milos topic

I normally stay away from sad news and events on this blog, but at times that simply isn’t possible. Today’s post is about the sad death of a Walmart employee that’s been on my mind since it happened on (in this instance appropriately named) Black Friday.

I can’t get over the fact that people have stampeded over another human being in order to get to the sales racks first. That level of selfishness, stupidity and pure animosity is something I’m having difficulty comprehending and understanding for three days now. How do you walk on someone and continue shopping; how do you destroy someone’s life and live with yourself; why do people turn into beasts when in large groups; why does the pack mentality overpower that of a sane, intelligent individual?

What’s even more frustrating, in addition to self centered animals who continued to shop is the fact that the store remained open. What was the manager in charge thinking, one of your employees has been trampled to death and you continue business as usual!? Whoever he/she is they should live in shame, embarrassment and public ridicule for the rest of their miserable life. It is also very ironic that this happened at a place of business whose part of the slogan is “Live better.”

Furthermore, I sincerely hope that surveillance tapes will bring to justice the herd who inflicted pain and ended a life of someone who was simply trying to open the doors and be helpful.

This is a very sad event in this country’s history and should hopefully make all of us stop, think and evaluate our priorities and actions as nothing should be valued more than an innocent life.

It is also sad to see how everyone has quickly turned their attention to another bogus “holiday”, Cyber Monday.

Back home from an amazing day at Alba Vineyards (our favorite). We did some wine tasting paired with cheese, fruit and chocolate.

While there we also visited a local organic winery, Villa Milagro. It’s a small place little over a mile down the road from Alba’s along a narrow gravel road in the middle of nature (we saw 6-7 deer not far from their barn). As it was something new, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity of tasting their vino as well. It was very good, we even got a couple of bottles to bring back, but still (for me at least) nothing beats Alba’s.

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Some folks are still in the kitchen while I’m trying to breathe and watch Inter vs. Juventus. Sleepy…

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A part of Montclair State University campus at 10 AM. Somehow I have a feeling that as the day progresses, most departments will end up closing earlier than usual.

While social networking sites can be valuable as a gathering, news and resource venues they can never beat an in person conversation. Being able to meet someone in person, talk with them and see their facial expressions in real time is priceless! Social networking sites are great complements and tools, but should never be confused as substitutes.

Getting into a warm car this morning was a great feeling and it made me wonder why on earth did it take me this long to have a remote car starter installed. It took way too long, but I finally got it done this past Friday. This on its own is no feat of great accomplishment, but once you hear a bit more about this “never ending” process you will understand why I am very happy today.

The actual unit (starter and alarm) was purchased back in July of 2007. Yes, it took me 16+ months to get it installed. Here’s a part of the receipt as confirmation:

As you can see, even the receipt faded away.

At some point in 2007, my cousin had the same starter installed in his car and I found it to be very valuable for both extremes, hot and cold days. It was nice to be able to walk into a car that is already warmed up and at the temperature of your choosing. So, in July of 07 I bought my own and planned on installing it within a week or two. From then until now something always came up, I was busy, I forgot about it, I didn’t think that I actually needed it and so on. There is no valid excuse as to why it took this long, I simply kept postponing it (with among my family already famous words, “I’ll do it tomorrow“).

I generally don’t procrastinate on major things, but there have been several instances when I had to work on getting things done last minute. I’m not sure if I do this because certain things are less important than others or the fact that I (at times) enjoy working under pressure and pulling it all together as the finish line is fast approaching.

In any event, it took a bit of ridicule by my cousin little over a week ago while we were watching 24/7 on De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao for me to get into action and schedule the installation. Him challenging me is what make me do it…I simply don’t walk away from challenges.

Having used it for the past three chilly days I’m a bit annoyed that I haven’t done it sooner. Oh well, we live and learn and so will I one day.

Ever since I got an iPhone as a birthday present (thank you Courtney!) in July of this year I have been using Twitterrific as the Twitter app of choice. At that time, it was one of the first apps to market and it worked fairly well. Plus, it’s FREE!

However, over the past several weeks the application started crashing, being slow and at times fairly annoying to use so I started my Google search quest for a better alternative. Last night, I came across a post among my RSS feeds (a bit behind on those as you can tell) from Yoast.com (btw, a great resource for WordPress plugins and tweaks) that suggested TwitterFon as an alternative.

I gave it a try and absolutely love it! Great app, responsive, allows fast scrolling and it doesn’t freeze (unlike the above mentioned app), it allows you to see your “Friends” (time line), @ replies and direct messages. You can even search from the app as well as look up the people you are following (no need to remember their @cRaZyunIquEnaMe nomenclature). Also, FREE!

Now, if I could only find a good Plurk app…any suggestions?

What do meetings bring to those who attend? Are most of them annoying, boring and a waste of time or is there a valuable component to them?

As I look through the sea of WordPress plugins to test and potentially add to this blog in order make my life easier, generate more useful data and make it more interesting for visitors I’ve realized that this could turn into a fairly complicated process. Considering that the number of plugins keeps growing almost daily there are several things one should consider when selecting a plugin:

Here are some of the plugins I use (alphabetical order):

The above listed plugins are in use now with another 5 or 6 currently in testing. You have seen my favorites, now it’s time for you share your favorite plugins.

How do you decide on a plugin, how do you determine that it is valuable to you? What are your favorite/must have plugins and why? Please share them and I will compile a list for everyone to see and will take a look at them myself.

While driving around over past week or so I have noticed a free (unlocked/unsecured) Wi-Fi network called “optimumwifi” pop up along Rt. 23, Rt. 46 and Rt. 3. I have noticed this in towns of Riverdale, Pompton Lakes, Wayne, Totowa, Little Falls, Clifton and Paterson in northern New Jersey. I know that someone will ask “why are you on your phone while driving,” well I’m not really as that drives me crazy, I was simply checking the whether (as seen above) or one of the “brief info” apps (i.e. Currency) I use on an iPhone.

I don’t remember hearing about this getting announced or marketed anywhere so I’m wondering if this is a test of some sorts or Optimum’s plan to deploy their network throughout the area before announcing it and possibly securing it in order to charge for usage.

What do you think, have any of you (NJ people) notice this as well?