The Royce Files

C onflict avoiders annoy me. You know who they are. They might even include yourself. They leave the tiny drip of milk in the fridge. They leave the dregs of dry cereal to sit for time eternal. They forget about the leftovers until a fine mold develops. And they also leave dirty dishes around the house. These might not appear to be anything conflict worthy. They are small, but left unfettered small things do escalate and can cause headaches. So what are your choices? If its yourself, then change your habits before they are found out. Not pleasant but hey it needs to be done. You can always overlook these fopaughs of others. It could develop character but it also lets the culprit go free. This is fine perhaps for short term but I think it could lead to a breaking point. Sloth, irresponsibility and laziness are not particular traits worth supporting through a lifetime Confrontation. That's right. Take the bull by the horns. Say it as it is. Hopefully peace can be made and the confli...

Epiphany marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas. No drummers drummed up to my home or is that leaping Lords? Either way it didn't go. I am satisfied. Now we enter into that wonderful period I christen the Presidential Honeymoon Period. I hope the gift giving continues .

I am part of an unofficial organization that I call the Icebikers. We bike through most of the winter. It is a sometimes treacherous but mostly satisfying endeavor. However there is certainly on thing that irks me most when biking in winter- inadequate snow removal. For the icebiker, staying in the saddle is the ideal. I don't like to "portage" through sections of road or sidewalk every quarter mile. The icebiker appreciates a shoveled nearly to the concrete sidewalk and dispises a "snow hump" where the sidewalk and street meet. Typically I find the streets to be more maneuverable than sidewalks due in large part the inconstancy of shoveling given to the sidewalks. The other day I made my first icebike appearance of 2009. With the addition of a studded tire, I was able to make it to work on time. On the way back I took a different route and regretted it. A whole block of sidewalk on a busy street wasn't even shoveled. In the Go the last snowflake fell on Sa...

Although this statue of a great Dark Ages leader who pretty much filled the political vacuum left by Charlemagne's progeny stands peering at the Sons of Norway, his name is no Ole or Sven. It's the a replica of a statue of Rollo or Rollon or numerous over R names used by the Scandinavian peoples of the time. Here's a little more about Rollo . There's a bit of speculation about him but enough information to determine he lived and was an ancestor of later British invaders- possibly William the Conqueror. Why this statue has stood someplace in town since 1912 is anybody's guess.