Pictures of SHARE

My apologies if these aren't the best pictures of SHARE. Hopefully, they'll give you a little idea what the organization is like.

This is a picture of the SHARE warehouse in Bladensburg, Maryland. The warehouse is quite big with 5 loading bays, a drive-in freezer and a drive-in chiller (to keep fruits and vegetables fresh during the hot summer months). The parking lot here offers a good bit of parking except during Distribution Fridays and Saturdays when it can become very congested due to people from various organizations picking up their orders. Other times, you'll see truckers delivering food orders. Also, this is where volunteers help bag various food items.

This is a picture of one of the volunteers working at SHARE and one of the tables they use to bag various food items. Volunteers play a crucial part in helping SHARE keep the price of the food packages down. They supply the labor to bag potatoes, rice, pasta, 16 bean soup mix and other items. By them bagging these various items, SHARE doesn't have to farm out the work and can pass the savings on to those buying the food packages. This is one of the ways SHARE is able to keep the cost of their food packages so low.

This is a picture that shows a small amount of the food SHARE handles. SHARE will distribute during its two distribution days over 700 cases of chicken alone!

This last picture shows you some of the banners of the various organizations that support SHARE. While the primary organization that funds SHARE is Catholic Charities of the Roman Catholic Church, numerous organizations of different faiths and non-religious organizations such as United Airlines and the Midshipman's Association of the U.S. Naval Academy support SHARE as well. SHARE isn't about one particular faith. It is about helping people in need be able to buy the food they need so they can eat. As far as I know, any organization that becomes a sponsor of SHARE can have their banner put on the wall of honor (if you will) where all can see that they support SHARE. The items you see stacked against the wall are food items that will be distributed on Distribution Friday and Saturday. This picture was taken three days before Distribution Friday and the people at SHARE were already getting ready for their two busiest days of the month.

Work permitting, I hope to get down to SHARE again sometime so I can get some pictures of the SHARE staff. They are the people who make SHARE happen. There's Ollie who is the food guru. He is the one searches for the best buys on various items, arranges delivery and keeps track of all the invoices. There is Ninotchka who manages the various volunteer groups who help out at SHARE. There is Chris who works community outreach, briefs organizations about SHARE and how they can become a sponsor. There is Jingle who also works with volunteers and is always a source of encouragement and welcome. She isn't called Jingle for nothing. There is also Henry the money man, Debbie (I'm not sure what she does), another lady whose name I can't remember and a new guy who helps run the warehouse. Lastly, there is Sam who used to run the warehouse but has moved on to bigger and better things. Sam still helps out at SHARE and was responsible for getting me to volunteer last week. Few people know the management of the warehouse like Sam does.

If you're interested in SHARE or would like more information about the organization, their website is: http://www.sharedc.org. If you might be interested in ordering one of their excellent food packages, SHARE has a link on their webpage where you can find one of their sponsors that you can order a package from. You can also drive to the warehouse on distribution days and pick one up directly. If you have any questions about SHARE, please leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer the question. If I don't know the answer, I'll contact the folks at SHARE and get you the answer.

Just a reminder, I'm not directly affiliated with SHARE. I'm only an occasional volunteer at SHARE as well as someone who has bought some of their food packages. As you can tell by my posts on SHARE, I am supportive of the organization. I feel they provide an invaluable service to communities throughout Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. Cheers!

Stories from The Tower

Yesterday, I got to work as the Dungeon Master at Medieval Times. What the Dungeon Master does is answer questions about the dungeon (museum of torture) and make sure people pay to get in to see the dungeon i.e. collect their dungeon passes which cost $2 each. One unique thing I bring to the job as Dungeon Master is I have some knowledge about the various tortures in the dungeon (no, I've never actually used anything like them, I'm not into it that much!). I can also tell folks stories I learned from the Yeoman Warders at the infamous Tower of London.

The Tower of London has serviced as a royal fortress, observatory, treasury and most infamously as a prison for high ranking prisoners. It is as a prison that it is most famous though it also houses the crown jewels.

The Yeoman Warders are a special unit of retired British military personnel who guard the Tower and the crown jewels. They also take part in special ceremonies involving their sovereign from time to time. They are also known as "Beefeaters." They received that title possibly because at time, one of the things they received for doing the job was a large ration of beef (source: wikipedia). One of the things the Yeoman Warders also do at the Tower is give free tours every half hour. The Yeoman Warders give the visitors a choice of a dull boring tour or of the terribly bloody gruesome tour. Visitors invariably take the terribly bloody gruesome tour. The Tower has plenty of such stories. Here are few stories I remember hearing from the Warders. However, not all of them are terribly bloody and gruesome.

Duke of Monmouth

The Duke of Monmouth was an illegitimate son of Charles the II who felt he should be king vice Charles brother James I. He raised an uprising in Scotland which was quickly crushed. He was summarily brought down to London, stayed one day in the infamous Tower and then was beheaded. It was only after they beheaded him that they made a terrible discovery. They didn't have a portrait of the Duke. They decided they had to rectify this even though the Duke was dead. What they did (and this is gruesome) is sewed his head back on, put a frilly thing around his neck to hide the stitches and painted his picture. It is hardly surprising that the Duke looks very grim in his portrait.

Ravens of the Tower

It is said that if the ravens of the Tower of London ever leave that the Tower and the monarchy will crumble and fall. The British, not wishing to take any chances, had the wings of the ravens who live at the Tower clipped so they can't fly away. Because of this and the excellent care the ravens receive (they have a special Yeoman Warder who serves as Ravenmaster and who feeds them beef daily), they live far longer than wild ravens. The normal lifespan of a raven is only 7 or 8 years. One raven at the tower lived to 52 years of age. Now, there is a tradeoff the ravens pay for this posh life. All of you of virgin eyes please don't read this next part. Do you know how ravens have nookie i.e. sex? They do it while in flight. Don't ask me how they do it in flight but they supposedly do. One problem with having their wings clipped is that the poor though well compensated ravens at the Tower of London can get any nookie. It is the sad but necessary (if the Tower and Monarchy are to remain standing) price they pay for the good of the country. However, the birds are well compensated as you can see.

Murdered Princes

The Tower has seen a number of foul or tragic deeds. One of the worst was the murder of two young princes. They were the sons of Edward IV (I think that's the right number, there have been a number of Edwards.). One of them was in fact the king but being king when you're only 9 or 10 years old was very dangerous thing back in those days. Unfortunately for the young princes, Edward's brother decided to take the throne for himself. The princes were placed in the Tower and after a while, no one ever saw them again. No one knew what happened to them though when their uncle had himself crowned as King, they were certainly dead i.e. murdered. Years later, the princes' bodies were found in the Tower. They remain some of the more tragic figures from the history of the Tower.

Queen of Hearts

Wanting to end this blog entry on a nice note, I will know tell you the story of the Queen of Hearts you see in your deck of playing cards. The story goes that Edward IV had only one surviving child who was Elizabeth York. Henry Tudor of the Lancastrian line defeated her uncle who had become Shakespeare's infamous Richard III in the battle of Bosworth Hills. Her uncle was also slain there. Henry subsequently claimed the throne and became Henry VII. In a desire to unite the two royal houses, he married Elizabeth York. In an unusual case, the two actually fell in love after their marriage and were supposedly devoted to one another. Later, Elizabeth died though not before having at least two children Arthur and Henry (of Henry VIII fame or infamy depending on what your thoughts are on what he did with his various wives). In mourning for his beloved wife, Henry ordered that the face of his dead Queen be used as the face of the Queen of Hearts in all decks of playing cards. A memoriam of sorts if you will. So, if the story is true, the person's face you see on the Queen of Hearts is that of a tragic girl who's brothers were murdered but became Queen and found love before she died. A happy ending to a harrowing young life.

And, there'll I end my stories I learned from the famous Yeoman Warders. If you ever visit London, make sure you see the infamous Tower of London and catch their free tours. The Warders are really great and they do tell some fascinating stories about the Tower. Cheers!

Mystery Shopper

I got to do my first mystery shopper assignment yesterday. I found the whole experience nerve wracking. If you surf the web, you'll see advertisements showing how you can make big bucks being a mystery shopper. The truth of the matter is if you find a legitimate company to work for, you won't get rich doing it and you probably won't be able to make a career out of it either. Money wise, I earned $20 plus $5 for the item I had to purchase. The $20 was double what I would normally receive for an assignment. For that $20, I had an extensive checklist I had to mark off on (over 35 questions). I also had to make up bogus questions for six different departments so I could see how well they treated customers. I found that part hard as I had to be something I wasn't. I was trying to play the regular customer when I was actually checking up on these folks. To add to my discomfort, I don't know if the company I was doing all this for is legitimate. There are a lot of mystery shopper scams out there. My co-worker Jaime at Medieval Times had one group try to scam her for something like $2,000. While I was never in that kind of potential danger, at worst I would've been out $7 plus gas, I still had visions of someone breaking into my apartment while I at the business I was checking on. After all, if the company was bogus and was a bunch of crooks, they would know when I'd be gone and how long I'd likely be gone. I had to spend a minimum of 35 minutes at the store I had to check on and it was a 30 minute drive each way. An hour and a half would be plenty of time to rob me of any valuables I'd left out in the apartment. Before I left, I secured the passwords to my various accounts and hid my laptop and digital camera.

The assignment itself went all right considering it was my first one. I managed to come up with some kind of question for each of the departments. I think I managed to not look too nervous. I was afraid if I looked the nervous type, the security folks might think I was a crook. If I had to explain to security person at the store what was up, I wouldn't be able to swear what I was doing was legit. I didn't want to even think of that mess. I made sure I spent the mandatory 35 minutes at the store and then took my items to the sales person who rang me up.

When I left the store, I filled out a copy of the survey I had to do so I'd be able to remember all the things I needed to answer while they were fresh in my mind. Then, I drove home and to my relief, no one had tried to break into my apartment. My work wasn't done though as once you've done an assignment, you have 12-hours to report back to your boss and do the on-line survey which presumably will be forwarded to the company paying for the mystery shopper service. That took another 20 minutes. Also, I had to do an invoice for my services which I'll have to mail out today with the receipt from the store I shopped at. If all goes well, I'll get paid $25 in about 30 days. If it turns out to be a scam which I think is unlikely (if it is a scam, it is the most elaborate one I've ever seen), I'll be out $7 of which I'll have bought some items I wanted anyway.

Before I knew exactly what I was getting into, I signed up for four more assignments. As I try to keep my word, I plan to do them though they promise to be challenging for me. I'll get to play a spy of sorts. I've always felt I would never be good a good spy. I just don't have the nerves for it. I also don't like being something I'm not. I like the thought that with me, what you see is what is actually there. There isn't anything hidden and there isn't anything devious. I consider myself something of a naive person. Time and again, I've been surprised by some of the underhanded things I've learned some people do. In regards to being naive, I don't consider that to be the best thing. It's better to be wise though if it comes to being either naive or duplicitous, I'll take naive any day. As it is, you my blog readers may get to hear of further misadventures of Agent Ditto as he continues his secret missions to uncover poor customer service, unclean stores and disastrous parking lots. Stay tuned.

SHARE

I helped out at the Washington D.C. SHARE (Self Help and Resource Exchange) yesterday. It was the first time I'd been there in probably three months. Due to work at the Post Office and Medieval Times, I haven't been able to get down there to help out. I did the job I first did when I arrived at SHARE (3 or 4 years ago?). I bagged potatoes. What you do is break down 50-pound sacks of potatoes into 3-pound bags of potatoes. The 3-pound bags are part of the monthly food package SHARE sells. Potatoes seem to be a staple of the package. I suspect it's because they can be used in so many different ways. You can boil, bake, fry and mash potatoes. You can also include them in soups. They're a very versatile vegetable. The amount of potatoes SHARE handles is impressive. I would guess it's at least 5,000 pounds.

Volunteer wise, the largest group was from Prince Georges County Department of Correction. I was impressed with the group as they kept at it and did a good job. The table I was at had two elderly church going ladies. I enjoyed chatting with them. It helped make the time go by Groups of volunteers come from all over Washington D.C. and Baltimore. They come from churches, schools (a lot of high school students do their community service at SHARE) and organizations. I first got involved when I was on active duty with the Air Force. The volunteers are vital to SHARE as it would be impossible to run the program without them. The SHARE staff has only 9 people who have to keep track of all the volunteers, keep the books, do community outreach, seek funding (SHARE is a non-profit that relies on donations as much as the money they make through the food packages they sell), decide what items to include in the package and then organize delivery (Ollie does this) and keep the five warehouses as well as the freezer and chiller clean. It's a massive undertaking.

Volunteering at SHARE can be fun. You meet nice people and you help the community. I very much enjoyed chatting with the two elderly ladies I met. The program itself helps considerably the poor stretch their food dollars so they can have enough to eat. It also covers a wide area. The program reaches Northern Virginia, all of Washington D.C. and Baltimore. If you have some free time and would like to help a worthwhiled organization, you might want to give SHARE a try. Their website is http://www.sharedc.org. If you want to see what SHARE looks like, stay tuned to this blog as I took a few pictures which I plan to post later. Cheers!

Arundel Mills Chipotle

Yesterday, I had to stop by my credit union in Arundel Mills to get some cash. Between the movie "The Queen" and playing arcade games at Dave and Busters, I'd just about cleaned out my wallet. Right next to my credit union is a Chipotle's restaurant. I decided to get a couple of their burritos to go.

The restaurant itself was tastefully decorated and offered a decent number of tables. The restaurant doesn't offer any table service. Everyone has to go up to the counter to place their order and have their food prepared. Chipotle's menu is very standardized. They offer regular burritos, fajita burritos (where they replace the fried beans with grilled peppers and onions), either of their two burritos in a bowl vice a wrap, tacos and salads. You get to choose between chicken, steak, pork, shredded beef and vegetarian for the meat or meatless portion of your food. They offer three levels of salsa: mild, medium and hot. Lastly, you can order chips and salsa or chips and guacamole, bottled water, a soda, a beer or a margarita.

Price wise, Chipotle's aims for around $5 for their burritos which I found very reasonable for what you get. I ordered two steak fajita burritos. They cost me $5.85 a piece. Unlike Taco Bell, each one of the burritos was virtually a meal in itself. With a side order of chips and something to drink, you had a full filling meal. I was also very impressed with the ingredients. All of them seemed to be of the finest quality and both of the burritos I had were very tasty.

Due to the standardized menu, wait time for the food was minimal. There were two people ahead of me in line and yet I had my food within 10 minutes. Service at the counter was courteous and prompt.

Overall, I was very impressed with Chipotle's. The food was very good, reasonably priced and was served very quickly. They are a nice place if you want to dine in or if you want to grab something on the go. If you want some very good quality Mexican food, you should definitely give them a try.

Disclaimer: As with previous restaurant reviews, I didn't receive any kind of remuneration for this blog. All opinions expressed are my own. I'm not any kind of dining expert or gourmet for what that's worth. I just know when I've had a nice dining experience and when I haven't. Hopefully, you the reader will find this blog useful. Cheers!

Dave and Busters

After I saw the movie "The Queen," I drove out to Arundel Mills Mall to play some arcade games at Dave and Busters. Dave and Busters are a chain on arcade/restaurants where you can play various arcade games and have something to eat or drink. They also offer large screen tvs where you can watch various sports events.

In regards to the arcade games, They have a large variety of them so there is something for everyone. If you want to play skeeball, shoot basketball hoops, shoot at targets or drive a simulated race car, they can accomodate you. In my case, I heard they had a trivia game where you can compete against as many as 5 other people. The higher number of people that compete, the higher the number of bonus tickets you can win. The disadvantage of competing against 5 other people is that only the top 3 win tickets. The bottom 3 get zip! I found it fun competing against others and trying to win the maximum number of tickets. The tickets enable you to win various prizes. Some of the prizes are very nice and some are very cheap. I suspect it would be cheaper to buy one of the prizes vice what it would cost you in playing the various arcade games and trying to win enough tickets. Yet, I think buying the item wouldn't be as much fun as winning it.

Overall, I found the arcades to be a lot of fun at Dave and Busters though it is very easy to spend some serious money playing the games. I would definitely watch what you spend there if you take kids there. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. They do check IDs as I found out personally to my surprise. In regards to the food and drink they offer there, I haven't eaten or drank anything there since the place was known as "Jillians." I can't make any kind of recommendation as far as their food and drink. I have no idea if they offer good value in regards to their food or beverages. Perhaps in time, I'll try them out in that regard and then post something on this blog about that.

Movie Review - "The Queen"

I finally got out and saw the movie "The Queen" today. I've been meaning to get out and see it ever since I read about it in one of the royalty magazines I read. The movie is about Queen Elizabeth II and the week of Princess Diana's death. It tells the story of a lot of things that happened behind the scenes and out of the public eye. It's a fascinating movie in that we get to see a lot of maneuvering behind closed doors and the difference of values between generations as well as the enormous hype the press did on Diana's death. The British public took some of their grief and frustration over Diana's death out on the Queen. The public blamed the royals for the ostracism of Diana not realizing that Diana didn't want to play by the rules and so caused some of the ostracism herself. We see how the royals were frustrated by the two personas of Diana. The public persona was one of a princess who was very caring and supported a number of worthwhiled causes. The behind the scenes persona was of a princess that didn't want to play by established protocol and upstaged her husband Charles who was the whole reason she became the celebrity she became. If Diana had never married Charles, she never would've become the figure she became. There is no question Charles did Diana wrong in not giving up his relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles but, in royal circles it would've been expected that Diana would've turned a blind eye to it and carried on. She refused and took the relationship to the public doing damage to the royal institution. Public opinion ignored Diana's lack of loyalty to the royal institution and instead saw her as something of a saint and victim. To make matters worse, the press were quick to seize on the lack of a response from Buckingham Palace as this helped sell more papers. It didn't matter to them that their stirring things up could've harmed the monarchy. Fortunately, we see how the Queen managed to calm things down in a speech. Time helped things further. Two months after the crisis week, the issue was no longer an issue. The Queen survived the crisis and moved on though undoubtedly stunned by what had happened.

Overall, I thought the movie "The Queen" very well done. It was fascinating to see all the moves that went on behind the scenes. The movie is definitely one for adults. I think kids would find it boring and wouldn't understand what all the fuss was about concerning Diana's death. Another reason the movie appealed to me is because I'm a bit of an anglophile. I love England and find it a beautiful and fascinating country. London still remains my favorite city. If you're a fellow anglophile, I think you'd find the movie fascinating in that regard. If you want to see the movie, you may have to hunt for it as the number of theaters showing the film is dropping. I guess the newness has worn off and other new movies are coming out. Still, the movie is one that might be worth looking for. If you're an anglophile or are simply fascinated with the British Monarchy then you'll want to see "The Queen."

Medieval Times

I got to be the executioner today at the Medieval Times castle I work at. It was only the third or fourth time I'd played the executioner. The person who normally plays it (Solomon) is in Florida on vacation. I found it fun and a challenge. It's fun in that you get to play a character that is somewhat sinister. It's a challenge in a number of ways. The executioner is only able to communicate through grunts and mime as he had his tongue cut out (rumor has it for talking too much). The executioner must also be scary but not too scary. You want to give the kids a small fright but not scare them away from the castle. Also, the executioner helps make money for the castle by selling spoof pictures of people having their head chopped off. Today, the photo girl and I sold 8 pictures which was pretty good considering the crowd we had.

I also got to use my first four free tickets to the castle. One of the rewards of working at Medieval Times is getting four free tickets on your birthday and four free tickets on Christmas. I used my birthday tickets and treated a friend who works at the Post Office, her daughter and two of her friends to Medieval Times. I enjoyed getting to treat them to the show and hope they had a fun time. I'll find out when I work at the Post Office Wednesday.

Lastly, I got to battle it out with a Medieval Times co-worker in a trivia competition. We had a competition series of the best out of five. The one who won would become the acknowledged trivia champion between us. Things didn't go well for me initially as I lost the first two matches. The second one was particularly crushing as I lost the match on the second to last question. To my surprise, I came back and won the last three matches. The deciding match was a nerve-wracking affair. I took the lead on points BUT I only had 2 life forces left (you get 5 to start with). The thing that cost me the second match was life forces. I lost my last life force on the second to last question so I was very anxious at only having two. I didn't want a repeat of the second match. Thankfully, two was enough and I won. Someone once said "Victory is sweet." and they weren't kidding. I'm savoring my triumph and plan to have some more fun by reminding my co-worker who the trivia champion is. Considering how cocky she was about her trivia skill, it'll be fun to remind her who won the competition.

Patuxent Research Refuge

The Patuxent Research Refuge is a little known gem to be found between Laurel and Bowie, Maryland. It is composed of over 12,750 acres of land dedicated to wildlife research. The refuge has a visitors center where visitors can find out about the work the refuge is performing. The refuge also has trails where visitors can take peaceful country walks. Lastly, Cash Lake is open during certain hours for fishermen. Fishermen must hold a current Maryland fishing license and obtain a permit from the refuge if they wish to fish there. Below are some pictures I took of the refuge.

This is the entrance to the Visitors Center.

This is a statue of a timber wolf family. The statue can be found in front of the visitors entrance.

This is Cash Lake.

These are two pictures of Lake Redington.

Casino Royale

I found out from the Rotten Tomatoes website (http://www.rottentomatoes.com) that the 2006 version of Casino Royale with Daniel Craig will be out on DVD on March 13th. This a movie worth adding to anyone's movie collection. Craig played an excellent Bond and the producers succeeded in making Craig's "Bond" a lot more realistic and grittier. Bond actually bleeds in this movie as well as show some feeling for the main lady character Vesper Lynd. Price wise, I've seen a price range of $15.91 (http://www.overstock.com) to $22.24 (Deep Discount DVD.com). List price for the DVD is $28.99. A number of places are already accepting advance orders for this DVD.