downstairs.

He opens the door, and not being able to see the stranger anywhere he shouts, “Hey, do you still want a push?” and he hears a voice cry out “Yeah please.”

So, still being unable to see the stranger he shouts, “Where are you?”

And the stranger replies: “I’m over here, on your swing.”


We can hope

June 3, 2023

Went out and tried to chat with this cat and he wasn’t shy about giving his opinion. He could have been hungry, but he sure didn’t want to hear about the building collapse downtown. I put it down to the heat and went off to find a cat who would listen. Poor Lil’ Bit. She was more receptive to the chat, either that our she liked her getting ears scratched.

In the comment section of the last post Keith brought up a good question about the person who resigned over the misfiling of a building permit. That got my brain firing on all eight cylinders and the first thing that came to mind is that when brought up we’ll probably be told the city can’t comment due to confidentiality, if we’re told anything at all.

My warped brain sees where it could have gone a couple of different ways. Perhaps the person felt so bad after the collapse of the building, blamed themselves and resigned, or someone in the city government wanted to place blame and forced the resignation of the clerk. Either way, I don’t believe that we, the public, we ever know for sure. Enjoy our Saturday.


Ongoing

June 2, 2023

Work continues on the site of the partially collapsed building in our downtown. Wooden braces have been erected on one sagging wall so a recovery effort can be launched. To make things even messier, a light rain has started to fall that may foretell of high winds.

People are asking why it has taken so long to get the recovery effort going, yet nobody has an answer. We have an opinion that since something like this doesn’t happen every day, people weren’t sure how to react. I’m not making excuses, just stating an opinion.

Our city is divided now, and we don’t see things settling down any time soon. We just hope that people will come to their senses and think before they speak as some of the comments we’ve heard have us scratching our heads. The main thing now should be the recovery of any bodies left in the ruble and doing so safely. Enjoy our Friday.


Time flies

June 1, 2023

The roses are in full bloom and spring is gone for another year since word got out that summer was in town. It’s been hot the last few days, but not record breaking hot while the rain is nowhere to be seen. We hope that doesn’t foretell of another drought in the making.

Summer is the time of year that everybody wishes for in January then cusses once it gets here because they didn’t want it so hot. Here at my place, we take what get and happy to be around to enjoy it. Hot and high humidity, bring it on. Cool with the grass turning brown and the trees dropping leaves, fine by us. Torrential rains with thunder and lightning, we’ll go outside and watch. Foot of snow and more on the way, great for snow angels.

The icing on the cake was the tenderloin I cooked up for supper. Its ranks among the top ten list for best I’ve ever had so I’ll pick up a few more when I run errands tomorrow morning and hope for a repeat. Until then, enjoy our Thursday as Friday is only a dream away.


Clarification

May 31, 2023

In yesterday’s post I stated that the city was going to tear down the Davenport, formally known as the Davenport Hotel. While it is true that the process has started, I forgot the government is the one running the show. Let’s hope it stays up long enough to ensure no one is left inside.

The structure was in built in 1907 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building has 83 apartments that 53 people live in, and as of this morning there are 5 people still unaccounted for. Let’s hope those waiting for answers get them soon. Since this has made the national news, you probably know as much as we do.

This event took me down memory lane to another disaster when on May, 23, 1975, the Robin Hood Flour Mill exploded and left 4 dead and 5 injured. I was working there at the time but had decided to take a sick day and drink. It was an eye opener for me and some of the best luck, and worst memories I ever had. Enjoy our Wednesday.


Getting crazier

May 30, 2023

The picture of the partially collapsed apartment building here in Davenport is from KWQC TV-6. This collapse is the talk of the town here on the east coast of Iowa with different views being shared. In a news briefing it was said the city wants to start tearing it down tomorrow with no mention of going through the rubble for bodies.

First responders have gotten 7 people out of the building by various means with one hospitalized. The crowd growing outside the fencing have many who say they have loved ones still missing. Power and water have been shut off due to a heavy smell of gas when first responders showed up. The latest I heard is the Mayor saying there will be a press conference at 10 am tomorrow morning.

The missing people have me concerned as they have to be somewhere. All things considered, we’re lucky the building only partially collapsed and am sure the people who were living there don’t feel the same way. The businesses on the first floor won’t have much time to get anything out of their businesses if the city wants to tear it down later today. My condolences to all affected by this disaster. Enjoy our Tuesday as we figure things out.


Remember

May 29, 2023

Today is Memorial Day when we honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to keep us free. We’ve also heard that at 1500 hours this afternoon one could hear ‘Taps Across America’ if you live in certain areas. We do, with an arsenal less than a mile away. So, at 3 pm, please give a listen if you normally hear buglers and if not, observe a moment of silence in remembrance.

Yesterday, here in Davenport, Iowa, we had part of 6 story apartment building collapse in our downtown and rescue efforts are continuing. It is believed that there are people trapped in the collapsed part of the building. Parts of downtown are blocked off until things get farther along. The entire building may have to come down.

And until yesterday, I didn’t realize so many people went grocery shopping on Sunday. It could have been busier due to Memorial Day and people stopped for last minute supplies, or it could have been a usual Sunday. I wouldn’t have been there either if I hadn’t forgot I was low on cat food. After I saw what the 30-pound bag rung up at I thought a smaller bag would have worked. Enjoy our Memorial Day Monday!


Sunday snicker

May 28, 2023

In my Sunday school class the focus was marriage or divorce, “The rapidly increasing divorce rate,” remarked one member of the group, “indicates that America is indeed becoming the land of the free.”

“Yes,” replied the prosaic friend, “but the continued marriage rate suggests that America is still the home of the brave.”


Reboot

May 27, 2023

I just figured out what has to be done to save our country. Our politicians are either crazy or convinced they’re right, our president can’t tell the truth to save his soul, and both parties are proving you can get elected as a juvenile. What does all that mean to the average person on the street?

It means it is time we pull the plug on Washington, D.C., leave it for a while, then plug it back in and see if it reboots! That might sound like grasping at straws, but we’ve tried a lot of things that haven’t worked before. Or perhaps we should just turn out all lights and see if anyone there is smart enough to flip the switch and turn them back on.

Could be it’s always been this way and I just never noticed, but it is getting old. I do know we have the ineptest president that I can recall in my lifetime. Add to that some in Congress who seem like they don’t even know where they are most days and things look crazy to those of us with common sense. How can these people pass bills that make sense when they don’t. Time for a reboot. Enjoy our Saturday.


Sometimes…

May 26, 2023

There are so many stories out there that it’s hard to choose which one to go with. We finally settled on the Ford debacle over AM radio. You may remember when Ford announced that starting in 2024 the company would no longer include AM radios in their vehicles. That news caused an uproar which caused Ford to make another announcement. Now the company is saying that AM radio will be in the 2024 models.

We wonder about what they’re not saying. For instance, they’re not saying anything about 2025 and beyond. You may remember the Big 3 phasing out cars in favor of SUVs, crossovers, and pickup trucks for example. Well, I happen to like cars and would like to see them continue. And I don’t mean the clown sized cars that you have to fold yourself in two in order to get into them.

Electric cars may be the politicians dream solution to the imagined climate change even as they find out there are more problems than solutions. Not the smallest of problems is range. It is not an incentive for me to buy one when you realize that I couldn’t make it across Iowa, going west, without a recharge. With my gas-powered Ford car, I can make to middle Nebraska before looking for a gas station. My how things have changed. Enjoy our Friday.