Still Waiting

I thought I'd blog a little earlier tonight in case Irene clips our power. She hasn't arrived yet but we've had spasms of rain throughout the day. It rains hard and then stops for a while, softens somewhat and then pours.

Tonight and tomorrow should be the big tests. As a former Managing Editor of a local TV station I can identify with the “team coverage” that sends reporters to outposts of anticipated storm impact. And they stand there reminding viewers that officials want everyone evacuated. But you can't evacuate the reporters. It's always been that way. You're on your own guys and gals and best of luck.

At home, I keep thinking of new things that need to be buttoned up before the storm hits. I just closed some basement windows in case we get water in the front and side of the house. We live toward the top of a hill and water usually runs right past us. But in heavy rains the backyard could flood and water could come into the basement. Also brought up a cooler and some ice packs for the freezer in case we lose power. We hope not.

I usually like the sound of a good rain. This doesn't sound like a good rain. We've prepared for the worst as best we can but we're hoping for the best.

Along with everyone else, we'll be happy to say goodnight to Irene.

Waiting for Irene

Whether Irene is still a hurricane or a terrible tropical storm when she gets to northern New Jersey late Saturday and into Sunday we know one thing: it's gonna be wet and wild.

We've stocked up on drinking water and moved everything moveable indoors. We've got plenty of batteries for our flashlights and candles if we need them. Our food supply is adequate.

We've lots of trees around our house and we pray they'll withstand the winds. Other than that, there's not much else we can do but ride it out at home. We're not going anywhere during the storm.

I'm awed by weather extremes. I look out the front door during heavy rains or snowstorms and marvel at the strength of nature at its fiercest. We've been lucky not to have suffered any major damage from extreme weather. We don't have tornadoes here but nearby areas are subjected to severe flooding. Nothing like in the major river valleys, however.

So it's wait and see and watch and hope for the best.

Good luck everyone.

What's wrong with this picture?

At a time when banking is done on line and we communicate via the internet, why do we still get return address stickers in the mail from organizations seeking contributions?

You may send something through the mail once in a while but do these mostly non-profit organizations really think these stickers are worth a contribution? My guess is they'd probably net more money by saving the cost of printing and mailing the stickers.

In our house they go right into the shredder.

Here's a money saving idea for AARP. Today, Aug. 25, we received our membership cards and renewal statement. Our dues are due Jan.1, 2012. We'll pay in December. But we can expect four months of reminders between now and then. This goes on every year. It's annoying. And it has to be expensive. After we pay they'll send us validation stickers for our cards. Another costly mailing.

I'm thinking of mailing these suggestions to the offenders. Using their return address stickers, of course.

FIOS on the Fone

It's been my experience that once I get through the automated FIOS screening process and reach a live technician together we usually solve my problem(s).

Back story: DVR dies Saturday night. Call FIOS Sunday and they order a replacement for me. It arrives Tuesday and we proceed to install.

Automatic activation does nothing. TV screen shows “weak or no signal.” As per the instructions, I try several times to no avail. One of their telephone automatons tells me the process should take an hour. Instruction manual says 15 minutes. Neither is accurate.

So, resigned to a long wait time, I call FIOS again and wade through the process until I get a live person. He introduces himself as William and sounds eager to please. I like him immediately because he calls me Mr. Friedman. I call him William.

To make a very long story short, William and I spent more than 50 minutes on the phone getting a picture from the DVR to the TV Screen. We still have one minor problem which I will deal with later. On some channels we don't get a full screen picture. It's annoying but not serious enough to prevent enjoying what's on.

I'm giving myself and FIOS tech service a rest for a while. I think we both deserve it.

Quake Up Call

I'm writing this in the wake of the quake. As you no doubt know by now, a 5.9 earthquake centered just south of Washington D.C. was felt all along the East Coast. But not on the ground floor of our home in Verona, N.J.

My wife and I were sitting in our kitchen when our housekeeper, Sophia, came downstairs breathless, to tell us the news. She had felt a tremor while working in our upstairs den and couldn't understand why the window blind was shaking and the ottoman she was sitting moved. The TV was on and when the news bulletins came on about the quake, she understood what she had experienced and rushed downstairs to tell us.

Up to that time we were clueless and when we heard the news my wife said she felt “cheated” out of the experience of being part of an earthquake. You really don't need to go through that, even if it is minor. It's unsettling, to say the least.

I put on our TV and watched the local stations coverage of the event. Everyone was grateful it wasn't a bomb and that there was no obvious damage and no one was hurt. We heard various stories from excited people giving their versions of “where were you when...”

I sent a text to my son, who works in the Times Square area, asking for his reaction. “Stirred and shaken,”he said. “Freaky.”

Thus millions of people had a few memorable moments on an otherwise pristine August afternoon.

A Great Day

Today was a 10. I love being on the golf course on a day like today. The temperature was in the 70s, no humidity, puffy white clouds in a clear blue sky.

The pleasure of the atmosphere tempers the quality of the golf. Sure, we keep score, but we also take time to enjoy the scenery, the fellowship and the commiseration of missed opportunities.

It's a time warp, really, getting away from the run-of-the-mill, the press of events. Just a few hours of muddling through 18 holes is joy enough.

Death of a DVR

It happened quite suddenly. I pressed the play button on my DVR last night and the screen went black. Little did I realize that was it. Finished, kaput, DOA.

But, of course, I didn't realize it at the time. Driven by guilt, I assumed it was my fault. What had I done to cause this aberration? I pushed every button on the DVR remote. I pushed all the buttons on the TV remote. The same signals came up. “Check your cable.” Then “no signal.”

I changed the source input all up and down the line. Actually, my Blu-ray line showed signs of life but only in a small window on the upper right corner of the screen. Not good.

Oddly enough, the DVR was still able to record. And since we have other set top boxes in the house, we were able to watch a movie I had DVR'd a few days ago. Ever the optimists, we went to bed hoping a good night's sleep would restore not only us but the set top box as well. It was not to be.

This morning, I unplugged and re-plugged cable after cable to no avail. I finally admitted I had to call FIOS tech service thinking perhaps one of their non-striking elves could get me back on line.

I actually got through to a nice man within a half hour of listening to their not-so-soothing music. He was very patient and we tried different things but bottom line, the DVR was dead. Was this an unusual occurrence? I asked. Not so much, he said.

Then he volunteered to order a new DVR for me. I expect it in a few days.

So that was me and FIOS today and it was BIG.