The Plot Thickens in Providence

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Runaway Jim

I have posted previously about why people should not vote for David Cicilline to represent Rhode Island in Congress. In summary, the man is a liar, and the worst kind of self-serving politician as well. For the record, I am a registered Democrat in Rhode Island. I voted to elect Cicilline back into the mayor’s office in 2006. I want to like him, but his secrecy in the mayor’s office and now this in the Phoenix’s Not for Nothing blog. Continue reading →

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Providence’s Financial Woes

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Runaway Jim

If you haven’t heard, the city of Providence is in some serious financial trouble right now. The previous mayor, David Cicilline, left the city with a serious deficit (somehow he managed to get elected to Congress). As has been all over the news, our current mayor, Angel Taveras, has sent all of the city’s public school teacher termination notices. If it sounds like a drastic measure, it was. Four to six schools will also likely be closing, among other means to cut costs and increase revenue. I want to explain my thoughts as to what can, and should, be done in the city to help raise revenue without overly taxing the residents (which is likely going to happen). Continue reading →

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Why I Love ResNet

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Runaway Jim

For those of you who don’t know me, I work in a college IT department supporting students, faculty, and staff. I’ve been doing this for over seven years at my current institution (I’m in my second position here, basically an upgrade over the first one). Prior to this, while I was in college, I worked for ResNet at the University of Connecticut as a student RCC (Residential Computer Consultant) supporting networking problems, and eventually other types of issues as well, for the students who lived on campus. It was there that I learned about the national ResNet organization. Continue reading →

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Talking During Concerts

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Runaway Jim

Last weekend, I went to see Trey Anastasio at the House of Blues in Boston. On his current tour, he is playing an acoustic opening set followed by an electric set with the full band. I had a great time. He put on an awesome show to a sold out crowd packed into the tight space. There’s just one thing that really annoyed the crap out of me… the audience. Continue reading →

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Slow and Steady Wins the Race…

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Runaway Jim

…at least that’s what they said when the tortoise beat the hare.

So I recently posted about my new weight loss goal, which isn’t much different than it was last year. Only this year, I’m more determined. I’ve lost about 8 pounds since the first of the year. Now, granted, 2 of those pounds were the last 2 days when I’ve been sick, but since it was only 2 pounds, I’m going to keep them off. The 8 pounds I lost actually keeps me somewhat on track for losing 50 pounds this year since I’ve lost about an average of a pound a week. Some weeks I’ll only lose half a pound. It doesn’t bother me. Continue reading →

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The Power of Social Media: The Story of the Phish Twibe

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Runaway Jim

This topic came up today on Twitter, sparked by a tweet from @JennyMack. My response was Twitter, hands down, for one major reason, the Phish Twibe. I have probably discussed the Twibe here before, probably several times, in fact. But I don’t know that I’ve ever talked about how the Twibe formed and grew into what it is now. So here it is! It’s a great story of the power of social media.

Continue reading →

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Oh Boy! 1000 Free Rollover Minutes!!

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Runaway Jim

Yup, that’s sarcasm there. AT&T is offering 1000 free rollover minutes to their iPhone users as an incentive to stay with AT&T rather than switching to Verizon. Here’s why this is too little (way too little, in fact), too late.

Continue reading →

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New Year, New Goals

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Runaway Jim

So last year I decided I would lose a lot of weight. Here’s what ended up happening. I lost 15 pounds between the first of the year and mid-summer. For some reason, I didn’t do much over the summer as far as exercise. I went to a bunch of parties, drank a lot of beer, and I fell off my “no weekday beer” rule. I ended up gaining back most of that 15 pounds by November. Then Thanksgiving came and I gained the rest back. Then Christmas came and I gained even more. I hit my highest weight ever right after Christmas. I went skiing the week between Christmas and New Years and it was like I was set back 2 years in my ability. I then declared that I would try again this year. Continue reading →

Posted in Weight Loss | 6 Comments

Thinking about voting for Cicilline?

Posted on August 15, 2010 by Runaway Jim

Think twice. He’s a liar. And this is not related to his problems with the fire department.

While I don’t see eye-to-eye with him on many issues, I’m going to be voting for David Segal in the democratic primary for Patrick Kennedy’s former seat in Congress. We need more people who are less of the same. Cicilline is just more of the same. David Segal is not. I will be happy once Cicilline is out of city hall. I’ll be even happier to see him lose this election. He has not done the work of the people. He has done the work of his friends and people who write checks. We do not need more of that in Washington.

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Berkshire Czech Pilsner Review

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Runaway Jim

This post was written as a guest review for Lost in the Beer Aisle. I met the writer, Josh, through Twitter a while ago. We’ve been chatting about beer and he had asked me several times to write a guest review for him. Well, I finally got around to doing it (I tend not to write beer reviews as I prefer to just drink the beer). It was fun reviewing a beer again. I’ll have to do more of these. Anyway, you can catch Josh on Twitter as @Lost_in_beer. Now onto the review… Continue reading →

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