They have that huge sign that sign that mandates everyone must see the Information Officer at the front desk. Thankfully, I noticed the Sticker Renewal Line Only sign, so I got to bypass the fun of that little group. Slipping past the front desk, I was waiting to hear the Information Officer bark out, "Where are you going?" It's happened before. My guess is that the 100 person line I was extending was probably a good indicator of my "master plan to deceive the DMV Information Officer."
Being stuck in a line that size is really no fun. Sure, you could chat up a fellow line detainee, but that just gets awkward after a while. Why chat with someone when there are always multitudes of children that make more noise than a parking lot of bikers during a poker run? I might just be that awful human being that doesn't think every child I see is a cute, precious little being. The moms' are oblivious to the fact that the rest of the people waiting in line don't need to hear the baby talk at top volume. Nor, do we all want to make friends with little Kiera and Bobby.
In a line that size, inevitably, another worker decides to throw some order into the mix. "Does everyone know that this is the line for sticker re-newel only?" Yes. "All checks are made payable to the Secretary of State!" Damn it, I made the check out to Organ Donations. "If you don't have a pen, borrow one from your neighbor!" Neighbor? That, right there, was straight out of high school.
Now, I'm not saying you have to go to the hair salon and get your nails done to go to the DMV, but c'mon. I can't be the only person who has noticed a disturbing trend with people coming straight from the swimming pool. The best game you can play while waiting in line is to count the number of t-shirts, worn by women, not children, featuring Tweety Bird, Eyeore, Sylvester, Minnie Mouse or Daisy Duck. No lie, I counted seven.
I'm fully aware that for a little extra you can get your sticker on-line or at several satellite locations around town. I think next year it will be South Side Bank for me-but at least I can say I know Kiera and Bobby, right?|W|P|112015181463371692|W|P|DMV=High School|W|P|
Aleksu|W|P|Holly crap!I just realized yesterday was the dead line for me to renew my license plate!
Oops...
Bill Dennis|W|P|Soon after Jesse White took over as secretary of state, the lines got shorter and the staff got friendlier. Then along came the budget crunch and the budget cuts. Then the lines got longer.To The A**holes on Hamilton and North:
I thought we cleared this up a while ago-obviously you need a re-fresher. As I'm proceeding towards Peoria Central High School from Main Street, I have a stop sign. The cars coming up Hamilton have a stop sign on North Street. The cars coming from Peoria Central High turning left down Hamilton DO NOT HAVE A STOP SIGN. YOU MUST YIELD TO THEM. That is how the stop signs read. Because I am yielding to cars that are turning left down Hamilton, when it is clear, I fully expect those at the Hamilton and North stop sign to wait for me to go through the intersection. IF YOU SNEAK IN AS I'M APPROACHING, YOU'RE AN A**HOLE. Not to mention rolling stops are illegal. Please have consideration and respect for your fellow drivers. Hate to break it to you, you're not that important. Don't be an a-hole.|W|P|111999251461274208|W|P|More Driving Drama|W|P|
Aleksu|W|P|I had the exact same fender bender at the exact same location as Papa Walker. The problem is, people do not understand that once you cross the white line by the Stop sign, you have to go, if you can't go, then remain at the line, as simple as that.The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst: I've read about 8 chapters and I have no problem putting the book down. The premise is just a tad too far out there for me. A widower (linguistics professor) vows to teach his dog to speak so he can find out how his wife died. The dog is the only witness. If I, of all people, are having problems with this, it may just be a little to wacky.
God Knows His Name: The True Story of John Doe No. 24 by Dave Bakke: A deaf man is institutionalized because he can't speak. So far, very interesting and written by a Springfield reporter.
Writing and Reporting News: A Coaching Method by Carole Rick: Senior year text book from a journalism class.
Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Book One Prodigal Son: At one point, I owned a copy of each of his books. That was before he became involved in all things science fiction. This book is a terrific return to the writing of his past. I read this one in 6 hours.
Anyone else reading anything interesting?|W|P|111999014379488385|W|P|Summer Reading....|W|P|
Aleksu|W|P|The dog told me the professon killed the wife.The professor was on meth that night.
Aleksu|W|P|My best wishes to the whole Walker clan.1. Walk into restaurant and declare how many people are in your party and demand to know exactly how long it will be until you're seated.
2. While the host is setting up your table do any of these:
a) crowd around the host so he/she can't move or get the job done
b) sit at the table before it is correctly set
c) when a member of your party says, "I think we should wait to sit until he/she is finished setting the table," respond with, "What the hell is he/she going to do about it?"
3. Snap your fingers to get the server's attention
4. Assume everyone working in the restaurant is a grade school drop out and treat them as such.
5. Talk loudly, boldy and vehemenlty about sensitive subjects such as abortion, school districts and gun control with their being no chance that some of the employees are nurses, principals and avid hunters/conservationists.
6. Ignore all rules of etiquette, put your elbows up on the table, hang your head over your plate and dive in!
7. Never tip more than 10 percent when gratuity isn't included because the grade school drop outs should get better jobs.|W|P|111930226266734626|W|P|How to Drive Your Server Crazy...|W|P|
Aleksu|W|P|Amen! britt|W|P|i've never had the snap, but i've had bar customers hold up their glass (for a refill cause they've become mute all of a sudden) like some moron, to which i'd grab one and say "what are we toasting?"they never liked that.
and i never cared....heh
Bryan M.|W|P|You sound like a real cunt, Angie. Bryan M.|W|P|Angie, sorry, I misread your post. I thought you did that stuff on purpose to bother your server. My bad. britt|W|P|couldn't have said it better myself. Aleksu|W|P|It is a rather "whatever" way to waste our taxes.Rob's Rant:
Well, I tried to write a rant but just had to quit after more than one page. I won't submit you to that much "Rob." If you want the full diatribe, I'm sure to oblige some night, on a barstool at the Recovery Room. Angie's note: He's the guy at the end of the bar talking passionately about a subject, usually rather loudly. I'll be the girl at the opposite end of the bar playing the touch screen game so I don't have to hear the same story 36 times.
The whole thing was about how the gun-ban crowd will hack away at the 2nd Amendment until it's gone. How they will vilify a category of firearms until the unknowing public thinks that type of gun will cause the collapse of civilization. Read: Assault weapon, high-capacity & .50 caliber sniper rifle. All the while, this bunch of fear mongers will tell the gun owners of the U.S. "We just want the evil guns."
I say BULLSHIT.
The gun-banners are just taking a page from the Brit's book. That's just what they did over there; first they took the pistols, then the rifles, then grandpa's shotgun. Then they felt safe. NOT. After they took all the guns and only the criminals had guns, crime went rampant. Thugs were roaming the streets and attacking anyone in broad daylight.
So, what do they do? Ban criminals? Nope. For some reason, they thought restricting the power of airguns would solve the crime problem. I guess Ralphie is safe. How much farther can they go? Last week saw how far as liberals convinced a group of doctors in the U.K. to call for the banning of all pointed kitchen knives. Why-because violent people were using them to kill people. All knives should be ground down to a dull-rounded point. The even got a group of chefs to say that there is no need for a point on a knife longer than three inches.
That will do it. Right? Sorry. Last week was the best ever. Now there is a strong push to ban all toy guns in the U.K. I guess someone used a toy gun to rob a lady or something. Boy, I hope nobody uses a soccer ball or cricket bat to kill someone over there. They won't have anything to watch on TV.|W|P|111869079224838731|W|P|Rob's Rant: Part Four-Return of the Rant|W|P|
Aleksu|W|P|Even worst, the hooligans at soccer games use beer bottles to attack innocent bystanders.That could lead to a ban on beer!
I've been driving this particular route for about 5 years, not just because I-74 construction has closed every street near downtown Peoria. Here's how it goes. There has always been a stop sign for traffic coming from Main, to the intersection of Hamilton and North Streets. In all legality, drivers coming up the Hamilton hill, really didn't have to yield to the north bound traffic on North, coming from Main. This changed a few months ago when a new stop sign was added to the top of Hamilton Hill at North Street. The idea is that traffic southbound on North, turning down Hamilton, will have the right of way-then the car at Hamilton and then the car on North can proceed if no car is turning. What this does not mean is that the car behind, the car at the Hamilton stop sign gets to sneak in too. The car waiting on North, already has to worry about the oncoming cars turning-don't make them slam on their brakes because you really want to go.
One more thing: When I'm driving up the windy hill on Main to turn right onto North Street, my blinker won't work. My car thinks I'm turning so the blinker is locked. For all the people behind me that think I'm a total jerk for braking and turning abruptly, I'm sorry, it's all about the blinker.|W|P|111868933170776381|W|P|Open Letter|W|P|
Aleksu|W|P|Darn blinkers!Lets ban them!
Cheers!!|W|P|111833724338230507|W|P|CELEBRATE!!|W|P|
Aleksu|W|P|Congrats.Never late to start a new life.
So two days later, they try again. Since the blue team lost a squid cleaning challenge, they had to cook with no air conditioning. I think at one point it got to 140 degrees. Things seemed to be going well for both teams and then of course, you have your token gay-country boy meltdown. Then the food that is being turned out isn't good enough so they're all starting from scratch again. So all of this leads to a huge revolt by some prissy-ass patrons who've had to wait too long for their food. While most people would just leave and go someplace else-The Brainaic Table orders in pizza to go along with their wine and champagne. You can tell they're really proud of themselves because they're smirking and laughing and grubbing on the pizza. The maitre 'd comes to the table and lets them know they can't do that and then all hell breaks loose. The maitre 'd, Jean-Phillipe came over to let them know that it wasn't acceptable. Insulted-sloppy-dressed man stands up and gets in his face. Jean-Phillipe made a reference to his social education-which insulted sloppy-dressed man immediately took as a reference to his actual education. He started screaming about having a Doctorate in Music, getting in Jean-Phillipe's face, ranting about his education and the lowly maitre 'd's education. It eventually ended with the pizza-loving posse being kicked out for repeatedly jabbing Jean-Phillipe.
Rob says that a Doctorate in Music translate to: wealthy parents put me through school so I could listen to symphonies and operas and I've never worked a day in my life.
I say that Health Department 101 says: you can't serve prepared food from another establishment in an open establishment. I don't have a Doctorate in Music (obviously) but I did take that Health Department Class when I was 16-and passed.|W|P|111817132820078203|W|P|Hell's Kitchen|W|P|
Becky|W|P|Hello Angie, My name is Becky and I live in Canton. I am originaly from East Peoria and have a great interest in the Bartonville State Hospital. I just wanted to let you know that most of the original buildings still stand, they have been remodeled and are being used as businesses now. All of the older brick buildings across the street from the hospital are original, they have just had face lifts. I have been reading up on Troy Taylor who has done a lot of research on the hospital. Becky
State Hospital 3
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State Hospital 2
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State Hospital 1
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State Hospital Cemetary 2
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State Hospital Cemetary 1
|W|P|111809750443082433|W|P||W|P|So, this whole debacle pissed me off so much that I cancelled my appointment with the new doctor. Can anyone ever win with health insurance companies? I'm listed on Rob's insurance as well, and at least they're half-way sane. I may have to have a $500 deductible, but when you have asthma, usually that's not a problem. I was so happy with my new insurance because my doc is covered. No more $500 before anything's covered. But it seems like my prescriptions are higher than ever. And, I have 2 prescription cards. Oh-and don't get me started on the ass-backward insurance rule that states that you're allowed one inhaler a month or you get charged the full price. Remember the movie "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle?" That chick had a psycho nanny tyring to take over her life and she had time to get a gazillion inhalers. She had them in every drawer of the house. Apparently she didn't have the Neo-Nazi health insurance policies I've been dealing with. I wonder if that's just a Walgreens issue? Since they're taking over the world, or at least Peoria, they probably have more fish to fry than screwing over asthma girl here. And, I'm probably going to hell for complaining about insurance when so many people would literally give their right arm for a policy but it's called Angie's Drama for a reason. And there's my drama for the day. (knock on wood)|W|P|111774682697369262|W|P||W|P|
For anyone not present, here were a few of the rules: teams of two, a 25-page booklet, a disposable camera, a crayon, paper and a baggy. All cameras were to be dropped off at a specific Walgreens by 5:30pm and teams ended up at Jubilee State Park. The park-not the college.
The booklet consisted of SEVERAL pages of local Peoria history. Most questions could only be answered by physically going to the location/landmark and reading the information. Most questions ranged from 5-25 points. Rob and I (bold and daring Amazing Race candidates that we are, not) opted for the 50 point question first. Let's just say it involved a soldier in the Civil War 77th IL Infantry, Springfield Cemetary and an epitaph. After 45 minutes we found it! "Asleep." And now we know.
Other sample questions.... How much does the bear at the Radisson Hotel weigh? What year were the lions in front of the zoo created? How many shuffleboard courts at Bradley Park? Approximately how old is the Great Burr Oak on High Street? And on and on...
There were also two full pages of items to acquire, a half page of business cards to obtain and 27 pictures to take. Some of the items included: roadkill, a slice of bacon from Pottstown Meat and Deli, 5 balls from McDonald's Playland, 2 Peoria postcards, a pink tasting spoon from Baskin and Robbins, a receipt from Ben Franklin and a Beamish coaster from Kelleher's. The pictures were the best! Many required all your participants in the picture. Have your picture taken in a water fountain, in the back of a police car, with the bear at the Radisson, with Jim Spears at Jimmy's Bar and depositing road kill in a dumpster at a Chinese restaurant.
I'm not mentioning any names (Kriss) but a few teams had some exta help. Can't wait until the next one!!!!!!|W|P|111766917844053461|W|P|The Ultimate Scavenger Hunt|W|P|
mapgirl|W|P|Was this a public event or by invite only? Sounds great. Don't you just love Springdale? Good on you for celebrating Peoria's history. m.
Bill Dennis|W|P|Thank you for the kind comments.B.J. Stone over that that other station (which shall remain nameless on your site!) is nice enough to give me a tryout in hopes it can turn into a regular gig. We're very clear that I'm not bound to that station, and if I get an opportunity elsewhere, I should take it. So tell Jamie that!