When we came back to the house after the Beatle’s revival concert at our Library I began rummaging around to find some of our music CDs in the house. My wife fortunately knew they were still packed in boxes from our move so while I was upstairs and she was downstairs we shouted questions and answers back and forth to each other.
“Which closet?”
“The one with the Kodak camera.”
“OK but where in the closet?”
“Next to the audio tapes and between the video tapes.”
“What does the box look like?”
“Not the one with the magic marker labels that say film slides and 8MM family movies.”
“OK.”
“Or the box that says “Betamax video player” or the one that says “Pong Game, Apple 2 or Sony Walkman cassette.”
“Is it the one that says “Extra Kodachrome film and Polaroid Camera?”
“No, its the one below that.”
And so it was – chock full of plastic cases with people on the cover who had full heads of hair and songs spelled out on the back and shiny metal discs inside and just a tactile experience you don’t get from downloads from the Internet.
I also found the Panasonic CD player, popped a Beatles disc into it and hit play.
Nothing happened.
I opened the battery case and found that over the years the batteries had leaked and were wedged in like cement. Also the spongy earphones had become brittle and flaked away when you held them.

When I went downstairs for lunch my wife inquired “so…?”
“I er think the best thing to do with the CDs is upload them to our iCloud account then repack them.”
“Why repack them?”
“Maybe the Smithsonian Museum will want them.”

Have you ever wondered what is the most productive use of your time if you are commuting? Most of the time I am on a train going back and forth to a city so I get to observe what other people are doing during the ride. Here are the top ways my commuters spend their time:

1) They talk on their cell phones. This is the most interesting activity for the other passengers because they get to hear about job offers, ordering pizza to pick up on the way home, why their bosses are no good, stupid and cheap, and how they will spend their holidays in France, Freeport or freeloading at a friend’s timeshare near Disney World with the kids. Very seldom do we hear them commenting on world affairs, the economy or the role of ethics in society. Go figure.

We also get to hear different languages. I often ask people what language they are speaking so I add them to my list. So far In addition to the top three: Spanish, Chinese, and Russian, I have heard people speaking on phones to friends and relatives in Vietnam, Serbia, Greece, Germany, Bulgaria, Poland and really foreign countries like Westchester.

2) Checking email on cell phones. Sometimes for an hour straight.

3) Playing games on their laptops; typing on their laptops or reading on their iPads.

4) Checking email, playing games, talking on their cell phone, typing on their laptop and reading their iPad more or less in rotation and sometimes simultaneously when people call or text them. I can’t help but wonder about their safe no texting non-hands free driving habits so when we get to the commuter parking lot I always let them get in their cars and zoom off first. No sense in taking any chances.

5) Sleeping. Snoring. And best of all for their fellow passengers are the ones who snore and snort loudly like elephants which always brings a chuckle to most of their neighbors except of course the ones who are trying to either nod off themselves or are trying to concentrate on something important – extra cheese or veggie – deep dish or thin crust?

Very few people read paper newspapers or magazines anymore. Even fewer would dare to speak to their neighbors. Too intrusive I guess.

The first and last cars of the rush hour trains are mostly designated quiet cars. This means no talking above a whisper. No use of your cell phone. In these cars I often see extremely unusual behavior – people staring out the windows as the stations go by – thinking or dreaming or just meditating on the landscape they see and the inner landscape they are seeing as well. Sometimes this is the best use of your time – an interlude as it were – from the beginning of your journey to your final destination before you have to do it all over again the next day.

As for me what I am thinking is probably the thin crust.

I just joined Flickr today (yea I know – how come I haven’t joined before). 

While signing up to Flickr one of the check the box questions was did I want to share photos without getting paid for the images. It would seem that millions of people have generously posted their images online and allow various permissions to others to use their work as they allow.

Not that there would be any great demand for my iPhone pictures of real estate investment properties but I didn’t see any statistics on the site for people who would like to generate some licensing or sales income for their photos. 

I probably missed those but if anyone can point out how to find those statistics on the site I would appreciate it. Also I am wondering can you freely share some photos and others you reserve full copyright protection for – or is it one or the other on Flickr?

Great looking site with huge amount of photo storage. I’m looking forward to using it.

Here is an American and African success story:

While visiting Vassar College this past weekend my family stayed at the Marriott hotel in Poughkeepsie. I got into a conversation with the housekeeper for our room whose name is Joseph.

He has been in the United States for two months. Originally from Ghana he was sponsored by someone from our embassy there whom he had been doing gardening work for. Up until two months ago he has been a farmer. He took the brave step of leaving his country, family and profession to seize the opportunity to come to the States because he believed that his sponsor would be there to help him adjust to his new environment.

No sooner does he get here than his sponsor is transferred to another assignment in a European country.

What does he do?

He gets a job working in the Marriott. He gets a second job cleaning up the local mall at night and on the weekends. He rents a room He buys a second hand bike to pedal his way from job to job. He somehow finds time to improve his English skills. 

But most important he is motivated.

“Do you know,” he says to me “even after I pay all my expenses and save money for winter clothing I can send money back to my family. Do you know how many goats they can buy with that money?”

“Depends on the goats to dollar exchange rate.”

He smiled. “Many goats. You will have many goats in my country. Sheep too.”

“Come to think of it in my country there are also many goats and sheep. We call them politicians.”

“You are a funny man Mr. Jerry,” he laughed.

“I do my best, Joseph. Thanks for the compliment.”

Two stories of New York City:

While I was walking to  work from Penn Station I saw a hulking tricked out monster pickup truck veer into the lane on the avenue reserved only for intrepid urban bicyclists  

And it lumbered straight ahead toward a solo rider who refused to give way. Instead she screeched to a halt next to the truck – pounded on the hood with her hand and shouted at him: “Keep out of the bike path, can’t you read?” 

As she continued on and saw that I was staring at her she slowed down and said: “It’s my street too!”

A couple of blocks later as I was going towards my neighborhood deli to get my morning coffee. I saw a young man in an electric wheel chair who was scooting towards the ramp at the corner to cross at the red light. Two construction workers carrying  cardboard boxes of coffee engaged in an animated conversation almost collided with him as they were going up the ramp. “Hey, watch it buddy!” One of them shouted at him as they swept past.

The light changed green so I was left standing next to the guy in the wheelchair. “Wow, that was pretty rude of them,” I said.

He looked up at me grinning. “Naw, I kind of like that. It shows that they don’t treat me special. I’m just another Joe.”

Attitude is everything, isn’t it?

It was an outdoor wedding in the middle of a working farm in the middle of a sweltering July day. The wedding party – radiant smiles, elegant gowns, dark tuxedos – faced the audience from a podium and watched as a little 9 year old approached the bride and groom bearing a small pillow on which he had carefully tied ribbons to each of the two wedding rings. 

The audience of guests – some fanning themselves to stir the humid air – looked at the back of the ring bearer as he was asked to hand the first ring to the groom.

Nothing happened.

The ring bearer just stood there. The fans fluttered in the audience. People glanced at each other. The moments passed.

Then the ring bearer untied the ribbons, produced a ring with great dignity and the ceremony proceeded.

It was only afterwards that we learned that a wasp had stung the boy. Instead of crying out he had simply hunched his shoulders, endured the pain and concentrated on doing his job.

We should all be so brave.

While I was driving this morning to check out houses near Princeton it began to rain so hard that I was forced off the road and parked in an upscale small shopping mall off route 1. I dashed inside to the Starbucks and with a small decaf and a healthy oatmeal cookie sat in the leather chairs in the middle of the mall main corridor to wait out the downpour. Just me and all the Moms and their babies and toddlers.

Oh, yes and strollers. Not just any strollers but the BMWs, the Mercedes, the Rolls Royce of strollers. And they were all new. Metal struts that looked like NASCAR roll bars. Huge canvas parcels, satchels and handbags hung from gears and levers. All designer brands, Nantucket or Bermuda patterns. And there were their toddlers tottering as they walked around as their Mom’s clustered in little groups chatting with each other. No wonder the kids can’t walk. Who can blame them. Being pushed around in those deluxe strollers will simply prepare them for the time when they will be driven around by chauffeurs
in BMW, Mercedes or Rolls Royce limos.

I wonder if CarMax has thought of buying and selling used deluxe strollers? Sounds like a lucrative business to me.