Tuesday, August 26, 2008

580 Crap

Today driving down 580 among the usual crap I saw:

A canoe dented and sad looking next to the jersey barrier, when it flew off the top of the range rover did they think, damn - there goes the vacation.

A stainless steel travel coffee mug rolling between the lanes, lost and afraid of getting run over. Did someone throw it out a window in a rage after it spilled coffee on them or maybe they just decided they no longer liked it?

One of those little spare tires, you know the ones they put it your trunk instead of a full size tire. Made me wonder what will happen if they get a flat? Since they have no spare, hope they have triple A.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Blog Surfing

While I was blog surfing recently I noticed quite a few blogs where there have been no postings in quite a while. It got me wondering (and we know where that can lead) where are those people? Did they just get bored? Are they sick and can't blog? Nothing happening in their lives? Are they dead?

I realized that if some of the blogs I look at frequently don't get updated on a regular basis, I not only start to fret that my "friends" may be sick or worse, I feel deprived of their company. I feel a little slighted, perhaps they no longer want to share thier life with me. Yes, me personally - not anyone else - just me.

Then I think - oh stop taking this so personally - they might just be busy with their real life - maybe they are on vacation (soup lady) or maybe they have just not found the flow that works for their blog yet (door dyke) or maybe they are soooooooooooo busy they will have a long interesting post when they have some time.

I guess it just leads me to remember something I should remember more often in my own life. When the phone does not ring, or I don't get an e-mail, or a letter in the snail mail for a while, in the time frame I think I should, it does not mean that my friends and family have stopped loving me or caring about me, it just means that they are living the lives that make them interesting and that I will enjoy hearing about it. No matter how long goes by, in the end I will hear from you and will enjoy each story and minute.

Have a desire to be president?

Vote for me!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

A magazine in the hand.

I subscribe to a monthly newsletter called Paris Notes. Big surprise, huh? Well due to the price of postage, paper, and whatever else they have gone digital. OK, I know we live in a digital age. We have digital TV, digital music, digital pictures, digital newspapers.

I read digital newspapers all the time. I get most of my information from them, but I have to admit that I really enjoy holding a magazine or a book in my hands. I will miss the monthly newsletter. I always got so excited to open it and read what was happening in Paris. I realize that I will still be able to read it, I could even print it out if I wanted so I can hold it in my hands, but I will really miss finding that newsletter in my mailbox every month. I will miss opening it up and spreading it out and reading what is going on.

I work in technology. I have been on the bleeding edge of things for so long that I am tired of it all. I do realize that this is not the future it is the now and I can't help but mourn for the monthly excitement of receiving those little eight pages in the mail each month.

Blogging can be hard

Sometimes I see things or hear things and want to blog about them. Then I think, should I? Then I think why not?

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

40 Million

So, they sat outside your favorite store and using an their laptop and the stores unsecured wireless network they stole your debit and credit card info. Maybe they got mine, not sure. We should all find out in the next couple of days. Then they sold that info to others on the internet, then those peeps shopped till they dropped.

I have a problem with this and you might be surprised what my problem is. My problem is not the creeps that sat out in the parking lots around the country and stole this information. My problem is not the people that bought and used this information. Well, actually I do have a problem with them, but my biggest problem, the ones I will be the maddest at are the retail outlets. Most of these seem to be pretty large retail outlets TJX Companies which include Marshalls, TJMaxx, Barnes and Nobel among others. It seems to me that an organization as large as TJX would have thought long and hard before implementing wireless at all, it looks like someone did not think enough if they actually implemented an UNSECURED wireless network. Who is in charge there? Did no one in their IT department think, hey this might not be a good idea? I would have - while I have a wireless network at home (secured of course) I would NEVER suggest one for my place of work. I see them all around me at work, in fact there is one unsecured that I jump on to to check wireless connectivity in new laptops.

If they have not already done so, TJX needs to fire anyone that did not raise a question about unsecured wireless in their stores. While I really regret saying that, I regret more the millions of people whose lives are going to be messed up for a long time to come.

And on a funny (not ha, ha) note about this story, when I went out to find an article on this story, I went to the CNN site and the story headline is Justice, Hackers steal 40 million credit card numbers!!! Then right next to it is an add for L.L. Bean - shop on line right now. Yeah! Don't think so.

What can we do about this? Not sure myself. But I might be going to the bank on Friday afternoon for some cash for my weekend and leave those credit cards in the wallet.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Two Wheeled Memories

Ha, on the news tonight is a story about motorized bicycles. They are little things with an eletric engine and pedals. They remind me of two little Italian scooters that Bob Daddy bought one summer. You started them by peddling really hard and hoped that the motor kicked in. They were really cool or so we thought. Of course they were illegal, for Jolie and I since we were not of age to drive. Did we care? Not really, that is until we got caught be the police. We saw the car pull up behind us and we both started pedaling like we were riding bikes. We thought we were so smart. Well, the officer did not think so. He did let us off with warning (and I wish I could remember his name) and we knew that our motoring days were over since he knew our parents and where we lived and we knew that every other police officer in town would hear about this and be on the look out for those crazy motoring wild childs.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Lost Little Girl

OK, I can understand the excitement of trying to make a flight to Paris, but this is just not right.

Seems an Israeli family was on its way to Paris, five children and 18 bags. They get all checked in and go to the duty free shop and get on their plane. The plane takes off and they don't even realize that their 3 year old is not on the plane! What? No one noticed that when they did a head count they only had 4 of 5? I can understand leaving your carry on baggage under your seat or forgetting your ipod in the security line or maybe your book someplace, but what I am assuming is a cute little needy three year old left behind? Didn't someone register the missing when they checked to make sure everyone was strapped in?

My mom had six of us and I don't think she left any of us behind, she might have wanted to at times, but I think she knew if she started with six, she really needed to end up with six.

Seven of Nine tells the story of her mom counting noses in the car after a trip to the grocery store and coming up with the right number of noses. Unfortunately, one of them was just visiting, she got a call from the store to come back and pick up Seven of Nine.

So, I guess it does happen. But I just gotta ask: You had all your duty free stuff with you on that plane, but left your baby behind?

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Sunday Ritual

Today I read the obits out by the pool, it was quite nice. As I looked at them I remembered a conversation with Door Dyke about the pictures that go along with some obits. When you or your loved one selects a picture to put in the paper what are the criteria? Do you pick a recent picture? Do you pick one of you in your favorite outfit? Your best hat? A great hair day? I personally would pick the best picture take of me, no matter how old it is. Hopefully I have awhile before this decision has to be made.

Mama Mia?

My Beloved and I went to see Mama Mia last night. It was entertaining I will say that. I did have a question: did the broadway show end the same way? We went to see it in the City, but can't remember the ending, can you?

Friday, August 1, 2008

580 - there is shit and there there is SHIT!!!!

On my way to work yesterday I saw a girl rear end a van and I thought shit.

Today on my way to work I saw a motorcyclist on the ground covered in a yellow tarp, only his boots peeking out from under it and I thought SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big difference, yes?