Post-Kirksville Thoughts

As some of the "regulars" of PlannedOb know, Mrs. Nasty and I went up and over (mostly over) to Kirksville, Missouri for my fraternity's 40th Anniversary celebration. We imported my mother-in-law from Florida to come up and watch the kids while we were away for the weekend festivities.

What follows are my so-called thoughts based on my experience in Kirksville this past weekend. If you also traveled to Kirksville for the same shindig, feel free to react or provide your own observations in the comments section.

• For a local fraternity to stay continuously active for forty years, hence never having issues that shut it down [knock on wood], that's pretty darn impressive. In fact, I'm told it's pretty rare. I'm sure there have been times, in fact I know of some, where the viability of the chapter has been sketchy, but forty years in a row is impressive. 
• I observed young people doing stupid stuff I once did. 
• Ronzas rule. Head-to-head, a ronza beats a calzone every time. Not even a competition.
• I was struck how my old haunts are gone, mainly The Flamingo and Bogie's. 
• Having a downtown Arts Center for Kirksville is a major deal, I think. But the lack of variety of dining establishments surely deadens that happy addition to Adair County.
• I had forgotten how bad roads are in that town. Yikes. 
• As for my local fraternity house, I just don't get it. There's a perfectly good basement for the actives and other people to have fun in, but they choose to ruin the upstairs foyer for their shenanigans. Using the main foyer as a party area has many ramifications on the smell, appearance, and viability of the house. If you extrapolate the causal chain for many years, the consequences are not good. Major complaint right there. 
• I hadn't been back to Kirksville for what probably is about seven years when Mrs. Nasty and I stopped by on our way traveling from Iowa to St. Louis. If I can make it, I hope to get together with other alumni and actives this summer for one of those work weekends. We'll see if the date works for me though. 
• The Dukum Inn, what was considered somewhat of a "townie bar" or an expensive bar during my time there, has changed impressively. It's tripled in size, and the drinks don't seem as expensive anymore. Or maybe I just have money now.
• Meeting my brothers from college days makes it clear that we don't change all that much. We just get older and perhaps somewhat wiser.
• Then again, I am impressed with the diverse professions and accomplishments of my brothers.