Somehow, as we approach our second anniversary in Hudson, we finally wondered about this weed sticking up in the corner. Aromatic enough. Must be a white lilac.
White Lilac in Backyard
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Category Archives: Hudson
Mid-Hudson Cable and Internet Service in Hudson
Last week a story appeared in the Register Star, “Mid-Hudson turns down $3.5M in stimulus money“. This followed by two days Sam Pratt, always at the ready with in depth commentary, who wrote about the continuing failures of Mid-Hudson and the troubled life of a wannabe rural internet user in his blog posting, “MH Cable: Not tapping that grant after all“. Mid-Hudson Cable always gets a rise here. I posted the following comment at Sam’s article:
I sympathize with the troubles of those just beyond the reach of high speed Internet. Clearly bringing high speed access to everyone in the county is an important issue. However, the troubles of Mid-Hudson as an Internet provider go beyond their sluggishness at extending service.
I live right on Warren St, in the middle of MH’s most densely populated area, and their service level has been poor. They have never lived up to their advertised speeds. When we had 5 MB/s service it never ran better than 4 and the average over hundreds of data points was 3.6. I had technicians come to investigate. They pronounced my equipment to be up to snuff and left commenting “The advertising says ‘up to 5 MB/S’, it never gets there.”
Since I use the Internet for both my business coaching and web development work I felt compelled to cough up $5 more a month to get the 10 MB/S service. Now I get 7 MB/S until the evening when it slows down, as it did before, when all the other users come on line.
I believe that the contract between the city and MH is ending in 2013. Time to get ready to fight for some real service level standards that can be enforced. Or, let’s find another provider.
Mid-Hudson Cable continues to practice misleading, deceptive advertising practices with its pitch of “blazing speeds” upto 5 MB/S. The upto is Mid-Hudson’s bit of clever marketing. They never have delivered close to that level of service.
Seen in Hudson on a Morning Walk
A few images from a morning walk.
I have taken hundreds of pictures of fire connections. Not sure why. Recently I have only added to this collection when I see a new use for them. Sometimes this is people perching on them. Sometimes they are holding up coffee, beer bottles, candy wrappers….
The City of Hudson clearly doesn’t believe in modern chemistry. Can’t think of the last time I saw so many dandelions.
My favorite stairs.
Maybe this is just part of a seasonal business’s normal cycle, but??
I know that this is a worn out topic here in Hudson. Nevertheless, I remain amazed at the bad taste of the county government to litter one of the best parks in the city with all of these signs. Why have a ark if you don’t want people to loll in the grass? Is the only purpose of this park to be a prop for war memorials? Why did they so proudly tout that a local builder had replaced the roof on the gazebo when it is almost never used? Strange thinking.
Seen About Hudson
A few images from a morning walk.
I have taken hundreds of pictures of fire connections. Not sure why. Recently I have only added to this collection when I see a new use for them. Sometimes this is people perching on them. Sometimes they are holding up coffee, beer bottles, candy wrappers….
The City of Hudson clearly doesn’t believe in modern chemistry. Can’t think of the last time I saw so many dandelions.
My favorite stairs.
Maybe this is just part of a seasonal business’s normal cycle, but??
I know that this is a worn out topic here in Hudson. Nevertheless, I remain amazed at the bad taste of the county government to litter one of the best parks in the city with all of these signs. Why have a ark if you don’t want people to loll in the grass? Is the only purpose of this park to be a prop for war memorials? Why did they so proudly tout that a local builder had replaced the roof on the gazebo when it is almost never used? Strange thinking.
4/29/2011 – Royal Wedding at 114
Friday
Got up early and noticed people standing around outside PM Winebar. Kevin Moran, owner, had promised to open up early so that people could come and watch the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William together in front of his big screen. Apparently he he didn’t set an alarm.
So, with Susan Johnson bringing her scones and a couple of pots of coffee we invited those gathered to come in and watch on the gallery monitor.
~ 7:04 am
Couldn’t resist the hats…..
~ 7:31 am
Bunnies and Eggs and Other Things Eastery on Warren St.
Karen and I were taking a constitutional up Warren St this past Easter Sunday and noticed that despite the lack of the over the top decorations that seem to accompany every holiday in our country, Easter was not lost on Warren St. Merchants and residents just do up Easter here with more restraint, even delicacy.
Apologies for all of the reflections from the glass. I am not that much of a photographer.
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Getting things (Up)right in Hudson Signage
The city has been busy with its Spring cleaning. On a recent jaunt up Warren St. I was pleasantly surprised to see two eyesores in the Sixth St. Park at least brought upright and cleaned. The map of the city (mislabeled “directory” earlier) looked so much better that I first thought that it is new. But, on examining the photo from a year ago I have concluded that the glass and map have simply been cleaned.
Amazing what a little housekeeping can accomplish. I now am dropping my muttering about the need to tear down these as a sad commentary on our sense of civic pride. They may not be the most graceful public amenities but at least now they look as though someone cares.
Kudos to the folks at DPW!
| before | after |
 April 2, 2010 |
 April 21, 2011 |
 April 2, 2010 |
 April 24, 2011 |
Etsy.com Comes to Hudson
The rumors about etsy.com locating a new office in Hudson have been floating about for some time. Yesterday, Rob Kalin, the founder of etsy.com, placed this notice on our local business listserv.
Hi all,
Please allow me to humbly introduce myself. I know many people here already, and hope to know many more. I’m the founder & CEO of Etsy (www.etsy.com), which I started 6 years ago in my apartment in Brooklyn. My family is from New York (from Tarrytown up to Syracuse), and I’ve spent many a night in a lean-to amongst the Catskills.
Etsy currently employs 175 people, most of them in our Brooklyn office. As we continue to grow, it makes a lot of sense to me to open up an office in Hudson. I love the town, we found an incredible building (thank you Chris at the Cannonball Factory, and Theresa at Keystone for helping), and as everyone here knows — better than I do, I’m sure — there are so many great people. Denis at 711 is helping us with desks, too.
I started Etsy to create opportunities in the world — for myself, for small business owners, for people who make things, people who find things, and more. I love that we are be able to bring jobs to Hudson. Right now we’re working to get things setup. (As of this email, the building doesn’t even have heat! But that’s happening quickly.) Our plan is to start with customer support positions, and grow from there.
Etsy HQ will remain in Brooklyn, and I hope to grow our Hudson office to 50 employees or more. Jobs at Etsy come with a salary, benefits (medical, dental, vision) paid for in full by the company (including family plans). We’ll be posting actual job descriptions soon. If someone you now is interested, feel free to email me directly.
Our plan is to grow things at a measured pace, so we’re not really broadcasting anything yet. This email is probably the most public statement I’ve made so far. I’m happy to answer any q’s via email, and thanks for reading.
I hope to see you ’round,
Rob
This is great news for Hudson. How do we get the word out to more entrepreneurs in Brooklyn about the opportunities for them in Hudson?
Friday 1/7/2011
Conversation with Actinica. They continue to get more sales, but still need to develop better commercial sensibilities. Prompted them about acting on cash flow by asking a customer for an early payment. Then pointed out that they need to be ready to outline how they want to do business with a new possible vendor who has a track record as a rain maker. Still and all, a tremendous change in their sales and their self-confidence as business people instead of just engineers.
Finished up avageyer.com. What a strange world it is that parents are so hands on in working with their children to get into college. Obviously not unusual, but still strange. I don’t remember even a teacher at Taft reviewing my college essays let alone parents!
Second significant snow of the season.
Wednesday 1/5/2011
Woke up to snow flurries. Noticed the clear outlines of the heating coil in the sidewalk of the house across the street. Where is some plain common sense about energy and $? Even rich people should have some sense of embarrassment over such behavior.