Day by Day

Raven vs Blast

2008-08-28T21:02:00.000-04:00

Simon's team had their first game last weekend. Here is a little clip of the game.

Technorati Tags: Soccer

Locks of Love

2008-07-23T21:31:00.000-04:00

Abby has finally gotten her hair cut. Some lucky child somewhere will have a wig made from her golden locks. We are very proud of Abby, and she is equally thrilled with her decision and her new look. She chose to wear this t-shirt today with the heart on it because the organization she donated to is called Locks of Love. Abby is six and a half years old.

Before:

After:

Here she is holding what has been cut off:

Technorati Tags: Locks of Love, family

4th of July celebration

2008-07-07T11:07:00.003-04:00

We did things a little differently this year for the 4th of July. Usually, we go to the Wake Forest Fireworks Spectacular on July 3rd which is an incredible show. However, we received free tickets to the Carolina Railhawks with a fireworks show after the game. We figured that this would be a win/win for us since we were already going to be in the area close to the time of the game and we would still get to see fireworks.

Since Evan, Simon and Abby all play soccer, this was perfect for them to see how professionals play the game. The game was exciting and the kids loved every minute of it. Celeste was happy to see Swoops, the team Mascot. The game ended in a tie but that was alright because everyone had fun. The fireworks were very short, only about 5 minutes but what do you expect for free! We will be back o Wake Forest next year for the fireworks.

On July 4th, Wake Forest has its annual Children's parade down Main St. This year we took both dogs with us. It was loads of fun with our dog Bandit walking most of the way. After being diagnosed with a spinal disease and thinking Bandit was going to die, this was truly amazing.

Technorati Tags: July 4th, fireworks, Railhawks, Soccer

Homeschooling

2008-07-01T08:57:00.002-04:00

July 7th will official start the beginning of our homeschooling calendar. The decision to homeschool our children was not an easy one. We have been thinking about it for some time and the time finally seemed right. We feel that the school system is failing in teaching the basics and our children are paying the price. They spend as much time moving between classes all day as they do learning reading, writing and arithmetic. There is a lot involved with homeschooling your children but there is also a lot of support for this. Not only will we be able to provide specialized teaching for each child, we will be able to give them Biblical teaching as well. The curriculum Tapestry of Grace is wonderful in how it explores more than just the Bible, it also reviews the other religions and cultures through history.

Technorati Tags: homeschool, education, curriculum

National September 11 Memorial & Museum

2008-06-30T20:42:00.001-04:00

For Father's Day, we got Kim's father a special gift. We sponsered a cobblestone to be placed on the paths of the Memorial Plaza. This was a great idea since it is very hard to find something for him. Kim's dad was in the South Tower just below where the 2nd plane hit. He managed to make it out safely that day. For all of us, we will never forget what happened. This was a nice way to help continue the memory of those who were affected by that day.

If you would like to learn about being a sponser, click here.

Technorati Tags: September 11, Memorial Plaza, New York

Goodby Guppy!

2008-06-28T16:41:00.001-04:00

Last night, Simon's Beta fish, Guppy, died. Understandably, Simon was very upset this morning when I found Guppy floating at the top of the tank. Guppy has been around for about 5 months so this was not expected. We buried Guppy outside. Kim took Simon out in the morning and he got a new fish. Right now he has not named him yet.

Technorati Tags: pets,
fish

End of the season

2008-06-26T22:22:00.000-04:00

Well, the end of the season has come. The RiverDogs put up a good fight but could not put enough runs on the board to continue in the playoffs. Because of the time of the game, Evan was a little late in getting to the game because of his orchestra pratice but made up for it right away with good plays in the outfield and a base hit in his first at bat. He has come a long way from the beginning of the season. What is really funny about this loss is that Simon was more upset that they lost than Evan and Simon isn't on the team!

Anyway it was a great season. Go RIVERDOGS!!!!

Technorati Tags: Evan, Baseball, Sports

The Riverdogs win!!!

2008-06-25T23:04:00.000-04:00

Evan started playing baseball this year. It has been a lot of fun for him and a chance for me to get back to throwing around a baseball. I was never a great hitter but it was a decent fielder. Evan's team, the Riverdogs, struggled at the beginning of the season but really started coming together at the end.
Tonight started the playoffs in a single elimination format. The game went back and forth as each team responded each time the other scored. Evan had a great fielding day as he did not let anything past him in right field. He also got to play catcher which is turning out to be his favorite position. He hit the ball well puttting it into play both times he was at the plate and did advance the runner to third his first time up. In the end the Riverdogs won 15-14 with some last minute heroics. Next game tomorrow night. Go RIVERDOGS!!!!

Technorati Tags: Evan, Baseball, Sports

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T21:30:00.000-04:00

It was a beautiful Easter day with clear skies and temperatures that reached about 68 degrees.

Evan, Simon, Abby and Celeste pose in front of the flower covered cross in front of Hope Lutheran Church. We went to the 9:30am service and it was so crowded that we were sitting in the Narthex. It is good that we will be starting construction on the new building this fall.

Kim could not resist taking a few pictures of the kids dressed up. Especially on such a beautiful day. Once the kids changed it was time for the Easter egg hunt.

Technorati Tags: Easter, North Carolina, family

American Idol Top 12

2008-03-06T20:55:00.000-05:00

Well, we now have 12 left. I was 3 for 4 in my picks, with the only miss being that I picked Remiele and it was Asia'h that was going home. I am a little disappointed because I think that Asia'h is the better performer. Now the fun really begins as the pressure will increase. I think that the people that will need to step it up next week are Chikizie, Remiele, David Hernandez, and Kristy. If not, it will be one of these that will go home. David Archuleta is still on top for the men but the gap is closing quickly as others are stepping up to the challenge. On the women's side I think that Brooke is the front runner but Carly, Amanda and Syesha are very strong.

Technorati Tags: American Idol, entertainment, Singing

Idol Women March 5th

2008-03-05T21:24:00.000-05:00

The women in general did step it up with better performances this week. I felt that there was only 1 poor performance which was by Kady Malloy and a song that I did not recognize at all. Amanda, Carly and Brooke held the top spots this week for me. They selected songs that suited their styles and were different enough from the originals to make them enjoyable. Carly really showed off her strong voice this time with wonderful control. Kristy and Remiele did not impress me with their songs so I think that they are on the edge and either one could be gone tomorrow. Asia'h sang very well but I did not think the song was very original. I did not think that Syesha was very good but I think that she did well enough to survive another week.

So my picks this week to go are Kady and Remiele.

Technorati Tags: American Idol, entertainment, Singing

Idol Men March 4th

2008-03-04T22:03:00.000-05:00

Overall it was a good night for the men. The strongest performances go to Michael Johns and David Cook. Michael did a nice job on the song "Don't You Forget About Me" which you will remember from the movie The Breakfast Club. David had the top performance of the night with all of the judges saying he could cut a single right now for his version of "Hello" by Lionel Richie. Jason Castro had a good performance and David Archuleta did a suprizing rendition of "Paradise" by Phil Collins. David Hernandez showed his vocal strength by singing the Celine Dion song "All Coming Back To Me". The weak performances of the night go to Luke Menard and Danny Noriega which are the 2 that I pick to be gone this week. Luke should go just because he picked a WHAM song and Danny did a terrible version of "Tainted Love".

Technorati Tags: American Idol, entertainment, Singing

Are the Primary elections fair?

2008-03-04T12:40:00.000-05:00

The way we conduct the primary elections today is not fair. When the idea behind these primary elections is to find the best candidate for your particular political party based on the popular vote, how can you achieve this when all the possible candidates are not going to be voted on by everyone in your political party?

It is upsetting to me that I will not have a true chance to choose who I would like for a presidential candidate because by the time the primaries come to North Carolina, the Republican nominee will be decided. Also, many of those that started in the primaries are no longer in the race. How do I truly get to voice my opinion when the choices have now been reduced and the person that I might have chosen is no longer running? It is true that you could write in the name of the person you would like, but we all know that most people will not do so and not get to vote for the person they believe to be the best candidate.
One could conclude that it also ends up lowering the turn out of voters when the election is run in your particular state this late in the primaries. At least on the Democratic side, it is still such a close race that every state counts and should keep the turnout higher. The only time the current system is "fair" is when it is a close race and even then it is not because there are only 2 or 3 people left in the running.

Technorati Tags: Politics, primaries, republican, democrat

World's Largest Snowwoman

2008-03-03T22:20:00.000-05:00

My wife's cousin lives in New Hampshire and took a drive over to Bethel, Maine to see the snowwoman. She took a few pictures which show just how huge this thing is.

As you can see, when you add some people into the picture, you see just how tall it is. When we went up to visit my wife's cousin, we stayed in Bethel. It is a beautiful little town. It is a wonderful place to visit.

Technorati Tags: Bethel, Maine, snowwoman

Celeste's 2nd Birthday

2008-03-01T12:30:00.000-05:00

It took me a while to get to this but I have a few PICs from Celeste's 2nd birthday. She had a joint birthday party with her friend Clara who turned 3.

Here you see Clara on the right and Celeste on the left. They had on matching Little Einstein shirts.

It was a Kindermusic party which was great for all of her friends and siblings. The theme was Little Einsteins which is her favorite show in the world. They had so much fun doing all of the activities and just running around.

Click here to see a few more PICs from her birthday party.

What now Roger?

2008-02-29T21:34:00.000-05:00

From the time the Mitchell report came out, I really wanted to give Roger Clemens the benefit of the doubt. And even when we heard about the needles and other evidence that McNamee kept for years, I was very skeptical. But after the hearings and the subsequent information that has come out, I really have a hard time believing him. I could believe that McNamee is lying but not the trainers and staff from several teams. It is very sad because we know that famous athletes have admitted to things in the past and have been fogiven by the public. In Roger's case, it may have still let a bad taste in everyone's mouth and might have influenced how fast he would be inducted into the Hall of Fame but I think he ultimately would have been inducted. Now it is becoming probable that he will never make the Hall of Fame and instead of being any type of roll model for young baseball players, he becomes the example of what not to do and could face jail time. The worst part of this is the example that he sets for his own children if he is indeed guilty. This is where you have to admire Andy Pettite who came out and admitted to what he did! It is about time people started owning up to what they did rather than hiding it or blaming someone else.

Technorati Tags: Baseball, Mitchell Report, Roger Clemens, Steroids

Idol recap Feb 29th

2008-02-29T11:31:00.000-05:00

There were no big suprizes on who left the show this week. I was right about Jason Yeager who definitely had a weak performance. I was disappointed that Robbie Carrico is gone because he is a good singer and I would have liked to see him get another chance to prove himself with the right song. As always, it is about song selection and getting the fans on your side. I will tip my hat to Alaina who pulled herself together after hearing the bad news and sang better than she did on Wednesday. It shows true guts to compose yourself and perform like that. And I was not suprized to see Alexandrea go either, although I think that it could have easily have been Amanda.

Here are the ones I think really need to come up big next week or they will find themselves at the bottom:
Luke Menard
Kady Malloy
Danny Noriega
Ramiele Malubay
Amanda Overmyer

Technorati Tags: American Idol, entertainment, Singing

20 left on IDOL

2008-02-28T14:52:00.001-05:00

American Idol is back on my TV almost every evening. My wife loves it and I enjoy it at times. I love to sing and enjoy listening to good music. I can hear very quickly when someone is off and usually I find that the judges pick up on it to. However, when Michael Johns started things off, I was squirming through the performance as he was straining to hit some of those notes and I was very suprized when they thgouht that he sung it OK. In the end I did agree with them that David Archuleta was the best so far. That was a great rendition of a classic song and he did it justice. Mark my words, if he makes it into the final rounds, do not be suprized if he pulls this one out again for a repeat performance. I think that in general the men did better than the women. My favorites right now are Chikezie, Brooke White, Carly Smithson, David Cook, David Archuleta, and Kristy Lee Cook. I think that tonight we will be seeing Jason Yeager and Ramiele Malubay going home. I think that Danny Noriege will make it through this week but not by much.

Check out this clip of David Archuleta on youtube.

Technorati Tags: American Idol, entertainment, Singing, David Archuleta

Back to nature

2007-08-26T13:35:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I took Evan and Simon camping. It was their first real camping trip. We when to Falls Lake which was about 25 minutes from our house. We picked out a site and set up camp. After setting up our tent and unpacking everything, we went down to the lake. We walked around for a while, checking out the beach and fishing piers. Unfortunately with the drought, the water level was pretty low. We tried some fishing in the afternoon but it was pretty hot. In the evening we cooked dinner over the campfire and had smores for dessert. The boys thought this was cool!
During the night it cooled off and when we woke up in the morning it felt wonderful. The boys were begging to go fishing again so after breakfast we went to the fishing pier to try again. We did not catch anything but we still had fun. We had a great time but I will not do it during the summer. It has to be during the spring or fall because it was too hot during the day. Click here for more pictures.

Technorati Tags: camping, fishing, North Carolina, family

Something more positive to watch

2007-08-22T22:06:00.000-04:00

This past Friday my kids watched the premier of High School Musical 2. They already knew the songs because my wife had bought the Soundtrack CD beforehand and my kids repeatedly listened to it anytime they got in the car. I have to say that it did not disappoint. It is nice to see that you don't need to have all the sex, violence and bad language to have a successful movie. While there is more to the romance between Troy and Gabriella, it still is just an enjoyable movie that entertains. One of the positive things that I see coming out of this story is the relationship between Troy and his dad, especially when Troy is conflicted with all that is happening to him and tells his dad that he doesn't even know who he (Troy) is anymore. the response from Troy's dad shows the confidence of a father that has done all he can to raise his son right and now tells him that he believes that Troy will make the right decision.

Click here, for a more indepth review.

Technorati Tags: movies, High School Musical 2, Disney, family

Tiger is back

2007-08-10T22:54:00.000-04:00

After work today I turned on teh TV. I watched with my oldest son as Tiger Woods stormed through the PGA Championship. We watched him drain 3 birdie putts in a row. I was hoping he would set a new record for the lowest round in major history and groaned as the ball rolled in and out of the cup on the 18th hole. But still he is up by 2 after 2 rounds and is looking strong. Tiger is back and just watch, if he holds the lead tomorrow, he will win this major and move one step closer to Nicholas's record 18 majors. Tiger looked good last weekend but today was something really special.

Technorati Tags: Tiger Woods, golf, PGA Championship, sports

Here come the Yanks

2007-08-10T22:20:00.000-04:00

This evening I watched as the Yankees started a key series of games against some very good teams and they did not dissapoint. Much has been said about the Yankees recent run because it was against sub 500 clubs but now they are facing the top teams in the AL. Cleveland is the first victim for this Yankee ball club with the score being 6-1. It is only a matter of time before the Yankees take possession of the lead in the Wild Card and then they will overtake Boston for the Division. Yes Boston fans, start worrying because you can hear the footsteps getting closer and while it sounded like a good idea, Eric Gagne has not worked out so well, 3 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs and opponents are batting .400. and Curt Schilling is not going to help you either.

As I am writing this, Boston has lost to the Orioles which means that the Yanks are only 5 games back. Also Detroit has lost and if the score holds Seattle will lose which will put the Yankees at a tie for the Wild Card.

Technorati Tags: Yankees, sports, Baseball, Red Sox

Stories by my children

2007-08-09T06:31:00.000-04:00

In an effort to keep our children's minds from wasting away during the summer, my wife convinced my 2 sons to make up stories. She told them that if they did, she would put them on her website so that they could be seen by everyone. I told them that I would put something on my blog too. They even created illustrations for their stories.

Technorati Tags: stories, children, family

Barry does it, can we go back to normal life now?

2007-08-08T07:49:00.000-04:00

Barry Bonds finally hits home run number 756. I am in some ways relieved that it is over. Maybe now we can get back to more positive things. This has been the worst nightmare for baseball as a sport: a player breaking one of the biggest records in baseball and instead of the talk being about how incredible this is, the talk is instead about steroids and a Commissioner that has failed to do anything. While Barry Bonds has not actually tested positive for steroids, in the court of public opinion, he is guilty. So even though he now holds the record, there will always be an asterisk next to that record in people's minds. In my opinion, it doesn't matter in the long run. He will hold the record for the next 6 or 7 years and then A-Rod will break it. My thinking is, give Barry his day and then move on. It is time to focus on the more positive things going on in baseball like Glavine's 300th career win and A-Rods 500th career home run.

Technorati Tags: Barry Bonds, Baseball, home run, sports

It ain't over yet!

2007-07-26T00:03:00.000-04:00

If you haven't noticed, the Yankees have been trimming away the lead that Boston has in the division. After tonight's game, the Yanks are only 6 and a half games behind Boston for the division and 4 and a half games behind the Indians for the wild card. The pitching has gotten better but it is the bats that are making all the noise. In the current 6 game win streak the Yanks have outscored their opponents 70 to 19.
I have to admit that when they were trailing 13 games behind Boston that it did not look good but I still hoped that they could turn it around since there were plenty of games left in the season. Now I think that they will catch Boston and win the division.

Technorati Tags: Baseball, sports, Yankees, Boston

Are Hybrid cars better?

2007-07-23T22:57:00.000-04:00

I have been following the reports on the hybrid cars and what kind of fuel efficiency they can provide. So far I have been disappointed in what I see. When it will take 8 or 9 years to make up the difference in the cost of getting a hybrid over a traditional engine, it really will not make much sense to most consumers. If you are like me, you don't have that kind of extra money to put up front and can't wait that long to recoup the cost. Now if you could start seeing savings in a year or 2 tops, I think that it would definitely make a difference.I read an article today that validated what I have been saying to my friends for some time, that today's cars are less efficient then they were 15 years ago.

According to a report put out Tuesday by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), although 88 percent of Americans agree that "auto manufacturers should be required to make more fuel efficient vehicles," the number of car models getting at least 30 mpg dropped from 61 in 1998 to 46 in 2007

My wife and I had a 1996 Honda Civic that was a manual transmission and we regularly would get 35 to 40 mpg with combined city and highway driving. On a trip to Cooperstown, NY we even got 50 mpg. You couldn't even dream about a regular car getting that kind of gas mileage now. What has happened that made the engines in today's car worse than they were 12 years ago? Now this article does talk about more promising technology to increase the efficiency of hybrid cars but at a cost that could reach $40,000, who can afford it? Why are car makers more concerned with how much quicker they can make the car go from 0 to 60 than making a car go 60 mpg? It seems the industry is telling the consumer what they want instead of giving the consumer what they want. Something needs to change now.

Technorati Tags: hybrid cars, technology, fuel efficiency

A night of laughs

2007-02-10T00:29:00.000-05:00

Last night our church had a special valentines night. The comedy theater Death by Chocolate was at our church and it was great. What could be more fun than all kinds of chocolate and comedy, all of those calories get burnt off as you laugh. This comedy theater is performed by Scott Davis and Justin Fennell and they are funny. It is wonderful to see that good comedy can be clean and have a Christian message. I couldn't stop laughing and my sides were starting to hurt at the end. If they are coming to a church in your area, go see them!

Technorati Tags: comedy, Death by Chocolate, religion, Justin Fennell, Scott Davis

Searches about space

2007-02-08T22:20:00.000-05:00

I have always been interested in the space program and my 2 sons are so excited about space that they suprize me with what they have learned about space. I was reading a quick article on how searches exploded on the astronauts involved in the news right now. It is sad that it takes something bad like this for people to become interested in space. That is why I enjoy my sons excitement and desire to learn more about space. They always talk about being the first brothers on the moon or Mars. And if you want to find out what an "astronaut diaper" is, ask one of my sons and they will tell you.

Technorati Tags: astronaut, space, NASA, astronaut diapers

Breaking News

2007-02-07T23:32:00.000-05:00

I had a good laugh tonight watching the news. When I lived in New York, if there was breaking news it was normally about some tragedy like a fire or shooting. But tonight it was good news, at least if you are a UNC fan. The breaking news in North Carolina is UNC beating Duke in basketball 79 to 73. I guess it is a tragedy if you are a Duke fan but when the worst breaking news is the score of a basketball game, things are pretty good.

Go Tar Heels!

Technorati Tags: basketball, sports, Duke, UNC

Drive the ball like Tiger

2007-02-06T22:46:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine sent me this vid on YouTube. It is a great Nike ad.

Technorati Tags: golf, sports, Tiger Woods, Nike, YouTube

Celeste's 1st Birthday

2007-01-31T15:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Celeste turned 1 year old. It is amazing how fast time flies.

One thing that never changes is how much fun babies have with their first cake.

And that parents love to take pictures of the mess.

Technorati Tags: Celeste, family, birthday

Too much growth

2007-01-30T22:50:00.000-05:00

We moved to Wake Forest last year for many reasons. One of them being that the school system in Wake County is one of the best in the country. However, this could quickly change with the growth that is projected for the next few years. It is expected that there will be about 7000 new students next year and that trend will continue over the next few years. And the big fight is over how to provide education for the influx. We voted for a school bond to raise money to build more schools however there was a fallout between the Wake County commissioners and the Board of Education about converting schools to year round programs. Now we hear about a new bond proposal on top of the one that was just voted on. It is very confusing to follow all of this.
My concern with year-round schools is that if you have more than 1 child, they could be on separate tracks which means that the times that one child is on vacation, another may still be in school. This would mean that you could never take your whole family on vacation without pulling 1 child out of school. We have 4 children with 3 of them in school this coming Fall. Right now they are on the traditional school year which we like.
What I don't understand is the only way that there can be this much of an increase in the population is if new housing is created for these people. Why can't the county limit the building permits to slow the amount of growth so that there is more time to build schools to accommodate the additional families moving to the area. It seems pretty simple to me. If anything, by slowing the pace of building down, it will drive the real estate higher based on simple supply and demand economics.

Technorati Tags: Wake County, education, public schools, school bonds, year-round schools

Seven in a row

2007-01-28T22:42:00.000-05:00

I am not suprized at the outcome of the Buick Invitational. Tiger Woods continues to show why he is the best. You could hardly expect that a couple of rookies could handle the pressure of beating off a hungry Tiger. It is a simple case of experience making all of the difference. Andrew Buckle held his ground for a while but Tiger kept coming. Charles Howell III put up the final fight with a late surge of 3 birdies in a row but it was not enough. Woods birdied the 17th hole to solidify the win. It is going to take much more than a 2 stroke lead in the final round to beat Woods.

Technorati Tags: golf, sports, Tiger Woods, Buick Invitational

Tiger on the prowl

2007-01-27T23:21:00.000-05:00

Guess who is 2 strokes off the lead going into Sunday? As usual Tiger is in position to charge in the final round. In the meantime Brandt Snedeker has given up sole possession of first and now shares it with Andres Buckle. There are 12 players within 3 strokes of the lead which means it is going to be a great Sunday to watch and see who really wants to win. The players to watch are Charlie Wi, Mark Calcavecchia and of course Tiger. 2 rookies hold the lead but going into the last day knowing that Tiger is right there can be unsettling. Lucky for them, Tiger is not in the final threesome.

Technorati Tags: golf, sports, Tiger Woods, Buick Invitational, Brandt Snedeker

Buick Day 2

2007-01-26T20:50:00.000-05:00

While I was correct about Brandt Snedeker not breaking 70 in the second round, not to mention the fact that the top 3 scores from round 1 did not break 70 today, I was wrong about Tiger. It looked like he could not get it all together at the same time. He would take a great tee shot and then take and hit his next shot into a bunker. It was an up and down day. Tiger is still only 7 shots off but this was the day that he could have surged to the top of the leaderboard. With 25 players within 7 strokes of the leader going into the weekend, it is going to be real interesting to watch. Don't count out Tiger yet but tomorrow he has to put on a huge surge if the streak is going to stay alive.

Technorati Tags: golf, sports, Tiger Woods, Buick Invitational, Brandt Snedeker

Who is Brandt Snedeker?

2007-01-25T22:43:00.000-05:00

I didn't get a chance during the day to catch updates on the opening round of the Buick Invitational. I had to say I was suprized to see Brandt Snedeker at the top of the leaderboard with a 61. However, I wasn't suprized to see Tiger Woods with a 66 which is a solid first round especially after the time off that he had. There are 3 more rounds of golf to be played and it will be fun to watch how quickly the leaderboard is going to change. It will be a miracle if Snedeker breaks 70 for his second round. Going into the weekend Tiger will be poised to strike and my guess is that he will shoot a 65 tomorrow and ready to start to pull ahead of everyone.

Technorati Tags: golf, sports, Tiger Woods, Buick Invitational, Brandt Snedeker

Idol notions

2007-01-24T21:48:00.000-05:00

As another season of American Idol starts, I find myself watching the initial auditions and I sit wondering what is going through each person's mind. I have a good ear for music and I need to cover my ears at times because it hurts so much. I definitely know that some of them do it just to have their 2 seconds in the spotlight, but then there are those that actually believe that he/she can sing and when Simon tells them that he/she was the worst he has ever heard, goes into a rant about how he doesn't know anything. This is the most entertaining part of American Idol. And many of these people are the ones that you see skipping school or work to try out, knowing that they may be fired the next day. I watched today as this one girl had to call her father to tell him that she lied to him about going to school the past 2 days and that she is going to Hollywood!
As the weeks go on, I will pick my favorites and see what happens. There are some good voices and some possible diamonds in the rough.

Technorati Tags: American Idol, music, entertainment, TV

Goodbye Bill!

2007-01-24T21:18:00.000-05:00

I have to say that I am not overly suprized that Bill Parcells is leaving the Cowboys. It was a rough year and it was looking pretty good heading into the playoffs only to have it slip away. Tony Romo lifted the struggling offense with his ability to scramble. Unfortunately, his mistake in handling the ball on the field goal attempt cost them the game. Normally starting QBs don't handle those duties and maybe they should start thinking about having someone else handle it when the backup QB needs to start the games.
The big issue is getting someone to replace Parcells that can handle Jerry Jones and can keep him from messing things up. It takes strong personalities to be able to handle Jones, just like it takes a strong personality to handle George Steinbrenner. Both owners have a way of going off the track to get big names that end up clashing with the team rather than being a part of the team.

Technorati Tags: NFL, sports, football, Dallas Cowboys, Bill Parcells

Don't tell me how to parent!

2007-01-23T10:32:00.000-05:00

I agree that there is no reason to spank a baby but the idea of making it illegal to spank a child under 3 is ridiculous. California's no-spank bill is wrong in so many ways. As a parent of 4 children I know full well that spanking infants and babies will not do anything because they cannot understand why. But I do not like the idea of government coming in and telling me how I can discipline my child. This bill right now is limiting the age range up to 3 years old but this could be just the beginning. What will be next? Where do you draw the line? How do you define a spanking? What if I just pat my child's bottom and someone reports it because they think that I am spanking my child? Assembywoman Sally Lieber is using the following rational for this bill:

"I think it's pretty hard to argue you need to beat a child 3 years old or younger,'' Lieber said. "Is it OK to whip a 1-year-old or a 6-month-old or a newborn?"

My question on this is: are we talking about spanking or beating up a child? They are 2 very different things. I was spanked when I was little but it was never a beating. Child abuse is wrong but this is not the way to try and stop it. You may not agree on the idea of spanking children and I can respect that, but that does not mean that you can impose your idea of how I should discipline my child.
Another question is how are you going to enforce this? How are you going to handle all of the false reports and the trauma that it inflicts on innocent families? The only people that are going to benefit from this are the lawyers that are going to be handling the lawsuits that arise from this.

Technorati Tags: Politics, government, California, family, parenting

So much for the first Amendment!

2007-01-22T23:25:00.000-05:00

I was listening to the radio when I heard about legislation that is going to the Senate that is really disturbing. It is the GrassrootsLobbying Bills (H.R. 4682 and S.1). The American Center for Law & Justice has this to say about this legislation:

By greatly expanding the scope of lobbying regulation, the grassroots lobbying bills (H.R. 4682 and S.1) would affect many churches, pastors, denominations, public interest organizations, law firms, radio and TV personalities, civic organizations, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, the media, and private individuals that voluntarily choose to pay for any medium to distribute their message to the general public.

This bill would impose registration and reporting requirements on churches who fall into the category of a "grassroots lobbying firm". This doesn't sound like separation of church and state to me! Click here to see a summary or the full analysis of the bill.

Technorati Tags: freedom of speech, 1st Amendment, congress, ACLJ, Bills, Politics

Pathetic

2007-01-19T00:18:00.000-05:00

Coming from NY, you had to have real amounts of snow in order to have a snow day. You were more likely to get delayed openings instead of closings. Now we are in North Carolina where they do not know what to do with snow. On 1/18 we received less than an inch of snow and the schools were closed. Just before I went to bed, I was watching the news and they reported that there will be delayed openings for the morning because they are forcasting freezing temperatures that could make the roadways slick. I can't believe it!!!

Technorati Tags: snow, weather, North Carolina, Wake County, schools

Finally snow!

2007-01-18T22:49:00.000-05:00

My kids have been upset this winter because there was no snow. Moving from New York down to North Carolina did not help our chances of seeing any snow but there was still a chance. Unfortunately for them, we have been having unusually warm weather this winter so the temperatures have not been cold enough for snow. On monday our high temperature was 75 degrees but we were getting a cold front coming through. This morning the snow finally came and while it is less than an inch on the ground, the schools are closed and my kids are happy and had just enough snow to make a snowman.

Technorati Tags: snow, weather, North Carolina, family

More tips for Disney

2007-01-17T11:06:00.000-05:00

If you are staying in a hotel outside of Disney, I have some other tips that may help you.

Eat as many meals outside of the parks as possible. You will pay 2 to 3 times the amount for a meal in the park.

Bring with snacks to eat while you are there like granola bars, fruit snacks, goldfish, and other food items that will not go bad and do not need refridgeration. It will save you money and time.

If you have small children, rent a stroller and I would suggest getting the double stroller because even if you have 1 child, the other seat can be used to hold any bags you have with you. Since we had 3 children that could ride or walk, we had them switching but at times none of them wanted to ride so we put our bags in it instead.

Get bright colored bandanas and tie them to your belongings and your children (It will make them stand out and is much easier to spot). We did it with all our children, bags and stroller and did not lose anything. Notice the bright orange bandanas on the children and stroller in the photo.

Start taking you children for walks to get them and you used to the amount of walking you will do.

Bring with a good pair of sneakers for the walking. You will put more mileage on them than you would normally do in several months. It may require going out and buying new ones.

Be prepared for getting your bags searched. They check all bags when you enter the parks which causes the lines outside to build quickly. You can make it go quicker if you have your bags opened by the time you get to the checkers.

Hopefully these tips will help you enjoy your time in the parks and make things a little easier.

Technorati Tags: Disney World, vacations, Florida, travel tips

Tips for going to Disney

2007-01-14T22:47:00.000-05:00

After spending 8 days at Disney, I have some tips that would make your time more productive and enjoyable. The first thing is that you need to start planning your trip way before going. We decided to stay in one of the resorts instead of getting a hotel outside of Disney. It was definitely the right move for us and there are a lot of benefits of staying in a Disney resort. The parks have extended hours for those that stay in the Disney resorts which means that on certain days one of the parks is open later but only for those people in the resorts, less crowds and more fun. This is one of the reasons to plan early. You can find out the extended hours schedule and plan your days to coordinate with the parks that have extended hours.
Another benefit of staying in the resorts are the shuttle buses that will take you anywhere in Disney. You may have to wait for a bus but you do not have to deal with the parking. We stayed in the All-Star Music resort and it was great for our kids. There are so many different resorts to choose from that it would not be hard to find one that suits your style. What was nice for us was that our resort had family suites which had 2 rooms with 2 bathrooms and a little kitchen with a microwave and refridgerator. If you stay in a Disney resort, you can buy the meal plan. I would definitely suggest this because it will save you hundreds of dollars. The meal plan gives you 1 sit down meal, 1 counter service meal and a snack. To handle the other meal we brought some basic food items like cereal, granola bars, milk, juice and used that for breakfast. The resorts also have a food court so you could buy something there.
Another tip is to do some research: buy or take out books on traveling to Disney because they will give you advice on what times of the year are the best times to go and information on the different rides. We went in the beginning of December and it was great. A little cool at times but most days we had short sleeve shirts and once or twice we wore shorts. The important thing was that it was not crowded!

Technorati Tags: Disney World, vacations, Florida, travel tips

Discovering Disney

2007-01-13T23:39:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of December, I took my family on a trip to Disney World. It was an early Christmas present. It had been 19 years since the last time I had been to Disney World and it has changed a lot since then. It was an adventure going because we have four children, Evan 8, Simon 6, Abby 4 and Celeste 10 months. So thought that we were crazy taking a 10 month old with us but it is not fair leaving one member of the family out. Watching her excitement over some of the most simple things made it more enjoyable. I will probably write more blogs about some tips for going and must see attractions but right now I wanted to share each one of our top picks.
Evan's top pick was Aerosmith's Rockin' Rollercoaster because of the speed. Simon and Abby both picked the Tower of Terror which they couldn't stop talking about when they got home. Even though Celeste cannot talk, her reactions told us which ride was her favorite, It's A Small World. My wife, Kim, picked Expedition Everest. I had a really hard time picking my favorite between Expedition Everest and Aerosmith's Rockin' Rollercoaster but I would have to go along with Evan. Going zero to 60 in 2.8 seconds was intense and that was just the beginning of the ride which took you on all kinds of loops and turns. But my favorite moment on the trip was watching the reaction on Celeste's face as we rode on the It's A Small World ride. She was pointing and reaching and bouncing to the music and it brought back memories of when I was little and going on this ride. They made some changes but it still holds the same magic. We ended up riding on it 5 or 6 times all together while we were there. It is not a cheap trip but when you see the smile on your child's face, it makes it all worth it.

Technorati Tags: Disney World, vacations, Florida

It is all about how you play

2006-10-31T11:46:00.000-05:00

I didn't get to write anything this past weekend because Evan had a soccer tournament. They played 2 games on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday. Unfortunately his team had a disadvantage, they only had 2 substitutes when the other teams had 5 or 6. 2 games on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday which was tiring for them. They played hard and at least saved the best for last. The team played their best game of the year in the final game. It was so good that all of the parents were yelling and cheering so much that most of us had sore throats afterwards. Go HAWKS!!!

Technorati Tags: Sports, Soccer, CASL

Don't underestimate!

2006-10-25T07:36:00.000-04:00

I have to admit that I did not think that any National league team had any chance this year of beating the American league this year but the Cardinals might just prove me wrong. This series is far from over but I did not think that the Cardinals would even win more than 1 game. There is still a lot of baseball to play and right now it is anyone's Series. I do think that this will go seven games and with the rainout today, the pitchers are well rested and it should continue to be exciting. Has anyone noticed that the difference in each one of these games has been the pitching? Good pitching wins games.

Technorati Tags: Sports, Tigers, Cardinals, Baseball, World Series

Vote for Emmitt!

2006-10-24T21:39:00.000-04:00

My family has really gotten into watching Dancing with the Stars. I wasn't into it quite as much last season but it has been very exciting this time. I thought that it would come down to a battle between Mario and Joey but after tonight, you have to take Emmitt Smith seriously. Emmitt and Cheryl are putting up some huge performances. I am rooting for Emmitt all the way!

Technorati Tags: Dancing with the Stars, Emmitt Smith, dancing, ABC, entertainment

Cowboys down and out?

2006-10-24T07:52:00.000-04:00

I have always been a Dallas Cowboys fan. I have seent he good and bad times. Unfortunately, it recently has been more bad than good. Watching last night's game was definitely not good. Bledsoe did not do a good job and I was glad to see Romo get a chance but you cannot pass all the blame on Bledsoe. The offensive line did not do it's job in protecting Bledsoe long enough to get good passes. This is not so easy to correct which is why Romo may be the better choice right now because he is more mobile. I don't think that you have seen the last of Bledsoe starting any games but Romo will probably get the next few starts.

Technorati Tags: Sports, Football, Dallas Cowboys, Bledsoe, Romo

Virus attack

2006-10-18T14:45:00.000-04:00

It finally happened. For the first time my computer was infected by some type of virus. When I had restarted my computer, it got to the point of loading my personal settings but could not go past that. I was able to use the last backup from the recovery CD but it was a long time ago and now I am in the process of loading in some of the applications that I had before. Even though I lost a bunch of stuff on my PC, it wasn't all bad because I did end up cleaning out my hard drive and getting rid of some stuff that I did not need.

Technorati Tags: Computers, virus, technology

Cheaper oil?

2006-10-12T16:52:00.000-04:00

I read today an article on Forbes.com that was talking about the future prices of Oil. I have to say that some of what he says makes sense about finding new sources of oil will help to keep the price down even if OPEC cuts back production. But I think that the article is missing a few points that contradict the idea that everything is fine.

1. Oil is not a renewable resource. At some point we will end up running out of oil and the narrow minded view that we have plenty of time before that happens is a recipe for disaster. The push towards finding alternative power sources to run cars and making cars more fuel efficient has finally been brought to the forefront because of the high gas prices this summer. The idea that

"don't sell that SUV just yet. Oil, at a recent $66.50 a barrel, will fall to $45 by mid-2007 and could dip briefly into the 20s in 2008."

is telling people not to try and conserve the resources that we have. I find this irresponsible to make this statement when there is no crystal ball out there to confirm what will happen in the future. OPEC will not stand for the prices falling farther and farther. Currently, no one can compensate quick enough to offset the production cuts that OPEC can make.

2. It is well known that many terrorist groups are being funded by these Oil producing countries. This is a huge reason why we need to cut our dependency on Oil so that the terrorist do not continue to get the funds that they need. I will agree that the cost of Oil is inflated by the geopolitical issues that threaten oil production and supplies. The idea that these will calm down is absurd. We may have periods of relative calm but with the new escalated violence from terrorist groups, I doubt that we will be seeing calm anytime soon. And now we are faced with North Korea testing nuclear weapons.

Technorati Tags: Oil, OPEC, world issues

Really funny

2006-10-11T10:53:00.000-04:00

My wife was watching the Ellen DeGeneres show and there was someone on that had done this video on You Tube that was called the Evolution of Dance. I took a look and it is really funny. I would definitely check it out.

Technorati Tags: dance, comedy, You Tube, Entertainment

No one saw this coming

2006-10-11T08:47:00.000-04:00

Everyone has been waiting for this to happen and now it looks like OPEC is going to cut production to try and stop the decline in oil prices. I hope that everyone is paying attention. Just because we have seen the gas prices fall to around $2.09 for regular in the Raleigh area does not mean that we can give up on trying to reduce the dependency of America on oil. OPEC has been enjoying profits from the high prices and now is feeling the squeeze. I was hearing speculation that one of the major oil producing nations would have to cut production or have some crisis happen to stop the fall in prices. Now we have the first step and I would be willing to bet that this is only the beginning.

Technorati Tags: Oil, OPEC, world issues

True stupidity

2006-10-09T22:19:00.000-04:00

I can only assume that Jim Caple is a Boston fan which is why he would have the audacity to say that the Yankees should trade Jeter instead of A-Rod. It would certainly help Boston and the other teams in the American League beat the Yankees. I have said that it was a mistake getting A-Rod in the first place, and I think that keeping him would be a big mistake. Lets breakdown the rational that Jim is using in his article.

1. A-Rod is the better player. I will agree that A-Rod is the better regular season individual player. The reason that I add individual is that a player can have great individual numbers but not help improve the team. A-Rod is definitely not a better postseason player. You can look at 1 or 2 series and rationalize anything but when you look at career numbers for both players in the postseason, the obvious winner is Jeter, not to mention the fact that the only thing that matters to Steinbrenner is the postseason. Also note that the career batting average for Jeter (.317) is 12 points higher than A-Rod's (.305).

2. Jeter has more trade value. I will concede that. His experience, leadership and abilities clearly makes him more valuable. A-Rod has proven that he is a drain on the resources of any team because of his high salary.

3. Jeter is a year older. So what! I will not even bother to comment on this.

4. Jeter is more expensive. If you look at the cost of A-Rod for the Yankees over the rest of his contract then, yes, Jeter is more expensive. But figure in what the impact is on the Texas Rangers who are still paying off part of his salary and he is not more expensive. Which begs the question: why would any team agree to payout $67 million dollars to get rid of a player? A-rod is still financially hurting a team that he does not belong to any more. Texas was desperate to get rid of him!!! It makes you sit back and think for a second.

5. Jeter doesn't provide the leadership needed. A-Rod brought this upon himself. When you demand the salary that he is getting, you expect that he is going to perform. Make no mistake, Jeter is the leader in that clubhouse. Not just anyone is named as the team captain of the Yankees. I guess that Jim would next be suggesting that A-Rod should be named the Yankees captain.

6. It's only fair. This has to be the most unintelligent reason to trade away one of the key players on this team. This is the biggest indicator that Jim must be a Boston fan. How is it fair that someone like A-Rod can get paid $250 million dollars for 10 years and yet not be expected to carry the burden of expectations of winning championships? He is in it for the money only.

Understand that Jeter has only known winning from the beginning of his career in the Yankee organization. He has been in the playoffs every year of his career. On the flip side, A-Rod has not and has never been a part of a team that won the World Series. It is an interesting note that only after the Mariners got rid of A-Rod, did they win 116 regular season games. They got better after getting rid of him.

Technorati Tags: Derek Jeter, Yankees, A-Rod, baseball

Time for a change?

2006-10-09T09:01:00.000-04:00

I have been resisting writing anything about the Yankees demise in the postseason but Rogel is forcing my hand so here it goes.

First, you cannot put the blame all on one person because many of the players failed to live up to their potential but you cannot avoid the obvious. A-Rod is the biggest postseason failure their is! For his last 12 postseason games, he is 4 for 41 (.098) as compared with his average this year of .290. A-Rod may be the one of the best regular season players in the major leagues but he is the biggest bust in the postseason. For everyone that continues to say that Jeter should have moved to third base, it still would not change the batting statistics. And the simple fact is that Jeter is a better postseason player than A-Rod will ever be. I continue to think that A-Rod is a curse for any baseball team. I don't believe that A-Rod will ever have a World Series ring.

Second, while I think that Joe Torre is a great manager, the team make-up is so different that it may be time for a change. There are only a few players left from the team that won all of those championships, the players on the team now may need a different style of management.

Last, Steinbrenner needs to stop trying to buy all the high priced seasoned players and focus more on the Yankees farm system. The best pitcher on the staff this year was not the high priced veterans but Chien-Ming Wang. Unfortunately, the Yankee farm system is depleted because of all the high priced acquisitions made over the last few years.

Technorati Tags: Baseball, Yankees, sports, New York City, Joe Torre

Byron Nelson

2006-09-28T21:45:00.000-04:00

It is a sad time for golf. It has lost a true ambassador of the game. I had a basic knowledge about Byron Nelson's accomplishments but I did not have any clue about the man himself. From hearing all of the news and interviews with people in the sports community, I am even more impressed with the person than the golfer. He retired so early in his carreer when he could have gone on and continued winning who knows how many championships. But he had his own plans. Without the official title of ambassador, Byron Nelson truely lived out the duties associated with the title. Just listen to the interviews with the top golfers today and what they are saying. All of golf is mourning his loss.

Technorati Tags: golf, Byron Nelson, sports

Sour grapes in Boston

2006-09-12T22:18:00.000-04:00

What is the matter with David Ortiz? Who does he think he is? I was actually feeling bad for him with the health problems he has been having but after reading his comments on Derek Jeter as an MVP candidate, I have no sympathy for him. For those that have not heard what he said, here is his statement

"Don't get me wrong -- he's a great player, having a great season, but he's got a lot of guys in that lineup," Ortiz said of Jeter. "Top to bottom, you've got a guy who can hurt you. Come hit in this lineup, see how good you can be."

I have a question, is Ortiz saying that his teammates stink? If I were a player on the Red Sox, heaven forbid, I would be insulted by this comment. Ortiz has put up some big numbers in homeruns and RBIs but this is expected from his position in the lineup with Manny Ramirez backing him up. He wouldn't do nearly as well without someone protecting him. From the 1st or 2nd position in the lineup Jeter has almost 200 hits (47 more than Ortiz) , 102 runs scored (same as Ortiz), 29 stolen bases (28 more than David Ortiz), an On Base Percentage of .423 and almost 100 RBIs which we know he can reach with 19 games left to go. The best part is that Boston is falling hard and will not make the playoffs while the Yankees keep their streak going of consecutive appearances in the playoffs. While Ortiz is concerned with personal accolades, Jeter is only concerned with his team being ready for the playoffs. David pay attention, this is why Jeter will get the MVP because he cares more about the team!

Technorati Tags: Baseball, Yankees, Derek Jeter, Red Sox, David Ortiz

9/11, 5 years later

2006-09-10T23:01:00.000-04:00

It has been 5 years since my life changed in an instant. Until now I have told parts of my story to many people but not everything. I worked at 140 West St which was across the street from Tower 1. I heard the explosion from the plane hitting the tower. At that time we were not sure what was going on. I called my wife on the phone to tell her to turn on the TV because Tower 1 had some type of explosion and is on fire. After staring for several minutes at the fire and smoke pouring out of the tower, an announcement came over the intercom that we should evacuate the building. As we were getting some of our belongings together, another announcement came telling us to stay where we were because of falling debri. At first it seemed to make sense because we still did not know what had actually happened. My co-workers and I stood at the windows looking up and staring at the sight. Then I saw the most horrific things that to this day I wish I never saw. I saw people jumping out the windows and falling to their death and because we were on the 14th floor, I could see bodies that had hit the ground. Many people in my office were screaming at this point. Then after a while, I caught a glimpse of a plane coming over the water and watched as it slammed into Tower 2. My father-in-law worked in that Tower on the 67th floor and from where I was looking it seemed to be about where he would be. I had no idea if he was still there or not. At that point, I did not care anymore if there was falling debri, all I knew was that I did not want to be anywhere near the towers now. The announcement came to leave the building. Because of what was happening we had to use the stairs to leave the building. When I left, I ended up seeing Mayor Giuliani walking by to go to the emergency command center. I headed west towards the river because it was farther away from the towers and I could walk along the water down to the ferry terminal. By the time that I made it down to the Jewish Heritage Memorial, Tower 2 collapsed. All I remember was running at first and then everything went dark. I have no idea why but one of the things that I had taken with me when I left my building was a water bottle from my desk. I soaked my shirt with it and put it over my mouth. It was like a blizzard, I could hardly see anything. I was glad that I had walked through Battery Park many times because I did not need to see much to know where I was. I eventually made it into a building close to the ferry terminal. They were giving out quarters in the lobby so that people could make calls from the payphones. I made a call to my wife to let her know I was OK. Several minutes later, she received a call from her father that he had made it out OK. When the air had cleared enough, I left the building and walked down to the ferry terminal. There were many people waiting to try and take the ferry back to Staten Island. Just before we pulled out of the terminal, we heard the rumble of Tower 1 falling. I remember looking back at Manhattan as we pulled away and all you could see was smoke. When we made it across to Staten Island, I could not get a Bus so I walked about a mile and a half to where I was able to get a payphone and call my wife. There were several people from our church who had come to the house to be with my wife while she waited. She was pregnant with my daughter and due in January. The pastor's wife came and picked me up. I arrived home at 1:29pm covered in ash and grateful to just be home. I will never forget that day. I hope that everyone in this country remembers that day and never forgets the lessons that we learned.

Technorati Tags: 911, World Trade Center, terrorism, New York City

We will miss you, Crocodile Hunter

2006-09-05T08:13:00.000-04:00

When I first saw Steve Irwin on TV, my impression was that he was crazy. But after watching him for years and more recently watching shows about the Australia Zoo, I realized that no only did he know what he was doing and that it was far from crazy, he cared about the wildlife and was working hard to protect them. He was catching crocodiles to move them to safer areas away from people. Like many other people, you learn more about them after their death than while they were alive. He is someone that I would have loved to meet because of his enthusiasm for life and the animals that he was working to protect. My thoughts and prayers go out the Irwin family. It is a terrible loss for them. It is also a terrible loss for wildlife all around the world.

Technorati Tags: Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter, Australia Zoo, conservationist

Pluto, say it ain't so!

2006-08-24T16:52:00.000-04:00

I could not believe what I read today about scientist deciding that Pluto is not a planet anymore. The article states that

"the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930."

I am a little shocked that this is happening. I admit that throughout history our concepts of everything around us has changed and we have needed to adjust to it like the earth is round instead of flat. I just hope that they did not rush the decision without having more information. It took scientists this long to agree on the criteria for classifying planets. But in the meantime we have a probe going out to Pluto to study it further which may tell us a lot more about it. The decision could have waited until we found out a little bit more about the former 9th planet in our solar system.
The new definition for a planet is:

"a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."

It would be really ironic that in 10 or 12 years from now scientists come back to say that with the new information about Pluto, it really is a planet.

Technorati Tags: Space, Pluto, planets, solar system

Is Tiger the best athlete ever?

2006-08-23T23:51:00.000-04:00

I read a article by Gene Wojciechowski titled "Woods is greatest individual athlete ever". I have to say that this is a little ridiculous. While we all know that it is becoming more inevitable that Tiger Woods will break most of the records in golf and pass Jack Nicholas for winning the most majors and become the greatest golfer ever, he has not done it yet. To say that he is the greatest athlete ever is more than just putting the cart before the horse, it is saying that the horse is not needed at all and that the cart can do it on its own. Some names at the top of the list of great athletes include Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, Wayne Gretzky, Ali, Pele, and so on. Needless to say, he is breaking records at an incredible pace, but he has not done it all and may not. The true judge of an athletes greatness is time itself. And for that determination, we will have to wait and see.

Technorati Tags: Tiger Woods, Golf, sports, athletics

Sleepless in Boston

2006-08-23T23:07:00.000-04:00

I am a little late to write this but what a weekend! The Yankees go into Boston with a game and a half lead on them and the expectations were for a very heated battle. Well, I would have to say that it was a battle the whole way but I never dreamed that the Yankees would come out of it with a 6 and a half game lead! And who would have thought that the best pitching matchup of the series would be David Wells vs. Cory Lidle? After 4 games in which the Yankees outscored Boston 47-25, the last game of the series was only 2-1. Friday set the tone as both teams combined to use 18 pitchers in the day/night double header. Normally both teams would use that many pitchers in a 4 game series. It is far from over but you have to admit that this was the first nail in the coffin for Boston's hopes for the playoffs. Go Yanks!

Technorati Tags: Yankees, Red Sox, baseball, sports, american league

Blogger Beta

2006-08-15T22:28:00.000-04:00

I am currently playing around with Blogger's new beta version. I wanted to see what improvements have been made. So far I have mixed reviews but there are definitely some nice features. I do hope that they soon add the ability to edit the html because that is important when you are customizing the layout of your blog. I do like the page elements section which allows you to rearrange the peices that make up the blog. I will be doing some more tinkering with it in the next few days to see what the full potential of this beta version is.

Technorati Tags: Blogger Beta, blogs, internet

Tax Free Days follow-up

2006-08-07T06:14:00.000-04:00

I need to give an update to the story I wrote about the other day. My wife was contacted by the assistant manager at Dillards department store in Raleigh. They checked with their corporate office and admitted that there was a mistake and that the computer system had the wrong information. I am impressed that they got the answer quickly and responded back. If you bought anything from Dillards over the weekend and were charged tax when you believe that it should not, I would contact the store. They said that they were going to take care of refunding the money but it is going to be a tall order. They can easily do the credit card purchases but how do you identify customers who paid with cash and refund the money?

Technorati Tags: Tax Free Shopping, North Carolina, Dillards, shopping, commerce

Tax Free Days in North Carolina

2006-08-06T00:14:00.000-04:00

I have to give a warning to everyone in North Carolina trying to take advantage of the Tax Free Shopping days this weekend. My wife was out today and stopped in the Dillards department store in Raleigh. She went to but my daughter some underwear and when she got to the register she was charged tax. My wife could not believe it. Later she went back to the store with the printout of what items are tax free. Even though the documentation clearly states that underwear falls under this category, they insist that the list did not include children's underwear! How ridiculous is that to say that adult underwear is tax free but kids underwear is not?! Also, according to how they set the descriptions in their computer system, the underwear comes up as Accessories. Someone will need to explain to me how something that is worn everyday under your clothes can be considered an accessory. My wife did speak to an assistant manager who was going to speak to the store manager who would be in on Monday but I think that it is only right to warn everyone now that Dillards has these problems. I hope that this can be resolved fairly, it could just be a mistake in what was entered in the computer system. If not then they are trying to do some shady business and should not get away with it.

Technorati Tags: Tax Free Shopping, North Carolina, Dillards, shopping, commerce

Telecommuting troubles

2006-07-26T20:35:00.000-04:00

Since I work from home on the computer everyday, my wife is limited in the things that she can get done. It has been one of the struggles with working from home. I get interrupted at times because my wife needs to check on something on the internet. So, I bought her a laptop. I have to say that I got a really good deal from TigerDirect.com.
Since she only needs the laptop for Word processing, spreadsheets and surfing the internet, I bought her the Acer Aspire AS1642ZWLCi Notebook PC. I ordered it on 7/20 and received it today even though the projected delivery date was 7/27. It did not take long to set everything up and start working with it. So far my wife is very pleased with it. I also setup a wireless router and so far there has been no problems with the connection at all. TigerDirect makes it easy to access the rebates to save you more money. Check it out for yourself. Now both of us can be on the computer at the same time and with setting up the wireless network and file sharing, she can access any file that she needs from her laptop.

Technorati Tags: Laptops, computers, telecommuting, technology

The trouble with A-Rod

2006-07-25T23:46:00.000-04:00

I cannot say that I was a fan of the Yankees bringing on A-Rod. In fact, I said more than once that he will be the curse on the Yankees and that they will not win another World Series while he is on the team. Part of my reasoning behind this is that his $252 million dollar contract is a drain on any ballclub's payroll, even the Yankees. With greedy players looking more for the dollars than the championships, it becomes harder for ball clubs to put together a team that has quality at every position. I do not think that any player is worth that kind of money considering that one player can win the game by himself.
A-Rod is struggling right now and Yankee fans can be extremely tough on players because they expect the best. I can be that way too but I will temper my words somewhat. A-Rod does bring 2 important qualities to the field, his bat and his glove. The problem is that recently neither one is helping the team. I was reading an article written about his problems with throwing and that most of his trouble is mental. I think that he is too good of a player and that he will work it out but the bigger question is how long will it take. The Yankees are already hurting with the loses of Matsui, Sheffield and Cano, they need A-Rod's bat and glove to keep them going. I think that it is time that Yankee fans stop wasting the energy on booing A-Rod and focus that energy on cheering them on to make the postseason. There is still hope.

Technorati Tags: baseball, Yankees, A-Rod, Alex Rodriguez

The British Open

2006-07-25T09:47:00.000-04:00

After watching the Open this weekend and listening to commentators talking about Hoylake and whether or not it should be added back to the rotation of places hosting the Open, I have to add my 2 cents. Why not? Consider this mind teaser, the conditions at Hoylake made Tiger Woods use his driver only once in 72 holes! With all of the talk about Tiger proofing courses to level the playing field, this course took away a huge weapon in his arsenal and yet he stood up to the challenge and was hitting the fairways better than anyone else. Many of the players are saying that this course should definitely be back in the rotation for the Open. I agree. You need a wide variety of courses in order to test the best players in golf. It forces them to adjust their game to the course rather than the course adjusting to the players.

Technorati Tags: golf, British Open, Hoylake, Tiger Woods

Look mom, 2 wheels!

2006-07-24T12:02:00.000-04:00

This weekend we took the training wheels off the boys bikes. It has been a long time coming but there wasn't a real good time to spend the time with them until now. So I removed them for Evan and after about 5 minutes he was riding back and forth along the sidewalk without any problems. Now it is just a matter of starting and stopping. Next it was Simon's turn. After about 15 minutes he was riding back and forth with only a few minor problems. Now I just need to find a good pace to take them so that they have more room to ride around without having to watch out for cars or people.

Technorati Tags: biking, family, training wheels, exercise

65 years and going strong

2006-07-05T15:51:00.000-04:00

On July 12th, it will be my grandparents 65th wedding anniversary, a milestone that most couples could not even dream of in this day and age. On July 8th, the whole family will come together to celebrate the love that my grandparents have had for each other and their family over those 65 years. During the course of their marriage they have had 3 children, 9 grandchildren and 17 greatgrandchildren. If you were to ask them what the secret to their marriage is they would say that it is their faith in God and commitment to each other. It is this faith in God that has seen them through the good and bad times.

Technorati Tags: marriage, family, relationships, anniversaries

4th of July

2006-07-04T08:52:00.000-04:00

In celebration of the 4th of July, Wake Forest held a celebration yesterday at Wake Forest-Rolesville High School. It was a lot of fun with the Southern Skies Parachute Team making several jumps through the evening and The Band of Oz providing the music. There was food and games to keep you going. It was a wonderful time for adults and children capped off by a great fireworks display. Coming from New York, I know all about big fireworks displays and I wasn't disappointed. Today, the celebration continues with the 4th of July Children's Parade at 10:30am which will be going up North Main Street.

Technorati Tags: 4th of July, fireworks, wake forest, parade, family

Spiders, spiders everywhere

2006-06-30T23:08:00.000-04:00

One thing that I was warned about when I arrived in NC was that there are 2 spiders that you need to stay away from, the Black Widow and the Brown Recluse. I was told by several people that they have never really seen either around here. I have seen plenty of spiders and some that I had never even seen in books. However, recently I found what I thought was a black widow. Today, I spotted another black widow while I was watering my roses. This time I was positive of what I saw. I always knew what the body shape was like for the Black Widow but Thought that it would be harder to spot the red hourglass on the underside, but it was very easy to spot and was a really bright red color. I called my sons over and showed them (Every spider that they had seen they called either a Black Widow or a Brown Recluse.) We watched it crawl on the rocks and then I sprayed it with pesticide. It crawled into a hole and disappeared. We saw another spider that was smaller and had the same shape but had orange colored circles on the side of the abdomen. After reading more about the Black Widow, I think I saw the male Black Widow. I don't have a fear of spiders and will generally leave them alone outside, but I could not allow this type of spider to be that close to my house and where the kids would be.

Technorati Tags: Spiders, Black Widow, Brown Recluse, Arachnids

To swing or not to swing?

2006-06-28T23:11:00.000-04:00

After moving to NC, we found out quickly that our children needed more of an outlet to burn off energy than just a big backyard. So after much consideration we decided to get them a swingset. We went to Creative Playthings to get a nice wooden swing set that they could enjoy. Since they already had a treehouse, they did not need the fort that comes with most of them. Here is what the yard looked like before.
It took a couple of hours for them to set up the swing set but the yard was quickly transformed. We got the rubber chips for under the swingset so that they have a nice soft place to land when they fall off the swings. Here is what is looked like after they were done.
The wonderful thing about having a swingset in the backyard is that they finally have the motivation to learn how to swing on their own.

See more pictures here

Technorati Tags: Backyards, Swingsets, Creative Playthings, swings

Paper or Digital

2006-05-21T22:42:00.000-04:00

I was reading a posting on It looks obvious which talks about how Jeff Jarvis feels that print is where words go to die. I agree with Rogel that this is not correct. I think that you cannot come up with a statement like that without understanding that there are some things that do not change over the course of time and some things that should not be changed. I would guess that this person hasn't picked a good book to read in a long time. When I read this post I had flashbacks to high school and a book that I read for my English class, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I think that Jeff should read this book and it might change his opinion about the printed word and its significance for today. It was written over 50 years ago but has more relevance for today than it did then. And don't tell my 7 year old son that print is dead because he reads books every day and it is definitely alive to him. How can you read a bedtime story to a 2 year old in bed if there is no print?

Technorati Tags: Books, technology, media, paper

Gas, gas everywhere as long as you pay more than $3

2006-04-27T23:38:00.000-04:00

It is interesting that after moving to North Carolina 2 months ago, our total expenses for gas for the month is about the same as it was in New York even though we do less driving. It costs us about $45 to fill up our tank. Gas prices are getting rediculous and it seems that noone is wiling to actually do anything about it. There is an article on the CNN website "Your solutions: Easing pain at the pump" that was entertaining if nothing else. They asked people to email their ideas about solving the gas problems.
I like what one person suggested:

How about tax breaks for carmakers who produce fuel-efficient and/or alternative fuel cars, and for the consumers who purchase and register them?

I don't think that anyone is doing enough to try and get people to switch to hybrid or alternative-fuel cars. They are still very expensive and not readily available. Car makers have no incentive to switch because they are more expensive and lets face it, most people can hardly afford waht they have. Worse that just that is that I haven't seen any mini-vans yet with the hybrid option. For me, I need the van because of my 4 children. It is going to take a larger effort to make the shift away from gas. Remember that the oil companies have big reasons not to have cars switch to alternative fuels.

Technorati Tags: Gasoline, Cars, Alternative fuels, Oil

Legacy of Barry Bonds

2006-04-26T09:53:00.000-04:00

First, let me say that I am not a fan of Barry Bonds. I think that his personality forces you to like him or not. He makes no apologizes for his attitude. That is one of the reasons why I don't want him to capture one of the most hallowed records in baseball, the most career home runs. Everyone cheered Cal Ripkin when he passed Lou Gehrig's records of consecutive games played because of his character and his attitude when it came to the game of baseball. The difference between these 2 men is like night and day. I have not even discussed the issue of whether Barry was using steroids or not. In my opinion, he would still have most of the home runs that he hit either way. But if Barry was doing steroids, I think that its affect would be more for his longevity in playing the game which would help him in giving him more years to total up the home runs. I doubt that the answer will ever truly come out. Steroids cannot make you swing the bat better, it may help you to hit the ball farther but it cannot improve you mechanics which I concede that Barry has. But if you see the way that he is playing today, you start to wonder that if he was on steroids and now is not, it would provide a rational explanation for his current condition. His legacy as it stands is going to be that there will be a asterisk in people's minds next to his name when they look at the list of home run hitters.

Technorati Tags: Baseball, Barry Bonds, Steroids, Home Runs

In full bloom

2006-04-23T22:00:00.000-04:00

I decided that Saturday morning was a good time to snap some pictures of the landscaping around our house. I dropped mom off to the airport early in the morning and after getting a little more sleep, got up and took the dogs for a walk. The rain had not come yet so everything looked calm and the flowers were opening up. We have a wide assortment of flowers. But there are a lot of Iris's around the yard. I took a few shots of the front and back to give a little idea of the landscaping.

By the street we have a patch of Morning Glories and a few Irises. Closer to the front porch we have all kinds of plants and flowers including Lamb's Ear, Mint, and Hanging roses.
On the other side of the driveway are some rose bushes with several different colors. So far I see red, yellow and orange roses. I will know the rest soon.
In the back by the pond are more Irises of a least 2 varieties. I have to admit that while I am not good with identifying the different flowers and plants, I appreciate the look and design of the yard with what is planted. Maybe with time I will be able to do a better job of identification. Right now I trust in others with more experience. I hope that I can continue to take care of the landscape as good as the previous owners. Click here to see more pictures.

Technorati Tags: Family, Flowers, Landscaping, Iris, Morning Glories, Roses

Field trip to the stars

2006-04-18T22:31:00.000-04:00

On Monday, my children were off from school. So we took a little field trip of our own and went to the Morehead Planetarium an d Science Center on the campus of UNC.
We had heard about a show that they had going on that we knew would be perfect for the kids. Evan, who is 7 years old, is really into reading the Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborne. The Planetarium has a show going on for the new book "Magic Tree House Space Mission" so it mixed 2 of his passions, the Magic Tree House books and space. Simon, who is 6, is also totally into space and has the advantage of having his old brother read the books to him. The books have 2 main characters, Jack and Annie, and a tree house that magically appears and takes them to different places to find answers to questions that they have been given. I have to say that I enjoyed it almost as much as my children. They were talking about it the whole ride home. This is something that I would recommend for anyone to see.

Technorati Tags: Family, Morehead Planetarium, Mary Pope Osborne, Magic Tree House

What's in a name?

2006-04-17T21:46:00.000-04:00

Rogel writes in his blogabout the importance of naming his child.

Growing up I began to understand that there is, in this family legend, more than just an old mans desire to demonstrate illustrious lineage. This legend was intended to teach me about the history of my family, about the importance of naming and remembering past generations.

The name that you choose for your child can mean different things for each culture. For my own family in Norway the name you chose would affect the last name for the next generation. If your name was Hans Olsen and you named your son Olaf, your son's name would send up being Olaf Hansen meaning "Son of Hans". The first name would be used in the last name of the next generation. I think that the importance of names in regards to your heritage is being lost for some people in this generation. A name should be something that defines you. And it is great if you pick a name that has ties to your family history. For my children, we did not choose names necessarily from the ancestors but chose names with a particular meaning. After having 2 miscarriages, my daughter Celeste was born. Her name means "From the heavens" and to us she truly is a blessing from the heavens.
I think that a name should help tell something about you whether it is something about your ancestry or what you parents see in you.

Technorati Tags: Family, Baby Naming, Ancestors

The reason to move

2006-04-16T22:16:00.000-04:00

Rogel in his blog brings up an interesting point that may only scratch the surface of the reasons we left New York but shows the growing trend that is immediately noticed when arriving here in North Carolina. The main reason for leaving New York was not taxes but did become one of the many contibuting factors in our decision. The truth to the graph which shows where people are migrating to is definitely true as far as the type of people moving into North Carolina. On my block, most of the people are transplants from the Tri-state area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut). Some of the main reasons that we left were the cost of living, overcrowding, schools and wanting a different pace of life. Staten Island is especially bad as far as the population. It is becoming more crowded by the day and the whole look of the island is changing in a bad way. I would advise that lower taxes should not be the only reason to move. Moving is a very stressful thing to do to yourself so you should be very clear and sure of your reasons for doing so.

Technorati Tags: Moving, Cost of Living, Taxes

It is all about RESPECT

2006-04-12T22:01:00.000-04:00

I love North Carolina. One of the big differences between North Carolina and New York is how the people treat each other. The first day in our new house, we had neighbors coming over to say hello and welcome us to the neighborhood. As I took the dogs for a walk people driving by would wave that I had never seen before. In New York, the only thing that a complete stranger would wave at you is the middle finger! The businesses here also treat you very differently. We bought a mattress from a store in town and the owner brought it by the next night on his own and since we did not have a bed frame yet, he brought us a metal frame to use until ours came in. The car dealerships have an are set up for kids with games and a TV so that the adults can look at the cars and talk with the salesperson without being interrupted. My bank actually called today to see how everything was and if I had any problems or questions about my account. Now that is service! It is so nice to have people treat you with respect instead of just a piece of meat with a wallet. It really is all about respect. When you respect others, you treat them differently than you would if you did not respect them at all.

Technorati Tags: North Carolina, Respect

We're not in New York anymore Todo!

2006-04-11T20:44:00.000-04:00

We moved down to North Carolina on February 28th. Early in the morning we packed everyone and everything into our Honda Odyssey with the U-haul on the back and started down the road. 2 Adults, 3 kids, 1 4 week old infant, 2 dogs and 500 miles to go. What were we thinking? It took us around 13 hours to reach Raliegh, with stops for food, gas and the bathroom. But we made it. After closing on the house, we pulled up to our house in Wake Forest for the first time as owners. It was exciting and the kids loved the treehouse in the back. Our joy was tempered by the bad news that there were troubles with the moving truck and it would be a few days before we would get our things. What a headache! The kids slept in sleeping bags on the floor and we slept on air mattresses. We ate off of paper plates and had to buy ice to put in a cooler so that we could have a few food items in the house since the refridgerators were on the moving truck. The truck finally came on Friday and then the real fun began. Boxes, boxes everywhere and you can never find what you are looking for. I will post before and after pictures of the rooms as we paint and set everything up in the house. For now we are settling down and have foudna church that we like. It is Hope Lutheran Church in Wake Forest. It is bigger that what we are used to but the people are very friendly and nice and have welcomed us with open arms.

Technorati Tags: Moving, Hope Lutheran Church, Wake Forest

Stupid in America

2006-01-14T08:09:00.000-05:00

I watched 20/20's report Stupid in America last night. I was not suprized by what I heard. The public school system is failing our kids. There are many parts to this that I agree and disagree with the report. Yes, monopolies do not work because most have no reason to do better because there is no real competition. You can either go to the school assigned to you, pay to go to a private school, or hope to get your child accepted into a charter school. Monopolies kill off innovation which is in part why children going to private or charter schools are doing better. The problem stretches far beyond the school system itself because the public school's hands are tied by the Teachers Union TEA which does not allow accountability on the part of teachers. It is almost impossible to punish teachers that do things that would make your heart stop. Private schools do not have that problem so the caliber of teachers is much higher and the innovation of teaching is much higher. The issue of money is because monopolies are so ineffective that they eat up money. Everything costs more because they have no need to be more efficient. Private schools can't afford to waste money like that. That is why they spend so much less on each child than the public schools and do better with what they have.
I agree up to this point with the report. Here is where I think the report is lacking. Generally students sent to private and charter schools have parents that take a bigger interest in their children's education and tend to work with their children on their schoolwork/homework. I am not saying all but more are involved. This is also why some children do just fine in public school because their parents are taking the responsibility of making sure their child is learning. If a child is in high school and still cannot read above a 4th grade level, then the parent failed the child as much as the school did. Ultimately it is the responsibility of the parents to make sure their child is learning.

Technorati Tags: Stupid in America, ABC News, Public School, Private School, Charter School, Teachers Union

2 Sunday Services follow-up

2006-01-13T19:56:00.000-05:00

Well, we had a congregational meeting and it was an overwhelming decision to go ahead with 2 services on Sunday. The meeting was held directly after our Sunday morning service. The really ironic part to this is the fact that the attendance at the service was 194. There were people standing in the back of the church! So now we will have 2 Sunday Services starting at the beginning of February. The times will be 9:30am and 11am. Anyone is welcome to come. We have Sunday school for the children that starts at 9:30am and an Adult Bible study at 11am. Bethany Lutheran Brethren Church is located at 233 Westcott Blvd, Staten Island, NY.

Technorati Tags: Lutheran, Church, Sunday Services, Bethany Lutheran Brethren

Take that Pat Robertson

2006-01-12T22:20:00.000-05:00

I am glad to see someone giving it to Pat Robertson. After his callous remarks, Israel has cut off communication with him and those associated with him. It will be interesting to see who his true friends are after the fallout from this. In the meantime, it did not take long for Robertson to change his tune, especially when it hits his wallet. This is how you find out what the person is really all about. How can anyone take Pat Robertson seriously when one minute he makes these bold statements that he says with conviction and then the next minute is backpedaling because he will lose a lot of money? Pat, it is time for you to go away. No one wants to hear what you have to say because you will not stand for what you believe. Or maybe you don't actually believe anything you say...

Technorati Tags: Pat Robertson, Ariel Sharon, Politics

Pat Robertson at it again

2006-01-10T05:40:00.000-05:00

I am a conservative Christian and I hold to conservative values. In my opinion, Pat Robertson should not be called either and I would not give him the time of day if he asked for it. It is embarrasing to hear his comments about Prime Minster Ariel Sharon. Robertson is quoted as saying on his television show:

God considers this land to be his. You read the Bible and he says `This is my land,' and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, `No, this is mine.

Where is he coming up with this stuff? If you read the Bible, God gave that land to the people of Israel. I am glad that the President is condemning this kind of irrational and totally offensive remarks. What I now hope is that people start to realize how messed up Robertson is and I think it is time to tell Robertson that the Republican party wants nothing to do with him. I expected the reaction that you are hearing from those that do not like Israel. I do not expect that from decent human beings.
Personally I pray for Sharon's recovery. I pray that the people of Israel will remain strong and confident during this time.

Technorati Tags: Pat Robertson, 700 Club, Ariel Sharon, Politics

New Years Resolutions

2006-01-04T23:34:00.000-05:00

I have to say that I never took a New Years resolution seriously in my life. The problem that I have with them is that there is not that will continue to motivate you to stick to whatever you decided to give up or change. Deciding to lose weight this year as a New Years resolution may start out OK just like anything else that you decide to try and change at any time in your life. You may even start to notice a difference in the beginning but eventually the novelty that started you on this path will wear off and you will go back to what you were doing before. I read an article that really captured what I think is the problem with these resolutions.

The reasons he says are simple...
1. Most people actually expect not to keep a resolution
2. Most don't know how to truly set goals or don't believe it matters

It can be fun to think up resolutions with your friends but if it is seriously something that you want to change then make a plan and skip the resolution.

Technorati Tags: New Years Resolutions, Resolutions, New Years

The State of Health Care

2006-01-04T05:35:00.000-05:00

Over the New Year weekend my wife had to go into the hospital. She is in her last month of pregnancy and when she was at the doctor's office, she blacked out for a minute. The doctor sent her to the hospital to have her checked out. This was fine. They did every type of test known to man (EKG, CAT scan, X-rays, blood work,....) and the result was that they could not find anything wrong. I still do not have a problem with this. However, the next morning when my wife was visited by her doctor, the doctor said that she was going to see about getting her released. However, the specialist needed to OK the release. It took 5 hours to get the OK. This I have a problem with. You want to know why health care costs keep going up. At 9am my wife should have left the hospital and it would only have cost 1 day in the hospital. But since she was release after 11am, it counted as another day. This is what is driving health care costs up. They clear a bed by 2pm and now can bring someone else in and charge them for the day.

Technorati Tags: Health Care, Hospitals

2 Sunday Services?

2005-12-28T23:10:00.000-05:00

I love my church. I have been attending Bethany Lutheran Brethren Church since 1995. It has grown and changed over the years including an addition to the building that would serve as a gym, banquet hall and large meeting room. One of the many things I love about our church is how everyone knows each other because the church is small. The dilemma that we face now is that the church is reaching its capacity for our Sunday worship service. There is no room left. We are now faced with the tough decision to not change anything and possibly lose some that will not tolerate having to stand in the back because there is no seats left or go to 2 services which would allow for more seating at each service but may lose some of the close personal feeling that is drawing people to our church. It is a difficult decision to make. Personally, I think that we should go ahead with 2 sevices and trust that what he has blessed us with will continue to be blessed.

Matthew 25:21 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things'." NIV

We will need to work harder to keep the closeness that is evident now, but I think that we would be irresponsible if we did not try to continue and reach more people. The decision will be made at our next business meeting in January.

Technorati Tags: Lutheran, Church, Sunday Services, Bethany Lutheran Brethren

Christmas Day

2005-12-26T19:30:00.000-05:00

I woke up to find Evan and Simon both working on the Star Wars lego ships they got on Christmas Eve. When they came up they couldn't believe all of the boxes waiting for them. Simon was so excited at getting the lego Wild Hunters kit that he had a hard time removing all the wrapping paper. Evan got the lego Ocean Odyssey. It didn't take long for them to build their favorite things. Abby got her American Girl doll and named it Jenna.
After church we went to Nanna and Papa's house. Abby couldn't wait to see "her girls" which are her cousins, Jennifer, Stephanie, and Trina. They all received American Girl dolls as well. It was a fun afternoon with cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents and great grandparents.

Click here for more photos.

Christmas Eve

2005-12-24T23:02:00.000-05:00

Kim's parents and Grandmother came over for Christmas Eve and as usual it was a massacre for anything with wrapping paper. We missed having Steven and Jamie with us but hopefully they will be with us next year.
The food was great as usual and it was just fun to see the kids reactions to the presents. Abby loves dolls but got a real surprise with a Cabbage patch doll. I love the fact that the boys were excited about the books they got. The hardest part is not cleaning up but getting Evan, Simon and Abby to go to sleep after all the excitement.

Thank you Uncle Steven for the Cabbage Patch Kids!

Click here to see more photos.

Technorati Tags: Christmas Eve, Family

Christmas Cantata follow-up

2005-12-22T22:55:00.000-05:00

The concert was a big success. Everyone's voices held up and it sounded great. Thank you to everyone who came. Thank you George and Claire for all your hard work in getting us ready for the concert. I am attaching a clip of one of the songs from the concert. It is "The Christmas Star". If all goes well, I will try to link the rest at a future date. Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: The Gift Goes On, Church, Christmas Contata

Christmas Wishes

2005-12-22T20:13:00.000-05:00

This is just a quick note to wish each and everyone a Merry Christmas! I love the chance to get together with family and just to spend time catching up on what is going on in each others lives. It is hard to stay close with family memebers as people move to new places. My hope for you is that you get the chance to take time to relax and spend it with your family. It is the best gift that you can give.

Technorati Tags: Christmas, Family

MTA Transit Strike over

2005-12-22T16:19:00.000-05:00

Well, they are now going back to work and the city is going to try to get back to normal, it is time to look at what has been accomplished with this strike. Lets do a recap on the winners and losers here:

The Losers

All the students in our schools. My children are in elementary school and this affected them by forcing them to go in later than normal which throws off their whole routine. Even though older students were probably more pleased that they had shorter days, the time missed may need to be made up at the end of the year with an extra day. Nobody in the media has even mentioned the impact this strike had on the schools and the students.

The people working in the city and the surrounding areas that rely on mass transit to get to their place of employment. Some had to use vacation days or personal days because they could not get in or work from home. Some did not get paid at all because their job pays by the hour and if you do not work, you do not get paid..

The TWU workers who will be fined and rightfully should be because it was an illegal strike. The idea that they are seeking indemnity is ridiculous. They cost the city money. They cost the working people of the city money. They should pay what the law requires if they are willing to break the law knowing what the penalties would be.

The TWU Local 100 itself now will have to pay fines for the last few days. The local union has lost its credibility with the international union weighing in and telling them to go back to work. They still do not have a contract and they are asking for too much. I don't know about anyone else but I have not received an 8% increase last year. Many people have not received any raises. Why should they get such and increase?

The City of New York has lost revenue from taxes and the regular daily operations, overtime for police, and all the preparations to handle the strike.

The Winners
There are none.

I am just annoyed that the TWU thinks that not only was it OK to illegally strike but then have the audacity to think that they should not have to pay the fines. If I get a parking ticket because I did not pay the meter, I can't just go and put money in the meter afterwards and not pay the fine for breaking the law in the first place. The union shouldn't get any breaks.

Technorati Tags: NYC, TWU, MTA Strike

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

2005-12-17T20:52:00.000-05:00

I went to go see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe with my wife and 2 sons. I grew up reading the whole series of Narnia books written by C.S. Lewisand I am pleased to say that the movie did not disappoint me a bit. My wife had read the book to my 2 sons, ages 7 and 5, this past week so that they would know the story with all the details. They enjoyed the movie immensely even though there were a few spots that they squirmed and covered their eyes for a second or two. The graphics are spectacular and the actors did a wonderful job in bringing the book to life. I would encourage anyone to go see it but if you bring your child I would suggest reading the book to them first. It will take some of the edge off a few of the parts that could make them scared or sad.

Technorati Tags: Narnia, C.S. Lewis

Watson

2005-12-16T22:40:00.000-05:00

I found an application that seemed very interesting to me. It is called Watson and it is made by Intellext. It is like Google Sidebar but instead of typing the information into the toolbar it automatically searches the internet, your desktop, search engines and other places to find information relavant to what you are currently working on. It works with Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Internet Explorer and Firefox. I wanted to try out the free version and see how it performed but the requirements on what you need on your computer are not clear. I have Windows XP with Office Premium 2000 and it had issues when I tried to install it. If anyone has used this application, I would welcome your feedback on how it works and how you like it.

Technorati Tags: Watson, Intellext, Context Search, Google Sidebar

TWU problems

2005-12-16T05:53:00.000-05:00

Watching the last day or two and waiting to see what would happen with the possible Transit strike, I found it interesting when the Vice President of the TWU, John Mooney, came out to the microphones and started critizing the president of the union, Roger Toussaint. While I understand why he was upset, I think that he did more damage and weakened his own unions position in the negotiations by making those comments. The whole premise behind the union is that there is strength comes from their joining together to speak as one voice. When he came out and started making those comments on camera, it weakened the bargaining power of the union. "A house divided against itself will not stand". I can't say how much of an impact this actually had on the negotiations, if the union wants to keep the power it has, it better get everyone on the same page or next time it could really cost them.

Technorati Tags: NYC Transit Stike, TWU

MLB trade talk

2005-12-14T20:53:00.000-05:00

I am a Yankees fan and I have to say that I was glad to see that this year they were not going crazy trying to get every All-Star on the market. But now I am starting to scratch my head when I hear them talking about getting Nomar to play first base. And while I know that Giambi cannot play first base every day, why would anyone think that Nomar would want to go from shortstop or third base to playing part time at first and being a utility player the rest of the time? Being a utility player takes a certain mentality and while I could be wrong, I don't think Nomar has what it takes. I understand their interest in Johnny Damon considering his speed, defense and experience over Bubba Crosby. I struggle with this because I would like to see Bubba have the chance to prove himself.

Now I read this in the Washington Post about Alfonso Soriano and I just can't understand why they would even consider it.

Alfonso Soriano's reluctance to play the outfield creates an issue that threatens to hang over the entire winter. One Nationals player, who requested anonymity because the issue is already sensitive, said, "This could be a big mess in spring training."-- Washington Post

Why would anyone take an All-Star second baseman and move him to the outfield? Do the Nationals have someone else that is of the same caliber to handle the position? I don't think so!

There are some really strange things going on in the offseason this year that make you wonder what these teams are thinking. I have a feeling this is only the beginning of the madness.

Technorati Tags: Yankees, MLB Baseball

Christmas Cantata

2005-12-11T08:07:00.000-05:00

There is a Christmas Cantata being held at Bethany Lutheran Brethren Church on Staten Island NY at 7pm. All are invited. "The Gift Goes On" created by Sue C Smith and Russell Mauldin. It is a wonderful compilation of contemporary and traditional music telling the Christmas story. Refreshments will be served afterwards. The address is 233 Westcott Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10314.

Technorati Tags: Church, Concerts

Lennon vs. Pearl Harbor

2005-12-08T21:11:00.000-05:00

I am curious why John Lennon is so important that, 25 years after his murder, there is more news coverage about him than remembering the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. While the Beatles had a huge impact on the music culture, Pearl Harbor forced the United States into WWII. On December 8th 1 man was killed, on December 7th over 2400 people were killed. My grandfather served in WWII and I am embarrassed and ashamed that the media did nothing more than a token sound bite about what happened on December 7, 1941. In the meantime, there are all sorts of articles and reports about John Lennon's murder. (Yes I said murder and not assassination! While John Lennon was a prominent figure in the entertainment industry, he was not a political or religious leader and his killer was nothing more than a fanatic.) I think it is time to start putting things into their proper perspectives. Celebrities are being put on too high a pedestal and we honor and revere them more than the people who founded this Country and fought to protect it.

Technorati Tags: Pearl Harbor, John Lennon