Baltimore Diary

World Wide Cobweb

Nikolai 'Kolya' Rodchenko: I see. You and your wife, you work in the theater. And you live here...in Siberia.
Raymond Greenwood: It's just temporary.
Rodchenko: [dryly] Of course. Nobody is here permanently.

—White Nights (1985)

------------------------------------

I mentioned awhile back that the Morrell Park Community Association had decided that they didn't want me to do their newsletter anymore. I wasn't getting any feedback with relation to their website, so I put up a "Goodbye" page letting people know that the site was going to go dark sometime shortly after Christmas.

Well, that's when heads started to explode. The phone calls and emails started, people asking me what was going on, please don't do this, and so on and so forth. The VP of the Association came up with the hosting fee and the renewal and told me that they wanted the website to go on. So I put up a new home page with a new design, and solicited updated information. And I waited for the information.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited. I got information from one person and I put that up, but otherwise nothing came to me.

And the stuff that was on the homepage started to age out, so I took it down, piece by piece. At this point, all that's left is the meeting dates, some recycling information and some contact information for the Association. I'm not going to make stuff up for them, right?

A few weeks ago (April 7) an email came to me from the Association's VP. It read, in part:

Good things are happening back here in Morrell Park.  Next Pancake Breakfast, 8th year for Mayors Clean Up, Big CERT expansion Meeting, Next GED Sessions both day and evening , Little League 28th Parade, updates/plans on MP New Rec Center, Dunkin Donut expansion, and new homes being built to name a few. Also, many Business and Builders want to advertise and our web site update is desperately needed. Good people have offered to help make this happen 
XX and XY son B offered to place MP updates on the web. <snipped> [B] would like to become more involved offering his experience with computers to update MPCA web site.  However, he needs www.morrellpark.net user ID and password.    Could you please forward that information forward so this process and progress can begin ?

I guess that's their way of saying they don't want me to do this anymore either. So I sent a reply telling them it wasn't quite as simple as handing over an ID and a password, and I'd get in touch with B directly.

A few days later, on the following Sunday, I sent B a detailed email telling him how to FTP information to the website: where the hosting is located, etc. He didn't reply, nor has the website been updated since then.

So let me be the first to congratulate the officers of the Morrell Park Community Association on their fine selection of a new webmaster. You've done a fantastic job, so far. And the best part is that I'll be billing the MPCA for hosting a webpage that hasn't been updated in a couple of months.

------------------------------------

Confidential to SH: I admit it in this space; you were right. 'nuff said.

That Went Quickly

Daniel Webster: Oh, come, come now. Just because you sold your soul to the devil that needn't make you a teetotaler.

—The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)

-----------------------------------------

It was a week ago Monday that I met with the real estate agent to give her a key and the last of the paperwork that put the Morrell Park house on the market. She told me that there'd be a sign out front about three days later, and someone would come along to take a photo for the website listing.

Today, we were just about to leave for Florida for spring break when the phone rings. It's Marlene, the agent. She received an offer on the house. Can we come by to look it over? Sure, why not. It's on the way south.

So we get to Long & Foster down in Elkridge, where Marlene's office is located, and she outlines the deal. Since I'm still relatively inexperienced with this, I need some of it explained to me. GF is actually overselling me on the deal because she's so anxious to see it gone, but between Marlene and another woman in her office whose name escapes me, I see that it's not an awful deal. But the "walking away" money isn't quite what I expected. On the other hand, there's an awful lot of damage to deal with at that house, and since I was selling it "as-is", and the guy is getting a 203K loan to renovate, I could close the deal without having to do another thing to it. I make a counteroffer and Marlene calls the guy's broker. He's pretty sure his person will go for it, so assuming he does, the house is sold.

In the meantime, GF and I have been working on refinancing the Parkville place to get us out of an adjustable-rate mortgage. That deal is on the cusp of closing and my original mortgage company will be getting a payoff shortly after I return from Florida.

So at this point I'm partway to Florida, sitting in a Super 8 Motel somewhere in North Carolina, with no mortgage payments in my future until June 1^st. Looks like we're getting the GOOD seats to the Tampa Bay Lightning game this week.

Credit Where Credit is Due

Latka Gravas: [reviews the damage to Cab 804] I Quit.

—Taxi, "Memories of Cab 804, Part II" (5/29/79)

-------------------------------------------------

A couple of days ago I got an email from Wayne Sherman. He'd heard from someone up the street from my Morrell Park house who thought they saw "druggies" around the property. I figured they might have seen the people who are cleaning up the damage to the house and told him so, thanking him for the note.

Tonight, shortly after I got home, I got a call from the guy who's working on the house. He said that clearly someone's been in the house and that he hadn't been there for about a week. So GF and I got into the car and trekked down to see what was going on.

As soon as we got through the door we called 911. Sure enough, someone had gotten in and had themselves a little party or two. New damage to the walls, evidence of drug use (crack pipes AND a syringe, along with bloody Kleenex), graffiti spray-painted on a few walls, a broken basement window.

So before I go on with this tale, let me offer public thanks to my neighbors who kept their eyes open (I don't know if I can name them) and whose instincts turned out to be correct; and to Wayne, who knew how to get in touch with me and took that time. I usually give him a lot of crap in this space but he came through for me on this one.

Anyway: the police came, then a supervisor came. They figured out that whoever it was had gotten in through an unlocked second-floor window after cutting the screen, and they sent for the Crime Lab Unit. This was an official Breaking and Entering thing, now, and I've got a police report number and everything.

The Crime Lab Unit took a bunch of photos, dusted many surfaces for prints, took several samples (including a few specifically for DNA), and so on. It was very C.S.I., except for the part where she said, "Don't expect them to call you tonight with the results." My repair guy boarded the window involved, we re-secured the place and left.

So now the house is officially in a condition comparable to the day I bought it. Make me an offer; I've had enough.

One Hand Doesn't Wash The Other

Senator Pat Geary: I despise the way you pose yourself. You and your whole fucking family.
Michael Corleone: We're both part of the same hypocrisy, Senator, but never think it applies to my family.

—The Godfather, Part II (1974)

-----------------------------------------------

Baltimore Sun: Dixon endorses Barack Obama

WBAL-TV: Dixon to Support Obama

Examiner: Dixon Will Endorse Obama

Have you seen any of these articles?

Want to know the curious part? I remember attending a political rally on August 4th, during which a letter was read to the assembled crowd. That letter was from Senator Hillary Clinton, endorsing (among others) Sheila Dixon for Mayor of Baltimore City.

Well...Integrity isn't everything. On the other hand, if you don't have integrity, you don't have much else.   

An Unholy Mess

Cindy Mackenzie: Wow... this is one trashed lab. All it's missing is a big hole in the wall shaped like the Hulk.

—Veronica Mars, "Show Me The Monkey" (1/21/07)

----------------------------------------------------

It appears that the people renting my house have finally abandoned the place before the Sheriff could do the job of evicting them. I'm still not positive that this is the case, but it certainly looks that way.

The bad news is that, looking through the windows, etc., it's pretty clear that the place is a huge mess. It's going to take literally days of work to bring it back up to the point where coyotes aren't going to pass the place by as being too messy.

At this point I'm not sure what I'm going to do next. I still like the idea of renting the house—lord only knows why—but I'm thinking maybe I should just get someone to manage it for me, for a cut of the rent, and let someone else deal with the hassles. Does anyone have experience with management companies?

Cut Loose

Lightning McQueen: Doc, hold it! Seriously, your driving's incredible!
Doc Hudson: Wonderful. Now go away.
Lightning McQueen: Hey, I mean it. You've still got it!
Doc Hudson: I'm asking you to leave.
Lightning McQueen: Come on. I'm a racecar, you're... a much older racecar, but under the hood, you and I are the same.
Doc Hudson: We are not the same! Understand? Now, get out.

—Cars (2006)

-------------------------------------

Sometime in the last month or so, the Morrell Park Community Association decided to cut me loose.

I'm not sure of the reason (or reasons) why, but I've got a couple of guesses which I won't share here.

For the last couple of years, I produced the Association's monthly newsletter and, for a slightly longer time period, I ran their website. Getting the material for the newsletter was problematic at best, and I often found myself sending emails begging for things like the President's monthly message. Then I'd be up until 2:00 AM the night before it was due, getting the whole deal laid out correctly and the pagination straightened out. I drew pretty heavily on my experience at the newspaper group in New Jersey right before I moved down here, and I think it showed. The newsletter had a clean look and contained a lot of good information. And, because I was also doing the website, everything dovetailed neatly. There were plenty of times I didn't have the space to do something in the newsletter and I could just refer people to the website.

Last month I got some of the information I needed; it came in dribs and drabs but I didn't get everything. I did the best I could and put a newsletter together. The next morning I delivered it to the Association's Vice-President. She told me that she didn't think I was going to do a newsletter because of GF's illness, so she'd asked someone else to do it.

Wow. Glad I stayed up late for THAT one. It really irritates me, because I have never been late for a newsletter, no matter what my personal circumstance. Even if I went incommunicado, I delivered--in fact, HAND-delivered--every issue on time. The single time it was late was because I'd gotten information late. So anyway, my newsletter was never published, and since I still hadn't received updated information, I couldn't update the website. So the website is still stuck in the past.

This month, I haven't heard anything from anyone. I've received nothing. I have to assume that they don't want me to do this for them anymore, which is fine with me. You have no idea how tired I am of chasing down stuff from everyone, correcting their dreadful spelling and grammar, formatting everything to match everything else, and doing the whole layout routine. Even with the shortcuts I'd built into the project it was a monthly pain in the ass.

The domain I'd purchased for the Association expires pretty soon, too. I haven't decided whether I'll renew it and park something else on the space, or what. But the Association hasn't paid me for the domain renewal, nor the past year's webhosting fees (I split with them because I store Baltimore Diary materials in a directory, along with the redirect page).

One less thing--two, actually--to worry about.

For the Record

Man in Pub: [humoring the "invisible man"] Oh, my. Now, how did that happen? There must be a ghost in here.

--Amazon Women on the Moon (1977)

--------------------------------------------

Awhile back (September 19) someone posted a comment to this blog with regard to Terry Hickey's recent defeat in the 10th District. An excerpt (typos belong to the poster, not to me):

Anyway its done and over and we have 4 years to work on things.Terri did a nice job however he has not been seen at one community meeting siince the election I hope he plans to stay involved with the district. And it was not just for the election that he or any others were active. We need everyone to stay involved and work together.

So given that comment that Terry has not been seen at any community meetings since the (primary) election, which was eight days earlier, I figured perhaps someone should keep a record of political activity at Morrell Park meetings, since we do, after all, need everyone to stay involved. This will be updated regularly.

September 2007: This wasn't a regular meeting but rather the candidate forum. Ed Reisinger was not in attendance. Terry Hickey and the other two City Council candidates were. Michael Sarbanes was there as a mayoral candidate. 

October 2007: Ed Reisinger was not in attendance. Terry Hickey was.

November 2007: No politicians were in attendance, although Morrell Park Community Association Vice President Carol McCoy met with Terry Hickey during the previous month. However, I'm not going to count that.

So, since someone who prides himself on being tight with Ed Reisinger has pointed out the attendance history of someone who isn't even an elected official, it's interesting that the guy who WAS elected hasn't been seen so far.

For what it's worth, he hasn't been seen at a MPCA meeting since April 2006, but who's counting?  

Won't You Take Me to Flunkytown

[Vizzini has just cut the rope the Dread Pirate Roberts is climbing up]
Vizzini: He didn't fall? Inconceivable!
Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

—The Princess Bride (1987)

---------------------------------------------

A couple of posts ago I commented on a few observations I had about the final vote totals in the primary on the 11th. One of the things I wrote was:

The problem for me is that I don't think he'll [Ed Reisinger] get that message. I know his flunkies won't.

This morning I got an email from a resident of Morrell Park with whom I correspond a couple of times a month. I'm going to call him Jim, although his real name is Herschel Krustofsky of 1609 Harman Avenue. His views don't always coincide with mine but our contacts, whether through email or face-to-face, have always been cordial and there are a few times where we've had to agree to disagree. This gentleman is an occasional reader of this blog, although his comments have always come to me via email rather than in the Comments area.

Apparently Jim was chatting with someone in the neighborhood who'd seen that post and asked him, "How does it feel, being referred to as a 'Flunky'?" Jim hadn't seen it yet and didn't know what that meant. So this guy told Jim that I'd used the term to refer to people who help Ed Reisinger. With his mind thus loaded, Jim checked out the post and decided that his friend was right.

So I'm going to make myself clear as publicly as I apparently made myself misunderstood. Not everyone who supports, works with or votes for Ed Reisinger is a "flunky." Flunkies are stooges. Flunkies are yes-men. Ed's flunkies are the ones who make me feel like I need to take a shower moments after speaking to them. Jim is most certainly NOT a flunky, nor is his wife. Jim is absolutely NOT the sort of person who will take the "We won, you can go suck it" trash-talking attitude I spoke of, and this is probably the distinction for me.

Jim sent me the email and he copied it to several other people. At least one of them I would put in the "flunky" category. Another couple, I don't know who they are. One of them has an email address that would likely be offensive in Great Britain. (I don't know who that one connects to, either, but if you're curious, Jim, ask me about it.) I'm not sure why he did that, but OK. I aired my view in public (i.e., here), so he gets the same deal.

In addition, I've taken a lot of heat from people about remaining active in Morrell Park even though I no longer live there. GF and I looked in the area for months before we moved to the other end of town; we genuinely disliked leaving Morrell Park but none of the many places we looked at, unfortunately, met our needs. Well, one place did but it had a fatal structural flaw. I do still own property in Morrell Park, so I've literally remained invested in the neighborhood and I do care about it. GF spent a quarter of her life there, so she's definitely missing the area. I tell you what: if I were so disgusted with the neighborhood that I didn't care anymore, I could sell the place in a heartbeat and make an obscene amount of money compared to what I paid for it.

In the end, I hope that I can work with Mr. Reisinger, and more importantly that he is willing to work with me. A "loyal opposition" is a necessary thing in the United States. Teddy Roosevelt once said:

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President or that we are to stand by the President right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile but it is morally treasonable to the American public.

This is an attitude that must—MUST—make its way all the way down to the lowest governmental level. I've said a million times that the best kind leader is the kind who surrounds himself with smart people who are willing to disagree with him. Our leaders don't need flunkies. They need to hear the debate. They need to be willing to listen to the debate, and they need to be able to participate in the debate. That there are two associations in the neigborhood is now part of the debate. When Reisinger aligns himself with one of them and ignores the other, as he's done for many months now, he's looking for the flunkies to offer him some form of validation. And in that, there is a wrongness.

The Best Votes Money Can Buy

Margaret: [both Hawkeye and Margaret are in the Swamp, drunk] This place stinks.
Hawkeye: Right.
Margaret: The food stinks, the liquor stinks, and the smell stinks!
Hawkeye: You said it.
Margaret: And the war stinks!
Hawkeye: It certainly does!
Margaret: What are you agreeing for? You're one of the things around here that stinks!

--M*A*S*H, "In Love and War" (11/1/77)

-----------------------------------------------

I had an interesting email forwarded to me today. Here's an excerpt:

I do not have a problem with Ed [Reisinger] paying people to work the polls, but I think Ed's actions went beyond walk around money.  When I am told by an individual that he voted for Ed because he was afraid if he didn't and Ed lost the precinct by one vote then he could only blame himself for missing out on the $100 precinct win bonus that Ed pays.  That sounds more like a payoff than walk around money.  Not to mention, Ed already paid this person $300 walk around money for the day.

This writer was talking about Lakeland, and named someone specifically elsewhere in the email, but there's word that these shenanigans took place in Westport and possibly Cherry Hill as well; perhaps others. We were also told that people who voted for Ed Reisinger in Morrell Park were given tickets that could be exchanged for a free meal at a local establishment. That one I heard directly from one of the ticket recipients.

I'm going to go the Blatant Comment Whoring (© by Yellojkt) route, and ask what you, dear reader, think about this turn of events. I'd also be curious to know what the folks at the Board of Elections think.

Down, Up, Down

Buck Barrow: Hey, you wanna hear a story 'bout this boy? He owned a dairy farm, see. And his ol' Ma, she was kinda sick, you know. And the doctor, he had called him come over, and said, uh, "Uhh listen, your Ma, she's lyin' there, she's just so sick and she's weakly, and uh, uh I want ya to try to persuade her to take a little brandy," you see. Just to pick her spirits up, ya know. And "Ma's a teetotaler," he says. "She wouldn't touch a drop."

  "Well, I'll tell ya whatcha do, uh," - the doc - "I'll tell ya whatcha do, you bring in a fresh quart of milk every day and you put some brandy in it, see. And see. You try that." So he did. And he doctored it all up with the brandy, fresh milk, and he gave it to his Mom. And she drank a little bit of it, you know.

   So next day, he brought it in again and she drank a little more, you know. And so they went on that way for the third day and just a little more, and the fourth day, she was, you know, took a little bit more - and then finally, one week later, he gave her the milk and she just drank it down. Boy, she swallowed the whole, whole, whole thing, you know. And she called him over and she said, "Son, whatever you do, don't sell that cow!"\

—Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

--------------------------------------

The Baltimore Sun recently published a poll noting that 29% of respondents feel that Baltimore City is headed in the right direction.

The voter turnout was 28% and the voters kept Sheila Dixon as mayor and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake as City Council President. Coincidence? Maybe.

Nearly all of the incumbents who ran to retain their seat won with pretty convincing percentages. All of them had a clear majority of the voters. Mary Pat Clarke actually had over 96% of the vote in her district. Good for her; I hear nothing bad about her.

Oh, there's one exception to all of this. Ed Reisinger won with only 42% of the vote in the 10th district. The rest of it was divided among Terry Hickey (30%), Donnie Fair (14%) and Hunter Pruette (13%). (They don't add up because I rounded off.) Call it what you want, but don't call it a mandate. 58% of the voters wanted someone other than Ed.

The problem for me is that I don't think he'll get that message. I know his flunkies won't. This is going to be cause for celebration because, hey, he won. But it's also a kind of vindication in their heads. A kind of "We won, you lost, go suck it" attitude.

My concern is that he'll ignore the fact that most of the voters are actually unhappy with him: in the precinct surrounding Thomas Johnson Elementary School he actually lost, which he's never done before. (This despite the entire block being surrounded by Reisinger electioneers.) In Morrell Park—in his own back yard—he won by only about 30 votes.

This sort of thing should worry him, but it won't. And the 10th District will suffer for it, unless the people who live, and work, and own property there, take to heart the fact that your City Council representative works for you. It's not the other way around, as some of them would have you believe. Accountability begins at home, and I hope to god that pressure is maintained on him.