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My Toyota

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

After owning three successive Dodge Dakotas, we bought a new Toyota Tundra last May.  It is a 2009 4-wheel drive pickup truck with the full-sized backseat.  We asked the dealer to make three modifications as a condition of purchasing the vehicle.  They agreed, then did none of them.  No wonder car dealers have a reputation for “say anything to make a sale.”

Anyway, our Tundra was one of over four million Toyotas recalled last summer because of a reported problem with the driver’s floor mat slipping underneath the pedals.  Our mat is secured by a big plastic clip and it can’t be moved even with force, so we filed the recall notice in the “if it ever becomes a problem” folder. 

Now Toyota has begun a recall of over one million vehicles – again ours is on the list – because the accelerator sticks.  An advocacy group, Safety Research and Strategies, has said that since 1999 Toyotas have had 2,274 incidences of “sudden unintended acceleration” leading to 18 deaths in 275 crashes.

We haven’t received the recall notice yet, but even when we do there is no hurry to get out Tundra back to the dealer.  Toyota hasn’t yet come up with a solution to the problem.  It’s some sort of multiple problem concerning interconnected linkage.  It’s not just spraying it with WD-40 or replacing a single part and everything is okay.

Our Tundra is our third vehicle, so we don’t drive it often.  We use it to get from our home in Cape May County, New Jersey to our vacation log home in mountains of Pocahontas County, West Virginia.  It’s 396 miles each way. 

We needed the 4-wheel drive in case of snow or ice going through the mountains, and the large size gives us plenty of room to bring along all the tools, supplies, etc that we always seem to need.  But other than those trips (about 12,000 miles a year), our Toyota stays parked under cover in New Jersey.  We each drive smaller, more economical vehicles in our everyday New Jersey life.

Toyota has put out some warnings of what symptoms to look for in advance of your gas pedal sticking.  They say the pedal may gradually become harder to depress, and there may be a roughness or chattering when pressing or releasing the gas pedal.  It that happens, call your Toyota dealer.

If the pedal does stick at full acceleration, follow these steps:  Brake hard, but don’t pump the brakes, just depress the brake pedal enough without going into a skid.  Then throw the engine in “neutral”.  While the engine will still be running at excessive RPM’s, it won’t be pushing you along anymore.  Don’t turn the engine off until you’re safely stopped and off the road.  Got all that?

We’re sure Toyota will figure out a solution to the problem soon, then we can all take our vehicles to the dealer for the repairs.  We’re just sorry that we have to go back to the incompetent dealer that we bought it from.

- Mountain Man and City Girl    http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ    http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

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Changing Face of Retail

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Many scoffed 20 years ago at projections that internet retail sales would be a major factor in the future.  “I’ll never buy anything on the internet,” so many of us said.

Well, guess what?  In the third quarter of 2009, US internet sales were $34 billion.  Out of a total of $922 billion in US retail sales, that figure represents 3.7% of all sales being done with a mouse and keyboard at hand in front of a computer screen. 

For someone who knows what they want to purchase, the internet is the way to go.  It sure beats driving 45 miles each way to a retail store to come away either empty handed because their product wasn’t what you wanted, or with something you paid 20% or so above internet cost.

Forbes recently released its list of retail stores that are in serious economic trouble in 2010.  Some are a victim of the internet, some the economy, and some have been trumped by discount big box stores like WalMart, Costco and Target.

Borders and Waldenbooks may be the first to fold in 2010.  Amazon.com has stole the show.  It’s so much easier to order a book over the internet and have it at your door in a week.  But there’s another factor that has doomed the book retail stores.  I sell my book through Amazon and 79 other internet sites, plus my own website at http://www.RoadtripBabyBoomer.com .  They are printed “on demand” and I make about $5 per book.  But to put your book in a retail outlet you get about $1 per book, and have to buy back any they don’t sell at full wholesale price.  That often makes authors owe money instead of making it.  Hence, the big box bookstores have a less diversified inventory because unknown authors shy away.

Blockbuster is also in deep doo-doo.  Netflix and avenues to download movies on-line have made going to the video store to pick out a movie a fading memory.  The movie rental business is on its last legs.

Ritz Camera has also been identified by Forbes as a candidate for euthanasia.  If you know the camera you want, it’s less expensive and usually less of a hassle to buy it on-line.  And really, who needs film developed anymore?

Other outlets that Forbes put on its death-watch list are KB Toys, Zales Jewelers, and Starbucks.  The first two are basically victims of the poor economic times.  Excessive purchases of toys and jewelry are easily eliminated from a family budget as unnecessary. 

As for Starbucks, they expanded too rapidly.  There’s only so many yuppies out there.  I’m a guy’s guy.  I don’t care about a Sumatra and Guatemalan coffee blend, a Frappuccino, a Ski Cinnamon Dolce Latte, or an Espresso Truffle.  I don’t know what those are, but I’d be downright embarassed to stand there and order one.  Give me a break!

- Mountain Man and City Girl    http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ    http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

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Jersey Shore – The TV Show

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

I’m not really one to watch MTV.  It’s not my generation.  I’m a couple generations past that.  So when I read in the newspaper that Italian-American groups were repulsed and offended by the show “Jersey Shore”, it piqued my interest.

I feel qualified to have an opinion about the Jersey Shore (the place, not the show) because, heck, I live here.  Our real estate office is located in Wildwood Crest, Cape May County.  We’re just four blocks from the beach and the beginning of the 39 city block long Boardwalk.  From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the population on our island swells from 14,000 yearround to over 250,000.

Our closest metropolitan area is Philadelphia.  It’s predominantly Italian and Irish heritage.  And it’s a rite of passage for families and their kids to vacation here.  It’s also an unofficial “tradition” that kids in their late teens and twenties come here in the summer to party.  Party hard!  Party hard away from their elders, out of sight of those who might inflict family repercussions.

I have a little more insight than most because I also owned a bar here from 2002 through 2004.  Though my tavern was off the beaten track and it attracted an older (30 to 75) crowd, I did become acquainted with many other bar owners and I did make the late night rounds more than once.

Long story short, I recently did catch two episodes of Jersey Shore.  It’s about these eight Italian-American young twenty-somethings who come to the shore town of Seaside Heights, NJ, about 50 miles north of us.  They have an assortment of MTV-generation names like Snooki, JWoWW, and The Situation.  The Situation?  Give me a break.

Anyway, they primp and argue at their rented beach house, then go out and drink and carouse, and inevitably come home and be promiscious with a newfound partner.  They call it “hooking up”.  You can call it what you like.

They also get into fights and do other immature, egotistical things.  They are an extreme example of typical summertime behavior.  Tone it down a little bit and they’re just like the others who go “Animal House” at the shore.

The Italian-American groups call Jersey Shore demeaning and not reality.  “That’s not how our kids act,” is their general feeling. 

Bottom line: 

Is this behavior the norm at the shore in the summertime?  Yes.  It’s called “sowing your oats” before settling down to a lifetime of responsibility and 2.3 kids and a soccer-mom vehicle and a mortgage.

Should Italian-American groups be offended?  No.  Get over it.  It’s also Irish-American kids and CEO’s kids and teachers’ kids and mayors’ kids.  And your kids!

- Mountain Man and City Girl    http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com 

The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ    http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

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Internet Gambling in New Jersey

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Internet gambling in the United States is illegal.  It’s cut and dried.  But a recent federal appeals court decision just may have given states the option to offer internet gambling within their own borders.  In cash-strapped New Jersey, which is expected to have the seventh largest budget deficit this fiscal year of the 50 states, the notion has appeal.

State Senator Raymond Lesniak recently introduced bill S3167, which would indeed legalize such popular games as poker, baccarat, blackjack, roulette, craps, slot machines, and more.  With New Jersey’s distinction of having the toughest gambling laws in the United States, implementing the on-line form seems a natural and comforting fit.

Currently, there are thousands of global internet gambling sites.  They are illegal in New Jersey, in part because there is no way for the state gaming commission to determine whether these games offer fair odds.  Many who do still gamble illegally on the internet complain of not being able to collect their winnings.  Would you trust a gambling site located in the Philippines or Bulgaria?

The other reason they are not legal in New Jersey is rather obvious – Atlantic City.  The state’s 11 casinos generated $3.9 billion in revenue in 2009.  While down from $5.2 billion in record-setting 2006, it still is a major contributor to state coffers.

The new internet gambling bill, if eventually made into law, would require all gaming companies to be headquartered around Atlantic City.  The New Jersey Casino Control Commission, also based in AC, would be able to monitor the new companies, plus develop “technical standards for approval of software, computers and other gaming equipment used to conduct internet wagering, including mechanical, electrical or program reliablility, security against tampering, the comprehensibility of wagering, …. blah, blah, blah.”   Did you get all that?

Internet site operators would pay $200,000 the first year for a license, with a $100,000 annual renewal.  They’d also pay a $100,000 non-refundable deposit and another $100,000 towards treating compulsive gambling.  They’d fork over a 20% tax to the casino revenue fund and another tax would give money to the New Jersey Racing Commission.  No wonder so many groups are salivating over the prospect of internet gambling.

AC Mayor Lorenzo Langford spoke in favor of the internet gambling concept, while casino operators seem concerned that the bill might allow video lottery terminals (VLT’s) and slot machines at the state’s race tracks.  The AC casinos are currently paying the horseracing industry $90 million over three years in an agreement that bans VLT’s from tracks.

With New Jersey’s perilious money situation, internet gambling seems like a good revenue producer.  The AC casinos will survive because, let’s face it, you don’t have the glitz of the casinos and shows and entertainers and restaurants sitting at home on your computer.  And you can bet that the 11 casinos will be the first in line to get those new internet gaming licenses.  They see the possibilities!

- Mountain Man and City Girl   http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ  http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

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ATV’s in New Jersey

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Let’s face it.  Unless you live in rural America and own a large tract of land, there is no place for all-terrain vehicles (ATV’s).  Here in New Jersey, with a population density of 1,134 people per square mile, ATV’s are a fish out of water.

New Jersey’s Assembly and Senate recently approved a bill which would regulate ATV’s, while at the same time creating three parks for ATV’s and dirtbikes.  Governor Jon Corzine, whose last day in office is today, is expected to sign the bill into law as he packs up his belongings.  If he doesn’t give it his John Hancock, incoming Governor Christopher Christie no doubt will enact ATV laws in the near future.

New Jersey prohibits dirt bikes and ATV’s from all public lands, which includes state parks, preserves, utility power lines, and roads.  Unfortunately, many riders have thumbed their noses at the law and police regularly have cat and mouse pursuits of scofflaws.  Many municipalities, including here in Middle Township, Cape May County where we live, have had to purchase ATV’s and train officers to catch the illegal riders.

The new ATV regulations going into effect would require all owners to register their machine within six months.  New vehicles have to be registered to take delivery.  The cost will be $50, plus a $10 surcharge to help fund the three riding parks.  The fine for getting caught without a registration will be $500.  Since the ATV’s and dirt bikes would now have license plates front and rear, police and the public should have no problem spotting unregistered vehicles.

There are 85 ATV and dirt bike dealers listed in New Jersey.  There are 25,000 riders, according to estimates.  Acquiring three riding parks will probably be difficult.  They’ll have to be located away from populations, wetlands, and water.  Presumably, they’ll locate one each in North Jersey, Central Jersey, and South Jersey.  Hopefully, the 1.1 million acre Pinelands will be off-limits in the South.

The root of ATV problems can often be traced to condescending parents, who buy their kid a dirt bike or ATV even though there is nowhere to legally operate it.  Soon a bunch of kids are tearing through private property, destroying gates and fences and rutting footpaths to the point that they are unwalkable.  The ruts also hold water, making ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes.  And then there are the idiots who chase deer and other wildlife.  Irresponsible adults are as often to blame as teenagers for the many transgressions of riders.

That said, ATV’s aren’t all bad.  In West Virginia, where we also own a log home on 19 acres, ATV’s are permitted on any road that is not a “numbered highway”.  That makes zipping down to the neighbors for a cup of coffee as easy as hopping on your machine, which many have parked right outside the front door.  But West Virginia has just 75 folks per square mile (6% of NJ) and plenty of families own 100-acre tracts.  Riding in a National Forest, however, still results in confiscation of the ATV if caught.

Let’s hope that New Jersey’s new ATV laws put an end to the illegal trespassing that so many riders feel is their inherent right.  This is a chance to legitimize their hobby.

- Mountain Man and City Girl

http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com 

The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ  http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

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Health Care Reform – Good or Bad?

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

The debate rages on in America.  To have or have not?   Health care, that is.

On the surface, affordable health care for everyone seems like a good idea.  But then again, so does communism.  But implementing an ideal is another thing.  Man’s inherent greed, competitive nature, and downright incompetence can turn the most well-intentioned plan into a complete boondoggle.  I could have used much stronger language than “boondoggle”.

There is one showstopping point to President Obama’s universal health care plan that most everyone seems to have overlooked.  It’s NOT health care, it’s disease treatment.  Think about it.

If the government - and society in general - really cared about people’s health, they’d tackle the nutrition situation.  Proper nutrition prevents the majority of illnesses.  That’s the heart of all our health problems.  Eat right and the body will help heal itself.  The body is an efficient machine if it gets the right nutrients.  Just like your car running on 87 octane fuel.  Try running it on 65 octane and see what happens.

So a true health care plan would include education on nutrition.  While most Americans will guffaw at this suggestion, we need to all become vegetarians.  Ingesting animal products and processed sugars is like, well, putting sugar in your car’s gas tank.  It sputters and dies.

But enough on that subject.  Let’s get back to this “disease treatment” reform bill. 

 

The House of Representatives passed  their version of the bill on November 7 by a narrow margin of 220-215.  On December 24, the Senate passed their version of the bill 60-39.  The one missing vote was that of the late Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.

Since the two arms of government passed different versions of the bill, it will have to be reconciled and voted on again by both houses.  If Republican Scott Brown gets elected in Tuesday’s special Senatorial election in Massachusetts, the Senate vote will no doubt end up 60 to 40 and the bill will die.  If Democrat Martha Coakley wins, the Senate will most likely still favor the bill.

As things currently stand, no health reform will result in 54 million uninsured Americans by 2019.  But the House bill would still leave 17 million uninsured by 2019 and the Senate bill 23 million.  The 10 year cost is touted as $1.05 trillion for the House version and $871 billion for the Senate’s.  It’s the struggling middle, upper middle, and upper classes that will be footing the bill.  This recession has hurt them, too.

The major sticking point for most Americans is that coverage will be mandatory.  Not getting insurance coverage will result in some sort of fines or penalty tax.  That’s outrageous!

Another taint is that in order for the Senate to get the necessary vote of Democrat Ben Nelson, a former insurance industry lawyer and consultant, they granted the state of Nebraska $100 million over 10 years to cover expansion costs of Medicare.  The main beneficary:  insurance companies writing policies in Nebraska.  There were other abuses, trade-offs, and compromises in both house’s bills.

So we’ve gone full circle.  Back to greed and incompetence.  Is affordable health care a good thing?  Yes.  Can we trust the government to oversee it?  Not hardly.

Back to the drawing board.

- Mountain Man and City Girl

http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ

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Leave it to Beaver

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

I grew up in North Jersey in the 1950′s in one of those “Leave it to Beaver” families.  Dad commuted to work each morning in suit and tie, while Mom stayed home and attended to running the household.  She got us kids off to school each morning after feeding us a hearty breakfast and packing our brown bag lunch.  We were each given a nickel for our milk container purchase at school, later raised to an outrageous dime.

When we got home from school, Mom was there with milk and cookies, or some other goodie.  The house was spotless and absolutely nothing was out of place.  The beds were always made to the point of perfection and the hamper was empty.  Clothes were hanging on the clothes line in the backyard.

We kids hurried to change into play clothes, then rushed out the door as Mom said cheerfully, “Dinner is at 5:30.  Don’t be late.”  Needless to say, a nice, hot meal of meat, potatoes, and a vegetable were on the dinner table at 5:30.  What a life!

We had one car, which Dad used each day.  To get anywhere, our options were to ride our bikes or walk.  Mom was not our chaufeur.  We kids (mostly me because I was the oldest) were expected to mow the lawn, rake leaves, and shovel snow.  No excuses were acceptable. 

 

But that’s not today’s reality.  In statistics recently released by the US Census Bureau, concerning families comprised of a married couple with kids under 18 years old, you can see that the American way of life has changed dramatically from the Ward and June Cleaver, Wally and Beaver (okay, Theodore) days.

Two thirds of these American families have both parents working.  That’s 17 million families where the kids probably don’t have a June Cleaver to come home to every day.  Called “latch-key kids”, they come home from school to an unsupervised house.  No wonder they live on junk food, fast food, and watch too much TV and spend too much time playing video games. 

Now only 28 percent (7.3 million families) of fathers are the sole breadwinners.  That throws the Ward Cleaver model right out the window.  Another telling statistic is that in 4% of families (just under a million), the wife is the sole supporter.  Maybe that’s why beer sales are up?  Just kidding.  A lot of that can be attributed to this recession which has eliminated many construction and trades jobs.  But does Dad take up the traditional homemaker role?  Only in 16% of the families, they say.

In today’s world, a family does without any frills unless both parents are employed.  It’s the way it is.  But how many kids can never share the memories I have of coming home after school to Mom’s freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies and a loving hug.

- Mountain Man and City Girl

http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

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LPGA Returning to South Jersey

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

After a three year hiatus, the Ladies Professional Golf Association will once again be staging a golf tournament in southern New Jersey.  The gals have been missed.

The LPGA began its 21-year run in the area in 1986 with the Atlantic City LPGA Classic, held at the Marriot Seaview CC.  Two years later the venue was changed to Greate Bay CC in Somers Point, where it stayed through 1997.  The tournament was moved back to the Seaview in 1998 and it played there through 2006.  The event was called the ShopRite Classic beginning in 1992, when Wakefern Foods took over as the main sponsor.

The tournament was pulled after the 2006 event because of then LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens.  The coveted date – in early to mid June – is the just prior to the LPGA championship, meaning most of the name players attend the event.  ShopRite was pushed aside for a new upstart tournament, Annika Sorenstam’s Ginn Tribute, played in South Carolina.  ShopRite was offered an unacceptable September date and the tournament folded.

The Ginn Tribute lasted just two years and Bivens controversial tenure as commissioner likewise was shot down in flames.  The tour’s big name players, fed up with Bivens, forced her resignation in July, 2009.  Michael Whan, a 45-year old businessman, has just taken over as the new commish.

Tail between legs, the LPGA came back to the South Jersey golf world in November and offered the 2010 date.  It was gladly accepted.  This year the Classic will be June 14-20, then the next four years are penciled in for the first week of June.  The LPGA championship is the following week each year.

The LPGA needs the South Jersey tournament.  The tour schedule has dropped from the norm of 30 tournaments a year to just 23 this year, of which 10 are being played outside the USA.  The tight economy has made sponsors tough to find.  The tour is on shaky footing.

The ShopRite Classic’s biggest contribution to the area has been the giving to charities.  In 2006, $1.8 million went to local charities.  Over the course of 21 years, about $13 million has gone to local hospitals and other youth, health, and community non-profits.  Local businesses also see a gain in revenue the week all the lady pros and spectators are in South Jersey.

Welcome back, girls.  Hope your stay is permanent.

- Mountain Man and City Girl

http://www.MountainManandCitygirl.com

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Cattle are the Problem

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

As Easterners, many of the problems of public lands in the West go right over our heads.  I guess it’s a NIMBY thing.  You know, Not In My Back Yard.  Since the issue isn’t in our backyard, we give it little thought.  We should.

The federal government, especially the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), institutes policies that are decimating the herds of wild horses and burros in the West.  Since 1971, the BLM has “removed” 270,000 wild horses and burros from federal lands and taken away 20 million acres of their range.  That leaves just 37,000 animals remaining, but another 12,000 are slated to be “removed” in 2010.  The preferred way of rounding up these majestic beasts is to chase them with helicopters – freaking them out in the process and separating mothers from offspring.

Bison are another victim of government interference, this time mainly the State of Montana is the culprit.  There is a well-spread myth that the Yellowstone bison – if they wander out of the National Park – will spread brucellosis to cattle.  The problem with that argument is that there has never been a documented case of that happening.  Never.  And the cattle in surrounding areas are all vaccinated against brucellosis anyway.  That still hasn’t stopped State of Montana-hired riflemen from slaughtering 6,631 Yellowstone bison since the winter of 1985-’86, including 1,616 in ’07-’08. 

 

So what is really behind all this genocide of certain species?  You guessed it – Western ranchers and the cattle industry.

There are 31,000 ranchers in the West who are utilizing 260 million acres of federal land (yes, you and I own it) to graze their cattle.  And they pay a pittance for the opportunity.  The cost is just $1.92 per Animal Unit Month (AUM).  An AUM is defined as a cow and calf or 5 sheep or a horse.  In other words, a cattleman pays $23.04 per year to graze a cow and her growing calf.  No wonder it costs $52 million more per year in administrative costs than is collected in fees.

Cattle are not easy on the federal lands.  They overgraze the land, leaving behind the undesirable weeds.  They trample vegetation and compact the soil, causing erosion and soil loss.  They foul streams and wetlands with fecal matter.  With the BLM issuing 7.8 million AUM’s a year and the US Forest Service another 6 million AUM’s, you can imagine the impact of nearly 20 million non-native cattle on the environment.

There’s another cost.  Each cow produces 600 liters per day of methane.  That releases the yearly CO2 equivalent of burning 418 million gallons of gas or 19,263 railroad cars of coal.  Yikes!

So what is the bottom line?  Western cattlemen feel that it is their right to have nearly exclusive use of federal lands for their benefit.  Wild horses and burros and bison be damned.  And so the powerful cattlemen lobbyists pressure Western Senators and Congressmen and Governors to make sure that these animals don’t consume feed that they feel is for their cattle.  The same mentality leads to the shooting of coyotes, wolves, mountain lions, etc. in the name of protecting their precious cattle.

Something is wrong here!

- Mountain Man and City Girl

http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

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The Decline of Sports

Friday, January 8th, 2010

I don’t usually write about sports.  Well, that’s not exactly true.  Let me rephrase that – I don’t usually write about sports on this blogsite.  I am a retired sportswriter, having penned over 5,000 articles from 1991 through 1999.  That’s about 1.4 articles a day, every day, for nine years and eight months.  But, that’s in the past.

Anyway, allow me to make some observations about sports.

Sports on television are being started too late in the evening.  Last night’s college football championship game between Alabama and Texas started at 9:38pm Eastern time on a Thursday night.  None of my buddies stayed up that late, nor did I.  Our bedtimes are around 9:00.  The same goes for kids, which are the future of sports viewership.

Forget the West Coast.  Put games on at 7:00 Eastern, and let the Left Coast folks watch it at 4:00 in the afternoon.  That makes a lot more sense and would definitely multiply viewership amoungst the old guys and young kids.  Plus, guys in California would have a great excuse to leave work early to catch a World Series baseball game, NBA final, and so on.  When I lived in SoCal, I loved to get up on a Saturday morning in the fall and flip on a Penn State football game at 9am.  That was great.

The pro sports seasons are waaaaay too long.  Hockey starts in October and ends in May, the World Series ends in November, the NBA wraps it up in mid-June, and the Super Bowl is in February.  Give me a break!  By then, only the diehard fans give a hoot.  The casual fan is on to other things.

And yes, you guys ARE role models.  Stop the denials.  Kids look up to you, and you teach that it  is alrght to be moody, disrespectful, not a team player, and, sadly, even a felon.  Growing up, my sports heroes were guys like Sandy Koufax, Johnny Unitas, and Jerry West.  They were squeaky clean, the proto-typical All-American boys.  They didn’t carry guns, get in brawls, and beat their wives, unlike many of today’s “idols”.  And then there’s Tiger Woods, who let down an entire generation of kids.

As far as sports for kids on a participation level, that too is slipping.  The reason?  Parents.  It seems like every parent knows more than the coach.  And the umpires or referees.  How often do you read of a parent assaulting a coach or ref?  Too frequently.  Other parents scream at them the entire game.  What message does that send?  It’s no wonder that so many kids start dropping out of sports as they progress through school. 

Kids want to play sports for the love of the game.  They love the crack of the bat, the smell of a baseball glove or pigskin, the swish of a basketball net, or crunch of hockey skates digging into the ice.  The sounds and smells and comradie of sports make it what it is.

So, as we age, we continue with sports by living vicariously as a spectator, rather than an athlete.  But who can afford to take the wife and two kids to a game and shell out $500 for tickets and food?  So we resort to TV and these ridiciously long seasons and late night games and infinite commercials.

It’s discouraging.  Joe DiMaggio, where have you gone?

- Mountain Man and City Girl

http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

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Words are Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Isn’t the English language “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.  That 34 letter word, sung so handsomely by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in the movie Mary Poppins, means wonderful.  It is the longest non-medical, non-technical, non-foreign word in the English language.  Did you get all that?

Well, that is unless you consider it not really a word, since it was made up by the two brothers who wrote the song for the Disney movie.  In that case, the longest word is “antidisestablishmentarianism”, at 28 letters.  Can’t you remember back in the 1950s or ’60s being so smug because as an eight year old you knew the longest word in the English language?  That tongue twister originally meant, basically, opposition to the proposal to disestablish the Church of England.  Yikes.  Not to be outdone, some folks have added “pseudo” to the beginning of the word to stretch it to 34 letters.

In the category of English place names, there’s an 85 letter word for a certain hill in New Zealand.  I won’t bother typing it.  The two longest words in the entire English language are, well, a bit extreme.  There’s a 189,819 letter word that is the chemical name for a protein.  And the overall winner is the 280,000 word name for DNA, that molecular structure that embodies life.  The word is so long that it reportedly has never been written.  Duh.

We certainly have come a long way from the days when cavemen pointed and probably said, “Ugh”. 

The evolution of our civilization is directly tied to the evolution of our sophisticated language.  As communication became more effective, humans could interact better and progress was made.  Of course, earth still had to endure millenia of slavery, savagery, and wars, but in the end things got better because we became better communicators.  Ideas were able to be passed from one generation to the next, with each generation improving on the past.  Socrates taught Plato, who taught Aristotle, who taught Alexander the Great, and so on.  Later on, Leonardo da Vinci was followed by Copernicus, who was followed by Galileo.  Continuing the procession of ideas and thought, Darwin was followed by Einstein, blah, blah, blah.  You get the picture.

Without the continuing upgrading of language for the past 30,000 years, where would we be today?  Schools wouldn’t exist, teachers wouldn’t teach, there would be no books, no pencils, no computers.  We’d still be hunter-gatherers, living in small clans and wandering the land.  Life would be eat or be eaten, stay warm or perish.

So as you read this, contemplate the 600 generations that improved communication.  We exist as we do because the human spirit strived to be better.

- Mountain Man and City Girl

http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

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The Demise of “da inglish langwij”

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Maybe it’s me.  But I’m really amazed at how the majority of the American public has no sense of correct spelling and grammar.

Since you are reading this blog instead of sitting home on the couch watching Jerry Springer or hanging out in an alley sipping some Boone’s Farm Apple Wine and puffing on a cigarette, you are also probably confounded by how the English language is being butchered.

As a realtor, I am actually getting used to the fact that so many people spell realty as R-E-A-L-I-T-Y.  Duh!  Isn’t reality one of those dumb shows where people eat maggots or get stranded together on an island?

And how about people who say, “I ain’t got none.”  Gee, I didn’t learn not to use double negatives until I was in the fourth grade.  Or was it sooner? (Did you notice my use of a double negative?)

I guess our educational systems are to blame.  Teachers become babysitters to half the kids, while the other half actually learn and excel.  I was always in the “accelerated” class growing up in progressive North Jersey, so I was separated from the dummies after kindergarten and apparently forgot they existed.  Perhaps that’s why I’m perplexed by their lack of English fundamentals.

Yet, you would think that after 10 or 12 years of school people would have retained some elements of grammar and spelling.  Some people come from the worst possible environment or home life, but somehow they work hard and get college degrees and end up with high-paying jobs.  They show that anyone can excel.

So how come some people can’t even fill out a job application or handle a job interview?  The answer may be that they concentrated on being “cool” when they were in school, instead of toeing the line.  I guess that once again lays the blame on the schools.

I’m not sure what the solution is.  More compassion from teachers, smaller classrooms, more individual attention?  Maybe more direction from parents, but if they’re half-literate that’ll be tough.

Maybe we better just play taps for the English language and bury it with honors.

- Mountain Man and City Girl

http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

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New Year’s Resolutions

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

I’m not really the type of guy to make New Year’s resolutions.  I guess it’s because I’ve pretty much always been in control of my life.  Okay, so I always want to lose weight and I guess that is the one resolution that I might think about each December.  But it probably has more to do with the overeating I enjoy from Thanksgiving through January 1st and it’s just a coincidence of calendar.

But, what the heck.  Let me see if I can’t take a few things that bother me and turn them into New Year’s resolutions.

I vow to pay no attention to the Nostradamus prophecy of the end of the world on December 21, 2012.  Give me a break.  There’s no way some dude in 1555 could predict the end of civilization.  As the stoned-out hippies used to say, “Far out, I see it, too.”  Nostradamus will get the attention equal to Y2K, and fail as miserably.

I vow not to mumble under my breath when I see a woman covered in tattoos.  Sure, I think it’s degrading, even belittling.  But I’ll keep my mouth shut.

I vow not to make fun of religion.  So what if it is a continuance of primitive pagan rituals that fly in the face of science.  So what if religion has been the basis of wars and murder for many millineum, and still is to this day.  I’ll just consider it population control.

I vow not to complain when a bunch of brats are screaming in a store, “I want that!” and the mother exerts no control, no authority.  She’s probably dumber than them, anyway.

I vow not to get upset when the driver in front of me turns without signalling.  Or hogs the passing lane while going 5 mph under the speed limit.  I’ll just keep driving my beat-up truck that subtly says, “I don’t care, I’ll ram you.”

I vow not to get pissed off when I see a dog tied up to a chain out in the pouring rain with no cover, no food, no hope.  Maybe the dog was Idi Amin in its last life and deserves it.

I vow not to speak badly about ALL politicians and our corrupt government system.  There must be one politician out there with the ethics of Gandhi.

And lastly, I vow to not take seriously any of these stupid New Year’s resolutions.  If I can’t bitch and complain and grumble, what do I have to look forward to in 2010?

- Mountain Man

http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

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Wildwood’s SENSATIONAL 60s WEEKEND

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

The Greater Wildwood Chamber of Commerce is presenting a fabulous weekend of fun at the shore.  Starting with Friday, April 25th, Jerry Blavat will be hosting a ’60s Record Hop.  What a great way to start the weekend.  Grab your honey and dance the night away!

Then on Saturday afternoon there is a Street Fair with free live entertainment featuring “TRU” and The Mahoney Brothers, contests galore, all kinds of street  vendors, the Classic Car Show, a Doo Wop Back to the ’50s Tour and so much more.  How can you resist?

Saturday night is the Sensational ’60s Concert featuring The Temptation Review, The Miracles, The Family Stone Xperience, and “Tru”.  I’ve been to the show every year, and it keeps getting better and better!

The festivites wrap up on Sunday with free entertainment in North Wildwood.  For more information, visit www.GWCOC.com or call 609-729-4000.

You won’t want to miss out on this great fun-filled weekend.

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Paparazzi

Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

I have to snicker when I hear a youngster say that their goal in life is to be ‘rich and famous’.  I usually tell them, “Rich, okay.  But you don’t want to be famous.”  The reason, of course, is paparazzi.  Of all the legal occupations in the world, being ‘photographer of celebrities’ has to be one of the lowest levels on the integrity scale.

Paparazzi, as you no doubt are aware, will do anything to take the picture or video of a famous person.  Then they sell it to some junk magazine or mindless website or television Hollywood gossip show.  But the fact that they profit from such a shallow pursuit isn’t what makes them so despicable, though they are.  It’s the lengths they’ll go to capturing the photo.

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Imagine the life of a paparazzi.  Sitting in your car day and night, staking out a celebrity’s home.  Or standing on the sidewalk for hours at a time outside a restaurant that attracts movie stars or music idols.  Your whole life is dedicated to taking some schmo’s picture.  That’s no way to make a difference in the world!

If I was suddenly famous, I would definitely not want this surreal attention.  You step out your door, a half dozen guys are battling to get your picture before you make it to the car.  Go to the grocery store and they’re following you up and down every aisle.  Take a Caribbean vacation, helicopters are hovering overhead or boatloads of photographers are swarming.  Big brother is watching.

All of this clandestine photography is only made possible due to unquenchable thirst of bored and boring people who live vicariously through others.  If Jane Public didn’t watch those trashy TV shows, buy those tasteless magazines, and support those hollow websites, the paparazzi would have no market for their product and they would just go away.

I don’t care about the everyday life of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, those Olsen twins.  Not interested in Brad Pitt, Jack Nicholson or Macauley Culkin.  I don’t care who’s married to whom, who’s sleeping with whom, who’s been arrested or in drug rehab or slit their wrists.  I don’t care what dress they’re wearing, what style their hair is, or what restaurant they were spotted in.

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Don’t get me wrong.  I respect a good actor because they’re a good actor.  I like their work, but I could care less about their personal life.  Same for singers, musicians, comedians, or pro athletes.  I shared a moment with you via your craft, but I don’t need to peek inside your personal life.  You’re just a person doing your job, just like me.  Is that weird?

For a photojournalist to chase these people in their cars, rumble through their trash cans, contact high school sweethearts, and turn their life inside out is inexcusable.  Show them some respect.  Let them live peaceably.  Give ‘em a dadgum break!

With all the injustice and suffering in our world, and all the problems that need to be solved to save our planet, doesn’t chasing someone around to take their photograph seem unimportant in the grand scope of things?  Isn’t one’s dignity and privacy cherished anymore?  Is nothing out of bounds?

- Mountain Man

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No More ABC’s or XYZ’s

Monday, February 11th, 2008

I understand that television and cable stations derive their income from advertisers.  Otherwise, we’d have to pay for every single program we watch.  The only cost we bear is the monthly fee to the cable company or satellite provider that gives us the television signal.

That said, there is one form of television commercial that I absolutely detest – the medical ones.  You know, the ones that start by identifying some obscure condition with initials like ED, ADA, BO, PU, whatever.  Dad gummit, give me a break!  I’m not a medical junkie who runs to the doctor all the time.  I don’t know what those initials mean, and I don’t care.

Anyway, they continue the sales pitch by showing some upper-middle class schmoes with one spouse or the other hindered by this condition … say, XYZ.  They are so well dressed, live in such a nice house, and have a perfect life in every way except for the XYZ.  The obvious concern and distress shows on their faces.

Then the commercial says, “But you don’t have to suffer anymore.”  A discourse follows on the wonders of the drug they’re peddling.  The underlying message, if the advertisement is successful, is that you’re going to pester your doctor to prescribe this drug.  Some now even boldly suggest, “Ask you doctor about …”.

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Now the kicker.  “In some cases, XYZ made lead to swollen eyeballs, your ears falling off, irregular heartbeat, itchy ankles, nausea, and/or bloody knuckles.  In rare cases, side effects of elephantiasis and/or loss of toenails may occur.”  Yikes!  You’d have to be crazy to try this stuff.  Can you say “guinea pig”?

They finish by showing the couple now enjoying a game of tennis or candlelight dinner and wine in a fine restaurant.  Their life is perfect again.  The camera fades to a picture of the glossy package that the pills for XYZ’s cure come in.  The drug  looks so wholesome, so apple pie and motherhood grand.

These drug commercials must be why man invented the TV remote control.  CLICK.

- Mountain Man

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Curiosity

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

Now that I’m in my late 50s, I find myself more often reflecting on life.  I sometimes flash to parallels between my actions in early life and how that influenced my later life.

I grew up in Wyckoff, a suburban town in Bergen County, the northernmost county in New Jersey that’s nestled next to and just west of New York City.  It’s there that I attended public school from kindergarten through the 10th grade, my “formative years”, so to speak.

I was in the advanced class from the first grade on.  We were the ones that were pushed, that the most was expected of.  We were to be the future businessmen, doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc, the educators felt.

In the 5th and 6th grades, our entire class subscribed to the New York Times, which was handed out as we entered our class in the morning.  In those days, except for lunch and gym, we never left that one classroom and we had one teacher.  Our first subject of the day was always “Current Events”.  In it, students would raise their hand, then begin a discussion based on an article in that day’s NY Times.

I loved Current Events.  I was the first to raise my hand, covering subjects from the space race to President Kennedy to the United Nations to famines in Africa.  Little did I realize that my voracious appetite for reading the newspaper would 30 years later lead to me becoming a newspaper sportswriter, then sports editor, and even publisher.

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I also was crazy about Geography.  I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the states, then all the countries of the world.  Give me a blank map and I could fill in just about every state and country and most of their capitols.  Later in life, this curiosity would lead me to live as an adult in Florida, California, Oregon, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, and St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.

The other subject that I excelled in was Mathematics.  I’m almost embarrassed to say that I put little effort into it because it came so easy.  I was a wiz, but I can’t take credit due to hard work.  I guess my brain was just set up for math.  I ended up majoring in math in college, and my abilities in math have been a major factor in my life.

Needless to say, I usually got “A’s” in the three subjects I mentioned.  The credit goes to my curiosity.  I wanted to know more and more.  “How?” and “Why?” drove my brain to dissect subjects, dig further, learn more.  Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it pushed me to excel.

- Mountain Man

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Free as a Bird

Saturday, January 19th, 2008

Remember as a kid when an adult would tell you to enjoy life now because plenty of responsibility would be on your shoulders in the future? 

In those days, few of us youngsters could fathom the upcoming burden of a job, mortgages, taxes, maintaining a vehicle, marriage, relationships, health care, or raising kids.  Jeez, I thought the adults were talking about high school or maybe college being tough, not life itself.

Now as baby boomers in our 50s and 60s, we look back to those innocent days of the 1950′s almost with envy.  Back then, life almost was like Leave it to Beaver or Ozzie & Harriet.  We had one black and white television, five channels, one car, and Mom was always home to greet you with cookies and milk when returning from school.  The call to the dinner table was a chorus of “Dad’s home” from us kids.

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At times, I’m sure we all long for those carefree days.  Catching lightning bugs, playing tag or hide and seek, walking barefoot through a meadow, climbing a tree, playing kick ball or dodgeball, laying in the grass looking at the clouds or night time stars.

As you progressed to being a teenager, new priorities emerged.  Your first date, your first kiss.  Your worries about hair, clothes, even pimples.  At the time, it was so important.  Tomorrow was always the biggest day of your life.

Now we look back and smile.  “That was nothing”, we think.  But, as full grown adults we still do get caught in the same frame of mind where we “sweat the little things”.

Maybe we should take a clue from the birds.  They take care of getting food, shelter, and security.  And they cheerily sing all day long as they accomplish those tasks.

- Mountain Man

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Hello world!

Monday, January 14th, 2008

Welcome to our Mountain Man and City Girl blog.  We hope you enjoy our various posts and feel compelled to post comments.  Some of our posts are about the real estate industry, some about life in general.  Some are thought provoking, while others are lighthearted, feel good tidbits.

Some of the many pictures you see were taken by us.  Most are from clip art programs that we purchased or available free on the internet.  All the pictures are used to enhance our stories.  We trust you’ll enjoy our blogsite.

To see the business side of us, visit our websites at http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com  or http://totempolesandwaterfalls.com

- Mountain Man

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