Review of 198 Barbershop

Haircut

I needed to get a haircut before an important meeting next week. As I had a short day at work today, I decided to go to the 198 Barbershop on MD-198 and get myself all neat and trim again. I'd let my hair grow long and, I looked like a hippie. I thought that was kind of fun but, that look doesn't make the best impression and, I'll need to make a good impression next week.

The 198 Barbershop is a nice place. The barbers are friendly, competitively priced and do a good job. The shop has adequate parking and is very close to the MD-295 exit making it easy to get to. As an extra treat, they have a popcorn popping machine where you can get yourself a free bag of popcorn while you wait to get your hair cut. As far as waits go, I've never had to wait that long there. They usually have 3 barbers there and, they don't lollygag. I don't know if you can make appointments with them. You can find more information about the shop at http://www.198barbershop.com. I would definitely recommend them. Cheers all!

Update February 27, 2018: I just wanted to mention that this barbershop has gone out of business. The owner as I understand it wanted to cut back on her responsibilities and tried to sell the business. As far as I can tell, there haven't been any takers so far.

Update April 8, 2026: the location of this former barbershop is now a car dealership. I've driven by it a number of times ⏲️. I miss 😢 the wonderful people at this barbershop though 😕 I've let my hair grow long and haven't gotten a haircut in years.

Moved Out

My crazy moving adventure finally finished today sort of. I still have to find a permanent place to live but, I'm not in any hurry. The Extended Stay Hotel in Jessup, Maryland that I'm staying at is very nice. I can cook food on the room's 2 burner stove top and store items that have to stay cold or frozen in the full refrigerator. The fast free WiFi in my room rocks!

Concerning my move, it has been a series of adventures and learning experiences. I never realized I had so much stuff. I always thought my 2 bedroom apartment was small. I managed to fill 2 7 1/2 feet by 10 feet storage units at EZ Storage with me using a 3rd (5 ft by 10 ft) unit till I figure out where to put that stuff in the other 2 units.

The biggest problem I had with my move was my job at the post office. I couldn't get time off to work on my move. I was supposed to have 2 days off this past week and, I got called back to the post office both days. This made it impossible for me to finish moving my remaining stuff myself. I ended up calling Original Moving and Storage Inc. a 2nd time so, I could get my remaining stuff out of my now former apartment in time.

Another headache I had was my former apartment being on the 3rd floor and, my former apartment complex doesn't have elevators. So, EVERY box had to be carried down 2 flights of stairs and out to my car. I did well to get 2 loads out to EZ Storage every Sunday and 2 more on Presidents Day.

Still, I was saddened a bit when I turned over the apartment key and the mailbox key to Melissa Napper, one the apartment complex managers. I lived at Camden Russett (was Summit Russett) for over 11 years. I haven't lived at any other address as long. I did the last years of my Air Force career while living there and started a new career with U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The transition was very scary and, I suffered a number of disappointments before finally ending up at the USPS.

The move in 1 way is more than an ordinary move. It's closing the Air Force chapter of my life though I'll always be Air Force Blue. You can't forget something that took up over half your life (26 years). I suspect I'll always address superiors as Sir or Ma'am. Now, I really will get to make my way in my Post Air Force life. We'll see how it goes. Stay tuned.

Update April 8, 2026: after living at the Extended Stay America hotel 🏨 for nearly 13 years!, I moved out and am back in an apartment. There are multiple reasons why not all of which I'll list. It is nice to be able to get to all my stuff, to not have to drive to Burtonsville Public Storage to get to it or pay their ever increasing rents and to finally be able to easily get rid of some of the stuff I have. I find it a bit crazy 🤪 I HAVE to have renters insurance for stuff I've managed to do without for so long. I still keep in touch with Extended Stay. I have a friend that still lives there and, I'm on good 👍 terms with the manager Paula and staff.

January 2007 Baltimore, Maryland Hard Rock Cafe Visit

Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe

Me and a friend had lunch at the Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe today. Earlier, I found out that the Hard Rock Cafe Corporation would deactivate my Access Club membership if I didn't use it at least once every two years. That wouldn't be any big deal except I've earned a $60 credit with the club and I didn't want to lose that so I decided it was time to make a trip to either the Baltimore or Washington D.C. Hard Rock Cafes. Both of the cafes are nice, though in my opinion, the Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe is the easier of the two to get to. It's located in Baltimore's Inner Harbor and is within easy walking distance from the Maryland Light Rail line across from Camden Yards (where the Baltimore Orioles play).

The cafe is your typical Hard Rock Cafe. The walls are covered with loads of rock memorabilia. I saw a guitar signed by Chrissie Hynde, a poster from a Grateful Dead concert, a drum played by John Bonham of Led Zeppelin and they have a green Cadillac in the center of the bar.

Food wise, I had some outstanding onion rings which I shared with my friend. For main entrees, he tried their bacon cheeseburger and I had their pulled pork sandwich. According to my friend, his cheeseburger was fine. I thought they were a little skimpy with the pork bar-b-que on mine. Still, it was a good sandwich and it was served with small side orders of excellent baked beans and cole slaw and a nice side order of fries.
Overall, the food was very good though to be honest, you don't go to a Hard Rock Cafe to eat the food. You go to check out all the incredible rock memorabilia on the walls. The Hard Rock Cafe Corporation reportedly has the largest collection of rock memorabilia in the world. Each one of their restaurants is a small museum of Rock and Roll. They're really neat places in that way.

Update April 8, 2026: This cafe happily 😊 is still in business (so many have closed sadly 😥). I visited its Rock Shop on March 2, 2026 via Maryland Transportation Authorities light rail. I feel this is the cheapest way to visit Baltimore. Parking is free at Cromwell Light Rail station 🚉, fairly easy to get to and the fares are way cheaper than what it would cost you to park in Baltimore.

Review of Maryland Lottery's Win $50 or $100 Scratch Off Game

The Maryland Lottery came out with what has to be one of its most unique scratch off games. It's called Win $50 or $100. The game brags that it has 9 times more $100 prizes than their other games. What they don't brag about is that the game also has the WORST overall odds I've ever seen in a Maryland Lottery scratch off game - 1 in 9.23! Prior to this game, the worst overall odds I'd seen were in their $1 scratch off games which were usually around 1 in 4.5. I suspect the reason the odds are so bad is because of the prizes in the game - you can only win $50 or $100 which is also different from other past games. Because of these prize amounts, they have to sell a LOT of $10 tickets to make up for the prizes. I heard of 1 case where a person bought 20! tickets and didn't win ANYTHING. In my own experience and shock, I had to buy 17! tickets once before I hit for $100. I was so stunned by all the losers that I went back and double checked them all. This game really is a GAMBLE to play because of the poor odds though you never know in this game. At Friendship Liquors in West Friendship, Maryland, I had 7 losers before I hit for $50. With a different book in the same store, I hit for $100 on the FIRST ticket I bought. This game is very hard to predict because of the terrible overall odds.

Because of the terrible odds and my experiences with this game, I give it a thumbs down. You really are taking a big gamble playing it. Thankfully, they didn't make it a $20 or $30 game as the amount of losers you can hit in this game would really be horrendous. I'd definitely look for another $10 game to play like their Willie Wonka game which I've particularly enjoyed. Good luck to all those players out there.

Update November 9, 2020: This game is back in Maryland. I would guess the game sold well enough that they decided to bring it back. It has the same terrible odds and the same 2 prizes: $50 and $100. It remains a huge crap shoot if you play it (I have). If you're feeling particularly lucky, it might be worth 1 or 2 plays otherwise, I stay away from this game. You have really good chances of coming out a loser in this game.

Update April 8, 2026: This game is on its 3rd Edition and has been changed where they added a $200 prize. It's now called win $50, $100 or $200. Its overall odds of winning are 1 in 9.15 (Source: a ticket I bought from Maryland Lottery with my own money 💰). This is the cheaper version of win $100, $200 and $500.

Product Review of Jot's Boogie Boards

The first time I saw 1 of these devices was at the Navy Exchange at NSA Bethesda. They're interesting devices. I think 🤔 of them as an adult etch a sketch. You can make lists on them and when you're done with the list, you press a button on them and, it erases the list or whatever you had on them. You use a stylus that causes your writing ✍️ to appear on the black screen in color. The writing ✍️ or drawing stays 🤔 there till you erase it. The only way you can save your work is by taking a picture 📸 of it with their app or your phone 📱camera. I've heard more expensive devices enable you to transfer your work via Bluetooth. The 2 devices I bought are very cheap which was a major factor in me finally trying them. The smaller of the 2 comes close to the size of a cell phone 📱 and cost me over $11. The larger of the 2 comes in the size of a notepad and costs around $23. 1 major difference between the 2 besides their size is their batteries. You can't replace the battery on the smaller model while you can with the larger 1. This means when the battery 🔋 runs out, you have to throw it away and buy another  - a major drawback in my opinion. Jot does have an app that does the same thing (as I understand it) as a camera 📷 on your cell phone 📱 in saving any work you want saved. Once you save the work on your phone 📱, you should be able to print 🖨 it. I have an app that allows me to do that.

Overall, I've been pleased 😀 with the devices though I like 👍 the larger one more because of the battery 🔋 issue. They can be handy and, I plan to take them with me on my next cruise 🛳 (October 2026). They'll save you paper 📃, pens 🖊  and pencils as well as being extremely cheap to use. Happy 😊 creating with them.