Ryan Jerz :: Reno Blogger, Reno Blog

Fun, conversations, and occasional journalism from Reno, Nevada
Let the parade of horribles begin!


Reactionary Hurl: Change is the magic buzzword

It’s another installment of the Reactionary Hurl, the series that makes useless comments about things you may or may not care one lick about. You are encouraged implored to take part by commenting, sending us tips, and spreading the word. Today’s topics: Joe Conforte, voter myths, Fernley, New Hampshire, snow plows and pretty pictures. Also, I’d be derelict if I didn’t tell you to join Reno Baby!

  • Don’t call me a pimp. One of the best articles I’ve read in some time. For starters, it was my friend Frank writing in the first person. The man can flat out tell a story. Next, it’s Joe Conforte. Finally, it isn’t often someone gets Conforte to just pick up the phone and call him. Nice work, Frank. But yeah, he’s a pimp. (RGJ)
  • 5 Voter myths. I’m sensing a shift. A change, if you will. I keep reading about change being a completely empty term, but the articles generally state that the candidates are all acting as if they themselves are the agents for change. Turns out, we don’t give a flying flip about change. We like things just the way they are. Small minded drones, however, don’t really think about the overall situation and tend to focus on a few select issues. And they scream about it every day for two minutes before their guy shows up to calm them down and make them feel nice inside. (Washington Post)
  • Fernley flood videos. It’s amazing that we now just go to the web to find the stuff that we want to see, and it’s there. (Power On)
  • Screencaps of Lord of the Rings in both regular and HD DVD formats. The difference is amazing. I need to find the trilogy on HD so I can buy it and watch it again, just to see the crazy facial structure of Elrond in better detail. (Kottke)
  • New Hampshire has cast their collective votes. This is great news. Now maybe everyone will STFU about politics. That was in no way intended to be funny. At all. Really. (Politico)
  • Where do you stand in the plow pecking order?. Truth is, you don’t know. A couple years ago, when Reno was under a few feet of snow, the plowing was atrocious. My street never got plowed, but a friend less than a mile away had the plows on her street twice. If traffic is what drove that decision, then there are even bigger problems. My street sometimes acts as a freeway for traffic from Plumas to Virginia, and hers is virtually untraveled. Let’s hope they have their act together in case of problems this year. (RGJ)

And just to be clear, please read the initial Reactionary Hurl so you can understand the context.


tags: change, fernley, flood videos, frank mullen, hd, joe conforte, lord of hte rings, nevada, new hampshire, pimp, politics, primaries, snow plowing, snowy roads, two minutes hate, youtube
posted by Ryan Jerz on 01/09/2008

Comments

Kristin, Jan 9, 02:41 AM #:

I still don’t understand why little Walker Avenue is on their priority list. Not that I’m complaining, but you guys sure do get a lot more traffic than we do! BTW – I also loved the “pimp” story – only in Nevada!

bethany, Jan 9, 08:08 PM #:

I guess I’m a nerd, that Lord of the Rings thing was awesome. My husband and I are praying our slowly dying old 27-inch TV will finally kick it so we can get a new HD, big-screen, plasma, whatever.

When we lived in an apartment in Sparks, our parking lot was always plowed before we even woke up because the plow-guy’s girlfriend lived there. Girls are always told to go for the doctors and lawyers. No, go for the regular guys with regular jobs that can actually benefit you, like mechanics, plow-truck drivers or garbage men.

dave aiazzi, Jan 12, 11:23 AM #:

Here is the official “pecking order” for all to see. It has been before every Neighborhood Advisory Board and voted on by the Council. At least nine public meetings.

http://www.cityofreno.com/Index.aspx?page=1240

Ryan Jerz, Jan 14, 02:58 AM #:

Dave,

I’m not complaining about the order at all. I’m complaining about the execution. The example I cited was from two years ago when we got dumped on. It wasn’t the plows that push snow off the road that I cared about, it was the teams that came in with bulldozers and trucks to haul off the snow. It happened twice for Kristin above, but never for us, and we’re WAY more trafficked. I hope those issues are resolved. That year there were cars on my street that couldn’t get out even when the arteries were clear.

In fairness, it was a very abnormal season. I just want lessons to be learned form it, but I’m not sure the city even got the message. I can’t say I follow everywhere a mea culpa would have taken place, or that I follow even a significant portion of those places (meetings, the government channels on cable, op-eds, etc.), but I can say I never saw an acknowledgment of the debacle that I witnessed.

I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again, your participation here and on Reno Baby! means a lot, and I just wish your colleagues would get with it and do the same. By responding you open up the avenue to being heard for us. I know it’s a lot of work to keep tabs, but I appreciate what you do.

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