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About skipbensley

Unabashed father, AV genius, part time dark knight, foodie, amateur chef, antifascist, volunteer and rabid Boston sports fan.

Please wake up Boston Bruins

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Dear Boston Bruins, Wake up you are in the playoffs. Hello anyone home? Do you really want it as bad as we do? You do realize that it was 1971 when you last skated lord stanley in the Old Boston Garden? Do you know that I have to distance myself now because of all of the heart braking loses since the 1980’s. You guys need to suck it up now and win. You supposedly had all the pieces for a deep run into something other then the night. Think about the diehard fans that bleed black and gold, the ones that have had season tickets since 1971. They want this, heck we want this it appears lots more then you do. You guys need to wake up, stop sleep walking and win the cup dam-nit.

Best Insurance Customer Service Ever

I have been a Commerce Insured driver for like 20+ years in Massachusetts. It’s not the company that is real good it’s their agent representatives. I think some of the Commerce Insurance antiquated systems need to be fixed, but that’s another blog written by somebody lots smarter than me. The Pevear Agency in Wellesley MA has always had the best customer Service people. Rick has a knack for finding people who care about their customers. I hear Commerce Insurance is looking into customer retention, Start with the Peveer agency, find out what Rick Pevear knows and then try and replicate it if you can. Kristy was my original saving grace and now Heidi is the Insurance savior. She just sent a check ( her own personal) for the balance on my insurance bill. It wasn’t much but ( I transcribed a few numbers) The fact that she just did it was way beyond customer service. She knew I would get cancelled otherwise by Commerce. Commerce Insurance sees people as dollar signs, balances due and transactions. The Pevear agency sees people well like people. Crazy idea huh?

Here is a link to the Pevear agency in Wellesley http://pevear.com/content/

It’s ok to be unhappy.

Today’s business moves fast, social media aids this. We are able to communicate, convey and be seen faster then ever before. A friend Ja-nae Duane posted a video recently about her own recent travels and what she learned about herself being on the road doing the social tour. She talked about being vulnerable and being able to lower you guard. Her video was poignant, and brave.

I mentioned on her Facebook that to take it a step further being real is ok. There has been a rather false assertion in social circles that the facade you is the transparent you. Thats not the case at all and anyone with any intelligence at all will see right through it anyway.
People come from different places and spaces, and they bring their baggage with them. It is ok to feel, and to be unhappy sometimes and not perfect. It’s also ok to be guarded sometimes around people. Some people online, are just not worth the offline time investment.
I think speaking your mind and being authentic rules. People ultimately will either accept you as you are, or not.
If they don’t accept you that’s OK also.


Spring Colds @#$$$%%#@ Why?


If you’re like me and I hope you’re not, I get a cold every spring. It’s like a change of season switch goes off and my immune system with it. Is it the time change? , too much sunlight? I don’t know why, I just get one and I can almost set my watch to it. It only lasts three days because I take zinc when I feel it coming on. Day 2 is always the worst day, forget about moving, its a just lie there and die day. This year I got a bonus of Chuck Barkley dissing the big east college basketball conference with Rick Pitino sitting next to him, made me laugh while I was dying. I also died when Pitt was bounced out by an official. Nice Call. Not. I also ate random bad for me comfort food and soup. I Drank a boat load of juice also. Not sure why I get this cold, I read a few articles about seasonal stuff and it could be allergies. Here is the article I read when I was dying this weekend on day 2. http://www.symptomfind.com/diseases-conditions/seasonal-allergies/ . By day three I was my chipper self and off to my daughter’s birthday party.

If you do feel a cold coming on get some cold zinc stuff, it kills your cold in ½. Drink Juice, eat soup, and feeling like your dying on day 2 is fine. Just know that by day three you better get on with your life.

We need to Send Help to Japan.

We really need to save Japan, we need to do everything we can to help them. They have suffered  what can only be described as the worst natural disaster in modern memory. They are also about to have a nuclear reactor melt down. I read about the bodies washing up on the shore of Japan and I think that could be California, or Hawaii or Florida.  It’s Horrific, They are our Allies. We need to do what we can.

What can we do? , We can donate what we can. Here are three groups you can send money to.

!. Unicef,  http://www.unicefusa.org/

2. World Vision,  www.worldvision.org

3. Samaritanspurse,  http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

#klout should be out, how helpful are you should be in.

Warning this is a rant.

We should not worry too much about #Klout, We should worry more about being helpful online and moving everyone forward. I think that the niche pirates have had their moment. They jumped the gatekeeper, created their own games, made their money, published their books helped themselves and their families and created really good #klout scores. Fantastic! Now what? .

We still have poverty, hunger, high unemployment, a dysfunctional government, and a ravaged education system. We export almost nothing and import everything. We have a million trillion billion dollar deficit. But we have #klout scores.

What we do well now it appears is create ways to amuse ourselves. Is that really an export? Is it really important to figure out who or what you influenece online? Really?

How about we start measuring how helpful a person is online, what positive outcomes can that person be directly tied to. What world changing event did they usher in? How about a “that was helpful” button for twitter and facebook?

Here’s my last thought. Ashton Kutcher has a Klout score of 97. George Clooney 0.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. – Rumi

Okcupid works but Okstupid did not turn his phone off.


Dating is different these days, you have a chance to find love on a variety of free websites. When you work two jobs you don’t really have time to meet people so you do what everyone else is doing. I joined ok Cupid at the recommendation of a friend that had met his GF on there. The interface is easy enough to navigate and its pretty easy to use and email people you might like to meet. I went on my first OK cupid Date tonight. She was better looking in person then her picture online, and she was very attractive.

I leave my phone on in case of emergencies with my kids. I have not talked with my friend Phil in awhile and he was call #1. Ignore go back to talking. WE chatted and then Andrew Calls me and although he and I have not spoken this year we have been playing phone tag. Ignore return to conversation with very nice very pretty first date.

Then the texts start from the ex about me telling my daughter she is going to Disney, and I don’t even believe it. Technology is a great thing sometimes. In this case it got me the date but it also took that same date away.

I was not surprised when she hit her remote starter as soon as we hit the parking lot, if roles were reversed I might have done the same thing.

Posted via email from The Bensleygram

Whats in your wallet? I hope it’s not Sears Credit run by CitiBank

I had a Sears card for a very long time almost 20 years, My dad was a big fan of Sears also and I spent some Satudays with him shopping at the Catalog store in my hometown of New Rochelle NY. He would sometimes leave me at the TV section go place an order then come back. It’s a nice childhood memory. Yes he came back for me.

Sears Credit is now run by Citibank. I was issued a new card last year, I never even took the sticker off it and never even called to activate it. Funny thing in August it bought itself an online subscription from a company in CA for $59.99. When I saw the bill I called and explained that someone must have gotten a hold of my number or was issued the same number for fraud had occured. They said I should send in a letter explaining and they would take care of it. I sent the letter and thought that it would be taken care of. They closed the bad account labeled it fraud and sent me another card with a new account. They also took the fraud charge and posted it to the new account.

Why? I have no idea.

I called them again and asked why they had not taken the fraudulent charge off my account? They said that I had to fill out a form and that the letter I sent in was no longer acceptable. The Affadavit would be mailed to me. I never got the affadavit, and I doubt they ever sent one.

I got a notice today and I now owe 86.77 on a fradulaent charge that I never made in the first place. I called and spoke to them again and tried to explain and I was told that they never received the affadavit and thats why the charge stands. I also noticed however that this fradulaent charge was now on my credit report as a past due bill. When I asked them to remove it because of their egregious error they said not without the filed affadavit. So basically Sears Credit aka Citibank has ruined my credit report over a 59.99 charge that I never made.

They did wave the late fees and interest on the fradulent charge I never made however and seemed happy with themselves that they did so. They assure me that they will fix it, once they have the affadavit, but I now have to baby sit Citibank and make sure they do the right thing this time every step of the way. I don’t trust Sears Citibank , would you?

Sadly, I also won’t go to Sears stores anymore either. It’s now relegated to just a nice childhood memory.

Posted via email from The Bensleygram

My seriously hopeful and delusional Superbowl Prediction.

This game will be a track meet. People say the Steelers will try and run the ball. I think they will put the Ball in Big Ben’s hands and have him throw throw throw. I think the Steelers know that the Packers will throw throw throw and since Rodgers is probably the hotter QB I think thats a good idea. You cannot establish the run when your 14 points down.

Both Defenses are vulnerable if you look at the stats. Packers aren’t great against the run and the Steelers are vulnerable to 4 and 5 wide sets. If the Steelers cannot get to Rodgers he will light them up like times square at rush hour. (go with it) Same with Big Ben if Pack doesn’t get him on ground he will get passes to his receivers.

I think this game will come done to two things, Special teams and a field goal kick. I like the Packers 34-31.

Posted via email from The Bensleygram