Leaving Hagertucky
I didn't really think I would be saying this, not for a long time anyways, but I will be leaving Hagertucky for New York at the end of this month. I never really planned on leaving to tell you the truth, I love it here and I like having farms all around me but in the industry I work in you have to follow the jobs to some extent. Someday I hope to return but for now I need to move on and continue to develop my career. I guess that means I will be changing my blog as well, not that I will ever give up Hagertucky since I do think I will come back some day.
Oh yeah, and if you are in the market for a house, let me know. I need to sell mine...
Mail Call: Why Shouldn’t We Develop the Dual Highway?
Why build another building on Dual Highway?
To the editor:
A beautiful piece of property at the point of Mount Aetna Road and Dual Highway has been wiped away, with numerous trees cut down only to build another office building.
Is it really needed? While other buildings sit empty on Dual Highway and the newest office building has yet to be finished?
There is so much talk about going green, it would seem that at least a couple of trees could have been left if the property had been planned better, but the only thing that matters is the green dollar.
It is a shame to see Dual Highway becoming more commercialized every year.
Carolyn Blitz
Hagerstown
Why shouldn’t the Dual Highway be developed? It seems to me that we need Hagerstown to bring in some new, more commercially viable office space so we can grow the service sector of the economy rather than try and pretend that manufacturing is going to keep this area alive. The only thing that is going to make Hagerstown thrive once again is the constant influx of technology driven businesses that need good office space to conduct their business in, without it we rely on businesses like Volvo Power Train to keep the economy is moving. Unfortunately, this is not going to be a long term solution since manufacturing is driven to the lowest cost economic center which is not Hagerstown, Maryland.
What will sustain Hagerstown? Technology, and despite what you may think, global warming. Hagerstown could actually regain its place as a major transportation hub in the region if the railways become a favored method of transportation because of fuel efficiency. If Hagerstown could bring in CSX and companies that make railway electronics to fuel the reemergence of the industry, we could be on the forefront rail transportation revitalization. So bring in new office space and encourage the development of office based service companies, after all do you want Washington County to have a 10% unemployment rate?
Zicam Pulled from Stores – Still just a Gimick and it Will Hurt You!
FDA warns against using 3 popular Zicam cold meds - CNN.com
The agency says that since 1999, it has received more than 130 reports of loss of smell associated with Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel; Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs; and Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs, kids size. The products have been linked to long-lasting or permanent loss of smell called anosmia. In some cases, the loss of smell occurred after the first dose."Loss of sense of smell is a serious risk for people who use these products for relief from cold symptoms," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "We are concerned that consumers may unknowingly use a product that could cause serious harm, and therefore we are advising them not to use these products for any reason."
Here is another good one from the world of medicine today, basically proving that once again you can't magically make a cold or it's symptoms disappear by spraying foreign chemicals into your body. Oddly enough, the old way still seems to be the best with a cold - get plenty of Vitamin C consistently and you are way better off than trying spraying Zinc straight into your nasal cavity.
Soon I expect to see this company market an Iron spray because that hasn't been banned yet. It will be called "ICam"
Technorati Tags: zicam, fda, nasal, spray, nasal gel, cold remedy, swabs, loss of smell
The Worst Week Ever
So what would the worst week ever be considered? Well alright let me qualify that a little bit, the worst week ever in terms of being a manager. This week we had to “right size” our organization and by that I mean I had to select an employee that would be asked to leave the company. I have been a manager for three years and out of college for four. This means I have a total of four years of professional experience and already I have been asked to lay and employee off. For a 26 year old, I have never had to make a harder decision, a decision that effects someone else’s life so profoundly that I will never forget it.
At the end of the day, I feel that I did the best I could given the information I had. I feel that I made the right decision for the business which is what I set out to do in the first place as that was what was asked of me. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, and likely one of the hardest things I will ever have to do. How many people are asked to make a decision like this when they are 26 years old? How many managers have ever had to make this decision?
I don’t even know really where I want to go with this post. I just know that I want to make it understood that making these decisions sucks. It demoralizes those of us who are left and hurts those that are asked to leave. No one wins.
Understanding the Credit Crisis
So you wanted an easy way to understand why your house is now worth nothing anf you don't have any money in your 401k. I found this great animated explanation of the credit crisis on youtube the other day and it actually allows you to understand what the heck is going on.
How Free is Free Speech?
So it begins:
The fight between music bloggers and record labels reached its most visible point when a guy who uploaded a leaked copy of the latest Guns N' Roses album to his site got arrested by the FBI. But many music bloggers are now fighting a much more invisible menace, with posts they've written suddenly disappearing from their sites (via Tyler Hellard) hosted on Google's Blogger platform. An RIAA source says that the group sends Google a list of URLs it doesn't like, and Google "then deals with the problem."
Source: TechDirt
How free is free speech? Of course if you violate copyright, regardless of your opinion on the subject, is illegal the fact that private companies decide on what is OK to post ansd what is not begs the question, where is the costitution in all of this? If I have a website and I post something that a group does not agree with and it is hosted within the US, then there should not be a reason to take the content away unless told to do so by a court of law. How can we let a private company dictate what is constitutional and what is not at the whim or request of a trade group with disposable funds?
Yet Another Data Breach at a Transaction Processor
A data breach last year at Princeton, N.J., payment processor Heartland Payment Systems may have compromised tens of millions of credit and debit card transactions, the company said today.
If accurate, such figures may make the Heartland incident one of the largest data breaches ever reported.
Robert Baldwin, Heartland's president and chief financial officer, said the company, which processes payments for more than 250,000 businesses, began receiving fraudulent activity reports late last year from MasterCard and Visa on cards that had all been used at merchants which rely on Heartland to process payments.
Baldwin said 40 percent of transactions the company processes are from small to mid-sized restaurants across the country. He declined to name any well-known establishments or retail clients that may have been affected by the breach.
Source: Washington Post
How many more times will this happen before we start seeing significant improvements in the security at transaction processing companies? The fact that this is such a matter-of-fact, response that shows no sign of caring about the people affected is disturbing. As consumers we can no longer afford to simply stand by and watch our personal financial information be stolen and not do anything about it. I think it is time we demand these corporations prove they protect clients data as best they can or otherwise they should not be allowed to operate.
Working in the financial industry myself and in the IT field to boot, it stirkes me as incredibly incompetent that a company would not employ enough safeguards on their networks to deter these types of attacks. It would also make sense that they would force their clients to adhere to the same standards so that they do not have any one weak point in their wider network of operations. Take processing credit cards with Visa for example, where you must go through a rigorus certification program before they will even let you touch their network or data. If you do not do this then you simply don't get to use their service plain and simple.
Not only is the company not really taking any responsibility but they also are announcing this on a day where it will get no news coverage which I don't think is a coincidence at all. They are knowingly trying to avoid telling the public about the potential for their information to have been stolen. A plainly sleazy move that should be investigated by government regulators if you ask me as it is reckless and irresponsible of them to take this type of action. Keep your eyes on your credit card statements folks, you never know where this will go next.
Maryland: Four airlines apply to serve Hagerstown
WASHINGTON COUNTY — Four companies have applied to provide commercial air service out of Hagerstown Regional Airport through a federal subsidy.
Citizens to Hagerstown: No Federal Prison in My Back Yard!
Concerned citizens, it is time to stand up and ensure your voices are heard, especially if you live in the Robinwood area of Hagerstown. There is an active proposal on the table to the city council to potentially put a federal prison in back of HCC. This is completely unacceptable an bust be stopped. Please see the letter I sent to the council below:
Dear Ms. Nigh,
I am writing you this evening as a concerned citizen after reading the article in the Herald Mail about the potential usage of the 220 acre plot of land behind the Robinwood Medical Center for a Federal detention center. I would like to support your assertion in the article as you were quoted as saying "not in my lifetime" which is the correct response to any proposal of this nature. Not only is this a largely residential area but there are also schools near by and residents of the neighborhoods surrounding this parcel of land such as myself do not need to compound our worries by having a prison in our back yards. I understand that there are needs for such facilities and Hagerstown being a relatively rural area makes sense in many ways but not in an already developed area of the city. The Robinwood vicinity is quickly becoming a residential and commercial hub outside the city limits and having a prison in the area will decrease land values, potentially increase the crime rate and significantly impact the quality of life for residents.
I applaud you for your stance on this proposal but it is imperative that the other council men and women take the same stance for the sake of our community and not cave to any supposed incentives for this type of development. There may be a short term financial gain in such a deal, but the long term damage to the surrounding community will cause irreparable harm.Thank you,
Jonathan
I would encourage anyone else concerned about this proposal to do the same the story about the land can be found on the Herald Mail Website.
Volvo Powertrain to "Idle" 59 More Workers
HAGERSTOWN — The Volvo Powertrain plant in Hagerstown laid off 59 workers this week as the heavy-duty truck market continues to skid, officials said Wednesday.
The layoffs, effective this past Monday, are in addition to the 99 workers idled here in April.
The two furloughs reduce Volvo’s work force at the local plant, which makes engines and transmissions for Mack and Volvo trucks, to 1,278 employees.
Volvo Powertrain is going to "idle" 59 more workers this week as the economy continues to falter during what is now essentially a recession. Between rising fuel and food costs, the demand for large vehicles, construction equipment and large trucks just isn't what it used to be which makes sense. But how one of Hagerstown's largest employers will weather the rest of the storm is an important question that has yet to be answered. Hagerstown is built on these types of businesses, especially since the rail yard was dismantled decades ago. Hagerstown needs these businesses to continue the renewed growth that we have seen over the past several years. The money that these workers spend in town help revitalize the downtown area, clean up the old industrial complexes that no longer are in operation and ensure that Hagerstown's cultural growth continues into the future. I hope that Volvo can find someway to continue their operations well into the future as losing these employers hurts the town, the people and the companies.
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