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#Kansas

8 posts8 participants0 posts today

I'm not sure what's happening with our #weather, but over the last 12 years, I don't remember the first of May being this... cool.

Same thing happened last year; I think it was the most beautiful spring I had seen here in a over decade. It's been repeating itself in a slight variation (less rain) this year so far.

One other exception this year is that it's May already and I have not been plagued by mosquitoes yet. Usually they are out in full, unrepentant force by March.

I need to go back and check my chicken calendar for the previous two years because I write the temperatures down every day along with egg numbers. That will tell me whether or not I'm imagining things.

But considering that I'm still having to wear a hoodie every morning when I get up for chicken chores, would say this is atypical.

Usually by May my sister and I are discussing how we have fought not to turn the whole house AC on yet! I have turned it on briefly three times over the last month to knock the humidity out of the indoor air when it was above 80°F outside. That has been it.

I guess shhhhh, be quiet, or everyone will want to move to #Kansas or else Mother Nature will go: haha, hold my beer and watch this, foolish mortal!

100 Tage Trump: Ernüchterung im Mittleren Westen?

Donald Trump ist 100 Tage im Amt. In Kansas und Missouri haben viele für den Republikaner gestimmt. Doch gerade dort spürt man die Folgen von Trumps Wirtschaftspolitik. Wie bewerten die Menschen inzwischen seine Politik? Von R. Borchard.

➡️ tagesschau.de/ausland/amerika/

tagesschau.de · 100 Tage Trump: Ernüchterung im Mittleren Westen?By Ralf Borchard

This week’s CMOR photo is from Morton County, #Kansas.

“Starting to get dry, but not unusually dry. Had great moisture in November that is carrying us through. Green wheat looks fantastic. Most native grass is breaking dormancy, most trees and shrubs are leafed out or beginning. All we need is a good rain and everything will be great for crops and wildlife. Pheasants in the ditches and bobwhites whistling.”

Submit your photos: go.unl.edu/cmor_drought

The crowd was not as big today at the protest/rally at the Capitol grounds, and not quite as energetic. I'd say somewhere between half and 2/3 the size of the April 5th one (but I'm not good at estimating crowd sizes).

It was still a good turnout considering there were more locations this time, and it's Easter weekend so a lot of people may have been traveling and doing family gathering stuff instead.


#protest #fiftyfiftyone #usPol #Kansas

COMPLAINT TIME!

We have toll roads here in #Kansas. They cover more than a few miles and include long portions of the two major interstates here. So, they are almost unavoidable if you're trying to get to certain places in the state in an expedient fashion.

Recently they got rid of the stations at which you could pay cash to use the toll roads. They've moved to an entirely cashless system, and they no longer have any tollbooths or tollbooth workers. So, people lost their jobs, too.

What happens now is, if you intentionally or inadvertently drive on the roads they manage, they send you a bill via taking a photo of your license plate.

You can get a transponder and pay your bill online or automatically, etc. etc. BUT

THEIR WEBSITE IS ABSOLUTE SHIT.

I'm not kidding: I have tried half a dozen times with different browsers, different devices, all my privacy protections off, and I still cannot create a fucking account on their website. The only thing I haven't tried is using a PC. I don't have a fucking PC! (I honestly expected the Chromebook to work. It didn't.)

So, for a $.20 toll to get to the other side of town when there's a parade happening (true story), I get billed $1.50 on top of that $.20 because I somehow still can't create an account on their shitty ass website and they have to send me a paper bill (which I PAY ONLINE, even though I can't create a fucking account there).

Next time this happens, I should write them a check for $1.70 and mail it in.

They do have a physical office that happens to be about a mile from my home. So that office will be getting a visit from me later this week.

I am always kind to service workers, though. They will not get the angry earful. They aren't responsible for how shitty their website is, or the decisions that their higher ups have made to take away more egalitarian access to their stupid fucking private roads.

I will ask for the email address of a supervisor, however, in true Gen X Karen Style. I'd like to send an email to the top person in the organization, honestly and Let Them Know my Feelings.

To me, this is the same goddamn thing as taking away all of the parking meters downtown and then expecting everyone to sign up for a really shitty app to pay to park.

It's the same trend as expecting everybody to have a goddamn smart phone to scan QR codes or visit websites rather than paying cash, picking up a flyer or brochure (sorry, trees; we should be growing hemp for paper!) getting information in person by talking to an actual human being, or having a physical place to do a task.

This stupid trend prices out thousands of people (YES, mostly us ELDERS), and this switch to technology versus physical meters and booths is absolutely short-sighted. If cell networks go down, a lot of shit won't work. Of course, if said networks go down, we're probably having bigger issues than needing to park or drive on a highway.

There are so many more points of failure available when an org is putting all of their trust in one fragile ecosystem with no backup system. It's not like I can walk into their office, hand them $.20 and let them know that I'm gonna drive across town on their road. When we still had the self-pay toll booths, that's exactly what I could do. I personally preferred to hand my $.20 to an actual human being in a booth, but apparently that's... too expensive?

I have alternate routes to get to the major cities close to me, but they require extra time. They're pleasant, they're mostly rural, and I make the time to take them. But sometimes, I have to take one of the goddamn toll roads. And I'm penalized for it because they can't get their technology shit together.

I'm imagining what they will tell me is I need to access their website via whatever is the current browser on a fucking Windows machine. Maybe they'll let me sign up for an account on a computer at their office while I'm there? Or hey -- maybe they still have a paper application form!!! 🤣😖

OK, old man rant over. Grumble grumble grumble get off my... well no, I don't have a lawn, so whatever 🙄

Today's exciting discovery while working on the American Sign Museum book.

The 'nightrider' was a vehicle used by workers at Stalcup Neon in Kansas City, KS, to drive around iinspecting their signs for bulbs that needed replacing. It had a generator installed in the boot to power its own neon lights, but no air conditioning.

I can't say if this photo will be in the final publication, but the book is available for pre-order here: 48055.blackbaudhosting.com/480.