Daily Archives: November 4, 2004

Passing time at O’Hare

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Walking from gate to gate at O’Hare recently, I observed two mischevious fellows (dudes?) using a string to tempt travellers with a $1 bill tied to a string – tied to their cell phone. They told me that during the past 45 minutes, 20 people chased the dollar bill…… click on the photo to view a larger version

Dubuque & David Maraniss

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Madison native David Maraniss updates us on the post election situation in Dubuque, Iowa:

In the river city of Dubuque, Iowa, deep in the political battleground of the upper Midwest, sunrise came at precisely 6:39 a.m. By then, the wisecrackers in the John Deere Retirees Coffee Club had been awake for an hour and were settled into their Wednesday morning seats, shooting the breeze in the back room of Breezy’s Cafe. Hours would pass before Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) conceded defeat, but these old guys knew the final score.
“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it!” Walt Pregler, a retired toolmaker, muttered at one end of the gathering, repeating a refrain common among the more than 55 million voters who tried but failed to bring an end to George W. Bush’s presidency.
As Pregler’s lament continued, Pat Nordhues, known as “the sensitive Republican” in the gathering, rose at the other end of the table and stormed out of Breezy’s, an uncomfortable minority there, though not in the country. “The bad thing about it is that you guys are gonna cry like babies for six months ’cause you lost the election,” Nordhues bellowed as he walked past Pregler.
Roger Hantelmann, neatly sprinkling sugar on his pancakes and wearing an “OBC” (Old But Cool) baseball cap, laughed at Nordhues and picked up for Pregler and the Democrats.