Blog Baltimore

Other days not so much

Here’s a panoramic shot of Baltimore for everyone. Enjoy!

Sunset Full Size

At almost 2pm on the 23rd of August, the Univ. of Maryland area felt a rumble. Possible earthquake in Baltimore?

Dear Microsoft,

Can you please allow the mini-calendar in Outlook 2010 to be used to set the date for the list of emails I’m viewing? It’s much easier to select a day last week through the mini-calendar then having to scroll through 10 pages of emails to find the first one. Thank you.

Blog Baltimore

In a previous post listed below I commented about the State of Maryland banned the sale of cigars from online vendors. This through phone, fax, and Internet. Well a recent email has been sent out, stating that at this time they are deferring the ban on premium cigars to people in Maryland. This does not mean that we are not still supposed to pay taxes, it just means that we can purchase cigars online again!

http://www.blogbaltimore.com/2011/05/state-of-maryland-says-no-more-to-buying-cigars-online/

In case you missed it, recently the State of Maryland House Bill 88 denies online vendors the ability to sell Other Tobacco Products (OTP, products other than cigarettes) to Maryland consumers. If I want to buy cigars from a vendor outside of Maryland, whether by Phone, Fax, or Internet, I cannot.

I contacted Michael Vorgetts, who is the analyst for this bill, who was unable to take my call. I also contacted a popular online vendor of cigars who informed me that if I wanted to purchase cigars from them that I could only do it via wholesale. The bill is very vague in what it actually wants to do. From what I could understand from reading it, they want to tax vendors of OTP, but only if they are whole selling.

I personally would never consider buying cigars from a local store vendor. The rates they charge are often times 30-40% more than what I would pay online. This has been the practice of many cigar store fronts and it is probably the reason there aren’t that many around. It is not that I don’t enjoy going in and talking with the vendors, its that they need to work on their prices. Also the selection options in a store front are significantly less then that of the larger vendors.

Today was a good day because Marylanders can now order wine online and have it shipped to them, but now we cannot have cigars ordered and shipped to us? What kind of hypocrisy is this?

http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/fnotes/bil_0008/hb0088.pdf

I’m sitting here at Joe’s Bike Shop in Fell’s Point as they replace my back rim and I got to thinking. There was a lot of things I learned the hardway when I first started commuting by bike.

The first thing I learned was that tire pressure is crucial! Check your tire pressure every other week at least. This is key to avoiding flats and helping your rim keep true.

Secondly, always keep an eye on your rims for wobbling. If you bust a spoke this could severely impact your wheel and its safety.

Thirdly find a bike shop you can trust. Every time I’ve been to Joes Bike Shop in Fell’s Point they’ve been fast, fair in price, and efficient. They also don’t make me feel like an idiot when I ask stupid questions.

I’ve never been much in to sports myself. My father had his favorites but he was never a real fan. I didn’t have lots of friends in the beginning that were big sports fans either. Then again, I also grew up a bit in Ohio where there really weren’t any teams to be proud of. I eventually found my calling with European Football and a lovely little team called Blackpool F.C.

Unfortunately that is a story for another day. I’m writing this post because I wanted to point out another story, from a friend, that shows what its like to find your team when you are young and the joys of learning and loving that team. More than anything it reminded me of a few Cincinnati Reds games that I was dragged too where my father tried to show that he enjoyed sports.

You can find Dan’s story here:

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2011/4/1/2085460/april-21-1988-the-day-i-officially-because-a-white-sox-fan

If you enjoyed the story and it brought back memories of your younger years too, please go here and vote for him

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2011/4/12/2106999/mlb2k11-contestant-entrants-vote-now

There’s no grand major prize, its a video game, a baseball video game at that. Still, it’s a great story which needs some voting love!

I went back to Lagers Pub with my friends last night for their Trivia Night. This is the first time I’ve been back to Lagers in over a few years. I wasn’t a fan of their bartenders before this recent management change. I’ll say I was pleasantly impressed with the Trivia and the setup. The bartenders were a bit slow but much better than before. Also the atmosphere in the bar was much better.

I ate their “Mama’s Meatloaf” which I thought was awesome. It was meatloaf with bits of bacon all inside and slightly chard with “Baltimore BBQ Sauce.”

I’d do another trivia night there, as long as it isn’t had hard as this one was!

I saw a lady the other day at the McDonald’s on S. Paca and Baltimore St. with a black bandanna and lots of piercings sucking her thumb. She was an older lady and she looked a bit weathered. I wanted to ask her if one thumb was longer than the other but she didn’t look like she was a nice person, so I refrained.

It has been a while since I have written a post. I have been busy and have not been getting out much. Baltimore has been quiet for me. I personally have not noticed many changes, however I have not been getting out much.

I will say that I have noticed more bikers out commuting. This is a great thing to see as people are realizing it is really not that hard. The exercise and money saved is great!