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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Road Apples #36

Sirius - After much debate, I decided to renew my Sirius Satellite radio subscription for another six months. It was a difficult decision, and I was very, very close to canceling it. In fact, one of these days I really need to call those guys and find out what the deal is with 'a-la carte' channel pricing. While there are 120 channels available, I honestly maybe listen to about ten of them, probably less than 10%. Of that, about 75% of the time I am just listening to Howard Stern. Why am I paying $12/month for channels I don't listen to? More to come on this one.

Howard Stern - Probably the single biggest reason why I got Sirius was to listen to Howard Stern. I first started to listen to Howard back in the late 80's, when I was living in York Pennsylvania and I could pick up his show from, I think, Washington DC. Since then, whenever I lived near a market that broadcast his show (such as when I lived in Florham Park NJ in 1989) I would listen regularly, as well as when I would be traveling on business. In my personal opinion the show was probably at its height back around 1990 or so, back when Billy West was on along with Howard, Jackie, etc. Those days are long gone, but the show can still be pretty funny, although not what I would call consistently funny. Yesterday's show was hilarious (lots of Michael Jackson stuff, as well as an interview with Sacha Baron Cohen's "Bruno" character). Sometimes I find the "modern" show pretty bad, mainly when Howard has "friends" of his in the studio (Jerry O'Connell for example, who is simply boring) or when the rags on about his model wife or some other celebrity stuff. The show was at its funniest when Howard was more like a "regular" guy, not a millionaire celebrity. One other thing: am I the only Stern fan out there who really thinks that Artie Lange mostly adds nothing to the show?

On The Road Again - I'm staring down several weeks of training in our Hartford CT office. In fact, much of August will be spent training, which means much of the summer will be burned off before I can really enjoy it. I keep telling myself that "next year it will be different", but then "next year" comes around, it's summer again, and I'm submerged in work. That's not the fault of anyone at work, it's my fault. I need to do a better job of managing expectations, both for myself and for my employer. Remembering that "no one will give you what you want if you don't ask for it" is an important concept to remember.

It's July 14th And There Is No State Budget - Funny, but if I didn't do my job I would be in trouble. In Harrisburg, not doing your job is considered to be "business as usual", as legislators continue to rack up per diem reimbursements for sitting around not passing a budget. Outside of California, which I will admit is even more messed up than Pennsylvania, it's hard to imagine a more ineffective state legislature.

State Senator Mellow Rents An Office To Himself - Yes, that all around politician's politician has once again managed to find the razor's edge of ethics and is yet again waltzing over it. With all due respect to the good Senator, we expect you to follow the BOTH the LETTER and the SPIRIT of the law. More proof that our state legislature is highly dysfunctional (at best).

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