Apparently, New York State might lose another 2 seats in the house based on our declining population. According to the latest figures from the Census Bureau, we're at about 19.2 million in population. California is at 36.1 million and Texas is at 22.8 million. Not too far behind is Florida at 17.78 million. All three of those states are growing - albeit California is just under 1% growth, whereas Florida is at 2.3% and Texas is at 1.7%. New York's population actually declined by 0.1% - so, basically we're staying equal. Nevada and Arizona are the two fastest growing states at 3.5% growth each.
The last time we had redistricting to eliminate two house seats it was a huge battle. And if we have to cut another two seats, it'll be worse. New York City is growing, but Upstate continues to lose population. Can we catch up, or reverse this trend? Could New York take the next four years and really change it's policies to improve the quality of life here - causing young people to stay and old people to retire here? The quality of life is good - and after spending some time this past summer in Arizona, I will tell you this: I will never live in Arizona.
This is a case of too many people moving into the dessert, and nature is going to rear it's ugly head and say, "What the fuck humans? This many of you aren't supposed to be here!" What happens if the water gets shut off for a day? Or the power goes down for a week? Even the most oppressive heat in Upstate New York... it's what? 95 degrees? But usually only for 4, 5, 6 days. But in Arizona during the summer? Come on people! Shit, I sweat all winter... if I were to move to Arizona I'd probably melt into nothingness. I'm not trying to pick on Arizona, but quite frankly, I wouldn't feel too badly for the thousands who are moving down there should they all roast without air conditioning for a month. Or possibly experience Return to Thunderdome like battles for drinking water. They'd deserve it for being so arrogant as to think millions of people are supposed to live in the dessert. Didn't Sam Kinneson already make the point? "THERE'S NO FUCKING FOOD IN THE DESSERT! OHHHH! OHHHHHHHHH!"
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Friday, December 16, 2005
Dave's New Car
I'm getting a new car. Now, it's not until March of 06', but I just put in the order. What am I getting? Well, not another Audi, that's for sure. Don't get me wrong, I loved the four-wheel drive, and comfort of heated seats, mirrors, and a good stereo system. However, I didn't love taking the damn thing to the shop twice a month for four years for various problems - ranging from big annoying engine problems to having turn signals, breaklights, and other minor things happen on a regular basis. In fact, as I write this, I have a break light that's out AND a front turn signal. This, after JUST having the car in for it's 60,000 mile service. As a result, while I still love the IDEA of the Audi - particularly a lot of functionality in a car for around $32,000, Julie will never let me get another one. Ever.
That being said, I also drive about 70 miles a day. No, not 70 miles and hour - which is something I frequently do too - but per day. That's going back and forth between Greece and Canandaigua. As a result, I seriously considered a hybrid car - the Prius. I priced it out, and in general thought it was a good idea. However, it took Toyota WAY too long to (a) add the 2006 model information online and (b) have even a 2005 model sitting at any Toyota dealership for me to look at. As such, I came to the conclusion to screw it and instead check out the new Honda Civic Hybrid.
Very cool! I actually got to test drive one at Holtz, and I like what I saw. The one I'm getting includes the navigation system which will be great - especially given the occasional trips we take and don't know where the heck we're going. Here's a picture of the car in the color I'm getting (more or less - just add fog lights for the full effect):
Throw in every feature known to man and the thing comes in just under $25000. Not bad for a car that also gets me about 50mpg on the highway. That's nearly double what I'm doing now, and on regular gas - not the 93 octane the Audi demands! So, in the long run, I'm bumping down the cost of my fillups, and doing it only once a week - not twice! Yeah, it's not all wheel drive, but how often do I take advantage of that? I'd guess 95 percent of my driving these days is highway driving, and the roads are usually fine.
Anyway, I'll post more on here once I know more - and maybe when i can post some more photos and order status update. But right now, the timing is perfect and should have it at the end of February, beginning of March.
That being said, I also drive about 70 miles a day. No, not 70 miles and hour - which is something I frequently do too - but per day. That's going back and forth between Greece and Canandaigua. As a result, I seriously considered a hybrid car - the Prius. I priced it out, and in general thought it was a good idea. However, it took Toyota WAY too long to (a) add the 2006 model information online and (b) have even a 2005 model sitting at any Toyota dealership for me to look at. As such, I came to the conclusion to screw it and instead check out the new Honda Civic Hybrid.
Very cool! I actually got to test drive one at Holtz, and I like what I saw. The one I'm getting includes the navigation system which will be great - especially given the occasional trips we take and don't know where the heck we're going. Here's a picture of the car in the color I'm getting (more or less - just add fog lights for the full effect):
Throw in every feature known to man and the thing comes in just under $25000. Not bad for a car that also gets me about 50mpg on the highway. That's nearly double what I'm doing now, and on regular gas - not the 93 octane the Audi demands! So, in the long run, I'm bumping down the cost of my fillups, and doing it only once a week - not twice! Yeah, it's not all wheel drive, but how often do I take advantage of that? I'd guess 95 percent of my driving these days is highway driving, and the roads are usually fine.
Anyway, I'll post more on here once I know more - and maybe when i can post some more photos and order status update. But right now, the timing is perfect and should have it at the end of February, beginning of March.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
The Good Feet Store - What's up with this shit?
OK - I am sick of the damn commercials for the The Good Feet Store. You know those commercials? "Hi I'm Doctor So-and-so, and my patients with (insert foot disorder here) weren't getting better using a custom orthotics, so I sent them to the good feet store and WOW! They're cured!"
Um, not to sound too stupid, Dr. So-and-so, but, aren't you supposed to be a PODIATRIST? That means to me, an expert in the medicine of the foot? If you're prescribing someone a custom orthoitic, shouldn't it work? How come The Good Feet store can get it right, but you, a DOCTOR, can't help your patients with their painful foot disorders?! What do they have over the counter that could possibly be better than a CUSTOM ORTHOTIC. Presumedly, something that's custom should be better than anything The Good Feet Store can sell me - because the custom one was developed just for ME. Not everyone else who has sore feet, or a sore back, or whatever, but ME! ME! ME! ME! ME! ME!
Maybe I'm stupid? So, I did a Google search to look up the definition of "custom orthotic" and here's what I found:
"Custom-made orthotics are medical devices that allow the feet and ankles to function without pain, and to protect them from repetitive stress of various activities."
Maybe the "Doctor" in this radio commercial is really just one of those "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV (or the radio)" kinds of doctors? Apparently. Either that, or she's the worst podiatrist in the world because her years of medical education have resulted in her custom orthotics being total shit compared to what I can get at The Good Feet Store!
Oh, but it gets better. Here's the definition from The Good Feet Store's website about what the heck they even do: "The Good Feet Store™ personally size your feet for arch supports through biomechanics and your footprint to help you choose an arch support design that will work best from your feet up. After wearing Good Feet Arch Supports, your feet are more correctly aligned and better balanced, causing you to stand straighter, feel taller and pull your stomach in, reducing stress on your back."
Isn't this the same thing as a damn custom orthotic?! It sounds like snake oil to me. Not only does it help your feet, but it also helps your back, makes you taller, and gets rid of your gut! Now if only it got rid of The Consumption, and maybe infant colic, too! And for this purported podiatrist to send her patients there, when it sounds like they do the same thing she does... doesn't that mean that they're competitors? Or, perhaps the doctor doesn't really care cause, well, shit, you've paid her probably $75 for the office visit, and other $200 for HER LOUSY CUSTOM ORTHOTIC THAT DIDN'T WORK, so she's already raped you for nearly $300... why not send you off to someone else to spend god only knows how much more money. Maybe she even gets a kickback from The Good Feet Store?
I may be taking this a bit far, but everytime I hear that commercial on the radio it pisses me off.
Um, not to sound too stupid, Dr. So-and-so, but, aren't you supposed to be a PODIATRIST? That means to me, an expert in the medicine of the foot? If you're prescribing someone a custom orthoitic, shouldn't it work? How come The Good Feet store can get it right, but you, a DOCTOR, can't help your patients with their painful foot disorders?! What do they have over the counter that could possibly be better than a CUSTOM ORTHOTIC. Presumedly, something that's custom should be better than anything The Good Feet Store can sell me - because the custom one was developed just for ME. Not everyone else who has sore feet, or a sore back, or whatever, but ME! ME! ME! ME! ME! ME!
Maybe I'm stupid? So, I did a Google search to look up the definition of "custom orthotic" and here's what I found:
"Custom-made orthotics are medical devices that allow the feet and ankles to function without pain, and to protect them from repetitive stress of various activities."
Maybe the "Doctor" in this radio commercial is really just one of those "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV (or the radio)" kinds of doctors? Apparently. Either that, or she's the worst podiatrist in the world because her years of medical education have resulted in her custom orthotics being total shit compared to what I can get at The Good Feet Store!
Oh, but it gets better. Here's the definition from The Good Feet Store's website about what the heck they even do: "The Good Feet Store™ personally size your feet for arch supports through biomechanics and your footprint to help you choose an arch support design that will work best from your feet up. After wearing Good Feet Arch Supports, your feet are more correctly aligned and better balanced, causing you to stand straighter, feel taller and pull your stomach in, reducing stress on your back."
Isn't this the same thing as a damn custom orthotic?! It sounds like snake oil to me. Not only does it help your feet, but it also helps your back, makes you taller, and gets rid of your gut! Now if only it got rid of The Consumption, and maybe infant colic, too! And for this purported podiatrist to send her patients there, when it sounds like they do the same thing she does... doesn't that mean that they're competitors? Or, perhaps the doctor doesn't really care cause, well, shit, you've paid her probably $75 for the office visit, and other $200 for HER LOUSY CUSTOM ORTHOTIC THAT DIDN'T WORK, so she's already raped you for nearly $300... why not send you off to someone else to spend god only knows how much more money. Maybe she even gets a kickback from The Good Feet Store?
I may be taking this a bit far, but everytime I hear that commercial on the radio it pisses me off.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
This is very funny... and by that I mean, when you read it you will laugh, because it is funny.
Some of you may read Jonah Goldberg from the National Review Online. If not, regardless of your political ideology, it's worth the read. If for nothing else, he faithfully utlizes Simpons quotes into most of his pieces. Well, anyway, Jonah wrote the following gem regarding Harry Ried and something he said recently which I thought was hysterical:
"In Washington, soft-spokenness is often confused for intelligence and subtlety. We're so accustomed to shouting that when someone whispers we assume there must be something more thoughtful in the offing. A case in point is Harry Reid, the Senate minority leader. Just the other day he told reporters, "There's a dark cloud hanging over the White House." Then, to clarify this obscure metaphor, he added gravely, "It's really a storm cloud."
One expects more Solomonic nuance from the man any day now: "Something's fishy in the White House. And by that I mean the White House really smells much like a fish. An old fish. The sort of fish that smells bad." Or: "Look before you leap — because that way you'll know what you're leaping over and might not fall.""
LOL - I think that's great... and why isn't Yogi Berra a US Senator?! So, I got to thinking, what other obvious metaphors or cliches can I come up with that are just as funny with unnecessary descriptions added? Well, there's always the one all sports stars use, "We're just gonna take it one game at a time." Yes, and by that, I mean, we're not going to look ahead to future games. We're going to focus just on this one. Just this one game. You dig?
Then there's thanking Jesus for everything. "We couldn't have pulled this one off if it weren't for Jesus," I mean, if it weren't for Jesus, we wouldn't have won. Jesus was just pulling for us, and was opposed to the other team winning. God and Jesus both hate the other team. You dig?
I was listening to one of the financial podcasts this morning and they were talking about "Black Friday," after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year. If shoppers don't come out, apparently it's a black day for the economy. So anyway, the added description could go something like this: "Retailers are dreading Black Friday, which is coming this week. If shoppers don't come out, it'll be a black day for them. It means consumers aren't spending and the day will be black - black like a lump of coal Santa leaves in your stocking if you're bad. The retailers aren't bad people, but they're getting a big black lump of coal from Santa this year on Black Friday. A big, black, lump of coal - which is worthless to them - cause they don't even have a coal burning furnace, so it's twice as bad."
I think I could write these all day! Please feel free to add your own gems!
"In Washington, soft-spokenness is often confused for intelligence and subtlety. We're so accustomed to shouting that when someone whispers we assume there must be something more thoughtful in the offing. A case in point is Harry Reid, the Senate minority leader. Just the other day he told reporters, "There's a dark cloud hanging over the White House." Then, to clarify this obscure metaphor, he added gravely, "It's really a storm cloud."
One expects more Solomonic nuance from the man any day now: "Something's fishy in the White House. And by that I mean the White House really smells much like a fish. An old fish. The sort of fish that smells bad." Or: "Look before you leap — because that way you'll know what you're leaping over and might not fall.""
LOL - I think that's great... and why isn't Yogi Berra a US Senator?! So, I got to thinking, what other obvious metaphors or cliches can I come up with that are just as funny with unnecessary descriptions added? Well, there's always the one all sports stars use, "We're just gonna take it one game at a time." Yes, and by that, I mean, we're not going to look ahead to future games. We're going to focus just on this one. Just this one game. You dig?
Then there's thanking Jesus for everything. "We couldn't have pulled this one off if it weren't for Jesus," I mean, if it weren't for Jesus, we wouldn't have won. Jesus was just pulling for us, and was opposed to the other team winning. God and Jesus both hate the other team. You dig?
I was listening to one of the financial podcasts this morning and they were talking about "Black Friday," after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year. If shoppers don't come out, apparently it's a black day for the economy. So anyway, the added description could go something like this: "Retailers are dreading Black Friday, which is coming this week. If shoppers don't come out, it'll be a black day for them. It means consumers aren't spending and the day will be black - black like a lump of coal Santa leaves in your stocking if you're bad. The retailers aren't bad people, but they're getting a big black lump of coal from Santa this year on Black Friday. A big, black, lump of coal - which is worthless to them - cause they don't even have a coal burning furnace, so it's twice as bad."
I think I could write these all day! Please feel free to add your own gems!
Monday, November 21, 2005
Time for a LIVE post!
Well, it's live while I write it, but it'll be long dead when I'm done. I'm sitting here at the Old Toad being a total nerd. I could just be drinking my Blackbird Oatmeal Stout, however I feel it's necessary to bring the computer along just in case. In case of what? Hmmm.... in case I actually need to interact with real people, rather than just AOL Instant Messenger people. What makes this especially nerdy is that Jason Childers is sitting next to me playing on his computer!
I've discovered a great game recently - on Yahoo games - Literati! OK, it's just scrabble without the license, but it's a great game. It makes me realize how lousy a scrabble player I am. Now, I'm not terrible, but I never know all those two letter words that fit in between other words so I can count like, oh, three words at the same time for 40 or 50 points. But it's still a lot of fun and my vocabulary is at least good enough to compete at if not a high level, a fairly high one. For some reason, I have never been a big fan of Yahoo. I've never used it as a search engine, and the only time I do use it is occasionally on Yahoo Messenger to talk to Julie who refuses to get an account on AIM. Granted, all our friends are on AIM, but whatever.... she uses my computer all the time anyway while I'm logged in, so for whatever it's worth.
Well, that's enough for now... maybe I'll write again when the quiz is over. Cheers!
I've discovered a great game recently - on Yahoo games - Literati! OK, it's just scrabble without the license, but it's a great game. It makes me realize how lousy a scrabble player I am. Now, I'm not terrible, but I never know all those two letter words that fit in between other words so I can count like, oh, three words at the same time for 40 or 50 points. But it's still a lot of fun and my vocabulary is at least good enough to compete at if not a high level, a fairly high one. For some reason, I have never been a big fan of Yahoo. I've never used it as a search engine, and the only time I do use it is occasionally on Yahoo Messenger to talk to Julie who refuses to get an account on AIM. Granted, all our friends are on AIM, but whatever.... she uses my computer all the time anyway while I'm logged in, so for whatever it's worth.
Well, that's enough for now... maybe I'll write again when the quiz is over. Cheers!
Monday, November 07, 2005
RNA Medals Needed
I assume most people don't give a rats ass about coin collecting, however it's one of my passions, and I've got a list of RNA Presidential Medals I still need. I'm posting it here mainly for my covenience, however if anyone happens upon this and actually has one of the medals I need, all the better! Here's the list:
1915, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1926, 1928, 1929... then ALL of the 1930s... then 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, and finally 1950. That's it! All in all, not too bad. I only need 5 medals from the 40s and the 1950 Pittman medal, and I'm all set from 1940 and up. Then it gets a little more tricky with those early medals, but they do show up from time to time.
UPDATE: Just got the 1944 Hutchinson medal at the RNA's coin show on Saturday. Yay! One down, twenty-six to go.
1915, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1926, 1928, 1929... then ALL of the 1930s... then 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, and finally 1950. That's it! All in all, not too bad. I only need 5 medals from the 40s and the 1950 Pittman medal, and I'm all set from 1940 and up. Then it gets a little more tricky with those early medals, but they do show up from time to time.
UPDATE: Just got the 1944 Hutchinson medal at the RNA's coin show on Saturday. Yay! One down, twenty-six to go.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Off topic: You've Gotta be Kidding Me
Sandy Parker, CEO of the Rochester Business Alliance knows how to merge two corporate cultures into one! Read this from today's Democrat & Chronicle: "On the changes in the organization: "When we put two organizations under one roof, we really didn't spend the proper amount of time making sure integration worked. We didn't create a culture for the RBA. We had two cultures. So we needed to spend a lot of time on that. We've done it, and I think we have a staff now that is focused on moving the organization together and moving forward."
Please reread that quote from Ms. Parker. Now, let me run a few names past you:
Tom Mooney, Angela Monachino, Charlie Goodwin, Gael Barrett, Libby McShane, Anna Vulaj, Wyoma Best, Bridget Pulver, Andrea Paul, Kevin Kelley, Jean Kase, Henry Gottfried, David Benesch, John Zaepfel, Claire Kenney, Liz Perez... and me! (I may be forgetting some folks - including the HTR staff - so, please correct me if you recall them).
There are six still at the RBA - Becky Brown, Nan Brunett, Nina Shelton, Paulette Birch, Susan George, and Danielle Smith (who is putting in her two week notice on Monday)... so really, there'll be FIVE former Chamber people left.
That was how Sandy successfully created a culture - by eliminating all the Chamber of Commerce staff, keeping the vast majority of the IMC's staff (a couple of them are gone, but at least one cut his own throat through amazing stupidity, and a couple others left for better things). Did this require amazing management skills? Did this really merge two corporate cultures into one? Well, it eliminated one culture and basically said to those remaining: YOU ADOPT OUR CULTURE OR YOU'RE FIRED MOTHER FUCKER!!!
Does that about capture it?
Please reread that quote from Ms. Parker. Now, let me run a few names past you:
Tom Mooney, Angela Monachino, Charlie Goodwin, Gael Barrett, Libby McShane, Anna Vulaj, Wyoma Best, Bridget Pulver, Andrea Paul, Kevin Kelley, Jean Kase, Henry Gottfried, David Benesch, John Zaepfel, Claire Kenney, Liz Perez... and me! (I may be forgetting some folks - including the HTR staff - so, please correct me if you recall them).
There are six still at the RBA - Becky Brown, Nan Brunett, Nina Shelton, Paulette Birch, Susan George, and Danielle Smith (who is putting in her two week notice on Monday)... so really, there'll be FIVE former Chamber people left.
That was how Sandy successfully created a culture - by eliminating all the Chamber of Commerce staff, keeping the vast majority of the IMC's staff (a couple of them are gone, but at least one cut his own throat through amazing stupidity, and a couple others left for better things). Did this require amazing management skills? Did this really merge two corporate cultures into one? Well, it eliminated one culture and basically said to those remaining: YOU ADOPT OUR CULTURE OR YOU'RE FIRED MOTHER FUCKER!!!
Does that about capture it?
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Best cards
Well, before I post anything else, gotta post pics of the best wedding cards. OK... by far, the best card came from Chris Barrett. Here are the pictures of it first:
OK.... now, for the best part? It's HANDMADE! Julie and I were like, "NO WAY! THIS COULDN'T BE HANDMADE!" Well, lo-and-behold... it is indeed handmade. Chris - start making these professionally!
Now, card number two is from Josh Liller, and here it is... (needs no explanation?)
GREAT card! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Thanks Josh!
More good wedding stuff to come!
OK.... now, for the best part? It's HANDMADE! Julie and I were like, "NO WAY! THIS COULDN'T BE HANDMADE!" Well, lo-and-behold... it is indeed handmade. Chris - start making these professionally!
Now, card number two is from Josh Liller, and here it is... (needs no explanation?)
GREAT card! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Thanks Josh!
More good wedding stuff to come!
Married and back home!
Haven't had a chance to post in quite some time, however I had many good reasons! For those who may not know, Julie and I were married on October 22nd! In fact, got back from our honeymoon in St. Lucia yesterday (November 1st), so I've really been unable to get anything updated on the weblog. However, thanks to some smart friends, I have a link to some of the wedding photos: http://homepage.mac.com/paploo42/PhotoAlbum1.html. Thanks to Jason Childers for setting this up!
We should also have a link to all the photos taken by our photographer, however I haven't gotten word from him yet on where to go to view it all. As soon as I know, it'll be posted too. Scott Fybush also took video at the wedding, so as soon as he's got something for me, I'll be sure to turn it into something that can be posted online. Probably not on Blogger - I don't know if there's a file size limit, and I can only assume a big video file would be frowned upon. Then again, Blogger is owned by Google, and since Google would like to have a repository of all informaiton everywhere, perhaps they don't care? Regardless, I have lots of sites to host the video on.
I've also got tons of pics from the honeymoon in St. Lucia. I'll have a separate post about the honeymoon shortly. But for now, thought everyone would enjoy the first pics. Again, thanks Jason!
We should also have a link to all the photos taken by our photographer, however I haven't gotten word from him yet on where to go to view it all. As soon as I know, it'll be posted too. Scott Fybush also took video at the wedding, so as soon as he's got something for me, I'll be sure to turn it into something that can be posted online. Probably not on Blogger - I don't know if there's a file size limit, and I can only assume a big video file would be frowned upon. Then again, Blogger is owned by Google, and since Google would like to have a repository of all informaiton everywhere, perhaps they don't care? Regardless, I have lots of sites to host the video on.
I've also got tons of pics from the honeymoon in St. Lucia. I'll have a separate post about the honeymoon shortly. But for now, thought everyone would enjoy the first pics. Again, thanks Jason!
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Woah
Well, what a night it's been. It's about 12:20am as I write this and I'm sitting at Spot Coffee. The day started out with so much promise! Julie and I went to the farmers' market, had breakfast at Highland Park Diner, went over to Powers Farm Market to check out the teepees... all was going well. Later in the day, I smoked a nice Cuban cigar. After that, my future brother-in-law, Mark, came over and we watched Bubba Hotep... a great movie staring Bruce Campbell as Elvis and Ozzie Davis as John F. Kennedy. It wasn't until shortly thereafter when things took a turn.
I am the designated driver for Julie and her friend Julie tonight for a work baccelorette party. As we're leaving, getting ready to turn onto Dewey Avenue, we notice that her brother and his girl friend have pulled the car into Pizza Hut. Next thing I notice, they're PUSHING THEIR CAR into the parking lot. We immediatly turn into the lot to see what happened. Turns out their car just stopped running. Well, I picked up the two Julies, dropped them off at Mex on Alexander Street, and then drove back to Greece to see if they'd gotten the car started. No such luck. They end up calling AAA to get the car towed. I run home to grab my laptop, thinking it's going to be a while, and drive back over to Pizza Hut after wolfing down my second Lean Pocket of the day.
We wait... for what felt like a very long time. Finally a FUCKING VAN pulls up. Now, I'm no towing expert, but a van isn't usually what I think of when it comes to towing a car. Apparently, AAA didn't believe us when we said the car wouldn't start and that it had nothing to do with the battery. Maybe it was the fuel pump, we suggested. Anyway, this kid gets out of the van and boldly states that he's going to jump the battery. Um, yeah, there's no problem with the battery you shithead!
A bit of a side note: Mark's car is a thousand years old. Well, not literally. It's a Plymouth of some sort with a 1988 body and a 1991 engine - sporting about 130,000 miles. About the only parts of this car that aren't going bad are the battery and the starter which was replaced just a week earlier. So anyway, the kid decides jumping the battery ain't gonna work! Next, he pours some gasoline directly into the fuel injector to see if that will get the car to start. Again, no luck. He calls a tow truck.
The tow truck is a good HOUR away. Apparently, there was a vehicle on the Parkway that lost a wheel (it was a drunk driver incident, according to the two truck driver). We wait, and wait, and wait some more. Eventually the tow truck comes and we get the thing hitched up and we're off. Where are we off to? THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!!! Hamlin, to be exact, but really I think I heard banjos playing in the distance. Apparently Diane's cousin, or newphew or whatever owns his own shop. I felt like I was driving into the middle of the woods to dispose of a body - or in this case, a dead car. We get to the shop - driving down a winding path about 1000 feet off the main road, through the woods, with no one around. They drop off the car, and Diane's mom comes and picks them up. She did not appear to be thrilled to be there.
Anyway, my next step is to figure out where the hell I am so I can find my way back in time to get back downtown to pick up the two Julies. Apparently, as long as you drive north, you eventually hit the Parkway again, which took me back to Lake Avenue, and back downtown.
The journey is now over, running from 7pm to just before midnight and here I sit at Spot Coffee waiting for the call to take everyone home. I'm not sure how long Spot is open, but so long as everyone doesn't stay out past 2am, I should be ok. Exactly the way I wanted to spend my Saturday night! Too bad I didn't get any pictures...
I am the designated driver for Julie and her friend Julie tonight for a work baccelorette party. As we're leaving, getting ready to turn onto Dewey Avenue, we notice that her brother and his girl friend have pulled the car into Pizza Hut. Next thing I notice, they're PUSHING THEIR CAR into the parking lot. We immediatly turn into the lot to see what happened. Turns out their car just stopped running. Well, I picked up the two Julies, dropped them off at Mex on Alexander Street, and then drove back to Greece to see if they'd gotten the car started. No such luck. They end up calling AAA to get the car towed. I run home to grab my laptop, thinking it's going to be a while, and drive back over to Pizza Hut after wolfing down my second Lean Pocket of the day.
We wait... for what felt like a very long time. Finally a FUCKING VAN pulls up. Now, I'm no towing expert, but a van isn't usually what I think of when it comes to towing a car. Apparently, AAA didn't believe us when we said the car wouldn't start and that it had nothing to do with the battery. Maybe it was the fuel pump, we suggested. Anyway, this kid gets out of the van and boldly states that he's going to jump the battery. Um, yeah, there's no problem with the battery you shithead!
A bit of a side note: Mark's car is a thousand years old. Well, not literally. It's a Plymouth of some sort with a 1988 body and a 1991 engine - sporting about 130,000 miles. About the only parts of this car that aren't going bad are the battery and the starter which was replaced just a week earlier. So anyway, the kid decides jumping the battery ain't gonna work! Next, he pours some gasoline directly into the fuel injector to see if that will get the car to start. Again, no luck. He calls a tow truck.
The tow truck is a good HOUR away. Apparently, there was a vehicle on the Parkway that lost a wheel (it was a drunk driver incident, according to the two truck driver). We wait, and wait, and wait some more. Eventually the tow truck comes and we get the thing hitched up and we're off. Where are we off to? THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!!! Hamlin, to be exact, but really I think I heard banjos playing in the distance. Apparently Diane's cousin, or newphew or whatever owns his own shop. I felt like I was driving into the middle of the woods to dispose of a body - or in this case, a dead car. We get to the shop - driving down a winding path about 1000 feet off the main road, through the woods, with no one around. They drop off the car, and Diane's mom comes and picks them up. She did not appear to be thrilled to be there.
Anyway, my next step is to figure out where the hell I am so I can find my way back in time to get back downtown to pick up the two Julies. Apparently, as long as you drive north, you eventually hit the Parkway again, which took me back to Lake Avenue, and back downtown.
The journey is now over, running from 7pm to just before midnight and here I sit at Spot Coffee waiting for the call to take everyone home. I'm not sure how long Spot is open, but so long as everyone doesn't stay out past 2am, I should be ok. Exactly the way I wanted to spend my Saturday night! Too bad I didn't get any pictures...
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Toronto pics
Nothing too remarkable here - and not much of a story to tell - however, I did want to get these pictures posted at some point. Basically, they're from Photonics North, albeit not the show itself. Ferry ride over, really, which was great! The boat runs smooth as can be, and it's FAST. Or, at least it feels really fast when you try to stand on the rear deck with the boat in motion. I can see how people might lose all sorts of things off the back of that boat (glasses, wallets, keys, friends...)
Here they are - inside the boat, outside the deck, through the front observation lounge, and a nice view of Toronto as we arrived:
Here they are - inside the boat, outside the deck, through the front observation lounge, and a nice view of Toronto as we arrived:
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
M&Ms
I still need to post my fast ferry pics - which I'll do later - but in the mean time, just a quick observation. We have a "large" jar of M&Ms at our office for Javelin, Infotonics, and other folks to enjoy. I put large in quotes because I don't think there's a size large enough to satisfy everyone! I just took a small handful of them and realized I hate orange M&Ms. It's not that they don't taste exactly the same as all other M&Ms, I just don't like that color. They're the first ones I eat, too, so I don't have to look at them. I guess I can see why weirdo muscians demand bowl's of single colors before and after a show. Granted, that's absolutely insane, but they're musicians, and apparently allowed to be crazy-go-nuts.
Anywho, that also got me to thinking about the worst experience from my Vegas trip - the M&Ms Store. Holy shit, what a pain in the ass THAT was. I like M&Ms, but to have a whole store dedicated to them? Filled with plush dolls, games, shot glasses and other crap? Yeah, yeah, yeah.... I collect COINS, for cryin' out loud, so how's that any different. I guess it's the FRENZIED INSANITY of the store. There are four or five floors (I forget the exact number) and each floor is filled with FRENZIED PEOPLE. Kids and adults going crazy - like all this shit is going to disappear into the ether if they don't get their hands on it NOW. Not too mention, the over priced "special" colors of M&Ms you can only get THERE. Lines of people demanding their special colored M&Ms (is that politically correct? can I call M&Ms 'colored'?). I was waiting for Rob to buy his stuff and it was nearly impossible to even find one place to stand and not totally be in the way of other folks desperately trying to buy their M&M memorabilia.
I might be going a little overboard here, but the experience was so unpleasant, I'm thinking of only buying Reece's Pieces from now on. Is there a Reece's Store somewhere that can ruin that for me too? Perhaps I should stick with Neco Waffers - everybody hates those.
Anywho, that also got me to thinking about the worst experience from my Vegas trip - the M&Ms Store. Holy shit, what a pain in the ass THAT was. I like M&Ms, but to have a whole store dedicated to them? Filled with plush dolls, games, shot glasses and other crap? Yeah, yeah, yeah.... I collect COINS, for cryin' out loud, so how's that any different. I guess it's the FRENZIED INSANITY of the store. There are four or five floors (I forget the exact number) and each floor is filled with FRENZIED PEOPLE. Kids and adults going crazy - like all this shit is going to disappear into the ether if they don't get their hands on it NOW. Not too mention, the over priced "special" colors of M&Ms you can only get THERE. Lines of people demanding their special colored M&Ms (is that politically correct? can I call M&Ms 'colored'?). I was waiting for Rob to buy his stuff and it was nearly impossible to even find one place to stand and not totally be in the way of other folks desperately trying to buy their M&M memorabilia.
I might be going a little overboard here, but the experience was so unpleasant, I'm thinking of only buying Reece's Pieces from now on. Is there a Reece's Store somewhere that can ruin that for me too? Perhaps I should stick with Neco Waffers - everybody hates those.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Ignore that last post... except for the calendar part
Well, as of today, Jason is no longer at R-Surplus. I won't really go into it, as the guy who runs it is a friend, but needless to say, it wasn't working out for Jason. So, you can pretty much ignore that piece of the below post. On the other hand, be SURE to go to Fybush.com to check out the North East Radio Watch and buy your own copy of the 2006 Tower Site Calendar. It's the perfect present for someone, um, who, um..... yeah.... Well, buy one anyway!
Ok.... now, what else to talk about? Going to Toronto on the fast ferry on Monday morning! We're going up for Photonics North which will be held at the Toronto Congress Centre. It'll also be the official launch of a new group that Javelin is managing called the International Photonics Commercialization Alliance. What is the IPCA? Well, it's essentially an alliance of clusters and other industry groups, as well as researchers in the area of photonics and optics. The purpose of the group is really to encourse the commercialization of new photonics technologies. That means finding industry partners, assisting in patents, licensing, venture capital, SBIRs/STTRs, etc. Should be an interesting endeavor.
While we're talking about SBIRs, just submitted my first one for Javelin with a lot of help from some great folks at Infotonics. It's a USDA sponsored SBIR to do a feasibility study in developing a "MEMS-Safe" brand for organic foods utilizing microsystems technologies to track and trace these organic goods. It's kindof unlikely that we'll win on our first try, but it's definately good practice. I'm now working on our second one - it's through the Department of Energy and has to do with managing data and facilitating the decision making process for businesses, not-for-profits, and research institutions. The primary focus of these SBIRs, however, is that the technology proposed can be commercialized in three years or less. As it's a software solution, that's no problem.
That's about it for now. I'll post some pics from our ferry ride and Photonics North.
Ok.... now, what else to talk about? Going to Toronto on the fast ferry on Monday morning! We're going up for Photonics North which will be held at the Toronto Congress Centre. It'll also be the official launch of a new group that Javelin is managing called the International Photonics Commercialization Alliance. What is the IPCA? Well, it's essentially an alliance of clusters and other industry groups, as well as researchers in the area of photonics and optics. The purpose of the group is really to encourse the commercialization of new photonics technologies. That means finding industry partners, assisting in patents, licensing, venture capital, SBIRs/STTRs, etc. Should be an interesting endeavor.
While we're talking about SBIRs, just submitted my first one for Javelin with a lot of help from some great folks at Infotonics. It's a USDA sponsored SBIR to do a feasibility study in developing a "MEMS-Safe" brand for organic foods utilizing microsystems technologies to track and trace these organic goods. It's kindof unlikely that we'll win on our first try, but it's definately good practice. I'm now working on our second one - it's through the Department of Energy and has to do with managing data and facilitating the decision making process for businesses, not-for-profits, and research institutions. The primary focus of these SBIRs, however, is that the technology proposed can be commercialized in three years or less. As it's a software solution, that's no problem.
That's about it for now. I'll post some pics from our ferry ride and Photonics North.
Monday, September 05, 2005
New Tower Site Calendar - 2006!!!
For all of you radio fanatics out there - not the kind who just like to LISTEN to radio, but also love radio towers - good buddy Scott Fybush has released the 2006 Tower Site Calendar. Go to THIS PAGE to purchase your own copy. I have all of them from past years - and you should too!
And, while we're pimping out friends, be sure to go to R-Surplus to either buy company surplus, or, if you ARE a business with a ton of stuff just lying around and you're looking to get rid of it, use their service!
Hmmmm... let's see... who else? Well, there's Javelin Associates, but we're too hip for a website of our own.
And, while we're pimping out friends, be sure to go to R-Surplus to either buy company surplus, or, if you ARE a business with a ton of stuff just lying around and you're looking to get rid of it, use their service!
Hmmmm... let's see... who else? Well, there's Javelin Associates, but we're too hip for a website of our own.
Friday, September 02, 2005
New Digital Cameras
Cameras and printers, that is. I'm on the brink of buying a Kodak camera and printer after the announcements from the last couple days from Kodak. Yesterday, Kodak announced the launch date that you can buy the new EASYSHARE-ONE. Here are the specs:
4.0 MP and KODAK Color Science Chip
SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH C-VARIOGON 3X Optical Zoom Lens
256 MB internal memory* stores up to 1500 favorite pictures
3.0 in. (7.6 cm) share-friendly, rotating touch screen and stylus
Wireless for instant sharing
Controls to create pictures and video just the way you want
PRICE: $599
(A little pricey for only 4.0MP, why does Kodak always get something wrong? 5.0 is like the damn STANDARD these days, and that 1MP might make the difference between someone buying it or something else!)
And, here are the pictures:
For me, I love the idea of being able to wirelessly transmit my pics from the camera to my computer from anywhere that's got WiFi. Possible applications? Well, I have a wireless network in my house which also covers my whole yard - I'm outside, snapping pictures, send them up to the computer from there and I don't have to bother doing it manually. Seems like a good idea to me.
But what I like even more are the new EASYSHARE printers that have universal compatibility and have WiFi capability. Right now, whenever I print pictures, it's kindof a crapshoot as to what the output is going to be. Usually what happens is I get my settings fucked up, and I end up with terrible quality images printed out. Personally, I like the idea of being able to print my pictures and put them in a damn PHOTO ALBUM (I know, what a concept!). A photo album is easy to show to people, the images themselves don't degrade for quite some time, and it's a nice backup to having your pictures all on your hard drive. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're all supposed to back up our drives, but how many people actually do it? (Except maybe Benesch - got to have a reason to have all those terrabytes of storage space, right?)
To help me expedite the process of having high quality images, which I can show to grandma, who, quite frankly, has no interest seeing these images on my laptop, Kodak came out with the EASYSHARE Photo Printer 500. Here's the picture:
Looks pretty cool to me.... here are the specs:
Large 3.5 in. (8.9 cm) LCD screen
Print from digital media cards and USB devices
Features KODAK PERFECT TOUCH Technology
Red eye reduction
Wireless capability (Wi-Fi ready*, BLUETOOTH® wireless technology enabled)
Compatible with PictBridge-enabled digital cameras
Four print sizes and four color modes
PRICE: $249.00
Yeah, I know, printers are cheap these days, but I'd rather pay more to be sure that I get images that are any good! Anyway, just my thoughts for now... I'm sure they'll change later. I'd just like to actually buy something make by Kodak. Is there something inherently wrong with that?!
PRICE: $599
(A little pricey for only 4.0MP, why does Kodak always get something wrong? 5.0 is like the damn STANDARD these days, and that 1MP might make the difference between someone buying it or something else!)
And, here are the pictures:
For me, I love the idea of being able to wirelessly transmit my pics from the camera to my computer from anywhere that's got WiFi. Possible applications? Well, I have a wireless network in my house which also covers my whole yard - I'm outside, snapping pictures, send them up to the computer from there and I don't have to bother doing it manually. Seems like a good idea to me.
But what I like even more are the new EASYSHARE printers that have universal compatibility and have WiFi capability. Right now, whenever I print pictures, it's kindof a crapshoot as to what the output is going to be. Usually what happens is I get my settings fucked up, and I end up with terrible quality images printed out. Personally, I like the idea of being able to print my pictures and put them in a damn PHOTO ALBUM (I know, what a concept!). A photo album is easy to show to people, the images themselves don't degrade for quite some time, and it's a nice backup to having your pictures all on your hard drive. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're all supposed to back up our drives, but how many people actually do it? (Except maybe Benesch - got to have a reason to have all those terrabytes of storage space, right?)
To help me expedite the process of having high quality images, which I can show to grandma, who, quite frankly, has no interest seeing these images on my laptop, Kodak came out with the EASYSHARE Photo Printer 500. Here's the picture:
Looks pretty cool to me.... here are the specs:
PRICE: $249.00
Yeah, I know, printers are cheap these days, but I'd rather pay more to be sure that I get images that are any good! Anyway, just my thoughts for now... I'm sure they'll change later. I'd just like to actually buy something make by Kodak. Is there something inherently wrong with that?!
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
The NFL COULD be the stupidest organization in the world
DATELINE SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - The Saints will head to San Antonio after their preseason game against the Oakland Raiders on Sept. 1 because most of New Orleans was flooded by Hurricane Katrina. Tens of thousands of refugees from the storm have been staying at the Superdome, but officials said they would have to evacuate as flood water continues to rise. The storm ripped two holes in the curved roof of the building. The team is still uncertain whether the Superdome will be ready for its home opener against the New York Giants on Sept. 18.
WHAT THE FUCK?! The team is STILL UNCERTAIN?! Let's see.... hundreds, maybe thousands are dead. Around five million people were without power. Eighty-percent of the city was flooded. The levees are broken and the water levels are rising. Thousands upon thousands of people are without homes, cars, supplies, water, food and the like. And the fucking NFL won't say today that the team won't play at the Superdome? Do they have a problem with oxygen reaching their brain? OF COURSE THEY'RE NOT PLAYING AT THE SUPERDOME IN TWO WEEKS!!!
Is the NFL so stupid, or conceited, or both, to think that they will be playing football there? This is like if the NFL had their main offices in the World Trade Centers and on September 11th, say, 20 minutes after the attack, the NFL makes a statement that the office might have to relocate tomorrow. If the Superdome sunk into the ocean, would they try to play under water? These guys are so self important that it makes me sick.
WHAT THE FUCK?! The team is STILL UNCERTAIN?! Let's see.... hundreds, maybe thousands are dead. Around five million people were without power. Eighty-percent of the city was flooded. The levees are broken and the water levels are rising. Thousands upon thousands of people are without homes, cars, supplies, water, food and the like. And the fucking NFL won't say today that the team won't play at the Superdome? Do they have a problem with oxygen reaching their brain? OF COURSE THEY'RE NOT PLAYING AT THE SUPERDOME IN TWO WEEKS!!!
Is the NFL so stupid, or conceited, or both, to think that they will be playing football there? This is like if the NFL had their main offices in the World Trade Centers and on September 11th, say, 20 minutes after the attack, the NFL makes a statement that the office might have to relocate tomorrow. If the Superdome sunk into the ocean, would they try to play under water? These guys are so self important that it makes me sick.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
D&C Troubles
UPDATE: This is as good as it gets! http://www.rbj.net/fullarticle.cfm?sdid=56591.... this was just published a few minutes ago.
Does anyone else in Rochester think this is nuts? http://rochesterdandc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/NEWS01/508250328
I've heard about the rift between the union and the D&C for years, but it must have just really hit me that they've now gone 13 years without a contract. THIRTEEN YEARS???? Doesn't this harken back to a time when US Presidents inserted themselves into these kinds of labor disputes? Reagan and the air traffic controllers? Or Clinton and the MLB? There must be some way to resolve this labor dispute. Clearly negotiations are not "in good faith" as Thomas Flynn suggests. If they were, perhaps there'd have been some conclusion to this, oh, say, a decade ago!
I have a buddy who's a local and national news nut - yup Scott, that's you - who's been keeping me informed on this for years, but I've only paid coursery attention to it at the most. But I think the D&C, by running the story in the first place, has finally caught my attention. There are no labor disputes that cannot be resolved. There is some give and take in every negotiation. Scott suggests that it's up to the subscriber base of the D&C to cancel their subscriptions and write to the paper letting them know that it's because of the labor dispute that they're cancelling. That may be a good solution, but would enough people actually care to do it?
Would a resolution of the labor dispute lead to higher quality reporting in the pages of the D&C? I tell you what, that's something that would grab MY attention. Most Sundays for me are spent first reading the D&C Sunday paper and realizing how mediocre it is. I then usually hop in the car, head over to Wegmans and pick up a bagel and a copy of the New York Times. I spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon sitting outside with my coffee, bagel, and NY Times and read it almost from front to back! I then think to myself, "Why is the D&C such a crappy paper in comparison?! Why do they even get the comics section wrong!? We're a good sized city with lots of stuff going on... maybe if they raised the price a nickel?"
I've also gotten into the habit of reading The Buffalo News on occasion, and their local news coverage is far superior. Their editoral section is better, and I'd say it's more broadly based in terms of opions expressed. Now granted, their a far more independent organizations, but shouldn't the D&C - founded by Frank Gannett - the former headquarters of one of the biggest newspaper companies in the world - be one of the best small market papers in the world? With our educated workforce, and with the proliferation of the internet and information, isn't there more that could be written that isn't included in the D&C already? I ask you!
Does anyone else in Rochester think this is nuts? http://rochesterdandc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/NEWS01/508250328
I've heard about the rift between the union and the D&C for years, but it must have just really hit me that they've now gone 13 years without a contract. THIRTEEN YEARS???? Doesn't this harken back to a time when US Presidents inserted themselves into these kinds of labor disputes? Reagan and the air traffic controllers? Or Clinton and the MLB? There must be some way to resolve this labor dispute. Clearly negotiations are not "in good faith" as Thomas Flynn suggests. If they were, perhaps there'd have been some conclusion to this, oh, say, a decade ago!
I have a buddy who's a local and national news nut - yup Scott, that's you - who's been keeping me informed on this for years, but I've only paid coursery attention to it at the most. But I think the D&C, by running the story in the first place, has finally caught my attention. There are no labor disputes that cannot be resolved. There is some give and take in every negotiation. Scott suggests that it's up to the subscriber base of the D&C to cancel their subscriptions and write to the paper letting them know that it's because of the labor dispute that they're cancelling. That may be a good solution, but would enough people actually care to do it?
Would a resolution of the labor dispute lead to higher quality reporting in the pages of the D&C? I tell you what, that's something that would grab MY attention. Most Sundays for me are spent first reading the D&C Sunday paper and realizing how mediocre it is. I then usually hop in the car, head over to Wegmans and pick up a bagel and a copy of the New York Times. I spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon sitting outside with my coffee, bagel, and NY Times and read it almost from front to back! I then think to myself, "Why is the D&C such a crappy paper in comparison?! Why do they even get the comics section wrong!? We're a good sized city with lots of stuff going on... maybe if they raised the price a nickel?"
I've also gotten into the habit of reading The Buffalo News on occasion, and their local news coverage is far superior. Their editoral section is better, and I'd say it's more broadly based in terms of opions expressed. Now granted, their a far more independent organizations, but shouldn't the D&C - founded by Frank Gannett - the former headquarters of one of the biggest newspaper companies in the world - be one of the best small market papers in the world? With our educated workforce, and with the proliferation of the internet and information, isn't there more that could be written that isn't included in the D&C already? I ask you!
Monday, August 22, 2005
Vegas trip, et al
Well, right after I posted that last weblog entry we got an announcement that the flight was delayed because of "bad weather in Chicago." Riiiiight.... let's see... thanks to the WiFi at the airport, and weather.com, I immediately checked the weather which was basically nice. So, immediately I knew United was lying to me. Oh well... perhaps I'd be spending the night in Chicago? We did get back on track about and hour-and-a-half late, and once on the place got the straight story. Apparently there were air traffic control problems. The captain added that is was windy in Chicago (imagine that!) and that they were only using two runways. But the real problems were technical. Add to that they had issues with an airshow that was being held over the weekend with a couple jets accidentally touching wings, and some pieces falling off, and that couldn't have helped.
Just one more comment about the flight, before I post the pics, but I decided to listen to the flightdeck through the headsets they give you. Very interested stuff. I don't know what many of the acronyms mean, but as we were flying over Buffalo, control said something wasn't working and the response from the plane was "Oh God!" Yeah. That's really what you want to hear!
Anyway, here's the photos!
First off... if you ever get the chance to drive from Rochester to Tucson a word of advice: DON'T. Granted, I guess it's better than being at work, but 15 hours of driving per day, stops for gas and generally mediocre food, and an aching back sure don't make for a fun time. I tried listening to local radio shows throughout the trip and ironically, some of the funniest stuff was heard as we were driving through BUFFALO. The rest of the country has something in common... here's a picture to give you an idea of what I'm talking about:
Yes people, that's purportedly the world's largest CROSS. The farther away from civilization you get, the more religion you drive by. There was one stretch where Rob and I counted a half dozen churches in probably only 30 miles. Not small churches, but these enormous houses of God. When we didn't see churches, we saw the following:
Yup, lots of billboards. I thought this one was particularly interesting. Fireworks and pancakes. How can you go wrong? The other picture came out really nice, and I think was taken while driving through New Mexico. Actually, that pic is much better than most of the rest of the ride. We had overcast skys from Rochester to just about New Mexico. It's just that the land was very bare.
Now, onto the more fun stuff. For instance, here's a couple pics of the strip from around New York, New York, and the Star Trek Experience:
That Star Trek Experience is amazing! Anyone who's a, um, nerd like me, will love it. If you're not a ST fan, you'll find this whole thing ridiculous. When you're standing in line to enter and a Ferengi pushes his way through the line to cut to the front, and think this is perfectly normal, you know you're a ST fan. I also got the obligatory picture of myself sitting in the captain's chair which I'll scan and post later. Also got to go into the Borg assimilation chamber, though I didn't get my picture taken in it. Oh yeah, and the Klingon ride is great, unless you get motion sickness easily. I do. Hell, I get sick reading in the car! But it was still really amazing. The Borg 4D thing was cool, but it seemed too short, or was generally lacking something. But I still highly recommend it. Even had a drink at "Quarks," though nothing with alcohol as it was AFTER the Klingon ride and I was still feeling like making my own gagh right on the bar.
More to come later!
Just one more comment about the flight, before I post the pics, but I decided to listen to the flightdeck through the headsets they give you. Very interested stuff. I don't know what many of the acronyms mean, but as we were flying over Buffalo, control said something wasn't working and the response from the plane was "Oh God!" Yeah. That's really what you want to hear!
Anyway, here's the photos!
First off... if you ever get the chance to drive from Rochester to Tucson a word of advice: DON'T. Granted, I guess it's better than being at work, but 15 hours of driving per day, stops for gas and generally mediocre food, and an aching back sure don't make for a fun time. I tried listening to local radio shows throughout the trip and ironically, some of the funniest stuff was heard as we were driving through BUFFALO. The rest of the country has something in common... here's a picture to give you an idea of what I'm talking about:
Yes people, that's purportedly the world's largest CROSS. The farther away from civilization you get, the more religion you drive by. There was one stretch where Rob and I counted a half dozen churches in probably only 30 miles. Not small churches, but these enormous houses of God. When we didn't see churches, we saw the following:
Yup, lots of billboards. I thought this one was particularly interesting. Fireworks and pancakes. How can you go wrong? The other picture came out really nice, and I think was taken while driving through New Mexico. Actually, that pic is much better than most of the rest of the ride. We had overcast skys from Rochester to just about New Mexico. It's just that the land was very bare.
Now, onto the more fun stuff. For instance, here's a couple pics of the strip from around New York, New York, and the Star Trek Experience:
That Star Trek Experience is amazing! Anyone who's a, um, nerd like me, will love it. If you're not a ST fan, you'll find this whole thing ridiculous. When you're standing in line to enter and a Ferengi pushes his way through the line to cut to the front, and think this is perfectly normal, you know you're a ST fan. I also got the obligatory picture of myself sitting in the captain's chair which I'll scan and post later. Also got to go into the Borg assimilation chamber, though I didn't get my picture taken in it. Oh yeah, and the Klingon ride is great, unless you get motion sickness easily. I do. Hell, I get sick reading in the car! But it was still really amazing. The Borg 4D thing was cool, but it seemed too short, or was generally lacking something. But I still highly recommend it. Even had a drink at "Quarks," though nothing with alcohol as it was AFTER the Klingon ride and I was still feeling like making my own gagh right on the bar.
More to come later!
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Vegas Trip Nearly Over
Well, I'm sitting here in the airport waiting to board my flight back to Rochester (via Chicago) watching folks get off the plane. I know this is a bass-ackwards way of posting about my Vegas trip, but unfortunately, I stayed at a, um, classic Vegas hotel which apparently hasn't figured out wi-fi for all the hotel rooms yet. Ironically, in the middle of nowhere in Missouri, I had BETTER access to wireless. But the Vegas airport seems to be doing quite well.
Anyway, as soon as I'm back in town and have a moment to reflect on this whole trip - including such exciting times as driving from Rochester to Tucson - something EVERYONE should do at least once - to driving from Tucson to Vegas, and then all the nifty stuff we saw, did, and ate. I wish I had carried my camera more, but it's a little too large to comfortably carry with me all the time. Guess it's time to pick up a new pocket-sized digital camera.
Anyway, we're boarding soon, so I'll post this and get some pics up later. Cheers!
Anyway, as soon as I'm back in town and have a moment to reflect on this whole trip - including such exciting times as driving from Rochester to Tucson - something EVERYONE should do at least once - to driving from Tucson to Vegas, and then all the nifty stuff we saw, did, and ate. I wish I had carried my camera more, but it's a little too large to comfortably carry with me all the time. Guess it's time to pick up a new pocket-sized digital camera.
Anyway, we're boarding soon, so I'll post this and get some pics up later. Cheers!
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Here's some pics from our big night, albeit without it going until like 4am (if you're a fan of foodie movies, you'll know the reference). Pics of Julie, myself, Chris, Rob and Chastity. This was the big fancy meal before our trip to Arizona. See how nice Rob and Chastity look together? And WHY exactly is he moving? Oh well... gotta get it out of his system I guess! Anyway, enjoy the photos below... and be sure to look for pics from our across country drive. I'm waiting to see if we have any interesting chase pics... running away from locals who want to lynch us, or local police who want to throw us in jail in return for massive bribes, and I'm sure the many beautiful places that make up America!
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Jason as Arbiter Bibendi, last quiz for Rob (at least for a while)
Below are pics from this past Monday's quiz over at the Old Toad. We did pretty well, something like 12 out of 20. We always think we should have more, but it's usually a crapshoot. If we're lucky, we guess right from time to time. Anyway, the pics below show Jason reading, Jason with the Toad's manager, Jules, Jason with the winner of the quiz, and a couple pics of the group... including a none too flattering pic of Rob and Chris which I think Rob will be demanding I take down! Of course, if he hadn't kicked my ass in poker during my bachelor party, I might consider it. But at this time, he's SOL. Then again, he did get me a bunch of really nice cigars... and we're going to Vegas next week (after driving to Arizona) so maybe he'll get crushed in REAL gambling.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Jason's link fixed...
Hmmmm.... well, i left off a "t" in Jason's blog address.... it should work now, if anyone's interested!
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Insert Title Here
First off, you HAVE to read my brothers first weblog entry. It's at jasongott666.blogspot.com. Really funny stuff. It's a run down of a recent interchange of emails between himself and this weird'o girl on Friendster. I think I started to create a Friendster page, but frankly, it requires a little more effort than I'm willing to put in these days. I think just doing occasional weblog entries is remarkable.
It's Sunday, around 12:45pm as I'm writing this. I just spent the last couple hours sitting in my backyard reading The New York Times as well as various pieces of the D&C. Joining me, my papers, and coffee, was a neighborhood mystery cat who hopped up on my lap for about an hour and purred. She was very friendly, and maybe I'll get a picture if she ever comes back. I think she's a Mainecoon cat, as she is very large, but looks like she could stand to eat a bit more. Then again, that's hard to judge as my own cat is so, um, mildly overweight!
I have to say, on days like this, it's nice to just sit outside and enjoy the outdoors - even if I'm just sitting on my ass reading the paper. Julie and I are thinking that next year's project will be having a stone patio installed in the backyard. Then, I'll extend the garden to be right up against the patio. We're also looking to add some privacy back there, particularly as our neighbor's house on the other side (not the new house next door) is kindof an eyesore. Big leafy bushes should take care of that, so long as I can thin out the trees hanging over the yard enough to let in at least two hours of light daily.
I'm sure there'll be plenty of progress photos as that project progresses. In the meantime, I think I'll head back out and get some photos. Of what? I'm not sure. But I haven't really gotten a lot of use of my digital camera. Of course, my bachelor party was last night, so I MIGHT have taken some pictues then, but of course not! Oh well... All I can say is, thank god we've hired a professional photographer for the wedding, or we might miss out on documenting it as well.
It's Sunday, around 12:45pm as I'm writing this. I just spent the last couple hours sitting in my backyard reading The New York Times as well as various pieces of the D&C. Joining me, my papers, and coffee, was a neighborhood mystery cat who hopped up on my lap for about an hour and purred. She was very friendly, and maybe I'll get a picture if she ever comes back. I think she's a Mainecoon cat, as she is very large, but looks like she could stand to eat a bit more. Then again, that's hard to judge as my own cat is so, um, mildly overweight!
I have to say, on days like this, it's nice to just sit outside and enjoy the outdoors - even if I'm just sitting on my ass reading the paper. Julie and I are thinking that next year's project will be having a stone patio installed in the backyard. Then, I'll extend the garden to be right up against the patio. We're also looking to add some privacy back there, particularly as our neighbor's house on the other side (not the new house next door) is kindof an eyesore. Big leafy bushes should take care of that, so long as I can thin out the trees hanging over the yard enough to let in at least two hours of light daily.
I'm sure there'll be plenty of progress photos as that project progresses. In the meantime, I think I'll head back out and get some photos. Of what? I'm not sure. But I haven't really gotten a lot of use of my digital camera. Of course, my bachelor party was last night, so I MIGHT have taken some pictues then, but of course not! Oh well... All I can say is, thank god we've hired a professional photographer for the wedding, or we might miss out on documenting it as well.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Wedding registry
Well, lo-and-behold! Our wedding is now less than three months away and we're sooooooo organized that we even have our wedding registry basically done. In fact, here's a link to them!
The first is at: www.crateandbarrel.com
The second is at: www.bedbathandbeyond.com
Feel more than free to go to either one of them and buy us something! Hey! I'm not against begging! I figure most people, however, are as lazy as me and will wait till the last possible second to even THINK about getting anything. Here's a friendly reminder that your friends Julie and Dave are getting married! And what better way to celebrate that than with a coffee maker? Or some nice China, perhaps?
The first is at: www.crateandbarrel.com
The second is at: www.bedbathandbeyond.com
Feel more than free to go to either one of them and buy us something! Hey! I'm not against begging! I figure most people, however, are as lazy as me and will wait till the last possible second to even THINK about getting anything. Here's a friendly reminder that your friends Julie and Dave are getting married! And what better way to celebrate that than with a coffee maker? Or some nice China, perhaps?
Sunday, July 31, 2005
New desk, nice garden, new house next door
Well, I can finally post the pics I wanted to. It only took about two weeks to figure it out. First of all, much to the delight of Julie - as my shit is no longer all over the floor - I have a desk! In fact, here's a picture of it:
Isn't it great? Well, maybe not great, but at least it's a lot better than what I WAS using - a two foot high side table that just barely held my monitor.
Additionally, I wanted to upload a few pics of our garden! These pics were taken a couple weeks ago, when the lillies still had flowers on them. They're in much sadder shape today, but that's why we take pictures!
So, without further ado, here's a couple images from the garden. I think the fact that merely one year ago there was only dead shit here, this is a HUGE improvement:
There are a few more images, but they're not as interesting. Unless you'd like to see pictures of my tomato plants, but I think if you've seen one, you've seen them all. Of course, the first are brandywine variety, which is a little esoteric as tomatoes go, so maybe once some of them start to ripen, I'll post those images here.
Last but not least, the new house next door. As you may know, when we bought our house, there was an empty lot next door. Everyone we knew said, "There's no way someone will build a house there! That lot is tiny! They'd be CRAZY to build a $120,000 house on a street of $85,000 houses!" Well, aparently, someone was out there who wanted to go against common sense, and built a house. Personally, I would have really liked to have grown all sorts of vegitables on the lot. I had planned to grow lots of vine plants there - zucchini and pumpkins mostly. Oh well... I just hope the neighbor is a reasonable person, or else up goes the 25 foot fence! Here's the house:
That's it for me for a little while.... gotta enjoy seeing all these lovely pictures posted online! Woo-hoo!
Isn't it great? Well, maybe not great, but at least it's a lot better than what I WAS using - a two foot high side table that just barely held my monitor.Additionally, I wanted to upload a few pics of our garden! These pics were taken a couple weeks ago, when the lillies still had flowers on them. They're in much sadder shape today, but that's why we take pictures!
So, without further ado, here's a couple images from the garden. I think the fact that merely one year ago there was only dead shit here, this is a HUGE improvement:
There are a few more images, but they're not as interesting. Unless you'd like to see pictures of my tomato plants, but I think if you've seen one, you've seen them all. Of course, the first are brandywine variety, which is a little esoteric as tomatoes go, so maybe once some of them start to ripen, I'll post those images here.
Last but not least, the new house next door. As you may know, when we bought our house, there was an empty lot next door. Everyone we knew said, "There's no way someone will build a house there! That lot is tiny! They'd be CRAZY to build a $120,000 house on a street of $85,000 houses!" Well, aparently, someone was out there who wanted to go against common sense, and built a house. Personally, I would have really liked to have grown all sorts of vegitables on the lot. I had planned to grow lots of vine plants there - zucchini and pumpkins mostly. Oh well... I just hope the neighbor is a reasonable person, or else up goes the 25 foot fence! Here's the house:
That's it for me for a little while.... gotta enjoy seeing all these lovely pictures posted online! Woo-hoo!
Friday, July 29, 2005
Fat cat
See my cat? Isn't she fat?
Actually, I don't want to pick on my cat, here, but I finally figured out what the problem was with uploading pics to blogger.... you need to have file extensions in the names so blogger KNOWS what you're trying to upload!
So, with that... let me try and do the weblog entry I WANTED to do in the FIRST PLACE!
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Blogger is annoying me
Well, this post WAS going to be titled: "New Desk, Nice Garden, New House Next Door" because I *thought* I was going to be able to upload picture via the new blogger images tool. However, each time I tried to upload images the thing would fail. I thought it might have been a problem was Safari, so I tried Explorer. Explorer sucks so bad that I didn't even see the icon for the image upload. Then I tried Foxfire. Foxfire got me the furthest without either crashing or just not letting me even have the option of uploading images, but the system still refused to take pics. I tried big file sizes, small file sizes and neither worked. UGH.
Yeah yeah, I know, I could just upload my pics to one of my regular websites, like, for instance, www.TrainingRochester.com, but then I have to take up my own space for pics that are supposed to be hosted for FREE on Blogger!!! I'd use my coin club website, but the folks who host it don't reply to emails anymore, so I can even access the server right now. AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Oh well... guess I'll just have to wait and try this again later when I'm less annoyed. I DO in fact have some very nice pics of my new desk, garden, and neighbors' house, but you'll just have to imagine them for now.
Yeah yeah, I know, I could just upload my pics to one of my regular websites, like, for instance, www.TrainingRochester.com, but then I have to take up my own space for pics that are supposed to be hosted for FREE on Blogger!!! I'd use my coin club website, but the folks who host it don't reply to emails anymore, so I can even access the server right now. AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Oh well... guess I'll just have to wait and try this again later when I'm less annoyed. I DO in fact have some very nice pics of my new desk, garden, and neighbors' house, but you'll just have to imagine them for now.
Monday, July 18, 2005
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Ah! Gotta get a scream out now and then. Things are sooooooo busy that I shouldn't even be writing this right now, but if I don't take a break my brain will explode. Granted, I just did the math on my training program and I'm feeling MUCH better as I wasn't sure how many course offerings we were going to have, but it looks like right now I have about 20 trainers offering about 130 courses. There might be more, or fewer than that, but it's about right.
Friday, July 08, 2005
Addendum
http://rochesterdandc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050708/BUSINESS/307080001
Harris RF/Communications to add 150 jobs in Rochester. Must say, this is all really good stuff. Now, hopefully, Infotonics will get some major projects we've been working on and we can add some additional good news to the local economic outlook.
Harris RF/Communications to add 150 jobs in Rochester. Must say, this is all really good stuff. Now, hopefully, Infotonics will get some major projects we've been working on and we can add some additional good news to the local economic outlook.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Disappointment
This past weekend was full of disappointment and, um, appointment? I had a great time this weekend at Conesus Lake. Julie's friend Don's parents have a lake house down there and we went for Ring Of Fire and fireworks. Spent most of the day there and had a great time! This was just before Don and Julie left for Arizona where Don is moving to take a job. Interestingly enough, I'm also going to do practically the same roadtrip with Rob Labowitz when he moves to Arizona.
Anyway, the lake was great. Also, the 4th of July was fantastic... other than a little rain. Went to Tim and Darlene Corio's place in the early afternoon, then spent the evening down at George's house. We ended up going to Highfalls to watch the laser lightshow and the downtown fireworks. Saw those from the roof of the Highfalls parking garage which was excellent!
And, prior to all this, had a fun night over at Rob and Chris' apartment for a little cookout on Friday night. Just your traditional hot dogs, hamburgers, et al. I also make an giant fruit salad and some jambalya. Everything got eaten, so it must have been good.
Now onto the disappointments of the past week. I think it all started at Schaller's, which I mentioned in the last post. Well, it extended into Saturday when I went to my 10-year highschool reunion. I have a bunch of issues with it. First, it cost $40 per person. Now, that's not terrible, but that's only when you think you're getting a buffet dinner. Um, well, they didn't make their numbers (in fact, weren't even close) so they cancelled the dinner portion. Oh, but no refunds! In fact, I got pulled into buy $10 worth of 50/50 tickets which they were selling to cover even more of the cost. UGH!!!! The food was pretty good, but not as advertised. They had a DJ who was TERRIBLE. He played all this music from the 70s and 80s... apparently confused that this was the class of 1995, not 1985.
The other thing that got to me was the people that were there. Other than about 5 guys (who all happen to still be in town, and I run into from time to time) the rest were folks I had little interest in speaking to. I would have hoped that some of the people I really enjoyed would have been there, but alas, they apparently had more important things to do. (Read that as: Jeff, Andy, Chris P., Karl, Larry, Ian, Chris N., Chen-Lin, Craig, etc., etc., etc.)
So, that was really a disappointment. Not to mention, the planning of the thing was marginal at best. I've done dozens of events in Rochester and I KNOW I could have done better. Granted, we're all busy, and working, but for $50 a person, I could have had an AMAZING party!
I think I'm going to plan a 13 year reunion... just for the hell of it. Very impromtu and with little overhead. If people want to come, they should come, but I'm not going to force them to send a check. Of course, an RSVP would be good, but nothing else. Guess I'd better start building a database of contact information soon. I'd bet I can collect a pretty accurate database of all the 1995 alumni even if that means doing individual searchs for folks on Google, or Anywho, or whatever.
Oh yeah, but before then, perhaps I'd better get cracking on getting my wedding invite list finalized! If Julie gets home from Arizona and I've done nothing, she will probably KILL ME!
Anyway, the lake was great. Also, the 4th of July was fantastic... other than a little rain. Went to Tim and Darlene Corio's place in the early afternoon, then spent the evening down at George's house. We ended up going to Highfalls to watch the laser lightshow and the downtown fireworks. Saw those from the roof of the Highfalls parking garage which was excellent!
And, prior to all this, had a fun night over at Rob and Chris' apartment for a little cookout on Friday night. Just your traditional hot dogs, hamburgers, et al. I also make an giant fruit salad and some jambalya. Everything got eaten, so it must have been good.
Now onto the disappointments of the past week. I think it all started at Schaller's, which I mentioned in the last post. Well, it extended into Saturday when I went to my 10-year highschool reunion. I have a bunch of issues with it. First, it cost $40 per person. Now, that's not terrible, but that's only when you think you're getting a buffet dinner. Um, well, they didn't make their numbers (in fact, weren't even close) so they cancelled the dinner portion. Oh, but no refunds! In fact, I got pulled into buy $10 worth of 50/50 tickets which they were selling to cover even more of the cost. UGH!!!! The food was pretty good, but not as advertised. They had a DJ who was TERRIBLE. He played all this music from the 70s and 80s... apparently confused that this was the class of 1995, not 1985.
The other thing that got to me was the people that were there. Other than about 5 guys (who all happen to still be in town, and I run into from time to time) the rest were folks I had little interest in speaking to. I would have hoped that some of the people I really enjoyed would have been there, but alas, they apparently had more important things to do. (Read that as: Jeff, Andy, Chris P., Karl, Larry, Ian, Chris N., Chen-Lin, Craig, etc., etc., etc.)
So, that was really a disappointment. Not to mention, the planning of the thing was marginal at best. I've done dozens of events in Rochester and I KNOW I could have done better. Granted, we're all busy, and working, but for $50 a person, I could have had an AMAZING party!
I think I'm going to plan a 13 year reunion... just for the hell of it. Very impromtu and with little overhead. If people want to come, they should come, but I'm not going to force them to send a check. Of course, an RSVP would be good, but nothing else. Guess I'd better start building a database of contact information soon. I'd bet I can collect a pretty accurate database of all the 1995 alumni even if that means doing individual searchs for folks on Google, or Anywho, or whatever.
Oh yeah, but before then, perhaps I'd better get cracking on getting my wedding invite list finalized! If Julie gets home from Arizona and I've done nothing, she will probably KILL ME!
Friday, July 01, 2005
Miscellaneous
I sure hope I spelled "miscellaneous" right... that's one of those words I frequently get wrong. Man, what a month it's been! (June that is) I don't know about you, but I'm feeling pretty optimisitic about Rochester, the economy, and even that damn fast ferry.
I live probably 5 minutes from the boat, and was up at the pier with Julie a couple days ago. Got ice cream over at Abbots and then walked to the end of the pier. It's a damn shame that of the millions of dollars spent at the port, they haven't fixed up that walkway. There were thousands of people up there that night, and while the quality of the pier probably didn't really detract from everyone's experiences up there, it would have been really nice to show off a brand new pier and boardwalk - especially for the out-of-towners who are using the ferry. Now, I'll give the city its props - they did do a beautiful job with the port itself, and the park and the boardwalk along the beach is really nice. But that darn pier could just use a makeover! Even if they just ran a new layer of asphalt over the thing, that would make it a nicer walk.
Julie and I ended up going the next night up to Schaller's on the lake, and I have to say, I was disappointed. I seem to have better memories of Schaller's, but the food was too greasy and the ice cream couldn't compete with Abbot's, Don's Original, Tom Wahl's, or even Corkey's! Oh well, guess it was a learning experience. I just hope Julie and I can spend some time on the Irondequoit side too up at Don's et al, and even go to Marge's. I haven't been there many times, but just to be able to have a drink and sit on the beach is really nice. Hopefully we might even be able to do that before she leaves with her friend Don to go to Arizona.
While I'm talking about "miscellaneous" stuff here, has anyone else noticed all the good economic news in Rochester lately? Just a quick recap: Bausch & Lomb building a $35 million R&D center in the city, and adding 200 jobs. UNYSIS is relocating about 200 to Monroe County and adding another couple hundred. CooperVision is building a new distribution center and adding a couple hundred jobs. Xerox is building a $25 million manufacturing plant and adding about 50 jobs. And Kodak hasn't concurrently made an anouncement that they're laying off, oh, say, 5000 local employees. I just keep waiting for that hat to fall and rain on our economic-prosperity-parade.
It's a damn shame that Kodak isn't reinventing itself in a way to make it a more widely sought after consumer brand. They sold off remote sensing to ITT which has really paid off (this should have been listed above- ITT is transferring between 200 and 400 temporary people to Rochester for at least one-year assignments). ITT has retained about 1700 former Kodakers and added a couple hundred since then. Hopefully Kodak's move into commercial printing will pay off. Also, it's good to see that Kodak is the number one digital camera sold in the US. But it's still not enough to make up for the huge margins associated with film! I don't know what the answer is (which, if I did, would mean I should be running Kodak), but I would hope someone over there is reading Brand Hijack by Alex Wipperfurth. I think it's an EXCELLENT marketing book with a message Kodak should embrace.
Last miscellaneous thing to mention here? Well, Javelin is doing well - with our training program, our contract with Infotonics, and our other various activities. We had a great story in the paper on an MOU we facilitated getting between Infotonics and Brookhaven National Lab. And there's some other good press we should be getting in the near future.
Other than that, wedding plans are nearly complete. Anyone have any suggestions on an officiant?! That's kindof an important piece of this whole wedding that neither of us has been able to resolve! I wonder if Gap Mangione could do it after he plays piano at the cocktail hour?
I live probably 5 minutes from the boat, and was up at the pier with Julie a couple days ago. Got ice cream over at Abbots and then walked to the end of the pier. It's a damn shame that of the millions of dollars spent at the port, they haven't fixed up that walkway. There were thousands of people up there that night, and while the quality of the pier probably didn't really detract from everyone's experiences up there, it would have been really nice to show off a brand new pier and boardwalk - especially for the out-of-towners who are using the ferry. Now, I'll give the city its props - they did do a beautiful job with the port itself, and the park and the boardwalk along the beach is really nice. But that darn pier could just use a makeover! Even if they just ran a new layer of asphalt over the thing, that would make it a nicer walk.
Julie and I ended up going the next night up to Schaller's on the lake, and I have to say, I was disappointed. I seem to have better memories of Schaller's, but the food was too greasy and the ice cream couldn't compete with Abbot's, Don's Original, Tom Wahl's, or even Corkey's! Oh well, guess it was a learning experience. I just hope Julie and I can spend some time on the Irondequoit side too up at Don's et al, and even go to Marge's. I haven't been there many times, but just to be able to have a drink and sit on the beach is really nice. Hopefully we might even be able to do that before she leaves with her friend Don to go to Arizona.
While I'm talking about "miscellaneous" stuff here, has anyone else noticed all the good economic news in Rochester lately? Just a quick recap: Bausch & Lomb building a $35 million R&D center in the city, and adding 200 jobs. UNYSIS is relocating about 200 to Monroe County and adding another couple hundred. CooperVision is building a new distribution center and adding a couple hundred jobs. Xerox is building a $25 million manufacturing plant and adding about 50 jobs. And Kodak hasn't concurrently made an anouncement that they're laying off, oh, say, 5000 local employees. I just keep waiting for that hat to fall and rain on our economic-prosperity-parade.
It's a damn shame that Kodak isn't reinventing itself in a way to make it a more widely sought after consumer brand. They sold off remote sensing to ITT which has really paid off (this should have been listed above- ITT is transferring between 200 and 400 temporary people to Rochester for at least one-year assignments). ITT has retained about 1700 former Kodakers and added a couple hundred since then. Hopefully Kodak's move into commercial printing will pay off. Also, it's good to see that Kodak is the number one digital camera sold in the US. But it's still not enough to make up for the huge margins associated with film! I don't know what the answer is (which, if I did, would mean I should be running Kodak), but I would hope someone over there is reading Brand Hijack by Alex Wipperfurth. I think it's an EXCELLENT marketing book with a message Kodak should embrace.
Last miscellaneous thing to mention here? Well, Javelin is doing well - with our training program, our contract with Infotonics, and our other various activities. We had a great story in the paper on an MOU we facilitated getting between Infotonics and Brookhaven National Lab. And there's some other good press we should be getting in the near future.
Other than that, wedding plans are nearly complete. Anyone have any suggestions on an officiant?! That's kindof an important piece of this whole wedding that neither of us has been able to resolve! I wonder if Gap Mangione could do it after he plays piano at the cocktail hour?
Thursday, June 09, 2005
I LOVE WIDGETS!
This is the greatest thing in the history of mankind! Ok, not really, but it is definitely cool. Or, um, cool for people who are interested in this kind of stuff. Apple amazes me yet again, this time with the built-in program Dashboard. I emailed David Benesch about getting a widget that would allow me to simply add content to a blogger web log, and low and behold, one exists! This sure makes it easier to post stuff.
As you can see below, I'm an infrequent poster to my own blog - for any number of reasons. However, I think the main reason is that the blogger interface sucks. There are too many steps, and it's slow in actually publishing material to the site. Using this Dashboard widget allows me to forego going onto the blogger site and just click "post" to get stuff online. SOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier.
Now this'll put a little more pressure on me to actually post more frequently, but I've got plenty of stuff going on that should be of interest - wedding, Julie, house, cat, job, numismatics.
What I need to figure out now is how easy it is to post pictures using the Dashboard interface. If that's as easy as posting text, then I'll be in good shape.
As you can see below, I'm an infrequent poster to my own blog - for any number of reasons. However, I think the main reason is that the blogger interface sucks. There are too many steps, and it's slow in actually publishing material to the site. Using this Dashboard widget allows me to forego going onto the blogger site and just click "post" to get stuff online. SOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier.
Now this'll put a little more pressure on me to actually post more frequently, but I've got plenty of stuff going on that should be of interest - wedding, Julie, house, cat, job, numismatics.
What I need to figure out now is how easy it is to post pictures using the Dashboard interface. If that's as easy as posting text, then I'll be in good shape.
One more test before I'm done!
Well, wanted to try this once more, basically to show off to my dad who is standing next to me that Dashboard is a great tool.
Let's try this widget!
This is a test of the blogger widget that I've added to Dashboard on OSX Tiger.... hopefully it works and I set it up right!
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Pralines
Trying something new... making pralines! If you've never had one of these sugary concoctions, you're missing out! Now, this is my first attempt, so god only knows if they'll come out right, but they LOOK right. Now they just gotta cool, and hopefully they'll taste as good as they look. The recipe came from the High Calorie Cookbook (one of the greatest cookbooks ever) by Leonard Louis Levinson. The book is noted for it's collection of famous recipes from long-gone restaurants mostly from New York City and around France. Ever hear of Lindy's? Well, if not, I'll have to make the Lindy's cheescake just so you can see what a cheesecake is all about! Being in a household with a baker means I don't often get a chance to bake, or make desserts, but since I had some time, why the heck not? I can always bring the rest into Infotonics for people to sample.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Post Josh Visit
Well, the money's all gone and the food is consumed and Josh is back in Atlanta, so how did things go? Let's see... Dinosaur as always was great. I think we spent about an hour waiting for a table, but it was a little complicated as we were a group of seven - not as easy to seat as six. But the meal itself was great. I almost always get the same thing, Cuban Platter with some sort of sides. This time around, they had a special veggie side that I ordered, only to find they didn't have it. So they put this carrot thing on my platter as a side and offered me another one (so I got fries). Well, let me tell you, if they ever have these honey glazed carrots as a side again, say YES! They were fantastic!
Next day was the Public Market for breakfast, and as always, very tasty. We did end up going to Nick's for plates that evening, followed by bowling at this little place in the city with two alleys, one above the other, and a nice bar. Following the men's humilation (it was boys vs. girls) we all drove over to Phillips for dessert. Mmmmmmmm...... Phillips!
Sunday we got off to a late start and got to Highland Park Diner around 10:30 or so. Josh and Rob each had the Highland Skillet, Julie had the belgian waffle with strawberries and sweet cheese, Chris had SOMETHING (but I don't remember what it was!) and I got the corned beef hash with poached eggs, potatoes and toast.
That night we did a dinner at home with Josh (just the three of us) to kindof recouperate from all the feasting. It was an okay meal - not up to my standards - mainly because of this lousy chicken we had. This was the smallest chicken I've ever cooked, apparently. Looking at it, you'd have thought it was ok... but ultimately, it was mostly bones. Oh well!
Otherwise, I think it was a successful weekend! We did end up throwing away Josh's old Overdale candy bag, but also got to enjoy all sorts of other goodies. Anyone who attended any of this want to comment?
Next day was the Public Market for breakfast, and as always, very tasty. We did end up going to Nick's for plates that evening, followed by bowling at this little place in the city with two alleys, one above the other, and a nice bar. Following the men's humilation (it was boys vs. girls) we all drove over to Phillips for dessert. Mmmmmmmm...... Phillips!
Sunday we got off to a late start and got to Highland Park Diner around 10:30 or so. Josh and Rob each had the Highland Skillet, Julie had the belgian waffle with strawberries and sweet cheese, Chris had SOMETHING (but I don't remember what it was!) and I got the corned beef hash with poached eggs, potatoes and toast.
That night we did a dinner at home with Josh (just the three of us) to kindof recouperate from all the feasting. It was an okay meal - not up to my standards - mainly because of this lousy chicken we had. This was the smallest chicken I've ever cooked, apparently. Looking at it, you'd have thought it was ok... but ultimately, it was mostly bones. Oh well!
Otherwise, I think it was a successful weekend! We did end up throwing away Josh's old Overdale candy bag, but also got to enjoy all sorts of other goodies. Anyone who attended any of this want to comment?
Friday, February 25, 2005
An exciting evening tonight!
Getting all set for an exciting evening/weekend. Our friend Josh Liller is coming to Rochester for the weekend to take his NYS Teachers Certification exam on Saturday. So, as a result, we have a weekend of eating and drinking planned. Here's the agenda so far:
Friday, February 25, 2005:
Pick up Josh at airport around 5pm and take him to the house. Why? To prepare for...
DINOSAUR BAR-B-CUE!!! Woo-hoo! I love that place. I'm thinking of getting a Cuban sandwich (pulled pork, ham, pickles, and sauce... Mmmmmmm!). Of course, their ribs are amazing... their half-chickens are amazing... EVERYTHING is amazing.
Following that, I'm not sure what we're going to do... maybe back to our house... maybe over to Shannons... we'll figure that out.
Satuday:
Early morning start... over to the Rochester Public Market for empanadas and coffee. Then, I think I'm driving Josh to Brockport to take the test.
Dinner... plates. Maybe Nick's, maybe Mark's... then Phillips European for desserts! Woo-hoo! I can feel my gut growing from all this excess! (oh wait, we're not done yet!).
Sunday:
Breakfast at the Highland Park Diner. Why? The Highland Skillet of course! We're talking about a bowl, lined with fried eggs, filled with sausage gravy and homefries, and served with buttermilk biscuits. Add some hollandaise sauce if you don't want to make it to Monday.
Lunch? Probably not.. what we're thinking is, skip the lunch and around 2 or 3 o'clock go to Corkey's Craving Parlor for ice-cream. While it is true Josh can get ice cream in his new adopted home of Atlanta, Corkey's successfully combines low prices with excess. That's $3.75 for more ice-cream than I can eat in a single sitting. But that's why this is lunch!
Dinner - probably something late, and probably at my house, as there's only so much someone can do in one weekend.
Hmm... i seem to be missing something. Dinosaur - check. Phillips - check. Highland Diner - check. Corkeys - check. Garbage Plates - check. Empanadas - check. Well, if I am missing anything, I'll be sure to post it here once we're done with all this gluttany. Check back later for details and maybe pictures? (noooo!)
Friday, February 25, 2005:
Pick up Josh at airport around 5pm and take him to the house. Why? To prepare for...
DINOSAUR BAR-B-CUE!!! Woo-hoo! I love that place. I'm thinking of getting a Cuban sandwich (pulled pork, ham, pickles, and sauce... Mmmmmmm!). Of course, their ribs are amazing... their half-chickens are amazing... EVERYTHING is amazing.
Following that, I'm not sure what we're going to do... maybe back to our house... maybe over to Shannons... we'll figure that out.
Satuday:
Early morning start... over to the Rochester Public Market for empanadas and coffee. Then, I think I'm driving Josh to Brockport to take the test.
Dinner... plates. Maybe Nick's, maybe Mark's... then Phillips European for desserts! Woo-hoo! I can feel my gut growing from all this excess! (oh wait, we're not done yet!).
Sunday:
Breakfast at the Highland Park Diner. Why? The Highland Skillet of course! We're talking about a bowl, lined with fried eggs, filled with sausage gravy and homefries, and served with buttermilk biscuits. Add some hollandaise sauce if you don't want to make it to Monday.
Lunch? Probably not.. what we're thinking is, skip the lunch and around 2 or 3 o'clock go to Corkey's Craving Parlor for ice-cream. While it is true Josh can get ice cream in his new adopted home of Atlanta, Corkey's successfully combines low prices with excess. That's $3.75 for more ice-cream than I can eat in a single sitting. But that's why this is lunch!
Dinner - probably something late, and probably at my house, as there's only so much someone can do in one weekend.
Hmm... i seem to be missing something. Dinosaur - check. Phillips - check. Highland Diner - check. Corkeys - check. Garbage Plates - check. Empanadas - check. Well, if I am missing anything, I'll be sure to post it here once we're done with all this gluttany. Check back later for details and maybe pictures? (noooo!)
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Nothing too interesting
I'm writing this with Woody Allen's voice in my mind... mainly because I'm sitting here listening to guitar great Django Reinhardt who is featured in so many of Allen's films. But to describe it in that way really puts a lot of pressure on me to write something that somehow compares, and considering my writing is in general fairly wretched, I'm not going to try!
So, it's been a while, and there's not a whole lot of news to report. My wedding planning is nearly done. Julie has been fantastic - making sure everything actually happens! I would probably still be thinking about location if it weren't for her! Basically we've got everything but flowers confirmed. Oh, and we need to work on our music playlist. And we still need to pick what meals there'll be. I'm thinking a beef filet, chicken french, and swordfish (possibly grilled?).
The music should make for an interesting experience. I'm a fan of techno, electronica, that sort of stuff... which Julie can't stand! On the other hand, she's a big 98PXY fan. I know there'll be some compromises, but I've got to have at least one Beastie Boys song played that night!
Now she's standing here reading as I type, so I better be careful! (Just kidding!) Though I must say, the cookies she's eating right now look awfully tasty... maybe she could share?! Hmmmmm... the words "fat chance" come to mind!
Well, I'm being kicked off... I have tons of stuff to write about, but I'll just have to wait till tomorrow. Cheers'
So, it's been a while, and there's not a whole lot of news to report. My wedding planning is nearly done. Julie has been fantastic - making sure everything actually happens! I would probably still be thinking about location if it weren't for her! Basically we've got everything but flowers confirmed. Oh, and we need to work on our music playlist. And we still need to pick what meals there'll be. I'm thinking a beef filet, chicken french, and swordfish (possibly grilled?).
The music should make for an interesting experience. I'm a fan of techno, electronica, that sort of stuff... which Julie can't stand! On the other hand, she's a big 98PXY fan. I know there'll be some compromises, but I've got to have at least one Beastie Boys song played that night!
Now she's standing here reading as I type, so I better be careful! (Just kidding!) Though I must say, the cookies she's eating right now look awfully tasty... maybe she could share?! Hmmmmm... the words "fat chance" come to mind!
Well, I'm being kicked off... I have tons of stuff to write about, but I'll just have to wait till tomorrow. Cheers'
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