All about me

Dang -- I missed National Pickle Day. If you hunger for some real pickles -- sweet but spicy -- you have to try these, the sweet fire pickles from one of my favorite mail-order places, the New Braunfels Smokehouse. And their smoked brisket is -- well, let's just say the only place even close to it here I've found so far is at the Moosewood Smoke House.

If I get the flu, I should stay home so I don't infect my co-workers. But if I do that, I might make my cats sick:

EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - A cat in Iowa has the H1N1 flu, most likely caught from it's owners. The cat is recovering, but as 14 News found, viruses are spread much easier between pets and their owners than most people think.

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Congratulations to the City Council. It got this one right:

A gas station and mini-strip mall appear to be on their way to the south side of downtown Fort Wayne after City Council approved the rezoning of about two acres at 3230 Fairfield Avenue.

I swear, I can't leave you people alone for a second. I take one little week off, then come home to discover no one has killed cap and trade or health care reform yet. In fact, the march toward statism is so far along I wonder if the whole concept of freedom is starting to sound like just a rightwing rant.

What is it they say, God takes care of drunks and fools? He must also keep an eye out occasionally for journalist bloggers, who often exhibit characteristics of both.

I've reached another milestone in my life by having breakfast with Wolfgang Puck. Well, not exactly with him, but with numerous photos of him staring at me from the walls of his franchised eatery at the Indianapolis airport. My sister and I got to the airport early and hungry on Saturday morning for our trip to Texas, and Puck's was the closest place to our departure gate.

I'm taking next week off to visit my brother in Texas. I might post a few photos from Hill Country, though, if you feel like checking in occasionally.

An article in Reason argues that the death of newspapers won't mean the death of news:

I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that Bob Dylan has a Christmas album. I'm one of the world's biggest Dylan fans, but this still has to rank as one of the oddest musical decisions of all time.

Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are making the news lately. Besides the Indianapolis guy in the police standoff, today we read about two more. First is this story from Winchester:

An eastern Indiana Iraq War veteran accused of shooting at sheriff's deputies is being held on $500,000 bond.

And this is from Muncie: