Saturday, September 05, 2009

Black Clouds

We have been experiencing a low pressure system for a week now and I'm getting sick of the lack of sun. Today we were driving around and noticed the differences in colors of the clouds and the speed at which they move.

My wife asked why some clouds are so dark and others are not. I quickly pulled an answer out of my rectum, that it must be because of the concentration of clouds in one spot versus another and the ability for light to go through it. It sounded like a good explanation; she bought it, but after a few minutes had passed, she decided to question it.

I decided to do a little Googling once we arrived home, and I was surprised to find that the answer wasn't much different than my "hot air" explanation, here is what I found:

"There are two things going on to make some rain clouds to appear very dark. The first is that some clouds, especially thunderstorm clouds such as nimbocumulus clouds can tower to great heights with tops 15 to 20 km (50-60 thousand feet) above the earth. Plus these clouds, which tend to produce very heavy rains and hail are very dense, being full of water vapor and raindrops at lower altitudes and ice crystals at high altitude.

As a result, it is more difficult for sunlight to pass through these clouds than it is for light to pass through neighboring clouds which aren't as high and dense. More of the light is reflected back into space or sideways because there's more obstacles. Plus, there's more absorption of the light on its way through the cloud, because the light will bounce around very much and take a very long total path before finally coming out the bottom of the cloud."

Source: http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070410085440AA32jGJ

The bottom line is that you have to be quick in your feet and it doesn't hurt to blurb out the first rational thing that comes to mind. Some make think you're an idiot for offering an explanation without knowledge of the topic, but 9 times out of 10, you will contribute to the conversation and even if you're wrong, most will appreciate the effort. Just be prepare to take whatever is thrown at you.

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Saturday, August 15, 2009

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!!

For my birthday this year we decided to go to the "Happiest Place on Earth", Disney world, why not, we have season passes and my friend let us borrow his apartment down the street from it, so it became a low budget fun time.

We spend day one in Animal Kingdom and watch the fireworks late night at Magic Kingdom. We got rained on and saw a large rat run across our feet, not, not Mickey, a real live one. The poor creature caused quite havoc among Magic Kingdom visitors, I found it slightly amusing.

We returned the next morning to spend the day at Magic Kingdom and later enjoyed some chimichurris and empanadas down at the OBT, "Orange Blossom Trail."

All and all, one of the best birthdays ever!

The bottom line is that to have a great time you don't have to spend a fortune, all you need is the right person to spend the time with.

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Saturday, June 20, 2009

2 Miles: End Game

Two months ago we started a two mile challenge a work. This challenge was very simple, perform two miles a day for sixteen weeks. You could walk it, run it, do the elliptical, use your Wii, among other things, as long as a minimum of two miles were perform you were in the clear. If you didn't performed, you were to pay $1 dollar per day missed, or you could opt to drop out of the challenge at any time with a $5 dollar buy out.

The end came as a three way tie, myself and two of my colleagues were successful in not missing any days of the challenge. I feel very proud that I was able to take on this challenge by the horns and wrestle it to the ground each and every day. Another goal I had in mind was to create a daily journal entry for each day of the two mile challenge and unfortunately I felt short in that regards. This should have been a very simple task, but I just didn't run into many interesting things to write about each and every day.

At this point this entry concludes the end of two miles. I'm also happy to report that construction is coming to an end at our home as we saw sheetrock go up this week. I was amazed to come home yesterday to find a floor that appear as if we had a snow storm. Everything is cover in white powder from the sanding. This made for an interesting weekend in house cleaning.

The bottom line is that challenges are always welcome here. I'm a very competitive individual and I urge each and every one of you out there to embrace what life throws at you and climb out a champion.

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Monday, May 25, 2009

Two Miles: Home Ownership

We have finally moved in, the construction is half way done, and I finally got to jump in the pool.

Happy Memorial Day everyone, today I spent the day mowing the swamp, I mean my overgrown lawn. I haven't done yard work in two years, but today was the day. Got up early, got a hearty breakfast, and down to home depot to pick up oil, a gas tank, and a spark plug. After dusting off the old lawn mower, it was time to start her up. It came to live instantly as if it had been running all this time. I jump on the arduous task of mowing the yard. Lucky for me is not a big yard, so I thought. Turns out its much bigger than I had realized, so I spent a couple of hours mowing and picking up the remainder of the the branches and leaves after six straight days of rain and storms.

The afternoon was occupied by the hedges. My wife really enjoys the view of the water and golf course, so she wanted to have it even clearer so five inches of hedges had to go. A pair of pruning scissors, electric hedge trimmer, scroll saw, and a trip to ace hardware for Lopping Shears and three hours later, the view is magnificent.

After a full day of laboring, there was nothing left to do but go for the two miles. Yeap, the two miles were accomplished at a crawling and painful pace, but done none-the-less. The best part of the two miles is the sense of accomplishment. Just when I thought I couldn't go on, I finished with several laps in the pool, followed by a very relaxing jump into the hot spa.

The bottom line is that we all have goals and lack of energy, lack of time, or otherwise is not an excuse to not get things done. I thought I wanted to buy a house, turns out I just wanted a private pool and spa. I'm glad that we are now homeowners once again and will be even more excited when the renovation is finished and I don't have to climb out of a window to enjoy my backyard.

P.S. We had our first alligator sighting today. As we were cleaning up the tools a nice size gator when swimming past us. I threw a few sticks its way to get it a little excited, but after several minutes the novelty wore off and I got bored.

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Monday, May 18, 2009

2 Miles: Unpacking, rain, and health club

It has been raining non-stop all day today, the wind has started to pick up and I don't see any way to perform my two miles.

We have spend the whole day running errands, back and forth to the old house a few times, and I'm just glad to be out of that place. We have only spend two nights at our new place, but it seems like night and day. I can't believe we lived there for one year, so cramp, yet happily storing cash away.

The rain commence around 10 this morning and has not ceased. They claimed is a northeastern, I'm still not sure what this means, something about the storm coming from the North East, but I'm in the South East ... come on!

I see no option, but to go running at the gym. Gosh, it has been over a month since I step foot in that place. I guess this prove that sometimes there is a need to pay the high premiums for such amenities. I had been going to the gym in the wee hours of the AM until my wife underwent surgery and all exercise activities seemed to had cease soon after until the 2 mile challenge came along.

The place was very crowded, now I remember why we decided to exercise while it was still dark and was hard to roll out of bed. I jumped on the only free treadmill to perform the arduous task. It seems to me that it was just a lot easier to run on the treadmill than on the streets of my neighborhood. I went two miles and decided to extend it to three, finishing at 3.25 miles and 500+ calories burnt.

The bottom line is that when there is a will, there is a way, I needed to do my two miles and I wasn't going to let the bad weather stop me from doing it. It felt cramp and uncomfortable to be doing it at the gym, I don't know what has changed. The place still the same, I was a gym rat before, but seems like nature has change me instead.

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Sunday, May 17, 2009

2 Miles: Survivor

We survived the move and started finding a place for our things as best we can. Renovations will probably take another month and dust will be flying until then. Therefore there is no sense is rolling anything out till all construction is done.

Even though I found my body with every muscle aching and hurting, I drag myself out for a two mile jog around the neighborhood. I notice how many of the houses have American Flags flying from their mailboxes and find myself wondering if there will be some sort of memorial day parade taking place. I also wondered how come I didn't get the flag memo, or did those jerks who we purchase the home from took a flag that was suppose to be left behind. If that's the case, that's just unpatriotic and they should be ... well I'm not one for ill fated wishes.

The bottom line is that we survive the move and nothing was found broken, except for a few muscle fibers that will recovered. I enjoyed this afternoon jog as it stretched the sore muscles and got me back in track to survive another day. Will see how the survivor finale wraps up. I have to believe that JT will take this season.

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Saturday, May 16, 2009

2 Miles: Moving Day

Today was a great two miles. I woke up and went for a nice jog which helped clear my head and get prepare for the move ahead.

Movers showed up promptly a few minutes before 8 AM, I was feeling refresh. Two guys showed up in a Ponte Vedra Movers truck. Why is it that movers are always skinny, yet strong and full of stamina? These two fellows got the truck loaded in 3 hours and out and placed in 2 hours.

I was feeling bored and decided to pitched-in with some of the box and bed lifting. All in all not a bad moved. Of course after having moved 19 times, we seem to have it down to a science. This time around though we felt behind as we didn't pack the kitchen and decided to move it on our own.

The bottom line is that if you prepare ahead you can get things done very quickly. The movers were surprised how well prepare we were. Beds had been taken apart, pictures, mirrors, and paintings had already been transplanted, and all miscellaneous items were boxed and ready to rolled.

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Friday, May 15, 2009

2 Miles: Leg Cramps

Today we went for our two miles, everything seemed fine until we got home. I felt exhausted and quickly dropped to the ground. I recovered, showered and got ready to go to work.

While my short ride in, my thigh muscle started spasming and I had a hard time walking in. I hope I have not cause any damage by doing this two miles everyday.

The bottom line is that I made a commitment to myself doing these two mile exercise walking, jogging, or running routine for two months. A month and a half in I have not missed any days and I'm planning to sticking to my commitment, even if I have to drag myself out there.

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Thursday, May 14, 2009

2 Miles: Loose Dog

I have commented time and time again on this blog how pets are nice to have, but simply are too much responsibilitiy. It is like having a kid that nevers grow up. This is the case as I saw a dog walking around and it appeared to be lost. This was a cute pooch and it had tags around its neck.

We tried calling it over to take a peek and see if we could return it to its home, but it refuse to approach us and we weren't willing to take a chance at it reacting badly to us.

The bottom line is that if you're going to adopt a pet, make sure that you are fully equiped to take on this responsibility. I felt very badly to see this poor animal running around homeless and obviously quite upset that it could not find its way home. I can also imagine two children asking their parents what happened to their pet. This is simply a lose-lose situation and it happens because somebody decided that they could take on a responsibility they just simply weren't equiped to handle. If this is a pet, imagine what happens to some that do the same and decide to have children when they are also not ready.

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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

2 Miles: Health Club

This morning we were able to get up bright and early. It seems that if we are able to get out of bed when the alarm clock goes off, we are able to quickly get moving and stay motivated to achieve our two miles. As well, it helps that now that Florida has achieve full hotness, it's easier to perform outside activities while is still cooler.

As we were completing our two miles and had slowed our pace, we started to discuss the pros and cons of maintaining a gym membership. We are currently members of World Gym and have enjoyed the membership for a little over a year. When we first signed up we receive a few extra months free as part of a special promotion. We paid the entire year upfront, but now that is time to re-up we are wondering whether we really have used it to justify the price.

It seems that lately we have been performing a lot of our exercise activities outdoors, and haven't really been to the gym in the past two months. Since we live in Florida, we enjoy warm weather for about 10 months with January and February temperatures typically dropping to high 40s and sometimes waking up to some white roofs in the 20s.

The bottom line is that it just doesn't seemed like a great idea to pay for something we can get for free. At first, it was a great motivation to exercise as we were paying for something, that feeling quickly dried up and the reality is that motivation comes from within not by external factors.

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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

2 Miles: Running Shoes

As we got out this morning, I realized that I need new running shoes. My wife is now joining me and has propose to do a 5K by summer end. I'm glad that she has taking on this challenge and has now accompanied me for many of these two miles.

As we were jogging this morning I commented on how my sneakers no longer provide enough support. As we talked further, I realized that the shoes are over 2 years old and is probably time to get a new pair. I logged on to Amazon.com to started doing some research on the subject. I was more than overwhelm, a query for men running shoes, yield over 637 results.

How am I suppose to narrow this down? price, brand, I guess I'm just going to have to take a trip down to a store.

The bottom line is that you just can't find everything online. You may find a particular item, you can read about it, but in reality nothing beats touching and feeling it. This principle not only applies to shoes, but for every good and product in the market. I wonder how many people return things they bought off the net or TV without having been to a store to touch it or feel it? Do things advertise by Billy Mace really work and are these just brilliant pitch men?

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Monday, May 11, 2009

2 Miles: Asthma

Monday is here again and before I get back to the grind, there is nothing better than starting the day with a two+ mile jog. I truly enjoy jogging/running. It helps me clear my mind, leave all frustrations behind, and more importantly getting that feeling of overcoming obstacles and inabilities.

As a child I suffered from Asthma and spend the fist few years of my life in and out of hospitals. Asthma is a chronic medical condition. In my case it was an onset from both genetics and environmental agents. Because my breathing disorder was attacked at such an allergy age, I have now outgrown complications and haven't had an attack since I was 14. However, because of these respiratory issues I was never able to really participate in sports or overly taxing activities.

I have in recent years, taken up jogging as a way to combat obesity and over time have been able to achieve greater distances to the point where I'm ready to do a 5K. After watching this season of biggest loser, I feel that I should be setting my sights on a marathon, but I'm not there yet.

The bottom line is that if you set your mind to it, you can overcome the greatest of challenges. You need to put yourself in situations that will help achieve your goals. Last year I competed in a "Biggest Loser" challenge and came in on first place by dropping over 30 pounds in a couple of months. This year I will run several 5K, next year I hope to at least build up to running a half marathon. With the support of my wife and friends, I hope to get there.

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Sunday, May 10, 2009

2 Miles: Packing Sunday

Today we got up early, we have now found that if get out of bed before 9AM on the weekend, the day just seems to go further. I have always been one to stay in bed till noon, but with so many things to do for next week big move, we have got to get our act in gear. Lucky for me I have a great wife who motivates me to push pass my laziness.

Mickler Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach, FLWe walked our two miles on the beach. It is weird how we live in a beach town, yet we hardly ever get out there. It seems like most folks don't get there either. At 9 AM the beach seemed somewhat desolate once we got 1/4 mile past the entrance. It is also nice though cause then you don't have to fight the crowds to do as intended. As we approach our mile mark, a young lady, who was running down the beach pointed to the ocean as a school of dolphins was going by.

The bottom line is that it is very enjoyable to get out and spend some time at the beach. We may have grown accustomed to having it, and like everything take it for granted, but in the few occasions that we do go, is good to know that we can use it, especially since there is no charge, not even to park.

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Saturday, May 09, 2009

2 Miles: May 7, 8 and 9

Two miles completed, nothing special has happened except that we are now experiencing some difficulties from the folks we purchased our house from. Some people are jerks, liars, and make a sport to see how many people they can deceit.

I saw this people receive a check for almost 200K dollars and they are jerking me around for $500 bucks. If you sign a contract you should know what you are signing, which in short, is an agreement to perform an action, not to perform a different action an try an tweak it to your angle. Being that the wife is a lawyer, I would have expect her to follow the law, not bend it.

The bottom line is that when you sign something, read it, double check it, and ensure that all points are covered. In our case, we labeled that an unit had to be replaced as new, they are arguing the unit is new to the house even though it has a manufacturing date of 2000. WHAT JERKS!!!!!! see you in small claims court bitches!

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2 Miles: TPC SAWGRASS

Today we went to the TPC. Our real estate agent was kind enough to give us awesome tickets. They were clubhouse tickets. I been to sawgrass several times, but had never been inside the clubhouse. I have to say although very nice and classy, it looks a lot bigger from the outside, the clubhouse is over 7000 square feet, but it felt crammed due to the way it is layed out.

It was just nice having clubhouse tickets as it was a very hot day to be walking around. We went inside, got some water, and cool off from the almost 100 degrees weather. We sat by the 18th hole green as it was in the shade, had a comfortable breeze and allowed us to see every player go through as they finish in either disappointment or happiness. I had never seen tiger up close, but I wasn't as impressed as I had been on the TV, is funny but TV will do that to you.

We ended our day by walking back to our house which was a little over two miles from the course. It's amazing how big our community really is. I guess when you're driving around, distances just don't seemed that much.

The bottom line is that if you treat individuals as you like to be treated it all comes back. From day one we trusted and treated our realtor as a friend rather than a key to open up houses, as many folks do. We are very happy with the way things have turned out with her and consider her a great friend and invididual. Thanks Mimi!

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Wednesday, May 06, 2009

2 Miles: TPC


Today I got to enjoy a nice afternoon outdoors walking around the Tournament Players Club (TPC) Sawgrass. It was nice to get out and see some golf celebrities swinging the clubs and waking some balls

It was also nice to see that even the pros still hit a ball or two in the water. It is amazing to me that professional players make so much money at these events. Last year's prize purse was 9.5 million dollars of which winner, Sergio Garcia, got 1.71 million. Not a bad payday for 4 days of work. I'm not one to criticize professional players, regardless of the sport. They have a unique ability and get paid as such. It wouldn't be fair for me to state otherwise, is not like I can go out there and do it.



Although, we walked around for what seemed miles, I still decided not to count this as my two miles for the day and got home and decided to hit the pavement for a nice two mile run. I used to hate having to run, but now I look forward to it. It is a challenge, but nothing feels better than to accomplished and succeed any challenge.



The bottom line is that you need to push yourself and achieve every goal you set for yourself. The professionals get paid handsomely for it, but there is no better compensation than extending my life a few years by overcoming the two mile plus challenge each and every day.

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Tuesday, May 05, 2009

2 Miles: Just another tuesday

Today is Tuesday, this morning the two miles were quite difficult. I jumped out of bed at 7AM and almost went back to sleep.

Two miles accomplished and off to work I went to celebrate Cinco de Mayo! I brought a great taco salad prepared by my wife and others brought delicious treats and delights, amongst all some stood out to me like, a very tasty and yummy bean dip, Cuban and Colombian empanadas, and flautas.

We finished them off with fortune cookies, because nothing says Mexico like fortune cookies. We had a great laugh at decoding an anagram of all of our names, and reading off fortune cookies with the traditional "in bed" added to the end.

The bottom line is that even though it's call work, you can still do it while having a good time and sharing laughs with your colleagues. Now I'm going to need ten miles to work off all the calories eaten.

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Monday, May 04, 2009

2 Miles: Ain't looking for nothing but a good toolbar

Today I went running for my two miles. There was nothing special observed during the run. It was quick and fast paced as I overslept and didn't want to be late to work. Once I arrived at work, I did notice something new, Google has made an improvement to the toolbar.

I was hard at work developing a new calendar application, for this purposes I usually like to have IE open, as it is the most commonly used, although buggy, browser. I launched a new tab, and at first I thought I had launch Chrome, but notice that I was still in IE. The confusion arose because I noticed that instead of the usual blank default page, there was a page offering my most visited sites. I enjoy this feature of Chrome as I do tend to visit about 10 sites regularly. It is nice to see the new addition, although I could see many not liking it and considering it a violation of their privacy, can't make everyone happy.



The bottom line is that Google is always hard at work, and is nice to see a feature that I enjoy in their browser rolled out to the most used and common browser. Now all I need is Google to reset my personalized theme page back to what it was, I do not enjoy all the clutter they have added over the past 8 months.

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Sunday, May 03, 2009

2 Miles: Sunday

We have now started packing and are excited to be moving in a few weeks. We went over the house, clean the pool, and considered jumping in. It was a beautiful sunny day in Florida, but after moving some odd items into the house, it got to be a little too hot for comfort. I guess this is why the paced is slower down here.

After a small recovery, we walked two miles down a new path and got to enjoy some nice breeze and sunshine happiness.

The bottom line is that although there was nothing note worthy in today's two miles, except that I have already identified my next home, there still enough to write a blog post. How bad is it that I'm already scoping the neighborhood for a next home when I still haven't moved in to this one?

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Saturday, May 02, 2009

2 Miles: New Home Again

Today we took an afternoon stroll over to our new house. We have started packing and are counting the days until move day. We brought pictures, mirrors, and breakables over to the place and took a look at how the renovations are coming along.

We then took a nice walk around the neighborhood. Although I often state that all houses in Florida look the same, the reality, is than when you walk you notice all the differences. It never cease to amazed me what people consider attractive and choose to display in their yards. I also find it amusing that parents allow their children to play without providing any kind of supervision. During our walk we saw this four young, not yet teens, playing with a golf cart. They drove it up the curb, drove it the wrong direction down the one way street, and were jumping and bouncing on the thing as if it was a trampoline.

We also noticed the major differences between our new neighborhood and our current one. TPC has the same type of foliage as Saw Mill Lakes, but somehow they have managed to provide an environment which brings the individual closer to nature.

Lastly, as we approach our house, we saw and Owl. We saw one at the zoo last week, but, it is so much different to see out in the wild. In captivity, the bird seemed calm, this one was a top of a roof, and seemed to be frightened by four smaller birds that were chirping quite loudly, its head turn almost 360 degrees during the few seconds we observed it, it then took off, but was followed by the four bullies, I can only hope that it was able to get away.

The bottom line is that nature is magnificent. By doing this two miles, I have somehow become closer to my surroundings and have actually began to enjoy the outdoors. Who knows, maybe this experience will help me get over my fear of frogs.

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Friday, May 01, 2009

2 Miles: Tired but done.

Friday morning I was awaken by ADT Alarms, my colleague set off the alarm at the office. He claims a senior moment, I think otherwise, but prefer not to express it here.

I decided to leave work around 5:15 instead of my usual 6pm or later. I got home and thought about paying the dollar and heading to bed. However, I have too much of a competitive spirit to give in that easy. We pulled it together, threw on the walking shoes and out the door we went.

While discussing future plans, we thought about our new house and the palms trees that surround it. I looked up and saw some that showed some much needed trimming. It is amazing how we drive and walk around and never take in our surroundings. With that thought in mind, I started noticing how most palm trees throughout our walk need trimming. It's hard to think about trimming a palm, they are so tall, but with so many dead leaves still hanging strong all the way on top, how do you trim a palm tree anyways?

The bottom line is that even if you are too tire, look within yourself and you will find it to pull thru. While there, take a closer look at yourself and yoru surrounding, after all we are a product of our surroundings, who knows you may need a little trimming to improve yoursel.

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Thursday, April 30, 2009

2 Miles: Bright and Early

I'm still amazed how many people are up and jogging early in the morning. When I was growing up I remember walking to the bus and the only other people I saw where classmates walking to the same bus. This goes to show how concern or educated people have gotten over the years.

As I was doing my two+ (sometimes three or four) miles this morning I noticed how many others get up and either walk or jog. I also noticed that many of these people are the same people. A lot of them do it because they have to walk their dogs, others do it for the same reason I'm doing it, to improve or maintain healthy.

The purpose of this two mile a day work challenge is to get people motivated to become active and get up the couch. I'm thankful to my colleague for organizing this ass-off challenge.

The bottom line is that it doesn't much matter what type of exercise you are doing, whether it is walking, jogging, running, or a combination thereof, the important thing is to commit to being active and stick with it.

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

2 Miles: New Neighborhood

The first site of the Players Championship, the TPC Sawgrass has been chosen by golfers, families and meeting planners as one of the top resort destinations in the country and we have chosen it to become our home.



For today's two miles, we decided to see how the first day of renovations had started in our recently acquired home and while there, we decided to walk the neighborhood. It was refreshing to walk a new site. As I mentioned before, it is always easier to perform the same task as long as you get a change of scenery. We actually walked the 2 miles and shaved 5 minutes of our time, just by changing scenery.

The bottom line is that sometimes you just need to find a new way to motivate yourself to succeed. For us that was picking a new walking route, for you, the possibilities are endless.

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Monday, April 27, 2009

2 Miles: Water Irrigation Sprinklers

Yesterday my colleague asked me if I'm still running three miles, four times a week, I was embarrassed to say that since my wife underwent surgery about a month ago, I had stopped.

I felt ashamed and it inspired me to restart my running routine. I woke up early and eager to do the three miles. In my current community, I have mapped out 3 miles from multiple paths as to not get bored with the same scenery every day. I feel is important for a successful exercise routine to vary, whether is running, lifting weights, or another activity as our tendency as humans is to not like to do the same thing day in, day out.



I got started a bit after sunrise when about half a mile into the run, I was startled by water hitting below my knees near the calves. I turn around quickly to see that the sprinklers had pop out from the ground as I happened to be running by the house. If you're not familiar, in Florida is quite common for houses to have automatic lawn irrigation systems that are driving by a timer. I was not only annoyed to have gotten wet, but further by the waste of this precious resource being wasted because my neighbor had been to lazy to check his sprinklers' head which over time had lost is alignment and instead of watering his lawn, he was watering the sidewalk. Further, on my way back, I noticed that the same system was still running and had now created some nice puddles on the sidewalk. I guess that explains why his sidewalk is now cracked. This must be happening for quite some time.

The bottom line is that you have to be considerate of others. This minute task of realigning the sprinklers' head takes at most five minutes, but when not handled will cost my neighbor and the community deeply. At some point the cracks will turn into holes, the lawn will not get the proper amount of water, and all these time the water being wasted. Further, watering time limits are not being followed, you aren't suppose to water for more than fifteen minutes per section and I'm sure they're watering more than the allowed twice a week. I just don't know who enforces this rules and further I don't want to tattle and this only leads down a dark and lonely hole.

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Sunday, April 26, 2009

2-Miles: Jacksonville Zoo

Today we went to the Jax Zoo for the first time. I love the zoo, there's nothing more exciting than being that close to the real wild life and not have to fear it.

We visited the zoo as part of the HEAL First Coast Zoo Walk for Autism. HEAL ~ Healing Every Autistic Life ~ Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit based in Jacksonville Florida with a mission to help families who have a member with Autism. Visit our website at www.healautismnow.org and learn more.

The Walk started at 8:30am and was well attended. It was kick-off by Mkristo Bruce, fromt the Jacksonville Jaguars alongside other Players and Cheerleaders. We went down the path handed Icelandic glacial water to quench the thirst along the route.

We first encountered the storks, who were not originally part of the exhibit, but over the past couple of years have made the zoo their home. We later saw the east African Bongo, which are the largest forest dwelling antelopes. These mammals can reach up to 600 pounds. We later saw some Angolan colobus monkeys and soon after encountered my favorite species, the lions.

The jax zoo has one male lion and two female lions. Since the zoo made a special early opening for the walk, all the animals were freshly awake and moving around the grounds. The lions were no exception, the male was wide awake and fondly moseying around while the two females were still laying down, but yawning and stretching readying for the day ahead. After some photos and excitement, we moved on to see the giraffes and jaguars. The walk ended appropriately at the jaguars' exhibit where RadioDisney.com had set up a booth and were providing gifts and prizes for the kids, and the "Jaguars" were standing by signing autographs and taking photos with the attendees. We mosey ourselves over and had some time to talk shop with the Jaguar players. It was pretty amazing to see how tall and big these fellows are and were pleasantly surprised that they took the time to talk to us for a good 10 to 15 minutes while taking photos and providing autographs. The players in attendance are Mkristo Bruce, Atiyyah Ellison, Greg Estandia, and Stefan Rodgers.




After the crowds disassembled, we continued to see the rest of the exhibits and ended up spending over 5 hours there.

The bottom line is that when you get a chance to support an event while doing something you enjoy doing, it is a no brainer to jump-in with both feet. We had a great experience and were amazed how well stock the zoo is and the wonderful work they have done to provide a suitable space for the captive animals.

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Saturday, April 25, 2009

2-Miles: Dogs and covenants

As I previously mentioned communities in Florida are governed by a Home Owners Association (HOA) and its covenants. In Saw Mill Lakes the covenants state that dogs are not to be left unattended and are not to be outside without a leash.

Why is it then that I constantly see dogs outside, without anyone left to look after them, but an invisible fence. What many pet owners fail to realize is that invisible fences are not 100% foolproof. Who is in charge of enforcing these rules?

Today, during my two mile run, a man was walking his dog alongside his toddler. He was concerned for the little girl and was paying very little attention to the dog. The dog was small and full of energy. He had a leash on the doggy, but in his distraction, he fail to see that the dog had strech the leash close to six feet and inadvertly was heading righ down my way. I was in no way treaten by the little thing, but did get tangle and almost hit the pavement because of the retractable leash. I recover quickly and did not fall.

The bottom line is that when someone adopts a pet into their life they assume a certain responsibility. A responsibility that should not be taken lightly, if I happen to have fallen and crack, say a bone, who would have been responsible for the cost? During the year that I have lived in this development I have been chased by three different dogs during my outside runs. Would I be entitle to bring suit if one of those dogs have bitten me? Who would I sue, the community, the pet owner or both? Luckily for me, we are moving in a few weeks to a community known for enforcing its covenants and rules. In addition, our next community is bigger and offers more sidewalk and trails to allow, hopefully, for a more enjoyable 2-Mile experience.

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Friday, April 24, 2009

2-Miles: Coquina

Up in the northeast, where I grew up, most houses are built with either wood or aluminum siding. Vinyl siding is a plastic exterior cladding for a house. Vinyl siding was introduced to the exterior cladding market in the late 1950s. At that time, blending of colors was done manually. Because of all the manual labor involved, the process made it difficult to produce and install a consistent, quality product. In 1970s, a transformation of the product began, with the industry engineering formulation changes. Because of these changes a lot of houses in the northeast where upgraded to the product.

In Florida, however, we have seen three distinct materials in used. Stucco, vinyl, and Coquina. The first I was familiar with, the latter however was new to me. Coquina is an incompletely consolidated sedimentary rock. Coquina is mainly composed of mineral calcite, often including some phosphate, in the form of seashells or coral. It has been used in building stone in Florida for over 400 years, coquina forms the walls of the Castillo de San Marcos in Saint Augustine, this country's oldest city. The stone makes a very good material for forts, particularly those built during the period of heavy cannon use. Because of coquina's softness, cannon balls would sink into, rather than shatter or puncture, the walls of the Castillo de San Marcos.

In my current community of Saw Mill Lakes where I perform most commonly my two miles I have noticed that about every fifth house is sided with Coquina. At first I was not fun of the material. Although it gives a very beachy atmosphere, it texture is very shelly, and looks very rough. When we were looking to buying a house we decided that this material just wasn't for us mainly because all the houses we saw that had coquina had a pink tone to them. Later we found out that coquina can be painted. Ever since I have noticed many shades of coquina in our community. We ended up buying a house in a different community, The Players Club at Sawgrass, but it is made of stucco siding. This is not because of our original dislike of coquina, but because we found the right house for us, just a coincidence that it did not have coquina. We actually grew fond of coquina over time.

The bottom line is that you can't a judge something until you have all the facts. We originally dislike Coquina because of the tones we had noticed, turns out that it can be painted just like any other material to any color that suits your taste. It is very durable and long lasting. To replace coquina for another material in a house is quite costly, but this is true for all materials. If you find the right house, don't worry about the exterior, remember you expend 99% of the time indoors.

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Thursday, April 23, 2009

2-Miles: ARC approved

When we moved to the Jacksonville area from Connecticut, everything looked so foreign to us. Every house and neighborhood appeared to look the same, it was all uniform and stepford wife like. We just could not understand the vast difference driving from one community development to the next.

Architectural Review CommitteeNow, almost 2 years later we have grown accustomed to the area. We now see all the differences and understand property value and locations a lot better. We recently bought a house and are in the process of adding on. Part of the process requires that we go through the community board for an Architectural Review. As we were walking our tow miles today, we went past a house with an ARC approved sign on it. They have now completed their renovations, they added a pool with a screen enclosure to their house. They also ripped out the concrete walk-way ad replaced it with pavers. My wife commented that she saw in the community Web site that someone was getting sited for violating their ARC approval. We think it was these folks as it seems they had partially ripped out their driveway and only partially placed pavers in its place. It looks quite silly that they have distastefully only done part of their driveway with pavers and the rest of the area with concrete.

This got me thinking that this would have never happened in CT. Everyone up there takes care of their home, however, if someone wants to add or remodeled their home, they don't have to ask the neighbors for permission, they simply hire an architect and do as they wish. It is nice to have the freedom to do whatever you want in your own property. However, there is something to be said to limiting what color you can paint your house or what monstrosity you can keep away from being added.

The bottom line is that regulations are good to have. It keeps the neighborhood looking right. We are moving to one of the best communities in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. I want to ensure that my investment increases in value. As long as the board doesn't abuse its powers or steps in to cause too much grieve, then so be it. Our government has plenty of regulations in place and it hasn't done too much harm to our freedoms. As for me, I'm just glad that our house received an ARC approved stamp at today's meeting and onwards we go deeper in debt with our addition and remodeled.

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

2-Miles: Earth Day

With Biggest Loser season 7 now winding down to the end, it seems like Tara can't loose a challenge and will take this thing to the end. With that said, I think people have now become very health conscious and the whole world is hype up on losing weight.

This past Wednesday my colleagues decided to start a 2 mile challenge. That is, the folks who decided to join have to walk 2 miles a day, seven days a week. These two miles were imposed to motivate folks to step out of their daily life and comfort zone. With summer coming it seemed like a good idea. I typically run 3 miles four days a week and this seemed like the perfect thing to get me out of the house every day instead. My wife has decided to join me and we use the time to wind out the day and stroll down the neighborhood and beach.

I started thinking that there are so many different things that we observed on our daily life and as such, I decided to document in this blog the things I come out at me as different during my two miles.

Happy Earth Day 2009As a celebration today being Earth Day, I started noticing while walking on the beach, that sometimes we disrespect our planet and our fellow cohabitants by polluting and trashing our share space on this Earth. We started our walk this evening a few minutes past 6 and as the sun started to set and the beach started to become more desolate, I notice the garbage people leave behind. The photo here depicts a bottle cap left behind from a sprite bottle. The bottle was gone, but the cap remained. So the people having this drink decided that they would pick up the bottle and leave a cap behind. Something this small could easily be picked up and swallow by one of the many dogs that are walked thereby leading to indigestion, or worse, death.

The bottom line is that there are so many things that we can do to change ourselves and our environment. It is the little things and details that set us apart. Do your part and start picking up after yourself. That 10 seconds it takes to pick a bottle cap can save our planet and a life.

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Viva Las Vegas

Great designs are something that folks look upon in astonishment and amazement. There is no greater design than that created by Mother Nature. I just flew in to Vegas for the 2009 Parker College Chiropractic Seminar and had a great experience with my flight. I can honestly say that this has been the best experience I have ever had on an airplane and with airport security, that's not saying much considering I have had a lot of awful experiences. This time I flew Delta and save the $15 dollars to check in one bag, I have no complaints, they took off on time both on my original and connecting flight and treated me first rate.

Back to design, the beauty of it all lies in the view from the plane. Due to the early nature of my travels, I left Jacksonville at 6:40AM, I was force to a nap and some peanuts for snack. Delta now has individual TVs in each seat head rest a la Jet Blue, with TV being offer free and HBO series and movies at a $6 premium. While I had a window seat, I kept the window covering down for the majority of my trip. Not only for my napping time sake, but also as to not disturb those seating near me. Contrary to popular belief I can be considerate ... sometimes. However, 30 minutes out to landing time as the announcement came from the pilot, I open the window covering to reveal a magnificent view of the Grand Canyon, the Vegas desert, and carvings made by rivers that could not come close to that which mankind has ever design. I don't have the words to describe what I saw, but you can judge for yourself on this photos.


The bottom line is that even those who are not designers can appreciate what nature has design for us. Those of us who do design can learn a thing or two on the beauty of simplicity provided to us. If we reach to nature and appreciate all the clean lines, we too can design a thing or two which would leave other breathless and speechless. A colleague reminded me that "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"; for me the only thing that happens in Vegas is work and I surely would like to leave that behind, wish me luck I'll be throwing some coins into the slots.

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Monday, December 22, 2008

Homes and life expectancies for major appliances

With the economy in the toilet, and Florida being one of the highest foreclosures rated states, I'm been thinking about taking my cash and reallocating it towards purchasing a home, this being a buyers market and all.

What does this really mean, it means that the people who are selling their homes are doing so because they have to, not because they want to. Meaning you are able to secure a house for a lower price than normal, sometimes even less than current market value deems the house. This also means that houses available on the market are slim pickings. Again, people are selling because they have to move.

Because we have the upper hand, we don't just want to settle for the first house we see, even though some of the houses are magnificent, they just don't satisfy 100% percent of our need. Some of the things you may want to look at when purchasing a home is the life expectancy of appliances, with so many houses needing renovations in my local area, I went ahead and look this up and found this list from Freddie Mac.

One of the things we are looking at is kitchen remodeling, it seems to me that this is why we are a nation of obese individuals, we focus so much energy into kitchens because as Americans all we do is think about food, dream about food, and live our life revolving about food. With that in mind, some sites estimate a kitchen remodeling job to run $3,000-$100,000 but average $12,000-$22,000. Better Homes and Gardens provides some sample kitchen layouts and ideas for cheap updates.

The bottom line is that nothing beats being patient. Don't rush into purchasing a home. This is a big purchase and you'll know the right home when you walk into it. If you are going to do any updates, be sure to get at least three different quotes from licensed contractor and more importantly ask for references and if you are able to visit some of their customers homes, even if you intent not to visit the home, if they say yes then you know your working with a good contractor, if they say no, RUN!!!!

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

Sad Economics Time

The New York Post just posted a story titled "BETTER SIGN OF TIMES". This comes about because the NY City SANDWICH BOARD Man got a job.

This is great for the Sandwich board man, but a better economy this does not make. There are two weeks left till Christmas and stores are running more and more sales, TV and online advertising campaigns. This is due to slow downs and decline sales from 2007. As well, this year temporary help numbers are down for the season and many stores have chosen to not hire and cut their regular employees to part time.

The bottom line is that the media tends to create big hype. We are now in tuned to their efforts to persuade us to one side or another. Proof is that we have know elected the First Black President. We as a people are capable of making better choices. Newspapers are almost all gone. Magazines have downsized, the print publications of the past with hundred and hundred of pages have decline, some to single digits. Wake up America! We are in a state of economic depression; it is time to do all things possible to build a nestegg. The rich keep getting richer because in these times they are able to buy stocks at an all time low price, they can afford to float cheap real estate. If you would have planned better, you too would be getting wealthier, stop blaming the man, and start placing the blame on yourself.

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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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