First thoughts of Dover, Brits on the radio and driving slow in the fast lane

Well, the first thing that is certainly different is the traffic. And by traffic, I mean the lack thereof. Unlike sitting in the parking lot of the Rt. 1/95 exit or the 141 mess, or any of the other half dozen spots that make the Wilmington commute more of a headache than anything else, those types of problems simply do not exist down here.

Granted, people tend to cruise very slowly in the fast lane, and these sunday drivers don't understand the concept of getting over or passing on the right. Not sure if I'm going to get used to that, mainly because I'm so used to it taking so long to get somewhere in the morning that there really is not the same need to zip around to get to the same places down in Dover. So, plus to that.

The radio stations down here are much less in number. I can't pick up any of the Philly stations, although I can pick up 93.7 so I can hear what the traffic patterns are every 10 minutes. If you can pick up a station, it's either country or country. I do like listening to 97.7 though, but mainly because the DJ is British, and since Wilmington has nothing like that, that's another plus for Dover. What is really funny is how the traffic reports down here are along the lines of "well, there's a little stop and go here and there." You guys have no idea how good you have it. Still can't figure out why 92.9 and 94.7 switched formats though. I seem to recall this happened years ago also, so maybe it's a contractual thing.

Intrigued by the fact that I have never heard a Brit on the radio before, I find the "Petch and Paula show" actually as good as some of the philly morning shows, if not better because of the British adaptations on typical American things (like proper football as opposed to American football). And since I find it hard to believe that a downstate radio station could have snagged such a unique dj, I found on the internet the low down. Lives in the area. Good for Milford and the Eagle station for picking up such a unique morning personality.

Anyway, there also seems to be a lot more black tags down here, which is sort of interesting also, and I'll have to comment on that another time. In the meantime though, I'll save my minuses for another day. Supposedly there are fun bars around Dover, I just have to find them, and tonight's as good a time as any.

Tags: eagle 97.7 british dj, dover delaware radio stations, dover traffic, eagle in the morning

Spam Email report online

Internet is up, initial comments on Dover are forthcoming in an entry later this week, but for now, I wanted to comment on an interesting national article I saw splashed across the internet this afternoon dealing with spam and scam emails: Operation GreenDot, Following the Spam.

Since these emails pervade even the most diligent internet savant's inbox, I think it's important to understand why these scams should not be taken. Because Delaware takes great steps in trying to prevent its citizens from insurance fraud and other internet scams, I think this article about investigating a purchase from a spam email is worthy of a short commentary in the hopes that it prevents anyone from actually falling for these "too good to be true" emails.

The article is actually pretty comprehensive and worth the read. Basically, it explains where the initial email came from, where it actually came from, and what happened after he bought something from one of these scammers. In the end, unsurprisingly, he didn't get what he ordered. Just like this recent ad campaign explains it in visual terms, save yourself a giant headache and just delete these scam emails. Don't be another statistic.

Just so I am clear, I am not saying don't conduct business online. Frankly, I would buy everything online, including groceries, if I could and they could deliver it without breaking any eggs. (And in a few years, doing so probably will be more commonplace than it is now). My point is that you just need to be smart about it. Online companies like Amazon and online storefronts for Wal-Mart, Target, and the like are legitimate. Phishing emails from paypal or ebay or some bank that you don't have an account with (or even one that you do) that request very confidential information are not.

There is a funny commercial on tv now that has a ratty looking man go up to a woman on a bus asking for her credit card information, basically reading some lines from some of these spam/scam emails. While the company sponsoring the ad escapes me at the moment and I can't find it online, the point and conclusion is obvious and stated at the end of the commercial: you wouldn't fall for this in real life, so why would you do it online. If I find the video online, I'll post the link.

I think I listed some sources before, but the bottom line is to be sure to investigate any "too good to be true" deals before falling for them. While some may be legitimate, most are not. Snopes is usually my best first resource for checking such fantastic tales out.

Tags: scam emails, phishing information

The move to Dover

Just a quick post and then I have an out-of-state conference that I must get on the road for. My job has me doing a lot of work in Dover as of late, so I have decided to find an apartment down there and make that my center of operations for the next couple of months rather than trek back and forth along Rt. 1. Since I know virtually nothing about "downstate," it will be interesting to see whether it is as backwards as we are led to believe. Somehow I doubt it, although I could have sworn I saw a horse and buggy the other week.

Nevertheless, I haven't found too much in terms of what are good places to eat down in Dover, where the local bars are, etc., so maybe I'll chime in my perspective on these spots while I'm down here. One plus is that I'm closer to the beach. One minus is that traffic is much slower and the drivers really don't understand the concept of driving fast in the fast lane.

Moving is going to take a little while, and my internet is not scheduled to be up until I'm back from the conference, so once that is back up, posts will continue. I even decided that I would try and pick up the Delaware State News while I am down here so I could see once and for all which is the superior newspaper for the state. Hopefully they carry the News Journal at newsstands down here so I don't have to constantly rely on Delaware Online or the Wall Street Journal or Times for my news. (And no, I am certainly not equating the News Journal to either of those papers).

Tags: dover delaware

Socks the Cat returns to the spotlight

At long last, celebrity first cat "Socks" has returned to the headlines. Astute reporting from across the pond has revealed that upon President Clinton's exit from the White House, the decision on who was going to take Socks the cat didn't wind up in front of any family court judge, but rather, to "Betty Currie, Bill Clinton's personal secretary, who also had an embarrassing clean-up role in the saga of his relationship with the intern Monica Lewinsky." Well, the whole thing reeks worse than a litter box.

First, how can someone who can't even take care of a cat run for office? I mean, give me a break. The President should be able to juggle Monday Night Football with taking the garbage out or cleaning up after his/her pet like everyone else. Second, it is obvious that her ability to take care of animals isn't just limited to the cat. The article also reports that Buddy the dog got run over once he was taken outside the gate on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave (well, a little bit of time passed, but you get my point). If taking care of animals is any indication of her ability to take care of her constituents, then our country is in bigger trouble than England believes, right??

All kidding aside, it's amazing that this story even made headlines. In fact, it's sad. This election isn't going to be about a woman, or a Mormon, or a minority, or even about a Delawarean attempting to run for office. It's bad enough that with still over a year to go until the clock to replace the president restarts, the news is filled with Tonight-Show type bits that mock a candidate for how they treat their pets.

Britain's subtle knock about how Senator Clinton has handled some of her personal affairs shows the type of respect that our country is getting nowadays. Will she able to overcome all this if she is elected? Even if she is, her victory would ensure for four more years of these catty stories. Personally, while I believe that a woman could run this country just as well as anyone else, I just don't think that Clinton is going to be this country's first woman president. To me, she just polarizes too many people. The Socks the cat story is a good example.

Whoever wins will have to figure out how to return this country to the forefront of the world economy. The winner will also need to start mending fences between the US and everyone else who has started to shift sides toward this reportedly anti-cat environment. And if the winning candidate can make my dollar a little stronger along the way, that would be great also. I would rather not have to start trading in euros; our funny money is quite enough.

Tags: socks the cat

The allure of the black tag

Delaware is quirky in many ways, and one of the things that many don't notice until they have been here for a while is the "black tag" license plate. Whether they are a sign of elitism or just because they look cool, owners of cars in Delaware have the option of getting a "black" tag (as opposed to a "regular" tag) if their license plate number is low enough. And while I thought this number had to be somewhere less than 87000 or so, I saw a car on the way to the beach this weekend that makes me question whether the DMV has decided to elevate a few more thousand tags to "elite" status.

For those of you not aware, Delaware is the only state in the union that has a totally flat tag. The standard tag is blue with gold lettering. If you have a low number though, you are eligible to get the replica tag from the 1940s with your number. Certain restrictions apply. Low, three digit tags have been sold at auction for thousands of dollars. Apparently even people in the UK have been apprised of the "black tag" phenomenon. Regardless, it's a collector's thing like anyone else. People will buy anything if you tell them it's cool enough. Look at some of the junk that is available on ebay or Craigslist.

Nevertheless, I think the black tags are pretty cool, even if there is a hint of elitism with them. At the same time, it bothered me that I saw a six digit black tag on a dark blue or black Mustang (#148558). Not only did the tag look junky, it demeans the whole prestige of having a "low" number. Or at least, that's what I would think if I had a low number and liked the fact that the number of black tags available is fixed.

Maybe the tag was fake, but it had an '09 sticker on it, so who knows. In either case, it was unusual enough to warrant this entry and further research as to whether the whole black tag concept is about to take a lemming run off the DMV cliff.

Apparently the DMV page has changed in the times Google has searched it (current page and cached page), but I haven't been overly successful in finding out whether this is a legislative change or not. Maybe someone else who is more familiar with all of this knows and can chime in.

Tags: delaware black tag, black license plate delaware, delaware license plate

Jobs for DE College Graduates

One of the major issues facing this state is education. I can guarantee that there will be future posts on this issue, but for now, I will direct the focus of this entry to one of the problems that is a consequence of pushing for higher education. That is, once you have the degree and want to come back to the State and do something, your options in Delaware are pretty limited. Outside of the state, certainly jobs await for you in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, and any of the other 46 states, but how does that benefit Delaware? The answer to this rhetorical question is pretty obvious: Not at all.

With MBNA gone and with it all of the jobs and scholarships it gave out to a good percentage of the graduating high school seniors in this state, I submit that there is a shortage of entry level jobs for college graduates. With the exception of Astra-Zeneca, Gore, part of the duPont company, the state, and some banks that have stayed here, the remaining jobs are in the health, legal, and education industry, and half of those require an additional post-graduate degree. So my concern with this is that the state pushes for high schools to get their graduates up to "no child left behind" par, and a third or so go on to some type of college, and where do they expect these Delaware college graduates to come back and do? And even more to the point, is the state, by limiting these options, inherently telling the graduating seniors that unless you get a degree in these certain areas, you should look for jobs elsewhere?

Maybe, but probably not. Obviously your options with a college degree are more than they are without one. And there are a lot of jobs (although I agree there could be more) for those with just a high school diploma. But the gap is widening. And here, in 2007, I argue that a gap is beginning to form between those types of degrees people are getting. Thirty years from now, are you going to have to get a post-graduate degree in order to survive financially?

So what is the solution? (Meaning, how would I fix this?). I think the Governor, whoever the next one is, needs to make a concerted effort to recruit another Astra-Zeneca or MBNA-type (bank, insurance, etc.) (or Silicon Valley-type) company to relocate to Delaware. I would argue that this should be each of the '08 candidates' primary concern and platform (followed by the health care and education platforms that always show up at the top of the list). With the population growth spreading further south, the push shouldn't necessarily be to relocate this/these companies to Wilmington, but toward Kent or Sussex County. The population shift toward those counties is here anyway; the failure to recognize this and start to accommodate for it is just being short-sighted or disingenuous.

Even if one new company came in, that would create upwards of 2000+ jobs across the board (more if they build a new building and have to restructure the infrastructure). This would generate income for the state and the positive effects will certainly outweigh the negative ones I am conspicuously and purposely leaving out of this entry. Further, it would help fill out the void in the housing market that currently exists. While we are at it, why not start pushing for a branch of Toyota or some other car company to take over when Chrysler finally pulls out and leaves even more people out of a job? I think the effort to bring industry and business in shouldn't be focused directly on incorporation and the franchise tax; a scattergun recruiting effort across multiple industry lines could work. More research, admittedly, will need to be done (which helps create more jobs as well).

Lastly, for now, the idea of putting a new company south of the canal allows for the first step toward creating a mass transit system a more realistic idea. The current rail system exists for the industrial sector; putting the dual rails back in and recruiting a Septa-type organization to bid for the contract certainly would create additional jobs (both permanent and temporary) in building, running, maintaining, and policing this system. It could also help with the beach and tourist industry because many more would hop on the train to get to the beach, and could thereafter take Dart from the final train stop. Translation = more money for the state. More on this mass transit idea another day.

I can only invite commentary by posting; feel free post a comment and explain why this idea would or would not work.

Tags: delaware college jobs, delaware jobs, delaware jobs for college graduates idea, relocating business to delaware, delaware mass transit system

Bus stop sign laws and the divided highways

I certainly don't intend this to turn into some sort of Delaware traffic blog, but this event is so random and amusing that it deserves a brief writeup.

A long time ago now, in my high school drivers ed class, my teacher told us that you always have to stop when a school bus is loading. And that law appears to be followed in our state without any problems save the occasional crash. What stuck out in my mind, and what drives this story, so to speak, was the teacher's explanation of the driving rules of other states and how they need to be obeyed regardless if you know them or not (basically, ignorance of the law is not an excuse). In Delaware, cars are required to stop when meeting or approaching a bus while it is loading or unloading. Cars on the other side of a divided highway are not required to stop. According to my drivers' ed teacher and a quick Google search, some states, including New York, do not have this divided highway exception. Which brings me to my story.

As I was driving to work today, I came upon a stopped bus and like everyone else, came to a stop to wait. On the other side of the highway though, I saw that the lead car had also stopped. Ironically, this person was in the left lane, which undoubtedly drove the growing line of cars behind him or her insane. The two truckers in the right lane, likely confused, had stopped as well, at least for a minute before finally moving on. And after the bus started moving, so did all lanes of traffic. In high school, my drivers' ed teacher speculated that this sort of event on the other side of the highway could happen and could cause an accident if the drivers behind the out-of-state resident weren't paying attention. Here anyway, that was not the case.

It actually was an interesting display of the enforceability of other states' traffic laws. While in Delaware, the driver who stopped here would merely get a honk or two, a Delaware driver in New York in that same situation could face a steep fine if caught. In all likelihood, this would not be the case, but I found the whole incident mildly amusing, if only because it made me think back to some random day in a high school drivers ed class.

And to recenter this to be Delaware-related and not an expose on the bus stopping laws, I think the current Delaware bus safety and stop laws are good and work well.

Tags: delaware bus stop rule, passing a stopped bus laws