We’re packing away… although “we” is mostly just Yeni; who is packing like a woman possessed. We’re heading out on Wednesday and looking forward to a change of view. We’re trying to spend as much time with family and friends as possible — taking the time to eat at out favorite spots “one more time” as well as try some new places we had neglected.
While working away, managed to post some quick words:
The nice thing about waking up really, really early to take family to the airport? Well, on some days, you might just catch a nice view of a full moon.
To celebrate my youngest cousin’s high school graduation, Yeni and I headed to Albany to join the celebration. Instead of flying, we packed very lightly and took the Harley 650 miles east from Ann Arbor to Albany, mostly following I-90 (we were going to go through Canada, but that’s a different story).
The trip to Albany was amazing and covered parts of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Cities included Toledo, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany. Normally, when traveling on the Interstate, you really don’t get to see much, and with this trip, we set that as our expectation. Gladly, we were wrong. I had never been West of Albany (yes, I’m one of those type of New Yorker’s) and
Besides celebrating the birth of my sister, June 21st holds additional special meanings… such as the start of Summer, the Summer Solstice, and the longest “day” of the year. This year, it of course was also Father’s day — so all in all, this year, June 21st was a day of family.
The amount of daylight surprised me. This picture was taken at 9:30 pm:
I’m still in Florida, but headed back to Michigan on Wednesday. I’ve been enjoying the warm weather, although it was 98 degrees yesterday in North Florida… much, much higher than Ann Arbor.
Anyway, this last weekend I:
Celebrated mom’s birthday with my family (including my sister and our spouses)
Had an AMAZING meal at Joe’s Stone Crabs (but, when do you not?)
Celebrated Mother’s day with the family
Worked a little in Boca Raton, FL
Enjoyed a nice afternoon on the beach with my wife.
I attended Ann Arbor’s Cloud Camp yesterday at Google (in… Ann Arbor). Was a great “un-conference” about cloud computing and such. Took a few pictures and enjoyed the afternoon.
So, last night Michael and I caught up over a few Bourbon’s at a TGI Friday’s down the road. The last time Mike and I visited Friday’s together? 1989. Anyway… as the evening wore on, the window showed us something I thought I wouldn’t be seeing again for a while — snow. And we’re not talking “oh just a little white powder” here, we are talking big, huge, white flakes. Big ones. Coming down like the ground was Macy’s and it was a 90% off sale.
The snow continued throughout the night leaving 4 – 7 inches on the ground (depending on which paper you believe). All I know is that Yeni had to break out the winter boots (She said, “Oh, Winter Boots I thought I would not see you again… but here you are.”) and I got to de-snow the cars yet another time this year.
I will say this though… Looking at snow is nice. Dealing with it, not so much. There’s more pictures below…
The smartest thing I have ever done was not leave Florida permanently. After spending 20 plus years living and working in Florida, I’ve certainly seen my share of embarrassment. From Terry Schivo to Elian Gonzalez, the 2000 election to the Anna Nicole Smith Baby Daddy trial, Florida certainly helps give late night talk show hosts a punch line now and then.
But this isn’t a post about Florida. This is a post about two law makers in Michigan that want to raise income tax.
Right now, the State of Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the United States. Right now (March 2009), the Michigan unemployment rate is 12%. And with GM getting ready to lay off thousands more in May, this number will rise quicker than it will fall.
The Ann Arbor News (in Ann Arbor, MI of course) recently announced it’s closure. After 174 years, the Ann Arbor News could not see a way out of economic difficulties and will be relaunching as an online media company — AnnArbor.com. But this post isn’t about the closure… for information on that check out:
This post is on why I do not grieve the Ann Arbor News closure.
To be in business for 174 years is truly an amazing feat, and congratulations is due. Of course, the business became part of Mlive.com and was more of a conglomerate lately than a truly local paper.
This weekend, Yeni and I went to Meijer’s (the local supermarket) twice (long story). Both times we entered Meijer’s, we were greeted by two salesmen in a booth selling subscriptions to the Ann Arbor News. The approach was that one individual would stand in the entrance way and ask you to talk with him. When you said “No, thank you.” (like I did) he continued his pitch, and his style was effective — many elderly people were signing up for new subscriptions.
Businesses can and will fail. It’s the nature of, well, it’s the nature of business. Surely we can feel sadness for the persons who will lose their jobs and we can also feel sadness for the closure of a local institution, but to me, I feel more of a loss for the new subscribers I saw this weekend.
Traditionally, the elderly do not get their news online. I feel that selling subscriptions “hard” over the weekend for a business announcing it’s closure on Monday is in poor taste. And sadly, sometimes the last taste in your mouth is how you remember the meal.
I asked The Ann Arbor News what would happen to these new subscribers. They said:
“You’ll keep getting the paper as you do through July. We’re still working out what happens after that. You won’t lose what you paid though.”
To me, if they want my support, they’ll issue immediate refunds to anyone that bought a subscription this month. Full and immediate refund.
But, as Dennis Miller would say… That’s just my opinion.
