Lee.org

I graduated Neumann Prep, Wayne NJ in 1987. The school closed down in 1990 or so (my classmate George had a terrible time getting a transcript from the diocese after the closure!)

I went back to the school in May 2005. Here’s some photos of the place

The farm across the street from the school is apparently for sale. I’m sure the condos will be nice.

From this intersection, turn left and then the school is on your right. In front of you is a W.R. Grace Superfund site (local copy) that held radioactive thorium and uranium infused sand from mining. Directly to the left and behind is the farm. Behind and to the right is some ancient chemical dump (nobody knew much about it. It was said to be a Superfund site but I can’t find reference of it). Yup, high school, farm, nuclear waste dump and chemical dump all within 500 feet of one another.

They didn’t take much effort in changing the sign. Under that placard it still says “Neumann Prep”.

A panorama of the front of Neumann Prep. (you can right-click to download this large image)

A panorama of the front lot. (you can right-click to download this large image)

The front yard.

Looking in through the entrance on the right, near the chapel. Though I passed by here a thousand times, the thing I think about when looking at this is that the Junior Prom took place in the gym and a table was set up at that door you can see to take tickets.

The entrance to the left, the “Main” entrance. When I look here, I think about a lot… the library to the left (and the day a kid was walking out while I was walking in, he said with a laugh, “Hey, the space shuttle blew up.” I walked in to see the diverging con-trails on TV), the steps (where we ran up and down one day for Ms. Rawding’s physics class to figure out how many horsepower we could generate (about 1/3)), the door almost out-of-sight to the right where Latin class was (I didn’t take it) and yearbook met (where I was told that a previous class had sneakily scribed the word “FUCK” across the book with border-markings), the lockers around the corner (where the combination to my lock each year always had at least one “38″, weird!) and Father Lombardo’s theology class in the classroom through the wall to the right, and Mr… (ugh, I don’t recall his name! He had a bushy beard) music appreciation class… and… and… and…

Just outside the cafeteria. There were a few picnic tables here. That is where the super-cool kids ate lunch. I ate out there a few times but it was usually too cold, bright or… well, too super-cool for me.

These coupon codes will get you 10% off your annual or bi-annual subscription to Mozy. They’re only good this month. So here’s what to do:

• First, sign up for Mozy with my referral link (and get $10-15 free money)
• Then, when signing up, there will be a box where you can type in a promotion code. “APRIL” gets you 10% off an annual subscription to Mozy. “APRIL2″ gets you 10% off a bi-annual subscription to Mozy. Use the code that’s appropriate for your subscription. :-)

The code is only good April 2008. If you found this link after then, look on my blog for a more current Mozy discount code.

For the last 2 months or so I’ve been taking poi spinning classes with Jon Dickinson of Fire Arts Academy and Fire Arts Collective. All I’ve got to say is that he’s really good… a very good teacher in a good physical space with good students and… well, if you’re going to learn to spin poi, I highly recommend him.

Here’s his recent flier. If you missed these sessions, never fear, the cycle will repeat at some point!

Fire Arts Academy is offering sessions of Poi & Staff classes in Oakland. FAA is now taking registration for poi & staff classes in Oakland starting Tuesday March 11th. Private classes in San Francisco and weekend workshops are available, please contact us or check our website. (more…)

2 weeks ago I found a CMS system called Pligg. Before using it, I took a look at the blog on the site. I noted what looked like an overly emotional post about Dreamhost and a billing problem they had recently.

The line was crossed not when they billed me prematurely for two years of service, but rather when they issued an apology email and blog post which felt unapologetic and insincere.

Dreamhost’s blog post opened “Um, Whoops” and had an image of Homer Simpson holding up his finger, an arrow pointing to his finger saying “fat finger”. The post was in Dreamhost’s usual overly plucky tone. If you’ve ever gotten one of their monthly updates, you’d know what I’m talking about. Every one is a parody of itself it’s so plucky… It’s their shtick.

I wrote on Pligg’s blog a comment describing what I thought about Pligg’s criticism. The comment didn’t show up immediately, the system said it had entered moderation, which is a common spam filtering method. I was very surprised when I came back a week later and my comment hadn’t been posted. So I posted it again. A week later, still nothing. Apparently, moderation isn’t just for spam but for differing opinions as well.

My comment was mostly a response to Eric “Yankidank” Heikkinen’s followup comment to his post

January 17th, 2008 at 2:24 pm

Transparent about the whole thing? You mean admitting to charging users $7.5 million that they don’t owe? Dreamhost is a host I have supported for a long time, but their friendly/amateur approach to everything isn’t something that I’m comfortable with in situations like yesterdays debacle. I am especially upset when I feel that a sincere apology is due and they take their usual playful route “oops, we have a fat finger that caused some users to be billed for thousands of dollars”. Granted the charges were reversed within 24 hours…

Here is the comment I was trying to leave on the Pligg blog. Admittedly, it’s a bit sarcastic, but I welcome comments about it (unlike Mr Heikkinen)

>but rather when they issued an apology email and blog post which felt
>unapologetic and insincere

Would the insincere part be the part where they explained exactly what went wrong, why it went wrong, how the problem was fixed, and how they made sure it wouldn’t happen again? Or is it the part about how this problem was discovered and remedied within hours? Maybe it was the part about taking full responsibility for the problem and then doing something about it. Any way you slice it, I see what you mean. I wouldn’t trust Dreamhost after this either.

>Dreamhost has lost our endorsement

And Pligg has lost mine. He he. Pretty funny, huh?

From the Pocono Record

John T. Finnegan, 37, of Stroudsburg, died on Monday, March 17. Raised in Acton, Mass., he was the beloved son of Gail and Robert Finnegan. He was the loving husband of Colleen Ann Capuano, with whom he celebrated nine years of marriage.

John was employed by QA Associates and served as a respected quality assurance engineer. John Finnegan was one of the founders of the New England Roleplaying Organization, a national Live Action Roleplaying group. He was the organization’s heart and soul, spending countless hours enhancing the gaming experience. Its customers benefited from John’s magnetic personality and his extraordinary creative talent for unique stories and unforgettable characters.

John graduated from St. Anselm College with a bachelor of arts degree in history. He was an avid reader of the fantasy and science fiction genres. He loved to spend time with his many friends, playing video games and especially Dungeons and Dragons. John could always be relied upon to offer a sympathetic ear or a shoulder to cry on.

In addition to his wife and parents, John is survived by his brother, Christian Finnegan, and his wife, Kambri Crews; his grandmother, Latrice Griffin; his brother-in-law, Patrick Capuano; his sister-in-law, Andrea Bacchi; father-in-law, Pat Capuano; mother-in-law, Laura Capuano; stepmother, Debra Finnegan; his stepsiblings, Matt and Sally McCracken, and Molly and Mirco Gaggiotti.

Visitation will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 21, at the funeral home. Additional visitation will be held from 11 a.m. until the time of the service, Saturday, March 22, at the funeral home. A Catholic prayers service will follow at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 22, from the Joseph J. Pula Funeral Home, 23 N. Ninth St., Stroudsburg, with the Rev. Fr. Thomas D. McLaughlin officiating. Cremation will follow the services.

In lieu of flowers and at the family’s request, donations may be made on behalf of his departed brother, Robert Finnegan Jr., to Children’s Hospital Trust, 1 Autumn St. No. 731, Boston, MA 02215-5301. Please attach a memo or note citing care of Robert Finnegan Jr.

I just received this (wonderful) announcement. Put the PTDR on your calendar!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, please brace yourselves for the following
double-barreled announcement.

You Said It Would Not Happen!
You Said It Was Better Last Year!
You Said There Was No Way You Would Stand In Those Concession Lines Again

BUT IT DID. AND IT WASN’T. AND YOU WILL.

Assorted parties are PROUD to present

The One And Only

POWER TOOL DRAG RACES

TWO WEEKENDS. . eekends. . . eekends. . .eekends

At The Maker Faire. . .aire. . .aire. . aire

Maker Faire Bay Area
May 3rd and 4th 2008
http://makerfaire.com/

And then AGAIN at ACE! International Speedway. . .eedway. . .eedway. .
.eedway. . . (more…)

Isn’t it odd that this downright silly post follows such a very very serious post about Lucille Rathyen. Some truths: You’re born. You live. You die. How well that middle part goes is entirely up to you.

I reported previously that the Geostationary Banana Over Texas crew was busy. Well, it seems that Caesar Saez and crew is really trying to do it. There’s an assurance contract on ThePoint.com. The GBOT Team will float a giant banana over Texas if we raise $1,500,000. They’ve got a video on their site that implies they are really trying to do it! Here’s a local copy:

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I’d pay at LEAST $25 to see a 300 meter long banana in geostationary orbit over Texas. I put myself in for $25 and said I’d chip in more when they answered a couple questions like what the actual conditions for “success” were.

Are you in?

In 1989 I was a DJ at WMFO, Tufts radio station. I found a cart (image via) in the music library called “Stairway to Gilligan’s Island”. I fell in love with it.

Last year, I came to mentioning the song to a guy in a tiki bar in Alameda (I was there with some friends from my Improv class) because the song had been floating around in my brain. Amazingly, he said that he knew the guy who made the song and he lived nearby. (small world, eh?).

I really should look him up. Here it is, Stairway to Gilligan’s Island by Roger and the Goosebumps:

(on Youtube)

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I’ll likely be going to a mashup event Saturday night at the DNA Lounge, BootieSF.

I was in Altamont Pass last week talking to a rancher about solar.

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I was just looking through some old email addresses I had. I recalled Bob Charmoy and his wife Diana. When I was The Computer Guy, I had gone to their house a few times to fix their computers. Bob was recovering from pancreatic cancer, no mean feat owing to the difficulty of treating it. He had gone to the Block Center for treatment. When I spoke to him, he told me how he was put on a very strict diet with no sugar at all… and a few other restrictions. I remember speaking to him in his kitchen. He had been swimming in the pool and he stood there, hairless from the chemo treatments and looking like his skin was hanging off him a little loosely… but he had a smile on his face and his strong muscles were evident. After speaking with me about the computer, he was going back to the pool to play with his young relatives who were still splashing about.

On previous nights, he showed me his restored Wurlitzer jukebox collection, 3 or 4 of them scattered through his large home. Each had original vinyl records that very played well for their 50+ years of use.

They had asked me to put in an outdoor sound system. I tried to figure out exactly how but got stuck on the thought of drilling through an exterior wall into wiring or plumbing. I took longer than I should have to get back to them with an answer but eventually I referred them to someone who could do it in Hackettstown. After that, they didn’t return my phone calls.  Phoey.

But none of that really matters. I googled his name today and found a story on page 6 of the Camphill 2005-06 Annual Report with this at the end.

This is dedicated with appreciation to Dr. Bob Charmoy,
DDS, who lost his battle with cancer on May 25, 2005

I googled a bit more and found this vignette on a couple wedding sites

ON CLOUD NINE

Bob and I were sitting in first class on the way to Seattle, Washington, to meet my family. During the flight, a voice came on over the intercom and said, “This is your pilot speaking. I would like to acknowledge some people in first class.” I looked around for some celebrities. The pilot went on. “They’re sitting in seats 1E and 1F.” I looked at Bob and said, “We’re in seats 1E and 1F.” The pilot continued, “As we’re approaching Niagara Falls, I feel that it’s appropriate to say ‘Diana, Bob has a question for you.’ ” Bob smiled, handed me a box, and asked me to marry him.

Diana Charmoy

Allamuchy, New Jersey