respublica

Some drinks are just not made for cans

Trader Joe's has decided to sell wine in cans. For 3.99. They believe aluminum cans are lightweight, portable and cost less to ship, and they’re easier to recycle than glass.

They've been named, Simpler Wines and come in a Sparkling White and rosé. Call me a wine snob, but this is not for me.

What we don't know about what trucks are carrying

We see the big trucks constantly rolling along the interstate with who knows what inside their cargo area. Sometimes we learn what was in them when the news shows a roll-over accident with beer, corn, Doritos, ice cream, who knows what scattered all over the road. But this non truck vehicle roll-over tops them all and frankly creeps me out.

Along a I-35 near San Antonio, a vehicle carrying 30 snakes and a baby alligator crashed and rolled over allowing the cargo to escape. "The truck was transporting rattlesnakes, copperhead snakes, a large diamondback rattle snake and water moccasins."

I just have to ask...why? Why on earth? An adult was driving with a child in the car. At last check, 23 of the reptiles were captured, one snake was dead but the baby alligator was still on the loose.

 

Now it's puppies

Traffic reporters mentioned this morning that there were a bunch of puppies near the roadside on 64/40 near Jefferson. Which reminded me of seeing a very slow moving Basset Hound in the middle of St. Louis Road a bit east of the 157/Collinsville road intersection. That poor guy had everyone stopped including a bus which came up fast behind me before he noticed the dog.

Golf carts in the news

All of a sudden there has been a spate of news involving golf carts. I'm sort of interested in this because I own a golf cart which has been handy on many days to get around the 72 acres of this campus.

5 people in The Villages, a Florida retirement community, are in jail on drug related charges which also turned up evidence of a possible chop shop operation for stolen golf carts! Amazing! Golf cart thieves, who knew? And they're doing to the carts what often happens to stolen cars, removing wheels, windshields, seats etc and probably selling them.

What made me laugh out loud was this: "Golf carts, many souped up, are a popular mode of transportation around this retirement community." Souped up! In a retirement community! Makes me wonder if the owners of souped up golf carts are some of the same guys who once drag raced down their local communities back in the 50's.

And, An Alabama man was accused of stealing an Atlanta Braves golf cart, driving it around and then crashing it into a pole.

And, President Trump found himself in another controversy after he drove a golf cart all over a green at the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey. This breach of etiquette caused almost as much of an uproar as anything else he's done. Of course the name of the course may just mean he can do anything he wants.

Daily tally

Hard to believe. This time it was another ladder

Mattresses 89

Ladders 68

Dead squirrels update

A week ago I posted about all the dead squirrels we've found in one spot on the seminary campus. Now for an update. After the police paid a visit to several neighborhood homes which border the area the squirrels were found, we have not had one dead squirrel. So the obvious answer to this issue was that one of them was indeed shooting them and tossing them over their back fence.

Well, it is a daily occurance

Mattresses 89

Ladders 67

This ladder fell onto 270 this morning and the commuter who called it in to Lance Hilldebrand said, "It looks to be in good condition."

I gather by this information someone will be gathering that ladder up and taking it home. If that can be safely done.

Let's add a trash can to the loop

One the highway middle lane near St. Charles was a big yellow trash can this morning. Why not put this sort of thing in the mix.

The Blue Footed Booby

While watching Beachfront Bargain Hunt on HGTV last night I learned of a bird I've never heard of. It is the Blue Footed Booby which name at first made me laugh. But this is one cute bird.

It is remarkable by the blue feet and is only found in the Eastern Pacific. The program last night had a man wanting to buy a house in San Carlos which is in the eastern pacific of Mexico. This bird sleeps at night, generally on land, and feeds at sea during the day. Sometimes boobies feed in a group. They often fly far out to sea to look for their prey—small fish such as anchovies.

When it is mating season the males strut around with exaggerated movements that show off their fabulous blue feet. Females tend to pick the males with the bluest feet as their mates.

So so cute

Photographing the World's Largest Catsup Bottle

One of the things Collinsville is known for is the big Brooks Catsup Bottle water tower. It hasn't functioned as a water tower in many years, but still stands along 159 on the former Brooks company property. As such it is something of a tourist attraction and many people who travel through the area take photos of the catsup bottle and some are really clever with their images. These two were taken by Steve Greulich of Evansville Indiana and posted to the World's Largest Catsup Bottle's Facebook page.