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!