UPDATE: I just wanted to acknowledge several comments I received about the lack of snow plowing on side streets. I worked at home today, Dec. 31st and as of 3 p.m. NO PLOW came down my end of the street. I saw the plow around 11 a.m. go down an adjacent street, but for some reason over the past several years, my strip of roadway gets totally missed.

I agree with some of you that the town is  probably waiting for after 4 p.m. when it will be overtime. Yep, Then the town complains about shortfalls. Snowplowing is a matter of public safety. If the fire or ambulance cannot get up a hill or go down a street,  don’t tell me that is not a danger to people. IT IS!!

For the lousy $30 savings on a persons’ tax bill, PLEASE PLOW THE ROADS!!

COMMENTS:

BILL M said:

My street which is off of Peck Lane did not get plowed last time until several hours after the storm had ended. I cleared my walk and several hours later, I heard the plow go by and deposit several inches of hard packed slushy snow back onto my sidewalk and driveway which I then had to go out around 9 p.m. and remove. This is rdidiculous. What are we paying taxes for?

Carrie Dunhurst said:

I live on Marion Road, and the last storm which was I believe the day before Christmas Eve, I was coming home around 3 p.m. as it began snowing. I saw a plow just driving down the road, not throwing sand, nothing.

Also, I wanted to add that if the Cheshire Police Department wants to give out a ton of tickets, they should park on Marion Road after 1 a.m. and then they will see semi after semi barreling down the street. They are driving so fast it shakes my house.

Marianne L said:

I live on Peck Lane and my road got plowed but it was icy the last time.  I guess they don’t throw that sand anymore-too bad. But at least the town did not k.o. my mailbox this time–kudos to the plow drivers for that.

Justin Taglia said:

I don’t have any problems with the roads. They were a little snow covered, but I think the Town of Cheshire did a good job. It was the state that sucked!! Route 10 was terrible, so was Route 42.  It seems we are going to get a lot of snow this year, and with the economy the way it is–something will have to suffer.

Well the year 2008 is coming to a close. It was a tough year for many people. There was a glimmer of hope in November, when Barack Obama became the first African-American President-elect. Hopefully, he will add some strength and encouragement to this country. Only time will tell.

I know the night of the election-after the announcement was made that Obama had won-it felt like New Years Eve. I will never forget the images of people jamming Times Square in New York City and in Chicago, seeing hordes of people running through the streets.

It was electrifying.

I know most of that hoopla has died out and reality again has set in. The Holiday shopping season was a BOMB to say the least. I mean let’s face it, when you have retailers letting consumers name their price, in a sense, haggle, you know the bottom has just about dropped out.

I have a couple of items to pass on to you that caught my eye. The first is a list of “predictions” by Saxo Bank entitled “10 Outrageous Claims for 2009.”

Click here for story

The economy is a big part of the Saxo Bank predictions. I think the economy is bad, but the media is making things worse-and by media-I mean the ELECTRONIC media, not the newspaper media so to speak.

In that light, it will be interesting to see if one of these five interested parties end up making an offer on the papers owned by the Journal-Register Company. Remember, interested may mean just that-INTERESTED. I am interested in buying these papers too-but there is NO WAY I have this type of money. Something to think about.

I don’t think a new owner will be able to fix this situation. The Journal-Register Company spread themselves way too thin, acquiring all of these papers and Connecticut Magazine. It was just additional ad revenue. Good reporting was sacrificed for money.  Maybe they didn’t think people would notice-I think they did.

I really believe a lot if not most of these papers today have lost their passion for the news-for reporting. You see, it takes TOO MUCH TIME to research and dig for information. People are not used to waiting for this anymore. They want instant news, ie. CNN, YAHOO, MSNBC, etc. They don’t want to read long winded details-they want fast and sketchy.

The old days of newspaper reporting are gone. it is a lost art sad to say. If you want to see how newspaper reporting used to be, over the holiday weekend, rent “All the Presidents Men.” It may not be the most accurate account of the Watergate debacle, but it is a primer on HOW TO DO A NEWSPAPER STORY.

Notice how much time these two men spent. How much information they acquired. How much detail. You will NEVER see that again.

I try to write long posts, because I try to put in as much detail as possible. This is how I was taught as a reporter back in the old days, when newspapers were still the main source of information.

I notice my former colleague, Len Grimaldi who writes the “Only in Bridgeport” blog puts in a lot of info also. That is how he was taught-the old newspaper reporter way.

I hope you will read the Only in Bridgeport blog from time to time. I have provided a link under “Blogs” I especially want the Town Government to see how open things are in Bridgeport. I am not saying Bridgeport is perfect-IT IS FAR FROM IT-but people, even those involved in the government, are not afraid to speak their minds.

Again, Bridgeport has had to lay off an additional 51 city employees. I was reading some chats about this and found out that every civilian employee in the Bridgeport Police Records Department was laid off.

What I found astonishing was a comment on Topix, (for what that is worth) by someone who stated that a Sergeant in the Bridgeport Police Records Department made $140,000 a year. MADNESS!!  And you people in Cheshire are worried about Schools Supt. Florio. CHUMP CHANGE!!

I know many of you in Cheshire don”t like Town Manager Michael Milone, but he does try to keep a lid on spending for the most part. I think he is a little too protective of the town and should let his “hair down” so to speak and relax. But things are changing more and more, even though I still think Channel 14 is hype.

I really start laughing when I watch those propaganda shows the Town Manager appears on. You can tell he is after a “certain image.” And I notice Channel 14 keeps running that budget overview-bottom line-if you keep telling yourself the sky is green-after a while you believe it!!

Speaking of the economy, the second item that caught my eye is the idea by the town of Wallingford to revitalize their downtown.  Do you wonder what these people who run Wallingford are thinking? Are they crazy, or is this smart economic move?

I have always said that Cheshire should have incorporated this “Lifestyle Center” idea into West Main Street. This is where it belongs. In the middle of town-not up at the complete outskirts of Cheshire.  It belongs right in the heart of the town. Where the most traffic is. The easiest to get to. The buildings are there-they just need a facelift.

Wallingford is also looking to incorporate retail with “affordable housing.” And again, by affordable, for all you worrywarts out there, I do not mean Section 8 housing. I mean housing a young professional or a person just starting out could afford!!!

Cheshire needs to get on the ball with this idea NOW. This town already dropped it when they did not pursue the Apple Valley Mall, which co-incidentally, would have been located in the same area as this proposed Lifestyle Center (in the north end of town on the Cheshire, Southington line.)

The difference is, that 25 years ago, there was no Brass Mill Center Mall in Waterbury and no Westfield in Meriden. This would have been stand alone and I believe money would have been made.

But no-we had to hear the whiners-”we didn’t move here to Cheshire to look at a mall” or “we don’t want to encourage the wrong types of people to come here.”

OK, have it your way. Let’s see what will happen with the Cheshire operating budget NEXT YEAR. This town may be eating its words!!

Click here for Wallingford revitilization story and video

I received a lot of good feedback from my Christmas Scenes 3 video that I posted to Youtube. I will be running this for a few more days until New Years.

The photographs came from St. Peter’s Church Holiday Fair; Bishop Farms and Pier One in Cheshire. Again, thank you for letting me take photos.

Now I did want to say a few words about my son being followed AGAIN at night by the Cheshire Police Department. My son was coming home early Saturday morning after first stopping at a friends house. Everytime he goes to visit this friend and stays out past 11 p.m. I start worrying. I almost was going to call the Police Department, give them his license plate and tell them–OFF LIMITS!!

UPDATE: Go to the “Story Behind the Story” post to see a comment on this very issue by a long time local resident.

Its annoying. Its like you are looking for permission to go out late at night. IS IT OK??? God, give it a break.

I know when I was down at the CPD looking at the police log, I did notice a lot of arrests for drunk driving. But see, the local paper never puts the “story” behind the arrest, so none of us really knows what events transpired to cause the pullover by the police in the first place.

Was the person weaving? Did they get into an accident? Were they pulled over for let’s say, speeding and while interviewing the driver, did the police smell alcohol?

Thanks to “Inquiring Mind” I was able to come up with some information that will let you in on just what a police officer looks for when trying to spot a driver who is operating a motor vehicle under the influence.

I hate to say this, but after I read the list, I can understand why my son gets pulled over-he usually has his highbeams on at night because he says he has a little trouble seeing and number two-he drives SLOW!!

But, as I have stated before, these two actions do not necessarily mean one is intoxicated-not at all. And I do not advocate driving drunk. I don’t drink that much because when I do, I literally just pass out.

I will be breaking with tradition on New Years Eve and tying one on big time. Then I will drive my car down Rt. 10.  I will be driving around 12:30 a.m., so stay off of the roads–I WARNED YOU!!

I have always wondered, if there is a difference between impaired driving and driving when one is just “technically” over the limit. I am NOT advocating driving drunk-not at all, but I sometimes think a lot of people are being arrested for “technically” being over the limit, i.e. over the .08 blood alcohol level, but not being “impaired” enough where they cannot control a motor vehicle. I am going to follow up on some of these so called DUI arrests with the courthouse to see what the final disposition is. I won’t be putting any names in my posts, just updates, i.e. percentages of people “convicted” vs percentage of accused who had their charges dropped.

I know a lot of people drive intoxicated, but in Cheshire, the numbers seem to be a little high (no pun intended).

Before I expound on the blood alcohol reading vs impaired issue, let’s see what a cop looks for when trying to spot a drunk driver.

JUST IN TIME FOR NEW YEARS EVE PEOPLE!!!

Q: What does a police officer look for when he effectuates a traffic stop?

A: When a police officer stops a suspect for possible DWI, the officer is trained to look for several “clues” to help him make a determination regarding the sobriety of the suspect. The clues are largely derived from the research of the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTA). The NHTA prints a manual which law enforcement officers are trained to follow in alcohol related stops. A few of the clues include:

1. Effectuating an improper turn (turns with too large/small a radius)

2. Repeatedly crossing the double yellow lane

3. Striking objects on the roadway

4. Excessive weaving or swerving between lanes, erratic driving

5. Driving too slow (less than 10mph) below speed limit or too fast (necessitating a stop)

6. Stopping in a traffic lane without reason

7. Following too closely behind the vehicle in front

8. Braking the vehicle in lane of travel erratically or without cause

9. Signaling inconsistent with driving actions

10. Driving with vehicle headlights off

Initially in a traffic stop, an officer is looking for signs of alcohol use. An officer will engage the suspect in a dialogue in order to monitor speech pattern and to smell for alcohol. They will note the suspects physical appearance in the car, any odor of alcohol in the car and any open containers in the car.

While a suspect always has legal rights (ie. the right not to incriminate herself by answering questions) which they may choose to exercise, it is important that a suspect always be polite a courteous to law enforcement officers. If a suspect chooses not to answer questions or to engage any field sobriety tests as requested by the officer, the suspect should politely inform the officer of his decision and allow the officer to determine how he wishes to proceed. The officer may choose to take the suspect into custody and transport her to the police station in order to administer a breathalyzer test. This is a test based on the suspects alcohol content on her breath. A suspect will blow into a machine and the machine will determine alcohol content on the breath. The result of this test will be used against the suspect in court.

If requested by a police officer to take the breathalyzer test (not to be confused with a preliminary breath test which is given in the field and is not required by law), Maryland law requires that the suspect take the test. Technically, a suspect can refuse to take the test if they so choose but the suspect will face administrative penalties involving the probable loss of their license for a significant period of time (120 days for a first refusal and a year for subsequent refusal). A suspect is always entitled to an Administrative hearing when stopped for an alcohol violation in order to modify the possible penalty for the offense but a suspect is reminded that the administrative request for hearing must be filed timely (generally within 10 days of the offense but in no event later than 30 days).

Q: Should I perform the field sobriety tests if asked?

A: In a word, NO. Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs) are generally not a good idea. The problem with FSTs is that they are typically given on the side of the road or on a nearby parking lot, at night, in the presence of an officer, under stressful inquisition type circumstances by an individual whose primary motivation is accumulating evidence to use against you in Court.

The FSTs measure varying levels of physical coordination and the ability to listen and to follow what the officer is telling the suspect to do. The tests are not natural, some are open to serious critism and often times they are not properly explained by the officer. If a suspect chooses not to engage the FSTs, there is no penalty for that decision but the suspect is cautioned to be respectful and polite to the officer when making the decision.

I am going to link you to a few discussions on drunk and impaired driving. I also am going to include a Blood Alcohol Counter that you can use to determine if you are legally intoxicated.

All you do is put in the information, i.e., your weight (DON’T LIE), and what type of alcohol you are drinking and how much. You click on the button and viola–your Blood Alcohol level is calculated.

“Why You Should Not Drive Drunk”

Drunk Driving Traffic Stop and Investigation

Brain Protein That Causes Intoxication Found

Finally:

Click here to determine your Blood Alcohol Level

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to post that much over the past few days, mostly because  over the Holidays, I went from three people living in my home to six, so it has been what seems like an endless cycle of cooking, cleaning and washing clothes.

But If you remember my post about Chesprocott earlier last week, I did mention that Cheshire, Prospect and Wolcott pay Chesprocott a per capita fee of $6.

TO REITERATE:

So, for example, Cheshire, with a population of approximately 29,187 would pay Chesprocott $178,122 per year;

Wolcott, with a population of approximately 15,215 would pay Chesprocott $91,290 per year and Prospect, with a population of approximately 8,717, would pay $52,302 a year.

This adds up to a grand total of $321,714!!!

This should make you wonder what all this money each year is used for: is it to pay for salaries, fees for services, i.e. inspecting leach fields, providing flu shots and sponsoring the various health programs they conduct each year? I don’t know–do you?? Chesprocott provides a lot of services, but damn, this three town subsidy is no chump change either!!

So last Monday, Dec. 22, I went over to Chesprocott and spoke with the director, Thomas Wegrzyn. He was very cordial but cautious as usually is the case in this town because let’s face it–the municipality has gotten used to no one really questioning them.

We spoke for quite a while about the doings of Chesprocott. It was mostly FYI which is fine. He did provide me with an auditor’s report, some of which I will be featuring in this post.

My concern was what this $321,714 was being used for. I also wondered about the fee schedule: i.e., was it too low. Did fees need to be raised? Was the state giving them enough money or any money at all?

According to Wegrzyn, fees account for 22 percent of the entire budget.

(Boy I had better get my “O” key fixed or I am going to be in a lot of trouble),

I did manage to look at the auditors report which incidentally, was just completed so it was timely. I managed to scan some of the report, but I did take down notes on a few of the pages.

Chesprocott Financial Highlights

NET ASSETS:

Cash &Investments: 2008-$245,430; 2007-$301,012

Other Current Assets: 2008-51,041; 2007-$14,707

Net Capital Assets: 2008-34,960; 2007-$19,037.

TOTAL ASSETS: 2008-$331,431; 2007-$334, 756.

LIABILITIES: 2008-$81,797; 2007-$72,722.

TOTAL NET ASSETS: 2008-$249,634; 2007-$262,034.

CHANGES IN NET ASSETS:

Program Revenue: 2008-$288,401; 2007-$232,617.

General Revenue: 2008-$449,261; 2007-411, 754.

Total Revenue: 2008- 737,662; 2007-$644,371

Total Expenses: 2008- $750, 062; 2007-682,162.

INCREASE(DECREASE) IN NET ASSETS:

2008-($12,400), 2007-(37, 791).

Quoting from the audit report:

“ne f the most important questions asked about ur finances: “is the Dsitrcit as a whoole, better off or worse as a result of the years’ activities”?

“Net assets decreased by ($12,400) during the current year. The economic downturn experienced in 2008, officially labeled a recession has slowed development activity and revenue from this activity such as soil tests, septic installations, wells, etc.

“Although the slowdown was anticipated and relfected in the budget for Anticipated Revenue, the slowdown has been greater than anticipated. One action taken to control expenses has been not yet filling a part-time position vacated through retirement.”

Quoting from the audit report:

“Capitol assests are currently adequate to accomplish the business of the District.”

The report went on to state:

“The District maintains a fleet of five autos. Two vehicles were purchased in a current year to replace two aged vehicles. The remaining are performing well and there is no plan to purchase any additinal vehicles in the near future.

Office and Emergency Preparedness equipment have been added allowing for more capabilities.”

ECONOMIC FACTORS:From the audit report:

“Economic factors expected to impact District this incoming fiscal year are the continuing recession which may deepen.

The impact of this continues to be felt on development. District revenue from fees will continue to be affected. Additional municipal and state fiscal woes will reduce the likelihood that either the State or the towns can be further tapped for these revenue shortfalls.

Although there has been information on grant availability, much of this money is for specific program areas and are competitive applications. They are not likely to reduce the impact on the general funds.

CHESPROCOTT HEALTH DISTRICT

Statement of Revenues, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balances-Governmental Funds and Reconciliation to the Statement of Activities:

June 30, 2008

Revenues::

Local Revenue: (General Fund) $470,432; Bio-Terrorism- $1,475; Other Govt Funds-ZERO;

Total: $471, 907.

State Revenue: (General Fund) 115, 293; Bio-Terrorism-ZERO; Other Govt Funds-$1,007.

Total: $116,300.

Federal Revenue: (General Fund), $2,874; Bio-Terrorism; $126, 493; Other Govt Funds-$7,015.

Total: $136, 382.

Interest, Savings and Investments” $12,073

TOTAL REVENUES: (General Fund) $600,672; Bio-Terrorism: $127,968; Other Govt Funds: $8,022;

Total: $736, 662.

Editors Note: God, can the State of Connecticut SPARE IT??

EXPENDITURES:

Personnel: (General Fund) $366,406; Bio-Terrorism: $4,308; Other Govt Funds: $3,115;

Total: $373, 829.

Employee Benefits: (General Fund) $125, 116; Other Govt Funds: $238. Editors Note: CAN THE GOV’T SPARE IT!!

Total: $125,354.

Consultant/Professional Fees: (General Fund): $11,516; Bio-Terrorism: $112,192; Other Govt Funds: $2,550.

Total: $126,258.

Editors Note: I am NOT going to put down all the figures here, just the ones that would interest the public because it is boring number one, and number two, space is limited. You are welcome to go down to Chesprocott on Highland Avenue in Cheshire are read the report yourself!!

Travel/Vehicle: $6,410.

Editors Note: the following category was interesting:

Occupancy Expenditures:$43,916.

Total Expenditures (remember I did NOT LIST everything): $637,048 (General Fund);

Bio-Terrorism: $127,968;

Other Govt Funds: $8,022

Total: $773,038

Excess (Deficit) Revenues: General Fund: ($36,376).

Total: ($36, 376).

Proceeds Vehicle Disposal: General Fund: $1,000.

Total: $1,000

Fund Balance-Beginning: General Fund: $250,050.

Total: $250.,050.

Fund Balance-Ending: General Fund: $214,674.

Total: $214,674.

Reconciliation to the Statement of Activities

Net Change in Governmental Fund Balances: ($35.376).

Amounts reported for Governmental Activities in the Statement of Activities differ because:

Governmental funds report capital outlays as expenditures: $29,374.

Depreciation is reported in the statement of activities: ($9,410).

Governmental funds report capital lease repayments and disposal cost. $3,012.

Change in Net Assets of Governmental Activities: ($12,400).

Ok, I got tired of typing so I scanned in the Fees for Environmental Services and Fee Schedule.

This is what Chesprocott charges to do let’s say, soil testing and food service permits, to name a few. There are a lot more.

chesprocott-health-district fee schedules

That is all for now. BUT I will be making a comment on the next post about the CPD following my son for several miles early Saturday morning around 2 a.m. as he was coming home from a friends house that he went to visit after working that day.

I already spoke with Lt. Deegan about this-this is the THIRD time this has happened. Why? Not because he was intoxicated as this Police Department seems to think that everyone who drives after 11 p.m. must be. He was coming to our house after WORK!!

In Cheshire, 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.–off limits!!! Then they want to know why the businesses are closing!

Several years ago when I started this website, (now called a blog), my intention was to put on a few of my old Undergroundtownhall television shows that originally aired on Cox Cable 15 in Cheshire.  This really was how UTH started out–as a cable show. There was no website for approximately one year.

My first guest was Bill Kunde. This was a groundbreaking event in this town when the show aired in late 2002. Believe me, I had to go through hell and high water just to air that show. I ran into all sorts of “roadblocks.”

I always will be indebted to Bill for having the courage to come onto this new idea of a show–why was it “new” because we talked about every issue in this town, including the Police Department.

A lot has changed since that December day in 2002. (Actually, because of the delays, the show did not air until January 2003).

We have another blog in town, Tim White listens. Tim for those of you not familiar with Cheshire, is a Town Council member. His blog is very influential and is  a good addition to the blogging community.

Well, I did several of these UTH shows for cable. The last being in 2005 where my spouse and I did “Dangerous Intersections and the Community Pool” all in one show. I am attempting to locate that disk to upload it to my site. Things got moved around in my home when my spouse decided to re-organize my son’s room two years ago when he moved away to college. My son had transferred all of the shows to DVD. I hope I can locate the Dangerous Intersections show sometime this weekend. I have all of the master tapes, but as you will see from the “How to Fight a Traffic Ticket” that I am now running under “WORDTUBE” in the middle of the right hand column, these videos started to degrade and are poor quality.

My son Ross who was 15 at the time, did all of the camera work and editing. We had absolutely NO MONEY. I rented a camera from Rent A Center to do the shows. My son edited all of these shows on a Dell Inspiron 1100 which isn’t even made anymore and was the lowest end laptop at $350 several years ago that you could purchase.

He actually made all of the edits on Windows Movie Maker. I will be honest, I delayed putting this video on because IT IS VERY VERY POOR QUALITY. This video was seen by thousands of people and copied at least that many times over–hence the degraded quality. I am sorry for this-but I wanted to get the point of this show across to you.

If you get a traffic ticket, as the guest in this show did, and do your homework, you will prevail. The guest, Mr. John Magnesi of Wallingford, received a ticket ON RADAR, in Sturbridge Massachusetts approximately four years ago. He received the ticket  for traveling unreasonably fast–SOME POLICE DEPARTMENTS FAVORITE  TICKET PASTIME!!!

Well, he fought this ticket for a year. He went from Wallingford to Sturbridge, measuring the signs on the road, checking the State and Federal rules on signage.

And, bottom line, he ended up getting the ticket dismissed. The State of Massachusetts made Sturbridge TAKE DOWN ALL OF THE SIGNS ON THE STREET-ALL OF THEM–THREE MILES OF THEM. THEY ALSO REIMBURSED HIM THE COST OF THE TICKET WHICH WAS WELL OVER $100!! WHY?? THE SPEED LIMIT SIGN WAS AN INCH TOO SHORT!! ILLEGAL.!!

You will see the impact that “inch too short” sign had on visibility. Then, to make matters worse for Sturbridge, they put up the replacement speed limit signs to Alabama specifications and had to TAKE THEM ALL DOWN ONE MORE TIME!!

GOOD!!

THERE ARE RULES AND REGULATIONS REGARDING TRAFFIC SIGNS–THEY HAVE TO BE A CERTAIN WIDTH, HEIGHT, CERTAIN INCHES FROM THE ROAD, THEY HAVE TO BE REGISTERED ON FILE WITH THE STATE TRAFFIC COMMISSION. THEY MUST NOT BE DEFACED OR BENT–OR THE SIGNS ARE ILLEGAL!!

GET IT PEOPLE!! Don’t go to court after you receive a ticket especially if it was on radar and try saying the radar was faulty or some nonsense. IT DOESN’T WORK!! THEY HEAR THIS ALL THE TIME.

Watch this video and LEARN HOW TO DO IT RIGHT!! Again, I am SORRY FOR THE QUALITY. But it is the content that counts. You will have to turn up the volume, as I stated above, we had no microphones or anything. We were on a bare budget and that was an understatement. But my son really enjoyed doing these shows and he learned a lot about how a municipality works and what happens when you talk about unpopular subjects.

Law enforcement expects us to obey the rules and regulations, well the public expects the SAME FROM YOU!!

See you soon.

Around 3 p.m on Sunday, I was getting ready to post. I clicked on my login and started writing.  About 10 seconds after that, I got a phone call. Approximately three minutes later I came back to my site and saw–NOTHING!! All I could read were the words “DATABASE ERROR”

Now I am pretty good for an old girl with computers. I have learned many applications, how to restore the computer, how to recover a computer, especially a Dell from a blue screen fatal error, but to most people, not all, of my generation, computers will always be something of a mystery-something not concrete-surreal.

i always wonder where all of this info, these files everything are really stored.  Well anyway, I couldn’t figure out what happened and my mind started racing.  I called my son and I told him what happened. He told me that “Database error” means a file got corrupted. So I started really feeling bad.

Undergroundtownhall is akin to any of you coming home and seeing your house totally engulfed in flames or your business totally destroyed.  My son told me he was going to see if the files that support my website were still intact and they were. So, he determined that the problem might be stemming from my Internet Service Provider. These are the people who make my blog visible to the public. The files could all be intact, but if there is a problem on the servers end, no one will be able to see the site.

First I thought maybe they had gone out of business, because it is a small ISP company. A friend of mine owns it. So my son told me he would call the 800 number to find out what was going on.

In the meantime, my inbox was literally flooded with e-mails. I was frantically trying to put the word out that my site had crashed.  To further spread the word, I contacted Tim White of TimWhiteListens, who put a notice on his blog that my site had crashed.

I can’t tell you how I felt at that time–it was a feeling of horror, plain unadulterated horror. I could never replace all the articles I have written on this blog. Everything I write is in short term memory. The minute I write it, it leaves my memory.

Luckily, I have my son and a few other people who have the files to this blog stored on their computers. We all know that eventually, every computer will crash, files become corrupted for some reason. It is part of the computer age.

It doesn’t seem to phase the younger people because they grew up with computers that could restore and retrieve. My generation didn’t.

When we used to program in the mid to late 70’s, (of course there were no personal computers then), the Central Processing Units (CPU’S) were these giagantic machines that would literally take up an entire room and then some.

One would have to go to the university or college, take those beige colored mag cards, punch the holes in the card in the correct place, take the pile over to the CPU, (hoping you didn’t drop any of the cards on the way over there) put the cards into the machine and pray you hole punched correctly. Remember that??

Well, if a card or a hole was not in the right place, or you left a comma out or whatever-the CPU would crash-it would loop and loop and loop–for what seemed like an ad infinitum period of time. Finally, maybe after several minutes it would end. But you were horrified!! That feeling about computers has stayed with me-I walk on eggshells with them, they still mystify me-I go through a ritual of turning it on, shutting it off. But still I worry.

The other day I was typing, my hand hit some key and POOF!! all of my typing was GONE!!

Again, I called my son who told me to look into the “drafts” folder–low and behold-there it was!! I can’t take two instances of this in a week!! It is too much for my old self!!

Anyway, thanks to Tim White for helping me out, and thanks to all of you for emailing me with your concerns.

I know there were SOME PEOPLE who were hoping UTH was gone for good. Well, you are out of luck at least this time.

Apparently a file got corrupted on the server, it was deleted and I was back in business. My son was so non chalant about this. I nearly ended up in the cardiac intensive care unit, to put it mildly. Most people my age will never have a comfortable relationship with a computer. We will always be walking on thin ice.

I remember the time I was writing a story at the Post when we first got computers and the power went out!!

I lost the last half of my story because I got so involved in it I forgot to hit the save button after every paragraph, which we were told to do back in the 80’s, to keep from losing our work.

I took that monitor and threw it on the floor!! I was so pissed!! Luckily I didn’t damage anything, but after about 20 minutes, the editor convinced me to try to re-write what I had originally written. This is nearly impossible because as I stated before, I do not store this info long term.  So after I threw my swearing, Italian handgesture tamtrum, managed to piece something together for the paper the next day, but it was not good because I was too emotionally upset to concentrate on it.

You know what, the hell with all of this info flying through the air. Get the old typewriter with the carbon paper back!! Get HARD COPY!! Just like people are staring to realize that records sound better than CD’s someday, hopefully before I die, people will realize there is nothing like PAPERWORK ON PAPER not CD’s or DVD’s or memory sticks or whatever the hell they call it now.

Ok, so back to business.

All of us are worrying about taxes especially this year with many cities and towns in Connecticut going through reval. Many have seen their property assessments skyrocket. So, I came across a timely article aptly entitled, ” The 10 Greatest Low Tax Places to Retire/”

Hint: one of them IS Manchester, New Hampshire. All they say about it is true, EXCEPT-DO NOT DRIVE OVER 30 MPH or you will face the HELL my son had to go through in the traffic court.

Remember?

He had to drive three hours from Connecticut on a SUNDAY to take an eight hour driver retraining course-then drive back to Connecticut another three hours to go to school the next day.

Then the State of New Hampshire WOULD NOT ALLOW HIM TO MAIL THE CERTIFICATE OF COURSE COMPLETION IN. HE HAD TO RETURN THE CERTIFICATE TO THE MANCHESTER COURTHOUSE DURING THE WEEK. HE HAD TO HAND IT IN IN PERSON!!

So, that involved ANOTHER 3 hours up and back, total 6 hours on the road just to hand in the certificate!! Can you believe this? And as far as taking an online course-forget it. New Hampshire conveniently doesn’t recognize any of them. They want you in person plain and simple. That is why the gentleman who got a ticket for speeding had to take the defensive class with my son in person also. PROBLEM WAS: THE MAN WAS FROM CALIFORNIA!! HE HAD TO FLY BACK TO NEW HAMPSHIRE!! THEY DIDN”T CARE!

Also, in New Hampshire, if you travel 25 mph over the speed limit, which is 30 in Manchester, and you have a New Hampshire license, IT IS SUSPENDED!!

As I have stated previously, in New Hampshire, you can openly carry a weapon, shoot off fireworks whenever you want to, seat belts ARE OPTIONAL OVER 18, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CARRY AUTO INSURANCE, OK? BUT DON”T SPEED!! or BREAK ANY OF THEIR OTHER LAWS!!

Keep this in mind if you DO RETIRE THERE!!

Click here for 10 best  low tax places to retire

OK I am exhausted from shoveling out from yet ANOTHER snowstorm. What gives?

See you later I hope!!