tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67647820452430345162024-03-13T22:49:48.949-04:00My Turn QuipsThis blog reflects the thoughts of its author and is an eclectic blog of original writing. Topics may include information technology, politics, social policy, employment, leisure living or local (Albany, NY) interest postings.MTQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01512280412458079496noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-5663366166309004462023-06-07T09:26:00.000-04:002023-06-07T09:26:01.327-04:00What I believe I recently commented to a family member on Facebook who was spouting off about "sin." I essentially said that the greater sin is those that judge others. I don't get pleasure out of stirring up trouble or causing family disharmony, but I wasn't in the mood for preaching at the time so I reacted. It's been quite some time since I've posted and I have often avoided Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-69519115744675970012021-12-12T11:15:00.001-05:002021-12-12T11:15:56.623-05:00What's the "real" price? The fun started with my annual pilgrimage to Spectrum's "retention" department. The game goes something like this - Spectrum provides a "promo" rate for a year, the rate runs out and you are shocked with a crazy high bill, you complain and eventually are given another promo which is usually about $10 higher than your old "promo" but looks good compared to the "regular" rate (whatever Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-18826487504513324742021-10-06T13:00:00.001-04:002021-10-06T13:00:47.979-04:00I believe, I believeI believe that I don't need to stick a sign in my front yard to tell others what I believe.I believe I am a good person without the need for displays of pretentious self righteousness. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-41256070330677244712021-02-12T19:30:00.001-05:002021-02-12T19:30:07.210-05:00Can a pantheist pray?I read Richard Dawkins' book, The God Delusion, a few years back. Among my recollections is that Dawkins' related that pantheists were really just sexed up atheists. Wow - aside from a quick laugh, that was a bit of a jolt. Hmmm, I thought, in my flavor of pantheism, god is the sum of the parts; the totality of the universe. This is a very empowering perspective as by definition you and me Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-34776586560352197272019-04-28T11:53:00.000-04:002019-04-28T11:53:00.035-04:00Another Day on the Planet
Lots of changes since I last scribbled a blog entry. In early 2018, I lost both my parents and became the executor and remained extremely busy throughout the year. Among the challenges was clearing and selling a rural property while also juggling personal emotions and the grief of family members. 2018 and beyond provided an opportunity to reflect on much - yes, even my own mortality Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-3428607046451099382017-12-12T17:06:00.002-05:002017-12-12T17:06:48.951-05:00My Hillbilly Elegy
As one may suspect by the title, I recently finished reading J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy. It had been on my "to read" list for quite some time and having failed to find a used copy, I resorted to borrowing from the local library. I toyed with the thought of titling this post along the lines of "compare and contrast" but thought the connotation conjured up images of high school essayUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-86356699064806165832017-09-15T17:15:00.000-04:002017-09-15T17:15:16.231-04:00Consumer Cellular, 46% in fees and delayed gratification
Summary: While there is much to like about Consumer Cellular (customer service, discount phones, easy to understand website and plans, etc.), the service is just too expensive. Under the cheapest plan, I am paying almost $15 each month for the active line only (no voice, text or data) with each individual call billed in addition per minute – that could add up fast. There are many Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-44786385694874442452017-06-05T17:24:00.002-04:002017-06-05T17:24:54.424-04:00Post garage sale reflections
I’m one of those sick people who enjoy garage sales – both shopping and selling. With our last soon to graduate high school we made a thorough cleaning of our house, shed, garage, basement, etc. and I held our big event over the past Memorial Day weekend. In this post I reflect on our event.
Prep work pays off – We grouped all our stuff over the course of a month or two so that it was Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-66610212681138184582017-05-14T12:25:00.002-04:002017-05-14T12:25:24.872-04:00Prelude to a lawn sale
We’ve had a couple rounds of lawn sales and as we look down the road to some sort of move, it made sense to gear up for another round of purging. I started the process by identifying some of those hidden spots that hadn’t received significant attention previously. For me, this was the basement, the shed and the garage but also quickly expanded to include other neglected hiding spots like Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-91207827889444493802017-04-25T17:22:00.001-04:002017-04-25T17:22:05.339-04:00Great Reads – 3 from Spring 2017
In general, my reads are from used book purchases – many from the Colonie (William Sanford) library or the Book Nook (Crossings Park during the summer). In selection of books, I am attracted to books that offer something a little different and these 3 exemplify this quality.
1. A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham: First and foremost, this is a book about Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-42476482978638758792017-03-28T18:32:00.001-04:002017-03-28T18:33:17.995-04:00High inEfficiency Furnace
It’s great to see spring on the horizon. While the winter wasn’t too severe as NY winters go, we experienced 2 instances of waking up to the delights of no heat / furnace not running. The first time around, we spent about 4 days huddled around the gas space heater in our 4 season room. Sometimes we were even able to get up to around 58 degrees; I guess that was preferred to theUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-16345818487456969082017-02-25T11:15:00.001-05:002017-02-25T11:15:45.709-05:00Great Reads – 3 standouts from Winter
I continue to be an avid reader and have been steadily working through my accumulation of used purchases. Among this winter’s batch, I found 3 worthy of special note:
1. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins – I confess, I delayed reading this until after Christmas… just the title itself sounds ominous and didn’t seem appropriate for the holiday season. As reflected in my past post, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-6646282081409126822016-10-21T17:16:00.001-04:002016-10-21T17:16:33.673-04:00Equal Responsibility
We’re in the midst of preparing our final child for college. He is a senior in high school and my wife has been busily assisting with the FAFSA (financial aid form). One of the interesting things about FAFSA is that the student is supposed to fill it out, but of course the student is not in a position to know much of the financial information that is required. Thus, my wife “Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-67737731137697085102016-10-04T17:10:00.001-04:002016-10-04T17:10:30.452-04:00Goodbye TripAdvisor; hello Yelp
Since the launch of my blog, I have always encouraged readers to share travel experiences through their preferred vehicle. TripAdvisor was one of the first and it was the vehicle that I have used for many of the past years. Given many years of devotion to TripAdvisor I was reluctant to change but a recent experience has pushed me over the edge and I have made the decision to move on Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-45895992211951359102016-08-08T17:20:00.000-04:002016-08-08T17:20:54.844-04:00Crossings Park Photos - 2016
I know I’ve hit the snooze button on posting as of late – While that $9.94 that I’ve racked up through AdSense in the past 3 years is compelling motivation, summer is my favorite time of year and there is so much more for me to do. This year we were able to get the pool going and I’ve been busy reading while floating – I’m not planning to try typing up a post while floating. I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-37855229344995078982016-06-30T07:00:00.000-04:002016-06-30T07:00:24.196-04:00Sometimes Pizza Hut is the best choice…
A couple years back, I recalled writing, “hooray for boring” in my posting regarding a purchase of 2012 Honda Civic… yup it’s boring and so is Pizza Hut. My dad is getting old (so am I, but as you may have figured out, he’s older than me) and for this Father’s day, I suggested we just do pizza. Yes, I know the stereotypical picture of bonding over barbeque, but as a father myself (Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-258532277490523172016-06-23T16:47:00.003-04:002016-06-23T16:47:57.005-04:00Improving performance by doing less
At first blush, this title may sound contradictory to many while others may speculate that the crux of this post is an emphasis of quality over quantity. The stress level at my job has elevated as we slowly move through yet another re-org. Often with re-orgs it is not the amount of work, it is the uncertainty. I acknowledge that my position is atypical being a full time virtualUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-31212587252880209522016-05-16T07:30:00.000-04:002016-05-16T07:30:16.304-04:00Polluting the planet by recycling
These bins need a latch!
It was another windy day in Colonie a few weeks back and sure enough I was sitting behind my laptop while I glanced out the window to see a virtual garbage storm go by. This wasn’t the first time I’ve experienced this ugly sight and it didn’t take long for me to be sufficiently aggravated to rush out the door to snap a picture of the neighbor’s offending Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-36599578342805321742016-04-24T04:00:00.000-04:002016-05-15T13:30:17.613-04:00Don’t bring your bottles here
New York has had a bottle return law for at least 30 years. I know this due to working part time at Stewart's after being discharged from the army in 1985. It was a pretty unsophisticated system back then; the customer brought their empties and they were often counted on the counter and then placed in the back. Stewart's was never equipped to handle big bottle returns and we (Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-46501055680637841642016-04-11T17:17:00.001-04:002016-04-11T17:17:05.101-04:00Trust me; I’m a Christian
Ugghh, we’re used car shopping once again for child #2. Between her, my wife and me, we often have 5 different opinions when it comes to picking a car so there was a glimmer of hope as my wife and I trekked off to see a low mileage Versa posted on Craig’s list. My initial contact went smooth, excepting what sounded like a heavy Russian / Ukraine area accent making comprehension Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-4807127833577562182016-02-24T07:30:00.000-05:002016-02-24T07:30:07.734-05:00Full time telework – one year later
It’s been a little over a year since I transitioned to full time telework and based on the popularity of a prior posting on the topic I thought I would reflect on my experiences. For better or for worse, our organization is a big supporter of teleworking. I add the “for worse” part as in my work interactions I often see instances where I question whether the individual should beUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-92230514191817249732016-02-10T07:30:00.000-05:002016-02-10T07:30:11.591-05:00The Twenty Minute Shit
I received an email from a friend which related that he was leaving his government job so that I would be aware and not attempt to reach him through his work email. This message took me by surprise on two fronts. I was surprised to receive the message because we had not corresponded in quite some time, but I was more surprised to hear that he was leaving his government job. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-77157889789100006592016-01-27T07:30:00.000-05:002016-01-27T07:30:06.031-05:00Sex offenders want to steal your identity
Or so you would think… Like many others, I received a notice from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that my personal information was among the many that were compromised and as a result I was offered free credit monitoring for a limited period of time. So like a fool, I froze my credit and accepted the free credit monitoring… the frozen credit has resulted in an inability to obtain Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-14860675402965279992015-09-01T07:30:00.000-04:002015-09-01T07:30:00.584-04:00I fired my insurance agent
...and I'm so happy I did!
No, I don't enjoy firing people as much as Donald Trump but sometimes you need to do the deed. I had the same agent for 8 or so years. The first hint of the relationship changing came about 3 years ago or so when the smaller independent agency that I used was gobbled up by a larger agency. The changes weren't immediate but there was a feel that Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764782045243034516.post-21101566700572717322015-07-07T07:30:00.000-04:002015-07-07T07:30:01.033-04:00The Next Bubble to Bust
Happy days are here again - housing is working itself out of its doldrums and stocks have been surging for the past several years. I know my retirement accounts are looking much healthier so with my cup half fully, why do I worry about the half that is empty? Perhaps it is from recently reading Michael Lewis’ Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World or maybe it was a recent Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0