Category: Life in General

I Break for Ronald…McDonald

Posted on by chappyshi

On my scooter ride out to Deep Creek Lake, MD, I went through Romney, WV, on Route 50.  There was, what I considered to be an unusual backup, going through the small town.  Come to find out, they had put in a stop light to serve, as it appears, only the exit from the local McDonalds.

I had nearly forgot about this until I read this article in the Washington Post online , “Kentucky town of Manchester illustrates national obesity crisis,” (sic).  There are 2100 people in the town and 9 fast food restaurants if you count the Wal-Mart.  I am surprised there is a Wal-Mart.  In a town that small, more people must be in the Wal-Mart than any other place in town at any given time!

Is having to have a dedicated stoplight at McDonald’s an indication of a problem?

IRS Should Have Bigger Fish to Fry

Posted on by chappyshi

According to the Washington Post article “IRS wants a cut of online sales on eBay, Craigslist,” dated 30 May, 2010, the IRS wants tax revenue it is considered owed from online sales.  The Post notes that “With an estimated $290 billion tax gap…it is politically easier to raise additional revenue from people who haven’t paid their fair share than by raising taxes.”

Doh!  It’s a Homer Simpson moment.  Let’s move away from television fantasy to the real world here.  A new law has been created to help close the tax gap but as the Post additionally notes, “although nobody knows precisely how much the new law will bring in, or how much it will cost to enforce, congressional staffers have estimated it will make only a very small dent in the total tax gap.”

Let’s get after  it then, eh?

Northern Virginia Summer BrewFest, 2010

Posted on by chappyshi

The 3d annual Northern Virginia Summer BrewFest,  “A Celebration of American Beer,” will be held June 26 and 27th at Morven Park in Leesburg, VA, just north of Leesburg on Route 15 at Tutt Lane.

I went with my sister and brother-in-law last year and really enjoyed it.  The weather was perfect and the selection of beers was awesome.  Advance tickets are a bit pricey at $20 but cheaper than at the gate ($25) and that includes a 6.75 oz tasting glass and four tickets for tasting.  There is no fee for parking and parking (as well as exiting) is hassle free.

Follow the link above for more information including a list of last years breweries.  This year’s list has not yet been posted.

I’ll be out there Saturday afternoon…hope to see you there!

Why Are Eggs in the Dairy Section?

Posted on by chappyshi

According to the Merriam-Webster Online, a dairy is a farm and/or facility “concerned with the production of milk, butter, and cheese.”  I have never seen a chicken that could produce milk from which one could subsequently produce butter and cheese.  So why are the eggs in the dairy section?  Anyone…anyone?

Sl “apps” Happy iPhone Users

Posted on by chappyshi

In the Washington Post article, “iPhone Apps for the Traveler,” dated May 16, 2010, Ross Arbes, endorses 15 apps for the iPhone using traveler.  I will comment on a few of them.

  • Maps – Buy a hard copy or print something out from Google or Mapquest or just access the sites on your iPhone.  Do we really need an app to replace competent services that are available to us on our web enabled device?  Familiarize yourself with where you are going before you get there.  It is generally very beneficial.
  • Cheap Gas (free) – First of all, cheap gas may be cheap but is is not free.  No driving directions to the gas station so what is the point.  What is that $1.50 savings per fill up in the wider scheme of things anyhow?  Especially if you are out of town.
  • ATM Hunter – ATM’s are everywhere…banks, fast food restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, bars, etc.  Now an app for “Money (free)” would be cool.
  • Sit or Squat, public toilet finder – Public toilets are everywhere…banks (just kidding), fast food restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, bars, etc.
  • EveryTrail, records route, speed and elevation using iPhone GPS and incorporates photos taken into the route – This presumably requires that you use the camera on your iPhone.  God forbid!  Give my my Nikon D60 any day.  Besides if you can’t remember where you took your pictures then they probably weren’t very good.
  • HearPlanet Lite, locates nearby sites and reads articles aloud from Wikipedia and Wikitravel – Get the relevant real Lonely Planet guide and read about it beforehand.  Bring the book with you to refine the experience on site.  Avoid noise pollution be it by headphone or speaker, especially by speaker.
  • Am I Safe (costs $.99), provides crime states for your area and classifies it as safe or not safe – Bam your mugged or dead. If you can’t figure that out by yourself or haven’t researched it in advance then you are effed.  Sorry.
  • iTranslate, can translate more than 50 languages  and voice translations out loud – Sounds pretty good but how do you input the foreign language?  Do you have to type it in?  Can someone speak the foreign language in and have it output in the desired other foreign language?

Trash On My Door Knob

Posted on by chappyshi

Who is responsible for cleaning up all the trash that local businesses hang on my door knob?  I live in an apartment complex with open walkways so any maggot can come through and hang restaurant menus or solicitations on my door.

I hate those things.  They go right into my recycling bin though many other people might just trash them.  Lately, as a form of protest, I just leave them on the hall floor.  It speaks to the cleanliness of the complex in that the trash stays in the hallway for weeks without anyone cleaning up.

Can I, can anyone be they a renter or an owner, be responsible for cleaning up the trash that vendors and solicitors leave at their doorstep?  Can I save all the crap up for a year and send it back to the deliverer COD?

It Just Isn’t Natural

Posted on by chappyshi

I hate Tuesdays in the summer at my apartment complex because that is normally when the landscaping company comes in.  The lawn mowers and blowers are so loud it is ridiculous.  To make things worse, the company milks the situation often by mowing and blowing the same plot twice.  There is no apartment management representative around to observe what is going on.  Of course, were I working, I wouldn’t be present to observe the shenanigans myself…

Last Tuesday, I watched three guys, two with man portable gas powered blowers on their backs and another guy with a wheeled gas powered blower clearing the debris out of the parking lot, onto the dog walking/pooping area below my balcony, and then into the tree line.  The blowers are so powerful that they flatten out the grass for about a 1 x 2 foot area.

In truth, I bet the three guys manning these gas powered tools could have raked all the debris to the tree line sans noise and petroleum burnt pollution in the same time it took them to blow the debris away.  Meanwhile they stirred up a dust and pollen storm that forced me to close my balcony door and apartment windows.

Is it time to get back to the basics of yard work and employ some college kids for the summer?  I don’t want to put any “immigrants”  out of work but WTF?