It's Never Easy to Lose - Confederations Cup '09

USA's national soccer team finished in 2nd place after losing to Brazil in the final 3-2. This was a hard loss because USA was playing well and leading 2-0 at the half but then Brazil came back and pretty much controlled the 2nd half and pulled ahead as time ran out.


Tim Howard, our goalie won the 'golden glove' award for the tournament.

Winning the silver trophy is no mean feat for our team since we have never won anything in the Confed. Cup and we played miserably in the first few games. It was only because Italy lost and we beat Egypt and Spain that we were even in the final. We beat Spain -- their first loss since 2006. We have no reason to be downhearted of disappointed but it is hard to lose. To be inconsolable about coming in 2nd only diminishes what the team has accomplished.

We go back out next week in the Gold Cup tournament and then play Mexico in Mexico City on August 12th.....by birthday....so get it together, guys.

Michael Jackson

Gone but not forgotten....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehal1eUG1jk

Road Weary - Two More Die on Highway 54

Since I've been in Jefferson City these 30+ years I've seen a number of improvements to area highways. Highway 50 has just been improved to dual lane going west. Highway 63 is much improved going up to Columbia and Highway 54 is nearly at interstate quality going up to Fulton and Kingdom City. All of these improvements have resulted in increased speed limits on these roads. Even though they are not limited access highways, the speed limit is often 70 mph with drivers usually driving at 75 to 80 mph. Sight lines are sometimes limited and drivers who think they are on a high-speed, limited access road are surprised to see people pulling on the the highway from a stop sign. Speed limits are too high in places where there is frequent cross traffic.

I now know four people who have been killed on US highway 54 heading south out of Jefferson City toward Eldon and the lake. There are many more but I am only acquainted with four. The two most recent died on Sunday, a husband and wife -- coworkers with Jill and I knew one from my volunteer work at the Archives. Before that there was Dustin, our one-time neighbor boy from across the street who died a few years back and before him there was the county sheriff who also died in a car wreck on the same stretch of road. All of these were from drivers pulling out on to the highway after stopping at a stop sign intersection.

Speed limits need to be reduced along that stretch of road until proper overpasses and entrance ramps can be built. Traffic to and from the Lake of the Ozarks is often too congested for the capacity of the road at that speed, especially with people pulling boats or trailers.

MODOT installed special flashers at the airport road up near Columbia. These are activated whenever a car approaches the intersection from the side road. That would also be something that should be done at each cross road to alert high-speed drivers that someone may be trying to get on or across the highway.

I'm tired of going to funerals -- especially for deaths caused by something that borders on negligence by the highway officials.

House Hunt - Jill Buys a House

Jill has been wanting to buy a house and has been actively looking for about two months. She got an agent and really got started in April but most of what we saw was not good and was not what she wanted. She got pre-approved for a loan but kept shopping for better terms. She finally saw a little house way over on Riverside Drive that would work but was pretty small. She kept looking but was getting discouraged. One house that looked really good was sold before she could get in to see it. She was beginning to think she was just going to have to wait.....but the first time home buyer tax benefit was due to expire in December.

She had noticed that a small brick house on West Main was being renovated and when the FSBO sign went up she had the agent talk to the sellers and they were willing to work through the agent. We got in to see the house and she fell in love with it. I did too.

The house was built around 1905 and is owned by the family of the present county Assessor...it was his grandma's house. He did a really good job with the renovation and the house has been nominated for the Golden Hammer award. It has about 1,450 square feet. The basement is old looking with a stone foundation but it is pretty dry considering how old it is. They put all new electric, water and plumbing systems in....but the roof is about 15 years old.

The house has a small yard and a little free-standing garage off the back alley. The garage is cute but not very useful as a garage. It will need some work.

The inside rehab is well done...there isn't much that Jill will have to do once she moves in. All of the major systems have been replaced. It has a sun porch and a sunny rear sitting room/den with a 1/2 bath.

The kitchen is large and nice and all appliances are included. The counter top is granite tile. There is a front parlor with a pocket door and a living room.

Upstairs there are two large bedrooms and a huge bath with a claw foot tub and a walk-in shower. The choices they made in colors and light fixtures are perfect for her. She actually will have almost too much room and will have to grow into the house over time.

I think the house had Jill's name on it and I think the sellers were happy that she was interested in it because she has a good sense of history and appreciates the old house. The house is only about five blocks from the State Archives so she can walk to work in about ten minutes and come home for lunch.

We got in to see it twice and then Jill decided to make an offer. The sellers were asking for $95,000 but they lost 3% when they agreed to go through her agent. Jill had been pre-approved for about the mid $90 thousand but was still shopping for loans. She made an offer of $92,500 and we waited with our fingers crossed. It was Memorial Day weekend so it was a busy time but there were not many other people out looking for houses on the holiday.

We finally heard from the agent that the offer was accepted if she was willing to close earlier in July. She had originally wanted a late July closing but jumped at the chance to get the offer approved. Now we wait for the results of the inspection and if all goes well she will close on July 2nd. To say that she is excited is a gross understatement. I am also happy that she got this finished and seems to have a good house while I'm still in town. I'd hate to go through this if I was 1,000 miles away.