Hey AOL, you’re going to get a lot of mail
SAN FRANCISCO
– Two California men got so sick of receiving America Online
promotional compact disks they decided to do something about it.
Now they’ve had thousands delivered to their doors.
Hey AOL, you’re going to get a lot of mail
SAN FRANCISCO – Two California men got so sick of receiving America Online promotional compact disks they decided to do something about it. Now they’ve had thousands delivered to their doors.
Jim McKenna and John Lieberman, who are both in their 30s and work in information technology, are collecting the CDs from the four corners of the globe and say that when they get one million they’re going to AOL’s front door in Virginia to say, “You’ve got mail.”
“Basically, we’ll enlist the help of volunteers who are willing to take a pickup load and drive back to AOL headquarters with us,” said McKenna. “We will be as obvious as possible and very polite.”
With the assistance of their Web site, the El Cerrito men have collected more than 80,000 disks, which offer trial subscriptions to AOL’s services.
Their site, which has received more than one million hits since it was launched in July of 2001, features pictures of the various things people have done with their unwanted disks and even has a section of Haiku poems that disgruntled folks have written about the CDs.
Salinas home break for foster parents
SALINAS – Solving two problems at once gets the table cleared quickly, and that’s just what Monterey County is doing with two serious issues – the lack of affordable housing and foster homes.
Under the first program of its kind in California, the county has decided to help find homes for families willing to take in foster children on short notice.
The program is backed by the county and the private Charitable Council. It will begin modestly – with two homes – but could expanded if there is enough interest. The first families could move in this spring.
“Many counties are looking at better incentive programs, but this is one of the best ideas to come along,” said Will Lightbourne, executive vice president of the County Welfare Directors Association of California.
Monterey County’s initial plan, approved last week, calls for advocates to raise $550,000 to buy two $225,000 homes. The homes would be leased to foster parents. In return, a portion of the rent would go into an escrow account to be used on a down payment three years later.
Santa Cruz parking woes
SANTA CRUZ – Howls of anguish from people who live downtown but can’t find parking is leading city officials to explore a neighborhood permit plan that could limit all-day nonresident parking.
The plan is popular with residents. The system would include provisions for downtown workers, but some say finding a spot is already so hard that limiting it any further would make it incredibly difficult.
