Lincolnite: Lincoln's Online Community

An Uneventful Weekend

January 10, 2005 at 1:54pm By: Mr. Wilson Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

Weekends are really too short. I’m certainly not the first to observe that, but I figured I ought to add my name to the list.

After nearly a month off, I refereed seven indoor soccer matches this weekend. They were all pretty easy. I didn’t even give out so much as a blue card! (In indoor, a blue card is one step below a yellow card. There is no equivalent in outdoor soccer based on FIFA’s Laws.) I sure hope next weekend’s games are more interesting, or this could be a long indoor session. Not that interesting == giving out a lot of cards, mind you. But I had way too much day-dreaming time during my games this weekend. Heck, I don’t think anybody even disagreed with any of my calls. (Of which there were few, because most of the games were pretty pathetic.) What’s the fun of being a sports official if you don’t get yelled at once in a while?

For the first time this year I really started itching for the start of this spring’s baseball and outdoor soccer seasons. My soccer needs have been met (sort of) by the indoor season. I really need to get back out on a baseball diamond, though.

I finished a book this weekend. Yeah, it’s a book about running a restaurant. I’m not actually planning to open a restaurant any time in the near future, but I have always been interested in the idea. Maybe one of these days… For the record, Running a Restaurant for Dummies is a pretty decent book. It is by far the best read of the books I looked at that were directed at beginners. I read it in about 3 days. It could really use an accompanying CD (or website) with the forms they talk about, though.

The Missus made me roasted chicken and twice-baked potatoes last night. Mmm, tasty! I think she
has salmon on the menu tonight. She must like me.

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Mr. T Vents

January 6, 2005 at 11:26am By: Mr. Wilson Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

Mr. T sent me this e-mail Tuesday night:

Subject: fantastic city we live in

I would like to know what Mr Lincoln and the readers think of that law which bans parking on residential streets for more than 24 hours at a time. Why? Because I got fined yet again by the city for keeping my car parked and stationary on the street for longer than a 24 hour period. The law itself as a concept and what it is intended to do is one issue. The 24 hour time length another. And snow emergencies can cut both ways. Needless to say I spent about 25+ min chipping off the ice from my car and was forced to drive on the icy streets so as not to get fined again. IN fact I had the car turned on to defrost the windows so long prior to actually driving that the fuel in my gas tank (which was low) actually burnt up enough that the low fuel light came on! Funny how excessive fuel consumption and pollution and dependence on oil are recognized as majpr problems by our society. What contributes to these problems? Well apparently in Lincoln its illegal NOT to drive!!!!! And if youre elderly, sick, and/or homebound, a renter who cant afford a garage or paid parking space, or just prefer to WALK to work (God forbid!!!!!) and not spend money on GAS, I guess you are SCREWED!!!!!!

Obviously Mr. T is not a happy camper. Some quick comments:

• I’m not sure where the 24 hour time limit comes from. It seems excessively short to me. A 72 hour limit is much more appropriate in my opinion. Perhaps this issue deserves some further analysis.
• Mr. T lives—I think—in an “Even/Odd” neighborhood. Methinks he should better plan his on-street parking choices when snow is imminent.
• To say it’s “illegal not to drive” in Lincoln is a bit of emotional hyperbole. It’s illega
  l to obstruct the city’s snow-removal efforts, whether with a vehicle or otherwise.
• Mr. T’s point about those who cannot (or choose not to) drive is important. But their inability to get around the city begins long before snow causes troubles. It is pretty darn difficult to get around Lincoln without a vehicle even in fair weather. Snow (and ice, etc.) merely exaggerates the problem.

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An Exercise in Self-Defeat

January 4, 2005 at 2:00pm By: Mr. Wilson Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

Worthy of a read from Regulation Magazine, a CATO Institute publication: Traffic Control: An Exercise in Self-Defeat by Kenneth Todd. It is counter-intuitive, at first, to think of traffic control as a “bad thing.” Your own personal anecdotes likely go both ways. I would like to hear them.

Todd’s argument, although not presented in detail, is worth pondering. I will write more on this topic at some point in the future.

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Priorities?

January 3, 2005 at 10:20am By: Mr. Wilson Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

Maybe I just don’t get it, but
rescuing a couple dolphins doesn’t seem like a high priority right now.

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