Sick of Transit,Glorious Monday....

Monday was another one of those days that I am glad I am not working. I could not have asked for a more glorious day. The Sky was crystal clear . The temperature hovered in the mid sixties, and the winds were negligible. It was a great day for THE BEACH, or at least near the beach. Fire Island beckoned. So what if I have more photos of the Fire Island Lighthouse than any other living person. You just can't have enough lighthouse pics. I took dozens. I'll find someplace to post them and we'll let you know where.
After the beach we went to Caumsett State park in Lloyd Harbor. They usually have some sort of Halloween display but not this year, very disappointing.
Today is Halloween and I am planning to get to the Greenwich Village Halloween parade which starts at about 7 this evening. I don't know if I can make it. I have a bunch of stuff around the house to do today and I have a feeling I'm going to be too pooped to parade.
Anyway, have a great trick or treat.

Day off from a day off...

I took a day off Sunday from being out of work. I decided to do absolutely nothing. I didn't shower or shave, I walked around the house in the same clothes I slept in (a surgical scrub top and the bottoms from an old track outfit).I watched football until my eyes bled, napped on the couch until the call of nature woke me up and let the phone ring until who ever was on the other end gave up. Dining consisted of opening cans of stuff like tomato soup and canned spinach (my favorite when mixed with Cheese Whiz and slowly simmered until everything melts together). I found some leftover chicken breast in the fridge so I diced it up and threw it in the tomato soup. Not bad, You can through anything into tomato soup and not ruin it. After dinner I napped some more until I finally gave in and went to bed around 12:30. I fell asleep with the radio on listening to Matt Drudge. Nothing like a good conservative talk show to send you into the arms of Morphius.

Splash free at last....

A violent wind- swept rain blew into the area from somewhere in the Midwest, most likely from St. Louis where the Cards are celebrating their ill gotten world series victory. Undaunted I ventured forth in pursuit of the illusive kitchen faucet aerator. Fridays trip to Home Depot proved fruitless. Even with the vast selection of water flow devices ,the size necessary for the rather strange threads on my prehistoric kitchen faucet was nowhere to be found. The one that I bought looked like it should fit but alas, the threads were of the wrong caliber. I realized that what I needed was not a new aerator but rather a "faucet aerator thread adapter" that would make even my demonic splash making appliance compliant with 21st century plumbing. But which to get. Even though I brought the old aerator with me I could not determine which would fit. It as apparent that Home Depot was to be of no use.Too many choices and you can't open the packages to match up the threads. I would have to search elsewhere.

The only other big box home center in my area is Lowe's. Usually I have found Lowe's to be like Home Depot lite. A little smaller and not as much selection. But the store near me is huge with just as many confusing isles as its bigger competitor. I headed for the plumbing department just off the main entrance.The aerator area was right there at the start of the isle. They seemed to have the same collection as HD. My eyes began to glaze over. But wait! What's this? Could my eyes deceive me. There, in the middle of all the aerator styles ,was a size guide with real treaded adaptors. All I needed to do was to find the thread size that looked like the sample I brought and actually screw it in to the threaded size guide. I found the proper adaptor in about 1 minute. I was in plumbing nirvana. Thanks Lowe's. I am free at last, splash free at last.


Detail of my faucet with arrow pointing to the new adaptor.

The rain has stopped but it's still windy out there.Maybe I'll go out, maybe not. I am a free spirit these days. I do what I want.

Friday walkabout....

Bad weather forecast for Saturday so I decided to go for a little walk in the city Friday. I didn't feel like lugging the Nikon around so I dropped the little Minolta point and shoot in my jacket pocket and set forth. I got off the F train at the Rockefeller Center stop and went upstairs. I usually do these walks on Sunday so I was not prepared for the crowds on busy 47th Street. Lots of tourists during the week. In a way it's nice to see. New York is still the most visited city in the world. It makes one proud.
I headed over to Times Square and the theater district to see if indeed there was a broken heart for every light on Broadway. I came across these guys doing a little maintainance. Apparently there is a least one broken light along with the hearts.

I hung a left and headed downtown. My watch and my stomach said it was lunchtime. I refilled my wallet at a Chase ATM.* Now, what to eat? I knew the perfect place. THE MALL. Yes there is a mall in Manhattan.It's on 6th Ave. between 33rd and 32nd St. and not surprisingly it's called the Manhattan Mall. And best of all, they have a food court and more important than that they have a men's room. It's not the best public rest room in the city (Trump Tower takes that honor) but when you gotta' you gotta'. Now , on to lunch. There was Nathan's but I had my bread quota for the day and hot dogs without the bun is a definite gastronomic no-no. There was Chinese place but my expierience with Chinese fast food has not been good. I think all the food court Chinese restaurants get their food pre-cooked from some central location.It all tastes the same, gooey. What I really wanted was a salad. (Yes, I'm still on the diet). No salad at the Cajun place.The sushi bar was no help and the sub place offered only sandwiches...more bread. Then I saw it. At the end of the row was one of my favorite fast food places. Arby's. In the days when I didn't care about what I ate, Arby's was the best. Giant roast beef sanwhiches topped with a gob of melted che

Keeping it green,or just plain cheap...

It's funny how your perspective changes when you don't have a steady income. The little things that you would not have concerned yourself about now suddenly seem very important. One of those things for me was recycling. Now I am just as conscientious about the environment as the next guy. I separate my garbage (as prescribed by NYC law) into recyclable and non-recyclable items, placing the cans and bottles etc. into the proper container in the trash room. ALL the cans went into the same box including those soda cans that I had paid a five cent deposit on. But recently I have been separating the soda cans from the rest of my garbage and collecting them in a plastic bag in the corner of my combined second bedroom-junk storage area. I have been doing this for months,ever since we first found out that we would be losing our jobs. In the past I could not have cared less about going back to the store to get my 5 cents back, after all isn't that what I see all those homeless people do? I'm certainly not homeless. I'm not even hurting for cash. But somehow I hate to see those cans get crushed into oblivion along with my once hard earned cash. So yesterday I decided to actually take all those cans to my local supermarket can crusher to see just how the system worked.

I had stored the cans in an opaque non-descript giant black plastic garbage bag. Feeling like some clandestine Santa Clause I slung the bag over my shoulder and peeked out of my apartment door looking up and down the hall making shure none of my neighbors would see me and my loot. I opted for the stairs instead of the elevator,less of a chance of meeting someone I know. I skulked out of the side door and over to my car which fortunately was parked nearby. Throwing the sack in the back seat I started the car and drove off confident that homeless people do not drive to the recycling center.

At the supermarket I found that they had a separate room located outside of the real market where the recycling took place. I looked around still expecting to see a neighbor or acquaintance taking photos of me for the buildings in house newsletter. The coast was clear. In fact I was the only one there. I opened the sack and began to feed the cans into the gaping jaws of the can crusher. One by one the cans disappeared into the abyss. WHOOSH, GRIND, CRUSH. The machine did its job. I kept feeding its insatiable appetite until all the cans in the sack where gone. I stood back and looked at the directions on the screen. "Push red button when finished" it said. I obeyed, not wanting to upset the machine which I felt was still "hungry" for more cans. "Your receipt is being printed,please wait" it said. Receipt? What receipt? I didn't want a receipt. I wanted all those nickels I originally spent on this stuff to drop out of the slot like a Las Vegas one armed bandit. But no luck. A few seconds later a long white slip of paper was dispensed stating that I had nearly four dollars coming to me and that I would have to go to one of the cashiers in the supermarket to get my money. More human contact. I went inside. Not wanting to seem needy I grabbed a shopping cart and filled it with a can of tuna fish and a package of Swiss cheese. The very staples of life. Having only two items I went to the express check out. I put my two pitiful purchases on the checkout counter where it was promptly scanned. "Eight dollars and fifteen cents" said the matronly checkout lady. "I have this" I said ,sheepishly handing over the can crusher's receipt. She took it without batting an eye or a discriminatory glance. "Minus four dollars" she exclaimed. "That'll be four dollars and fifteen cents please" she said. I gladly handed over the cash. I felt great. I just spent four dollars for eight dollars worth of stuff, not realizing that I had long ago spent that four dollars when I bought the soda. But psychologically I felt that I was getting a discount. I suppose real homeless people do not actually buy the soda. This would not seem to be cost effective. I drove off satisfied that I had done both me and the environment some good. Will I continue to do this? I don't know. But meanwhile I'm still putting those soda cans in a separate black plastic garbage bag and storing it in my spare bedroom-junk storage-recyling area.

PS.Yesterday's trip to Home Depot to buy a new faucet aerator proved fruitless. The aerator I thought would fit was the wrong size. Evidently the threads on the faucet in my kitchen are of some alien design and do not fit any known Earthbound aerator. My search will continue.

Nostalgia, or just old age?

You know you're getting bored when you start to look for obscure museums to visit. Yesterday I found myself in Astoria Queens looking for the American Museum of the Moving Image. The museum is dedicated to , well, everything recorded on film or tape since day 1. There are a lot of behind the scenes stuff and memorabilia from some all time favorite movies and TV shows.There is also a lot of old things that unfortunately I remember from childhood.I remember all those old wood cabinet twelve inch tv consoles that became the focal point of the American living room in the 50's. It was nice to see these relics honored in a museum. I can only hope to be treated half as well when I too become a relic of a bygone era.I wonder if I can will myself to the museum. I can just see myself stuffed and sealed in a glass case with a title card in the lower right hand corner proclaiming "..Twentieth century human tv watcher circa 1950. Name unknown". Any way the museum is a good way of spending an hour or two. There are only 3 floors ad it's only ten bucks. The only problem I have with the place is that they keep it very dark making it difficult to take photos without a flash. The museum is located next door to the historic Kaufman Astoria Studios.

It's Thursday. I'm going down to move the car. Maybe I'll take a ride to my local Home Depot. The faucet aerator on my kitchen sink fell off last night spraying water all over me and the floor. Here's a chance to use the Home Depot gift card I got before I left work.

Dinner on Staten Island....

It was too nice of a day Tuesday to stay in so I picked my ever increasing butt off the sofa, fired up the Civic and pointed the hood in the direction of Atlantic City. As usual I was disappointed. Don't get me wrong. I don't blame A.C. for anything. Whatever I do, I do of my own accord. The drive was pleasant enough. No traffic on Tuesday afternoon. Two hours later I'm having lunch in Denny's on route 30. The burger was ok, but I really wanted a tuna melt sandwich. It's no longer on the menu. The waitress informed me that they haven't had tuna on the menu for many years. She did not know why. I don't know about you, but as far as I'm concerned TUNA is a staple for lunch. There is not one restaurant that I know of that does not have tunafish in one form or another.But not Denny's.

Atlantic City is growing and looking better. New roads. New hotels and a state of the art power generating system.Check out the windmills.

But back to the basics. The reason one goes to AC in the first place is to lose money. I am sorry to say that I did not buck the trend. I won't tell you how much I lost but my next meal was at the Unicorn diner on Staten Island. All was not lost however. I did get a nice photo of the Verizano Bridge on the way home.

I think I'll cool it with the gambling for a while. I haven't come out a winner since I won $500 about five years ago. The casinos have made this back many times over.

Today looks like another gorgeous day. I think I'll take in a museum.

It's not easy...

It's not easy being out of work. Every day is an adventure in boredom. I guess if you have a lot of money you can alleviate the boredom by traveling or shopping or do it yourself projects around the house. But if you are trying to save a buck your options are limited.

Usually T.V. would be a good way of passing time. But the trouble is T.V. STINKS!. Oh maybe there are some good programs on t.v. but most of them are on in the evening. Daytime is another matter. Who decided that we need five different "judge........." shows on the air?.And tell me one other thing. Who would go on one of these shows to settle a legal dispute? An then there's Dr. Phil. I just want to kill myself.

I think I'll drive down to A.C. Tuesday.I'd rather loose some money than my sanity.

Lazy day...

Sometimes you just wanna do nuttin'. I took a walk, counted the leaves still left on the trees after yesterdays wind storm and went home. Oh. I did download some more photos from my leafing safari. Check it out at...

http://www.pbase.com/thebeecee/fall_adventure_2006&page=all

Out of touch.......

I'm back. Back from the leaf strewn highways and byways of New England. I took a ride north to do some serious "leafing"and to take some serious photo's .I was not disappointed. The leaves last week were at their peek and the weather, for the most part, held out. The best colors were to be found in Massachusetts. The scenery this time of year is spectacular. But I did feel a little strange. I took my laptop with me along with a Wi-Fi pc card. Unfortunately the motels I stayed at did not have internet hook ups. Now for someone who has been on line practically every day of his life for the last ten years, I had to go through a little "internet withdrawal". Thank god I had my cell phone.
One of the places I visited was Old Sturbridge village. OSV is a reproduction of an 18th century New England town. They told me that the best time to visit was in the Fall. They were right.The whole place is one big photo op. I didn't know what to shoot first. I haven't had time to process all of the pix I took. I'll post some more here as the days go by.
Anyway, it's good to back in touch.

BTW: I take all of the photos that appear in this blog including the photo of the church at the top of this page.If I ever include a photo from some other source I will state as such.For the above photo I used a Nikon D50 digital SLR camera with a little help from photoshop. Please contact me at thebeecee@hotmail.com, for more info on this or any other photos.

Another Monday and....

Dawn broke on another Monday morning. I'm still getting up at five am. No matter how late I get to bed the body clock knows when it's time. However it is nice to have the luxury of being able to turn over and pull the covers back over your head.And I did.

Yesterday we drove out to Robert Moses State park to check out a car show in parking lot 4. There was a $5 admission charge but the money went to aid in the preservation of the Fire Island lighthouse. I've taken enough free photos of this historic sight over the years to let go with five bucks.

Much to my chagrin, this was not an antique car show. There were some older autos but most of the show seemed to center around muscle cars of past decades...Nice but noisy.

The day was not a complete loss. Any good photo op is worth the time and when I got tired of taking photos of cars there was always some beach paraphanalia to look at.

I may be heading out of town this week. I'll be taking my laptop equipped with wireless pc card with me. If I can connect I'll update daily.

bottom:.. a couple of Fords from a bygone era.

top: ...lifeguard chairs waiting for next seaon.

I have to get going now. Regis and Kelly await and then of couse there's Rachel and Martha. So much to do. I suppose I should be looking for meaningful work. Maybe next week.

all photos (c) bruce cooper. Use with permission only. e-mail..thebeecee@hotmail.com

Winding down...

You can tell it's the end of the season. The parking lot at the Fire Island ferry was empty save for the seagulls hunkered down against the stiff breeze blowing off the bay. A month ago this lot would have been packed with the cars of summer renters waiting for their owners to return from a weekend of reveling on Fire Island, but Saturday it was just me and my feathered friends.

BTW. I did receive my first severance check on Friday complete with back pay for all that vacation and sick day time I didn't take. I won't tell you how much I got but all I will say is...THANK YOU VERY MUCH CEXP!

There is supposed to be a car show out at Robert Moses State park today. I think I'll drive over and check it out. I'll be there about 10 am. Look for the guy with the Nikon and tan baseball cap.

I pity the fool...

I'm not going to say much about what I did today, instead I'll just gloat while you look at some of the photos I took on this beautiful fall day. I pity all of you who HAD to stay cooped up in a office or at a job you despise and were not able to breathe the fresh air, hear the birds and partake of this view...

Click on photos below to enlarge. Photographed at Seven Lakes Drive near Bear Mountain State park, New York.

Remember: All photos are (c)2006 by

Bruce Cooper. The photos may be used

without charge with permission only by any non-

profit organization.

Tourist...

TABLES ON STONE STREET.

Today I decided to play tourist. Strapping on the old Nikon I put on my best tourist walking shoes and set out on the "E" train for parts unknown... the last stop.
The last stop on the "E" train is the World Trade Center. Even though there is no
WTC the stop still says "World Trade Center" . I have been here many times on the weekends and there has always been a fair amount of tourists to the site, but I was not prepared for the hoards of gawkers on this middle of the week day. Evidently most tourists do not stay around on weekends leaving the city to the natives.

Note to tourists: Come on the weekends. Most things are open and there will not be so many of you to mess things up.

The photo at the top of this column is of a rather nondescript avenue called Stone Street. Stone Street is one of those quaint narrow thorofares left over from when we used to speak Dutch.The only thing that distinguishes this street from the dozens of other impassable streets downtown is the fact that back around the turn of the last century and lasting until the mid 1970's, the building at number 24 (I think it's the fourth from the end of the block)was the main army induction center for New York. Every red blooded American boy, including yours truly was asked to drop his shorts and bend over in this building. The third and fourth floors of 24 Stone street saw more naked men, heard more excuses and eventually sent more guys to war than any other single edifice in the U.S.There isn't even a plaque on the wall to commemorate what went on there.How many of my contemporaries departed from this building, went to Viet Nam and never came home? I wonder if any of the people who will be occupying the tables in front of the fancy restaurants ajoining its cobblestoned street know the history of number 24.

Tomorrow is Friday. I'm supposed to receive my first severance check. We'll see.

Still looking for Fall...

I headed north again in search of anything that looked like Fall. The sun was shining, the air was clear but the temp. was hovering around 75 degrees, it was hardly fall-like. My usual spots had not yet "peaked" as far as leaf color was concerned so I decided to head a little further north to Bear mountain to check out a view that I had been trying to photograph for a while, the results of which you can view below. The photo session involved a lot of hiking through the woods up and down steep woodland trails. Damn! I'm a regular Ansel Adams.

The last photo in the above series was taken quite unexpectedly. I was trudging through the woods when I came across this hawk finishing off lunch. I quickly changed the lens to a 200 mm and snapped away. I slowly began to move close expecting the bird to spook and fly away. To my surprise he could not have cared less, he was more interested in his meal that some guy taking his picture.

BTW: All of the photos displayed on this or any subsequent blogs of mine are copyrited. In most cases I will gladly give you permission to use them free of charge unless you are going to use them for some monetary gain in which case I will gladly discuss compensation.

The parade passed me by...

When I was a kid in public school back in old P.S. 131 in Queens we had a day off on Columbus day. In preparation for this holiday , for what seemed like weeks ahead of the actual day, we studied about Christoforo Columbo, the man, the myth, the legend. So how come Columbus day became an Italian holiday. OK. I understand that Mr. C. was Italian,but didn't he have to go to Spain to get funding for his voyage? Weren't the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria Spanish ships? We should probably be celebrating Queen Isabella day.

Now don't get me wrong I love Italians.Their contributions to art, literature, music and science (no Marconi, no radio) is immeasurable, but who took Columbus out of the parade? At yesterdays parade along Fifth Avenue all I saw were beauty queen carrying Ferrari's, lots of police guys on motorcycles,cute little Italian ladies waving Italian flags,and of course lots and lots of polititions. There was only one float that even remotely paid homage to Columbus. I only hope that the hundreds of kids that lined the parade route on this sunny October day realized that they are celebrating the birthday of a real person who set out in a ship smaller than most of the houses they live in, on a voyage that could have ended the lives of he and his crew.Happy b-day Chris. Maybe next year you will actually be IN the parade.

The great unwashed....

Today I signed up for unemployment insurance.I don't know why, but there is a stigma associated with collecting unemployment benefits.I think it is more of a matter of self esteem rather than what anybody else thinks of you.In a society that views the worth of people by what they do instead of who they are, being without a job is a big deal. But what the heck. I have been paying in to this system for a long time. It's my money, which I will be paying taxes on making me a productive member of society.

It's been over thirteen years since I last had to take advantage of unemployment insurance. The last time I had to actually visit an unemployment office. These offices were usually located in the "civic center" parts of town. They were conveniently located near the motor vehicle bureau, the social security office and the court houses which meant that you only have to be seen in this neighborhood once every few years, unless you were a habitual criminal and made regular visits to the area. There always seemed to be a lot of people wandering around with forms in their hands looking for addresses. Today the process is much simpler.

The internet has made most of the civil functions automatic and easier. It took me less than ten minutes to fill out the on line application. Thirteen years ago it took nearly four hours of standing on line,with any luck I will receive my first payment in the form of a debit-like card in two weeks,at that time I will really feel unemployed.

A WALK IN THE PARK..

A beautiful Sunday in NYC. I've decided to get back into my regular Sunday routine of POWER WALKING. OK. So it's not exactly power walking. I don't carry weights and "pump" my way down the street like an 18th century locomotive. I just grab the Nikon put on a pair of good shoes and walk until I get tired.

Today I walked from 63rd and Lex. Over to Central Park, up 5th Ave. To 105th Street to the Conservancy Garden. Then down 109th street back to Lexington and the subway home. I guess that's about a total of about 60 blocks. A little shorter than I like but I'm out of shape.

Monday is Columbus day. I have never been to a Columbus day parade ,think I'll go and take some pix. Seems like a plan.

Too early...

Friday...Took a drive upstate to check out the fall foiledge*. Turns out I'm about a week too early, "Come back next week" said a friendly Pakistani motel clerk, "Should be perfect" he said."Can I see your drivers license and a major credit card".If I have time I'll venture back.Hey!Who am I kidding. Of course I'll have time. The area around Great Barrington in Mass. Looked promisingly "leafy". It should be spectacular in full color.
I tried to make it up and back in one day, but ran out of steam in Connecticut. Got as far as Danbury and decided that I really needed sleep. Years ago I would have done 400 miles with ease. Now 300 seems to be my limit.


*(Marge Simpson pronunciation)

A method to my madness...

I spent part of Wednesday cleaning my apartment.People find some sort pleasure doing this. I am not one of them. I only do it when even I can't stand it.My bathroom had reached that point. I decided that the best way to tackle the job was to start at the top and work down. That, however, was a bad idea. Everything drips. Eventually the dripping stopped and I was able to mop up the puddle that formed in a small depression in the tiled floor. The room was clean or at least cleaner. Tomorrow the kitchen .Maybe I'll just call the fire department and have them hose the place down.

The weekend is approaching. This used to mean something. But, now, since I'm out of work and facing an endless stream of weekend days time seems meaningless. You might think that this is a good thing, and in many ways it is. But I believe that man was meant to be confined by time and it's companion routine. We need structure in our lives. And, believe it or not, we need to be told what to do.Life is so much better when you don't have to think about it.I think I'll forget about the kitchen Friday and drive upstate to see if the leaves have changed. Ah!Freedom.

rowboats on the beach at Greenport L.I.

After taking a brief walk up Queens Blvd. Tuesday, I did notice one thing. There are a lot of people first going to work at 9 A.M. Where do these people work that they can stroll in at 9:30 or 10. I will make it my life's work to find out so that I might seek employment at such an establishment. (editors note: this is coming from a guy that was at his desk by 6:30)I walked home depressed. These people at least had jobs.

It was too nice a day to sit home and sulk so I got in the Civic and headed east. On Long Island there is only one decision to make. North Fork or South. I chose the North. I exited the LIE at Riverhead (you don't have much of a choice, it's the end of the road.)A few more miles on route 25 I arrived at Greenport. This town is great to visit on a weekday. On the weekends this place is overrun by tourists soaking up the cute. Today it was just me and the seagulls. After a hour of quaint I started back.

Route 25 is is back to back wineries. If your a wine geek you will love this place. If you're like me you and maybe have a bottle of something red in the fridge whose vintage was last Wednesday this place does not hold much of an attraction. And besides, how many wine tastings can you do? After all I am driving.I continued past the vineyards and noticed a sign that said "lighthouse". I just cannot resist lighthouses. I hung a right. Drove about two miles and came across Hortons Point park. Nobody there. Very peacefull. Took some photos and left.

Lunch was a superb salad at Mickey D's.With a diet coke of no particular vintage. I headed home to ponder the rest of the week.

Today is Wednesday. I think I'll stay in today and clean. I've been putting this off for a while in anticipation of being laid off. It's time to face the music.

A NEW DAY..

I COULD USE SOME HOKEY PHRASE Such as "this is the beginning of the rest of my life" or "every cloud has a silver lining" , but the truth of the matter is after thirteen years I'm without a job. Now this may not seem like such a big deal to a lot of you out there especially if you are twenty eight years old and have not yet "found" yourself. But I'm sixty one years old and have found myself many times over. And today I have found myself sitting at home thinking about what I'm going to do with all this free time. I do not have enough money to retire so moving to Florida to listen to my arteries harden is not an option. I will, sometime in the near future, have to find a job. But right now I just don't feel like it. I'm not lazy, I'm just tired. I have worked steadily for the last thirteen years taking only brief vacations. This is really the first time in all these years that I will be able to string together more than two weeks at a time to do whatever I want. I just wish I knew what that was.

I do know one thing. I need to have some sort of routine going. I have jumped out of bed every morning at 4:30 am, and today was no exception. I didn't even set the alarm. The body just knew it was time. So the best thing I can do for now is to follow my routine. I'll get up, shower, shave have breakfast, get dressed and get out. And, although I won't have a job to go to I will have something to do every day. I'll take a walk and see what the rest of the world does at six AM. And while I'm at it I'll write this blog. I'll write it for a couple of reasons. First, it will give me something to do. Second, it will be a way of staying in touch with my former fellow employees (who, by the way,have also lost their jobs) They are a great group of talented people who deserved better.

And now, on this glorious Tuesday morning in the Fall of 2006, I begin..