Only a penny more tax at McDonald's? So, why am I gripping?

Click on this picture to enlarge

Just recently, I had occasion to stop at a local McDonald's for lunch where I ordered a cheeseburger and a medium fry. I'd stopped there and ordered the same thing back in mid September, but what to my surprise, the cost was a penny in tax more! Now, I know that in a world of trillion dollar deficits, where no one cares about a single penny, this might not mean much! But, maybe that's exactly the problem with those who rule over us – maybe it no longer cares about the pennies or the dollars or the billions of dollars of tax payer money that is unaccounted for each day! So, I wondered what gives? Was this a mistake? Was it a rounding error. Was a new tax being applied, and if so, by whom?

I contacted McDonald's Corporate to ask them for clarification, but have not heard back yet. If I do, I post their response, if I don't I'll post that too.

Update: A friend named Josh Smith informed me that the 1 cent tax was one the citizens approved in a ballot to help support the fire departments. Well, that actually good to hear. No maybe they won't have to stand around at street intersections begging for money....

Don't go to that park - its been closed by your government!

Imagine my surprise when I left home to go shopping and found that my street had been closed! True it went through a small park called River Run , but on reflection I've become suspicious none the less....

 You see, this barricade is really state of the art including a recessed locking system that makes breaking the lock next to impossible.  The Corp of Engineers installed these at both entrances over a year ago and it makes me wonder why....

In the old days a simple wooden barricade would have sufficed and would have allowed for emergency personnel access in case of a problem. Now this public access road is closed and I'd be willing to wager a bet that none of the emergency services have been notified of this fact - something that could prove costly to someone in desperate need of an ambulance.

FYI, I understand that the Corp runs this park at a loss. That's why it and thousands of others were apparently closed. The government can't afford to keep them open. Now, if the State or a local city were to run them, I'm sure that a profit could be made. Just look at River Run (closed) and the Shadowrock Park just across the river which is run by the City of Forsyth Mo - it's open for business and thriving!

[Obama! I pledge to make it my life's goal to help bring you and your party down. You and those egg sucking Democrats are a disgrace to the Republic you were elected to serve]!

Update: On October the 17, the River Run park near Forsyth MO was re-opened, but things have now changed for me. No longer will I consider the park to be part mine to share with all the other citizens. It has been clearly demonstrated that it is wholly owned and controlled by the government and that it can be taken away at a moments notice. This time, it was taken away on some pretense that the government needed to in order to fix major problems we face as a nation. In the end, however, nothing got done at all. Everything is just the way it was as that battered old can was kicked down the street once again...

Critique: The Chinese Mexican Burrito Cafe in Forsyth Mo.

I had an opportunity to eat lunch at the Chinese Mexican Burrito Cafe that is located off Hwy 160 next to the Great Southern Bank on a lazy Wednesday in August and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The occasion was the fact that a friend of mine, Daniel Danielson, owed me a lunch and finally came through by inviting me to haul my ass over to this food emporium that serves up both a Mexican and Chinese bill of fare. (I also discovered that they have an American menu for those who like burgers

and fries and such). As you can see, the portions are rather healthy in size even as the pricing is very fair. I was also surprised to find that the establishment offers a premium selection of beer along with a regular assortment of other beverages.


I found the service to be prompt and the interior clean and airy with the large plate glass windows next to most of the seats. The venue is also open from 11 AM to 8PM Monday through Saturday.


The bottom line – a great place to eat at and to get away from the other run of the mill food served in other venues around the area. I hope to make this eatery a frequent destination in the futre.

River Run is open in August – sort of!

After many days of rainfall early in August, River Run Park (located near the town of
Forsyth Missouri) has be partially closed with only 10 campsites now remaining open on higher ground.

I had a chance to talk to one of the two Park Attendants and was told that they were unsure of what would happen to the park other than the fact that they would be history by the end of September when the park would close for the season. I didn't get the impression that they planned to man the office there as they had sold their firth wheel a few weeks back and were now living about two mile away from the park area proper.

On a positive note, there was a man cutting the knee high grass and I understand water and power is still being applied to the ten sites, but other than that the place is relatively devoid of campers.

River Run attendants gone! Will the park flood soon?

Park Attendants location is empty

It's only just the beginning of August, 2013 and it seems the trailer that held the two Park Attendant's has gone missing! This happening right after back to back heavy rains fuels some speculation of possible flooding concerns by the Corps of Engineers. Of course it could be something else and perhaps the attendants will return.

I noticed that it was business as usual on the Shadow Rock Park side of the Bull Shoals river.

Update: August 17, 2013 - After over a week of rainfall, portions of the park are now flooded. However, the rate of rise of the waters has slowed considerably, so in all likelihood, portions of the park may remain open to campers.

A recycleing center or just another dump?

Just recently it was announced in the local Taney Times paper that the City of Forsyth was going to streamline the recycling operation by installing a single collection container instead of the numerous ones that used to dot the landscape. At the time, I thought this sounded like a good idea, but now I wonder.

Pictured is the lone container that contains portals with signs that indicate the type of recycled items that should go into that section. But there are a few problems that I could see. One was the lack of dividers inside the container to keep items separate. An other was the vague term 'plastic types' that is used to indicate what types of plastic bottles are allowed. If I remember correctly, there are at least six to eight classes of plastic, some of which can be recycled and some of which cannot. finally, there is no sign to indicate where paper items should go.

The end result can be plainly seen. People end up dumping a hodge-podge of materials into whatever portal they think is appropriate. My question. Is this stuff really even being recycled?

Rockaway Beach hosts a biker event!

White River Grille

I stopped down at the White River Grille in Rockaway Beach recently, to check out the Bikers & Babes at the Beach event that was scheduled for Friday, July the 19^th and Saturday the 20^th. (That was according to an article in a publication called the 'Branson Connection'). What the article did not mention was that fact that the event actually didn't start until 5PM on that Friday and then would be going on all day Saturday! Nonplussed by this, I enjoyed a nice breakfast called 'The Town Favorite' that was served to me by a great lady named Toni. It consisted of eggs, home fries, toast, bacon and coffee; all of which was had for under $6! The White River Grille is a good eats place for two reasons; one, they have a great selection of food and two, the prices are really quite affordable! Bill Kitchin, the owner, also made it a point to visit with me for a few moments before I left.

After I finished eating, I wandered around a bit and noticed that a few of the vendors were already

busy at work. I had to give kudos to them for intelligence as they were getting the hard work of setting up done while the temperatures were still this side of bearable (76F). (Anyone who would be setting up later in the day would have to tolerate readings in the mid 90's)!

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Fast forward to the next day (Saturday) at 12:00 noon and things were very much in full swing, at least as far as the vendors were concerned. And there were lots of bikes parked along one side of the street, but few if any people wandering around. The time was about two in the afternoon and I realized pretty quickly why most of the crowd was holed up in the Civic Center or one of the bars. It was the oppressive heat combined with the high humidity that made standing around outside too much to bear for most! After making a circuit up the street (which was blocked to car traffic) and then back down, I was ready to vacate the premises. I'll make a guess that things got more interesting late in the day after the sun went down, but at my age, I really didn't have the desire to wait around. Maybe if they were to hold this event either in the spring or late fall I might give it a try again.