He’s an OCR Street Minister preaching next to the highway in Flemington. That’s a bullet proof vest with a weather-proof, action camera attached. His 2-way radio mike is clipped to the right strap of his vest and a recorder mike clipped to the left. The pockets of the vest are filled with gizmos. But I don’t see a Glock. Maybe it’s in his car. Flemington is a dangerous place and you can’t be too careful. I might not have approached […]
How often do we drive by junk shops (often called antique stores), sometimes for years, without every really looking at them? It’s easy to look past them. They often offer a general mish-mash of items that blend into an amalgamation of stuff creating an old stuff conglomerate. Of course there is always a collector behind that stuff. Someone who discovered, bought, found, received, inherited or stole each piece hoping to unloaded it. Meet Boyden. This is his attic. (I’m not […]
It’s a little strange to share the grocery aisles with a rolling, six foot-three, robot that looks like a piece from a board game or a bad knock off of Gumby. We are told that Marty the Robot randomly rolls up and down the aisles looking for spills and other hazards. The sign on him reads: “Marty is an autonomous robot that uses image capturing technology to report spills, debris, and other potential hazards to store employees to improve your shopping experience.” If […]
Some people collect bottle caps or antique door knobs. Craig, up in Bath.PA, has a collection, too. Craig’s collection is too big to fit on a shelf or even inside (unless you have a warehouse). It’s big and colorful. It’s a menagerie full of bigger-than-lifesize animals, fish, dinosaurs and a sasquatch or two. They surround his house and fill his garage. (I saw an ostrich in there. ) Maybe he has some inside, too. Although we talked about it I’m […]
Not much was happening one cloudy, late November Day in Slatington. It was Thanksgiving. Most folks were inside, eating, watching TV doing Thanksgiving stuff. But not everyone. Not these women. They were out for a stroll, with each other, grabbing some supplies along the way (cranberry sauce?). It appears they both were involved in some larceny. Not the cranberry sauce, though. Something more serious, organ and identity theft. They are pretty open about it. I guess the authorities in Slatington […]
As the man leaned over to grab another rakeful of mud, leaves and litter from the brown dirty water, I could see him reaching just a little too far, raking up too much muck and losing his balance. He wobbled and teetered and then awkwardly stumbled backward as crocodile suddenly leaped up to grab him. He hit it hard with his rake which only seemed to enrage the beast which lunged again, nipping his shoelace and biting off that little […]
EZ PASS was founded about 34 years ago so we could simply sail through toll booths without stopping. No more fumbling for change, or worse, finding you don’t have the cash needed for a toll. In the beginning, being an EZ PASS user was special. You could zip through the toll booth while everyone else waited in long lines. Then, little by little, almost all the toll booths became EZ PASS. No more tossing quarters into a basket or passing […]
About a year ago the acronym PPE didn’t have much meaning for most people. It sounds like a utility company. The COVID crisis, though, made it a mainstream term. PPE used to be reserved for hazardous environments. It is classified at four levels: A, B , C and D. Level D is just a hard hat and boots. Level A is a totally encapsulated moon suit with an air tank. Level B is protective clothing and an air tank (like […]
Shadows offered up a little throwback to TV of the 1950s and 60s when Alfred Hitchcock, the master himself, would introduce his show. Each week his distinctive shadow would walk into the frame to the tune of the Funeral March of a Marionette. In some ways it was the best part of the show. Take a little detour now, and slip down a YouTube rabbit hole to check out Best Openings.
Sometimes a crossing guard is more than someone guarding a crossing, keeping kids from running out into the street. Sometimes he’s a landmark. The crossing guard in Milford NJ told me he loves his work. Every morning and every afternoon he is at the corner by the post office doing his duty, commanding traffic both wheeled traffic and two-footed traffic. He also cheerfully greets just about every car that zooms by with a friendly wave. He was happy to be […]