Link: 7Online.com: Big Collapse Sends Rubble Tumbling onto Henry Hudson Parkway.

So I'm applying for my mortgage and I need my last three months of bank statements.  Now, I keep everything online and shred all of my paper records.  I figure, if I really need any information, I can logon to get it or request it over the phone.  So, I call up TD Waterhouse, where I have a checking account, and ask for copies of my last three bank statements.  No problem, except for the fact that they were going to charge me $10 a statement!   What a ripoff!!

Well, goes to show them...  I'm emptying that account when I put down my down payment.  Haven't they noticed they haven't been getting my direct deposit anymore?  Did they think I lost my job?  Sorry TD Waterhouse, I'm blowing this popsicle stand.

I just saw VH1's "I Love the 90's - 1997".  Michael Ian Black had the best comment on American interest in soccer:

"If it wasn't for the Spice Girls, we might never have known who David Beckham was."

Pure brilliance.

So I got the letter below attached to a LinkedIn invite.  This is the kind of thing that gives LinkedIn a bad name. 

1)  I have no idea who this person is.  They identified themselves as having worked for General Motors before and invited me as "a former colleague."

2)  I don't even know what a Names Sourcer is.  I have a name.  I certainly don't need another one, although Pastore and I have briefly considered switching last names, because he looks more Irish than I do and I look Italian.

3) You don't need to be on LinkedIn to do business with me.  If you know my e-mail address, then send me what you're offering and I'll look at it.  I certainly don't need/want to be connected to you forever.

So, here's the letter.   As Steve Rubel says, never e-mail a blogger unless you'd like that e-mail stamped on your forehead for the rest of your life.

"Hi. My name is Maureen Sharib and I’m a Names Sourcer for TechTrak.com. I'd like to link with you on this wonderful networking system of LinkedIn and maybe do some business with you sometime in the future! I source passive candidates holding specific titles in specific companies. Our goal is to save you time (and money!) and help you succeed.

Maureen Sharib
Names Sourcer
www.techtrak.com
Our fee structure can save your project an average of 85% to 95% in hiring fees.
513 899 9628
Maureen@techtrak.com
Invite me to your LinkedIn and ERE networks!"

Check out the link below.  They've divided all their reviews into places that you want to 1) cheat on someone, 2) dump someone, 3) take someone that you want to f*ck, or 4) make a scene.

Now, I wouldn't advocate any of this and believe people should have the purest of intentions when choosing a venue.  HOWEVER, if you do find yourself being asked to one of these places, now you know why.  If I were you, I'd certainly keep the dump list handy.

"Wait a second...  oh no... we're going to Caffe Taci?  But I thought things were going so well!"

Link: Bar & Restaurant Reviews.

Finally — useful bar and restaurant reviews, divided into four convenient categories that address the common situations that confront us every day.

Today was Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's.  Kerri and I hit up the location on 23rd Street between 7th and 8th.  You still have time, but as you can see from our pictures, the lines are long.  They're also giving out coupons for a free extra scoop on your next purchase (while supplies last).  The offer ends at 8PM tonight, so go out and get what's coming to you.   Feel free to post your own Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day pics using the "freeconeday" tag, like I did.  (PS...  Flickr really needs a better way to post multiple photos at a time to my post.   I already have today's pictures on Flickr, but now I'm reuploading them to Typepad.  That's a real pain in the ass.  Otherwise, I love the service.)

Link: FreeNYC: We All Scream For Ice Cream.

April 19th...  Free Cone Day from 12PM - 8PM at Ben & Jerry's.  I will be waiting outside the one on 23rd between 7th and 8th at least 15 min ahead of time at 11:45 AM.  Cherry Garcia is my poison.  Who's with me??  What's your flavor?

Link: OnlyOnce: Go Ahead...Make My Day.

After his fascination with the word "sketchball", Fred and I talked once about evaluating character based on some kind of a "sketchball scale".  I can't tell you who we'd put on the bad end of that scale, but Fred suggested that, at the very tip of the other end, on the good side, we'd put Matt Blumberg, CEO of Return Path.  I met him at the Union Square Ventures Christmas party and I'd have to say I'd agree.

So, it was very fitting when I read Matt's post from today about his attempt to be nicer to fellow joggers in Hudson River Park by waving at them.  Only 2 of the 30 even acknowledged him, but, undaunted, he still suggests, "go ahead -- be 10% more friendly or smiley today.  See what effect it has on people around you.  Make someone's day!"

Please wave to Matt if you see him tomorrow morning.  Fred and I will vouch for the fact that he's not nuts.  He's just a really nice guy.

I just got off the phone with the GM Benefits center regarding my retirement and savings plans.  I had called them with an issue when I left and hadn't received the form they said there were going to send me.  So, I called their hotline and got Ray Beck.  Ray was, by far, the most helpful customer service person I've ever dealt with... and he couldn't even solve my problem directly, but he said exactly the kind of things he needed to say to make me feel like someone was on it.  I hate when I call customer service people and I feel like they have no interest in helping me outside of their scripted little workflow process. 

Ray asked me to hold on while checked on my issue and then came back and said that they had my request and that there was a backlog.  He told me he'd put a memo on my request that helps it get to the top of the pile.  Now, maybe that's a BS line, but then he took my number and said he'd look into the matter in a couple of days to see if there was any progress, and then he'd call me with a status update.  He was incredibly polite and he told me he'd keep an eye on it to make sure it went through.  He then told me to write down his name so that he knew who was working on it and who to reference if I called back.  So now, I know that Ray Beck's going to "keep an eye" on my request and let me know how its going.  That makes me feel better.  Ray made me believe.  Ray's going to call up the people that the request goes to and say, "Hey.. what's going on with Charlie's request... he's waiting for it."   He's lookin' out for me.  He's got my back.   Ray Beck...  my man in Detroit... takin' care of business.

Link: Muppet Central News - Fact or Fiction: The Muppet Show DVD season sets.

This is the most fantastic news I've heard all day...    Stadler and Waldorf are my favorite Muppets.  Least favorite Muppet?   Pauly Shore.

For the most part, I eat pretty healthy...   lots of chicken, fish, candy.  Ice cream/desert only once in a while.  However, when I do get something I probably shouldn't be eating a lot of, like pizza, I'll try and make it as healthy as possible.  Right now, I'm eating a stuffed veggie slice.  I figure, if I'm going to be eating all this dough, oil, and riccota cheese, I might as well get what broccoli and spinach have to offer as well.

Maybe they'll cancel each other out.

Who am I kidding?

This morning, I overslept, so I took a cab in.  I think without question, cab drivers are the most appreciative of tips.   No one must be tipping these guys more than just rounding up to the next dollar.  They're driving around for hours and hours all day, and I'm sure cabdriver economics aren't too good...   so I like tipping them.  You know who doesn't really appreciate tips and it drives me nuts?  Coat check people.  I hate coat check.  I hate checking anything.  If I wanna lug around all my crap, that's my business.  Blocks the aisles?  I'm notoriously underdressed for winter and I'm sure I usually have the thinnest coat in the room... not to worry there.  Valet is ridiculous, too.  With both the coat check and the valet, if my item is in plain sight, you're not providing a service.  So many times I'm in coat check and I can just reach over and take my coat b/c the booth is so small, but still, they have to hand it to me and its going to cost me a buck or two.  Coat tax.  That's what it is.  I'm being charged for dressing appropriately for the weather, which I barely accomplish anyway.  And coat check people for the most part treat it like its normal.  Its not even a tip anymore.  Its a charge. 
Tipping in restaurants is a broken system, too.  I will definately tip well for great service...  20-25%... but I'll be the first one to admit that it really doesn't have the desired effect unless you're a repeat customer.  It works in Gino's, because we're there all the time, but if you're a one shot deal, that's never going to do anything but show appreciation, and I sort of think there should be some kind of feedback loop there that improves my service.  Maybe we can do some kind of loyalty card service for all restaurants where, when I check in, the waiter or waitress gets my average tip and the variance in it.  He or she would see that my average is solid, but my variability is above normal--meaning that if you take care of me, I'll take care of you, but if you're rude to me, its going to cost you.  Otherwise, most times the server doesn't even see what you gave them while you're still there anyway, so it doesn't really have the desired effect. 
What really has to stop are the bathroom attendents.  I haven't seen to many, but if I do, I turn right around and decide I don't really need to go that badly.  I refuse to legitimize that scam.  I've been using the bathroom by myself my whole life... I don't need any help now.  I'm a New Yorker.  Just leave me alone and let me do my thing.  Don't help me unless I ask and don't hold my coat for $2 ransom. 

Ok, so this one is doctored, but its getting really hard to keep the letters small in the snow, so I'm kind of limited as to how much I can write.  Anyway...  I also took some normal pictures as well.   Last night's snowfall was a very photogenic snow.  It was wet enough to stick everywhere, but fluffy enough to build up to some size.  However, it wasn't too much that it just covers everything, and there wasn't so much wind that it knocked the snow off the trees. 

Well, this is just getting out of hand now...    Weatherbug is reporting a tie-die blob headed straight for the city. 

We could have 6-10 inches of love-ins, Country Joe and the Fish, and pot starting as early as this afternoon.   And you thought snow was going to be an inconvenience...

Link: The Door Gates.

I haven't posted about The Gates yet, but this link is inspiring.   

In all honesty, I suppose The Gates because it is bringing in lots of revenue to the city.  I know someone in the hotel business and she told me that her hotel was packed on what would otherwise be a slow week when this thing opened.  So, since it didn't cost the city anything, and it brings in tourists, I'm a fan, even if I don't really see its artistic value.  To me, it just kind of looks like an orange obstacle course for oversized dogs at Westminster.

When I woke up this morning, the snow was pretty deep, and too wet to get much writing done in it...

_________________________________________________________________

Link: CNN.com - Author Hunter S. Thompson commits suicide - Feb 21, 2005.

I think we all need to be challenged a little more in our lives.... to have people pick our snowglobe world up, turn it upside down, and shake it up a little.  We cast aside and discount a lot of the people who push limits... who think out of the box, but they're the ones that really keep things interesting, and I think, in a way, we secretly envy them.  Its comfortable to think of ourselves as "regular" and to think of people who walk through life turning over unturned stones as some sort of fringe element.  This way, it makes us feel as if we're not missing out on anything by not testing the limits ourselves.  Its like when someone blows past you on a highway.  You yell at them and say they're going to hurt someone, but part of you wants to know what its like to drive that fast.  Sometimes, when you do that, you realize how little of the world we've limited ourselves to makes sense, and how the far the accepted reality is from where you think it should be, and that's where it takes a toll.  It took a toll on Hunter Thompson yesterday.  Yesterday, the wave finally broke and rolled back.

"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

Link: Regis High School.

So, I may have found the answer to my recent banishment to the sidewalk since I turned in my GM car....    Regis is auctioning off a Mercedes C 230.  The price?  $500 a ticket.   hmm....    Feelin' lucky?

I hope the judge finds Citigroup and the traders 100 BILLION DOLLARS and then sticks his pinky up to his mouth...

Link: WSJ.com - Bond Strategy Haunts Citigroup.

The Daily News has a listing of 100 places to eat for under $10.  I haven't been to a single one of these places, but now that I know where they are, I'll be sure to check them out.