Robert Pence

Beautiful!

I'll second that! They're nothing but nasty, aggressive, flying poop machines. They crap all over everything, and their poop can be host to disease-causing organisms. During nesting season they attack anyone who encroaches on what they consider to be their turf. They stake areas along our Rivergreenway, cover the path with poop, and chase walkers, skaters, and bicyclists.

Some outstanding historic buildings, well-kept city. Thanks for the photos.

Nooooo! I read this sentence out loud, and now my ears are bleeding! That brings up another pet peeve. Some people can't more than three words without throwing in the phrase "you know." Example: "I went you know, outside to you know, get my mail, and you know, I saw you know, my neighbor." I'm not making this up. I really feel like responding with something like "No, I really don't know. That's why you're telling me!" "Y'know" annoys me. Even on NPR, some guests who should know better (writers, journalists) intersperse their speech heavily with it. As much as I prefer NPR over any commercial FM station, when a guest or host starts spewing y'knows, I punch the "off" button. I'd rather listen to road noise while driving, than put up with an inarticulate speaker. Lately I'm hearing "y'know" less, though. I think "ummm..." has begun to take its place. Even some NPR hosts have begun to use it. It's a stupid hipster affectation, and it ought to be legal to slap people in public for using it. People who use it while speaking on broadcast media should be made to choose between remedial public speaking class and public bare-butt caning.

I think it's even worse when people type out sentences beginning with "Ummm..." I've seen it commonly used in message boards, blog comments, facebook messages, etc. If anyone ever does that on UO, I hope the admins will give them one warning and then ban them forever on a second offense! Ummm... I think you're overreacting. Ummm..., like, y'know, I don't think so, y'knowwhatImean?

I think it's even worse when people type out sentences beginning with "Ummm..." I've seen it commonly used in message boards, blog comments, facebook messages, etc. If anyone ever does that on UO, I hope the admins will give them one warning and then ban them forever on a second offense!

I run into that at Walgreen's, too. I went in to pick up a prescription the day before Christmas, and the place was packed with people doing frenzied last-minute shopping for cheap gifts and gift wrap. I can understand why the old ladies with granny carts buy their groceries there; they don't drive and don't need a lot, and it's the closest store to where they live. Even though they're slow and sometimes a little confused, I don't mind them. They're doing their best to get by, and making it on their own. The ones who back things up and cause congestion almost always use cars. Kroger is just four blocks away.

2009 does not end a decade, and 2010 does not begin one. Only technical geeks begin enumerating things with zero. 2010 will be the last year of this decade, and 2011 will be the first year of the next one.

People who begin every sentence and phrase with "Ummm." I want to slap them and shout, " 'Ummm' is not a word! STFU until you figure out what you want to say, and then spit it out!"

Hoosier state is on track for high-speed rail service Randy Wade Last summer, the Associated Press reported an anecdote about Baudilio Tejerina, a native of Spain who works for Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Tejerina takes the Amtrak train to Lafayette regularly to work with faculty at Purdue. He said it would be “fantastic” to see the rail line upgraded to higher speed service. [more ... ]

I know the feeling. Although mine was stolen two years ago (13 years old and worn out, hoping to get one more winter out of it - thief got what he deserved) I dealt with that whenever I got careless about putting it away the previous spring. If I took the time to drain the gas and empty the carburetor bowl when putting it away, and then started the new season with fresh gas, it always would start on the first or second pull. If I didn't drain it in the spring, I'd end up draining it and flushing it in the driveway in freezing weather, not a pleasant task.

Sad. One fire, and it could spread and this town could cease to exist.

Neat way to celebrate the new year. In this cold weather, the soup sounds like a great idea.

Not first hand I hope! Of course. I personally dug those two-hundred-foot holes with a shovel, a bucket, and a ladder. It took all week. :wink: Seriously, there are a couple of good sources, The Nickel Plate Story by John Rehor, and a reprint of an extensive and detailed article from Railway Age magazine from the time of the station's dedication.

^Beautiful shot!

"Old" is a relative term. Heck, from where I look at things, MTS is practically a whippersnapper! :wink:

Lake-effect snow is a whole order of magnitude worse than what we get around here. The only time I got stuck with the S-10 was on US 20 between Michigan City and South Bend, when there was virtually nothing else on the road. I buried that sucker good, and it took almost an hour to dig it out. That was the same snowstorm that took out the catenary and shut down the South Shore for about two days. Michigan City was completely without power, and I found a motel where they gave me an extra blanket and loaned me a flashlight - and charged me full rate.

Dang! That's what I been tryin' to tell folks for nigh on forty years, and nobody would listen. Them innerstates ain't nothin' but a tax-an'-spend pork-barrel boondoggle! :whip:

I drove a 1991 S-10 from 1991-2003. Four-cylinder, five-speed manual, 28/33mpg. I got past the slip-and-slide problem by simply putting eight cinderblocks in the bed, right up at the front, every winter. With that extra weight and a good set of tires I'd buzz right along when everyone else was sliding around and getting stuck. Of all the vehicles I've owned since 1957, I think it was the best.

Looks interesting; I like the streetcars.

The structural aspects of the tower are impressive even now, and in 1928 they were unprecedented. Let me see if I can dredge up a little bit from memory; The area where the tower now stands was low-quality commercial at the time, unsuited for significant development because it was old river-delta sediment that would not support the weight of a substantial structure. The builders got around that problem by sinking two hundred concrete caissons two hundred feet deep to reach bedrock. Some of the caissons are ten feet in diameter. The tower cost $88 million in 1928 dollars. The excavation for the track approaches was the second-largest amount of earth moved in history up to that point, exceeded only by the digging of the Panama Canal.

The observation deck (former Chessie System boardroom, if I remember correctly) was open weekends when I visited in 1985; I took some photos from there. They're about a third of the way down in this set.

It's easy to find; it's the place with the apostrophe-s error in the expensive neon:

Warsaw, Indiana made a major effort and investment to get an Amtrak stop there, and didn't get to enjoy the benefits for very many years before the trains were re-routed via South Bend/Elkhart. Warsaw is a major center for research and production of orthopedic and prosthetic devices, possibly the largest concentration of such activity in the world. The leaders in that industry are putting together a coalition and lobbying hard to get their city included as a stop on the hoped-for passenger rail service; they make a good case for the economic development benefits that passenger trains can bring. Another sidelight to Warsaw; the adjacent community of Winona Lake was home to evangelist Billy Sunday in the era of tents with sawdust floors. The tradition has carried over in Grace College and there's been considerable restoration and preservation activity in Winona Lake in recent years, with the creation of a colony of galleries and arts-related events and celebrations. It's an attractive, enjoyable place for a summer-afternoon visit, and I can see how passenger train service might be a valuable adjunct to growing that area as a regional destination. But Warsaw, Poland, sounds like a good idea, too. Have an enjoyable trip. :-)

Here's Geoff Paddock's letter to the editor, printed in this morning's Journal Gazette, regarding the rally: Attend rally to get passenger trains The Northeast Indiana Passenger Rail Association is sponsoring another Rally for Rail at 2 p.m. Jan. 16 at the Baker Street Station. Many local, state and federal officials have been invited to attend, and we expect a large crowd to again step forward and voice support for the return of passenger rail service to Fort Wayne. (more at http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091227/EDIT09/312279972) Geoff is a board member of Northeast Indiana Passenger Rail Association