Results, Poll #18, CC Debt.

[remember these old things?]

I went onto Google to find a bit of background info for this post. I wanted to find out what an American's average credit debt amount usually is - this took a little bit of time, finding very easily that it's said to be about $8-9k. However, this figure is tossed out only by dividing America's total credit debt amount by the number of American's holding credit cards... not really the best average, or representative of normal folks. Googling a little deeper (that's what she said), I found these statistics, which came from much better reasoning (imo) -

• Only 29% of households owe $1,000 or more on their cards.
  
• 21% owe $2,000 or more.
  
• 6% owe $8,000 or more.
  
• 4% owe $10,500 or more.
  
• 1% owe $21,400 or more.

About 55% of all households pay off their CCs monthly and do not carry a balance. Of those remaining people (~45%) that do not pay off their card(s), the median balance is roughly $1,900. This seems a lot better/believable than $8-9k.

And here's the results from my poll:

> 1 person (7%) chose "$1-999" - stay low, pay it off!
> 0 people chose "$1000-2499"
> 2 people (14%) chose "$2500-4999" - uh-oh, leave 'em at home!
> 1 person (7%) chose "$5000-7499" - put 'em in the freezer!!
> 0 people chose "$7500-9999"
> 1 person (7%) chose "$10,000+" - cut them all up!!!
> 9 people (64%) chose "None" - show offs.

All in all, t.c readers are ahead of the curve that America's drawing with spending habits. This is good news. And to all of you with no CC debt, I hate you (ok, not really).

Grab a latte with me, won't you?

Most of you don't have a sense of what my 'hood is like here in MKE. Well, if you wanted to grab a latte and take a walk, you could see everything below, on FOOT, within about 25 minutes from my place (one way, not round trip). Most of it is under 10-15 minutes from me. It reminds me a lot of Evanston, but also parts of CHI. You're also never too far from food (three spots on the lakeside) or beer. Beer is everywhere in the city... more than I see in most US spots and rivaling some European cities.


Tennis anyone? This is also a sled hill in the winter. I've not used it much for that though, parents give me funny looks.


This is (IMHO) the flagship Alterra Coffee Roasters location on MKE. MKEians flock to this spot (across from the marina) for coffee, chatting, sunning, etc.


This is a wonderful semi-public garden, coming down just about to the lakefront. I'm told one could rent it our for an event, like a wedding reception, but bring the $bling$.


Now they know how the birds feel.


One of the best spots (IMHO) on the lakefront. It's been given an unofficial name for the summer of "Bradford Beach House". It looks like Miller Lite has puked posters on it... but you can get food, beer, and watch the amateur volleyball players get sand in their shorts. Only about 10 minutes from my place, on foot.


Just a little garden nook on the lakefront. I'd never noticed it until this shot. If I hadn't been on foot, I'd have never seen it. Very "grotto-esque", in my eyes.


This believe this is part of a fancy french bistro style restaurant up on the hill. Great look, but lots of steps to the top.


See, lots of steps, but worth the view.


Just across Lake Memorial Drive from the beaches too.


See, all the sand you could want... even in winter.


And we come full circle back to the Alterra. After that, I deserve a latte... or low-calorie vitamin water.

BuckHead.

I know most of you read t.c to find the best spots in MKE for dining, drinking, and donuts. So, with that in mind, I made my way to one of the youngest crowds in town at the BuckHead Saloon. For those of you not familiar with it already, it's pretty much a cross b/w the worst college bar you can think of and Cabella's (love plugging that series). It combines the cheap drinks, cheap outfits, and cheap personalities very well.

But you're thinking, "Gosh, mk, why were you there?" Moral support. It was a friend's friends' brother's graduation night, so I went along. I suspect I wasn't the only one standing in line outside the bar that was caught unawares as to what lurked inside (I know for a fact the guy's parent's didn't know what they were getting into), but we were in the minority.

The rest of the crowd loves it there, and I can't blame them. I mean, we've all been there... sitting in Kam's at the end of the night... or wondering how we got into the cab after drinking all day at Kinkade's... or wondering why 6 beers at Comet made you unable to ascend stairs and puke before being able to lie down (guessing the average 7% alcohol content of all the beers there)... or not understanding for days how we got mustard on our jeans, until we remember eating a burger at about 3 in the AM at Beaumont's. This is life.

While the night was sure eventful, including the young man dancing with a bar stool. Yes. Not on, or next to, but WITH the barstool, like a someone would dance with Julieanne Hough. But it wound up being way too long of a night, like these places often are. Luckily, Pizza Shuttle came through like aces with some basically leftover pizza, which by the time we got there, was well into Sunday morning.

Having read all that, I'm sure some of you are still thinking "mk, you're making this up!"... thank God I can prove you wrong with pictures. Enjoy.


Ahhh, come in by the fireplace and warm up at Cabella's - WAIT, Buckhead.


Enjoy a tasty Miller product next to the puma rug/wall covering.


Or a Leine's by the stag head.


Or by one of MANY hot-girl-hunters-in-bikini photos... I'm dead (bang bang) serious.


Just don't don't get tangled with your friend and fall down on the way out. Ouch.
You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.

Positive Thinking.

"Nothing is good or bad, that thinking made it so."
- Hamlet, Will Shakespeare

[snagged from a blog post I liked here]

Farah Fawcett.

No, this post is not about her, just poorly named. I wanted to ask the thousands of t.c readers for some help, at the risk of authoring my dumbest post ever - does anyone know how to use these faucets?


Yeah, it's the kind that has a hot and a cold "push-button". Sure, it's usually used in public restrooms and prevents people from leaving the water running (I don't know how many times I've done that at friend's places (?)). But, to me, this is like the sound of one hand clapping... or figuring out how to make one hand clap.

Isn't the washing of hands supposed to be a two-handed, thorough operation? Not one that you can skimp on and have a valid reason for poor results. "Yeah, that's e-coli, but I had one of those "push-button" faucets [shrug]". You can wet one hand at a time, then get some soap and make some suds, kind of, but then rinsing both hands at the same time is basically impossible with the millisecond of water that comes from each push. Maybe if you possess some kind of contortionist gene in your family, you're fine with these?

t.c readers, I implore you - if anyone has some quick tips for this kind of faucet, please share. Maybe this is now just the greenest, vintage faucet anyone's ever seen.

Results, Poll #17, Global Warming.

So, with the weather finally (knock on wood) turning warmer-ish, I thought I'd see how many of us think it's now a different climate than it was just a few years ago, or even since we were kids. I'm not sure the results are what I was expecting, but I chalk some of that up to the poll's language... maybe it was a little hard to understand the differences. Consequently, the responses were a little all over the place:

4 people (36%) chose "Yes, I'd say it's clear"
3 people (27%) chose "Yea, maybe a little"
2 people (18%) chose "No, I think it's more than "influenced and has been going on much longer"
2 people (18%) chose "No, I don't buy it at all"

11 total respondents sort of shot-gunned all over the choices. I'm not sure what we can say about the climate from the results, but the majority do think the greenhouse effect probably has some merit. Hard to argue with science... unless you're a climatologist... or just like to argue.

1 World, 2 Wheels.

If you've been too busy getting bombarded by ads for the new Indiana Jones movie, May is National Bike Month. In honor of that, I thought I'd throw some interesting info your way about the benefits of local cycling. It won't take long to read and you just might be moved to action (after you swallow the vurp that comes up from reading some of it).



Why Bike? For your health, for the world, for our future, for 2 miles or less. With the world facing skyrocketing obesity rates, escalating traffic congestion and the concerns of global climate change, the bicycle is an underutilized solution.

For your health
> The average person loses 13 lbs. their first year of commuting by bike.
> Just 3 hours of bicycling per week can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke by 50%.
> A 140-pound cyclist burns 508 calories while pedaling 14 miles in an hour.

For the world
> The U.S. could save 462 million gallons of gasoline a year by increasing cycling from 1% to 1.5% of all trips.
> Each U.S. rush-hour auto commuter spends an average of 50 hours a year stuck in traffic.
> In 2003, cars idling in traffic wasted 5 billion gallons of fuel.

For our future
> In 1964 50% of kids rode to school and the obesity rate was 12%…in 2004, 3% rode to school and the obesity rate was 45%.
> Between 1960 and today the average weight of a 6-11 year old has increased 11 pounds.

For 2 miles or less
> 60% of the pollution created by automobile emissions happens in the first few minutes of operation, before pollution control devices can work effectively.
> 24% of all trips are made within a mile of the home, 40% of all trips are made within two miles of the home, and 50% of the working population commutes five miles or less to work.

If you'd like to read more or get the fancy version, all of this info was found at http://www.1world2wheels.org. This initiative and organization was started by the Trek Corp.