The Fence

The "Public Walkway" between Frye Avenue and Republic Street was closed in June of 2007. In that process, the City of Peoria "gave" me an additional eight feet of ground at the back of my lot. People of all ages that walk in the East Bluff seem to think that nothing has changed except there was no concrete sidewalk anymore. They continued to walk just as before, until now. I have never been a fan of chain link fence, but this five footer doesn't look too bad. The old lot line was at the back of the two trees shown here. I have slowed the traffic down, but have not been able to stop it - yet.You see, the owners of the rental property beside and behind me show no concern for the safety of their tenants or the neighborhood. If they did, they would fix or replace the fences that are on their properties. The picket fence behind the house next door has many missing boards and therefore allows people to trespass through the yard and the yards of the houses facing Republic. As you
can see, there are several gaping holes in the fence. Pedestrians, bicycle riders,
and even a jerk with a noisy gas powered mini-cycle trespasses back and forth -
through the fence and the yards (private property) on either side.

Part of receiving the eight feet of ground was that property owners maintain it. Yeah, right. The owner in the picture does take care of the land he received
back, but the property behind me is a totally different situation. Weeds, scrap
trees, downed branches, split tree that will fall from gravity or a strong wind.When it does, it will land on the roof of the homeowner next door. No one cares except for that homeowners. Below is part of the view in back of my
fence. Maybe the fact that I sent these photos and a few other to peoriacares@ci.peoria.il.us may help rectify the situation. After all, Peoria spent a fair amount of money to take up the old sidewalk and put down sod.











I like my extra eight feet of ground and I love my five foot chain link fence!

A Matter of Time

The East Bluff neighborhood of Peoria is an area struggling to survive. Many of us love the diversity of the neighborhood and have made investments in our homes. We plan to stay. Unfortunately, the actions of a few keep the neighborhood in the news and gives the city a perception of the neighborhood that is far worse than reality.

That being said, I arrived home last evening to the sound of sirens. That is not an unusual sound. I thought about going out to the street to see if I could tell where the sirens were headed, but didn't. It was later that I learned of the shooting down the street that took the life of the clerk at the Peoria Food Stop on the corner. Sad, but not surprising.

Those of us who live near the store have complained since "Day One". We celebrated when the store closed while the owner was out of the country and were saddened when it re-opened. It became a magnet for those who like to loiter and "hang out". The patrons of the store increased the amount of litter in the area. The owner of the store tried to control the loitering and keep the area close to the store clean. He painted over the graffiti that was placed on his building. Personally, I was in the store one time - and that was to complain about the negative impact the store was having on the neighborhood.

At this point, I do not know if the owner was clerking last night. He was often there. It is always sad when a life is taken, but those of us in the neighborhood knew "it was only a matter of time".

Still Kicking

Fifth Tuesday of the month was alive and well at The Fieldhouse tonight! Glad to see that the blogging community has not faded into the sunset as many of the blogs I used to read have faded. Seems everyone is on Facebook. I know I spend too much time there and playing games. There are things I think about and care about, but I have not been motivated to write about them.

It was nice to talk to people about city council, county board, restaurants past & present, the demise of Peoria Times and challenge of the paper in Woodford County. We talked old jobs, new jobs and present jobs. And we laughed. Maybe, just maybe, the Blogger Bash has motivated me to write more.

Most of all, the evening was just plain fun and enjoyable!

Wherefore art thou?

Spring, oh spring, wherefore art thou? I know you are a month away, at least according to the calendar. In my psyche, you are long overdue. Winter has given us just a few really cold days, but this snow is beginning to get on my last nerve. We "dodged the bullet" on a couple of predictions of really heavy snow, but it just keeps coming and does not seem to want to go away. I am really tired of looking at white ground cover!

Hurry Spring! You are greatly missed.

About A Month

It has been a little over a month since I posted. The time has flown by. There has been snow on the ground almost the whole time. Other than a couple of days, it has been colder than I like. The stock market has been all over the place. I did my taxes and filed them electronically, all by myself. Both of my kids have had their birthdays and I made a trip to the Social Security office. Actually, I made two trips. The first to make an appointment and the second to have the appointment to ask questions. This Social Security thing is new to me. I am old enough for the Medicare Card (damn, I'm old), but not old enough for full benefits.

Still not sure what I am going to do when "retirement age" comes around. Work has become just that.....work. Until I draw my own SS, I can collect some from my second ex-spouse. That was a pleasant surprise. The idea of working and drawing SS is appealing. The extra money would make it easier to pay off the home equity loan (windows & siding). The sooner it is paid off, the less interest I pay. I like that idea!

I can't see myself sitting at home. I have never been the "Suzy Homemaker" type and I am not about to start now. 8:00 A.M. means that I should be somewhere. I guess I will do what I usually do. After all the "I don't knows" have been thought through, I will make a snap decision and deal with the consequences! One door closes and another one opens. Just don't know what door will close and which will open.....or when.

Flight

After the attempted bombing of the inbound airplane at Detroit on Christmas Day, I wondered about how it would be flying into Detroit on 12/29. Even more, I wondered how it would be flying out of Detroit on 1/1/10! There was very little change leaving Peoria at 6:25 AM. Perhaps an extra security person or two, but otherwise the only change was the need to show the boarding pass as I walked through the scanner and again to the crew when I boarded the plane.

I don't know how screening went for international travel, but leaving Detroit was a breeze. There were several more security personnel than usual, but they were just standing around (observing, I am sure). There was no need to be at the airport two hours before flight time. The almost non-existent line at security moved quickly. The only difference was the request to place the shoes on the conveyor belt rather than in the plastic tub. Again, the flight crew checked the boarding pass. They did count passengers and compare passengers to their flight list.

I did not notice any hesitation on the part of fellow travelers on either flight. I still love to fly and will take advantage of any opportunity to hop a plane!

I Will Return!

A block northeast of Spring Street on Adams Street (1420 N.E. Adams, I think) there is a new restaurant that opened recently. In fact the "First Dollar" on the wall is dated November 9th. Several restaurants have opened in that location over the years. I remember when it was Art's and they had a good "down home" breakfast buffet. Usually, a new place would be closed by the time I decided to stop in. Not so, this time. Mel's Cafe was my breakfast spot today. I must say that I was delighted! Good food, reasonable prices and decent coffee. Coffee was even included in the cost of the meal. That alone is pretty rare anymore.

A very large pancake, 2 eggs (cooked as I requested), two sausage patties and the never empty cup of coffee - $5.45 including tax. Mel's is clean and fresh. Diners have their choice of table, booth or counter dining. The staff is the friendliest that I have come across in a long time and certainly added to the enjoyment. Open from 6 AM to 2 PM seven days a week, Mel's Cafe is a great addition to the Near Northside. It is close enough that I may even have to try it for lunch soon.

If supporting a local business is important to you, then Mel's Cafe deserves a visit if you are in the neighborhood. I know, I will return!

UPDATE: Several friends were going to meet at Mel's Cafe for breakfast, but the snowfall of Dec. 26th & 27th had people snowed in. The streets were in pretty bad shape, but since I live fairly close, I decided to go anyway. Again breakfast was very good. I tried a half order of biscuits & gravy. Probably not the best I have ever had, but it was good. Just like last time, there was a copy of the newspaper available to read over breakfast & coffee. Even though the streets were in bad shape and it was still snowing, there was a steady stream of customers. This is one local business I will continue to support.