Today’s Word — Nomophobia

Nomophobia, according to this story in the UK’s Evening Standard, the fear of being out of cell phone signal range, or of letting your phone die for lack of charge.
It’s all the rage:
More than 13million Britons fear being out of mobile phone contact, according to research.
Keeping in touch with friends or family is the main [...]

Sunday Column — Don’t Mess with My Charcoal

Hey, I love hugging trees and going green and shrinking my carbon footprint as much as the next enlightened bloke. We’ve got compact fluorescent bulbs in every socket.
On top of that, we’re … uh, did I mention the light bulbs?
Anyway, we’re doing stuff, or at least we plan to, and I’ve been glad to join [...]

Legislative Forecast

Here are 5 big issues the Legislature has yet to resolve with just three weeks left in the 2008 session, and the percentage chance something will get done.
1. Road Construction — Most Democrats are backing a plan that would plow higher car and truck registration fees into the cash-strapped road fund, although they’re covering their political asphalt by [...]

Golf Joke

As fellow Gazette bloganista Dave Rasdal points out, Cedar Rapids’ municipal golf courses open on Monday. It’s welcome news.
Some of the best rounds I’ve played in my life came the first day I walked on the course at the beginning of the season. That’s when my game is pure, unencumbered by all the tinkering I’m [...]

I’d Rather Have a Bottle Bill Study In Front of Me…

So should we do what polls show a majority of Iowans want or should we do what the grocery industry wants? And what about the Big Lug? Tough call.
I know, I know, let’s do a worthless study. From Radio Iowa:
The Iowa House has voted to create a new commission to study changes in the state’s bottle deposit [...]

Grub — Red Robin

I know, I know, I should probably confine my restaurant roaming and tavern travels to locally owned joints. That would be a perfect world.
But I have small children. And occasionally, this happy/challenging  fact leads me through the doors of one of America’s successful/tiresome standbys. And, as anyone who lives here knows, you can’t swing a [...]

Culver and Rants — Odd Couple

Gov. Chet Culver is strongly hinting that he might veto the collective bargaining expansion for public employees that passed the House and Senate at light speed. From The Gazette:
DES MOINES – Gov. Chet Culver warned today there is a “strong possibility” he will veto a Democratic-passed bill that expands Iowa’s collective bargaining law unless more [...]

So you think your job is bad?

You could be dressed up as “Polyp Man.”
OK, it’s a funny picture. But it’s also a serious subject.
From Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, which is hosting Polyp Man this week:
Colorectal Cancer is the third most common cause of cancer death among men and women in the United States -even though it can be [...]

Opening Day Wake Up Call

So I was on the treadmill this morning. Last week, front buttons popped off two pairs of pants on consecutive days and rolled across the office restroom. Have you ever been one cinnamon roll away from the heaviest weight of your life?
Anyway, I digress. It was 5:30 a.m. and on the TV screen in front [...]

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Senate Democrats agreed at midday to let senators go home for the weekend before a long Monday debate on the controversial collective bargaining bill. The Ds portrayed the move as a friendly compromise with GOP senators, who sought to delay debate.
So what did the Dems get for playing nice? This just hit my inbox:
Friday, March 21, 2008
          Iowa Future Fund Launches Ads [...]