Posts
Help! Wheelchair modifications, anyone?
5 years ago
Saturday, January 31, 2009
One hit wonder???
You decide - I definitely like the first song better. But I give these kids a lot of credit - they've got more musical talent than I have.
GO STEELERS!
GO STEELERS!
And then the Fight Started
My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, "I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds."
I bought her a scale.
And then the fight started.
I bought her a scale.
And then the fight started.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Whoppi imitates racy PETA add
Found this at Huffingtonpost.com If you haven't seen the PETA add, I'll let Google show you the way - I need to keep this to a PG-13 rating.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Here we go...
Another cool Steelers video. Even Obama has a terrible towel - I guess he can't be all bad.
...And then the fight started
My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels.
She asked, "What's on TV?"
I said, "Dust."
And then the fight started.
She asked, "What's on TV?"
I said, "Dust."
And then the fight started.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Motivation
"You can't allow history to determine your future. But you can let the future determine your history." - Bill Cowher
Friday, January 23, 2009
I'm already a week behind
I decided that with the job outlook so bleak, it was time to better myself and become more marketable. So on Tuesday I signed up for an online course from the local community college that started on Wed. Here it is Friday morning and I'm already two lessons behind. Are you kidding me? I guess I better buckle down and get caught up.
How did I get anything done when I was working?
How did I get anything done when I was working?
Is anyone as outraged as I am...
... that our newly appointed Secretary of Treasury either knowingly cheated or doesn't know how to fill out his taxes? That he doesn't understand the self employment tax? That he ignored the quarterly statement reminding him that he was being compensated for those taxes? And then chose to only correct the two years that were still within the statute of limitations? here.
... that he of all people would need to rely on TurboTax? here.
... or that he thinks an apology makes his incompetence or criminal nature (you choose) ok? here.
... or how about the change we were promised by our new President. If he is as honorable as he and the media claim, shouldn't he be asking Mr. Geithner to step aside? Even when he knew of the tax issue before he nominated him? Here.
... or we think that someone who doesn't understand his tax obligations is going to lead the Treasury and the Obama administration through this financial crisis?
... or that hundreds of thousands of people continue to lose their jobs while they putz around trying to figure out what went wrong? Hello - we know what went wrong.
Write your Senators immediately to voice your opposition to Tim Geithner. Tell them we don't need his kid of help.
... that he of all people would need to rely on TurboTax? here.
... or that he thinks an apology makes his incompetence or criminal nature (you choose) ok? here.
... or how about the change we were promised by our new President. If he is as honorable as he and the media claim, shouldn't he be asking Mr. Geithner to step aside? Even when he knew of the tax issue before he nominated him? Here.
... or we think that someone who doesn't understand his tax obligations is going to lead the Treasury and the Obama administration through this financial crisis?
... or that hundreds of thousands of people continue to lose their jobs while they putz around trying to figure out what went wrong? Hello - we know what went wrong.
Write your Senators immediately to voice your opposition to Tim Geithner. Tell them we don't need his kid of help.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Eventful day - flurry of posts
So, is an extra 43000 gallons of water leaking into the ground really a big deal?
Since the weather turned colder last weekend, I noticed some ice forming in the yard. At first, I thought the frost had rerouted a spring and it was just a natural occurrence. I noticed the second day that the ice patch was larger, but I didn't think to much more about it. On Sunday, the ice was now halfway down the yard - uh-oh! I also noticed that the ice was coming out of the ground right near the meter box -which was up hill from where I thought the spring was.
The last thing I wanted to be doing on the day of the AFC championship game was digging up a water line. So, I stalled. I started recording the water meter reading and not using any water for hours at a time. With a wife, 2 kids, and myself with the memory of a flea, it made it difficult to keep someone from flushing a toilet or washing their hands. But even with that, the meter wasn't changing much. So I figured the leak wasn't all that bad and I could take my time with it. I did notice some water in the meter box, so I was sure the leak was on my side of the meter and if it wasn't changing that much, there was no rush.
But the ice kept growing. Eventually it had flowed all the way to the front of the house and around the north east side - yikes. Last night I figured I had to do something - the box now had 6 inches of water in it, but the meter still wasn't moving. I recorded the value at 11:00 and again at 6:00 am - NO CHANGE. Ok, the water is definitely coming from above the meter.
At 8:00 I called the water company and explained what was going on. I expected they would want documentation that the leak was their problem and hope that I would just fix it. But I was wrong. The gentleman on the other end of the phone said they had been looking for this week for awhile. Apparently, the storage facility was so low, they had been hauling in water to help keep up. They had been walking lines into the night trying to find it. He told me they found one house that had left their garden hose running for weeks - can you believe that? I'd hate to get that water bill. He was so happy that someone had finally found the leak.
When they came out to dig it up, it was unbelievable. The ground just below the surface was completely saturated. He estimated the flow out of the pipe opening to be about 43000 gallons a month. That's over 10 times the amount of water we normally use in a month. I can't believe we hadn't noticed it before. I know last spring we thought a spring had formed, but when it dried up after a few weeks, I never paid it any more attention. I wonder now if the water in my neighbors yard was really from the water leak, and not a spring like he had thought. It truly is amazing how the water can flow through that clay.
There was a lot more that happened today, but I think I share my thoughts on job interviews, Capital One, and Tim Geithner later this week. Make sure to check back!
Since the weather turned colder last weekend, I noticed some ice forming in the yard. At first, I thought the frost had rerouted a spring and it was just a natural occurrence. I noticed the second day that the ice patch was larger, but I didn't think to much more about it. On Sunday, the ice was now halfway down the yard - uh-oh! I also noticed that the ice was coming out of the ground right near the meter box -which was up hill from where I thought the spring was.
The last thing I wanted to be doing on the day of the AFC championship game was digging up a water line. So, I stalled. I started recording the water meter reading and not using any water for hours at a time. With a wife, 2 kids, and myself with the memory of a flea, it made it difficult to keep someone from flushing a toilet or washing their hands. But even with that, the meter wasn't changing much. So I figured the leak wasn't all that bad and I could take my time with it. I did notice some water in the meter box, so I was sure the leak was on my side of the meter and if it wasn't changing that much, there was no rush.
But the ice kept growing. Eventually it had flowed all the way to the front of the house and around the north east side - yikes. Last night I figured I had to do something - the box now had 6 inches of water in it, but the meter still wasn't moving. I recorded the value at 11:00 and again at 6:00 am - NO CHANGE. Ok, the water is definitely coming from above the meter.
At 8:00 I called the water company and explained what was going on. I expected they would want documentation that the leak was their problem and hope that I would just fix it. But I was wrong. The gentleman on the other end of the phone said they had been looking for this week for awhile. Apparently, the storage facility was so low, they had been hauling in water to help keep up. They had been walking lines into the night trying to find it. He told me they found one house that had left their garden hose running for weeks - can you believe that? I'd hate to get that water bill. He was so happy that someone had finally found the leak.
When they came out to dig it up, it was unbelievable. The ground just below the surface was completely saturated. He estimated the flow out of the pipe opening to be about 43000 gallons a month. That's over 10 times the amount of water we normally use in a month. I can't believe we hadn't noticed it before. I know last spring we thought a spring had formed, but when it dried up after a few weeks, I never paid it any more attention. I wonder now if the water in my neighbors yard was really from the water leak, and not a spring like he had thought. It truly is amazing how the water can flow through that clay.
There was a lot more that happened today, but I think I share my thoughts on job interviews, Capital One, and Tim Geithner later this week. Make sure to check back!
Job Update
I guess this makes it official - I got my severance check in the mail today. I guess I expected something to change before this happened, but with the daily layoffs in the area, it isn't looking good. People losing there jobs is about the only thing you hear being discussed these days. I'm afraid it is going to get much worse before it gets any better. I'm very thankful I have the option of self employment, even when the photos don't always work.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Who knew
...a few cold days could freeze the lake so solid. Yesterday I took the kids out on the lake becasue the ice was over three inches thick (in most spots). I did shuffle back pretty quickly when I was about two steps from the island and a huge crack went ripping through the ice. The dog had fun chasing sticks that I threw across the ice. It would have been mean to keep sliding her into the brush if she didn't enjoy it so much. I was amazed that the beavers were able to break holes in the ice. I had a pile of branches the I had put down by the lake to burn after trimming some trees. The pile had been there for about a week or two, then suddenly yesterday morning the entire thing was gone. The beavers had broken a hole taken the branches underwater back to their den and to repair their dam. They are such amazing and resilient creatures. I can't believe they don't just give up with as many times as their dam has been torn out.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
What kind of store charges you for their discount card?
One of my new found freedoms of being less than fully employed is that I now have time to do "research" wandering around bookstores, browsing magazines and books that I would normally rush past. Today, I had a few hours to kill in Barnes and Noble (normally I would link to them, but as you will see, I'm not about to promote a store with ridiculous customer service policies) and I found a couple of books that I thought would be good to read. One of the books had a sticker that members save an additional 10%. Now I'm not usually a big fan of store clubs - they are usually just marketing ploys to gather your info and send you junk mail and sell your info to other companies that will send you junk. But today, I thought - hey, why not save a couple bucks on the book. So I go to check out and ask to join the club. The cashier then tells me that it will cost me $25 bucks - WHAT??????????????????????????????
That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Charge me money to shop in your store so I can "save" money. Screw that - unless you buy at least $250 on books a year, you lose money. This has to be the dumbest thing a customer could do. I get why the store does it. Most people won't spend that much in a year and the margins go up. But I'm not falling for it.
That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Charge me money to shop in your store so I can "save" money. Screw that - unless you buy at least $250 on books a year, you lose money. This has to be the dumbest thing a customer could do. I get why the store does it. Most people won't spend that much in a year and the margins go up. But I'm not falling for it.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
What a week for the kids
The Christmas holiday break has been quite the experience for the kids.
Dec 20-21 - Drive to PA to visit great grandparents and play if 12" of snow. 4-wheeler sledding and riding snowmobiles brought requests to move back to Troy.
Dec 22-23 - Boring -had to play at home while dad worked
Dec 24 - visit Santa at the mall and then shopping with Dad - first Big Screen (50+") viewing experience
Dec 25 - back to PA for Christmas with grandparents and cousins.
Dec 26 - Christmas with Grandpa Tom at Chinese buffet and then more playing with cousins, aunt and uncle
Dec 27 - visit Grandma Nancy in hospital - back to Virginia
Dec 28 - Football party at the B's - stayed up past midnight
Dec 29 - Play date with O's - Stayed up past 10pm
Dec 30 - quiet day at home
Dec 31 - New Years Eve with K's and Y's - stayed up past 12:30
Jan 1 - quiet day at home
Jan 2 - dinner party at our house with B's and C's - up till 11:00pm
Jan 3 - today the M's come back to visit and go to lunch.
That's a lot for 2 weeks but it sure was fun. I'm not sure the kids will want to go back to school on Monday.
Dec 20-21 - Drive to PA to visit great grandparents and play if 12" of snow. 4-wheeler sledding and riding snowmobiles brought requests to move back to Troy.
Dec 22-23 - Boring -had to play at home while dad worked
Dec 24 - visit Santa at the mall and then shopping with Dad - first Big Screen (50+") viewing experience
Dec 25 - back to PA for Christmas with grandparents and cousins.
Dec 26 - Christmas with Grandpa Tom at Chinese buffet and then more playing with cousins, aunt and uncle
Dec 27 - visit Grandma Nancy in hospital - back to Virginia
Dec 28 - Football party at the B's - stayed up past midnight
Dec 29 - Play date with O's - Stayed up past 10pm
Dec 30 - quiet day at home
Dec 31 - New Years Eve with K's and Y's - stayed up past 12:30
Jan 1 - quiet day at home
Jan 2 - dinner party at our house with B's and C's - up till 11:00pm
Jan 3 - today the M's come back to visit and go to lunch.
That's a lot for 2 weeks but it sure was fun. I'm not sure the kids will want to go back to school on Monday.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Years Day 5K
I decided this would be the year that I finally dragged my sorry butt out to run the New Years Day 5K. The weather was bit chilly, but thankfully the 50 mile an hour winds from yesterday are gone. The race was on a beautiful stretch of road in Free Union and relatively flat. I know I am in no shape to run a fast time. My Wii Fit likes to remind me everyday that I am "overweight" and that I need to lose 25+ pounds to get to an optimum level of fitness.
But, I said what the heck, lets see where I am running wise and set the bar for 2009. Well, the bar is pretty low. I ran a horrible race. Now, before I post my time, I'll just say that as with everything in life, understand that my terrible might be someone's personal best and another's "I'll never run again if I'm that slow" time. It is all relative. As a former high school and college runner, my expectations are pretty high. I finished the 5k in 22:10. Probably the slowest road 5K I have ever run, and that includes some tough hill courses. I mean I've run 4 minutes faster than that in recent races. In high school I routinely ran 5-6 minutes faster than that on trails!
Being the competitive person that I am, this will encourage me to get back out there and be more consistent with my running. I'm not sure if I'll try to become a1000 day streaker again, but I may give it another shot. I want to focus on quality runs, not running just to keep the streak alive.
I'll post some follow-ups as I progress and let everyone know how I am doing.
But, I said what the heck, lets see where I am running wise and set the bar for 2009. Well, the bar is pretty low. I ran a horrible race. Now, before I post my time, I'll just say that as with everything in life, understand that my terrible might be someone's personal best and another's "I'll never run again if I'm that slow" time. It is all relative. As a former high school and college runner, my expectations are pretty high. I finished the 5k in 22:10. Probably the slowest road 5K I have ever run, and that includes some tough hill courses. I mean I've run 4 minutes faster than that in recent races. In high school I routinely ran 5-6 minutes faster than that on trails!
Being the competitive person that I am, this will encourage me to get back out there and be more consistent with my running. I'm not sure if I'll try to become a1000 day streaker again, but I may give it another shot. I want to focus on quality runs, not running just to keep the streak alive.
I'll post some follow-ups as I progress and let everyone know how I am doing.
Happy New Year
Here's to things getting better in 2009!
At 12:00 last evening, I officially became 100% self employed. This isn't the first time I've been without a traditional job, but the last time I had a consulting contract in place before I took the plunge. This time, my options are a bit more limited, but I'm staying positive that with the right sacrifices and hard work I will be able to make it work again. I have several small irons in the fire, but it would be nice to have a larger one in there as well.
I had wanted to write a post reflecting on 2008 and anticipating 2009, but as I mentioned earlier, my mother has been very ill. On the Friday after Christmas she went back in the hospital with more pain following the gall bladder surgery. The doctors were very good to her, but only after a rush trip from the hospital in Reading to Hershey Medical Center and then scaring the crap out of us with potential liver failure and pancreatic cancer were they able to properly diagnose that they had missed a gall stone. I know medicine is more of an art than a science, but I sure wish they could have figured that out BEFORE the stone passed. But, I thank God that was all it was. Being pain free for 36 hours, she is coming home today for a couple weeks of bed rest at home.
So with that, I will just say Happy New Year to all. I'm looking forward to climbing out of the funk that 2008 has engulfed me, my family, and our country. The great thing about being at the bottom is that it is easier to climb up than keep digging deeper. I'm ready to climb in 2009.
At 12:00 last evening, I officially became 100% self employed. This isn't the first time I've been without a traditional job, but the last time I had a consulting contract in place before I took the plunge. This time, my options are a bit more limited, but I'm staying positive that with the right sacrifices and hard work I will be able to make it work again. I have several small irons in the fire, but it would be nice to have a larger one in there as well.
I had wanted to write a post reflecting on 2008 and anticipating 2009, but as I mentioned earlier, my mother has been very ill. On the Friday after Christmas she went back in the hospital with more pain following the gall bladder surgery. The doctors were very good to her, but only after a rush trip from the hospital in Reading to Hershey Medical Center and then scaring the crap out of us with potential liver failure and pancreatic cancer were they able to properly diagnose that they had missed a gall stone. I know medicine is more of an art than a science, but I sure wish they could have figured that out BEFORE the stone passed. But, I thank God that was all it was. Being pain free for 36 hours, she is coming home today for a couple weeks of bed rest at home.
So with that, I will just say Happy New Year to all. I'm looking forward to climbing out of the funk that 2008 has engulfed me, my family, and our country. The great thing about being at the bottom is that it is easier to climb up than keep digging deeper. I'm ready to climb in 2009.
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