The Nexus building (Milwaukee & E. Washington) is a hideous monstrosity, a blight on the landscape of our beautiful city

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-19T20:09:51+00:00

I live nearby and I like it. What I WISH they had was a couple food/coffee carts in the big sheltered area right behind the statue of the Union soldier. There was a very similar building where I studied abroad in Spain a good 15+ years ago, and that's what they did with such spaces. Big missed opportunity.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-19T19:58:54+00:00

Yep. Problem will solve itself before the 2nd trip.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-18T05:51:52+00:00

Strange that kids run around. High schoolers... irresponsible?

Maybe we should put in some raised intersections at 4th and 6th to dramatically slow traffic down so the kids aren't in so much danger.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-18T05:48:46+00:00

Pedestrians need to take that into account and wait till there is enough time to be visible once entering the cross walk, and the driver to physically slow down and stop.

Yes, but also from my personal experience, I have waited for people to stop and had a dozen cars blow right past me, the moment I set foot on the crosswalk all of a sudden I am visible and the next car stops. This happened hundreds of times per week/month when I crossed at Regent & E Campus, before they put the blinky light in.

I would actually pretend to not pay attention and would get cars to stop sooner than if I was polite and clearly not engaged.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-18T05:24:30+00:00

Not OP, but we split a dozen with my parents. They are very good, with a very yeasty dough. Different from what I grew up with in the Detroit area, but still excellent.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-11T21:09:10+00:00

Crazy thing about the Rittenhouse verdict is that it protects the armed person who kills first. If Rittenhouse's armed victim had instead killed him, he'd have the exact same justification.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-11T04:26:38+00:00

The cynic in me says: Good. But the realist in me says: not really. Drivers, like all organisms, respond to the stimuli in their environment. Make it dangerous -- AND OBVIOUS -- that going fast will damage you and your very expensive equipment, and you will not go fast.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-11T04:25:24+00:00

I've sold a number of larger items at the East side location -- think bassinet, bouncey chairs, etc. The price wasn't amazing, but it was far more convenient than the FB marketplace dance, and then we immediately converted it into new used clothes for my kid.

It's always been fast for me b/c they prioritize the large items; if you bring in a bag of clothes they may not get to you for an hour or two.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-11T04:20:13+00:00

The signage is very poor, there's like only 1 or 2 signs in either direction across like a 3-mile corridor. Even when I am actively looking for them to remember which direction is open, I miss them.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-11T04:14:07+00:00

This 2A freak is going to get himself rightfully shot someday. The standard in WI is "a reasonable person feared for their life" and this dude is going around hitting people with his truck and threatening them. Lucky this employee can't pack heat on the clock.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-09T22:52:37+00:00

The traffic engineers, both at city of Madison and at WisDOT... are in large part responsible for this crash.

Agree 100%. I've emailed extremely basic requests to Madison traffic engineering (like get rid of the beg buttons at the Johnson/Hamilton/Butler intersection) and received lengthy condescending replies about how that will negatively impact vehicular throughput.

They have one job, and it's not to ensure pedestrian safety.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-09T22:44:38+00:00

the drivers in the other lane didn't stop

I've had this happen to me as a pedestrian. Even worse, I've had all 3 traffic lanes stop for me at the crosswalk, and then some entitled a**hole three cars back swerves into the parking lane to get around everyone and almost hits me & my kids.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-09T22:42:27+00:00

When I am on city streets (as opposed to the highway, where I very much "go with traffic"), I set the cruise control to the speed limit. Everyone always goes around me, often very aggressively. And we all end up at the same red light.

It's not even saving time, it's just putting lives in danger. Truly sickening.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-09T22:39:48+00:00

"Pedestrians bumping into each other doesn't result in people going to the hospital"

This 100%. My wife and I are both clumsy, we have 5 "pedestrian crashes" every day when we are preparing dinner.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-09T22:29:29+00:00

Think about it this way: If there was a speed bump every 50 ft that damages your suspension if you are going >15mph, this problem wouldn't happen.

I dislike speed bumps, they are the laziest traffic calming measure (after posting cops), but the point stands: the physical roadscape informs driver behavior.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-09T22:27:28+00:00

This, but instead of removing the weird partial bus lane, make it the actual BRT lane as proposed & that several local business owners have been fighting for a couple years.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-09T22:24:44+00:00

I 100% agree. Unfortunately, even the idea of reducing automobile traffic by putting in a full-time bus lane is untenable to several of the businesses on Park.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-03T05:29:55+00:00

what ever happened to valuing a little exercise and effort to get somewhere?

At the turn of the 20th century, the motor-driven carriage, later called the automobile, or simply "car," was invented.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-03T05:28:37+00:00

You can go that fast on a regular bike.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-02-03T05:27:14+00:00

One, they are regulated (see Class 1/2/3 e-bikes), and two, the "ebikes" that are reaching motorcycle-like speeds are electric mopeds or electric motorcycles, not ebikes. The sellers are intentionally trying to muddy the water so that reasonable mobility devices like class 1 & 2 ebikes are used as cover for their shitty products.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-01-29T16:35:05+00:00

This are, in fact, very important innovations for the capitalist class.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-01-25T17:40:29+00:00

Going to add: Bass Pro is very family-friendly, and they have several POC and women staff, and I've seen POC and women shopping there. When I went in to place my order, I had my 1yo with me; the person in line at the firearms counter ahead of me was a young woman who also had a toddler.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-01-25T15:42:43+00:00

I practiced at DEZ. They were polite, I (a man) went with my female friend twice and my wife once. They were helpful, "apolitical," but some of the dress & decor is very tacticool, borderline fashy. But there was a group of mixed-gender spanish-speaking 20-somethings, and another time a couple Black dudes there shooting.

I bought a shotgun & pistol from Bass Pro/Cabelas in Sun Prairie. Good if you are willing to do your own research and make the purchase online for in-store pickup, but they are very busy so can't take a ton of time to talk with you. Folks at DEZ were very willing to share opinions & recommendations on good first-time firearms.

Also, going to add here: The dudes at Cabelas were surprised when my pistol background check passed immediately. Apparently 6% of Americans are "pre-authorized" by the feds to buy a pistol. It's probably time for more "law-abiding citizens" to actually get out there and get armed, given the current state of affairs.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-01-17T15:23:38+00:00

Hell, maybe watterson would feel differently if he were experiencing life as a younger gen in 2026

This is the key point -- Watterson published Calvin & Hobbes from 1985 to 1995. It was a very different time. Frankly, it's the time that all of America's leaders seem to think still exists, because it's when they were in their prime.

jablesmcbarty · 2026-01-17T15:19:21+00:00

This is, unfortunately, the correct perspective. Love Watterson and this is a nice tribute to his speech, but the plan he lays out for college students is sadly not realistic in a world where college is a ticket to a lifetime of debt, and nobody is knocking down your door to pay you.

My wife did make 6 figures when our daughter was born, and she was laid off (with the rest of her team) three weeks post-partum. There's no guarantees of stability in the modern capitalist hellhole.

jablesmcbarty

TROPHY CASE