It's So Yellow Out Here

A perfect pollen storm today in my backyard...

A Weather Channel tweet yesterday put the pollen count in Atlanta at 5063.  "Extremely High" is anything over 150.

Hendersonville is usually about 2-3 weeks behind Atlanta so we probably haven't seen the worst of it yet.

Autumn

I love this time of year in Hendersonville. The seasons are so distinct here, each one with a kind of pervasive mood. Randy on the other hand, sees fall as a personal challenge--him against the leaves as they come down. How dare they mess up his perfect yard by falling here?

Links To Help With Your Morris Broadband Problems - Maybe...

I wanted to pass these along so you folks out there can start doing your own research. The first one is to DSL Reports. This is a well-known place to get good (but a bit more technical) info. I am posting a link to a thread entitled "A+ for Morris Broadband". Seems that there are a few Mediacom employees posting anonymously there. Take that for what you will.

Click here for the link. There are plenty of other sites for you to research as well. Just search.

Here is the link to the new official Morris Broadband site, specifically the direct page to report problems. I do like their new site & hope it continues to grow to contain even better info for their customers. I hope the promises of new/better everything come to fruition soon.

At this point I'm going to throw up my hands & walk away in defeat. I have been trying to help my friends/clients for two solid weeks now & haven't been able to really do much for them. The digital phones are still really buggy & I was told by a Morris employee that the phone service was being outsourced from another company & they were working on getting it fixed but didn't really know what or when those issues would be resolved.

I'm also told that the email is being outsourced. No wonder they don't have a handle on this stuff, the ball is out of their court.

I don't know what else to do to help you troubleshoot your email issues & the Morris employess don't know either. I think it's time you seriously considered a Google or Yahoo email account. Or buy a domain from me & set up email that way.

Seems the internet speeds are a bit more stable. Looks like the Hendersonville backbone is being fed out of Asheville & peers with AT&T. Ok, whatever. I don't know when the upload speed is going to be opened up. Right now I'm getting about 470k. Grrr, just what I need. But hey, at least I've got service. Good thing I don't have a business account with a static IP.

I'm told that they are having some routing/service issues. Duh...

To my friends/clients with a sticky IP package--I'm sorry! I wish I could help you. I know you're frustrated & I feel your pain but there's really nothing else I can do. I can't reach them either & after calling for days, showing up at their office, & speaking with every employee I know, I still can't find anybody who will call you back. My suggestion is that you start writing letters & include a copy of your bill in them.

To Morris: what are you thinking? Seriously, it takes more than 2 days to train employees on a brand new software system. And why in the world are you ignoring your business clients? They are paying more per month than your home users. Why would you not return their calls? That just doesn't make sense. And yes, that's the heart of my discontent. I simply don't get the thinking process that says ignoring your highest paying clients will make the problem go away. Maybe that kind of thinking is why Morris Publishing is fighting bankruptcy?

And thanks for the job offer but no thanks. Don't you read my blog?

Hendersonville News Survey

What do you think about the Hendersonville Times-News survey asking how you would feel about paying for online content?

Morris Broadband Delivers...

Ok, I guess I'm going to have to write something about the switchover in Hendersonville from the much-maligned Mediacom to the now much-maligned Morris Broadband.

As I write it's being reported that there are still a couple of thousand people without internet, cable, digital phone service. I've had customers calling me since last week trying to figure out what to do about the situation. They're saying they're "out of business" till this is over. I know of at least 3 small business that had to send employees home because of it. It's a no-win situation for lots of other folks too.

As the date for the changeover got closer I got quieter about Morris Broadband on this blog. Why? Well, because the scope of the changeover is so large that I couldn't figure out how it was all going to go down. I worked at a small ISP for a while which means I know just enough about "provisioning" to have a healthy respect for what they were going to have to go through. I had a feeling that it was going to be a rough transition & when they changed the date of the email transition from 9-18 to 9-24 I knew then that there was going to be trouble.

Think about it, Morris Broadband is (as far as I know) the first provider owned by Morris Publishing. Not only that but Morris Publishing is going through some pretty severe financial troubles too--missing interest payments, etc. All the signs of a company in decline. Add to that the fact that they were coming in behind Mediacom--a company with lots of issues as far as the public is concerned. Don't take my word for it, just ask anyone living in Henderson county about Mediacom & chances are they will have their own story to tell & chances are it won't be a nice one. They are famous around here for being non-responsive to customers. It's also well known that their installers are sub-contractors who will work for the least pay & what does that tell you? (by the way, the consultant hired by Morris--Mike Feld said this when interviewed by the local paper: "Some of our vendors and some of our subcontractors made a lot of connectivity and configuration mistakes that didn't show up until we went live." Hmm. Not taking responsibility, sounds like business as usual...

Put it all together & you have the potential for disaster. A company trying to learn on the job in a community already trained to not like them...

Then again, they did have months to make this transition happen right? Should I give them a break or not?

My biggest problem has been the way they handled the transition before all of this happened. Sure, they notified the public before transition happened, but did they handle the public's expectations? No. Did they let anyone know that there could be a disruption in service that could affect their business? No. They basically implied that everything would be fine, as long as the public made the email changeover correctly. No "plan B", no warnings that service could be disrupted for a while, no information on what exactly was going to take place, not even a dial-up number so people could still check email. Now they are in the soup so to speak & all their apologizing & promising is not going to matter to the public. They haven't even gotten started yet & they've already blown it by conducting business the way it's always been conducted.

I know it's a "keep your fingers crossed" situation whenever you are dealing with hardware/software & believe me I sympathize. But the public doesnt care, & should they? After all, don't they have the right to expect the service they pay for?

My home only lost connectivity for about a day, so I'm not mad. I was inconvenienced though--getting up early to do some work & not being able to, but that's not suffering, it's just a little aggravating. Would I be so calm if I was without phone, email, TV for days? Probably not.

OK, Morris--the burden is on you to make this right. (you put it there) Let's see you handle this. Good luck, I'm glad I'm not working there right now.

And by the way public, don't just yell at the folks on the phone. That really doesn't help you know. They're not the techs who made the bad decisions, they just know what they've been told. Write a letter (since you can't email right now). Let them know why you're mad. Here's the address:

William S. Morris III
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Morris Communications Company
725 Broad Street
Augusta, Georgia 30901

What's your opinion?

Another Raw Food Vitamix Recipe

This time of year in Hendersonville is so nice. We are starting to see some fresh produce & lots of strawberries (which I love). I don't know whether you could call this recipe vegan ice cream, strawberry gelato, or slush--all I know is it is good!

1 cup rice--soaked for 8 hours in 1 cup pure water
3 tbs raw agave nector
1 lemon wedge--peeled & frozen
2 tbs vanilla or 1/2 vanilla bean
2 cups ripe strawberries - frozen

Slowly add the ingredients in the vitamix until well mixed. Freeze if you want, then remix one more time in vitamix.

To make it more "slushy", add a few ice cubes.

Enjoy!

Nice Weekend

It made it up to 83degrees in Hendersonville today. Very nice!

Today Is The Day For Morris Communications

Morris Publishing Group, LLC announced earlier this month that they had obtained an extension on their 9.7 million dollar interest payment on its Senior Subordinated Notes. The original payment was due Feb. 1st. The payment is due today.

For those of you unfamiliar with them, Morris Communications bought Mediacom's WNC holdings last February.

So, what does this mean to us here in Hendersonville? Who knows?

Stuff We're Giving Away

Here is a listing of some of the stuff we're getting rid of at the office. We've got lots of books & computer training stuff. Where I could, I included a link to the Amazon.com description of the item, so you could figure out if you actually want any of it. Alot of them come with training CD's included.

If you're interested in any of these items shoot me an email & we'll make arrangements for you to pick them up. We don't have time to package & ship, & I can't really cart this stuff around either which is why I'm giving it away here rather than freecycle. I'll call Goodwill to pick them up on May 1st if they're still here.

Books:

• B2B How to Build a Profitable E-commerce Strategy
• XAML in a Nutshell
• Under Pressure and On Time (Pro-Best Practices)
• SQL Server 2000: The Complete Reference
• Programming Windows Presentation Foundation
• New Perspectives on Microsoft Office XP, Brief
• Microsoft Office XP: Essential Concepts and Techniques
• PHP: Your Visual Blueprint for Creating Open Source, Server-Side Content
• PHP 4: A Beginner's Guide
• Adobe Flex 2: Training from the Source
• Sams Teach Yourself Red Hat Linux 9 in 24 Hours

Hendersonville Restaurant Review Binion's Steakhouse

Well, Ol Bob is right, it really is the best steak in town. It's also one of the best salads as well. I decided to review my last meal there, even though I've been going there since it opened several years ago.

One thing I like about Binions is that it is very consistent. I always know what to expect. The staff is cheery, if you come between 12noon & 1:30 pm or between 5:30 & 7pm, it will be crowded--count on a wait in the evening. There are barrels of roasted peanuts sitting around to get you through the wait.

Binions has a gambling/old west motif. Kind of what you expect at a steakhouse--rough floors, red-checkered tablecloths. The staff is uniformly cheery.

I ordered a sirloin, house salad, steamed veggies, & unsweetened tea. All came out quickly & they got the order right. Come to think of it, I can't remember them ever making a mistake on my order. Nice.

The Binions house salad is so good. It's not made with that "bag o salad" stuff that I can't stand. You know--stale lettuce, purple cabbage, & little carrot sticks. Yuck. The salad had fresh lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes, onions, & the best blue cheese dressing in town. It's probably PYA or Sisco but I don't care--it's good!

The steak was tender & cooked exactly as requested. The vegetables were...well they were vegetables. Nothing especially good or bad there.

The tea didn't taste like it had been made yesterday. I really don't like skanky tea & have been known to send it back.

It's nice to have a good mid-priced restaurant that is consistent. I know what to expect from Mr. Quattlebaum's restaurants & that is important to me.

Now if we could just get him to take that damn music off of his website! It messed up my mp3's when I was trying to get the link for you : )

Mediacom is now Morris Communications

Well, Mediacom is out of here. Morris Communications bought mediacom's WNC holdings last February & are promising better service, more local hires, better customer relations, you name it & they're going to do a better job of it.

Of course as far as I can tell they've never actually owned a cable service before but hey, why should that stop them? Well, the whole bankruptcy thing with the Morris Publishing division is a bit of a bummer but why worry about a little $9.7 million payment till it's due again? (April 24th). After all, they got one extension, getting another one should be no big deal. By the way, the $9.7 mil is just the interest payment. The total debt is reported to be $278 million. But why worry?

Truth is, I really do hope they do well here, because what's the alternative? I have too many trees in my yard to use satellite...

Here's the local number: 828 697-1371

Restaurant Review Umi Sushi Hendersonville

My friends & I went to the all you can eat sushi night at Umi's in Hendersonville last night. The food was good as usual but they could have done a better job of crowd control. When it's an invitation-only event & you are paying a pretty good price ($25 each + tax, tip, drinks) you really don't want to have to wait in a line for 10 minutes with a paper plate like you were at a BBQ fundraiser.

We had a good table but I pity the folks who were in the main dining area--the restaurant created a buffet line at the sushi bar & when everybody showed up at the same time the line ended up snaking all through the dining area. Folks sitting there had to be a miserable trying to gobble down dinner with all that noise going on, people staring down at their food, faces right at butt level, etc. I wouldn't have stayed if I had been seated there.

Now before you get on me for hating Umi's let me just tell you that it is my favorite Japanese restaurant--bar none. Every other time I've been there the service has been great & the food (all of it, not just sushi) has been fresh & tasty.

I think next time they have an "invitation only" sushi night I'll decline.

RIP Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey, the news commentator and talk-radio pioneer whose staccato style made him one of the United States' most familiar voices, died Saturday in Arizona, according to ABC Radio Networks. He was 90.

I will never forget the time I was stuck in a drive-thru line in Hendersonville, listening to him. He was talking about the worst drivers in the nation (statistically). He talked on & on about how bad they were & at the end of the report he finally told the listeners that the drivers were not located somewhere in Florida, nope, they were in Hendersonville NC.

As he said that I watched a tow truck drive by with a big white Cadillac on the back with (bet you've already guessed it) Florida tags.

Snow In Hendersonville

I hope everybody is ok today. Stay home if you can, use your common sense if you can't.

I started the day by taking pictures of the sunrise from my front door.

Here's a link to my Flickr account. I'll upload photos there today.

It Finally Snowed in Hendersonville

We love it !!



Randy took this video at 2pm.

Here's the view from the kitchen window (8pm) Those lights are from the storage building.

Lazy Saturday

It's raining here in Hendersonville so Randy & I can't put in the french drains today. Oy veh, guess I'll just have to suffer & not do all that physical labor today. (big sarcastic sigh).

I love having an unexpected free slot in my schedule. It so rarely happens anymore.

White Squirrels and Suet Recipe

Today I saw 3 yep, 3 white squirrels playing in the yard. I tried for a photo but they took off before I could get the camera outside. Seems Hendersonville is catching up to Brevard finally.

I made some suet & put it out right before the cold snap last week & have had a lot of different animals eating it. Yes, I put it there for all the animals, squirrels, birds, whatever.

Here's the recipe:

• 1 cup lard
• 2 cups peanuts that have been grinded down to the consistency of crunchy peanut butter
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 cups oats--not instant oatmeal
• 1 cup raisins
  

Stir lard & peanut butter together in glass pan until blended. It's ok to put the mixture in the microwave for a bit to help with the stirring.

Add cornmeal & raisins
Stir in oats
Roll into whatever shape you want.

Use within one week.

*I also use whatever raw nuts or berries I have to spare in the kitchen. Some people add powdered eggshells, but I don't & the animals don't seem to mind!

Here's a link to a photo Merle took of one of our squirrels a couple of months ago.

I Miss Snow

When was the last time Hendersonville got a good snow that lasted more than 24 hours or was deeper than 1 inch?

I can't remember.

Here's a Good Deal for You

Restaurant.com is having a sale this weekend. 70% off of their certificates, which means you can buy a $25 certificate for $3! Or to my way of thinking, $250 worth of food for $30.

Use the coupon code SAVE at checkout.

Today is the last day to get this deal. I've used these certificates before & really love the program. Asheville & Hendersonville are full of great restaurants & I do eat out so this has been a great way to save money. It's a little different than the Dining Dough certificates I bought last week in that you pick your restaurant ahead of time, effectively eliminating a step & also locking in your restaurant at the same time.

Brr, It Was Cold in Hendersonville Last Night

It was 18 degrees in Hendersonville last night.
It was 27 degrees in Washington, DC last night.