"Finding Myself" on Google Street View

As a long-time fan of Google Earth, it has been fun to view all kinds of places from above, especially my neighborhood and house.

Now Google has taken earth viewing down to the street level.

While using Google Maps I recently discovered Google Street View. Many heavily populated areas have been mapped out using a 360 degree field-of-view cameras, mounted on moving vehicles. The photos are taken about 10-15 yards apart and they have been incorporated into Google Maps.

After entering an address on Google Maps, the user can then select "street view". (Not available for all areas.) This brings up 360 degree photos taken as these roving recorders drove past the address.

Not only can you see your house, but people on your porch, cars in your driveway, license plates etc.

My son and I were using street view when we entered our address. We "drove" up the street just a bit and I said, "Hey there's someone walking." We pulled up along-side and my son said, " Hey Dad it's you!) sure enough, there I was, walking to the nearby mailbox to ship a slide scan order!

Click and drag on photos to look around or click on the arrows on the photos to "drive" up the streets

Although Google Maps Street View is a cool toy, I can see potential for it to cause some people trouble.

Examples: Spouse calls home from work after viewing pics of home on Street View: "Honey, who owns the blue sedan I saw parked in our driveway?"

Workman's comp investigator: "Dave, how is your injured back? Was that a washing machine you were lugging up your front steps?"

Woman to husband: "Hey Joe? Who's the woman you're sitting with on our local park bench?"

With millions of people looking at millions photos of their own neighborhoods, things like this are bound to occur.

Read someone else's blog about street view.

Readers are encouraged to post your comments and thoughts on this subject by clicking on the comments link below.

Water Heater Leak

The night before leaving on a 1 week vacation, we discovered water on our cellar floor. A leaking, 10 year old water heater was the culprit.

I'm glad we found the leak before our departure. Otherwise our basement would have flooded.

After getting a 3 prices from local plumbers I chose a Melrose based plumber. For $850.00 he replaced the gas fired 40 gallon tank, with a warranty extended to 12 years.

Rubber hoses to washing machines are another potential weak point in any plumbing system.

After this, I'll turn off the water main before leaving town for extended periods.

Saugus Pizza Choices

Being a pizza lover, I'm eager to try new pizzas at local restaurants around Saugus. Today, for the first time I tried Peter's Pizza, located at Hamilton Plaza on Hamilton St.

The pizza was,...well, not bad at all. I'll certainly consider them next time I'm ordering a couple of pies to go. The have a special, two large 16" pizzas, $14.99, any time, any day, no coupon needed!

Everyone loves delicious pizza at Prince Pizzeria on Route 1. Certainly some of the best pizza anywhere!

I like the pizza at the new Nick's Place in Saugus Center. However, it can be difficult to eat when the crust is so thin and soft at the center, not self supporting!

Comment on this blog at the link below with your recommendations for pizza in Saugus!

Rainy Days

Cold, rainy days like today make being indoors more enjoyable for me. Speaking of rainy days, I read somewhere only 1 out of 3 days are mostly sunny here in the Boston area, a stark contrast to sunny Florida.

Living in the often bleak New England weather conditions makes me appreciate warm sunny days. Wet conditions can make photography a bit more interesting too.

Readers are encouraged to post comments on my blogs by clicking on the comments link below. Comments will be moderated by me before going public.

Batteries and HDMI cables, at a good price!

I thought I'd give a new blog a try. I had a blog a while ago here on blogspot, but it never went anywhere. This blog will serve as an outlet for whatever I decide to write about.
It might be photography, or slide scanning or local Saugus stuff.

Maybe I'll use it to complain about the weather or the price of oil. Maybe I'll share some new bargains I've discovered on the Web.

Speaking of bargains, most of us lots of AA and 9 volt batteries around the house. There's never a good set around when you need it. Or, you've got a drawer full of half dead ones, and no battery tester.

Several months ago I needed a slew of 9 volts to refill smoke detectors. After about 33 seconds of a discriminatory search of the Web, I found http://www.batterywarehousedirect.com/

The per battery cost is MUCH lower than you ever find at local stores. The online ordering was easy and quick. Batteries were in my mailbox 2 days later. Shipping is less than $5.00, no matter the weight! After the first good experience ordering batteries there, I ordered 32 more AA batteries the other day. Once again, fast shipping, good price, no complaints. Did I mention the batteries are Duracell Alkaline?

HDMI Cables Price Gouging:
Many of you techno geeks are probably in need of HDMI cables for your new HDTV, cable box, Blue Ray player, Playstation 3 etc.
Some places are charging OUTRAGEOUS prices for HDMI cables. Average in-store prices run from about $15.00 to over $120.00 for the same product. A cable, is a cable, is a cable. If it's got gold plated contacts great. If it's got a heavy duty sheathing over it, it's a monster! Does that affect performance? No.

A quick search on Amazon.com should bring up HDMI cables for as little as $2.00 each.