Ramblings

How To Cut Down Trees

2008-09-07T15:23:00.002-04:00

Army style

Hey, where you been?

2008-07-04T10:26:00.002-04:00

Jeez, it's been a while. Nothing has really changed much so there hasn't been anything to write about.

Once again I am kid free for the summer (go ahead, get your jealous on). The boys are spending the summer with their grandparents in Sag Harbor on Long Island. Scott is trying to get a job as a caddie at one of the clubs out there. But Sean, recently graduated from high school, is in full on lazy mode. I think his grandfather will have other plans for that, putting him to work around the house. He is a tough one to get motivated.

I finally heard from Chris after about a month of no contact. The last I had heard was that they were moving to another base and that they would be very busy so he would have limited chances to talk. Sadly two men from his battalion lost their lives about 2 weeks ago. It took some time for the Army to release their names, so after finally hearing from him last night was the first good night of sleep I've had in a while. One more year to go of this.

News from the Front

2008-06-02T10:26:00.003-04:00

I received a surprise phone call from Chris yesterday. It's not easy to speak to him directly but we have sent some emails back and forth. Still it's nice to hear his voice. He said it's been quiet where he is (a good thing we both agreed on) and that mostly he has been doing building up of the area. He told me he is in Salman Pak, a little south of Bagdhad. From articles I have read it seems that the units there have been in reconstruction of the area with not much fighting going on.

In his free time he has found something to occupy himself - weight lifting. He said they don't give them enough to eat to make any gains (it's funny to hear this from him) I'm sending him some protein to supplement between meals. Also lifting gloves. I'll probably throw a book in with that (I'm thinking Cressey's new one) so he can learn to do it right.

One and a half months down, 13 and a half to go.

Sports Update

2008-05-29T07:08:00.003-04:00

High school golf season is over. The Aviation team ended up with a 7-5 record. They earned a trip to the playoffs, although they lost in the first round. Sean was 12-0 during the regular season but suffered his only loss in the playoffs, losing on the final hole. He made a few bad decisions coming down the stretch which cost him the match.

Scott ended the regular season 11-0 with one match played to a draw. He won his payoff match, making a six foot putt for par to win on the final hole. A lot of the opposing coaches gave me compliments on both boys as players but were very impressed with Scott's short game and putting abilities. He put away a lot of his opponents with his play around and on the greens.

My nephew Joe finished his baseball season at Lynchburg College with a record of 9-0, 3 saves and a 1.04 ERA. His season earned him the Male Student Athlete of the year award and second team All-American honors. Needless to say we are all very proud of him.

Addendum: I was informed after posting that Sean will be the recipient of the PSAL Wingate Award, which goes to the top senior athlete in NYC in their respective sport.

Wake Up Call

2008-05-12T18:42:00.006-04:00

Around 8 am this morning I'm sitting, sipping on some coffee (yes, it has me back in it's clutches) when I hear a very large and loud "CRACK".

This tree was about 80 years old a stood well over probably 60 feet tall. Fortunately no one was out on the street at that time and there were no injuries. The people who own this truck are usually just getting their kids off to school at around 8. Another few minutes and it would have been a different story.

It took out a really nice BMW too. My neighbor put a lot of time working on it and restoring it. I don't know what his plans are for it now.

Summertime (It's Almost Here)

2008-05-07T21:55:00.006-04:00

Yup, that's some porterhouses grilling up nicely tonight. That's good eating. It's been beautiful here in NYC the last few days so it was time to bust out the grill. Once the weather gets nice I grill most nights. And always charcoal. To me cooking on the gas grills is like cooking on the stove. It's just not for me.

The boys enjoyed the steaks tonight, although combining steak, beans and an all male household - well it doesn't take long.

I'm luck I'm single or I'd be sleeping in the yard tonight.

Update again

2008-04-24T18:21:00.003-04:00

Spoke to Chris again today. He's not moving into Iraq just yet but he wasn't allowed to talk about what's going on. He sounded good but said I probably won't hear from him for a few weeks now. Again "Don't worry". The kid knows me too well.

On another note my nephew, Joe Devlin, currently goes to Lynchburg College in Virginia, where he is a pitcher on their baseball team. He won his 8th game last night (8-0)and is currently 3rd in ERA in the country among Division III pitchers. His dad is real proud of him, as we all are.

Had an interview today which I thought went real well. Hopefully I make it to the next round.

Peace and Quiet

2008-04-20T16:48:00.003-04:00

Sean and Scott are away for a few days, visiting their grandparents in Florida, so I have the place all to myself (don't worry, I still have pants on). They'll get a few rounds of golf in although they have been warned about the alligators.

Chris is still in Kuwait until this coming Friday. Then he heads to the base in Iraq about 30 miles from Baghdad. Temperatures have been around 100, which is bad enough, but when he gets to Iraq he has to throw on 50 lbs. of armor and equipment. That heat is going to be brutal. They had a two day sandstorm this week. Not too surprising considering that all you can see is sand. And camels. He did sound good in talking with him, although he expects to be busy this next week so it may be sometime before I hear from him again.

New Music Tuesday

2008-04-15T20:34:00.002-04:00

A while back a good friend sent me a couple of compilation CD's featuring female singers. It was the first time I heard Tristan Prettyman and I really enjoyed that first exposure to her music. Her voice is very easy to listen to and fits well with the acoustic guitar on those first cuts. She has a new album out today and the first song is called Madly (another free download, thank you iTunes). It has a nice groove going on, a little louder and more electric this time out. Maybe it will get her a little more notice.

Ahhhhhhhh

2008-04-12T21:57:00.003-04:00

A couple of nice days here in NYC with temps in the mid-70's and the sun out. After a long cold winter the breasteses are blooming, in time for the summer browning season. Ah, springtime.

Chris has made it safely to Kuwait. I still don't have information on how to reach him there. His platton has moved out of his engineers battalion and been attached to an infantry division. He did give me the contact from the engineers who hopefully can put me in the right direction to keep up with him. It doesn't appear to be springtime in Kuwait. A check of the weather shows tempuratures prdicted in the upper 90's this week. On top of everything else you have to deal with that.

Sean and Scott are now 3-0 for the golf team and their team remains undefeated. Their coach tells me they are both paying really well, which means I really have no chance against them anymore.

Update

2008-04-06T13:01:00.003-04:00

Although I haven't been able to speak with Chris since his return to Germany I have found out that he is deploying to Iraq as of today. If you can keep him in your prayers it would be appreciated. The more the better I would think.

Both Sean and Scott are playing on the high school golf team this year. So far the team is 2-0 and both have won their matches, Sean both times by 5 and 4, Scott by 10 holes and 5 and 4. Scott is a freshman and is playing with guys who played last year. The rest of the team has been chiding Sean that it looks like Scott will be better than him, which gets under Sean's skin. So he went out and shot 37 (4 over) for 9 last week to try to shut them up.

Nothing new on the job front for me. I have my resume at 2 companies but they haven't moved on the position in a few weeks (at least that's what the agencies have said). Fucking Republicans screwing up the economy. ;) Still working the crappy job just to keep food on the table and getting the house cleaned up so I can sell it. That will give me some relief from the money situation. Hopefully.

Another sign

2008-04-06T10:09:00.002-04:00

that we're just moving too fast as a society.

If you can't take the time to get out of the car for your kid's party you need to re-adjust your priorities.

Location, location, location

2008-03-18T20:42:00.001-04:00

New Music Tuesday

2008-03-04T20:01:00.003-05:00

Well it's been a while for one of these things. But one of my favorite bands, Counting Crows, has a new album coming out called Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings. I've seen them a couple of times live and have always enjoyed their shows. A great bunch of musicians and amazing lyrics. From the new album You Can't Count on Me.

Chris Goes "Home"

2008-02-17T11:21:00.003-05:00

Chris left for Germany last night. Although he did spend a little more time at home this week the most time I had with him was on the trips from and to the airport. We had the time to talk one on one during those trips.

Although I did feel a little funny about it. He'll be 22 next week and he's been living on his own now for getting close to two years. There were times when I wanted to pass on some advice or maybe even a little lecture but I held back. At this point in his life do I have that right anymore?

He told me he only felt bad about saying goodbye to two people. One was his best friend Shawn's mother, who stopped in the middle of working to say goodbye. He said she started crying. The other was Scott. He was closer to Scott than Sean, they did more brother things together. I know Scott thinks a lot about Chris and where he is and I think Chris now realizes it.

We get to the airport and he get his ticket and checks his bag. Stepping outside for his last smoke for about 11 hours we talk about information he needs to get me so I can be in touch with people at his command (or more they know how to reach me).

"Yeah, so it looks like April 15th is the day this time. We've done all our medical testing and even took our Photo of Honor. We didn't have to do that the last times we were getting ready".
"Well, just stay low so we never have to see that photo".
"You don't have to worry about me".
"Sorry, I won't promise that".
"They train us really well. I'll be fine".
"I know they do. It's just that there's a guy out there who doesn't care".
"I know".

Then it was time for him to go, we said goodbye. I just hope that there's another "Hello".

This Should Be Interesting

2008-02-02T22:29:00.000-05:00

Chris is due home in about 14 hours, for 2 weeks. It's been 15 months since he left for Germany.

New Music Tuesday

2008-01-22T06:38:00.000-05:00

Drama

2008-01-21T20:47:00.000-05:00

The other day I had a talk with the boys about the current job situation. I let them know that one of the things I have to look at right now is that I may have to sell the house (remember when I said about disappointing them). I explained that I had to tell the mortgage company that I can't make the payments but that it would take a few months to sell and that if something changed in the meantime it could always be stopped. I told them I have a good piece of equity in the house (mortgage is about 60% of the value of the house) and, again, if a job came up later rather than sooner that would be used to put down on a new place.

Scott seemed to understand but Sean lit into me, which caught me by surprise. He said some pretty hurtful things which I didn't push at the time since I knew he was angry. Needless to say it's been pretty frosty between us these last few days. I have to let my anger go down before talking about this again with him.

In the meantime unemployment has ended so I've taken a part time job. I make in 10 hours what I used to earn in 2. There are mouths to feed. Good times.

Too Old

2008-01-14T15:14:00.000-05:00

I'm even too old for this. Damn, I'd be earning about $2,250 per hour.

New Year? Let's Hope So

2008-01-07T14:49:00.000-05:00

Last year has a better chance of making it into my bottom 5 than top five. To top it off I started the new one with a nice head cold. But New Years Eve was a lot of fun so I guess I'm even. So far.

Chris spent his holidays on a deserted base in cold Germany. I could tell when speaking to him that he wasn't happy with how his holidays turned out. He's finding out the Army is a lot tougher than I was when he screws up. Right now he's scheduled to come home around February 2nd for 2 weeks. I hope he behaves himself this time.

Sean is becoming quite a good guitar player. Right now it's mostly Black Sabbath "War Pigs" and "Paranoid". I hope he learns another song soon, just for a change of pace for my ears. I'm not bothered by the distortion or loudness of his playing, and I guess that's because this is music I grew up with. Then I thought about what I put my parents through, and how they could call this music "noise". Those poor people.

Scott has been learning the bass and they were thinking about getting a band together with a few friends. But Sean is such a bully with Scott that Scott has no interest in it. It's too bad because they could both help each other learn if they could just get along. Fortunately Scott is the more gregarious of the two so his wider circle of friends keep him occupied in other areas.

The job front is going nowhere. I've been on several interviews in the past few months, all of which I am qualified for, but no offers. What sucks is I still see a couple of them advertising the position as still open. I'm starting to think that it's coming down to what someone said a few weeks back. "Dude, you're old".

Maybe it's time to look in a different direction, a change of scenery. But that change would bring about a drastic lifestyle change (the income would be nowhere close to the same). If it was just me it wouldn't be so bad. But I have the other guys to think about too. I get tired of disappointing them.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T23:56:00.001-05:00

Shopping

2007-12-19T21:42:00.000-05:00

There will be one less at Christmas this year. Chris won't be coming home. It seems he got into some trouble over there in Germany. Nothing too serious but serious enough where the Army tore up his leave papers. So he'll be on a 24 hour shift on Christmas Day instead. And he thought I was tough when I sent him to his room when he was bad.

Did some shopping in Best Buy today. The aisle with the biggest crowd? The video game aisle (don't ask how I know this). Plenty of XBox's and PS3's to be had but not a Wii to be found. But that wasn't stopping any of the games from rolling out of the store. It looked like at last half the people on the checkout lines had video games. And video picture frames. These things looked pretty cool, I have to look into them a little deeper. Load them up with pics and I could imagine these could make great gifts for grandparents and relatives who don't get to see the kids too often.

I could see this happening:

Random Task

2007-12-13T19:50:00.000-05:00

Well today's snowstorm fizzled out to a lot of rain. Although they are calling for more this weekend.

Being thrifty (the kids call it cheap) I'm keeping the house a balmy 68 degrees so far. The kids think it's cold so I tell them go outside for 10 minutes and you'll see how warm it is in here. But that means I have to stay bundled up at night. I can't sleep with a shirt on. I move around too much and get all twisted in it. And socks, either. Just can't do it. So that leaves.....your imagination (there's an early holiday present for the ladies).

3 interviews this week, one set up for Monday. Hope somethings hits soon.

I wonder if this will be Tony's next fitness review. I think he could do well with this one.

It's Too Early For This Stuff

2007-12-02T11:02:00.001-05:00

I'm going back to bed. Someone wake me in April.

2007-11-28T12:17:00.000-05:00

Low 30's here in NYC this morning. Those heated seats are nice.

Well, I wasn't in the 1 of 8 to move on to the next round. Ah well, hopefully better things are around the corner. It's just been a long freaking corner to turn.

Shopping

2007-11-26T14:02:00.000-05:00

I have to get a job so I can avoid this afternoon shopping. There's nothing but old people in the store. Jeez.

Gotta run to catch the early bird dinner at Sizzler. Lata.

Revisiting

2007-11-26T11:37:00.000-05:00

I met some people I used to work with for lunch in Brooklyn on Saturday. It was at a nice little Italian place near where we used to work. It was really good to see them all and catch up with them. One of the women is pregnant with her first child, due in March. She's very excited about this as was her husband. Three of them have found other jobs but none of them were happy with where they have ended up. And we heard stories of people at other locations that have been let go after they closed our office.

Even though it had it's moments of sadness it was great to get together with all of them. We said that we'll do it again after the holidays. I hope we stick to that plan.

Thankful

2007-11-22T03:38:00.000-05:00

For my kids, family and friends, near and far.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

New Music Tuesday

2007-11-20T07:39:00.000-05:00

A new album from JT. No, not Justin Timberwhatever (is that even music?). James Taylor has a new one called One Man Band, a collection of 19 songs recorded live in concert. Just James, his guitar and voice. He has a unique guitar playing style which really suits being a one man band. I've wanted to see him in concert, he plays just about every summer at the Jones Beach Theatre, but just never got around to going. Maybe this coming year but for now this will have to be my fill.

Sweet Baby James

Comfort Zone

2007-11-18T12:18:00.000-05:00

Cosgrove had an interesting blog post about getting out of your comfort zone. I see this with a lot of people, myself included. I know that I should take more chances, that I shouldn't be afraid of going out on that proverbial limb once in a while. So, to that end, I have sent in an application for a job which would be totally away from what I have done in my career. I'm not going to go into details just yet because there is a 1 in 8 chance I'll get to the interview stage (according to the information I saw on their website). But it would be an exciting and scary change of pace. We shall see.

New Music Tuesday

2007-11-13T08:04:00.000-05:00

Robert Plant and Alison Krause put out an album a few weeks back called Raising Sand. This is one of the best albums that I have heard this year. It really surprised me in that this is not the style of music I am accustomed to listening to. I'm finding it good to listen to when I need to mellow out (crap, I'm getting old).

This is a youtube user video created to their song Your Long Journey. I thought the video is appropriate for this past holiday.

Where'd He Go?

2007-11-12T15:15:00.000-05:00

Nowhere. That's part of the problem.

I'm off the coffee. For the last three weeks I have replaced my usual 2 cups of joe with 1 or 2 cups of tea. My tea of choice has been Stash Tea's Green and White Fusion. Good stuff, plus I think that "stash" and "tea" just seem to go together. I don't feel as wired drinking the tea as I had been with the coffee. My local store has finally been stocking it again so I pick up a box just about everytime I go in (I have almost a 2 month supply right now due to their inconsistency in stocking this).

I'm starting to follow the TNT Diet. Out of all the nutrition books I've read this is probably the simplest, for me, to follow. It's the easiest for me to adjust to the food that I want to eat. Time to take some measurements (which will not be published, sparing you all of the barf factor) and see what kind of changes this brings about.

That's all for now, a short update. Later.

New Music Tuesday

2007-10-30T11:53:00.000-04:00

I received this one as a freebee from Amazon. The band is called Thrice and hails from California. Until I heard this song I had never heard of this band, but so far I do like what I hear. A few weeks back they released the first album of two called The Alchemy Index. Each album will have two discs with each disk having to do with the four natural elements - fire, water, earth and air. Fire and water are represented on the first set and the remaining set will be released around April 2008. I'll definitely be looking into this band as time (and money) allow.

From the album Digital Sea

One Year Later

2007-10-26T07:01:00.000-04:00

I was able to spend some time on the phone with Chris the other day. Come next week it will be one year since he's been home. When I spoke to him he was on a bus heading out to some more field training. Only this time they will be living in tents and, as he said, "it's getting freaking cold". He'll be out of touch for about 4 weeks.

His trip home for Christmas may be on hold. It seems he has become quite the marksman and the Army may send him to school for sniper training. That training would start around December 1st and goes for 5 weeks. Even though the training would be at Fort Benning in Georgia he would not be able to make a side trip home. So if this happens the earliest he could make it back would be in February.

It looks like deployment to Iraq is a given. He said it would most likely happen in March and would be a 15 month tour. If he takes this training he would become part of a hunter patrol. That's a 4 man patrol that would go out on their own to an area of insurgent problems, like the laying of IED's, and lie in ambush waiting for them. Ot them for him. Not exactly the job I would be hoping he would get but we'll take it as it comes.

Career Change?

2007-10-24T08:01:00.000-04:00

In my so far futile search for gainful employment I'm looking through as many sources I can - newspapers, monster and other online sources, employment agencies - anything that can help in finding the right situation. One of the online sources I have been looking through is Craigs List. You can find just about anything on Craigs List, especially the weirdness that is this world.

In going through employment ads I came upon an ad from this guy. It doesn't seem like a bad deal, advice from someone who has extensive experience in my field for a reasonable consulting cost.

But in doing my due diligence I find out that in addition to being a credit porfessional he is also this guy. (NSFW) I wonder how much he charges for advice on changing my career.

New Music Tuesday (-1)

2007-10-22T14:51:00.000-04:00

Neil Young is back at it again. The original grunge guitarist and master of the two chord jam releases a new album tomorrow called Chrome Dreams II. Don't go looking for volume I, it was never released. This collection is typical Neil Young fare, a mix of rock and folk tunes. He even wrote a song about me (Dirty Old Man).

From this album this is Spirit Road (not a great video, more a collection of pics to the music).

Prayers Answered

2007-10-20T11:22:00.000-04:00

Last August I posted a request that people pray for Joe. For those of you that have been keeping up the prayers have been answered. Joe is in the process of moving back to the staging area in Kuwait for return to his base in Germany. 15 months done in the heat, sand and fighting that is going on in Iraq. I know this is a great relief for his family, my friends, and all those who know him. He should be home here in the states by Christmas. For good. Can't wait to see him.

Price Wars?

2007-10-19T17:54:00.000-04:00

Back here I posted the Amazon was starting to sell mp3 music the was digital rights management (DRM) free for $.89 per song. I wondered what Apple was going to do about this incursion into their territory.

Today Apple answered. In an email from them they are now offering their DRM free catalog for $.99 per song. Competition is good (but this still doesn't mean your getting free music, Joe).

Yes, I am

2007-10-18T11:23:00.000-04:00

(Note, this has nothing to do with a Melissa Etheridge album title of the same name because No, I'm not).

But yes, I have been making it to the gym. And I'm keeping track of it here. Don't make fun of my puny weights, I will be getting stronger. And then when I taunt you from a distance you'll know I can back up those taunts with even stronger ones.

And I'm going to try to keep track of everything that goes down my piehole here. I have to do something about this weight issue so Tony will stop calling me "Fatty". And then I can taunt him a second time. Maybe with a good diet I can change some of this fat to muscle (blasphemer, it can't be done). Yeah, yeah.

Don't be worried that I'm talking to myself now.

2007-10-17T14:42:00.000-04:00

I called the employment agency today. The guy there told me "The client was still considering about the position but we'll keep looking for other opportunities for you". That's telling me this is a no go. So my experience and skills get me in the door but it seems I keep screwing up the interview. So thats something that needs fixing but since I think they go OK I can't figure what to fix. I wonder if they are running a sale over at personality.com.

Just venting. Sorry.

New Music Tuesday

2007-10-16T10:07:00.000-04:00

Lots of older bands and musicians are coming out with new music, or at least new albums, at this time of year. The holidays must be coming up! Joining that list today is R.E.M. with the release of R.E.M. Live. Recorded live in Dublin in 2005 it contains 22 songs spanning their musical career.

From the companion DVD Orange Crush.

Live also has a live album which can be downloaded from their site.

Next week - a Canadian.

Too Soon to Tell

2007-10-15T14:31:00.000-04:00

Another interview today. Another waiting period starts. I wonder how long this time. I thought the interview went well, but I thought the last 3 went well and nothing panned out. We shall see. The job seems interesting, in my general area of experience but it will also allow me to expand to other areas. And it will pay what I'm looking for so that's always a plus. Only one more interview set up at this time for next Tuesday. That job would be in New Jersey but that one is seriously good money. Longer commute times but it might be worth it. Both companies, the one today and the one next week, are pretty large companies that everyone would know.

Lifted again. Almost there on a plan. Right now I'm just enjoying it.

I'm sore

2007-10-13T10:25:00.001-04:00

I lifted. 'Nuff said (or so I've been told).

Well, Whadya Know

2007-10-11T09:13:00.000-04:00

I remembered where the gym was. It's only been n months (where n= none of your business). But after a good friend told me so nicely that I had "let myself go" I figured it was time to get back in. They raised the price of a bottle of water to $1.50. For 100% natural Carolina spring water. I kept the bottle so I can fill it with (relatively) free New York tap water (filtered, of course). I'm not cheap, I'm thrifty.

I did a very light, higher rep workout just to get moving again. I also didn't want to get any debilitating DOMS, although I do expect some soreness. But even at the light weights I can tell I have become pathetically weaker. I'm working on coming up with a plan (I can see the heads shaking - "Yeah, like he'll stick to a plan") but in the meantime I'll keep the higher rep stuff going until I figure it out. The bigger thing will be to make sure I get back in there at least every other day. If you're going to call me out on anything call me on that. I'm not sure if I'm going to log it, it's hard for me to see any value in that. I am going to shoot hard for the consistency in making it to every planned workout.

New Music Tuesday

2007-10-09T02:43:00.000-04:00

Annie Lennox became known as the voice and face of Eurythmics in the early 80's. She posseses a very distinctive voice and a great stage presence which really drew fans to the band. She's been releasing solo work since the early 90's and alltold, she has sold over 80 million albums throughtout her career. She has a new album released a few weeks back titled Songs of Mass Destruction. The first single from the album is Dark Road.

New Music Tuesday

2007-10-02T05:49:00.000-04:00

The Boss is back! Bruce Springsteen's new album, Magic, is being released today. And once again he is back playing with the E Street Band, the band he became famous with. I wasn't a real fan back in the early days, not until a friend had tickets to a show at MSG in support of The River album. "Once you see him you'll change your mind" he said. And he was right. They blew the rook off the place that night and I've been hooked ever since. Yeah, he's had a few bombs over ther years (don't they all) but he's always at his best when playing with the E Street boys. From what I have sampled this one sounds pretty good, good straight up rock n roll.

Radio Nowhere, from the album.

Reasons to be Cheerful

2007-10-01T13:51:00.000-04:00

Ah, those Mets. They can break your heart. After 45 years you think I would be used to this. Oh well, next year.

The employment agency called me. No, not good news. They wanted to get the names and contact information of the people I met so they can find out what is going on. They spoke to the people at the local office and the position has still not been filled. In fact the people here in NY don't seem to have any idea what is going on.

And to me that's the weirdest part. I went through all their processes - interviews and testing - with no issues. There is no doubt I have the experience for the job. Maybe too much experience but I think the job they had required that kind of experience. From the data and metrics they quoted me their credit department in NY was in a shambles. And my experience, I felt, would allow me to turn the department around in short order, something someone with lesser time spent would not be able to do. I'm not bragging but I have 21 years spent with companies at the top of their industries and I was near the top of the management team. I couldn't have done that without knowing my job.

While some may think this would be a step down the allure of the job to me was that chance to make the difference, to turn that department around. I thought it would be a good showcase for my abilities, which could have lead to other opportunities. I could have made them a lot of money.

The strange part is that they have gone so silent. Up until the Chicago meeting everything seemed fine, there was interest from both parties about getting this job filled. I thought I answered all their questions properly, was polite and well-mannered. I thought I was able to show them I could do this job. But since that meeting there's been nothing. No responses to voice mails or emails from either myself or the agency. So there's something between that meeting and now that I don't know about that caused them to drop off the face of the earth. It's somewhat frustrating not knowing.

I'll let the agency see if they can come up with some reason for this reaction. I'd just like to know so I can learn from what must be an apparent mistake. But I'll let them handle it from here on, I don't want to spend too much time on a lost cause.

Competition

2007-09-29T12:09:00.000-04:00

In case you haven't caught on by now I love my iPod. And I'm totally into getting music via digital downloads. I'm not one for going to stores, "shopping" and standing on lines, so the Internet delivery system is right up my alley. And to do this with an iPod you were kind of locked into the iTunes store. But Amazon introduced a new MP3 service this week, selling music that is digital rights management free so it can be used on any player, burn CD's (this does not mean you're getting free music, Joe) and use as the buyer sees fit. And they have seriously undercut Apple's price ($.89 per single compared to $1.29 for iTune DRM free). And undercutting box stores (Pink Floyd's The Wall is $8.99 on Amazon MP3, $16.73 on iTunes and $29.99 at Best Buy).

I'll have to see how this will play out but the winner for me wil be the low bidder.

New Music Tuesday

2007-09-25T03:50:00.000-04:00

A new album from Melissa Etheridge is coming out today titled The Awakening. I went to see her a little over a year ago (the girls let me hang out with them). They had been raving about how good she is in concert, and that is no lie. There is a lot of passion in her music and her connection with the audience really brings that out. If you have the opportunity to see her perform I highly recommend it.

From the new album this is a song called Message to Myself.

New Music Tuesday

2007-09-19T10:19:00.000-04:00

Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame has a new album (disc)coming out called Kill to Get Crimson. I've been sampling some of the songs on the iTunes and he has some really nice stuff on this one. I've been a fan since Dire Straits first came out in the late 70's. He has an easy flowing guitar style which I admire and enjoy listening to. It's music you can have on in the background while doing just about anything. It doesn't require your full attention to enjoy.

From this new album is True Love Will Never Fade, recorded live in Germany a few weeks ago.

It's Over

2007-09-14T10:49:00.000-04:00

It’s been over 2 weeks since my trip to Chicago. I’ve called and left messages, sent emails and there has been no response. The agency I’ve been working with has done the same and has not been responded to (and they have other people working there and know the position hasn’t been filled). At this point I don’t think I’ll be hearing from them.

And that’s OK. They have been completely un-professional for these last few weeks, even leading up to the Chicago meeting, that if they made an offer I wouldn’t accept it. They strung me out for two months and then disappeared without a word. Cowards. The respect points they were starting to gain are gone now. I couldn’t work for someone I don’t respect.

So time to put this behind and learn from it. Rest up over the weekend and hit it hard again Monday.

Tricky

2007-09-12T08:35:00.000-04:00

So there was a bit of good news yesterday (no, not that good news). Sitting with Scott last night, watching some TV, when suddenly he says "Oh yeah, we're going to get free lunch at school."

"Really? How's that?", I say.

"Well, the school got all the lunch forms in on time so the whole school is getting free lunch"

The lunch forms are federally mandated and provide those familys with lower incomes free meals at schools for their children. I've filled out the forms every year but my income doesn't qualify me. I explain this to Scott.

"No, the principal announced today that everyone in the school gets free lunch. For the rest of the year."

Sweet. That will save me over $500 for this school year. Glad I filled out that form on time.

A little while later Sean comes down from out of his room. We're sitting for a little while when I say "That's pretty cool that you guys will be getting free lunch at school."

He immediately glares at Scott. "You idiot. We could have been scoring that $20 he gives us every other week for lunch if you didn't open your mouth."

At least I have one honest son. Watch them as they get older, people. Your replacements are out to get you.

New Music Tuesday

2007-09-11T07:04:00.000-04:00

Dave Matthews is another of my favorite musicians with a new album out. On this one he is playing live with his friend, Tim Reynolds, at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. I have a preference for live music recording so this one is on my short list to get. Here's the link to a new song called Eh Hee from this album.

Grrrrrrr

2007-09-07T09:02:00.000-04:00

187 this morning. At this rate I should be good just in time to feel those heated seats.

And I'm still waiting. It's getting hard not to be frustrated. I need to start exploring more options.

New Music Tuesday

2007-09-04T22:45:00.000-04:00

I got the day right.

This one is actually a little new. On Tuesdays iTunes sends out emails and offers a free single every week. Even though I'm not Scottish I download them every week (you can usually download the whole album at a dicounted price if you get the single). You take your chance with them, I've received a few bombs. This one wasn't bad: Jon McLaughlin(not Mahavishnu - mental note to look what he is up to these days). He's a piano-based songwriter from Indiana whose songs talk of the mid-Western life(think John Mellencamp). I can't embed the video (seems his record company requested this) but here's the link to Beautiful Disaster, the first song I downloaded from iTunes.

School Daze

2007-09-04T11:51:00.000-04:00

Well, the boys headed off for the first day of school today. Sean is a senior and Scott is a freshman. Today they went in at the same time but that will change. Sean will have a much longer day due to extra periods of shop class. And even though they are in the same school they probably will not run into each other much. Which will be good for Scott, Sean can be a big PIA to him.

Since they have been home my weekly food bill has increased substantially. So has toilet paper consumption. You people with younguns just wait until they become teenagers.

Chris checked in, he's back from his field training. He says the base is boring, it was much more fun blowing stuff up. But they'll be going back out in mate October for 2 months of training. After the training he'll have some leave so he'll be homre for Christmas and New Years. Deployment has been put off at least until March. I detected a little bit of sadness in his voice. He said he was OK but I don't know, just one of those things a parent might feel.

One thing that puzzled me during our talk. He said he bought a guitar online through a company here in the states. They ended up shipping him the wrong one so it's being sent back. It seemd odd that he would buy it this way. Is it actually less expensive than just buying one there in Germany? We got cut off before I could find out but I will check this out with him.

Me? I'm still waiting.......

Wake Up Call?

2007-09-01T09:50:00.000-04:00

Tipped the scale at a robust 190 this morning. That didn't take long. I guess I have to stop hanging with my new summer friends, Ben & Jerry, and go back to spinach and broccoli.

And here, all I thought I had to fix was my personality. Damn.

New Music Tuesday

2007-08-31T11:29:00.000-04:00

(Remember, it's new to me.)

Flipping through the stations about a few weeks ago I came upon a concert on the Madison Square Garden network. MSG was doing a series of shows played there. I started watching for a minute but then couldn't turn it off. They played the music I like - accessable songs with open spaces for the musicians to improvise. The band? of a revolution - better known as O.A.R.

Day Tripper

2007-08-30T09:27:00.000-04:00

5:00 AM. I haven't seen this time in a long time. Wow, it's still dark. Shower and shave, straighten my tie, pick up all my stuff for the trip (resume copies, boarding pass, book, iPod) and I'm off to the airport.

Traffic is light so LaGuardia is only a 10 minute trip at this hour. The 7:25 flight is booked solid. I'm a little surprised but then again I'm not an experienced business traveler. I'm wedged into the middle seat in row 15 between a very attractive young lady (alas, she's wearing rings) and a young man who eats part of his bagel, opens his computer, closes his computer, flips through some papers from his bag for 10 seconds, puts on his iPod, turns off his iPod, eats part of his bagel, repeat full sequence for the whole 2+ hour flight. A little less caffiene in the morning bud, especially before flying. I get a good 2 hours of reading my book (Twinkie, Deconstructed), time I never seem to get when sitting at home.

The pilot makes good time and we arrive in Chicago about 20 minutes early. Of course the gate isn't ready for us so we spend that extra 20 minutes sitting out on the tarmac waiting. We finally taxi to the gate and I can get a little more space. This is the second time I've been in Chicago and both time I've never left the airports. I've heard it's a pretty nice city, and if their airports are any indication of the city I would believe so. O'Hare is very nice (compared to the airports in NY) but a maze of gates and terminals. I was walking around for about 15 minutes before I found the American Airlines Admirals Club, where the meeting will take place.

The Admirals Club is a fancy little meeting place set up in the airport. It seems to be pretty active, looks like a lot of people flying in for interviews (I don't know if anyone else is flying in for this job). Our meeting starts a little after 9. I meet the three people who I more or less I would be working for. It appears I'll have a few different bosses coming at me from different angles. It's a situation that I'm used to as the last place had the same structure. In fact the business models of the two are so similar that I think the transition to this job would be a very quick one. I have no doubt that I could be successful in this position, both for myself and the company. My hope is that I have convinced these people in that in the short time I had (well, it was about 2 hours).

But I still have to wait a little bit. The manager of the NY office is on vacation this week and he'll be a part of the decision to hire me. So they promised me an answer next week. Hopefully this will be the last week of poor sleep.

I had about 2 hours to kill before the return flight so I wandered the airport. It's almost like a mall that airplanes come to. Do people really buy suits, dresses, humidifiers during waiting time in the airport? Seems very odd to me.

The trip back was uneventful and luckily I had an aisle seat this time. I needed to decompress a little so I just leaned back, put the iPod on shuffle and listened to music for the next 2 hours, trying not to think. I was back in the house by 5:30 and that was really the first time I relaxed the whole day. It's always great to get back home.

The Suspense is Killing Me.

2007-08-28T17:53:00.000-04:00

You too?

:)

Impluse Buy

2007-08-28T05:39:00.000-04:00

It was in front of the house, for sale. I had to have it.

Leaving on A Jet Plane

2007-08-25T15:17:00.000-04:00

On Friday I received the information for my day trip on Tuesday. Finally!! I think I'll have to slow down my NY pace for these Mid-Westerners. And I slept good last night. Didn't realize it was playing on my mind so much. I leave NY at 7:30 AM and get back in at 5:00 PM. That's a full day at the office. Haven't had one of those in a while.

The kids come back home from summer vacation on Monday - the party's over. teh house has been so quiet, I'll have to get used to the noise again. Their grandmother called today and said the boys have complained that their rooms don't have air conditioning (the grandparent's house has central AC). She wanted to know if she could pick them up some AC's for their rooms. "I sent sons out there, you're not bringing me back daughters, are you?" I bet they're not happy.

Looks like I called the end of summer too early. It's 91 today and humid (now they're really not happy). But next week will be low 80's so it's fine. A temperature range of 75 to 80 (that's about 24 to 27 for our foreign readers) would be ideal for me in the summer. Fall is coming. Can't wait.

New Music Tuesday

2007-08-21T14:57:00.000-04:00

It may not be exactly "new" music but it is new to me. And no, Hal, I'm not trying to separate you from your money (although this may be good stuff for flying your copter to).

I was listening to a friend's iPod a few weeks back and came upon an interesting band - 30 Seconds to Mars (she has turned me on to a few good new bands this year). The band is fronted by Jared Leto. I'm not familiar with his film work but his band is pretty good. Not a bad video either. (Volume warning - it gets loud).

Testing One

2007-08-20T21:36:00.000-04:00

Spent this morning doing some assessment tests at the company where I interviewed. They told me HR came up with this last October and every applicant has to go through it. Lots of math (all long hand, no calculator allowed), spelling and alphabetizing (do you file Hudson, Thomas before or after Humphrey, Fred?), word associations (dog is to canine as cat is to the General's "chicken") and personality profiling (T or F, I have never been angry with anyone). It took about 2 hours and near the end I just wanted to stab myself in the eyes at the redundancy of the whole thing. The only test I'll have left is the pee-pee test if they make an offer on the 28th.

Been cool here in NYC for the last few days, almost like autumn. It's nice to not run the AC all the time (and saves some cash) and to get outside. I wouldn't mind summer being over a little early this year.

Update

2007-08-14T23:38:00.000-04:00

Well, my butt was handed to me today. By both of them. And Scott scored the best and he's out driving me. Not that I hit it long anyway, but he's a lot longer than he was last year. I was really impressed with the way they both played.

They want to do it to me again tomorrow. It's going to be a long week.

Man vs.

2007-08-13T17:08:00.000-04:00

Rainy Day

2007-08-10T17:42:00.000-04:00

Rainy day today. Pretty dismal out, made me lazy. Like I need an excuse.

I was able to get away for a few days last weekend (an unplanned escape). A friend has a place on the north shore of Long Island a few hundred feet from the beach. And it's a quiet beach so I was able to get some early morning walks in without the usual crowds around. And we got out one night to look at the stars without all the light pollution of the city. But of course the best part was hanging with some good friends and having a few laughs. It cleared some of the cobwebs out of my head.

Next week I'll be heading out to spend a few days with the kids. Yes, there will be
golf involved. Although the last few years we have tried to place this course it has rained that day. I don't mean just rain, I mean monsoon conditions. So this will be the first time we will all be playing here. And yes I thoroughly expect to get a butt whipping from these kids. They are playing far better than they did last year and I haven't played at all.

Watching the PGA today I like this commercial (love the website name, too).

The Sound of Silence

2007-07-31T19:02:00.000-04:00

As I had said earlier I had an interview with a company in my area and there was a follow up phone interview with the regional credit manager. The twenty minute time we had set for the phone call turned into an hour and twenty minutes so I thought it went real well. The RCM said he was going to pass on a recommendation to his boss for further talks.

And then the silence. No word has been coming from anyone. I had the interview set up through an employment agency and they weren't hearing anything either. In this case no news has not been good news. Especially since I haven't seen one advertisement for a job opening in my area since that time.

Until today. The RCM called an explained that due to travelling, vacations and such he didn't get back to me as he had nothing to report. But now we are making arrangements for me to fly to Chicago on August 28th to meet with him and his superiors. I'll fly in, meet them in the airport and fly out that afternoon.

So it's another month to wait but the waiting isn't so hard now that I feel there is a plan. And I think it's a job worth waiting for.

Grilled me a nice porterhouse this evening. Brocolli on the side. Good eating.

Is It In My Head?

2007-07-29T13:15:00.000-04:00

Reading back it seems like this blog has become a whine fest (except for the 6/21 post which was a bitch fest). It's odd because I think that people that really know me don't see me as a whiner. So I'll try to refrain from whining in every post. Maybe just every other one.

The boys came in for the day on Tuesday. I don't know what they feed them out there but they keep getting bigger. Scott is getting closer to my height. Sean seems to be dominating the Friday golf league they are in, shooting 41 in the first 9 hole tourney they had. Even Scott is breaking 50 and they are both wanting me to come out to beat me (Scott is talking trash to me now). Unlike last year, where I didn't pick up a club and took them easily, I'm going to have to get some practice time in. I'm going to try to get out there in 2 weeks so it's not much time.

Chris is out on maneuvers so he's hard to reach. He should be done with them in early September. When I spoke to him last he was looking forward to it.

I haven't been to the gym in, well, a long time. I still remember the way although I may have forgotten my member number. I need to come up with a plan and get back in there (I know, a familiar theme with me, coming up with a plan).

The latest bit of evil I have found is Ben and Jerry's Creme Brulee Ice Cream (go to "What's New Lagoon). I comes in a convenient 2 serving size (don't let the "4 servings per container" BS on the label fool you). And now that a 7-11 has opened a block away I have 24/7 access to it. It shows.

Even though I am home alone I really need to remember to put the seat down.

Spent the morning listening to Genesis - the Peter Gabriel version. In my opinion this version of the band was the best. Much better when Gabriel sang, Hackett played guitar and Collins stayed back on the drums. I was lucky enough to see this version twice live. And all these years later they are still some of my favorite musicians.

Now it's rainy out with thunderstorms in the area. Looks like that's what is on tap for the rest of the day so I think I'll spend the time doing some reading.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

2007-07-18T08:21:00.000-04:00

Still sitting by the phone, waiting to hear from the previous interview. It sucks, I'm anxious to get going and it seems like a good company to work for. But they may lose out due to the delays.

Monday morning I get a call from an agency I signed up with 3 months ago. When I signed up was the last time I had heard from them. They guy says a job is coming up today and he thinks I would be a good fit so he want to present me to the company. I say cool, go for it, and get back to waiting. So about 4:30 he calls and tell me that I have an interview at 9 AM Tuesday. He tells me about the company, gives me info to research them, says they know my salary requirements and they're OK on that end.

We have the meeting yesterday morning. The building is not as pretty as the first interview but the guys I meet are nice. We go through the usual interview stuff, you know, my background, what the job is. I know I can do this job and it seems like they know it too. They leave it with me that they have to talk to their corporate office and they'll get back to me. Ready for more waiting.

4 PM I get a call to the regional credit manager in Iowa. He sets up a 10 AM phone interview with me today. Damn, they must be interested. He tells me we'll talk and then I'll get a call from HR and talk to them a bit. If all goes well I should have an answer in a few days. This is moving fast and I'm trying not to get my hopes too high but I'm thinking I could dig this job.

I've been out of work for 3 months now. My severance ran out 3 weeks ago. I'm dipping into money I don't want to and that won't last for long. I must have sent out 100 resumes since I've been out and nothing. But now I've had 3 interviews in the last 3 weeks (hmmm, a lot of 3's in there). I hate this kind of pressure. A friend told me "this is how it happens for you. When your back is up against the wall it all falls into place for you. You should be used to that." She's probably right but at 53 I want things to start falling into place a lot earlier. I have enough grey hairs.

I hope the second half of my life gets easier.

#112

2007-07-11T12:55:00.000-04:00

So it looks like that first interview didn't pan out. They have readvertised it on Monster. Ah well, their loss. Hopefully I hear good things from the other interview tomorrow.

Chris goes off for 2 months of field training next Thursday. I'll have limited contact with him for that time. His plan is still to come home after the training for a few weeks. It will be almost a year since I saw him. That's a long time.

The other guys are out golfing their butts off. I have to get some wheels to go out there to see them, although both of them are ragging on me about golf. I need to get some stealth practice in so I'm not completely crushed.

Small update, for those who care.

Ticket to Ride

2007-07-02T13:39:00.000-04:00

I usually get my tickets to concerts through Ticketmaster. Heck, they have the lock on the business. I have no complaints, they are very good in the service they provide.

Today I receive an interesting email from them. Nickelback is doing a tour and Ticketmaster would like me to buy a VIP package to that tour. They have a show listed I the area so I clicked through to see what it's about (no, I'm not a fan).

With the VIP package I would get a premium ticket, a signed photo of the band and a commemorative laminate (Whatever that is. All I know is it doesn't get me backstage access).

At the venue in question the best seat would cost me $69.25. That gets me into the lower level reasonably close to the stage. I don't know what a premium ticket is but I could imagine it's in the same area. And how much is this VIP package? $225!!! So it's $155 for a picture and something that does nothing for me. Have I lost my mind?

And this is for Nickelback. Could you imagine how much this would cost for a real band?

The Kids Are Alright

2007-07-02T11:51:00.000-04:00

They are really alright today - THEY'RE GONE!!! For the whole summer. Off to their grandparents. Daddy gets a break. Just kidding, I will miss them being around. We've all stuck with each other over the years to make it work as best as possible. It is way too quiet when they are not here. They make a good kind of noise.

It works out good for them. They get the summer out of the city and will spend most of it on the golf course. Plus they have a great relationship with their grandparents (from their mother's side). The grandparents don't get to see them that much during the year so they all look forward to this time together. I'll go out a few times to see them during the summer and probably get my butt handed to me on the course. They are both getting good and with the amount of practice they are getting it will be tough to keep up with them. Getting beat by my replacements, how humiliating.

Sending out another resume today. It would be nice if this one worked out.

Come Talk to Me

2007-06-30T12:38:00.001-04:00

Had an interview yesterday. The company is a competitor of my former place of employment so I have knowledge of who they are and what they do. I met yesterday with the director of credit for the east coast and one of the regional credit managers. The director starts by saying "Before we get into discussing the job I like to go over some points about your resume". Fair enough and not unexpected. But then he pulls out the paper - we're going to play 20 questions. Among them - "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?" "At this point in my life I'm hoping to see myself retired in 10 years." (chuckles all around) "What kind of pressure do you have on the job?" "If I have pressure on the job it's self-inflicted." (puzzled look) "If you hire me it's with certain expectations. If I meet or exceed them then there's no pressure. If I don't there is. And that's my fault".

Finally the director turns it over to the regional CM (I'm older than both of them and have been doing this job for longer than both. You'd think that with over 20 years of experience they'd show me a little resp...sorry, I just channeled someone else there for a minute ;) ). Anyway, the regional guy asks me a pretty open-ended question and we have a nice chat for the next 20 minutes. After that we discuss the position, I ask some questions as we go along and make some analysis that, I think, made a few light bulbs go on. All in all the interview went on for about an hour and a half. There's no doubt in my mind I could do this job, and do it well. But that decision is not up to me.

I have another interview on Thursday. Different industry, which really intrigues me. I'm always up for a good challenge, especially when it comes to work. Plus this job would pay better than the competitor would. It's a much larger company with a recognizable name. I'm really looking forward to this one.

So, I'm hoping that one of these come through. And now I have to do some car shopping. I'll need something soon if they do.

Cry, Baby

2007-06-21T21:54:00.000-04:00

It seems like the "coach" has his panties in a bunch again. Poor guy, he's so misunderstood. Actually, he's the one who doesn't understand.

You may have a love-hate feeling about the internet but you have a hate-hate feeling about internet forums. Maybe it's because you've spent so many years in the small world of a college strength coach, with a captive audience that must listen to you without question or they don't get to play. But us "bleacher bums" do question what we read, it's how we learn. I'm sure you didn't form your training philosophy without questioning what you were being taught. But you expect a different reaction from us. All that does is make you look like a pompous ass.

And it's funny that you insult us when we are actually your market. Go look how many fitness books are in the Amazon top 100 (I'll save you time - there are none). I doubt very many know your name in the gym I go to. And that gym has over 3,000 members. Do you think you're a household name in many gyms across the country? I doubt that too. The internet fitness forum is your market, and yet you insult and try alienate it, calling us bums, saying we're not intelligent or competent enough to decide whether a product is good enough to spend on.

Have you ever gone to a movie and thought it was so bad that you were sorry you wasted your money on it? Have you ever told a friend not to waste their money? But you're not an actor, or director, or screenwriter. What gives you the right to say that? Oh, that's right, you're a consumer. You see, big guy, while the others in your fitness trainers circle jerk club can stroke you and say "Dos, it's the bomb" they don't matter. Because I have something they don't have - my money. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but the purpose of writing a book, of trying to make a name for yourself is to make my money your money. And if I spend my money and in my opinion your programs sucks, your writing style is irritating, even if your binding is of inferior quality, as the consumer I have every right to say that.

But you don't have to worry, "coach", I won't offend you with a negative review of your book. Because I guarantee there is no way it will make it on to my bookshelf. And it's not because I don't see you as a competent coach and teacher. I know full well you are. It's because of your piss-poor attitude. But hey, it's not like you're the only one who teaches this stuff. I'm sure I can find someone just as competent who I'll enjoy giving my money to. You're probably thinking "It's only one book". Is it?

PS - I found it funny that you whine about internet keyboard jockeys and bloggers and yet this was the forum you chose for your tirade. Comical, to say the least. Toodles.

Thank God It's Friday

2007-06-15T08:19:00.000-04:00

I think I have to post at least every Friday or G wonders where I've been.

But the days just keep rolling into one. I'm not on the normal week schedule like everyone else. Everyday seems like the weekend. That's not good.

Not much going on with the job front. A couple of places that had my resume have put off hiring right now. I did have a phone interview yesterday. Turns out the company is a direct competitor of my former employer so I would know the company, the job and the industry quite well. I hope I impressed the HR person (she didn't really understand the nuances of the job, didn't even realize I worked for a competitor) to get an in person interview. She said she would have my resume to the hiring manager by next week so we'll see.

But I'm running out of time. Only two more weeks of severance and then...who knows. Unemployment won't cover everything. I may have to convert my equity asset (house) into a more liquid position. Which would suck. The boys will be so disappointed, and I hate disappointing them again.

Edited to add: They must be interested. I've traded a dozen emails this morning just on a good cover letter for my resume. Keep your fingers crossed.

All Over You

2007-06-06T14:01:00.000-04:00

In the last two days I have received a dozen emails from the various fitness newsletter sources I have subscribed to. All of them telling me about this unbelievable offer from one trainer that expires tomorrow night and an offer I can't live without. With lots of "free" stuff. And some of them are exactly the same, word for word. It's a fitness trainers circle jerk club.

Going to see Live tomorrow night in New Jersey. Saw them last year at the same club, the Starland Ballroom, a nice small club where you can be within a few feet of the stage if you choose. I'm really surprised that this band hasn't become more popular than they are. When I tell people I'm going to see them the most common reaction is "Who?" These guys play kick ass rock n roll and their songs have great messages. This concert is perfect timing, I can sure use this now. Check out the video for "The River"

Edited to add: THEY KICKED FUCKING ASS!! My hearing should return by Sunday, I hope.

Two Years

2007-05-31T23:06:00.000-04:00

Miss you, Mom.

Heat Wave

2007-05-25T08:41:00.000-04:00

Too damn hot already. Gonna be upper 80's here for the next few days and humid. Ugly weather. And we have an air stagnation alert here in NYC. Wonderful. Well, at least I'll be kid free this weekend so I can wander the house in my underwear. Or less (just kidding. maybe. how many of you just threw up in your mouth?).

And it's a holiday weekend, although the days just seem to be rolling into one at this point. I'd be off Monday, holiday or not. I know, I shouldn't be thinking of it that way. Stay positive. Just reminding myself.

Going to go help set up a pool now. It will be too cold to swim in it this weekend but if this weather stays it will warm up soon enough. Lata.

It's a Beautiful Day

2007-05-22T08:06:00.001-04:00

What a beautiful day yesterday was. And today is starting out that way too. I spent the day at a golf course - and didn't hit one ball. And it was still a great day.

Sean had the PSAL Championship yesterday. He didn't do as well as he thought he would. Or even as he should. And, in a way, I'm glad he didn't do so well. It will take some of the cockiness out of him, I hope. I think Sean has the potential to be a very good low-handicap golfer. He can hit the ball a long way and is becoming very good with his iron shots. However his swing will not hold up under any pressure, as he learned yesterday. But he refuses to listen to any instruction. I made a comment to Bill Hartman at the Summit who answered "Of course he won't listen to you. He's 16. He knows everything".

I made a video of his first tee shot yesterday and showed it to him after the round. I pointed out a few things I saw in it that he needs to work on to get the repeating swing needed for good golf. "Why haven't you said anything to me before?", he said but then thought about his question. I have tried, many times to get him to listen. Hopefully this will get him past his stubborness. If it does he will see real improvement.

So I spent the day in the sun, working on my farmer's tan, reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I had read this book when it first came out around 1990. Since I haven't been very effective lately I felt I needed a refresher course. It's a very different read second time around. I had a few reflective "You're a dumbass" moments while reading but that's good. I know that I can be better.

Still no hits on the job front. Sent out a bunch of resumes last week but no responses yet. There's always the McDonald's around the corner but that didn't work out too well for Kevin Spacey so I'm not sure about that.

The picture above is the 18th green, Black Course, Bethpage State Park.

Edited to add -
Here's the link to the story of the championship. I know he can play a lot better than his score.

Everybody's Working For The Weekend

2007-05-18T00:37:00.000-04:00

Well, not everybody.

Payday. Looks like it's time for another update.

No workouts this week. Not because I didn't want to. I woke up Tuesday with my joints all stiff an achy. Wrists, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles. And pounding sinuses. My wrists have been hurting for a while, I feel like I'm getting arthritis in them. The rest was unusual so I wondered if it was allergies or some kind of "bug". Whatever it was by Wednesday it had moved more internally and was causing massive releases of methane (sorry, Mr. Gore). Good thing I'm single. I think she would have been uncomfortable sleeping on the couch for a few nights. I know I was uncomfortable where I was. I'm feeling a little better but not good enough to where I'll be squatting or deadlifting in the gym just yet. Maybe in a few more days.

I found a white hair the other day. This one, however, is in a place that (unfortunately) doesn't get much exposure. I was going to yank it out but then I remembered reading somewhere that some chicks dig the salt and pepper look. They say it makes you look distinguished. I'm running with that.

Sean gets to play in the PSAL City Golf Championship on Monday. He's one of 31 who qualified for this tournament. It will be played on the Green Course at Bethpage State Park. Sean played very well this year although his team came in last in their division. Playing as their #1 player he won 7 out of 9 matches. His only two losses was to the reigning city champion, who is a senior and will be moving on. And he really dominated in his wins, winning 4 matches at 4 and 3, and 3 matches at 5 and 4. Of course now I have to endure the ragging that I no longer have the game to compete with him (which is probably true). This is what happens, people, when we breed our replacements.

Not to leave Scott out, he'll be getting a haircut this weekend. I'll try to hook up with Chris sometime this weekend to see what he's up to.

6 more paydays left. I better get a job or this blog is finished.

Lucky Man

2007-05-11T18:03:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I forget that. I shouldn't.

Thanks.

Time and a Word

2007-05-08T19:16:00.000-04:00

Had a chance to speak with Chris yesterday and had more time than we have had in a long time. He was on overnight duty in his barracks, pulling a 6 pm to 9 am shift, so we had a good time to talk. He sounded good, I can tell he's maturing while over there. He plans on doing some more traveling while he has his time in Europe.

The purpose of his call was to let me know that they got the word - his unit will be deploying for Iraq in November. A 15 month tour, which will keep him there through February of 2009. A long time. His unit is starting their field training and he said it will get pretty intense during the summer, preparing for deployment. He changed his leave from June to September so it's still a while before I get to see him again. And then an even longer while.

He told me again not to worry. Easier said than done.

Happy Birthday Scott

2007-04-27T18:05:00.000-04:00

Scott turned 15 today. Sorry, no picture of him to post. Hey, he was the third, we were done taking kid pictures by the time he came around. ;) He wanted me get him "Guitar Hero" for the XBox. Instead I bought him a bass guitar and amp for him to learn on. Hey, it was worth it, I ended up with a hug for it.

Nothing happening on the job front yet. I had one interview with an agency and they sent my resume on to a company. Hope to hear next week if I get an interview with them. The job, as the agency described it, sounds interesting and challenging and a good opportunity. I'll have to hit up some more agencies next week. They seem to have the lock on the jobs right now.

Been getting back to the gym this week for some good workouts. Hopefully I don't get bored too quickly with this and I can make some progress. I was surprised my DOMS weren't as bad as I thought they would be. One thing is now that I'm not working I can get them in a little later in the morning, which is nice. Although there have been some people using equipment so I've had to wait a bit at times. No matter, I'm glad I'm back in.

That's all for now. I just put this up so RW sees some activity. Although I haven't noticed much in her blog lately.

Old Friends

2007-04-16T11:18:00.000-04:00

At least that's what it felt like. And it was, although this was the first time I had met many of them.

The JP Fitness Summit. This is one hell of an event. JP pulled a list of class speakers this year. We read all their articles and their post but to hear them in person just puts everything into perspective. And the time they take to answer our questions and hear our thoughts between lectures is just amazing, and I couldn't thank them enough.

But the best part was getting to meet the friends for the first time. To feel that comfortable with a group of people who's only connection you have are words on a screen is truly amazing, and I'm not the only one who felt that. It is what makes the Summit a great event, what makes JP's a great forum.

Some shout outs - first of course JP, who has put up with my antics for a few years but made me feel truly welcome in his home town. I'm definitely coming back. Jenn - it was great to see your smile again, my friend. The Clubhouse - what a group of crazy guys, always laughing, always joking, always razzing Nick (it's just too easy to pass up) who let me spend time with their group - it was a blast. Michael and Jamie (and Samantha and Jack) - I wish we had more time but in the brief time we did have you can tell that they are truly wonderful people (with very cute kids). Ian - a very good guy, smart, funny and easy to talk to. Lisa~ - she is such a nice person, gave time to everyone and helped out with her advice when asked. As genuine a person you can get. Russ and Christine - great to meet you after all these years, I wish you all the happiness this life can bring to both of you. Galya - all the way from Bulgaria. Very friendly and great to talk with, good luck on your test. Michelle and Jimmy - Tool fans who let me hang with them and drove me to various places. Really fun people. Craig (Buk) - made me get into the rubber band man's routine with him, but he's a fun guy, and for someone who hasn't worked out in months he's in great shape.

I know I'm leaving people out, and I apologize because everyone made this one of the best weekends I have had in a long time. I have so many great memories from this weekend that will replay in my mind for the rest of my life. Thank you, everyone.

Edited to add - my little adventure with this summit didn't end until this morning. Last night my homecoming flight ended up in Detroit. That's pretty far from home. Spent the night in the Detroit airport and finally arrived home at about 11 this morning. Damn, I'm tired.

Edited edited to add - One who I left out that I really enjoyed meeting was Nate Green. I was talking to Alwyn and he told me that Nate was an "up and comer" in this fitness business. Super nice guy, smart and a great personality. Alwyn is right on this one.

Los Endos

2007-04-11T08:28:00.000-04:00

This is it. In a few hours I'll be out of here. I was a little more anxious about this last week for some reason. Today I'm doing OK with it. Although that may change, I have a lot of goodbye phone calls to make. So it's focus on the future, not the past. Looking forward to this mini-vacation in Little Rock and then hitting the pavement hard next week. Although the f#@*ing cleaners lost my suit. Apparently they gave it to someone else by mistake. Now I have to hope that they return it, or they'll have to buy me a new one.

The car turned over 200K in miles today as I was passing through the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island. Fitting?

Sunrise, Sunset

2007-04-06T07:49:00.000-04:00

I've been getting to see more sunrises with my early commute start. I tend to like sunrises better than sunsets, although both offer spectacular sights. Maybe it's because it's a new start, a renewal of sorts that sets the tone for the rest of the day. Who knows, I'm not usually that deep.

I can remember one sunrise that struck me one morning going to play golf. For those that don't know public course golf in the New York area is an adventure. There are thousands of public course golfers but very few public courses. It's very hard to get a reservation to play on the weekends, you have to call a week in advance after a certain time, and those slots go very quickly. Most courses do hold a few spots open for signups on the day of play, but you have to get to the course very early to get in. At Bethpage State Park the cars with the real crazy golfers start lining up at 7 PM on Friday to get a spot on Saturday (the earliest I've gone is 1 AM, but I've already alluded to my insanity before).

One summer morning I was driving out to Montauk Downs Golf Course, a very nice Robert Trent Jones course I like to play when I'm out in that area. I had left in the dark but the sky was starting to ligthen up as morning approached. Driving out on highway 27 I had Kitaro's Dream CD blasting, and the music hit a crescendo as I came out of a wooded area to see a sky ablaze with light, going from red to orange to the deep blue remnant of night. The clouds were a deep gray but the bottom of them bright red, giving them a look of fireballs in the sky. It was a straight drive from there and I watched the morning open up into a beautiful day.

Seeing the sunrises has been helping with my moods in the morning lately.

Under Pressure

2007-03-29T17:40:00.000-04:00

Decision time. I've decided that tomorrow I give my 2 week notice. Since they made the announcment to us back in February they've taken the heart out of this job. Where I had felt that what I had been doing was good and important to the company there is now a big void and I feel that it's unimportant, that I'm unimportant. Throw in a commute that I'm not enjoying and it makes going there an extremely difficult task. And my feelings about this has started drifting into other areas of my life and that's not good. So it has to be over.

This bites because I really liked this job. The people in my office are good friends and I feel bad for them too, we're all in the same boat. And I'm going to miss the people in our other offices that I've been able to get to know and work with. There's a collective feeling around the company that my office is not the last to go. Not good.

So last day will be April 11th, a couple of days in Little Rock and then to the job search. To that end I went on an interview at an employment agency today. I think it went well, it was good practice to talk about what I had done and get me more comfortable for future interviews. I think I impressed the guy with what I have done and damn I look good in a suit ;-)

So I'm feeling good about this decision and don't you know something else has to come up to keep the pressure on. It seems my good friend Tony (Gobbla of the gobblog listed over on the right)(good friend even though I haven't met him in person yet - don't fuck up your pass to next year's summit) thinks that I have some admirable qualities. Damn, this is going to be tough to live up to. (Thanks, bud)

The Distance

2007-03-25T11:14:00.000-04:00

So the first week is done at the new office. It's a nice place to visit but I don't want to live there. My heart is not into this job anymore. And that's not like me, I try to give my best effort in things I do. So I think the sooner can get out the better it will be for me. I sent out a few resumes this weekend so I'll see if anything turns up that way. Plus I don't think I could keep up with the car repairs. I spent $750 on the coolant system this week and now the windshield wipers aren't working. 100 miles a day on a car with 199K miles is not going to be good for it.

Scott received news on Friday that he was accepted into Aviation High School for next year. He's pretty excited about it. Sean goes there and it's my old alma mater too. Not only is it the best school for learning the airplane mechanic trade but they also emphasize their academics so they are both getting a well rounded education. It's going to be hard work for him, much harder than he's used to but I'm sure he can handle it. I also noticed the other day that he's getting to be almost as tall as I am (not that I'm a giant at 5'8"). I'm going to have to start looking up at him too soon.

Sean is playing on the golf team again this year. In fact they made him the captain of the team. His first match is on Tuesday so it will be off to the driving range today for some practice. He hits the ball well but is so damn cocky he doesn't listen to any advice. Teenagers!!

I haven't heard anything from Chris in a bit. He was going for a weekend trip to Spain. And then preparing for a month of field training in April. Due to the time differences it's hard sometimes for us to get together. I'll have to make the extra effort this week to reach him before he goes away.

I'm pretty lucky I have some good friends helping me through this time. They may not know it but they are helping, and I appreciate it much more than a simple "Thank you" can state.

Meeting Across The River

2007-03-19T00:59:00.000-04:00

Later on today I start my time working out of the office in South Plainfield, New Jersey. I'll go to my office in Brooklyn to pick up my computer and a box of files and head over there later in the morning. Once there I'll probably find I'll be in a cubicle (I have a pretty nice office right now) which will be different. People will be able to look in on me whenever they pass by (wait until they see what goes on on Fridays).

This is going to change my whole day. I'll probably have to get up earlier to get my workouts in, as I'll have to leave earlier to make this trip. I couldn't switch the workouts to night time as I'll be getting home later than usual. The kids will be home by themselves longer than they are right now, and Sean is going to have to get himself to school (right now I drive him as his school is on my way, but no longer).

So I'm going to have to see how this plays out. The incentive they are offering for making this move is not a large one. And by making it to today I have met all the qualifications for the severance package they have offered. So if I feel like it is too big a disruption in my life I'll end it. And then my full time job will be finding a full time job.

As you can tell I'm not sleeping well tonight.

Eclipse

2007-03-03T20:24:00.000-05:00

There was a total lunar eclipse visible in the northeast tonight. This one was very different than others I have seen in that the moon had already been in total eclipse as it rose into the evening sky. I had to wait for the sun to completely set before I could pick up the faint glow in the darkening sky. It was in totality for over an hour before you can see the sunlight reflecting off a sliver of the edge. Very cool to watch. And what was playing on my iPod? (10 points for the first correct guess. But remember the points don't matter)

I know, I need a life.

Hmmm, maybe it is me!!!

Edited to add:

If you want to read more about the eclipse go here. There's another one on August 28.

Oh Lord, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

2007-02-27T12:49:00.000-05:00

Words and their meanings. Or rather the interpretation of their meanings. The reading between the lines, looking for possible innuendos, the searches for hidden meanings. Sometimes the words just mean what they say, there are no extras involved. The credibility of the source should be considered but often is not. It’s like explaining a joke after the punch line is delivered.

Happy Birthday, Chris

2007-02-22T00:15:00.000-05:00

Wow, 21 years. Seems like only yesterday that I got to hold him for the first time.

What a great feeling that was. And throughout the years the joys eclipse all the heartaches. I wouldn't change anything for the world although he's not that little boy anymore.

Happy Birthday, Chris. I'm proud of you son.

Listen to the Music

2007-02-21T08:52:00.000-05:00

I picked up an iPod for myself the other day. A 2gig Nano, will hold about 500 songs. I have 100 on already and haven't added any of my CD's yet. I have a feeling this will be too small, but I wanted to check it out first. When I need to upgrade I can give it to Sean if he's interested.

It's a pretty cool device. Small, lightweight, easy to use, Apple did a great job with this. Being able to take music with you anywhere is nice, walking down the street listening to tunes is very cool, better than the usual street noise you hear. Although there's always someone who wants to rain on everyone's parade. I hate it when the politicians try to disprove Darwin.

I also like iTunes. Although I'll still shop in the stores and pick up a CD when I see it buying from iTunes is very convenient. The albums are usually less expensive than the stores and now I burn a disk and copy it to the iPod. This will probably be my way of replacing my extensive vinyl collection, although I have to be careful. This could get costly.

Moving Out

2007-02-15T09:11:00.000-05:00

So the word has come down on the plans for the office. Most of it is not good. Somewhere in the middle of March we'll be moving to South Plainfield, NJ. But that's just temporary. The company is consolidating operations all over the country and they'll be consolidating the work done in my office with an office in Charlotte. Consolidating the work, not the workers. So they are figuring on keeping us until the end of May (they promised to give us 30 days notice as to when the job is ending). At which time I'll get about 6 weeks pay between bonus and vacation/sick time. And they'll be giving me a weekly paycheck for 11 weeks as a severance. And picking up my health benefits for 6 months from the end of the job. And they are also going to pay my mileage and tolls to the NJ office, so that will give me about an extra $125 a week for however many weeks I go to NJ. So all in all it's not going to kill me for money.

At first I was a little angry about the situation but now I'm looking forward to finding something new. This job was starting to get a little stale, really no advancement. So something new can be exciting. You need that in a job, something that makes you want to go to work every day, something more than just a paycheck. I hope I can find that.

Questions? Answers! Answers? Questions!

2007-02-09T18:24:00.000-05:00

A few posts back I talked about adapting myself to the Metabolism Advantage plan (see "Walking on the Moon), basically saying the difficulty I was having was due to a contentment with myself. Yes, I'm not perfect, could stand to lose some bodyfat but that I was OK with where I am right now.

Then a thread on JP's threw a wrench into that idea, a couple of articles that basically said "You may think that you're OK but you're not". Crap.

According to the articles my contentment (psuedo-contentment?) is not that at all. It's that when it comes to making any change of myself I am my own worst enemy, sabotaging any attempt that I make at that change. And it's apparently a bad self-image I have that makes me this way. Double crap.

Guess I have to finally figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

The First Cut is the Deepest

2007-02-04T17:01:00.000-05:00

Damnit, every time I start cooking I cut myself. This time on the ring finger chopping onions for the Meta Meatloaf. See, another reason I hate vegetables - they are trying to kill me.

I wonder how much protein there is in a fingertip.

Walking On The Moon

2007-01-30T21:12:00.000-05:00

It's been in the low 20's here at night for about a week or so. I've been supplementing my MA workouts with some evening walks (more on MA in a bit). For the last few nights it has been remarkably clear. I've been walking in a place in the neighborhood where the lights are spaced out more, it's a little dimmer. It's very quiet, the cold keeping most people indoors. In the darker areas when looking up I can see more stars out than I can remember in recent times. I love looking at the stars, very peaceful and relaxing. And the crisp air is very invigorating. I need to clean up the yard and get something that I can have a fire on for nights like this.

If I had won a trip to space in a contest I would have done anything possible to pay the tax on the prize. I can't think of a more spectacular adventure than to go up in space and look back on our home. That has to be one incredible view. Don't you love getting the window seat on the plane so you can watch the Earth pass below you? We really do live on a beautiful planet.

What a strange species we are.

So these walks are to get me to 5 hours of exercise related activities per week as recommended in Metabolism Advantage. The walks are supposed to be of the brisk nature but that's not happening. I really enjoy just walking and observing, not making it to be more than that. Don't get me wrong I love to exercise, especially the lifting part. But usually in life I try to avoid situations where I need to lift a heavy weight off my chest or move a 300 pound rock. And I don't want to eat the veggies, I want the cheesecake. And I don't want to feel guilty about it (I'm stamping my feet right now). I'm comfortable with me, in all regards, right now. Why do I feel guilty about that?

Tonight it was cloudy out.

The Sound of Music

2007-01-29T19:55:00.000-05:00

I like the sound a woman's heels make when she is walking by. Especially if the woman knows how to walk well in them (I can imagine it's not easy). It certainly gets my attention.

Traveling Shoes

2007-01-28T20:50:00.000-05:00

I want a pair of those shoes the kids are wearing, the ones with the wheels in the heels. Do they make them in adult sizes? That would be cool to glide along on them. They look very smooth. Kids these days have all the cool toys.