Category: B-Town

Moving On, And Up?

Rachel has moved up the higher education ladder, finally.  She accepted a position with the IU school of Informatics.  I cannot remember the exact position title, but I believe it is Director or Assistant Director of Graduate affairs???

I am thrilled for her, as she has been under-employed and under-appreciated since she moved to B-Town.  Her talents and abilities have yet to be unleashed.

With this new job, comes the honor of being my sugar mamma too 🙂

I will miss everyone she worked with at The Kelley School of Business MBA Program, Admissions office.  They have become a second family over the years.  Through parties, social gatherings, and personal events we have came to respect and love each other for who we are.  They even threw us a wedding shower (I’ll never forget that).  I hope her new office has the same feeling.

So here’s some words for those I will miss.

Terill & Joe:  I will miss the annual Christmas party.  The both of you are excellent hosts.  The “gay” bathroom is something I will never forget, in a good way.
Jenny:  What can I say?  Will you miss the love letters I wrote with deep passion in mind?  I will miss your love for life, and your high maintenance ways, as you are the closest thing I have had to a “girly girl-friend.”
Jeanie:  You are one of the sweetest persons I have ever met!  You helped us move in that blistering heat!  Your passion to help others is one that I will always remember.
Jim:  What can I say?  Your a great guy, who makes some killer guacomole.  I hope to hear from you in the future.
Lisa:  I love ya!  Your killer personality amazes me.  There is no “title” that can describe, or limit your possibilities.
Tim:  Your scandinavian ways never make me stop thinking.  Rachel and I will never forget how beautiful of a team Mary and you make.  We will always remember with joy, your vocal abilities at our wedding.  We need more people (and couples) like you in this world.
Brandon:  Call me, I promise we’ll go out for a night before you go off and leave me alone with Rachel.  I’m very interested in this “Property Management” thing.

If any of you need to reach me, you can via my website, LMLVideoservices.com

Art Collector?

I have always been a fan of the arts.  Whether it be performing, creative, or without a title.  One problem is that I do not have many “pieces” of art.  I purchased a print while in Oklahoma many years ago.  It was created by Ben Adair Shoemaker.  The artwork itself and the artists’ name struck a cord deep within my soul, as my family lives in Adair county, Oklahoma.

I feel as if I might start on a new path with art due to an article I read in the Herald Times.  My favorite writer (except J of course) has always been Mike Leonard.  He always writes very interesting things, about interesting subjects.

In his latest article, he wrote about a recent meeting with John Mellencamp.  As you may or may not know, John is also an accomplished artist.  John recently completed a 10′ x 10′ painting, and asked Mike if he’d buy it.

I have been a fan of Johns’ work, both music and painting since I have known about them.  I would like to have a piece of his, but have not been able to find a way to do so.  Hopefully, with Mr. Leonard’s help, I will have a chance.

I emailed Mike asking if he knew someone to contact regarding purchasing a painting from John.  He replied stating he would contact John’s manager.  I hope things pan out.

-Interesting note:  My mother auditioned to be a backup singer for John back in the early to mid 80’s.  From what she has told me, everyone loved her voice, she was just too tall.

 

My mom is 6′ tall.

Sleep Much?

As anyone who has lived in this area knows, the “working wage” isn’t swell, and the costs of living are as high as the sky compared to it.

The Herald-Times published an article today regarding this issue, which rattles me to the core.  Some of these statistics are downright frightening.

Here are some excerpts: 
To afford a two-bedroom apartment and cover other expenses, someone working a minimum-wage job must work the equivalent of 100 hours a week. Or make $12.88 an hour for an average 40-hour work week.  (It took me nearly 5 years to earn a few cents less an hour than that.)

An estimated 59 percent of renters are unable to afford a 2-bedroom apartment in Bloomington, compared to 44 percent of the statewide percentage, according to the Indiana Coalition on Housing and Homelessness Issues report.¬† (I couldn’t afford to live by myself and never have.)

Just for pure informational purposes, a co-worker of my wife rents a “1 bedroom apartment w/ den”.¬† Her rent is nearly what our mortgage payment (including P&I)¬†is on a 1800 sq. ft. home with .48 acres.¬† We live around 10 miles away from her.

Stabilizing The Crude

As many Bloomintonian’s know, gasoline or diesel in this town is crazy.¬† Prices can and often change, sometimes dramatically, numerous times a day!¬† I think those days are coming to an end.

There have been many articles in the local newspaper (The Herald-Times)¬†regarding this issue.¬† They even have a “price watch” on their website.¬† In the end, every article I’ve read regarding this issue states the main reason prices are so high in this area¬†is mainly “greed.”

By simply travelling 20 miles, the price is sometimes up to 20 cents less a gallon.  Depending on travelling habits this could save a fortune.

A couple of months ago, Bloomington got a Wal-Mart supercenter.¬† I have issues with Wal-Mart, but that’s a whole other story.¬† A part of this supercenter is a gas station, called “Murphy USA.”¬† The gas station’s construction was delayed and did not open until last week.¬† In that week, the price of regular unleaded gasonline has dropped $0.12 a gallon on the whole west side of town!¬† On one day alone, they dropped their prices 3 times, with the other stations following their lead.

I am unsure if wholesale prices have dropped, or if it is exactly due to the opening of this new gas outlet.  I do have an optimistic outlook on this though, and hope to see the price keep dropping.

This gas station is on our way home, and it’s now very interesting to see if the price of gas has changed, and how much the change was.

South Dunn Street


Teal House

Originally uploaded by LML Video Services.

The name of one of Btowns newest developments. Located on the near south side of town. I lived just a few blocks away from here when I was 12. For all of you in the area it is located between Grimes Lane and Hillside Drive just west of Henderson.

For a change these houses actually have a lot of character and charm. They are all colored very brightly and elegantly if I do say so myself.

I was in the area to visit an appliance repair shop and they had some interesting details about this place. The houses are starting around $270k, ouch!

While in some areas of the country, that may seem like a tame price for a new home, in Bloomington Indiana, and especially the neighborhood it is in, this is an extreme price. The average home in the area goes for around 80k, while in the rest of town it is probably around 150k.

The house pictured is my favorite. I think this is something america has forgotten. I hate cookie cutter subdivisions, and homes like these are hard to find these days, especially new ones.

Big Business, For Me Anyway

I have let a few things pile up due to the move.¬† I have an order to convert 8mm and Super8 films to DVD (about 15 reels in all).¬† Plus as soon as I came into work this morning my “first” customer handed me a box full of tapes he wants converted (19 to be exact).¬† I think once this simmers down, I’ll have some free time for ROX.

I hope to start working on them tonight.

The house has given me much more space than I thought of, and hopefully I can start multitasking at some of these things to be more productive.

Until next time,  be good (eg) like me!

The Move is Complete, The Work Begins…

We have successfully moved into our first home!  We only had one fatality of the move, one of our dinette set chairs fell off of my truck and broke the seat top.  That is one of my many projects around the house. 

Moving was miserable!¬† It was a scorcher over the weekend, and the A/C in the house wasn’t working properly.¬† We have done what we could thus far.¬† TEVAC came by today and did some work on our systems, and it appears to be working properly now.¬† Hopefully that means we can get to business soon.¬† Cable is coming today, as well as the roofer, a guy recommended by family.

Going back to dial-up is okay for the moment, seeing how I have so much to do, but I can’t wait to hook up that DSL.

We are very close to the airport now, so close that the planes come over our house on their landing path.  I think that will soon become a hobby, photographing different airplanes.

Until next time, have fun everyone!

I Don’t Think We’re in Kansas Anymore

   


6th & WashingtonOriginally uploaded by LML Video Services.

According to todays Herald-Times, downtown Bloomington is about to lose some of it’s small town charm.¬† The interesting part is a former mayor, John Fernandez is playing a key role.

The properties pictured, and another which is at a location directly south of this picture have been sold to Walnut Street Development.¬† John Fernandez is written as stating that, “ideas being discussed include using the site for a new office building for Finelight Strategic Marketing Communications.”

It is fine for a business to expand their current facilities, but is destroying a Bloomington landmark really worth it?  The landmark in question is Ladymans Cafe.

Ladymans has been operating in the same location since 1957, almost 50 years.  A big celebration was in the works.  Sadly the owner of Ladymans cannot afford to change locations.

As a teenager I frequented Ladymans often, especially for breakfast.¬† Ladymans is a dying breed in the restarant biz, the family run diner.¬† These diners take you away from the hustle and bustle of life, and make you feel welcome.¬† Something you don’t get from McDonalds, Wendys, you name it.

I will be sad to see it go.  I will try to stop in some more.

This town doesn’t feel anywhere near the same as it did even a decade ago.¬† It’s starting to make me wonder about how long other landmark parts of the city have.¬† There are currently¬†2 roundabouts in the city, with 1 more in the works.

It seems more like the UK than the good old US of A anymore.

UPDATE:¬† In the 6/23/06 HT it has been written that Ladymans may be able to stay!¬† The new owners plan to remodel the building, after that is complete they want¬†Ladymans to come back!¬†Plus the city is willing to help this Bloomington tradition stay alive.¬† I didn’t want to see this one go.¬† It¬†still could, but there still¬†is a chance it will stay.¬†