How's this for panic run amuck?!

It was dominating the TV coverage yesterday. Now pigeons are disrupting the lifestyle in the Steel City —what will be next?

I am ready for it to be spring. I've given up on winter. Winter was a huge disappointment this year. I like living in a place with four seasons, but frankly I feel like winter is failing to live up to its end of that bargain. Oh sure, we had a few snow showers that amounted to an inch or so on a couple of occasions. However, the best effort winter could deliver this year at my house was about four to six inches and it didn't last very long. When I lived in Morgantown, I got more than my money's worth out of winter. We had three straight back to back blizzard years—including two in one year in which the temperature in between them didn't get above zero for about a week. Now THAT is a winter. I like it that way in the January/February stage—and maybe just a smattering in late December. However, it's now in the 30's and 40's on the first week of spring, we're still getting weak flakes. I feel like winter is telling us, "Hey please notice me—I can still perform!" Sorry dude, you had your chance and you blew it—maybe next year.

I remember one of the worst storms I ever saw, prior to the Morgantown years, arrived on April 1, 1989. I was a student at the University of Tennessee at times. They actually cancelled classes for two days. It was the first time they had done that since the 1960's. I'll never forget the ongoing discussion about the move. They had instituted a policy in the 60's to NEVER cancel classes after two kids got killed sledding on campus. However, I guess they assumed things had changed and were fearful somebody would fall on their way to class or whatever. Soon after the cancellation---I saw two guys on skis being pulled by the bumper of a Ford Bronco down Andy Hold Boulevard. Yeah, wouldn't want them to get hurt walking to English class would we!!!!

I know there are some UT alums who read my ramblings here—and some who are actually students at the old Alma Mater in Knoxpatch. I'm wondering, is it still in vogue to steal trays from the cafeteria and use them to sled ride? Every time it snows, the cafeteria posted an armed guard at the exits trying to ward off thieves.

Thinking back to the old college days—they were truly some of the best. The cafeteria meal plan was tailor made for the creation of a fatty. I had the 7-day meal plan. This was in the early days of the magnetic strip card. The place opened at 6:00am and closed at 7:00pm. You could go there anytime of day—as many times as you wished. You could eat as much as you wanted while you were there. Everybody loved to complain about cafeteria food—but let me tell you it was good shit if you were honest. There were always three entrées and about 10 side-items on the steam table. You could ALWAYS go to the deli for a sandwich, the salad bar with soup, or the hamburger/hot dog line. Those were ALWAYS open for every lunch and dinner. In the morning they had a breakfast bar that would shake Shoney's to the core. The hamburger line in the morning was the waffle iron station, and the salad bar was the cereal dispenser. The drink bar had everything you could possibly desire. You could get fountain soda, coffee, tea, milk, chocolate milk (drawn from the University's very own dairy farm) at least five different kinds of juice, Kool-Aid, and Gatorade. This place had it all. Beyond that the University Food Services operated about four grocery stores around campus and included in that meal plan was $100/semester on your meal card that worked like our modern day debit card for the semester. You could use that to buy Slim Jims, Mountain Dew, and pork rinds. The only downside was it could not be used to buy smokeless tobacco products or porn magazines. The $100 voucher was also good at a couple of restaurants on campus for a more "elegant" dining experience (although how can one get MORE elegant than Slim Jims, Pork Rinds, and Mt. Dew?). I sometimes think back to that setup and realize now….just how good things used to be.

(Sigh)

Buck Out