Ed Icionsub

If you are as sick of cable TV as I am, then you need to compare the alternatives service types, Direct TV versus the Dish Network. Now that we are in the final weeks of free analog TV broadcasts, people are rightfully exploring their options for receiving TV signals on their home TVs.

When I bought my last TV there was nothing said about why an analog TV would be a poor investment. I had no idea that the TV would be obsolete in just a year because of the Federal requirement to broadcast with digital signals. Now I have to figure out if Direct TV is the way to go, or should I try the Dish?

I’m the first to admit that I don’t know the difference between the satellite TV services. I was glad to find a web site that took most of the research I needed and put it all in one place. Not only can you compare the two services, you can find the best packages and deals on the different subscription plans, and you can also learn about the different types of equipment.

Everyone knows the TVs of the future will all be in high definition and Direct TV packages is the leading provider of HD programming. So if HD is important to you now or possibly in your near future (it’s not too early to start your pitch to Santa if you don’t have an HD set yet!) make sure you find a service with HD programming.

The air is thick with tree pollen and a lot of us commoners are pretty miserable right now. There has been enough warm days to encourage the blooming of various flowers, shrubs and trees.

There is a section of Elm Hill Pike that is lined with nothing but Redbud trees. I am highly allergic to them and avoid that part of the road in April, but sometimes it cannot be helped. When I drive that little stretch of road my eyes water and itch, my throat closes up and I get a migraine headache that can last for hours.

The first wave of tree pollen was Cedar trees, Pine and Hickory. Now the weather forecast says that the high pollen offenders are Maple trees, Mulberry and Pine. Since I have a Maple in the front yard, like most of my neighbors, I suspect that the Maple is my enemy this week.

If you play World of Warcraft you know that buying a WoW game card for just $29.99 is the way to go. This gives any WoW account two months of game time.

WoW has over 11 million players, which is a huge success for an internet game. when you buy WoW game card from this web site, you get an email with the game code within 30 minutes of purchase and often faster than that. This is fast and easier than driving to the local game store to get your subscription.

If you haven’t played World of Warcraft yet, you can get started with an online purchase of the WoW battle chest. This gives you the game, the expansion pack and the key codes to create a WoW account.

The middle of April is such a volatile time of year. We could have warm and toasty days with a bright sun and light breeze, or we can have a late winter storm blow through here and freeze everything.

Today it is gloomy, rainy and cold. Not very spring-like at all. I guess we have to let Mother Nature have her way with us and just plan on a late Spring and Summer this year.

All I want to know is: when is it safe to put my little tomato plants outside in the ground without a danger of frost?

Every few weeks I talk with my friend back in Maryland to keep tabs on her. We’ve been friends for probably 30 years, since before she married my brother and then during that short lived marriage. We stayed friends after the divorce and then she invited me to her next wedding and we were friends during that marriage, too.

Then her husband was killed in a freak accident and she has been a widow for a several years, keeping busy with her job and raising her son. Now that he has graduated from college and started his own life, she has decided to start dating again.

One of the men that she was chatting with online invited her out to dinner and she had to get dressed up for a date for the first time in years. One of the things that she has neglected all these years is sexy lingerie. She was married and not worried about being sexy. Now she is facing that challenge and she is terrified.

So we talked about that for a little while. She was worried about how to dress for the first date and the second date, and dressing for a date starts with lingerie. I think that she has realized that sexy does not mean slutty and that sexy can still be comfortable. I told her how I think men feel about a woman’s choice in lingerie, and that if I was on a first date what my own expectations would be. I hope that it helped.

Today is Good Friday. Almost all the schools are closed today, although this is just a religious holiday and not a legal national holiday. There are actually a lot of government offices closed, too. I’m not sure if the post office and banks are closed today. I will find out shortly. At least traffic will be light!

I don’t observe the religion that makes Good Friday an important day, but I respect those who want to worship and practice their own religion and religious ceremonies.

In my world, every Friday is a Good Friday. The end of the work week and the start of the weekend. That makes the day good – no matter what your religion.

It seems that over the years around Easter time, the grocery stores would put certain things on sale in anticipation of the holiday.

I’ve always seen eggs on sale for the 2 weeks leading up to Easter, yet this year they seem to be holding at the same price, about $1.50 per dozen. Only Food Lion seems to have lowered the price on eggs – to $1.29 for a dozen large eggs. I wonder if the holiday falling late in April has anything to do with it. The late holiday is what Wal-Mart is blaming their low sales on for the past month – March didn’t get a boost in revenue from holiday spending.

Other items that seem to go on sale at Easter includes hams, sweet potatoes, and hot cross buns or some type of Easter bread. I wonder why this area doesn’t seem to embrace hot cross buns? I never see them in any of the stores, yet as a kid in the Washington DC area these were a big deal to have at Easter dinner.

Ever notice how many different products are being advertised for stomach and digestive issues? There are commercials every night for everything from Activa yogurt to Immodium Plus to Bean-o.

As a kid, the only thing I remember seeing in the medicine cabinet was the big pink bottle of Pepto Bismol and a big blue bottle of Milk of Magnesia. I don’t think I ever had to take a dose of the Milk of Magnesia and probably only took one or two doses of Pepto Bismol in my whole life. It was a big deal in my house to need “nursing” and have a parent resort to the medicine cabinet for treatments.

I wonder why so many people are having tummy trouble and having to buy all these products? I guess I have been very fortunate to have good digestive health and to have a healthy, balanced diet.

There are every day objects in our lives that just seem to appear and we don’t questions them. For example, speed bumps. Who invented these nasty things in the first place? I hope there is a special place in hell reserved for the person who brought this blight on us.

And then there are those concrete posts that have slowly invaded parking lots. They are put in the pavement to block access to alleys and building entrances. They are in front of ATM machines – another modern scourge – and next to drive through windows to protect building corners and abutments from careless drivers who might clip the corner of the building or other objects.

I knew there must be a name for these posts and in my exploration online today I found it – a bollard. So now I know what to look up in the Wiki to learn more about these parking lot invaders.

Came across an interesting article about bad behavior in a typical corporate office and how to not make those types of mistakes. The article was titled “Worst Office Blunders” and it was buried in a weird part of Yahoo, their “Food” section. It’s like Yahoo Food thinks it is related to Rachael Ray and they’ve begun throwing in non-food related entertainment. I have no idea what these kinds of office behaviors has to do with food, but it is included in the subcategory, “Foxy Festivities,” written by Elycia Rubin and Rita Maucer.

The top blunders to avoid include:

• gossiping
• blaming others
• taking undue credit
• dating co-workers
• brown nosing the boss
• disrespecting co-workers and subordinates
• stealing office supplies
• making a mess

All of their points are spot on for the offices where I’ve worked and I can think of several people within each office who are guilty of all of these.