Justa Rollin’ Right Along
I just found this and thought it was interesting.
If you are looking to mix up your life and move someplace nice, there is a good chance there is a job for you. Look at all these postings. All you have to do is go through some extensive training…
This post really has nothing to do with anything, but I thought it might be wildly funny. That’s right…WILDLY funny!
I was on my way to the supermarket yesterday around 5PM. I was driving in one direction and this little Suzuki SUV thing (you know, the little ones that you can buy your eight year old son to drive around the front lawn…kidding, it was a real car) is driving in the opposite direction towards me. As the car gets closer, I see this girl sitting in the driver’s seat. The seat was leaning back somewhat and she was looking real cool. You know the type. I also think the Suzuki was pink. Do you have the vision? Ok, as the car got closer and I noticed something about four feet wide written across the windshield in white. It said “Linda” in script. So there we have it, this cool girl driving a pink Suzuki with her name four feet wide written across her windshield. Now, mind you, this is an area of New York where there are lots of farms. There is a good chance this girl lives on a farm. Can you imagine being her hard working father, who owns farm tractors and corn fields, having to see this pink car in the driveway every morning?
Now, I am a reasonable person who doesn’t like to get excited about little things like this. Sure, people who know me may argue with that last claim, but they know, in their heart of hearts, that I am extremely even tempered. Seeing this car named “Linda” got me thinking. How much did that sticker cost? What would provoke someone to do this to their car? I am not saying that I have never been that age and never did things like this, but now that I am older and wiser, I feel that I have earned the right to give my opinion on these types of things.
It just so happens that Laura and I just finished an hour long conversation about what makes the poor, poor and what makes the rich, rich. Of course there was politics thrown in there all the while. Laura and I work very hard to make our money and, like other hard working people, we have opinions on how our money should be spent by our government, whether it be local, state or federal. We also, probably unjustified”ly”, have opinions on how other people should spend their money. C’mon, you do too. What about your idiot brother who just bought another…whatever. I don’t want to get into politics here because half of the people reading this post will end up hating me and the other half will end up loving me. Let’s just say I am very “middle of the road” on most things. How’s that? I am confident that what I write in this post, most people have thought at some time or another in their lives.
Back to the hot Suzuki. I am going to make a wild leap here…because I work in advertising, I think I can make an educated guess. This girl who drives the Suzuki doesn’t make all that much money. People who make good livings don’t buy pink Suzukis. Considering the fact that she was of the age to write her name across the windshield (four feet wide) tells me that she is in her late teens - early twenties. Knowing the town that I live in, I am also fairly confident that if this girl has a job, it is most likely at the one supermarket that we have or, if not there, in the hardware store or the Chinese restaurant. Either way, she couldn’t make more than $7 an hour.
Now, pardon me for dissecting this split second of my life, but I think this little microcosm explains a lot about America. Have you ever wondered why the neighbor that is having their house foreclosed on has two brand new SUVs in their driveway? Have you ever wondered why your friend with $60,000 worth of debt on their credit cards just took off for a week long vacation in Italy? Have you ever wondered why someone you KNOW has no money has more stuff and lives someplace nicer than you? This is America and the car named “Linda” explains it all.
Let me explain what went through my very even tempered mind the minute that car passed me (in order):
1. I have to write a blog post about this
2. Look at that girl, she so bad…she gets three snaps in “Z” formation
3. I hate those Suzukis
4. What the heck is that on her windshield?
5. Oh man, who the heck writes their name on their car?
6. There must be something wrong with her
7. No, probably not
8. Who buys a pink car?
9. Her
10. What gives someone, who probably works at either the supermarket, the hardware store or the Chinese restaurant, and who probably has 32 cents in their pocket, and who probably lives on a farm with hard working parents, and who probably isn’t doing well in school, and who probably has all the wrong friends, and who isn’t planning on going to college, and who probably knows someone on public assistance, and who will probably BE ON public assistance one day, and who may be a real sweetheart but just misguided, and who needs to get her priorities together and listen to her parents once in a while, the right to spend the money she doesn’t have to put her name across the windshield of her pink Suzuki?
I concede, that was a crazy set of thoughts. You be the judge. It may be the result of an hour long political discussion of poor people and rich people and after eleven hours of working diligently on a Sunday to grow my business.
Wasn’t that funny?
I thought this might be fitting, since it is almost Halloween.
If you grew up in Brewster, NY and went to Brewster High School, you almost certainly know about the Satan Caves. Ok, I am pretty sure no one from Brewster is reading this, so let me explain. The Satan Caves are actual caves situated in a very strange area between Brewster, Carmel and Mahopac. The area is home to many man-made reservoirs that feed New York City. As such, you can imagine all the construction all those years ago that made the area mysterious…reservoirs and lakes, tunnels and caverns, canals and…well, caves.
Laura and I went to a very nice engagement party yesterday in Katonah. On the way home, since we were all the way over on the other side of the river, I decided to take a little detour. Heading up Rt.22, I decided to pull off onto a dirt road next to a reservoir with a nice stepped overflow. On this dirt road is the old garbage dump that my father and I used to go to when we needed to get rid of stuff. I remember that well…riding in the dump truck full of stuff. It was always an adventure. Anyway, I wanted to show it to her. I know…it’s strange, but it was a nice Autumn day and I was feeling nostalgic. I forgot that there was so much more to look at besides that beauty of a dump. We pulled over on the side of the road so we could climb the hill to get a look at the reservoir.
This next photo is of the single vehicle bridge that you have to pass through to get to the dump. It is old tradition to honk your horn before going through. You can see through to the other side, but it is still fun to honk the horn. I gave it a few honks to show off my mad skillz to Laura.
Right past the bridge on the right hand side is the weirdest, strangest thing. I should mention that when these reservoirs were created, tunnels and channels were made too…to connect them all. In the next few photos is one of the channels that connect this reservoir in Brewster to one in Carmel. I think the building was some sort of a dam. I am not sure. Maybe if someone reads this and knows about these types of things, they will leave a comment explaining what we are looking at. All I know is, it was very quiet and the channel was very creepy. It doesn’t help that Laura gets into this kind of stuff. She likes horror films like there is no tomorrow. I hate that stuff. I am a comedy man, myself. Moving on…
You know, if the wrong type of person came back here at the wrong time, they might try to do some sort of drug. Good thing we were here to keep a lookout. So, you get the picture. Pretty Blair Witch looking.
So here is the exciting stuff. We left the canal area and passed by the old dump entrance. It wasn’t very exciting…just an overgrown dirt path type road. They closed it years ago and covered the entire area with dirt. It looks like a field today. We continued on the dirt road and I got an idea…I would show Laura the hill that leads to the Satan Caves. I read somewhere that these caves are the abandoned Tilly Foster mines.
That is some freaky stuff. We got to the hill and I opened the door to go up the hill. What the heck…it looked shorter than I remembered. It has been a while though…
I used to go up to these caves with my friends Rob, Gary, Pete and Frank. It was kind of like “Stand By Me.” We lived that movie. We used to hear so much about the place, but hadn’t gone up yet. Finally, when Gary got a car, we made the trip. We hiked up the two hills and made a right towards a huge ravine type side of a mountain. There she was…a huge cut out of a rocky cliff, dripping with water…and a small steel double door. It was dark and wet, with lots of green moss. Like stated above, there were beer cans and junk left over from partying. We slowly creaked the door open and inched through to discover there were tracks on the ground. We had to balance on them because there was about 6 inches of water covering the entire area. We continued through in the pitch black, just a small light from one flashlight. There were multiple caverns, divided by large steel walls and a door in the middle. Everything was covered with rust and water. There were smaller tunnels leading to nowhere along the sides of the main cave. We continued through a few more caverns to come to an odd end. There was a large rock dead ahead with a rubber hose hanging from above. We looked up about fifty feet and saw a small hole…about one and a half feet from side to side. There was daylight shining through. We hung and bounced on the hose a few times to make sure it was strong enough to hold us. Slowly, each one of us climbed the hose to emerge out of a large, steep funnel type hole at the top of the mountain. We crawled up the sides of the funnel in the leaves and realized where we were…about a half-mile from where we started. This whole trip was completely different than anything we ever expected…
Ok, back to the present day. I talked Laura (without much effort) into climbing the hill with me to see the entrance of the caves. I thought this would be the perfect Halloween type thing to do. The caves are enough to freak anyone out. We made it up the hills pretty quickly, even though the ground was wet. When we came around the corner, we saw what we came for…only there was a huge pile of dirt covering the steel doors.
This is the entrance to the Satan Caves from below. The photo below I took from the top of the hill, right at the doors. I guess the town or someone came and closed the entrance off.
You can see a little closer in the photo above. It looks like the entire cave system is filled with about ten feet of water.
The building on the right is totally ruined and full of beer cans. I have no idea why anyone would want to be in there drinking beer. Laura loved the caves and I bet she would’ve gone in, if it wasn’t filled with water. I have to watch this one…
So there you have it…the Satan Caves in Brewster. They do exist, but you won’t be able to go inside unless someone goes up there with a backhoe to move that dirt and drain the water.
Ok, I just found the coolest thing in the world. Well, maybe not, but pretty damn close. You have to check this out. You will really appreciate this if you have ever used Google Maps, Mapquest, Yahoo Maps or have flown an airplane.
I got this map from SkyVector.com, a website offering Online Aeronautical Charts. You can type in an airport code near you to see something that might look familiar (on the right side). I typed in the Orange County Airport code, KMGJ. For Stewart International Airport, you would type in KSWF and for Wilmington International Airport, you would type in ILM. give it a try. Also, remember to click and drag the map for some more fun.
Man, I need some sleep. As you may recall, yesterday I mentioned that I set up a new web store with tons and tons of items. Well, last night and today, I completed 4 more sister stores. They compliment my classified sites. Their addresses are:
MyAutoMarket.US
MyPetMarket.US
MyCycleMarket.US
MyBoatMarket.US
This makes twelve websites that comprise the DotUSNetwork. I think I need a break.
…well, my family. Ok, my house.
You have to check this out:
This is a new online shopping storefront. Through some pretty neat technology, created by a very talented company other than mine, we are able to pull in every single item from Amazon.com. This is huge because while being able to offer an extremely large variety of products, I am able to micro-target (you like that?) my classifieds audience. Say for example, if someone visits PetClassifieds.US and is not able to find the dog collar they were looking for, they can easily follow the links to the appropriate category on UpMyAlley.US to make a purchase.
By the way, Laura made up the domain name, so I must give mad props to her.
I really have to stop flying like I drive…like an old man. You can get away with that when you drive. Slight turns here and there, slowing down as much as you want…you can even pull over and fall asleep if need be. Well, in an airplane, it’s a little different.
Yesterday was quite breezy. I met with Yigal when I got to the airport and I gave the Cessna a pre-flight. After that, we talked for a little in the office. We went over how to do cross-wind takeoffs and landings. The theory is pretty straightforward and it sounds really easy. It actually is not that tough. All you do is turn the yoke into the direction of the wind and ease up as you gain speed with the airplane. So, the slower you are going, the more dramatic the turn. Yeah, well that’s for takeoffs and landings. Flying in wind is an experience in itself. I felt like yesterday was my first lesson.
We flew over to Stewart International Airport in Newburgh (KSWF) for a few touch and goes.
This was a good lesson because it exposed me to controlled airports and communicating with the tower as well as how to fly in breezy conditions. Yigal insists that the wind was not very strong and that I will experience much more turbulence in the future. It did stretch me though. The main challenges with this lesson were getting used to a much longer runway (11,000ft), airplane speed and keeping up with the tower communications. The wind made things tough because the upwind and downwind legs of the pattern was much slower and faster, respectively. It was harder to gauge and control the airspeed because of this. Also, we got tossed around much more as I was trying to land and that mandated much more aggressive use of the controls. That is what I need to work on. I need to really get down and move the plane. I will, I promise.
Overall, I feel like this was the most challenging lesson so far, but it was good because it took me out of the mold of Orange County Airport. Also, I had a good time talking with the guys at the control tower. They were really helpful and even though they knew I was a student, they were very cool.
PS - Just to let you know, I almost have 10 hours now!
As I have said a million times, or maybe about eight times, the best time to go to the nursery is in mid to late October. The nurseries are just about ready to throw everything in the dumpster out back, so either go in and purchase what you want for half price or wait until nightfall and take your chances at the dumpster.
I got everything for half price…even the mulch. The first type of plant I picked up today was a Silver and Gold Chrysanthemum. These are really pretty cool looking and grow to about 12″-18″. I planted three of them and I think they will fill in quite nicely. As stated on the site I linked to above, you can divide these after a while. That’s great, because like bulbs, once you make the initial investment, you can play for years to come.
The second type of plant I picked up was an Ilex Glabra Shamrock. This one grows about 3′-4′ tall, so I planted it towards the middle, so it will surround the new pear tree. This is a really good looking shrub because it has glossy leaves and some berries. I will have to keep my eye on these because of the deer.
Lastly, like I mentioned above, I purchased 2 bags of great looking “Black Forest” mulch. This will keep all the bulbs and iris covered and protected during the winter. It also just looks so damn good. Take a look…
I am really looking forward to Spring so I can take some pictures of all the freshly sprung bulbs…almost as much as you’re looking forward to it, I’m sure.
I am really tired right now, but I wanted to get this up. I will explain in the morning when I write my post about today’s flight lesson. What a trip…
The phonetic alphabet is as follows:
A- Alpha
B- Bravo
C- Charlie
D- Delta
E- Echo
F- Foxtrot
G- Golf
H- Hotel
I- India
J- Juliet
K- Kilo
L- Lima
M- Mike
N- November
O- Oscar
P- Papa
Q- Quebec
R- Romeo
S- Sierra
T- Tango
U- Uniform
V- Victor
W- Whiskey
X- X-ray
Y- Yankee
Z- Zulu
A google search would tell you that the Phonetic Alphabet assigns a word to each letter in the English alphabet, so that letters can be exchanged easily and with clarity. Instead of saying “ABC,” you would say “Alpha, Bravo, Charlie.”
To elaborate, communication via radio is notoriously unintelligible. If you listen to ATC (Air Traffic Control) chatter, you’ll notice a considerable amount of background noise when a general aviation pilot is on the mic.
Note, as well, that 9 is “niner”, to prevent confusion with “five.”
There won’t be many more days to get my plantings and gardening done this year, so I better finish up fast. Today was the day of the triangle. We have a triangle garden right in front of the house that was just a mess. There were 3 patches of Iris and Mint (well, it smelled minty) that had run wild. Both the Iris and the Mint spread underground, so you really don’t know the extent of their growth until you start pulling. There was also some Hosta. Over the past year, we haphazardly planted a wide variety of about 50 bulbs in this garden. None of them have bloomed yet. As I started pulling out the mint, I started stumbling across these bulbs, that have started rooting quite nicely. I also found many bulbs under the iris. Great bulbs, I’m sure…just strangled, that’s all. I placed all the bulbs in a bucket for use later.
Well, all morning I pulled and pulled and pulled, until the garden was cleaned out.
I moved the Hosta to the front corner and left the pretty little tree where it was. I also planted our new Bartlett Pear tree. This is going to be very cool when we get our new pears. I placed this tree here because it is going to be surrounded by Boxwood, and deer don’t like boxwood. Also, it is right next to our peach tree and is in full sun, like the tree label said to do. I got it for a great deal of only $12. That’s the beauty of buying these types of trees late in the season.
As I mentioned above, I had to wrestle with some iris. There were three areas, and here is one of them…
This should be a real treat for you if you have never seen overgrown iris. This is why iris doesn’t bloom that well after a few years. It strangles itself. I pulled the iris apart and made a trench along the rearmost border. I layed the separated iris in the trench and covered it up.
I then made two trenches on the other two sides and placed all the bulbs I collected in them. I placed the largest bulbs towards the center of the garden and the smaller ones towards the rock walls. This way, I will have good height proportion come Spring.
I am going to pick up a few bags of mulch this week and cover the entire garden with it to protect the bulbs. I am also going to grab about five boxwood shrubs and place them towards the center of the garden, so they surround the pear tree. This should look good…green at the center, tree in the middle with nice color along the edges.
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