Major Events

On 7/2/98, we put up my first major professional website at GlobalView Software, the EnergyView site. I am very happy with my job because I now have something to feel good about and be proud of.

On 8/2/98, I got a MiniDisc recorder. The MiniDisc allows you to record anything you'd normally record on a tape, but because it's on a disc, you can skip around the "tracks" like a CD. You can even erase, move, divide, and combine the tracks, and you can program titles to be displayed when the songs play, as well as a title for the whole disc. Another thing I like about the machine is that when I want to record something off the radio, I don't have to worry about having a tape ready and at the right spot--I just hit "record" and the machine starts recording on a new track to catch that new hit song.

On 10/4/98, I got a chance to do something I've always wanted to do. I got to be a bingo caller. The bingo game was at the Lieberman Geriatric Center in Skokie. I was somewhat reluctant to call bingo for senior citizens, however, the experience had its own brand of excitement. There were ten of us volunteering from the Vanguard/Hadassah organization. Myself and one other volunteer sat at the caller's table. The bingo equipment, unfortunately, was antiquated. They didn't have a flashboard and chamber with ping pong balls, so we had to call our numbers from a deck of cards. I can understand why a place like this wouldn't have more modern equipment. I did some research, and the electronic flashboard and "blower" cost $3000 and up. One interesting thing that happened was that every time I called the number I-22, there was some guy that couldn't resist the urge to shout out "Tu-tu." I asked Wanda, the Lieberman Center staff member, for his name. She provided me with this information. Also, I heard from one of the other volunteers that was helping the players at one of the tables that some guy didn't understand what I meant when I said "The object of this bingo game will be to make an H." We decided that if we ever do this again, we will just stick to simple games like regular bingo and full card. Another cool thing that happened was that some guy in the room (I don't know if he was a resident or visitor) was dissatisfied with the stakes, so he donated 10- and 20-dollar bills. After the last game, I went over and had some cake and juice with the rest of the volunteers. One of the residents rolled over to me with his walker and said "You're a bad caller." I felt bad for this guy that he didn't win, but I just assured him that I call my numbers according to the way the cards fall, and I thanked him for playing. Anyway, I really had a good time trying a job that I never had before. In the future, I hope to secure employment with a cruise line as a bingo caller. I wouldn't care about getting paid for it--I just want the free food, free cruise, and the ultimate bingo calling experience. It's also an opportunity to meet girls.

Jenny's Birthday Party, 10/9/98

Jenny Gardner, a long-time friend from U of I in Champaign, invited me to her birthday party. We hadn't been in touch for awhile, so I missed her parties from previous years, but I was happy to get in touch with her and be invited this time. Jenny picked me up from work and then drove by Northwestern University to pick up her boyfriend Paul. Then, we went to her parents' house in Glenview where she was having the party. There were about 20 people there, mostly Jenny's friends from University of Chicago and Northwestern. There were also people that I happened to know from some of the Jewish singles events I've attended. There were lots of fun activities. We watched Lauren and Andy's wedding video, then had pizza and birthday cake. One of Paul's friends was a good guitar player, and Paul was a good songwriter and singer, so the performed some original music for Jenny. David Flapan hosted a cool round of 70s Name That Tune in which I participated and beat the other team 10-2. Then Jenny opened her presents. After that, we played Twister (Lauren and another girl could stretch and stay alive forever!!!). I did not participate in that for medical reasons, but I enjoyed watching just the same. Lastly, we played Outburst, another board game on Jenny's shelf. I really had a good time, and I appreciate Jenny for helping me hook up with lots of nice people that I otherwise wouldn't have a chance to meet.

10-year High School Reunion, 10/17/98

I had been looking forward to this event for a long time. I went with my friend Mike Olijnyk. It was at the Rosemont Convention Center. There were about 200 people on the guest list, but some people must have paid after the book came out, because I saw people there that were not on the list. I was disappointed that some guys that I used to play music with didn't show up, but I did get to see Diana, a girl that I met in my junior year and wrote a cool song about. They had a DJ who played quite a good variety of music, from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. My, how music has changed since high school--somehow I think that some of it just isn't music anymore. Who started this "house" thing, anyway? They also had a time capsule which had many items from our high school years, including school IDs, report cards, activity permits, pictures, school papers, and best of all, a record that I made. Unfortunately, back in 1986 when I made the record, I didn't anticipate that in 1998, the DJ would only have a CD player, so we didn't get to hear the song. Oh, well. For our 20-year reunion, I'll be sure to bring a copy of "Four Years at Lane Tech" on CD, MiniDisc, or whatever the popular music format will be.

Halloween Eve Dance, 10/30/98

Jenny invited me to go out with her and her friends to a Halloween Eve dance. The dance was at the Hilton in Arlington Heights, given by a group called CEC. We went with Lauren, her husband Andy, and Beverly met us at the hotel. I came as Kenny from South Park, however, I could not wear the mask because it was hard for me to see well enough in it to walk around, so I only wore it to show people how it looked or to get in pictures (Jenny and Lauren had cameras, and there was a professional photographer that came around). Lauren and Andy dressed as twin pirates, and Beverly was a cat. I was especially impressed with the music being from the 50s, as well as the usual 70s disco, 80s, and 90s stuff DJs play. My favorite songs of the evening were "Where Do You Go," "Barbie Girl," and "YMCA." Someone had asked me to dance, but unfortunately, this was when the country stuff was on, and I don't seem to be good at that line dancing where they change direction. I think I do better just moving in place to my favorites tunes. We also heard "Low Places," which Beverly couldn't stand. At the end of the night, I had a slow dance with Jenny to "Faithfully" by Journey. After we left the CEC dance, we happened to walk past a dance given by MENSA, and guess what was playing...LOW PLACES!!!!!! We then had a late-night dinner over at Baker's Square. We entered in costume just for laughs (I even put on my Kenny mask while Jenny led me through). At the end of the night, Jenny drove me home and almost fell asleep behind the wheel. :-)

11/7/98 - Second City

I went with Jenny to my fourth night of Second City. As with the other three times I've been there, the skits were hilarious. The one that sticks out in my mind, however, is a round of "improv Jeopardy" where the audience provides the answers, and the actors make up questions on the spot. I got into the action by shouting "Microsoft" for a potpouri category, Alex Trebek repeated it to the contestant, and the contestant shouted out, "What is Macro Hard?" He got it right, too!

12/12/98 - Birthday Party at Dave & Buster's

I decided to have my 29th birthday party at Dave & Buster's, one of my all-time favorite places to hang out. Morgan and I met Mike, Jenny, Lauren, and Andy by the Player's Bar, and we had various D&B dishes up in the dining room. We made sure that they did the "birthday patrol." Out of the kitchen the came, clapping and marching, saying "Happy Happy Birthday, from Dave & Buster's Crew. Happy Happy Birthday, from all of us to you, Hey!" Morgan was disappointed, however, because other birthday people had more waiters doing the march than I did, but I didn't worry about that too much. Then, we went to the arcade. Lauren started a Skee-ball frenzy for all of us, and Mike showed off his football passing abilities. Mike took Morgan and me home afterwards. Mike even gave me a Blockbuster gift certificate as a present.

12/13/98 - Cinderella concert

Mike gave me a tip that Cinderella was going to be at the House of Blues when I told him that among others, this was one of my favorite groups. Actually, I came for my all-time favorite songs, "Nobody's Fool." It's a unique song because it's a slow rock ballad that reminds me of background music played in a vampire or haunted house setting. The opener, "Mad Dog Man," started late at 9:45, and Cinderella didn't come on until 11:30, so after Nobody's Fool was played, at about 12:30, I decided to leave. This was, however, the best Nobody's Fool I ever heard. The guitar was roaring from the previous song, and in the background, you could faintly hear the opening notes of this popular number. The crowd cheered. I noticed one change in the lyrics -- "With that dime, I bought your f***ing love." Other songs I liked were "Push Push" and "Shelter Me." Another thing that sticks out in my mind was that when Cinderella started, the opening remark was "Welcome to my underwear lair." Hmmmm...I wonder what that meant.

12/31/98 - New Year's Eve at Tony & Tina's Wedding

Although I had seen Tony and Tina do their thing back in the summer of '96, I wanted to return again for more of Vinnie Black's Italian cuisine and the wild antics of Tony, Tina, and their family. I went with Jenny, Paul, Eides, Andy, Lauren, Jean, and more of Jenny and Lauren's friends (sorry I didn't catch all your names). Fortunately, I sat in the second row (pew) right behind the Tony and Tina's family for the ceremony, so I got more out of it the second time around. Another nice twist to the festivities was that after the reception, there was a dance party. We agreed that this was a good way to spend New Years Eve because it's less hectic than one of those wild downtown clubs where you're stuck shoulder-to-shoulder on a dance floor. I was sorry that I didn't bring my CD with my original music; however, I still enjoyed the tunes they played. Also, Jenny and Paul seem to be good at that "swing dancing" thing. Too bad I didn't get it on video. :-)

Karaoke Night at Anshe Emet 3/6/99

The temple had a unique singles night, with karaoke as well as food and carnival games. I didn't check out any of the games, but I met up with Jenny, Lauren, Andy, and a few of their friends. Jean, a girl I met at Tony & Tina's Wedding, was there. I had a slowdance with her early in the evening, but she had her back to me for the rest of the night. They weren't doing karaoke that much--the DJ played regular music for most of the night. There were only three or four karaoke selections performed, and I was fortunate enough to be allowed to perform. I did "Don't Be Cruel" by Bobby Brown, one of my favorite songs to do. I even got a free cassette copy of my performance. One of the guys with us commented on all the Christmas songs available to do, even at this Jewish affair. The party wrapped up at about 12:30, and everyone went home, but I decided to go across the street to meet up with my friends at Marigold Bowl for more karaoke action.

Hawks game, 3/14/99

I recently have taken up an interest in professional hockey, since I had gone to a couple of UIC Flames games in the past. We had second row seats, midway between center ice and the goal, in section 102. (if you want to see where our seats were, check out The United Center page). We really enjoyed the hockey action. There were several penalties, including one fight. I was surprised that when hockey players fight, the two players involved only get a five-minute penalty, which is far less than in other sports. I was also impressed with the professional hockey players' skating ability. I used to skate when I was 6 or 7 years old, and I can't even balance on a pair of skates now. Unfortunately, however, the Hawks lost to the St. Louis Blues 5-2, but I still liked watching the game. Another highlight of the day was that whenever the Zamboni would come around before each period to resurface the ice, we yelled "Hey, Zamboni guy!" I think he gave us a funny look. There were actually two Zambonies out doing the job in order to speed up the process.

Jerry Springer Show Taping, 10/11/99

I got four tickets to go to a taping of the Jerry Springer Show. Morgan wanted to go with me, but you have to be 18 to be allowed in the audience, so he couldn't do it. I invited Jenny, Carrie, and Denise. We met for breakfast at the Hotel Intercontinental at 8:00 AM, and walked over to NBC Towers at 9:00. There were many people already lined up by then, but we still got in to see the show even though they overbook their studio audience. They started letting people upstairs at about 10:00, and we went up in an elevator to Audience Hold. At about 10:30, we were let into the studio. I was quite overwhelmed when I walked in and saw the set of the show which I had only seen on TV before. We were seated at about the middle of the audience gallery, by the aisle on the left side (when the camera is facing the audience). We were in the row at the bottom of the green steps, which end at about the halfway point. Before the show, we were shown clips of Jerry's video "Too Hot For TV Part II." Then, Jerry came out and cracked some jokes, then he started the show. A stagehand stood in the corner and gave hand signals to get us to stand up, chant "Jerry," or react to what was being said on stage. After each commercial break, the stagehand would yell "In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, applaud," and everyone would stand up, applaud, and chant "Jerry." There were plenty of opportunities to yell "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry," "Steve, Steve, Steve," applaud, or yell "Oooooooh!"

The best part for me was at the end of the show when it was time to ask questions. I had a couple of questions in mind, so I put my hand up. At first, I thought Jerry couldn't see me because he had his back to me. Then, all of a sudden, he turned around and started walking toward me. He was about a yard away from me, and he started making upward motions with his hands. At that point, I wasn't sure who he had picked to speak. Then, he moved closer to me and motioned again. I was so surprised! I stood up, and Jerry held the microphone out to me. I asked my question -- "I got a question for Pam, you were sleeping with a 14-year-old -- why are you wasting your time? Why don't you find a guy your own age? WHY DON'T YOU GET A LIFE?!" The audience cheered. I high-fived everyone around me, including the other audience members in the next row. After the show, Jerry stood by the exit and allowed everyone to shake his hand. I gave him a nice handshake, patted him on the back, and said "Jerry, thanks for giving me the microphone." Jerry said "My pleasure. You were good. You were funny."

Anyway, I can't wait to see this episode. As of this writing, I don't know the date it is going to air, but when I find out, I'll be sure to set my VCR for this one.

1/11/03 – National Federation of the Blind Chapter Meeting

I got a call from Tom Kinne, one of my blind customers living in Chicago.  He invited me to go to the local meeting of the NFB.  Since my Voice Internet Service has been benefiting blind people, I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to promote the system there.  I loaded my wallet with some of the Braille business cards I had made, and I headed downtown for the meeting.  It was at the YWCA at 180 N. Wabash.

I got downtown at 11:30 and had lunch at the Taco Bell on State & Lake, then walked over to Wabash to go to the meeting at about 12:00.  When I got to the room where the meeting was held, I found that the NFB board was having their meeting at that time.  I sat at a table toward the back of the room so I’d be out of everyone’s way.

Tom arrived at about 12:15 or so.  Tom found me at the table in the back.  We stayed for the rest of the board meeting which was over at 12:45 or so.  At that point, Tom decided he wanted to have lunch, as the main meeting wouldn’t start until 1:30.  I accompanied him to the basement food court at Marshall Field’s and offered sighted guidance and assistance when he needed it.

Once Tom finished his lunch, we walked back to the YWCA and got there just in time for the start of the meeting.

The meeting had quite a large turnout.  Everyone had an opportunity to give their name aloud, and one of the volunteers there did a head count and announced that there were 43 people there.  I didn’t see any of my local customers there besides Tom, but I did notice that Pamela Provost from the Guild for the Blind was there.  She did the Braille transcription for the documentation on my system.

After the roll call, they played a pre-recorded message from the president of the NFB.

They then passed around a cane that was issued by the NFB for everyone to inspect.  The guy offered me an opportunity to inspect the cane, but I politely declined, explaining that I was sighted.

Then, there was a reading of the proposed draft of the NFB Constitution.  After some lengthy discussion about the formats in which the draft was to be made available, as well as the wording of some of the articles of the Constitution, my moment of glory arrived.

Once the chairman announced the opportunity to discuss new business, I yelled out my name.  I then gave a brief speech on Net-By-Phone and gave the toll-free number.  I also mentioned that I had Braille business cards available.  Five blind people approached me to get cards.

Finally, a representative from the CTA was there to speak about the new automated stop announcement system to be installed in all the busses by the end of the year.  After he gave his speech, we actually had a chance to ride a CTA bus that was equipped with the new system.  Tom told me that he wanted to sit in the back of the bus to see if he could hear the announcements over the engine noise.  There were speakers all over the bus, so the system was very easy to hear.  The bus went down State Street to Roosevelt, then headed back to Jackson to drop everyone off at the Exchequer Pub for dinner.  I didn’t want to stay, so I got on the Red Line and headed home for the day.

One thing I noticed about the meeting was that the way things are done in a meeting with blind speakers and attendees is different from the way things are done in the sighted world. If someone walks in late to a meeting where everyone is sighted, there may be a few moans and groans, but in general, the speaker keeps right on going. In the NFB meeting, the man would stop speaking and say that he heard commotion by the door and wanted to know who came in. I also mentioned the verbal headcount before--people may be asked to give their names in a sighted meeting, but it is nice that they make it verbally known how many people are present. Also, when anyone wanted to comment on something, they would shout out their name verbally. Obviously, a raised hand would go unnoticed to the blind organization president. Finally, it seems that blind people tend to be more sensitive to anyone murmuring in the back of the room, as people were "shushed" frequently, or the people speaking would bang on the table to shut them up.

8/15/04 – Launch of Philmore Productions Voicemail System

Although my business has grown a bit over the past 4 ½ years, the growth has been quite slow.  I had been wrestling with Net-By-Phone for all this time, and I have built up a grand total of about 110 customers.  However, my family, as well as some of my customers, have wondered why it hasn’t gotten much bigger than that.  I have found that Net-By-Phone is difficult to sell, because it can’t really do everything that a computer can do on the Internet, and web pages don’t always work well in a voice browser setting.  Someone calls me almost every day about websites with the same links at the top of every page, thinking the system took them back to the page they were just on when they clicked on a link.  There are also people that want to do exotic things with their touch-tone phone such as listen to Real Audio programs, or they think that the text emailing function should be able to cut and paste—they want to turn their touch-tone phone into a word processor!  The bottom line is that people either expect too much from such a system, or they don’t understand the Internet, so it’s been a “hard sell.”

But things have just taken a turn for the better.  While struggling to maintain a small customer base on a challenging system, I got to know many blind people and learned about the things they do for fun.  The blind seem to have quite an interest in networking with each other over the phone.  In the past, companies have put together free phone systems for various reasons, and these systems end up getting taken over by blind people across the country.  Many blind people can attest to the popularity of TellMe, Graffiti, BeVocal, HeyAnita, E-Voice, E-Touch, and Laser Voicemail.

However, free systems come and go.  Companies put up systems generally just to test hardware, or they try to run a business that is advertiser supported.  Furthermore, because these systems are free, there isn’t a lot of effort put forth in making the best possible system for those who call into it.

Earlier this year, I had a burst of inspiration.  I got interested in some of the programs that blind people put out on various systems over the years.  In particular, I got into Gordon Radio and Elaine’s Phone Information Update, because they were popular when they ran their shows on TellMe.  These people ran their shows through TellMe’s Extension feature.  When the Extensions were discontinued in April, 2002, many of the people who had extensions or announcements on TellMe started running their shows on Laser.

One day, I wanted to ask Elaine a question, so I left her a message on her Laser Box.  It cut me off after I was talking for only a minute!  I also would get quite annoyed once because I was listening to her announcement and got interrupted by a phone call.  I then had to call back and listen to half the show over again.  Then, I got my coolest idea ever.I  thought it would be cool to design a voice mail system of my own that would address the shortcomings of Laser.

At first, I thought that it would be too expensive to do, because I would have to buy an expensive T1 Dialogic card and a computer, as well as get a T1 with a long-term contract.  However, I thought that if the system had potential, it was worth doing.  So, I started talking about the idea on Clubtel, a chat system well-known to the “blind phone world,” and I got quite a bit of positive feedback.  It sounded like a good idea, then, for me to set up a voicemail system and charge $9.95 a month for a mailbox.

I then started working on the system.  I made it possible to fast-forward, rewind, and pause the greeting.   I allowed 90-minute greetings so people could do long radio shows, and I set the recording time for incoming messages to 20 minutes so people could leave lengthy messages.  I also incorporated features to allow sending and forwarding messages to distribution lists, because so many people were asking if they could do that since E-Voice was able to do it.

I was supposed to launch the system on August 1^st, but ran into a snag because the way the T1 line was configured wasn’t compatible with my Dialogic card.  It took almost 2 weeks for SBC to change the T1 configuration, but once things were working, I let Elaine, Gordon, Jared, and John Field beta-test the system for me.  The T1 was fixed on August 12^th, and I got my system answering the phones at about 5:30 that evening.  I had a problem where calls were going unanswered, but I had that corrected the next day.  One wise-ass that called Gordon’s box complained in public on the technology board on ClubTel about not being able to get through and getting billed on his cell phone for these dropped calls, but I figured people would consider the source and not avoid me due to this guy’s “bashing.”

I worked feverishly that Thursday until late Saturday night so that things would be working by August 15^th when I put the word out that I’d be launching the system.  Until that day, I had been taking names and making a list of people that wanted to sign up so I could call them back when I was ready to go live.  I got to the office early Sunday morning, and people were lined up on my voicemail, in addition to those who already got on my waiting list.  I must have had 80 people either signed up by the end of the day or still waiting on my list.  The calls were still coming in throughout the day!  I left at 10:00 that night to go eat, and I was backlogged with about 30 people that I didn’t get to.

On Monday, I was able to catch up with the people that wanted boxes.  I ended up with close to 100 boxes sold by the time I left the office at about 7:00 PM.  One guy that lives in Chicago even took the bus to my office and stopped by to give me a cash payment and get a mailbox set up.  I’m glad that the elevator in the building has Braille on the buttons so this blind guy could find my floor!

In any case, not only did I set myself up with a business that is going to make me very successful, but it’s so much fun to listen to the various boxes that I carry.  I still call Elaine’s Phone Information Update (773-572-3111) and Gordon Radio (773-572-3030), and I even got into a program called Blind Vision (773-572-3100).  Once I have more time, I will probably call more boxes, but it really gives me a good feeling that I did something nice for the blind community while doing computer programming of phone systems, which I have a great passion for.