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(s)Lowe’s in Framingham

Posted on March 19th, 2007 by GregPC.
Categories: local.

I went to the new Lowe’s on Rt. 30 in Framingham on Saturday evening.  Wow.  It was a ghost town.  Staff may well have outnumbered shoppers.  We were there at around 6:00, which may not be the most popular time for home improvement shopping; but seriously, how long can a store last without customers?

People out in Metrowest are about to find out.

Technorati Tags: Lowe’s, Framingham, Metrowest, Route 30

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Time Machine

Posted on March 13th, 2007 by GregPC.
Categories: Poems.

For more than 20 years
I’ve shared a bed with the woman I love
We were teenagers when we met
We’re parents now
And fast approaching mid-life

But in the deep of the night
In each others arms
We’re young lovers again
Holding onto each other
And the memories of our youth

Never letting go

Technorati Tags: love, memories, youth, time machine

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The Relationship was Strictly Platonic

Posted on March 13th, 2007 by GregPC.
Categories: Poems.

As someone who was a guest
In your home
I want you to know
That I enjoyed my stay
And did not overstep my bounds

Temptation was present
At every turn
But I want to assure you
That I resisted
And kept things pure

Nothing was sullied
By my presence
In your home
I did not stray
Down unwelcome paths

I did not masturbate
Not in your shower
Not in the bed you made up for me
Not in your sink or toilet
Not in a tissue or in a paper towel
Taken from your kitchen

I know that as a host
You would want to know
That my time in your home was restful
And that the relationship
Was strictly platonic

Technorati Tags: poem, house guest, platonic, masturbate

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Perhaps the worst headset in the world

Posted on March 6th, 2007 by GregPC.
Categories: Technology, Warnings.

Like more than 100 across the country, my local CompUSA is shutting down. I needed a new bluetooth headset so on Saturday I stopped in to kick the store while it is down.

I bought this one:

and boy was that a mistake. I’m not sure whose ear this is designed to fit but it sure ain’t mine. It just hangs off my head looking stupid. The only way I can get it to really hold tight is to have the mic pointing more or less at my eye.

Unfortunately, because the store is closing, it can’t be returned.

If you see one of these headsets nearby and feel even the slightest inclination to purchase it - RUN!

Technorati Tags: Motorola, Bluetooth, headset, terrible

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Brew Day - 3/4/07

Posted on March 5th, 2007 by GregPC.
Categories: Brewing, Beer, Photography.

I’m still planning on doing this Beer-B-Q thing on April 14th so I realized I’m going to need some beer on hand. Every weekend I think, “I’m going to brew today,” but either because of the weather, other plans or the fact that I’m lazy it just hasn’t happened.

I said it to myself this past weekend too. It was in the 50s here in Boston so it should have been ideal. But . . . My kids had stuff going on in the morning and the back yard (where I brew) is a muddy snowy mess and Betty was coming over for help with a slide show, and, and, and. And so I didn’t brew on Saturday.

On Sunday it was cooler. The yard was still a mess but I really needed to get a batch started. So I decided to brew over at Barleycorn in Natick center. Barleycorn is where I get most of my ingredients and advice. You can also brew on premises which is great when you need to brew but are facing a thousand small conspiracies.

I called in the morning and arranged to come in at 1:30. Dan Eng, the owner was there and we talked for a while about recipes. I wasn’t looking to do anything fancy so just went with an ordinary bitter I’d made a couple of years ago.

I was planning to brew with my nephew Justin and friend Marcos but let’s just say things came up so I did most of it solo. Which isn’t that big a deal.

Things started with weighing out the grain. You can only do extract and specialty grains at Barleycorn so I only needed a few pounds of grain:

Dan helped grind and bag it.

After that we began to heat the water. The set up he has is very nice, big 15 or 20 gallon steam-heated copper tanks.

I was using the second to last kettle on the end up above. Here it is with the recipe.

The grain went in at 2:00 or so and steeped for 30 minutes.

While the grain was steeping I got together the rest of the ingredients. 20 pounds of light malt extract and hops (I used cascade and goldings for this batch)

Justin was around for part of the brew and did help add the extract

Adding the hops at the boil

The process is so much easier than doing an all grain batch, but I still like brewing with grain. When the boil was finished, I stirred the wort into a whirlpool just before it got pumped through the cooler and into a fermenter.

Probably the best part about brewing at Barleycorn is that you don’t have to worry about cleaning and sanitizing everything. To me, that’s the least fun part of the process but a pretty critical one.

Just before Justin left I IMed my brother-in-law James to see if he might be free to help out. He and Chesley did come but things were pretty well finished by that point. We hung out a bit, had some food and beer and then went on our way. I need to go back in in a couple of weeks to keg. I’ll end up with 12 or 13 gallons so I should be in good shape for the 14th. I’ll probably do one more batch for variety before then though. I’ll post again when this batch is finished to say how it turned out. It it’s as good as it was the last time I’ll post the recipe as well.

Here’s an update on how the batch turned out.

Technorati Tags: Beer, brewing, Barleycorn, Natick

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Traveling Dufus

Posted on March 1st, 2007 by GregPC.
Categories: Misc.

I often do some pretty stupid things.  Sometimes I realize that I am being stupid even as I am doing something.  Other times my stupidity dawns on me slowly.  And sometimes my stupidity sneaks up and surprises the shit out of me.  Yesterday was one of those days.

I had to be in New York for a meeting.  That meant getting up at 3:45 – which sucked all by itself.  I got to Logan with no problem.  Slept most of the flight to New York.  Grabbed a cab and started snapping photos on the way to the city.

When we pulled up at the hotel, I couldn’t find my wallet.  The driver, who’d been irritated and impatient during the drive didn’t seem so happy.  I wasn’t too happy myself.  I had just taken $120 out of the bank for the trip and now had nothing – no cash, no credit cards, no ID.  The only think I did have was a $60 fare.

I finally managed to reach a colleague who was staying at the hotel.  All the while I was waiting for her I could tell the driver was just smoldering.  Minutes went by.  My phone rang.  It was Wendy.  “Are you missing anything?” she asked.  It turns out that I’d left my wallet somewhere at Logan.  At least I knew where it was.

While I was waiting for Kristen, Scott Sikes, a colleague from Hong Kong, came walking out of the hotel.  He saw me in the cab and came over.  Ignoring pleasantries, I immediately asked him for the $60 dollars.  He had the money and gave it to me.  As I was paying the driver Kristen appeared.  For the moment, all was well.

The meetings were all well and good.  I may add something on them to my other blog but I doubt it.  The thought that kept running through my head though was getting back to Boston without an ID.  My assistant Amy was totally cool and helpful with all of this.  She let me know that I’d be able to get onto a flight but that I should be prepared for extra security.

She was right.  I got to La Guardia at about 5:30.  It took me a while to explain to explain my situation when I checked-in.  When I went through security I was naturally – and as expected – pulled aside for additional screening.  The screeners were nice.  One of them said he’d had the same thing happen to him last year in Charlotte.

Then my shoes set off the explosive detector.

“Well,” one of them said, “we’ll have to retest these.”  “Yeah,” said the other, “and if it goes off again we’re going to have some problems here.”  These were not comforting words.  Thankfully, the tertiary screening turned up nothing and I was sent on my way.

When I finally got to Boston, I went to retrieve my wallet.  “No wallets turned in today,” I was told.  “Are you sure,” I asked, “someone called my home to tell me it was here and where to pick it up.”  The blank-faced clerk just stared at me.  He stuck his head into a back office and confirmed that there were no wallets.  My patience began to wear thin.  I insisted that it must be there and asked that he physically check.

A few moments later he asked me my name.  When he had confirmed my identity, he produced the wallet – with the $120 still inside.

So while it was stupid of me to lose/leave my wallet, everything worked out alright in the end.  But that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel like an idiot anyway.

Technorati Tags: Boston, Logan, US Airways, Lost wallet, New York, La Guardia, stupid, cab

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retailers’ double standard

Posted on February 25th, 2007 by GregPC.
Categories: Photography.

Twice in the past few months I’ve been told off for taking pictures in stores. The first time was in Crate and Barrel and today it was in Home Depot. Despite being told that it was not OK, I took pictures in both places.

Here’s what kind of bothers me. Home Depot has a sign when you come in saying that there are no cameras allowed. Now I’ll be honest - I had never noticed these signs before today when I was told, “no pictures!” But here’s the thing, Home Depot has a cameras all over the store taking pictures of me and my family while I’m there.

The sign on the door doesn’t specify “No CUSTOMER cameras”, it simply says, ‘No cameras.” Since the store blatantly disregards its stated policy, why should customers be expected to comply?

I think that it is interesting that retailers somehow think it’s acceptable to record, save, review and analyze me while prohibiting me from doing the same. I’m just ignoring these absurd policies. Maybe I’ll have a shirt made stating that photographing or making recorded images of me is prohibited. What gives corporations the right to set this kind of double standard?

Here’s a few examples of the the “forbidden” images:

Technorati Tags: Home Depot, Crate and Barrel, photography, policy, double standard

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My violin

Posted on February 4th, 2007 by GregPC.
Categories: Misc, Music.

I started asking my parents for violin lessons when I was ten or 11 years old.  Because I’d asked to start so many things - and then lost interest - they held me at bay for a couple of years.  Some time in the sixth grade, when I was 12 or so, they relented.  My teacher was Mrs. Goldstein - a German woman in her 60s or 70s.  I took lessons with her for five or six years - until I moved away from home when I was 17.

For the first couple of years I borrowed a violin from my teacher.  Once my parents were convinced that I was sticking with it they finally agreed to buy me a violin of my own.  It was nothing special, but I had it for many, many years.  It had been dropped many times and the top and back were both cracked.  There were sections where the varnish was worn away but I liked it very much.

I played it until 1998 or 99 when I decided it was time for something new.  I brought my old violin to a shop in Harvard Square and traded it - and a chunk of cash - for my violin.  Thirty years after I started begging my parents to let me play I am still playing. The fact is though that I’m not very good and never have been.  I play because I like it and have fun doing it.

Technorati Tags: violin, used, play, music

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C’mon, sell me what’s next already

Posted on February 2nd, 2007 by GregPC.
Categories: Technology, Media.

In 1998 we got broadband. At the time it was through MediaOne/RoadRunner and it was pretty awesome. It had just arrived in our town (Natick) and was way faster than anything we’d had before (56k).

A couple of years later MediaOne morphed into AT&T. Soon, all of our communication migrated to them - our cell phones, cable, broadband, land line - the works; and it was all good.

A few years after that and AT&T sold to Comcast. For some reason I could never get behind them. Maybe it was their attitude toward multiple systems on the network or maybe it was the slow degradation of performance over time but by 2004 or so we decided to move on.

We went with DishNetworks for TV and Verizon for land line and DSL. That was all cool. Then Verizon offers FIOS in Natick. It was only $5 more that DSL but way faster so how could we say no? That’s been awesome. Then a few weeks ago Verizon began to offer FIOS TV so we signed up for that too.

FIOS TV was installed yesterday. The installer was a couple of hours late - and wasn’t real familiar with what he was doing (he admitted that this was the first TV only he’d done) - but by the time he left we were up and running. (I had a few hours of work to do after he left to get things running the way I wanted but such is life.)

The difference between this and Dish is pretty dramatic. The picture is much better and gone will be the days of no TV due to bad weather. I also like the fact that we can share recordings with multiple set-top boxes - and that it is less than we were paying for Dish.

When I called Dish to cancel they tried to keep me - $10 off for the next several months, someone to come out and tune the dishes, etc. No dice. I was pissed to find out that we owned the dishes and that it we wanted them to come down it would cost $100. I was also surprised to find out that we owned the tuners. When I asked why we’d been paying a monthly fee for each tuner I was told that there was only a charge for the first two tuners - but that the DVR didn’t count and had a separate fee. I don’t know, it sounded pretty crappy to me.

So in the past ten years we’ve gone from dial-up to cable modem to DSL to fiber; and from cable to satellite to fiber. Pretty much every time we’ve changed the product and performance has improved and the price has gone down. I like that combination a lot and can’t wait to see what they want to sell me next.

Technorati Tags: FIOS, FIOS TV, Verizon, Dish Networks, Satellite, cable, Comcast, broadband, DSL, TV

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eBay and Dirty Bidding

Posted on January 29th, 2007 by GregPC.
Categories: Uncategorized.

As someone who fell victim to shill bidding on eBay, I was happy to see this issue getting the attention that it deserves.  This past Sunday’s Times of London ran a story that detailed how sellers fix prices.

In my case, eBay recognized that shill bidding had occurred; but they essentially did nothing about it.  I wasn’t able to recoup any of my loss (more than $300 I am embarrassed to admit); and nor was the seller punished in any meaningful way (he was back selling only a few weeks after I’d been told that he would be sanctioned).

People talk about the great community tools that exist on eBay and about the buyer and seller rating systems; but the fact of the matter is that these tools are easily jobbed and don’t really tell you anything about the person with whom you are dealing. 

I recently was looking for a digital SLR and decided to bypass eBay all together opting for Craig’s List instead.  The buyer and I met and he had also gone off eBay.  Too much fraud and too many buyers trying to play games.  He said, and I agree, that he wanted to sell to local people that he could meet with in person.

It all comes back to the issues of identity and transparency.  When those things don’t exist - or can be easily manipulated - communities aren’t going to succeed.  eBay managed to create a community; but over time they have allowed it to by hijacked by unscrupulous buyers and sellers. 

Until eBay finds a way to clean up this mess (and why should they since inflated prices only means more revenue for them), more and more people are going to find alternative ways to buy and sell online; and that’s probably a good thing. 

Technorati Tags: eBay, shill bigging, fraud, Craig’s List, identity, transparency

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