My schedule being what it is, I have been canvasing the local area for fish fries.  From the east side of Janesville, Wisconsin, the next little berg over is Clinton.  So with not much time between work shifts and being on the east side of Janesville, I rode the 10 miles or so out to Boxcar's Pub and Grug.  Yes, it seems to be spelled with a "g."  That marginal side of the experience lends itself to being just another in a long line of odd named bars in this region.  

    They serve fish all day on Friday up until about 9:00 p.m.  This is significant because it is in true bar-fish tradition.  You have to get there as early as you can because it will be crowded on Fridays.  It is set up like a bar so you won't find any formal dinning seating.  As fate would have it I had to get my dinner to go because of my work schedule.  But hey, that is part of Friday fish fry too.  

    They offer a different potato each week.  On my night they had a wide-type of breaded potato.  They offer two; three; and four-piece fish dinners.  I opted for the three-piece for $6.75.  The cole slaw comes in good crunchy bar style.  The tarter sauce hit the spot - I like to dip my potatoes in it.  They also offer Walleye if you wish.

    Maybe it was the urgency of my work day, but I throughly enjoyed nibbling on my fish dinner as I rode back to work for my evening shift.  Boxcar's Pub and Grug is cool with Cool Dadio.  I got out of there for Seven Bucks with tip.  

    You can find Boxcar's at the end of Allen Street in Clinton.  Although there is a grass barrier, don't park too close to the railroad tracks.  It is track that is actually used.  And, the big freight cars come rolling through town like I remember they used to in my own little Wisconsin village when I was a kid.  

    Call (608) 676  -  1149 for more information on times and menu at Boxcar's Pub and Grug.

                                  Wisconsin military service person of the week

    Private First Class Rachel K. Bosveld, 19, Waupun, was killed Sunday, October 26, 2003, in a mortar attack on the Abu Ghraib Police Station in Baghdad, Iraq. Rachel was in the Army's 527th Military Police, V Corps. She arrived in Iraq in March of 2003. She went to boot camp at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, right after graduating from Waupun High School in 2002. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said she had hoped to at some point go to college with an interest in law enforcement. Rachel is survived by her mother, Mary Bosveld of Oshkosh; father Marvin Bosveld; an older brother Craig Bosveld; stepbrother Aaron Krebs; and, stepsister Jamie Krebs. The Journal Sentinel went on to mention Rachel was the state's first female soldier to die since Sgt. Cheryl LaBeau-O'Brien, of Caledonia, was killed in a helicopter during the 1991 Gulf War. Private First Class Rachel Bosveld was the fifth Wisconsin military service person to die in Iraq since the spring of 2003.

                                           As of this blog entry's posting date:

    84,099 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
    
    8,301 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    4,085 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

    505 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

    312 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    306 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

    30,143 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

    1,992 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

    90 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    10 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

    127 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    15 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

Soldier of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org.