Apple Cider

The one smell and flavor which instantly causes me to recollect my growing up is that of Apple Cider. It doesn't matter where it is from or what time of year, if I am having a cup of cider I feel young again.

This may have to do with having lived in Northern NJ and NY State for most of my life. They are both prime apple producing regions. Combine this olfactory sensation with an appetite for almost any one of the 2500 varieties of apples grown in these United States and you have the essence of my time machine. Additionally, throw in some autumn foliage and I am usually ready to recollect and write about my past experiences. I feel lucky that such simple pleasures bring me remembrances which go beyond the ordinary. Not that I am touting all my postings but I can say that what goes through my mind is quite extraordinary. Hope it never stops and the smell and taste of apple cider can allow me to linger in the past for a brief moment once again and also allow me to keep writing long into the future. What's that old saw about an apple a day? ;-)

Mr Rogers

He was a little past my time growing up as he started in 1968 with the Mr Rogers Neighborhood, that is his hallmark. From Wikipedia:

Distribution of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood began on February 19, 1968. The following year, the show moved to PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). In 1971, Rogers formed Family Communications, Inc. (FCI), and the company established offices in the WQED building in Pittsburgh. Initially, the company served solely as the production arm of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, but now develops and produces an array of children's programming and educational materials.

In retrospect it would have been nice growing up with both Captain Kangaroo and Mr Rogers, but I have no complaints. I appreciated Mr Rogers more when I saw him many years later. Here is a picture and caption which says it all about the man from FimmakerIQ.com

Most people have heard of Koko, the gorilla who could speak about 1000 words in Sign Language, and understand about 2000 in English. What most people don’t know, however, is that Koko was an avid Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood fan. When Fred Rogers took a trip out to meet Koko for his show, not only did she immediately wrap her arms around him and embrace him, she did what she’d always seen him do onscreen: she proceeded to take his shoes off.

Would-be "Occupy" bomber living in Ridgewood

      My home town of Ridgewood was probably never the bucolic small town of my memory. But I doubt this sort of nonsense was going on:

A New York doctor who was active in the Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011 was charged Saturday with possessing a large quantity of chemicals used in bomb-making, hours after authorities conducted a raid on the Ridgewood house in which he lived, officials said.

Roberto Rivera, 60, a medical doctor, was charged with recklessly creating a risk of widespread injury or damage after FBI agents and members of the Bergen County bomb squad found precursor chemicals used in the making of explosives, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said in a release Saturday afternoon.

Molinelli called at least one of the chemicals "highly volatile," but authorities did not disclose the names of the chemicals found in the house.

       Yikes! I am glad they stopped this guy before he completed whatever it was he was up to. Of course, we know from the press that the "Occupy" movement was peaceful.

Odd/Even Gas Rationing

Wish we had remembered this sooner. As soon as they instituted it in NY the longs were cut in many places by over an hour. Admittedly, this is sketchy evidence but when you take have the cars out of the lines it becomes pure numbers adventure. I stumbled upon a gas line yesterday afternoon on Long Island and had a 15 minute wait.

Odd/Even rationing was used with the same results in the 1970s and took much of the fear and uncertainty out of finding and deciding whether or not to wait for gas on a line. Glad we will be doing it for a while so people can just calm down and get back to their normal lives or trying to restore their lives to normal.

Voting by Fax and Email in NJ

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Voters in New Jersey now have two more ways to send in their ballots in an already unusual election season complicated by superstorm Sandy: via fax and email.

The Christie administration said Saturday that the additional options are aimed at giving displaced residents and emergency workers another way to vote and that the ballots would be cast provisionally. Administration officials urged people who could to vote early or through the normal process.

The administration said people could cast those ballots in two steps. First, they should email or fax an application for a mail-in ballot through their county clerk's office.

Once that application is approved, voters can email or fax the ballot by 8 p.m. Tuesday.

"This has been an extraordinary storm that has created unthinkable destruction across our state, and we know many people have questions about how and where to cast their vote in Tuesday's election," said Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, who doubles as the secretary of state and oversees elections. "To help alleviate pressure on polling places, we encourage voters to either use electronic voting or the extended hours at county offices to cast their vote."

People will also be able to vote somewhere other than the county in which they are registered, the administration said.

Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 5.

Gas Rationing

What's old is new once again. Another generation gets to experience the emotions of gas rationing. These emotions include fear, boredom, and dread. The system is the same as back in the 1970s:

License plates with an odd number as the last number in their plate can get gas on odd days, while plates with in an even number as the last number can get gas on even numbered days.

This time there is the added problem of people being without power. Some folks in Ridgewood have been without power for almost a week. Included are the schools which may be forced to stay closed for another week. I can't say that I can recall a similar calamity during my time in Ridgewood. Maybe that's why these are called 100 year storms.

Though I would dare to assert that because we use more electricity than when I was growing up, and are more dependent upon the power grid, these sort of tests of our patience and fortitude will occur more often in the future. Certainly more than every one hundred years. It's simply part of the challenges we face as a society with an ever growing demand for goods and services which require energy to produce, deliver, and consume.

I don't want to turn back the clock and have our modern marvels restricted or eliminated. I do want to investigate ways to reduce our consumption of energy from the power grid so that storms like Sandy don't leave us feeling afraid for our safety and dreading to go outside. Not to mention the sheer ennui of having to sit in a gas line during a cold early morning.

The good news is that people are working on ways to reduce our use of energy. Not merely by having us sit around in 60 degree homes in the winter but by clever monitoring of consumption via cable set top boxes. If you could program your heat and air conditioning in your home from an app on your I-Phone or I-Pad then you might be able to save energy and money with very little inconvenience. More on this in future postings. Stay safe and only drive these next few days when necessary.