Stolen From My Yard - Doug Howard

I got a call on Saturday morning from my neighbor.

"Look outside."
"Why?"
"Our Doug Howard signs are gone/"
"What?!!!"

It was true. In the middle of the night someone had stolen our "Doug Howard for Carroll County Commissioner" signs from our yard.

Oddly though, the Mike Zimmer for Carroll County Commissioner sign was still standing in my other neighbor's yard. Coincidence? You be the judge.

Both my neighbor and I quickly posted on Facebook that our signs were stolen. Not half an hour later Doug Howard showed up with new signs for our yard. I love this guy!!! He means business. And I think you should vote for him. He understands how legislation will impact your local community and businesses.


On a related note, I saw Mr. Howard's opponent, Mr. Zimmer at Wal-Mart on Sunday, I think it was. He was all decked out in his Vote for Zimmer t-shirt. He also had his shorts hiked up. And he missed half of his belt loops with his belt. And his socks were all hiked up to his knees. He's lucky he wasn't arrested by the fashion police. How embarrassing would that be? Can you imagine the headline? 'Carroll County Commissioner Arrested for Dressing Like a Dork'.

New To Eldersburg - Shell; Gone - Texaco

You probably have seen the face-lift the old Texaco is getting at the corner of Ridge Road and Liberty Road (Route 26). It's across the street from the ghetto mall - Carrolltown Center.

Gone is the Texaco Station. Here is the Shell station. You'll remember that prior to being a Texaco gas station it was a Crown gas station.

Previously, the closest Shell station was at the corner of Oakland Mills Road and Route 26 between the two Liberty Reservoir bridges. It is now a ghetto liquor store slash auto dealer - Liberty Reservoir Motors and Liquors I think it is called.

Delegate Michael Vaughn Caught Lying About Fake NFL Career

Thanks to one of my secret operatives for this story.

Seems that Prince George's County Delegate Michael Vaughn got caught red-handed (what color are their hands now? - Great Muppet Caper).

You should read this article on Yahoo Sports. It's very interesting.

Vaughn pumped up his resume' with some claims that cannot be validated or are downright erroneous. He claims to have played for the Dallas Cowboys, a claim the Dallas Cowboys deny. Of course, the Dallas Cowboys may also deny that Drew Bledsoe ever played there, but that's another story.

Hint to anyone who plans on becoming a politician - don't lie. You will get caught. On the other hand, the halls of the Maryland General Assembly has been occupied by elected criminals for many years - not all of them, but some.

New to Eldersburg: All About You hair studio

After being closed for what was probably a year, the Silver Blade Salon is now the All About You hair studio - 716 Liberty Rd. They are currently having their Grand Opening and you no longer have to get your hair cut by cussing cigarette smoke-saturated amateurs at The Hair Cuttery.


We went to the Silver Blade for a long time. The owner was a great person, remembered my kids' names and all of the employees were super nice. But then she sold the shop and a little while later they closed. Prior to being in the new plaza, they were Genesis Hair Salon in the ghetto mall across the street, Carrolltown Center, which is being neglected by its owner Black Oak Associates, who we all assume hates Eldersburg.

Black Oak Associates
10055 Red Run Blvd. Suite 130
Owings Mills, MD 21117

Phone - (410) 356-5820
Fax - (410) 356-5822

WBAL and the Ron Smith Show

Have you listened to the Ron Smith show lately? Yeah, neither have I.

Within the past month or so the Ron Smith Show moved to 9am and the Shari Elliker show became the Afternoon News Journal at 3pm.

I can't get an AM signal at work so I can't listen on the radio. I could listen online, but the bandwidth police at work will shut you down after a while. And besides, I have to work. Can't just listen to Ron's show.

And Shari? Sorry. She's just not that interesting. She's not very opinionated. She just wants to hear what you have to say. Her show basically goes like this: "I don't know. What do you think? I guess there are several ways to look at this." She should change her show's name to "Sitting on the Fence". Come on. At least fake a position on the issues.

So, I don't get to listen to Ron Smith anymore, which is a shame because I love that show.

Why did the change happen anyway? I have no idea. I can't think of any reason for the change other than Ron requested it. Think about it - who are they gaining in their audience? People that don't work during the day? They're certainly losing the commuting home crowd, which I would imagine would be larger than the old people and stay-at-home mom's and the unemployed.

What do you think? What are you listening to now that Ron Smith is gone?

Open In Eldersburg - Virginia's Rose

This has been there for a while, but I recently visited this store and thought it worth noting.



Virginia's Rose is a consignment shop that opened in the Oklahoma Plaza where the ReMax used to be and is next to the Thai restaurant that I suspect is owned by the mob because no one ever eats there but they never go out of business. The entire Oklahoma Plaza recently underwent a renovation making it 2 billion times nicer than the ghetto mall across the street, Carrolltown Center I think it's called - owned by Black Oak Associates.

Black Oak Associates
10055 Red Run Blvd. Suite 130
Owings Mills, MD 21117

Phone - (410) 356-5820
Fax - (410) 356-5822

The store is nice, mostly crafty inside. There is a lot of nice older furniture. Don't expect to get cheap deals there. They sell nicer furniture, so expect to pay a couple of hundred dollars for a dresser. But it is a really interested shop and the owner is super nice.

Check it out!

O'Malley Campaign Losing Traction

Late week when the Ehrlich campaign delivered a debate proposal to Martin O'Malley's band of reveling fools, an O'Malley spokesman said that "Ehrlich is losing momentum in this campaign because he represents the past...".

Today, with the Ehrlich campaign continuing to lose momentum, they have caught up to O'Malley in the poll numbers. A Rasmussen poll now shows that race for governor is statistically tied, with Martin "I whiten my teeth" O'Malley receiving just over 45% of the vote and Ehrlich getting over 44%, but with the error margin at +/- 4%, they are statistically tied.

A recent Gonzales Poll showed similar results, declaring that there is no clear winner.

O'Malley, on the other hand, while taking breaks from brushing his hair and applying makeup, likes to cite his own doctored numbers which shows that he is the greatest Governor in the history of the land and that voters favor his massive historical tax increases and look forward to additional massive tax increases next year when there is no more stimulus money to fund current fixed expenditures.

Critics of both polls say that respondents do not include clueless people who have no phones (or clues) and will blindly support Democrats on all issues regardless of the consequences.

Hopefully O'Malley supports will take the advise of 30 Rock's Tracy Morgan and "Don't vote!". Of course he also said, "Did you know that in the amount of time it takes to vote you could play three games of pool? Three! Now that's fresh."

Birthday Prizes

This week was my birthday. Yes, I'm 29. Again. Heck, pretty soon I can start claiming to be 39.

Anyway, it was another good year. I took off from work and spent time with my family. I started the day by sleeping in. What an awesome present!

My daughter then made homemade muesli. Yummy!

I then ran errands. Stuff's gotta get done, right? I first stopped by the Sherwin Williams in Eldersburg for some paint and Goo Gone. I've never heard of Goo Gone, but my daughter insisted we needed some.


We then headed off to the MVA's VEIP in Owings Mills to get my Honda Pilot inspected. Did you know those rollers and fans are gone? I pulled up and there was one car in front of me. I pulled out my book, John Randolph of Roanoke by Russell Kirk, and kept glancing up for my turn. I finally hear this "yoo-hoo", but I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Finally I spot a man 2 bays down signaling me over.


I was in and out in about 2 minutes. I love the new system! All they need to do is plug in your car.

After that was lunch at Fuddruckers, a quick stop at Target, Penn Camera, and finally back home. Dinner was at the Outback. And finally home for a swim in the neighbor's pool and off to bed.


My family got me this Nikkor lens for Father's Day, which was a part Father's Day, part birthday gift. I love it!

I also bought myself a couple of things. I bought this Husky 2 gallon air compressor. This is for pumping up soccer balls and my ego.


I also bought this Chicago 10" telescopic miter saw off of a guy on Craigslist. I drove down to his house in Howard County. I think his name was Cigarette. He had an entire garage full of what I presume to be stolen tools - or he's in the wholesale business. He was pretty shady. He asked if I was looking for any other tools. I mentioned that I'd love to get a combination fixed base plunge router. He said he had one in the basement if I wanted to follow him. All of a sudden I was in a hurry. My wife asked what I was going to do with a miter saw. Cut things, of course.


So all in all, another great year. Here's to 100 more birthdays!

Credit Card Fraud - Qdoba Responds

In a previous post I had mentioned that I many of my friends and coworkers have been the victim of fraud in the past 2 weeks. One of the suspected originators of that fraud was the Qdoba in Owings Mills.

Today I received a comment to that posting directly from someone at Qdoba. I thank them very much for this detailed response. I shared this with my affected friends. Hopefully this will be a lesson on how to more effectively manage everyone's credit card. It's better to actively watch those statements rather than wait until the end of the month. Minimize the use of your debit card. Once that money is gone - it's gone! And always remember - cash is King!

Here is Qdoba's response:

I'm sorry that this happened to you. At Qdoba, we take our food safety and guest’s personal safety very seriously.

That being said, there was a recent credit card breach at this single franchise location in Owings Mills. As soon as we were alerted of this breach, we actively initiated the proper procedures to remedy this. Immediately, the particular location in question was taken offline so that no additional information could be transmitted. Additionally, FishNet Security, a third party security group approved by the Credit Card Consortium came to this particular location to remove the hardware to conduct a forensic investigation.

Before this system is brought back online, we will replace all the affected components and the Franchisee will work with the credit card processor to re-certify this system as being PCI compliant.

In the meantime, as with any credit card breach, we are recommending that guests who believe they were affected to contact their credit card companies directly to have charges removed and to receive a new card.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any additional questions or concerns. We can be reached at PR@Qdoba.com.

Credit Card Cyber Terrorism in Owings Mills?

What in the world is going on with stolen credit cards lately? As mentioned in a previous post, my credit card number was stolen and hundreds, no thousands of dollars worth of charges were racked up on my credit card.

In the course of talking to my friends and coworkers, there appears to be a rash of stolen credit card numbers in the past 2 weeks.

In all, ten people that I know have had their credit card numbers stolen. Many claimed that the numbers were stolen locally in Owings Mills. Many had visited Qdoba, Home Depot, and Chick-Fil-A.

Is it a coincident or are there a cyber terrorist ring in Owings Mills where they are stealing numbers and running up charges?

Some of the unauthorized charges are showing up in Mexico and the Philippines.

I know of at least one complaint made to Qdoba, who subsequently cried libel and slander for saying that the false charges originated from their restaurant. Everyone denies everything, but the charges keep showing up.

I don't own a business, but if something like that happened to my establishment - I wouldn't be accusing the victims of a crime. That's not good business. And for that - Qdoba and their arrogant attitude can kiss my business good-bye for a while.

Cash is King!

O'Malley - Duplicitous As Always

As reported on WBAL.com, Republican candidate for Governor Robert Ehrlich sent the O'Malley camp a letter requesting several debates. The letter proposed 5 debates between the current governor that everyone despises and the former governor that everyone loves, but can't believe they didn't vote for in the last election. Even my liberal friends are saying that Ehrlich didn't deserve to lose that one.

Anyway, the O'Malley camp said that they would love to debate Governor Ehrlich should he win the Republican primary. Like he's really going to lose that one. Just another liberal jab to pretend that Ehrlich's candidacy is anything but certain.

Meanwhile, in their response, O'Malley says that they originally challenged Ehrlich to a debate in April, prior to when Ehrlich had declared himself a candidate in the race, a debate which Ehrlich never responded.

Let me get this straight - O'Malley was ready to debate Ehrlich when he was not an official candidate for governor, but now that he is an official candidate for Governor, he wants to wait until he wins the primary so that they are certain that it is he that they will be debating?

O'Malley - Maryland's First Class Jerk - Moving Maryland Around in Circles.

Arundel Mills Mall - Crime Central

I like to venture down to Arundel Mills Mall once in a while. Sure, I know that it's fairly likely that you'll get busted over the head with a baseball bat, or you'll find yourself with a chrome 45 in your ribs as you are packing your car. It happens all the time there. That's why when we go to Arundel Mills Mall, we go early. Hopefully the thugs are still in bed recovering from the previous night's muggings.

On our last visit, we went there to take advantage of tax-free shopping to get clothes and shoes for the kids. We purchased some sneakers from the Nike Outlet, some pants at Old Navy. And I'm sure some other crap. We had lunch at Chevy's Tex Mex Grill (or whatever it's called). We love eating there. Good food!

Our last stop was Bass Pro Outlet. My wife and older daughter did some more looking around while I entertained my son and youngest daughter while looking at the fish in the tank. I find it hysterical that my son corrects me on the types of fish. He's knows his fish much better than I do.

We finally left about 4pm, went over to the airport to watch some planes take off, then over to Trader Joes for some odds and ends, and finally to home.

That night my wife realized that didn't have the Nike sneakers with us. We searched the car, the living room, the bedroom, but they were nowhere to be found. Being late at night I had to wait until the next day to call the Lost and Found at the Mall. I knew exactly what happened - I set the packages down when looking at the fish and never picked up the bag of sneakers.

Early Monday I called Bass Pro. The nice old man transferred me to the office where I left a message. I then called Arundel Mills Security and they confirmed that no one dropped off a package. I called Nike - no answer.

I never heard back from Bass Pro, so I called back later in the day. And was transferred to the office. And left a message.

The next day, after not hearing back again, I called Bass Pro. And was transferred to the office. And left a message. This game was repeated until this Saturday when I finally got through. The nice lady looked around and confirmed that there were no Nike packages. She asked why I waited so long to call.

So this morning I get the email that my credit card cycle has ended and I went to my account to see what I owe. +$6000. WHOA!!! I normally owe about $2500 during the cycle. I started going through the charges:

Forever21 - my wife and I aren't desperately holding onto our youth to that degree
Panda Express - lunch on me!
Arundel Mills kiosk - yeah, I don't buy anything from those annoying vendors
J.C. Penney - my wife and I aren't over 65, so we wouldn't shop here either - especially the one in California
Marshall's - junk
Kohl's - yes, we do shop here, but not at the one in Fresno, California.
Liquor Store - I buy bear now and then, but not over $100 in a single visit - in California.

And there are requests for 3 cash advances.

What I cannot understand is that my credit card is not gone. My wife and I both have our cards. So how could someone use them in Arundel Mills without the actual card??? I can understand making Internet charges with just the number. Is there a credit card conspiracy going on at Arundel Mills?

Another oddity - while I mention that we ate at Chevy's, we were never charged for our meal. The waitress was hungover as crap, so I attributed her unusual behavior to the cheap beer and cigarettes. I may give them a call today.

I find it really annoying when I shop at Arundel Mills Mall. They always ask for my identification when using my credit card. I always say, "We're not in Carroll County anymore!"

But this really shouldn't be a problem anymore. I refuse to go back there. It's not worth the pain in the ass. The clientele of Arundel Mills currently steal your money through various and nefarious methods. And if O'Malley gets his way with the slots parlor, there will be another way for people to steal your money. Gotta love this state!

Ground Zero Mosque - Jean Marbella Doesn't Get It

There has been a lot of uproar courtesy of Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich about a planned mosque in South Manhattan. This shouldn't be too much of a concern to most people, except that it is very close to "Ground Zero", thus earning the nickname The Ground Zero Mosque.

Jean Mirabella of the Baltimore Sun jumped onto the bandwagon supporting the mosque and shaming the critics. Her critique states that within the distance of the planned mosque and the actual ground zero, there is a nail salon and a gentleman's club, but they should not be considered The Ground Zero Nail Salon nor The Ground Zero Gentleman's Club.

But what Mirabella is ignoring (not realizing?) is that New York City and the World Trade Centers were not attacked by a nail salon. Three thousand people were not killed by a gentleman's club.

I know it's already been 9 years, so liberals like to forget the facts, but these events were caused by terrorists who were Muslims. And putting a Muslim place of worship near a hollowed ground, hallowed ground which was the direct result of Muslim terrorism, is offensive to a lot of people.

I'm not endorsing either side of the argument, but I think it's clear to say that Jean Mirabella is defending the argument based on invalid opinions.

Eldersburg Library - Drive Thru

When I saw the signs that the Eldersburg Library was getting a "drive-thru" (why do we insist on spelling this incorrectly?) I wondered, where in the world are they going to put it? The entire building is wrapped in sidewalks are parking spaces. I can only imagine that one of those will be gone.

I went by the other day and I found out what is going away - the parking spaces. I'm not sure if I like this idea. If you've ever been to the library you'll have to agree that the parking layout is not that great. The doors are in the middle of the building, yet the parking is on either end. I realize that the plot of land restricts the parking accommodations. But that should have been considered 30 years ago when they constructed the building.

Now the limited parking spots are being swept away for the convenience of fat people who don't want to get out of the car and walk the books and DVD's all the way up to the drop-box.

Additionally, I would have to believe that the direction of the parking lot lanes will have to reverse. How will the cars be able to drop off the materials if the current egress requires them to pull up passenger-side to the new drop-off window? It's a mess I tell you!

Worst Person in Baltimore - Pat Jessamy

The nonsense in Baltimore City seems never-ending. The city is nicknamed 'the city that bleeds' for a reason. Fortunately, the 300+ murders per year during the Schmoke and O'Malley administration are gone (at least for now). But while murder rates are down over the last few years, shootings are not.

One has been consistent in Baltimore City over most of that time - Baltimore City State's Attorney Patricia Jessamy. It's her office's job to convict criminals and put them in prison. Instead, her office has the conviction rate mimicking the Orioles batting average. As anyone who is a family member or friend of a victim, it seems as if her office goes out of its way to protect the criminals.

And this is just some of the background of why Patricia Jessamy is an unqualified incompetent nut. Things got even crazier lately.

For a while, Baltimore City was going through Police Commissioners like heroin addicts go through needles. I don't think the mayor's revolving door ever stopped spinning before the guy in charge was dismissed for another.

Then along came Fred Bealefeld. Under his leadership, murders have gone down even more than under any recent commissioner. I'm not sure about shootings, because the news seems to lead off with about 4 or 5 every evening. However, from the perspective of us fearful residents looking in from the county it appears that he's doing a good job.

Then Commissioner Bealefeld decided to put up a political sign to endorse Gregg Berstein. Who's that, you ask? Why - he running against Patricia Jessamy for City State's Attorney. And all hell broke loose.

Immediately Miss Jessamy started hooting and hollering how it was inappropriate (for him to endorse someone other than her????). Then she demanded an investigation of him, which pretty much everyone ignored. Jessamy then received a tepid backing (though he would not endorse her) from former high crime mayor Martin O'Malley.

And then to prove that she continues to have diarrhea of the mouth, Miss Jessamy said:

"(Bernstein) doesn't understand the state system. I think he has spent all of his time or the majority of his time in federal court. Federal court is like a private school in a high-rent district. The Baltimore city state's attorney's office and Circuit Court are like a public school in a low-rent district. He does not have a clue."

She wants to complain about inappropriate? I think this is near the top of the list. Mr. Bernstein is clueless? Honey - look in the mirror. It is you that are clueless.

And for this, Patricia Jessamy wins this month's award for the Worst Person in Baltimore.

VOTE FOR BERNSTEIN !!!!

Jesus and the Democrat

A Republican, in a wheelchair, entered a restaurant one afternoon and asked the waitress for a cup of coffee. The Republican looked across the restaurant and asked, "Is that Jesus sitting over there?"

The waitress nodded "yes," so the Republican requested that she give Jesus a cup of coffee, on him.

The next patron to come in was a Libertarian, with a hunched back. He shuffled over to a booth, painfully sat down, and asked the waitress for a cup of hot tea. He also glanced across the restaurant and asked, "Is that Jesus, over there?"

The waitress nodded, so the Libertarian asked her to give Jesus a cup of hot tea, "My treat."

The third patron to come into the restaurant was a Democrat on crutches. He hobbled over to a booth, sat down and hollered, "Hey there honey! How's about gettin' me a cold mug of Miller Light?" He too looked across the restaurant and asked, "Isn't that God's boy over there?

The waitress nodded, so the Democrat directed her to give Jesus a cold beer. "On my bill," he said loudly.

As Jesus got up to leave, he passed by the Republican, touched him and said, "For your kindness, you are healed." The Republican felt the strength come back into his legs, got up, and danced a jig out the door.

Jesus passed by the Libertarian, touched him and said, "For your kindness, you are healed." The Libertarian felt his back straightening up and he raised his hands, praised the Lord, and did a series of back flips out the door.

Then, Jesus walked towards the Democrat, just smiling.

The Democrat jumped up and yelled, "Don't touch me ... I'm collecting disability."

On the Road to Indiana

Three weeks ago we went to Indiana for a week. Some friends of ours moved there and invited us to come visit them. I don't think they actually expected us to go, but we did!

The relationship with these friends is unique. Though we both seem to deviate from our paths, we always seem to get back in touch. When I was in high school I worked at a Burger King. My friend Kevin was a porter (cleaned up stuff at night). I was a closer. I made $4.00 an hour. If you weren't a closer you made $3.35 an hour. I was making the big buck!!! Anyway, from there at Burger King we became friends - chasing the same girls, going to concerts ( AC\DC, Van Halen!!!), going to parties (@ Keith's, Todd's, Scott's and Dave's). We didn't go to the same high school, but that didn't seem to matter. We had friends all over.

His wife went to my high school, but was a freshman when I was a senior. So of course she knew me, but I didn't know her, because I was too cool.

I went away to college and lost touch with Kevin. One summer while home my girlfriend (now wife) and I were in Wendy's. When we were leaving Kevin and his girlfriend (now wife) were entering. Not recognizing her, I thought she was rather young and said to him, "robbing the cradle again, are we?" We laughed.

I didn't see them through the remainder of college. After college we lived in Bel Air, but I was commuting to Owings Mills and my wife to murdertown, U.S.A (Baltimore). We decided to move to Carroll County where it would be a short commute for me and she could ride the mugger mover (Metro Subway).

We moved into a neighborhood in South Carroll in 1999. We didn't know anyone for a while, so one day when there was a knock at the door I was startled. I open the door and there's Kevin with a little girl. I asked how he found me. He said his lives in the neighborhood and his wife saw me drive by one day, so he looked me up and found out which house I live in. Too funny!

We reconnected, my wife started a daycare, their 2 girls became our clients, and we eventually became their godparents. Then a few years later they decided to move to Indiana to be closer to family, and once again we drifted apart.

Then last year they returned to the area for Christmas and we got together and had a great time. They invited us to come visit them this summer - and we did.

We decided that we should take 2 days to get there since it was 600 miles and about 10/11 hours. Sure, some people can do it in 9, but I'd like to do it legally. Therefore, we decided to go to Canton, Ohio for our first portion of the trip.

We left on a Sunday in the wee hours of the morning - about 4:45am. I think we were past Hagerstown before the sky started to light up. Let me tell you there's not much traffic on I-70 on Sunday mornings(notice I didn't incorrectly say Route 70 - that's in North Carolina).

We're not in Maryland anymore!


We drove through the Sideling Hill cut, then into West Virginia before the kids even woke up. We stopped in Morgantown for a potty break and a quick cultural lesson in hillbilly. The mountains (big hills) of Western Maryland, West Virginia, Southern Pennsyltucky, and Southeastern, Ohio are really spectacular. Every town has either a Bob Evans or a Cracker Barrel. And they are always crowded. And if it's a really big town, like Zainesville, Ohio - they they have BOTH!!!

Sideling Hill - what a magnificent site!!! Check out how the rock layers bend upwards on both ends. Notice the camper at the bottom. Big hill!


Our journey took us west on I-70, then onto I-68, then north up I-79 toward Pittsburgh, then west on I-70 again (to avoid the Pennsylvania Nightmare Turnpike), then north on I-77 up to Canton. My wife drove the first leg. I drove for a couple of hours until we needed gas outside of Cambridge, Ohio. However, when an 80 year old woman in a 1979 Buick Le Sabre passed us my wife made me stop so she could drive again. She drove the rest of the way to Canton. And the rest of the way to Indianapolis. And the rest of the way back to Maryland. Hmmm....

Western Maryland - very beautiful, though there were a lot of dead trees along long stretches of highway. Is there some kind of bug infestation going on???


I can't wait to get to Indiana! Oh, wait. Slots.


Differences between Ohio and Maryland? No political signs littering the roads. That was nice. And Jesus loves Ohio. They tell us all the time. I don't think Jesus loves Maryland. It could be because Montgomery County had him extradited.



And then after seeing Jesus, we see a sign for Tom Raper. He sells houses, RV's, and boats. Would Jesus buy a boat from a guy named Raper? I probably wouldn't.