China Town Buffet Update

Last Wednesday evening several of us got together and were discussing the China Town Buffet Post on my Blog Site. Our waitress had overheard the conversation and said, not that all you can eat place over by Giant? I replied, yeah, that's the one.

She said, whatever you do, DO NOT pay them by Credit Card? Of course we all said, why? She said she had been there two different times and she paid via Credit Card both times and put the tip on the Card as well. She then added, BOTH times she was charged twice for each visit!

You see Folks, this is what these Blog Sites are all about. Although stories like this wouldn't be produced by the Daily Times, they are important stories in the sense that maybe this has happened to other people we all know?

I looked at our waitress, who was serving us food and drinks for several hours each time we go there, cleaning up our dishes, refilling our drinks, never allowing them to go empty and could speak english and she gets tipped some 25% or more. She also shared some valuable information for everyone to know about so they can better choose where they might use their Credit Card in the future.

I'd love to know if this has happened to any of you as well? She told us she immediately called the Credit Card Company and sent them copies of her receipts and they removed it from her Card right away. I heard this happens regularly in Ocean City and a quality restaurant will only allow one person to process Credit Cards to keep these transient workers from billing people twice.

Kitten, Tree, Chain Saw Or Ladder?

While sitting on the front porch enjoying a nice smooth JR Cigar earlier this evening I heard a quiet meow in the front yard.

I looked out and saw one of our kittens lying there under a tree looking up in the air. Notice the first picture in this group where the black kitten is on the ground under the tree.

Then look up in that same picture to the upper left hand corner where his sister had climbed the tree for the very first time and said to herself, self, how do I get down from here? Meow?

That's where the meow was coming from, up above. I thought, should I get a ladder or simply cut the tree down? The ladder was all the way in the barn whereas the chain saw was only in the garage. Hmmmmmm?

Then I thought, well, Jennifer would make me get the ladder, (damn women) so away I went. The problem here was, not only did I have to get the ladder and save this poor animal, I had to bring it all the way back to the barn after all was said and done, so this was quite a sacrifice! I mean, after all, couldn't I just call 911?

Fortunately my JR Cigar survived and I was eventually able to get back to relaxing and watching the horses munch on their hay. Oh, that's right, there was a cat in this whole story too. She's fine and I knew this as she refused to leave my side and sat in my lap purring away like the happy camper she always is.

Raw Sewage Leak Update

I have been in contact with Mr. John Pick today. The original release of information stating that the pipe burst at 1:00 AM was false. I am told by Mr. Pick that the pipe burst at 9:30 AM and he is very confident about that.

Now I do have a friend that was traveling that route earlier than that in the morning and the roads were already closed off, (before 9:30 AM) and Mr. Pick believes they were closed off due to some of the work they were doing.

I am awaiting an answer as to how many, (if any) people went to the Hospital over this incident. We have learned directly from the Contractor that a few people were drenched in human feces when it burst and there's been no confirmation that HAZMAT was called in. I'm not sure if that's something that would be required with a spill like this but from what we've come to learn the City simply took it upon themselves to simply clean it up the way they felt necessary.

I'd sure like to know what would have happened if a privately owned company had this happen to them and what would be required? Does anyone out there have that expertise and knowledge in that department?

Here's the kicker of the entire thing though. I have been involved in projects and I have several friends that have done projects whereas they have been required to do what is called "Storm Water Management." In each one that I am aware of it has cost around $300,000.00 just to get through that process before you start your build out. One of these friends has a Self Storage Unit Company where he had to spend that much and he has no bathrooms, nothing! The land was already sitting there doing nothing and just because he decided to put up the storage units he had to spend that kind of money bringing it up to code.

Now while you're asking yourself why, wait till you hear what the City's Storm Water Management consists of! Before I expose that however I'd like to ask why everyone else just can't tap into their system rather than go through the $300,000.00 trouble to do it properly?

Nonetheless, to answer the earlier statement/question, the City has sewer lines/drains in the roads. These drains flow directly into the Wicomico River! That's right Folks, they don't take care of jack! They flow everything right into the river and that how the supposed 43,000 gallons of raw sewage made its way into the Wicomico River! Now we have to live up to far better standards as individuals but the City doesn't have to live up to those standards and in fact they are the biggest polluters of the Wicomico River, more so than anyone else.

So what do they do? They create numbers like this so called 43,000 gallons of raw sewage and we're supposed to believe them and trust them? Follow Hadley and Duvall site lately and you'll clearly see that there's no trusting this Mayor, John Jacobs and most of the City Council.

Nevertheless, I firmly believe the City must upgrade their own storm water management rules on their own properties and or simply allow others to tap into their lines in the roadways. This could save developers million upon millions of dollars. I'm not suggesting that it's the right thing to do but I am saying why does the City constantly get away with the do as I say not as I do attitude?

Today's Wildlife Photos

43,000 Gallons Of Sewage Just Doesn't Flow!

No matter what they say, (Mayor and John Jacobs) I'll never buy the fact that only 43,000 gallons of raw sewage leaked into the roads, bypassed "ALL" sewage drains in that road, hopped the curbs and then ran another 400 to 500 yards or more across land and then over to the river!

As these pictures will clearly show you, the Mayors "theory" is not at all accurate. The Daily Times never questioned it and actually pampered this story in my opinion. This is a very serious matter and this could have and should have been avoided.

At 9:00 PM a worker noticed this coupling leaking and knew there was a problem. At 1:00 AM the coupling burst and things get blurry from there. They claim it was contained within 15 minutes but you know me folks, I buy that like I believe Jim Rapp is now using foot baths at the Zoo.

Most pools in the area are some 30,000 gallons +. If your pool burst, would it fill up the entire road, offer so much pressure that it would bypass the sewer drains in the roads and pop over top the curbs and then run some 500 yards across land and into the river? NOT! Sometimes it's better to create the picture in a whole new light so every day citizens can see just why this is such a bunch of BS.

They didn't contain this in 15 minutes! Since it made it to the river and leaked some 43,000 gallons into the river, this was far more serious than they want you to know and the MDE better use their heads and do something about these liars. No matter what, now you have a better idea as to what really happened and this Blog Site isn't buying one ounce of what they claim.