little blog on the prairie

Now that I’m a mom I find myself shopping at places that I would never in a million years have stepped foot into B.P. (before Peanut), mostly because of time constraints. The World’s Retailing Behemoth happens to have a store right along the road near her caregiver’s home. Yesterday, I had to pick up a few things, so I stopped there. The trip was mostly uneventful, until I got to the self-check out lane.

All four checkouts were occupied, so I was waiting to see which one opened up first. Some lady (and I use that term as loosely as possible) decided that you don’t wait for all of them; you pick which one you want and wait there. So she decided to ram past my cart, almost bumping Peanut, and get as close as possible to the one register she decided had her name on it. That’s a mild description of what actually happened.

That would be great except that there is no room to do such a thing. Those stations are simply not set up for each one to have their own separate line. So that “lady” and her very trashy family crowded the person at their designated check-out counter, harassing her until she finished tallying her order.

Fittingly, I waited patiently for the next available checkout, and got out of there well before they did.
Does anybody have any manners anymore? And is there any such thing as self-checkout lane etiquette? And why doesn’t the World’s Retailing Behomoth not have some sort of line mechanism set-up for that area?

The news was good back in June that C-U would soon have another economical, fast way to get to Chicago. And it got even better this week when the Guv announced that the new “Saluki” Amtrak train running from Chicago to Carbondale actually will take to the track — as promised — starting on October 30 (tickets are already on sale at amtrak.com).

I say “as promised” because there seems to be a lot of broken ones around here lately. Perhaps “promise” is too strong of a word. Maybe as “expected” is more accurate. It is me, or this community notorious for floating grandiose plans that rarely materialize? Case in point is the park-and-ride daycare mentioned in the previous post. And then there’s the infamous case of the nonexistent Banana Republic at Marketplace Mall. And we all know about the balagan (that’s a great Hebrew word for mess and also is fun to say) that is the Burnham redevelopment project.

What else am I missing?

Buried in Christine Des Garennes’ article updating various campus construction projects in Sunday’s News-Gazette was the revelation that plans for a “park and ride” childcare facility at the South Research Park have vanished into thin air:

“….building such a facility in the park would have been too costly and required too much space, (Charles) Zukoski, (vice chancellor for research), said. It’s likely the park will feature a tradition day care run by a national chain instead of a park-and-ride center.”

I say buried because many were counting on this new facility to be a viable option for UI staff with young children. The lack of on-campus childcare has been a hot-button one for years. The idea behind the facility was threefold — it was help alleviate traffic congestion on campus; it would be convenient for working families; and it would have provided another parking option.

As recently as February, a News-Gazette article stated that the “park and ride” facility would be 48,000 square feet. That suggests to me that it was beyond the design stage.

This project has had backing from all levels of government. The city of Champaign was kicking in tax and other incentives to support the entire “south campus master plan.” In December of 2004, Sen. Dick Durbin announced a $750,000 grant for the center, saying:

“This is not only going to reduce congestion in the Champaign-Urbana area,” Durbin said. “It’s also going to give peace of mind to families” with day care they can count on. “It’s a great combination.”

And according to the N-G, the much-maligned MTD had received a $1.25 million federal grant for the facility in 2005.

Added together, that is a lot of money. So what happened? And why isn’t this a bigger story? Another one bites the dust …

Well, I hope it’s new and improved. There’s so much more we can do here. Thanks for joining me on this journey …

• It appears the on-again, off-again, kosher-style deli is off again, according to my source. Grrr.
• Paul reported in the previous comment section that the Hub is no more (although their website with the really annoying hipster-wannabe music is still ticking). Perhaps that has to do with the controversy over “Kitchen Sync” as documented by The 69th issue. If this is indeed true, then the Hub will go down in history with the likes of The Paper, The Octopus, and CU Cityview, all failed metamorphaseses of C-U alternative weeklies in recent memory.
• Happy5767.

The prettiest public bathroom in C-U. Check out the first-floor water closet at the new Alice Campbell Alumni Center, located right off of Lincoln Avenue, just south of the Hallene Gateway.

The Alumni Center, which is a beautiful building, is available for public rental; I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes one of the most sought-after wedding reception locations in town. Unless you must have “Glitter, silly string, rice, sprinkles or confetti” which are not allowed there (check the contract). Be careful what you put on your cake.

I really really like to eat.

But I can’t cook. It should be in my genes. My Nana is a fabulous cook, although she doesn’t do it that much anymore. And I love my mom’s food too (who doesn’t)?

Maybe I can learn a thing or two from some C-U bloggers. Our food blog scene keeps growing everyday. The latest addition is Malajusted, a frequent lbotp poster. In a older post, gninghtgirl’s Hey, Hey Good Lookin gave us the rundown on local ethnic grocers.

Speaking of foodies, Mr. lbotp and I decided to try Junior’s, the burger joint that joined forces with Cozy’s Custard. I remembered seeing this glowing review of the campus location, and we were strapped without much food in the house for dinner. So Mr. lbotp went over there. He ordered a veggie burger for me; a few minutes later they realized they were out. And they were out of carry-out menus, a big no-no in Mr. lbotp’s book.

He ranked his burger as average and barely ate half of it. And the fries weren’t that good either. Oh well, a wasted meal.

I’m lost.

I think I’m in central Illinois, but those folks from the state of Chicago keep telling me I’m in the southern part of the state. Take, for instance, today’s post on the Chicagoist blog about Sonic “inching closer” to the Second City:

“With the concept centered on the drive-in and carhop appeal, Sonic has previously favored the warmer-weather climates. However, southern Illinois is already home to several Sonic locations – with the closest in Champaign – and Kouri and Peterson are already looking to expand along I-80, toward Chicago.”

I chuckled when I read this. It reminded me of my goofy aunt — everyone has one of those — who always asks me about our life in “southern Illinois.”

Speaking of Sonic — that’s one of those places that I rarely go to, but I’m glad it’s there. When I was a vegetarian living in meat-crazed Texas, I could always count on there being a Sonic in any small town I happened past on my travels. Their grilled cheese isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s edible.

The Illini pigskin boys will host another orange-hued squad from upstate New York this Saturday. There isn’t much of anything notable about this battle of the gridiron, other than how wretched each team has been over the past five years.

With one exception.

Call this game the Nancy Cantor invitational. The former U of I chancellor, who was practically chased out of town by the pro-Chiefers, left C-U in February 2004 to become the president chancellor of Syracuse University.

But a story out of Syracuse this morning indicates that Ms. Cantor won’t be able to return to Champaign for the game, giving the good ol’ “prior committment” excuse.

That would be acceptable, but for one caveat; football schedules are made years in advance. In fact, it’s likely that this game was scheduled before Cantor ever left Champaign.

Let’s play a game of connect the dots.

• Within the past 18 monthsyears, Supervalu, one of the country’s largest retailers, opened a “speciality produce company” called W. Newell & Co. (sounds old, huh; circa 2005).
• W. Newell & Co. is headquarted in our own backyard.
• Supervalu is currently opening a chain of discount organic grocery stores called Sunflower Market. So far it has two locations, both in trendy neighborhoods of big cities — Broad Ripple in Indianapolis, and Lincoln Park in Chicago.
• Both Sunflower Market stores are (not coincidentally) within a few hour’s drive of Champaign.
• W. Newell & Sons supplies all the organic produce to Sunflower Market.

I haven’t been to a Sunflower Market store, so I can’t say whether this would be a good thing or a bad thing. The next Sunflower Market is headed for Columbus. Yes, Columbus is a college town, but it also happens to be the biggest city in Ohio. I just find it interesting to know that there is this huge warehouse of organic produce sitting in Champaign. I wonder if our local organic farmers are in on this gig.

It’s still not Trader Joe’s, but hey, it could be a start.