Nuze and Ramblings

Newark-Liberty Airport - Caliente Cab Company

2009-06-28T10:35:00.001-07:00

I am on my way to Hong Kong (HKG) today. It seems like every time I go to HKG I end up at a Mexican eatery of some kind on my layover. Today, I am at Caliente Cab Company eating lunch. Food sucks and the service sucks...just a place to a weary traveller to rest his/her feet and crank out an angry blog right? Wrong. If you are lucky enough to open an eatery in an airport you acually have the opportunity to make an impression to the world about your food concept and more importantly, your city. Here are a few points about the advantage of having this opportunity:

Airports rarely close for good which lends themselves to great profits over the long term

Airports have a constant flow of people which is great for business

Airports are just a great business to be in if you have a food establishment in them

Sp Calente get your act together!!! Of course if I take the attitude that this is the general face of the city of Newark then I can generallize that most folks are rude and inconsiderate and cant cook....which I know isnt true!! If generalizations were accurate I would be driving a General Lee wearing a wifebeater!

I'm Baaaack

2009-06-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

It has been too long...I have not had the time to blog and I feel like an arse. I have been busy being on travel restriction and I finally am making an international trip and can blog. Seems like I am way too busy lately... as in the past 5 months. Call the wambulance if you dont like it send me an email indicating your utter frustration. You will see in my next entry as to why I am so bitter right now.

Auto Moto - Take 2

2009-02-26T17:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I tried it again and it was......terrible. Great label though!! Il keep the bottle for the garage.

Wine Review - AutoMoto Cabernet Sauvignon

2009-02-23T17:09:00.000-08:00

I happened to be walking down the wine aisle at Publix and I happened by this bottle. I absolutely love the label for obvious reasons. First impressions??? Very tough to drink. It has quite a bite and a real taste of alcohol. I had just burnt my tounge so I think I am going to try it again tomorrow. Hopefully I can dissect the flavor. I really hope that I get to like this wine as it is only 8 dollars and has that great label :).

The Chase

2009-02-13T18:16:00.000-08:00

Our local hangout in high school was the Orchard Park McDonalds. A typical night was had by cruising around Dunwoody only to end up at the McDonalds. All sorts of people were there. The jocks, punks, skins, cheerleaders and people in the middle were all represented on a typical Friday or Saturday night. As the usual habit would have it I was driving the LTD with Paul and 3 others. One of which was our friend Geoey who absolutely loves telling this story. We did the usual rounds of socialization and right as we were going to leave, some random guy in his freshly restored 70’ Chevelle convertible pulled up and made some off handed remark about our piece of sh*t car we were driving. Of course there was the usual challenge from me to see just how much of a piece of crap our car really was. Without hesitation I put that car in drive and hit it. The jock in the Chevelle was not as quick on the take so I got ahead of him. Off I went across the parking lot at high speed with the Chevelle close behind. We started down Mt. Vernon as fast as we could go and the usual passing of a line of cars on the right where Mt. Vernon was 3 lanes. That pesky Chevelle would not give up so it was a hard, drifting left turn onto Vermack. In my rear view mirror I saw the Chevelle attempt the same maneuver with little success as he whipped from side to side and nearly lost control. We stayed on Vermack until we got to Chamblee Dunwoody where we made a right and headed to Cambridge Estates. We had many friends that lived in this neighborhood and we knew it well. We drove down Cambridge at a high rate of speed and took a left on Courtleigh Dr. The Chevelle was having a very hard time catching up to us so I wasn’t drifting as much. Next was a right on Springfield Dr, up the hill, and then a right on Summerford. The 460 was proving to be a formidable force against the little 350 Chevy. When we turned right on Summerford the LTD just died. I tried to restart and it finally roared back to life after the second try. By this time the Chevelle was right behind us again and we had to perform our “creative maneuvering” once again to shake them. So it was a right on Womack and then another right on Conover. A hard drift on Mill Court and I noticed that there was ice all over this road. I had to “tiptoe” through the icy spots and the Chevelle was not that careful and I watched in the rear view mirror as it slid out of control. At the bottom of Mill Ct. we took a left on Courtleigh and then a left again on Cambridge. This is where it got interesting. We were approaching Leeds Way. Leeds Way is about 100 yards long and dead ends into Leeds Ct. You can only go left here unless you want to end up in a cul-de-sac. I took the right onto Leeds Way at about 35MPH and accelerated to about 55 or so. The way Paul describes it is the best. He would tell you that all he saw out of the right window as I threw the car sideways was a telephone pole coming at us very quickly and then it just disappeared. That was the art of drifting in action. I looked in the rear view and all I saw was the Chevelle attempt a drift the same way I did, overshot the turn and slammed into the telephone pole. The lights flickered and then went dark so I knew it was a bad crash…at least for the car. I stopped the LTD and we all piled out and saw the driver of the Chevelle get out and start jumping up and down yelling and screaming. Once we realized he and his friends were ok we laughed at him, piled in the LTD and took off. From what I hear this guy was looking for me for a long time but I never saw him again. I was glad that they were ok but a little mad that they wrecked that really nice Chevelle. I think that there was hell to pay from this guy’s father.

2009-01-28T19:19:00.000-08:00

I took this article from CNN's Mental Floss by Mangesh Hattikudur. I think that Mister Rogers was one of the best shows for children ever concieved.

1. Even Koko the Gorilla loved him. Most people have heard of Koko, the Stanford-educated gorilla who could speak about 1000 words in American Sign Language, and understand about 2000 in English. What most people don't know, however, is that Koko was an avid Mister Rogers' Neighborhood fan. As Esquire reported, when Fred Rogers took a trip out to meet Koko for his show, not only did she immediately wrap her arms around him and embrace him, she did what she'd always seen him do onscreen: she proceeded to take his shoes off!

2. He made thieves think twice. According to a TV Guide piece on him, Fred Rogers drove a plain old Impala for years. One day, however, the car was stolen from the street near the TV station. When Rogers filed a police report, the story was picked up by every newspaper, radio and media outlet around town. Amazingly, within 48 hours the car was left in the exact spot where it was taken from, with an apology on the dashboard. It read, "If we'd known it was yours, we never would have taken it."

3. He watched his figure to the pound. In covering Rogers' daily routine (waking up at 5 a.m.; praying for a few hours for all of his friends and family; studying; writing, making calls and reaching out to every fan who took the time to write him; going for a morning swim; getting on a scale; then really starting his day), writer Tom Junod explained that Mr. Rogers weighed in at exactly 143 pounds every day for the last 30 years of his life. He didn't smoke, didn't drink, didn't eat the flesh of any animals, and was extremely disciplined in his daily routine. And while I'm not sure if any of that was because he'd mostly grown up a chubby, single child, Junod points out that Rogers found beauty in the number 143. According to the piece, Rogers came "to see that number as a gift... because, as he says, "the number 143 means 'I love you.' It takes one letter to say 'I' and four letters to say 'love' and three letters to say 'you.' One hundred and forty-three."

4. He saved both public television and the VCR. Strange but true. When the government wanted to cut public television funds in 1969, the relatively unknown Mister Rogers went to Washington.
Almost straight out of a Frank Capra film, his 5-6 minute testimony on how TV had the potential to give kids hope and create more productive citizens was so simple but passionate that even the most gruff politicians were charmed. While the budget should have been cut, the funding instead jumped from $9 to $22 million. Rogers also spoke to Congress, and swayed senators into voting to allow VCR's to record television shows from the home. It was a cantankerous debate at the time, but his argument was that recording a program like his allowed working parents to sit down with their children and watch shows as a family.

5. He might have been the most tolerant American ever. Mister Rogers seems to have been almost exactly the same off-screen as he was onscreen. As an ordained Presbyterian minister, and a man of tremendous faith, Mister Rogers preached tolerance first. Whenever he was asked to castigate non-Christians or gays for their differing beliefs, he would instead face them and say, with sincerity, "God loves you just the way you are." Often this provoked ire from fundamentalists.

6. He was genuinely curious about others. Mister Rogers was known as one of the toughest interviews because he'd often befriend reporters, asking them tons of questions, taking pictures of them, compiling an album for them at the end of their time together, and calling them after to check in on them and hear about their families. He wasn't concerned with himself, and genuinely loved hearing the life stories of others. And it wasn't just with reporters. Once, on a fancy trip up to a PBS exec's house, he heard the limo driver was going to wait outside for 2 hours, so he insisted the driver come in and join them (which flustered the host). On the way back, Rogers sat up front, and when he learned that they were passing the driver's home on the way, he asked if they could stop in to meet his family. According to the driver, it was one of the best nights of his life the house supposedly lit up when Rogers arrived, and he played jazz piano and bantered with them late into the night. Further, like with the reporters, Rogers sent him notes and kept in touch with the driver for the rest of his life.

7. He was color-blind. Literally. He couldn't see the color blue. Of course, he was also figuratively color-blind, as you probably guessed. As were his parents, who took in a black foster child when Rogers was growing up.

8. He could make a subway car full of strangers sing. Once while rushing to a New York meeting, there were no cabs available, so Rogers and one of his colleagues hopped on the subway. Esquire reported that the car was filled with people, and they assumed they wouldn't be noticed.
But when the crowd spotted Rogers, they all simultaneously burst into song, chanting "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood." The result made Rogers smile wide.

9. He got into TV because he hated TV. The first time he turned one on, he saw people angrily throwing pies in each other's faces. He immediately vowed to use the medium for better than that. Over the years he covered topics as varied as why kids shouldn't be scared of a haircut, or the bathroom drain (because you won't fit!), to divorce and war.

10. He was an Ivy League dropout. Rogers moved from Dartmouth to Rollins College to pursue his studies in music.

11. He composed all the songs on the show, and over 200 tunes.

12. He was a perfectionist, and disliked ad libbing. He felt he owed it to children to make sure every word on his show was thought out.

13. Michael Keaton got his start on the show as an assistant. He helped puppeteer and operate the trolley.

14. Several characters on the show are named for his family. Queen Sara is named after Rogers' wife, and the postman Mr. McFeely is named for his maternal grandfather who always talked to him like an adult, and reminded young Fred that he made every day special just by being himself. Sound familiar? It was the same way Mister Rogers closed every show.

15. The sweaters. Every one of the cardigans he wore on the show had been hand-knit by his mother.

Wont you be, wont you be, wont you be my neighbor!

The Christmas Tree Story

2009-01-26T15:34:00.000-08:00

What would we ever do without Christmas tree recycling?? When I was a kid I lived in a county that provided tree pick up and we would just leave the tree out for the trash. So in January there were five of us in Paul’s LTD cruising around on an icy Saturday night at 11PM or so and we happened on a HUGE tree out by the sidewalk. What I mean by huge is that this tree was 14 or 15 feet tall and about 9 feet wide at the base. We drove by the tree several times as we attempted to figure out what we would do with this massive conifer. Paul mentioned that he had an old ski rope in the trunk. So the idea of Christmas tree surfing was born. We tied the tree to the 50 foot rope and the rope to the trailer hitch on the LTD. Now the question was who was going to “ride” the tree. Shay stepped up to the plate and took his position on the tree. For reasons I can not recall I was not happy with Shay at all and he was going to receive quite a ride behind the LTD as I was driving that night as was usually the case. So off we go slowly at first. I have a unique view through the rear view mirror as I can see the expression on his face as we passed under the street lights. So we drive down Kings Point Dr. at about 30 miles per hour and as we make a sweeping left I notice Shay in the right mirror cascading through a puddle of slush with water spewing in his face. He dare not let go. I was going to make sure he let go. Once we get to East Kings Point Circle I hang a hard left….a drifting left to be exact. Now, as I counter steer , Shay passes from the rear view mirror to the right mirror and to the right window parallel with the car. As I accelerated out of the slide Shay passed through some bushes and the rope caught on a telephone pole. This ended his ride quite quickly, 1 down 3 to go. Next was Paul. His ride was quite uneventful, about 30 miles per hour was fine for him for about 30 seconds. Once Paul started waving his arms I figured he was done. Next was Kevin. Kevin was the biggest and heaviest out of the group. He saddled up and off we went down East Kings Point. We got about 100 yards down the road and the rope broke under his weight. We decided it would be a god idea to double up the rope which worked well. As we re-tied the rope Kevin found a Santa hat and donned it promptly. So off we go again and we happen to take a right on Huntington Circle and pass by a party with probably 30 or so people outside. Imagine their thoughts when they see the LTD with a discarded Christmas tree dragging behind it and Kevin with a Santa hat on screaming “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!!!” So after a couple of laps with Kevin’s weight the tree was starting to wear out. Next up was Jim. Jim is by far the most “careful” of the group. He gave me specific instructions not to go over 20. Once we were on our way we were on East Kings Point once again and I thought I hear Jim yelling “Go!! Go!!!” I asked Paul and he confirmed my thought so I stood on it. I think we got Jim up to 55 or so before I looked in the mirror and saw the look of fear in his eyes. We were running out of road so I stopped the car and we assessed Jim’s condition. We practically had to peel him off of that tree. The rides were over and this life risking venture came to a close. The tree was reduced to about half its girth and we left it at the house that we took it from. I wonder if they noticed…..

Paul's 1971 Ford LTD Coupe

2008-12-28T18:59:00.000-08:00

When he was 16 my friend Paul got a 1971 Ford LTD as his first car. His father bought it from an old lady that literally drove it 3 times a week. It had about 30k miles on it and he got it for $900.00 which was a really good deal for a car that was in such good shape. It was black with a maroon interior and had a 460 cubic inch engine. The unique feature about this car was the “Cadillac style” power steering that required only 2 fingers to turn the wheel. I’ll tell you more about the power steering in another story. This car was very powerful and I was drifting in it long before drifting was a sport. I actually showed Paul that I could throw the rear end out at a moments notice right after I watched it on the movie No Mans Land. Why was I drifting?? Well I should have been the primary insured on this car as I was always driving it as everyone else was usually drinking. I was always pretty crazy so I never needed to drink. Drifting in this car was incredibly fun and I loved scaring the living daylights out of my friends by doing this at the most inopportune time. Thanks Paul for letting me have so much fun in this car for the year and a half that you had it.

Why I Love My Honda Element (Elephant or Excrement)

2008-09-07T18:47:00.001-07:00

Well, as I always tell my friends the Element is the best 12k I ever spent. Someone has the guts to design and build an ugly duckling that is so unique it is cool...at least according to Top Gear. It has been such a good vehicle as it is serving as a mini moving van over the past week. Pop out those rear seats and you can fit a whole bunch of stuff in this car/truck/SUV/People Carrier. If you want to maximize the storage capacity you have to pack everything in what this vehicle looks like....a box. Have plants that are to tall?? Just remove the rear sunroof and look like a college student heading off to school.

Moving Day

2008-09-07T18:47:00.000-07:00

Holy Moly!! I absolutely loathe moving. Even though I worked for a moving company it is still a royal PITA to deal with moving. THis is the last time in a very long time I hope!!

IOWA

2007-12-18T11:48:00.000-08:00

Wow...sitting in a home built in 1869 in the sub zero temperature and icy conditions. The wife and I have had to travel here in order to attend the funeral of her Grandmother who was 99 years old. She was a tough lady as she was independant until age 97. Welcome back to Edwardsfolk.com and I am sorry it has been such a long time since I posted.