Rise and Shine --- The cloud is scary

Good Morning and how about that Queen!
So, about 2 p.m. Friday, my iPhone took a dive. Well, actually, it was in a bathing suit pocket when the wearer took a dive.
We don't need to go into any depth there, but, suffice to say, the phone went to a watery grave.
Sure, I tried all the Internet hits. The now paperweight sat in a bag of rice for hours. It was left out in the sun. It was blow-dried. It was plugged in.
By midday Saturday, the obvious was becoming fact in my mind, the phone was dead. I was going to have to get a new one.
I tried going though my provider (cough, AT&T, cough), but, even though my next upgrade would be available in January, they refused to help me out. If I wanted to replace the iPhone, I was going to have to pay like $450.
Uh, it's not that important.
Then I remember a coworker talking about how his son's iPhone gets wet (OK, it gets beer spilled on it) every six months or so. He goes to the Apple store to get a new one.
I figured there was no way he was paying $450 every six months, so, it was off to Apple we went.
Got there about 11:30 and, yes, there was a line since the store doesn't open until Noon on Sundays. By the way, how can Apple cry poor when people line up in front of their store at 11:30 on a Sunday.
After talking to one of the store's resident 'Geniuses' (Wait, I thought they all worked here), I got a new phone for about $150.
It's not like I have $150 sitting around doing nothing, but I figured I needed the phone (don't have a landline) and it was better than waiting until January.
I turned the new phone on, went through the set up and, about 10 minutes later, it was like I had never dunked the old phone. All the photos, numbers and browsing history were there. A game I was playing 10 minutes before the water, was at the same place I left.
Forget big brother, it's the cloud that's scary.

Rise and Shine -- Blue & White Lie

Good Morning and if it's going to be this hot, it might as well be sunny!


So, the Penn State football program was effectively killed by the NCAA yesterday.

Sure, the Nittany Lions will be playing this season and for the foreseeable future, but the sanctions imposed probably sunk the program to the depths of the game.

The loss of scholarships, bowl ban and money lost will take at least a decade or more to overcome.

To which, I say, who cares?

Penn State for years, even before the Jerry Sandusky cover-up, has been putting out a lie.

Joe Paterno was not a nice man. He was condescending. He was nasty. He was not friendly.

He apparently was different to the players, but to the media and others who crossed his paths, well, forget about it.

I only had a couple of interactions with Paterno, both as a student at the University of Pittsburgh. My junior year I traveled to Penn State to cover the game. I saw Paterno at a Friday night get together the University hosted before home games.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed, I walked up to Paterno and, with my hand out, said, "Mr. Paterno it's an honor to meet you."

The response from the coach was, well, an eye-opener, "Well, it's not an honor to meet you."

He then turned away.

I've heard similar stories over the years. Sure, the school did a good PR job of portraying their coach as this down-to-earth person.

Now, more people can see the truth.

Rise and Shine --- Hide or not?

Good Morning and a big welcome back to Mr. Humidity!

So, at the end of a week away from the office, the shooting happened in Aurora, Colorado.

We had a lot to do Friday (cutting hedges, wash, cleaning), so I didn't really check the news of the day until around dinner time.

That's when a debate entered my mind. Do I tell the children (ages 13, 10, 7) what happened?

This debate wasn't about shielding them from the realities of a world sometimes gone crazy. It's just that I like to think I can protect them from bad things. Then again, if they don't know about the dark side, they can't stay away from the dark side.

So, over dinner, we talked about the shooting.

The first question, "Why would somebody do that?" had no answer that would be good enough. Nobody really knows why evil happens, it just does.

So, we talked about safety. We talked about going to the movies ("If I was in that town, I would never see a movie again."). We talked about guns and the reasons why they should all be melted down.

In the end, we talked about how we can't keep looking over our shoulders all the time, but we need to be aware bad things can happen.

In the end, the 10-year old philosopher said it best: "When bad things happen, it is better for our future. We'll be a little bit safer."

I hope so.

Easy cure

I'll talk slowly

Ban

All

Guns

Rise and Shine --- Going Fruity

Good Morning and what was that strange wet stuff falling from the sky?




I think we get spoiled some times.

You can pretty much walk into any supermarket at any time of the year and find strawberries, watermelons, cantaloupes and a plethora of other so-called 'summer' fruits.

Thanks to industrial agriculture and imports from South America, the time of year doesn't matter.

You have to admit, though, these fruits taste a little better in the summer.

The strawberries, since the ones in the stores are likely grown around here, are that much sweeter. Same for the blueberries. Taste a strawberry today and then one in December. There is a big difference.

The biggest difference is in watermelons. I have to tell the boys all the time I won't buy watermelon after September.

Now, practically any one you pick up is sweet and juicy. By October, well, there's a reason it's a summer fruit.

To me, there's no better summer dessert than a nice fruit salad (well, OK, ice cream is nice once in awhile).

I want to do a better job of taking advantage of these things during the next few months.

Now, pass the spoon.

Rise and Shine --- Really, that long?

Good Morning and how about that Sun, Ladies and Gentlemen!




Attended a funeral service Friday for my aunt on my father's side. Haven't seen that part of the family for about 20 years. The last time any of us could remember, it was a different funeral.

Yeah, not the greatest places to catch up.

To tell the truth, I always find the situation kind of awkward and, even at my advancing age, am somewhat perplexed on how to handle it.

On the one hand, I was happy to see my cousins again. We had fun times growing up. I remember playing ball. I remember running around. I remember walking to the corner store.

Then there was the little reason why everybody was getting together.

"Hey, great to see you. Oh yeah, sorry about your mother."

It's sad, but it's happy. Too many things going on at once.

By the end of the day, after eating too much, drinking too much and spending too much time in the sun, everybody seemed to be smiling.

Here's to hoping it's not another 20 years.

Rise and Shine --- Ahhh...

Good Morning and maybe we could mix in a little gentle rain this week?




Anyway, I'm already sick of the presidential election and things haven't even really started.

I'm sick of hearing Mitt Romney talk. I'm sick of hearing the rhetoric about the economy, jobs, global warming and healthcare.

I'm sick of being inundated with false report after false report. I'm sick of the commercials where they take one comment from something four, five, six years ago and try to make a point. I'm sick of hearing all these rich people tell me what I should be thinking.

Really, let's face it, most people have already decided who they are going to vote for in November. Those few still sitting on the fence aren't going to be swayed by attack ads.

Yes, it's going to a long stretch of politics.

By the way, saw this yesterday and it's pretty funny.

Rise and Shine --- Just saying...

Good Morning and there is always something calming about a thunderstorm in the summer!




OK, maybe I'm strange. I know storms, especially those summer ones, can cause a lot of trouble. I remember the one a few years ago that knocked out our power for nearly a week.

Still, when there's no damage coming, I like watching the lightning and hearing the thunder.

Like I said, I'm a little strange. I mean, I like to put peanut butter on those Sweetzels Spiced Wafers they sell in the fall.

By the way, speaking of cookies, who cares if Oreo offers multi-colored cream. It all tastes the same and the box doesn't last for more than an hour (at least at my house).

After years of watching the morning news programs in the office, I now pine for the days when I could turn on Curious George without getting funny looks. Really, is there any difference between Curious George's adventures and the stuff people like Steve Keeley at Fox29 try to tell us. It's only so much noise.

By the way, I am pretty sure in my journalism classes I was told there was no place for opinion in reporting the news. You know, just saying.

So, they are adding some red-light cameras along Baltimore Pike. Here are a couple of other cameras that should be added. That means a lot of people will be getting tickets in the mail all thanks to the idiot who decided it's a good idea to slow down to 3-mph when making a turn onto 320. Look, if you are going to turn, turn. It's not brain surgery.

Finally, I know it's old and I'm not a big fan of cats, but, if one can playing the keyboards, so be it: