If you haven’t yet, get your tree debris ready now. Get it to the curb pronto.
The City of Platte City says the final curbside pick-up of fallen trees from the June 8 storm will take place on Thursday, June 23. We mentioned in this space last week that the city has done a fantastic job in aiding with the storm clean-up, and part of that organized effort is coming to an end Thursday.
Final curbside pickup includes large tree debris only. Smaller tree limbs and branches are no longer being gathered at curbside.
“Residents are encouraged to take small tree debris to the city’s green waste facility,” the city said in a written notice to residents this week. The green waste facility will continue to be open through July 3 to residents within the city limits of Platte City.
It’s important to note the final pick-up is limited to the areas of town that received the most damage, specifically the areas south of Hwy. 92 and west of the school district complex, including the Second and Fourth Street corridors and adjacent streets.
Platte County officials spoke this week about something they might consider as a “potential short-term jail solution.” The concept is something called mobile jail pods. Greene County, Mo. employed the mobile jail pods concept, we’re told.
Check out a quick YouTube video on jail pods at https://youtu.be/ASv9XrWrrZo
Have you seen the campaign ad for Eric Greitens that the former governor/now candidate for US Senate posted on his social media accounts this week? In it, Greitens–a former Navy SEAL, as he mentions in the ad–joins a group of camouflage-clad men in conducting an armed raid on a house. Their target? RINOs.
The term RINO, as you probably know by now, is what some right wing Republicans use to describe members of the party that they view as insufficiently partisan. As the Washington Post says, “usually, though, those ads are explicit that their targeting is only conceptual. Greitens’ ad ignores any such caveats.”
Reaction has been mostly what you might expect. Greitens claims people are loving it, while many other folks are describing the ad as disturbing and violence-promoting. Or tone deaf. Or embarrassing.
On top of that, the acting sucks.
Greitens strikes me as the kind of guy who is a bad day away from having a really bad day, if you know what I’m sayin’.
Other than that, things seem fine.
Greitens says Facebook immediately removed the ad. Twitter, as of Tuesday morning, had not removed the ad but did mark it as “abusive” content.
So, is this really the person seen as the frontrunner in the Republican primary for US Senator in August? Why yes, yes it is.
The current Real Clear Politics average of recent polls for the Republican primary Senate race shows Greitens with the support of about 24.8 percent of likely voters. His closest GOP challenger is Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt at an average of 21.3 percent. Following Schmitt in third place is Rep. Vicky Hartzler with the backing of about 18.3 percent.
Yikes.
Here’s a tidbit and helpful hint you probably won’t read in Popular Mechanics magazine.
I drive a 2011 Nissan Rogue with 190,000 miles because that’s how I roll. Some people might call me a tightass. I much prefer the term fiscally conservative. My wife, of course, drives a newer vehicle with some bells and whistles. One of those whistles is satellite radio. Don’t tell her but I very much like the satellite radio feature.
Anyway, the other day the Sirius XM radio lost connection in her car. “No signal” was the message on the screen. She told me she called the folks at Sirius. No problems with her subscription. They said they would send her a text with a special link to “refresh” the satellite signal to her car. Didn’t work. Then they said maybe you weren’t in an open sky setting, maybe the refresh signal was being blocked by buildings or trees or being intercepted by UFOs or something. Nope, she was in the car, parked in an open setting and skies were clear. This “refresh” process was repeated three times when the person at Sirius seemed to give up. “We’ll have someone call you tomorrow. In the meantime, try to rest the radio,” they told her.
LOL. Rest the radio? Listen, I’m hardly a licensed mechanic but when my wife told me that was the advice from Sirius I chuckled at the BS. Also, the “we’ll call you tomorrow” sounded a whole lot like a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” kind of thing.
Then something unique happened. I had a productive thought. My thought was to start from the beginning. No, not that beginning, I wasn’t looking to reinvent the wheel. What do all of us do when our home internet service is slow or our laptop is acting funky? We reset the modem or restart the computer. I said to myself, “Self, why don’t you disconnect the car battery?” So I popped the hood on the car and grabbed a socket wrench from my big-ass tool box full of tools that seldom get used–kind of like my wife’s closet full of shoes that seldom get worn. I disconnected the grounding cable on the car battery and then, since it was hot outside, went back in the house to enjoy a refreshing Bud Light in a frosty mug. When the beer was gone I went back outside, reconnected the grounding cable and started the car. Ta-dah. Satellite radio success, my friends.
So there you have it. If your vehicle’s satellite radio ever tells you “no signal” the trick is to disconnect your car battery for a short time. Think of it as resetting your modem or restarting your computer.
If you wanna live on the edge you can leave out the part about grabbing a Bud Light. But I wouldn’t risk it. Go with what we know works. Follow the science: Disconnect. Cold Bud Light. Reconnect.
You’re welcome, America.
(For more tips involving tools and Bud Light, email Foley at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)