my own drum

Metro Market Atlanta - 2 thumbs down

Hello friends.

I'm just coming off of a fairly good weekend, and have already done most of the work I need to do for this Monday. A fairly good weekend... yes, it could have been better had I been allowed to do something I spent the entire week looking forward to doing. "What was that?", I heard you asking. "And why couldn't you do it?"... my hearing is just fine today

Well let me explain.

Here in Atlanta there is a weekend market nearby, and it's running for the month of May. The market is called the Metro Market Atlanta. It is an indoor market that purports to have over 50 vendors, and it is supposed to be just like the streets in Europe, Australia, Paris and South Africa. That's quite a billing and it certainly got my interest. The advertisement I have before me claim the market will have a Farmers Market, an Artist Market, Baked Goods, Pottery, Demonstrations and all sorts of other fine and exciting vendors.

One advertisement asks patrons to bring a can of pet food or a toy for free entry, or a $2.00 donation. That information is not on all of the advertising that I've seen, and it does not exist on the website at http://metromarketatlanta.com/

I visited the market last weekend. I found some Shea Butter and purchased that. I saw a cheese vendor and purchased some gourmet cheeses. I visited the Farmers Market and purchased some nice potatoes.

Last weekend I'm guessing there were no more than 20 vendors. The Farmers Market was a single vendor with a limited inventory. After talking with the cheese vendor we came to an agreement that he would bring a special request for me on the following weekend - which was now this most recent weekend. So I was stoked - looking forward to going back this past weekend and picking up my special order cheese and hopefully to find a few more vendors.

I walked in the door around 1:00pm. The first booth is one set up for the Humane Society. The large woman at this booth stopped me as I walked by. "Excuse me, are you going to the Market?", she asked. Well Duh!!!! "Yes I am", was my actual reply. "Are you a vendor?", she asked. "No I'm not", was my reply. "We have a two dollar entrance fee.", she told me. Another woman standing in front to the Humane Society, and who I believe to be the woman who organized this market, piped up and said, "That's right, we have a $2.00 door charge." My jaw dropped, I gazed at them for a second, and said "Not today" as I turned and headed back out the door.

Shortly after that a friend of mine approached me and asked if I had been to the Market. "What kind of market is that?" he asked. "What do you mean?" He told me that, like myself, he was told that he had to pay two dollars to enter the market. Not long after that I asked another friend, one who I know also went to that market, if he had to pay an entrance fee. "No" he said. "They asked for a $2.00 donation for the Humane Society, but I didn't pay them anything."

My mind began whirling. This sounds a lot like profiling. See, I'm rather scruffy looking with a long beard and long dreaded ponytail. I was wearing my fatigue pants and a black T-Shirt. I had on shady dark glasses. But I will tell you right now, my clothes were clean and I didn't smell. The same can be said for my friend who was told he had to pay to enter. But because he and I tend to look more homeless than conservative I think we were profiled and specially selected to be denied free entrance. What those poor people don't know is that just before I walked in the door, I loaded up my wallet with cash. What they didn't know was that there was a vendor who brought a special order item for me. What they don't know is that I write a blog.

So here's what I would like all of you to do. This weekend put on your scruffiest look. Mismatched shoes, torn clothes, mess up the hair, and take a stroll into the Metro Market Atlanta. See if they demand an entrance fee from you. I'd like to know how it works out, either way.

Metro Market Atlanta - 2 thumbs down

I've been avoiding the news for the last few days - seems like the world is going to Hell quicker than anyone previously thought. Today, I read for the first time about these plumes of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. I'm really beside myself - totally dismayed that such a thing is happening. What follows is sort of a jumbled mash as I try to sort out, in my own head, what is happening in the Gulf.

I seriously doubt that anyone was happy to hear the news that an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico suffered an explosion, fire, and ultimate collapse to the ocean bottom. And there has been plenty of finger pointing and avoiding of responsibility in the days and weeks following this event. British Petroleum (BP) has been diligently working to contain the resulting spill, which is coming from an uncapped wellhead on the ocean floor.

As one might expect, it seems as if BP is downplaying the extent of the spill - the amount of oil being released from this open wellhead. In the face of such a disaster you or I might tend to do the same. But some experts are now claiming that massive amounts of oil is being released into the Gulf of Mexico. OK, so where is it? I certainly isn't all floating on the surface, and it hasn't reached any shoreline in any significant amount. Well, apparently some scientific minds have been asking the same question - where is all that oil - and on May 5 they set about to discover the answer. What they discovered is truly disturbing.

Scientists have discovered massive plumes of oil under the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. One such plume is reported to be as much as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and thousands of feet deep. There are other plumes, and it's almost certain that all of the plumes of oil have yet to be discovered. This is oil that is just floating in a massive bulk underneath the surface. It is being pushed around by tidal forces and underwater currents. Where it will end up is anyone's guess. And there is no proven way to contain such a massive plume of oil.

I have a couple of thoughts regarding this mess.

One, BP is covering their ass as much as humanly possibly, while trying to appear genuine. Face it, their own scientists and engineers must certainly know the true scope of the lurking devastation from this accident. The question is when will they get around to telling us? Independent scientist had to go out and discover these plumes - BP would probably just as soon we never knew about them. At least not yet.

Two, this accident is a disaster of the scale never seen before. This oil is destined to ruin the Gulf of Mexico for years to come. And there is every real possibility that these plumes will make their way around to the eastern seaboard of the United States. As we near another hurricane season there is every reason to believe that one of these massive oil plumes could be spread across hundreds of miles of shoreline.

Finally, the downplaying of the seriousness of this accident, and the finger pointing by corporate and governmental executives must stop. There is a serious problem here, and the better informed we are, and the better that everyone involved begins to work together toward a solution, the sooner we can hope to mitigate even a little of this disaster.

Every now and then I see something in the news that just blows me away, and this article from CNN is one of those. I'm reproducing it in my blog because in time the article may not be available from the original source, and I feel like it deserves more exposure. So to CNN, I'm not in the habit of stealing copyrighted work. What follows is my own take on the original article, with some direct quotations.

"I saw a very old man eating his own human waste for food," Krishnan said. "It really hurt me so much. I was literally shocked for a second. After that, I started feeding that man and decided this is what I should do the rest of my lifetime."

I've never seen a man eating his own waste. I've seen dogs do this and have found that to be rather disgusting. Narayanan Krishnan observed this in a man and was moved to do something about it. His parents spent their money on his education and training to become a world-class chef, and he was on his way to worldly fame in Switzerland. But he decided to visit his home in India before taking that job, and that's when he was moved by the poverty in his own homeland.

Krishnan founded his nonprofit Akshaya Trust in 2003. He has served more than 1.2 million meals -- breakfast, lunch and dinner -- to India's homeless and destitute, mostly elderly people abandoned by their families and often abused. "Because of the poverty India faces, so many mentally ill people have been ... left uncared [for] on the roadside of the city," he said.

Every day Krishnan and his crew prepare three healthy vegetarian meals and serve about 400 people. He seeks them out under bridges and on the roadsides. He will take the time to even help them eat if they need that help. Remember, some his clients mentally ill and unable to care for themselves. In addition to providing the much needed food, he also helps to clean them up with a fresh haircut.

The group's operations cost about $327 a day, but sponsored donations only cover 22 days a month. Krishnan subsidizes the shortfall with $88 he receives in monthly rent from a home his grandfather gave him. Krishnan sleeps in Akshaya's modest kitchen with his few co-workers. Since investing his entire savings of $2,500 in 2002, he has taken no salary and subsists with the help of his once-unsupportive parents.

Krishnan also wants to build a dormitory to provide much needed shelter to the people he feeds, but he lacks the funds to make this possible. Mr. Krishnan, the world is a much better place for people such as yourself!

At this little place where I work there's been some light discussion in the past about using a service to put down fresh doormats every week. It's not that I'm too lazy to clean the mats that we currently have, but seriously those mats are old and some of them are really showing their wear. They are also expensive to replace, so why not simply rent some and have them replaced each week? And the truth is, that service is really affordable.

I called a company who is one of the nations largest uniform and supply services. The reason I called them was because of name recognition, and perceived reputation. An account executive came out last week and put on a good sales pitch. I listened, took notes, and said I would call back. After considering the service and various options, a decision was made and I did indeed call back. "The deal is done", I said, "Let's get together and put it in writing." An appointment was made for the following morning.

Today is the following morning. Am I talking to a sales representative? No, I'm writing on my blog. Why is that? Well, I'm glad you asked.

You see, about 10 minutes before the sales rep was due to arrive I received a call. The sales rep, it seems, has to see another client in one of the outlying communities - a fair distance from here. "Can we reschedule for this afternoon?" "No we can't", I said, "I'm up all night and that's why I made an appointment for this morning."

Bottom line is this... when Goliath calls back I fully intend to stall, hem and haw, and basically put them off until they remember who is was that made them the Goliath they have become... it's all the little David's out here. That's right, folks like me who need a few clean doormats, or some fresh towels, or a clean uniform for their employees. The tens of thousands of small business clients who make up your annual receivables are the people who keep you in business. So if you need to push one of us aside, just keep in mind, we have the ability to push back.

Like tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of people around the world, I have discovered Chatroulette.com - the anti-social social site where two people can spend the briefest of seconds rejecting one another via mutual webcam views, or they can stop and actually chat for a bit.

Here are a few things I have learned from Chatroulette.

A lot of men in this world are hung up on displaying their genitals, and they don't seem to care who they offend next. Seriously guys, what in the world are you thinking (as if you are capable of thought)? I've discussed this with some of my lady friends, as well as with a few women on Chatroulette, and not a one them will admit to wanting to watch some guy masturbating - at least not in public. So why do these guys persist? I'm guessing it must be some kind of guy thing to either 1) attract another guy or 2) try to impress the world with their virility. As far as I'm concerned, enough is enough, and I'll be much happier when the coders at Chatroulette.com come up with a way to stop that nonsense.

I have learned that foreign women, and in particular French women, love a man with a full beard. Some other European women, and a few hippy chicks also fall into that category. However, far and away I have had the pleasure to chat with many French women. I'm convinced that if I flew into Paris in the morning I could have a date by noon.

I have learned that most American women do not like a man with a full beard, except for the aforementioned hippy chicks. American women are usually the first to scrunch up their face, or laugh, just before hitting Next.

I have learned that groups of college age kids (let's be fair - they are kids to me) love to smoke pot and drink beer. They also assume that I love to do the same thing. I usually get Nexted when they discover that I'm clean and sober. Otherwise, they seem to enjoy bringing me into their party for a while.

I have learned that the majority of men will only display the lower half of the their jaw, or just their torso (clothed or unclothed) or send a crotch shot - again clothed or unclothed. Since most of the men who actually show their faces appear to be foreign men, I can assume those who hide are American men. The only other mens faces I see regularly are old guys, like myself. I get a few looks from them too, since they are all clean shaved.

I have learned that most people do not like to smile. Maybe they are entranced after spending hours, if not days or weeks, staring at the same 8 square inches on their screen. Whatever - most do not smile. I tried an experiment: My on-screen persona was a comical frogs heads, with hollowed eye holes where I could place my own eyes in the camera. And then I wrote the word "SMILE" across the top of all this. I was actually 'Reported' more than a few times while doing this, and I got very few smiles. People, get out more!

Finally I have learned that Chatroulette is highly addictive. Once a person starts viewing random people from around the world it is hard to stop. One reason is because it is so random - you never know who you're going to see next. So next time you see some bearded fellow starting back at you, take a moment to stop and say hello.