I hope I'm not tricked into thinking this is...
A GOOD kind of GROWTH!!!

When areas in a city are DEVELOPED, of course, the bottom line is the DOLLAR. How much money is it gonna cost to build stuff? How much are we gonna get when the parcels sell? How much money will these business properties end up generating, et cetera, so forth and so on. Growth, growth, growth. And the growth is inevitable; the "crazy" growth will never be stopped. Still, it's good to know that the welfare of the area's population is being considered. We've got some pretty nice parks scattered around CD of A, and there's a couple more of 'em springing up in the near future.

In today's paper, it was announced that a 1.7 acre park, bordering the Spokane River will be happening somewhere east of the four-block-square town of Huetter. And, there's another park, with a pond, that will be installed, theoretically, at the old Central Pre-Mix pit just west of CDA.
Both parks will be near, or enclosed by, business developments which are being built. So, while I hate to see things disappear (I am a virtual native of this area after all), it's nice to know that parks are being provided. And I don't care if they're doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, or 'cos the land is unsuitable for anything else EXCEPT parks. Gimme grass, trees and shade anytime.

Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On dept.: Prezzident Bush has been under pressure to shake up his cabinet because of all the misfortune regarding the New Orleans situation, the abysmal shape of the economy, the war, and whatever else may be happening. So, there was a shake-up. "Shake it, baby, shake it; shake it, baby, shake it", as Jerry Lee Lewis once warbled forth. It seems that Andy Card, the Prezzident's Chief of Staff, has been bounced in favor of Joshua Bolton. This is a lateral move at best, designed to show that "Dubya" is a man of action. Whoopee. Don Imus, on his daily radio/TV broadcast, ventured that maybe Prezzident Bush and Veep Cheney should also be dispensed with. There's one hitch: those guys are elected officials. We're stuck with 'em.

We'll be right back after this message dept.: It seems that people who want to advertise their goods are trying every avenue available to them. And, TV commercials, even on the crappiest TV program, on the worst day of the week, are excruciatingly expensive. Add to that, more and more people all the time are activating their "mute" buttons when necessary. My mute's almost worn out, in fact. So, how to reach the consumer? Don't be surprised if one day you see TV monitors placed in the aisles at your favorite grocerial establishment. Smart move, probably, since the people who SEE those in-store commercials are already in a grocery-buyin' mood. Me? Nah. I shop in a "get in and get out" style. But if grocery store TV monitors spouting commercials are installed around here, I'll bring my remote into the store to see if the mute button works! Zap that sucker!

The Buchwald stops here dept.: Life isn't fair. Bad things happen to good people. Nice guys finish last. And so on, and so forth. I read Cheryl Anne Milsap's column in today's Spokesman-Review, and she wrote about nationally-known political humorist Art Buchwald, who's checked himself into a hospice, rather than undergo the strenuous rigors of kidney dialysis, which his body now needs, which would prolong his life. He's writing what he wants, talking with whom he wants, and enjoying his last days as much as possible. What a brave thing that is to do, just face death with as positive an attitude as possible. Best wishes, Mr. Buchwald. My take on this? If I was feeling relatively well, I'd do the dialysis thing. When I drove cab, I used to take sweet little senior citizens to the Dialysis unit and then back home. Some of the dialysis patients used their appointments as a social occasion, or to watch TV or catch up on reading. Yeah, I'd do that.

A program without channels dept.: Remember last week I was posting the front pages of hydroplane race brochures promoting Coeur d'Alene's very own "Diamond Cup"? For some reason I haven't done that for a while. So I'm doing it again, but not by popular demand, since no one really seems to care, one way or the other. The hydro-race was held in the late '50s and throughout the 60s right here on byootiful lake Coeur d'Alene...



The year was 1963. The Beatles had their first #1 hit in England, "Please Please Me". It would be a year before they were popular here in the states. On November 22nd of that year, President Kennedy was assassinated, and a coupla days later, so was Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin. I came home for lunch one day while in 4th grade, and saw Jack Ruby shoot Oswald live on TV. (And people worry about TV violence today! Hah!) And, Coeur d'Alene was having a great summer as always, with all kinds of summer events, including the Diamond Cup. I've got several more of these I'll post in the future.
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Again, I don't seem to be retaining much from the newspapers. Must have something to do with it being so nice outside the last few days. But, I don't have to have eyes to know spring's here? How can I tell? By the roar of motorcycle engines on Sherman Avenue. BRRRRRRRRRRAP!!!!!!!!!