Apparently, I have nothing to say, and when I do; I say it very poorly and nobody is paying attention anyways (so I've been told). Even the minuscule amount of time I've spent posting here in the last year is time I could/should have spent doing something else, because it's not specific to a "community" of sorts (who in reality don't want to read this much about me anyways).
Five & 1/2 years, I suppose I'm amazed it lasted this long.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Fender Blacktop Stratocaster, best electric in the Stable
First off, let me once again thank Rose for a wonderful Christmas Gift.
O.K. I LOVE this freakin' guitar! I took it by my fav Luthier Mike at A Sound Education in Brookfield last week, who tweaked the one thing I don't like to mess with (The Truss Rod in the neck), and now this thing is perfect.
Of the electric guitars in the Stable (This makes 4 for electrics) This is the most professional instrument of the bunch. Rose's Cortez Tele is great now after the mods, and has the that Tele and Broadcaster twang with the new pickups, but it is one heavy guitar (one piece Ash Body), it is also a bit temperamental to play with the "D" shaped neck. It's a great sounding guitar, average for playing. The Epi Les Paul, is also nice, but being an Epiphone, it's not made to the same Specs as a Gibson, and even after a trip to Mike, and trying a variety of strings, the action is still pretty high (compared to my other guitars) and even three years later the stain on the neck still comes off on my fingers when I play it. It sounds like a LP, and plays well, but it lags well behind the Blacktop for playability. Lastly my heavily Modded Squier '51; believe it or not this guitar comes in second in sound (I would describe it as More Strat sounding than a Strat) and playability to the Blacktop, but it's a very distant second, as even with intonation set perfect, it gets a bit wiggy sounding above the 14th fret.... Que tangent rant...
(Tangent Rant) Squier (on purpose I think) changes the scale length a tad less than on their models and then sets the bridge about 1/4 inch off (short) compared to the Fender models so that you can't (with the stock bridge placement) ever set intonation perfectly (or the saddles have to be so far back, you're at the full extent of their adjustment, which is not good either). I ran into the same problem with the Squier Stratocaster I gave my Brother 4 years ago. Rather than move the tremolo system back 1/4 inch (and have to route the trem cavity) I opted to put a fixed bridge (hardtail) on it at the correct position which helped it significantly (end Rant).
Back to the Blacktop: While this guitar can get quite Les Paul Sounding and has much more sustain than most Fenders, its string dynamics (and longer scale) prevent you from making it a fully convincing Les Paul replacement. Of the 5 switch settings two are standard Strat sounding, but are more bass-y than what you'd get from a single coil standard strat. It's also just a hair short of that Strat "Icepick in the head" squeal from the bridge pickup trademark Strat Sound...BUT with a good effects processor (Line6 Pod or Digitech), you can easily overcome these small shortcomings and easily gig with this guitar and get most of the sounds you would need from most of the Rock/Blues/Pop that I grew up with and not need to tote another with you for "Gibson Sound" songs.
I started out with Bass in high school, so often I'm fighting with the guitar because it's not as easily playable as a bass (not to mention how late in life I started with guitar). I am on occasion hampered by the other electric guitars in the stable, something in their playability or design. Not so with the Blacktop, its quality and playability is beyond my current playing ability, Riffs and chords that I've fumbled with on the other electrics just roll off my fingers on this guitar. While I know that the American made Strats are made to a higher standard that this Made in Mexico model, my hobbyist playing just does not justify $$$uch a guitar.
This one is perfect for me. Meet the new King of the Stable; The Fender Blacktop Strat.
Thank You Dear!
---
O.K. I LOVE this freakin' guitar! I took it by my fav Luthier Mike at A Sound Education in Brookfield last week, who tweaked the one thing I don't like to mess with (The Truss Rod in the neck), and now this thing is perfect.
Of the electric guitars in the Stable (This makes 4 for electrics) This is the most professional instrument of the bunch. Rose's Cortez Tele is great now after the mods, and has the that Tele and Broadcaster twang with the new pickups, but it is one heavy guitar (one piece Ash Body), it is also a bit temperamental to play with the "D" shaped neck. It's a great sounding guitar, average for playing. The Epi Les Paul, is also nice, but being an Epiphone, it's not made to the same Specs as a Gibson, and even after a trip to Mike, and trying a variety of strings, the action is still pretty high (compared to my other guitars) and even three years later the stain on the neck still comes off on my fingers when I play it. It sounds like a LP, and plays well, but it lags well behind the Blacktop for playability. Lastly my heavily Modded Squier '51; believe it or not this guitar comes in second in sound (I would describe it as More Strat sounding than a Strat) and playability to the Blacktop, but it's a very distant second, as even with intonation set perfect, it gets a bit wiggy sounding above the 14th fret.... Que tangent rant...
(Tangent Rant) Squier (on purpose I think) changes the scale length a tad less than on their models and then sets the bridge about 1/4 inch off (short) compared to the Fender models so that you can't (with the stock bridge placement) ever set intonation perfectly (or the saddles have to be so far back, you're at the full extent of their adjustment, which is not good either). I ran into the same problem with the Squier Stratocaster I gave my Brother 4 years ago. Rather than move the tremolo system back 1/4 inch (and have to route the trem cavity) I opted to put a fixed bridge (hardtail) on it at the correct position which helped it significantly (end Rant).
Back to the Blacktop: While this guitar can get quite Les Paul Sounding and has much more sustain than most Fenders, its string dynamics (and longer scale) prevent you from making it a fully convincing Les Paul replacement. Of the 5 switch settings two are standard Strat sounding, but are more bass-y than what you'd get from a single coil standard strat. It's also just a hair short of that Strat "Icepick in the head" squeal from the bridge pickup trademark Strat Sound...BUT with a good effects processor (Line6 Pod or Digitech), you can easily overcome these small shortcomings and easily gig with this guitar and get most of the sounds you would need from most of the Rock/Blues/Pop that I grew up with and not need to tote another with you for "Gibson Sound" songs.
I started out with Bass in high school, so often I'm fighting with the guitar because it's not as easily playable as a bass (not to mention how late in life I started with guitar). I am on occasion hampered by the other electric guitars in the stable, something in their playability or design. Not so with the Blacktop, its quality and playability is beyond my current playing ability, Riffs and chords that I've fumbled with on the other electrics just roll off my fingers on this guitar. While I know that the American made Strats are made to a higher standard that this Made in Mexico model, my hobbyist playing just does not justify $$$uch a guitar.
This one is perfect for me. Meet the new King of the Stable; The Fender Blacktop Strat.
Thank You Dear!
---
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Mixed Bag Christmas
By Mixed bag, I don't mean bad, just super different. Firstly most different without Mom, because she looked so forward to it, she didn't want to be the center of attention, but she wanted to see it all unfold. While we all attempted smiles and happiness, When the "from beyond" presents came out, no one had a moment that didn't include tears. I lost it a few times at our own house on Christmas as the tree is full of ornaments that Mom gave us over the years (including this years "from beyond" ornament via Dad and Moe). Rose found the same brand "Shiny Brite" ornaments that we've been using from her Dad's stock are being made again (glass with glitter that doesn't come off), so the tree had a red/green gold theme this year and looked especially good (as you can see).Needless to say, we're missing Ethel, Patti, and all the others who've gone over the years, but for me it's a Christmas milestone that I have not been MOSTLY happy the entire season. I've had happy this year, but it just feels so different. I suspect that as long as our parents are around, we can (like Peter Pan) still feel like kids, but now it's time to head back home and grow up.
In her effort to cheer me up, Rose went overboard and got me one of these Fender Blacktop Strats. It's almost too nice of a guitar, and also weird to have one that I don't want to ever "improve" in any way. It screams "Play Me" while it's inside the case, I've been so busy, I've only had a few minutes to do so since Christmas Day.... I'll get around to it : D
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Who's the new Chicago Mayor?
As far as I'm concerned, anyone who will stop outsourcing city services and remove the residency requirement for city employees.
.....and of course, keep the city trades union shops.
.....and of course, keep the city trades union shops.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Green Lantern on the brain....and on the lawn
O.K. I know Comic-con is coming up this weekend, and there is a lot of Buzz about the Green Lantern Movie. It may have been subliminal, but halfway through cutting the lawn on the parkway, I couldn't help but notice that I created this. I boosted the contrast so hopefully you can all see it too.
As an additional note: I've wanted a GL movie since I was a kid, but now the story line and the number of 2814 GL's is just so many and convoluted I don't think that we'll see more than one of these.... but Ryan Reynolds? he seems more like Kyle Rainer than Hal Jordan.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Phishing email on Gmail
In case any of you have a Gmail account and received the message quoted/hi-lighted below, be aware that Gmail will NEVER send you an email asking for your login and password. Even if you specifically requested to change your password, even then, they would not ask you for it in an email. Do not reply to the message which appears to be from the Gmail team, but is actually a spammed email address (though it LOOKS real when you look at the details).
Select the down arrow next to the "Reply" button in Gmail and select "Report Phishing"
No internet service providers, or buying sites (Amazon, ebay, paypal) will EVER ask you for your login and password in an email.
No matter how legit it looks, it's a trap.
This is the message I received at 01:23 on 04, Aug 2010:
"Dear User,
Select the down arrow next to the "Reply" button in Gmail and select "Report Phishing"
No internet service providers, or buying sites (Amazon, ebay, paypal) will EVER ask you for your login and password in an email.
No matter how legit it looks, it's a trap.
This is the message I received at 01:23 on 04, Aug 2010:
"Dear User,
As you have noticed, there have been a lot of recent changes to the new generation of internet browsing.
Which has given us the advantage of gaining stronger security features.
Although we have the confidence to assure you the quality of your browsing experience,
There are several thousand inactive accounts that must be deleted.
We are making this attempt to contact you, to verify the status of your account.
No response to this email within 30 days will result of termination of this Gmail address.
*********@gmail.comWhich has given us the advantage of gaining stronger security features.
Although we have the confidence to assure you the quality of your browsing experience,
There are several thousand inactive accounts that must be deleted.
We are making this attempt to contact you, to verify the status of your account.
No response to this email within 30 days will result of termination of this Gmail address.
Please respond with the following information:
The Gmail Team"
The real tip off is that there is NO way that my gmail account would be considered "inactive". Not to mention that I'm sure there are more than "several thousand" inactive gmail accounts.
Don't get scammed.
ux
- Account Name:
- Account Password:
- Date of Birth:
- Postal Code:
The Gmail Team"
The real tip off is that there is NO way that my gmail account would be considered "inactive". Not to mention that I'm sure there are more than "several thousand" inactive gmail accounts.
Don't get scammed.
ux
Monday, July 12, 2010
30 years ago
Who the HECK is this toothpick Kid?
Freaky I was so scrawny... and ate about the same I do now.
Things have changed in more ways that that, but I really can't complain. That big hair (naturally) and scrawny build nabbed me a girl who was (and is) way out of my league (and I love her all the more for it).
Concerning this picture: One thing I can complain about is that my fellow wedding band members actually ridiculed me into trading that beautiful Aira Diamonds Bass I'm playing for a Kingston Hofner (Beatle Bass) copy... saying it was big and dorky and not cool enough for the New Wave, Pop, and Power Pop we were playing. Not only was it a excellent sounding and playing bass, but being semi-hollow body, you could practice un-amplified (which I'm sure my parents were thankful for on those nights before gigs when I stayed up practicing half the night). Unlike the standard mid/late-60's Aria Bass, this one had a mother-of-pearl pick-guard and headstock as well as offset harmonics markers that made it really standout from the Gibson it was based on. While the big Rhinestone in the "Diamonds" logo on the headstock fell out (I think my bandmates pried it out), it never had any problems and very little hum (though I did re-ground it at the time). So unique is this Bass, that while Aria does have records of making this bass, they have no pictures of the original stock. As the Mrs. found this one just recently, I'll be sending it off to them shortly.
Of the instruments I've owned, this is the one I wish I had not let get away.
For those of you who might notice: Yes, that is terrible left hand position, I had only been playing 1 & 1/2 years at that point and I was playing a mash-up version of the Beatles "All My Lovin' " combing the melody and original Bass line (when I could fit it in). Also.... yes, my left foot is photoshopped in, the original pic had a persons head in the lower right corner.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
If you met us in Ireland....
.... and we offered you pictures, please post a reply to this post with your email address and after July 4th weekend, I'll get the pics/video to you or send you a link so you can download it yourself.
We had a great time, and the folks in Kilkenny were especially wonderful.
--
We had a great time, and the folks in Kilkenny were especially wonderful.
--
Friday, May 14, 2010
No good deed goes unpunished....
Ya know, when a Dad volunteers to coach a team...when he doesn't even have a kid on that team (but will next year) so he can coach it next year as well, he's going above and beyond the call of duty. That guy happens to be a hardworking, super nice guy, with great kids who show up to cheer your team on, and NEVER yells at (or is negative with) a single kid, and is one of the best kids coaches I've ever seen.
.....SO, when that guy asks you to help out, you don't mind (and I did help out). But when OTHER parents call to harass you and give you a 20 minute speech on what you're doing wrong and what that guy is doing/has done wrong (even if the person is correct on one account (see below)).... well.... it just rankles you.
No help on the sports Assc. side either when you're given incorrect information on how much to bill the parents for League/umpire fees (which is where the "wrong" came in here). Further when those OTHER parents try to FORCE you to admit you're wrong based on their information, when it conflicts with what you've already been told.
While the billing info I originally received was incorrect, what I billed the parents was pretty accurate based on the info I was given. So.... after having a bug forced up my butt by said parents, I confronted the sports assc. folks and FINALLY got the correct info, and promptly abandoned my normal sleep time to return the checks to the (very few) parents that had paid, and informed them of the situation (of course by the time I was done, I was too wound up to sleep anyways). While the OTHER parents seem to want to blame this on the coach, I have to blame in the incorrect fee info I was originally given on the matter.
The thing that REALLY rankles me...is that we're talking $20 bucks difference here. Even had I reached the point of submitting the overpayment, the refund would have come back to all the parents when the sports assc. books were tallied.
Despite my apparent crabbiness you've all seen here; I don't really get mad much, it REALLY takes something to truly make me P.O.'d.
So... When next year comes and I'm asked to nominate/support a coach/coaches for our team.... who am I going to nominate? The one who went above and beyond and used only positive reinforcement with my kid.... or the ones who called and burnt my ear and trashed my wonderful May evening over $20 they would have got back anyways?
___
.....SO, when that guy asks you to help out, you don't mind (and I did help out). But when OTHER parents call to harass you and give you a 20 minute speech on what you're doing wrong and what that guy is doing/has done wrong (even if the person is correct on one account (see below)).... well.... it just rankles you.
No help on the sports Assc. side either when you're given incorrect information on how much to bill the parents for League/umpire fees (which is where the "wrong" came in here). Further when those OTHER parents try to FORCE you to admit you're wrong based on their information, when it conflicts with what you've already been told.
While the billing info I originally received was incorrect, what I billed the parents was pretty accurate based on the info I was given. So.... after having a bug forced up my butt by said parents, I confronted the sports assc. folks and FINALLY got the correct info, and promptly abandoned my normal sleep time to return the checks to the (very few) parents that had paid, and informed them of the situation (of course by the time I was done, I was too wound up to sleep anyways). While the OTHER parents seem to want to blame this on the coach, I have to blame in the incorrect fee info I was originally given on the matter.
The thing that REALLY rankles me...is that we're talking $20 bucks difference here. Even had I reached the point of submitting the overpayment, the refund would have come back to all the parents when the sports assc. books were tallied.
Despite my apparent crabbiness you've all seen here; I don't really get mad much, it REALLY takes something to truly make me P.O.'d.
So... When next year comes and I'm asked to nominate/support a coach/coaches for our team.... who am I going to nominate? The one who went above and beyond and used only positive reinforcement with my kid.... or the ones who called and burnt my ear and trashed my wonderful May evening over $20 they would have got back anyways?
___
Monday, April 05, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Mom
It was just a week ago today that I was talking to you, I just can't believe what has happened in the last 7 days.
Over the last few years, Almost every time I said I loved you... you responded: "I love you too kid, more than you'll ever know"
Now I know.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
Esther
March 1929 - 11, March 2010
****
Saturday, January 30, 2010
On Hiatus
Until further notice.
Take care all!
I'll be back... eventually... but will be too occupied to hit any of the usual places.
-
Take care all!
I'll be back... eventually... but will be too occupied to hit any of the usual places.
-
Monday, December 28, 2009
Touch Home screen
I thought I'd "touch" on what's on my PDA replacement iPod touch home screen (1st page of apps):
I'm re-arranging right now, so I'll only hit on the one's I'm using daily, built in apps have an asterisk (*) next to them.
* Clock: Best alarm clock app on any handheld device I've owned. No limit to alarms, and sooOOoo easy to add or change alarms.
*Photos: Just too simple and easy to use to bother trying anything else
*Weather: Provided by Yahoo! Handy, but you'll have to go into Safari to get more detailed weather info than the picture and temperature provided, The Y! link in the app opens Safari, and tries EVERY time to change your search engine to Yahoo! You have at least 4 to 5 more taps to get detailed weather info. This is one I'll be changing soon.
*Calculator: At first I thought it a simple four function app, but when you rotate to landscape, it becomes a scientific calculator.
*Notes: Just because I have so many from Outlook with useful info for home and work, I should probably move them to Evernote, but this app is faster/handier.
*Music (in the Dock): Obvious reasons.
*Settings (in the Dock): for fast access to WiFi and brightness controls.
*Contacts (in the Dock): Near perfect, sync's with GMail AND Outlook (2003/2007).
*Calendar (in the Dock: Same description as Contacts.
eReader: Even better than it's Palm and Windows Mobile incarnation. Font choices are much improved, and the Pro version and library conversion to iPod version are free for all registered users. My fav reader setting is still reversed (white lettering on black background). Very low resources required for this app, if you turn WiFi off, you can read for a couple days (with a low backlight setting) (Free).
eWallet: $10.00 to upgrade to ipod/current Windows version from previous versions. Can sync across multiple computers as well as with ipod. So useful and secure, it's a no-brainer.
FastFinga: Great for taking notes when you don't have the time to type. Has the option to automatically open into the current note and start entering data with only the tap to open the app required. I use this one at work constantly (as I did "Notes" in Windows Mobile) ( 99¢).
GoodReader: Not quite what it claims to be... Yes it reads large PDF's, but the text extraction feature is iffy at best. Good as a fast PDF reader. The latest version dropped the USB sync (per Apple's request), not much harder to do it via wifi, but USB was drag and drop ( 99¢, lite version available).
To Do's: Since I can't have ListPro, this will do in the meantime as a freebie. Simple checklist app (free).
Evernote: Need handwritten note conversion from the Windows Mobile "Notes" app?, this is a way to go. Even with Notes sync on Outlook, Apple does not bring over the handwritten notes that were synced to Outlook from Windows Mobile. Evernote allows you to cut and paste those notes, sync them to a Evernote account online, and have them on your Touch even without a wifi connection (if you mark them as "favorites" and view them at least one time while wifi is connected). At bit clunky, but once you're done, you have your notes. A Firefox plugin makes this app truly indispensable. Have a page (or pages), you'd like to read later? The plugin gives you a "Add to Evernote" button in Firefox which snips the page to your Evernote account, and syncs to your ipod as well (just remember to make it a "favorite" after you verify the sync).
The "pro" version gives you automatic offline access to your notebook, but at $44 a year, you can make a few taps to get the same functionality for free. I've found the Evernote notebook very handy when doing research for work, it's better than bookmarking links, because you get the actual page you were reading when you originally viewed it. Useful even without a ipod (free).
Fast Add: The Contacts app is great, but labor intensive in a pinch when adding contacts. Fast Add gives you a down and dirty one page screen to add a new Contact (especially useful when someone is reading off their info to you). You can add more info later in the regular contacts app if needed (free).
Dictionary.com: Based on the Random House Unabridged version, this is a very handy app as it operates offline (no wifi needed), keeps track of recent searches, and has a Thesaurus built in.
Takes some space, but well worth the space hit (free).
Battery Magic: This one is soon to be dropped, some ball-park usage hours left info is the only useful feature to this one (free).
Flashlight: Seems stupid i know.... but at work... in a pinch (saving me a trip back to the shop for a real flashlight)... absolutely HANDY!!! Better than the LED I have on my key chain, because it stays on and can usually be placed exactly where you need it (if your Touch is in a non-slip case) (free).
Just going through this list made me remove some apps from my Touch that hadn't been used in weeks, as well as making me reorganize them.
*update*
For painfully obvious spelling and grammar errors.
-
I'm re-arranging right now, so I'll only hit on the one's I'm using daily, built in apps have an asterisk (*) next to them.
* Clock: Best alarm clock app on any handheld device I've owned. No limit to alarms, and sooOOoo easy to add or change alarms.
*Photos: Just too simple and easy to use to bother trying anything else
*Weather: Provided by Yahoo! Handy, but you'll have to go into Safari to get more detailed weather info than the picture and temperature provided, The Y! link in the app opens Safari, and tries EVERY time to change your search engine to Yahoo! You have at least 4 to 5 more taps to get detailed weather info. This is one I'll be changing soon.
*Calculator: At first I thought it a simple four function app, but when you rotate to landscape, it becomes a scientific calculator.
*Notes: Just because I have so many from Outlook with useful info for home and work, I should probably move them to Evernote, but this app is faster/handier.
*Music (in the Dock): Obvious reasons.
*Settings (in the Dock): for fast access to WiFi and brightness controls.
*Contacts (in the Dock): Near perfect, sync's with GMail AND Outlook (2003/2007).
*Calendar (in the Dock: Same description as Contacts.
eReader: Even better than it's Palm and Windows Mobile incarnation. Font choices are much improved, and the Pro version and library conversion to iPod version are free for all registered users. My fav reader setting is still reversed (white lettering on black background). Very low resources required for this app, if you turn WiFi off, you can read for a couple days (with a low backlight setting) (Free).
eWallet: $10.00 to upgrade to ipod/current Windows version from previous versions. Can sync across multiple computers as well as with ipod. So useful and secure, it's a no-brainer.
FastFinga: Great for taking notes when you don't have the time to type. Has the option to automatically open into the current note and start entering data with only the tap to open the app required. I use this one at work constantly (as I did "Notes" in Windows Mobile) ( 99¢).
GoodReader: Not quite what it claims to be... Yes it reads large PDF's, but the text extraction feature is iffy at best. Good as a fast PDF reader. The latest version dropped the USB sync (per Apple's request), not much harder to do it via wifi, but USB was drag and drop ( 99¢, lite version available).
To Do's: Since I can't have ListPro, this will do in the meantime as a freebie. Simple checklist app (free).
Evernote: Need handwritten note conversion from the Windows Mobile "Notes" app?, this is a way to go. Even with Notes sync on Outlook, Apple does not bring over the handwritten notes that were synced to Outlook from Windows Mobile. Evernote allows you to cut and paste those notes, sync them to a Evernote account online, and have them on your Touch even without a wifi connection (if you mark them as "favorites" and view them at least one time while wifi is connected). At bit clunky, but once you're done, you have your notes. A Firefox plugin makes this app truly indispensable. Have a page (or pages), you'd like to read later? The plugin gives you a "Add to Evernote" button in Firefox which snips the page to your Evernote account, and syncs to your ipod as well (just remember to make it a "favorite" after you verify the sync).
The "pro" version gives you automatic offline access to your notebook, but at $44 a year, you can make a few taps to get the same functionality for free. I've found the Evernote notebook very handy when doing research for work, it's better than bookmarking links, because you get the actual page you were reading when you originally viewed it. Useful even without a ipod (free).
Fast Add: The Contacts app is great, but labor intensive in a pinch when adding contacts. Fast Add gives you a down and dirty one page screen to add a new Contact (especially useful when someone is reading off their info to you). You can add more info later in the regular contacts app if needed (free).
Dictionary.com: Based on the Random House Unabridged version, this is a very handy app as it operates offline (no wifi needed), keeps track of recent searches, and has a Thesaurus built in.
Takes some space, but well worth the space hit (free).
Battery Magic: This one is soon to be dropped, some ball-park usage hours left info is the only useful feature to this one (free).
Flashlight: Seems stupid i know.... but at work... in a pinch (saving me a trip back to the shop for a real flashlight)... absolutely HANDY!!! Better than the LED I have on my key chain, because it stays on and can usually be placed exactly where you need it (if your Touch is in a non-slip case) (free).
Just going through this list made me remove some apps from my Touch that hadn't been used in weeks, as well as making me reorganize them.
*update*
For painfully obvious spelling and grammar errors.
-
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas Everyone (2009 edition)
Hi everyone, I hope you are all having a wonderful Holiday...Whatever holiday you celebrate.I'd like once again to say Hi to a few folks we won't be able to see this Holiday Season.
Ethel: It's much harder to cook a real Christmas dinner without you here, Rest in peace.
Patti: Sleep in heavenly peace. Christmas was always special when you were around, we try to make sure your spirit is felt every year.
Mike M: To one of the few guys at work who EVER showed true Christmas spirit; I know that now your spirit dwells with Christ.
Jim: To the lone White Sox fan in Oklahoma; Have a good one, I hope you enjoy the pears.
Jill & the girls: We pray for an excellent holiday for you whatever you are doing.
Father Jim: I hope you're staying warm in the cold Albanian winter. God Bless and Merry Christmas.
To our friends and family that we never get to see enough of: A most joyous Christmas to all of you.
Lastly to my wonderful wife and girls: Thank you for making my life complete.
-
Ethel: It's much harder to cook a real Christmas dinner without you here, Rest in peace.
Patti: Sleep in heavenly peace. Christmas was always special when you were around, we try to make sure your spirit is felt every year.
Mike M: To one of the few guys at work who EVER showed true Christmas spirit; I know that now your spirit dwells with Christ.
Jim: To the lone White Sox fan in Oklahoma; Have a good one, I hope you enjoy the pears.
Jill & the girls: We pray for an excellent holiday for you whatever you are doing.
Father Jim: I hope you're staying warm in the cold Albanian winter. God Bless and Merry Christmas.
To our friends and family that we never get to see enough of: A most joyous Christmas to all of you.
Lastly to my wonderful wife and girls: Thank you for making my life complete.
-
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Healthy Food
So....it's early 1980, and my girlfriend (now wife) tells me she wants to take me to one of her favorite places in Bridgeport (in "The City"). A place her parents took her to. We hop on a 35th street bus, get off at Halsted, and walk a few blocks north to this place called "Healthy Food". Back in those days, the sign was an old brown rusted Theater Marquis thingy with most of the bulbs non-functional and neon "Healthy Food" lettering running down the front.
At left you can see their current store front and sign. I'd never had Lithuanian Food, pumpernickel bread, beet or sauerkraut soup. Boy, was I in for a treat. To this day, every time I have pumpernickel bread, I think of this place, because it's where I developed a taste for it. Over the years, we've never had anything but an excellent meal at Healthy Food. While the ethnic food is wonderful, so is the standard fare. Our favorite at Healthy Food is Breakfast. The eggs are exactly how they should be, just done enough, never rubbery and always just off the grill. It was even featured on WTTW's Check, Please!
<
While my Mrs was on Facebook this week, she saw a link to a Crain's article about the eatery closing...TODAY! We were/are sad. We decided one of us should get over there today to say goodbye. So after work this morning, I was off to Bridgeport. I talked to owner Gina Biciunas-Santoski, who said "It's time to retire". She shared a couple stories about some old timers who've come in since the announcement came out who said "I haven't been here in decades" She politely (albeit sarcastically) thanked them for their business.
This place has something unique to Bridgeport restaurants, a wooden phone booth, something my Mrs loved to play in as a child just as much as our kids did when they were toddlers.
I ordered up my favorite breakfast (above) and enjoyed my last Healthy Food meal. Gina, happily allowed me to take some pictures. The customers gave me their permission as well. You can see all the pictures HERE, as well as download or print them for yourselves (several patrons were asking me for copies). The coffee was excellent as always, and I ordered something I've never eaten there before... PIE (usually because I'm too full), not just any pie...Rhubarb pie, and not over sweetened Rhubarb mixed with sweeter fruit (like at many places). Just wonderful, sweet and perfectly tart rhubarb pie....
I can't believe in 29 years, I never tried the pie.
It will be sad to drive by the location on Halsted after a visit to my Mother-in-laws Parish, as we always ate at Healthy Food after attending mass there.
Thank you Gina for 30 years of excellent food and memories for me, and 40-something years of excellent food and memories for my Mrs.
Enjoy your retirement, but know that you and your establishment will be missed.
*Update*. My Mrs and her sister made it there last night (as Gina said she'd stay open until she ran out of food or customers (whichever came first)). They were the last official customers of the last official day of business of the 71 years of business for Healthy Food.
-
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Slow Down Music Trainer: An Ipod app I'm willing to pay for
I’ve been a couple months with my Touch so far, and the app choices are endless. But as I have a 8gig model, I’ve been trying to keep it to apps I actually use. I’ve been hesitant to buy anything I couldn’t try in a lite or free version first. As mentioned previously, I did pop for ewallet, but other apps I use don’t require the paid features (like Evernote, I’ll never even approach their minimum paid server size). I did by a couple 99 cent games and some gimmicky music apps (iShred LE and Guitar LE).
One app that I tried in free (hobbled) version and then ended up buying is Slow Down Music Trainer.
Some history:
I have a Tascam CD-GT1 MKII guitar trainer, which has a million features (clunkily interfaced) that I only use a couple of. The main feature I use is to slow down a song while maintaining the pitch to play along with… a task it does well (though the sound quality suffers exponentially the more you slow the song down) The other feature is to change the pitch of a song to match standard guitar tuning (in which the audio quality suffers even more) this is useful as many artists use dropped tuning or the pitch was changed in the studio (very common with the Beatles). The trainer has gobs of other stuff, like guitar effects, vocal input, vocal effects, footswitch controllability, adjustable levels in and out etc, etc, etc……But the only two features I use are the two mentioned above. This of course requires me to have a source CD or to burn one from my mp3 collection in order to use the trainer on a song I want to play along with.
Well, when I got my iPod Touch and was shopping the app store for music apps…when… To what to my eyes did appear?
Slow Down Music Trainer.
An app purporting to do exactly what I use my Tascam for, but for the measly price of $9.99 (that’s $89 less than what I paid for my reconditioned Tascam). While this seemed like a great deal, I didn’t want to shell a sawbuck for something that might not work. I didn’t even think to look to see if there was a free or Lite version. I kind of forgot about it, but a week later I was on the app store “app” on the Touch when the Lite version of SDMT came up in a search!
You can load three songs in the lite version (unlimited in the full version). You load songs on the touch via WiFi in a Browser window open on the computer with your music library. Sadly Apple won’t let you do ANYTHING with their music library whether the song is DRM or not (this is why people Jailbreak their iPod’s). You open the app, select the song you want to train on, and get a very simple and useful interface. You have cassette type controls for playback, a tempo slider for slowing down the song, and semi-tone buttons to change the pitch of the playback in half steps. A progress indicator that lets you drag to any point in the song which you can then mark to loopback sections and phrases you want to work on. You can also have the app “count you in” to give you time to get your instrument ready to start playing with the song. In addition, you can "tap tempo" the song to set it to the speed you want to play at in your head.
I played with this app for a couple of days, and the thing that impressed me most was the integrity of the audio. Compared to the noisy and distorted Tascam, there is almost no sonic degradation of the audio quality of the source song when changing the tempo, and very little when changing the pitch (though if you go to the extremes, you’ll notice frequency roll off…but no one would really use it at the extreme slow/low pitch or fast/high pitch settings). It’s pretty funny to make Green Day sound like Barry White, or to make David Bowie sound like Cindy Lauper. While there is no “input” to play along with, any iPod dock will give you sound at a level you can play along with an acoustic guitar or an electric on a low volume setting… or you can do what I did and plug the output of the iPod into one of your amp channels and balance it with the guitar or bass plugged into the other.
Just when I decided it was worth the 10 bucks to get the full version, I used the link button in the app to buy it through the app store… low and behold: the price had been reduced to 99 cents! Now it really was a no-brainer. I like this app so much, I’m thisclose to putting my Tascam on craigslist.
Now, whenever I charge/backup my iPod, I usually go into SDMT and load a couple more songs up to practice. The app is near perfect, and about the only thing it could use is more definition with the pitch control, with maybe a slider to fine tune the pitch instead of just buttons for +/- semitones (a suggestion I sent to the developer).
You know, I wanted the Touch to replace my aged PDA, but I never expected it to also be able to do something this useful… for a buck!
Like their page says: Why would you pay Tascam $200 for their MP3 trainer that only holds 240 songs when you can have the most useful features of the Tascam on a device you already own for a buck? (I would have paid the 10 bucks).
Cool-ero
One app that I tried in free (hobbled) version and then ended up buying is Slow Down Music Trainer.
Some history:
I have a Tascam CD-GT1 MKII guitar trainer, which has a million features (clunkily interfaced) that I only use a couple of. The main feature I use is to slow down a song while maintaining the pitch to play along with… a task it does well (though the sound quality suffers exponentially the more you slow the song down) The other feature is to change the pitch of a song to match standard guitar tuning (in which the audio quality suffers even more) this is useful as many artists use dropped tuning or the pitch was changed in the studio (very common with the Beatles). The trainer has gobs of other stuff, like guitar effects, vocal input, vocal effects, footswitch controllability, adjustable levels in and out etc, etc, etc……But the only two features I use are the two mentioned above. This of course requires me to have a source CD or to burn one from my mp3 collection in order to use the trainer on a song I want to play along with.
Well, when I got my iPod Touch and was shopping the app store for music apps…when… To what to my eyes did appear?
Slow Down Music Trainer.
An app purporting to do exactly what I use my Tascam for, but for the measly price of $9.99 (that’s $89 less than what I paid for my reconditioned Tascam). While this seemed like a great deal, I didn’t want to shell a sawbuck for something that might not work. I didn’t even think to look to see if there was a free or Lite version. I kind of forgot about it, but a week later I was on the app store “app” on the Touch when the Lite version of SDMT came up in a search!
You can load three songs in the lite version (unlimited in the full version). You load songs on the touch via WiFi in a Browser window open on the computer with your music library. Sadly Apple won’t let you do ANYTHING with their music library whether the song is DRM or not (this is why people Jailbreak their iPod’s). You open the app, select the song you want to train on, and get a very simple and useful interface. You have cassette type controls for playback, a tempo slider for slowing down the song, and semi-tone buttons to change the pitch of the playback in half steps. A progress indicator that lets you drag to any point in the song which you can then mark to loopback sections and phrases you want to work on. You can also have the app “count you in” to give you time to get your instrument ready to start playing with the song. In addition, you can "tap tempo" the song to set it to the speed you want to play at in your head.
I played with this app for a couple of days, and the thing that impressed me most was the integrity of the audio. Compared to the noisy and distorted Tascam, there is almost no sonic degradation of the audio quality of the source song when changing the tempo, and very little when changing the pitch (though if you go to the extremes, you’ll notice frequency roll off…but no one would really use it at the extreme slow/low pitch or fast/high pitch settings). It’s pretty funny to make Green Day sound like Barry White, or to make David Bowie sound like Cindy Lauper. While there is no “input” to play along with, any iPod dock will give you sound at a level you can play along with an acoustic guitar or an electric on a low volume setting… or you can do what I did and plug the output of the iPod into one of your amp channels and balance it with the guitar or bass plugged into the other.
Just when I decided it was worth the 10 bucks to get the full version, I used the link button in the app to buy it through the app store… low and behold: the price had been reduced to 99 cents! Now it really was a no-brainer. I like this app so much, I’m thisclose to putting my Tascam on craigslist.
Now, whenever I charge/backup my iPod, I usually go into SDMT and load a couple more songs up to practice. The app is near perfect, and about the only thing it could use is more definition with the pitch control, with maybe a slider to fine tune the pitch instead of just buttons for +/- semitones (a suggestion I sent to the developer).
You know, I wanted the Touch to replace my aged PDA, but I never expected it to also be able to do something this useful… for a buck!
Like their page says: Why would you pay Tascam $200 for their MP3 trainer that only holds 240 songs when you can have the most useful features of the Tascam on a device you already own for a buck? (I would have paid the 10 bucks).
Cool-ero
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Best PDA Ever! .....The iPod Touch
O.K.....so you'd think someone who works IN technology would be behind converged devices.....we'll I'm not sold yet. I'm especially not sold because of the $30-$40 extra a month the Cell providers want to charge you for a data plan for the "honor" of owning such a device (iphone, Droid, Palm Pre, G1, BBerry Storm, WM smartphone etc...).
Until recently, I was still toting around my six year old Dell Axim X5. Which was hobbled together from two other Axims I had (my orginal one, and one I got on ebay refurbished (both had dropped and broke, but between them, I had a working unit). The Dell was falling apart, so a friend from New Freedonia (link in right margin)sent me his old one to get me over the hump. I was in further distress because my 5 year old (also hobbled together) Columbia PDA/phone case was faded and looking like crap, and no current model cases have the right cross of features (sturdy/easy-fast to access) and room for a phone, PDA, pen, flash drive(s) and extra batteries in a pinch. It was kind of funny to see the look on peoples faces when I pulled it out, the usual comment was "What the heck is that?" .... that is since PDA's fell out of favour.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Axim... it actually replaced all the functions of a laptop and was only a hair short of doing everything I had previously done on a laptop for work. While the Dell could DO a lot of stuff well (contacts, notes, and calendar, office apps), some stuff it didn't do so well (like music, pictures, network connectivity, syncing with something OTHER than Outlook).
My Mrs had been on me to replace my Columbia case and if my Axim was still "viable" about the time I started seeing more and more on the iphone/ipod touch being the best "unintentional" PDA replacements (again, New Freedonia and elsewhere). I started looking and saw the Google sync integration, ereader capability (ereader updates your library to ipod format for no charge) and Documents 2 Go give me almost everything I use the Axim for (not to mention the largest library of apps since Palm's heyday). So I hinted to the Mrs that a touch might be my next PDA, so for our anniversary, she went and got me one (8 gig from Sam's Club). Had a little finagling to do to get my data from the Axim to the Touch because I'm still using Office 2K which Apple does not support syncing with iTunes.
*sidebar* I actually borderline HATE Office '07 ...because Microsoft does not have the option to bring the old menus back FORCING you to use the ribbons. Aftermarket apps are making $30 a pop to give Office '07 users their old menus back, and while there are plenty Office '03's out there, many places that have it are charging MORE than for Office '07, I'm not paying for either... Not to mention the legions of business and schools that can't open the new file format because they haven't upgraded or installed the patches to open the new format. *end sidebar rant*
I ended up exporting my data to Google contacts and calendar, but that left me with gobs of handwritten notes that I had created in the Axim's Notes app over the years including schematics, drawings, passwords, IP addresses, etc, that I've scrawled over the last 6 years. Once again, New Freedonia to the Rescue with the suggestion of Evernote It took a little bit of doing, but for FREE, I was able to transfer all my notes to the Touch, have an online copy of them on my Evernote webapp page...as well as a desktop version. Very Slick. I've found I've been using it even more with the Firefox plugin which makes grabbing things like tech info, maps, and anything else on a webpage available offline on my touch with just a few extra clicks while browsing. This still left me without a way to hand write notes or drawings when I need to for work. There are a number of drawing apps out there, but the one that filled the bill was Fastfinga which completed my PIM replacement requirements for the Touch (note: I have since procured a Touch stylus that utilizes conductive foam as a stylus tip, it's much better for writing and drawing than your finger on the Touch. Your thinking: "Why don't you just type your note?" .... No time at work when things are crazy. I need essentially an electronic piece of paper, and this does it.
ereader for ipod took care of my electronic reading needs, which with the reverse screen option is (IMO) better looking that either the Kindle or Sony ereader screens...and doesn't require an external light source!.
I haven't popped for Doc's To Go yet, as using Goodreader I was able to convert my pocket Word, Excel, and PDF's to be opened on the Touch. Seeing that I hadn't created a Pocket Word, or Excel document ON the Dell in ages (was just using it to view archives of reference ones for work info). I didn't really NEED Doc's To Go yet....we'll see down the line.
Until recently, I was still toting around my six year old Dell Axim X5. Which was hobbled together from two other Axims I had (my orginal one, and one I got on ebay refurbished (both had dropped and broke, but between them, I had a working unit). The Dell was falling apart, so a friend from New Freedonia (link in right margin)sent me his old one to get me over the hump. I was in further distress because my 5 year old (also hobbled together) Columbia PDA/phone case was faded and looking like crap, and no current model cases have the right cross of features (sturdy/easy-fast to access) and room for a phone, PDA, pen, flash drive(s) and extra batteries in a pinch. It was kind of funny to see the look on peoples faces when I pulled it out, the usual comment was "What the heck is that?" .... that is since PDA's fell out of favour.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Axim... it actually replaced all the functions of a laptop and was only a hair short of doing everything I had previously done on a laptop for work. While the Dell could DO a lot of stuff well (contacts, notes, and calendar, office apps), some stuff it didn't do so well (like music, pictures, network connectivity, syncing with something OTHER than Outlook).
My Mrs had been on me to replace my Columbia case and if my Axim was still "viable" about the time I started seeing more and more on the iphone/ipod touch being the best "unintentional" PDA replacements (again, New Freedonia and elsewhere). I started looking and saw the Google sync integration, ereader capability (ereader updates your library to ipod format for no charge) and Documents 2 Go give me almost everything I use the Axim for (not to mention the largest library of apps since Palm's heyday). So I hinted to the Mrs that a touch might be my next PDA, so for our anniversary, she went and got me one (8 gig from Sam's Club). Had a little finagling to do to get my data from the Axim to the Touch because I'm still using Office 2K which Apple does not support syncing with iTunes.
*sidebar* I actually borderline HATE Office '07 ...because Microsoft does not have the option to bring the old menus back FORCING you to use the ribbons. Aftermarket apps are making $30 a pop to give Office '07 users their old menus back, and while there are plenty Office '03's out there, many places that have it are charging MORE than for Office '07, I'm not paying for either... Not to mention the legions of business and schools that can't open the new file format because they haven't upgraded or installed the patches to open the new format. *end sidebar rant*
I ended up exporting my data to Google contacts and calendar, but that left me with gobs of handwritten notes that I had created in the Axim's Notes app over the years including schematics, drawings, passwords, IP addresses, etc, that I've scrawled over the last 6 years. Once again, New Freedonia to the Rescue with the suggestion of Evernote It took a little bit of doing, but for FREE, I was able to transfer all my notes to the Touch, have an online copy of them on my Evernote webapp page...as well as a desktop version. Very Slick. I've found I've been using it even more with the Firefox plugin which makes grabbing things like tech info, maps, and anything else on a webpage available offline on my touch with just a few extra clicks while browsing. This still left me without a way to hand write notes or drawings when I need to for work. There are a number of drawing apps out there, but the one that filled the bill was Fastfinga which completed my PIM replacement requirements for the Touch (note: I have since procured a Touch stylus that utilizes conductive foam as a stylus tip, it's much better for writing and drawing than your finger on the Touch. Your thinking: "Why don't you just type your note?" .... No time at work when things are crazy. I need essentially an electronic piece of paper, and this does it.
ereader for ipod took care of my electronic reading needs, which with the reverse screen option is (IMO) better looking that either the Kindle or Sony ereader screens...and doesn't require an external light source!.
I haven't popped for Doc's To Go yet, as using Goodreader I was able to convert my pocket Word, Excel, and PDF's to be opened on the Touch. Seeing that I hadn't created a Pocket Word, or Excel document ON the Dell in ages (was just using it to view archives of reference ones for work info). I didn't really NEED Doc's To Go yet....we'll see down the line.
I had still been using flexwallet, but Ilium software cut me a deal to upgrade my version to the current eWallet ipod and desktop version for $10 (can now sync multiple desktops and ipods). This app is a necessity for sensitive information as well as passwords and the like. I've been using it since my Handspring days.
No really good list app (like ListPro), but I found a freebie called To Do's that's filling in fine for now, ListPro for iphone has been "coming" for almost a year now (don't hold your breath).
Other PIM plugin apps like Fast Add make the built-in apps faster and easier to use. I'm almost 99% sold on using the built in PIM because of the Googlesync options, ease of use, and multiple backups (ipod, iTunes sync, and Googlespace). The only area I've found lacking is you can't copy and paste events like you can in Outlook or Windows Mobile (very convenient when making your vacation schedule), other than that, no hitches yet.
Didn't think I'd use the Photos app....and I wouldn't be.....if it wasn't so darned fast and easy to use. Same for the Mail and optional Google Mobile App The Wifi integration is invisible and rock solid. Too bad the Bluetooth is headphones only (though there are some BT printing apps as well). It would be sooOOOooo cool to be able to send/recieve contacts, photos, and songs from my phone via BT. Too bad Verizon and Apple both have it locked down.
At this point, it's so useful as it is, I'm not interested in Jailbreaking it, unless I run into a brick wall utility-wise...or when the warranty runs out :D .
Oh....MUSIC...yea.....it plays... MUSIC....
Currently I've got about 5 pages of apps going now, I've discarded about three pages worth that were duds, I may start covering the ones I like here if anyone is interested... and probably will even if you're not ;) .
BTW, my ipods "name" is PDA Replacement.
No really good list app (like ListPro), but I found a freebie called To Do's that's filling in fine for now, ListPro for iphone has been "coming" for almost a year now (don't hold your breath).
Other PIM plugin apps like Fast Add make the built-in apps faster and easier to use. I'm almost 99% sold on using the built in PIM because of the Googlesync options, ease of use, and multiple backups (ipod, iTunes sync, and Googlespace). The only area I've found lacking is you can't copy and paste events like you can in Outlook or Windows Mobile (very convenient when making your vacation schedule), other than that, no hitches yet.
Didn't think I'd use the Photos app....and I wouldn't be.....if it wasn't so darned fast and easy to use. Same for the Mail and optional Google Mobile App The Wifi integration is invisible and rock solid. Too bad the Bluetooth is headphones only (though there are some BT printing apps as well). It would be sooOOOooo cool to be able to send/recieve contacts, photos, and songs from my phone via BT. Too bad Verizon and Apple both have it locked down.
At this point, it's so useful as it is, I'm not interested in Jailbreaking it, unless I run into a brick wall utility-wise...or when the warranty runs out :D .
Oh....MUSIC...yea.....it plays... MUSIC....
Currently I've got about 5 pages of apps going now, I've discarded about three pages worth that were duds, I may start covering the ones I like here if anyone is interested... and probably will even if you're not ;) .
BTW, my ipods "name" is PDA Replacement.
My Mrs gets the best gifts.....
Monday, October 05, 2009
Chicago 2016
It's over!
Part of me is relieved, the other part is in panic.
The part that's relieved is so because I won't have to deal with the miles of work that would have ensued for the next 7 years. Jamming a New communications system, new recorders, new radios, multiple secondary sites (all with duplicates of aforementioned equipment)while maintaining the existing equipment and functionality would have been a herculean task at the minimum... I mean, we'll still have to do most of that stuff, but not necessarily by 2016, (and not all at once) and there won't be a rush on the projects.
The part of me in panic is the part that knows that the Mayor gave our pension money to his nephews firm right as the Real Estate bubble was about to burst. Seeing that the mayor seemed to think the Olympic bid was the answer to all his problems, I can only wonder what the pension review commitee report coming out in two weeks will look like. You can bet none of that investment is going to pay off any time soon (if ever). What really irks me is that our pension (The Trade coalition) was funded at 120% exactly the way it was designed before the Mayor got his hands on it. Miram Santos stopped him the last time he tried (and we know what happened to her), but now he can write us off as "underfunded" as an excuse to reduce or eliminate our pensions. Had we received the Olympics, I'm sure the report would have been put in a positive light, now....I can't say.... which is the cause for my panic.
Throw into the mix recent articles in the Sun Times about the goings on that will likely result in a massive shake up at work.... and you can see further cause for panic.
As I touched on before, I took this job with "The City" mainly for the pension. I canceled a 75% completed house in the 'burbs to stay here so I could take this job. If there's no pension, there's no reason for me to work for them. Which means there's no reason for me to live here. Dropping or reducing the pension will result in a mass exodus of city employees (albeit when the job market improves). Da Mayor will have to drop the residency requirement just to be able to hire anyone who might be willing to work for him. Or more likely, in his style, he'll contract them out.
I can hear it now. "Chicago 9**, how may I help you?" said in an Indian accent. .....From the person one cubicle over from the Dell phone service department.
Part of me is relieved, the other part is in panic.
The part that's relieved is so because I won't have to deal with the miles of work that would have ensued for the next 7 years. Jamming a New communications system, new recorders, new radios, multiple secondary sites (all with duplicates of aforementioned equipment)while maintaining the existing equipment and functionality would have been a herculean task at the minimum... I mean, we'll still have to do most of that stuff, but not necessarily by 2016, (and not all at once) and there won't be a rush on the projects.
The part of me in panic is the part that knows that the Mayor gave our pension money to his nephews firm right as the Real Estate bubble was about to burst. Seeing that the mayor seemed to think the Olympic bid was the answer to all his problems, I can only wonder what the pension review commitee report coming out in two weeks will look like. You can bet none of that investment is going to pay off any time soon (if ever). What really irks me is that our pension (The Trade coalition) was funded at 120% exactly the way it was designed before the Mayor got his hands on it. Miram Santos stopped him the last time he tried (and we know what happened to her), but now he can write us off as "underfunded" as an excuse to reduce or eliminate our pensions. Had we received the Olympics, I'm sure the report would have been put in a positive light, now....I can't say.... which is the cause for my panic.
Throw into the mix recent articles in the Sun Times about the goings on that will likely result in a massive shake up at work.... and you can see further cause for panic.
As I touched on before, I took this job with "The City" mainly for the pension. I canceled a 75% completed house in the 'burbs to stay here so I could take this job. If there's no pension, there's no reason for me to work for them. Which means there's no reason for me to live here. Dropping or reducing the pension will result in a mass exodus of city employees (albeit when the job market improves). Da Mayor will have to drop the residency requirement just to be able to hire anyone who might be willing to work for him. Or more likely, in his style, he'll contract them out.
I can hear it now. "Chicago 9**, how may I help you?" said in an Indian accent. .....From the person one cubicle over from the Dell phone service department.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Wake me up when September ends....
July 15th...ZOOOM!....Sept 18th.
It's kind of nice being too busy to do this.
Rooting for the White Sox, though I don't think they'll catch Detroit. We have four games this week....it would be nice to see them make it close.
August/September always brings gobs of computer jobs, no one really worries much about their computer until their kids need them for school.
Took the Mrs and the girls to their First Cubs game (They lost). Daughter #1 wore all her Sox regalia (Including her World Series cap). A few old guys hassled her, but she just smiled it off. I hadn't been to Wrigley in 36 years. Don't understand the complaints on the bathrooms... they're miles better than they used to be. Per the girls only the Fries and Cotton candy were better than at the Cell. Everything else suffered by comparison. Bud is the sponsor there... being rice-beer intolerant. I had to walk to the upper deck patio to get a real beer (they actually had Red Stripe). Yes it's a beautiful field (mainly because the Sox Ground crew takes care of it now). Myself, the Mrs, and the girls felt they absorbed all they could in that one day, and don't care to return again.
Need to put in another plug for the folks at Bridgeport Coffee Company and their wonderful roasts. I took a pound of Bubbly Creek out to my parents, and tried a new roast for us; Hardscrabble Blend, very robust without being over-roasted.
I always mention to the owner how the cream is almost always out when I go to mix my coffee. I was pleased to notice TWO new cream caraffe's (larger too), to solve that situation. I'm glad that Starburnt is struggling, because I'd be really pissed to see them open a shop anywhere near Bridgeport Coffee to try to steal their business (like they did with two other shops we know).
Prius update: still getting in the 47-50 mpg range on summer blend. My Mrs has great affection for her Prius (especially since I installed an ipod interface last August).
Mazda 5 update: Two problems popped up on the Mazda 5, one was the second row seats vibrating loudly, the other was the rear suspension anti-sway bars knocking.
I imagine they would have eventually fixed the suspension, but the dealer told us the vibrating seats were "within specs"... the head rests and seat hinges were making the noise (verrrryyyy annoying). I could spread the head rest bars and they would be better for a week or so, but the folding seat hinges were getting louder by the day. You had to fold the seats down to stop it, and that's a hassle when your loading kids in and out all day long. I called Mazda America who told me that they had reviewed the service record and agreed with Autobarn Mazda's "within specs" comment but that I could take it back in and they would look at it again and review the problem. Here's the rub: Every time I called the Autobarn, they would put me on hold and then the phone would go to ring 20 times and then disconnect me. I tried calling and blocking my caller ID, I then got to the service department and the guy I needed to talk to, who then put me on hold....and you guessed it....rang 20 times and cut me off. They were freezing me out because I called Mazda America on them. After being frozen out 5 or 6 times I just never wanted to see the dealership or a Mazda again. I was going to gear for a fight, but the the Mrs mentioned to me that we just should have got a Camry (we opted for the Mazda because of 6 person seating). *Sigh*, she was right as always. Well we checked with Toyota again and found they were offering 0% financing on Camry's for the first time ever (up to 60 months). Rather then gear up for a fight with Mazda, we took the lower stress road (and lower payment, as the 5 was 0% for 3 years). We didn't loose any money on the Mazda, but we didn't get what the trade on the Windstar was originally either...but the 0% compensated for that. Camry's were hardly in stock anywhere after Cash for clunkers, so we had to hunt for dealers with them in stock. Fortunately Continental Toyota had a few. We decided on a 6 cyl LE in stock in Ribbon Blue:
Yes, we lost a seat, but it's sooooo comfortable and even with the 6 cylinder it gets better daily combined milage than the Mazda. (5 was getting 21-23, the Camry's getting 22-25 mpg).
While "The City" is still allowing me to have a job, my union agreed to cuts in hours (about 8-10 hours a month), as well as no more overtime or holiday pay (which is why I've been fielding computer calls again). In an ironic twist, there are multiple big projects at work that will require many extra hours to complete. We now receive compensatory time instead of overtime pay for working overtime.... which means paid time off down the road....if everyone takes it....who will work on the projects?
"The City" has big shoulders, but not much between the ears...
Due to the mayor skimming my pension and giving the money to his nephew for Olympic Real estate investments, I now have to "want" the 2016 Olympics just to make sure I have a pension to get. A pension review study comes out two weeks after the Olympic city announcement.
I "imagine" it will go something like this if we get the Olympics: "Hey the pension is fine, don't worry about anything!".
If we don't get them: "Hey, the pension is in the tank, we have to restructure it, you'll be getting a reduced amount and new hires will not have a pension at all!
Honestly, if I don't have a pension there is no reason for me to work for "The City".
It's kind of nice being too busy to do this.
Rooting for the White Sox, though I don't think they'll catch Detroit. We have four games this week....it would be nice to see them make it close.
August/September always brings gobs of computer jobs, no one really worries much about their computer until their kids need them for school.
Took the Mrs and the girls to their First Cubs game (They lost). Daughter #1 wore all her Sox regalia (Including her World Series cap). A few old guys hassled her, but she just smiled it off. I hadn't been to Wrigley in 36 years. Don't understand the complaints on the bathrooms... they're miles better than they used to be. Per the girls only the Fries and Cotton candy were better than at the Cell. Everything else suffered by comparison. Bud is the sponsor there... being rice-beer intolerant. I had to walk to the upper deck patio to get a real beer (they actually had Red Stripe). Yes it's a beautiful field (mainly because the Sox Ground crew takes care of it now). Myself, the Mrs, and the girls felt they absorbed all they could in that one day, and don't care to return again.
Need to put in another plug for the folks at Bridgeport Coffee Company and their wonderful roasts. I took a pound of Bubbly Creek out to my parents, and tried a new roast for us; Hardscrabble Blend, very robust without being over-roasted.
I always mention to the owner how the cream is almost always out when I go to mix my coffee. I was pleased to notice TWO new cream caraffe's (larger too), to solve that situation. I'm glad that Starburnt is struggling, because I'd be really pissed to see them open a shop anywhere near Bridgeport Coffee to try to steal their business (like they did with two other shops we know).
Prius update: still getting in the 47-50 mpg range on summer blend. My Mrs has great affection for her Prius (especially since I installed an ipod interface last August).
Mazda 5 update: Two problems popped up on the Mazda 5, one was the second row seats vibrating loudly, the other was the rear suspension anti-sway bars knocking.
I imagine they would have eventually fixed the suspension, but the dealer told us the vibrating seats were "within specs"... the head rests and seat hinges were making the noise (verrrryyyy annoying). I could spread the head rest bars and they would be better for a week or so, but the folding seat hinges were getting louder by the day. You had to fold the seats down to stop it, and that's a hassle when your loading kids in and out all day long. I called Mazda America who told me that they had reviewed the service record and agreed with Autobarn Mazda's "within specs" comment but that I could take it back in and they would look at it again and review the problem. Here's the rub: Every time I called the Autobarn, they would put me on hold and then the phone would go to ring 20 times and then disconnect me. I tried calling and blocking my caller ID, I then got to the service department and the guy I needed to talk to, who then put me on hold....and you guessed it....rang 20 times and cut me off. They were freezing me out because I called Mazda America on them. After being frozen out 5 or 6 times I just never wanted to see the dealership or a Mazda again. I was going to gear for a fight, but the the Mrs mentioned to me that we just should have got a Camry (we opted for the Mazda because of 6 person seating). *Sigh*, she was right as always. Well we checked with Toyota again and found they were offering 0% financing on Camry's for the first time ever (up to 60 months). Rather then gear up for a fight with Mazda, we took the lower stress road (and lower payment, as the 5 was 0% for 3 years). We didn't loose any money on the Mazda, but we didn't get what the trade on the Windstar was originally either...but the 0% compensated for that. Camry's were hardly in stock anywhere after Cash for clunkers, so we had to hunt for dealers with them in stock. Fortunately Continental Toyota had a few. We decided on a 6 cyl LE in stock in Ribbon Blue:
Yes, we lost a seat, but it's sooooo comfortable and even with the 6 cylinder it gets better daily combined milage than the Mazda. (5 was getting 21-23, the Camry's getting 22-25 mpg).
While "The City" is still allowing me to have a job, my union agreed to cuts in hours (about 8-10 hours a month), as well as no more overtime or holiday pay (which is why I've been fielding computer calls again). In an ironic twist, there are multiple big projects at work that will require many extra hours to complete. We now receive compensatory time instead of overtime pay for working overtime.... which means paid time off down the road....if everyone takes it....who will work on the projects?
"The City" has big shoulders, but not much between the ears...
Due to the mayor skimming my pension and giving the money to his nephew for Olympic Real estate investments, I now have to "want" the 2016 Olympics just to make sure I have a pension to get. A pension review study comes out two weeks after the Olympic city announcement.
I "imagine" it will go something like this if we get the Olympics: "Hey the pension is fine, don't worry about anything!".
If we don't get them: "Hey, the pension is in the tank, we have to restructure it, you'll be getting a reduced amount and new hires will not have a pension at all!
Honestly, if I don't have a pension there is no reason for me to work for "The City".
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Lots going on but....
Just no time to blog it.
Bad work stuff, bad economy stuff.
Teen and pre-teen stuff (not bad, just "stuff").
First time camping in 36 years (Cornerstone Festival with Daughter #1)
Wonderful Birthday provided by the Mrs.
Saved $350 making my own Roof rack for the Mazda out of electrical clamps and galvanized pipe for my rooftop storage trunk.
Going lighthouse and Whale watching on the east coast later this summer.....and yet
....Most of the hits on this blog are still for my Musicians Friend and Pheasant Park rants, and as I indicated earlier this year, my online time is getting less and less. As it is, I really don't NEED Comcast speed anymore, so I think a switch to DSL is coming (I dread the email registration changes more than anything). Though if Comcast will dish me another six months at $20 a month like they did this spring, I'll stay into next year.
While I still have links on the right of this page; most of my cyber-only "friends" have moved on elsewhere, and I don't care to jump into facebook or myspace.
The Mrs has pointed out many times that nurturing online-only "buds" or "discussions" beyond information gathering/sharing is probably pointless.
Summer hiatus continues....
Bad work stuff, bad economy stuff.
Teen and pre-teen stuff (not bad, just "stuff").
First time camping in 36 years (Cornerstone Festival with Daughter #1)
Wonderful Birthday provided by the Mrs.
Saved $350 making my own Roof rack for the Mazda out of electrical clamps and galvanized pipe for my rooftop storage trunk.
Going lighthouse and Whale watching on the east coast later this summer.....and yet
....Most of the hits on this blog are still for my Musicians Friend and Pheasant Park rants, and as I indicated earlier this year, my online time is getting less and less. As it is, I really don't NEED Comcast speed anymore, so I think a switch to DSL is coming (I dread the email registration changes more than anything). Though if Comcast will dish me another six months at $20 a month like they did this spring, I'll stay into next year.
While I still have links on the right of this page; most of my cyber-only "friends" have moved on elsewhere, and I don't care to jump into facebook or myspace.
The Mrs has pointed out many times that nurturing online-only "buds" or "discussions" beyond information gathering/sharing is probably pointless.
Summer hiatus continues....
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