MacBook Day 3

OK, I won't keep reporting on my new experiences with my MacBook, but I decided to tell you something I have noticed. Everything looks soooooo DIFFERENT on the MacBook. What do I mean? Pictures, webpages, colors. They are all different. Sharkey says that this is due to the different gamma the MacBook uses. I'm not even sure I know what she's talking about, but it doesn't matter. This piece of hardware has made personal computing fun again. Minimalism rules!!!!



I mentioned this a bit last night, but let me elaborate a bit more. Contemplating a Mac, but don't think you can do without WinXP? Well if you want both, you can have it with Parallels software. You need a WinXP install CD and license, because Parallels just sets up a virtual machine in the Mac OS. The install takes about an hour, because you are essentially installing the WinXP OS. But it is very slick. Check it out, you can open a window with a fully functioning WinXP operating system running. You can share files between the operating systems and all the wonderful Windows applications you used before can be carried over to the Mac. This also is a big improvement over the dual booting Bootcamp solution that Apple has provided with their OS. So all the "normal" things you are used to doing with Windows is not banished and forgotten.



The existence of this software really tipped the scales in my decision to go Apple instead of PC.

Pulled the Trigger.... MACBOOK

So if you are a reader of JP Jargon, you know that my tablet PC has been throwing hard drive errors and locking up. Both issues are not good, and they are both signs the machine is starting the trek towards "The Light...." So I contemplated another tablet, a normal laptop, or......(gasp!) a MacBook...... So if you have not guessed from the title, the winner was the MacBook.

So I know what you are thinking. Why? JP you're a Microsoft guy, what's up with this decision? Well folks it comes down to this. I'm tired of PC's. I want a change. Maybe this is a midlife techie crisis. (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I know NERD!!!!!!!!! ) When I took a look at the specs on everything, MacBook came out on top. And I really can get on board with Apple's Minimalistic philosophy. Things that work the first time around w/o having to search for a service pack, driver, or DLL file? No way? What's an MCSE like me going to do now? The answer is simple, I'm going to actually get into the applications instead of constantly having to figure out the conflicts. Also with Parallels, I can have my Mac and WinXP too!!

So after talking to Sharkey, she gave me the green light. It was also probably due to the home PC also throwing blue screens like Tic Tacs all of a sudden. So I went to Delaware yesterday, which as all East Coasters know is the "Home of Tax Free Shopping." I traveled to the Apple store armed with my student ID (thank you educational discount!) and credit card.

So here's how much Apple technology 2G's will buy you now a days:



So my MacBook has a Intel Duo 2.0GHz processor, 1GB RAM memory, Superdrive (CD/DVD+/-RW), 80GB Harddisk storage, 13.3 inch widescreen display, and built in iSight camera. And right now, there's an "educational offer" where you can get a 30GB iPod for $90. College students need their tunes I guess. Gee, do you think that JP can pass that up???? Deals!! I'm all over deals and I'm a SUCKER for marketing. Apple is running a printer offer now where you get $100 back. The printer you see in the above picture is an HP scanner/printer. The printer was $99.95, so it was essentially free. I also picked up Mac Office which seamlessly allows you to use Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint from any PC. I got the 3 year extended warranty. I'm not usually one to get that crap but I felt it was a good deal and it is my first trip into MacWorld so I wanted it to be a 3 year worry free one.

Apple corners the market on well thought out design and packaging is no exclusion. Packing is something the PC world really cares nothing about. A few nice cardboard folds and multiple paper cuts is what you get with PC's. Not so with Mac's. When you open the box, the packing material gives you the initial welcome to the world of Mac:



The MacBook is packed similarly to the iPod. No space is wasted and everything is easily accessible once you remove the primary layer of packing. Also, when you remove the first layer of packing, the heavens open, the sun shines brightly on the MacBook, and you can hear the angelic voices singing! Well at least that's what I heard when I took that first layer off:



At first glance, you think to yourself, "Where's the setup poster?" "Where's all the manuals and quick start guides?" "Where are the hidden compartments of the packing materials, double taped, that you need to disassemble in order to find the CD's and guides you need?" Well, in short, there are none. Apple seems to think that the user shouldn't be inundated with all that secondary crap the moment they open the box. I for one really like this idea. So once you lift the MacBook out of the box you see the documentation:



It's a little very unintimidating box with "Designed by Apple in California" on the box. Again, Apple uses a minimalistic design in everything they do. Users are not intimidated or disenchanted by 500 page books of documentation in 5 different languages. I LOVE THIS!!!



The little box unfolds. Contained within are the manuals, only in ENGLISH, the system CD's and some product coupons and warranty. Here's Sharkey doing the "Vanna" thing and displaying the new techie digs:



Once opened the MacBook is very user friendly. Notice anything? No laptop latch. The MacBook uses a magnetic closure. At the top of the screen is the iSight camera. It's a nifty little built in gadget that you can use for self portrait or web cam types of things.



It took about 15 minutes to configure. The MacBook picked up the home wireless network without a problem and in no time surfing was resumed.



So now JP has turned the corner. I drank the MacWorld Kool-Aid. It will take some getting used to a new OS, but so far the transition has been very pleasant so far. Stay tuned....

The Sticks

I had a request to explain my "drawlrings" so I thought I'd honor Suzie's request and explain them or rather why I do them. So here goes...

The stick figures started about 17 years ago. My brother was just married and I used to spend a lot of time over his house because I used to go to school near where he lived in NJ. Well, he and his new wife had a guestbook that they used to track who visited them. So every time I went there, I would sign the book. First I did it for a joke because it was sort of annoying to me to sign in whenever I went to visit. Then I decided to start drawing stick figures in it. At first I did the smiley faces, then I switched to themes, and then finally it got to the point where I was recording things that happened every time I visited them. The stick figures became more and more "alive" and personalized. They turned into a conversational piece at my brother's house, so I just kept doing it.

I have a specific figure I do for me.


Sharkey has her own specific stick figure.


And the story doesn't end there.

When Sharkey and I were married, I decided to start adding my "Sticks" to her Grandma and Grandpa's cards we'd give them. So with each card, they received a snippet of what Sharkey and I were up to. Now, Grandma B and Grandpa Bud expect the "Sticks" in their cards. In fact, they saved every single one I've ever sent them. And God forbid if I ever forget to do that. When we send them cards, Sharkey always reminds me to draw the "Sticks" for them. Sharkey's cousin took all of them and scrap booked them for B & Bud, so my "drawlrings" have been saved for all posterity.

The funny thing is, I see this booth in the KOP mall for figures similar to mine, and I turned and said to Sharkey, "Those bastards ripped me off!!!" OK, I know stick figures aren't trademarked, but still, I totally thought of it first!! Everybody knows it...

Karma

Do you believe in Karma? Good Karma? Bad Karma? Karma, Karma, Karma chameleon??? Sorry, bad 80's reference there. Well whatever you call it, I think of it as everything being right with the universe. As everyone knows good is balanced by bad, hot by cold, evil by good, salty by sweet, Coke by Pepsi, McDonald's by Wendy's etc. You see it all around you and may not even know it or realize it.

For instance I thought a couple of weeks ago that maybe it was a good idea to go for management. So I threw my hat in, and went through the interview process. Yep, I decided to go for it and change my life. But you know what? A few things happened along the way in the past two weeks to convince me that it really is not for me. At least not where I am in my life right now. So come Monday morning, I'm going to e-mail the hiring manager and take my application out of the mix. I do not want it. I realized that I get my "joy" and "fufillment" from being hands on and troubleshooting and "playing" with new technology. Truth be told I LOVE it, and I think at times it's the coolest thing. And I'm damn good at what I do. I also realized that I don't have to have the title of "Leader" to lead by example. Now that does not mean I'll never go for Management, just not right now. And since I made that decision, I've been the happiest I've been for a really long time. It seems that the balance has come back in my life.

Good Karma!!



Now bad Karma can happen too. Case in point... The Jerkstores or Jackholes from my golf league made it to the playoffs again this year. So did my partner and I, but we didn't have to play them in the first round. Well I found out yesterday that they were eliminated by a the lowest ranked team in the playoffs. After the crap they pulled on us last year with us and the resulting terrible year they had this year, their bad Karma came around to bite them in their asses!!! Sorry boys, game over for you!! The funniest part is I found out they divorced each other and won't be playing together anymore!!! JACKHOLES!!!! =)

So remember, keep your good Karma and don't be a Jackhole!!!

My First Car and the Concrete Island

My first car was a Datsun 200sx. It was a pretty nifty little car and I had it when I was a senior in High School. So I was fortunate to not have to take the bus all Senior year.

See my car was actually my oldest brother's old car. He just bought a new car and decided instead of trading in his old wheels to give it to his younger brother. What a deal!! It was a 5 speed stick and didn't have many options, but it was all mine!

This leads me to my next story. Before I could drive the car all by myself, I had to pass my driver's test. I'll never forget the day before my driver's test, because that's when the concrete island incident happened. See my Dad came to pick me up at High School. I pulled out of the parking lot and was driving by the tennis courts where my friends were practicing. I thought I'd do a cool drive by and then accelerate out, just to show off. Well, I did my drive by and did my acceleration maneuver perfectly shifting from 2nd to 3rd. I was so cool!!! Unfortunately for me, I didn't realize that there was a concrete island in front of me. BAM!!!!!!! The entire car went over the island front wheels, then back wheels and my Father and I were bounced around in the car like pinballs. Then I drove home and my Dad shook his head and said, "I'm really not sure I should let you take that driving test tomorrow." I am laughing and smiling as I write this post, only because I can just picture how insanely funny, and how stupid I was and how the whole thing looked and sounded. I can remember looking in the rear view mirror and seeing my friends falling down on the tennis courts just laughing and rolling around!!!! Yeah it was definitely not my finest moment.

I'm glad to say my Dad did not kill me. My friends were surprised that I was in school the next day. They thought for sure my Dad would have given me a beating after that. And I'm happy to say he even let me take my driver's exam the next day, even though the concrete island incident had taken place the day before!! Of course I was without a car for 2 weeks afterwards for punishment. I chalk this all up to one of those really stupid things you do when you are a teenager.... =)

How Much Have You Changed Since High School?

Went to NJ this past week to be with my Mom for a test. She was having some weirdness going on with the colon, so she was scoped to see what was going on. Thankfully, everything turned out OK and the doctor says she'll be fine.

While I was in NJ I went into my old bedroom and picked up my High School yearbook. I paged through it and remembered some things. Damn I was really awkward back then. I totally did not know what the hell I was doing. Sharkey and I have talked before about the "old" days and she always said she'd go back and do it in a heartbeat. Not me man. No way!!! I just never felt like High School was the greatest or best time of my life. Not even close. My time came in right after college when I landed my first real job and was all the way across the country living in Bend, Oregon. That's when I totally felt like I knew who I was and what I was about and that I had "arrived" where I thought I should be. It's a good feeling when you find your place in the world.

But I also found this picture recently and I thought I'd share it since Suzie already outed Sharkey and I to the virtual world!!! =) Here's my NJ driver's license picture, circa 1987. Yes, that was 19 years ago, I'm old now, I get it.... And if you look at Suzie's site, you can compare then to now, which is even more drastic! But also, Suzie wanted to see a JP spikey hair picture and this is about the best I can do, even though my hair was growing out a bit at that point and wasn't gelled up. And thank GOD, I straightened my teeth and gained some freakin' weight (and muscle...er...yeah, muscle... that's it....ppppfffttt)!!! Anyhow, Suzie this one's for you...

Like the 80's pinstripe shirt? Just listen to "Heart and Soul" by T'Pau when you are looking at this picture and you'll be immediately transported back to 1987!!!!!

Mosquito City

Every Thursday is golf league. I talk about golf a lot, I know. And if you are a reader of my blog you know I golf on Thursdays, there are some jerks, I play with a dude named Peters, etc. Anyway, last week I didn't play because Sharkey and I were in Miami meeting Suzie and the Hubs. I love golf, but it was really nice not having to play last week. See, the problem here is that lately Eastern PA has received just the right combination of rain to become the perfect breeding ground for my favorite pest, the mosquito. Did you know it is also the state bird of Minnesota??

It's not so bad around our house, but where I play golf is just BRUTAL!! You want to stay in the sunlight as much as possible and you pray for a wind. Because if you venture off into the shade or near a water hazard you are eaten alive. The week before we left for Miami I had finished a round of golf and I counted 32 bites on me!! For some reason, the good Lord above made me a natural mosquito attractor. Now the other thing you have to understand is that unfortunately I am EXTREMELY allergic to mosquito bites. I swell up, I look like a balloon sculpture, it's not pretty. I tried all the different types of repellent. I tried the all natural stuff with citronella and some new agent. The crap with lemon eucalyptus. That stuff sucked!! I think the mosquitoes liked me more. No my friends, I'm sad to say that the stuff that works the best is still the old standard, 29% DEET Deep Woods OFF!!! So if I grow a third arm or eye in the back of my head, so be it. I hate those bloodsuckers!!!

I checked out tomorrow's mosquito report and here it is:



Thankfully, it's not too bad. Two weeks ago the bar chart was at "Very High" from 4-8pm. Right smack in the middle of JP's golf league.

US Airways BLOWS!!!

So we just got home about 20 minutes ago. My watch reads 3:07am now. It is GOOD to finally be home!! We were supposed to have arrived in Philadelphia at 10:05pm. Well, that didn't happen. At Ft. Lauderdale, we were told the inbound aircraft from Philly was delayed and was not taking off until 6:45pm. Considering our flight was supposed to leave Ft. Lauderdale at 7:05pm, that meant we'd be leaving somewhere around 9:30pm now. Well the gate agent came on again and said 30 minutes later that the airplane had just left Philly. The big "UGH!!" was heard all over that terminal. So the plane arrived at Ft. Lauderdale around 9:45. We boarded and took off around 10:30pm. The flight was pretty uneventful and we landed at 12:35am. I can accept that there are weather issues that cause this kind of stuff to happen, so I just shrugged it off. No problem right? WRONG!!!

Sharkey and I waited an hour and a 1/2 for our luggage. We were with about 50 other passengers in baggage claim just standing around waiting. There really were no other passengers from other flights around us. So 40 min. into the wait one of the guys on our flight went to the baggage counter and asked what was up. They told him they were really "BUSY" tonight and there were several other planes they had to unload before ours. And they couldn't give us an estimate of when the bags would come up the conveyor. They said it could be 30min. or 2 - 3 more hours!!! Now see, stuff like that really pisses me off!! It's not like US Airways has other flights coming in after 1am and to say the timeframe was anywhere from minutes to several hours is complete BS!!! And when you looked around baggage claim, it was a complete friggin' GHOST TOWN!!!! Mind you this is not the first time they've done this. On average if you fly US Airways into Philly, you will wait at least 45min. for your bags. We locals have come to accept this as a given for flying them. The stupid thing is, it is totally PHILADELPHIA where this crap happens. If you fly US Airways to any other location in the USA, your bags will usually appear within 15 - 25min after your flight lands.



I told Sharkey tonight they are BANNED!!! If we can help it we will not fly them again.

Lost My Shirt in Miami

So I just realized why I never unpack when I hit a hotel. It's because my 36 going on 37 year old memory sucks!!! I cannot remember to repack what I put in the freakin' hotel room drawer!!! I left one of my nice Dry Sport (I call them "Dry Weave" but Sharkey has been getting on me about that saying that term is used exclusively for female hygiene products!!) golf shirts behind at the Westin in Miami and when I called to ask if I could get someone to look for it or if anyone had turned it in, they were as interested in helping me as if I had the plague. Nice!!! I'm figuring one of the housekeeping people's spouses is sporting my shirt around town now.

Our little vacation has just been a blast. Met Suzie and the Hubs the other night. She did not turn out to be a psychotic axe murderer or internet predator. They were very nice. It was like talking to people you've known for a while. Also, they saw the JP problem solving skills in action, because I had (eeeerrrrrr...DUH!!!!!) left the digital camera card back at the hotel in my tablet PC and let's just say Sharkey was not very happy with me. But a quick trip to Office Max which fortunately was only 5 min. away turned the entire situation around. Oh, and Suzie, I know you are reading this post and you've mentioned how you need to reciprocate the dinner we paid for, but truth be told, it was $50 total. $50 measly bucks!! No worries, K'? =) But you can still come to PA if your heart desires! You do have friends in Pennsylvania.

So our flight is leaving tonight and we should be back home in our own bed and with the Mags. So we checked out of the hotel and I'm writing this post from Panera Bread Co. in Ft. Lauderdale. Soup and sandwich anyone!! Hey that cherry/cheese danish is calling my name... Yep, heard it again...

Don't You Just Feel Like This Some Days?

I saw this picture on Yahoo. If you have your MyYahoo page setup to display the most e-mailed photos you've probably seen it too (or the gay female body builders rubbing tanner on each other....ahem.....things that make you say, "Huuuuuummmm") "Anywho," I really loved it. It makes me think of how you picture yourself looking when either someone pisses you off or you are just in one of those "moods."

Things That I Like...

In Hollywood, FL this week. Trying to teach clients new things and "learn them good." Convention ended today, so now it is time for some DOWN TIME!!! Sharkey and I rented a car. We got a Pontiac G6. It is pretty tight. It corners and accelerates pretty nicely. I've been wanting to try out that car for a while. I drive a Toyota Matrix, and I really like how it handles and that was a joint auto venture b/w Toyota and Pontiac, so there are some similarities to Pontiac in my Japanese car. We also checked into the Marriott and guess what's in the room!!!!

This lead me to think about things I really like:

1. Tight cornering, decent accelerating automobiles. I drive a Toyota now, but next time I think an Infiniti G35x is in order.... SSSSSHHHHHH do not tell Sharkey about this plan.... (ahem...)

2. Flat screen TV's. Hey, did you know the prices are dropping??? True story, check it out on Yahoo!!

3. High tech Gadgets. Yep love them. GPS handhelds w/ maps, multifunctional mobile phones, iPods, flash drives, mini optical mice, and PC's/Macs.

4. Room Service. It's vacation, you want to sleep in, but still want breakfast. What can be better???

5. Full service hotels. Let me just tell you, if you do not ever want to get jaded like I am, NEVER....EVER stay at a Disney Resort Hotel. And never stay at a Marriott Vacation Club Resort. Cause once you stay at one of those, it's really hard to stay at any other place.

6. Rainy days. Not sure why, but I've always liked the nice, soaking steady rainy days. I always have. I'm not talking the storming, 60 MPH wind, lightning/thunder type of day. I'm talking about the proverbial April shower type of day w/ the steady falling rain where you just sit back w/ a nice hot beverage, good book, and just veg...

7. Watches. I love tracking time. I do not know why? I just love different watches. I probably own about 10 different ones. Seiko, Citizen, Oakley, Fossil, are some of the timepieces I have.

8. Pens. I think this goes hand in hand w/ the watch fixation. I have several types of pens too. Cross, Watermark, Sensa, and a Belkin laser pointer/PDA stylus/pen (hence satisfying the gadget affinity too)

9. Sunglasses. Never skimp on the eyes or the feet. I love the wraparound Oakley's, I have a pair of Ray Ban's and of course Callaway specs.

10. Golf. It is my passion. I could hit balls every day 365 days a year. I love it. I think doing it serves a few things for me. It puts me in the "zone." It helps me to totally relax, feel "centered," and it makes me feel closer to my departed Dad. He taught me how to golf initially, and some of the best memories I have of him of are he and I playing. I never did beat him when he was alive. Pity, because I'm pretty sure I could give him a run for his money now!!

So that's my ten... If you have a little time, I'd like to hear a few of yours...

To Be or Not to Be THE MAN...

Crossroad time. You know, life changing decision time. Trying to figure out if it's the right time to move up , move onward, further the career or not. I have an opportunity to sit in the big chair. My current Manager is moving on. So I'm trying to figure out if it's time for me to be "The Man." Now mind you I'm happy with the current job. I'm sort of a free spirit. I can come and go as I please for the most part. See I'm a virtual employee. My normal office attire are shorts and a t-shirt. I am in IT, but my company allows me to do the work at home, on the road, where ever I want. I just have to get the job done.

Now if I went for this new gig, I'd be the manager of 19 employees. My problems would not be limited to my own, but 19 other people's needs and issues. My responsibilities would change drastically. I'm starting to make my pro and con list. The difficult thing was hearing from 1/2 of my team directly asking, OK hoping, that I apply to be "The Man." It also does not make it easy that my current manager thinks I would make a good new boss. On top of that, Sharkey has been encouraging me saying it would be a good move for me.

I'm just not sure this is all for me. I'm really on the fence right now. Doing a lot of soul searching. I suppose it depends what my ultimate goal is. If it were to move up in the company or to just gain the experience to move on fine. But I view all this in a way that I'm thinking how can I avoid it all. I suppose that's bad, right? The thing is I'm going for my Master's degree to further the career, but does it mean I need to manage?

See I've been the "go to" guy. The one who comes up with the impossible solutions to everyone's problems. I learn all the rules of the job I do so I can twist, bend, and break them all to get the job done. It has served me very well the past 10 years. Could I step back and not be so hands on and be happy watching other guys do the job and help guide them?

I'm not one to search for a sign or anything, but man I wish that bolt of lightning with the voice would strike now!!!!

JP - Official Callaway Golf Product Tester!

So if you've read some of the previous posts on JP Jargon you know that JP is a golfer. You also know that JP's equipment of choice is Callaway. So in addition to equipment, JP has Callaway shirts, shorts, sunglasses, and a watch. JP is very passionate about branding and is often mistaken for a tour sponsored player, well not because of his game, but because of his loyalty to the Callaway brand. (on a side note, it's fun writing like this in the 3rd person....it's like that Seinfeld episode w/ Jimmy, "Jimmy thinks you're swell...Jimmy likes you a lot...Jimmy fall down...Jimmy's gonna get you Kramer!!!")

Anyhow, JP is part of Callaway Golf's reader panel and filled out a questionnaire on lessons and instruction. To make a long story short, JP was chosen to review the new David Leadbetter DVD set "Leadbetter Interactive" for Callaway Golf.

So now JP is an official Callaway Golf product tester!!! Maybe this is JP's chance to get an in to test other things for Callaway too!! Time will tell...

There's Something Under the Bed

So the other day I walked into the bedroom and saw this:



Apparently some creature had found its way under Sharkey and JP's bed. The unique quality about this lifeform from another planet was the tail. It seemed to be moving back and forth at approximately 1000 wags/min. It was like watching a tiny outboard motor.

Upon further investigation, I found out that it was none other than Maggie Malarkey:



Lately Maggie has decided that the underneath of our bed makes quite the den for her to hang out. It cracked me up the other day to walk into the room and just see her little tushy sticking out w/ the tail wagging at light speed.

Mornings with Mags...

Getting ready rituals. We all have them. You know what I'm talking about. They are the things we do to get ready for the day. You know, things like getting up, brushing the teeth, making the coffee, taking a shower and getting dressed. My ritual is a bit different than most I think. See JP takes showers at night, before bedtime. Why you ask?? Well, it's pretty much how I was raised. Maybe it's a Japanese thing, but I always have showered before bedtime. My entire family does in fact too. Sharkey does not do the JP ritual if you were wondering. She does the morning shower like I'm sure 80-90% of you do. So in the morning, my getting ready ritual is to brush the teeth, put the contacts in, shave, and then dunk the head under the shower head to put conditioner in so I can get the hair in decent shape for the day.

Well, my Maggie has managed to wiggle her way into my morning ritual, namely the head dunking part. Every morning, as soon as I turn the faucet on in the tub, she comes prancing over and wants JP to give her a drink. I'm a sucker for this, I think it's pretty sweet in fact, and she's my little girl after all, so I always give in and give her a drink.

Mac or PC?

Well, it is that time again. JP's tablet seems to be dying. Hard disk errors are not a good sign wouldn't you say? So I'm starting to look for a worthy replacement. I am considering another tablet,

a notebook,

or a MacBook. Now JP is an MCSE, indoctrinated into the Bill Gates brainwashed school of Windows. So if I were to go with the MacBook, I might have to turn in my super secret Microsoft decoder ring!!


But the nice thing about the MacBook is that they are offering an iPod for free if you buy the MacBook? That's almost a win/win for JP!!! So the hunt begins!!!!!! Any and all suggestions are welcome!!

Superman Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

Superman Returns did not disappoint. Here's my take:

1. Great opening sequence, very reminiscent of the original Superman Movie
2. The movie is true to the mythology of the Last Son of Krypton
3. The plane scene alone is enough to make the movie worthwhile
4. There are many places they can go with Superman after this movie
5. Kevin Spacey was AWESOME as Lex Luthor
6. Brandon Routh proved he can fill the shoes of the Man of Steel and pull it off as well as Christopher Reeve
7. Special effects, DAMN!!! Excellent!!!
8. They kept the original John Williams music score.
8. Sharkey liked the movie too, need I say more?

So Superman Returns gets the thumbs up!!!

Jerkstores of World Unite!

Every Thursday, JP goes out and plays in a 9 hole match play league. Match play is played in pairs, one team vs. the other. Everyone plays the hole and whatever person shoots the lowest score on the hole wins the hole for their team. The majority of holes won wins the match. My partner, Peters, is a guy I used to work with. We are a great team. We're currently in first place. We've played together for 3 years straight and we've hit a pretty good stride this year. More importantly we beat the team consisting of Jerk1 and Jerk2 both times we met this year!!

Now I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, but these guys are just Jerkstores or "Jackholes." We played them last year to a tie both times we met. These guys are Jerkstores because they do and say the freakin' most annoying things when we're playing. Then on top of that we went to a playoff with them for first place last year. That's when they really showed what a$$holes they really were. See, Peters was already going to be gone the week of our match on vacation. I asked if these guys wouldn't mind rescheduling to the following week. Their exact words to me were, "99% of life is showing up, so no we will not reschedule." If I had the JP Slapomatic, both of them would've gotten slapped several times. So I played them without Peters. I almost beat them all by my lonesome too, but I was stupid on the last two holes and ended up losing the match!!!

So this year I was determined not to repeat the mistakes from last year. So the first time we met I destroyed them. I won the match in 8 holes. The second time we met tonight, Peters took it to them and we finished them off on the 9th hole. So Peters and I both were able to right things and everything is right in JP's universe again!!!!

Remember the 80's

I was watching VH1 the other night and they had an 80's video show on. It was great!!! Sharkey and I watched video's by Peter Cetera (Glory of Love), The Thompson Twins (Hold Me Now), Madness (Our House), and Kajagoogoo (Too Shy).

Man did those videos bring back some memories! I remember watching Friday Night Videos every..., well...., ...Friday!!

It came on after the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Sharkey and I were teenagers in the 80's and we both graduated in 1987. Miami Vice was the #1 show. Everyone had feathered or spiked hair (JP's hair was spiked), except for the girls who had HUGE hair! Parachute pants were in and Top Gun ruled the theaters. Plus you had all the one hit wonder bands like the ones above. The Karate Kid Part II had Mr. Miyagi still teaching Daniel-san not to be such a loser!! We spent endless hours in the arcades playing PacMan and Donkey Kong.

The one drawback to all this nostalgia was that it makes you realize how much time has gone by. The VH1 show was Classic 80's. Man does it ever suck to have your younger years referred to as "classic." It ranks up there when younger people refer to me as Mr. JP and call me "Sir." Geeze!!!!!!

Superman Returns

So we all know JP has very child like qualities. I watch Anime. Soozieq has raked me for watching "Transformers." (Ahem...) So it should come as no big surprise that Superman is JP's favorite hero of all time. How convenient that the newest movie, "Superman Returns" is coming out next week, and extremely convenient that Sharkey and I live so close to the King of Prussia iMax theater where it is playing in 3-D!!!! I went to Fandango and bought our tickets for next weekend about oh, let's see, 1 minute ago!! Whoooo hoooooo!!!!!



GO BIG BLUE!!!!!

Yeah, I took this one...

My better half Sharkey is quite the photographer. You don't believe me check out her site. So I managed to tear the Nikon D70 away from her and snap this today. See what you think....

Crankin' My Ass!!

OK, so here we are in the great Midwest. Vacation. Relaxation. Time to get in a leisurely round of golf right? WRONG!!!

So I dragged out Character Builder's hubbie for a round of 18 at Boulder Pointe Golf Club. I picked this course nearby because it didn't look too bad on the internet and it is the newest course in the area. It has a lower rating than the golf course I play at in PA. In PA, that means that the course is pretty laid back, because none of the rough has not had a good chance to establish itself, any trees they planted are small enough to chip around and you should be able to get your ball into play easily. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. Stupid, stupid, stupid JP. This course was really very difficult. Tight fairways, hazards (i.e. lakes or swampland w/ reeds) on the left and right on every single hole, and trouble, trouble, trouble everywhere. Minnesota is called the land of 10,000 lakes. Well, 5,000 of them are on this freakin' course. I was cranking my ass all day long. I was the epitome of the Robin Williams golf bit.



I have been playing decent this year, well I thought I have been till now, and I have played the last 3 rounds with the same ball, so I brought a total of 6 balls with me to MN. Well after 7 holes I was 5 balls down and made the turn with 1 ball left. Not good. I ran into the proshop and bought 6 more balls. On 18th hole, I had one ball left and pretty much consistent for the round I gave that ball to the lord of the woods to chomp down on. Overall, I had a sucky day and shot 107. But what is it they say, the worst day at the golf course is still better than the best day at work. I just need to keep telling myself that and it'll be all better. Why do we play games that are destined to kill us?

J.P.'s List of things to do in MN

1. Famous Dave's
2. Big Bowl
3. LeeAnn Chin
4. Timber Lodge
5. Boulder Pointe Golf Course
6. Taco John's
7. DQ
8. Caribou Coffee Company

See any patterns here? Is JP really just about the food? Yes, absolutely JP is totally about the food. It's all about pace.... =)

MidWest ROCKS!

So Sharkey and I flew MidWest Airlines today. It was totally awesome!! I would definitely recommend them to anyone. The seats were very comfy and you didn't feel like you were invading someone's personal space or being invaded by someone else. I could see where this could be invaluable, because I am inevitably the one that gets stuck between 300lb sumo wrestling types of individuals on flights when I fly for business. The seats are leather with adjustable headrests.



There were footrests that retracted and there are only 2 seats per row!!! And the absolute best part of the flight is they serve you warm chocolate chip cookies!



Sharkey and I had a connecting flight today to get to MN, so we basked in double chocolate chippy goodness 2x today. It was a very pleasant flight and our luggage made it and we didn't use the normal colorful metaphors to describe the trip; you know things like "suck" and "blows" "bite me airline." I may never fly any other airline from Philly again...

The Night Before the Trip...

So Sharkey and I are off to the MidWest tomorrow. It's nice to get away for a bit. I've been burning the candle at both ends. I can totally relate with Soozieq's hectic life she's been living (although I think Soozieq has me beat and may have been burning two candles at the same time while juggling a third in the air). It will definitely be nice to leave the work laptop at home, change the office phone message to, "JP is out of the office and will not return your call for many days, so figure it out your freakin' self!" Yeah, that's not exactly it, but haven't you wanted to say something like that?

I'll be taking the sticks with me. It is "vacation" after all! I plan on dragging out Character Builder's hubbie for 18 holes and maybe I may get a chance to get some range time here and there (as time and Sharkey permit).

Sharkey and I were talking about driving by her old house for some drive by Nikon shots. Lot's of good memories there!! It'll be interesting to see how it has/has not changed in 6 years. She told me she had a dream we bought that place back. Foreshadowing?? Hummm....

Yeah, things have totally changed for sure. Who'd have ever thought we'd go through so much in such a short amount of time. Which leads me to my take on the past 6 years. You've read Sharkey's take, so now it is my turn.

So Sharkey and I were married, settled in PA and were living the good life. We would just sit back at times and just marveled how great we had it and how great our life was and being married to each other was just awesome. Well, after about a year, Sharkey and I decided it was time to start family planning. The funny part was that decision started us down a road neither of us was ever expecting to travel. Sharkey had a found a lump in her right breast and we shortly found out it was invasive breast cancer.

Life just spiraled out of control from there. We went through the whole battery of tests and diagnostics. I can remember thinking how our seemingly perfect life was turned upside down. At no time did we ever catch a break. Well maybe the cancer was contained to a single area? Nope it was not. Maybe none of her lymph nodes were affected? No there were several. Talk about scary. And talk about all the information to get through. I am an analytical guy. I know numbers. I know statistics. I know probabilities. I can also interpret and disseminate loads of technical and medical information. I knew how serious Sharkey's condition was and my job was to act as her buffer. She didn't want to know what the chances were for this or that. In a way that's better for some people. But that's just not my style. I need to know. I always felt that an educated guess is better than shooting in the dark and relying on a physician for the only direction. There are many things I know even today that Sharkey does not know. I think it is better that she didn't know a lot of things and I was/am willing to carry that burden for her. Attitude in a lot of cases like hers is everything. I tried to make sure hers was as positive as I could help her to be. But I don't have to tell you what a trooper Sharkey is. She's as tough as they come.

I did everything I possibly could to support her. It's the only thing I could do. I went with her to all of her appointments. I went with her to all her treatments. I'd make sure she eat, stay hydrated, take her meds on time round the clock, and that everything was kept as clean as I could. Chemo does a job on the immune system, so we had to be careful with infections, foods, crowds for a certain time after her treatments so her body would have time to rebound and regain immunity again. I learned what she'd tolerate as far as foods went after treatment and I found the hard way that aromatic food were OUT after treatments. Surprisingly, milkshakes turned out to be a winner after treatments.

Cancer is an emotional roller coaster. In the beginning we really could not catch a break. It was one bad thing after another. One disappointment after another. One scare after another. The first year was the scariest. After the initial diagnosis, she went through an operation, then treatment of chemo. She had a recurrence 6 months later, while undergoing Chemo, which was absolutely not supposed to happen. Bad news again.

But we made headway. Sharkey's CT scans and bone scans came out negative. After a year they were still negative. And here we are in the 5th year and everything is still negative.

I never talked about my wife's cancer with other guys going through the same thing as me. I never went to any cancer support groups. My faith was my support. Yes, JP believes in God. As analytical and logical as JP is, I know there's more to life than just what we can see, hear, touch, and smell. I remember my church Pastor asking me "How are you doing?" My answer was, "I'm OK, I wish what was happening to Sharkey was happening to me instead, but it's not my call, so I just have to trust God knows what He's doing." I prayed daily for Sharkey. Still do. I never ever had the attitude of thinking I could ever tell God what to do or make God a deal for her life. When you think about it, what can you offer to God that He would want anyway? So I would ask daily if He were willing to please let Sharkey be healed and whole. And when you deal with something as serious as cancer I'm of the mind set that medicine is only part of the real cure. I'm glad that as of late my prayers have turned to ones of thanks instead of ones of need, and I hope that they stay that way for a long time...

I Am So Not Musical

OK, so I realized that when I married Sharkey that we had differences, despite us being pretty similar. I like reading Science Fiction, she likes reading Political Mysteries. I like cherry pie, she likes apple pie. I like regular Pepsi, she likes Diet Pepsi. I am the dreamer, Sharkey is the realist. I like listening to music, she likes playing music. Which leads me to this post I am writing tonight. (As I type this I have the biggest grin on my face mind you). Anyhow, for those of you who do not know, my Sharkey is musical. I mean she is really musical and very talented. She plays a mean clarinet. I mean really plays. I am in awe of her when I listen to her playing. She also plays with a local community concert band. And they are pretty good mind you. I was listening to them play Mars by Holst at their last concert and my jaw just dropped it was that good.

So last night they had their band dinner. It was quite the affair. It was at a local county club that I can only dream of being a member at. And they had a "talent" show for entertainment. There were like 10 acts. I was going cross eyed and comatose after the 6th. And the reason why was because there were references to all things band and musical. So here's JP's top 10 list of observations of band people:

1. Band people do not drink much booze
2. Being able to play in a band does not give one the ability to deliver punch lines
3. Bachtoven is not a real composer. I know, I know, I was so surprised too...
4. Band people do not know how to use microphones.
5. Band people travel in herds
6. Band people talk in a language similar to Klingon.
7. Band people do not party
8. Being able to play an instrument and read music does not grant one the ability to sing
9. Speeches at fun events should be fun, inspiring, and congratulatory and not cause band members to leave crying and jumping off local bridges...
10. JP will consume a minimum of 4 Capt. Morgan/Coke at all future band functions...

Once a Carnie Always a Carnie!

Well one of my favorite times of the year has come, Fair Season!!! Fair season is where all the small towns have their carnivals. There are art fairs going on, craft fairs going on, and local festivals to celebrate produce. Case in point, about 1/2 a mile away from our house is the Strawberry Festival. This local festival brings in rides and the best part Carnie food!! Things that you can eat on sticks, deep fried everything, and fresh strawberry shortcake!! It is a cholesterol fest! You get a free tablet of Crestor or Zocor when you walk through the gate. I was doing the first pass through the fair tonight with my neighbor and saw a deep fried cheesecake with strawberry puree. YUM!!! I think I'll have to try it tomorrow!

It Is Just As Natural As Breathing

Sharkey and I celebrated our 6th year wedding anniversary last month. It's a bit late to be writing about that since it is May 26th, but as we were out and about tonight I was in one of my reflective moods. See, one of Sharkey's friend's marriage is ending after 8 years and we were talking about it in the car. It just made me think about how impossible that seems to me. Divorce. I just could not picture my life without Sharkey. She is totally my soul mate. She is definitely my best friend. She gives me her perspective on things I never even think of. Sure it may get annoying that it seems she's right about 96% of the time, and I'm constantly doing the deer in the headlights blinking because I never thought about "that," but I do appreciate the different perspective. We totally complement each other, maybe because neither of us takes ourselves so seriously, and more often than not when something happens we react pretty similarly and are thinking the same thing. I can honestly say I'm a better person because of having her in my life. And she may have 10,000 reasons why she loves me, but my list is pretty long as well, trust me.

Marrying her was one of the easiest and most natural things I have ever done in my life. It was just as natural as breathing. And even with all the stuff we've been through with breast cancer and all, I would still do it all over again without any hesitation. I never had any doubts about it from the first date, to when we were up at the altar, to now as I type this post and she is curled up watching the Dog Whisperer. I still remember our wedding day. I went downstairs because one of the bridesmaids told me Sharkey wanted to see me as soon as I walked into the church. I figured there was some last minute detail she wanted to go over with me. Did I forget the wedding license (nope it's in my tux pocket)? Did I forget the check for the country club (nope that's next to the license in the side tux pocket)? Did I forget her ring (JP fumbles through pockets frantically, oh yeah there's the ring)? So I arrived at the children's classroom downstairs where Sharkey was and there she was in her wedding gown and veil. Now mind you I had never seen her in the wedding gear until then. She turned and looked and me and said, "Well, what do you think?" I just cried when I saw her. She was absolutely stunning. This action in turn made Sharkey start to cry too. We stopped after about a minute or so and she retouched her makeup and the rest is history. Sure we laughed during the wedding vows in front of all our family and friends, but who doesn't right? =)

The Worst...

I came across this really interesting article from PC World, "The 25 Worst Tech Products of all Time." Being the technogeek I am I had to scan the list of things to see how many I either own or had owned at one time. Topping the list is no surprise:

Now this comes as no surprise to me at all. I freakin' hate AOL. In my opinion it is a virus masquerading as an internet service provider. Now when I first went online like everyone else, I did use AOL. Seemed like a good thing at the time, but it spiraled out of control. See, AOL once installed, works it's way through your entire computer. It changes sounds, changes your browser, embeds all this nifty AOL proprietary crap software on your machine, updates itself whenever it wants to, and is near impossible to uninstall. They also had really piss poor technical support and their billing service department really sucked the big one. I can remember canceling my service and still getting billed from them for 3 months after. I can remember going round and round with their billing support saying, "No I cancelled it 3 months ago and I've been using Earthlink ever since you jerkstore!!!" In the end they offered me 3 months of service for free and that's when I hung up the phone.

Star Wars...Aftermath of the Death Star Destruction

A friend of mine sent me this link to a clip:

Star Wars: Death Star Aftermath

I keep watching it and watching it. It is hilarious!!! Well, it is if you've seen the Star Wars movies. Sure I'm a geek. I like Star Wars and Anime... yeah.... yeah... I know most of you do not get it... But this is GREAT STUFF!!

It ranks up there with one of my souvenirs from Disney World, Jedi Mickey!!

Meet me at DQ

I grew up in New Jersey. South Jersey to be specific. Now when you think of New Jersey, you probably do not think of it as the Garden State as it is officially called. You probably think of Atlantic City, big corporations, organized crime, and medical waste. Well South Jersey is the "Garden" of the Garden State. It has rolling farms, is pretty much undeveloped and hasn't changed all that much in the past 30 years. Case in point, there's no Dairy Queen. I never grew up with a Dairy Queen. I had Carvell and Richmond's ice cream growing up. I sort of think both of those places were local companies, sort of like Tastykake. I never had Dairy Queen in fact until I started dating Sharkey. Man what I was missing!!!!



So now that we live in Pennsylvania, there are DQ's all over the place!! My standard order is a medium vanilla cone. That's what I've gotten for the past couple of years anyway. I do get a peanut buster parfait every now and then to be spontaneous, but I have to admit, that's a bit too much peanut for me. I've in fact hit the peanut buster quota for this year. But the past two trips to the DQ I've tried something different, the Banana Cream Pie Blizzard. It is soft serve with bananas, pie chips, some banana powder, and it gets topped off with whipped cream. It is inexplicably WONDERFUL!!! I strongly suggest you try it out if it even sounds remotely good to you. You will not be sorry. Hum.... I think the DQ is open for another hour.... See YA!!!!

Do you Anime? I do

Anime is short for Japanese Animation. You've probably seen it and thought, "Those are cartoons." Well, yes they are like cartoons, but Anime is a bit different. It's not Bugs Bunny, Fred Flintstone, or Woody Woodpecker. It has a plot and it is not all slapstick. Good Anime has certain characteristics. And believe me, there is bad Anime too. Typically there are a few distinctive things that good Anime has:

1. Giant Robots
2. Robots that turn into something
3. Big swords
4. Over expressive characters
5. Really well developed backgrounds and depth of motion
6. Huge guns
7. Characters that actually get killed

My first Anime I ever watched was Star Blazers. In Japan the title of the show was, "Space Battle Cruiser Yamato." It was awesome. The plot of the show was that Earth was under attack by this race of aliens who wanted to colonize the Earth, so they dropped radiation bombs on the Earth to make it inhabitable. The Earth's last hope was a team called the Star Force who traveled the galaxy in a retrofitted battleship in search of a planet called Iscandar who offered Earth a machine to remove the radiation.

Sure it sounds nerdy, but there was character development, there were trials and struggles you got to see the Star Force go though, some characters were killed, and there was some really cool animation. Especially the "WAVE MOTION GUN" the big hole you see in the front of the ship above was a huge cannon that could be fired.

The second best Anime I have seen is Robotech. Robotech was called Macross in Japan. Robotech was also a great big Anime soap opera. A huge alien batte fortress crashed into Earth and we Earthlings are able to decipher the technology and rebuild the fortress to claim our place in the universe. Of course just at the time the fortress was launched, the aliens who the ship originally belonged to want it back. It was a pretty cool plot line, and it had planes that transformed to giant robots:

So what's JP's current Anime? Quite simple Inuyasha. Inuyasha is an Anime that is set in Feudal Japan. Inuyasha is the main character and is a 1/2 demon and 1/2 human. He travels around with his group looking for sacred jewel shards. Inuyasha carries a sword that transforms into a huge fang and is able to throw blasts of energy at his opponents, which are mostly full demons. His group consists of Kagome, a girl who can sense the sacred jewel shards, Miroku, a Buddhist monk that carries a sacred staff and has a wind tunnel in his hand capable of sucking up objects and opponents to a void, and Sango, a demon slaying girl who wields a huge boomerang.

So this is what JP does in his free time besides golf. Now I don't dress up like characters, I do not attend the big Anime conventions, but I'll pick up a t-shirt here and there, grab DVD's and I do have some Anime figures in my office. Sharkey just accepts it, and every so often mocks me by saying in her ditzy voice, "Inuyasha!! Inuyasha!!"

Loose Strings in the Tapestry

You know reading Kranki's post tonight really made me think. It made me think and appreciate the turns that life takes. See, I took some detours in life. Take college for example. I switched my major 2x. I started as a Pharmacy major, switched to Engineering, and then ended up with a mathematics degree. As a result, it extended my 4 year program to 10 years. I went to my first college (yes I said first college) for 5 years, then took a year off and then finished my Bachelor's degree 4 years later working full time as a QC person at a juice plant and going to school part time. I credit my extended education to a maturity issue. Actually a lack of maturity issue. Yes, as childish as JP is now, he was even more immature when he was younger. I'd ditch class, skip exams (yes I said skip exams), skip finals (yes I said skip finals) and did lots, and lots, and lots of really stupid things.

My year break from school accomplished a few things. It made me think about the decisions I had made and how I was reaping what I had sowed. I learned responsibility. I learned humility. I learned how to talk to any person regardless of education, race, or gender. I learned that when you make any decision, you also have to be willing to accept the results or consequences of those actions. I learned when you start something, you must finish it. I learned life was about following through, keeping your word and integrity no matter what. I grew up. Now I do not recommend the route I took to anyone. It is not for everyone. But that being said, it was the right path for me. Because of my personality and how I grew up and basically because how I'm wired, there would have been no other way for me to learn those valuable lessons. It made me the JP I am today. And if one of those uncomfortable, uncertain stings in my life's tapestry were removed, things would have turned out way different.

So because I took my extended route, some really good things happened. I graduated from college summa cum laude with a Bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics. I picked up golf from my father and I was able to spend more time with him and really got to know him for who he was. I still think of him when I golf today. But most importantly, because of my path, I accepted a job on the Main Line in PA and someone by the name of Sharkey walked into my office one day. So the 10 years of college and all the times of uncertainty were well worth it for her if nothing else.

Who Cooks?

When Sharkey and I were married, we made a household rule. Whoever does not cook, cleans up the kitchen. Well, being the anti-cleaning person that I am, where I love to clean so very much, I do pretty much all the cooking. And it's not because Sharkey can only make cereal and toast. Well OK, so she does make a lot of cereal and toast, but that's not totally why. =) I do enjoy it. I try to make a lot of different things and I try to do a lot of new things, time permitting. I'm also seasonal in what I make. In winter as everyone knows you do comfort foods like beef stroganoff, chili, and baked orzo and cheese. In the summer time, you do more Asian Chicken salads, seared tuna, grilling Mexican chicken sandwiches, and more colorful things like kabobs. I am also into the food presentation. So I try to arrange things and have some fun with what I make. I also try to go back to the "homeland" once in a while and make Japanese dishes. So you probably think all Japanese can make sushi. That is totally not true. However, JP can do sushi. I've done the California rolls, the nigiri with tuna and salmon and the maki rolls. I have the tools too. The super sharp knives, the bamboo rolling mats, sushi plates, chopstick holders, and fortunately for me Wegman's has a really decent Japanese, YES JAPANESE, not just "Asian" section of their store!!



One time I was at Wegmans, I was approached by this woman who was going to make a traditional Japanese dinner for her boyfriend. So she proceeded to ask me all these questions for about 1/2 an hour about what ingredients to use, how to do what, what's the secret to this, etc. I was happy to help. The funnier part was that this lady was what we Japanese people call a "hagojin" or in modern English a "whitey." It is interesting how much things have changed. No longer are we the sandal wearing goldfish tending people. We have technology, automobiles, and culinary respect!! Not bad for the "quiet American" people.

Golf, golf, golf...

So is it bad to publish 2 posts in one day? Is there some BLOG rule against that? Will I have to give back my decoder ring? Well, too bad, cause' I'm doin' it!

So golf season has started. Sharkey is a golf widow again. Golf can be down right maddening though. You practice, work on the swing, short game, putting, and the boomstick. So last year I was shooting around 86. So far, I've posted 96, 107, 88, and 98. ARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!Things definitely are not right in JP land!

My game is interesting. I'm about 5' 8" which makes me average height, but I can crush the ball off the tee, about 230 yards with my 5 wood and about 270 with my driver. I can hit the woods pretty well and I'm pretty accurate. On 9 holes I average hitting 5-6 fairways off the tee. That's great right? Well it really hasn't been. Because my swing has been so not dependable with my irons, so I typically hit the ball off the fairway, over the green, in the trees, in the sand, or short of the green. It's quite frustrating after having a great 1st shot. I have been cranking my ass!!!! If you've ever seen the Robin Williams HBO special, he does an excellent bit on golf. And the funniest part is, it is totally true!!!!

Robin Williams Golf Watch it now on StupidVideos!

But tonight I feel like I made a big turn. If you play golf you know that things do not always work the way they do for the guys you see on TV. You realize that those guys are the real deal and how much of a hacker you really are. But then if you are really blessed, you have those moments that you feel everything clicking. I think I made the turn with my irons tonight. When things go well, you know it. You can sense it. You feel it down to your core. Everything is working and there is no doubt in your mind where that ball is going to go. You have confidence and you feel that you can do no wrong. That's how I feel tonight. I'm in zen golf mode. I'm playing tomorrow and I'm really hoping for good things. It comes down to that I'm back on plane I can feel the club head through my swing and I can make that ball fly!!!!

My Kingdom for a cell phone

Did you ever misplace something? I'm sure you have. Car keys are common. Eye glasses can get lost. Sunglasses can turn up various places you do not ever remember placing them. Then there is the cell phone. My cell has gone AWOL. I've tried to retrace my steps, I've walked through what I was doing over and over again, and nothing, nada, blank, zip... It is gone. I have to admit, it is not the end of the world, but for some reason, I feel so stupid for misplacing it. I really like my phone. It is a Motorola ROKR.

It is a phone, it can send e-mail, surf the net, play games, has an MP3 player built into it, and it takes pictures. What more can a technogeek like myself ask for?

So Sharkey has tried to make me feel better. "Honey, it is OK, we can get you anther one." But I just cannot let this go. I think of what a waste it is to have to buy another one. I think of how this makes me feel like I was 5 years old again and I lost yet another pair of mittens. I think of how there are so many things I should focus on more. But I have to just accept it.

THIS SUCKS ROCKS!!!

On another note, anyone start to build their basement bird flu germ free sanctuary? Maybe I shouldn't have messed with that bird's nest in my grill. That just may come back to bite me!!!!

Vacation....It's gooooooooooooood

So here we are in the Magic Kingdom. It's vacation, it's relaxing, it's unwinding, it's recharging. It is AWESOME!!! Our first restaurant stop was the 50's Prime Time Cafe in MGM Studios. Now I'm going to break a personal BLOG cardinal rule, "Never post actual pictures of family on the BLOG." So I think you've probably wondered what my wife Sharkey looks like. Here she is:





Isn't she just the cutest thing!!!!! So here's the thing, the 50's Prime Time Cafe is a place out of the the nostalgic past. It is staffed by waiting staff with an edge. They tell you "OK, Hon' you set the table for dinner and remember Ma's four rules:"

1. Elbows off the table
2. Hats off at the table
3. Eat all your vegetables or no dessert
4. No Tower for an hour

And they do not take anything from anyone. When my brother was smart mouthed with the waitress, she said to him without a second thought, "Watch it!!!!!!!!!!" And after we were done with dinner, she sat down with us at the table and talked to us while flinging spitballs and napkins at our "cousins" in the other kitchen. It was great!!! Totally freaked out my nephews. They thought they would be asked to do the "I'm a little teapot" song!! They were very, very "afeared." The picture above is how they show you what the desserts are. They give you a Viewmaster will 3-D pictures of the desserts. And they are YUMMY!!!!

Today we are going to Downtown Disney to do a bit of shopping, then EPCOT for dinner, and off to the Magic Kingdom till 3AM. Resort Guests have a deal where they can stay at the parks 3 hours after they close for exclusive magic opportunities! I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! J.P. signing off for now!!!!!!! TTFN!

Class is OVER....So what am I going to do now?

I'm going to Disney World!!!!

Sharkey and I have a very early morning tomorrow. We have a 7:55am flight, so that means we need to leave our house by 5:30am. The things you do for Mickey!!!! Sheeeesh!!

So you may have noticed that my posts have decreased in frequency. Most of that is due to my grad course. Now that it's over, you'll see a lot more posts from this point on. Man that course just totally sucked!!! I felt like an undergrad again. There were 10 chapters of text, two exams, two papers and a final project that were assigned all within 7 weeks. Not sure how many of you have ever taken graduate courses, but they are hardly ever that intense. My first class in resuming grad school has just totally demotivated me enough to take the summer off and go back for fall classes!! Yay me!!! You know it wouldn't have been so bad if the final project wasn't so brutal.

We had to present a prospective company to the professor as if he were the CEO of an investing company. Our group was the first to go last night. He tore us up!!!! Question after question, on definitions, on interpretations, charting, corporate policies, and on things totally unrelated to the scope of the class. On top of that, he was the timekeeper of our presentation and told us we had 7 minutes left to present what we all knew would take 15 minutes. Of course that 7 minute mark he gave us was right at the time yours truly was up to do his part. I think though that the main thing I was feeling at that time last night wasn't panic, it wasn't stress, and it wasn't anxiety, it was outright ANGER!!!! I was very, very mad because the timekeeping he did was total bullshit!!! We had practiced the presentation 3x to get it to 30 minutes on the dot. We were allotted 40 minutes max, and we had that well in hand. I was also pretty mad because one of my team members who was getting grilled by the prof early on gave away our position 10 minutes into the presentation because they lost it and reverted back to student teacher mode!!! Now that was a total FUBAR, because you have to understand the structure of our presentation was to make our case, then state the position last for dramatic effect. So that person gave away the farm 10 minutes in, which blew our big effect, so BIG DUH for them!!!!! THEN on top of that, the same person said to me when I got up to speak not just once, but twice, "JP, skip your slides and move to the conclusion." So here's my dilemma, do I honor that request and keep within time, which I know is total b.s., or do I present my piece the way I'm supposed to, so we can keep building the case and stick with the script we agreed to use? I decided to do my part as rehearsed. I felt I put the time into it, I developed it, I knew it cold and most of all I had the right to present it. So I decided I would fight tooth and nail on the timekeeping if I needed to do that. So "Annoying Clueless" team person got the JP HAND in the face and I did my full part and we finished. If I ever had need of the portable "JP Slap-o-matic" it was last night!!!

Well to make a long story short, we scored a 90 on the presentation. Apparently, he was hard on us because we were first group, in order to set the tone for the next 5 groups and put the fear of God into them all. Isn't that just lovely?? Anyhow, that score gives me about a B+ to A- in the course. I think that last night was less about presenting an investment opportunity, and more about testing personal character. I am very glad that I did not compromise mine.

Why Do Birds....

So I've been starting to use the grill more. The temp outside is increasing, the sun is out and the birds are singing. Everything is right in the world. Well everything, but this....


It seems I have a new tenant. This bird has somehow decided that my grill is a great place to build a new home. Sure the property is off a cul de sac, and the deck is Fiberon, so you'll never have to treat or sand it, but I don't think she realizes how hot it's going to get. And you'd think that the bird would sense that many of its cousins, the chickens, have met a marinated char-grilled demise in this new location.

Next post.... Man vs. Bird... (ding...ding)