Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Disappearing Print
Newspapers and magazines are fighting to stay alive and
relevant. The printed versions are disappearing on a regular basis.
The Boston Globe published its annual statement of distribution. It was shocking to see that the electronic
version (102,000) is almost the same as the printed one (126,000).
Will we still be buying newspapers in ten years?
11:11 pm edt
Monday, October 30, 2017
Sudden Ending For Trees
Apparently, I slept
through the huge wind storm last night. I was surprised to see so many downed trees, especially in my neighborhood.
Many people in the area lost power. Some did at the end of my street.
It's amazing to see a tree being totally uprooted.
11:26 pm edt
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Smoking Jacket
I recently washed one of my
jackets to get it ready for autumn. I wore it to the UMass football game yesterday.
After the game, I met with some people who were having a cookout. Their fire was rather smoky. When
I got home, my jacket smelled.
It
was time to wash it again after wearing it only once.
5:27 pm edt
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Better In Daylight
Over the last 46 years, I
always traveled the same route whenever I went to UMass. My Garmin GPS suggested a different route for the last 15 miles.
I never tried it until today.
The ride was very scenic and extremely hilly. It was like being in the middle of nowhere. It must be very
eerie at night.
I'll
try it again during daylight hours,but never at night.
11:43 pm edt
Friday, October 27, 2017
Three Year Battery
I bought a new battery for
my cell phone yesterday. It cost $42 to put one into my three year old Samsung Galaxy S5.
It's ancient in the world of electronic devices, but does
everything I need it to do.
My
phone has no trade-in value with Verizon. I waited too long, but that's no problem.
I'll keep my phone if I ever upgrade to another one.
11:30 pm edt
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Leave It Alone
The Boston television channels
do such a lousy job with the evening news. Some of the stories are so lame. They fail to cover a lot of important news.
I wish they would stop interjecting their personal thoughts
into their stories.
Tonight it was about the weather. It was a warm and rainy day. The leaves are falling as they always do in autumn. One reporter
said how depressing it was to see that.
Someone needs to tell them that it happens every year at this time in New England. Their comments
added nothing to the broadcast, but they do it all the time.
12:18 am edt
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Do Not Store At Home
The media always likes to
make light of some stories that are serious to others. A recent one mentioned how an urn with someone's ashes showed up at
a Salvation Army donation center.
They were able to provide information about the deceased because his name was on the bottom, as well as dates
of birth and death. He was a former veteran who died in 1981.
How could anyone be so callous about the remains of someone? I don't believe in storing cremated
remains. They should either be scattered or buried, otherwise you end with a situation like this.
5:21 pm edt
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Flying Under The Influence
I have never been a fan of flying and have not been on a
plane since 2000. I had issues with turbulence during some flights.
I would never drink alcohol before or during a flight. I saw a posting on Facebook yesterday about a delay
caused by the weather. Some of the passengers reacted by drinking large amounts of wine.
I could never do that and feel comfortable.
6:41 pm edt
Monday, October 23, 2017
Sticking To It
Last night, I decided to cook some brown rice. I followed
the directions, added the appropriate amount of water
and let it simmer for 45 minutes.
I'm not sure what happened, but the water soon evaporated. I checked the rice every five minutes because it
was sticking to the pot. When it was finally done, I had quite a mess to clean up.
It's easy to see why the instructions suggested to use a rice cooker. The lid on my pot had a hole
in it for steam to escape. I'll go back to square one.
In all of the commotion, I forgot to add spices. The rice was very bland.
1:01 pm edt
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Strange Names
People come up with some strange
names for their kids. The popular ones of today are nothing like when I was young.
Nothing surprises me today, but I heard of a kid whose name was Allegra. It immediately
brought to mind the pharmaceutical that I see in ads. Why would anyone give their child a name like that?
7:48 pm edt
Saturday, October 21, 2017
The Ones Who Control
Amazon announced that it plans to build a second headquarters
which will employ 50,000 in high paying jobs. They will invest $5 billion in their chosen site.
They asked interested cities and states to give them their
best proposal. Everyone is tripping over each other to beg Amazon to adopt them.
It will be a game changer for the winner. There is something wrong with this whole story. It's getting
to the point where retail shopping in America will be controlled by a chosen few.
11:50 pm edt
Friday, October 20, 2017
Warmtober
This appears to be the warmest October on record. The temperatures
are crazy these days. It should not be this warm. The foliage season is at least two weeks off.
People say to keep this weather coming, but this is not not good for us. We have too many extreme
conditions.
We luck out in New England because we seem to avoid all sorts of bad weather.
Once it starts to snow, people will whine to no end.
11:18 pm edt
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Name That Room
Politicians come up with a
lot of bad ideas. It doesn't matter if it's on the local, state or federal level.
One local guy wants to balance the city budget by allowing
people to donate money and name a school classroom after someone. He also wants to include playgrounds and other public areas.
This is such a poor idea on many reasons. He proposed it
without any specifics. How much money would one need to donate? How long is the honor good for? How do you screen the people
who get honored? Can you name a parking lot after someone?
We always hear about thinking outside the box, but this is crazy.
1:52 pm edt
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Stupid Bucket Lists
Many people have a bucket list of things they want to do,
but I don't have one. I think it promotes a "been there, done that" attitude.
A story in the news told of a guy who had "getting involved in a police chase" on his list.
He purposely got the police in a high speed pursuit for driving too fast.
Why do people do foolish things like this? What was he trying to prove? What else is on his list? Does he
want to get into a near-fatal car accident?
12:53 pm edt
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
No Dumpster Tonight
The dumpster where I live gets filled up quickly. It was
overflowing tonight when I got home. There were some trash bags next to it.
Apparently, a couple of skunks decided to make an appearance. I had a plastic bottle ready to toss, but I
saw them in time.
I stayed away as far as possible and brought the bottle
upstairs to my apartment for proper disposal.
11:42 pm edt
Monday, October 16, 2017
All In The Label
I think it's a good idea that the FDA requires food makers
to list their ingredients. It gives consumers the option to see what they are putting in their body.
The news had a story of a granola maker who caught the attention of the FDA by listing "made
with love" as an ingredient. The story went viral and made the FDA look mean.
I think the granola people were wrong in listing it as an ingredient. If the FDA makes
an exception for one food, we can only imagine what we will see on labels.
7:56 pm edt
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Trashy People
The world is full of selfish and inconsiderate people We
only need to look at how some dispose of their trash and items they don't want.
A local shopping center has three bins for recycling clothing. There is a big sign telling people not to leave
household trash. That didn't stop some people. There was a pile of stuff in front of them. It will now be someone else's problem.
There use to be bins for recycling paper at two other locations, but they were removed
because of the abuse. It never ends.
6:42 pm edt
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Strange Strangers
I would never want to
have a roommate, especially if I didn't know them. People solicit on various forms of social media for someone to share expenses
and rent.
It doesn't matter that they don't know
them. They are taking a risk, but it doesn't seem to be a big deal for some people.
7:58 pm edt
Friday, October 13, 2017
A Book Too Long
I'm always finding interesting
books to read after seeing their reviews. I have a list that is very long. It will take me forever to get through.
One of the biggest drawbacks is the length of some. I read two great reviews of biographies of President
Ulysses Grant and champion boxer Muhammad Ali.
Both books looked very interesting, but Grant's was 1,074 pages while Ali came in at 623. Those are
just too long for me. Each book is like reading several.
11:04 am edt
Thursday, October 12, 2017
No Rides For Them
We all have things that we
would never do. I will never understand why people pick up stray dogs and bring them home. They later post a picture on Facebook.
In many cases, their owners are found. They are much braver
than me. I would never trust a stray dog, especially in my car.
5:21 pm edt
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
The Movie Is Too Long
I read a great review about a documentary based on the New
York Public Library. It's being shown at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where I have a membership.
Unfortunately, it lasts 3:17. That's
a long time to sit for a movie. It would be great to watch it on line because I could take breaks and view it at my leisure.
7:17 pm edt
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Nobody Voted
I voted in the Special
Election Primary to fill a vacant seat in the State House. The turnout was really bad when I went there around 6pm.
It was a three candidate contest. Some people will say this was a waste of money, but
it was the right thing to do in the democratic process.
11:42 pm edt
Monday, October 9, 2017
Out of Paper
I just bought another
500 sheets of paper for my printer. I can't believe that I used all of the other 500. Where did it go?
I don't print any large documents. It lasted a few years, but I finally ran out. I'll
put the date on this package to see how long it lasts.
2:48 pm edt
Sunday, October 8, 2017
Boring Weather Complaints
According to the weather
people, today was one of the most humid days in October on record. They never disclosed the final results of their research.
There is no doubt that it was very humid today. We are expecting showers tomorrow. It's just
another day in autumn.
Some boring people took to Facebook to post weather
conditions and complain about them.
Why would anyone do that? Maybe they should experience a hurricane to make them appreciate
everything.
11:05 pm edt
Saturday, October 7, 2017
They Don't Know Chris
It's never a good idea
for me to watch a program where they interview people on the street about some current event or historical fact. I can't believe
people are that uninformed about things.
Tonight's
debacle involved "Who discovered America and when?" Some of the answers were really strange.
Monday is Columbus Day. The real thing happened on the 12th
in 1492, but we celebrate it on the second Monday in October in order to make a long weekend.
9:13 pm edt
Friday, October 6, 2017
Plywood Road
Driving a car is dangerous.
We all need to be aware of everything around us. Things can happen real fast with dire consequences.
I was driving along on Rt 495 the other night when I suddenly encountered a sheet of plywood in my
lane. I came upon it too fast to take any type of evasive action. It didn't seem to do any damage to my car.
The only option was to swerve into another lane, but I decided that was not a good
idea. It's never a big deal when things work out well. That's not always the case.
7:03 pm edt
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Nothing But Net
There is a great push for Major League Baseball parks to
extend protective netting further down the lines after a series of bad injuries to fans.
People can't react to the speed of the ball coming off the bat into the stands. Some teams have been
dragging their feet because they know that a few of their fans will be unhappy. The nets interfere with the sight lines if
their seats are too close to them.
There
is no way to make everyone happy. Safety should be a top priority. Extend the nets to protect people. Unhappy fans can get
seats elsewhere.
3:13 pm edt
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Around Since 1942
I found a penny from
1942 in my change today. It stood out because it was one of the "wheat pennies" minted prior to 1959 when the back
was changed to the Lincoln Memorial.
It
was in pretty good shape which indicates it must have been out of circulation for a long time. American hoard pennies in all
sorts of containers.
I plan to save it. That will keep it
out of further circulation.
10:37 pm edt
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
No Plans To Participate
I got two surveys in
the mail today which I placed in my papers to be recycled. I have no desire to participate in one which they claim is anonymous,
but had an ID# on it.
Another one was to rate various service providers in the
Boston area. Someone else can complete it. My opinions don't really matter.
I always wonder about the people who spend time filling out surveys on hotels and restaurants. They
think they are self-proclaimed critics.
5:12 pm edt
Monday, October 2, 2017
Tom Really Died Today
People are so uninformed these days. Too many get their
news from social media.
They feel a need to share or cut and paste stories that
are not factually true.
It's hard to believe that several hours after his death
was announced, some still insisted that the legendary Tom Petty was alive.
It is getting so crazy.
10:48 pm edt
Sunday, October 1, 2017
October 2017
The year is moving on
with it being the October 1. There will be some warm days, but the list will be short. I finally used a blanket last night
and was still cold. The windows were open.
The morning was cool when I ran today. It's only a matter of time before I put the heat on. It won't be tonight,
but will be sooner rather than later.
5:03 pm edt