CAT Tracks for August 17, 2011

CAT Tracks for August 17, 2011

DON'T LEAVE HOME...

"Don't leave home without it" advised American Express for years.

Folks...

Cairo, Illinois should update that slogan and advise residents "Don't leave home...PERIOD!"

First it was the wanton destruction of "The Cairo Mounds".

Then the cranes swooped in and began the razing of Cairo's East Side.

Okay...not a problem, really:

The "Cairo Mounds" were a figment of my imagination, and

The razing of the other side of Commercial was scheduled...and long overdue.

BUT...
Residents, BEWARE!!!
The crews of destruction are running amok...possibly in a neighborhood near you!

Just yesterday, I drove by a big ol' two-story building in relatively good shape...on the corner of 25th and Washington Avenue. It was the house once occupied by a former legendary teacher of Cairo High School...Ruby Long. Ruby passed away a few years ago and I think the house has been vacant ever since. However, as the state of real estate goes in Cairo, the property was definitely habitable.
The only reason I noticed the house yesterday was that there was a sign out front...that the house was "Built by...". I thought to myself in passing..."That house was built eons ago. Whassup with that?"
Well, folks...
...today, the "Long House" is long gone, the remains being scooped up and deposited in a truck to be carted away...dirt sitting by ready to cover the lot:

DAMN!
After arriving home, I'm afraid to leave. I mean...will I have a house to come home to?!
You've read in the news...people who enter the hospital to have a limb removed. Some patients awaiting surgery have gone proactive...taking a magic marker and labeling which limb is good/bad so that they don't awaken to a less-than-satisfying malpractice suit. Some hospitals have actually instituted the practice of marking limbs...to prevent malpractice suits.
It's no laughing matter!

So...
In Cairo, maybe we need to buy signs and put them in our front yards before we leave..."DO NOT TEAR DOWN THIS HOUSE!"
Hey, forget "Call JULIE before you dig"..."Call RON before you level!"

Laugh if you will...
...don't make me say "I told you so!"

Rumor has it...

Word on the street is that despite outward appearances, the foundation of the aforementioned house was damaged beyond repair and that money became available to raze the house and replace it...thus the sign in the yard advertising the builders of the replacement home.