SameOldSchmidt

Tina & I have been looking at houses here in Lincoln. We’ve seen a few dumps but have also seen a few really nice joints. We’ve got a couple at the top of our list right now.

It’s too bad that some of the areas close to the capitol are so crummy because I’d love to live in that part of town. I walked by a couple of houses for sale in the area and I thought “Wow, it would be great if this neighborhood could be cleaned up and revitalized!” and I simultaneously thought “…but I’m not going to be the one to do it!”

I was looking at a particular house on D St that had interested me when I saw it listed on a realty website. It was a cute, older home with plenty of space and a 5-stall garage in back. Not that I need 5 stalls by any means, but it’s a pretty amazing feature. So I went to see it in person and there’s graffiti all over the garage. I don’t know if it’s gang-related (Is it quaint of me to be worried about gangs in Lincoln? Cut me some slack, I’ve only been here a year.) or maybe just some stupid kids screwing around and tagging buildings. Either way, I just don’t think I want to have my wife and daughter in that area.

Lots of crummy weather going on right now here in Lincoln. I had to hack through a thick layer of ice coating my car so I could get to work. I’m definitely hoping to get a house with a garage soon.

Big ups to our pal Owen for suggesting that we go frolic in Woods Park today. It was a beautiful day outside and Genny had a ton of fun on the playground equipment.

Went to see this “nerdcore” rapper MC Frontalot tonight. It was a good time, I was really impressed that he had a live band and not just a DJ.

The openers were fun, too. Some local guys called The Awkwards and some dude named Schaefer the Dark Lord, whose mother apparently tours with him - which was a little weird. I wouldn’t want my mom there when I did a song comprised almost entirely of F-bombs.

Last night we lined up a sitter and went out to a few places with some friends. We started at Knickerbockers for 25cent tacos, which is always fun, and They really are pretty decent tacos for a quarter.

Then we went to the Dark Visions Haunted House on 16th street, just a little south of O. We were all pretty skeptical before going in, thinking it would probably be lame, but it turned out to be very good. Admission was $9.00 per person, which is a bit high. The consensus in our group was that if it were more like $5.00, we’d recommend everyone go check it out. I guess I’d still recommend people go even at $9.00, because the Dark Visions folks really put some effort into it and it’s a once-a-year thing. I have no idea how their business model works; They had several “actors” inside the house and I assume each of them gets paid something, so maybe $9.00 is what they have to charge to make it worthwhile for them? We’ll be reviewing the haunted house on an upcoming episode of the Splattercast, so I’ll save some comments for that.

After the haunted house we strolled over to the Starlite Lounge, which I’d never been to before. It’s a 60’s theme joint, pretty classy as far as bars go. I almost felt like I should have been dressed a little nicer. They have pretty good drink specials on Thursdays and even hand out free appetizers. I’m sure we’ll go back again.

All in all, a very fun night. Tina and I will enjoy catching up on all of these interesting places to go here in Lincoln.

I had the day off on Monday for Columbus Day so I went along to Genny’s physical therapy appointment. Everyone there seemed very nice. Genny’s doing well with these little brace thingamabobs that she’s wearing on her feet. They’re not too conspicuous, they almost look like cute little sandals.

After Genny’s appointment, we stopped at a nearby McDonald’s for a late breakfast. As we were eating, this older guy came into the store and asked to see the manager. They had their conversation just a few feet from where we were sitting so we heard pretty much the whole thing.

Apparently the guy had come in for dinner the night before and he had a lot of complaints about his dining experience. He was going on and on about how terrible it was, his fries had salt when he ordered them without and there weren’t enough fries in his box, the cashier was rude, etc. He quite clearly demanded that a certain employee be fired over it. He said that if he came back to this store and that employee was still around he’d escalate it to the district bosses, and he was taking it “all the way to the top” - whatever that means. Was he going to call Ronald and demand satisfaction?

For some reason, this guy was really making me angry. Sure, I’ve had bad experiences at fast food joints before; crummy service, incorrect orders and stuff like that. But to come back the next day and flip out, demanding that someone be fired? I dunno, maybe it’s because I used to work at a McDonald’s so I’m sympathetic. The manager was playing it by the McBook, being very polite and gracious to the old bastard. I really wanted to walk over to them and get in the dude’s face, tell him he needed to get a life and I hope he chokes on his next order of unsalted fries.

Of course, I chickened out and didn’t say anything. Tina didn’t want me to make a scene, and I suppose I don’t know all the facts. Maybe the guy really did have the most awful experience imaginable and his grievance was legitimate? I somehow doubt that, though. I think he was just one huge McAsshole.

Pardon my French (fries).

But anyway, take it from a former fast food chef: Don’t screw with the people who make your food. We will remember you, and we will spit in your burger, or worse, the next time you come through.

I went in to Trade A Tape today to look for a birthday present for my pal Brady. I had a hard time picking a book, there were so many to choose from. Brady, if you’re reading this: You’re getting a New Avengers trade by Bendis & Finch. I couldn’t remember if I’d already given this book to you on a CD; I apologize if you already have it!

As I was browsing around in the shop, I started feeling the urge to pick up a few issues for myself. As I’ve said a couple times, I’ve cut out the comic books since we moved to Lincoln. I did it mainly because they just piled up and consumed a lot of space. Perusing the current release rack today was kind of like running into some old friends, all these books that I used to read every month. I wasn’t jonesing for a fix or anything, but I saw that Punisher (Max) #50 was out and it looked like they’re doing the next Barracuda arc. I’m totally gonna get that when it gets released as a trade.

Here’s the quintessential blog post: A dude rambling about parking.  Web 2.0 is here!

So, anyway, parking in downtown Lincoln can be a beeyotch. My employer has their own lots, but they had a long waiting list.

When I first started working downtown I found an open lot where you can pay daily, sticking $3 cash into a little mailbox slot. The location of that lot was pretty great for me, but that does add up to about $60.00/month for just an open, uncovered lot. If you had to move your car for any reason you were taking a chance that your spot might be gone when you came back, and you had to pay another $3.00, too.

So we put my name on a few waiting lists for garages downtown and I got into one for $65.00/month (seemed to be what most places were charging). It was covered, which was nice - no boiling hot car interior in the summer - and the location was pretty good. A big plus was that I could use it after-hours, if we were downtown for dinner or a movie or whatever.

So the other day my name came up on the waiting list at my job, and I got my pass for one of the employee lots this morning.  I’m pretty happy, since they were telling me the waiting list was literally years long. It’s much cheaper, $24.00/month, so that’s great, although it is uncovered and won’t be very useful outside of work due to its location.  I’m still glad to have it, ‘cuz $65.00/month for parking did seem like quite a bit.

So to all my pals back in Jefferson City: Appreciate your free parking lot right in front of the office!

I love Rush Limbaugh and listen to his show almost every day… Oops, there go half of my readers!  But then again, what’s half of zero?

Anyway, Rush just said on his show that he’s coming to Lincoln tomorrow for the big USC game, which is kind of neat.  I’m not much of a Huskers fan, truth be told, but even I can get a little jazzed up for a big game like this one.  Nate sold his ticket for a couple Franklins.  He’s been on a big scalping kick lately; I hope he doesn’t regret not going to some of these games.

Nate and I went to check out the Corrupt Officials and Awesome Dirtbike at Knickerbockers last night.  It was a pretty good time.  I had never seen Awesome Dirtbike play before, even though I’m pals with those guys.  I guess they usually have a live puppet show, which I’m sure is… interesting, but their puppeteer wasn’t available.

The Corrupt Officials are a blast.  They’ve got this rap song about the Cornhuskers that should seriously replace the lame prog-rock tunnel walk theme the Huskers currently use.