Wandering in the Wilderness...
...where the air is not only thin, it's pretty dry, too.

I'm having trouble concentrating on very much of anything these days. Chalk it up to the change of season, I suppose. And, so all of a sudden, spring is here like it never left. The old cold winter, which dragged on and on like it always does, is now a figment of my recent past, never to return. I wasn't going to write anything at all tonight, but if I can just make myself type long enough, I'm sure a tangible idea (if indeed an "idea" can be "tangible") will present itself.

More little houses on the Prairie dept.: I guess I can dig back into my memories of yesterday; I'm actually being forced to since I didn't accomplish much of anything today. When I went out to the Flying "J" truck stop, I noticed all of a sudden, that a whole lotta new homes are being built out there, between the RV park and the Idahline Apartments, which have been there for a few years. I pity people who live in localities like that. That flat treeless land swelters in the summer, and winter winds whip viciously thru there. Some things I just don't understand, I guess.

Something's developing dept.: It's the hallmark of rampant subdivision. First, they bulldoze the land where the streets are gonna go. Then they pave the streets. Then come the sidewalks and curbs, and I suppose city sewer hookup is in place long before that. Empty streets just waiting for the inevitable springing up of yet more houses. I'm referring to that area on Atlas Road, just north of I-90; it's gonna be a hillside neighborhood, and I suppose it won't be any better or worse than all of the other new neighborhoods around here. I find, though, it's an assault on the senses. After all, I didn't grow up in mass surburbia. All this takes gettin' used to; it's a bit much.

Burn, baby, burn dept.: I posted recently that I am almost impossible to teach. But, I always loved being around sound equipment. In radio stations I worked in, I reveled in my surroundings; tape decks, microphones, monitoring equipment, broadcast automation machinery, and in the latter days, recording things onto a computer hard-drive for broadcast. Me and all of those little electronic "slaves". Anyway, I recently had a CD burner installed into my computer. And, last night, I learned how to operate it, never having burned a CD before. A rare case of getting "burned" and digging on it. I made no mistakes! I usually have a hard time with new things, but once again, I was working with sound equipment and everything made perfect sense. Now all I have to do is find a way to put RECORD albums onto CD.

We are the world...we are the bloggers dept.: See? I knew a few ideas would present themselves. I've long thot that if computers were used in a positive way, they could truly unite the world. (I sound like I'm applying for work at the United Nations, don't I?) Anyway, one blogger who stops by and reads my nonsense is a guy who calls himself "Scan"; he's from England, and always leaves interesting comments. He's one of these mohican-haircutted, lip-ring-type "up and comers" who's experienced his share of workplace ups and downs. Another blogger, "Sage", is a fellow gout/arthritis sufferer, and I'm glad he made contact; it's nice to know there are 'others' out there who suffer in that manner. Perhaps I can learn something from him; he wrote of having an all-over simultaneous severe full-body gout attack once...ack ack ack...I've had pain, but nothing close to that. And now, we both consume allopurinol (the gout-maintenance drug) for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and in-between snacks. We pop 'em like Screaming Yellow Zonkers. (Okay, I exaggerate!) Anyway, it's always a gas to hear from people as diverse as the two I mentioned here. I KNOW from my little "indicator" thing that I get a lotta views (over 8,000 since October!), so if you stop by, feel free to comment. Unless you have extra Spam you wanna drop off at my front door. Actually, I kinda like spam. As long as I don't know what all goes into it. Don't tell me about pork lips or intestines...I just don't wanna know!

Another visual and then I'm gone, long gone dept.: I published an old picture of the Kootenai County Courthouse recently. So, since I have absolutely nothing original to offer today, I thought I'd publish another picture of the same Courthouse. Only, this is a color rendering of a 1940's-era picture...



Note that in the foreground, is some sort of driveway where you could motor right up to the front entrance. Also, notice the lack of trees, as opposed to nowadays with the courthouse being surrounded by all kinds of luxurious shade trees. It's a grand old building, really it is, unless you have to do jury duty there, or if you're on trial there. Then, you'll wish you were somewhere else. I've been called for jury duty, but have always been passed over. Which is cool; I'm not sure I'd want someone like me, JUDGING me, if I were in trouble!
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Okay, all right, I'm done, and not a moment too soon. I'm having a tremendous craving for something with Milk Chocolate. mmmmm...Will it be an "Idaho Spud" bar...will it be "Mello-Mints"...or some good ol' fashioned Hershey's? I'm losing my mind here...