Hear Them Tumblin Down

I fell in love last Sunday at the Cheapo Holiday/Anniversary party. Waif. Long flowing winds and shadows, she didn't even speak to me. She didn't need to. Once in the blood it's always inside of you. It's the feeling like she has always been there but I've never known anyone like her before. I didn't think that enthralling first flush could hit me so hard again. Was it the sound of pins falling or was that the pitter patter of my heart? Bowled over. Just rent me some shoes, give me a ball that isn't too heavy and let me bowl until my little (and I do mean little) heart is content. Some day I may even break a hundred!

Put me in front of the line that would like to thank the members of the holiday committee, and Mary and Al for organizing and pulling off an afternoon of fun. I don't make many public appearances, but this was one I was glad I didn't miss. It was fun seeing people I haven't seen for awhile along with finally getting to meet some of the faces behind the names of people who are kind enough to contribute to this weekly effort. Hopefully, the party will be an annual tradition in the company. Besides the bowling, the battle of the bands was entertaining, and who can be displeased with coming home with a smart looking cap?

But enough with the back slappin. Al said that the one thing we can expect in 1996 is lots of change, just like we experienced in 1995, and 1994 and 1993... We do learn that over time even the most stable and reliable monuments can disappear over night. Driving down University Avenue and seeing the big hole that used to be Montgomery Wards is a bit sad. I remember back in my college days whenever I would feel a bit down I would stroll down to Cheapo and buy a record, and the days I felt even bluer, I would wander even further all the way down to Wards to look at pillows. Don't ask me why but the walk always did me good. Change can be rewarding, exciting and challenging, but it can also be a bit stressful.

With a recent decision to move back to the big city (St. Paul) from the quiet solitude of the suburbs (Roseville) I have one beef to air before I become a functioning city resident once again. What is the deal with the way St. Paul deals with snow removal? Seems the system is getting progressively worse. The most recent snowfall was an excellent example of a city that seems to not notice that driving through snow drifts is a bit of a nuisance for its taxpaying citizens. Last Thursday it wasn't that slick out but with piles of snow left to drive through, St. Paul was much more treacherous than it had to be.

The current snow removal philosophy seems to be to dump lots of salt all over the place (enough to filet a mignon), and hope the crud melts before the plows have to do their duty. Living on the border between Roseville and St. Paul (don't be coming over), it's like driving from civilization to Mars. By the time I leave in the morning the Roseville side of things are such that a semi-awake person can navigate through the muck, ice and snow without too much worry. Soon as you crossover into St. Paul however, and geez you just want to gun it and hope nothing is moving on the other side of the ten foot pile. You dare not come to any complete stops in fear that your car will become a permanent fixture in the city. Maybe that is the plan- so many have moved out into the suburbs over the years that getting them stuck in St. Paul is the best way to replenish the population.

The lack of snow removal isn't exactly a recent problem but it seems to get worse and worse every year (or perhaps I'm just getting crankier and crankier). My former car pooling partner used to get upset whenever we would pass a snowplow in St. Paul that was driving down the streets with its shovel in the air. Granted things were tense back then, but she had point. If I had a plow you can bet your biffy that I would plow the unplowed just for the pride of civic duty. It does seem a bit silly that this is a problem here. As far as I can tell snow has been a part of the equation for quite a while, and every year it seems to catch people by surprise. There seems to be no plan to deal with it. The snow emergencies, opposite side of the street parking, odd/even systems seem to change at random so after every major storm if you want to avoid getting tickets the best thing to do is keep driving, only the damn roads aren't plowed and the old blood pressure creeps ever higher.

In these days with the national speed limit repealed and with states trying to decide individually what their law of the road is going to be, here is one voice that would suggest with the transportation conditions of our Twin Cities, perhaps we ought to lower the speed people here can go. People are in too much of a hurry anyway, and to encourage them to drive faster on streets that are getting less and less care is perhaps only inviting trouble.