Happy 4th

Man, what a busy weekend it's been - and it's only Sunday morning! Today is Steve Brown's wedding - so that'll be how I spend most of my afternoon. But Friday night we went out to dinner with some of Julie's friends, and I ended up going to Cisso for cigars with Marty McCarthy - the husband of one of Julie's best friends. Sat out on his deck and smoked, chatted, generally had a good time. Saturday night was also spent at their house - did a cookout, and played euchre. Monday the 3rd we'll be at Conesus Lake for what should be the last hurrah at Don's parents' lake house (currently listed for sale). Damn, it's $245,000 - way too much for me today, and it's kindof a hole, but it's still a great spot. Someday...

The 4th is also really busy, going to Tim and Darlene's for their annual 4th of July party, which is always a bunch of fun, with lots of great food. I also want to try and set aside some time to catch Yankee Doodle Dandy on TV. It's a GREAT movie, and worth watching. Done in 1942 and starring James Cagney, he's an AMAZING performer, acting out the life of George M. Cohan, renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer and singer. Cagney makes you realize how much talent actors used to have - when they were more than just a name and face. This guy (much like other greats, like the Marx Brothers) could do it all. If you get a chance - watch this movie.

Had a wig for his wig and a brain for a heart

There's a great video on YouTube.com right HERE that you've got to check out. Very funny stuff!

So, what's new and exciting?

Baby stuff
Baby's next ultrasound is right around the corner! There seem to be a lot of people who're pregnant these days. Or maybe I'm just noticing it more. One thing I was asked today by one of the folks I work with at Infotonics was, "Are you going to find out what it is?". She is also pregnant, and while she'd like to know, her husband wants it to be a surprise. Julie and I are going to find out at that next ultrasound. It'll make it way more fun preparing the nursery for our little arrival! But Julie also made an interesting comment about someone she knows being really pissed off that we weren't taking the "surprise" route. In short, this person's take was, "Well, what fun is it if you already know?!" We're basically of the opinion that it's the actual BABY that's the exciting part. Not some weird ritual of guessing whether you're going to have a boy or a girl. Are we gambling on this or something? Setting up a pool with co-workers on boy or girl, weight, length, and whatever else there might be?

Anyway, I still haven't posted the pics from the first ultrasound, and by the time I get a chance, we'll probably have the second ones done!

Work stuff
Lots of interesting stuff going on at work, and it looks like little Javelin will be growing. I've been pushing to pick up an expanded contract with ITC, and it looks like it's going to happen. In that case, I'll probably need another person to join me and Claire in this little adventure. I just hope I can find someone who's happy to work for money, and not really REALLY needing health insurance. I just got a packet from Paychex about the cost of health insurance, and damn is it expensive! Now, if we went with Preffered Care, it's not terrible, but the offerings from the Blues are maybe 25-30% higher in monthly premiums! The other thing I may do is start offering a 401(k) plan, but that's $1500 up front to set up and frankly, I think I'd be happier WITH the $1500.

Misc. stuff
It's been exciting times from Kansas City Royals fans! We're on a roll - winning 8 of the last 10 games. They're going to blow it tonight in Cinncinnatti, but considering how dreadful their away record is, I'm just happy they won yesterday's game. They've improved their record to 25-50 (though, after tonight, 25-51) which is bad, but it's better than it was looking a month ago.

Other misc. stuff? Well, the trees finally came down in the backyard. Holy smokes, what a difference! There's actually LIGHT in the back now. There's a couple more trees that probably should have been taken down too, but maybe that'll be for next year. Next up - we get some new landscaping to give us some privacy in the backyard. I'd love to fence off the whole thing with a natural fence - but considering we're probably only going to be in this house another 3 years, it's not worth it. The only big ticket items left to do as far as I'm concerned are the glass block windows in the basement. That, and installing my new kitchen sink fixtures, and one new ceiling fan for the living room.

Well, that's it for now. I'm sitting outside and the mosquitoes are really starting to bug me. A nice glass of scotch will finish off this night!

Cold Stone Creamery

Just wanted to say a fast word about Cold Stone Creamery. I've never been to one of these before, and as Julie and I drove back from seeing her dad in Conesus, we decided it was a perfect day for icecream. We'd been driving around with the top down in 90 degree weather, so I think we were both ready for some ice cream. I had some reservations about going to Cold Stone. The big one, however, was Julie said how unimpressed she was with one of them out west. We decided to go there anyway, just for something different, and let me tell you, it was amazing! I got this one mix called Cookie Doughn't You Want Some - or something like that - with vanilla ice cream, big chunks of cookie dough, chocolate chips, chocolate sauce and some caramel sauce. Wow. Really tasty stuff. Unfortunately, I bought the "medium" size, and ended up tossing about a third of it. Next time I'll be sure to get the small.

After a major disappointment at Corky's Cravings Parlor, this is definately a good one to add to my list of "to-do's" over the rest of the summer. For some reason, Corky's was staffed the other night by a bunch of drug addicts. Either that, or just idiots. They didn't know how to use the soft serve machine, and it was at least 3 to 5 minutes to process each order. With the group of us comprising about 7 people, that meant some folks were finishing when others were just getting their ice cream. Really pathetic for a place that those of us who lived in the Overdale/Luzerne Street area really came to enjoy. I'll probably give them another shot later in the summer, once they've had some time to get their act together. But in the mean time, I'll be sure to enjoy Cold Stone Creamery again!

UPDATE: Gargoyles live!

Or, in theory they do. No, not like the gargoyles of the TV series - voiced by our favorite Star Trek actors, but the ones from the Elwood Builidng which was razed in the 60s.

I asked local historian and Rochester Numismatic Association member Gerry Muhl if he was familar with the Elwood Building, and more specifically, the gargoyles that sat atop it. Well, lo and behold, not only did he know about them, he'd even SEEN them on display! Apparently, the City took ownership of them following the razing of the building and did indeed put them into storage. They were later put on display, though I don't recall where, and then put back into storage. Gerry believes that they now are boxed away either near City Hall or at a storage facility on Andrews Street near the Rochester Fire Department's main building.

So, I'm getting closer to solving the mystery (albeit, apparently, not too difficult of one to solve it seems.) Gerry also suggested that I contact Ruth Rosenberg-Naparsteck to see if she's familiar with them and knows where they are. I may email her tonight to try and figure out what happened to them. Of course, the next question is: what to do about it? According to Gerry, the gargoyles are actually tin, which says to me after all this time, brittle. But maybe there's a way to still display one somehow? Not like I wanted, on top of my garage, but maybe on permanent display somewhere? I mean, are you telling me, there isn't a single building in say, all of downtown Rochester, that doesn't have space in their lobby for a permanent display of a historical item such as one of these gargoyles? Of course, I'd feel sorry for the other 14 or so that would stay locked up in storage crates somewhere, but if they weren't going to fall apart, I wonder if they could be added to a new building? I'd even be willing to say if I win the MegaMillions, I'll be sure to build something downtown that incorporates the rest of the gargoyles!

So, maybe the next step in my quest is to get some actual, up close pictures of the gargoyles? That'd be pretty cool - failing walking off with one! (LOL)

Wine and Friends

I was browsing on WineBid.com tonight looking at some great california cabs when it occurred to me that I have no one to enjoy wine with. By that, I don't mean someone who will just drink wine, but someone who will really appreciate it. Of course, this is in the post-Henry era. We both were really into wine - and now I'm kindof screwed. And with Julie not drinking with the pregnancy, that means I can't even justify opening a great bottle, cause I'd have to drink it all myself - and that's no fun. Fortunately, I really like scotch too - and can drink a little of it at a time - and there're a few of my friends who are big scotch people. But no wine people!

Henry bought a bunch of wines a couple days before he died, and while we'll drink them, and enjoy them, it won't be the same. I could probably call family friend Don Yungkurth - a BIG wine fan - and I may just have to do that! I hope he won't mind drinking really good burgundies and zins. So, maybe I need to find a couple new friends who can just be my "wine friends"??

Gargoyles

Anyone who knew Henry knew that he was into some weird shit. For example, for some reason he had this desire to place a large gargoyle on the roof of the garage. Specifically, from Design Toscano, he was particularly interested in purchasing Apex - the Winged Dragon". In fact, so enamored with Apex, he suggested he buy one for Julie and me! Needless to say, when I showed Julie the Apex - the Winged Dragon her first reaction was, "What the hell?!" Followed by something like, "Can't he just give us the money? Or maybe buy something we could actually use?" Well, sorry, but no. That wasn't his way! How many winter jackets did he buy me that I didn't need? How many winter jackets did he buy that HE didn't need?!

Well, I kindof dig the Apex gargoyle. It's kindof cool, and I wouldn't mind having one perched on the roof of my garage! (Though, Julie would probably kill me - and shoot the dragon.) And what got me to thinking about this had absolutely nothing to do with anything. I'm considering downtown office space. I like Highfalls, and I like the Highfalls building, however we never heard from them when we basically said we'd do it - so that kindof turned me off. I also REALLY like the idea of having a balcony. This is due in large part to my love of "Boston Legal". If I'm going to put in long hours, and run a business, I want a balcony I can sit on and occasionally smoke a cigar and drink a nice glass of scotch. Well, here's the problem with living in Rochester - no downtown buildings have balconies. Or, at least, I can't seem to find one. The closest thing is the Powers Builidng tower. There's balconies on a couple of the levels, and I can imagine myself sitting out there! (Oh, the other one is on top of Kodak tower, but the smoke from a burning cigar probably would interfere with the falcons flying around).

Again, this has nothing to do with gargoyles! Well, here's how we come to them. I was looking for pictures of the Powers building tower and came upon pictures of the Elwood Building. This building was torn down in 1967 in the name of progress. What drew my interest were the large gargoyles that sat atop this builidng. According to the Monroe County Library's history site, "there were originally 16 gargoyles. However, one was removed in 1962 for fear that is was going to break free and fall to the street below."

When they tore down the building, the site states that "the gargoyles, however, were taken down and put into storage." So, what happened to these lovely fellows? I'm sure there are some local historians out there that know, and I know a few of them, so next time I run into them, I'll ask. It's interesting that they saved them at all, considering how bad "urban renewal" was for downtown. So much was lost, and tossing the gargoyles wouldn't have been any less crazy than telling bird collectors (those who collect stuffed birds) that they'd better go south and shoot Ivory Billed Woodpeckers while they still can - before they go on the endanged list! (Yes, this actually did happen, albeit prior to 1967. What better way to save a species than to SHOOT it.)

So, my new mission is to find these gargoyles and put one on my roof. Maybe not the most meaningful mission in the world, but I'm SURE Julie would just LOVE one of these on our roof.

Kansas City Royals Beat the Yankees?!

I am an on-again, off-again KC Royals fan. Over the past several years they've gone from bad to worse to good to bad, to more bad, to really bad and now really REALLY bad. We're talking 11 wins and 35 losses bad. Of course, before last night, they were 10 and 35 - having just beaten the NEW YORK YANKEES last night. WTF? We lose to everyone else under the sun - except the Indians - and now they have the audacity to beat the Yankees? And this after they blew a 6 run lead against Detroit a couple nights ago to lose in the 9th inning - something we expect to see as KC fans.What's next, beat the Mets in interleague play? What does Buddy Bell think he's doing? Now those of us totally resigned to a crappy crappy year have been given hope, of sorts.

OK - they won ONE game, not exactly a huge accomplishment. But then again, if the can beat the Yankees, why can't they beat some other quality teams? I guess I shouldn't complain, KC starter Scott Elarton got is first win (now a whopping 1-5 with a 4.76 ERA) so that's positive. And it was nice to see that it was Jason Giambi blowing it for the Yankees. (I wonder if his post-game interview was laced with inuendo about steroiods?)

Now we've got a shot at an actual WIN STREAK this year. The best they've done is a three-game streak against the Indians, which again, gave fans a slight bit of hope, but this recent 14 game losing streak really was amazingly bad. I'll be watching the YES network later today, cause, well, I'm just a glutton for punishment.

UPDATE: KC lost 15 to 4 to the Yankees today. Guess there's no streak. Oh well!

Dad & Baby

Well, as nearly everyone who knows me or my family knows, my dad passed away on May 9th. I don't know if I'm ready yet to post some sort of big memorial piece here, but I might at some point. It's been great how supportive everyone's been, however. For those who are interested, yes, I'm keeping Javelin going. We recently changed the name to The Javelin Group, Inc., and I'm adding Claire Kenney part time on June 5th, which will be a great help to me. And in the middle of June we might be adding one other person. That'll bring Javelin up to three. Ideally, we'll have enough work coming in here that we can even bring some others on.

On a VERY happy note, Julie and I are having a BABY!!! Yes, we did it! Our tentative due date is December 13th, but that's probably going to change. When I get a chance, I'll want to scan the ultrasound pics and post em' up here. It was AMAZING to see the baby for real. That just totally blew me away. We told both families and now I'm at liberty to spread the news around, so there it is!

Otherwise, just keeping busy and will post a lot more stuff up here in the not-too-distant future. Check back!

What a great line!

I have to post this quote from today's (4/23/06) issue of the New York Times. It's from a story entitled, "To Hire Sharp Employees, Recruit in Sharp Ways." Essentially, it's a story about how the best employees already have jobs - jobs they probably also like. So, there's a great line in here which made me laugh, cause it's so opposed to the way Rochester works. John J. Sullivan, a management professor at San Francisco State University (ok, not exactly Harvard or Standford, but let's ignore that credential for a moment, shall we?) - a critic of traditional hiring practices states, "It's amazing that so many companies still use job fairs to recuit talent. Who goes to job fairs? People without jobs! All you get are worthless resumes and lots of germs. Recruiting has to be a clever, fast-moving business discipline, not a passive, paper-pushing bureaucracy."

The job-fair is the answer to all our problems in Rochester - or so the "thought leaders" believe. Job fairs and business planning contests are the most innovative ways to solve our problems, so they'll say. That, and spending lots and lots of money with these self-proclaimed thought leaders on their pet projects which do nothing more than pay for their travel expenses and make them feel like a saviour-in-out-midsts. Of course, ask them five-years from now for a report on all their successes, and you'll get nothing but spin, and the real outcomes will be slight-to-immeasurable.

Of course, in the same story, the director of talen acquisition for Quicken Loans (one of the fastest growing companies in the US) states, "We're after certain kinds of people, not people from a certain business.... We can teach people about finance. We can't teach passion, urgency and a willingness to go the extra mile." Don't tell that to another Rochester-institution that has based it's entire marketing strategy on the "We teach... passion" campaign!

DC Pics

OK! FINALLY I can post some pics... here's on the roof of our hotel:





Here's the little church across the street from the hotel (the President was there on Sunday morning for services... I would have actually have gone to church if I knew!)



And here's a shot from the FDR memorial...



More shots of the monuments at night coming...

Blogger

You know, you'd think it wouldn't be rocket science from Blogger to just work. I mean - all I want to do is post text and the occasional picture. Well, I'm sitting here attempting to upload some images from our recent trip to Washington, DC. I wrote a whole section and then attempted to upload the images. It didn't work. Each time, the screen went white after doing the spinning upload thingy. So, I thought, "I'll try using Firefox rather than Safari... maybe that'll make a difference." Nope. Still can't post images. I think I'm going to just say fuck it and try to move to a different blogging program. If Google can't get something as simple as image upload to work on a regular basis, then we should all be worried (but ESPECIALLY all those people out there owning Google shares at $300+ each.)

The Simpsons (for real!)

As many of you know... I am a huge Simpson's fan. In fact, I probably know more about The Simpson's that I should... having seen every episode - multiple times - and having an uncanny ability to speak along with the lines as various episodes play. I am also a pseudo news junkie... albeit not as big as these guys. I actually seed all sorts of articles on Newsvine - thanks to Brendan who got me into the beta. It's live and open to the public now.

Well, anyway, checking Newsvine today, got me this link. It's The Simpson's opening with real people! VERY well done!

Sick AGAIN

Well, I don't know what the heck is going on, but I am sick again. This time, it's gotta be the flu. Fever, aching, sneezing, congestion... all that good stuff. In fact, I felt so bad this morning, I had to stay home from work today. I HATE doing that - especially when it's YOUR business... and if you're not there, no one else will pick up the slack. To add to all that, mom and dad are in Tucson, and I wasn't able to get to their place tonight to feed the kitties. Fortunately, Jason was able to stop over there and feed them. I just hope that tomorrow morning I feel great - so I can get to work.

Aren't Communications Great?

So, it's just before 11am (eastern time) in Rochester, NY and I get a call from Brendan in Seattle. He's heading up to take the ferry from Anacortes to Orcas Island - presumably to do some camping. He's calling me to get the ferry schedule from the Washington State Department of Transportation website. Of course, I have no problem finding what we're looking for, and I let him know that the weekday schedule is different from the weekend schedule, and that they can stop speeding to catch the 8:30 ferry... cause the next one they want isn't until 10:00am.

In reflecting on these events, it's really amazing how far communications have come. That a person in Seattle can phone a person in Rochester - with no long distance charges - and that the person in Rochester can tell him the ferry schedule in Washington State. Now, with the right technology, Brendan could have found this info himself - with a blackberry, or laptop hooked up to a cell phone, or whatever - but it's still interesting. Fifty years ago - hell, TWENTY years ago - none of this would have been possible. He could still have called me, but rudimentary cell phone plans would have probably charged him $20 or more just to make the phone call. Then, I'd probably need to go looking through stacks of papers to find the schedule - assuming I have one - and then hope that it's not out of date!

Just an interesting observation. Up next? Flour City Tavern Tour 2006!!! Just gotta sit down with George and finalize our route. This year's going to start on Monroe Avenue, it appears, probably at Monty's Krown or Jerremiah's Tavern. Jerremiah's would be good for beer and food to start... and then go to the Krown. From there, it's a LONG walk to anywhere... except Enright's... and unless they miraculously add 5 or 8 new taps with excellent beers on them, that'll be a pass. The old Tom Thumb restaurant is good if you're looking to get drinking at 8am, but beyond that it's not really up to tavern-tour expectations.

Once the route is down, then come the t-shirts. In fact, this weekend I'll probably try and pull together the graphics so it's ready to go. Then it'll only be like $10-12 per shirt.

Cheers'

The sickness!

Oh me' miserum!

Actually, today I'm feeling much better. The past three days have been a pain in the ass, to say the least. Last night, however, was by far the worst. While I did enjoy a good drug induced sleep - I also spent most of the evening huddled on the sofa in my livingroom shivering with fever. Today is better, but I'm also taking a hell of a lot of cold medicine which is keeping me mostly "normal." Still have a nasty cough, congestion, watery eyes, and a general feeling of malaise, but it's not terrible. The objective is to get healthy enough to do two things tomorrow that I've been looking forward to - smoking a cigar at Havana Moes, and going to the Knighthawks game. Why am I looking forward to this? Well, Julie also happens to be in Arizona this weekend - lucky to be away from my sickness! So, I was planning on doing things that she wouldn't normally like me to do (other than the lacrosse, which is good... it's those cigars that aren't viewed too highly.)

I was also planning on eating smoked chubs and cooking a big pot o' tripe - two other things Julie can't stand - but I don't think I could stomach it either right now. Hopefully one more night of sitting on my ass, watching TV, and relaxing will get me back to normal.

Wedding pictures posted!

Well, it's only been three months, but the wedding pictures are FINALLY posted. Go to www.pictage.com, register online, and look up "Gottfried" in the find an event section. There'll you find a few hundred photos from the wedding! Lots of good ones... some not so good! Check em' out for yourself!

Dave's New Car Redux

Well, looks like I'm not only days away from the new car coming! Talked to the dealership today and they're sending it over now. I still gotta make up my mind on the various options I want - but I think I know what I want. Basically, I want to add fog lights and a subwoofer sound system. I'd LOVE to have a moonroof too, but it's not an option on this model. Which is strange, considering it's a four-door... and they offer it on other models. But, alas, at this time, there's no moonroof option. Perhaps at some point I can have a hole cut to make one... but not now! It also comes with a navigation system which is really cool. No more getting lost!

The best part is - no more Audi issues. The latest round was the fuel pump died. How is this possible? Why did it die AFTER I went in for my 60,000 mile service? Of course, I'm turning in my car with 5000 extra miles on it - and they'll probably screw me with damage charges. It would just round out the experience of dealing with Audi, which has been terrible. All Audi needed to do to keep me happy was pick up a lease payment once. But they didn't. So I'll never buy another Audi again. They actually called me the other day to discuss my Audi experience... but it was a voicemail message. So, it's unlikely that I'll call them back. What could they possibly do to make me happy now? And why would THEY care? I've already purchased the next car... and it's not an Audi. Oh well.

This will also make Julie very happy on several accounts. First, the car is not leased but purchased. So I actually get to own something! Second, it's automatic, so she can drive it! Third, it's not an Audi, so hopefully it won't have all the technological problems. Every time I drive her around, that damn front turn signal goes dead and the warning light goes off! She then tells me what a POS the car is! (I have to agree - this car shouldn't have this many problems for the price!!!!)

So, hopefully before the week's end, I'll have tons of pictures of the new car. Yay!

Buffalo - The Real Deal

One of my hobbies is reading The Buffalo News. While it seems every Western New Yorker loves to blast his or her town's local newspaper, really, The Buffalo News ain't half bad. After sitting here drinking my Sunday morning coffee, and reading the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle , and feeling rather unfulfilled about it, you come to realize the Buffalo News in comparison is a pretty good paper - even if I'm too lazy to go to Wegmans and buy an actual copy of it, and instead opt for the online addition.

Anyway, there's a great commentary in today's edition by Donn Esmonde: A few words say it all about Buffalo. Apparently, he held his own little slogan contest to see what readers could come up with for Buffalo. The winner? Buffalo - The Real Deal. Quote, "It's tough-minded, to the point, matter-of-fact. It says this is an authentic place . . . We are what we are, and proud of it. It's smash-mouth football. Chicken wings at the corner tavern. Beers and kielbasa. It's not glitz and glamour, but the authentic America that has been lost in so many places." I have to admit, I really like it too. It also capitalizes on the nation's latest infatuation with poker! Naysayers undoubtedly will complain that the slogan should be negative - pointing to Buffalo's need for a state board to manage it's finances - but those assholes don't get it. Comming up with a city slogan should identify something POSITIVE. EVERY community has bad stuff.... but how can you set your city apart, even with something as insignificant as a slogan?

I think "Buffalo - The Real Deal" is about a BILLION TIMES BETTER than "Rochester - Made for Living". Notice the difference between these two three-word slogans? One kindof hits you - makes you wonder about what might be there, and possibly makes you want to visit. The other conjures up images of schools, suburbs, and soccer moms. Um, that's not a place I need or want to visit. Rochester has so much more going for it, and to have spent thousands comming up with "Made for Living" is an embarrassment. Donn's effort shows how community involvement can usually result in better outcomes than the efforts of our city "thought leaders." Oh yeah, and what did this contest cost Donn? A $100 restaurant gift certificate.

Monroe County State of the County

I'm sitting here listening to Maggie Brooks give her "State of the County" address... so far, sounds pretty good. I like how she started off with economic development. Under her term so far, I would descrive her committment to economic development as, "lackluster," at best. Frankly, you cannot have a successful economic development effort without a (ugh - wait - need to pause - she just honored Gabe and Gene Dalmath for helping the zoo... ugh...)

Anyway, as I was saying, you can't have a economic development effort without a full time director of economic development. And, while she isn't hiring that person, at least she's discussing economic development as a high priority. I think that Terry Slaybaugh is great - but he cannot be all things in this administration, and Maggie needs to bring in a dedicated economic development director. Her idea of the entrepreneurial institute is a good one - and, I like the folks who are going to run it. (Won't mention who that is yet, until it's officially annonunced).

Now she's talking about MCH. "What to do about MCH," is the topic! LOL - they must seriously consider the outright sale of the hospital to an outside company. That's what she says. And at the very least, outsource the administration and staffing. Rob - what do you think? She says it's "an important community asset".... you agree? The time for debate is over - and stresses out the families and healthcare staff. She's appointing a permanent finanical review board to have a fiscally sustainable hospital. Her pledge: "MCH will not be closed, sold, or privatized.... end of discussion, end of debate." Cool beans. (Again, Rob, your thoughts?! LOL)

Long term financial condition of the County.... ongoing fiscal challenges..... last two years: we've been able to keep MC deficit free. The 2006 budget will do so as well. She's proud of all this (as she should be... it's very tough to do). OK... side note.. Jean is sitting in the audience eating something... STOP CHEWING! HAHAHAHAHAHHA.

Well, apparently 2007, 2008 and beyond are a budget gap of $102 million. Yay! We must address this, this year - while we still can.

OK... now she's mentioning that we need to keep the services we have... don't start throwing old people into the streets... wages for County workers is flat... health care coverage is still good, and saved taxpayers money on a continuing basis.... look at vacancies to see if they're necessary jobs.... new contracts are in place with the majority of the unions with about 2% increases in wages - way beneith most other counties.... lots of other savings... but one area that needs scrutiny - high caseloads and welfare - responsible for a lot of the deficit. County is responsible for all this, yes, and should do a better job at administering the welfare programs. Onondaga County is doing it better than we are - and saving money.

UGH... ok... gotta stop typing this stuff. Basically, good speach, and given well. Didn't hear any boos from the Democrats in the audience, and John Richardson looks great sitting there in the audience - undoubtedly wishing he were doing what I am - watching this on TV and drinking wine!

The Today Show

UPDATE: We were FINALLY on the show! Yay! We had about 15 seconds of "fame"!


For those who may not have caught it, Julie and I (though, Julie got quotes and a picture printed) were in the D&C last Monday. You can find that story HERE.

Well, apparently, The Today Show saw the story on the AP, and thought it would be fun to do a piece on this story. So, this past Friday afternoon our living room was turned into a mini recording studio! There were lights, cameras, and just a little bit of action. They spent about two and a half hours - interviewing us, shooting us making cookies, looking through photos, and walking through the woods outside our home.

According the the producer who did the interview with us, the spot will run this Thursday at 8:10am on Today. So, for those of you with TiVo... be sure to set it! I'd LOVE to post a link to the video, assuming someone saves it for me. I also should get some good screen captures from Scott Fybush who'll be sure to save a copy. Now we'll have to wait until Tuesday to find out if they might fly us down to actually be on the show LIVE... but that would just be icing on the cake. Right now we're happy to be on a national television show. I'll post more when I've got stuff to show!

Rochester Ferry - RIP (for now)

Well, the agonizing debates over whether or not the ferry from Rochester to Toronto is a good thing is over - and the ferry lost. Apparently there were a host of reasons why this thing failed - from a lack of experienced people in developing a plan, to the wrong boat size, to a total disinterest from the Canadian's, and a whole lot more.

As someone who was involved in the initial lobbying campaigns for the funding to do this project, here are a couple of my observations. First, CATS founder Dominick DeLucia was one of the slickest fast talkers I ever met. This was a guy who
"graduated first in my class at Simon School - or maybe second". Well, um, which is it? Either it was first or it wasn't... you can't even answer THAT question honestly? In his presentations to UNICON, the Chamber, City Council, the County Leg, and the State delegation, everything was very VERY fast, and very rosey. The numbers looked great, and why shouldn't they? He was looking for $15 million in state funding and loan guarantees!

The various delegations should be taking a big piece of the responsiblity for this failure - they valued union votes over fiscal responsibility, and they didn't use their staff to evaluate the plan. It was the unions (particularly the construction unions) who were really pushing this thing. In fact, I even developed an email e-advocacy campaign where people could send in their letters of support for the ferry to the delegation members! Well, just because lots of people support something, doesn't mean it's a good idea! What if I had a million people support building a giant swastica downtown? Would that mean we should fund the thing? They might STILL have supported it, but given the state had no further comittment to seeing this thing succeed (read: subsidy) they must have known deep in their gut that this was doomed to failure. Ever ride the ferry's in Seattle? They're not luxury, and they're not profitable... they're necessary means of transportation that is state subsidized. The fact is, the State and the Canadian government should have partially subsidized this thing as a mechanism to increase cross-border tourism - and with some simple math, could have figured out the long term benefits. But the state was "broke" and the Canadian's government is equally disfunctional as our own.

On the other hand, i LOVED the ferry. It was a great ride, and I WISH it could have worked, but it sounds more and more like we pulled another bush league move and allowed this thing to be managed by people we knew nothing about (CATS) and later run by a board of people who's real responsibilities lay elsewhere. Why oh why did they put all those City Council members on that board?! Didn't these people have a CITY to run? Couldn't they have brought on some sort of administrator who's single responsibility was seeing that this ferry company as AT LEAST RUN WELL?

If anything, this just proves that (a) City Council members really have very little to do and (b) they're not very good at doing real work when given the chance. Now obviously, the Mayor is also responsible for pushing City Council around - but it's not like that's hard to do with a group as weak as they were (I say "were" because we're finally seeing new people in City Council). And I applaud Karen Noble Hanson (did I just write that?) for her comments in the latest article about the lack of information given the ferry board. I also chide Gladys Santiago for saying everything was a-o-k and that they were given ample information. Gladys, you can stop kissing Johnson's ass now - he's gone - better start sucking up to Duffy or else you might be out of a "job".

Now, I hope that Duffy does something to give the city a real boost. Consider - we can still bond out money to do stuff, so long as the residents want them to! Why not bond out $11.5 million anyway and do a bunch of really nice public works? It shows a tangible comittment to the city, and it makes everyone feel better after this ferry fiasco. Considering all the good things going on downtown - Troup-Howell bridge, Sagamore on East, Corn Hill Landing, Paetec Park, Renaissance Center development, and a host of other things, including the exciting developments in loft apartments, bars, clubs, and restaurants - the City SHOULD take on some more debt to add to all this excitment and make people feel really good about downtown again.

My FIRST suggestion? Take some money and put up a sign across the old McGrory's building on Main Street that shows what's going to be built on that sight - even if it's only conceptual. Residents - and visitors - need to know that exciting stuff is happening in the City, with Renaissance Square being the most anticipated. I think that would be a step in the right direction to giving city residents a psychological boost. And while we're at it, spend some more on City cops to make our streets safer - that too would be a huge bonus to the area.

Just my two- no, six- no, twelve, BAKERS DOZEN, cents!

US Census numbers posted

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!"

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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?

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!

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!

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...

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:

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.

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.

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.

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?!

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.

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

Jason's link fixed...

Hmmmm.... well, i left off a "t" in Jason's blog address.... it should work now, if anyone's interested!

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.

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?

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!