The 2007 Major League Baseball regular season is winding down with the season officially wrapping up on Sunday for most teams. However, eight lucky teams get the chance for a post-season title. Unfortunately, the Detroit Tigers will not be one of those teams this year. After a magical 2006 season that saw the Tigers earning their first winning season in 12 years and getting to the World Series for the first time in 22 years, this season saw the team getting just short of a playoff berth. With less than a week left to the season, the Tigers were officially eliminated from playoff contention. Yes, even though it's pretty disappointing to see the team not make the playoffs after last year's amazing run, I am still pretty proud of their efforts and glad that they can at least compete to be in the playoffs. At least it isn't like the 12 seasons prior to 2006 when the Tigers were out of the playoff hunt at the All Star Break.
There were a few contributing factors as to why the Tigers fell short of being in the playoffs this year. A number of key players got injured during the course of the season, including members of the pitching staff. Kenny Rogers, who had a tremendous 2006 season and pitched incredibly in the playoffs, ended up missing four months at the beginning of the year due to a blood clot in his shoulder. He then missed most of August because of a sore shoulder. Joel Zumaya, the flame-throwing set-up guy who frequently hits 100 mph on the radar gun, missed three months because of an injury to his middle finger on his pitching hand that required surgery. Fernando Rodney, a similar hard-throwing pitcher that throws in the late innings also ended up on the disabled list for a short time. Gary Sheffield, a player for whom the Tigers were expecting to contribute largely for his hitting in the designated hitter role, also missed time because of shoulder problems. Although a team never likes to admit that injuries ended up playing a key role in why a team falters, I think it's safe to assume that the Tigers were affected by injuries this year.
The team also went through a terrible funk at the end of July and all of August that saw them lose the AL Central division lead and their title as best team in baseball (which they were for awhile prior to the All-Star game). The starting pitching wasn't as stellar and the hits weren't coming as easy. They were losing more than they were winning and coupled by the injury bug, it proved to be a losing stretch that they were never able to recover from. Yes, they did start turning things around in September, but it was already too late. Both the Yankees and Indians went on an incredible tear and it was just too difficult to compete with both of those teams. Now if the Tigers were in the National League, things might be different. But unfortunately, they are not. They have to deal with being in the more superior league in professional baseball.
But 2007 wasn't a major disappointment just because they didn't make the playoffs. Several important acheivements were reached (or are in the process of being reached). Magglio Ordonez is currently the batting average leader and has his sights on the American League batting title. With three games remaining, it's going to be extremely diffcult for Ichiro Suzuki, a Seattle Mariners player that is also competing for the batting title, to catch Magglio with just three games remaining. The last time I checked, Ichiro is .010 behind Magglio. And for those that don't follow baseball, it doesn't seem like that large of a gap. But this late in the season, it takes a lot to make up .010. So it is very likely that Magglio will be this year's American League batting champion. What an incredible feat for one of the Tigers most important free agent signings ever.
Pudge Rodriguez surpassed the record for the most games played as a catcher, solidifying his importance to this team and his spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame when he retires. Placido Polanco has an error-less streak of 170+ games (and still counting) at second base. He is also four hits short of reaching 200 hits in a season, which Magglio Ordonez has already reached. He is likely to reach 200 before all is said and done. Curtis Granderson, the Tigers centerfielder, is the sixth player in baseball history to have 20 homeruns, 20 triples, 20 doubles, and 20 stolen bases in one season. Todd Jones, the Tigers closing pitcher, recorded his 300 career save in a game against the Minnesota Twins earlier this month. And last but not least, probably the most important of all of these acheivements, the Tigers had 3,000,000+ fans attend games at Comerica Park (the Tigers home stadium) for the first time in franchise history. The franchise dates back to more than 100 years! This is even more impressive considering that Comerica Park is some 10,000 seats smaller than Tiger Stadium was, and the last attendance record dated back to 1984 when 2.7 million fans attended the home games. This goes to show you how excited and loyal the fans are for this Tigers team. They are as thrilled as ever to have a competing baseball team again, after a 12 year stretch of mediocrity.
Although I am disappointed not to be able to bring you post season blogs regarding Tigers playoff games this year, I am still proud of the Tigers for a wonderful 2007 season. This team looks to compete for the playoffs for many years to come and hopefully one of these seasons, they will bring home a championship. Although it did not happen this year, it certainly doesn't mean they had a dull year. It was anything but! Always and forever, go Tigers!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Songs I Dig - 3
September is nearly in the books, which means another edition of "The Songs I Dig" is here! This time around, I have picked a wider variety of songs and have even included an honorable mention selection. So that means a total of six songs will be featured. Also this time around, there's an even split down the middle in regards to gender; meaning three female singers and three male singers (or groups - but the lead singer being male/female) with songs featured. I happen to enjoy these songs whenever I hear them and I hope you do, too. And hopefully if you haven't heard them yet, maybe you'll check them out. On with this month's selections!
"Over You" by Daughtry - An American Idol hopeful a few years ago has become a huge star. I had a feeling Chris Daughtry would experience this kind of success when he was eliminated during the fifth season of the popular singing competition and he continues to release a succession of hits. "Over You" will prove to be the next #1 song for Chris's group. I even think it'll surpass the success of his two previous songs "It's Not Over" and "Home," because it is that good. This one should be on the air waves for quite some time to come. It's a different sounding tune from his previous hits but still has that familar Daughtry rock sound to it.
"Nolita Fairytale" by Vanessa Carlton - It is so good to see Vanessa releasing music again! She has been one of my favorites ever since she burst on the scene with her smashing hit "1000 Miles." Another song of hers that I enjoy tremendously to this day is "Ordinary Day," and I think it has a very similar sound to "Nolita Fairytale." Vanessa has experienced some tough times leading up to this recent album including being dropped from her previous record label after the release of "Harmonium" back in 2004. But I am happy to say she has found a new record label that is happy to release her latest album. Here's to Vanessa experiencing the same kind of success as in 2002!
"1973" by James Blunt - When I first heard the newest song released by James Blunt, I was not that impressed. However, this song has grown tremendously on me ever since it hit the radio. It has yet to gain the popularity of his very first song "You're Beautiful," but it's on its way. It's a completely different sounding song than the ones you'd hear from his first album, as "1973" is more upbeat sounding and a song you could dance along to. It's got repetitive lyrics that makes it easy to sing along to. All in all, this latest tune by James Blunt is pretty decent and nobody should be ashamed to be a fan of his music.
"Pictures of You" by The Last Goodnight - Now here's a relative newcomer to the music scene. Although they have been around since 1996, their latest album "Poison Kiss" is their first major release. "Pictures of You" is a solemn-sounding tune with a definite pop/adult contemporary sound. It has been growing increasingly popular and has started to climb various music charts. At first I didn't really care for the sound of this song, however, just as with "1973," it has grown tremendously on me. It's been on the radio waves for at least a few months and I think it'll stick around for quite some time.
"So Uncool" by Lucy Walsh - Yikes, I had a difficult time choosing whether this song or another song would round out the top five in this month's "The Songs I Dig" blog. But I have decided to go with this one, because it is incredibly catchy! When you hear it once, you'll have it stuck in your head for part of the day - until you can manage to get another song stuck in your head. The chorus is the part that gets stuck in your head because it is so repetitive. But it's not annoyingly repetitive, at least I don't think so. This is a relatively new song to hit the radio so many people may not have heard it yet. But I think it'll be one that'll gain popularity the rest of this year.
"Seven Days of Lonely" by I Nine - This is this month's honorable mention selection (simply because I had six songs that I really enjoyed this time around). It's a very sweet sounding song that's easy on the ears. It's another one that has recently been released so it may be new to many of you as well. I don't really know too much about the group yet, other than they are based from Columbia, South Carolina. But I have a feeling we may be hearing more from them in the near future.
That does it for this month. You may not see another "Songs I Dig" blog until November, depending on the amount of new songs that get released and ones I end up liking. Until then, check out the following six songs if you haven't heard them yet and you may end up liking them just as much as me. Thanks!
"Over You" by Daughtry - An American Idol hopeful a few years ago has become a huge star. I had a feeling Chris Daughtry would experience this kind of success when he was eliminated during the fifth season of the popular singing competition and he continues to release a succession of hits. "Over You" will prove to be the next #1 song for Chris's group. I even think it'll surpass the success of his two previous songs "It's Not Over" and "Home," because it is that good. This one should be on the air waves for quite some time to come. It's a different sounding tune from his previous hits but still has that familar Daughtry rock sound to it.
"Nolita Fairytale" by Vanessa Carlton - It is so good to see Vanessa releasing music again! She has been one of my favorites ever since she burst on the scene with her smashing hit "1000 Miles." Another song of hers that I enjoy tremendously to this day is "Ordinary Day," and I think it has a very similar sound to "Nolita Fairytale." Vanessa has experienced some tough times leading up to this recent album including being dropped from her previous record label after the release of "Harmonium" back in 2004. But I am happy to say she has found a new record label that is happy to release her latest album. Here's to Vanessa experiencing the same kind of success as in 2002!
"1973" by James Blunt - When I first heard the newest song released by James Blunt, I was not that impressed. However, this song has grown tremendously on me ever since it hit the radio. It has yet to gain the popularity of his very first song "You're Beautiful," but it's on its way. It's a completely different sounding song than the ones you'd hear from his first album, as "1973" is more upbeat sounding and a song you could dance along to. It's got repetitive lyrics that makes it easy to sing along to. All in all, this latest tune by James Blunt is pretty decent and nobody should be ashamed to be a fan of his music.
"Pictures of You" by The Last Goodnight - Now here's a relative newcomer to the music scene. Although they have been around since 1996, their latest album "Poison Kiss" is their first major release. "Pictures of You" is a solemn-sounding tune with a definite pop/adult contemporary sound. It has been growing increasingly popular and has started to climb various music charts. At first I didn't really care for the sound of this song, however, just as with "1973," it has grown tremendously on me. It's been on the radio waves for at least a few months and I think it'll stick around for quite some time.
"So Uncool" by Lucy Walsh - Yikes, I had a difficult time choosing whether this song or another song would round out the top five in this month's "The Songs I Dig" blog. But I have decided to go with this one, because it is incredibly catchy! When you hear it once, you'll have it stuck in your head for part of the day - until you can manage to get another song stuck in your head. The chorus is the part that gets stuck in your head because it is so repetitive. But it's not annoyingly repetitive, at least I don't think so. This is a relatively new song to hit the radio so many people may not have heard it yet. But I think it'll be one that'll gain popularity the rest of this year.
"Seven Days of Lonely" by I Nine - This is this month's honorable mention selection (simply because I had six songs that I really enjoyed this time around). It's a very sweet sounding song that's easy on the ears. It's another one that has recently been released so it may be new to many of you as well. I don't really know too much about the group yet, other than they are based from Columbia, South Carolina. But I have a feeling we may be hearing more from them in the near future.
That does it for this month. You may not see another "Songs I Dig" blog until November, depending on the amount of new songs that get released and ones I end up liking. Until then, check out the following six songs if you haven't heard them yet and you may end up liking them just as much as me. Thanks!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
A Neighbor's View (Story)
"I watch her from my bedroom window as she moves about outside the house next door. She doesn't come outside that often, but when she does, my eyes are afixed on her. There's something about her that I can't put my finger on. She's mesmerizing and there's something almost hypnotic about her. I have never talked to her face to face, but it's as if I've known her a long time. I go about my business and she does the same, but I want to make conversation with her and I don't exactly know how I go about it. She walks back inside and becomes hidden behind the walls of her house and I go back to what I was doing; no longer paying attention to her.
"A car travels up the nextdoor driveway; a white Buick. It's her and her sister. I watch as the two exit the car and lift plastic bags from the trunk of their car. I don't pay attention to the sister as she does not interest me. The younger one seems to rotate the same clothes every few days. I feel bad for her. She's a very nice looking girl and deserves to have nice clothing to show herself off in. She doesn't appear to care to go to college at all; I'm not sure if she just can't afford it or would rather not attend at all. Maybe she just wants to be a homemaker all her life and take care of kids. Now I'm just making assumptions. She slowly climbs up the front steps of the house and vanishes behind the front door. I go back to what I was doing; no longer paying attention to her.
"I'm outside working on a project in the backyard when I hear a front door slam. There she is again, taking care of the dogs. I have to go inside for a moment and take my eyes off her. She goes well to the back of her property, while I go get a drink inside. She goes inside and I go back out. Suddenly I hear a cat meowing on our property. It ends up being hers. I pet it and it purrs. It rubs its head against my legs and it won't leave my side. It's a very friendly cat but I know it must go back to its home. I enter the garage and close the door; leaving the cat behind. I think it knows enough to go back to its home as it's not very far away. I go inside for awhile; head back outside to finish up my project for the day. She comes back outside, looking for her cat. It has gone missing and she goes searching for it. I, too, search for it on our property. I never did find it. I feel bad and hope it returns home. I had my chance to return it, but relied on its instincts instead. I go inside for the night and no longer pay attention to her.
"I'm driving back home after a couple hours of mowing lawn. Home is not that far away; about a mile or so. I'm sweaty and my clothes are soaked as it's been a warm day. I make the turn and see someone walking a dog. It's her, looking as good as ever. I think about pulling over and seeing if she'd like a lift back home. But then I see the large bookshelf I put in the front seat of my car and realize there's no room for her. Plus I'd have to bring home a dog, too. It wouldn't work either way. So I just drive right by. She doesn't have that far to go, anyways. I imagine the dog needed a walk. I keep driving towards my destination; no longer paying attention to her."
THE END
"A car travels up the nextdoor driveway; a white Buick. It's her and her sister. I watch as the two exit the car and lift plastic bags from the trunk of their car. I don't pay attention to the sister as she does not interest me. The younger one seems to rotate the same clothes every few days. I feel bad for her. She's a very nice looking girl and deserves to have nice clothing to show herself off in. She doesn't appear to care to go to college at all; I'm not sure if she just can't afford it or would rather not attend at all. Maybe she just wants to be a homemaker all her life and take care of kids. Now I'm just making assumptions. She slowly climbs up the front steps of the house and vanishes behind the front door. I go back to what I was doing; no longer paying attention to her.
"I'm outside working on a project in the backyard when I hear a front door slam. There she is again, taking care of the dogs. I have to go inside for a moment and take my eyes off her. She goes well to the back of her property, while I go get a drink inside. She goes inside and I go back out. Suddenly I hear a cat meowing on our property. It ends up being hers. I pet it and it purrs. It rubs its head against my legs and it won't leave my side. It's a very friendly cat but I know it must go back to its home. I enter the garage and close the door; leaving the cat behind. I think it knows enough to go back to its home as it's not very far away. I go inside for awhile; head back outside to finish up my project for the day. She comes back outside, looking for her cat. It has gone missing and she goes searching for it. I, too, search for it on our property. I never did find it. I feel bad and hope it returns home. I had my chance to return it, but relied on its instincts instead. I go inside for the night and no longer pay attention to her.
"I'm driving back home after a couple hours of mowing lawn. Home is not that far away; about a mile or so. I'm sweaty and my clothes are soaked as it's been a warm day. I make the turn and see someone walking a dog. It's her, looking as good as ever. I think about pulling over and seeing if she'd like a lift back home. But then I see the large bookshelf I put in the front seat of my car and realize there's no room for her. Plus I'd have to bring home a dog, too. It wouldn't work either way. So I just drive right by. She doesn't have that far to go, anyways. I imagine the dog needed a walk. I keep driving towards my destination; no longer paying attention to her."
THE END
Friday, September 21, 2007
A Year of Adventures in this Apartment
I have lived in my current apartment for over a year now and all in all, it's been a positive experience. I haven't had any major mechanical problems occur, the neighbors are generally problem-free (although I'll add more to that in a bit), and I live right in the heart of the city, close to any kind of store, business, or restaurant. I have been a witness to some pretty strange events at times, however, and some of those experiences I will share with you. Not only that, but something that has developed lately that is driving me insane.
A pet peeve of mine is when someone exits or enters the apartment building the same time as you going in the opposite direction and not even making eye contact or leaving the door open for you. That has happened to be on a couple occasions here and it bugged the crap out of me. I mean, talk about rude. Generally that occurs with the younger, college-aged people that live here (and I think a few of them have moved out over the past year). I don't care whether the person is in a huge rush and is late for an engagement (more often than not, they are in a hurry to the bar anyways). How much extra time does it take to say hi or leave the door open for you? Not even 15 seconds! The majority of the time, though, I usually don't run into anybody going in the opposite direction as I.
One neighbor of mine that lives across the hall from me is an older gentleman, probably in his 50's. I haven't really dealt with him much, but on a couple of occasions I've bumped into him. He doesn't seem like the friendliest person in the world. He does seem to get frequent visitors and even a young girl stays with him at times (I'm guessing it's a grand daughter of his). Her bicycle is even sitting out in the hallway as I type, where it's parked pretty much all of the time (which I think should be stored in his apartment if she's not around). There have been a couple of nights where he's drunker than a skunk and he's got the music cranked up really loud. It generally doesn't bother me because I usually sleep with ear plugs anyways, but I hate to be living above or next to him. And it's not like it happens all of the time, just once in a great while. Still, it's the middle of the night and he's got the music blaring (one night, it was country songs) and he's singing along, quite terribly. I have to wonder if he's been smoking dope during those nights, too. And don't park too closely in front of the steps of the building, either. Otherwise he'll go on a profanity-laced tirade, in front of his grand daughter, no less (which I witnessed one time, seeing that my window is right near the front door). Just stay out of his way, is my best advice.
Another incident occured probably in May of this year. A younger couple, probably early 20's, was coming home from a night at the bar. The guy was driving, and the girl was incredibly drunk. She stumbled out of the car and was sicker than a dog. All of a sudden, she leans ontop of the hood of her car and starts throwing up. And naturally, they had to park right in front of my window, although I did have my blinds closed. But hearing the commotion, I had to see what was going on. So I did catch the tail end of what she was doing, with her boyfriend helping her into the building after she puked outside. And don't you think if something like that happened to you that you would clean up the puke the next day or the next opportunity when you felt better (something as simple as throwing a bucket of water on it)? Well she didn't. The next day, crows were even picking at it. The puke stayed on her car and on the sidewalk until it was washed away by rain. I don't think I had ever been more disgusted at the human race after being a witness to that ordeal. I just can't believe some people can be so piggy and disgusting. She basically swept the incident under the rug and probably thought no one else knew it was her. That's where she was wrong. Thankfully, she has since moved out of the building.
Now recently, someone's smoking has been driving me crazy. I don't know if it's been the people in the apartment next to me (which I know they smoke) or the person above me. But the smoke smell wafts into my apartment and it really starts bothering me. I even smell it during the middle of the night and it's hard for me to sleep when I smell it. I don't mean anything negative to anyone reading this who might smoke, but I wish the people who live in this building could at least wait until the next morning to light up a smoke rather than to do it during the middle of the night when people are asleep. The smoke smell hasn't been a problem for me up until the last couple of months. And it's not like it's an everyday occurance, but it does happen two to three days a week (and sometimes more).
One final incident occured in the fall of last year. A younger couple must've had a disagreement of some sort and the guy locked the girl out of the apartment upstairs. She was knocking, beating on the door, crying and pleading for the guy to let her back in, but he wouldn't let her. This went on for up to a half hour before finally the old guy across the hall from me shouted, "shut the f--- up!" He never seems to be afraid to say what's on his mind.
So there you have it, some of the most note-worthy situations in this apartment building during the last year and two months. My goal is to stay here until at least next summer or fall, and then start looking for a permanent place of residence. That's when the house hunting will begin and then I'll have a place all to myself. But until then, I'll stay situated in this building. Like I said, it isn't all bad. The majority of the time, things are pretty peaceful and I never seemed to be bothered. It definitely could be a lot worse.
A pet peeve of mine is when someone exits or enters the apartment building the same time as you going in the opposite direction and not even making eye contact or leaving the door open for you. That has happened to be on a couple occasions here and it bugged the crap out of me. I mean, talk about rude. Generally that occurs with the younger, college-aged people that live here (and I think a few of them have moved out over the past year). I don't care whether the person is in a huge rush and is late for an engagement (more often than not, they are in a hurry to the bar anyways). How much extra time does it take to say hi or leave the door open for you? Not even 15 seconds! The majority of the time, though, I usually don't run into anybody going in the opposite direction as I.
One neighbor of mine that lives across the hall from me is an older gentleman, probably in his 50's. I haven't really dealt with him much, but on a couple of occasions I've bumped into him. He doesn't seem like the friendliest person in the world. He does seem to get frequent visitors and even a young girl stays with him at times (I'm guessing it's a grand daughter of his). Her bicycle is even sitting out in the hallway as I type, where it's parked pretty much all of the time (which I think should be stored in his apartment if she's not around). There have been a couple of nights where he's drunker than a skunk and he's got the music cranked up really loud. It generally doesn't bother me because I usually sleep with ear plugs anyways, but I hate to be living above or next to him. And it's not like it happens all of the time, just once in a great while. Still, it's the middle of the night and he's got the music blaring (one night, it was country songs) and he's singing along, quite terribly. I have to wonder if he's been smoking dope during those nights, too. And don't park too closely in front of the steps of the building, either. Otherwise he'll go on a profanity-laced tirade, in front of his grand daughter, no less (which I witnessed one time, seeing that my window is right near the front door). Just stay out of his way, is my best advice.
Another incident occured probably in May of this year. A younger couple, probably early 20's, was coming home from a night at the bar. The guy was driving, and the girl was incredibly drunk. She stumbled out of the car and was sicker than a dog. All of a sudden, she leans ontop of the hood of her car and starts throwing up. And naturally, they had to park right in front of my window, although I did have my blinds closed. But hearing the commotion, I had to see what was going on. So I did catch the tail end of what she was doing, with her boyfriend helping her into the building after she puked outside. And don't you think if something like that happened to you that you would clean up the puke the next day or the next opportunity when you felt better (something as simple as throwing a bucket of water on it)? Well she didn't. The next day, crows were even picking at it. The puke stayed on her car and on the sidewalk until it was washed away by rain. I don't think I had ever been more disgusted at the human race after being a witness to that ordeal. I just can't believe some people can be so piggy and disgusting. She basically swept the incident under the rug and probably thought no one else knew it was her. That's where she was wrong. Thankfully, she has since moved out of the building.
Now recently, someone's smoking has been driving me crazy. I don't know if it's been the people in the apartment next to me (which I know they smoke) or the person above me. But the smoke smell wafts into my apartment and it really starts bothering me. I even smell it during the middle of the night and it's hard for me to sleep when I smell it. I don't mean anything negative to anyone reading this who might smoke, but I wish the people who live in this building could at least wait until the next morning to light up a smoke rather than to do it during the middle of the night when people are asleep. The smoke smell hasn't been a problem for me up until the last couple of months. And it's not like it's an everyday occurance, but it does happen two to three days a week (and sometimes more).
One final incident occured in the fall of last year. A younger couple must've had a disagreement of some sort and the guy locked the girl out of the apartment upstairs. She was knocking, beating on the door, crying and pleading for the guy to let her back in, but he wouldn't let her. This went on for up to a half hour before finally the old guy across the hall from me shouted, "shut the f--- up!" He never seems to be afraid to say what's on his mind.
So there you have it, some of the most note-worthy situations in this apartment building during the last year and two months. My goal is to stay here until at least next summer or fall, and then start looking for a permanent place of residence. That's when the house hunting will begin and then I'll have a place all to myself. But until then, I'll stay situated in this building. Like I said, it isn't all bad. The majority of the time, things are pretty peaceful and I never seemed to be bothered. It definitely could be a lot worse.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
A Small Town Closure
As some of you may know, I grew up in a small town; population of around 300 people. I know some people consider living in a small town to be a drag, because many of the people are like your neighbors and there's not a whole lot to do. But to be honest, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else when I was younger. It provided a great upbringing and I always found something to do. You develop a great loyalty to that place, even though you may not live there regularly anymore, which I don't. However, I frequently visit and continue to keep up with everything that happens there. Not a lot goes on, but when something does, you tend to hear about it pretty quickly.
In the past month, the local gas station in town shut down. It's been in the community for a long time and everybody has bought gas there at some time or another. Yes, gas does tend to be more expensive there than the larger populated areas nearby, but when you live some distance away from those places, you don't really have much choice than to fuel up there. And if you need a small amount of gas for a lawn mower, it sure beats driving miles down the road. It provides a great convenience for the community and the tourists driving by. And they didn't just sell gas, either, but many other items. Now there is doubt that it will ever reopen again.
According to talk around town, a gas line started leaking fuel into the ground. It's unknown how long it had leaked and the extent of the pollution, but it sounds it could be significant enough to where they may have to demolish the building. It appears the fuel even got under the building. A small co-op store a couple miles up the road had a similar problem 15 years ago and ended up shutting down for good. The costs for such a clean-up are quite expensive. They never tore down the building, but they had to excavate much of the polluted soil around the building. Plus they built a pollution monitoring station for the ground water and drilled many different wells. Something very similar could end up happening at this most recent case. And it's unfortunate it had to close down, because it has always done good business.
The business went under new ownership earlier this year and the new people seemed to be making some real positive changes with the store. They were putting some money into the place by doing a small amount of remodeling and rearranging the store. You hate to see someone who just moved into the area end up shutting down because of something like this. Usually it's because of finances or radical changes that turn people away. But this is an environmental issue and something that will likely take a long time to get fixed. When it's something like pollution, state environmental agencies will be on your back making sure everything is right before it's even possible to start selling gas. And what will hurt the most is that this business won't have a presense in our community for some time to come, if ever again.
As I mentioned earlier, the store ended up closing down about two to three weeks ago, so many of the details are still unknown. But when you live in a small town, you end up finding out one way or another. I'm sure this will be very much the same. Who knows exactly what will end up happening. Maybe the pollution is only minor and it'll take a few weeks to clean up. However, that's probably the best case scenario and usually it never ends up being that way. Time will tell and if we end up being without this gas station, maybe someone else in the community will step up and build a new store. You never know what will end up happening in a situation like this.
In the past month, the local gas station in town shut down. It's been in the community for a long time and everybody has bought gas there at some time or another. Yes, gas does tend to be more expensive there than the larger populated areas nearby, but when you live some distance away from those places, you don't really have much choice than to fuel up there. And if you need a small amount of gas for a lawn mower, it sure beats driving miles down the road. It provides a great convenience for the community and the tourists driving by. And they didn't just sell gas, either, but many other items. Now there is doubt that it will ever reopen again.
According to talk around town, a gas line started leaking fuel into the ground. It's unknown how long it had leaked and the extent of the pollution, but it sounds it could be significant enough to where they may have to demolish the building. It appears the fuel even got under the building. A small co-op store a couple miles up the road had a similar problem 15 years ago and ended up shutting down for good. The costs for such a clean-up are quite expensive. They never tore down the building, but they had to excavate much of the polluted soil around the building. Plus they built a pollution monitoring station for the ground water and drilled many different wells. Something very similar could end up happening at this most recent case. And it's unfortunate it had to close down, because it has always done good business.
The business went under new ownership earlier this year and the new people seemed to be making some real positive changes with the store. They were putting some money into the place by doing a small amount of remodeling and rearranging the store. You hate to see someone who just moved into the area end up shutting down because of something like this. Usually it's because of finances or radical changes that turn people away. But this is an environmental issue and something that will likely take a long time to get fixed. When it's something like pollution, state environmental agencies will be on your back making sure everything is right before it's even possible to start selling gas. And what will hurt the most is that this business won't have a presense in our community for some time to come, if ever again.
As I mentioned earlier, the store ended up closing down about two to three weeks ago, so many of the details are still unknown. But when you live in a small town, you end up finding out one way or another. I'm sure this will be very much the same. Who knows exactly what will end up happening. Maybe the pollution is only minor and it'll take a few weeks to clean up. However, that's probably the best case scenario and usually it never ends up being that way. Time will tell and if we end up being without this gas station, maybe someone else in the community will step up and build a new store. You never know what will end up happening in a situation like this.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
A Dream to Remember
It was a few nights ago when I had this weird, yet incredible dream. Well, I guess it wasn't THAT incredible, but just the same, it's amazing that I still remember a good majority of the experiences that occured in it. Most of the time whenever you have a good dream, you can't remember it by the next morning. But this one was different. Even yesterday, I still recalled a lot of the memories; enough of them for me to jot them down on a piece of paper just in case I ended up forgetting. I figured it would make for an interesting blog, and here we go!
I ended up being with this woman for most of the dream. I don't recall how I met her or our first encounter, but she was with me for awhile. She was very tall, thin, and seemed to be in her 30's. In fact, she looked a lot like the former Today Show weekend anchor Campbell Brown. Now why I was dreaming of her, I haven't a clue seeing she was never a huge favorite of mine. But as the dream progressed, she morphed into this younger woman I knew in college and had some of my English classes with. I considered her to be a very attractive woman whom I would've loved developing a relationship with (but never happened). Anyways, this woman and I were walking to a seemingly endless destination. We walked along desolate roads where tree-upon-tree lined the edges of these roads. Every now and again, a car would pass by but I can't recall any huge significance of these vehicles. However, I remember walking upon these caution lights (the two or four-way blinking kinds) that were randomly placed along the road, but there weren't any intersections or any hazards to mark their significance. They were basically just there in the middle of no where. We treked along and finally reached our "mysterious" destination.
Before the dream progressed too far ahead, another woman came up to me (while the other was away for a moment) and more or less warned me not to continue with this woman. She said she wouldn't wait for me anymore and went along her marry way. She was a blonde; a girl that I once knew in high school and whom I had a HUGE crush on. Eventually I met back with the mysterious girl and we turned around and started walking back in the other direction! I seem to recall us walking along the bike path along the Lake Superior shorline nearest to the highway as we headed northward to the city. And once again, we just kept walking. I don't think we ever got tired out by walking endlessly, either.
Finally, the dream progressed to the last segment (of what I remember, at least). I really had strong feelings for this woman and she felt the same of me. We were at a frat house of some kind (funny, since I've never set foot in one) where a party was going on. But it wasn't a wild, drinking kind of party, but was more low key and people were actually acting intellectual about things. I think people were still drinking, yet they were being responsible. Now when is a party ever like that? I really wanted to make love to this woman and she the same to me, so we snuck into a bedroom - but then I suddenly realized I wasn't ready and needed to go looking for something (the "something" being the item I didn't have in order to be passionate with her - if you get my drift). But, before I headed to the store, I started looking on this large shelving unit, remembering when we were once given these during our ninth grade health class. I couldn't find it and I absolutely could not remember where it was. But I kept looking and looking and looking. It seemed I was looking for hours. Finally, she got fed up of waiting and left me, but not without my anxious pleas for her to stop. She walked out the door and then I woke up.
So there you have it, the dream that still leaves a lasting impression on me. What exactly DOES it mean, to be honest? Is it a sign, a vision, or is it just some random dream? I'm thinking it's the latter. It's not normally something I would write about in a blog, but seeing as how I'd been in a drought for topics as of late, I figured why not. Heck, it would actually make for an interesting short story idea. I'd just have to develop some of the details more. So maybe it's not such a bad idea to remember this dream days after it happened.
I ended up being with this woman for most of the dream. I don't recall how I met her or our first encounter, but she was with me for awhile. She was very tall, thin, and seemed to be in her 30's. In fact, she looked a lot like the former Today Show weekend anchor Campbell Brown. Now why I was dreaming of her, I haven't a clue seeing she was never a huge favorite of mine. But as the dream progressed, she morphed into this younger woman I knew in college and had some of my English classes with. I considered her to be a very attractive woman whom I would've loved developing a relationship with (but never happened). Anyways, this woman and I were walking to a seemingly endless destination. We walked along desolate roads where tree-upon-tree lined the edges of these roads. Every now and again, a car would pass by but I can't recall any huge significance of these vehicles. However, I remember walking upon these caution lights (the two or four-way blinking kinds) that were randomly placed along the road, but there weren't any intersections or any hazards to mark their significance. They were basically just there in the middle of no where. We treked along and finally reached our "mysterious" destination.
Before the dream progressed too far ahead, another woman came up to me (while the other was away for a moment) and more or less warned me not to continue with this woman. She said she wouldn't wait for me anymore and went along her marry way. She was a blonde; a girl that I once knew in high school and whom I had a HUGE crush on. Eventually I met back with the mysterious girl and we turned around and started walking back in the other direction! I seem to recall us walking along the bike path along the Lake Superior shorline nearest to the highway as we headed northward to the city. And once again, we just kept walking. I don't think we ever got tired out by walking endlessly, either.
Finally, the dream progressed to the last segment (of what I remember, at least). I really had strong feelings for this woman and she felt the same of me. We were at a frat house of some kind (funny, since I've never set foot in one) where a party was going on. But it wasn't a wild, drinking kind of party, but was more low key and people were actually acting intellectual about things. I think people were still drinking, yet they were being responsible. Now when is a party ever like that? I really wanted to make love to this woman and she the same to me, so we snuck into a bedroom - but then I suddenly realized I wasn't ready and needed to go looking for something (the "something" being the item I didn't have in order to be passionate with her - if you get my drift). But, before I headed to the store, I started looking on this large shelving unit, remembering when we were once given these during our ninth grade health class. I couldn't find it and I absolutely could not remember where it was. But I kept looking and looking and looking. It seemed I was looking for hours. Finally, she got fed up of waiting and left me, but not without my anxious pleas for her to stop. She walked out the door and then I woke up.
So there you have it, the dream that still leaves a lasting impression on me. What exactly DOES it mean, to be honest? Is it a sign, a vision, or is it just some random dream? I'm thinking it's the latter. It's not normally something I would write about in a blog, but seeing as how I'd been in a drought for topics as of late, I figured why not. Heck, it would actually make for an interesting short story idea. I'd just have to develop some of the details more. So maybe it's not such a bad idea to remember this dream days after it happened.
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