Views of the Christmas decorated Church

Now that we're in the Christian advent season, many churches will be decorated in one way or another for the upcoming holiday season. Here were a few photos I took this morning.

Some musings!!!

High School Football Playoff action

I've been working on this corner for 10 years now (11 football seasons) and my boss was a former Midland High football player. Never have we seen a sight as this. The recent Ovid-Elsie / Standish Sterling playoff game was held at Midland Community Stadium (adjacent to Midland High). The line going into the stadium was long enough it extended to the corner (by our store). Not even the annual cross-town matchup between Midland High and Herbie High produces lines this long even after the game has started. In other words, I think the two schools can learn something here (such as finding a way to make their games true community events).

Annual Santa Parade Litterbugs

The annual Midland Santa Parade has become an annual tradition for some years now. It starts at Midland High working it's way to Saginaw Road (in front of our store) eventually ending near Downtown. I've noticed it's a parade tradition to throw candy and treats toward those along the sidelines (esp. the kids). In past years when I was outside doing a lot check, I'd end up finding old pieces of candy along the grassy area in front of the store sometimes months after the parade. This year, because of the sparce grass along the street, I was able to find the old candy left over from last week's parade rather easily. I ended up counting 46 pieces in a rather short distance. It looks like the kids weren't doing their job picking up all that candy.

BTW - I didn't want to eat any of it. It had been sitting on the ground for sometime.

Shopping after Christmas (aka Black Friday).

First off, let me express my condolances to the family of the New York Walmart worker who was killed on Friday when customers to his store trampled over him trying to get in the store. It was an act of extreme selfishness and greed that fed upon itself when customers refused to leave the store because it was now a crime scene. I hope store video is able to identify all people in the front of the line and prosecutes them.

Second, the only shopping I ended up doing Friday was after work (milk, cat food, etc.). I visited WalMart whose business had slowed down after the rush of the morning. This pic was taken in the electronics section.

The New GM?

As my luck holds, I caught the end of an interesting interview this morning on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street". The part of the interview I caught revealed the guest's view on the future of General Motors.

Here is the summary of what was said...

1. General Motors may have to declare bankruptcy soon.
2. A massive restructuring may have to occur as part of a bankruptcy plan.
3. That massive restructuring may have to include the elimination of all brands EXCEPT Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Saturn.
4. Rename the smaller restructured company Chevrolet Motor Company (or something similar as every other major car company has the name of the highest selling brand in it).

This could work, so let me have a little fun with it even though this guy mentioned Saturn as a survivor instead of Pontiac. In my hypothetical world...

• Buick - eliminate all models. Face it, there's really nothing special anymore about a Buick. I know, I've had 2.
• Cadillac - keep all models for now.
• Chevrolet - Keep most models. Given a choice between Impala and Malibu, keep the Malibu as it's a far superior vehicle to the Impala.
• GMC & Hummer - eliminate all models. In GMC's case, it's GM's most useless and redundant division anyway. There are no original models in that division's lineup.
• Pontiac - In my youth, the division's slogan was "We Build Excitement". That doesn't seem to be the case anymore in a division that builds lame cars with too many "G's" in them. Eliminate all models except the Vibe which could survive well as a Chevy or Saturn.
• Saturn - keep all models for now.

Again, these are just my ideas. I can't say that enough. The brass at GM have a much tougher job in the next year as they actually are the ones to make the decisions about each model's survival as well as the company's.

Winter Snow

The first of the season that actually accumulates. Here are a few photos that I took last night. These pics I took between my home and the Floyd Church which is (under normal circumstances) a 5 minute walk. Enjoy!

Church sign...

As promised, here's a church sign presented by the creative genius at Midland's Midland Free Methodist Church. Since the Detroit Lions are 0-11 (and maybe 0-12 after the Thanksgiving game), I feel this sign still applies even though the sign itself has been taken down.

A few tidbits from the papers!

Doomsday Scenario
I've been racking my brain over the last few weeks trying to stake a position in the domestic automaker crisis. As this front page headline in Wednesday's "Saginaw News" suggests, many are worried though that the failure of one or more of the companies will trickle down to auto plants and suppliers.

A chart in the same paper supplied in the same newspaper by the Michigan Economic Development Corp shows how many of the previously mentioned companies are in the following cities.

In the Saginaw Valley / Central Michigan > Saginaw-11, Alma-4, Deckerville-4, Caro-4, Ubly-3, Vassar-3, Mount Pleasant-2, Chesaning-1, Clare-1, Pinconning-1, Bad Axe-1, Millington-1, Bay City-1, Bay Port-1, Beaverton-1, Cass City-1, Gladwin-1, Ithaca-1.

In Michigan > Grand Rapids-46(no wonder CNBC was broadcasting here tonite), Southfield-46, Troy-43, Farmington Hills-33, Sterling Heights-32, Warren-31, Livonia-30, Detroit-29, Plymouth-28, Auburn Hills-25, Rochester Hills-23, Grand Haven-16, Novi-16, Madison Heights-15, Fraser-14, Kentwood-14, Dearborn-13, and Flint-11.

Kinda demonstrates how Michigan really needs to divirsify and fast.

Now on TiVo
From the company that perfected the 30-minute delivery (almost too well) and that allows you to track those same deliveries on the computer, Domino's Pizza brings you it's next best thing. You can now order pizza on your television through TiVo.

Now I haven't totally figured it out yet but I assume it's a better deal than my own employer's (Papa John's) option of texting an order on your cell phone, WHY??? As I understand it, here's how TiVo ordering would work. A Domino's commercial plays on Tv and the customer clicks on some button that says "I want it". In 30 minutes (or free?) your order will magically appear at your door.

I just can't fathom what will be next and from whom...

Here's an idea (sports)
On the front Sports page of today's USA TODAY, an article talks about the four NFL teams on the west coast (San Diego, Seattle, Oakland, and San Francisco) who are having a tough time this year. How? It seems that those four teams are 0-11 when they are playing teams in the Eastern Time Zone on the opposing teams turf.

I got a wild idea that just may work. Let's send these teams to Ford Field in Detroit to tackle the Lions (probably history's worst NFL team ever). The Lions (0-10) for the season would scrap 4 of their 6 remaining games (preferrably against the toughest opponents) and bring in each of the previously mentioned 4 teams to Ford Field. The Lions would be guaranteed 4 wins in the deal. Even if they lose the other 2 games, the '08 Lions would be 4-12 for the year.

Can it get wilder than that? Let's find out.

I got a photo that I'm going to post in the next couple of days, speaking of the Lions. I'm not a fan of the cutesy quotes and sayings on most church signs. But someone at Midland's Midland Free Methodist Church is very crafty and put out my favorite sign of the year, so far. You'll like this I'm sure.

Validation - of what I believe... (part 1)

It's nice to hear people out there who actually do share some of your viewpoints - especially when it comes from the media.

I was listening to the Huge Show (a sports show that airs on Michigan radio stations) a little while ago. Huge was talking about this "60 Minutes" interview with Pres.-Elect Obama in which he was looking for a way to hate the new president. He was pleasantly suprised by the down-to-earth approach of the new president.

Then he said something which I thought was profound from someone who's a radio guy (who usually are either left or right in their views). He said that he prefers to think for himself and not let others on the right or left tell him what he has to believe about someone or something.

Good for you, Huge...

I've tried the left, and I've also tried the right. Where I get into trouble is this: that I in no way can follow all of a particular party platform and believe everything they believe. I start to feel like I'm compromising myself in the process. I feel freedom in being an indepent person in my beliefs. I may have voted for McCain in the recent election, for example, but I'm rooting for success for the new president. My voting ticket included both Republicans and Democrats.

Take that, Mr./Mrs. Voting-Party-Line-Person.

Finally, the wait is over...

The first real snow of the season is here. Now we are 100% certain the following will not occur around here for the next few months: pretty young ladies suntanning in their bikini's, the planting of flowers along the highway as is done here in this town, and joggers wearing nothing but a pair of shorts (unless it was in the 60's outside).

Here's a photo I took mere minutes ago... my driveway looking toward the road. I had just gotten back to the house mere minutes before I took this picture.

A sorry time in the world of music!

Yesterday at work, I just happened to be walking through the room when I heard "the song" on the radio. My boss had turned on the local Top 40 (aka Hip-Hop) station and was listening to it while she was working on prep. Much to my utter dismay, I heard a remake of one of the lesser known Michael Jackson tunes. I wish I knew the name of the song in question but I know it's one of Jackson's because I've heard it on radio station retro weekends.

So it's come down to this - a whole generation of musicians comes up and all they can do is rip off old medleys and/or lyrics. Unless you're Weird Al whose style is the parady, I find this situation unacceptable.

Whether you're in any form of entertainment, business, government, or whatever; if you'd like for me to take a look at your ideas and maybe even LIKE IT please come up with an original idea.

We may all be better off with them!

There's more of them coming!!!

Just stepped outside on the porch. There were a few snowflakes on the porch. No doubt there's much more of where that came from in the next few months.

Sorry, too dark for a photo.

Some thoughts... "For Better or For Worse" comic strip

The thing about Lynn Johnston's taking us on a trip down memory lane for the Patterson family is that this allows us to see and experience things we didn't notice (for many reasons) the first time.





Take this week's series of strips. The family has just adopted a little puppy they're calling Farley. The strip posted below is from today (Saturday).

Many of us that started reading the strips later on recall that Farley had a long and happy life with the Pattersons. Then came the emotional and controversial week of strips that led to Farley's passing while saving April (who wasn't born when the above strip originally ran) from a flood swollen river.

Thank you Ms. Johnston for reintroducing us to a classic...

Visit the "Remembering Farley" page on the comic's official website here.

Meridian Road Connector and Bridge opens in Sanford

This morning after church, I had a chance to travel the new "Meridian Road Connector" just outside of Sanford. This was a project that was decades in the making but finally got off the ground this last year. To accomplish this, the following was done...

• The curve from NB Meridian Road to WB West Wackerly Rd. was eliminated. In it's place is a standard intersection. This is the southern point of the project.
• All of Meridian Road from M-20 to the project's northern point was repaved and widened slightly to meet modern traffic standards.
• The Pere Marquette Rail Trail was slightly rerouted so it would fit under the new bridge.
• A portion of Wackerly Rd. that ran along the Rail Trail no longer connects to the main highway. It is now a court.

Here are some of the pictures I took today...

This is northbound Meridian Road between M-20 and Olson Rds. The road is recently repaved to accomodate the new project.

Northbound Meridian at the intersection of Wackerly (westbound only). This comes complete with a center turning lane.

From Meridian Road to W. Wackerly - this is where the old curve used to be.

The new bridge. This is a view from the south, looking north. Lamps greet visitors to the new bridge along with a small banner attached to the lamps that welcomes visitors to the new "Meridian Road Connector" from the county Road Commission.

A copy of the map borrowed from Goog le Maps. The new highway is highlighted in orange as is the slightly rerouted W. Wackerly where the curve used to be. You can see where the Sanford Wackerly Rd. has been whited out.

All we need now is for the state of Michigan to get off it's collective hind end and re-instate the M-30 designation last used in 1962 from US-10 to at least M-20 or all the way to M-46 at the Saginaw / Gratiot county line...