City of Peoria: Idiots Part II

In case you thought that I was being too harsh in my previous post, here is the truck that was slapped with an “inoperable” tag with a threat that they would come on MY DRIVEWAY and two it:

Again: notice that they had to come into my driveway and get between the garage door and the bumper to see that the sticker had elapsed (yes, I shouldn’t have let it elapse, and I got a new sticker TODAY). The point is that they couldn’t have been drawn to the truck due to an elapsed sticker.

But why would they find it worthwhile to come on my driveway to check?

Does this truck look like a damaged or inoperable truck to you?????

Is there a “you must use your car x amount of times per week/month/year” rule?
Oh yes, I used it to take our bikes out to the path this past Monday and made the “mistake” of parking it back in the same place.

Idiots.

Here is the letter I wrote to my city council representative:

Dear Ms. Van Auken,

I have a truck which is parked in my driveway. It is a 1996 and is in reasonably good shape (it isn’t on blocks, isn’t leaking oil, the windshield and body are fine, it isn’t dirty, etc.)

I did let my registration lapse (took care of that mistake today); the sticker was “3-08″ (March, 2008)

Anyway, some city inspector went into my driveway and slapped a green “get rid of your inoperable vehicle” sticker on my windshield and left a notice at my mail box (checked “get rid of the inoperable vehicle or put your elapsed registration sticker vehicle in the garage).

When this happened, the truck was in my driveway with its rear almost against the garage door. The plate wasn’t visible to anyone who didn’t walk in the 1 foot space between the door and the bumper.

Is it the city inspector’s job to walk into people’s driveways and snoop on them?

Don’t get me wrong: if a police officer had stopped me while I was driving and given me a ticket: shame on me. Yes, it would have cost me more money, but that isn’t the point. The point is that I wonder if the city has so little to do that it sends inspectors into people’s driveways to check out the cars.

I’ve enclosed two photos of the truck exactly as it was when the inspectors issued the “violation notice”.

As you can see, it (the truck) is no junker; in fact I used it this weekend!

Regards

Ollie Nanyes

Two Comments

FISA: Clinton and Obama got it right on the FISA votes today.

Symbolism North Carolina man quits his job rather than lower the flag to half mast for Jesse Helms.

Governor Mike Easley ordered all flags lowered to half staff to mourn Jesse Helms, but L.F. Eason III (a state employee) instructed his employees to keep the flags flying at full. His reason?:

“Regardless of any executive proclamation, I do not want the flags at the North Carolina Standards Laboratory flown at half staff to honor Jesse Helms any time this week,” Eason wrote just after midnight, according to e-mail messages released in response to a public records request.

He told his staff that he did not think it was appropriate to honor Helms because of his “doctrine of negativity, hate, and prejudice” and his opposition to civil rights bills and the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

This decision got Eason in trouble with his superiors who ordered the flags to be flown at half staff. Rather than fly them at half staff, Eason quit his job.

All I can say is good for him for standing up for his own convictions on this one. Yesterday, they blocked traffic and closed our major highways in the “name” of an unapologetic segregationist.

Here is his Eason’s e-mail message:

From: LF Eason

Subject: RE: Flags at the lab this week are either to be at full staff or not flown

Steve, Howard, David, Commissioner Troxler, Governor Easley

I made a decision to refuse to lower our flags at the NC Standards Laboratory to half mast in honor of Jesse Helms as soon as I heard of his death. I cannot in good conscience honor such a man who fought so hard against Civil and Human Rights throughout his life. Even to his death bed, he refused to apologize for the damage he caused. Now, I stand by this decision. It is a personal decision, but obviously affects my job at the lab. It has been over ruled by Division and Departmental Management and as I look out my window, I’m ashamed to see the flags lowered.

Honestly, I was hoping for rain. Yes, it would have been an evasion of principles, but I would not have had to make this decision and could have still enjoyed the rich future ahead of the NC Standards Laboratory. Thanks to legislative and management support, we have many opportunities to move even further ahead in our ability to serve the citizens of the State of North Carolina and the United States. I was really anxious to see the new robotics and plan a new laboratory in the wake of area development. Hopefully, I will at least be allowed to visit after installation of the CCR-10-1000. I is exciting to know this will be the second unit in production, the first in the US and the first robotic comparator in the NIST State Laboratory Program.

I also understand that my decision is not acceptable. You cannot ignore that fact. There is the law, but there is also a higher law I must follow as a matter of conscience. Fortunately I also have (when including accumulated sick leave and vacation leave) the luxury of having enough years of service to be eligible for retirement, thus limiting the impact my decision will have on my family. Therefore, I request this option of being allowed to retire, effective today July 7, 2008. I do appreciate the option of retirement remaining available to me. Please let me know what I need to do to complete the process.

I have had a really wonderful career both in Motor Fuels and the Standards Laboratory. It has been a real thrill to ride the wave of support provided by David and Steve over these 29.5 years as we moved the laboratory from a facility that was a totally inadequate façade to a State of the Art facility. It continues to be one of the premiere metrology laboratories in the NIST State Laboratory Program and National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program. I hope you will choose my replacement wisely so that history of service can continue. And again, I will miss being a participant in the future of the laboratory.

I detest the City of Peoria (the State is ok)

Ironically, I was thinking about our house: I bought it for the modest sum of $57,000 back in 1991.

The taxes have been constantly jacked up (via increasing the assessed value); in 2000 they were 2,287 per year. They were hiked to 2728 in 2003 and now to 3501 this year.

So, what am I getting for these taxes?

Well, my tax dollars are, in part, going to pay the salary of some moron that the city sends around to snoop on people.

My “crime”? Ok, I did forget to renew my registration on a truck that I seldom use. Yes, it runs, (used it this weekend) and had a police officer stopped me and given me a ticket: shame on me.

But no.

The city’s moron came by our house, went to our driveway, and slapped a “get rid of your inoperable vehicle” sticker on our windshield and left a “notice from the city of Peoria” on our mailbox.

No, the truck isn’t up on blocks; it still looks reasonably good; it is just that I parked it at roughly the same spot where I left it.

The city moron had to go around and walk between the truck and the garage door to check for the expiration date.

I am sick of this clown-run city.

I call a real estate agent this week.

Update: the folks at the registration place had me in and out in less than 5 minutes. Kudos to them!

Back to Politics and Current Events

I just like this photo.

Of course I am blogging too much, so no more for the day. I promise.

I am listening to Cold Shot as I type this; I was struck by the segment on gangs in the military.

Human Interest/Sports: I found this story (about a racewalker who came back from a brain injury to walk the Olympic Trials 20K) to be very inspiring.

Humans and Politics: partisanship can blind people to the facts; this works across the ideological spectrum.

Iraq: we’ve heard that the “surge has worked and violence has dropped.” Is this true? Sort of; violence has come down from its recent peak, but it is at 2004 levels.

(larger)

Obama: The flip-flop charge is exaggerated.

Senator Obama has faced a wave of complaints from his followers in recent weeks that he is tacking hard toward the political center, and moving away from his liberal base. His critics note that he recently applauded a Supreme Court ruling knocking down a Washington, D.C. ban on handguns, supported a proposed wiretap law that he once promised to oppose and spoke in favor of the death penalty for child rapists. He also has endorsed a role for religious organizations in government that critics, not least many who support him, fear would blur the line between church and state.

So when a Republican who said he planned to vote for Mr. Obama asked about the candidate about his views on Iraq, he took the occasion to expound more broadly on his political philosophy.

“I believe in a whole lot of things that make me progressive and put me squarely in the Democratic camp,” he said. But, he noted, he does not believe that the active hand of government is a replacement, say, for parental responsibility in education.

“I believe in personal responsibility, I also believe in faith,” he said. “That’s not something new; I’ve been talking about that for years. So the notion that this is me trying to look” – he waves his hands around his head – “centrist is not true.”

Mr. Obama, in fact, has written and spoken in favor of a role for religious institutions in the provision of social services, and in his book “The Audacity of Hope” he appeared to endorse the death penalty for child rapists.

As for gun control, Obama said he long has believed that the Second Amendment protects the individual right to bear arms. “That doesn’t mean that I don’t think we need decent controls” on guns, he said. “Those two positions are not contradictory.”

Hat tip to the Jed Report.

Social: those who lose their jobs are usually NOT eligible for unemployment benefits!

The great American jobs machine is grinding to a halt. In response, Congress has just extended unemployment benefits 13 additional weeks, over and above the 26 weeks normally provided. That’s good as far as it goes.

But most people who lose their job these days don’t qualify for any unemployment benefits at all.

How can this be? Simple. In order to be eligible, most states require you to have been working in the job you lost full time, and for a certain number of years.

These requirements made sense decades ago when labor markets were far more stable – when most working people stayed in the same full-time job for years, and only lost it temporarily during the downdraft of a recession, picking it up again when the economy rebounded. And back then, one full-time breadwinner could keep a family whole. In those days, unemployment insurance counter-balanced recessions by keeping money in the pockets of working families.

But nothing is stable about today’s labor market. Every time the economy sinks, employers fire workers permanently. Even when the economy is doing fine, pink slips proliferate — although under these circumstances it’s easier to find a new job. All of which means a growing fraction of the labor force is in a job only a few years.

Meanwhile, full-time jobs are vanishing. More companies are contracting out their work. As a result, more people are doing several part-time jobs, or are self employed. They’re also more likely to be part of a couple whose family depends on two sets of paychecks.

So when times get tough, as they are now — and people lose a job after having it for only a few years or lose their part-time job or lose their client, or one member of a couple loses earnings — a family can be in real trouble. And there are no unemployment benefits, not even partial benefits based on the proportional loss of income from a part-time job, to help them. Or to help counter-balance the economy as a whole.

I can see this; frankly some bills are making things slightly uncomfortable for me (yes, credit cards have zero balance, but it is tougher to do at times), but I can’t imagine what it is like for someone who doesn’t have a spouse with a good job and who doesn’t have steady employment themselves.

Property taxes have doubled over the past 10 years (not the rate; when the county wants more money they merely jack up your assesment). A routine doctor’s physical set me back 600 dollars, AFTER INSURANCE. Again, I have a job and places where I can cut back. But not every one has that luxury; in fact, many don’t.

Science and Religion

One of the problems with the public’s understanding of evolution? We need better science education. That was true for me; when evolution was introduced, the teacher just said that “life evolved”; no mechanism was given for it. When I heard about “natural selection” and “mutation”, it was if the scales had fallen from my eyes.

Science Humor: Sandwalk makes fun of some idiotic creationist criticism.

Religion: You’ve heard that western religions (e. g., Christianity) don’t have people that make vile threats over stupid stuff. Think again:

Here’s a story that will destroy your hopes for a reasonable humanity.

Webster Cook says he smuggled a Eucharist, a small bread wafer that to Catholics symbolic of the Body of Christ after a priest blesses it, out of mass, didn’t eat it as he was supposed to do, but instead walked with it.

This isn’t the stupid part yet. He walked off with a cracker that was put in his mouth, and people in the church fought with him to get it back. It is just a cracker!

Catholics worldwide became furious.

Would you believe this isn’t hyperbole? People around the world are actually extremely angry about this — Webster Cook has been sent death threats over his cracker. Those are just kooks, you might say, but here is the considered, measured response of the local diocese:

“We don’t know 100% what Mr. Cooks motivation was,” said Susan Fani a spokesperson with the local Catholic diocese. “However, if anything were to qualify as a hate crime, to us this seems like this might be it.”

We just expect the University to take this seriously,” she added “To send a message to not just Mr. Cook but the whole community that this kind of really complete sacrilege will not be tolerated.”

Wait, what? Holding a cracker hostage is now a hate crime? The murder of Matthew Shephard was a hate crime. The murder of James Byrd Jr. was a hate crime. This is a goddamned cracker. Can you possibly diminish the abuse of real human beings any further?

Well, you could have a priest compare this event to a kidnapping.

“It is hurtful,” said Father Migeul Gonzalez with the Diocese. “Imagine if they kidnapped somebody and you make a plea for that individual to please return that loved one to the family.”

Gonzalez said the Diocese is willing to meet with Cook and help him understand the importance of the Eucharist in hopes of him returning it. The Diocese is dispatching a nun to UCF’s campus to oversee the next mass, protect the Eucharist and in hopes Cook will return it.

And of course, Bill Donohue is outraged (I know, Donohue is going to die of apoplexy someday when a gnat violates his oatmeal, so this isn’t saying much).

For a student to disrupt Mass by taking the Body of Christ hostage–regardless of the alleged nature of his grievance–is beyond hate speech. That is why the UCF administration needs to act swiftly and decisively in seeing that justice is done. All options should be on the table, including expulsion.

Oh, beyond hate speech. Where does this fit on the Shoah scale, Bill? It shouldn’t even register, but here is Wild-Eyed Bill the Offended calling for the expulsion of a student…for not swallowing a cracker.

Would you believe that the mealy-mouthed president of the university, John Hitt, is avoiding defending his student is instead playing up the importance of the Catholic church to the university? Of course you would. That’s what university presidents do. Bugger the students, keep the donors and the state reps happy.

Unfortunately, Webster Cook has now returned the cracker. Why?

Webster just wants all of this to go away. Especially now that he feels his life is in danger.

That’s right. Crazy Christian fanatics right here in our own country have been threatening to kill a young man over a cracker. This is insane. These people are demented fuckwits. And Cook is not out of the fire yet — that Fox News story ends with an open incitement to cause him further misery.

The story came from Fox News. The student is at the University of Central Florida. Yes, when I lived in Orlando, I was still a Catholic and I sometimes went to church in the University area.

Have times changed for me.

Staring at my Navel: where I am in terms of sports

Don’t worry: there will be no politics or social agenda commentaries in this post.

Workout notes
Running: 1 mile walk warmup, 2 miles of jog 200, walk 200, 2 mile “run” (10:18, 8:59 in lane 3), 1 mile cool down.

Weights: 2 sets of leg presses, 1 set of curls, extensions, abductors, hip flexors.

Swimming 2200 yards; 20 x 50 on the 1, 10 x (25 drill, 25 swim) fins, 10 x 50 (alt paddle, free), 200 yards of “strokes” (alternating butterfly and back).

Daughter: I am enjoying out time together. Exercise wise, I try to get her to do a little something every day. We’ve been on an 8 mile ride, 2 mile hike, 500 yard swim and a yoga class.

She isn’t into organized sports though she loves music.

My “sports state”: here is a bit of background detailing where I am and how I got here.

As a young adult I dabbled in distance running, swimming and in weights. My top marks were 310 for the bench press, 425 for the dead lift, 3:33 for the marathon (Maryland, 1980), and 39:50 for the 10K (Azalea 10K in March, 1982).

This was me toward the end of my only sub 40 minute 10K.

By 1992, I was morbidly obese; I weighed 320 pounds. It took me 36 minutes to walk 2 miles. I also lifted weights and could still bench about 300, but I couldn’t do a single pull-up. Still I lifted and walked.

By 1994 I had worked up to jogging 2 miles and my weight had dropped to 250. Still, it took me about 24 minutes to jog 2 miles.

In 1995 I had dropped to 220 and was lifting weights in an effort to be able to run again. My time for 2 miles had dropped to about 20 minutes.

In 1996, I reached my current size (185-195). My first “post morbid obesity race” was a 5K which I ran in 23:15. I was in tears when I finished (and not because my time sucked). I worked down to a 6:20 mile and a 21:45 5K prior to the end of the year.

In 1997, I recovered from Achilles tendonitis and worked myself down to a 42:30 10K, 20:03 5K, 5:53 mile and a 1:41 half marathon. I added swimming.

In 1998, I got down to 41:27 for the 10K, 19:53 for the 5K, 5:41 for the 1600 and 1:39 for the half marathon. My marathon (3:46) was a flop.

In 1999, I recovered from Achilles tendonitis (again), and I ended up with a stress fracture. In between, I managed a 20:50 5K, a 1:34 half marathon and 3:45 for the marathon. I also made progress in swimming reaching 15:37 for the 1000 yard.

In 2000, I started off with a 1:35 half marathon and had a 3:38 marathon; I didn’t do much else in between.

I entered some swim meets and managed a 15:59 1000.

In 2001 I ran a 3:40 marathon at Lake Geneva, a 20:48 5K and a 1:37 half marathon. That was my last good year of running. I also swam a 1:43 open water 5K.

In 2002 I got yet another achilles injury; since I had signed up for a local 5K I showed up and walked it. I noticed that my time (30:50) was a bit quick; I looked up racewalking on the internet and found out that I was walking with a bent knee; hence I was “creeping”.

So I decided to see how fast I could walk “legally”. I added walking to my regimen and tried to see how good I could get.

Times for that year: 1:06 for my first judged racewalk (10K), 30:41 for a judged 5K (two red cards!)
4:44 for the marathon (sloppy knees), a 3:57 running marathon (beginning of the year; I recovered from the flu) and 4:04 (after taking a month off for shinsplints; I had 18 training miles for this marathon, total!)

this is from my first judged 10K.

Here is my last 5K run at under a 7 minute per mile pace (21:38)

I also finished my first ultra (50K walk with sloppy knees; 6:22)

In 2003, I got better at racewalking; I got a 8:31 1500 meter, 2:27 for a judged 20K and 30:42 (slippery course) for a judged 5K. I powerwalked a half marathon in 2:17 and finished three trail 50k s and some road marathons.

In 2004, I finished my first 100 miles (101 miles in 24 hours) walking the entire time. I then tried to do it an a couple of official centurion walks but failed (88 miles, 81 miles). I saw two DQs at judged races (50K in January, 5K in September) and one official finish (18:03 for 3000 meters).
I had an unjudged 50K in 6:20:02.

Me at mile 100.

In 2005, I finished a trail 100 miler in 34:16 (McNaughton) and a groomed trail 100 in 29:34 (Leanhorse). I did little else (6:29 50K) and failed at another centurion attempt. I did run a few races (barely sub 50 10K, 23:05 5K).

I also struggled to a slow, slow finish at the Steamboat 15K (1:23).

In 2006, I started off with a nagging piriformis tingle; it was to get worse. I started off with another centurion failure, a DNF at the McNaughton 100, a trail 50K (Ice Age) and 83 miles at the FANS 24 hour. Then I had to quit a few weeks later and focused on cycling (stupid; it irritated the piriformis) and swimming.

I did finish a century ride and an open water 5k (2:02) at Big Shoulders. I did keep trying to run again and it never worked out.

Finally, in 2007 I started off by swimming a 1:36 5500 yard in the pool (5 K) and, after resuming walking by pacing at the McNaughton trail races, I attempted a 24 hour walk and got 66 miles.

Things only got worse; I did have a 31 minute 5K walk (unjudged) but I ended up with:

34 miles at the 12 hour, DNF at mile 23 at the Quad Cities marathon, 9:25 for 33 miles at Farmdale and 58 miles for the Ultracentric 24 hour.

2008: training finally started to get better, though in February I got put down for several weeks by a nasty flu, and then another week by a cold. Hence my recent long distance results :”sort of DNF” for a muddy 50 mile trail race (finished the next day), dropping out at 12 hours (45 miles) in a 12 hour race, almost DNF at a hot weather marathon (6:16).

What’s the problem: over all, my body is weak, and I haven’t done any “intensity training” to speak of since 2006.

Solution: build back up slowly; this is what I am attempting to do. My running: disaster; my legs are too weak and my body weight is too high for me to get “lift” off of the ground.

I’ll probably easy walk the Quad Cities marathon in September and the Chicago 50K in November. Otherwise, I’ll focus on a general fitness program. My goals to work up to:

1. Be able to run 10 miles in 90 minutes and do it easily.
2. Two weight sessions per week.
3. 3-4 swims per week;
4. 3-4 runs per week, working up to a minimum of three 5 mile runs per week and one 8 miler.
5. Get one 20 mile walk per week and one high intensity walk per week, along with recovery walks.
6. 3 yoga classes per week.

Where I am:
1. 3 yoga classes. Check.
2. Walking: current long walk is 12 miles but I should boost that this week. Intensity is also ok.
3. 3 runs per week; right now I can handle a 3 mile run at almost goal pace.
4. 1 weight workout; I need to build up when I am ready.
5. 2-3 swims per week; I did get up to one 3000 yard workout.
6. Weight: too high at the moment. I’d like to be 10 pounds lighter.

What I can expect: if one goes by my best ever athletic accomplishment (using this calculator)
I should be able to hit the following goals if I train for them:

runs: 21:33 5K, 45:10 10K, 3:53 marathon
walks: judged racewalk 5K: 32:00
power walks: 5K 29:40, marathon: 4:57, 50K: 6:31

I got these by age adjusting my all time best at these events.