Fuccillo Hyundai

I can't stand it anymore - and it's only been two months. Fuccillo Hyundai commercials are insanely bad. Not just bad, but insideous. Part of the problem is that they're on all the time. Frankly, if this guy from Syracuse wants to pump thousands of advertising dollars into the local economy, that's great. I don't mind our region walking away with this guys money - particularly from Central New York, an area not exactly known for economic prosperity (OK..OK... Rochester isn't that much better, but this was Smugtown, afterall... so I'm going with it.) In fact, I've got to guess that the amount of dollars spent on advertising is almost a wash - given the relatively low margin on the sale of a new car. But how many years do we need to see this same crap on TV, again and again?

Let me be perfectly clear.... I will NEVER buy a Hyundai. I don't care if it was third in initial quality behind Porsche and Lexus. And what the heck IS initial quality anyway? Well, here you go:

"IQS measures a broad range of quality problems, heavily weighted toward defects and malfunctions, quality of workmanship, drivability, human factors in engineering (i.e. ease of use) and safety-related problems. Among these categories, the area that accounts for the greatest product improvement since 1998 are defects and malfunctions, down from 61 PP100 to 40 PP100. Further, those that are related to safety show a 44 percent improvement—from 25 PP100 down to only 14."

What does that mean? It means that Hyundai's cars have few problems up front. How many problems 3 or 5 years from now? God only knows. Maybe none. Maybe lots. I'll admit, the initial quality of my Honda Civic is a lot better than my Audi A4. But while I love the Honda... uh... it's a HONDA. I have images of Principal Skinner after the "H" on his Honda was stolen, "That's how they know it's a Honda!"

I drove my dad's Audi TT a few weeks before we turned it back in, and after that the thought crossed my mind that I'd made a horrible mistake with the Honda. It's not nearly as fast as the TT or the A4. It'd doesn't have the same overall solid feel. There was no moonroof option. It's automatic. It also gets 45-50 miles-per-gallon, which is fantastic. But if I make a million dollars, guess what... I'm buying a Porsche. And not because John Holtz ran a million annoying commercials every hour, or because Porsche has the highest initial quality ranking.

Why No IKEA in WNY?

I'm sitting here at Spot Coffee, enjoying my latte, and reading a NYSTAR grant and my mind starts to wander. I go to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle's website, and read the following story about Walmart opening in Victor, maybe.

So, I've got to ask myself, why another Walmart in the Rochester area? OK - I've supported a new Walmart at Northgate Plaza, mainly because it's such a shitty plaza and desperately needs something. ANYTHING. But then I got to thinking about the economics of WNY, and Rochester in particular. Why, in Victor, around Eastview Mall, where the RICH PEOPLE shop, do they need a Walmart? There's a Target already, and a K-Mart, and a million other stores. So, why does WNY fail to attract other interesting retail?

Here's my specific quandry... why no IKEA here? I mean, we've got a half dozen universities here with probably 30 or 50,000 students. We're almost eqidistant from Buffalo and Syracuse, and much of the Southern Tier. There's plenty of money here, and the region, including all the above, is probably what? 5 million people? So, why are is the only IKEA store in NYC? On LONG ISLAND, no less. And there's another one coming to Red Hook in Brooklyn. Are you telling me that the entire Western New York region couldn't support one of these?

I'm sorry, but even with all the bitching and moaning we hear about Rochester's terrible economy, frankly it could be a LOT worse. Go to Youngstown, Ohio for a visit, and then tell me Rochester is doom and gloom. Rochester is a well-off, smaller metro area with close proximity to other metros who's citizens who drive here to go to an IKEA. Maybe that would make more sense for Northgate Plaza, or even better... Eastview Mall, with easy access to the Thruway. Hell, even downtown would be OK. But why major retail chains still ignore this area, I can't quite figure out.

The Cheesecake Factory recently announced it's comming to Buffalo's Walden Galleria. I checked online to see if it's coming here, and no, it's not. But the question I ask is, why not? Are you telling me the like 5% higher population drove that decision by TCF to locate there? I hate to brag, but Rochester is simply a way better city than Buffalo. We have a broader mix of companies, a friendlier "feel", and a stronger economic outlook. Maybe these big corporations just aren't doing their homework, but it seems like a real missed opportunity to constantly overlook WNY.

And now for something completely different...
The music on the sound system at Spot when I got here was the band It's a Beautiful Day, and their song "White Bird". ( Here's a review and brief history.) I have NEVER heard this song on the radio, or out in public before. I asked the girl behind the counter, and apparently it's XM, and in the morning they play esoteric stuff. She wasn't familiar with the band, but liked it. I gave her the background about California Sound, and the band name and song title... but I really never expected to hear that song in public. Much like going to California Rollin' and hearing Snake River Conspiracy on their CD player... just something you don't expect every day!

Zillow.com

Wow, what a neat site. It's one of a few property valuation sites on the internet. What's really cool is it uses Microsoft's satellite visualization program (as opposed to Google's googlemaps, or google-earth). I might be wrong (no I'm not) but for the first time, I really like something Microsoft developed. Not that it's more fun to use than Google Earth (because it's not!) but the quality of the images is WAY better. Now, I've seen image quality using JPEG2000 from Kodak that you wouldn't believe, and so far, this is the closest thing I've seen. OK - I haven't really checked to see how they get these images... it might be Pictometry low-level flyover data, rather than satellite data, but it's really really high quality, and from multiple angles. I prefer Google Earth's navigation system, but I would hope Google would update the quality of the close up images - much like the Microsoft system uses.

I also really like Zillow.com. Here's a link to our house: RIGHT HERE. As you can see, nice closeups of the property, from multiple angles, showing much higher resolution than Google Earth/Google Maps. The property valuations also are really accurate - at least for my street - as assessed value and market value are about the same. Granted, we've done a TON of improvements to the house, and there's more on the way (like new windows throughout the house, and new insulation, and MAYBE *if business is good* a new master bathroom) so I would hope our property is worth more than $86,848 assessed value - but that's still more than we paid for it by a couple grand. After watching "Flip That House" about a million times, it's a damn shame we can't expect to recapture all that value. Frankly, we have a wonderful little home, which should be very desirable as a starter home for some other family, assuming we stay on track and move out in another 3-5 years. I'm actually sitting outside on my stoop while I write this and was noticing that the house could also use a new exterior paint job. Maybe if Jim (Julie's dad) really does replace the windows throughout the house, we'll invest in repainting the whole place. I bet it would look fantastic in a color other than "wimpy white," which is what I'd classify it as right now.

Next year I've got all SORTS of projects I'd like to have done - including finishing up the landscaping in the backyard, and maybe a new privacy fence in back? And it'd be nice to have a little patio built out back where we could put some nice outdoor furniture - and maybe the grill - so we could entertain back there. And I still want to replace the basement casement windows with glass block. It's very secure, and way more insulating than what we've got down there right now. Little things include resealing the driveway next year (as a good preventative measure) and repainting the front stoop. The top of the chimney also needs a little work, and the paint up there needs to be scraped off. Some people would hate all this stuff, but frankly, I think it's kindof fun. I think of this house as an investment in my families future - meaning, hopefully we'll have enough into it to have one hell of a nice downpayment on a future home.

Well, that's all for now. The Bills play the Jets in about 20 minutes. Lets go BUFFALO!

FIRE!

Well, we had some excitement this evening. Julie and I were sitting upstairs and noticed a smokey smell coming from outside. I figured, "Well, it's cool outside, and someone must have lit their fireplace!" Yeah, well, it wasn't to be. No, instead, it was some kids who lit a tree on fire. I was downstairs starting to make dinner when a firetruck comes down the street! Went outside, and directly across the street there's a tree with several squirrel holes and smoke pouring out of them. Needless to say, this was enough excitement to get the whole street to come outside and check out what was going on. In a matter of minutes they had the fire put out and were gone.

I saw the dumb ass kids coming out of the woods shortly after we first noticed the smell. And if our neighbor hadn't been driving by, and noticed it, god only knows if someone else would have called the fire department! I just wish I had my digital camera so I could have taken some pictures to post online. I guess you'll just have to use your imagination.

The Fog of Dave

As I sit here writing this, I'm kindof in a fog. No, not a nice alcohol induced fog, but rather a strange, unbalanced, dizzy fog. Apparently I have something wrong with my head (um, yeah, there's a nice opening for someone). For the past week I've been walking around in an unsteady haze. It gets better from time to time, but it's making it really hard to concentrate on anything for prolonged periods of time. I'm hoping it's some sort of inner ear infection, and that it'll go away soon. I'm going to my doctor tomorrow - which guarantees it'll be gone tomorrow morning - but I'm going anyway. Hopefully it's just that, and nothing more, but we'll see tomorrow.

Otherwise, things are going pretty darn good. Work is busy but constantly interesting. Submitted another SBIR a few weeks ago thanks to Claire being in the office. And now I'm looking at starting another company with some help in a pseudo medical endeavor. Found a very interesting niche that isn't really being addressed, and I'm hoping there's a business there. Gotta start talking to the right group of potential collaborators to see if they're interested in pursuing this futher. Javelin itself has got a lot on its plate, and I'm still hoping that things get to the point where I can hire at least one full time person and a part-time paid intern.

On the baby front, I can't believe we're less than 3 months away! The hard parts of the room are done, and now it's just a waiting game until the furniture comes in. According to Simon's Baby Furniture, it's getting close. That's good to hear - and it's nice to see we've nearly paid the stuff off. Man, my dad would be like, "What the hell are you doing?! Buying all this new furniture? Are you NUTS?!" But, we at least bought stuff that can transition with our daughter as she gets older. For instance, the crib converts to a toddler bed, which later converts to a full size bed. It's really nice furniture, and I think it's sufficiently "girly" enough so that as she gets older, she won't think it's too "kiddy" or cheap. Let's hope so... then again, dad would add here, "She's bound to hate anything you buy for her... especially as she gets older."

Julie had to work a 16-hour shift last night, and apparently it was OK. But these long hours definitely are taking their toll. I'd love to tell her she can just quit her job! Hopefully some of these big business deals will actually happen and we can consider it. But right now, it sure is nice having health insurance! ("Um, sorry honey, but you'll have to deliver the baby at home, uh, without any painkillers, or doctors. Oh, who needs doctors?!")

That's about it. Guess the only other interesting stuff is that I've finally edited my MySpace page. Yes, yes, I know. MySpace sucks. Or, more generally, MySpace is used by a certain demographic that I am not a member of. But, considering the number of people who use it, I might as well have a minimally updated page which actually drives traffic back to my regular web log. That's where the action is!

OMG - "Black & Tan" is INSENSITIVE!

I'm just sitting here finishing up a container of Haagen-Dazs "Sticky Toffee Pudding" ice cream, and decided to google it to see if there'd be any reviews. I couldn't find anything, but in the process, discovered a website called 2dips.com which appears to post on current events in the ice cream industry. Well, at the top of the page is the following about one of my favorites from Ben & Jerry's - their Black & Tan:

"I like the look and idea of this ice cream (even if Ben & Jerry's had to apologize for the name). I also like the execution, from the Black & Tan cow, to the cream stout "head," to the good looking scoops. It's a good taste. Not great, but still pretty good. It's not really a typical Ben & Jerry's flavor to me because there's no chunks of anything inside. I like the mix overall, but I wouldn't eat a lot of it; it works for what it is."

So, I appreciate this guys review - it's the "apologize for the name" part that I couldn't understand. Until I read this article. What the hell? Here's a snipit from the article, Black and Tan was "the nickname of a notoriously violent British militia that operated during Ireland’s war of independence." The article adds, "The Black and Tans, so-called because of their two-tone uniforms, were recruited in the early 1920s to bolster the ranks of the police force in Ireland as anti-British sentiment grew. They quickly gained a reputation for brutality and mention of the militia still arouses strong feelings in Ireland."

Ok, Ireland? Listen up. Get a fucking grip. This is god damned ice cream, and you KNOW what it's in reference too. BEER. Not some militia of British thugs from the 1920s for cryin out loud. The fact that the MENTION of the militia still "arouses strong feelings in Ireland" is proof enough that Ireland must not have enough going on. I mean, they ought to just start committing mass suicides right now. The fact that this ice cream is so insensitive is reason enough to kill yourself. Sure, sure... Ireland is apparently now one of the richest countries in the world. But instead of building mansions, buying expensive cars and LCD TVs and the like, the Irish spend their time stewing about some thugs from an era that most participants of are dead. Here's the kicker from that article, I guess written by bored Irish people:

"“I can’t believe that Ben & Jerry’s would be so insensitive to call an ice cream such a name and to launch it as a celebration of Irishness ... it’s an insult!” wrote one blogger on www.junkfoodblog.com. “I hope they don’t try to launch it here in Ireland or I imagine they’ll lose a lot of their fans.”"

Yes - fans of ice cream will be so upset about a flavor that clearly shows beer on the label, that they might get confused and think it's about British thugs. Especially an ice cream that isn't sold in Ireland. Damn... how insensitive! Now if they had only made "Ben & Jerry's Waffle-SS" or perhaps, "Ben & Jerry's Luftwaffe"? I mean, granted, "luftwaffe" just means "air force" and could just as easily mean British Luftwaffe, American Luftwaffe, and the like... but I mean, come on... wouldn't that be a great ice cream flavor? Or maybe "Ben & Jerry's Little German Chocolate Swastikas"?

Flip This House!

I was just watching Flip This House - a TV show on TLC. People buy houses that need massive renovations and then turn around and sell them for $100,000-150,000 more than they paid (give or take). So, I was just watching this one house makeover. They paid like $550,000 for this small shithole (I don't know what city it was in... i only caught the end) and they went ahead and listed it for $749,000. This house was like 2000 feet, with a tiny yard, and really nothing special.

I'm thinking, "$749,000 is a lot of money. I wonder what I could buy in Rochester for $749,000?"

Well, here's an example. This house is listed at $750,000:





It is 7000 square feet on over 4 acres of land. 4 bedrooms, 4 full baths. 3.5 car garage. This is a fucking mansion. Or, I can buy a tiny shithole for $550,000, OR EVEN BETTER buy a FORMER total shit hole for $749,000. OK - I appreciate wanting to live in nifty areas, but give me a break. Give me the mansion over the shithole EVERY TIME.

Just for shits and giggles, here's another example. It's in Webster, right on the water. 3600 square feet. 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 3 car garage, and brand spanking new:





Again, PLEASE let me buy a $750,000 mansion here in town than a tiny, 2000 (or smaller) square foot piece of SHIT. Literally, we're talking SHIT here. I don't fucking care if it's god damn downtown Las Vegas. I don't care if it's some fake-ass Laguna Beach "paradise". Other major metros who suck their own dicks cause they're soooooooo cool? Fuck you.

Baby room!

Well, the painting is done, and Julie and Mark put up the border today... and it looks GREAT! Here's some pictures of the room - as you'll see, there's still a LOT to do. Tomorrow I'll hopefully take down the tape from around all the moldings, and generally give the place a good cleaning. Then on Tuesday we're supposed to have the floors refinished. And I might even get the new blinds and window sconces up tomorrow. I'm also attaching below a picture of the little music mobile we got which matches the bedding - which matches everything else!






And, on a totally different topic, here's my stereo system - in all it's glory! From top to bottom - Dynaco FM-3 Tuner, Dynaco Stereo-70 Amplifer, Dynaco PAS-2 Preamplifier, and a NAD CD player. The top 3 units are all at least 40 years old and utilize the warm, analog sound of vacuum tubes. Don't ask me which tubes are in there, cause I don't know off-hand, and would either have to open up the cases, or find my receipts from when everything was rebuilt. Actually, I JUST got the PAS-2 preamp. My old one was DEAD - and not worth repairing, considering I bought the new one for a mere $150, which is a great price. I love the sound now of this system - now if I only had a great AM tuner, and maybe a record player... I might take the one from my mom's house if she doesn't care - but I'm also out of space... so I can't do it just yet. Oh yeah, and the dark image is the rack without the flash... hopefully you can kindof see the tubes glowing - especially in the amp. Ideas for a good AM only tuner would be appreciated.... Scott Fybush - there must be a tube HD AM tuner out there somewhere... right?

New Post

Wow - I've been delinquent in my blog posting! So, what's new and exciting? Well, this past weekend we started the process of converting our extra bedroom into the nursery. So far, we've taken out all the furniture, and relocated what we could into the office - essentially making it the spare bedroom. Actually, it looks pretty good! We took out my office desk and tossed it (it was subsequently picked up by folks today... along with the dresser we tossed). We moved the surviving bedroom furniture into the room and then have started by painting the ceiling. This weekend, we paint the walls in two sections and measure out where room border is going to go.

Last weekend we also went to Simon's Baby Furniture and Juile's mom got us the crib, matress, and bedding. I THINK she also bought us the double wide dresser... but I can't recall exactly. Then we added to that some odds and ends and a very nice glider, or rocking chair. It's got a nice high back, and eventually will make a really nice piece of furniture in our living room. Then, following that, I think we paint the trim around the ceiling, and that should finish the room. I'll take some digital pictures and post them here - maybe a before and after.

Oh, we also got some very nice landscaping done over the past couple weeks. In fact, I'm writing this from the comfort of my newly re-designed backyard. Well, maybe that's a stretch... but it does look awfully nice. A very large branch from a big black walnut tree in the backyard broke off last week and of course landed right on top of the new landscaping... but after a couple hours of cutting, it's been removed and the plants seem to be no worse off for wear. Had a very nice time sitting back here with Tim Corio - smoked a cigar, drank some scotch - and of course attacked some very tough political issues. I miss having really good political conversations! Tim and I had just left the 50th wedding anniversary party of some mutual friends, and afterwards decided we needed booze. Afterward, we went to Dinosaur Barbecue for a bite to eat. Going to Dinosaur at 9:30pm on a Sunday night is GREAT! We got a parking spot on the Court Street Bridge practically in front of the door, sat right down, and had our food in no time. I might have to do that again!

It's a.....

Just got back from the latest ultrasound, and I'm proud to announce Julie and I are going to be the proud parents of a little GIRL! More to come... cheers'

Web design, anyone?

I need a website. I registered a URL a while back, www.javelin-group.com, and it's just a placeholder at the moment. However, I want something that expresses what Javelin is about - that basically, we work to build relationships for our clients that result in new sources of revenue. Of course there's simple stuff to include - past clients, links to various resources, contact information, yadda yadda yadda... But I also want it to LOOK good, and have some things built into it that create a reason to regularly visit the site. Concurrently to this, I want to redo the website for the International Photonics Commercialization Alliance which again, was created by me on the cheap, er, free. There's several more tools to add to the site which can drive revenues back into the organization and decrease its reliance on government funding as well as continuing to offer membership for free.

So, I need a web designer who's cheap. I think I might have one.... just need to talk to him again and see if he's still available to do it. But I'm also up to suggestions if you know anyone who might be able to pull something together on a fairly tight budget. Email me or post a comment if you have suggstions.

Best Cigar.... Ever

No, not really, but as I'm sitting here enjoying a pre-embargo cuban, I've come to realize that I can't smoke anything marginal anymore. Why bother? I went to Cisso a few weeks ago with the husband of my wife's best friend (say that 10 times fast). What a great place! For the price, I can't imagine anything with a better value than Cisso - who makes all the cigars onsite - right on Lake Ave near Kodak. But while I really enjoyed a couple of the cigars, one of them really wasn't my cup-o-tea. It was something Cisso affectionately called an "after dinner cigar," meaning it was laden with sweet flavors. Um, no thanks. Won't do that again! Now part of the problem was the night I was smoking these it was particularly windy outside, sitting on Marty's porch. If it had been calmer, I'm sure it would have been a better smoke. But they all burned un-evenly, and got a bit of a nasty flavor too early in the course of smoking the things. Still, I'll go back - no doubt - and probably smoke there. They serve beer and wine, so that in combination with the cigars is a great combo.

There - I just wasted my time writing the above paragraph when I should be writing stuff for work... or better yet, watching the MLB All-Star game (albeit, not in the house with a lit cigar.)

Oh, and just for shits and giggles - check out the "hidden" website of Andrew Welch (creator of Ambrosia Software) on his visits to the Arturo Fuente plant.... he moved the site to here - http://www.vitolas.net/. AMAZING pictures, and apparently Andrew had too much time on his hands?

Catching up

Went back to Corky's the other night with Julie - BIG improvement. Apparently they've either fired the lousy staff, or else they were just out back smoking pot. We each had hard serve ice cream - so that's simpler than trying to get the soft serve. And we also decided it was a good idea to go with the "kiddy" size. As we were there, another woman ordered a medium of the mint ting-a-ling. That's apparently the favorite of everyone else too, as in addition to this woman, i think her husband got it, Julie got it, and another guy ordered it as we were eating our ice cream. I decided to try the creme brulee which was really quite good. Anyway, the moral of the story here is Corky's redeamed themselves, and I'll go back. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not going back to Coldstone, but at least my choices are back up by one!

There were some other things I wanted to mention too, but now I can't think of them. It might have been baseball related (went to the Red Wings game tonight. Wings won the game. Good time had by all - except the losers). It might have been work related, or something else. Right now though, it's time for a glass of scotch to finish off the night. Cheers.

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!