Ski By Fire

[yogi]

I almost had my name immortalized when I lived up north. One of my fellow coworkers at Motorola had a 2 acre strip of land with his house at the westernmost end. Several of his neighbors had the same arrangement. Since the eastern edge of his property was merely ten feet from a main thoroughfare of a subdivision he decided to cut his property in half and sell off the eastern acre. I learned of his intention and bought it before it could receive any bids in the open market.

The county has a Plat Act law saying you could not divide your property and sell it to a stranger, a relative or adjacent neighbor was OK, unless you turned your property into an official subdivision. This took about 24 months and lots of fees and paperwork so that my buddy and his lawyer said to forget it. Nobody was going to check into it anyway. My lawyer was hesitant to break a law that was not being enforced, but he agreed. Thus I bought the acre of land and build my house on it.

After a dozen years or so I decided to sell half of my property and ran into the same Plat Act requirement. So, in anticipation of complications that might arise with the sale I looked into what it would take to subdivide my land. I had to give it a name and spell out all the legal boundaries and then apply to the county for a subdivision rating, or whatever they called it. The time frame to do that was 23 months and I wanted to sell my property before that. I regret not doing it because there would today be a subdivision up near Chicago with my name on it if I followed through.

As it happened my neighbor, who lived adjacent to my property, learned of my desire to sell half my land. He offered to buy it given that he would not be in violation of the Plat Act. I had the proper survey done and started the process, but the deal never was completed. That wasn't as bad as it seems given that I now had a plat of survey I could use to create my subdivision. LOL

[Kellemora]

You would never in a million years believe what is written in the deed to my land here.
Because of the way I handled moving this property into my wife's name, the original deed is still valid, although the part I just mentioned is not legally enforceable should we sell. Basically, we could only sell to another white person, so you can guess how the clause is written.

The city and county have forced everyone who lives on the south side of my street to combine their two part properties into a new deed joining the two properties. They do this so they can up the taxes another 600 bucks over what it is now.
I knew enough of their tricks, and also from being in the business, knew how to transfer a house without creating a sale, and also prevent the inheritance tax from being collected.
It's a long drawn out process, and comes with a five year risk of getting blown out of the water, but once the five year time period has elapsed, it's a done deal and the original deed is still intact and the two lots remain as separate properties. Irks the city to no end that I pulled this off, hi hi. Heck, they already doubled my taxes when the city annexed us, and cut our services in half. So I'm glad they are not getting any more money from us.

There was a partial lot to my east, I wanted to buy it to make a driveway to our back lot, should I decide to sell the back lot some day. The city said I could not buy that lot because it is only a temporary lot and reverts back to the house to my east. Seems they used a mother/daughter loophole to allow their daughter to park her mobile home on their land by the property line. In her Will, the mother gave the daughter the narrow strip of land her mobile home sat on, and that is how a second land deed became generated with a clause that it could not be sold and must revert to the property it is part of.
I have no idea how on earth the person who bought that little strip of land managed to do so, but he did somehow. Then when he went to build a house on it, the fit hit the shan between him and the city. The lot is too narrow to build on for one, and it is not zoned properly either. Somehow, he managed to get the existing driveway to the house included as being on his small piece of land, so now he had a driveway with a legal attachment to the road, and the real neighbor had no driveway, so they managed to get a connection permit since they were their since the 1940's.
Every threat from the city against this guy and his tiny house is met with a lawsuit back against them.
Ironically, he has legal statutes made by poly-tick-ians so they could get by doing something on their property which he has used to keep the lawsuits against the city going, for over ten years now.

The story takes a horrible downturn from there. He sold his tiny little house and the land to a newly married couple, and as soon as they tried to move in, the city pounced on them. They do not live there, but are fighting the city themselves, although not getting anywhere, yet. Seems whatever a poly-tick-ian wants to do, they find a way to do it, but whatever a citizen wants to do, they are blocked from every angle imaginable.

[yogi]

I have my suspicions about the entire state of Tennessee. It is the heartland of the "good ol' boys'" and if you ain't one of them, you are the enemy. To be honest I don't know how they allowed a northerner like you to move into their state, but I suppose Missouri isn't one of them blue Yankee states so that you were given some leeway. Chicago, and Illinois, isn't squeaky clean either, but the Mafia family lifestyle isn't at all like the rebels you are dealing with. Maybe it's just because I've grown accustomed to the way things are done in Illinois, but I think you would have an easier time up there than you are experiencing in Tennessee. Once you paid off the right union boss you would be licensed in all your trades once again and able to do business as usual. The downside is that it is very expensive to live near Chicago. That's why I left.

[Kellemora]

I don't know about the whole state, but from what I understand, east TN was partly Union and not totally Confederate. Some say east TN were Union sympathizers.
I can tell you one thing for certain, the south is like a whole different country, hi hi.
Heck, TN is like three different countries, and the east side does not get along with central or west TN.
I don't think an honest poly-tick-ian even exists anywhere, but they are really bad down here.
The poly-tick-ians down here are so crooked the Mafia is even afraid to mess with them, hi hi.
No Union Bosses down here either. Compared to St. Louis which was dominated by Unions, you can't find a union anything down here, well except for truckers. I consider that a good thing!
There is a Steamfitters Union hall out in Sevierville, but I've never seen a car in the lot any time I've driven past.

[yogi]

I have to laugh at your comment about living in a whole different country when you moved to Tennessee. If I recall my history correctly, there was a civil war precisely because of that difference. They say that Missouri was part of the confederacy but they sympathized with the north. In political terms they are considered a "purple" state now and days meaning there is a mix of both north and south with no clear preference. The St Louis area is indeed pretty close to what I saw up in Chicago, but my understanding is that it gets more rebel oriented when you travel further south. In some ways it might have been better if the confederacy was able to establish it's own country. At least the lines of division would be much clearer that way.

[Kellemora]

I did get a big laugh when I moved down here.
They have numerous Civil War Re-enactments that go on every summer here.
I think they are hoping that if they keep going over the same routines for each battle, somehow the outcome will come out differently, hi hi.
A celebration of losing?
I have blood relatives who fought on both sides, basically due to what county they lived in at the time.

[yogi]

The only warriors in my family tree did battle in WW II. All my ancestors apparently were in Poland and/or Russia when this country's civil war was being conducted. I think after 150 years people are finally coming to the understanding that slavery isn't a good idea. The racial bias underlying it all, however, is still alive and well. It's hotly contested on both sides of the issue, but I believe the desire to establish a Confederacy was all about slavery. As I grow older I become more and more amazed at the numbers of people who think along the lines of white supremacy and entitlement. Maybe that's just human nature but I always pictured humanity as diverse and basically compatible. That's not the case apparently as does the Civil War and the subsequent divisions of thought left over demonstrate. There probably are more divisions than just the North vs the South and I've seen some proposals showing how we could divide this place up into five separate countries. The funny part there is that California would be a country onto it's own, which is probably where that map came from.

[Kellemora]

When I used to drive OTR, some states were like being in different countries.

Ironically though, I never saw much conflict between different races except in the inner city of large cities.
Get away from the big cities and everyone, regardless of color or creed, are just plain old normal folk.

[yogi]

Your OTR driving experiences probably depict the general mood of the country at that time. Here in O'Fallon I am constantly being surprised at how well people get along. But, then, down the road a piece, there is Ferguson where the white cops shoot black kids for the sport of it.

[Kellemora]

I'm well aware of the Ferguson Effect which has been falsely covered by every news agency across the US.

I used to renovate homes down in the inner city of St. Louis, as well as low-income suburban areas.
I've seen the police in action, and how they are hated by the black, who refuse to cooperate almost 100% of the time.
I know there are crooked cops, God knows we have an abundance of them down south here.
But as far as cops shooting blacks for sport, I hope you realize that is a strict socialist mentality speaking, without basis in fact.

[yogi]

Whatever you care to call it there is a disproportionate number of black people (including minors) who get shot by white policemen "simply doing their job." Ferguson isn't exactly a new phenomena. I've actually witnessed and lived through the smell of Chicago on fire as a result of racial confrontations and rioting. I know exactly why Ferguson happened because I lived it in real time. I don't know much about Missouri to be honest, but I do know what you think of news reporting in this country. So be it. It's not the first time we have disagreed.

[Kellemora]

Riots, especially when Looting and Vandalism are taking place, it should be met with LETHAL FORCE.
The same goes for those crossing our border illegally. If they knew they would be met with machine gun fire, land mines between two fences, or certain death, it would put a damper on the problem instantly.

I've been to more than a few protests in my day, and they were all peaceful.
Maybe a lot of screaming and yelling, but fighting was not the norm.
When fighting did break out, the peaceful protesters backed off and waited for the police to handle the criminals starting the fights.
I've never seen a peaceful protest by minorities or blacks, they always end up with vandalism, looting, and rioting in the streets. This type of behavior cannot be tolerated for any reason!

[yogi]

Just an FYI: Apparently there was an election here in Missouri yesterday. Michael Brown's mom was running for a seat in the Ferguson City Council. She lost in a three way race. Police accountability would have been her top priority, so she said.

[Kellemora]

I'm actually surprised at the lack of police accountability in the county's north sector.
Almost all of central St. Louis county, and the municipalities especially, most of the adopted the three strikes rule.
Any cop committing an offense, or breaking the law, if reported by three different people, validated of course, that they have committed the same crime or three different crimes on three different occasions, they were fired and lost their pensions.

I used to wonder where they went to get a job after getting canned from the force.
Found them all down here working for Knoxville, TN and adjoining cities.
I've never seen so many crooked cops in one place in my life.
Most of them are habitual offenders of the law!
Which makes it bad for the couple of goods one they might have down here.

[yogi]

You mentioned a few times that all the crooked cops who were fired elsewhere ended up in Tennessee; apparently the Knoxville area. Based on stories I've read over the years I would not trust the legal system nor the governing system in all of Tennessee, but you know how things get exaggerated sometimes. Then, you are reinforcing all the sleazy stories I've heard about with your comments. I do trust you (in spite of where you live ). So, are you exaggerating or do you know for a fact that the rejects from Missouri police forces, and others, are actually working for Tennessee police departments? The Tennessee Good Old Boys Network always appeared to be a stereotype in my view, but maybe it's not. Curious minds want to know.

[Kellemora]

Yes, that MO cops ended up here is an exaggeration. About how crooked the ones down here are, is NOT and exaggeration!

About the only difference between the Dukes of Hazzard and down here is, the cops CAN go across county lines while in hot pursuit, hi hi.

Virtually none of the driving laws we have to abide by are obeyed by the police during routine rounds, nor by most of the city officials. I got after the county coroner for breaking several laws, and he actually said the law doesn't apply to him while on duty. I've seen him around town several times over the years and apparently they don't apply when he's off duty either.

I rarely if ever saw a cop blatantly violating the driving laws back home, nor in any county around St. Louis County either.

The highway department down here has gone bonkers as well. I'm sure you are familiar with the traffic on Page or Olive, or possibly even on Manchester Road. It was way overpacked before I moved down here, so is probably much worse now.

When I first moved down here, I used to joke about a traffic jamb being more than 6 cars at a stop light.
Traffic was light compared to St. Louis. But now, it is almost as bad as it was in St. Louis at the time I moved south.

Could you imagine the traffic problems if they changed Page, Olive, or Manchester Road back to a 2-lane road, 1-lane in each direction?
They have done this down here on two major arteries so far, and are now talking about doing it to Chapman Highway. This is the only road that brings folks from South Knoxville, Sevierville, and Pigeon Forge to downtown Knoxville to work. In the morning and in the evening it is packed solid just like Olive Blvd. always was.
We do have a lot of bikers here, but not enough to warrant cutting a major highway down to a 2-lane road.
We have another meeting tomorrow to go fight against their doing this, but these meetings are usually a joke, they will do what they want anyhow.
A lot of major businesses have moved out of Knox County already, and doing something like this will cause many more to move, and no new businesses will open on Chapman Highway if they cause a major traffic problem.

[yogi]

I can't think of a reason to cut down highway access short of some kind of nuclear demolition of a major portion of Knoxville. Admittedly I don't see the traffic every day as you can, but I do know cities grow and prosper partly due to ease of access. The highways here in Missouri are overly complicated compared to where I came from in Illinois. It's a whole new wold of driving when it comes to access and exits from major highways. Highway 70 here in town has 4 access ramps to the main drag, Highway K. This would be normal and expected if it were not for the frontage roads adjacent to Highway 70 on both it's north and south sides. Thus there are eight ramps at the junction of Highway K and 70, each of which has a traffic control light. I don't know how this came about, but I saw trouble brewing the very first time I traversed that intersection.

My thinking has been that the accidents and the congestion caused by all these access points being so close to each other could be mitigated by a traffic engineer with a good working knowledge of traffic light timing. Of course that would require some thinking and planning, and possibly some education. Thus, the city came up with a better solution. They are moving the frontage road access points about a half mile down the road from where they are located now. This means tearing up a lot of roadway and building new ramps and no more exiting Highway 70 directly onto highway K. I bet that looks good on paper, but now I have to go out of my way to get home from Dierbergs.

[Kellemora]

When I lived in Kirkwood, after they built I-244 (I-270), they only put entrance and exit ramps facing north at Big Bend, and at Daugherty Ferry Road, the entrance and exit ramps only faced south. I lived on Big Bend at the time and worked north off Manchester Road, so this set-up worked OK for me. But several of my neighbors worked south off of Highway 66, so they had to exit north, go to Daugherty Ferry, up the exit ramp, cross over the bridge and come back down the exit ramp, an additional 3 miles on their commute to work. Not to mention the bridge congestion with all the schools buses up there.
Of course, long after I moved, they finally added more entrance and exit ramps.

They first tried using the outer roads up north in Florissant and they worked great up there.
I used to make a lot of deliveries up that way both before and after they added the outer roads running parallel with I-70. So much easier, and a lot less accidents down on the Interstate too.

As more and more folks were using I-244 to hop between exit ramps, they finally added new lanes on I-244 that only ran from one exit ramp to the next. I thought this was a splendid idea, and stopped a lot of congestion during rush hour on the highways they did this on.

The first roadway they added bicycle lanes too did make sense, because of the many cross-country biking clubs who use that road. Plus it connects some places of interest often visited by folks riding bicycles. So there are always a lot of bikes up there. But to take lanes from a major thoroughfare, that is more than ridiculous, it's insane. They need to be widening and adding more lanes due to the increase in traffic over the last decade.

[yogi]

At some point in my distant past I found an online traffic control simulation from some university. It let you set up roads and place traffic lights at the intersections, and it gave you the ability to set the timing. This was cool to me because I could see how making a light green ten seconds longer would mess up traffic on the cross roads. I guess that was the point of the simulation. It was intended for use in class but apparently anybody could play with it if they had the URL. I also recall using a railroad simulation that worked along the same lines. That one would never work right for me and all the trains would stall after about ten minutes of playing. LOL

[Kellemora]

When I worked for Sverdrup and Parcel, in the Highways and Planning division, I got to go to the cities controlled intersection offices where all the automated controls were set-up.
At that time, most lights were controlled on-location, but the main thoroughfares were all controlled from a central location, the room I was in.
I should note, this was back before home computers, but they did have a monster of a computer running all these lights.
Any changes had to be done on IBM punch-cards.
We couldn't go into those rooms of course, nor into the massive relay room, but we could watch things work through the window. Although they had that humongous computer, the lights were still controlled by relays, which I think was a better way, because a relay only had three positions, so you couldn't have green and red at the same time, hi hi.
Their main job was to control rush hour traffic into the city in the morning, and traffic leaving the city in the evening. So the lights timing all changed around 1pm and again around 2am.

In later years, the stoplights going through Kirkwood, on Kirkwood Road (Lindbergh Blvd), were all computer controlled.
If you hit a certain light red, and drove 3 mph under the speed limit, you would hit every light green, going the direction of rush hour traffic. But if you were going the opposite direction, you would hit every light red, no matter how fast or slow you went, hi hi.

The entire time I worked in Highways and Planning, there was a constant argument among the engineers as to whether letting left turn traffic lights trigger for both ways, or letting straight and left go one way, and then let straight or left go in the opposite direction. The amount of traffic determined the time the lights would stay green, and they had to be coordinated with the traffic on the main drag. It was phun hearing these guys and their never ending arguments, hi hi.