get your kicks on (old) route 66

NBC Nightly News airs segment about Route 66 http://t.co/8jQHT3IAbp
— Ron Warnick (@route66news) July 2, 2014

I ran across this post on Twitter a few weeks ago, finally got around to watching it (it was originally aired just before Memorial Day) and felt I needed to share it. Unfortunately, the embedding won't work, but I'd urge you to go to "Modern-Day Kicks on Route 66", on the NBC site.

I grew up relatively close to old 66, in southern St. Louis County.  I even lived a block away from the decommissioned route for a few years, in Marlborough - old 66 is now MO-366, Watson Road.  I thought it was really cool that you could drive down Watson and see all these old, tiny motels, right on the shoulder of the widened road, with their rusty neon signs and odd names.  Coral Courts was still standing (sadly, demolished in 1994) and Ted Drewes was only a few miles away.  I always thought it was so interesting that a big part of national history was only a half a block away.  It makes me sad that you cannot see the old gates to Coral Court anymore behind a fence and overgrown trees along Watson.

The Pixar movie Cars really sparked renewed interest in old Route 66, and I think more people drive the historic route because of that movie than ever.  I'd love to do the whole thing, and I've already travelled a couple of the Chicago to St. Louis alignments, as well as from St Louis to around Waynesville, through Hooker's Cut and Devil's Elbow.  It's not easy sometimes to find the old route, but there are books and maps to help.  One of my favorite is Route 66: Traveler's Guide and Roadside Companion by Tom Snyder - I think I have the 2nd or 3rd edition, and this is up to the 4th (2011).  Lots of good directions, and alternate alignments listed, plus trivia and 'what to see'.

I have some interesting shots of some of the things along the Mother Road that I've seen along my very short travels, and someday I'll post them up here.  There are quite a few routes through St Louis - it can be confusing - but as time goes on, the St Louis County Streets and Highways Department is posting signs along the Alt Routes and the Bi-Ways through and around the city.

I also find it amusing that I moved to north St Louis County, and I'm once again a block and a half away from the old Route - the northern Bi-way around the city that crossed the Mississippi at the old Chain of Rocks bridge is Dunn Road, which is the outer road for I-270 around the city.  I think the Bi-way takes a left at Lindbergh Blvd/US 67 and goes south to either Manchester Road/MO-100 or all the way to Watson/MO-366.

Maybe it's time to take another short cruise on the Mother Road.

Cheers!

my not-so-humble opinion about select recent events

Okay.  It's been a long week around the world, it's Saturday, I have a migraine, and now I'm irked.

If (general) you tweet me something while I am sleeping or away from the internet, and you don't get a reply, it could be due to the fact that I am sleeping or away from the internet.  If I RT something, it doesn't necessarily mean that I've ignored your post, or am ignoring you.  It means I haven't formulated a reply.  

Now.  I am a middle-aged (when did THAT happen???  ack) many-generation American, which means I really don't self-identify as a, Irish-American, a Swedish-American, a German-American, an English-American, a French-American, etc, even though I could self-identify as all of the above.  I'm an American.  I'm also a white American, and Protestant, and Democrat.  Tree-hugger?  Maybe.  Pro-choice?  Yes.  Pro-capital punishment?  Yes. Independent thinker?  Yes.

I retweeted an article I read online yesterday that had to do with the fact that it appears that it may not be 'political suicide' now to disagree with issues going on in the Middle East: "Why Opposing the Israel Lobby Is No Longer Political Suicide" via The Nation, which has been in publication since 1865 and is an admittedly liberal magazine.  One of my (now former) followers lives in Israel, and complained that, in retweeting an article she says is 'one-sided', I was not seeing 'their' side of the conflict.

She sent me the series of tweets between 4AM and 5AM my time, and said she unfollowed me because of the article and then refollowed me to 'discuss' it.  On Twitter, where the maximum post is 140 characters long.

Today is Saturday.  I slept in, and when I woke up, I read her posts.  Not something I wanted to process a minute after waking up.  I retweeted a few other posts (Go Cards!) and then was offline to get 'auburn' again and to run errands.  You know, Saturday things.

In the middle of my hair appointment, I got another post that essentially said that I was apparently ignoring her earlier posts, and that I didn't want to hear "what they were going through here".  When I replied that I have been away from the computer most of the day she pointed out that I had been on 5 hours previously (my RTs) and that I obviously believe that Israel doesn't have a "right to defend itself against constant rockets" (that is a direct quote). She has unfollowed me again, so I'm sure she probably won't see this long-winded reply to her posts.

I am rather pissed, and I don't mean drunk.

The following is my opinion.  If you don't like my opinion, that is entirely your prerogative.

I think the Israelis need to stop settling in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.  I think that the are using overt force against a mostly unarmed people.  I think they need to use their fêted Iron Dome (which they do!) and work to talk to the people who are firing them off to get them to stop.  I think they need to retreat their ground forces.  If the Israelis are so worried about the tunnels they claim the Palestinians are using to get into Israel, they should find them on the Israeli side and block them.  I think they are using the 'hunt for tunnels' as an excuse to destroy hospitals, schools, shelters, homes, and businesses. And lives.

Great!  Israel uses the 'knock on the roof' to let people know that they're going to drop a bomb.  What about after that bomb is dropped?  What happens to the people who homes were just destroyed?  Oh, that doesn't matter, they're just Palestinians. What about the children killed on the beach?  "Oops."?  As of this afternoon, there has been 5 Israeli deaths (3 soldiers, 2 civilians), and at least 336 Palestinian. Mostly women and children - at least 70 children. (Source: Yahoo! News) Disproportional much?

I'm not saying that Israel cannot defend itself against rockets.  I'm saying that the "offensive incursion" is not "defensive".  It's offensive, and not just in a military way.  It's offensive to human rights, to people who want the fighting to stop, and to countries around the world who are starting to look askance at the blind support that countries like the United States have given Israel in the past.

I think it's great that people are starting to really look at this issue, and talk about how maybe all this blind support isn't a good idea, and talk about it politically.  We haven't had that freedom (in the land of the free!) to even hint to oppose the support, because it wasn't popular - it was 'political suicide'. Kinda like Akin and his 'legitimate rape' crap that he's now saying is 'true' (due to his retraction of his apology) and that he was 'a victim'. (Of his own stupidity. Moron.)

I just ran across this Huffington Post article while I was looking for information on Akin, and I'm sure it'll also be considered 'one-sided':  May We Talk About This Yet? Jewish Millennials and the Future of Israel-Palestine

It's now 8PM, and I have been irritated about this topic since I woke up this morning. Did I ignore the posts?  No.  Has it taken me over 9 hours to put my thoughts together enough to post it?  Yes.  Am I still pissed at the response I got in the middle of the afternoon?  You bet.

Your mileage may vary.

Cheers.

gehrig 75 & happy 4th

MLB put this together; it's really cool:




Cheers! *passes tissues*

welcome to july

Hi all, just a quickie post!

Someone on one of the message boards I frequent had a topic about what books or fanfic everyone's been reading, and I realized that I hadn't really sat down and read anything longish from beginning to end in a long time, and hadn't marked it on my "Read" list in a *very* long time.

I've updated the "Books/Fics Read" list over on the sidebar now. I'll add stuff to it as they're read. I read a lot of fanfiction!

Got to see Ruth, Denise, Lindsey, Steve and Dean a couple of weeks ago!  Want proof?



We had a great time - there were a TON of people there (I warned Steve!) and I think we walked about 6-7 miles just on Saturday.  Thankfully it wasn't overly hot. Dean was a charmer as usual *sigh* - and left for home the next day at 4:30 AM to get home for Father's Day.  That's 2:30 AM Cali time.  Poor guy.  The rest of us had dinner on Saturday & brunch on Sunday before going our different ways.

Ruth, Linz, Denise and I went to the Superman Museum on Sunday - OMG, they had some of Clark's ties and Lois's dress from "I've Got A Crush On You".  Yes, I was literally jumping up and down! :D  It was so cool!

I'm going to be working full-time soon.  No details allowed yet - we're still working out the kinks.

I'm working on the "Checkerboard Textures Throw" from Red Heart - one and a half more rounds to go and then the cleanup.  The border rounds are 750+ sts around...taking forever! I want to finish this so I can go back to my knitting needles!

Okay, that's all for now.

Cheers!

still kickin'

Yep. Still out here.  Not much going on besides a couple of conventions (loved New Orleans!!) and some other things.  Job hunting.

I realized that I've added a few states to my 'places' map - I couldn't find the original one, so here a new one.  Added Mississippi and Louisiana!

Again, not much going on.  Working on a couple of afghans, finished a present for Mom but need to block it, and am growing some container tomatoes.  Note to self:  Don't buy any more veggie plants if you need to go back to hardware store.  Every time I go, I come back with another plant!!

I'm going to see Ruth, Lindsey, and Denise (oh, and Dean and Steve!) in Metropolis in a couple of weeks for the annual Superman Celebration.  Should be fun!  This is Dean's first time at this event, so he's probably going to be very very busy. I'm hoping we have dry weather - last year Sunday was basically washed out due to all the severe weather they had.  Hear me, Mother Nature?  No t-storms, please.

Well, I just wanted to check in.  Yankees are playing the Cards right now - go Cards!  I can't stand the Yankees.

Cheers!