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JerseySmarts.com

Another Long Weekend Coming Up

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Today is the beginning of yet another long weekend. I’m off of work today, tomorrow, and this coming Monday to mark a variety of events. First, today is the two year anniversary since my Father passed away so I’m going to be heading north to visit his final resting place. After I spend some time there, I’m checking into a hotel to begin the weekend festivities for my buddy’s wedding – where I will be the best man.

On Friday I have the rehearsal dinner and then on Saturday it’s the main event. On Sunday, I plan on sleeping in a little bit (if possible) before heading back to Tinton Falls and relaxing the day away through Monday.

Have no fear, though. I have entries prepared to be automatically uploaded each day through Monday. In the mean time, enjoy the weekend!

Second Snow Day in a Row

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Call it being extra conservative, but I’ve taken a second snow day in a row. I’m not sure about all of Monmouth County, but in the development where I live the main roads are still not drivable. Oh sure, our cul-de-sac is fine and I could drive circles around it all day. However, the main road of our development which the cul-de-sac feeds in to is abysmal. I don’t understand why the maintenance team would be sure that the cul-de-sacs are okay to drive on, but the main roads are not. Isn’t that some type of useless?

As if this wasn’t bad enough, last night’s deep freeze has rendered those snow covered roads to be ice covered. Great…

When you put all of this together with the fact that I’m now driving a Honda Civic instead of a Chevrolet Blazer, you can see why I’m more restrained about making the hour long trek across New Jersey from Tinton Falls to Trenton. Ain’t happening today.

And let’s be real – I definitely do not get paid enough to put my safety on the line to get to an office where my work is more “appreciated” than valued. Seriously. If I had a dollar for every time someone said thank you or that they appreciated my work, I’d double my salary! I don’t want to start down that path right now, though…

So I’ll be working from home again today while the folks in this development try to dislodge their heads from their asses and figure out how to make the main road drivable!

Snow Day in Central and Northern New Jersey

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One of the greatest things about living in New Jersey is that the entire state gets into a frenzy whenever there is even the slightest chance that there might be snow in the forecast. Yesterday, all of the major news channels were talking about how Central and Northern New Jersey were going to be blasted with snow. The reports even called for upwards of 5 or 6 inches of snow in Monmouth County where the snow accumulation is minimal at best.

Well, in preparation for the pending snowstorm most of my co-workers and I decided not to go to work today no matter what the weather. This was actually a decent decision since I woke up around 5:30am to check outside and we had about 4 inches of snow and absolutely no trucks on the road clearing for the morning commute. I think that the entire state figured that it needed a snow day and thus the truck drivers were given some extra time to sleep in while the snow accumulated. I should note, though, that as I’m writing this I’m looking outside of my window and the roads are completely cleared in my part of Tinton Falls and there is actually some traffic moving around outside.

The one thing that annoyed the hell out of me this morning was the local college where I teach part-time. I’m signed up for their emergency alert system which is very helpful when the college shuts down due to inclement weather. However, someone must have been going crazy over there this morning because I got two phone calls on my home line, two phone calls on my cell, two text messages, two e-mails on my work e-mail, and two e-mails on my home e-mail. I thought that was a bit overboard for 5:45am so I took myself off of their notification lists.

For those of you who are either off today because of the weather or working from home – enjoy it!

Considering All Absentee Ballot, All the Time

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Being a political junkie, I tend to troll over a variety of websites looking for the latest and greatest information on local, state, and national politics. While looking over the Morris County Clerk’s website I stumbled onto the Civilian Absentee Ballot Application. Reading through the information on the pre-application page and the application itself, I learned that I can choose to receive absentee ballots for all future general elections.

In other words, I can fill out this application and then always have a ballot sent to whatever address that I want so I can be sure to vote in whatever general election is upcoming. I had no idea that I could do this, but it sounds like a great idea!

Some of you may know that I rent an apartment in Tinton Falls which is about an hour and a half from my voting station in Mount Arlington. As such, Election Day always presents a logistical problem for me since I have to factor a three-hour drive into my schedule. Voting by absentee ballot would be much more efficient. Some additional research into the Morris County Clerk’s website shows that no one voted by absentee ballot in Mount Arlington during this year’s election. While that may seem suspect to some people, there were only some 2,493 votes cast in the entire Borough. To assume that there were no absentee ballots cast this year is not that far of a stretch.

However, the ability to have a perpetual absentee ballot is a great option for someone like me who is generally moving to a new place every few years. Sure, I intend to register in which ever municipality where I wind up purchasing a home, but that’s not coming any time soon. Plus, because I’m constantly reading up on the local news I might even be more aware of political issues going on in my hometown than some of the folks who are voting up there anyway!

When you think about it, the application of the perpetual absentee ballot is powerful. Unfortunately, there are some people who just do not want to go to the polling stations to cast their votes. Some might be hindered because of their jobs and others might be hindered because of their personal schedules. In New Jersey, where we do not have early voting, receiving an absentee ballot that has to be mailed in to the County Clerk’s Office some 7 days prior to the election may increase the possibility that more eligible voters will vote.

I’m going to look into this some more, but I’m strongly considering going to an all-absentee ballot, all the time setup for future general elections (school board and primary elections do not apply).

The Move to Tinton Falls is Complete

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After spending a ton of time moving into our new townhouse, my roommates and I are finally “just about” finished. One of my roommates is on vacation so he still has to set up his room when he gets back, but 99% of our “stuff” is unpacked and where it needs to be. A quick story about moving into this place…

One of my roommates and I went to get the box truck on move-in day at about 8:00am. We were back at the old apartment by 9:00am and the moving began. First we moved the heavy and awkward stuff like the living room couches (by the way, “moving” items meant taking them from the apartment, down the hallway, across the roof, down two flights of stairs, and then into the truck). Then we moved out our beds (more on this in a minute). And then it was time for the televisions.

I have a 27″ cathode ray tube (not flat screen – think old school) TV that we use in our living room. I’ve always been able to move this television on my own. Well, I went to move it and it seems that either I remember it being lighter or I’m not as strong as I once was…most likely the latter. At that point I got a little annoyed at myself because not only was I winded from moving a few of the heavy items down the steps, but I couldn’t carry my old television. I took the next half an hour or so to get myself mentally ready and I told myself that if I couldn’t move that television by myself then I ought to be really ashamed. After the mental preparation, I picked up the television on my shoulder and brought it down to the truck.

And that’s all she wrote.

I was spent. I told myself that even though I may like to go around thinking that I’m still a college-aged kind of guy – I’m really not. It was at one time both depressing and exciting. Depressing for obvious reasons (who wants to realize that they’re old?). Exciting because I told myself that while I may not have the strength of a college kid any more, I advise a bunch of college kids and I have some money that college kids don’t have. This is obviously a perfect combination when you need some muscle to make a move go easier.

To make a long story short, three of my undergraduates came over and the entire apartment was moved out of the old place and unloaded into the new townhouse in three hours. Incredible. The strength that those kids have is unreal. Very impressive.

Getting back to my bed – we moved my old full-size bed into the new place and after sleeping on it for a few nights, it just didn’t feel right. There were some lumps, some bumps, and some indentations. Here I am in this new townhouse which is only about 20 years old itself and I’m sleeping on a mattress that is about the same age as the building! Plus, it was a used mattress that I took from a friend. Anyway, I went out and bought a brand new mattress, box spring, and bed rack on Friday afternoon and it was delivered yesterday. The bed is a queen size and it is completely awesome!

All in all, a good move and a nice new place to start some new adventures and make some positive lifestyle (*cough* go to the gym *cough*) changes! I’m very pleased!