I might get a promotion

I've got a lot to tell about my skiing trip to Steamboat Springs, but right now it looks like there's a good chance I'll get a nice promotion when everybody else retires. I just met the new boss, but he'll be over both water and sewer. The city talks like they want someone to be in charge just of operating the sewer plant, and I'll be the most senior and the most experienced. I will have to get a class one certification, but the city manager says they will pay for the classes I need, and I am already working on it. So far it looks good, I'm crossing my fingers. It'll mean more work and responsibility, though, so there better be a nice raise with it.

back from steamboat

I just got back from my week at Steamboat Springs, what a week! I'll have more to say when I'm not so tired, but we had fresh snow monday, wednesday, thursday, and of course the storm of all storms friday. You may have seen on the news about winds clocked at 107 mph on the top of the mountain, well, it's true. An interesting day to ski, or try to. By 1:30 pretty much the whole mountain was shut down. Just as well, I just about got blown off my skis coming down anyway. Wild times!
I did get out of Colorado yesterday, if I'd tried friday apparently I wouldn't have made it, the whole western part of the state was pretty much closed. As it was on saturday, I70 was 10 to 15 mph for 30 or 40 miles over the divide and thru the tunnels ( and that was the only choice, most other passes were closed). What Fun!

P.S. I forgot to mention I got home this evening and found 3 foot snow drifts over my driveway and across my back door. My car is clear down at the bottom of my drive and likely to stay there a while.

headed west

Well, I'm headed out early tommorrow for Steamboat Springs. The car's all ready, I'm packed, it's all barber pole. Of course thanks to the geniuses who designed my car, and my utility company, I have no money to spend out there, but my room's paid for, I just may have to live on bar munchies for a week. Oh well, I've done it before.

we got clipped hard

The alberta clipper weather system is really giving it to us. Not only is it still absolutely frigid here in central Illinois, today we got what amounted to a small blizzard. We only got a few inches, but it was really blowing, and very cold. The black fox drum actually cancelled practice tonight because of the weather, something we rarely do.
I'm headed out to Steamboat Springs,Colorado saturday for a week of skiing, I hope the weather stays halfway decent for the drive out and back. While I'm out there, though, it can snow if it wants (fresh, real, powder! WOW!)

FRIGID!

God it's cold here. I know, I'm the one who likes cold weather, but this is getting rediculous.
I think we're going to do something for WIU's international bazaar. After all, one of the basic tenets of the Inali dancers is educating people about native things. We will have students from all over the world, they would like to learn about native stuff.
I just learned 12 americans have died in Iraq this month so far. What's going to happen?
What if we go into Iran? I'm kind of scared.

chief illiniwek back in the news

The whole chief illiniwek thing is flaring up again, and though I had a post on it last year, that was lost along with over a years worth of posts, so I'll take a stab at it again.
First of all, the idea that the dance is authentic is ludicrous. I have been a native dancer for almost 40 years, and I have never seen anything like it. It looks like a cossack on crack. The regalia is all plains Lakota, which has nothing at all to do with real Illini clothing. And yes, there are still Illini people around to take offence. To top it off, even for the Lakota, this outfit is that of an honored warrior, not some sports mascot. How would it look if someone took a WWII veterans uniform, complete with a medal of honor, and started doing a jig at a football game?
My main problem, tho, is with the fact that non-native people think they should have the right to decide what natives can be offended by. I don't recall black people having to go to a commitee of whites to gain permission to be offended by blackface. To everyone saying no offence is meant by this, if natives are offended, accept it and live with it.