Museum of Funeral Customs — Springfield, Illinois

We’ve been to Springfield many times and done most of what there is to do. We planned on visiting the new Lincoln Library and Museum on Saturday morning. So what to do on Friday afternoon? We visited the Museum of Funeral Customs, located right outside the cemetery where Lincoln is buried.

The inside was filled with embalming equipment, caskets and hearses.

They had a special section on Lincoln’s funeral, with a reproduction of his casket and some artifacts.

Lincoln's casket

My daughter bought a coffin-shaped chocolate. It came complete with a removable lid and a body.

Chocolate coffin

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The World’s Largest (uncovered) Covered Wagon — Lincoln, Illinois

You might find this hard to believe, but my wife and daughter didn’t even get out of the car to see this.

World's Largest Covered Wagon

A billboard on the Interstate advertised this exciting attraction, but once we got off the highway, there were no further signs. It didn’t take me long, however, to find it parked in an empty lot surrounded by garbage.

World's Largest Covered Wagon

There was no explanation as to why the World’s Largest Covered Wagon was uncovered.

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Fun for the Whole Family

My new digital camera has an A/V cable that can be attached to a TV. But why am I telling you this? I'll let the fine people who wrote the owner's manual tell you in their own words.

"When connecting to a TV, images can be displayed on wider screen. Using slide show function together, you can have fun with folks."

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My 10 Favorite National Capitals to Say Out Loud

In approximate order:

  1. Funafuti, Tuvalu
  2. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
  3. Bujumbura, Burundi
  4. Lilongwe, Malawi
  5. Djibouti, Djibouti
  6. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
  7. Antananarivo, Madagascar
  8. Tegucigalpa, Honduras
  9. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  10. Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

Special Mention: Belmopan, Belize and Bratislava, Slovakia

Numbers 1-5 get special mention because the country names are fun to say too.

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At this time, sir, I would like to scream

For the past week, I've been receiving spamming text messages on my cell phone, all from the same number. Some of them have been crude — all of them have been annoying.

I called the phone company to ask if I could block a specific number. I was told no, but I could change my phone number. That's a pain, but since 60% of the calls I've received on this phone have been wrong numbers or spam, I decided to switch.

The guy I talked with was competent, but it was a strange 10 minutes. Here's what his side of the conversation sounded like:

"At this time, sir, I would like to ask you if you would like a new phone number."

"At this time, sir, I would like to ask you for the address where you would like your new card shipped."

"At this time, sir, I would like to ask you to hold while I process this information."

"At this time, sir, I would like to ask you to be patient while I continue to process this information."

"I am still processing this information, sir. I would like to ask you to continue to be patient."

And so it went — on and on and on. At one point he actually said:

"At this point, sir, I would like to ask you to get what is commonly called a pen and a piece of paper."

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