Consumer alert!....

You have probably seen them. Those bill boards along major roadways or on the sides of buildings announcing the impending arrival of a computer show and sale at some local expo center or hotel lobby or college gym. The signs, often accompanied by some TV or radio advertising at 2 AM, promise "unheard of bargains" and savings up to 70% off. on laptops, hardware, monitors etc. If you are a computer nerd you just can't resist the temptation to drop whatever you are doing and run off to one of these "computer carnivals". They are traveling road shows that find cheap places to sell what can only be described as C.R.A.P., computer related articles and perifererals. I am ashamed to admit that I have been suckered into going to these on not one, not two but as of yesterday, three occasions. Please heed my warning. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THESE SHOWS. Let me enumerate.

1. These shows are usually located at some out of the way location. This means that you have to drive thereby wasting gas and paying tolls. Yesterdays show was located at the Harmon Expo Center in Secaucus NJ. For me this meant driving about 30 miles and four tolls round trip.

2. To add insult to injury, there is an admission charge. In the past I have paid five dollars just to get in so that I might have the "privaledge" of buying something. The fee yesterday was nine bucks. I gladly paid it, brimming with the expectancy of a sale to end all sales.

3. As I went through the entrance doors I thought I was at the wrong expo. There was not a piece of computer equipment to be seen. Instead I saw before me a counter filled with sunglasses and a sign proclaiming "BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE". I figured I was an idiot and had wandered into the wrong expo center. I walked on. There were guys demonstrating
the power of sponge mops on tile floors. There was a lady with a mound of diced vegetables on the table in front of her hawking the virtues of a "Chop-O-Matic". I haven't seen one of those since the sixties. I was waiting for her to make "snow cones for the kiddies". I saw a whole room with bins filled with previously viewed DVD's for five dollars. A quick look at the titles told me that I would not want to view any of them even for two dollars. Was there a booth selling computer stuff? I was loosing hope.

4. I found it. It was located directly opposite the man selling tube socks. Three packs of ten pair for ten dollars. Not a bad buy actually. Unfortunately I have enough tube socks at home to last me to the end of my life and beyond. In fact tube socks will be part of my legacy. I know my relatives are salivating at the thought of my demise. But I digress.

5. The computer booth was one of the smallest. There was hardly anything there related to computers. There were a couple of laptops selling for prices found only at Circuit City or CompUSA. I mean they were getting top dollar. Who would go to one of these shows and give the guy $999 for what appeared to be a used Compacq laptop. Even the one item I was interested in was garbage. I was looking for a 17" flat screen monitor. They had a rack of very well used IBM 13" monitors for $70. They still had stickers on them from some corporation who probably were about to throw them out when the "Expo Guys" showed up and gave them five dollars each.
Needless to say I didn't buy it or anything else at this Schlock-O-Rama.

This is the last time I will ever be conned into going to one of these unless it's right down the street and free. I suggest you do the same.

I think I'll take the rest of the weekend off. From blogging that is. So before I forget let me be one of the last to wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Cookin'...

I haven't been feeling too well the last couple of days. I seem to have contracted a virus of some kind, probably from all of you disgusting people on the subway who don't cover your mouths when you sneeze or cough. You know who you are. Yes you. You with the turban on the "F" train. Anyway what ever I caught it has kept me in the house. This has caused me to get a case of cabin fever. I looked for something to do. Cleaning or doing the laundry was not an option. I rifled through the fridge. Nothing but eggs and some salad greens. I had to go out. I dressed warmly and dragged my fever racked body across the street to the market. I needed comfort food. I made a beeline for the meat counter and grabbed a package of corned beef briskit. I was on my way to making the most comfortable comfort food I could think of, corned beef and cabbage.
I won't boor you with the details, but cooking this dish is rather simple. Brown the meat in a large pot. Cover with water. Add veggies (except the cabbage), cook until meat is tender. Add the cabbage at the very end and cook until the cabbage is tender. Reduce the liquid to make a gravy. If you want a more detailed recipe e-mail me and I'll send it to you. The whole thing takes about two hours.
Why is this a comfort food? Because it makes your house smell like your mom was in the kitchen.
It's the smell of real cooking. Not the fast food, open a can, throw it in the microwave cooking, but the kind that takes time and love. Something which I haven't had for a while. And after you have savored all the smells, you can actually eat it. And best of all you'll have leftovers because you can't just make a small portion. You will have love for two or three days. Try it. Even if you don't think you can cook, you can cook this. Just remember to use plenty of garlic and onions along with whatever other veggies you add. The basic garlic and onion smell has got to take you back to your childhood. Of course if your mom never cooked you have no idea what I'm talking about, but you can always start a tradition.

I'm feeling a little better today so I think I'll venture out. There is a computer show at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. I'm such a geek.

e-mail: thebeecee@hotmail.com

Not a usual feeling...

First let me say that I never get sick. In fact I can't remember the last time I felt ill enough to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head. Oh sure I get the occasional sniffle or two or perhaps a tummy ache from eating something that began to eat me. But as a general rule I manage to stay fairly healthy. I do not take any prescription meds.I'm sixty one years old and amazingly I don't need to have anything adjusted, raised, lowered made larger or shrunken. The last prescription medication I took was about 25 years ago when I developed a sinus infection and was given a shot of penicillin. So the other day when I woke up with a headache, sore throat and body aches I became concerned. That was Monday. Yesterday I got up with my headache gone and most of the rest of me pain free but my throat still hurt. In fact it hurt a lot. I felt it was time to mobilize the troops. I ransacked my medicine cabinet to see what was available. First in line was a package labeled Tylenol Cold. Although I did not technically have a cold I did have one of the symptoms (sore throat) mentioned on the box. I took two. Next to the Tylenol was some kind of spray that I must have bought when I had a gum irritation. The label said it was for mouth pain. The throat is part of the mouth, it's back there somewhere. I took it. Two squirts directly on the throat. The pain went away immediately. So did most of the feeling in my mouth. There's lots of good ol' lydacain in this stuff. But the anesthetic does not last long. I needed to look for something more natural. I went back into the cobwebbed attic that is my mind trying to remember what my mommy would give me when my "fwote feld scwatchy". Honey and lemon came to mind. I had neither in the house. Reluctantly it was time to visit the store. Not wanting to stand on line at the supermarket I went to the CVS pharmacy next door. They did not have lemons or honey but they did have Halls lemon and honey throat lozenges with menthol. Sounded good. I bought it. I also went back and bought a bottle of honey at the market just because it taste good.
So here I am, surrounded by the preparations of the ill and infirm. If the throat does not start to feel better I'll have to revert to the one home remedy that I know will work. The dreaded salt water gargle. Salt water is good for everything. Just don't swallow.

e-mail: thebeecee@hotmail.com


Instead of a Fun E-Pix today I am re-printing an e-mail that I received this morning. I think that if you are going to perpetuate a scam, you should at least know how to spell...


Sir I am Barrister Amos John akoms, i am a bristh citizem attonery base in burkinafaso. i have a client who have 400m us dollars(four hundrend million us dollars)looking for an genue investor who will use the money for a peroid of 10years and retun back to my client and the investor will be paying monthy commision of 70,000,000 us dollars to my client as an intrest, so if you kown that you are geune investor and you kown where you will invest this money , pls get back to me or call me on phone 00226 76 40 82 34. wating for your urgent respond. Barrister Amos John.Sir I am Barrister Amos John akoms, i am a bristh citizem attonery base in burkinafaso. i have a client who have 400m us dollars(four hundrend million us dollars)looking for an genue investor who will use the money for a peroid of 10years and retun back to my client and the investor will be paying monthy commision of 70,000,000 us dollars to my client as an intrest, so if you kown that you are geune investor and you kown where you will invest this money , pls get back to me or call me on phone 00226 76 40 82 34. wating for your urgent respond. Barrister Amos John.

Oy!

Usually on holiday mornings like this when everybody else is at home I like to get out and enjoy the solitude of an empty city. But today I woke up with a sore throat, a headache, a pain in my right shoulder and for some reason my nose started to bleed. I turned on the radio to get the latest news and found out that James Brown is dead. I think maybe it's not such a good day to wonder around the city. I'm going back to bed. I'll see you Tuesday if I wake up.
Oh yes. Merry Christmas.



e-mail: thebeecee@hotmail.com

I'm just not a shopping guy...

I admit it. I hate to shop. I just don't have the shopping gene. My mother had it, but my father didn't. In fact I don't think my father was ever in a shopping mall. This explains why I go into stores only when I really need something important, like Vodka or toilet paper. In some states you can actually buy both in the same store. We here in New York are still living in the dark ages of retailing and have not as yet come to realize the importance of one stop shopping. This means that I am forced to drive from one place to another in order to fulfill my basic needs. In fact the only place that even comes close to an all around store is Wal-Mart. Oh the wonder of it all. Imagine a place where I can buy underwear, a Tony Bennett CD, a bag of pork rinds and one-a -day vitamins all within a few feet of each other. And when I get tired I can stop in the food court and get a slice of pizza and a frapachino. Is this great or what?
This brings us to the holiday season. Not a good time for someone who compares shopping to having a prostate exam. Thankfully, this season, I have no one to shop for. Not that I had a lot of shopping in the past. There was the occasional business gift, and the inevitable secret Santa at work. Maybe a bottle of something for the postman. But this year there is no reason for me to buy gifts. The fact that I have no job sort of negates the secret Santa and business gift thing. I have no relatives to shop for. Most of my non Jewish friends are dead or live so far away that a gift would not be appropriate. In fact my biggest fear this holiday season is that someone will actually buy me something, forcing me to reciprocate. If this person is a woman I am up you know where without a you know what. When it come to buying gifts for women I am clueless. This is probably why I am no longer married. I never ever knew what to get my wife for Christmas or her birthday. I would end up buying stupid things like figurines of small animals or Chia Pets. I always saw the disappointment in her eyes. And god forbid if you ever gave her a gift certificate so she could buy what she wanted. Giving a gift certificate to your wife or girlfriend is just like saying "I don't care if you ever let me have sex with you again" You're pretty much screwed either way or not screwed as the case may be.
So, no shopping this year. No job either. Not even a prospect for one. And amazingly I don't care. For the first time in many holiday seasons my mind is free and as empty as my wallet. And while all of you are busy opening your presents on Monday morning enjoying the love an warmth of your friends and family I will be here in my lonely hovel overlooking the Boulevard Of Death and enjoying the fact that I had nobody to shop for this year. Just another year that I won't have to see the disappointment in her eyes. Yes. It'll be just great. Just great.

e-mail: thebeecee@hotmail.com

The winter of our discontent, and other stuff.

Today is the first full day of the winter of 2006, although you would hardly know it if you lived around here. The temperature remains rather mild for December. It is a far cry from the same time last year when I was standing on the platfom of the Kew Gardens Long Island Railroad station at five thirty in the morning along with a couple of hundred other frozen commuters hoping to squeeze on to the next train to Penn station so we could then walk thirty blocks in sub freezing weather to Greenwich village and the warmth of my office. In case you forgot, there was a subway strike last year at this time, leaving thousands of New Yorkers to find alternative ways to get to work. Ah!, work. Although it's been a while, I still have some recollection of what it was like.
I seem to recall that every Monday to Friday I was expected to get out of bed at a certain time whether I felt like it or not, shower, shave and put on some pants and head out the door to a place not near my home to do something involving a computer and telephones and screaming customers who somehow felt that paper clips and toner cartridges were more importent than people. It appeared to me that some people were more interested in having the coffee delivered "immediately" than actually being able to take the time to smell it. And what amazes me most is that I did this without complaint for over thirteen years. In fact we all did. I don't think I ever met a more dedicated group of people. We managed to get to work through blizzards, floods, transit strikes and the horror of 9/11. And even when we were informed that our jobs were going to disappear in a year we still came to work every day and did the same professional,caring job we always did until our last day early this past October. Yes. I seem to remember what work was like. But now it's time to remember what living is like.
I will soon be completing my third month of being out of a job, if you don't count the brief week of insanity which somehow overtook me recently. Thank god I came to my senses, or just came-to, and realized that I just can't do this kind of work anymore. I can't deal with the impossible deadlines and the "gottahaveitrightnoworI'llnevergiveyouanymorebusiness" threats. I have decided my days of being threatened are over. I know that this may disappoint some of you prospective threateners out there, but that's the way it's going to be.
So here I am facing a winter without a job. I have to admit it's a little scary. But it's not as scary as having to do something you really hate. For now the money situation is ok. I'm still getting severance from my old job and hopefully I'll be able to get back on unemployment without too much trouble. I'm even hoping that the weather will turn bad so I don't feel the need to get out and about. Every time I leave the house I spend money. Besides there's lots to do inside and a cold snowy winter would be just perfect. And when the time comes I'll look for some meaningful job. Some kind of job who the only person I have to impress is me.
A winter of discontent? Maybe not.

comments or e-mail:
thebeecee@hotmail.com

Off the job....

My career has ended after just seven days. "What happened?", you say. Misrepresentation is what happened. I was hired to do a specific job. It was to be a job that I had been doing for over twenty years. It is a job that I am good at. I 'd even go as far to say that I am very good at it. I would have been perfect for this company. The problem is that they (the company) failed to recognized this and wanted me to do something that I was totally unaccustomed to. Now don't get me wrong. I'm willing to learn new things as long as it somehow fit into the general category of what I am qualified for. What they wanted me to do was completely out of the realm of customer service. It would have been a detailed, pencil pushing, data entering, boring, tedious mind numbing job on a system that was so 1970's. Did I hear someone say DOS?. Give me a break. The guy that I would have been working under was trying to explain the system to me. To his credit, he saw that my eyes were glazing over. He asked me strait out if I felt comfortable doing this. It took me about two seconds to say "NO". I marched into the boss's office ( a really nice guy by the way) and told him that I was not comfortable doing this work. He asked me if I would be willing to do this on a temporary basis. Knowing what the word "temporary" means in the business world, I said I could not do it. He said that there was nothing else they wanted me to do at that time. So I resigned. To thyne own self be true. I could not in all conscience do a job I did not feel comfortable doing. And so at 9:15 on Wednesday morning, exactly seven days and one hour after I started, I found myself walking down Fifth Avenue with a copy of the free AM newspaper tucked under my arm, out of work for the second time in two months. As I walked I watched all the people scurrying to their jobs. All appeared to be enthused about where they were going and what they would be doing. A thought began to creep into that little corner of my mind where I store doubt. "Was I the biggest schmuck in the whole world"? I just walked out on a job that actually was going to pay me more money than what I was making at my old job. The thought stayed with me for about five blocks. However as I got closer to the subway I was convinced that I had made the right choice. Peace and happiness, not money, are the main concerns at this point in my life. I have to feel good about the job I am doing. There are employers that actually recognize this and try to put people in to jobs that they enjoy doing. An employee that is happy at his work will probably be twice as productive than a worker who can't wait until 5 pm to shut off his computer and go home. I hope I can find that job. I know in my heart that there is something out there that I will be happy doing. I'm not even sure that I know what that is. I only know that it was not what I had been asked to do.

I'll begin doing the Fun E-Pix probably next week after I straighten out a few things.

My e-mail remains....
thebeecee@hotmail.com

On the job...

The green mile...

I wonder if men condemned to death think about all the things they wish they had done if they only had the time. Not using one's time productively, to me, is a sin just short of murder.
A little over two months ago I was put into a position where I believed I would be facing an unlimited number of days to do all the things I had not been able to do for, well, thirteen years. I have over 80,000 frequent flier miles sitting doing nothing. I wanted to head out to the coast and visit the wine country north of San Francisco. My schedule would have been very flexible. Maybe take that drive down the Pacific Coast Highway to L.A. Maybe a little side trip to Vegas.But these plans as well as all the other things I wanted to do,will have to be put on hold for a while because I have to go to work tomorrow. I have to get up, get dressed, get on the subway and show up at an office.Oh well. I asked for it. I could have declined the job. After all nobody held a gun to my head. Unless you call a paycheck, health insurance and a 401K plan a loaded gun. But I'll tell you this much. I have never had more mixed emotions about anything in my life. At least it should be interesting. New people. New office. New neigborhood.New stop on the subway.New places to go for lunch. Holy shi.....!

I didn't forget...
Today's Fun E-Pix

click on photo to enlarge.

comments to: thebeecee@hotmail.com

Goodbye Oprah...

goodbye Oprah. Goodbye Ellen. So long Regis and what's her name. Adios "The View". Chow to all the cooking shows on channel 25. My two month odyssey into the wonderful world of non-work is drawing to a close. In fact today, Friday, is most likely the last weekday I will have off for some time. Being a "new employee" my vacation time resets to zero. My self esteem however rises to "1". Yesterday I spent one of my last days of freedom at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). Afterwards I took a walk around midtown. There were people all over the place, and all seemed to have a place to go and something to do. I realized at that moment that human beings are not whole unless they have a feeling that they have a purpose in life. Whether that purpose is to create art, take care of a family or even to sell office products. The latter of which appears to be my reason for being. So on Monday I will embark on yet another chapter in the soap opera that I call my life. I hope I made the right decision. Only time will tell.

For any of you out there that have actually read this blog with any sort of regularity I thank you even though you didn't send me an e-mail or add any comments. It would have been nice to know that I was not just blowing smoke into thin air. I hope I will be able to continue this column on some level although maybe not on a daily basis. I think my time may be restricted in the coming months. I will try to keep you up to date on how things are working out at the job. I'll most likely do a weekly re-cap on Saturdays or Sunday. Again, thanks for listening to the ranting's of an old man.

Today's Fun E-Pix

photographed at MOMA
click to enlarge
e-mail: thebeecee@hotmail.com

Today's Fun E-Pix, and a Dec. 7th joke.

Today you will be treated to not only a rather cerebral Fun E-Pix but also a joke. Let me preface the joke by telling you that I tell this joke only once a year on this date. If you miss it you won't hear it again until next year.......

"Did you hear about the black Japanese guy who every December seventh attacked Pearl Bailey?"*

And now...

Today's Fun E-Pix**














* I did not write this joke
** Photographed at the Met Museum.
click to enlarge

Good news. Bad news.

The good news is I found work. The bad news is, I found work. After over two months of freedom I find myself once again part of the wonderful world of having to do something. Believe me there is a big difference of being able to do something you want to do, even if that something is nothing, and having to do something in order to keep a roof over one's head and Chinese food in one's belly.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm thrilled at the opportunity to be able to work and know that I will be getting a steady paycheck and all the benefits that come with it. But I'm not that happy about knowing that every day (Saturday, Sunday and some holidays not withstanding) I will once again have to get on the subway at a certain time to be at a certain place to do a specific activity. Lunch will have to be taken at the same time every day, and every day at five thirty pm I will be trudging back to the E or F train so I can get home just in time to have dinner,watch TV and go to sleep at eleven so that I can get up at six the next day and start it all over again. I can only find solace in the fact that millions of other people do the same thing. How did mankind ever get himself in to this predicament? How did we evolve from guys wearing comfortable animal skins who tucked a club under his arm, kissed his hairy wife goodbye and left the warmth of his cave to hang out with the guys and go hunting for the makings of a saber tooth tiger sandwich with all the fixin's.? Does it take more courage to go to work in the city so that we can bring home a paycheck or to run around in the jungle and drag home a wooly mammoth? At least in the jungle you didn't have a boss looking over your shoulder and there probably wasn't any traffic except for an occasional herd of wildebeest crossing the savannah. In retrospect I guess even our ancestors had their work related problems. It's all relative.

So now I am faced with what to do with my remaining four days of freedom. It's funny. Two days ago I could not have cared less about what I was going to do today. Now each moment of freedom seems very precious. Maybe I'll just continue to do the one thing I can still do that I like to do. Take pictures. This is a great time to be in the city and there is a photo op around every corner. I've decided to send out holiday cards this year. Home made of course. I need a good NYC holiday photo. No rush. I still have a couple of days to think about it.

comments: thebeecee@hotmail.com

Guess what update.....

After one of the most pleasant job interviews I have ever been on it appears that I have, on this the sixth day of December of the sixth year of the new millennium, found employment. I start on Monday. Hopefully I will be able to continue with this blog in some capacity. I have a lot on my mind.

Guess what?....

Hey guess what happened yesterday. I got a call from someone I used to work with offering, or at least setting me up with an interview, for a job. The interview is today at 9:30 am. The job is pretty much the same as what I have been doing all my life so I do not expect any surprises. I do have a certain amount of trepidation however. I don't want to get stuck in the same compartmentalized corporate world with narrow thinkers who do not look at the whole picture. We'll see what happens. I'm interested to see how much money they are willing to throw at me. I just hope I remember how to tie a necktie.

BTW: The jackhammers from yesterday have stopped. There is now a big hole where there was once sidewalk. I predict there will be a hole there until at least next year.

I'm working on a couple of new Fun E-Pix I gathered from my trip to the Metropolitan Museum yesrterday. Will try to post for Thursday.

Background music....

I had planned on spending a quiet morning at home today. It's cold outside and I really didn't feel like going anywhere. I sat down to write this blog feeling confident that my thought processes had returned. I even downloaded a photo I took yesterday in preparation of doing a story on supermarkets. But as soon as I downloaded the photo the music started outside my window. It was not the usual music of the traffic on Queens Boulevard that I have become used to. It was not a symphony of people yelling and shouting at the tops of their lungs at one thing or another. It was not the sound of fire engines from the firehouse two blocks away that race up and down the street announcing themselves at every intersection with an ear splitting Klaxon horn. These sounds I can live with. It is the usual background sounds one hears living in the city. But the one thing I cannot stand is the sound I am listening to right now. JACKHAMMERS. The maniac that invented this thing had to be deaf*. No person with normal hearing could endure this noise for more than twenty seconds. Even the people who operate this instrument of auditory torture wear protective ear gear**. But we who are unfortunate enough to live a mere fifteen feet above this melee are not so well equipped. The phrase "I cannot hear myself think" does not begin to describe what I am feeling right now. In fact I cannot sit here and type any longer. I have to get out for a few hours. Hopefully they will be finished by the time I get back.

*This is not to imply that all deaf people are maniacs. Although I'm sure there are some.
** See photo.

Today's Fun E-Pix











click to enlarge.
e-mail comments to: thebeecee@hotmail.com

Weekend recap....

Due to the fact that I cannot , for some reason,put together a complete thought today I can only present a brief recap of things so far.

Today begins the third month of being unemployed. Thanks to severance pay and the state of New York everything is ok so far.

I took a nice walk in the city today. I walked from Greenwich village to 42nd Street and Sixth Ave. Nice day. A little cool but crystal clear and sunny. The weatherman says we may see some snow on Monday. This depresses the hell out of me.

I broke my favorite coffee mug yesterday. It's the fourth favorite mug I have broken this year. More on this tomorrow. This too depresses the hell out of me.

Fidel Castro did not show up for his birthday party. This does not depress the hell out of me. I kind of actually like Fidel. Batista, the fat bastard, bled his country dry while thousands of Cuban peasants lived in abject poverty. But Fidel was a schmuck. He could have had everything. He could have opened Cuba up for American investment. I mean legitimate investment, not just from gansters. With the power he had after the revolution he could have had control over what went on in his country and made sure that the wealth trickled down to all of the Cuban people. But no. The schmuck decided that he would rather be friends with the looser of all looser countries, the Soviet Union. So what happened? All the rich, well educated business people left Cuba for Miami and now everybody in Havana drives a 1955 Chevy. Happy birthday Fidel.

Today's Fun E-Pix:









click to enlarge.
all photos (c) bruce cooper
e-mail: thebeecee@hotmail.cm

What's good for Wal-Mart is good for me....

...and that's what it's pretty much all about these days. Me .Permit me to explain.
Most of my wealth(using the word wealth only in it's broadest sense) is tied up one way or another in the stock market. Over the years I have been socking a portion of what I earned away in some sort of investment product. These have included treasury bonds, money market funds and mutual funds. All kept safe from the long arm of the tax collector by the rules governing IRA's. And while I have not made a fortune I have not done too bad. I have always managed to come out ahead each month. Sometime it's only a few dollars sometimes it's a few hundred dollars. Every little bit helps get me toward the financial freedom I will need when the inevitable day arrives when I become a drooling, infirm and demented old codger. This may occur as early as next month if not sooner. This month however I barely broke even. Now here's the problem. It's you. Yes, you! You are just not buying stuff at Wal-Mart like you used to. Sure, you saw the black Friday pictures of mile long lines snaking into the parking lot outside a Wal-Mart store in New Jersey, but that was only one day. And even then it appears that you were only looking, not buying. This is a fact not missed by the traders on Wall Street. When Wal-Mart and other big box stores report lower sales the market thinks that Americans don't have any money. At least not enough to spend on real important stuff like X-Box's and seventy five foot flat panel high def. stereo entertainment systems that will insure that no American ever leaves his house again. They figure that you will hoard what little money you have. You will stash this money in bank savings accounts or in your mattress or behind that loose tile in your bathroom. I bet you think that I didn't know about that, didn't you? Consequently, if you do hoard your money you will not be investing it in the more risky stock market thus making the selling of stocks and bonds more difficult. And when things get more difficult to sell than the only thing left to do is to make them cheaper. But people like me who own shares in stocks and bonds don't like to make things cheaper causing the price of the shares that I PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR to drop. So here is what I need for you to do. I need you to drive like hell, right now, to your local Wal-Mart or Target or Macy's and buy something you can't afford. Come on America. If you won't do it for youself do it for me. Open up your hearts and your wallets and whip out that Visa card. Buy that new computer so you can download porn even faster. Buy that new refrigerator with the built in TV in the door making it impossible to ever miss another second of Oprah again. Come on America, you know you want a Roomba. And when you get to the checkout line with your shopping carts brimming over with your gleaming new stuff you can take pride in the fact that you have helped not only the U.S.A but also a bitter old man just trying to keep his head above water in these trying economic times.
Now where did I put my IPOD?

Today's Fun E-Pix








click to enlarge.
all photos (c) Bruce Cooper
e-mail:
thebeecee@hotmail.com

The other OC.....

In an ever continuing effort to keep you informed on what's going on in the tri-state area I traveled to the wilds of the Jersey shore on Wednesday.
Half way between Atlantic City and Cape May lies the sprawling beach community of Ocean City New Jersey. During the summer Ocean City is bustling with sun worshipers and fun seekers who throng there to eat, swim, play games and stroll along the miles of boardwalk. But that's during the summer. Anybody can go to the beach during summer and find something to photograph, but it's so much more interesting to go to a place where nobody goes to in the winter. I love the desolation and the total lack of anything industrious going on. These summer only places have a certain calm and peacefulness about them. It's kind of like a giant grizzly bear in hibernation.

I submit for your approval, Visions of Ocean City.










BTW: I did stop at the Borgata casino in AC on the way back and I am happy to report that after throwing about $60 into various slot machines I hit a small jackpot for $90. Taking this as an omen, I pocketed the cash and drove home thirty dollars ahead. I think this probably covered the cost of tolls, gas and lunch at BK. All in all not a bad day.

For one reason or another some of the above photos do not enlarge. I have no control over this. There is something in the Blogger program that prefers some photos over others. Free is what you pay for.

Today's Fun E-Pix










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