What REALLY Bothers Me
By floor9 on Jun 3, 2006 in Central PA, Rant
Harrisburg is a pretty spiffy place to live. I mean it. Those of you who know me personally have already heard most of this, but we’ve got so much to do around here. There’s decent biking on the Greenbelt, dog-walking in Riverfront Park, meeting women (or, for some of you, meeting guys) on City Island, a Saturday 12-hour lunch on the deck at Duke’s (complete with those giant 400-oz margaritas), Storm Runner at HersheyParkSomewhereOutNearCarlisleBecauseItsFaster, mailing EB Games gift certificates to the guards at TMI … you name it. There’s a lot to do here. And while I’ll be first in line to tell you that NYC completely owns Harrisburg, comparison between the two is truly not unlike comparing NYC and a cheese wagon.
But even as great as this area is, we’ve got room for improvement. I generally try to avoid rant posts; they’re the bane of every blogger, the repugnance of every RSS feed, the excrement of XML. But sometimes, you just have to say, “I hate:
- The 3-foot merge ramps on the beltway that I have to traverse every day on my way to work (Camp Hill, I’m talking about you here). Or rather, the people who attempt to use them. Accelerate BEFORE you reach the ramp! If you stop at the end, at least have the common courtesy to get out of your car and punch yourself in the face. Repeatedly.
- Downtown parking. I know I just posted about it, but damn — it’s bad.
- The prefix “meta”. “Meta” has become the new “dot com”. People use it when they need to look “hip”, kinda like “web 2.0″. STOP USING META. YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT MEANS. YOU DON’T HAVE A METABLOG, YOU HAVE A BLOG. YOU DON’T HAVE A METALIST, YOU HAVE A LIST. ENGADGET, I AM LOOKING AT YOU HERE, GODDAMNIT! FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST KNOCK IT OFF!!
- Not having anything to write about.
- People who complain about Harrisburg / Central PA, yet continue to live here. It’s not perfect, and it’s not New York. Deal with it or leave. Better yet, fix it. Even better, shut it; we don’t care, and you look like an idiot.
- The fact that a single “B” grade on a class that is not only an elective but also completely irrelevant to my major has yanked my GPA off its lofty 4.0 perch and landed me at 3.93.
- Not having “real” food downtown at 2am. Or at 8am, for that matter. Can we get a Denny’s? A Perkins? How about a McDonald’s? If only there were some manner of diner that stayed open for a few hours after the clubs let out. It wouldn’t even have to be 24 hours (although that would be nice); just until 4 or 5.
- That my job is nothing like The Office.
- Mowing my lawn, only to find out that my neighbor cuts hers 3/16″ lower and we’ve now got this bi-level thing going on. Welcome to suburbia.
- When people who don’t understand what ringback tones are call my cell and immediately hang up. And immediately call back. And immediately hang up. And immediately call back. Over and over, repeat ad nauseum, until I get irritated enough to call THEM back. “WTF?” I ask. “Yeah, I totally kept getting your voicemail!” they exclaim.
- My knee. Jumping over a sales counter to break up a fight between two adults and an infant probably had something to do with it. Thanks, Lower Allen.
- Being upside down on my car.
- People who wear their Bluetooth headset in the club. We know for a fact you can’t hear anything; Bluetooth headsets are notoriously quiet to begin with, and there’s no way you’re talking to someone over my 16,800-watt sound system.
And that’s pretty much it. Next week I’ll do a similar post on things I love.
What about Cameron St. Cafe?
Josh | Jun 5, 2006 | Reply
Good call. I don’t mind the walk or the drive, it’s really not terribly far. I’ll have to check it out one of these weekends. Did anyone ever visit Alva when they were trying to capture the post-club crowd? I remember seeing flyers for something ridiculous like a $4.99 20oz steak.
floor-9 | Jun 5, 2006 | Reply
–People who complain about Harrisburg / Central PA, yet continue to live here. It’s not perfect, and it’s not New York. Deal with it or leave. Better yet, fix it. Even better, shut it; we don’t care, and you look like an idiot.–
Yep, and exactly why I left! I got invloved, tried to change things when I could, attended public meeting after public meeting…I learned that I was just too different and just didn’t fit in, and those in power (and the masses overall I must admit too) simply do not want change and would rather hold on to what they have, no matter how bleak and utterly boring it all is. I decided it was time for me to get the heck out of Dodge and beating my head on the brick wall was just not worth it to me anymore…
Harrisburg is a nice place and it has a lot going for it, but it takes a certain type of person to be able to live there and deal with it day in and day out. After 28 years, I am positive I am not that person. I agree, Dave, and if people CHOOSE (key word there; we all have the choice) to stay then they should quit their complaining and work on making it a better place!
Dave | Jun 7, 2006 | Reply
Good call, Dave. No point sticking around and spinning your wheels. Personally, I think the city has an overall “good” rating; the good things overshadow our flaws. The things that bother me — the parking, the OMG PARTY bars, some of the people — all will change over time. For me, personally, Harrisburg is a long way away from the “moving on” point.
floor-9 | Jun 10, 2006 | Reply
Here is a perfect example of what really bugs me about parts (key word there) of South Central PA! This was in the Patriot today, and the part I highlighted is just CLASSIC!
FRANKLIN TWP.
Residents reject regional recreation plan as ’silly’
Thursday, June 15, 2006
BY T.W. BURGER
Of Our Dillsburg Bureau
FRANKLINTOWN - Roughly 150 people booed, shouted and griped during 21/2 hours of an information meeting on a recreation plan for northern York County on Tuesday night.
At the end of the session, a straw vote of Franklin Twp. residents showed no votes in favor of the plan, with every resident saying they wanted no part of it.
“I have certainly heard what the people are saying,” Franklin Twp. supervisor Gary Brown said after taking verbal fire for most of the meeting. “They say they would rather develop their own parks. I will certainly be happy to assist them in that.”
Brown was one of the architects of the Northern York Regional Recreation, Parks and Open Space Plan, spearheaded by neighboring Carroll Twp. in October 2003 when Brown was on that board of supervisors.
The plan calls for Carroll and Franklin townships and Dillsburg to coordinate recreational facilities so the region can apply for grants and avoid redundancies. Officials from the three municipalities would need to approve the plan before it is enacted.
Several people in the Franklintown firehall cited Brown’s affiliation with Carroll as part of their reason for disliking the plan.
The plan calls for a network of recreation fields and trails to be managed collectively. Final decisions regarding aspects of the plan in any municipality would be made by that municipality.
Some people in the audience said they did not believe those claims, or those that eminent domain would not be used to achieve some of the plan’s goals.
The plan encompasses most of the municipalities within the Northern York County School District. So far, only Carroll has adopted the plan. Dillsburg has said in a resolution that it will use the plan in its recreation planning, and Franklintown has written letters of support. Monaghan and Warrington townships and Wellsville didn’t participate. Franklin Twp. has opted out of participating.
More than a year ago, Franklin Twp. officials said they thought they had opted out of the plan, but a state official said at the meeting that the wording of the township’s letter indicated only that it didn’t want to participate in the grant, not that it wanted out of the plan.
—Supervisor Naomi Decker, who ran for office on her opposition to regional planning in general, said the idea of having trails for children to be able to walk or ride bicycles to school was absurd.
“That was OK in the ‘Leave it to Beaver’ days,” she said. “But in this day and time, any parent who would let their children walk to school should be ashamed of themselves.”
Christina Deluca said she and her family moved to the township from Colonial Park to be in a more rural area.
“We are not a suburb here. It’s silly. We did not come here to be in a suburb. [Walking/biking] trails don’t have any place here,” she said.—
LOL LOL WTF?!?!?
http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/115033291042960.xml&coll=1
Dave | Jun 15, 2006 | Reply
Whatever your highlight was got missed, but I’d like to point out:
Supervisor Naomi Decker: “But in this day and time, any parent who would let their children walk to school should be ashamed of themselves.”
Meanwhile, across town, the parent who refuses to let their child walk a block to school has no idea what’s on their child’s MySpace account, or even that their child knows how to disable their AOL parental controls. Laughable. I’m submitting this one to Fark.
floor-9 | Jun 15, 2006 | Reply
I had the last few paragraphs highlighted to show the lady’s crazy comments.
Anyway, the plot thickens! I put the best parts in dashes:
FRANKLIN TWP.
Despite public outcry, board passes rec plan
Friday, June 16, 2006
BY T.W. BURGER
Of Our Dillsburg Bureau
DILLSBURG - With about 30 residents crying out in protest, the Franklin Twp. supervisors voted 3-1 last night to adopt a controversial regional recreation plan.
Gary Brown, John Shambaugh and board chair Larry Lambert voted for the plan. Board member Naomi Decker, who has opposed most attempts at regional planning in the township, voted no. Member Don Lerew was absent.
At an informal meeting three nights earlier, roughly 150 of the township’s 4,500 residents rejected the same plans almost unanimously in a straw poll.
Lambert explained last night that the elements of the plan that caused the most negative comments — recommendations for hiking-biking trails and a paragraph that mentioned eminent domain — would be removed.
—–Resident Lisa Ammons said she would circulate petitions to ask the courts to remove Brown, Lambert and Shambaugh from the board.
Township solicitor Ed Schorpp told her the courts had ruled that method of removing elected officials unconstitutional. Schorpp said that supervisors could only be removed if impeached by the Senate.
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” one man shouted.—–
The plan started in late 2003 with a $32,000 grant administered by Carroll Twp. to develop the Northern York Regional Recreation, Parks and Open Space Plan.
It calls for Carroll and Franklin townships and Dillsburg to coordinate recreational facilities so the region can apply for grants and avoid redundancies.
Critics contend the plan was done “behind the scenes” over the past four years, including early opinion surveys.
Franklin critics say the township “opted out” of the plan a year ago, but the official minutes of that meeting showed a motion not to participate in the grant proposal.
Carroll adopted the plan in January. Later, Dillsburg issued a resolution saying it would use the document for planning recreation facilities and programs. Franklintown has written letters supporting the plan, but not actively adopted it.
Lambert said he hoped the plan could now move into its next phase, with the township’s government and residents picking elements of the plan that they liked and moving to develop those plans.
—–”This isn’t over, you can believe that,” one man said, his voice shaking with emotion.—–
http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1150432833158190.xml&coll=1
Dave | Jun 16, 2006 | Reply