Sunday night Mountainstage came to Morgantown. Which is always awesome.

What was even more awesome was that the Cowboy Junkies played. Yes, the Fountains of Wayne were good (although the guitarist was trashed (annoyingly so)) but… The Cowboy Junkies!

They played “200 More Miles”, “Working on a Building”, “To Love Is to Bury”, and “Blue Moon (reprised)”

Yea, I would have loved to have heard “To Live Is to Fly” but I’m just happy I got to see and hear them live.

Here are two terrible pictures I took with my phone.

Ah…. Cowboy Junkies….

OK, not wild exactly, but I’m enjoying photographing the spring flowers. There’s something about the young stems and flowers of early spring plants that is so delicate, which is in direct opposition to the fact that these plants and flowers have to survive late snows, frosts, and occasional freezing temperatures.

Sunday afternoon was beautiful at the arboretum. Temperature was about perfect at 59, the sun was shining, and it was just beautiful for walking around.

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Here are some botanical type pictures from our trip to the arboretum.

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Apparently McCoy 6 wants to SUE the city for condemning one of their apartment buildings.

This is AFTER the city tore down and cleared the decrepit buildings in the old stadium loop and then charge the Warners only $1 (one single dollar) a year lease.

Let me share the experience Michael had in college.

TO clarify, many “apartments” in Morgantown are old houses divided into multiple living spaces, with kitchens and bathrooms added in somewhat randomly.

Michael and his roommate were shown an apartment, signed a lease, and then told that the apartment they were renting not only was not the apartment they were shown, it wasn’t even in the same house.

When they moved in the place was filthy. Disgusting. The stove looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in years, the kitchen floor was sticky, the carpet and furniture were horrific (dirty and stained and unhealthy looking), and the bathroom was a disaster. Many things didn’t work, including the drain in the tub (by the time you were done showering the tub was full of water. Disgusting water.) When they moved in they complained about all these things, and were told that something would be done.

No one ever came to repair anything. Ever.

When Michael moved out after a few months, McCoy 6 refused to return his security deposit, listing all the “damage” done to the apartment, which was the list of the problems Michael and his roommate had complained about when they moved in.

Needless to say, Michael is not the only person they did this to.

Friends who moved into Mountaineer Court soon after it was built had complaints about the foundation, structure, and construction of the apartment. Time has not been kind to the building, and if they maintained Mountaineer Court in the same manner as they maintained the apartment Michael rented, it’s a small wonder the building was condemned.

Did I mention that the Warners are some of the better known Republicans in the state? One brother ran for governor, another was chair of the state Republican party. And now you know why I have such disdain for Republicans in West Virginia.

Nathan took me to task for not bringing up an important issue in front of the WV Legislature: Delegate Jeff Eldridge has proposed a ban on Barbie dolls.

I’d like to point out that Eldridge is from Lincoln county. I live in Monongalia, so this guy is Not My Fault.

Now, to address this mess.

First, thank the gods this Legislator is male and not female. Can you imagine how this would be spun if it was a woman who proposed this bill? Wackos like Rush Limbaugh would be denouncing the lesbian feminist agenda in our legislatures, blah blah blah. So at least we missed that bullet. Not that what we left with is much better.

Second, I don’t like Barbie dolls, and never had one as a child or pre-teen. (Most of the dolls I had were rag dolls, and they were beat out by the stuffed animals.) I also agree somewhat with the premise that Jeff Eldridge is putting forth: I don’t think that Barbies (being humanly impossible and all) are necessarily a good role model for girls and pre-teens.

Elementary aged girls are now dieting, because they don’t look like the TV stars and models. We are creating a culture where more and more young women are getting eating disorders, and this is a terrible problem, and a problem that needs to be addressed.

However.

Banning Barbie is not a solution. I mean, shall the state police arrest people coming across the border with desired Christmas presents for their daughters and granddaughters? This is an incredibly stupid idea.

Even more importantly, however, this bill is a phenomenal waste of time. I recognize that Jeff Eldridge doesn’t really believe his bill will pass. Which means he has put up a bill solely to garner attention.

Sir? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of an economic recession/depression. West Virginia is losing tens of thousands of jobs as manufacturing companies close down and consolidate.

So why in the holy hell would anyone waste time with something like this?

I can’t answer it, but I hope the voters of Lincoln county demand an answer from Jeff Eldridge. Because we have issues of greater importance to address, and although female self image is important, calling for a ban on Barbie dolls isn’t going to do a damned thing to solve the problem.

This is MWT’s fault.

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Everyone said Southern California was the perfect vacation spot. “Get away from dreary Scotland!” they said. “A change will do you good!” they said.

Bah humbug. She should have stayed home.

Sure it was sunny–the weather had been beautiful the entire time–but she wasn’t used to the sun, and got a terrible sunburn.

And then there was the traffic–she’d never seen so much traffic! She didn’t realize what a backwater her home was until she reached California. Night and day there were people everywhere!

She’d thought a change of scenery would be nice, but didn’t realize the scenery would be so completely full of people.

She knew it was provincial, but she started wishing she was home almost as soon as she arrived. Sure, there were amazing new species of fish–she’d never seen anything like some of these species, but that hardly made up for all the other hassles. The food and water weren’t what she was used to, there was more sun than she was used to, and the people…

She was going to kill the dolphins when she got home. Even if suggesting this vacation wasn’t a dirty trick, it was still a pretty horrible experience: How are you supposed to enjoy your vacation if you have to spend the entire time hiding from people that don’t believe you exist?

The locals told her she’d be fine–“those Californians are constantly drunk and stoned. No one will notice you, and if they do, they’ll just think you’re an hallucination. Besides, you don’t live here! Who cares if they see you?”

“Who cares my left flipper!” she’d told them. She had no desire to be caught and dissected.

“There are lots of environmental laws in California!” they told her. “You’ll be fine.”

She’d stared at them if they were barmy, and then asked pointed questions about the amount of pharmaceutical run-off in the water till they’d dropped the subject.

All in all, it was one of the worst vacations she’d ever taken. To hell with the economy. Next year she’d just have a staycation.

Morgantown WV has the lowest unemployment rates in the entire nation.

Mind you, I’m not going to be taking that for granted, but I’m not worried about my job or Michael’s job.

One note however, if you are thinking about moving here? Traffic still sucks.

Some people (who shall remain named Nathan) have repeatedly mocked me for complaining about the traffic in Morgantown.

Lets first clarify a few things.

The population of Morgantown proper (and I live in the city) is 29,361 (up from 25,879 in 1990).

The population of Monongalia county is 87,516 (up from 75,509 in 1990).

(As a note, the population of WV is 1,814,468. All data from US census site.)

The full-time enrollment of WVU is 29,721. Even discounting townies who are also students, that’s pretty much the population of Morgantown. Many of which who have cars (this is why I see almost as many out-of-state license plates as I do in-state).

During the work week, we have an influx of more than 15k people. That’s half again the population of the city.

The capacity of Mountaineer field (in Morgantown proper) is 60,000. That’s more than twice the population of the city.

Although there has been some small effort in recent years to alleviate the congestion, you have to understand that most of the city proper is filled with two and three lane roads, (heck, I think I can probably name all the multi-lane roads [that aren’t one way] in Morgantown: South University, Beechhurst, Patterson Drive, VanVhooris, Chestnut Ridge Road, 705, The Mileground east of 705. Did I miss any? Maybe a mile section of the Kingwood Pike?) and even though there are back streets to take, those are not always an option when there is bad weather, due to the hills.

In other words, the current roads would be all well and good, if we didn’t have a regular major influx of population. Unfortunately, we do have that influx, and it’s like pulling teeth to get anything done about it.

ADDENDUM the First:
Here’s the terrain of Morgantown.

View Larger Map

Erin posted an adorable picture of Lana.

Quick go look!

Cute cute cute!

To clarify, I have never every seen traffic backed up this far ever. For locals, the Med Center PRT is straight ahead.

This is an insane amount of traffic. I keep walking out of my office to look at the traffic it’s so unbelievable.

Glad I have the option to walk home.

Erin has pictures of Lana up!

Come on, you know you need a dose of cute!

Congratulations to Erin and Sean and welcome to baby Lana!

If Erin didn’t have her baby last night, they were supposed to induce her today.

Here’s hoping she didn’t need to be induced, and that it’s an easy labor!

ADDENDUM the First:
No baby today most likely.

ADDENDUM the Second:
She’s in the hospital–probably for quite awhile, but has wi-fi!

Quick! Go entertain her!

This is last home game of the 2008 season. They’ve designated this game a “white out” in honor of Pat White.

I hope they kick ass to finish Pat White’s career on a high note, because I have to say that of all my years following the Mountaineers, Pat White has been my all time favorite player–finally replacing Paul Woodside.

So for Pat White’s last game…

LET’S GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s OVER!

13 – 6 WVU! It’s a win for Patrick White’s last game!