Category: B-Town

Ban the Ban

Today on the Herald-Times website there has been a serious discussion regarding IU’s smoking ban which went into effect last January.  It started with a reporter searching the campus for smokers and placing updates on their website, she then spoke with administrators and wrote a full article.

The ban has not been enforced in any way, and as a smoker it bothers me on fundamental levels.  As an employee I could be terminated for violating this policy (which I try very carefully not to), while students face very slight (if any) consequences.

In my opinion, this smoking ban is going to be just like the ban on alcohol on IU’s campus, not spoken about.  I was blown away to actually find out that alcohol is actually permitted on campus for university events if students or others under the age of 21 are not going to be in attendance.

The online discussion on the Herald-Times website opened my eyes up to a few things that I hadn’t known before, and I thought I would pass those along to everyone out there.

All of these “smoking bans” that we see today can trace their roots back to 1930’s Germany.  Read here for more information.  It’s really shocking to me, and confirms my ideas about the subject since day one.

Did you know that over a lifetime, medical costs for obese and average people are more than that of smokers?  Read here for the article.  This information “threw a bucket of cold water” into what everyone thought.  I’m a firm believer that we have been sold on the idea that smoking is “more” unhealthy than it really is.  I’m not trying to say that there are no health risks – I’m just saying as a country I think we’ve been duped.

These two articles really opened my eyes regarding this issue that has been raging in this town for almost 15 years now.

I have been a smoker for more than half of my 28 years on this earth.  I know it’s not the healthiest of things to do, but I do it anyway.  I’ve taken chantix, nicoderm and the commit lozenges to try to quit.  The reason I have not succeeded in quitting is because smoking is part of who I am.  Without it I do not feel like myself, while that is “normal,” I don’t like feeling that way.

While I know it is a chemical addiction just like drugs and alcohol are, that does not bother me.  I have other addictions that I think are worse.  To name one, it’s my endless addiction to technology.

That’s a whole other story that I’ll leave for another time.

Cha Cha Cha Changes

Many changes are in the works right now.  Like many Americans, the economy has affected the bottom line of our wallets.  It has been over a year since I’ve had a full time position, and it seems to me like I’m starting to be pigeon-holed.

I’m going back to Ivy-Tech, for the 5th time, I believe.  I plan on starting the spring semester of ’09.  For a while it’s going to be general courses.  I think my best bet is to get a degree in a technology field, such as CIS, or computer networking – the same degree my father has.

I don’t really want to go back, but it seems like I need to just to obtain real employment around here.  The other plus, the FSSA will pay for all expenses through the Vocation Rehabilitation program.  So I won’t be out anything but my time.

I’m going to actually bring my business activities down to a lull while in school.  I will still provide my memory saving services to individuals who are seeking them.  I’m just not going to be working at it like I once did.  There is simply not enough time.

Life isn’t that fun anymore, and I don’t have much else to say except for this update.

 

Good Drinkx, Good Conversation

After 3 years of e-mailing, sending packages and working on what has become a major project in my life, Editor B and I finally met.

He and his family evacuated from hurricane Gustav.  When their respective schools decided to close until Monday, they decided to head back to Btown.

He sent a twitter update inviting all to Upland at 8pm, also sending me an email asking I attend.  I had a busy day, but I wouldn’t miss this for anything in the world.  I didn’t want to miss this chance.  The last time we tried to meet, tornado warnings and a worried wife kept us from meeting.  B was heading back to New Orleans the next morning, on the long road home to rebuild their home and New Orleans after Katrina.

When I first arrived on the scene, I was almost too afraid to enter.  Upland was severely crowded, something I had never seen before.  People were parking up and down the entire block.  I was lucky and got a parking spot right next to the door.

After waiting a while in the standing room only crowd, I introduced myself.  H-T columnist Mike Leonard and his wife were there as well, then the interesting Paul Smedberg arrived.  We finally got a table a few minutes later.  Paul reminds me of a comic, but I can’t remember his name at the moment.

It was nice to meet Mike, as I’ve emailed him a few times and I’m sure he thought I was some local crazy of some sort.

I was amazed at the subjects of conversation, ranging from books to the lack of economic prosperity in this town.  We went on to talk about how children change your life (not in a bad way B), to the founding ideas of the Green party (which I didn’t really understand until last night).

Back to the subject at hand, It was a pleasure to finally meet you B.  You’re everything and more that I had expected you to be.  Most conversations I have are intellectually lacking, last night was a much needed shot to the brain.

Hopefully I can make the trip down to New Orleans sometime soon. 

Makin’ ROX Look Better

I’ve restarted this adventure I started over 3 years ago, by working full force on season 1 of ROX again.  I was working on 2 seasons and I believe I got way over my head.  There were just too many problems to handle at once.

I started over the weekend by transferring what I only had on VHS onto my computer.  I then worked several hours on the first episode of season 1, Special Mish-Mosh Episode.

One of the reasons I had abruptly quit working on the series was the amount of heat damage (i believe) associated with many of the episodes.  I tried to correct this issue using Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Sony Vegas, but only came  up with juvenile results.  I started posting questions and viewing others’ questions on a forum that specializes in just these sorts of things, videohelp.com.  It has helped tremendously.

I have uploaded 1 minute segments of episode 8, so you can see the differences made.  This episode had a vast array of problems, from over saturation, to needing color correction in the worst of ways and needing some sharpening.  All of these fixes added together make for a “better end product” I believe.  I still have some work to do on the audio, as I want to normalize the volume and filter it to remove tape hiss, etc.

I’ll leave that up to you though, please let me know what you think.

Before:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lml_dvd/2755801226/in/photostream/

After:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lml_dvd/2754979589/in/photostream

If anyone has any recommendations, please make them in the comments section, as I would love to hear them!
 

The Cat is Out

Last week I sent an email to the entire ROX blogging crew, asking if they liked apples.

I was very surprised as to the response I got.

B is very curious about what my plans are, and even told me about a particular type of apple he enjoys.

MF told me that she isn’t particularly an apple person, but I have another idea which she might enjoy just as much.

J and Kelly both told me that they love apples and can’t wait to see what they shall receive.

I can’t hold this little secret any longer, so the cat is out of the bag folks’.

This is my apple tree.  When we first moved into our home, it looked like an overgrown bush.  With much trimming, I’ve turned it into a “happy tree” as I like to call it.  We’ve only had one harvest due to an ice storm last February.  My mother-in-law came and took all of those apples, which I didn’t mind.

We’ve been checking the apples every week to see if they are ripe.  They aren’t yet, but once they are your packages will be in the mail.

This year is a different story, as I want my ROX family to enjoy the fruits of my trees’ labor as well.  All of you have been like a family to me, in one way or another.  This is the least I can do to thank yall.

I don’t know the type of apple that grows from this particular apple tree.  They are green, medium to small sized, and quite tart.  They are best used for baking purposes.  My thought, send everyone a “apple crisp in a box kit!”

I also plan on sending Kelly and MF ROX Season Zero sets as well.

It bothers me that my search for help with this heat damage problem has led me nowhere.  Sometimes you have to find your own solution to problems, which is what I’m working on.  With the help of Photoshop for Video, I have learned a few things.  I hope to soon have the skills to correct this damage, and continue on my way of saving this beloved show for generations to come.

This show enlightened me in those key teen years.  It wasn’t about the drinkx, or the drugz, it was about keeping your mind open to new and unusual things.  Something that is still lacking in society today.  If I hadn’t stumbled upon J&B on the ROX playing on BCAT oh so many years ago, I very well could be in prison or dead by now.  Many who know me well, know that my life has been nothing but a story of hardship and overcoming seemingly impossible hurdles.  It will all be in my book.

I know I’m repeating myself, but this is the least I can do to thank everyone who participated in the show, whether as an active participant, or as a passive person who was just there when the camera was rolling.

I came into this as merely a fan, but I’m treated as if I’m a family member.  Words cannot describe how amazing that feels.

It’s Been One Hell of a Century

This year marks the centennial birthday for Monroe County’s beautiful courthouse.  It is the third one the county has had in it’s history.

Click here to see an interesting and informative slide-show with commentary, published by the Herald-Times.

Even though it isn’t used as a “courthouse” anymore, many important offices are housed there and important county meetings still take place there.

The Company Van

As you may or may not know, I am a handyman for a small company called Morgenstern Home Services.  While most of the time I am fixing some problem at somebody’s house, on occasion I am working on the only “company” vehicle.

It’s a 2001 Ford E150 that gets the job done.  The only job it doesn’t get done is getting what you need easily.  That is about to change.

A few weeks ago, the front brakes went out of it and needed replaced.  This van is used almost daily and it being out of commission for even a few hours puts a big hurt on this small company.  I took the initiative and told the boss that I’m an expert on brakes, and I would be happy to do it for him.  I saved him a ton of time, and I’m sure a few bucks.  He thanked me by paying me 4 hours of extra pay, which I greatly appreciated.

As you can see from the picture, the van is merely a cargo van, nothing special.  The one hindrance is that it’s highly disorganized.  My boss, Rick thinks highly of me and wants me to come up with a storage system for it.

My first thought was to find one online and just install it.  I then understood why he wants me to build one, storage systems for these vans run in the thousands.

They didn’t have any work for me to do today, so I’m working on this project, which he told me he would pay me for researching and designing.  I’m writing this blog to document that, in case any questions arise.

So taking some design queues from other storage systems, I have designed one for our van.  I have plans drawn out, and a materials list.

Hopefully he will like it, and want me to go forward with it.  I’m planning on handing it in to him tomorrow.

Maybe B Started Something?

It all started with this picture…

 
Bomb Wal-Mart
Originally uploaded by Editor B.

Editor B shooting footage of people at a peace rally, I believe, with a piece of paper attached to his camera with the question, “Bomb Wal-Mart?”

Today somebody took that thought provoking question one step further and called in a bomb threat to the local Wal-Mart.  The first thing that came to my mind was the picture above.

The matter was taken very seriously, and the place was evacuated.  The employees were sent to the Murphy USA gas station nearby (good place to go when there is a possible bomb).  The store has now been closed for almost 6 hours, with word that it will re-open “within the hour.”

“Lunch Hour Shopper” left a comment on the Herald-Times website that I found quite interesting.  It states that, “I was there when it happened. They came over the intercom and said “attention all associates and customers, we have a code blue. thank you” and that was it! Like we all know what a code blue is.  Doesn’t that mean a sale at KMart! Some employees just left their cash registers with customers standing there. Then some other associates started telling people to leave.”

So I take it that it’s Wal-Mart’s policy to not give a damn about their customers during a emergency situation.

As a Wal-Mart shopper (I’m not a fan, just doing what I gotta do.) it seems like a good thing to do with the weak US economy today.  Wal-Mart is now nothing more than the quickest way to get to China or in some cases Vietnam.

No I don’t think it’s B’s fault, but that question brings up very serious philosophical questions.  Especially in financially trying times like these.

Continue reading “Maybe B Started Something?”

A Virtual Island

UPDATE:  To see aerial photos of the flooding, point your web browser here.

Due to the volatile weather this week, most of southern Indiana is flooded.  Parts of Morgan, Owen, Brown and Bartholomew counties are being evacuated.  10 counties have been declared disaster areas, including Monroe.

The sad thing is that it’s only going to get worse before it gets any better.  I have seen reports on TV that these are century level floods.  After the water is gone, we will still have to repair the roads and so on and so forth.  Many roads and bridges have became impassable or even demolished due to the water.

Here is what Morgan county looks like:

Here is some of Spencer (Owen County‘s) Flooding:

Here is what Bloomington looked like a few days ago:

For the most part, Monroe county is alright now.  All of this flooding has created a major problem though, as it has washed away roads, and in some cases bridges.

Here is a picture of a bridge on Highway 46 between Spencer and Bowling Green:

It has been very hot and humid, which only causes trouble in the mid-west.  It’s been beautiful during the day, but we have been paying for it with these consequences at night.

I have never seen flooding this bad in Indiana in my whole life.