Holidays

I don't know about anyone else, but the Holidays use to be a lot more fun for me when I didn't have kids.  Now don't get me wrong, I love my kids and love to see the element of surprise when they open their gifts on Christmas morning.  However by the time you deal with the financial burden with the buying of the gifts and the gas from running everywhere to see everyone, there just isn't much fun to be had.  I am not trying to sound like a scrooge and maybe it would be easier if I wasn't a single parent and had an extra income in the house, but come on.  Sometimes I just don't want to deal with the added stress.  Now will that said, I hope everyone else is stress free with the thought of the Holiday season upon us.

Hy-vee in the works for Rangeline

Another Grocery Store

There is an addition of a stop light at 30th and Rangeline discussion going on in Joplin.  The discussion is going on between Hy-vee grocery store and Joplin officials. They are discussing the possibly adding a stop light so that Hy-vee can build a grocery store where the old Ford dealership was. 

WHAT!!!  First of all I don't really think that we need another stop light on Rangeline, you already stop every fifteen feet.  Second between Joplin and Webb City, we already have something like 8 grocery stores.  I think that this is a little over kill.  Why doesn't the city think of another way to bring jobs and money to the area, other than banks, gas stations, hotels, and now grocery stores.  Oh and car lots, maybe we could add a few of those too.

Flu claims life in Oklahoma

First death from flu in Oklahoma

The state of Oklahoma has reported is first death from the flu this year.  They say that the victim somewhere between the ages of 19-64 died during the week of October 3-10 from complications of Influenza.

Wow, flu time already?  I am not ready for the sick season.  It just seems like yesterday that all of the flu bugs were going around and now they are back so soon.  I hate to hear about anyone dieing and I feel for this persons family.  Maybe someday they will have a cure all for these things.

Surfer Dies After Shark Attack

California Surfers Dies After Shark Attack

A 20 year old college student from California died today do to injuries sustained from a shark attack.  The 20 year old male was surfing off the cost of California when he was attacked by a shark.  The shark bit the guys leg off and he bled to death as a result of the injury.

Wow!!  This would be a pretty bad way to go.  I feel for this young mans family.  It is hard to imagine that things like this could happen and that they could happen so quickly.  I guess every hobby has its dangers and the danger of this hobby seems to be sharks.  I don't think that I will be surfing any time soon.

Lohan Back To Rehab

Lohan back to rehab

On October 22, 2010  a judge in Beverly Hills, California ordered Lindsey Lohan back to rehab.  She has been battling many legal issues, mostly alcohol and drug related, since May and now in her latest court appearance the judge gave her rehab until January 2011 instead of jail time.

This is really a kind of sad story.  This girl who became famous at such a young age just seems to be lost in all the fame and money.  I think a live in rehab will do way more good for her than jail time would do.  This is an all to common thing these days and hopefully someone can save this girl before she ends up like so many other young celebrities.

Country Life

I grew up on a small cattle farm in southwest Missouri.  I lived on this farm with my parents and two sisters for around eighteen years before moving to Joplin.  I always like living on the farm, but always butted heads with my dad and we couldn't ever really seem to get along.  So I moved to Joplin where I have spent the last, almost fourteen years.  It is crazy how much I now miss living on the farm and almost completely despise living in town.  I am strongly considering moving back to it and going back to the simple life.  The simple life is where you drive down the road and everyone waves, the whole town go to the Friday night football games, everyone you know is at church on Sunday morning and your never bored.  It's the life for me.

Falcon Lake Killing

Falcon Lake Killing

Authorities are now saying that the murder of an American on the Mexican side of Falco Lake was a case of mistaken identity.  The American who was murdered by the Mexican drug cartel Zeta, was apparently mistaken for a spy from a rival cartel the Gulf.  Authorities have yet to recover the body and jet ski.  There was also a Mexican investigator murdered during the investigation and his head was cut off and shipped to police.  The Zeta drug cartel lord is searching for the individuals within the cartel that committed this crime because he is not happy with what they did and he is going to take care this himself.

First of all, with all of the drug wars going on in Mexico, why would you want to go jet skiing on a lake in Mexico?  This to me is crazy.  Then again I lead a pretty safe and uneventful life.  This is a very unfortunate situation and I feel very sorry for the guys wife.  I would like to have the reward money that they are offering for some of these guys.

Chile Miners Rescued

All 33 Chilean Miners Rescued

All 33 of the trapped miners in Chile have now been brought to the surface.  Each of them were individually brought to the surface by a capsule built to just handle on person at a time.  The capsule was named Phoenix, it was quite a suitable name for such an occasion.  As each of them came to the surface they were each greeted by friends and family members in what was a very emotional and happy occasion.

I just couldn't get enough of this story.  It is just amazing to me that these miners were trapped over 2,000 feet below the earths surface and every last one of them were rescued.  Wow!  Now I don't know about the rest of you, but this seems to be something so great and such a miracle that only one being could have looked over all of these brave men in such a trying time.  God bless all of these men and may they all live out the rest of their days surrounded with love.

Guy with a Mullet

Mullet?!

Okay, so I am sitting in the library on the campus of Southern trying to get some of this stuff done before the weekend.  I am really trying hard to concentrate on my work and yet I find it difficult to do.  The reason that I am having a hard time is that there is a guy in front of me with a kick ass mullet.  I mean this is a good one, I mean it is all business in the front and when he turns around its a party in the rear.  I don't think that the mullet will ever truly disappear. This is a style that will be cruising in a 89 Iroc forever.  Thank you guy with a mullet for giving me something to write about.

Trapped miners in Chile may be reached today.

Chilean Miners may be reached today.

The 33 men that have been trapped by a mine collapse in Chile, may be reached today.  These miners were trapped August 5th and have been thousands of feet underground ever since.  The ongoing rescue effort is the worlds longest rescue effort ever.  The families of the miners have been living in a tent city above the mines since the miners got trapped.

I couldn't imagine being trapped underground for any amount of time.  I applaud the effort of the rescuers as well as the miners for their bravery.  I am glad to hear that they will be reaching the miners faster than what was originally expected.  Even after the rescue team has drilled down to the miners it could still take days before the first of the miners can be brought back to the surface. 

Leona Helmsley Estate Sells

The Queen of mean.

Leona Helmsley, also know as the Queen of mean, estate has sold.  This mansion in a Connecticut suburb sold for $35 million, which is around $90 million less than the original asking price.  Leona Helmsley acquired her wealth from real estate and investing.

I think this women was a bit of a quack.  I remember hearing about her some when I was younger.  I believe that when she died, she left all of her money to her dog, instead of her children.  Now, about the mansion, I can't hardly believe that if it were really worth so much, how it sold for so little.  I guess they claim that it is going to need some renovation.  I could by an awful lot of land for that kind of money.

Big rigs verses passenger vehicles

Big rigs verses passenger vehicles

In today's world with so many big rigs on the road there are bound to be accidents involving them and passenger vehicles.  In 2009 on the Will Rogers turnpike just west of Joplin 10 people were killed when a big rig smashed into multiple vehicles from behind.  The verdict was that the driver of the big rig didnt have sufficient sleep and that his truck did not have the additional safety features installed on it to prevent a situation like this from occuring.

I agree with the argument in that is being presented in this article.  There are so many semi's on the roads today and there are so many people driving tiny cars that something should be done to make the roads safer.  There are options for all big rigs out there.  Accessories that can be installed on their trucks that can keep horrific accidents from happening, like the one that occurred in 2009.  The reason that most of the big rigs do not have these accessories installed all come down to the owners not wanting to spend the extra money.

Joplin couple charged with health care fraud

Dupont's facing jail time

The Dupont's are a Joplin couple that operated 5 group homes in southwest Missouri have been charged with health care fraud.  This is the same couple that owned the group home in Anderson Missouri that caught fire killing 11.  They are both facing up to 15 years in prison, each on one count of health care fraud and each on one count of attempting to commit health care fraud.

What is this world coming to?  I think they should throw the book at these two.  They should have charged them with murder for not keeping their facilities safe.  In the article they also mention that the courts let these two off on one count each of money laundering.  How bad can this couple be?  I say lock them up and throw away the key.

Area colleges prepping students for casino careers.

Area colleges prepping students for casino careers.

There was once a time when Ottawa county in Oklahoma had a very high unemployment rate.  In 1986 when the Bf Goodrich plant closed in Miami one out of every four people were out of work.  That is no longer the case with all of the Indian casinos in the area.  The area casinos employ thousands of people and the area colleges are capitalizing on this by offering to people career training that will help people get jobs within these casinos.

I think that the only thing good that comes from these casinos is just that.  They offer job opportunities to a lot of people in the area.  What they really don't ever talk about, is how they also cause a lot of grief for people in the area.  There are a lot of people that have lost their lively hoods in these places and the casinos sure do not seem to care about the damage that is done.  I use to work for Downstream and their idea was to put ATM's by all the exits to make sure that people empty their bank accounts before they leave.  These places are run by crooks in my opinion.