Early holiday decorating

One thing that I remember from growing up as a kid is decorating the Christmas tree and the house for Christmas in December. It was always a family event growing up. Spending the evening listening to the music of the of holidays, drinking egg nog, and dealing with sap on the hands from the freshly (illegally) cut tree from the back woods of the Upper Michigan. More importantly, there was snow on the ground. We would always turn the television off and just have 'family time'. It wasn't always cool, but looking back on it, it was a fantastic way to start the holiday and Christmas time.

While we were helping some friends move yesterday, I noticed several families with trees tied to their cars. I thought it was a bit odd to be going out and getting the Christmas tree a few days after thanksgiving. Shouldn't there be some time in between holidays, even if it is just a week or so? Maybe it's just because there isn't any snow on the ground. I think it would feel more Christmas-y if there was a little layer of snow on the ground, just an inch would do. There has to be time to transition from fall decorations to winter decorations.

Personally, I refuse to decorate a tree or put out any Christmas decorations before the month of December. It's a little childish. This much is true, but I'm stubborn in my ways. Andrea wanted to put the tree up last night just to see if it would fit in the corner of the living room, but I walked away. I claimed that it was not yet December and it was not time yet.

Hockey elitist

While at the Wichita Thunder game tonight, I felt like a bit of a hockey elitist. People all around us were shouting and swearing that there were penalties happening when there weren't. I kept leaning over to A and saying 'that wasn't a penalty' or 'they don't know what they are talking about' and of course, she knows hockey well enough to know whats a penalty and what isn't. So I didn't feel quite as bad saying it out loud. The fans are dedicated to their team...they just don't know what the hell they are talking about (or aboot if you want to get crazy).

Part of me wants to run a watching hockey 101 for the city giving a nice gloss over of what the rules of hockey are. It would make the experience that much better for those fans who understand the game having to deal with people who call themselves 'fans'.




In the meantime, I remain an elitist amongst a fan base of idiots.

Oh this heat

The past month has been unbearably hot. I know there has been at least one day that a temperature set a new record. Last week it got up to 107, that was the record. And that was just the temperature, that didn't include humidity or the heat index. Two days after that, it hit 109. 109! I hate it. Now that the pool has been fixed, it is too hot to go enjoy it. Part of going to the pool is to enjoy lying around and socializing. Yeah, you can sit in the pool the entire time, but you gotta get some sun and dry out.

I can't say it's too bad, this weekend it is suppose to cool down. Down to the high nineties. Thankfully. When it gets as hot as it has been, you don't ever want to do anything. The summer really has passed us by because all we did was sit around and tried to keep cool. After coming into the air conditioned apartment, who the hell would want to go back out to the heat?

We did plan out a float trip for the third week of August. The culmination of the summer. One last try to enjoy the outdoors and water. Even if it rains the entire weekend, I will enjoy it. At least I will try to.

Smoking ban

Being someone who never took up the habit of smoking, I never really cared much about it. People who decide to smoke know the inherent risks that are involved. So it is their choice, much like drinking. You may enjoy it, but in the end, it really is bad for you. Smoking kills your lungs and throat, drinking kills your liver and kidneys.

The smoke bugged me a little bit at the bars, but it never really deterred me from going out. It was one of those things that just came with the territory. Growing up in a smaller town, the bars harbor the smell of smokers of years and decades past. Small bars, local bars, are like that. The smell is in the carpet, the walls, the ceiling, the bar itself. If you drink there, you expect it.

A couple of years ago, Wichita put up an optional ban. Bars were given an option to put a ban or partial ban on smoking. Smoking rooms were established, or if the bar was small enough smokers were relegated to going outside. The other option was for the bar to say 'smoking is okay with us' and not even deal with this restriction. After this ban went into place, bars became more enjoyable. Smoke free meant waking up in the morning and not feeling like you chewed on a tobacco plant all night. But the option was still there for the smokers to stay in the building.

Now? Not so much. Kansas passed a full on smoking ban regardless of the establishment. The majority of the people rejoiced, and rightfully so. I guess you never realize how much something annoys you until it's gone. My first experience with a smoke free bar was in Dallas several years ago. I woke up the next day amazed that my clothes didn't smell like bar. After that, I was a proponent for smoke free places, but I wasn't going to stand up and shout that every place needed to be. It was their option to allow smokers, make them go to smoking rooms, or cut it out of their business all together. Personally, I think if a bar has a smoking room with doors and decent enough of a ventilation system, let them be. One bar that I frequent often has such a system, and it has worked wonderfully. There is no reason to mess with it.

There are a few businesses here in Wichita that are calling foul on this smoking ban. They are businesses that deal directly with smoking. A cigar bar, a smoke shop that allows patrons to light up, and a hookah bar just to name a few. They don't hide what they are, people know, it is plastered on the outside of the building. The owners and their lawyers are jumping up and down and screaming and at some points, calling this a censorship issue (for some reason) which violates their rights as Americans to do what they want. It's understandable why they are upset, this is their lively hood. This is their job. How else are they going to make a living if they own a cigar bar in a state with a public smoking ban?

Kansas should not have gone to a one hundred percent smoking ban, they should have gone with what was working. A partial smoking ban kept everyone happy. I know that a state wide smoking ban is a start to a healthier state because people will eventually stop smoking so they can go out and be with friends, but wasn't the tax hike on tobacco suppose to do the same thing?

Snow again!

It has snowed again here in Wichita. I love the look of the outside after a night of snow. Especially before the city wakes up and drives all over and turns that lovely snow covered road into a gray slush. In the past four weeks it has snowed here three different times. One would think that with it being the end of December and beginning of January, the snow would start to compound. It hasn't. The timing in between snows has been long enough for it to melt. It gets cold enough to snow but then warms up to melt everything. It is frustrating for those of us who want to see the snow pile up. To be able to go out and make snow angels and little snowmen. It reminds people that they were once children, and all it takes is going outside and having a little fun. Just don't try to make a Zales commercial out of it.

We did get our wish this year, a white Christmas. Two years ago there was close to five inches of snow on the ground which was great. I loved it, it reminded me of being home. Last year it was a green/brown Christmas, which sucked. It takes all the fun and magic out of Christmas morning. This year, it was another white Christmas. There wasn't much on the ground, you could still see the grass in some areas, but for the most part the snow covered the ground.

Excellent point!

One of my friends is attending graduate school in the Washington D.C. area and is having trouble finding a great bar. He is in search of an English Pub and all the qualities that go with it (read all about it here). After reading it you may think it is very particular, and it is, but what he is in search of is what makes a bar great. After careful consideration, I have come up with two bars in the Wichita area which I absolutely love.

One is the Chalet. It is cheap, dark, it has a few pool tables, has great deep fried bar food, and is smokey. The smokey aspect of the bar is what makes it a little less desirable. Another great thing to consider is distance. It is within three miles of the apartment. Quick to get to and it is back off the road, and is not close to the downtown bar scene. They have a dollar beer night on Thursdays. Great deal, but it attracts the college crowd and I have outgrown that crowd. These days, they just bug me. I don't ever feel old until I come across some frat boy douche convention.

The second bar is the Artichoke. It is first and foremost a sandwich bar. They have great food, is smoke free (mostly), decent prices, it's small (which can also be a draw back), and have live music from time to time. It isn't loud bass thumping music, but mostly acoustic. It ranges from country to folk to open mic. The one downside is the distance. It is way downtown and is away from the main scene. It is the best place to go and have a few pints and just sit and talk. An excellent 'catch up' bar. A place to hang out with people you haven't seen in some time.

If I were to pick one over the other, it would be the 'Choke. The tipping point is the smoke free aspect. Last year, bars and restaurants started to go smoke free in Wichita. It is fantastic. It is up to the owner whether or not they want to be smoke free, so those who want to voluntarily get cancer can just scope out those bars. The smoke does not irritate me as much as some others, but it is nice to wake up the next day and not smell like it.

There are some other bars that I enjoy going to down here, but they don't have the same 'charm' as the Chalet or the Choke.

A funny thing happened on the way to the disc golf course today...

Went out today with Marc to play some disc golf.  I am just getting into the sport and am not very good, but it is fun.  A chance to walk around outside and enjoy some fresh air.  Saw a few things that made me raise an eyebrow.  

1. At the gas station filling up, I saw someone get out of their car with an ipod playing.  Not playing in their car, as in plugged into the radio, but in their ears.  Distracting, but not as bad as...

2.  Someone texting on the highway.  I know that lots of states are starting to crack down on this, but it needs to be sped up.  This guy was on the HIGHWAY!  Going anywhere from seventy down to about fifty five.  Not safe.  

And the last thing....

3.  Pretty sure I saw a drug deal go down.  I consulted Marc and he said it sounded like it too.  I figured two Indians can figure out what a drug deal looks like, plus I've seen enough cop movies.  One guy standing on the corner and another one walking down the sidewalk and then they stop and talk for a little bit.  Then, a hand shake and walking away.  

Nice.  Drugs, music, and phoning all in one drive.  

Another reason to dislike Kansas

I may have stated this before, but one thing that I dislike about this state is the lack of hockey.  I knew that I missed watching it, and at times seeing it played in person, but it wasn't until we were home a few weeks ago that I truly missed it.  I think I know the reason why.  

It is because the games that we watched while we were home were in a small arena and on a pond.  Yes, a pond, well, a bay.  But it was on open water and it was awesome!  My brother in-law has played hockey his entire life, and partook in a tournament on a bay south of our home town.  It is what hockey is really about.  Open to the elements, uneven ice, and the fresh air.  Now watching the game in the weather that we did, was kind of awful.  The wind cut through our coats, our hats, and gloves.  But oh, to be out there and watching it.  Indescribable.  It may not sound great to people who have never experienced it, or have no interest in hockey.  But if there is ever an opportunity to watch a tournament or a game like that again, I would.  

It was like the outdoor game the NHL has done a couple of times, but better because you were right there on the bay with the players right next to the rink.  

A note

A quick little note on the new picture header for my blog.  I have written about this building before, but this is the old Carleton school that was in downtown Wichita.  It is gone now.  They tore it down.  What is there I do not know, I haven't been in that area for quite some time.  But it still depresses me whenever I come across this picture.  

That is all.  

Oh, and we officially have a new president.  That's cool.

first real snow

Wichita has encountered the first real snow of the year.  It isn't much, but it is better than looking at the dead grass.  We did get a little bit of a snowfall, which caused people to drive ten to fifteen miles an hour slower, but it melted away the next day because it was in the fifties.  

Hopefully it will stay cold enough.  Right now it is overcast and just snowing a little bit, flurries if you will.  When I talk to my parents, they are always telling me about the three and four and five inches of snow that fell just that day and how it is compounding on top of the feet of snow.  Having snow accumulate on the ground a month before christmas really helps to get me in the 'holiday spirit'.  Down here, not so much.  It sucks having just wind and no snow.  But now, if this stays on the ground, the snow is here and I will be more willing to listen to christmas music and finish up my shopping.  All because of snow.  

Abandoning the past

'Hey There Delilah' by Plain White T's is playing.  The only reason I know this song exists is because A and I were riding in her car.  It came on and I mentioned that I liked it well enough.  Apparently she doesn't because it was overplayed.  I wouldn't know, I don't listen to the radio much.  

 

I was looking through some pictures that I took around Wichita last fall and two came to my attention more now then when I first took them.  The first one is of Carlton school.  It was this huge school.  Two stories, all brick, and intimidating.  Imagine being a second grader and your mom drops you off for your first day of school and here is this monstrous, almost demonic, looking building.  You'd shit a brick.  Anyway, it's gone now.  They tore it down.  And it good reason.  It was abandoned, homeless people were using for a place to sleep (which I guess is too bad they tore it down, now they need somewhere else to sleep), it was grafettied all around.  

The second picture I took was of the old McClellan building.  There are some businesses that still use the building, but for the most part it is empty.  And it is a lovely looking building.  If I owned a business, I would want it to be in a building like this one.  It just has an old time feel about it.      The point to this all is that as the urban sprawl occurs, more and more old buildings in downtown are left abandoned or practically empty.  Why would anyone want to pave over an open field, or tear down some trees, to construct new office buildings when there are some right downtown?  I know that in any big city (even though some don't consider Wichita a big city, this opinion still applies) has a hard time getting businesses to stay in the downtown area.  People don't want to drive around there and don't want to deal with all the bad things that are down there.  Drugs, homeless, the misfortunate  are all black eyes to downtown, any downtown.  But how do you deal with those situations?  They are always going to be there.  Do you just ignore them and go about your business?  

It is an unnecessary evil, urban decay, but it is also inevitable.  The majority wants to look the other way while the minority struggles with trying to save that which was condemned.  An ugly business it is.