Life In The Office

As always, Dave gives us the view as a Scranton Insider:

Hello, folks! Another week, another episode of The Office. Here we go.

Terrified of having to tell his staff about the pending cuts in the Dunder-Mifflin health plan, Michael goes on a mission throughout Scranton to find a “big surprise” to offset the bad news. He first lands at Scranton Travel, Inc. The address label we see lists the agency as residing at 150 Adams Avenue in Scranton, with a zip code of 18503.

Scranton Travel, Inc. is indeed a real place, and that’s its real address. Specifically, the reservation center is on Adams Avenue, and the main offices can be found just a few blocks away on North Washington Avenue. Both locations are in the downtown area and very close to Dunder-Mifflin.

While at the travel agency, Michael asks about “those busses” that go to Atlantic City and pretty much comp or include the price of everything you’d want to do over on the Jersey shore. He’s half right about this.

Bus tours do in fact leave Scranton for the high-rolling casinos of Atlantic City, New Jersey fairly regularly, but you don’t get included food, comped rooms or anything like that (though you they may throw in a few chips or something).

Michael soon exits Scranton Travel and picks up his cell phone. He calls the Lacakwanna Coal Mine Tour (how cool that a genuine pamphlet was on the show! I have to give the props department…well…props). (link) This is very much a real thing, and yes, it is 300 feet below ground (and no, the journey into the mine isn’t a free fall as Michael suggested. That proved to be rough on the miners).

I’ve taken the tour many times myself, and it’s a lot of fun. In fact, it was my go-to activity for out of town visitors. Once you’ve been issued your mining helmet, you board the winch-driven cable car and begin the slow descent (about four minutes) into the mine, where it’s a constant 50 degrees. You then get out and walk around the mine, learning all about how mines were created, the coal extracted and the day’s results hauled back up to the surface. I think it’s pretty interesting, actually, and all of the tour guides I’ve met down there have known their stuff. At the end, you receive an “Honorary Miner” certificate. If you’re ever in Scranton, check it out.

Ok, infomercial over. This episode wasn’t as jam-packed with references as previous episodes, but these two were pretty good. Thanks for reading, folks. Talk to you again soon.

As always, Dave gives us the view as a Scranton Insider:

Hi, folks. Last night’s episode, “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” was just bursting with Scranton fun. Let’s get right to it.

Early in the episode, Stanley mentions Jitterz at the Steamtown Mall. There is so much in that tiny sentence that I get giddy just typing the words. Jitterz (formerly The Beanery) is on the 2nd floor of the Steamtown Mall, just outside the food court, across from what used to be The Great Train Store. Many of the Mall employees spend their work breaks slurping down a coffee or two at Jitterz (I know, as I used to know a couple of long-time mall employees). Stanley’s daughter Melissa would certainly hang out at Jitterz as well, since it’s in the mall and she’s, well, a teenage girl. Teenage girls tend to like malls. Speaking of the mall…

It’s called The Steamtown Mall because of the Steamtown National Historic Site that is literally in the mall’s backyard. It’s a terrific collection of steam locomotives (including the enormous “Big Boy,”), dining cars to passenger cars and everything else you could think of. The city of Scranton purchased the collection from its former home in Vermont many years ago in an effort to revitalize the city’s economy and boost tourism. It was rough going at first (the initial excursion took you past one of the nation’s largest junk yards), but the National Park Service has really whipped things into shape as of late. Trains played a big role in the early history of Scranton and Lakawanna County (where Scranton is located). In fact, the huge train station in town was converted into a big hotel many years ago (Incidentally, it was in front of the then empty train station that I met Martin Sheen when he was filming the movie That Championship Season in Scranton as a lad). Also, Michael probably purchased his wooden “train whistle” at the mall or the Steamtown gift shop.

As I mentioned, the Steamtown Train collection had some serious financial troubles when it was first introduced to the city many years ago. Noticing this, DJ’s Daniels and Webster from local radio station Rock 107 (Dwight’s favorite rock station) recorded a parody song that poked fun at the situation called “Chapter 11 Choo Choo.” I thought it was pretty funny back then, and I’m glad to be able to share it with you here.

Note that, at one point, he says, “…let’s hope we don’t lose the mall.” When this was recorded, the deal to construct the downtown mall (which would become the Steamtown Mall) was very much up in the air.

Ok, enough about Steamtown and the Mall. We found out later on that Michael’s mom lives in Dickson City, which is approximately a fifteen minute drive from downtown Scranton. Their mall is the Viewmont Mall. But I digress.

Towards the end of the episode, Ryan mentions to Michael that he had ordered pizza from Brunetti’s. This is a real place, and it’s on Sanderson Avenue in Scranton, certainly within driving distance from Dunder-Mifflin. There’s also a Brunetti’s Super Market (no relation, as far as I know), which is right on the corner of North Main and Lakawanna Avenue. Their slogan is “The Meat People.” When I was a kid, there was a 2nd, smaller Brunetti’s market on the other side of town. I was friendly with the owner’s kids, and we used to run around the inside of the delivery truck. Nice, huh?

Finally, let’s talk about Fundle Bundle. No, it wasn’t a real show (at least that I remember, and Michael and I would have been little kids in Scranton at approximately the same time). There was, however, a real local kids’ show called Hatchy Milatchy that was the greatest thing to ever leak from a boob tube. The host was Miss Judy (as opposed to the “Miss Trudy” of Fundle Bundle) who, along with the fez-wearing magician Uncle Ted, showed cartoons, did little skits and otherwise enchanted us kids. If it was your birthday, Miss Judy would say something like, “David in west Scranton is having is fifth birthday today. David, if you look behind the blue chair in the living room, I think you’ll find a surprise.” You’d run to the chair, stunned, and find a present waiting for you. To a five year old, that was legitimate, voodoo-style magic. I still remember the creepy thrill of it. My sister actually appeared on the show once. As one final treat for you this week, here is the theme song from Hatchy Milatchy. (link to mp3)
Thanks for reading, folks. I’m already looking forward to next week.

As always, Dave gives us the view as a Scranton Insider:

First of all, let me say it’s good to be back! Let’s wait a couple of years before we do that Olympics thing again, ok?

In this week’s episode, Dwight is named Dunder-Mifflin Paper Salesman of the Year, and Pam continues the wedding preparations while Jim plans to skip town. I have to admit, there were a couple of puzzling references for me this week, but we’ll get to those later.

The best reference in this episode was so quick, I never would have caught it if not for my TiVo. While chatting in the break room with Pam, Jim is drinking from a mug that says, “Together building a better Scranton. Restoring the Pride.” In the fact, the scene begins with a head-on shot of the mug, but pans up very quickly. I was floored to see it.

“Restoring the Pride” is the slogan of a major initiative to revitalize the city, both physically and economically, especially the downtown area. Banners and signs are posted all over the place, especially at sites of great construction and renovation. There are a lot of great, old buildings in town that have been in disrepair for a long time, that are now being worked on and given new life. It is highly likely that most office buildings in Scranton have at least one “Restoring the Pride” mug in residence.

Later, Dwight regales the staff with a story about a fictional car accident on Rte. 84 West. Rte 84 is one of the main highways (along with 380 and The Eternal Construction Project, Rte 81) that intersects the city. In fact, the staff would have travelled Rte. 84 West to get to Lake Wallenpaupack in nearby Hawley, Pa., which they visited in the “Booze Cruise” episode.

Now we get to this week’s puzzlers. Pam mentions that her wedding reception will be held at “The V.A.” I’ve got to say, I’m stumped. What’s The V.A.? Earlier in the episode, Jim mentions that his status as the ninth most successful Dunder-Mifflin salesperson got him a pizza from “Pagino’s?” Of course, there’s no Chili’s in Scranton either, despite the show’s depiction. So, I guess they’re allowed the occasional error.*

So that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading, and I’ll talk to you again soon.

As always, Dave gives us the view as a Scranton Insider:

Ok, first and foremost: I want a Dwight bobble head. There, I said it. Now, on with the show.

Towards the end of the episode, we saw a Froggy 101 bumper sticker. Froggy is a local country radio station.

This episode finds Michael off to New York to make a financial presentation to the Dunder Mifflin big wigs. While taking in the sights (and chain restaurants) of the big city, Michael compares New York to “…Scranton on acid. No, speed. No, steroids.” This got me thinking: If Scranton were a living thing, and was able to take drugs, and did take drugs, what would its experience be?

Scranton is an old coal mining town. Anthracite coal was (and still is, for all I know) mined all over the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania. In fact, my parents’ house is still heated by a coal furnace (the hot water, too). Every few months an enormous “coal truck” backs up to the house, attaches a sled to a small door at the foundation of the house and dumps two tons of coal into a “coal bin” in the basement (yes, tons). For the uninitiated, a coal bin is a small room that can hold a couple tons of coal, and is primarily used as a means to make your male child’s life miserable by forcing him to lug coal from the bin to the “hopper” next to the furnace via a rusted and habitually damp pail several times per week, covering himself with black coal dust and soot (I’m only a little bitter). So, if our “junkie Scranton” were to take acid, I imagine it would have hallucinations of talking lumps of coal, a floating coal truck and any number of nasty things you can imagine a pail doing. Since none of these options say “The Big Apple” to me, we can assume that NYC is not Scranton on acid.

Scranton on speed is possible, but I think that Scranton on steroids would closely resemble New York. Bigger, lumpier and prone to occasional bouts of ‘roid rage.

The highlight of the Valentine’s Day episode was easily Michael’s presentation that he “…made on [his] Mac.” I’m glad Michael’s a Mac user. That would explain his iTunes playlist. Anyway, in his video he says, “Life moves a little slower in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and that’s how we like it.” Slower? Hm, I’m not certain what he meant by that. Slower than Scranton on speed, surely.

My one disappointment from this week: I really wanted to see the name of the florist who was bringing all the flowers and gifts in. Ah well, you can’t have everything. That’s it for this week folks. Thanks for reading, and I’ll talk to you again soon, heyna?

This is the first of what will be a weekly addition to Life In The Office. I present to you, Dave Caolo. You may recognize his name from The Unofficial Apple Weblog, but around this part of the office he is the “Scranton Insider.” Dunder Mifflin is based in Scranton, PA and Dave is a Scranton native. Each week, he’ll give us a few things you wouldn’t notice unless you are a Scrantonian.

So, at the risk of me being outblogged on my own blog, here is the Scranton Insider on “The Carpet”. Show him some love.

In tonight’s episode of The Office, Michael is displaced from his office for the day when he discovers…well, a poop on the carpet. A thorough cleaning by the custodian doesn’t take care of the smell, so Michael has the whole thing ripped up. But enough about the plot, let’s talk about all the great Scranton references that appeared in this week’s episode!

Pam explains that she spent her vacation in “The Poconos.” This is where every Scrantonian spends his/her vacation. It’s about thirty miles south of Scranton on Rte. 380. Most Scrantonians refer to the Poconos as “The Hideaway,” and always return complaining that it’s infested with vacationing New Yorkers.

While sharing close quarters with Michael, Dwight was trying to win a radio contest with the station Rock 107. This is a real station, and has existed for as long as I can remember. It’s in the same building as the Scranton Times newspaper, and the huge radio tower that’s on top of the building (which is strung with Christmas lights year round, by the way, although they’re only lit in December) is commonly referred to as “The Times Tower.”

When I was a kid, the morning show on Rock 107 featured a pair of DJ’s named Daniels and Webster. They were really pretty funny, and most of their humor poked fun at life in Scranton. Scrantonians have a peculiar way of speaking, and there are certain words that don’t appear outside the 18504 area code. The most notable is “Heyna.” It’s a bastardization of the phrase, “ain’t it,” and can be used to request your listener’s confirmation of any statement you make, simply by tagging it on to the end of a sentence. For example, “These hot dogs are good, heyna?” This means, “Do you agree that these hot dogs are good?” Daniels and Webster once recored a parody song called “The Heyna Family” to the tune of “The Aadams Family” that ripped on this practice pretty brutally. People wore T-shirts that said, “Heyna Proud.” It was amazingly funny (and sad). (You can hear the song here if you’re interested.)

Finally this week, there’s a flyer on the refrigerator in the staff break room for Abe’s Deli. Abe’s is a real place. It’s a kosher deli on Wyoming Avenue right in the middle of downtown, and it’s just fantastic. This appearance of the Abe’s flyer is kind of interesting, as it helps pinpoint just where in Scranton the Dunder Mifflin building is located. In the opening credits, we see a street sign that reads “Mulberry Street.” This is one of the main streets in town, and is only a block and a half away from Abe’s. Also, at the end of Mulberry Street is Mifflin Avenue. Coincidence? I don’t think so!

That’s all for this week. Check back here after the next episode, and I’ll have more “Scranton insider” information for you.

It’ll be fun, heyna?