Every once in awhile I pass the Supermercado Guerrero in Carthage and always think that it looks like a store i would like. I brought it up in a conversation with my co-worker / friend Jason and not to my surprise he had some information about it.

He had heard that they make fresh tamlales so we decided to go by there on our lunch break today and check it out. Standing out front you actually feel like you’re in Mexico because it’s in a older part of town where every building isn’t surrounded by an ocean of parking spaces. Plus the front of the building is covered in brightly colored telecom and money transfer ads.

The interior of the store also feels authentically mexican and reminds me of stores I’ve visited in Mexico and other countries where space is limited but the store owners still wish to sell as many products as a wal-mart supercenter. The aisles are narrow and goods are stored anywhere and everywhere, including hanging from the ceiling.

I was especially excited to see all the various types of mexican cheeses, produce, spices, beverages, and snacks (including freshly baked treats). There were many fruits and vegetables I had never seen or heard of. We loaded up on the tamales (which were phenomenal) and fresh mangoes. I also picked up a mango drink called Boing! and Jason got coke in a glass bottle.

So if you like mexican stuff like I do, you should check out the supermercado guerrero sometime.

Long before Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Burger King lined every street in America, there were a number of hamburger “drive-up” places around the area. You can still many of them, either run down or converted into a used car lot, however one still remains open for business and that is Whistlers in Carthage. For as long as I can remember I’ve enjoyed these fairly small hamburgers and they have tasted exactly the same since I was 5.

Although I don’t pickup a grease soaked bag of burgers from there very often, when I do, I always enjoy it if for no other reason than it reminds me of when I was a wee child. Another thing that is fun about whistlers is that their burgers are named in the most literal sense. For example, a burger with ham is called the “pig & bull”. My personal favorite, a bacon cheeseburger is the “sow & cow”. I forget the others.

Monday night I heard on the news that there was an election. Since the polling place is right next door to work I went over on my lunch break and voted, even though I had no idea what was on the ballot.

Turned out there was only 1 issue, which was Carthage school board. I was supposed to select 2 names, but since I had never heard of any of them, I just selected the two blank write-in candidates and cast my ballot for no one. I figured an ill-informed vote in a very low turnout election is worst than in a high turnout election.

Makes me wonder though… why did we need to have an election for just that one issue? Couldn’t it have waited until the next major election? Probably has to do with when terms expire. Maybe other parts of the county had more issues? But considering that each election supposedly costs the county $150,000 it seems like maybe the days of having several elections a year for this issue and that should be over. I like the idea of having at most one election per year. So that means things like school board terms and city council, etc… will likely have to be aligned to the time of year when presidential or congressional elections are…. but that’s ok with me.

I would personally rather go vote once on a ballot with 10 issues than vote 10 times on ballots with 1 issue. I think it would increase turnout overall, and it would probably save the county a lot of money.

I read in the Globe that the old Joplin Cinema 6 is being torn town and converted into a parking lot. I can’t say that I strongly oppose the project because the building was of little, if any historical value (or any value for that matter) and quite frankly it has fallen into a pitiful state of semi-urban decay. The last few times I went to see a cheap show in the building it smelled like trash.

The old cinema 6 does have sentimental value to me though. I saw a lot of movies there over the years and it was where I first started dating. I remember when it was the best theater in town and people would stand in line on friday night…hoping their movie of choice didn’t sell out. I also remember the awkward time I went on a first date and the guy whose girlfriend I had just stolen was working the only ticket counter. So I have a lot of memories from the old cinema 6, and because of that I am a little saddened to see it take the final step in it’s decade long spiral into oblivion.

Today at lunch I read this story in the Globe about a new round of litigation that the Ruby Jack Trail is up against. Stuff like this frustrates me to no end.

Basically the story is that the Joplin Trails Coalition is developing a 16 mile rails to trails project from Carthage to the KS state line and pretty much everyone along the way is trying to keep it from happening. Initially the plan was to extend all the way to somewhere in KS, but Cherokee County was so opposed to the forward thinking idea of fitness and recreation they passed a law that made it cost prohibitive and eventually the coalition gave up on the idea of having a trail in KS.

I was told by a member of the coalition that farmers will routinely dump old machinery or bales of hay to obstruct the trail, and surprisingly, one of the biggest opponents of the project was the Carl Junction school system. The trail is supposed to pass near the high school and they are paranoid about the “transients” that might hang out on the trail. I have biked and hiked on lots of trials and don’t recall ever being mugged or offered drugs. And heaven forbid the school system actually encourage students to get out and USE THE TRAIL.

The main argument for this most recent lawsuit is that the trail will degrade neighboring property values. I seen many small towns enhanced by these types of trails, but I don’t recall seeing any that were turned ghetto because of one. I just do not understand why someone feels that having a bike trail across the street degrades their property, but a half-rusted storage facility or a bank operating out of a trailer-house does not. To me this thought process defies all logic….but what do I know.

When I think of all the completely wrong things that happen today simply because people don’t care, it makes me loose all hope that the one thing around here capable of angering people enough to organize a class action lawsuit is a RECREATION TRAIL.

Over the years I have become more tolerant of some things and less tolerant of others. One activity which I have become almost completely intolerant to is smoking. I went to visit my homie Ian this weekend and Saturday night we went with a group of friends to this mexican restaurant in the trendy new power & light district. The place apparently transitions into a ‘club’ of sorts as the night progresses, so towards the end of our stay there it was more people drinking and dancing with some music and a cocky guy with a microphone occasionally yelling at people and trying to act cool.

At one point the cocky guy with the microphone yelled out to the crowd “hey whoever is smoking in here, put that $#!% outtt!”. I then learned from Ian that smoking was illegal in restaurants, bars, etc in Kansas City. Which makes it just one of the many cities around me that have embraced the idea that smoking indoors is complete obnoxious as well as a substantial health hazard to customers and especially employees. So KC, Springfield, Fayetteville, and probably countless others have all gone smoke-free and I have heard little to nothing about such an idea in Joplin. Not to say that nothing good happens here, but for once I wish Joplin would be a city that is setting a good trend, rather than resisting one.

I saw a story on the news the other night about a no-smoking proposal in Carthage, and pretty much everyone they interviewed was opposed to the idea, even ones who don’t smoke (???). Not even because they want to smoke, but because they feel it’s their right to smoke or because they don’t want the city to “tell them how to run their business”.

To me, smoking in a restaurant is like farting next to someone who is eating – except the fumes from cigarettes not only smell toxic, they actually ARE toxic.