Monday, January 10, 2005

Pirates of the Raritan

Thanks to Elise Farnsworth for forwarding the email that SeaStreak sent commuters on 12/20/04 regarding the new fares that became effective 12/21/04.

From: "Contact,Seastreak" <contact@seastreak.com>
Date: Monday December 20, 2004 04:22 PM
Subject: SeaStreak Update
Effective Tuesday, December 21, SeaStreak will no longer be selling 120 tripbooks. Passengers currently holding 120 trip books will be able to utilize these tickets until the expiration date. As well, SeaStreak will no longer be accepting checks at any of our ticketsales locations. Please note that SeaStreak accepts American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Discover and Debit cards...

The email then goes on to explain announce the new fares.
[Related item: Scandals Scandals Everywhere - 3rd item]

There were a couple of interesting articles in the New Jersey section of the New York Times yesterday. Peter King, a Montclair resident who writes for Sports Illustrated, sums up the NFL and other sports news on his Monday Morning Quarterback blog. The Times also had an article about how Maplewood, NJ is struggling to balance the retail to service ratio of businesses in its quaint village. The article sites that Maplewood has a population of 23,000 and three nail salons (the town thinks that's too many). We have a population of 5,000 and we have three nail salons! Perhaps we should change our town slogan from "The Jewel of the Bayshore" to "Atlantic Highlands, Our Women and Metrosexuals have the Best Kept Nails in Monmouth County." Unfortunately the Times does not post the Sunday New Jersey section online so I can't link to the story. All joking aside, our village keeps improving and we've seen some interesting businesses move in, but the article does raise some issues that we should consider as we continue to add charm to our village.

Like no more nail salons.
[Related item: New Year's Resolutions - #2]

The Asbury Park Press reported today that a company named Atlantic Renewable Energy Corp. of Richmond, Va. (recently purchased by PPM Energy) is studying the viability of building oceanic windmills along the Jersey shore as means of generating power. Acting Governor Codey has created a "blue-ribbon" panel to review and make policy recommendations on the issue. Looks like the camps that'll duke this one out are coastal conservationists and commercial fisherman vs. those in favor of developing alternate energy strategies for the region - including Lester Starnes, an Atlantic Highlands marine-business owner who said "critics have to have their head totally buried somewhere. It's just the most viable thing that we need." I'm sure my existing energy provider, First Energy, will weigh in on the matter eventually as well. The interesting twist is that the windmills would need to be built in federal waters, not state waters, which could potentially limit New Jersey's ability to stop, or controll these initiatives.

Like sands through the hourglass, these are the days of our lives.

Comcast will be rolling out Internet phone service (VOIP - voice over Internet protocol) over the next couple of years starting with 20 markets this year. As one has come to expect, Comcast is going to charge too much for this service - $39.95/month. I currently use Vonage (based in Edison, NJ) over my Comcast Internet connection and it costs $25/month for unlimited local and long-distance. In fact, Vonage has lowered its price twice since I signed up almost six months ago.

It's only Monday but here's something to look forward to: Topher Grace hosts SNL this week with musical guest The Killers.

Thanks to everybody who wrote me over the past few days with suggestions, encouragement and feedback. I encourage people to post comments (click on the comment link at the end of a posting) if you have anything you want to add or share with other readers.


No comments: