Chemical People 1983 TV Movie

Magic-Man Skit

Chemical People was a two-part TV program examining the scope of drug and alcohol abuse among schoolchildren. The show aired on November 2, 1983.

Viewers learn how to spot which children are taking drugs and where to ship them for rehabilitation. Featured Nancy Reagan and Bruce Weitz, Chemical People provides an in-depth look at this growing epidemic, while also providing solutions for parents, educators, and children alike.

Bruce Weitz Skit

One of the memorable moments of the show was the "Magic Man" skit on the show. Here is the skit from my video collection:

Memorable Quotes

Some memorable quotes from the skit:

• The lady won't fly with a dude that's dry
• If you don't go ape over the Grape
• Pale Ale
• Without the suds your all duds
• Hey, a little heavy breathingg never hurt anybody
• This isn't any herb jack... all weed no seed
• Who's hot for some super pot
• Hey now, just thing thing for those all nighters when its exam time.
• Hey now, Cocaine running all around my brain.
• Plus they are extremely addictive

Health Care Services Scam Call

Why Do You Need to Know My Age?

You may have recently received a call from someone purporting to be from a health care services company, asking for personal information like your Social Security number or credit card number. This is a scam ??? do not provide any information to these callers!

There are several variations of this scam, but in all cases, the caller is trying to get your personal information so they can steal your identity or use your credit card without permission. They may even promise free health care services if you give them your personal details.

If you receive one of these calls, hang up and report it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). You can also file a complaint with the FTC online at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/.

Why Do You Need My Age?

Here's a caller pretending he works at Health Care Services. I asked him why he needs to know my age and he gives me a very strange response.

Final Expenses Phone Scam

Why do I keep getting these calls?

A recent scam making the rounds is targeting seniors with a promise of help paying for final expenses. The scammers call and say they are from a funeral home or other organization that helps with end-of-life arrangements. They then ask for personal information, such as Social Security numbers, in order to process the payment.

Don't be fooled by this scam! There is no legitimate organization that will contact you out of the blue and asks for your personal information in order to pay for your final expenses. If you receive a call like this, hang up immediately and report it to the FTC Consumer Sentinel Network .

There are several steps you can take to protect yourself from scams like this:

Sample Call

This is a sample of the Final Expense call that I get many times a day. In this call, the call get lost in some computer glitch and I end up hanging up because they are using too much of my time.

Yellow Can Man

Getting the Dumpster on the truck

This week's video features a truck loading up a 15-yard Dumpster onto a truck. Probably not the most exciting video that I have posted up on this site, but it is interesting to watch how they manage to get the heavy dumpster up on the truck. It seems like it would be difficult to get such a large object onto the back of a vehicle, but these professionals make it look easy!

I think this video is worth watching because it shows how much effort goes into waste management. It can be easy to take for granted all of the work that goes into keeping our environment clean, but videos like this remind us of just how important it is. I encourage you to watch this week's video and learn more about what goes into waste management!

Watch the Video!

Cash App Phone Scam

Why Do they keep calling me?

Cash App is a great way to send and receive money, but there are some scams that you need to watch out for.

One scam is when someone asks you to pay for something with Cash App and sends you a fake invoice. Be careful of any requests like this, and always make sure that the person or company you're paying is legitimate.

Another scam involves someone posing as a Cash App representative. They may ask for your personal information or try to get money from you by saying there's been an issue with your account. Don't give them any information and report the incident to Cash App immediately if this happens.

Phone Call

Listen in to this Cash App call that I got last week - Oh, I don't even have a Cash App account...

Stealing Identity

Some Scams Just want To Steal Your Info

I get calls all the time from companies like "Senior Care." Trying to sell me on some low-cost final expense that has "become available recently in my state." I'm not sure how many people have fallen for this, but it's a scam.

The caller usually starts by saying that they are from a company called Senior Care and they offer low-cost final expenses. They'll ask if you're interested in learning more, and then they'll try to get your personal information, like your Social Security number or date of birth. They may even promise freebies or discounts if you sign up right away.

Don't be fooled ??? this is a scam! Legitimate companies will never call you out of the blue and try to sell you something. If someone does call you with an offer like this, just hang up. Its not worth reporting to the FTC as they spoof their call-back number.

Are You Trying to Steal My ID?

In this quick call, I flat out asked the caller... are you stealing my identity. Hey if it was a legitimate call from "Senior Care" they would defend themselves...

Unexpected Voicemails

Couple of Weird Voicemail messages

This past week, I received a couple of very unusual voice mails. One was from the Tele-Ministry System and the other was from Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.

Tele-Ministry System message

I have no idea how they got my phone number, but they left a message asking me to call them back. I wasn't sure what to make of it, so I decided to do some research online. It turns out that the Tele-Ministry System is a religious organization that uses automated messages to spread their faith. After reading more about them, I decided that I didn't want anything to do with them and deleted the voice mail.

Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes message

Publishers Clearing House (PCH) is a legitimate company that runs sweepstakes and lotteries. However, there are many scams out there that use the PCH name in order to try and trick people into sending them money.

One common scam is when someone calls you claiming to be from PCH and saying that you've won a large prize. They may even tell you to call back on a specific number in order to "claim" your winnings. However, this is not how PCH operates - they will never contact winners directly by phone in order to award them a prize.

If you receive any calls like the one I got, it's important not to give out any personal information or money, and instead report the scammer call back number to authorities.

Voice Messages

Tele-Ministry System Transcript

Full Transcript from Hooper Communications:

Hello this is Tim Hooper from Mobile Alabama for the tele ministry system 
do you want to grow your ministry 
our church system is the only system that can call 1,500 people a day 
40,000 people a month in your own voice to invite to your church 
or to tell about the needs of your ministry 
our sister knows every cell phone number and landline number in the general public 
Pastor, make a message in your own voice and enter in any area code or zip code in our system makes everything all number in 3 seconds 
the person calls can leave a message 
go to your website to make a donation 
you could average 50 plus responses a day from people needing prayer 
people interested in joining your ministry 
people offering to make donations to the ministry 
one telephone call from you to the community could pay for the system in full from their donations
also our system can be used to contact any group of your church and your voice.

Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes Scam

Full Transcript of the scam:

Hello this is a secure phone call from the sweepstakes headquarters at 4800 Signature Dr., Raleigh, NC 
You are a selected winner with Publishers' Clearinghouse Sweepstakes 
and association with Windstar international 
your claim code is 100234 
I repeat 100234 
This represents the grand prize package of 2.5 million 
and the most awesome bonus prize ever 
A brand new 2022 BMW congratulations 
Please call our claim department at 623-264-1613 
Again 623-264-1613 
We will be expecting your call for clearance 
There will be agents available to assist with your delivery schedule thanks for your patience...

Operation 4k Camera

Testing the quality of 4k in a couple of cameras.

I brought 2 cameras to the 2022 Boston Marathon near the 5-mile mark - my GoPro Hero 9 and the Canon xa40.

Here is a sample of 4K footage from both cameras. They were taken from the same point moments apart. It???s a good idea of the quality of the videos p

Settings

GoPro Hero 9 - Default Activity Settings in 4K mode with wide lens.

Canon xa40 - Auto Focus and Auto Exposure in 4K mode

Video

iCloud Phone Scam

Audio recording of a scammer trying to steal my iCloud info

Every once in a while the house phone would get a call from Apple about my iCloud account. These are clearly scams because there's no reason for Apple to be calling you about your iCloud account.

In the following very brief call you can hear the person trying to set up the scam. I think that the next step would be for them to log into my account to "fix" the problem.

Phone Scam

Covid Mortgage Health Center

Do People Really Call Back?

I get a lot of strange calls. Most of the time I have my phone on Do Not Disturb. Every once in a while I???ll get a voice message from a potential scammer.

Here???s a voice mail that I got. They put some weird background music that made me want to put a slide show of flowers.

Transcript was provided by Apple and it seemed pretty accurate.

Transcript