VEISHEA was held this past week on the Iowa State University campus in Ames, IA. If you went to school at ISU or aren't living under the proverbial rock within the State of Iowa; you know what this event is all about. Unruly inebriated college kids, burning dumpsters, and riots that garner front page press. All jokes aside, had you been at the parade on Saturday, a burning dumpster would have felt pretty darn good! The chilly damp air and steady rain at times kept a lid on any potential "black eyes" from coming out of this years really neat celebration. I have some really good friends from my college days that were heavily involved with the planning aspect of VEISHEA and with making sure the largest run student event in the country survived whatever sucker punches came flying their way. All things considered, they did well, as did this years leadership group. How you get that many vastly different students, cultural organizations and clubs to remain civil is a bit of a mystery. Every small town in Iowa could use a healthy dose of whatever they're doing beneath the campanile in central Iowa. It would probably resolve a lot of the multi-generational issues that linger in rural Iowa today. Then again, maybe not. On lighter note...I noticed this year that there was only 1 big helium balloon in the entire parade. Float numbers were down too. I'd imagine someone somewhere had safety issues with both of them. I hope that bad idea and trend gets reversed... kids can go to any town celebration in the state and see a parade of firetrucks.
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| The fasten seat belt sign was just turned on! |
Mater in 34 minutes this time. Big thanks to friends Michael and Rachel for letting us co-pilot for the day. I overheard "Zulu" being used on the headset several times throughout the trip. It's a fun word to say, which is mainly why I was interested in what it meant. Here's what I learned in la men's terms from my pilot: "it's the time pilots use in the aircraft that is standard all over the world" (no time zones involved). After a quick Google search, I learned that the Department of the Navy serves as the country's official timekeeper, with the Master Clock facility at the U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C. You can follow the link if you desire to learn more. Or, if you don't give a damn about the meaning, you now have a nifty word to add to your vocabulary.
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| Little Jerry and his hens. |
We're in the chicken business. Five Buff Orpington hens and a rooster my daughter calls Little Jerry- thanks to a little coaxing from me in the naming department. Those of you who were avid Seinfeld watchers probably remember Kramer's pet rooster, Little Jerry in one particular episode. You may recall, that Kramer got his pet rooster mixed up in a cock fighting ring... it didn't end well for Little Jerry. Our Little Jerry is no pet, he is one mean dude though. So mean in fact, that my daughter only enters the chicken pen fully equipped with a 1/2" piece of conduit when she collects the eggs. If his attitude continues, there's a good chance he'll be finding a new home. He might actually prefer that over the alternative of being pestered non-stop by a 2-yr. old. Either way, doesn't look like it's going to end well for this Little Jerry either.
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