The Soapbox Archives:
There are the people who are too damn lazy and too damn selfish to clean off their cars completely before driving off. For instance, if they don't clear off the snow off the roof of their car:
And of course, there are the people who think they're more important than anyone else. If someone's backing out of a driveway and their vision is blocked by a snowbank, who's going to see whom first? If the driver on the street sees a car backing out of a driveway and they can't see the driver, then it only makes sense that the person backing up can't see any cars coming down the street. Is it going to kill people to be courteous and give someone the necessary 30 seconds to back out of a driveway? Perhaps being nice to someone on the road will make them happier and encourage them to be safer drivers? The same applies to people walking across a driveway from behind a snowbank when someone's trying to back out. The driver can't see anyone until they're directly behind the car. The pedestrian can stop and look behind the snowbank; the driver can't.
I tried to update the calendar with cancellations during the beginning of the storm on Friday. Some people waited until late afternoon to tell me their events were cancelled, by which time it was obvious that no one was going out. After the governor (of Massachusetts) implemented the driving ban and shut donw the T, I figured there was no point in updating the calendar with any new cancellations; everyone was going to be staying in that night.
I wanted to put in a plug for my favorite car mechanic, Ming Wong (no relation) of Ming's Auto Repair in Allston, MA. I've known the guy since the 3rd grade and he's worked on most of my cars. He specializes in Audis, Volkswagens, and BMW's, but he also works on other cars.
I'm on my second Pontiac Grand Prix GT (my 2007 GT has all the features of my 1997 GTP). The exhaust system has three mufflers in the system and the front one developed a hole in it. In a normal situation, someone with a 260hp supercharged engine might get an ego boost from the extra roar from the exhaust but I live in a quiet neighborhood and my neighbors wouldn't want to know when I came and went. The exhaust system from General Motors would have included the completely assembled system (totally pre-welded) at a cost of about $1100. Ming cut out the bad muffler and welded a new muffler that cost $100 plus labor; saved me a bundle and my car is purring again. I appreciate mechanics who try to save me money.
The Great Blizzard of 1978 started on February 6, 1978. Not only did we get Chinese New Year off (February 7), but also the next three weeks because of the second blizzard after the February vacation week. Sure, we paid for it at the end of year (extended school year and extended school days), but for all the kids, it was a great time.
And then there's the issue of changing email addresses. With all the free email services and the addresses that come with the cable services, it's too easy to switch services. However, there's a problem when that address becomes your public identity and you don't bother telling anyone that you've "moved". Imagine moving your physical address and not telling your banks and not leaving a forwarding address. If a listing doesn't have a website (or Facebook page) and the email address is bad, I won't have any way to find the owner of that venue and I'll assume they're out of the business and I'll remove the listing (it's not like their customers will be able to find them, anyway).
If you run a business and you own the domain/website for that business, it's definitely a better idea to use an address associated with that business. For instance, "info@BuyDanceShoesHere.com" is better than "buydanceshoeshere@gmail.com". First of all, it's easier for your customers to remember or guess your email address. Using the domain name is your email address looks more professional. If you use a free email address, it just looks like your business probably just a home business and you can't afford a real email service. In reality, all you need to do is publish your business address and just forward it to your real (free) address. It looks more professional to have people to send email at your domain; it's also easier to remember your email address if it's part of the business.
But a better reason for using your business' domain as your public address is that you'll never have to tell everyone what your new address is when you change ISP's. If I change Internet providers, my address on this website will never change and I'll never miss any email. If I forward my email to another address and I change services (for example, switching from Comcast to Verizon or from Yahoo.com to Gmail), I can just change the forwarding to the new address and no one will know the difference.
However, if you run a business and your business relies on people being able to find you on the Internet, it's your *responsibility* to search for all instances of your business and make sure your contact information is correct. I had one business that changed their email address a month after the last time I updated their listing so they spent most of the last year with the wrong email address in their listing. I don't consider it my job to get their current contact information; it's their job to get it to me.
Do yourself a favor: