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big bad city. I know, I promised to talk more about fave toys of my childhood. And I will when I'm again at a loss for a topic. But for now I need to tell ya'll about my trip to the Southeast. Part of the great state of Iowa that is.

I took a road trip this week. First to visit the solid waste facilities in Fort Madison - nearly to the very SE corner of the state. Then it was on to Muscatine, but first I drove through the nearly wiped off the map by the floods of 2008 town of Oakville. In fact Oakville has been socked by floods time and time again. And FEMA and the state of Iowa have decided it's time for Oakville to go. So I wrote a letter recently authorizing the waste to leave Louisa County to go to the Fort Madison landfill. Yeah - it's a very heady experience having the power of trash at the wave of my magic wand (computer/printer combo).

I decided to pop off the main highway in the state car - through the signs said "road closed" I took a chance that they were exaggerating and I just kept going east on County Road X99 - right up to where the levy broke, and quite recently there again was water across the road. I was lucky to get through. The town is indeed devastated. Some 50 homes are to be torn down and transported to Fort Madison to the landfill. They all have to be treated as asbestos containing, so the demolition will be done by trained contractors and waste will be wetted and will go into plastic lined bins and wrapped like a burrito.

Then it was on to Muscatine, where I shopped at their tiny little Younkers store and purchased some lovely Clarks sandals on sale. Registration started at 11:30 a.m. and many of my trash peeps were already there. It's always good to see them - after all I've worked with many of them for 10 plus years. It's a bit strange to now be a DNR person.

We did tours all afternoon- Musco Lighting - they make most lights for athletic events, and even lit the White House recently, reducing energy needs for outside the White House to 27% of what it had been prior. The next stop was Muscatine Power and Light and the solid waste facilities for the area. That night it was 2 free drinks and a taco bar, plus a fundraiser for the scholarship fund. The last day was pretty uneventful and I headed back to DSM mid morning - stopping briefly at the mall once again - this time mostly to get camo jeans for my beloved Pablo the Pool Boy.