What's Wrong with this Picture?

Last night at 10:30, I check my email and found a message from a friend in Atlantic City mentioning me that she saw my picture in The Press. I had absolutely no idea of why it would be there. It was too late to call and find out, so I made a flying run to WAWA, to no avail.

This morning on the way to do some shopping, I dropped of our papers at the recycle center. While WAWA didn't have The Press, the dumpster did and the picture about is what I found. So what's wrong with this picture? To be honest, nothing is particularly wrong, but I wanted to write about it, so let's get picky. :-)

I guess I would have to start with the fact that I'm probably breaking copyright laws by publishing it here, but hey, I had no idea that the picture was even being taken. No one interviewed me or asked my permission and if I was in a witness protection program, copyright violations would be the least of my worries. So Press of AC, if you want me to take it down, just let me know. I'll be happy to remove the picture, the link to your site, and be even happier to have something else to blog about.

What else can I say? Well, I remember thinking as I left that Tony was in a particularly cordial mood. Now don't get me wrong. The Barnegat staff is always cordial. It was just that this time it was to the extent that I made particular note of it.

Obviously, he knew the photographer was there, but I didn't. Now I know he wasn't hiding behind a postage stamp and I probably should have seen him. I'm glad it's been years since I was a store detective. It would be hard to live that one down.

Let's move on to the headline and the story. The gist of the story is that the downtown merchants feel that it will reduce foot traffic to their stores and hurt their business. I tend to doubt that is the case. In the 30+ years I've lived in Barnegat, I can count on one hand the number of times we went from the post office to another business downtown. In most cases the business was the reason for our visit downtown and the post office was an afterthought.

The one exception to that was one time when we were at the post office we smelled something good coming from the Hurricane House across the street. Even then we didn't make the 50 foot walk, but we did make it a point to stop there the following week to eat. However, we were disappointed in the food that time and if the post office wasn't there, we would have been better off.

The article doesn't make mention of how residents feel about the move. I can only speak for myself, but since I'm moving to NH, it doesn't really matter much. If I was staying, I would be in favor of the move. As far as I'm concerned, the current location actually makes for traffic problems. Getting in and out is a problem and the parking lot is too small for the amount of traffic it handles. I've been in 3 parking lot fender benders in my 30+ years here and two of them were at the post office.

So to summarize, there is really not much wrong with the picture unless of course, if you feel that this blog entry is what's wrong with it.

Spammers Take a Holiday

Well it looks like spammers take at least one day a year off. On Dec. 25, I received a total of four pieces of spam. That's less than I typically get in an hour. What that means is beyond me. I would think that the vast majority of spam would be an automatic process that doesn't require human initiation.

Is this because spammers have the holiday spirit. Is it because the think any spam coming in on that day would piss off even the most gullible newbie? Who knows? Who cares? Why am I writing this? Why are you reading it?

Nuff said. Happy New Year everyone.

Messing With Political Minds

I'm getting tired of having my meals interrupted by political straw polls or other candidate fun and games. I'm as civic minded as the next guy, but enough is enough. We have a no call list from which politicians have seen fit to make themselves immune. Since I can't stop the calls, I will take them regardless of who they are. However, I will do my utmost to answer the questions in such a manner as to not give any indication of how I will act or feel.

For example, I just got a recorded 1-minute congressional survey. It asked me to press 1 if I was going to vote for a Republican candidate, 2 if I was going to vote for Democrat John Adler, or 3 if I am undecided. I pressed 4.

And so it begins...

To Whom Do You Report the BBB?

So who watches the watch dog? On Oct. 14, I filed an online complaint against Acme Express Oil in Ocean County, NJ. They installed a new oil tank on my property and failed to bleed the lines before they left. Without getting into the details, the problem that transpired was a result of their failure to bleed the line. They refused to stand behind their work and I had to pay for a service call. It was $75. In the scheme of things, that's no big deal, but the way the situation was handled and their refusal to stand behind their work, made it a matter of principle.

I was told that I could expect notice of action within 3 weeks. A month went by and I heard nothing. On Nov. 22, I sent an inquiry about the situation, but heard nothing.

About an hour ago, I called the BBB, stated my situation and gave my information. The young lady dug up the file and looked into it. Unable to give me an answer, she said, "Let me see who handled this." and put me on hold.

After about 5 minutes of sitting on hold listening to tips about avoiding getting robbed or ripped off during holiday shopping, Nancy came on the line.

Like another verse of Alice's Restaurant, I repeated my story. Eventually, Nancy said that they had sent a reply. I informed her that I never received it and asked if they could send it again, to which she replied that she would.

I asked if she could send it right out, but she couldn't. I asked when I could expect it. She said not until at least next week, because they just got a new computer system and she was trying to figure it out. At this point I just pictured her giving a wink, wink, nod, nod to the person next to her.

It seems a bit strange that they could locate my complaint and the fact that they sent a reply (wink, wink, nod, nod), but couldn't send the response until at least next week because they have a new computer system.

Before hanging up, I asked who had handled my original complain. It was non other than Nancy.

I'll wait until next week and follow up with another call and post the results here. Anyone want to take any bets?

Four Days in Hammond, IN

I just finished 8 presentations in 2 days at two schools in Hammond, IN. I got to talk to students, teachers, and parents. I love it when I get to talk to all three groups. Regardless of whether they agree or disagree with all or part of what I have to say, it get's them all on the same page and discussions can take place based on common ground. You can read about the presentations at NWI or 3DWiredSafety blog, but this post is just about the trip and the people I met along the way.

Normally I would fly out of Philadelphia, but for this trip I drove to MA and dropped off my wife to visit our new grandson and flew out of Logan. My daughter who lives in MA told me that they avoid Logan like the plague and fly out of RI whenever they can. However, I figured it was a Monday and the middle of the day. How bad could it be?

It started with a one-hour bus ride from Newburypot to Logan on the C&J Trailways line. It was a new bus, comfortable seats, tv programming, music, and even an AC outlet for laptops or whatever you might want to plug in. Next time I'll have to bring my laptop or a microwave.

I glanced up at the screen and saw a show with a woman who looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place her. I plugged in my headset and listened for a while. It was comedy. I could best describe it as I Love Lucy with a brain. When the credits rolled, I saw that I was watching Life with Elizabeth with Betty White, a show I don't remember. But then again, that was 1963 and it was my sophomore year in college. I don't remember much about those years.

We arrived at Logan with not traffic problems and I braced myself for what might be coming next. When I walked into the terminal, there was noone ahead of me at check-in and only three people ahead of me at the security check-in. I stopped at the book store, got the last copy of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Largest Mercenary Army, sat down and read until my flight boarded on time.

Everything was going smoothly until the doors closed. About 30 seconds later the pilot announced that due to high winds at O'Hare, they were going to keep us on the ground for an hourl. Sooooo close, but Murphy had to step in and enforce his law. I guess I really can't complain. It probably would have been the same situation regardless of what airport I used.

It seems that there is an unwritten law that when I take a trip I MUST forget something. It's never anything critical, but it's something that I would use. In this case, I was going to rent a car and I thought I packed my GPS. Unfortunately, I just peeked into my bag before I left and what I thought was my GPS was actually my digital camera. So it was going to cost me $8.95 a day to rent one.

It was 30 miles from O'Hare to my motel and it only took an hour in Chicago traffic. The Ramda was nothing to write home about, but it was clean and the people were friendly. There was a decent restaurant just outside their door with about the most efficient wait staff I've come across. The only place where I got more attention was on our 25th anniversary when I took Jill to NYC and wen't first class all the way. We went to Maxwell Plum, which was still open then. We had our own personal waiter and unending attention. After dinner, I reached to pour Jill a second cup of coffee and the waiter almost dived to the table to intercept me. That's a bit TOO much attention.

Hammond used to be hopping back it the days of steel and rails, but now it has gone the way of many similar cities. It has downsized and adapted to the new times. No traffic problem, not much crime, but enough of the inner city problems so that I wouldn't classify it as a sleepy hamlet.

I gave presentations to 4th-8th graders, teachers and parents at St. Stanislas School and well as similar talks to 7th-12th graders, parents, and teachers at Bishop Noll Academy. Both schools had great student bodies and staff members. It was a hectic two days. They were tiring, but painless and trouble free.

The trip home was uneventful except for two things. At O'Hare my belt set off the medal detector. At Logan, I had asked if I should take it off. They said no and it went through fine. So I didn't ask at O'Hare. Had that been Phila., it would have meant a full pat down and probably a full bag check. Not so at O'Hare, probably because the line was short. They just made me take it off and go through again.

When I arrived at Logan, I did and OJ through the airport (that was a sprint, not a murder) to try to make my bus, but I just missed my bus by about two minutes and had to wait another hour. Now I'm here in MA and chilling with my daughter and grandson who is just waking up. Enough with the blog...

Murphy's Law and the 1 Cent Tripod

Last month I became a grandfather for the first time. We traveled from NJ to MA for a 10-day visit. Of course I took my camcorder and tripod. During our stay there were a lot of visitor many of who had babies and stored their gear in our room. When I arrived back home, I realized that I was missing my tripod.

I called to my daughter. Maybe it was still at her house. Nope. Both of my nieces, one of whom has twins were there. Maybe it got bundled in their things. Nope. The tripod was missing.

We joked that it might be with the spare key to her house which I also managed to lose.

It's now a month later. Neither item made an appearance and we are getting ready for another visit. That reminded me that I'm still missing my tripod and that it's time to replace it. So off I went to eBay where I find a tripod auction with bidding starting at one cent and it was ending in 22 minutes.

The first thing I noticed is that the shipping is $15.55, which means the seller has built the price the tripod into the shipping costs. Still, a $15 tripod isn't bad. I decided to see if I could win it for a penny. Lo and behold, that's exactly what happened.

Later that day as Jill and I went shopping, I told her that I figured the tripod would definitely surface, because I had just purchased a new one. No sooner had the words left my mouth I opened the trunk to put some packages in. I moved a blanket sitting there and.... Well, you guessed it. The tripod was there.

Anyone out there want a tripod. It's yours for free. All you have to do is pay $15.55 shipping.

Turkish TV, Tea and Coffee

Today I did a 9 minute Internet safety segment on EBRU TV, a Turkish owned and operated satillite TV station in Somerset. It was a trip!

Merideth Parker, the host of Daily Connections was articulate, inquisitive, friendly and charming. When the interview airs, it will be available on the web. I'll write a little bit about it in my 3DWiredSafety blog and post a link here to the program when it airs on the web in about 2 weeks. For this post, I want to tell you about my experiences at the station.

As Educational Technology Director for WiredSafety, I get a pay check of $0.00 for the charity work that I do, but I do get the cool title and a few perks, one of which is appearing on TV shows.

I've been on all of the major stations, but I always enjoy visiting smaller stations. This company is a relatively new satellite start up. They've been broadcasting for about a year and have their studios in Somerset, NJ. When I walked into the offices, there were no security guards, sign in sheets or bureaucracy. It was refreshingly unlike the major stations, which understandably have such procedures.

Oscar greeted me and directed me and another guest to the "green room" and pointed us to the cafeteria where we could have coffee, tea, cookies, and other goodies. It was there that I found another distinct departure from the major studios. In the coffee room there was a considerably more emphasis on tea. There was a large tea making unit, on the top of which sat carafes of Turkish tea. Below it was a hot water spout for diluting the concentrated tea. I probably should have asked what proportions are best, but I didn't and for my first cup of Turkish tea and used about 1/4 water. In retrospect, I probably should have gone about 50-50. The resulting tea was about the color of my usual morning coffee. I figure it will be 2-3 days before I get any sleep. LOL

The show is taped in unedited 9 minute segments in a very comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. Guests are followed by a cooking segment done by Arzu. In yesterday's segments she showed viewers how to make Turkish coffee and baklavah. The crew and guests get to chow down on her cooking between shooting segments. They offered me the coffee, but considering I was already walking about 2 inches off the ground, I passed and just had some of the heavenly baklavah.

Between the tea and the coffee I know what puts the whirl in the Dervishes. Add to that Arzu's cooking and might also explain why everyone in the studio was so chipper, but I really think it was just a very friendly work atmosphere and genuinely nice people.