DIABOLICAL DIARY
Nary a soul can look back at their days of youth without at least a little embarrassment.
Those of us who sported the gradeschool bowl cut hairdo (with optional rattail) know humiliation as well as those who donned tight-rolled jeans as teens in the 1980s. Every generation has its own styles, quirks and idiosyncrasies that cause a mixture of nostalgia and head-hanging shame, but it takes an especially brave soul to own up to the silliness of childhood. Courtney Rae Wick of Springfield is doing just that by posting entries from her diary online for all to see.
Wick chronicles embarrassing situations from age 6 to age 23, and the commentary that accompanies each post is hysterically funny.
She writes about being a self-professed “fat kid” and having to run the dreaded mile in grade school, with gut-busting effect. Her recounting of the infamous tuna incident at age 15 will literally have you laughing out loud. A little taste: “I’ll tell you one thing diary! That #$@&% tuna fish gang is gonna get it!!! AHHHHHH!” A word of warning: the language in Wick’s posts is sometimes R-rated, so those with delicate sensibilities would be better off skipping this one. If you can handle the occasional F-bomb and want to have a laugh at someone else’s expense, check out Wick’s blog at burnyourdiary.blogspot.com.
GEOTHERMAL GRAVE
Not only is it green but it’s easy on the eyes. That’s what state officials are saying about a new geothermal temperature control system planned for Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Contractors are expected to begin installation later this month. By next spring, the system’s 300-foot deep pipes, filled with antifreeze liquid, will be ready for use. In the summer, the system will send heat from the building underground, where the year-round temperature is about 55 degrees, and in the winter send heat from the ground into the building.
The geothermal system will replace the current 20-year-old heating and air conditioning system, part of which is located inside a fenced area just northwest of the tomb. That visual obstruction will be removed when the new system is in place. Once the new pipes are underground, they’ll be covered with grass.
The project, funded by the 2009 capital bill and an Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation grant, will cost about $376,000. Officials don’t know yet how much energy the new system will save.
