I'm not dead yet!

Me and the Worm

2009-04-01T21:27:00.001-04:00

New post at

The Nothing Blog.

Work Stoppage

2009-03-31T09:50:00.001-04:00

The Nothing Blog

Hurray, Another Day of Not Being Listed on HoCo Blogs

2009-03-30T10:03:00.001-04:00

Check out my latest post at The Nothing Blog.

White wall tires!!!!!!

2009-03-27T08:41:00.001-04:00

The Nothing Blog

Get your white walls while the getting is good!!!!!!!!!

More Cell Phone Etiquette

2009-03-26T08:25:00.001-04:00

Check it out at The Nothing Blog.

Thanks.

The Nothing Blog

2009-03-25T08:20:00.001-04:00

Check it out, new post today.

Today's topic: Google Reader. Enjoy!!!!!

The Nothing Blog

Fancy Cats

2009-03-24T08:45:00.001-04:00

The Nothing Blog

New Post

2009-03-23T08:40:00.001-04:00

Check out my new post at "The Nothing Blog". Today's topic:

Car decals proclaiming "I Love My Wife."

Calling out HoCo Blogs

2009-03-22T10:43:00.003-04:00

Recently I decided to stop blogging at this site because I suck at knowing anything about Columbia, MD.

So, I decided to start a new site called "The Nothing Blog", at which I've been blogging daily. I've submitted it on more than one occasion to "HoCo Blogs", but it has yet to show up there. I'm at a loss for what to do. I think I have a pretty good idea for a blog and I'm somewhat excited about it, even thinking about postings many days in advance.

I guess every time I post on my new site that I'll just have to post a link on "I'm not dead yet!" just to get it on HoCo blogs.

New Blog Site

2009-03-15T22:46:00.004-04:00

I've done it, I've created a new blog site called "The Nothing Blog" to replace this blog that I never posted to because I was too lazy or didn't have anything important to say about Columbia, MD.

So, when you get a chance please check out my new site.

Relaunch, again and again and maybe again again!

2009-03-11T18:49:00.004-04:00

So, I've been doing a lot of thinking about this blog and the fact that I don't blog anymore. I still feel this compelling need to blog. In all honesty I decided that I don't necessarily know enough about Columbia, to pull off a Columbia specific blog.

With that in mind I think I need a short and sweet blog (quick posts) about things that most people wouldn't consider or talk about. Kinda of in a Seinfeldian way (a show about nothing). In any case, I have a couple of ideas and I need to make my postings short. I also think I need to make my positions more interactive.

Now, to come up with a new name and a new blog site. I'll let you know when it happens.

Checking in on those New Year's Resolutions

2009-02-22T21:54:00.005-05:00

I'm not going to lie, I'm failing miserably on my New Year's Resolutions. This really shouldn't be much of a surprise as I've never been a fan of resolutions anyway.

I tried really hard with my photography project. Remember, taking one photograph a day for 365 days. I was going along just fine taking photos of the Steelers Gnome, but then I just kinda lost interest. Actually, I'm going to blame the cold weather and stupid Comcast (remember when I had no Internet for days) for my failures at this goal.

As far as the dressing more appropriate for work. Ha, that's tough one, I'm usually crawling around on the floor in the computer lab installing equipment or dragging cables around to dress nicer at work. Who knows, maybe I'll have a change of heart on this one and put some effort into it.

Okay, okay enough of the excuses. Let's really be honest. My main hang up is my love affair with TV. I can't get enough of it and it is super easy to sit down on the sofa and just zone out. I know, I know, this is absolutely terrible. I really need to adjust my lounging time and make more of an effort at the things that really matter.

We'll see how things go.

What is going on here?

2009-02-19T21:56:00.006-05:00

Eck!!! Sorry all for not posting more regularly, damn life gets in the way too often. Hopefully, I can be more attentive with this blog by trying to blog on a more regular basis. Now, onto the real business at hand.

What is going on in this world? I can't seem to figure it out. I mean I understand that the economy is in the tank, the world is collapsing around us, and the republicans are already calling for President Obama's head. What I don't get is what the heck is happening in my community? Just over a couple of weeks ago only two houses in my neighborhood were for sale. Now all of a sudden, we have six houses on the market in my neighborhood. What is taking place here? I can't put my finger on it.

I would have guessed that anyone in the Bush administration or party would have skipped town by now and I really don't think these families are in dire straights on their home mortgages. I also suppose that maybe they think time is on their side and they might as well get their houses on the market and let them sit for a while in the hopes of selling sometime in the next year or two. I give them mad props for trying to sell their homes during our current recession, but I haven't seen this many homes on the market in my neighborhood since the peak of the housing market about five years ago.

The other thing that I don't understand is that surprisingly there are people looking for homes in my neighborhood. Almost every weekend we get more than our fair share of onlookers driving around to see the houses that are for sale. Unfortunately, they are just looking, as none of the houses have moved off the market yet.

I just don't get it, I'm totally perplexed.

Choosing Civility, one more time

2009-01-28T22:47:00.002-05:00

I've been itching to post some more thoughts and feelings on "Choose Civility", but then I think of all the linking and leg work that I'll have to do for the post. After this I just get lazy and don't post anything, as obvious as my lack of posting for days. Anyway, with no links and no real substance I just have to post what I've seen lately about "Choose Civility".

Apparently the "Choose Civility" initiative is moving into Phase 2 operations. I'm not sure what Phase 2 means, but hopefully they figure out that associating civility with driving is just not going to cut it. Ken Ulman (I think I have the spelling right, hell I don't even know who he is, other than some HoCo exec.), recently commented on the fact that the "Choose Civility" campaign has cause some to created the spin-offs "Choose Senility" and "Choose Hostility" and he proclaimed that these spin-offs should be viewed as compliments to the campaign.

Wow, I beg to differ, especially the "Choose Hostility" spin-off. These spin-offs are in no way a form of flattery. In fact, I would view them as a means of highlighting how much of a mockery the "Choose Civility" campaign really is. I mean come on, everyone and I mean everyone sees the "Choose Civility" bumper magnets and immediately associates it with the act of driving. Then they view the individual with the bumper magnet driving like a jackass and proclaim that this person in no way is civil. The campaign, as far as I can tell, in no way is meant to be associated with civil driving. It would be a great by-product, but "we got a long way to go, baby" when it comes to being a more civil HoCo.

Civility conjures up a sense of being responsible for ones actions. This is America, are you kidding me, we gave up responsibility a long time ago. I applaud the individuals that do take the campaign seriously and I applaud the individuals that are responsible for their own actions, but a more civil, a more responsible America isn't going to happen overnight or by me placing a bumper magnet on my car proclaiming my Civility.

I've become one of them

2009-01-28T22:18:00.003-05:00

So much for keeping up with daily blogging. I have no excuse for slacking, sorry gang. I must admit that I'm failing miserably with my New Year's Resolutions as well. The only one that I'm truly keeping up is the daily photo of my Steelers Gnome. However, I'm behind on posting photos on Flickr. Oh well, at least I'm taking one photo a day.

I really fed up with the cold weather this winter. For some reason my brain remembers my first year down here (we had a really mild winter) and every year I seem to think that we are having an unseasonably cold winter. Maybe next winter will be better.

Choose Responsibility

2009-01-20T18:55:00.007-05:00

I'm all for President Obama's initiative for a more responsible America, but like Choose Civility I feel that the message may become mixed. I also feel that it is going to be quite difficult to instill this goal into the American people.

When I first heard President Obama speaking about a more responsible America, my first thought was responsibility on a grandiose scale, as I'm sure many other Americans had this same thought. I'm also sure that many Americans were thinking that this concept does not apply to them and that being more responsible will have no affect on President Obama's call to action. This feeling really has me thinking that a call for a more responsible America will fall on deaf ears or that the desired affect will miss the mark.

Responsibility however, does not have to be grand. It can be a simple act or a simple gesture. Paying attention to your child at the playground instead of paying more attention to your cell phone is a simple way to responsible. Stopping at a red light instead of racing to get through the yellow light at the last second is a simple act of responsibility. Now I don't have to lecture you about ways to be more responsible, but how then does one suggest responsibility to someone they don't even know. Can you imagine approaching a complete stranger to inform them that they need to be more responsible? I guess it's worth a shot to try it if you think the situation calls for it.

A more responsible America is going to be a tough nut to crack, but maybe it has a chance. After 9/11 I felt that we were heading down this path. We were more vigilant, more neighborly, and we were watching out for one another. These were the seeds of a more responsible America, but then the message was lost, the initiative stalled. Many Americans went back to doing the things that they were used to doing, back to their normal defined lifestyles and forgot that we had a common enemy to face. To show this enemy that they can't divide us, but instead unite us and make us stronger. Sure we did this for a while, but we quickly realized it was easier to go back to our old irresponsible ways.

Will President Obama's message hit the mark, will the everyday American understand that they have a responsibility to their freedom? I don't know the answers to these questions, but I'm hoping that we see the light and start acting in a more responsible way.

Blogging Woes

2009-01-18T13:25:00.006-05:00

Not only have I been struggling with what to blog about and ill motivation to blog, now I'm stuck with not being able to access the Internet.

Over the last couple of days I've had no television, no Internet, and no telephone. All three are tied into Comcast, as part of their triple play package. Late Thursday night I called to see if there was a known outage in my area. I spoke with someone who suggested that I power cycle my cable box and she was having a hard time understanding the fact that it must be a Comcast issue since all three of my services were out. She asked me if I wanted to speak to the Internet group for a solution to possible fix that service, but I knew this would be a fruitless effort and I gave up.

On Friday my wife called to complain and the individual that she spoke with was also having a hard time understanding that this was an obvious Comcast issue. He suggested that we have someone come out to the house to look at our equipment. After much complaining about having to wait around all day at the house to be here during the "window" that a Comcast service rep. would show up, my wife finally agreed to this suggestion. We could not get pass the fact that we did not need someone to checkout the equipment in the house and we could also not talk to a supervisor because they had gone home for the day.

So, come Saturday and we still don't have Comcast service. About mid-day service came back and was mostly working. No Comcast service rep. had should up yet. About two hours into partially working service the Comcast rep. rang the doorbell. He checked the box outside and of course that is were the problem resided. He said a truck would be out to fix the issue within a day or two.

I really wish that the Comcast telephone agents would get a clue sometimes and figure out that the customer is always right. They said that no one else in our neighborhood had complained about service so therefore it must be isolated to our house. What they fail to realize is that people typically don't want to deal with them because of the crappy customer service. No one wants to hear that they will have to wait for the service rep. to show up at their house sometime during an eight hour window. So, they just go with the flow and hope that someone else will call or that the service will just fix itself.

Maybe it's time to switch to FIOS.

Coming out of the woodwork!

2009-01-14T08:48:00.002-05:00

Being a Steelers fan in hostile territory (Baltimore that is) can be somewhat of a strange experience. When the Ravens are doing good everyone and their brother supports the team, when they are doing bad, well that is a different story. I'm sure all sports teams have fans that are like this, but to me it just seems like the Steelers' fans travel better and support the team better during good times and bad.

On Monday I walked into the office and I was accosted by an individual that rarely talks football, "this oughta be a good game coming up this weekend, we are going to kill the Steelers". I remained silent during this obvious trash talking chance, the individual then asked me why I wasn't saying anything. Well, I informed them that I could to all the talking that I want to before the game or after the game, but my talking isn't going to have any affect on the outcome of the game. I think my choice of silence dejected this obvious fair weather Ravens fan.

Then at lunch, I was approached again. I questioned the individual's loyalty to the team during the regular season. They said, "oh I've been following them all season". So I promptly asked them what the Ravens record was, their response was, "13 and 0".

What kills me is that the fair weather fans seem to be the ones doing the most trash talking. The true die-hard Ravens fans that I know aren't talking much at all. We (true Ravens and Steelers fans) both realize that this is going to be a hard fought game. I have my concerns about the Ravens and I'm sure they have their concerns about the Steelers.

Has anyone else noticed this fair weather fan trend or more than normal the amount of purple colors flying? It's like these new found fans are coming out of the woodwork now that the Ravens have a successful season. Oh well, good luck this weekend Steelers and Ravens.

Middle Ground

2009-01-13T08:23:00.000-05:00

I guess I need to get back to posting, I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things.

So, I was thinking today that Columbia and HoCo in general, definitely has it wrong when it comes to housing. I realize that Columbia/Ellicott City are prime places to live in the United States, but seriously (even in our recession) housing prices are still ridiculous.

What I've found however is that there really isn't any middle ground for housing in HoCo. You basically have three options for housing. You can pay huge bucks to live in a relatively new house, you can overpay for a decent house that is a few more years older, or you can overpay for a fixer upper shack that is really old. In any case you are screwed when it comes to finding anything that is affordable.

I guess the best thing one could do is live in an apartment and save up for a future down payment on a house. Unfortunately, we all know how people are at saving, so it looks like we've created a viscous cycle here in HoCo. It kills me to see people that are house poor, but it's even worse to see people living in an apartment and driving a BMW or a Benz (obviously not saving money for the right things).

No one really knows what the future holds for the housing market in HoCo, but one can only hope that prices will level out. I'm not saying we need huge cuts to home values, but a more realistic approach to home values would certainly help.

Ideally, to achieve a middle ground, home developers need to avoid building McMansions and houses with wasted space (i.e. two story foyers). Next, home buyers need to understand that bigger doesn't always mean better. No one needs a formal dining room, no one needs huge closets in ever room, and no one needs that jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom. Homes should be energy efficient, built for connivance and not for excess, and finally homes should be realistic. Maybe this is too much to ask.

Choose Civility, but can you drive

2009-01-09T10:30:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Ryan Ballengee, over at EHHC commented on a opinion by Heather Vaughn in the Columbia Flier on her take on the Choose Civility bumper magnets.

I agree with both Ryan and Heather that the magnets don't give drivers any special pass when it comes to poor driving. Ryan then questions the point of purpose for the Choose Civility magnets.

People in the county are associating Choose Civility with driving smarter.

I must admit that I'm in the majority that thinks this way. Maybe HoCo Public Library's intent was to not connect the two or maybe it was. Unfortunately, by having a car magnet associated with the Choose Civility initiative, it is only a natural step to connect the two for many people.

I've always thought that the magnets should be changed to "Choose Civility, but continue driving like an asshole". Too bad this slogan is too long winded or my car would have one.

It's also unfortunate that many make the above association because civility shouldn't start on the roadways, civility should start with your neighbors. How many of you socialize with your neighbors or even know your neighbors? I know that my family doesn't talk to many of our neighbors and that many of our neighbors go out of their way to avoid socializing. It's too bad that our society is this way, but in the end, if you can't be civil with your neighbors, then you definitely won't be civil on the roadways.

I don't understand the logic

2009-01-07T08:20:00.000-05:00

Every winter we get weather reports predicting freezing rain/sleet and every winter I see dozens of vehicles in parking lots with their windshield wipers up in the air, pulled away from the windshield. I don't have any idea why people do this or what benefit it provides to them.

I grew up in western Pennsylvania near Lake Erie (aka "the lake effect snow capital of the world). A typical winter in this part of the country consists of snow from early November to mid April, with average snow accumulations of 120 inches during the season. We would also get our share of freezing rain and sleet. I remember one winter where two feet of snow was on the ground and a layer of three inch thick ice was on top of that. Now, during my 20 some years growing up in Pennsylvania not once did I see anyone do this with their windshield wipers.

Maybe Pennsylvanians are just stupid or maybe the windshield wiper lifter-uppers (WWLUs) know something about ice and windshield wipers that we didn't know about. My guess is that WWLUs are just trying to speed up the amount of time it takes to remove ice from their windshields or they think they are "cheating" the system in some way.

What I think that most WWLUs miss, is the fact that the windshield wipers are the closest thing besides the windshield to the defrosting unit. So, if you turn on your car, then go out to remove the snow and ice, by the time you are done your windshield wipers will be free of ice and free from sticking to the windshield. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe these WWLUs have an edge on the rest of us, but my true feeling is that this is a silly practice that doesn't really save time.

Tell me what you think.

Shame on us

2009-01-06T11:16:00.000-05:00

I live in the Hopewell section of Owen Brown and over the course of the last year I've noticed an increase in the amount of graffiti on public property. Even the "Owen Brown Observer" had a blurb about it in the latest issue. I only scanned the blurb and didn't save my copy of this publication. I do know that it stated that if we see graffiti we should report it and it would be taken care of, unfortunately I didn't write down the number to call.

Visiting the Owen Brown community association website proved to be fruitless as this site is a few months behind. So, now I'm stuck with no number to call to report the graffiti, which can now be seen on utility boxes, community fences, and even the Lake Elkhorn pavilion.

Now I understand, shame on me for not writing the number down. How about though, shame on everyone else in the community that has failed to call about the graffiti eyesore, shame on the Columbia Association trucks that drive around all the time for not doing anything about the problem, and finally shame on Owen Brown for not keeping their website up-to-date (by the looks of it they are at least 3 months behind).

It will be interesting to see how long it takes to remove the graffiti. I know I'm not being a part of the solution.

I'm calling BS!!

2009-01-05T09:30:00.001-05:00

Now I don't normally do this and I'm not a financial wizard, but I've had enough of hearing about the state of the economy.

I'm tired of hearing about how bad the economy is, about what company needs a bailout, about the housing bubble, and about how horrible this Christmas season was because of the economy.

Like I said I'm not a financial genius, but shouldn't everyone's (i.e. individual's and company's) purchasing power be the same. I can understand if you don't have money saved up, if you are up to your eyeballs in credit card debt, if you spent too much money on a major investment (like a house), or if you lost your job. Only then can I understand that you probably don't have money to spend, but everyone else should still has the same amount of money to pump into the economy.

During the holiday break, I cannot tell you the number of times the "Today Show" talked about saving money and all other things financial. If television newsrooms continue talking about the state of the economy, why can't the newspaper companies use this opportunity to report about other things. Instead of begging for a bailout, how about changing things up. Report something different, turn to the community for newsworthy ideas (it's tough to get community news from television and the Internet), or find new clients. Forget about that bailout for your dying form of media and do something about it.

One final thing. When did Americans forget about the idea of lower ones' expectations? It would appear that we Americans feel that we deserve everything and that we've been living during a long prosperous time period. Just because you grew up with all the new/cool toys/things doesn't mean that your kids should have the same luxury in life. Now, I know you want to give them a good life, but a good life doesn't mean having everything and not teaching your kids about responsibility. We Americans need to learn how to grow up and maybe, just maybe, lower our expectations for the future and this economic crisis that we are going through might not be so bad.

Peace out, bailout!!!!

Photo of the week

2009-01-04T11:15:00.000-05:00

Soaring
Originally uploaded by babyruthinmd

The photo of the week for this week is a little late, the holidays really buggered things up.

This week's photo of the week is called "Soaring" and comes from flickr user babyruthinmd. "Soaring" was taken at Lake Elkhorn in Columbia. The beautiful colors of the kite stand out perfectly against the harsh sun.

Keep up the great work babyruthinmd.

Are the holidays over with yet?

2009-01-03T19:13:00.006-05:00

Just as I was thinking that the holidays had come to an end, I was reminded by all the horrible drivers that this was just not true.

Now I know that driving during the holiday time can be stressful and that more people are driving on the local roads, but this is part of the reason why I stay off of the roads during this time of year. I've learned to stay away from all shopping centers and the mall in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the horrible driving would continue well past Christmas.

My three beefs:

1. I understand the joy and triumph felt when changing lanes at a stop light to get into the shortest lane, but I don't understand the idea behind doing this with only one car at the stop light. Today, I saw someone pull up to a light that had only one car at it and they obviously didn't like being behind the lone car so they changed over to an empty lane. What is gained from this and how much further ahead does one get when they do this?

2. Yesterday driving from Snowden River Parkway to Rte 29 on Brokenland Parkway, I saw a women change lanes at least five times. This distance can't be more than a couple of miles and she was changing lanes like it was going out of style. She wasn't speeding and she wasn't really getting ahead of any cars, she was just changing lanes for the hell of it. I don't understand people sometimes.

3. Finally, my biggest beef of them all. It is apparent that people can't read while they drive. This is evident when you are pulling into the Columbia Mall. Most people when pulling into the mall don't even see the sign that says "Incoming Traffic Has The Right Of Way" and they stop like there is a stop sign. Now, I guess I can understand it if you are new the area or you haven't been to the Columbia Mall before, but what I don't understand is that most malls are setup like this. Wouldn't you think that people would eventually get this concept and not stop as they are entering the mall.

There, I'm done, no more holiday traffic venting (well, until next year maybe). Hope everyone had a good holiday season. I'm back to posting full-time now so I better get busy and prepare some ideas for the upcoming year.

Peace out holiday traffic!!!

New Year's Resolutions

2008-12-31T15:39:00.005-05:00

Steelers Gnome - Day 1 of 365
Originally uploaded by Almost Sooted

I've never been a fan of New Year's resolutions and I've never set any resolutions for myself. So, that brings me to this year. I've finally decided to make some New Year's resolutions for myself for the upcoming year. You are probably wondering what the photo above is, so that will be my first topic of my New Year's resolutions:

Start a photography project (one photo of the Steelers Gnome a day for 365 days)
Do some spring cleaning and get rid of stuff that I don't need anymore
Dress more appropriate for work (I usually just wear jeans and a polo for work, not anymore baby)
Finish several home projects.

Well, that about does it, I don't think I really want to tackle much more seeing that this is my first year doing this.

I started my photo project early (yesterday), if you would like to watch my progress on this please checkout my photos on Flickr, more specially at Project 365 - Gnome A Day. Thanks.

I think I had something to do with this - It's Back!!!!

2008-12-31T13:42:00.004-05:00

Most of you have already heard the news that Embrace Hostility In Howard County is back from the dead. After my post the other day begging and pleading for this humor filled blog to come back, fellow blogger Ryan Ballengee, posted on EHHC and Columbia Now that he is back in business. Now, I'd like to say that I had a hand in this, but if I had to guess Ryan was already considering bringing this wonderful blog back from the dead.

Since Ryan claims to only do a few postings a month to EHHC, I would like to extend the offer to help collaborate with Ryan and be a contributing author to EHHC. Hopefully, Ryan will think this is a great idea and I can offer my insight into the uncivilized nature of HoCo.

Hold Tight

2008-12-30T20:46:00.003-05:00

Vacation is still in full effect, so new posts will continue to be few and far between until after the new year. I know, it must be tough waiting and waiting, but remain patience the new year cometh soon!!!

Bring out your dead!

2008-12-30T20:34:00.005-05:00

Well, not really, but at least consider bringing back a dead blog.

When I started this blog, I didn't really think that others were blogging about Columbia or suburban life for that matter. Boy was I wrong, within a couple of days I found a treasure trove of useful Columbia blogs. I even stumbled upon the Embrace Hostility In Howard County blog. I was excited and dejected when I found this blog, only because I was planning on blogging about the silly Choose Civility bumper magnets found in Howard County. Then I found that the blog was closing shop and changing to Columbia Now.

I would like to plead and beg for the writer of the Embrace Hostility In Howard County blog to start it back up again. We need some power, some force to fight all the "Choose Civility" individuals out there. Bringing back this blog would really be the Civil thing to do.

If you choose not to bring it back, that's fine too. I plan on incorporating some means to fight the power of Civility in future blog post.

Peace out Civility!!!

Photo of the week

2008-12-26T22:10:00.003-05:00

walk
Originally uploaded by rich.steinbach

This week's photo of the week comes from flickr user rich.steinbach.

This is a wonderful night shot at Lake Kittamaqundi by the Columbia Mall.

Rich is a photographer and musician out of the Columbia/Baltimore area. He is for hire to do promo and live shots for bands. Please contact Rich at 410.446.0742 should you want to hire him.

Thanks again for your wonderful contribution Rich.

How cold is it?

2008-12-23T15:58:00.009-05:00

Apparently the cold temperature has dramatic effects on all forms of digital communications.

It was soo cold yesterday that my Comcast service was dorked up for the entire day. I got home from work to find that my Internet was working at the pace of The Slowskys. Then I find out that the television was just as messed up. One channel worked, the next one didn't. Every once and a while I found one channel that had some form of snow pattern and inaudible message, which did not lend itself nicely to watching television.

It was soo cold yesterday that my Verizon service was also jacked up. I got a phone call in the evening that I did not get to in time. I figured the person would leave a voicemail, but time past and no beep. It wasn't until this morning that the voicemail registered on my phone. Maybe all the people that come with the network didn't want to leave their homes to deliver my voicemail because it was soo damn cold. Hopefully, today will be better.

Please share with me your cold weather horror stories over the last couple of days (please leave out the obviously "I'm super cold"). Did I mention we're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave? Oh, different day, sorry.

Oh the places you will go!

2008-12-22T09:50:00.002-05:00

Savage Mills 11-7-2008 4-13-25
Originally uploaded by Almost Sooted

Back when we still had nice weather, I had a chance to visit Savage, Maryland. Now, I know it's not Columbia, but it's really close and it's in HoCo.

Savage Mills offers a variety of things to do. First off, they have the antique shops, if you are into that thing. Then you can get some good food and a beer or two at Rams Head Restaurant & Tavern. Rams Head typically has some form of entertainment on the weekends and is a small enough setting to find a table.

Finally, what many people may not know about Savage, is the wonderful river that runs by the Mills. Along the river is a walking trail and couple of picnic tables for those looking for a picnic lunch. You can also walk on the large rocks that run along Little Patuxent River. Surprisingly, these rocks form small waterfalls in the river which make for great photography subjects and you don't have to travel all the way to Great Falls, Maryland.

When you get a chance checkout Savage Mill, Maryland.

Lonely Winter Months

2008-12-21T09:15:00.000-05:00

Lake Elkhorn - Lonely
Originally uploaded by Almost Sooted

Well, it's Sunday again and I'm not really in the mood to blog. Today I present you with a photo that I took with my new lens on Monday of this past week (finally, a nice weather day). I hope you enjoy.

Blogs will be sporadic over the next few weeks because of the holidays. If I have time I'll be sure to post something.

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!!!

You heard it here last

2008-12-20T11:20:00.001-05:00

Wegmans has been the talk of the HoCo blogger world for quite some time now. Some of the bloggers are for the new Wegmans in Columbia and some are against it. Whichever side you align yourself with, you can always turn to wordbones over at Tales Of Two Cities for the latest news on all things Wegmans.

Now I'm all for new stores coming into the area and I'm not picky as to whether or not its a "Mom & Pop" store or a "Big Box" store. But if we are going to get a Wegmans in the area, we might as well do it right and allow them to sell alcohol (wine and beer).

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I was visiting family in Virginia and we happened to stop at a new Wegmans. The sushi at the food court was standard fair and the shopping was okay, but the wine selection was top shelf. I'm not a wine nut, but it was like a kid in a candy store. The Wegmans' employee working in the department said that they had over 1,300 wines to choose from. Hurray, a selection of wine, wine, and more wine. They had a good beer selection as well. No longer would you have to travel to Corridor (which isn't even in HoCo) to find this large a selection of wine.

We were able to get the Lords of Maryland to usher in slot machines into the state. Why can't we get them to allow alcohol sales at grocery stores? Anyone else with me?

Photo of the Week

2008-12-19T08:40:00.006-05:00

Lake Elkhorn
Originally uploaded by SCA Photography

This week's photo comes from Flickr user SCA Photography, in real life he goes by the name Scott Athen. Scott's work was selected because of the wonderful composition created by the S-Curve of the sidewalk at Lake Elkhorn. I've probably walked this stretch of sidewalk a hundred times and I never thought to look at it like this. The low shooting angle and the S-Curve running from right to left moves the viewers eyes through the photo.

Keep up the good work Scott. I look forward to seeing your future works of art.

Let's get creative!!

2008-12-18T09:30:00.001-05:00

Hurraaayyy! It's Thursday, it must be Shameless Plug Day once again. Okay, okay, I won't make every Thursday Shameless Plug Day, but it must happen today.

I've been quite impressed with the traffic that is occurring on this blog. I have a core group of friends that visit the site and I have some complete strangers that are visiting, as well as commenting. A pat on the back, it's cool to know that people want to read what I have to say.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same about my Flickr group Suburban Life in Columbia. A few people are contributing to the group (my campaign to prove artistic people can live in the 'burbs), but overall membership is low. I guess I haven't really figured out how to get more people to check out the group, to join the group, and to ultimately post photos to the group. To those of you that are posting to the group, keep it up, you are doing a wonderful job.

So, Columbians (you know who you are), I'm urging you, I'm imploring you to get out and be creative! For those of you that don't live in Columbia, you should also get out and do something creative. I know, you are saying, "I'm not be interested in photography", but that doesn't mean that you can't be creative. So, get out there, do something creative and if it is not a photo, at least take the time to comment to this post and let me know what you did that was creative. You can do it, I have faith.

A helping hand:

Use your cell phone camera to take photos of your surroundings
Make a snowman (should you have snow in your area)
Make cacti people for your Manger Scene (just for you Mrs. IbStarC, is this sacrilegious?)
Bake some Christmas cookies

Public transportation, that doesn't exist in Maryland, does it?

2008-12-17T11:10:00.001-05:00

A few months back (when gas was an arm and a leg) I was talking to a co-worker about my newly purchased hybrid vehicle. The conversation turned to public transportation and he asked me if I would consider public transportation to get to/from work (I must warn you this co-worker lives in Baltimore and is not familiar with suburban life). I'm not against it, I rode on public transportation when I worked in DC. I told him I didn't think that there was any form of public transportation that I could take to work. He then introduced me to the public transportation tab on Google Maps.

What I found was somewhat surprising. By car my commute is roughly 14 miles and will take, on good days, approximately 22 minutes. Now, onto the surprising part, public transportation to and from my office does actually exist. Further examination though shows me that public transportation is definitely not a word in Maryland's vocabulary.

Google Maps tells me that I would have to walk a short distance to a bus pickup location. Then I would get on a bus that takes me into Baltimore. Once in Baltimore, I would have to get on the Light Rail that would take me back towards BWI airport. Once at the Light Rail station I would have to take another bus and then finally I would have to walk another short distance to get to work. This whole public transportation ordeal would take approximately 2 hours.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for public transportation, but for suburbanites that only commute a short distance, the state of Maryland needs to do a better job.

Sad state of affairs.

2008-12-16T08:50:00.001-05:00

What ever happened to mailmen/mailwomen that would say "hello" to homeowners, that would give out lollipops to kids?

A few months back I was outside raking the leaves and the mailman pulled up to the mailboxes, got out of their vehicle, started placing mail in the boxes, and then proceeded to get on their cell phone. A side note, what did we do before the advent and widespread use of cell phones?

So, now I'm using my handy leaf sucker/blower and the mailman is still on their cell phone. The mailman drives over to the other set of mailboxes and is still on the phone. Is it proper etiquette for me to turn off my leaf sucker/blower while the mailman continues the phone call? The way I see it is that they couldn't possible hear over my leaf sucker/blower, but they are out in a public space, so anything is fair game. I decide that I'm in the right and continue with the leaves. Fortunately, I got all my mail and no evil stares or glaring from the mailman.

When will we take back our lives and rid our addictions to cell phones, Blackberries, iEverythings, and any other electronic device? I for one could not give up my DSLR or my MacBook Pro. I guess I'm as guilty as the mailman.

Is it okay to spy on the neighbors?

2008-12-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

You all know you do it. You all spy on your neighbors. I'm such a sucker for this, but I must admit it's not as easy getting the scoop on the neighbors as one would think. If I had to guess all of my neighbors have recently seen Tom Hanks in the movie The 'burbs.

To clarify, I have to admit that it's fun checking up on the neighbors, but it's not something that I go out of my way to do. I'm sure you all understand, you're standing close to a window and you realize that one of your neighbors just got home, so you peer out the window to see what's going on.

Now, what I've found is that all of my neighbors secretly have another life on their cell phones. I don't know about you, but if I'm on the phone when I get home, I usually just get out of my car and head into the house. Now, my neighbors are quite different, they usually hangout in the car while they complete their phone call. This to me just doesn't add up. Maybe they can't do more than one thing at a time, maybe they know that someone is spying on them, or maybe they don't want their phone conversation shared with their family members.

So, what do you think? Is it okay to spy on the neighbors?

It's Sunday

2008-12-14T13:00:00.001-05:00

Ornament
Originally uploaded by Almost Sooted

Taking the day off. No blog post for today, just a photo that I took during the week. Enjoy!!

You heard it here last

2008-12-13T10:15:00.001-05:00

Clarksville (not really Columbia, but close enough) has been a hotbed of activity lately. During the week a shooting was reported at a daycare facility in Clarksville (blogged by Columbia Talk).

Of course the local news stations headlined it by blowing it way out of proportion saying that shots were fired at a daycare facility in Clarksville, MD and then they promptly broke to commercial. When they came back from commercial they reported the story and it obviously didn't sound as bad. What I can't get over is why would anyone be hunting in Clarksville? I figured this would take place only in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, or Western Maryland. While it's true that Clarksville is not as densely populated as Columbia, I'm still surprised to find that people hunt out there. I guess to each his own.

Hopefully Clarksville can calm down for a while and stay out of the news for longer than a week at a time.

It's finally here, it's photo of the week day!!!

2008-12-12T09:30:00.002-05:00

The first ever photo of the week (on this blog and in my Columbia Flickr Group) comes from Flickr user Odonata457. In this photo he has captured a wonderful winter scene highlighting the first snowfall in Columbia, MD for 2008. Not only is the winter scene beautiful, but the warm orange colors left over from the fall are still noticeable in the photo.

Great work Odonata457. I look forward to seeing your future works.

Light covering of snow and blue sky

Originally uploaded by Odonata457

Shameless Plug

2008-12-11T09:45:00.000-05:00

The avid readers of this site (wait, what's an avid reader) probably already know of my interests in photography. Well, most of you probably don't know that I initially went to school to get a degree in Applied Media Arts. Obviously I didn't stick with this career path, but I still feel that I have some artistic qualities that have yet to be fulfilled. I didn't stay in Art School long enough to take the photography classes, but now I'm wishing that I did.

Now onto the plug. I recently jumped into the Digital SLR world and I've been reading as much information on photography that I can find. I've also found a bunch of wonderful sites to upload photos on. My favorite site being Flickr. You can check out my photostream on Flickr at Almost Sooted. While I don't always get much time to get out and take pictures, I still try to take and upload pictures when I can.

I've also found many sites created by photobloggers. These sites not only show great works of art, but they also dedicate a lot of time to photography tips and general photography experiences. If you are interested in learning more about photography check out the links below. Thanks for your support as I work on getting this thing off the ground.

Blog.SDuffyPhotography.com

Visiting Wilde Lake on the coldest day ever

2008-12-10T11:15:00.000-05:00

A redeeming quality of Columbia is that it has a number of large lakes with surrounding parks for recreation. Information about these lakes can be found on the Wikipedia page

for Columbia.

So, on probably the coldest day in December, I decided to visit Wilde Lake for the very first time. I wasn't there very long, but I found that it is surrounded by homes and apartments (possibly townhouses). From the few minutes that I was there it looks as though it would be a nice place to hangout during warmer weather. Maybe I'll make a second visit there when I won't have a chance to get frostbite.

Anyway, I took a few pictures while I was there, mostly of the dam (which is rather unique) and the little red roofed building by the dam. Too bad the sun was too bright in the sky and was shining right in my face for the photos of the dam. Hope you enjoy!!

What? When did this happen?

2008-12-09T09:30:00.001-05:00

Spontaneously, almost overnight Columbia and Howard County has proven me wrong on the burbs being trendy, hip locations.

When I thought about this blog concept it didn't occur to me that other Columbia residents were blogging about the place we call home. Then, to my surprise I found not one, but many blogs dedicated to Columbia/Howard County. Not only did I find other blogs, but I found that the gods of suburbia have taken it upon themselves to make Columbia/Howard County a cool, trendy, and hip place to reside. No longer can it be referred as Howard County, from this day forward it will take on the name HoCo, like the trendy hip locations in Baltimore that seem to sprout up on a daily basis.

Now, where was I when this took place, how come I wasn't called? Oh, yeah, I know, I guess I'm not hip and trendy. Oh well, go figure, I decide to write about boring suburban life and within hours my idea is shot to hell by the now trendy HoCo.

Take a look at all the HoCo/Columbia blogs out there at:

HoCoBlogs

My personnel favorites are:

Tales of Two Cities

HowChow

Strobist

Ugh, I hate being the last to know about anything!!!!

NIMBY and the Neighbors

2008-12-06T21:58:00.010-05:00

It's no surprise to find that most people in Columbia are big fans of the idea "Not In My Backyard" (NIMBY). Most often you will find Columbians complaining about urbanization and new businesses coming into the area. You will hear them say things like "new businesses will create too much congestion on already overly congested roadways". Unfortunately, the idea of NIMBY has now gone to the dogs.

It's now not enough for dog owners to keep their pets on leashes at all times and to pick up after their dogs when they do their business. Columbians have taken it one step further and are requesting that no dogs shall defecate in their backyards.

Don't get me wrong, I too don't like finding doggy doo in my yard, especially when I'm mowing the lawn. However, is it more unsightly to find real doggy doo in your yard or seeing a mockup of a dog defecating everyday? You have to admit the sign gets the point across, but at what cost? Also, where is it that you purchase signs like this? In this case, has NIMBY gone too far?

Columbia's First Snowfall 2008

2008-12-06T21:39:00.010-05:00

It finally happened, the first snowfall of 2008 in Columbia, MD. This also marked the first day for many people to put up Christmas lights. I spotted this lone lighted tree at Lake Elkhorn. As I was driving past and I had to stop to get some photos.

Further evidence that snow had fallen, along with a nice arrangement of Christmas lights.

What Does It All Mean

2008-12-05T22:30:00.004-05:00

Some of you are probably asking yourself, "what the heck is lumburbia?"

Well, a good friend of mine and I were talking about Columbia one day and in order to jazz it up a bit we decided to call it "The Lumb." So, since this site is about Suburban life in Columbia, I figured what better a name than lumburbia.

Enjoy!!

The storyboard

2008-12-03T23:46:00.009-05:00

Deciding on topics to blog about is certainly a difficult thing to undertake. In order to contribute to a blog on a daily basis, some type of content is needed for posting. With this in mind, I've developed a storyboard for daily posts to this blog. My current ideas for this are:

Lumburbia photo of the week (either my own or from others, by way of Flickr)
Suburban musings
Breaking news
Where is that in Columbia
The great unknown, life outside of the burbs

These are my initial ideas and I'm sure I will have others as this blog evolves. I would also like to delve into topics that everyone in the burbs must overcome, like the neighbors, parking situations, the slow death of the suburbs, and commuting.

Hopefully, I can get a better handle on categorizing and developing these other topics.

The Beginning

2008-12-02T22:47:00.015-05:00

This is my second attempt at a blog and hopefully I've come up with a decent idea for this one. In my first attempt at blogdom, I noticed that no one visited my blog, not once. My guess is that the blog was just a bad concept and that without word of mouth no one would visit the blog.

At first I wanted this blog to be about all things photography and my newfound adventures in photography. I began reading other photography blogs and I learned that in order to do a photoblog you needed to take pictures, a lot of pictures. Unfortunately, I don't have much time to take lots and lots of pictures. Then I started thinking about the fact that I live in boring suburbia and I realized that there is not much of interest to photograph in suburbanville.

These ideas lead me to develop the concepts for this blog. I can't say that suburbs are completely void of inspiration or interesting things, but I also can't be too far from the truth. So I started thinking maybe, just maybe I would be able find something exciting to blog about in suburbia. Then I decided that I could incorporate my newfound hobby of photography into this blog. This would hopefully allow me to get out more and photograph the community that I live in, as well as, examining photographs of what other people find in Columbia. Please accept my sporadic postings as I am working on a story board of ideas for this blog. As of now posts will be hit or miss and when I'm not too busy. In all hopes, I'll be able to develop a decent story board for this site for all to enjoy.

Without further ado, welcome to suburban life and welcome to Columbia, Maryland. For more information on Columbia please check out the following sites.