Funky Nights

Weds Nite Dinner

Good day. Weds night, I stayed overnite in Philly. No shopping errend so I had time to enjoy some Middle Eastern fare. This was umm..umm good!  The strangeness of the week continued later that night. the chaparone thing did not work out so well.  it was a funky moment at the Tritone. Pat and I decided to walk across the street to Bob and Barbara's and watched the Phillies beat the Braves  and sent them home from the playoffs. At the same time Boston choked itself out of the playoffs by allowing 2 runs in the bottom of the ninth  at Baltimore. The Phillies will play St. Louis in the playoffs next week. The people were into it as well. It was a funky sports bar scene.

South Street Weds

Last night, I missed the Bus and had to hang in Camden for over an hour. It was "interesting" to say the least. That late 408 had Calvin and I saw Miss D on the bus and it was cool to see her. She and Calvin had the bus in fits of laughter. I was too tired to stay with them long but the ride did go by pretty good.

Camden at night

The work overtime presses on. Rumor has it that it will continue till Tuesday of next week  and the extension will be mentioned in churches in Philly. There is not enough time to write much, Dave is driving the bus this AM!

Burning Bus

Well I thought it would be a strange week.  Yesterday Tues September 27 was one of thoseAfter a fitfully kind of sleep, I hopped on the 408. In Newfield, the bus managed to catch on fire!! I mean the FLAMES  were shooting out of the exhaust pipe burning rubber!!! We all got out fine and the replacement bus went straight to Route 55 which saved 20 min or so. I got to work  and what a sight I saw!!! There was a line around  the my welfare  office of  people looking for the FEMA money. You had to see it to believe it!! I mean it was pretty wild!! I was invited to Tritone  and told that I couls be a roadie to assist an 18 yr old band member. I don't have to pay cover. Came home on the 313 from Cape Map and boy was it FAST! I came home and just went to bed. This morning fetched milk and took out the garbage.

Newfield NJ Tues Sept 27

Yesterday at My Office 8:30am

The 408 Tues 6am

What's The Frequency??

I love this song!!

Monday:FEMA, Fish and Phillies

Today was quite a fishy day to start the week.  .

Bus Station Camden

FEMA $$

 I got on the bus and and showed off my new screen cover and iPhone protector to my friends on the bus. They said it looked like a new phone.  The  bus then arrived at Camden bus station around 7:30 am today. Caught the PATCO right on time and then to the El to 56th Street. Work was very very busy today. Folks were applying for FEMA flood relief. The line went around the office and the office was PACKED.  Even at 5pm when I started to help, it was packed with folks completing forms. I got some overtime so its ok with me. I was done at 7pm and got home tonite around 10pm.This is why I am blogging at 1 am  I then changed the kitty litter. Boy it really was bad and I just changed it on Saturday and possibly on yesterday as well. I think it the hot stale air that we have had over the past 10 days or so. Its never been this bad so quickly. The Eagle stunk so bad that I wish Koy Detmer was back to lead the charge. Vick has a broken hand. Well we will see if there is ANY audacity of hope for this football season!! The Phillies have won 2 games in a row after that scary 8 game loosing streak. They now have won 100 games and we have to hope that the relief pitching and the hitting hold up cause if not, then the stupid Yankees will win it again after Boston totally choked a bag full of flies this season.
I have listened to REM from the Album Monster. This is one of my faves. Listen to the song Bang and Blame and be transported to 1994/1995 again..

Birthday Fun, Trail Mix and Scap.

Dennis on Sunday

Scrap

Our Backyard

I already written about  last week and Saturday.   Sunday was a very busy day. First I moved stuff in the backyard such as the swing barbecue food for someone to pick up second move tiles from the car to the backyard and move the fence back then went shopping for various items such as clamps and the correct trail mix. After that I heard Carl called and picked up the scrap. I said I would meet up with him and we hung out a BoJos where we saw Dennis. Boy, that was a surprise!! He lo..s like VanGogh

Carl with Still Life with St. Jude

Next we went to Carl's house for his birthday where Homemade soup. Ummm..GOOD! Carl showed 2 of his newest works.I learned that some Haitians visit graves at Noon every day in November since is the month of the dead.
Also, I heard that the Weed and Seed $$ is set to expire September 30. The MPD will be writing tickets to ANYONE!! The "element" will be on the run. Speaking of the "element", a friend on the bus tells me Foundry St is know drug dealing area.
Now it's Monday morning and VERY FOGGY! As of 7am, the fog had not lifted. A new work week begins. As you will see on this blog soon, its gonna be a busy one

The Levoy Builds Again

After for what it seemed forever, serious construction has begun on the Levoy Theatre in Millville's Arts District. As you can see from the pictures, things are full speed ahead. We can expect a 2012 opening

September 22nd to September 24th 2011

It was pretty eventful at the end of this week. Thursday night I was in Philly and went to Dalhak We had some food and beer and met some nice folks and it was fun. Work all week was ok since I felt like I was making some headway and that is is good as it gets for me.

Friday was pretty rainy but I left work early enough to get the Pittman Express bus back to Millville. Since Carolyne was a meeting, I decided to have some Pizza and NY Style and then walk to Bogarts Books where I got to see 4 Piece Jazz with Rita ,Steve, Jody and his wife. Its has been a long time since I saw them and they sounded good to me. Saw some folks I recognize and it was alright for sure. I got a new case and cover for my iPhone since the others were pretty worn out. I got new Rockport's for 20 bucks off. It was time to get casual shoes since I have been wearing sneakers for months now at work

.
Saturday (today) we had yoga class with Carolyne and Ostara Yoga. Kay, Bill and Elizabeth showed up and it was a workout. Next we went to see Densie and ib and Cailiff. Cailiff had a sporty shirt on and was making all these different facial expressions. It was pretty funny.

I then collected tiles and put them in the car. They will be used in the backyard. I will be doing some stuff aournd the house. The dryer house is messed up, and the tiles have to be put in the yard. Gotta call about Kate's computer which is running badly as well.
I noticed tonite that when I am in the "compose" mode with blogger, the test and photos jump around and code seems to be created about tables etc. Also the break code seems to be created randomly. So its been a pain trying to get this blog entry looking organized and not all sloppy.

Speaking of sloppy, what is going on with the Phillies. The Phillies have lost 8 in a row to the Nationals and the Mets. Lets prey that all this is out of their system come October or there is going to be a long Fall for Philly sports fans. As for the Eagles, they are going to be inconsistent at best. Well, lets just hope this weirdness of loosing leaves quickly. Winter is going to be cold enough as it is

Photos Thurday September 22

Hello, this is the report for Thursday to Saturday, the beginning of the end of September 2011. Thursday, I was in the mood to take lots of photos of my commute to work. There are many interesting places and things that call me out to take a photo, so I just do it and it feels good. Its a nice way to have some artistic fun while killing time getting to work from Philly to Millville NJ. These were taken by my iPhone and the Camera + App I bought for a buck several months ago. It works very well with the iPhone and its very flexible

Direction

Lines

REM: 31 Years of Groovy Sounds

Yesterday, I forgot my phone and missed this story. I found out though Facebook thru Stan Demeski of the band the Feelies who was going to a rehearsal for Michael Stipe's solo project. After 31 years it sounds like time to end it. I remember the last time I saw them was at Temple University. It was nice cause the venue was smaller then the Spectrum where I had seen them in 1995 when Monster (one of my favorites) came out. Thanks for all the great music during my college and post college years and beyond!!

`995 Monster Tour

A Classic

Its Thursday morning and time to catch the bus. Its time to go to my "ALRIGHT" job. I will be in Philly overnight and hope not to get caught in the rain. Supposed to rain off and on for the next 4 days or so.

Google+ and Tax+



Sept 21st 5AM Joined Google+

 I woke up a bit early and after making coffee, I decided to check out Google+. As far as I know (not much) its a social networking site that is competing with Facebook which is going gangbusters at this moment in time. What I do know is that since Google is my email program, Google+  can find folks to be in the Google+ social network VERY easy. Some might say too easy. They have a concept that you divide your contact in to different groups or "circles". The default "circles" are Friends, Family, Acquaintances, and Follow. So I plunged in and so far have 2 folks that have responded. Its quite different then Facebook in the look but the concept is the same. Google+ enables to subdivide the folks you want to network with. 
This way I have a social network tied to my email account. This ought to be interesting.
I just read that Millville City Commission is proposing to raise property taxes 4.2% next fiscal year. Its not that simple as the article in the Vineland Daily Journal points out.

The proposed budget would spend $31,425,986, down about $1.5 million from last year's $32,956,001 budget. Local property owners will pay more than half the cost. One penny in property tax in Millville will raise $146,594 this year, down $1,108 from last year. The municipal tax rate will rise 3.4 percent, from $1.22 to $1.262 per $100 of assessed property valuation, under the proposed budget.One piece of good news is that the county property tax rate for Millville is down 9 cents at $1.18 per $100 due to a rise in the assessment-to-fair market property value ratio in the city. On that same property, the owner will pay $1,486 in taxes or $153 less than last year. The school tax rate is 71 cents. On that same property, the owner will pay $924 this year. The proposed budget anticipates collecting $18,491,204 from local property owners, with rest of the revenue coming from grants and fees. That amount, known as the tax levy, is 3.5 percent higher than last year.

The city has reduced its workforce EVEN laying off police and has received more tax money from the Union Lake Crossing Shopping Center and the NJ Motorsports park.  The public hearing on the proposed tax increase is October 18. I might want to catch the Pittman Express and get to THIS meeting. I will hear the cries and cynical remarks from Millville First who will decry that that folks are being taxed out of their homes, while taking all the credit for the Commission slashing costs.  Here is Paul Porreca the head of Millvile First writing a letter to the Editor in the Cumberland News:

Millville’s Commissioners appear to have at last realized that taxpayers are being taxed out of their homes. Consequently they are laying off policemen and other city employees in a desperate effort to minimize raising taxes. Of course, they blame it on the economy, state actions, health insurance and pension costs. However, the actions the commissioners control are equally responsible for the situation. For the first five years, Millville First has been telling them that their tax-and-spend policies were courting disaster. They were forewarned. Their reaction has been to spend more, divert more income, give more tax breaks and engage in bigger taxpayer-supported schemes under the guise of “economic development.” The time has come to stop. They must concentrate on providing essential city services like police protection. Millville instead is spending local real estate tax dollars on the Levoy, the RAD, consultants, lawyers and the acquisition and destruction of tax-paying properties. If you want the details go to Millville First website, www.millvillefirst.org, or come out to our meetings when they start up again in September. When will it stop? It won’t until the taxpaying, voting public tells the commissioners to stop. Go to the commission meetings. Call them. Write them. Email them. Tell them it is time to stop spending on the nonsense and use our tax dollars for the essentials.

You can expect more of the same on October 18. Well got to catch the 5:43 am 408 with Dave who like to be EARLY

This is September 19th 2011

Still in Millville Yesterday

Well, its a Tuesday morning. Having a good cup of Coffee. Google is a pain in the butt. Since my gmail and blogger sites have different passwords, I have to go on 2 different browsers to see both at the same time. I made my blog when I still had Earthlink in 2005. Later, Google bought out blogger and that is what seems to have happened. I guess there is a way to "convert" but I have frankly not bothered with it.
There was the buzzing fat fly buzzing all over the kitchen this morning. I thought I would have to deal with it cause its too early to chase a fly around. Well, it drowned in my coffee RIP!! Ha..HA!!
Yesterday was the calmest day at work in a long time. I only had to see 2 folks the entire morning and boy can I get stuff done when that happens (RARE!). It was alright. I felt like I had an alright job without the baby mommas:)

A-Home house. Millville NJ

After work I went and visited Carl and saw that new A-Home house and boy it makes the entire block look better for sure!  Lets hope the new owners keep it that way!!

Levoy Sept 19

I Googled myself and saw a blog by Robert OwensIts well-written of course what is new to me is the name "New Leaf" and his interest in running and biking. He is way into physical fitness. Nice job. The Levoy constriction seems to be starting in a big way. They have put in the steel surounding the inside of the basement area of the theater. Its expected to be finished by 2012. I am looking forward to that!!

Sunday with Cailiff and Friends

Fred and His Art

Jon and Daisy

Yesterday was a sleepy cool Sunday in mid-September 2011. We got up pretty early but chilled out and had lots of coffee and hung out with our warm fuzzy cats and dogs. Densie and Jon came over with son Cailiff. Fred then came over with some of his new glass creations. We got some Chinese and Thai food which was quite the treat. It was a nice day to be with friends and family

The Sale of Cumberland Manor

 I have been made aware of the pending sale of the Cumberland Manor by the Cumberland County Freeholders. This issue has been reported with vigor by Magazzu Watch. There seems to me  a lack of reporting on the underlying issues. The local media has made selling the Cumberland Manor sound like a no-brainer since there will be 2 million windfall in time for the current County budget.
  Republicans seems eager to sell it too, as indicted from Saturday's article in the Daily Journal.

"I'm a little perturbed, to say the least, because 30 days ago when we had these conversations everything you've raised here was answered," Kirstein said. "You advised us, if we got started right away, we could make the deadline." "There was absolutely no support on this board for going to the CCIA that I ever heard," Sheppard then told Gibson. Sheppard added he was concerned about the impact of a delay on the county budget for 2012.

So it not ONLY be the Dems who want to make a quick killing on this sale. The Republicans might be just as eager since they stand a good chance of controlling the Freeholder Board come January. I know the part of the Republican way is to privatize as much as possible and give to their buddies.

I think the County politics is a good ole boy network and the Republicans want a piece of that pie that the Dems have had under Magazzu.

I am consistently amazed on how much the lawyers and consultants make in good time and the current bad times. There seems always $$ for the politically connected to make a quick buck. This is not Republican nor Democrat (I am a Dem) issue.
Selling the Manor is a one-shot deal that will not help in the future. Its a one-time infusion in the budget and a way for the insiders to get more money off the backs of the taxpayers. I am sure the Republicans are on it too since they may control the Freeholder Board next year.

I will ask the same question, When are you going to ask for a pound of flesh from the privileged in County Government?? Its time to stop messing with the libraries, seniors and others who can not afford lawyers and flashy consultants.

Maurice River September 17th 4:37pm

Got a Free Computer!

Moving in

Well, this was good news for sure. Its a Dell Inspiron B130. This will be good to have a computer until we get a newer model. Free is not bad for sure and its much easier to type with two hands then one thumb. The move in was smooth. Our neighbor is going to be moving in 2 weeks. She can't wait to stop paying the huge rent that she pays for the 1st floor.

The Dell

Its a cloudy cool day but its comfortable. No rain but it has threatened all day.  Carolyne went to Canal's and there was a promotion with food being served. I got a Mike's Lemonade T-Shirt. My cat Daisy got a tumble in the dryer for 15 seconds since I didn't see her jump in. She came out nice and dry!! Well, I am going to say good night for now and start blogging again.

Fun in NYC May 26

On Monday Pat and another friend went to NYC to the Iridium Jazz Club to see the Les Paul trio. Jane Widlin of the GoGo's sang a set of standards and even sang the hit GoGo's song "Our Lips Are Sealed." Steve Miller was a surprise guest and played some as well. Got home, slept an hour, then went to a HUGE labor union rally in Harrisburg. Quite an adventure. 

A Response to Karen Heller of the Inquirer

To: "kheller@phillynews.com"
Subject: Comments on State Employees

I am responding to your column in today's Sunday Inquirer.

http://m.philly.com/phillycom/db_41092/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=qGG8kSEA

Your write up on the Governor were  spot on, your swipe at the people who work for the Commonwealth were uncalled for.
I wanted to give a different view. I wish you had not piled on concerning the latest contract for state employees. Do you research. Pa is 48 or 49th in the entire country in the ratio of state employees per resident. The number of retirements was 4,200 this year and believe me they are not in a rush to hire. As you know the state cut over $400 million from DPW. As a DPW employee, our customers will feel it right away. They have cut the budget of the welfare to work program run by PWDC 40%. This will be made up by having the remaining work done by understaffed  DPW employees.
I am proud of my union for getting a decent contract. If you break it down, it's 2% per year which is below average compared  w/ the average 2.2%  pay increase workers across have received.
It's too bad that employees paid by the taxpayer are devalued. We pay taxes, buy stuff at stores and provide essential services.
I also note that young folks are not knocking down the door to work w/ DPW. Oh, when they do, many leave after a few years.
I hope you will follow up and visit a welfare office sometime. Take a peek behind the spin of well-paid politicians and staff in Harrisburg. Talk to AFSCME council 13 and SEIU 668. I think you will get a more complete picture of how the middle class now has to fight to EVEN keep what they have now.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you and will hope some follow-up.

Regards
Mark

P.S
Denise Chambers of Philly CAO
Resigned. Word is that she was forced out.  

A Long goodbye to Lou Magazzu

Zap! He is Gone!!

Well  finally Lou Magazzu has resigned from  the  Cumberland County Freeholders mainly because the media finally reported on his naked pictures of himself sent to a unnamed mistress  somewhere.  It has been  three (3)  years  since in August 2008
when I was first exposed to his ways. of dealing with people. Since that day, I have seen him play dirty with political foes and private citizens.I am one of MANY Cumberland County Democrats that supported Magazzu Watch over the past 3 years. The media does NOT bother to mention this. He was an embarrassment to many Democrats. Lou abused MANY folks in his own party. I mean the Newark Star Ledger printed an editorial that SUPPORTED Lou! Ummm. I wonder why? To me it's pure partisan bias at work. No media outlet seems to care to find out the threats and abuse he meted out.

Good News Travals Fast!

He was THE political force of Cumberland County NJ for years. Yet after he leaves, the Democrats have a slim 4-3 majority on the Freeholder Board. This blog  has followed with interest.the goings on of Big Lou and his minions as they trampled those who DARE to question him. One such issue in Cumberland County is Teen Pregnancy. Our county has the highest rate in all of New Jersey. When a citizen wrote a critical letter in the local newspaper about Lou and the County Freeholders were handling this issue, this person was visited by County Tax Assorors at her house.
Thank you Carl and MagazzuWatch. You proved that justice can prevail with a lot of patience and persistence.
Good bye Lou and enjoy Chicago!!
This is the last of my comments on Mr Magazzu

Related articles

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• Louis Magazzu, N.J. Politician, Resigns After Nude Photos Appear Online (huffingtonpost.com)
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Sep 8, 2011, at 9:00 PM,

Well, lookin again for a person. She said this: " Yes, it looks very eclectic which I like, but it seems very full this one is priced. Thanks so much for sending today if you are available so we can discuss Thanks,o Due to this response, we spent time fixing this room for the woman who may rent this room. Moved out furniture, scraped off paint, mopped  floor and put Olde English on the floor. This is before anything was done.  I will send the after. Another fine vacation project by us. The woman visits Sat 3 pm. We sent the "after" photo and the woman was impressed. Sal, a 2nd prospective renter is coming Sunday. Oh, we are pulling out of selling the house due to the "Homekeepers" app. I GET PAID!!!!! WOW $$$$$$  Well, she wlll move in Sat.

iPhone Photos This Week

Flame From Inside

Green Dreams

Left and Right

Recession Fade

Atmosphere 11

Sparkle at the (W)hole

Father and Son