Two days ago, I ran when it was almost 80 degrees. I was very overdressed and sweated too much.

Two days later, it was 25 degrees cooler.

You can't dress for this weather. You never know day to day. 

 

We hear stories periodically about burial sites being discovered during construction or clearing land. New York City has their share of them. We can only hope that remains are treated with dignity and respect. 

New Hampshire had one discovered recently while workers were clearing trees near a logging road. 

It appears to be a long abandoned family cemetery. These people were someone in life. In death, they were forgotten. 

 

I trade my Toyota Corollas every two years. So far, I've owned six. They are great cars and well made.

I never seem to be able to stop third party companies from trying to sell me an extended warranty for a car I no longer own.   

After I received a post card about my 2013 Corolla, I decided to call the company in Texas. I told them that I no longer own the car. They were very cordial and updated their records. 

It's probably a matter of time before they start asking me about my 2015 Corolla which I traded back in February. 

 

It's easy to see why we are witnessing the demise of retail stores throughout the country. Rent, overhead and competition from on-line options are major factors. 

The iconic Ralph Lauren brand has closed 50 stores, including its flagship one on Fifth Ave in Manhattan. They signed a $400 million, 16 year lease back in 2013. The annual rent of $25 million comes down to $68,493 a day. The 39,000 square foot space remains empty.

With that type of rent, it's hard to imagine how any retailer could stay in business. It would be almost impossible to maintain a steady revenue stream to offset operating costs. 

Malls all across America attract few shoppers. People love to shop on-line from their home. It's hard to reverse this trend.

What will it look like ten years from now? 

 

 

I got some free samples of beef jerky the other day. I tried one of them last night. They were beyond being salty. I can't imagine the sodium level in this stuff.

There was only one thing to do with the rest of my samples. I threw them into the dumpster. 

 

I never heard of Skinless Snapper Haddock until today. It turns out to be a skinny version of the fish and much cheaper than the big ones.

I had it for dinner. It tasted the same as regular haddock. I plan to buy it in the future as fish prices tend to get out of control at time. 

 

This day ends in less than 20 minutes. I've been up since 3am to get ready for the Boston Marathon. It has been a very long day.

Last night, I couldn't fall asleep. It was getting very frustrating. I won't have that problem tonight. 

 

I can't imagine being stuck on a crowded train inside a tunnel, but it happened the other day under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Penn Station.  

Passengers were forced to wait in almost darkness until they got moving again. A few people started to act up, which only made matters worse.

There is no excuse for some of these incidents. It's happening too frequently to commuters who have no other choice.

Whenever I board a train or subway, I try not to think of what could happen. 

  

 

The bike sharing system in New York City is not without its controversy. They are all over the place. Some riders are very careless in their operation.

It could get more chaotic soon with the plans by several private companies to dump more bikes on the streets. They will be focusing on neighborhoods not being covered.

This sounds like a good idea, but they will not be providing any docking stations. Users can just leave the bike on the sidewalk and the app will lock the wheels. 

This sounds like a crazy idea. Many will probably get stolen, although the GPS could track them down. Leaving them on a sidewalk presents a potential safety issue. 

If this gets rolled out, it should be quite interesting. 

 

I don't think we will ever see a good cell phone battery in our lifetime. It's a constant issue of recharging them. They never last long enough. They start to discharge as soon as they reach 100%.

It's hard to have a strong battery all day if you're active. The most important thing is to close out apps that are not being used.

We are all guilty of draining our battery because of too many open apps. The other day, I found out that I had 13 active.

That never helps any battery. 

 

It's easy to buy the wrong thing when food shopping. I did it the other day with orange juice.

I wanted "no pulp". Instead, I ended up with "some pulp".

What a difference in the taste. I'm not a fan of it. How much pulp is in the one that has a lot of pulp?

 

 

For decades, citizens of my community had their view of the Merrimack River obstructed by the heavy growth of trees and bushes along a major road.  

In the past year, selective trimming and thinning has been done to open it up. When I drove by yesterday, there was a massive cut going on.

The views are spectacular. I've never seen it like this before. I'm sure there will be complaints because so many trees were cut down, but you can't dispute the awesome views. 

 

When I was working, I always thought it was rude when someone spoke to me on a speaker phone. The quality of the sound was always terrible.

It's a way for someone to grandstand and send a message that they are important. 

While listening to a sports talk show today, a caller tried to do it. The quality of his voice was horrible. As soon as he switched back to his regular phone, he was ok. 

One of the hosts went ballistic on the guy. The caller knew he was going to be on the air. He should have switched back to his phone. 

People love to feel important like they are a big shot. 

 

People post way too much to Facebook and other forms of social media. Instead of sharing a few pictures of their vacation or some other special moment, they inundate us with enormous albums.

I saw a new record today when someone posted an album with 322. I couldn't possibly look at all of them. After about five, I moved on. 

 

It's that time of the year for boring stories about teens who go to the extreme to get a date for their prom. 

Today's coverage included a kid who jumped out of a plane holding a sign addressed to a girl he wanted to ask out. Another featured a boy who asked a Hollywood star for a date.

They all get too much coverage and encourage further behavior. They are as foolish as a marriage proposal at a stadium or arena for all to see. 

 

There is a lot of controversy about dates on food products. Some say they can be used in spite of being past the date.

It's up to the consumer to examine dates on anything they purchase. I do that all the time, but was negligent the other day with a box of cereal. It was already several days past.

The store should not be selling it, but I should have checked. I ended up tossing it out. I hate to waste food and money, but you either believe in those dates or you don't. 

 

 

The state is wasting a lot of money by constantly fixing the surface of a bridge on Rt 495 in Haverhill. It's scheduled to be replaced in 2018. Crews are always there at night, jackhammering the concrete and replacing it.

Large sections have opened up huge holes and damaged many cars. It's a constant battle to keep up with it.

Last night was no exception as a crew was busy at work trying to get the road ready for the morning commute.

It's only a matter of time before a section of the deck starts to crumble gain.

 

I like to run on a street in my neighborhood that is lined with stately old maple trees. Without their blanket of leaves, they don't look very healthy. Several of them show rot and decay. 

A few weeks ago, parts of one fell on the roof a house. The tree was cut down a few days later. Now, several of them have an orange X on their trunk. It's only a matter of time before they come down. Most of them look to be in bad shape. 

 

I was surprised to see the water level at the local lake where we get our drinking water. I haven't seen it this high in a long time.

Is the so-called drought over? The numbers were there to prove we had one. So many places need this water. The two inches of predicted rain for this week should add to the total. 

 

 

Apparently, April is the month for public pillow fights. I remember this from last year. I thought it was so lame. Why would anyone do this?  

Facebook had a video of a fight at a park in Philadelphia. There were people of all ages involved. This looked dangerous. You can never be sure that someone won't put metal or some other object in their pillow. Some people just want to hurt others. 

 

It was quite a surprise to have a major snow storm on April 1, but here we are. It's on the 20 year anniversary of the last one we had on this date. 

Naturally, people are wasting time and energy by complaining about the weather on social media. This storm certainly interrupted plans that people had, but what can you do?

The temperature will get warmer and the snow will disappear soon. I must admit that it's been around very late into the year at this point.