New Weekly Feature

I’ve decided that with the elections fast approaching it would be nice to list the phone numbers where people can call and volunteer. All political parties need volunteers, you know. I’ll start with the Iowa Democrats this week. If you feel the urge to volunteer to make some phone calls or whatever for the Democrats, here are the numbers you can call here in Iowa:

Ames — 515-232-7592
Burlington — 319-753-0445
Cedar Rapids — 319-221-1065
Clinton — 563-241-1356
Council Bluffs — 712-328-0086
Davenport — 563-322-3948
Des Moines — 515-974-1701
Dubuque — 563-556-7764
Fort Dodge — 515-955-1016
Ft. Madison — 319-372-7596
Grinnell — 641-236-1166
Iowa City — 319-337-3164
Marshalltown — 641-752-2930
Mason City — 641-422-0156
Newton — 641-792-2877
Ottumwa — 641-682-9038
Sioux City — 712-233-2056
Warren — 515-962-1211
Waterloo — 319-226-4428

Next Wednesday I’ll continue my weekly listing with the Republican numbers.

Why I Haven’t Written Lately…

A Fine Fundraiser Indeed

If you happen to be in Northwest Iowa this weekend, be sure to stop in at the American Legion Hall in LeMars Saturday. The Legion Riders (a fine group, yes indeed) are having a Rocky Mountain Oyster & Ham Dinner Saturday night from 5:30 until they kick us out. They’ll have lots of food there, all for a free-will donation. All proceeds go to American Legion Rider projects (the ALR does some nifty stuff, but they do need a touch of money to get it done). Before you get teste, remember, there’s a bar there too. (Sometimes booze helps a bit.)

Any support is appreciated!

Photos…

Last Saturday a few of us from Northwest Iowa got up at five in the morning to ride our motorcycles in the 30-degree weather to Norfolk, NE to welcome the National Guard unit home. The 189th Transportation unit based in Norfolk and Wayne, Nebraska, had been in Iraq for over a year. It was quite the sight Saturday morning – there were somewhere between 185 and 200 motorcycles in the escort. (There are more photos HERE.) You could certainly tell the guys were happy to be back, and their families were sure happy to see them!

Missing Messages

Blogger’s been doing some strange things lately – including misplacing some comments people have left. I got a voice mail from a long-lost college buddy who said he left me a comment on this very blog, but I never found said comment. It makes me sad. So, Mr. L in Nashville, please know I’m not ignoring you – I simply deleted the voice mail figgering I could track you down from the comment I didn’t get…

I’ve been having trouble uploading photos, too.

Halloweenie

I wrote a comment on Steakbellie’s blog about our Halloween experience here in the ghettos of Sioux City. I thought it was kinda funny, so I’m a-gonna repeat myself here.

The first year we owned our house in Sioux City we bought a bunch of candy, put pumpkins out, dressed up like something scary and waited. One neighbor kid showed up about 7:30. By nine I’d eaten most of the candy… One kid all night. The second year we bought six candy bars and turned the porch light on. About 7:30 the same kid showed up (wearing the same costume from the year before). She was the only trick or treater that year, too. The third year we just put a candy bar on the porch steps and went out for dinner. When we came home the candy bar was gone. The fourth year we knew we were gonna be out of town, so we took the candy bar to the kid’s house a couple days early so she wouldn’t have to walk across the street. The fifth year the kid hit pooberty. We haven’t seen much of her since… This year we’re not even gonna try — six years, and only one trick-or-treater…

I went and saw our nephew and nieces in LeMars this year. That was fun! Took the nephew to the funeral home. They gave him some popcorn.

Something Coming Up…

Siouxland Sleep-Out. This is a very good thing. Please take a minute to visit the web site. Dagmar and I will be participating – feel free to contact us if you’d like to make a donation. (I’ll blog more on this next week and go in-depth.)

The Jam

I received a nice honor a few days ago… A friend of mine in a respected local band sent me an e-mail. “We’re gonna play these three songs at the jam session Wednesday night for sure,” he said. “Feel free to stop by and play them with us…” He then listed a few songs. I’m kind of touched that he’s willing to go so far out of his way to make me feel welcome at the jam! I actually kinda got misty there for a moment.

I haven’t been to the jam session in quite a while, and I miss it. But I can’t make it tonight, unfortunately… Poor Dagmar has been down with pneumonia for five or six days and I hate to leave her alone, and, to be honest, I’ve been really tired myself lately. (Work has been stressful. Stressful as in “I really and truly am growing to hate my job.” If I’d go to a bar to jam in the mood I’m in, I’d probably end up drinking way too much and making a fool of myself…) It’s best I stay home. Apologies, guys…

The Good One

I’d like to point out something rather subtle I’ve noticed. There is one (1) politician I’ve gotten mailings from that has never mentioned his opponent and has never said anything negative. State Senator and Gulf War veteran Steve Warnstadt has been the lone bright spot in an otherwise mud-spattered campaign. Kudos to Mr. Warnstadt.

King and Blanchard, on the other hand, have done nothing but negative ads as far as I can tell — they haven’t sent much to me, but what I’ve seen hasn’t particularly impressed me with it’s positive message…