Afterthoughts from Omaha

I did not think I would have anything to write about after my trip to Omaha, other than where I ate (which I will discuss at the end of this post), but there were some events that I cannot pass without comment.

The first incident happened before I arrived in town, but it was still developing when we got within range of local radio stations. At around 1:30 p.m. CST, 19-year-old Robert Hawkins went on a shooting rampage in the Westroads Mall in Omaha. He killed eight and injured several before committing suicide with the AK-47 assault rifle he was wielding.

It feels a little disturbing to me, and I think that is a result of being in the Washington, D.C. area during the sniper shootings in 2002. Two days before I left on that trip, the unknown assailants had shot a kid at a school less than a mile from our office. It already had me feeling uncomfortable to me, and when we got there, we always scanned for possible lines-of-sight on us, as targets. We zig-zagged through parking lots and tried to keep a low profile.

One night we had to go to Home Depot to get some material for the job. Surely we’ll be alright at Home Depot, we thought. People are getting shot at gas stations and schools. We did our shopping, and went back to the hotel. I turned on the T.V. Someone had been shot at a Home Depot. It wasn’t the same one we went to, but it made me realize that we didn’t really know who the sniper was going to target or where.

We put off getting gasoline as long as we could. It was our last night, and we had to return the van the next day. We drove around casing gas stations until we found one that had limited line-of-sight, and we went to the pump that was the furthest from the street. My co-worker fueled the van, and I laid my seat back, trying to stay unseen.

Hearing the breaking news about the shooting at the mall brought back some of those feelings from D.C.

The other noteworthy part of my trip was the drive back to Kansas City. A snow storm hit the area as we started our work that morning. By midday when we were ready to leave, a couple inches had fallen already. It was very slow getting out of the city. The drive down I-29 was littered with several dozen cars that had left the highway. Accidents were everywhere. There was a semi that had crossed the median on an especially icy stretch of the highway (see below). I don’t have much hope for the driver.

Here are some photos I took along the drive:








Now, for the lighter side of the trip. After we completed our work for Wednesday night, my co-worker and I ate at Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse. The service wasn’t particularly good, but the food was tasty. We started off with the Little Italy Combination appetizer, and that was enough for a meal. It included the Sausage Bread, which was the best item I had there. I forced a little of the Crusted Steak & Shrimp down, but after the appetizer, I was too full to enjoy it.

For lunch the next day we ate at the Upstream Brewing Company. I like beer, but I couldn’t bring myself to really dig in to their selection at lunch, especially before driving back to Kansas City. I did try one of their brews, the Dundee Export Scotch Ale. It was a darker beer with a surprisingly smooth finish. I also bought a bottle of their barrel-aged seasonal called Ebenezer Ale. The bartender gave me a taste of the un-aged version of it on tap, and I can’t wait to try the fully aged bottle this weekend.