If you’ve ever had a large RV or boat that you’ve tried to maneuver into the entrance of the River Run Park in Forsyth Missouri, then you know what a challenge it can be. On busy days when people are coming and going, this intersection can become logged piled up resulting in traffic congestion at the least and an accident at the worst.
By widening the entrance as shown here, vehicles towing other vehicles would be able to enter and exit without infringing the other lane. This would promote a smoother and safer flow of traffic.
I am promoting this with the thought that attention to details like this are what separates a mediocre government from an excellent one.And yes, I know...there's no money for this!
The Missouri State Auditor’s Office has announced an audit of the city books in Forsyth will begin Wednesday, October the 3rd. A process they have indicated could take up to a year to complete. I wondered why such a thing would take so long and came up with this:
“Many factors, including the size and complexity of the audit, agency schedules, staffing resources, and data accessibility, affect audit time-lines. However, one factor--compiling and verifying source evidence--consistently impacts the speed with which audits are completed.”
Unlike some other sources of information, audits are based on evidence that must be sufficient, competent, and relevant. As such, the State Auditor cannot accept information on face value and must independently verify its accuracy and reliability. Often, this requires audit staff to obtain, compile, and analyze source documents, such as file records.
When data are unreliable or cannot be verified, the data cannot be used as the sole basis of an audit finding. Rather, the finding must be supported by other audit evidence, such as auditor observation, interviews, surveys, comparative data from other states, or other analytical reviews.
Whether that's the way it's done in Missouri is not known to me, but the explanation makes some sense.
I had a great time at the Forsyth Car & Craft show that was held at the Shoals Bend Park this date. The weather was picture perfect and everyone I talked to seemed to be enjoying themselves. In the picture, a Chamber of Commerce Board member named Craig (hope I got that right) did a great job greeting folks who attended!
I put a very short short video on YouTube for anyone with an interest. There's no music as the selection I originally choose (a fragment of America by Neil Diamond) was silenced by the Warner Music Group. A mega conglomerate whose corporate motto is to ' suck every dollar we can from our customer base'. Sorry about that, but when I see a group of people I think of as crooks, I make it a point to point it out.
Even though the great flood of 2011 is now history, the River Run Park remains closed. This popular RV and camping destination located in Forsyth, Missouri is normally crowded this time of year with late season fishermen and retirees who like the area and have been coming here for years. That is not the case this time, even though the grasses have recovered nicely from spending a summer beneath the waves!
As you can see, some structures like both this restroom complex and even Baker Street, look a little the worst for wear and will require some effort and expense to restore to useable shape. I’m guessing that the cost and maybe lack of manpower are two reasons for it to remain unavailable to the public. It’s good to know, however, that its sister park, Shadow Rock, is open a doing good business.
Update: As of October the 5th, the gate that was closed off Hwy 76 is now open. However the gate that exits the park to the west remains closed. I'm not sure why that is... Anyway, the streets in the park have been cleared of the mud and debris that covered some areas and it looks as though some use can be had. Once again, I thought it might be a good idea to contact the Corps to see what's going on as I have not seen any official notifications in the park proper. Later on, I learned that a neighbor did call the Corps office only to be told he needed to submit a letter explaining why the gate needed to be unlocked. He told me when he heard that, he hung up.
What a difference a little bit of time makes! Not very long ago the Powersite Dam, located in Forsyth Missouri, looked like this after the area was inundated with over fifteen inches and more of rain in a short period of time! That much water had no where to go and so it backed up and closed down park operations for all of the summer months.
It certainly was all swollen and muddy, I can tell you! Then, the summer came and went on a mostly dry note and now today the waters have receded. Just look at the difference in the height of the water! I took the opportunity to stroll down to the base of the dam on a late September day that was just about as nice as anyone could ask for; seventy two degrees under sunny skies with the barest hint of a breeze out of the northeast. My kind of weather, my kind of latitude! Hey! I even liked the damn dam!
It's nice to know that this weather should be pretty much the norm for the next forty days or until sometime in November when cooler regimes will become the rule. When I first got out of my auto, I immediately ran across a couple of fishermen – and ,as you can see, the ‘fishin weren't too bad’. I then walked on down to the base to get the picture I took at right, and then climbed some (a million) stairs that took me to the top for a more a scenic view.
Yes, it was a great day all the way around. I had the feeling that even this pair of Empire Electric employees didn't seem to mind doing a little welding. They had a small boat tied up down the hill and I assumed they were going to perform some maintenance on the dam itself. Man, some people have a job and others have a great job!
'Know your enemy', a saying derived from Sun Tzu's The art of War, aptly describes what could be described as a war between infectious viruses and men. In the case of the virus that causes the flu, what you don't know can make you very sick or even kill you!
The actual size of a virus
In order to understand what you are up against, lets take a look at just how small a virus (like the one that causes the flu) actually is. Click on this very cool link and then use the button to zoom down to the appropriate level. Wow! That flu virus is really tiny isn't? Yet, if that little guy gets a toe-hold in your body, you'll think a Mac truck ran you over...twice!
Flu virus anatomy
Here is a drawing of a typical flu virus. Note the little knobby things all over the surface. These are specialized protein complexes that aid the virus in first attaching to a human cell and then in leaving it once the virus has made millions of copies of itself. These quickly spread to other cells and then the real war begins vis a vie the bodies immune system which ramps up to fight the invasion. When this happens, a person typically begins to complains of fever, chills, etc. Yes, they have the flu! Here is a really good video that will help to visualize the process:
Now, if that were not enough, here's the reason why the flu is such a big problem that it kills over 36, 000 people in a typical year. It turns out that those genes that are inserted into the virus are RNA rather than the more stable DNA. Think of RNA as a really bad coping machine, turning out all sorts of slightly altered copies all the time. Scientists call this process mutation, and the flu virus is a past master at screwing around with its genetic code. To make matters worst, the virus easily goes through a process called re-assortment when ever it gets a chance. This is sort of like shuffling a deck of cards only the cards are coming from other strains of flu. This ability to mutate is why scientists constantly watch to see how the flu has changed from season to season. Right now there are three broad categories of the flu known as type A, B, and C. It's type A that causes most of the problems in humans these days. Remember those little spikes on the surface of the virus? These represent the haemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes and they are the ones that scientists watch for changes. They use a notation that expresses these changed viruses or subtypes in the form of A (H,N) – Here's a list of the most current group of troublemakers:
There are others, but these are the ones that have garnered the most attention. Currently only A(H1N1), A(H3N2) and A(H2N2) are the most active and are found in both humans and pigs. Vaccines are made fresh every season custom tailored to the specific subtypes that are out there.
How to stay away from the flu
The perfect way to stay safe would be to lock yourself in a room, every fall. One that has filtered air, sterilized water and canned food. And, oh yes, no visitors allowed! Not a very reasonable thing to do. In the real world you will always be at some risk. However, you can significantly reduce your risk by doing the following (pdf file):
Eat healthy foods, exercise and get lots of sleep. This will help keep your immune system at its peak.
During bad flu outbreaks, avoid crowded areas like malls, theaters and such. This can be very tough to do if you have young kids in school.
When you are out, stay alert to others. If someone looks sick avoid them.
Make sure you wipe down the handle on your shopping cart prior to using it.
Avoid touching any counter tops (banks, restroom sinks, etc.).
Don't shake hands if you can help it. Pretend you are oriental and bow instead.
Refrain from handling currency. Use a credit card when out and sanitize it when you get home.
If you must eat out, try and look for small restaurants at which to eat. Stay away from large venues with large staffs.
Wash your hands! If you do nothing else, this is one of the best ways to stay out of trouble.
Avoid touching your nose or eyes with your hands. There! You just did it again!
That's it! I hope that you were able to muddle through my poor writing style. I hope everyone stays safe and healthy throughout the coming flu season. Note: Please send me a comment if you see something I screwed up. Just ignore the typing errors and forge ahead. :)
The Bull Shoals bridge I wrote about in June 2011 concerning the rumors that it was going to be closed for up to a year were apparently true…only not as imminent as previously thought. Here's the original link where I got this information from originally.
According to an article published in the September 10th Branson Tri-Lakes News, the work that was going to be scheduled as early as 2013 will not be needed as soon due to some ‘minor fixes’ that were done several years in the past; this according to MoDOT spokesman Bob Edwards. He went on to say that if the bridge was to be closed, then public hearing would be held to discuss how to ‘deal with the traffic’.
According to the paper, MoDOT stated that after they had performed an evaluation some time ago – they ascertained that the steel trusses that support the decking are in need of major repairs and even might possibly need replacement. If that were to happen, I would conjecture that this rehab project costing an estimated 8.7 million dollars would take quite some time to complete.
So, whenever this ‘project’ comes to pass, be it 2014 or 2015…. I plan to be present at the 'public hearing' where we all will have the opportunity to bat traffic routing ideas back and forth. Should be a swell time! Now...what about that bridge that crosses Swan Creek?
