March 2009

There were 51 posts published in March 2009 (this is page 5 of 6).

Good business to be in

potholeI watched a pothole on Wade Avenue almost swallow an SUV Monday afternoon. I whipped out my phone and called the city to report it and was amazed to find it patched less than 24 hours later. The city’s Street Division is top notch.

That was one down, many, many more to go, however. The multiple threats of snow and the salted roads that resulted, combined with the municipal budget shortfalls (and the slump in fuel taxes) means that potholes are destined to become a huge problem on our roads.

Now is definitely the time to be in the car repair business, particularly one that does alignments!

Sailing this weekend?

The forecast is shaping up for this to be a beautiful weekend. Winds are looking good (8-12 kts) as are the temperatures (75 Saturday and 77 Sunday). We’re thinking of dusting the boat off for a trip or two around the lake. Should be fun!

Plensa’s “Sleep No More” … yawn

I drove by Durham the other night and saw the beam of light radiating from Spanish artist Jaume Plensa’s “Sleep No More” piece. I consider myself a “patron” of the arts, but this Highbeam To Heaven does nothing for me. I can’t stop thinking it’s just more light pollution blotting out the true beauty of the night sky.

View-Master scenic reels being discontinued

viewmaster_1-300x200Remember how I was waxing nostalgic about View-Masters last year? Word comes today that Mattel has stopped making the View-Master scenic reels, only leaving the animated ones like Dora and Shrek.

Listen to this moronic analyst:

Toy industry analyst Sean McGowan with Needham & Co. said View-Master has been in decline since its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s.

“That’s not what the kids are looking for in the back seat of the car,” he said. “They’re looking for a DVD that plays on the back of Daddy’s seat.”

Yeah, kids aren’t looking for books in the back seat of the car, either, but that doesn’t mean books are endangered.

I believe the View-Master is in decline because it hasn’t been marketed at all. It’s a device that has entertained children and adults for generations – and would continue to do so, given the chance. It needs no electricity, you can drop it and it still works, and what other 3-D toys are out there, seventy years since its invention?

Someone should buy that business from Mattel and run it properly.

MT.Net Lair?

fryingpanshoalslight12_thumbThis would be the perfect place to launch my diabolical schemes to rule the world: the Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower. It’s done its job protecting sailors from the dangerous shoals but now it could be mine for $515,000.

The problem, of course, is that I don’t have a half a mil to throw away on a decrepit, rusting hulk 25 miles offshore. And, with real estate being what it is, I can’t really place the value on a property that I can’t land my helicopter on or climb onto because the ladder is missing. Then there’s the fact that you can’t really run real estate comps on a property with no homes within 25 miles of it. Then again, it does has amazing, unobstructed ocean views. Hmm.

I think I’ll stick with hatching my evil plans to take over the world from the comfort of my own home.

Raleigh to host international web conference next year

I’m pretty excited to learn Raleigh will host the 19th annual International World Wide Web Conference at the Raleigh Convention Center next year. A number of people who helped give birth to this thing we call the Internet will be in town collaborating with other techies to plot the future of the Web.

The conference will be a wonderful showcase for our area’s technology and talent. I’m psyched about it. Plus, the esteemed webmasters of the WWW2010 conference website obviously know a fine photograph of downtown Raleigh when they see one.

Mary Anning (1799 – 1847)

A song about pioneering paleontologist Mary Anning: how awesome is that? Pandora does it again.

Mary Anning (1799 – 1847)
Artichoke

do you know Mary Anning? born on a southern shore
her father Richard was a cabinetmaker
and Richard died too early and left the Annings poor
but lucky Mary Anning found an icthyosaur

by circa 1820 she ran a fossil store
she put the bones together for the collectors
and science was the province of men of noble birth
but I’d take Mary Anning over those stuffed white shirts
ancient life that sleeps as fossil

she was walking the cliffs on her own by the sea
she was wondering if there were shapes underneath
there were men with their cash but that’s not what it took
she could read every line on the ground like a book
she assembled the bones of the past in cement
and she sold them in town for a couple of pence
and she showed all the men how the bones could connect
though at first some would scoff they would grow to respect

(repeat first verse)
how did you get in here? show me what you found dear
hello isn’t that queer do you have any more?

Snow dusting

We awoke to a world blanketed with an inch of wet snow. The expected 2-4″ did not materialize, though fortunately the 10″ didn’t, either. I waited an hour later than my usual departure to give time for the idiots on the road to find their respective ditches, then I drove into work with no issues at all.

Tomorrow might be a good work-from-home day as the day should begin with temperatures well below freezing.