Banned from Facebook pages twice in 2 days!

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

Sometimes, interesting things happen when you read friends’ Facebook pages. I’m not talking about going to look on purpose, which I’ve done before. I’m just referring to seeing something on your news feed and clicking on it. That got me, as the title clearly says, banned from Facebook pages twice in 2 days! The one I care about is a longtime friend I used to respect, but there’s also the radio talk show host full of hate who I’d never heard of until last night.

I may feel bad about one, but can’t regret either.

Regular readers know I don’t like Facebook and friends are leaving it over privacy issues. I personally have concerns over its business practices and censorship (and lack-of when it comes to Holocaust denial). Many business people say 2019 will not be a good year for Facebook. I hope they’re right. The company deserves that.

feature hikes kenney

But in just over the past month, Facebook revealed the truth about people like Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s executive director of his Office of LGBT Affairs, Amber Hikes (divisiveness and profanity) and Havertown resident Brad Foden (very close to being a neo-Nazi, if not already one).

feature brad foden

By the way, I got no responses from any of them about my blog posts. I never contacted Foden, and I stopped trying with Kenney and Hikes after learning Kenney’s father died almost a month ago. It’s never my goal to make matters worse during a person’s time of grief, but I had asked both of them for answers several times and neither (nor staff members) bothered to get back to me at all, like decent public servants.

Think of those phrases about aging, and how the older you get, the less you care what people think of you. I’m getting there.

Dr Seuss book

So just a warning: Don’t be surprised if I go after you because you can’t behave like a civilized human being.

And another warning: This next part of the post may not be appropriate for children due to cursing, not the subject matter.

Case in point: a Buffalo hypnotist and radio talk show host who actually spends a lot of time at his home near St. Petersburg, Fla. A friend of mine was a Facebook friend of his until last night.

My friend posted this article from the Daily Mail which showed a MTF transgender person at a GameStop store in New Mexico very angry.

daily mail
At least this overblown tabloid got its references right. See below for links to learn for yourself.

According to the article,

“The woman had just bought an item at the counter.”

Then,

“She demanded her money back after being called ‘sir’ by the male shop attendant, then raged at a fellow shopper who called her ‘sir’ again and asked her to stop swearing as there were children present.”

I don’t know what really happened. The article admits,

“The clip began with the woman already at boiling point.”

Also,

“She complained of being repeatedly misgendered by the store clerk and demanded to have the company’s corporate number in order to make a complaint,”

and it said,

“She aggressively pointed at the clerk as he repeatedly apologized.”

Personally, I wonder why either “sir” or “ma’am” had to be used when a genuinely friendly smile and good customer service should make anyone happy. Less is more!

Transitioning is tough. Nobody can snap their fingers and become the gender they feel they were born to be. There are medical issues, getting experience being “out” as the other gender, and possibly surgeries. That’s plural, for obvious reasons. And don’t forget legal issues over identity. Plus, have some compassion!

Click here for GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program, here for FAQ, here for basic terminology, and here for tips in a list that

“is not exhaustive and cannot include all the ‘right’ things to do or say because often there is no one ‘right’ answer to every situation you might encounter.”

Here are two highlights:

“Transgender people use many different terms to describe their experiences,”

and

“Some transgender and gender non-conforming people may not feel like they match the signs on the restroom door,”

which is why single user, unisex options should be available.

In Philadelphia, according to BillyPenn.com, that’s pretty-much the law!

“Any entity that owns or leases a structure open to the general public, including but not limited to Retail Establishments and City-owned buildings, that currently has or at any time establishes one or more single-occupancy bathroom facilities for public use, shall provide Gender-neutral Signage for such facilities.

An entity that has bathroom facilities with gender usage indicated by art work or design may, if such designs predate the effective date of this Ordinance, retain such designs, provided that they use signage that clearly indicates that the bathroom may be used by any person or persons, regardless of gender identity.”

In other words, quoting from BillyPenn.com:

  • For the past three years, businesses with single-occupancy restrooms must post signs showing they’re gender-neutral,
  • all new city buildings must be built with gender-neutral bathrooms included in the plans, and
  • in cases of no single-occupancy restrooms, transgender individuals can use whichever bathroom the person feels most comfortable in.

My friend’s Facebook post didn’t make me happy. I should note he’s a Florida Republican, but I think the post was a lot better than it would’ve been if we hadn’t started discussing the issue a while back.

nm post

Then, the responses piled up.

responses

In the middle, you can see what I wrote. I don’t know the type of day that person was having, so I’m not going to make judgments about anything other than her creating a very bad scene.

Then I went on to give facts from the American Medical Association to the uneducated, or simply people who don’t know anyone in the situation.

ama

Click here for the AMA’s “Policies on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer (LGBTQ) issues,” which starts by saying it

“supports the equal rights, privileges and freedom of all individuals and opposes discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion, disability, ethnic origin, national origin or age.

Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of the AMA communities and AMA policies on LGBTQ issues that work to inform individuals about LGBTQ discrimination and abuse. AMA’s policies for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people’s rights represent a multiplicity of identities and issues.”

The response was disappointing. The world is a changing place and there’s too much hate here in America already.

Last night, the person a Buffalo hypnotist and radio talk show host I referred to above wrote on the same string I started with information from the AMA that he doesn’t like transgendered (sic) people and they all need help, or something to that effect. I can’t quote exactly, because we had an exchange, he lost the discussion, got angry, deleted the posts, and blocked me. Note: That’s all his fault, especially not being able to quote him exactly!

Keep in mind, his radio gig is Saturday mornings, and the big promotional teases of energy and controversy have been around for decades. Any idiot can speak into a microphone (or telephone from Florida) and say stupid things. This is just one example.

radio
https://wben.radio.com/shows/show-schedule/robert-saviola-show

I wrote up a six-part Twitter story with evidence on what happened on Facebook. Click the pictures that were cut off to see them in full. (Don’t forget, you can see my Twitter posts on the side of bottom of this website. I haven’t blocked anybody.)

He started by addressing the word all, but killed that post and others, or blocked me, before I saw any of it. Luckily, Facebook emailed to say he mentioned me.

I have no idea why he’d call me “a liberal snowflake,” believe I don’t like Sean Hannity (but he’s right on that one), or insist I don’t study. Where did that come from?

Click here for the article.

So there you have it: The truth about Robert Saviola. I wonder which other groups of people he hates.

Notice I used his Twitter handle in every post. He apparently hasn’t used Twitter since 2014. So much for business and promotion! You’ll also see the radio station’s handle on every post. Hopefully they’ll rethink his employment.

Next is a friend I met 20 years ago, when I moved to Philadelphia. He’s a retired high school math teacher who helped found the former gay synagogue, which has since merged with the big Reform one.

The funny thing is, he’d probably agree on everything I wrote above. The problem is I didn’t agree 100 percent with something he posted yesterday.

jerry 1

He was obviously watching CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage and was happy about what he saw. So were other people.

But media is my field, and we’re both former teachers, which should mean we have higher standards.

Yesterday, I commented like other friends on his post. First, I explained there has been tremendous “progress in LGBTQ rights” but there are also threats.

Then, there’s CNN, which doesn’t have the best reputation these days. I included this story about the very broadcast he was referring to.

Today, he I saw he’d responded to my post that I didn’t get it, but he didn’t bother to explain. Some teacher!

Then, with the media knowledge I have and he lacks, I explained about the people he referenced:

  • Andy Cohen (no relation) does nothing for me, actually works for Bravo (NBC) and SiriusXM, was just moonlighting with CNN for the night, and was responsible for this article.
  • I worked with Don Lemon and ran into him at Woody’s, many years ago. Need I explain his reputation, these days? In fact, this article is from today!
  • Richard Quest is most famous for his accent and his unusual arrest. (Warning: British accents are OK for children but details of Quest’s arrest are definitely not!)
  • At least Anderson Cooper, a respectable journalist, has been nicer to people when he’s off camera than he has been in the past, so I’ve heard.

That’s when the conversation turned to email.

HE EMAILED: “You are over analyzing a totally innocent comment of mine. In my childhood, I saw no openly gay peeps on any TV. 50 years later there are 4 on national TV at the same time. End of story. Has nothing to do with ratings, personal role models, reputations, etc. The others who saw my post totally got it.”

I EMAILED: “Maybe ‘the others’ are older but ‘being there’ shouldn’t cut it in 2018/9.”

HE EMAILED: “Lenny…you and I will have to agree to disagree…you continue to miss my point. You are taking my feeling of joy and amazement and shitting on it.”

As if that was my intention! Keep in mind this was a discussion with a former high school math teacher who was a longtime friend.

I EMAILED: “If ‘ooh, ahh’ does it for you, then enjoy.”

HE EMAILED: “If you feel so strongly, please post your opinions on your own FB page. It’s really not polite to use someone else’s page for your personal platform.”

First, I didn’t watch. I had nothing to post; just a response to his thought like several other Facebook friends of his. That’s how Facebook works!

And keep in mind, I wrote two posts: one on his original, yesterday – and another on his response which I noticed today.

Then I emailed longer:

“I’m sorry. I didn’t watch or bring it up. I just happened to see it on my friend’s timeline (like others did), and shared my thoughts (as others did).

‘It’s really not polite to use someone else’s page for your personal platform.’

Are you trying to silence me because my thought was different?

That wouldn’t be very liberal. I don’t think the ACLU would agree. Most Americans would say I’m entitled to my opinion.

I have plenty of other things to do than add to the discussion. I only did so today because I saw you responded. (Do you think you should’ve taken a moment to explain your response yesterday?)

I’m sorry if you can’t handle so many different thoughts and opinions around the country and the world, but they exist.”

That’s when I realized posts were missing.

“Yes, _____. Censorship is the answer. That’s what the right says about the left and you’ve proven them correct!

I gave the facts and you can’t disprove me. I also explained why.

I also taught the person who wanted to know about lesbians at NBC. I hope that person saw the answer, along with the Philadelphia connection, before you recklessly killed that post.

You ought to be ashamed, thinking Facebook is only for people who agree with you blindly. So much for the exchange of ideas!”

jerry 2

I had realized somebody asked a question and I answered it. I hope they read about Stephanie Gosk and wife Jenna Wolfe, along with her Philadelphia connection as weekend sports anchor on the former WB17 News at 10, before it was deleted from that string! Make that a grand total of *three* Facebook posts I made!

And then I realized he had the nerve to block me!

“This is too much. And then blocking me from your Facebook page when I didn’t insult anyone you know, but simply told the truth about famous people you mentioned!

I don’t think they deserve medals for being gay. I think we should be proud if they do their jobs well, are role models (as I mentioned since we’re both former teachers), and inspire the next generation.

This proves my original point. I expect more from people I rely on for news than just ‘being there’ and the same goes for people I associate with. You don’t qualify.

You’ve shown you don’t care to discuss anything, exchange ideas, or maybe even learn about someone else’s profession. It’s people like you who cause others to #WalkAway.”

He added this post to the bottom of his, as if to apologize for me.

jerry 3

He’s more like the people in these two videos than he realizes!

The vape guy who wouldn’t sell was fired. And by the way, there should be “No Recording” signs at the entrance if it’s not allowed. Without a sign, the person recording should stop at the point they’re told to stop.

My former friend is more like the vape guy than he realizes. I don’t know what caused him to overreact the way he did. Maybe it was a ‘senior moment.’ Maybe he’s stressed. Regardless, I certainly didn’t deserve it. I’m not a student of his and he can’t play dictator with me. I’ve known him for two decades and earned the respect to have my opinion treated with respect. Especially since I still think I’m right!

I should point out CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage beat Fox News Channel and MSNBC’s. Maybe more Americans felt it was the least of the cable evils.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to compare cable ratings with broadcast ratings since I can’t find the number of viewers vs. number of viewers, or ratings points (households or demographics) that can be compared. I looked all over but used Deadline magazine as my source for both broadcast and cable numbers because it was the closest I could find.

So those are two of my Facebook experiences over the past 24 hours. I can only wait for the second story to haunt me but I didn’t cause it, I wasn’t the one who started getting rude, I didn’t name a name even though many people will easily figure it out, and I told the truth as usual.

His loss. I do hope this post isn’t used against me, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take. As I mentioned with Dr. Seuss before, I’m not going to live by what others think.

By the way, my year-end post is on its way. Lots of updates! For that delay, and only that, I APOLOGIZE!

If you appreciate what you read here, subscribe with either your email address or WordPress account, and get a notice whenever I publish. Don’t rely on social media with its hacking issues and censoring like this, this and this. I just became certified as an IT Support Specialist and am also available for writing/web contract work. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennycohen

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Your JOB is to read well past the headline

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

OK, I may be a day late (and I’m definitely a dollar short, these days), but I read three articles on jobs, yesterday morning — on companies we all know — and they were a whole lot different when I read between the lines.

dollar treedollar general

First, Yahoo reported in “Dollar Stores hammered by Trump proposal to abandon food stamps” how shares of Dollar Tree and Dollar General, which it owns, dropped Monday because of President Trump’s proposed budget.

The share drop may be true and abandoning SOME food stamps may also be true, but there’s a lot more to the story.

(Only picky eaters like me would starve if I was part of the program.)

generic newspaper

Trump wants to reduce food-stamp benefits and Yahoo calls it, “Potentially one of the biggest shake-ups in the history of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP,” which is what we used to (or still) call food stamps.

Donald Trump squeeze money

But it shouldn’t be as bad for the poor as you may think at first. The plan is to cut cash payments and substitute the money for packages of actual food.

How many of you ever wondered what the person ahead of you in the checkout line was doing buying “that” with food stamps? The president’s plan should put that question to rest.

food stamp signfood stamps

Nearly 42.2 million people reportedly got food stamps during the 2017 fiscal year. Those receiving more than $90 a month would get a food-aid package including shelf-stable milk, peanut butter, cereal and meat.

usda logoOf course, many of Dollar Tree and Dollar General’s customers are the least wealthy and getting food means they won’t have to (or be able to go out and) buy what they want anymore. With the government’s buying scale, they may even get more.

One analyst Yahoo quoted said those stores “have signaled that food stamps account for roughly five percent of sales,” but the whole grocery industry could be affected.

 

The plan to overhaul SNAP would save a projected $214 billion over a decade.

barnes and noble

Next is a store — no, make that an industry — that has been in trouble for years: book stores. CNBC’s headline is “Barnes & Noble cuts staff after dismal holiday season” and none of us should be surprised, considering competition from Amazon.

Unless you need a book right away — right, students? – you can probably go online and get it (along with everything else Amazon sells) cheaper, and delivered right to your door.

kid readingkids reading

That’s great, but not for booksellers. Employees are often experts but now the chain is reportedly laying off lead cashiers, digital leads and other experienced workers, company-wide. In fact, many of them showed up for work Monday and were told they no longer had a job.

Way to go, Barnes & Noble! That’ll do well for the psyche of your remaining employees, who know they don’t have many similar jobs available.

borders books

CNBC reported, “The number of affected workers couldn’t immediately be determined” but we know there are way fewer stores than there were years ago, too many people living far from one, and Borders? Forget it. Dead since the end of 2010. That stinks on every level.

Whose parents didn’t take them to the bookstore as a kid, just to browse or even choose something you’d want? That’s practically just a memory.

The business channel called consumer spending “generally strong this holiday season” but Barnes & Noble holiday sales fell more than 6 percent from the year before.

walmartAmazon isn’t only competition online. It — with its low-price reputation — is also opening up more of its own bricks-and-mortar bookstores.

Then there’s the self-proclaimed low-price leader. Walmart is not just stealing “a larger share of the books market.” It’s “planning to make a massive push in selling e-books and e-readers on Walmart.com later this year.”

If only literacy and education were the goals of these big American companies. Shareholders, rejoice!

amazon

And speaking of Amazon, CNN’s headline was “Amazon lays off hundreds of employees” but that doesn’t make sense at all considering its seventh paragraph:

“It appears the company isn’t looking to reduce its overall headcount. It currently has 3,900 open corporate job listings in Seattle and 12,000 open positions worldwide, which point to the company’s ‘aggressive’ hiring plans.”

firedSo what’s really going on?

According to CNN’s source, “The majority of the layoffs are affecting the company’s Seattle headquarters, but some global teams may be affected as well.”

Online retail operations are expected to be hit the hardest and employees are already being notified.

usps amazon

But I thought Amazon was doing very well, especially when it came to the holiday season and stealing so much of the book business from Barnes & Noble.

It absolutely is.

Apparently, Amazon has “aggressive” hiring plans even after adding 130,000 jobs in the past year (not including the new ones from Whole Foods). It has 3,900 open corporate job listings in Seattle and 12,000 open positions worldwide. That 12,000 figure doesn’t come close to including workers at the company’s second headquarters — which Philadelphia made the top 20 in landing.

usps pkgAmazon said, according to CNN, “HQ2 will cost a minimum of $5 billion to construct and operate, and will create as many as 50,000 jobs.” That’s way more than 12,000.

How well is Amazon doing? It reported nearly $2 billion in profit in its latest quarter from the holiday shopping season. That’s not only the largest in its history but the first time it topped $1 billion in a quarter!

But what about those employee layoffs in the headline and how readers were supposed to feel? Amazon said in a statement sent to CNN:

“As part of our annual planning process, we are making headcount adjustments across the company — small reductions in a couple of places and aggressive hiring in many others. … For affected employees, we work to find roles in the areas where we are hiring.”

whole foods market

So now, with Whole Foods in its arsenal, we’ll see what Amazon will be able to perform next. Maybe get the government contract on those food-aid packages that are replacing SNAP/food stamps. I’d count out producing pink slips!

perkins lenny come to work
Thanks to Leslie for finding this!

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School out, Eagles’ championship parade on!

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

I really didn’t know what to make of school districts cancelling classes for a parade and celebration for Super Bowl LII champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. That’s probably because I’ve never been in this situation before.

Wikipedia

And it’s certainly historic, not just for me but for everyone around here. The Birds have won championships before, but not the Super Bowl, as we’ve known it for the past 52 years. According to Wikipedia, they won NFL Championships in 1948, 1949 and 1960.

The School District of Philadelphia will be closed.  So will all administrative offices.

Superintendent Dr. William R. Hite explained, “The excitement of the Eagles first Super Bowl victory is a once in a lifetime event. For this reason we have decided to give our students, teachers and their families the chance to witness history.” #EaglesGreenSDP

no school

So will Archdiocesan high schools and parochial elementary schools in Philadelphia, although the Archdiocese said it was because of “projected city street closures and heavy demands on public transportation.”

But it didn’t end there.

“In order to permit members of all our school communities to participate in this celebration, Archdiocesan high schools in the suburban counties will also be closed,” the Archdiocese continued.

Also to be closed, according to KYW-TV: the Upper Darby School District, the Mantua Township School District, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University.

Philadelphia City Seal

But not just schools. The city announced,

“All Philadelphia municipal government offices will be closed. … These closures include Philadelphia Park and Recreation’s recreation, environmental, and older adult centers. All Courts and Philadelphia Courts offices will be closed. If you are scheduled for Jury Duty … do not report for service. You will be rescheduled at a later date. All critical Court services are expected to remain operational. Philadelphia City Council has cancelled its stated public meeting for Thursday. Trash and recycling pickups are suspended on Thursday.”

So there will be significant travel delays. Look for detours and especially slowdowns everywhere even close to the parade route: Broad Street (no cars in the median!) from the stadiums up to City Hall, and then the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to the Art Museum (across the street from me) and its Rocky Steps.

Maybe the schools SHOULD be closed. There won’t be any way to get around. Also, if the teachers, students and other employees won’t be there, then it’s not worth having a day of school. I don’t know if the testing pressure is as intense here as it is in Florida. (Days before the test count because learning can take place. It doesn’t matter after students have already taken the test.)

But why have class if nobody will be showing up, and any lessons will have to be repeated? Why spend money paying substitutes under those conditions? I’m comparing it to the Jewish holidays.

And since this is so historic as I explained above, shouldn’t children be part of it and have something to remember? I didn’t get that privilege at least twice, while growing up.

Due to bad decisions, when I was in kindergarten and it (barely) snowed in Miami, nobody took us outside. (You can do research and math if you’d like. You’ll have to work for those details!)

And when my parents and grandparents got to visit one of the most important Jewish/Yiddish writers of the 20th century — Isaac Bashevis Singer — at his condo in Surfside, Fla., between Bal Harbour and Miami Beach, my parents didn’t want me to miss a day of 5th grade. Who the heck knows what happened in school that day? I didn’t know about the visit under after. Singer — who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978 — died in 1991. The opportunity is gone forever.

philadelphia eagles
Wikipedia
aldi closed sign
Wednesday’s sign at the Aldi on 31st and Girard.

There will be other closures, possibly because of the crowds, or employees wanting to be part of history. That’s kind of like restaurants without TVs being closed during Sunday’s game.

Don’t plan on visiting the Whole Foods or Aldi by me. Same story down at Society Hill Synagogue, which is far from the parade route but will be following its established plan.

society hill synagogue
http://www.societyhillsynagogue.org/events/building-closed-for-super-bowl-champion-philadelphia-eagles-parade/
So I’m hoping everybody has a good, safe time, and behaves themselves. But that may not be easy for some.
I do think it stinks that Bud Light will be offering free beer at two dozen bars along the parade route. Drinkers can thank a promise the beer maker made to Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson before the season.

Also, Yards Brewery is telling Eagles fans to stop by for a free beer.

Neither will help behavior, and the world knows Philadelphia sports fans “have a reputation for bad behavior and sports-related violence.”

Police report these eight people have been arrested so far for violence after the Eagles beat the New England Patriots, 41-33, Sunday night, and they expect many more to come.

Of these eight, KYW-TV reports one is charged with flipping a car at Broad and Walnut streets in Center City, another for throwing a bottle at a car, and a third who destroyed property.

Video is everywhere these days, so finding the people who vandalized an A.C. Moore store, looted a gas station, smashed windows at the Old Navy at 17th and Chestnut, and did the same at the Macy’s across from City Hall shouldn’t be too hard.

The station also reports several poles taken down, and who can forget the Ritz Carlton awning collapsing under the weight of so many people?

As for me, I don’t plan to be on the parade route. It’s going to be freezing and windy, so it’ll feel even colder. But the wind will help get rid of the water, so the dry weather arguably beats Wednesday’s snow-turned all-day rain.

temperature 1 temperature 2

So there will be very cold weather and free beer along the route, along with crazy fans. Definitely not a good combination.

“Patience will be the order of the day,” KYW-TV reports Police Commissioner Richard Ross said. “It will be a lot of people, a lot more than most have ever seen in any one gathering in this city.”

That could mean another record.

The city says the celebration will have 14 jumbotrons placed along the route.

The parade will end and the celebration will begin at the Art Museum (my neighborhood, of course!).

Hundreds of crews did weeks, if not months, of work in just days including a wet Wednesday. The Eagles are “foot”ing the bill. The tab has reportedly not been calculated yet.

Once it starts, I’ll head out for a few minutes to take in the scenes. Then, I’ll go back in, warm up, and watch everything on TV!
harold lenny pedro
Harold, me and Pedro watching Sunday’s Super Bowl at my place
Wednesday night porta potties
Wednesday night: lots of green porta potties hard to see after a day of rain

And another reason to watch the festivities on TV while warm, indoors: Will there be enough porta potties to accommodate the amount of people who are expected to attend?

Some people are skeptical, with reason, due to drinking and cold weather. You know how that works!

2017-05-06 porta potties
May 6, 2017: Can’t figure why but the pink must be for girls and women, with the blue for boys and men!

My friend Hadas talked to a man who said he expects to have to hose down his driveway.

Another reason I’ll be mostly staying indoors! (That was always something I liked about being a news producer.)

Click: Eagles’ fans give April the Giraffe an ‘F’

prediction link

Click: Eagle eye: Most Philadelphia media ignore possibility of local terrorism

daily express

Click: Philadelphia Eagles on Twitter

Click: City of Philadelphia’s up-to-date information on Twitter

To think I may have been the top story on the news…

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

Probably not, but I don’t ever remember being as sick as I was yesterday. Lots of chills, coughing, phlegm. Especially the chills. You know the drill.

It happened months after getting my flu shot. I was able to listen to a webinar, but couldn’t think or read the rest of the day — just sleep. I want to especially “thank” the folks in my building for the fire alarm in the middle of my afternoon nap. The kids (cats) didn’t know what was going on with the sirens blaring and recorded announcements interrupting. How long? No clue. I do remember Casey under the covers when he probably had been on top. Why’d it happen? They never gave a reason.

But then I turned on the TV and the top story was the flu! Hospitals in Allentown and Bethlehem even set up tents as mobile emergency rooms, since so many people were showing up with contagious viruses! The story, unexpectedly to me, made the national news.

Luckily, I’m doing better today and am even able to think (somewhat). I hope the tens of thousands of others affected are feeling better, as well. Looking forward to less pressure over the weekend.

crutches

As for my mother, who fell in the kitchen about a week and a half ago, today she learned she did not damage her eye! That’s great news because she landed on a blood vessel around there and bled a lot. It wasn’t until the hospital that she learned she’d broken her pelvis in three places.

So after three days in the hospital, she was taken to rehab where she’s undergoing physical therapy and practicing walking again. It started out very painful and difficult, and still is to some degree, but there’s no alternative to harder and harder work in order to get well.

Thanks to the amazing number of people who visited. Hopefully, she’ll get out next week, be able to manage at home, and MAYBE even be as nimble as her granddaughter, Frisky!

Follow-up, fewer watching TV news, future president?

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

color bars

First, I have to thank everybody who looked at Monday’s blog post. The analytics were incredible, the best ever (and that’s all that counts, right? 🙂). If you haven’t seen it yet, it gives a brief overview of the place I worked for 15 months until August. Feel free to comment below it, or on my Twitter page. You can also subscribe to these blogs with your email address and get an email automatically every time I post.

skype

One thing I left out was that during the long interview process, in early 2016, while I was working a great job in the Tri-Cities of TN/VA, the future boss asked me at the end of a Friday Skype interview to write up a critique of the station’s website. I was literally told it was “to see how smart” I am. Two other managers were sitting right there. I was given a week, but finished it that weekend because I was so excited about the possibility of returning to Philadelphia.

Look below and see, it was a very long and thoughtful critique, and included multiple pictures. During my interview at Fox 29 — coincidentally on Leap Day, Feb. 29, 2016 — the boss even joked about still reading it! I guess it was good. Too bad most of it was never implemented. That was a clue of what was to come, but it was too late. I had already moved and started the job. (The document is a slideshow. Click below to move forward, back, or to stop it.)

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That’s all I have to say here on the subject of that station.

Just this week, a Pew Research Center report announced fewer Americans rely on TV news, and what type they watch varies by who they are. It found,

“Just 50 percent of U.S. adults now get news regularly from television, down from 57 percent a year prior in early 2016.”

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That’s a 14 percent decline! Not only that, but the number takes into account local TV (still first place), cable TV (still second place), and also network TV (still third place).

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I think the demographics are even more interesting. According to Pew, college graduates and high-income people watch much less local TV and network TV news. Cable news varies little.

The research doesn’t say but perhaps these people are working longer hours or have more access to news on electronic devices. Or they find the product dumbed-down. The first two possibilities can’t be changed but the last can.

But I think the biggest finding has to do with age. Pew divided the population into four groups, from 18-29 through 65+. It found across all groups, the younger a person is makes them much, much less likely to watch local, network, and also cable TV news. That sounds ominous for the future.

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Again, the research doesn’t say, but I’ve learned from working with people young enough to be my children they have no history of getting the news from a scheduled TV newscast, or even cable. They were raised with technology that hadn’t been invented when the older people were growing up. They have no special tie to the TV set, having to watch on schedule, and probably can’t imagine watching in black and white.

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(To go along with that, a huge majority of my students — who were younger around the year 2010, plus or minus a few — hadn’t even heard of a typewriter!) Also notice radio and newspapers were not even considered in the research.

radio newspaper

Note the research was not done on web reading but following my train of thought, Americans will continue to use newer technology to get their news, which makes the web — whether desktop, tablet, phone, or whatever comes next — more and more important. We cannot continue to dumb it down, make mistakes, and hire cheap, good-looking but inexperienced people in big cities. We also need to root out the so-called journalists that lack ethics.

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Click here to see the results in a chart, which also divides the American population by gender, race, and politics.

The Radio Television Digital News Association — and we know its agenda — asks, “Is the news for local TV stations all bad?”

Its former chair Kevin Benz admits, “Stations are producing more newscasts because local production is cheap with higher payback potential from selling local advertisers.” Let’s not forget we’re coming off an election year with lots of ads.

The organization claims “profitability has been trending level or up since 2010” and “This is also far from the first time local news has been written off due to changing consumption habits … but newsrooms have been slow to adapt.”

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Back in the Tri-Cities, I was told many people get their news from their Facebook feed. That’s pitiful and of course, Facebook benefits but the publishers really don’t, other than a click to their own websites.

In the past year, not much has come out of the Facebook Journalism Project led by former news anchor Campbell Brown — who has since shown her true politics with The 74 Million, advocating for charter and private schools by taking money away from public schools. (I wrote about that in “Why teaching isn’t for me anymore” here, almost two years ago.)

According to Digiday, problems are that publishers have different business models and want different things from Facebook. And Facebook has mostly let publishers see new products before they launched, and listen to their feedback on various subjects at twice-annual meetings with nice meals. Subjects have included Instant Articles and starting a subscription product so you can’t read unlimited articles for free. There’s also discussion about separating factual news from somebody posting fiction.

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File: Oprah Winfrey

It didn’t help that NBC tweeted about Oprah Winfrey possibly becoming president in the future during Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards.

NBC’s website has now clips of her speech and this description:

“The media mogul received the Cecil B. DeMille award at the A-list event, and brought the crowd to its feet with a rallying cry for solidarity amid the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements.”

The harassment scandals were huge. That’s what Oprah addressed. I’ve even written about it twice: here (“What is conscience? Elusive in the media, unfortunately”) and here (“Hey, you accused! Would Mom say, wait until your father gets home?”).

I’ve also tweeted about women who weren’t getting paid the same as men.

Variety reported, “Host Seth Meyers even joked about the prospect in his opening monologue. The tweet from NBC said, ‘Nothing but respect for OUR future president. #GoldenGlobes.’”

The next morning, the network put out a statement, blaming outsourcing. Of course, the first tweet was removed.

How horrible! Oprah hadn’t yet spoken at the time, she never mentioned anything about becoming president, viewers won’t know the difference between a tweet from NBC Entertainment or NBC News if it doesn’t say, and why would the network let a third-party vendor tweet on its account, especially without overseeing? The network has no competent employee in-house? Disappointing!

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The peacock isn’t proud

And late-breaking Thursday morning, we learned 18-year Fox News veteran James Rosen left the network – without Fox giving a reason – after eight of his former colleagues claimed he “had an established pattern of flirting aggressively with many peers and had made sexual advances toward three female Fox News journalists,” according to TVNewser.

Mediaite reports,

“One accusation involved him groping a female colleague in a shared-cab—an action she did not consent to. He then reportedly attempted to retaliate after his sexual advances were denied by attempting to take her sources, which would serve to damage her professional image.”

Also, the Washington Post says it suspended 28-year reporter Joel Achenbach for 90 days what it called “inappropriate workplace conduct” involving current and former female colleagues. He apologized in a statement, but the paper will continue to investigate.

I’m going to end on a better note, in contrast to what I wrote about Monday. Know I’ve been interviewing with different national and international companies here in Philadelphia. Tuesday, I found out I made it to the next round with one firm, and I’m obviously very happy about that. I told the woman on the phone who was simply following up on her morning email that everybody has been so supportive. We’d talked before and her response was simply that they are a partnership, rather than a corporation, and that there is no need for competition amongst (potential) employees.

That’s nice to hear, and it gives me hope.

P.S. On a personal note: Tuesday night in Florida, my mother fell in the kitchen. She hit her face on the floor. There was lots of blood, but no concussion. Turns out, she broke her pelvis in three places: two in the front, and one in the back. No surgery required, but she’ll have to spend another day or two in the hospital. The next two weeks are supposed to be very painful, and it could take her four months to get better. The doctor suggested time rehab since she can’t do much. Please keep her in your thoughts. 😦

Today, Merry Christmas to Comcast! You’re welcome!

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

No waiting until Christmas on Monday. Comcast, you obviously consider yourself too powerful.

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Today, your hard-earned rate hikes take effect. Santa says you’ve been such a good company this year, only getting me concerned and wasting my time by forgetting when my Xfinity introductory offer ends.

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Comcast notice, page 1 of 7
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Comcast notice, page 2 of 7

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Does anyone reading this have suggestions for me for when that offer actually does expire? I need the internet (keeping net neutrality, which nobody is counting on Comcast to do), and pretty much the local and basic cable stations, especially news. Nothing special. None of the new programs I’ve read about but never seen. There are a lot of companies’ names that I’ve read about but never understood. (See new information released today, below.)

Seems like I’ll be looking at something very different and unfamiliar, since my building doesn’t do Verizon’s Fios nor satellite.

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Comcast’s old logo, before the feds let it buy NBC/Universal — under several conditions.

Comcast, I know costs go up but Philadelphia is your hometown, you have more to lose here than elsewhere and here, you actually own so much of your own programming and channels, including one for local sports fans (now called NBC Sports Philadelphia) and two broadcast, over the public’s airways.

One is WCAU-NBC10 (where I worked, 1998-2000, under General Electric, before the Universal and Comcast buyouts) and there’s WWSI-Telemundo62, the Spanish station really licensed to Atlantic City, whether or not it concentrates on people down the shore. In case you didn’t know, it comes just less than three years after NBC pulled its affiliation from New Jersey’s only major network affiliate, WMGM-40 in Atlantic City. That voice is gone.

SIDEBAR: Looking at NBC10’s website, I noticed the Channel 10 homepage weather featured “StormTracker4” and thought that was weird. NBC also owns its station in the next city up: WNBC-4 in New York. WNBC also brands its homepage weather “StormTracker4” but that makes sense, since it’s Channel 4!

So I tried another NBC-owned station that’s not on Channel 4 (anymore): WTVJ-6 in Miami. Their homepage weather is called “First Alert Doppler 6000” which makes sense for Channel 6 and is different from NBC’s two northern stations that are bigger, have different channel numbers, but the same name (at least at this moment). I wonder if this is regular or something simply went wrong.

Don’t forget synergy saves parent company Comcast money, and should be factored into our fees, too. (And kudos to Miami for actually selling their web weather preview!)

nbcphiladelphia.com (NBC)
nbcnewyork.com (NBC)
nbcmiami.com (NBC)

ANOTHER SIDEBAR: Newswise today, I noticed NBC10 beat Philadelphia competitor WTXF-Fox 29 (where I worked, 2016-2017) that had two headlines way up above the fold that were known and could’ve been written long ago — seven months and 15 months ago, respectively. Their personnel decisions should be going under the microscope.

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fox29.com (21st Century Fox)

First, on May 9, 2017, it reported Philadelphia’s District Attorney’s Office decided not to charge Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian “with a criminal offense” in the May 2015 crash that killed eight people and injured 200 others.

Then, three days later on May 12, 2017, it reported, “Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro expanded on charges a Philadelphia judge approved a day earlier after the family of a woman killed in the crash sought a private criminal complaint” and that specific story, more than seven months old, was for some reason updated today!

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Your guess why a May 12 Associated Press article had to be updated Dec. 20 is as good as mine. I don’t know what’s new or corrected from May 12.
Second, a year and a half ago, in June 2016, I had trouble inserting my subway token at the Broad Street Subway’s Spring Garden station. There was no place to insert it. I ended up having to walk up and down steps at three of the four corners of that intersection to finally find a human to take my token and let me down to the train platform. So we knew tokens were being phased out. Besides, how many other cities already did away with them?
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SIDEBAR OVER: So Comcast/Xfinity, for now, Merry Christmas, but I don’t know how long my even more costly business with you will last. We’ll have to find out if and when our relationship changes in the future. I can’t wait to see (with my own eyes) what you propose.
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I also wonder, did @PHLCouncil, and especially my district’s @Darrell_Clarke, who happens to be city council president, allow your rate hike?

P.S. Readers probably figured out I had the Comcast portion of this blog post prepared since shortly after I got my bill (and read it) weeks ago. Coincidentally, I found several other articles on similar topics with updates and possible solutions, this morning alone!

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First, The New York Times‘ “How to cut the cord on cable” which prepares us to use the internet and streaming services to save a ton of money. Our viewing habits are different, so we all should read it.

Second, according to The Seattle Times, a Washington State broadband company “filed a claim with the FCC saying cable giant Comcast is unfairly trying to force Wave to provide higher-priced sports TV channels to customers who don’t want them.”

Third, the fighting between station owners, and cable/satellite operators, for retransmission consent money that probably cost you from watching something you wanted at some point (with both sides blaming each other) continues.

According to TVAnswerMan, “AT&T’s U-verse TV service lost two more local stations last night due to a fee fight with their owner, Sarkes Tarzian, Inc.” Satellite provider Dish had been involved in the majority of recent fights. New England Patriots fans almost didn’t see the game against AFC-East rivals, the Miami Dolphins, until the Boston CBS station allowed carriage.

FTV Live‘s Scott Jones put it best:

Finally, Bloomberg warns, “Cable TV’s password-sharing crackdown is coming” and “it’s a growing problem that could cost pay-TV companies millions of subscribers — and billions of dollars in revenue.”The article reports TV Everywhere, started in 2009, “was an attempt to appeal to young consumers by letting them access cable or satellite shows on any device.” Of course, that “any device” part led to piracy and password-swapping since companies like Charter/Spectrum only force paying customers to enter their passwords for each device once a year. Somehow, tens of thousands watched just one subscriber’s streams simultaneously for free!

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Anyway, after all that, got a solution for my Comcast concern? I’d love to hear in a comment! (Got a web link?) And thanks!

Lessons on addressing, our government’s gift to you!

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

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On Facebook? You’re probably signed up for a lesson on mailing a letter, paid for by the U.S. government, like the one above.

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I was a little out of it, last Thursday, told I was sounding stuffy, so I didn’t do much other than read. Part of that time was on Facebook rather than anything too important, although not entirely so.

I saw a sponsored ad from the U.S. Postal Service on how to mail a letter. (I thought the people in charge these days want smaller government and less spending.)

Donald Trump squeeze money

Their busiest time of the year is coming up. If you’re reading on the blog, you can see the countdown dates until Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas — depending on the type of media you’re using (desktop, tablet or phone).

(Did you know Black Friday is an actual holiday in 24 states?)

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Hundreds of millions of Americans will be mailing cards and gifts, despite more and more substituting email for cards and shipping for gifts.

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We all want what we worked on and paid for to be delivered in a timely manner. I’m still waiting for a card from my mother from September that hasn’t arrived. It wasn’t her fault. She actually took it to the post office to make sure the correct amount of postage was on the envelope, and it had a return sticker.

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On the other hand, I’ve lived in my condo for more than a year and still get mail intended for previous residents of both sexes with various first and last names. Just last month, hundreds of our electric bills were returned to the management company!

That’s in addition to the latest problem that just started over the past few weeks: getting mail for 2501 and 2701 rather than 2601, with the four numbers after the ZIP code wrong.

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That’s definitely human delivery error and should be eliminated, and I know that because the material was sent by professional companies with addresses typed in.

I’m sure the USPS wants to be considered as good by Santa (track him here) and the public, and stay in business for another year, so they apparently paid Facebook for advertising to teach readers the correct way to address an envelope, and which pitfalls to avoid.

Are any of these new to you? (I’ll let the experts tell you in their own words, since they paid for the opportunity.)

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I know some people try to be fancy and cute, and that hurts the postal service’s performance. Did you know you should always address an envelope using capital letters, but not to use any punctuation except in the ZIP plus 4?

Maybe not.

Perhaps the USPS should have mailed every household and business a piece of paper with their suggestions, like they print and deliver when they hold food drives, because not everyone is on Facebook and not everyone is going to click their ad. I’m not sure about the price difference, and it would certainly mean more trees cut down, but it would also cut down on late and lost mail, which is also a waste.

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Yes, there are private competitors that should be keeping the USPS on its toes to bring us better performance.

I’ve only rarely used the companies, like UPS and FedEx, mostly for mortgage paperwork when the envelopes were prepaid. I’m not sure they were any better than the post office and I had to go looking for a special box on the street to send them, rather than this.

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Choice is good. It should lower prices and improve service. But I for one would hate to see any, especially the USPS, go away.

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First, anyone who messes with your mailed letters and packages violates federal law and should go to jail. I’m not sure if the same applies to competitors like UPS and FedEx.

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Second, there are post offices and mailboxes everywhere. Who doesn’t have a mailbox?

In my neighborhood, I keep hearing complaints from people in rowhomes outside my building about how their big packages with goods they ordered were stolen. That’s crooks disrupting the system.

And walking by, I see people’s notes on their doors about how packages should be delivered to the convenience store down the street in case nobody is home! That’s asking delivery people make two stops rather than one — slowing the process for everyone and making them work harder — and who says they have to, considering where their items were addressed?

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And we want the post office to succeed, and deliver mail at least six days a week, so more workers can keep their jobs.

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But it can do better.

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Philadelphia Int’l Airport
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Philadelphia City Hall

They closed many of Philadelphia’s post offices for the same hours for days throughout the Democratic National Convention in the summer of 2016. It was very inconvenient and I can’t come up with a good excuse. I’m sure the workers got paid. Most other government employees worked extra hard and got to collect overtime.

 

(No, John Kerry had already replaced the eventual presidential nominee as Secretary of State! As you well know, Hillary Clinton got nothing.)

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At least they lowered the price of a stamp by a penny so it’s an even better deal than it was before.

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So do your part and address your items correctly.

One last word of advice: Don’t procrastinate. Give whatever company you use enough time to get your package to its correct destination in time. Click here for Holiday Shipping Deadlines. (They really only mean Christmas.)

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Good luck, happy holidays, and drive safely, and I mean that starting with Thanksgiving!

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Oh wait. Look what just came up!

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Again, thanks to our tax money, and on the very edge of appropriateness for the USPS…

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So don’t be surprised if more government money in the form of “tips” makes its way to Facebook.

Update: Storing the car on the mean streets

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

This blog post I found was written in mid-May, 2016, but never published. It was part of a series on the difficulties I had moving back to Philadelphia, and the new job got in the way. Since then, a lot has changed.

My problems were eventually solved — step by step, as you’ll read below — but many other people’s will be fought for years and years to come.

The PPA is the Philadelphia Parking Authority and as they say, “The PPA don’t play!”

Even at Fox 29, the morning news anchors would talk ON THE AIR about the troubles they’ve had with the PPA. These were good, honest, educated hard-working people trying to do the right thing at an ungodly hour. Apparently, they felt so angry, they were forced to offer their opinions which is hardly ever done during a newscast (except “Go Eagles!”).

The most common complaint was about so many people from the station having gotten tickets across the street for parallel parking in a space on Market Street. It has a low meter for handicapped people and is in the middle of the block — unlike any other, which are on corners, they say — and the meter is hard to see in snow. Well done, PPA! Those handicapped violations are supposed to be extra expensive.

A year later, community anger over complicated PPA rules and outrage over infractions must’ve driven somebody important over the top that the Authority decided to hold a class for the public on how to avoid parking problems. I wrote the online article and talked to reporter Hank Flynn who gave his take on the road to traffic court.

The Authority was supposed to “host a two-hour, fact and fun-filled workshop,” as they put it. I’m not sure the station ever followed up. The class was on a weekend.

The competition reported drivers were urged to look at the color of the sign, along with the days, hours and arrows on it. They even quoted a PPA employee who told them, “We had professional driving instructors on hand and people were taken out to cars and taught to parallel park.” Isn’t that task for the folks at driving school?

The conversation with Hank actually started with us discussing residential parking permits. As you’ll read, I lived in zone 4 with I first arrived, but later moved to zone 6.

Then, across town, I came upon this sign and took a picture. Read what it says carefully. You’ll often find residential zone number exceptions on top or below a parking sign. You’ll even find two different zone numbers if a street is on or near the border between them. But what about the dash between the 5 and the 7?

Google calls the dash “a horizontal stroke in writing or printing to mark a pause or break in sense, or to represent omitted letters or words.” In other words, the 6 that falls between the 5 and the 7!

I followed up with the PPA since their sign clearly allows someone with a 6 sticker like me to park at that location, even though it’s across town.

They tweeted back no, with no explanation — not that certain parking signs are the only bad ones in the city.

One final update before the original blog post, for those of you still with me, is the fact people in South Philadelphia can park wherever the heck they want, with no ramifications. Notice I write they do, because they get away with it. The city chooses not to enforce the law in that part of town which is unfair to everyone else and potentially unsafe.

That last part was used in a lawsuit that was decided less than a month ago. According to Philly.com, the judge ruled police and the PPA can’t stop people from parking their cars or whatevers in the middle of S. Broad Street (nor apparently any other street) because apparently authorities have more important things to do.

Whatever.

We left off May 16, 2016 with a blog post called Not exactly a warm welcome. It was mostly about the awful move, two weeks after I started work here, which was less than a week after I left my job in Virginia. (I’ve moved to a much better place since then.)

The pictures show you’ll enjoy it more than I did!

—–

The move was awful but at least everything is in either the apartment or the storage unit (that’s nearly impossible to get inside). I’m still trying to figure out which.

Now, my biggest problem is the car. I didn’t want a new car but that’s a long story and somebody else will have to answer that.

I don’t have a residential sticker to park on the street in the neighborhood. First, I have to get a driver’s license. Then, use the license to get a license plate. And then, go for the sticker.

So for now, I have a Virginia license plate and have had to park where it’s allowed, a few blocks away, south of South Street.

Unfortunately the good folks at the Philadelphia Parking Authority try to uphold the laws of every state, even though they’re not familiar with the law. In my case, they think all Virginia cars need to have inspection stickers on the front middle of the windshield.

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South  Philadelphia can be a zoo. People park wherever they want, even in the center median, even blocking a turning lane. But for some reason, those laws are not enforced.

That’s not the case with new cars. Click here for the law. See FAQ #1.

Virginia lets new cars go without inspection stickers for the first year. But I got two tickets (so far) and the fine is up from about $15 when I left town 12 years ago, to $41 now. Hopefully this note with information will keep me from getting a third. (So far, so good. I’ll know for sure when I see the car again.)

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Yes, that’s my car on the street.

So I need to get a Pennsylvania license, to switch from Virginia license plates to Pennsylvania, to get a sticker for parking.

Easier said than done. I mentioned the move was horrible and I don’t know where things are.

To get the driver’s license, I need my passport and other proof of residency. The passport was in the file cabinet, and the file cabinet was deep inside that storage unit. I’ll say something for those packers: They know how to get stuff in!

Saturday was a waste. I was hoping to get the passport, but that didn’t happen. And losing the keys to the storage lock is not something I want to remember or write about.

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Impossible! Notice the mattress, box spring and top of dining room table at the bottom — and chairs on top.

Sunday, Tony and I took out a mattress, box spring and top of a heavy dining room table. We maneuvered half the large couch out and got access to the file cabinet. Of course, the two drawers I needed were in the middle.

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Got in. Working with gloves.

I got what I needed in about 15 minutes and am hoping the driver’s license, license plate and parking sticker will be easier to get.

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Can you find the file cabinet? It’s actually big, four drawers tall.

UPDATE: I got the driver’s license. Waited a little while and had more documentation than necessary.

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They were calling C600 when I arrived. Could’ve been a lot worse.

So I walked a block to the traffic school that would take care of the license plate and found out I’d need the car’s title. I had that for my old car but as I’ve said repeatedly, “I didn’t want a new car but that’s a long story and somebody else will have to answer that.” So I’m in a holding pattern.

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Too far from home. Let’s hope it stays safe!

It all worked out.

Now, back to 2017, and another big challenge and fight. I hope I’ll be able to fill you in next week.

Hurricane Andrew, after a quarter century

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

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25 years ago today, this was nothing. It’s hard to believe so much time has passed, not that I ever forgot a Hurricane Andrew anniversary. We were lucky — awake with curiosity that night, except for my brother Josh who slept through it — but lucky.

Above was a look to the left after walking out of my parents’ house and below was across the street. Had never seen a tree pulled out from its roots. Seemed like an act of God.

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The lack of air conditioning was the worst for me. Only lasted a few days, but I spent a night with an aunt near Fort Lauderdale who had power.

Driving south to help another aunt and uncle, it was as if everything was in black and white. No leaves on trees. Just destruction. And a free-for-all at night, according to news reports.

Hurricane Andrew made lots of people survivors, brought out the best and worst in many, and moved thousands slightly north. Some good that’ll do!

It should’ve taught the importance of preparation — having supplies and enough coverage — but Florida is transient and memories are short, especially there. Plus, the safety tips and technology keep changing.

How long did it take the rest of the state, with the exception of (Miami-) Dade County, to toughen building codes? Even so, who can forget the broken glass from newer skyscrapers in Brickell more than a decade later after the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes like Wilma? It wasn’t supposed to happen.

I worked through all of those storms at WFOR in Miami, right after leaving Philadelphia. It was like one after another. (Andrew happened months after I graduated college. Was still looking for work. WSVN took more than a year later.)

The Sunshine State can be nice to visit (sometimes) but between the constant heat and humidity, sky-high insurance rates, politics and more, those of you there can have it until global warming puts Florida underwater. Then you won’t have a choice.

There’s no perfect place and there will be discomfort at times. Who doesn’t like summer in the winter and winter in the summer?

Millions still live on the coast and earthquake zones and Tornado Alley, but never underestimate the power of Mother Nature. She means business.

andrew radar

Far from paradise. Click here for Miami Herald news reports from this date in 1992 with links, and click here for a special remembrance section from Florida Power & Light.

Not exactly a warm welcome

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

I got to Philadelphia and it rained. For a week. And it was much colder than normal for late April. And I saw my new apartment for the first time.

map phila
Pretty much a straight shot up I-81, but Virginia is HUGE. (See what I learned to do in the past year?!)

Then, the movers couldn’t get into little Quince Street. That was a disaster. Anything that could’ve gone wrong that day did. Read on.

They called when they were close, but their truck was eight feet wide. Vehicles more than seven feet wide won’t fit past poles or trees on the sides of the street. Then they walked over and saw how they’d have to maneuver things inside the basement-level unit from the outside.

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Another part of the street. See what I’m talking about?

 

The movers said it would cost $1,300 or so to load everything into a smaller truck and get close, but they couldn’t guarantee everything would fit inside.

I didn’t want to go along with that, so they said they’d take everything to the Atlas warehouse in Wayne, which was also bad. The stuff would have to be lifted by forklift at that place’s convenience and I wouldn’t be able to get to any of it. And I was supposed to start work in three days. With no clue when and how I’d pick it all up, or how much it would cost.

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The day was kind of like this.

 

Turns out, the driver didn’t know what he was talking about.

It would simply cost $130 for another stop, so they took everything to a U-Haul storage facility in South Philadelphia.

Of course, the big unit I wanted — and had an online reservation for — didn’t exist. I could’ve gotten two smaller units next to each other, but the moving guy’s boss back in Bristol didn’t think it would be necessary to get both. It was. By far. So somebody else took it. And the place was completely booked otherwise. (Still was, a week later.)

 

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My unit. Waiting for the movers. The pants were packed.

So the unit was way too small for my stuff. My friend Scott had been a big help. He spent a week looking for a place for me to live.

Scott suggested renting a U-Haul moving truck since we were already there, but that also filled up quickly. Then we got a second moving truck. (Both were seven feet wide. Luckily, I didn’t have to back up. That wouldn’t have happened.)

Eventually, the movers loaded everything into the storage unit, the two moving trucks and also Scott’s car (which had more room than mine) – and it was still tight.

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Packed pretty tight. There was also a second truck.

We did alright watching the movers, monitoring what went into the storage unit, and took most of what I needed. But not all. (See next post.)

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Not easy to get to things. Imagine chairs on top of the couch — and a bed, box spring and top of a dining room table blocking all this.

Then we drove off. My friend Tony helped with the heavy lifting from the car and trucks into the apartment.

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Yes, that was on my LAP.

 

Eventually, everything was inside.

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Just part of the place. It’s still not much better.

And we drove the trucks back.

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This was actually the arrival. I was happy to arrive with all my things. That changed while moving everything in.

Coming up next: the car situation. (And yes, things improve somewhat.)

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Quick break while moving stuff in.