Frank Caico's Blog

I order things on-line alot, so I tend to get a good share of packages delivered through Fed Ex, UPS and DHL.  I have noticed the disturbing trend of having my packages more and more carelessly delivered. 

Today I had a package delivered by Fed Ex.  They left it on my porch in a *very* visible position.  In plain sight from the sidewalk only about 10-15 feet away.  The annoying thing is that someone was home to sign for the package, but its obvious that the delivery guy didn't even bother ringing!

This is the third or fourth time recently that a package was left in this obvious location.   One of the times, it was a very large package which had the contents plainly displayed on the outside!  That time the package was stolen (big surprise!).  I didn't have a problem getting Amazon to ship me a new package (at their cost), but I find it aggravating that these delivery people can't tage another few seconds to at least tuck the package in behind the porch railing (where it wouldn't be seen from the street).  They could at least ring the doorbell and wait a minute to see if someone is actually home instead of assuming no one is.

This one should resonate with you guys. 

Apparrently the California Milk Processor Board's "Got Milk?'' campaign decided to place chocolate chip cookie-scented ads in outdoor city bus stop shelters in San Francisco CA.   I guess they thought the smell of cookies would trigger a pavlovian desire for milk...

Anyhow, don't hold your breath waiting to see (smell) one of these ads, because thery are now being pulled!  The MTA received complaints over fears of asthma, respiratory and other environmental illness triggered by chemical irritatants.  Read the full story.

The guys over at Treehugger are reporting on a sexy new lingerie made out of wood scraps!  This is the real deal - a sexy lingerie with "the comfort of silk, the feel of cashmere, and the coolness of linen. The resulting pieces acquire surprising thermal regulating and anti-stress properties."

Talk about renewable lumber, This is the kind of wood that could keep on giving. If you know what I mean.

Had a nice relaxing weekend (all too short, as usual).  I finally got around to doing some much needed chores.  I also managed to do a little bit of woodworking.  Last week I put the final coats of polyeurethane on my Mitre Saw station, and on Saturday I took some photos of it.

Mitre Saw Station

I even got to use it on Saturday to make some picture frame moulding out of spalted cherry.  Its going to make a great addition to my shop.

Saw a few movies this weekend:
Friday I saw For Your Consideration.  I didn't think it was very good.  There were some funny moments, but all-in-all its kind of the same schtick that Christopher Guest and his gang have been doing reformed and revised yet again.  I think I could probably miss their next movie if its going to be more of the same. 

On Saturday we saw Borat, which unless you've been living under a rock you have already seen it or heard much about it.  I think this has to be the funniest movie I've seen in a very long time.  The hotel room scene had me howling. I can only imagine what kind of law suits this movie is generating for.  Purportedly, the police were called on Sacha Baron Cohen 91 times during the production of this film.

Sunday I saw Babel. This is the latest movie directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga.  Their previous works include 21 grams and Amores Perros.  The acting was quite good, and the characters were well-developed and sympathetic but the narrative didn't feel satisfying in the end.  It certainly seemed like it could have been edited down to much less than the current running 2 hours 26 minutes.  I'd say I liked it more than 21 grams, but less than Amores Perros.

Saturday, Angela, John and I went to The Black Pearl Cafe (used to be Dickies) to see what their food was like.  Pretty underwhelming.  I don't think I'm going to try their food again until business picks up (if it ever does).   We had originally tried to eat at Red Robin, a new gourmet burger chain that has come to Rochester. The 40 minute wait time scared us off.  Let me know if you have a burger there - I am curious to see if their burgers are worth the $10-$12 they are asking.

When Danny DeVito appeared drunk on The View this week, he was roundly criticized for it.  I believe Barabara Walters was angry enough that she demanded an apology from Mr. DeVito.   Apparently Danny was out partying all night with George Clooney (who had appeared on The Daily Show earlier that day).    I'm not sure why this is such a big issue for people (though he did criticize The President - and quite humorously I might add), but it certainly seems a bit overblown.   I thought he was personnable and amusing.  I certainly don't think he was being overly inappropriate considering the gravitas (or lack therof) of a show like The View.  Keith Olbermann had much to say on the subject.  He seems to think that much of the criticism aimed at Mr. DeVito is partisan.  You decide (I happen to agree).

As Christmas approaches, its getting to be the time of year when I start planning my New Years Eve party.  I was actually considering having a Festivus party this year. There would be the aluminum pole, the airing of the grievances, and everyone's favorite; the feats of strength.  What do you think?