Charlie's Ribs Steak and Ale revisited!

After a tough month in July when this popular venue failed a couple of Health Department inspections, I happy to say that they have cleaned up their act in fine style.

When I visited for lunch recently, I found the tables to be immaculate and the service prompt. From the time I sat down to when I was served wasn't much over five minutes or so. For me this was fast! In addition, the food (a hamburger and fries) looked and tasted great. Kudos to Chaz, the owner for knuckling down and getting his venue ship shape!

Update: As of mid September 2012, Charlie's has continued to improve and is a regular eating destination for myself.

Should malware companies be subject to terrorist penalties?

After having to spend an entire morning rebuilding my laptop due to a malware infestation named Security Live Platinum aka Reveton delivered by the Citadel platform, I had pause to think about these evil people and the manner in which they prey on the novice internet user as well as the older population that is not computer savvy. These vultures infect a system with software that makes it appear as though the system was infected, when it’s actually the software they snuck onto your system that was to blame. They then offer to ‘cure’ your problems for a certain amount of money. Now mind you, their spyware is still active and tracking your every move, they just make it appear that all is well. But wait! There’s more. Then, they sell the credit card information to other crooks who can then take a swipe at your money as often as they can before the card is shut down! So, not only did your system not get fixed, but you also got taken…numerous times!

To me, this is nothing short of domestic cyber terrorism and I would like to see Americans everywhere write their congress person to encourage them to enact laws that would bring these people to justice under a military tribunal; a court that has the power, by the way, to impose the death penalty. I would also like to see ‘bounty hunters’ granted border immunity in going after these idiots. Let no country be a safe haven!  Only when this happens will we ever have a chance of ridding ourselves of the lice that is costing so much in the way of grief and expense.

If anyone has any information concerning the identity of the people who are spreading this malware and spyware crap over the internet, please feel free to post that information in the comments section.

Forsyth Senior Friendship Center in Forsyth Missouri!

This meal tasted as good as it looked!

On a warm day in early August, I met with a couple of friends at the Forsyth Senior Friendship Center located at 13879 US Highway 160 and to sample that days offering of roast beef with carrots, mashed potatoes, dinner roll and a large cookie! The Center, which is owned and operated by the Seniors of Taney County, offers a complete lunch menu Monday through Friday (excepting Holidays) starting at 11:30ish AM. (I’d been told that you need to arrive early if you want to get a parking spot! That point was driven home to me when I arrived at 11:20 AM and found the parking lot nearly full)! The establishment had twelve large circular tables set up that day that could handle about 7 to 9 diners each by my estimate. On this day, I think that there were at least 60+ attendees.

The lunch menu, from day to day, is varied and a wonderful meal deal at a suggested donation of $3.50 for seniors over the age of 60 and just $6 for everyone else! Also (with the assistance of the Southwest Missouri Office on Aging), they offer services like free home delivery for those unable to attend. A great and worthy cause indeed!

Click on to enlarge

The Friendship Center is a pretty interesting place for some other reasons also. They have numerous special events each weekday along with a flyer that highlights each day’s menu offerings. For additional information, you can reach them at 417-546-6100 during regular business hours. I’m hoping to post more on this wonderful establishment later next week.

You can visit their site at Eastern Taney County Seniors for up to the minute news!Also, don't miss the giant Swap Meet to be held on Oct 13, 2012!

Update: If you pan to ever visit, do so on a day when they offer up the Breakfast Buffet! It's awesome and you can really load up your plate!

Disclaimer: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

Forsyth Area Eateries for July 2012

I thought I would update some of the eateries in the Forsyth Mo. area as they have changed in some cases. Click on any image to expand! I plan to try and update this panel every few months. Note that some locations have not been visited and so are left blank as far as the ratings go.

Disclaimer: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

Tri-Lakes Motors does take care of its customers!

Recently, I received a recall notice from the folks at Chrysler who wanted me to bring my Jeep Liberty in for replacement of some rear stabilizers they felt might be defective. I immediately called and got an early morning appointment for the next day.  Now, mind you, it’s been quite some time since I visited this dealership. I remember that I bought my 2006 Jeep in the summer of 2007 and other than one maintenance service call that was the last time I’d been there.

That next morning I pulled into the service area and was taken care of immediately. The service personnel seemed to be upbeat and professional. Even my waiting in the dreaded ‘waiting room’ turned out to be pleasant as I ended up talking to some other nice folks who were getting their vehicles serviced. Even though the wait was for two hours, the time when by quickly. (The waiting are sports a TV, free computer, vending machines, bathrooms, magazines and free coffee). It was sort of like hanging around my house.

The repair went smoothly and I would have to say that this establishment seems to have a great desire to take care of their customers. I would recommend Tri-Lakes Motors to any and everyone.

It’s mid summer at River Run Park!

It’s just after 10AM on a sunny July the 11^th with a temperature standing at 80F (but which is destined to reach 90F before the day is done). And, while the sky overhead is clear, I can see haze along with some scattered cumulus clouds near the horizon.

I’m sitting at campsite #27, one of about a dozen still without power due to flooding that occurred the year before. After the waters finally receded, they had done a number on the power outlet boxes for the campsite that run along the rivers edge. Fortunately, ten other campsites that lie on higher ground were spared and today about half are occupied with RV’s. These sites cost $18 per day and offer both power and water, while the water only sites are going for $9.

It being midweek, the park was not very crowded. Those that were here, however, were taking advantage of the much lower temperatures than what was the regime just a week before. According the weather service, things should be relatively normal for the mid section of the month with daytime readings of about 90 followed by evenings in the low seventies.

It was gratifying to see one of the Corps of Engineer people out repairing the bath house and I hope to hear that all the campsites will be brought back up to code fairly soon. I was also pleased to see that the signs at the entrance of the Park had been refurbished!

Update: Shortly before closing for the winter - all the affect power outlets were removed and replaced! This was done in September and come next spring, the park should be clean and fully functional!

Disclaimer: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

City Council Meetings on You Tube! A good idea? Well no, maybe not!

Taney County Web page allows anyone to listen in

At first blush, you’d think this to be a good idea. Perhaps even a great idea. But, after a little time to reflect, some problems begin to show up.

First up, by just having a video camera in the room, taping the entire proceedings could pose problems. Believe it or not, some people could go from ‘open’ mode to ‘quiet’ mode as they realize that everything they say will be later scrutinized by an inquiring public. (Something a politician is all too aware of). It so true that words uttered in casual mode cannot be taken back once those words are recorded and then launched on the internet. End result, the meeting might become stifled.

Another problem (one that can be fixed) is the potential for equipment malfunction where part or most of the recording is lost. This could be corrected in a number of ways. Firstly, taping an entire hour long meeting would require enormous amount of digital space. Also, there’s a problem with YouTube limiting a segment to just ten minutes. You’d need something like six segments to cover just one meeting. Another fly in the ointment would be to try editing out parts of the meeting in order to save time. That would inevitably create a conflict when some would demand to see the parts that were edited out. Bummer.

So, is there any solution that could work? Sure, one thing that could be considered would be to do a ‘live’ podcast in the same manner that Taney County already does for its meetings. In addition, these recordings can be left on that .com’s server for access later on by the public. That would work, but could suffer due to the sheer length. Talk about being bored out of your mind….

My suggestion then would be a twofold approach; One, offer the public the ability to listen in during the live session and two, have someone jot down a condensed version of the significant points that came up during said meeting. (Actually, if a clerk takes the meeting notes, this is already being done). If the notes were made into a .pdf file, it would be a simple matter to link each summary text to a newsletter whereby each session would be accessible at any time and by anyone.

Just a thought….