I am go to my kid’s house for Thanksgiving years old. Not sure how this happened. It seems like yesterday that my favorite night of the year was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The small-town way was most of us would find our way back home and to the local bar on that evening and then we’d make a mess of things and then recover with some home cooked Thanksgiving the next day. It was glorious and it was so long ago.
Apparently, this tradition has a name. It’s called Blackout Wednesday or Drinksgiving in some circles and I thought we invented it in my hometown, but apparently I just exist in a small bubble of life. I’m not condoning such debauchery, but I can attest to the unadulterated fun that we had on these nights. Nobody– besides my daughter and daughter-in-law–under the age of 50 reads my column, but you can at least make sure to pass along my review to the young people in your life.
There is some statistical data out there that says it is the biggest drinking night of the year, but don’t take my word for it, I don’t believe in science.
According to one article I read, the name for the night was born around 2007. Not sure why I care, or you care, but Foley makes me write 600 words to collect my paycheck.
I’m going to be honest; I’ve cheated a few times in my life and celebrated Blackout Wednesday on other days that end in “y” and in months that have nothing to do with Pilgrims. Practice is the preparation of champions, or something like that.
I guess Michigan has been cheating at football and I’m recommending that they hire the attorneys that represent the University of Kansas. Kansas and their illegal basketball operation got dudes sent to prison and yet their punishment from the NCAA took years and was laughably light.
The only reason I care about this is that I placed a legal bet in Iowa this summer that Michigan would win the national championship, so if it takes a few million dollars of lawyer fees to make my $200 bet come through, I think it is worth every penny. Clip this and send this to Jim Harbaugh.
Driving Hwy. 92 last week, I saw a good smattering of signs protesting a possible KCMO sewer plant in Platte County. The new plant is basically planned for 144th and Interurban Road and is a replacement for the Todd Creek wastewater treatment plant that was built in 1968 and renovated in the 90’s.
The funny thing is that on the same day I became aware of this going on, I saw that Council Bluffs treatment plant was dumping untreated sewage at a rate of four million gallons a day into the Missouri River. Apparently, a line repair “requires” this to happen.
Anyway, I know enough about wastewater treatment to be dangerous, and I can assure the Platte Countians that are against this that they have every right to question the expansion or replacement of this plant. Sewer plants have illegal discharges a LOT. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources keeps track of them, and it is kind of disconcerting when you dig into it a little.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the unincorporated Platte Countians fare against City Hall.
(Guy Speckman can be found reminiscing about Drinksgivings of the past)