Tag:Humor
Blue Dot
It appears there is a nascent Blue Dot campaign in Culver. Don’t worry if you don’t know what that it is. I had to research it as well. Nebraska and Maine are the only two states that don’t award all of their electoral college votes to one candidate. In those states, two electoral college votes go with the state majority and the others are awarded by district. As with many states, the rural areas go red and the larger cities tend blue. With Nebraska being a deep red state, the blue dot campaign in Omaha is attempting to get at least one Nebraska electoral college vote for Kamala Harris.
This has me curious what statement is being made with the blue dot in Culver… If it’s a “made you look” thing, then I guess it was successful at least once. It caused me to hit the internet for an explanation. I guess it could be a statement of solidarity, since much like Nebraska, Indiana (and Culver and Marshall County) is pretty red. Culver often struggles to find Democrats to fill positions on boards that require political balance. Maybe they’re a Nebraska transplant and don’t understand the different differences in state election laws. Or they’re just a Cornhusker and this is another way to show college loyalty.
I’m not a fan of single ticket voting. Since there are no names or information with this campaign, I assume that’s what’s being suggested. The local (county) Republican party is also pushing a straight ticket campaign in some of their ads, and I feel the same way about that… particularly on lower ballet candidates. I am likewise not a fan of general get-out-the-vote drives when they are political party driven. There needs to be more done to promote voting as a privilege and that becoming an educated voter is important.
I am curious about the implications of Nebraska’s (since 1992) and Maine’s (since 1972) take on the winner-take-all electoral college system used by other states. I am definitely not in the camp that wants to eliminate the electoral college. Much like the Senate having two Senators per state, regardless of size and population, it is a means of protecting states’ rights and assuring that there is representation across the board for minority states. It is why we were formed as a Republic and not a true Democracy. (Though we are a Democratic Republic.) I would be interested in what an analysis of expanding the Nebraska scenario to other states would look like, but I couldn’t find it.
I’ll be watching for other blue dots in Culver. It’s an interesting development and if nothing else, another curiosity of small town Culver life.
Fun Fact
At the last One Marshall County meeting, in the introductions, we were asked to give one “Fun Fact” about ourselves. I generally hate these things and default to the Christian Easterday story. For some reason that didn’t seem appropriate to this group. I had some time to think about it and decided on this:
I was a general contractor until Culver was having trouble finding an affordable housing/workforce housing developer and I stepped up to fulfill that role. So far I have created 120 housing units in Marshall County with another 14 planned for this year… so I guess I’m a developer!
Honestly, I hadn’t thought about that and it sunk in a bit when I said it. I’ve created 120 homes in Marshall County in the last 7 years! Mayor Listenberger said, you might as well embrace it, you’re a developer. So… I guess I am!
MC Squared
When the Marshall County Community Foundation (MCCF) built their new facility, it was to house MCCF, Marshall County United Way (MCUW) and Growing Kids Learning Center. The building would belong to MCCF. MCCF would continue to operate with joint staff shared with MCUW. Growing Kids would be a rent paying tenant. When it came time to name the building, I lobbied hard for some iteration of MC2. I thought it was a no brainer, since it fit with the joint philosophy of MCCF and MCUW, that the two groups together were more than the sum of their parts, i.e. MCCF x MCUW not MCCF + MCUW. Oh, well… This was one of those cases where what seemed obvious to me wasn’t palatable to others. The building is now known as the Marshall County Philanthropy Center. I’m sorry, but 7 years later, who knows that or refers to that!? We could have had something much more catchy! Ha!
I wasn’t involved at the start of One Marshall County. I do kind of like that name, but I go back to it also being an organization designed to be more than the sum of its parts. Another missed opportunity to use MC2. If I’d been involved at the beginning of Marshall County Crossroads, I would really have hit this hard for them too!
So I’m throwing this out there. Some Marshall County organization or group of organizations should be the first to pick up MC2 and run with it! If your name works in an “E”, even better since you could really roll with all of Einstein’s equation. What group doesn’t strive to be faster than light? Well, I guess there’s always Heinz Ketsup which bragged on being think in their Anticipation commercial. Oooo! Oooo! Maybe MCEDC! They have all three letters in there!
You may not of heard it here first, but I haven’t heard anyone else in Marshall County using MC2. It’s free advice. Run with it!
Knox Boxes
One of my lurkers saw my instagram post about meeting the LaPaz Fire Department at LaPaz Commons Apartments last week. We always offer the local fire department the opportunity to walk through once the framing is in place. This gives them a better understanding of the structure in that worst case scenario of fighting a fire there. One of the things we discussed with the firemen was the location of the Knox Box. My Lurker sent me this picture of a Knox Box he had seen in Grand Rapids, MI. (See right)
Yes, that’s a Knox Box somewhere around 12′ above the ground above the awning. Pretty much inaccessible… I’m guessing this is a case where the City required a Knox Box, but didn’t include location specifications and the building owner didn’t want one and put it there out of spite. But I’m just projecting that scenario. Who knows?
Most communities set up standards for placement of Knox Boxes. These have to be carefully considered so they have some flexibility. All buildings are different. But as much as possible, you want the box placed in a location that is immediately recognizable and found by emergency personnel, else its intention is defeated. Firefighters in particularly are notorious for bringing their universal key (fire axe) and not hesitating to use it.
Easterday Construction Co., Inc. was responsible for introducing and writing the Key Box requirement in Culver’s Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 6, Section 100. Enforcement has been pretty limited though. We haven’t actually seen one installed on any projects completed by others. (That doesn’t mean there aren’t some out there.) Even with a pretty clear definition, we ended up getting cross-ways with the building commissioner on a project where he chose to interpret the requirements differently than they were written. (He lost. We don’t argue unless we’re right.)
There is more than one benefit to these systems, i.e. 1) limiting property damage from emergency personnel accessing the building by any means possible, 2) speeding up access when the building is extremely secure and 3) giving emergency personnel a place to find pertinent information such as building plans, electrical shutoffs, among others. But the system has to be set up for the municipality to make the Knox Box keying universal and the program must be understood by the emergency personnel it benefits.
We have promoted the use of these systems, but with limited success. We’ll continue to sing their praises, as they are a benefit to public safety.
Gotta Laugh
July 30, 2024
Kevin Berger
Commentary, Humor
Humor, Trends
Working on a project and needed some prices for a unisex restroom sign. I ran across the one to the right. I thought this was a amusing illustration of how ridiculous things have gotten. Just please wash your hands!
If you like it, and have a need for such things, you can purchase one from Amazon here.
0 comments