Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The pretty colors of fall

Summer is quickly coming to an end. One of the things I miss about the north is the change of seasons. We have been in Florida now for a year, as such, we have experience all four seasons: fall, winter, spring, and summer.

Up north the seasons are drastically different, leaves change, trees come in and out of live and the landscape changes. In Florida we have really only two seasons, hot and hotter! No matter where you go in Florida it all looks the same, flat and green, with the occasional water spot.

Today, I can officially consider my self a Floridian as we been visited by a snake. This evening my wife went to get the mail after returning from a long workout and a bit of grocery shopping. As I'm putting the last of the groceries away, I hear her scream my name. I quickly ran out to the garage where she was standing to the side of the garage door ranting about some snake, I look over to the right and in the corner was a small and colorful snake.

One thing you don't want to mess with is snakes, they can be quite dangerous and poisonous, although most statistics will tell you that only 17 bites a year in the US turn fatal. We don't want to become a statistic. Needless to say, I quickly reach for a broom and swung the snake a few feet over to the garden where it quickly faded away into the evening. My wife, the obsessive researcher that she is, wasn't able to find a picture of a snake like the one we had, but I'm pretty sure it was not poisonous. The small thing was maybe two feet long and a couple of inches in diameter, but being that it had multiple rings of color, she wanted to be in the know.

The bottom line is that if you come across an unknown your best bet is to be cautious and not to panic. Quickly find a long object to put some distance between you and the creature and shut the door as quickly as possible. Most snakes, like all animals, are usually seeking food and shelter. They are probably more scare than you are. After all you are much bigger than they are. My one regret is that in my rush to rid of the creature I didn't snap a photo, perhaps next time I'll think more clear.

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Friday, June 20, 2008

Melissa Etheridge - Revival Tour

My wife bought tickets to go see Melissa Etheridge for the June 19th concert in Jacksonville, FL. I said wtf, how bad could it be, lets do it. So we went down to the landing for dinner, dine on some fine Italian, the best so far in Jax, but mind you that there just aren't that many Italian restaurants in Jax, and don't get me started on the pizza situation.

I digress, the concert was very revitalizing as marketed by the title. I never thought I would enjoy a Melissa Etheridge concert, but I actually would venture to say that this one was one of the best, if not the best concert experience I have had. It had a very unplugged feel to it, yet all the mechanics of the typical rock band were present. She was very low key, yet her voice was as powerful as it was 20 years or so ago. I think what made this different was that there was some story telling involved. Melissa paused between songs to tell the audience about the song and where she was in her life, both personal and professional, at the time which led to the motivation for the lyrics. I found this type of performance refreshing and honest.

She concluded with her battle for cancer and living with no regrets. She encourage the audience to look deep within themselves and ensure that they live their lives as they would want, because there is only this one.

These messages hit very close to home. We moved to Jax to experience a better live but is a better live a financial statement or a more relax and sedentary one?

The bottom line is that we have made a great home down in the Jacksonville area. We have done well economically as well, but no better than we were doing in CT, the biggest change is the quality time I get to have with my wife. We have now pick up golfing together and sharing more moments together. I think that's what life is about experiencing joy with the one you love and choose to spent your years with. Intellectual curiosity is also another factor to consider, as humans our number one gift is the gift of learning and we should strive to learn at least one new thing a day, whether is to expand and promote growth in your career or to learn a new technique to improve upon your hobby, is just crucial to never stop learning. Once you decide you can't learn anymore, then you might as well select your grave next.

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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Package Design

I have always been intrigued with design, specifically package design. There are so many ways to present an item, and yet so many designs exists for items of similar fashion. For example, I have at my desk to soda cups. One is from Longhorn, a steakhouse restaurant chain in the Jacksonville Area, another is from Daily's, the local store in the Shell Gas station. They both served as drink holders and hold the same amount, yet one is skinny in the bottom and the other one is straight up tall.

I can only imagine the meetings that took place to come up with each one of those designs. The arguments taking place, "no that's not going to fit in a standard cup holder", others stating, "have you any idea how long the straw is going to have to be?"

The bottom line us that there are many creative individuals in this world. You see them as inventors, marketers, advertising agents, and many other fields. I hope to one day come up with something as brilliant as these designs a friend forwarded in an email:













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Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Tech Sales Person

Every once in a while I know I shouldn't answer my phone, but I'm a senior member within my organization and I pride myself on addressing everyone's needs even if it mean being on the phone for an hour discussing the latest blogging strategies or working out a marketing and design plan with someone.

Since I only deal on the phone with VIP I seldom purposely send them to voicemail. This morning my phone rang, I quickly looked around the office and notice it wasn;t one of my colleagues calling. I thought about letting the voicemail pick up the phone, but my thoughts quickly died and I answered the phone. What do you know, it was this account manager who has been calling me once a month for the past 6 month. Even though I keep reminding him that I buy and deal straight with Dell he insits on calling. I decided to throw him a bone and make his day by telling him that I'm looking for a couple of desktops and four laptops. At first, he thought I was going to go with my usual, I'm all set, we're in a recession, etc, but he did a flip back when I told him what I needed. He even remember that I only buy Dell and told me that they recently partnered with Dell and he could get me better deals that the Gold level account I have with Dell. I though he was the real deal, a sales guy that actually listen and remember my needs.

I just received an email and all he quoted me was IBM and HP. Don't get me wrong I think those are fine brands, but I only buy Dell, not because I like them. As a side note, I should mention that I'm very dissapointed with Dell recently and have receive nothing, but grieve with the new Desktop and Laptop I purchase two month ago. The only reason why I buy Dell is because of our corporate account with them. I digress, my point is that out of the five quotes I received, none are for Dell computers.

The bottom line is that as a salesperson you need to be sharp. Not only should you be able to get through on the cold call, but you have to pay attention and remember what your customers tell you.

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Thursday, January 03, 2008

Happy 2008!!!!

The year is already off to a good start based on a very successful Christmas Holiday. I received all the presents I could have hoped for, and was off from work for the entire Christmas week. I didn't gained any weight, mostly because I had a cold for the first few days I was off. I finally got to play golf and found myself quite rusty rounding out 18 holes at a shameful 108.

The family trips were uneventful and everyone got here when they were supposed to. On the way home, however, American Airlines once again disappointed and left my parents stranded for 8 hours with a broken down plane resulting in a transfer of airports from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami via taxi. $104 complements of AA.

The family visit was just wonderful enough that now my sister and brother-in-law are frantically looking for jobs in the Jacksonville area as they cannot wait to come enjoy the great weather and cheap housing opportunities that the Jax market has to offer.

On the Web front, 2008 has been declared the year for online marketing by the President of Forbes.com. Here is the excerpt:

NAME: Jim Spanfeller
TITLE: President and CEO, Forbes.com
2008 PREDICTION: If history looks back at 2007 as the tipping point for interactive media and the ad dollars that have migrated to the Web, pushing it to a position of prominence as a central media platform for advertisers, 2008 will be the year of the Interactive Marketer. CMOs now get the Web and have personal experience around its ability to power their brands, activate their customers and fuel their data analysis and marketing allocation optimization. The Web is still only at the beginning of its evolution and will remain a source of media innovation for some time, but the focus going forward will be less about the media and more about the marketer. The digitization of media will continue to disrupt the traditional media model and we will see more “late to the party” web acquisition and initiatives from major media players. From this perspective, 2008 will be a make or break year for companies like Time Warner and many of the major newspaper companies in the country.

The bottom line is that if all goes as plan I too shall benefit from the Web in 2008. Hope you have a healthy and wealthy 2008. May your worst day in 2008 be your best day of 2007. Stay Tuned...

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Friday, December 21, 2007

Tracking Santa

Well the time is upon us. All the presents I was responsible for are under the tree and hopefully Santa will be fortifying those with more in a couple of nights. My folks flew in courtesy of American Airline miles. Have I mention how much I hate american airlines? I hate them so much that I used up all my miles to flight my kid in a few weeks ago just so I wouldn't have to feel guilty about loosing them, because I will never fly American Airlines ever again.

Back to Xmas, My first Xmas in Jacksonville has been off to a great start, except for a few days at the beginning of this week is been nothing but 70 and 80 degree weather and I don't miss shoveling the snow at all. I'm very happy is almost here, after all I get four or five days off and we had a great Xmas party at work today to get the weekend started, not to mention the very generous gift ($$$) we all receive from the Boss man.

The rest of the family is driving in and the vehicles are packed. The most distant one is driving a good 15 hours, but will be worth their while.

Santa is the last to arrive and we will be tracking his arrival via Norad. The NORAD Tracks Santa (NTS) program has been around for a long time, since 1955 to be exact! And while NORAD has the "history" and excellent technology to track Santa, NORAD cannot expend government funds on the program. Besides the short time a NTS Project Officer spends "managing" the program, NORAD spends only the minimal amount of funds on NTS. The NTS program is funded through generous contributions, this year one of the biggest contributors is Google.


The bottom line is that Xmas is the most wonderful time of the year and I hope you enjoy it with many love ones surrounding you. Don't forget to make your New Year resolutions as 2008 is only a few days away.

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Friday, December 14, 2007

Tis the season for gift giving: The Golden Globe

With Christmas around the corner, and I'm yet to buy or send a single present, it seems that the only thing to do is to postpone the holiday shopping some more and focus on more important things, like the Golden Globes Awards.

This year is particularly exciting for me as my favorite TV shows and actors are finally nominated. These include Californication, Pushing Daisies, and 30 Rock. I'm really pushing for Californication, I thought for sure the show would be cancelled mid season being that is on a premium channel, includes more than typical nudity and a lot of off color and adult humor. Not to mentioned its recent publicity with the Chilli Peppers swuing for name rights. The show is brilliant and with actors like David Duchovny, its no wonder that the show received two Golden Globe® nominations! Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical, and Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical. For more on Californication, visit the official show site.

I do wish other shows like Dirty Sexy Money and How I met your mother would receive the well deserve recognition, but I can always get what I want.

Which brings me back to my Xmas wants, I think I want my two front teeth, just kidding. I just finished purchasing new golf clubs. I haven't had a chance to try them out, and looks like I will have to wait another week as it will be raining this weekend. But I take a little bit of water over the twelve inches of snow the Northeast is receiving between yesterday and today. Pheww, I'm glad I recently moved to Florida.

The bottom line is that although xmas is coming and we should all rejoice for this wonderful holiday where people feel the need to buy stuff for each other, I'm glad the entertainment industry finds the need to also give out awards to the already rich and famous, but recognition is due to all whether they are rich, talented, or otherwise. If you know me, you already know how I feel about awards, if you don't, then it's really simple, like everything else in life awards are nothing but a scam.

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Thursday, October 04, 2007

Jax, Jaguars, DMV, and more.

So a few weeks ago the wife and I went down to check out the Jaguars. I never was into football as they don't play that where I come from. I have to admit it was very exciting seeing the live action.

I went to Yankee Stadium a bunch of times, but baseball is not quite as exciting. The Jaguars fans are die hard. The game is quite fast and time went by so quick. We were sitting at the fifty yard line, third row. It was so close you could smell the players' sweat.

Since I never had an affiliation with a football team, I think I'm going to adopt the Jaguars as my team. I even started participating in the office weekly football team. I was very close to wining last week, I tied with three other colleagues and lost on the tie breaker, but I feel like I'm getting a handle on this football thing.

Since attending the game I now have started to wear glasses for long distance viewing. I guess they call it nearsighted. I always get confused because the terms are the opposite of what you are. I didn't feel like I needed the glasses and enjoyed the game just the same. Florida, however, required me to get the eye test and now glasses before they would give me a driver's license. It took me five trips to DMV to finally get the license, but hey is Florida, with the exception of this morning, all trips took a maximum of 10 minutes and is only a 1/4 mile down the street from work. I would have been really annoyed if it was CT or NY where a trip to the DMV meant a minimum of 3 hours. The first lady I dealt with was a total "Bitch," and it thought she was a bit racist, but turns out that she is just a grumpy old bat. This is only the second unfriendly individual I have encountered since our arrival in to the Jax Area.

The bottom line is that football is a lot of fun and I'm totally hooked. We even tuned in this past Monday to ESPN and Monday Night Football. If you don't mind rain everyday during the fall, but mostly beautiful afternoons, then you should consider Jacksonville, FL. If you do decide to make the move, make sure your eyes are set and you won't have to battle the DMV like I did. Get your eyesight regularly anyways, it can prevent a lot of trouble down the line. I can't envisioned anything worse than loosing your sight, but that's because I'm a designer and I wouldn't know what to do without my vision.

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Friday, September 07, 2007

Poison'ed by Rock of Love

My wife bought tickets to see Poison in concert this past labor day weekend. I think it came about because she has been watching Rock of Love, a reality TV show on VH1, where Brett Michaels is trying to find the girl who will rock his world.

In this show, he basically has 20 sluts to pick from and week after week he dismisses them and in the end he will supposedly date one for a while. VH1 puts it like this instead, Twenty lucky ladies will get their chance for an All-Access pass to Bret Michaels' heart and to share in all his superstar lifestyle. Bret will invite twenty handpicked beautiful women to move into his rock and roll palace in the Hollywood Hills and compete for his heart. They must win over his mind and his body by proving their love for Bret, their passion for rock and their potential to be the perfect "Rock Star Girlfriend."

Anyways, I digress, so we went down to the Times Union Center-Performing Art in downtown JAX and got ready to check out the show. The concert was better than I expect it, though my expectations were really, really low. Poison was the headlining band, but Vains of Jenna and Ratt opened up.

Vains of Jenna is an up and coming Swedish band. They were pretty good and kind of remind me of a new Guns n Roses. They played for a good half hour and though the acoustics were just ok, you could still feel the soul in the music and lyrics. These guys are alright and I see a long future for them.

On the other hand, I can't say the same for Ratt, man they are old. Sometimes you must know when to quit. These dudes definitely missed their prime. I must confess, I barely remember hearing of them in the 80's and vaguely recall hearing the song which made them a popular 80's Hair Band, Round and Round. The only saving grace through the 45 minute torturous set was that we had 3rd row seating which makes any bad concert a decent one.

Lastly, Poison took the stage. They rock out for a good hour and the crowd cheer and went wild. The dudes in front of us were past drunk, and so was most of the crowd, but one of them kept looking out for the Rock of Love babes, I think the TV show is really what is driving that tour to selling out. There were some highlights to the concert though. CC did a great 5-6 minute guitar solo and so did drummer Rikki Rockett. Both solo were accompanied by great stage displays of lighting and fire effects. Rockett was elevated by hydraulics to give the audience a view from below the ground during the standing ovation performance. Brett seems to be loosing his voice, but is always great to see and hear that which reminds you of the older days and reminisce in the mind of the good times, which are only getting better as I age.

The bottom line is that though Poison nor Ratt would have been my first choice of concert, I was glad that the wife bought tickets as it provided for a great night out. I do have to say that they were some funky people in attendance and the two couples sitting in the orw in front of us almost put up as great a show as the bands. To briefly explain, the two wives started making out, the husbands tried to separate them to end up in a threesome (foursome, except the dudes were abstaining from kissing each other, phewww!!!!) tongue twisting event, followed by the two wives dry humping the husbands for the three hour long concert experience. These were people in their thirties, closer to forty, you would have thought they would have gotten that out of their system many years ago; or at the very least know better to take it to the privacy of their own homes. Oh well, it provided for some fun talk among the neighboring crowd.

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Monday, July 23, 2007

Coming to you live from JAX

You may have noticed that I haven't blog for a while now. The reason is that I was in the process of relocation. That's right I now call the sunshine state home.

I drove down from Connecticut to Jacksonville, FL this past weekend. I remember doing the drive about 15 years ago when I drove to Orlando. Orlando is approximately 2 and a half hours from Jacksonville. The drive then seemed longer, but it might have been because I was with my immediate family at the time and you know how family trips could seem endless.

This time I was by myself although it didn't seem like it as relatives were calling my cell phone what seemed to be every 10 minutes. Geez, I have a lot of relatives and it is nice to know that they cared enough to keep me company during my travels.

I did have some breaks from the cell at which time I enjoyed taking in the scenery. It is funny how it seems like every where I turn now a days, everyone is speaking green this and green that. Obviously these folks haven't done the same drive I just did as once you get past Virginia and DC, it seems like there is nothing but green all around.

I enjoyed the time and had plenty of it to think about my new job and responsibilities that are soon to come. You see, I am now the Director of Web Operations for a Magazine Publisher in the Jacksonville Area.

Though I haven't had a lot of time to explore, I really like the area thus far and the places I have visited.

Granted, I have only visited some local restaurants and shopping areas, but the people are much friendlier than up in the Northeast; and they truly seem to enjoy what they do and ensure to emphasize that customer satisfaction is number one.

For example, today I visited Publix, one of the local supermarket chains, the forecast called for rain, but I hadn't seen any. On my way out the sky opened up and it pour cats and dogs, almost literally. The grocery bagger offered to carry my groceries to the car as well as provide umbrella service. I declined, but it was quite a different experience from what I ever had. While I waited for the rain to subdue, I noticed many other baggers offer the same to other customers. After all, I am quite handsome, but I knew this wasn't just the younger girl trying to pick me up.

The bottom line is that so far I am quite happy with my Florida experience and although I have started work, I still feel like I'm on vacation and living in paradise.

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