W h a t N e x t ?

Friday, April 7, 1997


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i wonder where it'll all go next: first, pornography is supposedly "rampant" on the Internet; next, credit card fraud scams are seemingly "everywhere"; then, security holes are discovered in "millions" of browsers (I use Netscape v3.01, Opera v2.1 and Mosaic v3.0 ) and websites; now, 39 website builders have committed mass suicide during the arrival of comet Hale-Bopp. They're actually religious cult members who only happened to build websites to pay the bills. Their connection to The InterNet is purely incidental. Too much is being made of the InterNet connection by pathetic old world journalists with aol accounts, hairy palms and too much pressure from the wet-behind-the-ears editor to write something, anything to fill space in the under read, fishwrap daily papers.

What caused these people to commit suicide en masse? Was it an ugly, first generation website they saw? Badly executed HTML? Single pixel gifs that frightened them? Java running rampant? Or were they just a loopy left wing nut, fringe cult?

There are some unusual opinions and editorials being written about the incident. Some pro; some con. Loneliness and desperation on that scale is sad, but not regrettable. It's best that those nuts are gone; we won't have to deal with their looney-tunes in day-to-day society anymore, where they could hurt other people. What was the reason? Will we ever find out the real truth?

No. They had other reasons on their twisted agenda. But the public — especially the media — have jumped on this whole story with a fervor that should be devoted to exposing Clinton crimes more clearly to the Nation. After a week of intense, scrutiny, the oldtime media have dropped the story and moved on to ruminating about other useless events.

Clearly, the Web and the InterNet have a PR problem. Both desperately need some very effective spin doctors to make rounds to the media to present another side to the story. But who dares to believe that s/he can speak for the InterNet? Here's one person who tries.

Easter Weekend
Most people around here had Good Friday off. On the way into work at 7am, I counted only six or seven cars, as opposed to the thousands usually out at 7am. (Next week, we'll start at 7am instead of 8am, as Spring-Summer-Fall Hours kick in.) It was a nice, peaceful ride; most of the yahoos were sleeping late. You know the type: racing to get to work and making other people's lives miserable early in the morning. Really starts the day off nicely.

Many people came through to purchase Easter flowers — actually anything with flowers — to get a head start on Spring. Our new, fresh nursery stock will start arriving next week: 20 tractor trailer loads. With the temperatures in the 70s now, the flowering trees are opening quickly. The recent cold snaps have held the blossoms back long enough.

On Saturday, we caught the fringe of violent thunderstorms that rolled through the Ohio Valley, doing all kinds of damage. We got 4" of rain in under an hour; the Midwest wasn't so lucky. Everyone shopping here got soaked and ran for cover. The hail was wind-driven horizontally for a while by 60+mph winds. I was in York — about 14 miles north — when I saw it coming from the southwest. After the landscape evaluation meetings were completed, I returned to the garden center just ahead of the storm. Then it hit and the lights went out.

After last week's crash, I installed an APC PowerChute 600 Server online to protect the office Pentium from power failures. There are also two additional units protecting the front counter Pentiums from sudden power outages and data damage. It worked during today's power blip and probably saved me countless headaches.

Sunday was much quieter; I got 17 of 26 pending landscape estimates either finished or 99% there. In between helping customers, I can grab the unknown prices from certain plants that I'll need to complete the last few estimates and get them into the mail. We're booked up through May now.

At 4pm on Sunday, WGAL's Website was calling for 2+" of snow on Monday afternoon and temps in the mi-20s. Somehow, I knew that Winter wasn't over yet. So I started moving all the Japanese Maples back into the Greenhouses, where ever I could find room for them. The tender leaves will be gone if they get hit with cold or snow just now. All the magnolias, flowering cherries and pears will take a hit too from the snow and cold, so they have to be protected. The landscape crews will finish things up on Monday morning when they get in at 7am.

Spring Rains
Along with Saturday's storms came much-needed rain. The Winter was a meager one; no real complaints though, as compared to The Blizzard of '96. I'll take rain over snow anytime.

It looks like it's going to be a dry Spring and Summer, much the same as we had in 1995. I thought it would be as bad as last year's, but I was wrong. Without snowfall, there's less runoff and replenishing of groundwaters used by people and animals. With fewer rains, the need to water more often prevails and depletes wells and cisterns. Water companies raise prices. We all pay more.

Violent storms usually wreak havoc with not only tree and shrub blossoms — damaging the blooms and shortening the overall bloom period — but they inflict great damage and loss of life on people and animals. The pervasive damage done by the floods in the Midwest are fully visible just now. Sad.

Keep It Moving
During the week, I have two crews in to empty out all greenhouses of last year's plant materials; it' stored in shaded, frequently watered 30' x 100' poly-film covered houses that also double as growing and retail sales greenhouses for perennials during the season.

On the weekends, I bring in a couple of workers who help me keep things moving along in the Nursery areas. We use machines to move thousands of plants on skids from the safe harbor of Greenhouses 2 & 3 to their designated spots in the Display Areas. It's filling up rapidly outside. Just 3 of the 22 tractor trailer loads of fresh nursery stock have arrived so far. When they all do, it'll get crowded, fast.

March is going out with a bang. A massive nor'easter snowstorm has moved up the East coast and is pounding us with 60-70mph winds and snow. Blizzard-like conditions all day. Plunging temps. Bitter cold. Bullshit on this!

Good Help
It's a real chore each year to augment my core team with part-time people to staff positions for the season. I run ads on my Weather Channel TV spots; ads in the local newspapers, at trade shows and wherever I can.

This year we have six crew and two supervisors and the group is one of the brightest and best prospected groups we've ever had. They're young — compared to more seasoned crewmembers in the past — but seem to want to learn. That's 90% of the job. The last 10% is very telling of an individual's character. Time will tell how things shake out. The Gen-X Generation is a little flaky in spots, but overall is probably not as bad as advertised.

My generation of Boomers didn't have these problems, except during the 60s when we were all doing acid and going to rock festivals. Somehow, in the 70s, we got our shit back together and on-track. The miles — not the years — have a way to taking their toll.

Follow The Money
During the 1972 Watergate investigation, the money trail eventually led to the downfall of Richard M. Nixon and The Imperial Presidency. Investigators and reporters followed that trail and it led to the highest office in the land.

Now, it's finally coming out about Clinton and the DNCs connection to China: one of the scummy, lowlife hustlers from China who had coffee with Clinton at The White House — Charlie (aka Chuckle-head) Trie — donated millions to the DNC, had money funneled to him by the Government Bank of China in 1995 and 1996.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the story months ago, but now the transfers, deposits and payments are well documented from bank records.

William Safire of The New York Times asks a simple and reasonable "six questions" that The White House refuses to answer, so far. Read what Bill has to say. You'll need to do a one-time free (of course) registration to get to this page. It's worth the extra minute you'll spend filling out the quick form.

The lies, corruption, payoffs and buy outs are gradually coming to light; soon the whole mess will unravel as someone will be indicted and testify against Clinton. It's scary to think that a character like Al I didn't do anything wrong, and I'll never do it again Gore will be next in line to take over when Clinton's impeached and driven from office, and his co-president wife, Hillarious is indicted for her criminal role in either Whitewater or TravelGate. The country would be in very sad shape if a lying moron like Gore takes over for Slick Willie.

Read the whole four-part story, so far of the 1996 General Election Campaign Fundraising is nothing short of a mini-series. The conclusion is what we're all waiting for. America is starting to get pissed off. How long can Clinton's liberal democrats duck and dodge; something's going to break soon under the weight and pressure. And it looks like the lowlife liberals are out and about raising more money from idiot corporations who don't know any better, despite being told by the media what criminals Clinton & Co. really are.

A List Of Chores
If you live in USDA Zone 6, I've included a list of things you need to do in your garden during the month of April. By doing these things now, you'll avoid many problems later. Think this is a big list? You should see my list with 20 acres to care for!

  • Set out cool-season annuals
  • Turn soil in garden; mix-in compost and other amendments
  • Set out seedlings of warm-season annuals
  • Set out summer-flowering bulbs
  • Plant fall-blooming bulbs
  • Divide and replant crowded winter- and spring-blooming bulbs after leaves yellow
  • Plant balled-and-burlapped, container, and bare-root fruit trees
  • Spray apples, peaches, and pears that have been affected with canker problems
  • Plant permanent ground covers
  • Plant and aerate lawns and loosen thatch
  • Plant bare-root perennial vegetables
  • Plant seedlings of cool-weather vegetables
  • Sow fast-growing warm-season vegetables
  • Sow seeds for frost-tolerant perennials
  • Sow seeds for tender perennials
  • Divide and replant spring-blooming perennials after bloom
  • Plant container and bare-root roses
  • Uncover roses for spring and apply dormant spray
  • Plant balled-and-burlapped, container, and bare-root trees, shrubs, and vines
  • Plant tender shrubs and vines
  • Plant summer-blooming shrubs and vines
  • Start composting this season, if you don't already do so
  • Plant frost-tolerant trees
  • Plant needle-leafed evergreens
  • Apply dormant spray to trees, shrubs, and vines

    Are You A Sinkie?
    I am during these 22-hour days. No time for amenities. Find out if you are.

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