Point Made

Mopedites Cured As many of you know, my preferred mode of long-distance transportation is my Aprilia Rally 150 moped. It offers many advantages. I can step through to mount, so need not try to throw my bad leg over the saddle. I don't have to shift gears. It has what is known as "twist n' go" acceleration. My specially modified unit can get up to 50mph and cruise comfortably at 45mph. This increase in speed makes it reasonable to use many streets, such as Lincoln Memorial Drive in Milwaukee. In the State of Wisconsin, it is treated as if it were a bicycle; I can park it anywhere on the sidewalk, as long as I don't block pedestrians. I do not need a motorcycle permit. My Wisconsin drivers license is sufficient. As I have written about my inability to get anyone in Louisiana to service my moped I have am grounded, so to speak. Horray! I have found a shop in Appleton who will work on the bike. Watch this space for further news. By the way, it goes without saying...

When we moved back to Appleton, we moved rather quickly into some old activities that were familiar and more or less traditional. Maria hosted a brunch for the family, celebrating a visit by a contingent of our left coast family. We began to stop at Frank's Pizza on Tuesday evening to see which Toads showed up. Maria and I shop at our neighborhood markets. We have our places. Kwik Trip,  Copps, Target and we added Costco. Soon we will join a gym. We are gathering up our old friends. We joined the Nagler's, Slama's, and Olson's for a monthly dinner meeting of The Royal Order of the Toads (ROT). The lure of Any Movie, Any Time for $5, on Tuesday at the local Marcus theater has us in its grip. We didn't forget our friends to the South. This last weekend we made a quick trip to the City on the Fresh Coast of the Inland Sea (Milwaukee). While we didn't get to see everyone, we did a good job for the short amount of time we had. I wish I could report that Maria ha...

Why would one leave the best weather in Louisiana for, possibly the worst weather in Wisconsin? My weather site is stuck. Every morning when I click on NOAA, it tells me how pleasantly warm it is in Louisiana. I enter my request for Appleton, WI, and it reports cold temperatures, overcast skies, and possible rain or snow. Lake Maria, the giant puddle in the backyard, overflows and recedes depending on how much precipitation we get. Truly, It's not that I didn't know that it would be cooler up here. The weather in Wisconsin, this time of year is why the Milwaukee Brewer's have a covered stadium. We've had a good deal of unseasonable snowfall for the last two weeks, and the temperatures below freezing are not the norm either. My Landlord should be pulling his hair out. You know that drain pipe that you insert the hose from your washing machine? It takes the grey water out of your washer and puts it in the sewer? Now most anything that isn't water isn't goi...