Speeders! You have been warned!

I've started my mini-campaign to see about getting speed bumps on our street. I'm on a residential street, that has assumed the role of minor thoroughfare in and out of north PV. As a result, there are a lot of speeders going up and down at all hours of the day (but at the same time, it's gets plowed about every 15 minutes when it snows...). The stop sign at Belinder is nice, but I think it's time for something a little more subtle. Plus, traffic is only going to increase when the proposed work on the 75th Street corridor begins (whenever that is).

I'm not usually the type to get involved in things like this... But, I like my little piece of the world. Having grown up in Brookside, I have become rather fond of nice, quiet neighborhoods. Plus, it's a pain in the ass to back out of my driveway in the morning, when some clown is flying down the street at 45 mph, hell bent on making the stop light at State Line...

75th Street Corridor Plan

Is anyone following the progress of Prairie Village's plans to spruce up 75th street? I finally got around to reading (well, skimming) the proposal. The basic gist it to take 75th street from State Line to Walmer, and make it more pedestrian friendly, and less of a thoroughfare for folks from Brookside/Waldo to get to OP. If someone were to redevelop some areas w/ retail and high end residential, all the better for the city.

I guess so far, I am pretty indifferent. Prairie Village is land locked, so there's no room to expand. The only way to increase revenue, is to re-zone existing areas or develop the remaining 3% of undeveloped land. Not sure what they have in mind for residential space, but I get the feeling from reading comments of the last Public Workshop, that they want to ax some of the apartment buildings that dot 75th street, and replace with something a little pricier. I'm not expecting any major retail, since you can't swing a dead cat in this town with out hitting a Barnes and Noble, Old Navy or family friendly casual dining experience... but they are certainly looking for something that would actually give folks a reason to stop, as they are driving up and down 75th street. Of course, if they really wanted to make 75th street pedestrian friendly and generate some revenue at the same time, they could just enforce the speed limit...

I've noticed one house on the north side of 75th has a sign in the yard against The Vision. To date, I can't find that they have have a web presence or attended the first Workshop. But I would like to hear their beef. Legit argument? Or just one of the folks that hate change? Either way, I'd like to hear what they have to say.

I think the Better Half and I are going to try and attend one of the Public Workshops so we can see what's on the table, and throw out a few irrational rants (Gondolas!!!!).

The homeowners revenge!

Got the old joint out, built the new one and put it in. 16 joints to solder. Most of them last night, and the rest after work today. Not exactly pretty, but so far, it's dry. Of course, the valve on the hot water heater was bad, and wouldn't shut. Instead of forcing it, I just emptied the tank and shut off the cold water supply. That's an easy fix, but will have to wait for another day.



A few lessons learned...

• Clean the copper where you are going to solder.
• Make sure everything is dry. Damn near impossible to solder wet copper (although I've hear the MAPP torches will work).
• Before connecting to supply lines, dry fit and then put as much of the joint together as possible. Making a dozen some odd solders while standing on a ladder between floor joists, isn't much fun. The less soldering on a ladder, the better.
• Once you have soldered pieces together, the copper will be very hot and take 10-15 minutes to cool to the touch. Keep this in mind, when you tell your wife the whole thing will take "About an hour."
  

Time to lay some pipe, baby!

OK, more like sweat some pipe. I stumbled across a leak on our basement floor, that was coming from the hot water line that runs to our kitchen. Once again, the half assed work of the merry handy men that flipped our house, throws me a new project. I don't think either of those joints are supposed to be the same color as the Statue of Liberty, so time to cut 'em out and replace, before a tiny drip, floods my basement and burns out my 20 year old hot water heater... Sweating pipe isn't a huge deal. Just make sure surfaces are clean and smooth, dry fit the whole thing first, and then it's off to the races. Oh, and don't burn down your house at the same time. My best friend owns a plumbing supply shop in Mission (free plug: The Plumber's Friend) and he recommends some gizmo called the Shark Bite. I am usually the first to jump on the band wagon when it comes to new gizmos, but they can't be nearly as fun as standing on a step ladder, with a propane torch wondering why in the Hell the solder isn't taking. If the sweating is a bust, I'll break down and try the Shark Bite. Anyway, above is the before pic, and the after pic should be up in a day or two.

Ahhhh... Flavor Country

Looks like Prairie Village has finally given in, and come up with a smoking ban that kicks in August 1st. I'm ok with this. It's nice to come home from a night out with friends, and not stink like a North Carolina outhouse.

Goodbye Sprint

Our Sprint cell contract expired last Wednesday. 36 hours later, we were Verizon customers. We live in one of the pockets of Prairie Village that has shitty cell coverage. My guess is that being in the back yard of southern Mission Hills, there isn't anywhere to put a tower. Not a huge deal since we still have a land line. Anyway, after about 10 years of Sprint, it was time for a change. Sprint's customer service is notoriously bad, and we really only had one or two run ins with them. Of course, they were both as bad as can be (I'm talking in your direction, punk ass mf'er with the Russian accent at the store in Town Center). Because of our location, I don't expect Verizon's coverage to be much better. But the one time I have to talk to some one face to face, I don't expect I'll get some wise ass kid asking if it's life or death, moving my contacts from one phone to the other. (I swear to God, her asked me "Are you a doctor?") So... Verizon, the clock is ticking. You have 30 days (trial period) presumably followed by 2 years, to not piss me off.

FORE!!!!!!!! Censored by Last Minute Golfer

Being an avid, bad golfer, I frequently use the services of Last Minute Golfer. For those not familiar with LMG, it's a website that lets you book tee times online, sometimes at a discount (hence the name...). Another feature, is the ability to leave feedback on the participating courses. Obvious things like... course condition, pace of play, service in the pro shop etc... As long as it's not obscene or offensive, anything golf related is acceptable. I managed to sneak in a round at a public course in south Kansas City on an unseasonably warm February weekend. I don't recall all the specifics, but I do know that my review was critical of the price of the round of golf, compared to the condition of the course and the time of year.

Fast forward to last week... I'm cruising LMG looking at course reviews and notice that my review is no longer online. Under the course in question where my review once lived, it had been deleted "by a course representative" for (I'm paraphrasing here) "inaccurate or unrelated criticism".

WTF?????

Of course, I disagreed. So, I emailed LMG questioning the integrity of the review process, if a course is able to remove comments that are less than flattering. That would be like eBay allowing sellers to remove negative feedback, from a buyer they just screwed over. About 5 minutes after I emailed them, I went ahead and took my cries to the street (also know as the LMG discussion board). I presented my experience and again raised the question of the value of the reviews, when the course can remove said post as they see fit. The next morning I awoke to see that my post on the discussion board had been removed!!!!

So, I posted again.

A few fellow golfers have chimed in to agree. One even brought up the 1st Amendment. I wouldn't go as far as to say this is a free speech issue. To me, it's about the integrity of the service LMG offers. After all, it's the golfers who are paying to use LMG (with a nominal "service fee" that started showing up this year), so their feedback is what counts.

That's the cruel irony of being a bad golfer and living in Prairie Village... There are 3 golf courses w/in a 4 iron of my house. All three... private.

I've got a few thousand reward points built up on LMG and will be cashing in shortly and giving them the boot. It's too bad it's come to this... as a bad golfer that doesn't have the means to pay $75 a round at some of the snootier courses, this was a nice way to save a few bucks.....

Oh... as of this rant, Last Minute Golfer has not responded to my email.