Grumpy Old Man

Pedestrians - we don't need you!!!

2008-12-11T15:08:05Z

Okay, so here's the irony. We're tearing up the Parade and undoing what was done years ago (shades of Captain's Walk) for at least one reason - to increase visibility as motorists make the hairpin turn in front of the train station, ostensibly to safeguard the hordes of pedestrians who cross there either to take in the majesty that is New London, or to flee it. Apparently, there have been a lot of pedestrians getting run over down there, although that news must have taken a back page to the countless - no, wait, it was two - shootings at a local watering hole on Bank.

Trouble is, this apparent concern for our bipedal consumers is belied by the management of our existing pedestrian crossing zones in town. Forget that you can't cross Eugene O'Neill Drive at Golden Street unless there are no cars around. Forget that the only (correct me if I'm wrong) location in town where one of those middle-of-the-street "stop for pedestrians in crosswalk" signs is at the entrance to Meridian Street (why are they not EVERY FREAKIN' WHERE IN TOWN???). Forget that any police officer who is sitting at a utility truck site is doing absolutely nothing to assist in the flow of traffic, vehicular or pedestrian, because as I understand it, they are actually on the payroll of said utility in those instances and not acting in the capacity of a city peace officer, despite that they are in uniform and have a police vehicle with its motor running.

Okay, so take a look at my pictures accompanying this entry for just a small sampling of how New London thumbs its collective municipal nose at you if you are strolling about. I'm going to be honest with you - I feel more safe walking in front of Ernie's at night than I do crossing the streets of this town.

New London's parking problem solved

2008-09-29T20:09:26Z

Tired of looking for a place to park?

Tired of getting parking tickets?

Tired of all that chalk all over your tires?

Here's an idea.........

Trade in your eco-unfriendly gas guzzler for one of these ========>

Better mileage and.......

Twice as much parking now!!

So, where's that %#@ $19million Waterfront Park?

2008-08-26T02:13:08Z

Okay. Little slide show fer ya, just by clickin' on that picture over there to the right. In case you need help, it's that way ================>>>>

I'm going to show you three signs that point you to the Waterfront Park we spent some 19 million on. #1 sign is coming in by the Police Station on Eugene O'Neill Drive, just before you get to the intersection there. #2 sign is on Broad Street just over the Coleman Street line coming into downtown. #3 sign is on Bank Street heading in by Howard Street. All these signs are outside of town in varying degrees, two of them only just blocks away from the Waterfront Park they point you to.

So we got ya comin' North, South and East. If you're heading West, you got other problems.

Now - I challenge you to go find them, and then proceed in the appropriate direction, as indicated by the signs, to the Waterfront Park. Pretend you don't know where it is. Try to find it. Watch out for other signs along the way. Just see if you can find it.

Let me know.

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My take on the Olympics

2008-08-26T01:11:31Z

Worth a thousand words, but I added a few more. Sue me. Go ahead.

Click the picture of there for more fun ================>

Now can I just say this about that - - - can we PLEASE teach our atheletes the National Anthem, and that they're supposed to put their right hand over their heart during the song???? I guess for some of them, we'll just say right hand over left boobie. Certainly shameful to see so many of them on the medal podium standing there like they're thinking, "what will I have tonight, kung pao or moo goo gai pan?"

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RECYCLING - it's bad bad bad.

2008-07-24T02:23:14Z

There's been a bit of discussion in recent times about the age-old controversy: paper or plastic. Seems there's some bunch of wackos out there who think plastic is bad, just 'cause it don't dissolve in the dumps for a few thousand years. Maybe that's what's keeping the dumps from collapsin' under the weight of all the dirt they throw on top of them, you know?

Anyway, these wackos used to say you should ask for paper sacs (you younguns call 'em bags) at the grocery store. Paper bags supposed to dissolve quicker in the dumps apparently, although truth be told, you bury anything under enough dirt with no water and air to get to it to aid in the compostin' process, and it ain't gonna dissolve either. Paper bags still be paper bags when they dig 'em up 10,000 years from now. But don't take my word for it.

Then there's this new bunch of wackos who say forget the paper, 'cause we're losing forested land all around the country. Exceptin' of course if you drive on most of Connecticut's highways, which is all surrounded by trees for miles and miles and miles. These new-age wackos think we ought to use them there "green" bags (although they ain't always green) which is reusable and saves the planet. To use anything else you're led to believe is downright Un-American.

Now I'm thinking that if we use paper bags, all them trees that gets cut down will leave a big empty space, and watcha gonna do about that? Why, I say it looks like a perfect space for a landfill to put all those plastic bags that so many people still usin' anyway, if you go to Wally World and watch 'em comin' outta there. So it's kind of a wash.

Yeah, there's an ecological foot print to either of them. Makin' plastic bags gotta do some damage somewhere along the way, with manufacturin' puttin' all the by-products and stuff into the nearby rivers and into the air from their smokestacks. And the logging industry cuttin' down all them trees to make paper bags that you can use to stick the millions of pounds of paper junk mail you still get into for the recyclin' guy on Monday morning, and all the pollutin' they release makin' the bags and drivin' the logs around, and stuff like that.

So it seems to make sense to use them re-usable bags, right? It's the "new" American way. You keep 'em forever, and just got to remember to bring them in from the car when you go shopping. Oh, and you got to remember to put them back in the car when you're done unloadin' your groceries at home. And you gotta stop usin' 'em for stuff at home, so's you can't put 'em back in the car. Of course, when you do forget all that, all you gotta do is just grab a couple bags off the rack in the aisle, tear off the tags, and bring 'em up to the register like you own 'em and brought 'em in with you, you know? 'Course, you didn't hear that from me.

Now, there's just one problem. Them bags (from a company called "earthwise bag company, inc." - sounds real good, don't it?) is made in China of 100% non woven polypropylene. Here's what Wikipedia, the source of all truth and knowledge on the internets has to say about it:

Polypropylene or polypropene (PP) is a thermoplastic polymer, made by the chemical industry and used in a wide variety of applications, including packaging, textiles (e.g., ropes, thermal underwear and carpets), stationery, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and polymer banknotes. An addition polymer made from the monomer propylene, it is rugged and unusually resistant to many chemical solvents, bases and acids. Its resin identification code is the number 5 surrounded by a recycling symbol, with the letters "P P" below. Melt processing of polypropylene can be achieved via extrusion and molding.
Oh, and its molecular formula is: (C3H6)x. Does THAT sound earthwise to you? Sounds like a movie George Lucas wishes he had made.

Anyway, that ain't what I wanted to talk to you about anyway. It's about those plastic bottles everywhere. Can you believe you actually BUY water to drink because it's supposed to be healthy for you, and you drink it out of a plastic bottle (how long has it been sittin' in there in some dark warehouse in Waukegan?????), take it home in a paper bag no doubt, and then you probably just toss it in the garbage so it goes into the landfill where there used to be trees? Or maybe one of those polyextruded "green" bags. (green die #3) (and yes, pun intended)

This is the thing: There is a little code that the bottling industry is required to put on the bottle that defines what kind of plastic it is. There are seven codes in the plastics industry. Read about them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_identification_code. The thing is, the bottling industry knows that recycling plastic is a bad thing, but it had to pay a lot of money to a lot of senators and congresspersons to ease up on the requirements of letting us know about recycling. The bottlers said "look, we don't need everyone sending our old plastic bottles back to us, because it's more profitable to make new ones, and not have to deal with old used ones, and if we have to deal with old used ones, that will raise the price of new ones, and cut into our profit margins, and that means we'll have less money to donate to your campaign next year!" So the government said "okay, just put some little thingie on there somewhere so's we can say it's there and we did our job (by the people for the people), and then pass me the envelope. No, no, no - under the table, you idiot!! "

So, on the bottom of the plastic bottle, in a tiny little triangle the same color as the plastic bottle, is a number in the same color that indicates which of the seven plastic types the bottle (or other plastic packaging, just to be clear here) belongs to. And it's just oh so slightly embossed. And in my advanced age, I can't read it, even with two pair of my reading glasses on. What with it being embossed like it is, the best bet I can think of is to get a blind person to read it for me. And as hard as that would be for me (I don't really know any blind people), I can only assume that in fact I'm not supposed to be able to read it, because in fact recycling is bad for the planet. Otherwise, the bottling industry would have put it on the label, in brightly colored large-type font just like "Lemon flavored" (not that it has lemon in it, mind you, just some polyextruded flavoring added). Then you'd know it was a good thing to recycle.

So, just go to the store, buy your plastic bottle of water, bring it home in an extruded polymer bag, and when you're finished with it, do what everyone else does: throw it out the window of your H3 as you run me off the road. And don't worry. I've snapped your license plate, and will be posting a picture of it shortly.

More New London Condos with water views?

2008-07-24T01:17:34Z

There's just some attraction to New York style condos that the Wailing City loves, I guess. This one promises to be a beaut - if you go by this banner hanging over Carlos - er, that is - Carmelos fine Italian ristorante.

But there's one problem - - - where does everyone park?????

Click that picher to see what they forgot to include in the "architect's rendering" ===>

Want more? Click here.

Storefront Initiative - I I

2008-07-24T00:56:23Z

Not quite as pretty as all that fancy art you see around town, but just as prevalent, that's fer sure. 'Course, we got no "Blob" or nuthin' like that. Click the picher o'er there ===>

Want more? Click here.

Parking in New London - don't !

2008-06-29T13:30:26Z

I could go on an' on about how stooopid it is not to have parkin' meters in the city. 'Stead, they gots 2 hour limits all over the place, so when Dad brings the wife and kids in for a pleasant afternoon in the Distr - er,that is - the area formerly known as Downtown, every two hours no matter where they is, Dad has to leave the family and run off to the car and not just feed the meter a couple more quarters NO that would be too easy - he has to actually get in the car and drive around and try to find another parkin' space somewhere (good luck) and then go runnin' back up to find the family who has no doubt had to stand right where Dad left 'em so's he can find 'em agin, and so they wasted all that time standin' around goin' nowhere and doin' nuthin' and seein' nuthin' while they's waitin' for Dad to come back. Now it might be Dad's better bet to try to drive up to where the family is and park near 'em there (did I say good luck yet?), but what happens in the next two hours if they walk a ways away and then he has to go back and do it again? And I guess Dad's best bet would be to park in the parkin' garages, if'n he knew where they was, 'cause I don't remember seein' lots of them big P is for Parking signs around town except for right next to the parkin' garages, which by then you wouldn't really need 'em anyway, right? See, I told you I could go on and on.

Makes you figger that they must make more money of parkin' tickets then they would off nickels and quarters. 'Course they got that guy goes bravin' the traffic walkin' the streets puttin' a chalk mark on yer tire so's they know if you been there more'n two hours, and they can ticket ya then. Now, how much you think he gets paid, with benefits? Kind-a makes those parkin' meters seem like a more fiscally responsible approach, wouldn't you say? (see below for new job opening!!!)

But what I thought I'd share with ya today was this gem. (Click the "related gallery" photo to the right there. ===>

You might know where this is. It's a parkin' area in the area formerly known as Downtown. There's a railin' there, and there's two signs on it, guidin' the weary traveler to safe parkin'. But there seems to be some confusion 'bout when you can park there.

Only in New London.

From the Sunday 6/29 Employment Ads:
Parking Enforcement - Part Time The City of New London seeks a qualified Parking Enforcement Officer to monitor an assigned route for illegal parking and issue parking violations. Requirements: High School diploma or equivalent, ability to work outside, diplomacy and maturity. Position is approx. 20 hours/week; $11/hr. Full description and application online at www.ci.new-london.ct.us. A City Application must be completed for consideration and may be e-mailed to Jobs@ci.new-london.ct.us or mailed to the Personnel Department, 181 State Street, New London. Closing date for the position is July 7th .

11 bucks an hour? Maybe that's why he walks so slowly.

Ma Bell's Boys In Blue

2008-06-27T17:56:45Z

Okay, so it's Friday June 27 an' there's an AT&T truck workin' at the corner of Bank and Golden. They got some big hose stickin' down in the manhole, suckin' out who knows what down there. Maybe a lotta missed phone messages 'cause you don't got any service 'round here. Can you hear me now?? WHAT???? Five bars? I can point them out while standin' right here.

Click that picher over there for a peek. ==>

Anyway, they got a Po-leece car there, with an officer, lights a-flashin', and most of the time he's sittin' in his car, doin' nuthin'. Sometimes he get out and stands on the sidewalk. Sometimes he go and talks to the workmen.

What he never does is help with traffic flow, which he really ought to do because the two lanes of Bank Street is cut down to one and a half lanes at a stop sign, and drivers in this town ain't known for mergin' well, or takin' turns, or even stopping for pedestrians in the crosswalk, or a stop sign.

He ain't helpin' with pedestrians crossing the street at the crosswalk (which is blocked by the big ATT hose in the manhole, so people gots to walk out of the crosswalk and take their life into their hands).

And he definitely ain't keeping cars from cruisin' through the stop sign, which they is doin', believe it or not.

Now, I betcha the reason is, he ain't really a po-leece officer today. He's off-duty, and he's gettin' paid by AT&T to provide safety and security to their workmen, and make sure nobody rams into that big huge truck, with orange cones all around it on the road. And I'm pretty sure that he's bein' paid by the utility (check your bill next month for an increase).

So, my question is this: if he ain't bein' a po-leece officer today (which I say because he ain't doin' no po-leece officer-like stuff {see above}), then why is he in a po-leece car with his po-leece uniform on? And if he is in fact a po-leece officer today, then why ain't he doin' any po-leecing?

Seem to me we could just get a big pole, put a couple fancy flashin' lights on top, hook it up to a couple nine-volt batteries, and get the same results for a lot less money. 'Course, your phone bill still goin' up next month, but maybe not quite as much, you know? (Sure, keep thinkin' that.)

I welcome your thoughts, but please come on down and see for yerself. 'Course, you just gotta wait another day or two, go to some other part of town, and you'll find the same thing again. Safest people in town these days is the utility workmen. Gots them a po-leece escort and we's payin' for it.

Protect and Serve. You wanna be protected and served? Get a job with a utility road crew, and enjoy!

Want more? Click here.

And don't ask me again!

2008-06-26T20:46:04Z

Now the way I figger it, if you so stoooopid you need t'be tol' this way, you prolly shouldn' ought t'be drivin' anyway!

'Course, if'n you that stoooopid, you prolly cain't read it anyway! Meanin' you at least licensed to drive in Connecticut.

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New London's hidden gems - part 1

2008-06-26T12:42:49Z

If ya weren't lookin' fer it, you'd-a never knowed it was there. Hidden within the lush, verdant landscape surroundin' New London's largest tax(abated)payer is a ... now, what do they call it... oh, yeah... a "shoreline public access." It's a way that ya can enjoy the beauty of New London's shoreline, just like all them Pfizer employees (the ones still gots a job, that is) do every day from their offices and cubicles.

And I got proof! In vivid color. Right here. Click on that picher there. ==>

You just get yerself down to Pfizer Rotary #1 (ever notice how Pfizer is like a gated community?) and you can see it clear as day. And if'n you can't, these pichers ought to help ya.

An' watch for hidden gems - part 2. Comin' soon to a blog near ya.

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The solution to the oil "crisis"

2008-06-23T15:54:13Z

Problem:

A) OPEC sells oil for $136.00 a barrel.
B) OPEC nations buy U.S. grain at $7.00 a bushel.

Solution:

A) Sell grain for $136.00 a bushel.

B) Can't buy it? Tough! Eat your oil! Ought to go well with a nice thick grilled filet of camel ass!!!

George Carlin is dead?????????

2008-06-23T13:42:54Z

I've got just seven words to say about that!!!!

Remember when?

2008-06-22T15:52:46Z

'member when gas was cheap, air was free, and if yer timin' was good you got a slurpy outta the deal too?

My head in the clouds

2008-06-22T15:45:06Z

Drivin' 'round and saw a purty picher and thought I'd snap it. Got home and was checkin' it out on my computer and whaddya think I sees? Did a zoom-in just to be sure.

Yep, I has to say the universe is reachin' out to me, showin' me a sign or somethin'. Click on that picher over there ==> to see what I'm talkin' 'bout.

You can see my buggy eyes, by big nose and recedin' hair, and that chin aint' doin' me any favors either.

Either that, or it's Maxine the grumply ol' lady from the greetin' cards.

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