Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
I read this in an article about low attendance at the Cumberland County Fair
First-time fair vendor Dean Margarites of Monmouth County said he likely will skip setting up his Greek-A-Licious stand here next year because of poor sales.
“If I have something else going on, I’ll probably stick to something closer,” Margarites said.
As far as I am concerned that will improve the fair. Greek-a-Licious served me the absolute worst gyro I have ever eaten . . . Several years ago I noticed that BlogNetNews.com had picked up eCache in its feeds. It’s an interesting site, although it never generated much traffic here. A couple years ago the url for eCache changed. I contacted them to update it several times. They never did and I stopped trying. Just now in one of my feeds, I stumbled across this site again. I too a quick look. Not only have they not updated my feed, they have me classified as liberal. Bahaaaawwww . . . “Terrell Owens says he’s concerned teams are swayed by the perception that he’s a troublemaker and that’s why none have signed the free-agent receiver.” You think? I will be sorry to see Terrell retire. Since we have the same surname, my students always feel a kindred spirit. I use T.O. as an example throughout the year whenever my students fall into “me first” mode. We pound our chests just like the clueless one. Who will I use when he is no longer relevant? . . . Newspapers employing paywalls is poor business, imo, but Lancaster Online has taken the cake. Their new model uses a paywall only for obituaries. After reading seven obits, one will have to pay for the eighth. Yeah, that will work . . . Scoble is a media whore. He’s been pimping his “secret” all week. We’re all impressed . . . The other evening the handle fell off my Weber Performer. The grill i eight years old. The handle had rusted. I e-mailed the company, forwarded photographs, etc. In the mail right now to me is a replacement lid and thermometer free of charge. Weber has outstanding customer service . . .
Posted in Culinary, Football, Media, New Jersey, Politics, Sports, Technology | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
When I first moved here 16 years ago, I made two immediate observations: 1. there are no sidewalks and 2. the mentality of the area is “We’re depressed, therefore you must give.” This blog tackles #2 regularly. Along Wheaton Avenue right now, #1 is being addressed. Sure, a couple million dollars of federal stimulus money is behind this, but it is still nice to see . . . The Norcross machine sure gets a lot of grief in this state, particularly this area. It’s deserved. But I did notice that Don Norcross, the brother of South Jersey the political boss, has proposed something that actually makes sense. Did you know you can’t purchase a motorcycle in New Jersey on Sunday? This archaic blue law should have been off the books some time ago. Will it bring back Millville Harley? No. Will it solve our economic woes? No. But here is a proposal that will help without a single tax being levied against the citizens. This is good . . . While I have been generally impressed with the job Gov. Christie is doing, I am concerned about the budget that is about to be passed. It doesn’t seem to have been reduced, and I keep hearing about tax increases buried in there. Christie will pay a hefty price if he has taxes/fees in his budget. Not only will he be hammered for it, he will lose the respect of those who have supported him . . . A guest of ours on Sunday said to me, “I had no idea how loud the track is” on his way out. Sunday was a “quiet” day in our neighborhood, although we were able to hear it over the motor we ran for our water slide . . . Speaking of NJMP, the AC Press seems to be onto the idea that NJMP is not drawing crowds. Sure would like to hear more about this . . . Today is the confirmation hearing for an American hero. General Patraeus will be on the Hill today. Of course, there is silence from MoveOn.org. When President Bush had Patraeus in charge, the whacky left group cried “General Betray Us”. Why the hypocrisy when President Obama hires the same guy? Could it be that MoveOn.org is not principled? . . . Who would have thought that Kevin Costner’s legacy would include cleaning up oil in the Gulf? . . . Why the differences in functions for the same software depending on one’s mobile unit, MLB? No streaming games or player stats if you don’t own an iPhone or iPad. Bah! . . . Are you ready for The Daily Journal to go behind a paywall? I haven’t paid for this paper in the last seven years and I don’t plan on adding it to the Owens budget to read the drivel that passes for local news. Is Gannett really that bold? . . .
Posted in Baseball, Media, Politics, Sports, Technology | No Comments »
Saturday, June 26th, 2010
Bidic Autolines is a four-store dealership in the area. They sell used vehicles. They have been successful. They even have their own infomercials on the local line-up.
Last week the state of New Jersey yanked the business license. From what is reported, 80+ titles have not been issued since March. That is not good. Bidic is blaming the snafu on theft and computer problems. That sounds suspicious to me.
OTOH, I don’t know what benefit an auto dealership gains by not filing the title work with the state. Obviously, this can only be short-term as folks will complain.
Two years ago we purchased a vehicle from Bidic. Generally speaking, it was a positive experience. Generally so for the whole process of purchasing a vehicle is burdensome. They drove me to two other lots to look at vehicles. They were patient with me. I spent about eight hours looking at cars with them.
It does seem to me that there was a title transfer issue delay at that time too, but it was cleared up in no time. The vehicle has run well for two years.
Reading the comments on the articles of late make it sound like a different dealership altogether. Perhaps I was fortunate. Perhaps I just haven’t discovered the lemon I have. Perhaps others are being overly critical. Who knows.
Yanking a business license is not something that is normally done. Bidic has been permitted to open its offices to process the title paperwork of those affected. It is still forbidden from selling cars. I bet its bank will not want to extend the loans it most certainly takes for inventory. The Chestnut Avenue location has no vehicles on its lot presently.
Interesting . . . certainly not good news any time, let alone amid this poor economy.
Posted in New Jersey | No Comments »
Saturday, June 19th, 2010
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gave the commencement address at Langley High School the other day. Scalia’s children were graduated from Langley and this day his granddaughter was too. If there is any doubt that Scalia “gets it”, this speech should remove it.
Scalia took on the typical platitudes that commencement speeches address and turned them on their head as only this mental giant can. Most of the speech can be heard here. The transcription of the speech is here.
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
Here are some headlines about Millville and Vineland this past week:
Sure, there were some good stories . . . they were easily lost among all the above hoopla. Sheesh . . .
Posted in New Jersey | No Comments »
