Darn weatherstripping

Nothing says "Your neighbors hope you'll vote on this issue" like a hand-folded leaflet delivered to your door by a neighbor.

The problem is the darn weatherstripping.

Most of us know that it's illegal to put anything that's not US mail into a mailbox. So there I stand at your stoop, trying to figure out how to leave the leaflet so that it won't blow away.

The problem is that your weatherstripping is so tight that I can't wedge my important flyer between your jamb and your door. I'm all in favor of energy conservation, but I wish I could leave my message for you, confident that it won't take off in the next gust of wind.

Norfolk latches, attached to the door at two points, allow me to fold the flyer and leave it under the latch. Unfortunately, I only found a couple of those.

To the people with the jalousie storm door: I hope it's okay that I wedged the flyer between two of your louvers.

After delivering to 4 1/2 streets yesterday, I have new respect for letter carriers.

Thoughts for election day

I don't usually pass along those chain emails, but I liked this one so much I sent it on to my friends and family.

My 20 People

You're part of my 20 people, hoping you will send this on to your 20 so we get this out before election day.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message.

It is time.

FIX CONGRESS!!!!!
**********************************

Congressional Reform Act of 2010

1. Term Limits.

12 years only, one of the possible options below.
A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressional rep collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when
out of office.

3. Congress (past, present and future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congressional reps can purchase their own retirement plans, just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of Consumer Price Index or 3%.

6. Congress loses its current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressional reps are void effective
1/1/11:
The American people did not negotiate these contracts with their representatives.
The representatives made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators who would serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

Please feel free to cut and paste this message into your own emails. And please vote on November 2.

Web search contest

Despite my smoking' hot search technique, I can't seem to draw a bead on a seemingly simple piece of information:

How much has snowfall in Summit, NJ, changed over the past few decades?

I'd like to go back to before 1970, because I know how the mean overall precipitation has changed since then. But, except for a few record-breaking years, the only snowfall information I can find is averaged.

This information might as well be classified. Just to be sure I wasn't missing something basic, I called in the big guns. I contacted a reference librarian at QandANJ.org. Believe it or not, she couldn't find it either.

I'm pretty sure that the Snow & Ice Management Association has the information. I bet they give it out to members only, given how hard it is to find.

So here's the contest:

Be the first to find me changes in snowfall since, say, 1960. It doesn't have to be just Summit. It can be Union County. Or it can be all New Jersey. I don't need individual year info. It can be decade-over-decade averages.

If you can find that information, you get your choice of delicacy from pastryparadise.com* and my profuse thanks. Good luck.

* Offer valid in continental US and Canada only.

Site Owners: Win an iPod or a day of consulting

 

I went to alexa.com this morning to tinker with my site listing, and saw a banner that said “Take the 2010 State of Online Marketing Survey.” Anyone reading this blog knows that share my opinions freely. So I did. I like (well-designed) surveys; they make me think.

The survey is sponsored by Linkdex. But when you try to learn more about Linkdex, you end up at http://blog.influencefinder.com/

 

If you scroll down to the very bottom of the blog page you'll see in a 30% screen that Linkdex owns its copyright. To learn more, you have to strike out on your own: Linkdex is a search intelligence firm based in the UK.

Now, if you take the survey, your name goes into a drawing for one of two iPods, or for a free day of website marketing consulting. That’s not enough to induce me to give Linkdex my email address. But if you take the survey and give them your email address and you win, I’ll be happy for you.

Find the survey here: http://www.alexa.com/siteowners

A Modest Proposal for Preventing Passengers Boarding Air Carriers from Being a Burden to Their Fellow Passengers

Whenever I fly, I wonder why the airlines board passengers from the front of the plane to the back. Premier and business class travelers, whose seats are so much more comfortable than mine, may prefer to stow their carry-ons and take their ease. That makes sense.

Economy flyers, though, need a better system. When I travel economy, if my seating area is at the back of the plane, I have to wait until last to board. That means I step around or on all those other people who are either still trying to cram their luggage in the overhead compartments, sprawling in their seats or arguing about who has which seat.

Likewise, I don’t understand why people are in such a hurry to get off the plane the minute it lands. If they have tight connections, sure. But many of those people have to pick up their checked baggage at the carousel. It won’t arrive there before they do.

I now modestly propose a more rational system for boarding large aircraft passengers:

First, admit first class and upgraded passengers, passengers with children, and those who need special assistance.

Second, admit everyone sitting in window seats. Then, once the window passengers are seated and out of the aisles, fill the middle seats. When they're out of the way, finally, let in the people with aisle seats.

If people need to make tight connections, they can be sure to reserve aisle seats. Their luggage will be the last stowed, so it should be easily to hand. They can grab it and go.

(Granted, the storage space for carry-on luggage may be used up before the aisle sitters arrive on the plane, but that happens anyway with the current system.)

In a perfect world, the cabin crew would ask other passengers to wait for people on a deadline. They would remind us that instead of a frantic race to the jetway, we could enjoy a serene and leisurely departure.

Think about this the next time you fly, please, and tell me if you don’t think this would make much more sense.

Oakwood Park Youtube Video

Thanks to Maria Ludwig for keeping New Providence residents informed about the upcoming referendum over whether the borough should sell Oakwood Park to Union County for $1.

Today she forwarded the link to this video about the potential sale.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFp9C55h8Gs

Our own Brian Flanagan is running for Union County freeholder. I encourage Union County residents to vote for him.

PS Have you noticed the brick outside the New Providence Library inscribed "No County Park 2009"? I wonder where that came from... kh

Jury Duty

Last time I served jury duty I noticed that some attorneys had efficient voir dires, but some, not so much.

The ones I liked were the attorneys who asked all potential jurors to stand up. They then asked questions such as “Have you ever been arrested for a speeding violation?” or “Has anyone in your family ever served time in a prison?” The people with “yes” answers sat down. This continued until the attorney had an acceptable number of potential jurors to question more closely.

The slowpokes asked each potential juror each question one by one. Once I’d seen the brisk approach, the laborious one struck me as a waste of time. Worse, I wondered if the poky attorneys purposely lengthened the jury selection process in order to rack up more billable hours.

Luckily for me, when I had jury duty yesterday, I sat next to the best-dressed gentleman in the room. He wore a suit and tie, and I’m pretty sure he carried (but did not wear, as we were indoors) a Panama hat.

Once he identified himself as an attorney, I asked him what he thought of my billable hours theory. He made the very good point that many of the prosecution attorneys worked on a contingency basis, meaning that they wanted to spend as little time as possible on each case.

I asked him why he didn’t hang a placard around his neck announcing that he was an attorney, ensuring that he wouldn’t be impaneled. He responded that in many cases, his profession would not affect his selection or decision. I disagreed with my fellow juror, on that point, but who was I to argue with him?

I still maintain that attorneys don’t want to admit any potential juror whose reaction to evidence they could not predict in advance. A rival attorney, with his or her own background in the law, would be a ripe target for a peremptory challenge. Nonetheless, I admired this attorney’s trust in an even-handed jury system. It was an honor to serve with him.

Fortunately or unfortunately for us both, the jury manager dismissed us all that afternoon. I’ve never yet sat on a jury. I hope that at one point I will, as long as the trial doesn’t last too long.