Good People

I’m adding a new category to this blog called Good People.  Below is an excerpt from this article in the Washington Post (found via bookofjoe) that represents what this category is all about:

Newly resident among the hills of West Virginia, I was making my
daily descent to the post office when the windshield wipers slowed, the
radio turned itself off and the dashboard lights dimmed. I pulled into
a Shell station and came to a slow but final stop. It was the beginning
of a three-day weekend. There was no mechanic on duty and the guys at
the adjacent hardware store couldn’t muster anyone on the phone. I was
stuck — until a lanky man with a long stride walked in.

Rufus
figured that I needed a new alternator. He jumped my battery, followed
me home and called around to find a parts distributor who promised to
deliver the following day — a Sunday. Walking back to his truck, Rufus
said in his soft drawl, "I notice that you only got the one vehicle out
here, so I’m figuring you’re stuck. You need anything? I can take you
to get some groceries." His generosity seemed remarkable, but more was
to come…

Back
at the house, Rufus put my car back together with the help of some
gardening wire. As the battery recharged I asked how much I owed him.

"Oh,
I’m not worried about that," he said. "I figure if I get paid for work
I do on a Sunday, next time I’m in trouble people’ll pass me by instead
of stopping to help."

I saw a loophole and offered to pay him for his work the day before.

He laughed. "You know that phrase, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’?"

"I’ve heard it."

"That’s all I’m saying."

The Crooked Road

The Roanoke Times has been nominated for an online journalism award from the Online News Association in the category of "Outstanding Use of Multiple Media (Large)" for a piece called "Going Down the Crooked Road." The site chronicles the Virginia Heritage Music Trail and has links to video taken of performers in Clintwood, Hiltons, Grayson, Galax and Floyd. 

We’ve been to Floyd a couple of times this year when we visited my Mom and the video gives you a nice glimpse at their Friday-night music scene in and near the general store.  I’ll admit that the music isn’t my cup of tea, but it’s definitely an interesting place with interesting people. 

Good Reason’s to Attend This Year’s ConvergeSouth

If you weren’t already convinced that this year’s ConvergeSouth (North Carolina’s own blogfest) then here are two new reasons that popped up today:

Need I come up with more reasons?  Well there’s this: it’s free.

On another note: why don’t you sign up to eat at News & Record editor-extraordinaire John Robinson’s dinner?  I think he’d enjoy your company.

Mark Warner in Second Life

Mark_warner_avatar_1
Former Virginia Governor and possible Democratic presidential candidate Mark Warner recently made an appearance in Second Life, the incredibly hot online virtual reality "game."  You can see a transcript of it here.  Warner really is the political polar opposite of George Allen, aka Macaca Man.

Warnerinsl_1
Don’t sleep on Warner as a presidential candidate, if not in ’08 then in ’12.  He’s proven in the past that he’s persistent and effective in the political arena.  After losing the race for Virginia governor in ’98, and being dismissed as a rich political neophyte who tried to buy himself a seat in the Governor’s mansion (he’s a self-made millionaire and spent a lot of his own money to finance his campaign) he patiently built up his base, especially in rural areas outside of Northern Virginia, and came back four years later to win in ’02.  He left office with higher approval ratings than he had at the beginning of his tenure, this despite raising taxes.  He also left the state in a healthier fiscal state than he found it.  Yep, all in all I’d say he’s the real deal.

Cool DIY Video

Most of the stuff I find enjoyable on YouTube is of the America’s Funniest Home Videos variety.  You know, people doing stupid stuff and getting caught on video.  But more and more I’m finding DIY videos that are just down right cool.  Here’s a great example titled "I Dropped My Super 8 Off The Golden Gate."

Sorry, You’re Too Old for Us to Take Your Business

According to this article in the Daily Mail, a British company called Carphone Warehouse is not accepting business from people over 70 unless they are accompanied by a younger family member.  From the article:

The 75-year-old would only be allowed to sign the forms for the
Carphone Warehouse’s TalkTalk phone and broadband package if she was
accompanied by a younger member of her family who could explain the
small print to her.

Mrs Greening-Jackson, who sits on the board of several charities, said:
"I was absolutely furious. The young man said, ‘Sorry, you’re over 70.
It’s company policy. We don’t sign anyone up who is over 70.’

And later:

When her case came to light on Radio 4’s You And Yours last week, Carphone Warehouse admitted it had adopted an over-70 rule.

But the firm insisted it was not a blanket policy and claimed the
guidance was to protect the elderly. A spokeswoman said: "It is not our
policy to refuse business from adult customers of any age group.
However, we do ask our agents to use their discretion when dealing with
older customers."

She added that the discretionary rule had been introduced in response to complaints that staff had mis-sold products last year.

Now if what she says is true, that they put a discretionary policy in place to try and prevent someone who’s clearly not right in the head from entering a contract, then I can kind of understand their motivation.  My question for them, though, is how did you figure 70 is the right age, and why in the world didn’t you just make it a blanket policy for all ages?  After all, I’m fairly certain they see their share of young people who aren’t right in the head and need to be protected from entering into binding contracts.  All you need to do is look in Parliament there, or Congress here.

Bleepin’ Traffic

I40atrushhourSee that picture to the left?  That’s a picture of I-40 at Peters Creek Parkway at what is considered rush hour in many cities.  That picture represents a huge reason why Celeste and I moved the family here.  You see, we moved from a place, Northern Virginia, that has essentially one day-long rush hour every day, to a place that has a "moseying along" half our in the morning and another in the evening.  You’d be amazed what a difference it makes in your life when you don’t have to plan around traffic.

In case you think I’m exaggerating let me just compare the traffic cameras available online in Winston-Salem via the Winston-Salem Journal’s site and in NoVa via the Washington Post’s site. By my count there are 25 traffic cameras in all of Winston-Salem, but in NoVa there’s that many between the beltway and the southern edge of the I-95 corridor alone.  I was going to count all the camera’s in Northern Virginia, but I just don’t have the time.

I swear getting out of everyday NoVa traffic has dropped my blood pressure by ten points, even though all the barbeque here has added about 15 pounds of pudge to my not-so-svelte frame.  Life is good!

Tiger Ad

I’m not sure how late to the party I am on this, but I just saw Nike’s online ad featuring Tiger Woods’ swing.  They took a very high-end camera that can shoot 4,000 frames a second and shot Tiger’s swing with a driver.  It’s a thing of beauty, as is the commercial, and that being typed by a guy who struggles to break 110 on a good day.

I’d love to see something similar with Roger Federer’s swings, particularly his backhand. He’s tennis’ answer to Tiger.

I’m Pretty Sure This Ad Wouldn’t Appear in the Printed Washington Post

MateSee this ad on the left?  It appeared on the web page of a Washington Post article I was reading.  I’ve noticed this ad on the Post the last few times I’ve been there and it’s caused me to have the following thoughts:

First, I can’t see this ad, or one similar to it, running in the print version of the Post except maybe in the Sports section.  The article I was reading was about politics.

Second, every time I see this ad it claims these women all live in Clemmons and every ad has three different women who look like either a soft-core porn actress or a Sports Illustrated-Swimsuit-Edition-wannabe.  If all these pictured women do indeed live in Clemmons then I’d have to believe there would be more bars than nursing homes in the village, which is not the case today.

Now I’m not an idiot, and I know those are stock photos on supposedly real listings that were served to me based on my IP address, so that leads to my next question: why does this work?  Even if I were enough of a sucker to believe these women actually lived in Clemmons and actually needed to use an online dating service (as if) why would a schlub who actually does need a dating service have the temerity to believe he could score a date with one of these lovelies?

Next, what is the alternative to "intimate dating?"  Perhaps "arms-length" or "disinterested" or "slightly chilled" or my favorite, "how the hell did I get myself into this mess?"  Of course this is from a guy who hasn’t been on a date in almost 20 years so what do I know?

Finally, who wants to lay odds that we’ll be seeing male enhancement ads on the Post site some time soon?