Yes, I am still alive!

Much has happened since my last post. The city bought me out (and I screwed them good, heh) and I "Retired" to  Detroit. Yes, I am certifiably insane.

I wrote a book,,,"65"... and I keep adding to it...will it ever be done? I'm not going to change the name of this blog, because I still have some loose ends to wrap up on Waukesha and that part of my life in general. I just have to tread very, very gently.  Good people could still be hurt.

I have chosen to suspend my pursuit of a lovelife. It just aint worth the time, effort and heart ache. I have other things to occupy my time these days. Like staying alive.

I am 67, but in my 68th year so that's what I tell people... I am in my 68th year. My 50th High School Reunion approacheth.  Will I attend? maybe, nothing I'm hiding from, I did good. Am I fatter, grayer, more wrinkled than I was in 1965? well, yeah... but so is everyone else... the ones that are still alive, at least. I have had a good life, a remarkable life. I did good. I am satisfied. No regrets. None. It's all part of the tapestry of life. A few knots in the thread here and there, but still pretty awesome.

Someone has been reading this blog.. I have to wonder who. Well, enjoy. Dig for dirt, but I promise you, you won't have to dig too hard because I'm pretty "out there" with my sins... If you must sin, sin boldly; might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb.

heh,

Flooding....AGAIN

June 19th... about a year later, only now they are calling it a 10 Year Flood.
Biggest problem is that the woodburner's stashes are floating on my property and I have little expectation of having it reclaimed. I have written both the mayor (Hi, Larry!) and the city "complaint dept" on their website. I actually do NOT expect to receive an answer... so, I guess I'll have to do what every 21st century grandma does... I have a webcam and I know how to use it.

Maybe I can get their attention that way. calls, letters face-to-face contact doesn't seem to work, so I will try the Big Crayon of technology...

I will have plenty to keep me busy, because in case you don't know this, floodwater stinks after a few hours of 80 degree heat...I have a basementful and two garages to clean, to say nothing of the yard debris.

Tired, and will be tireder. I will have NO help or assistance. I can ask, but they will make themselves scarce. Is ok. I'm used to the abuse.

Why I gave up drinking...the water.

I know I've whined about the radium in our water supply before...heck, I'm the one that called the DNR and had Well #12 shut down because of the proximity of the waste dumps...if you can't build the DMV on the same site because of the ground water contamination from the Superfund Dump Sites, you shouldn't be pumping the water into our taps either...

They put a flier in with our water bill telling us that the radium exceeds federal standards, like that protects us or something...PFM...ask me what it means if you don't know. Is it a hazard? I dunno. But I, my daughter, a cat and a dog all had thyroid woes...hmmmm...and some cancers that I can track.

The Mayor wants to pump water in from Lake Michigan. He's a nice guy, but he should get out more: after a heavy rain you can see big brown slicks of human waste floating in huge patches inside the breakwater with scattered "silver fish" floating..."silver fish" being a euphemism for used condoms...

so, being bored, I wrote a semi-literate letter in my best waukesha-ese and sent it to the Waukesha Water Utility. This should be fun. It follows:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/pharmawater_i;_ylt=AsnBJRQHcynChtmPnPhlSRes0NUE
Does Waukesha check for pharmaceuticals in its drinking water? We have a lot of old people and people on antidepressants in this area

and what about radioactivity (not radium)? Recently I had I-131 for thyroid cancer and because they no longer keep us "hot" people in isolation in the hospital, we flush our wastes into the city sewer. Do you monitor this? We're supposed to stay in isolation but you know people, the rules are for the other guy.

and the water still tastes TERRIBLE. and it smells like chemicals, not chlorine. I hate showering in it, and forget making coffee ...ugh. "Blended water", indeed. Blended with what is what I'd like to know.

They're really not going to allow "green burials" at Prairie Home Cemetery, are they? Because if I can't plant my dead pets in my backyard because of possible ground water contamination, I cannot imagine untreated human remains in the ground could be much better. Grandma is a little bigger than a canary. That is a municipal cemetery inside city limits near industrial and residential areas. Who comes up with these bright ideas?....
(end of ignoranus letter...yes, ignoranus = dumb @sshole. The place is populated with them I tell ya!)

can't wait for the response. No response? It goes to the Waukesha Freeskin next. It definitely goes into my "other blog"
heh.

I woke up to a trainwreck in my front yard...

Waukesha Train Wreck
By Stephanie Graham
Story Updated: Mar 1, 2008
WAUKESHA - Waukesha Police say a Canadian Pacific train hit the back of a semi on College Avenue near Maple Street around 8 a.m. Saturday. The flatbed truck was carrying concrete to a building site at Carroll College. Police say the rig got stuck on the tracks, and the train couldn't stop in time. The engine of the train hit the back of the flatbed. The 72-year-old male driver appears to be OK. He was taken to Waukesha Memorial Hospital to be checked out. The train engine is totaled, so a new engine will have to be brought in to remove the train. The intersection will be closed for awhile.

http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/16144257.html

...ah, I see March is off to a whizbang start for me...as always...

Well, let's get a few facts straight...it is NOT Carroll College. It is a private developer who says it is housing for Carroll College students...affiliated with the College? dunno. I'm betting CC will disavow all relationship after this clusterfark. I do know who is building it..son of ex-state senator and local businessman...and i'm way too polite to mention politics. Do your own homework.
Non-union project.
Betting non-union driver...and what is a 72 year old man doing jockeying a load that big on active train tracks at 8 am on a Saturday, solo? It didn't get "stuck"...it was where it shouldn't have been at a time it should not have been there. Pure and simple.
No one was injured, and that is the good news.
The bad news is there is massive property damage.
I have been opposed to this project from the beginning as have many of my neighbors, but given the principals involved, we knew it was going to be ramrodded down our throats. The workers have been cluttering our snow-snagged streets and making for an unsafe way off Hinman onto College Avenue...obstructed...and terrible. Only a matter of time before something bad happens there too.

They work on Sundays. What kind of "good Christian" works their people on Sundays? Are they paying them doubletime? I know, no law says you HAVE TO. always the "law"....

But then there is the Law of the Universe....

On a more positive note, the building project will be a good thing for college students; they won't have to travel quite so far for their drugs....but that's a whole 'nother rant.and I am x-posting to my other blog "o waukesha"

EVEN MORE INTERESTING EDIT:http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/16144037.html
where it says:
Train Hits Truck in Waukesha
Sean O'Flaherty
WAUKESHA - A northbound Canadian Pacific train struck the back of a semi truck on College Ave. near Maple Street on Saturday morning.Police say the flat bed truck was hauling concrete forms to a building site at Carroll College.The truck backed up on to the tracks for some reason and then the railroad gates came down. The driver could not get his rig off the tracks quickly enough and the engine of the train hit the back of the flatbed.The 72-year-old male truck driver did not appear to be injured, but was taken to Waukesha Memorial Hospital to be checked out.The train engine was damaged too badly to be used, so another engine will have to be brought in to remove train.
The railroad intersections (that's where it ends)....

Notice how the truck "backed on to tracks for some reason and then gates came down"...uh...I live right next to those tracks and there is plenty of warning...visual and audible that there is an approaching train....it is FLAT as it approaches from the south...NO OBSTRUCTIONS TO VIEW.

hmmmm...I say, hmmmm....

So what's got Grandma all hot this morning?

My hormonal status is fine, thank you. I'm long past that menopausal thing, so that's not it ....

It's the damned sidewalks.

This really is one of the most severe winters we have had in a very long time. It is quite a typical winter for Wisconsin, actually; we have been spoiled by milder weather for the last ten years or so.
This year we have had snow.

and subzero temps.

and more snow.

The City has been wont to keep up with it all and thus we have streets that resemble Little Beirut rather than MidAmerica, USA. Holy cow. I'm told we're running low on salt, but apparently only in some parts of town (mainly because the road have become impassible, perhaps?) Doesn't help much that the leaves which should have been picked up BEFORE December weren't and are now into the streets obstructing the storm drains. Doesn't help that people park in the street...IN THE STREET...during a declared "snow emergency". Doesn't help that snow is being tossed out in the roadway by thoughtless citizens because "the plow will move it"...nuh-uh. That's Problem One, a brief thumbnail of it at least.

My problem involves the sidewalks. Somehow someone has it in their head that *I* should be removing snow and ice on the RailRoad Right-of-Way. I have for the last 34 years, but now due to age and illness, I cannot. CANNOT. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday chopping ice and attempting to remove snow...on all of it...because that's what a good neighbor does, right? I dumped 80# of solar salt (meant for water softeners, and a bit pricey) to assist in said removal, to no avail. Four inches of ice is fairly well impenetrable. My hands are so swollen that I have to type with my thumbs, and it is slow and inaccurate. My wrists ache. My shoulder is broken from a previous injury and aches. I am getting over this winter's variety of influenza (my shot didn't work, I'm on my second week of yet another antibiotic for a respiratory infection), and a probable adverse reaction to the recommended shingles vaccine for people over 60...yes, I am over 60. I allegedly have fibromyalgia (unconvinced it's REALLY a disease), but I do have multiple orthopedic limitations from a variety of auto accidents, and then there was the thyroid cancer and radiation from November that I am still recovering from. I am tired. I am sick. I am old....and yet I am expected to maintain someone else's responsibility? Oh. I don't think so. Send me a bill for the 7 1/2 feet that is mine...Check your GIS, it's there... and then in the Spring, have the City Engineer put down his donut long enough to come fix the problem created when they changed the grade of the street and the unshovelled slop from the neighbor on the east merges with the unshovelled slop from the RR on the west and pools on my 7 1/2 feet... I've been complaining for YEARS about this (and many other things, as you shall read).

I sent the City a "report" again on their website.... hahaha.... this ought to be good!

Similar situation in the warmer months when the WEED COMMISSIONER (ooo, I'm afraid!) crawls up my ass, but that's a whole 'nother post/rant. I posted a "report" and was assured that the RR was on a schedulae and is mowed, and guess what? NOT ONCE last year...and not for FIVE YEAR before that. The only reason it was mown was because they had to do work on the tracks...and when they were done, all the crap lay right there...old track, ties, plastic water bottles, rags and a galvanized bucket. It's all still there...if I could find the cables for my digital camera, I'd post a pic. AND...most of the front lawn, which I care for because I don't want critters in my house because of the proximity of tall grass and trash...is theirs (RR) and my daughter and SIL who live in MI provide the lawn service because they know how crippled up I am and the difficulty I have. How many lawnmowers have I broken and had repaired taking care of someone else's weeds? I do not know. Many. and now I can't anymore.

and this is just the beginning. wait. It truly does get better!

And so now I wait for the red ticket on my door from the City, threatening me...or a visit from the Police...already the USPO (neither snow, nor rain, etc) has stopped delivering my mail...but also stopped writing crappy notes ON my mail, which is probably a good thing....funny how the postal carrier canwalk across my lawn in the summer, but he needs a sidewalk cleared to the bare pavement in the winter.....

You gotta love this place.

oh boy...where DO I start?

I have lived in Waukesha since April 1973. This still doesn't make me a "townie"...yes, it *is* that conservative. Living here has been problematic from the start, and it has not become any easier.
But as Alice was told as she went down the rabbit hole. you begin at the beginning, and you keep going until you get to the end, and then you stop.....

and so we begin.

oh... and let me apologize in advance for my grammar and syntax and occassional spelling error. I am a product of the public schools and ratty-assed post-secondary system. If you understand what I have written, that should be good enough. If not, go elsewhere to read...this blog is optional. I am still entitled to my opinions, and I will let the facts speak for themselves.