Me, Her, the Boy and a Dog

I knew deep down that this day would come, but like a child at bed time I fought the inevitable. Yesterday, reality sank in. One of my favorite blogs of all time closed up shop.

For the last couple of years, Starbucks addicts (or in my case, recovering Starbucks addicts) tuned in to our Tumblr Dashboards or 147xxxx.tumblr.com to hear the latest hilarity, anecdotes, head-shaking conversations with customers, daily musing and brushes-with-celebrity from a Starbucks Barista working at one of the coffee giant’s stores in New York City. Yesterday she wrote what appears to be her final blog post as 147xxxx.

Sunday, Aug. 23, was her last day as a barista - her last order was three tall coffee frappuccinos. *Tears* Yesterday she announced that she would blog no more … at least not on the popular blog.

The author always remained anonymous. Just an average Starbucks Barista who worked in New York City. Though she was far from average, at least in the minds of her followers. She told it like it was and we appreciated that. Her rants were our rants. Her anonymity was one of the most intriguing aspects in following her blog. It was like an uncensored look at the real Starbucks through the eyes of one of its own. No public relations bull shit and no politically correct responses to ill-behaving customers. We didn’t know who this person was, but she was hilarious and served up more than just ridiculously hard-to-remember and who-the-hell-really-orders-those kind of drinks.

Her writing style was raw, but it worked. You could tell when she was writing in fits of frustration or laughing her ass off. The stream of consciousness flow and the random misspellings and type-as-you-speak delivery in conveying her emotions at the time, whether she was raving about one of her favorite celebrity customers like Molly Shannon, or spewing venom about the incompetence of her coworkers.

So, we say goodbye to one of the funniest Starbucks Baristas to ever blog anonymously. Hopefully, she will leave the blog up so we can revisit it from time to time and have a good laugh.

Before saying goodbye, 147xxxx left us with one final memorable post. She finally removed the vale of secrecy and introduced herself to fans of her site as Lisa. Hi Lisa. And goodbye, Lisa. Thanks for the memories and best of luck studying abroad in the Czech Republic.

Lisa, the blogger behind the popular 147xxxx.tumblr.com.

Twice. That’s how many times I’ve been asked in the last couple of months if I’d be willing to take dancing lessons with Ginger. She asked me casually some time ago and then her mom posed the question to me a week or so ago. It’s like they were testing me.

My response was typical of most men, or so I assume. I said begrudgingly, “Well, it depends on what kind of dancing, but sure, I’d give it shot.” Now, that doesn’t mean I’m ready to go out and buy a pair of dance shoes just yet, but I am interested in giving it a shot. Let’s face it, ladies like a man that can dance and it’s a pretty good work out, too. If Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith can do it, so can I!

So, when the summer is over and schedules are more settled, Ginger and I might take some lessons at the local dance studio or the community center and see how things go. Who knows, maybe I could go to the Olympics as a ballroom dancing athlete … yeah, don’t even get me started on that.

Do you dance? Have suggestions for instructors, equipment needed (such as men’s and women’s dancing shoes), types of dance styles for beginners? I’d love to hear them (and so would Ginger). I bet Ginger would LOVE these pink dancing shoes!

First, Ginger and I are doing OK for the most part. We have bruises on our chest and hip from the seat belts and bruises on our legs from the impact with the console of the car. It goes without saying that our necks are really stiff and according to the emergency room doctor at UVA Medical Center, tomorrow will probably be even worse.

Second, thank you for your thoughts, prayers and outpouring of support - we really appreciate everyone’s concern during the last 24 hours. Right now we are dealing with insurance, scheduling follow up doctor’s appointments and debriefing family.

Here’s what happened…

Ginger and I were traveling south on Rt. 29 just north of Charlottesville in the left lane. Ginger was driving and I was in the front passenger seat when a Chevy Silverado pickup truck traveling north on Rt. 29 attempted a U-turn, but did not stop to see if any cars were coming south bound and he pulled right in our path. There was no time to react and we slammed into the right side of his truck doing 60 miles per hour.

The collision was violent, loud and frightening. After the initial impact, the car deflected to the right and ended up in front of a sign for a driving range and golf shop. We were both dazed and disoriented - both airbags deployed on impact and there was a lot of smoke in the cabin. The seat belt impact knocked the wind out of me and we both had trouble getting a deep breath for a few minutes after the accident.

We checked each other to see if we were alright and then managed to get out of the car. We looked for the truck but it was no where to be found. Another car following the truck had the truck driver’s wife and a real estate agent inside. The real estate agent dropped the wife off and went to get the driver of the truck and get him to come back.

He eventually came back, but he did not drive his truck, he rode with the agent. When he got back I overheard him telling the sheriff’s deputy that he didn’t see anyone coming and that he did not know he’d been hit. How do you get hit by a car going 60 mph and NOT know you got hit? A Silverado is a sturdy truck but it’s not a tank.

Ginger had some chest and neck pain so they took her to UVA Medical Center for precautionary measures. They checked me out on the spot and I felt okay other than the usual pain you’d expect from a collision of that intensity, so I signed a waiver so I could ride in the ambulance with Ginger. Make no mistake, though, I am going to see a doctor tomorrow morning.

We got the hospital and the ER was pretty packed so it took some time for a doctor to see Ginger, but he checked her out and she was doing fine - just neck pain, shoulder pain and all the other pains you’d expect from that kind of accident. The doc advised us to see our family doctors in the next couple of days and warned us that we would probably start feeling the real effects on Tuesday. Fun. Not.

A Virginia State Trooper came by to take our statements and after he was done, he told us that the driver of the Silverado had been charged and was “clearly at fault.” He told us the court date for the case if we wanted to appear and to testify.

Ginger’s parents drove down from Jeffersonton (it’s near Culpeper) with an extra car for us to drive home. While Ginger was waiting to get looked at, her dad and I drove back up to where her car was towed and got all of our stuff out of it. Then we drove back to the hospital, by which time Ginger had been discharged.

We said goodbye to her parents and got in the minivan (yes, I finally had to drive a minivan despite years of denials) and drove the remaining 2-1/2 hours home. It was a tense drive home because suddenly, you are on the look out for all the crazies (and there are a TON of them) on the road that are not paying attention.

We’re very grateful that it wasn’t much worse. The car, which is totaled, can be replaced. Clearly, Ginger and I, cannot - and let’s face it, we’re two WONDERFUL people, right? RIGHT!!?? :-) See, we’re still smiling and laughing - but it kinda hurts a little when we laugh - sore necks, chest, hips, legs … well, you get the point.

Thanks again for all of your kind words, thoughts and prayers - it means a lot to us and it is good to know that we have such a loving bunch of people in our lives!

The car formerly known as a 2006 Honda Civic… :(

For the last several months, my car has been making a pretty loud sound. Naturally I was concerned, but considering I was out of work at the time, what could I do about it? I didn’t have the money to get it fixed. Finally, in March, though I was still without a full time job, I had done enough free lance work to take the car in to the shop.

I normally go to South Main Auto in Blacksburg. They are generally considered to be over-priced, but they usually do good work and all my previous maintenance records were already in their system. So, off I went. I explained the loud noise and that the “check engine” light was on. They didn’t even test drive it to hear the sound. They hooked up their computer to my car and said it was the catalytic converter and that would be $320 for a complete fuel injection cleaning.

What a load of crap. Biggest waste of $320. It didn’t do a darn thing - the car was just as noisy as ever AND the check engine light didn’t go off. That was all the money I had for car repairs (they wanted to charge me $200 to change spark plugs, but I did it myself for about $30), so I couldn’t take it back to get the real problem fixed.

Then in late March I was offered that job at Virginia Tech and started in mid-April. After building up a couple of paychecks and doing some more free lance work, I was able to take the car back in on Friday. I took it to a different shop - Auto Repair Specialist. Pretty original name, don’t you think?

Before taking the car in, I did extensive research on the Web looking for others whose cars had the same symtoms as mine; loud noise and vibrations that worsened the faster you went, but got quieter during right turns. The verdict … wheel bearings. Apparently, these are pretty important - something about holding the wheel onto the axel?

So, I took it to the new shop and explained with the confidence of an amateur grease monkey that I was 99 percent sure it was the wheel bearing. I ruled out tire balance because the steering wheel was not vibrating (been there, done that), and I ruled out an alignment because the car wasn’t pulling to either side and the tread wear was even on all four tires (been there, done that).

The guys nodded at me and said they’d check it out, but it sounded to them like it was indeed the wheel bearing - probably on the right side. I nodded somberly as well, basically conveying that I, myself, would fix the problem, but I am far too busy with my office job and besides, I’d much rather support local businesses in these tough economic times. They humored me, fixed my car and then took my $421.

But, I’m not complaining because my car is fixed and it is whisper quiet again! Well, that might be a stretch, but relatively speaking, anything would be quieter than it was before. You think I’m kidding, but even Nic would point out that, “Daddy, your car is loud. You need to take it to the ‘chanic!”

Thankfully, I got the car fixed in time for our day trip to Winchester to see my uncle, aunt and cousins, especially Megan, who graduated from high school on Friday. I will write a separate blog post about our awesome day in Winchester. We packed a TON of fun into the day.

So, wrapping up … South Main Auto, bad; Auto Repair Specialist, good; Bank account, empty; Car, fixed; Nic and Daddy, very tired.

(PS - It’s late and I didn’t feel like spell-checking so sue me.)

Usually having the No. 1 pick in any professional sports draft is a good thing, but that might not be the case for the Washington Nationals. The team selected San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg with the top pick in the Major League Baseball draft this week and already, reports are stirring that Strasburg’s agent, Scott Boras, has stated that it will take $50 million in guaranteed money to sign the hard-throwing prospect.

Salaries in professional sports are out of control and that’s for players who have proven they can play. But when Scott Boras, who is by all accounts a greedy money grabbing low life, is telling teams that his client is worth $50 million in guaranteed money, we’ve gone far beyond insanity. No, we’ve crossed into a whole other dimension. Of course, we are in the government bailout era where billions of dollars are being throw around like chump change, so maybe Boras (pronounced Bore-ASS by my favorite sports radio show host Steve Czaban), thinks no one will notice another $50 million.

This kid has been a good pitcher for all of two seasons. A large percentage of MLB players are drafted out of high school, but every MLB team passed over Strasburg because he was a trouble maker, according to an ESPN.com article back in February.

“I saw a game where there were quite a few scouts there and he blew up, just absolutely lost it on the mound,” said an American League scout. “He was a kid that would challenge his infielders when they would make mistakes. He would challenge his coach. He would challenge the umpires. … When you put that into the professional equation, it doesn’t work.

“I think 30 teams got it right with Stephen Strasburg. I don’t think we missed it. Everyone did their job. And it seemed like we all came to the same consensus: not quite ready.”

During his freshman year of college baseball, the strength and conditioning coach flat out told him he should quit. To his credit, hearing that only ticked him off and he set out to prove everyone wrong. He dropped 30 pounds, added 8 mph to his fastball and was throwing 101 mph by his sophomore year. That’s pretty impressive, but two very good seasons does not equate to $50 million, sorry.

He pitched in the Mountain West Conference, not the ACC or the SEC, the Mountain West. His numbers are astronomical, but if I’m a MLB GM, there’s no way I am paying this kid that kind of money when he hasn’t even throw a single pitch against MLB-caliber hitters.

Also, keep in mind that the current record for largest contract handed out to a No. 1 pick is about $10 million, which went to Mark Prior of the Cubs several years ago. Mark had potential, but like a lot of hard throwing pitchers, he was plagued by injuries and is currently out of baseball. But Boras expects the Nationals to pay this unproven kid FIVE times the previous signing record? In guaranteed money? What a farce.

If the Nationals pay it, they get everything they deserve. I don’t want to see the kid fail, but anything less than 20 wins a season and a record-setting pace of Cy Young Awards will be a disappointment.

That Nationals need to make a stand and tell this kid that he’s getting $10-15 million, take it or leave it. I hate that he’ll get that much, but I’m going with the times here. If the Nationals can’t sign him, he sits out a year and waits for next year’s draft, but I doubt he’d sit out a year - he’s probably pitch somewhere in an independent league. Of course, then he risks getting hurt and losing out on any chance of a big payday. It’s a game of chicken, really, but I’m afraid that the Nationals, like most teams, will cave in and give this kid a ridiculous contract.

And this is one of the reasons that I don’t follow MLB any more. These guys get paid way too much money and I refuse to pay $40-$80 for a ticket so these guys can get their millions every year for playing a kids game. I’d much rather go watch a minor league game, college game or even a local high school game where they still play for the love of the game.

Remember Tiny URL? I do. I remember it like it was yesterday … well, it was about six months ago, but in the world of social media six months feels more like decade. I discovered a new URL-shortening tool called bit.ly. I have seen it before and even used it because it’s shortened URL structure was slightly smaller than Tiny URL, but it wasn’t until recently that I discovered additional features that allow you to track how many people click on the links you share and even add a sidebar to make sharing even easier.

Both Tiny URL and bit.ly have browser bar tools that allow you to shorten a URL (Web site) by simply clickling a button in your browser. Bit.ly, however, takes it step further by allowing you to create an account and adding a sidebar that slides out when you click on the browser bar button. From this sidebar, you can send the automatically shortened link via Twitter, Facebook, Gmail or e-mail. Or, you can copy and paste it manually if you are leery about linking your Twitter account.

Once you have an account and are logged in, you can start seeing stats for how many times your followers and/or friends are clicking on the links you share via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail. Cool, I know … but how does this help me?

For starters, it appeases general curiosity. How many people find what I share interesting enough to click on the link? If you aren’t getting any clicks then perhaps you should consider a couple of things:

1) Maybe your followers are not interested in what you have to say.
2) Consider rewording your anchor text (text describing the link) to make it more appealing.

You’ve probably seen the Twitter posts that reads something like…

“OMG! You HAVE to check this out! http://clickhere.dufus”

No way I am clicking on that link. I have no idea what it is and I don’t like surprises (at least not on the Web). I want a heads up about the link I am about to follow. Be more descriptive about the link you are sharing. For example:

“Check out The Lyric theatre in Blacksburg for a cheap movie date! Two tix, large soda & free popcorn (Mondays) for $11! http://bit.ly/uUHYO”

My followers know exactly what they are getting and if they like the “headline” that I have provided, they are more likely to click on the bit.ly link.

There was a time when using a URL condensing tool didn’t really make much sense because in some cases, it actually made the link longer and added more characters to your 140-character limit with Twitter. For example:

http://thelyric.com has 19 characters as does the bit.ly version - http://bit.ly/uUHYO. So, what’s the benefit? Tracking! That’s where bit.ly does a great job of providing incentive to shorten a link even when it doesn’t actually shorten a link.

For SEO folks (search engine optimization) there is the question of whether TIny URL and other link shortener tools pass “link juice” or anchor text value on to the link URL that was condensed. According to some SEOs Google has started following the Tiny URLs and passing anchor text value.

My other concern is that some of these services will eventually shut down and then you are stuck with a plethora of broken links and subsequently an error 404 hell for a Webmaster. Eventually a front runner will emerge from the URL shortener race and will hopefully stick around for awhile so that all our itsy bitsy URLs will remain intact.

For a more thorough explanation of URL shorteners and the various services available, check out Jane Copland’s post at SEOMoz.com. The post is from last September and Jane is no longer at SEOMoz in Seattle, but it’s still a valuable and informative resource.