oceancityrealtor's Blog

Ahhh, as a wide eyed youth attempting to become a muscular young man I decended upon the World Gym (long gone) at Wheaton Plaza. As I entered I was hit with the "clanging" of wieghts, bright colors of the gym clothes of the "era" (thank GOD they are long gone) and the distinct smell of a locker room et al. Anyway, I jumped in to the scene...of, molecular dislocation.

This is a term used by my favorite radio personality, or BOSS JOCK, the Greaseman"! Who as it turned out would ultimately join my new favorite place to hang out...World Gym.

Well, the ole' gym crowd was filled with "personalities"...not necessarily famous...just personalities. You had the hair plugged late fifties guys, the make-up laden house wives/or ex-housewives- spandex and all, the young aspiring football/baseball jock kids (me and friends), the actual fitness freaks spending hours on treadmills and aerobic classes, and the hero's of the day (sadly) the JUICERS....although at the time I (among my peers) did not no they were?

Anyhow, at the gym (I had become quite the gym rat) I had a chance to "spot" (term for watching/helping someone while they were lifting heavy wieghts) a man who was very nice and altogether familiar...his voice was anyway. I dared to ask him if I knew him and he said his name is Doug, but he is known as "The Greaseman"....WHAT! Are you kiddin me, unbelievable , I knew (me the teenage Jay...pimples and all) the freakin' Greaseman..."Nino" the BOSS JOCK himself...wow. And beyond all of this he was a cool, nice down to earth guy, who after the initial "wow" factor wore off became just a friend at the gym to me.

I worked summers in Ocean City, MD (my home now) and the Grease's Band played at a local bar...I went and met the Grease there...and what instant cred that gave a single summer cop that night? I don't need to say anymore. The picture is of me, The Greaseman and a good friend and old supervisor of mine Timmy Keane the night of the show.

How glad i am to hear the Grease is back "at home" with DC-101 on Saturday mornings! When I am in the DC area I won't miss his broadcasts....unique and creative....everything that is missing from all the other morning garbage shows nowadays. Thanks Grease you made an impression on an old gym rat now...when you are in Ocean City look me up...and we'll head over to 67th St...where I still workout at World Gym. Now, I am afraid to admit I fall into some kids list of "personalities" at the gym....

I won't pretend to take credit for this...but like all of us our "Inboxes" get filled with forwarded stuff all the time. 98% of the time I just "Delete" them...but some, like this strike a cord...Hope you enjoy...:

 I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to  know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!


There was no email! ! We had to actually write somebody a letter ...with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!


There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!


We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone And somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!


And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, You had no idea wh o it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss,  your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like "Space Invaders" and "asteroids" and the graphics sucked BLEEP! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels  or screens, it was just o ne screen forever!

And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder And faster and faster until you died! . Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you wer e just screwed!


Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!


You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off Your BLEEP and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we Had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire .... imagine that! If we Wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over th e stove forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled.

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,
The over 30 Crowd

www.awisemove.net

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and enjoys this time of year, no matter the faith!

If you get a chance, before January 2nd, make a trip to Ocean City and check out the Winterfest of Lights. It is pretty awesome in it's "slightly" tacky way...and a nice time for all ages. You will be driven around Northside Park in a trolley while listening to Christmas music themed to correspond with the light displays. After your ride, jump off and let the kids visit Santa, and grab a hot chocolate (no liquor unfortunately)...lots of fun.

Take a minute or two this year and think of all our troops abroad fighting the good fight...GOD Bless them and our USA!

www.awisemove.net

My first, but definately not my last, visit to the Disney World Resorts ended on Wednesday...but the memories will last a lifetime. Thanks ,first to my wife Barbie,for the surprise trip and a great new friend and "cast member", whom I'll refer to as Mr. "D", at the Magic Kingdom. Here's the story...

Barbie and I were all set to catch the "Magical Express" to Orlando International in the early afternoon Tuesday for our flight back to "reality"...if you call Ocean City "reality". So, to enjoy the remainder of our fantastic Disney experience, we decided to spend our remaining hours at the Magic Kingdom.

Entering the Magic Kingdom is an experience unto itself with the music playing, the sounds, the smells, Main Street U.S.A., Cinderellas Castle as a backdrop...well just the whole experience. We were walking along Main Street, and I took a moment to look under a trash can on the sidewalk. I did this because I thought I saw or read that Disney was built abve ground and that the Magic Kingdom actually sat on the second floor. I heard, with this, that the garbage went straight to a shoot of some kind to the first floor where it was jettisoned away to some magic dump? Well, I heard the story partially correct as I was to find out.

A gentleman, later identified as Mr. "D", asked me how he could help me as I looked under the trash can. I explained that I'm kind of strange and began to bore him with the paragraph from above.... Well, he began to tell me some very interesting trivia about Disney and specifically the Magic Kingdom. Mr. "D" told me that the names on the second floor windows were tributes to those that helped create Disney on one level or another, and that they had a story to tell, each window on Main Street. Mr. "D" also told me the only name that faces the "Castle" is in honor of Walt Disney (Walt E. Disney).

I can only tell you Mr. "D" encompassed everything you would expect from a Disney cast member, and somthing we all should aspire too. He is a genuine, happy and caring person who told of some inspiring, touching and exciting experiences he has encountered in his years with Disney.

Mr. "D" then turned to Barbie and I and asked us if we would be interested in being the Grand Marshals of the Disney World Parade on that day...Tuesday August 21st, 2007? Asked? Interested? Whattaya' kiddin' me.....I was jumping out of my skin...me, Barbie, Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy the whole crew? Geez, what are the odds and can I just say honestly- I would not have rather won the lottery- honestly.

Mr. "D" then escorted us ,in all his Disney graciousness, to an office in "Town Hall" where I sat and immediately made flight and hotel changes to extend our trip one more wonderful day. We were then off to "It's a Small World", "Splash Mountain", "Jungle Cruise" and "Thunder Mountain" to enjoy some rides and wait for our BIG EVENT!

Two-thirty at the gates in Frontier Land we met Mr. "D" again, and this time he was with another family from Conneticut. Mr. "D" introduced us to the family who had just won a nights stay at Cinderellas suite in the Castle...WOW! Disney Dreams....We then got our Mickey ears from Mr.  "D" with our names on 'em and all. We got a quick tutorial (just for fun) on how to give a Disney wave to a passing train and then the band and dancers showed up. We boarded our car, and shared the occasion with Donalds (the duck that is) girlfriend "Daisy Duck" in our car. Then the music and announcements began...."Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls...." and to hear, announced through all of the Magic Kingdom "Our Grand Marshals today are Jay and Barb Wise from OCean City, Maryland", I gotta' say was surreal.

Well, the parade was just as surreal, every once in a while someone would yell, "Ocean City" and I'd give a smiley thumbs up (with a dumbfounded look on my face).

Once in a Lifetime, for an ordinary REALTOR, from a great State, married to a beautiful girl and honored to have met a very wonderful person in Mr. "D"...my thank you to all. My thanks to DisneyWorld - Dreams Do Come True.

Grand Marshal Jay

www.awisemove.net

If you've been to OC Maryland lately, like within the past couple of years. I would really enjoy Fox5 Bloggers opinions on some of the hotels, restaurants, bars, amusements and any other Ocean City spot or activity that you would like to rate. I will compile the feedback from Fox5 as well as several other (very unscientific) means and post the results on my website at www.awisemove.net. Thanks in advance and I'll see you in OC!

This time of year for all of us, "OC Locals", is a time of anticipation and preparation for the upcoming Spring and Summer. Traditionally Presidents Day weekend is the beginning of a slow but steady increase in tourism on weekends.

The anticipation of a summer still a few months off, what will it bring? Seasonal businesses start opening Presidents Day with the majority up and running "full tilt" by the end of March. The boardwalk becomes increasingly busy with all the smells so common to the boardwalk (popcorn, fries, cotton candy...mmmm) and the sounds that add to the memories (boardwalk tram horns, bells and chimes from the arcades, and the cries of seagulls fighting for scraps). We who live here and see the sun rise over the ocean year 'round will tell you, that we notice the suns shadow shift this time of year...and it is a shift we enjoy...a shift towards summer!

When and if you enjoy vacationing in Ocean City is your favorite time of year, and when do you begin returning to the beach to create some new memories?

www.awisemove.net

I must admit when it comes to making people realize that they are not meant to be entertainers this Brit knows how to tell it like it is..and for the most part I agree with his comments. However, on the Seattle episode I was disturbed by Simons comments towards a guy, that was very obviously, "challenged".
I think, if not for a lucky call with the "Spice Girls" this idiot has very little to offer our culture. He really should be careful in his comments. The guy he put down, was truly hurt by "Simons" comments. I don't think it is too hard to see who has delusions of granduer and who is a bit challenged. I am,by far, one who believes one has the right too speak what they feel, but also one that believes in compassion first.
Simon,I have always believed, that you are in poor physical shape (ie. should not wear the clothes you do),a bit arrogant for your own good, and certainly have no right to put down my fellow Americans.
These are my beliefs, and I would certainly watch the fellow he made fun of, before I would ever watch his show again!
Stand up to this degradation of our culture and moral beliefs, and defend those less fortunate!
www.awisemove.net

You know I'm not usually one that gets involved in ANY celebrity news...but, I am intriqued by this fued. Rosie very outspoken "uber" left wing "C" list celebrity,going toe to toe with "The Donald" , another "C" list celebrity ( "A" list businessman),but a right leaning personality. I have followed more the sides we are taking, us "ordinary" (no list) folk, and developing my own ideas on where the supporters sit in relation to their politcal/socioeconomic opinions.

My question if you care to respond,is to whom you support, why, and your profession or political affiliation.

My answer is "The Donald".
Why- He owns the rights to the contest (Ms. Universe),and he has every right to enforce the pageants morality rules (not his personal standard as dictated by his actions).
My political affiliation is Republican (not far right, but moderate).

Thanks for reading - Jay
www.awisemove.net

No matter whos "side" your on I'd love to hear what you say?

Hooray Comcast for bringin' back some hometown news, for us transplanted Washingtonians.

Just to let you all know back in DC, we have plenty of folks eager to sell top notch properties down here,... on Marylands Beautiful Eastern Shore.

Now, I've got to turn on Channel 95 to watch "Channel 5"...whatever, its on...again, at last.

See ya- Jay www.awisemove.net or email at jay@jaywise.net.