A couple weeks ago we stopped at a Bar in Willisville on our way back from Southside Ribs in Sparta.  I asked about good places to eat up that way and one of the guys said Broadway Grille in Sparta.  Well yesterday we decided to go there after some discussion about a Paducah or Cape trip.  Their menu has a some cajun items along with fried chicken, steaks, pasta and more.  They only have two beers on draft, I went with the Stag of course and the Glue went with Blue Moon.  Since we'd both been wanting cajun we decided to split an order of gumbo and an order of etouffee.  With the variety of the menu I wasn't sure what to expect with either and both of us were pleasantly surprised.  Both the gumbo and etouffee were very good.  They were on par with Broussards in Cape which is high praise.  Broussards may get the nod only because they have cajun sampler platters.  This place gives a more local option than driving to Cape even though the actual time and distance isn't that much different.  The fried chicken is supposed to be good there and we both want to try it but it will be hard to go there and not get the cajun. 

Last night me and the Glue were going to Marion a lot later than expected to eat at Logans in a rare visit to a chain restaurant.  As we were approaching the traffic light by Carbondale Walmart the light turned to yellow when we were pretty far back so I put my brakes on and stopped just as the light turned red.  I noticed the car next to me wasn't slowing down and I said something to the effect of "oh no".  All of a sudden here comes a semi by me too and in unison both of us said "oh no".  The light had just turned red when the first guy went through but had been red several seconds when the semi went through.
A few days ago the light turned yellow as I was approaching the turn lane in front of Hucks in Murphysboro when a car came zipping by me several seconds after the light was red.  There was a southbound car on 20th street that was halfway in the intersection when the guy went through and I thought there was going to be a collision but I guess the guy on 20th street saw him in time.
I see this kind of thing several times a week and most of the time they are accelerating as they go through.  A yellow light means that the the signal is about to change to red so that you'll have enough time to stop before it does turn red.   You're only going to be stopped a minute or so, is it really worth causing a wreck?

 To paraphrase The Five Man Electrical Band's song Sign everywhere you look today you see people on their cell phone.  People walking, people waiting, people paying, people driving, people sitting all on their phone.  People paying attention to their phones and not their environment:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYgTM1pPjKQ.
Instant communication is a way of life.  No more getting away from it all.  Cells have become a vital part of our lives and have replaced many items that were a big part of peoples lives a few years ago:  landlines, watches, cameras, beepers, voice mail machines  and many others.  Combining cells with internet access give instant access to a wealth of knowledge.  Have a bar disagreement over the first DH in baseball or where was Illinois first capital, the answer is right at your fingertips.  Need a receipe?  The answer is at your fingertips.  Need a flashlight?  Cell phone has apps for it.
I wonder what's worse punishment for a teenager, taking away their cell phone or taking away driving privileges?  
With everyone having a cell with camera and video capabilities and so many security cameras you have to be aware that if you do something stupid it's going to be recorded and replayed.  It's a good thing they weren't around when I was younger.
I'm not a cell phone hater by any means but I think people need to be aware of cell phone etiquette.  If you don't know what cell phone etiquette is below is one link but you have a phone, google cell phone etiquette for others:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/26/cell-phone-etiquette-15-r_n_514927.html

On Thursday the Glue decided she wanted to try someplace different but we just couldn't find anything that interested us within a moderate driving distance.  We finally narrowed the choice down to Pistol City and the Landmark before settling on Pistol City.  While we were driving up I just happened to think of Southside Ribs that we'd been talking about trying so we diverted there.
Once again we got there at an off hour so there weren't many people in the place.  We decided on splitting a rack of ribs and an order of fries.  We chose six hot honey garlic and five bbq wings.  The Glue went with chips and I went with sweet potato fries but then changed to slaw.  For me the highlight of the meal was the slaw which is probably not what a place wants to hear.  The ribs didn't have a lot of flavor and seemed warmed up plus they'd left the membrane on the back which I don't care for.  The chips didn't have much if any seasoning on them.  The wings were good but nothing special with the hot honey garlic winning out over the bbq ones.  Our son has said the pork chops are good there so maybe that's what I'll get if we go back.
On the way back we decided to stop somewhere in Willisville and have a beer.  I saw a sign for Strockers Tavern so we stopped in.  Apparently the bar has been renamed Slamming Sammy's Saloon.  You know it's going to be a good place when you get harassed as soon about your Packer hoodie as you walk in.  We ended up having a couple beers and a great time. The Glue ended up buying a jar of pickled green beans that she really liked and the people there were very nice and easy to talk to.  The bar tender was also the owner and he said the other is where he does his drinking and it's owned by his sister.  Very fun place.

This past Thursday we were over in Marion so we decided to go to Union Street Pub which is one of our favorites there.  There draft beer is all domestic but they had Ultra on special for two dollars.  Fish had been sounding good to me and the Glue went with a ribeye sandwich.  Mine came with seasoned fries and the Glue got house made chips.  Neither of us were impressed and disappointed.  Both the fries and chips were ok but there wasn't much if any seasoning on them.  I didn't like the tartar sauce which could have gone a long way in salvaging the fish. 
On Friday our daughter decided we needed to take her, Shad, twin one and twin two down to the Elks.  Since I didn't get my fish fix the night before I got the all you can eat fish special.  Big improvement over the previous night, it was very good as was the slaw.  The Glue didn't have the same kind of luck as they were out of her first two choices and I don't remember what she ended up with but she was disappointed.

The Packers fired their Coach, Mike McCarthy, this past Sunday which was probably something that needed to be done.  Personally I wish they'd have let him finish the season but on the other hand it saves him from answering questions about his status for the next month and gives him a chance to recharge.  It also gives him an early start on any jobs opening up for next season and he stands a good chance of being in demand.
The Packers allowed McCarthy into the locker room on Wednesday to address the team a final time which is something I don't know that's ever happened before.  When he left the team gave him a standing ovation.  A very classy move by the Packer organization and the Packer team.
McCarthy himself took out a full page add in the Green Bay paper thanking Packer fans for the opportunity and their support the past 12 years.  I've read about several coaches and players have done this but its still a very classy move by McCarthy.
Moving forward with the remainder of the season I'd like to see the Packers play some of the younger players such as Robert Tonyan, Montavious Adams and Jake Kummorow to see if they have a chance of contributing in the future.  I also hope that Joe Philbin is not going to be our next coach.  I'd like to see a younger offensive minded coach hired and wouldn't mind seeing him keep Mike Pettine as the defensive coordinator. 
I don't have a lot of faith in the Packer organization making a good decision, mainly because I think the organizational structure at the top sucks.  I reminds me too much of what was happening in the 70's and 80's when Green Bay was the Siberia of the NFL.  I'm afraid that Packer president Mark Murphy is becoming too involved in the football aspect of the Packers.  This needs to be solely general manager Brian Gutenkunst's domain but instead the Packers have the gm, coach and Russ Ball the cap guy all reporting to Murphy.  That type setup has never seemed to work in Green Bay.
The Packers have better talent than the 70's and 80's but only because of Rodgers and a few of the other players (i.e. D. Bakhtiari, D. Adams, K. Clark, M. Daniels and a few others).  Overall there is a lack of talent that needs to be remedied fast if the Packers are going to be competitive next year.

Saturday we went to Marlow's in Herrin around 5pm which is a little later than our normal trips outside of town.  After we got there the place filled up in a hurry.   They had Founders Solid Gold lager on tap so we ordered a couple of those while we decided what to have.  They also had Stag on tap which is always nice.
We finally decided to split a pizza and a pasta dish to get an idea of how each of them taste.  The pasta dish was expensive especially if you want to add meatballs, shrimp or chicken to it.  We decided to try to get spaghetti with red sauce which is their signature sauce.  Neither of us were very impressed with the dish and I doubt we get pasta when we go back but we will go back.
We'll go partly because of the sandwiches we had the first time we went there but primarily for the pizza.  We got the carnivore pizza and they let us sub mushrooms instead of meatballs.  It was awesome.  In fact it may passed Cummares as my favorite pizza outside of Quatros.  I don't eat pizza a lot leftover but I had a couple slices last night for supper and they were still good.  I really like the addition of salami and "cured meats" on the pizza.
In addition to letting us sub mushrooms they also gave us two salads instead of one at no extra charge.  Customer service like that will overcome a lot of shortcomings.
On the way back we decided to try out the new bar in Murphy, River Rats.  River Rats bills itself as a dive bar but it is far from it.  The inside of it is real nice, hardly any trace of the restaurants that were there previously.  They don't have draft beer or food which is a minus but several big tv's makes up for that.  While we were there several friends came in including Mike and Kathy from Boccelism.  We don't go out to bars very often anymore but this will be a place we will go now and then.