BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day #663 As I am writing this Duncan is using my lap as a jungle gym. He has not left me alone since I have gotten home. It is nice to feel loved but this is getting a little ridiculous. The boys have been getting accustomed to their new digs. We have opened a wall and let them have run of the upstairs for the time being. So there has been much to explore and to smell. I guess the computer is as good a place as any for Duncan to sit upon. I’m going to have to get a stand for the computer and push it back further, it keeps hitting my knees. Today after my flights, sorry but they went well today so nothing to rant about. I even got first class from Philly to PVD. Not sure how that happened but it also happened on the way out from PVD to Philly. And we had no close calls on the landings so that was good. Anyway, on the way home after my flights I stopped at Best Buy to get some hands on opinion of some cameras that I am looking into. They are the Canon SD line. I looked at the 7MP...

  Photo-A-Day #662 First I would like to say that today is my Mom’s birthday so Happy Birthday Mom! I’m looking forward to going out to dinner with Mom Dad and Allison on Thursday night to celebrate. Also please keep a dear friend of our family in your prayers. I just found out from Allison last night that my sister’s good friend Jack is in a coma. Jack as you may remember ran the Cape Cod Marathon this past year in his best time ever. Please keep Jack in your prayers. Tonight I am still in Maryland and the demonstrations went well. We had a bit of a connection glitch but it worked out well. The day was long and I was pretty tired but I was able to do all my demonstrations. I got a lot of practice on the new scripts too. When the demo day was over I went back to the hotel and caught up on Best Week Ever Videos on my iPod. I also realized that I can start another month of PPP blogging and try to get as close to $500 without going over. I end up front loading on posts the beginning o...

While I was in Best Buy today I took a look at two Canon cameras. The first was the SD800 Digital ELPH and the second was the SD900 Digital ELPH. Both Cameras were pretty sweet but the SD900 was a 10MP where the SD800 was only 7MP. The SD900 is made of a titanium casing. So it is light and super strong.  The only difference I think is that the SD900 does not have the optical stabilization which is better than digital stabilization. There is also an optional underwater case for this camera. I think I may want to get back to being able to take some underwater shots or at least take a camera with us when we go kayaking and not have to worry about getting it wet. And I have been toying with the idea of a kayaking video podcast. Who knows maybe I may choose this one. I have to do more research however.

  Photo-A-Day #661 Today’s photo is of Ryan and Susanne. They are here in Maryland demonstrating too. We went out tonight, along with Kate, for dinner at a place in downtown Annapolis. The restaurant was a nice little Italian place called Maria’s. The food was excellent. They had fantastic bread and oil for dipping. It was a very nice place. While there I found out that Kate’s relatives are my neighbors. Small world keeps getting smaller. I told Ryan about taking a photo a day and while we were at the font desk of the hotel their was this plate of cookies. I took a picture of the cookies and he said, “Why don’t you take a picture of us instead. I don’t want the cookies to win over us.” Well most of the time people aren’t thrilled with me taking their picture and having it be the photo of the day. My friend who have been putting up with me for the past two years have come to expect it but most of the time it is too much to explain the project. So I thank Ryan and Susanne for steppin...

Photo-A-Day #660 Today I was up at 4:45am and headed down to Maryland. I have two days of demos ahead of me down here. The same demo 4 times in two days plus two hours of lab demos each day as well. Travel was fine today. I was put in First class on the flight from PVD to PHL. So I guess going into PHL wasn’t that bad. On my flight from PHL to BWI the landing was a little strange and now that I think about it rather scary. We were on target to land and what seemed like the last minute we were diverted to another runway. We basically turned and landed at the same time, as we turned I could see another plane on the runway that we were supposed to land on. I know that we were supposed to land there because there was a pilot and his friend sitting in front of me and the pilot said something to his friend and his friend crossed himself. Just another day in the air. Tonight I went with the sales person and another Marketing person to Buddy’s Crabs & Ribs for dinner. They had the hugest p...

Photo-A-Day #659 01/27/07 Today Allison and I went to Jordan’s Furniture in Reading, MA. We met up with our friend Maureen and her sister Peggy and brother Bob as well as her cousin Julie, Peggy’s friend Heather and Mo’s friend Linda. This photo is of Bob, Linda, Maureen, Allison and Peggy. We met for lunch at Fuddruckers, which was right inside Jordan’s Furniture. Fuddruckers is know for their large and tasty burgers. We each got a Barry and Eliot burger. Barry and Eliot are the two brothers who are the face of Jordan’s Furniture. The burgers were very tasty and Fuddruckers has a large condiment bar where you can put many things on your burger and make it how you like it. Allison and I got to Jordan’s Furniture a little early, but not to worry, Jordan’s Furniture is not like any other furniture store. Inside they have BeanTown which is a huge display made out of Jelly Belly jelly beans. The theme is BeanTown because that is a nickname for Boston and all the things there are a play on ...

Do you remember the Office commercials from Burger King. They guy who makes up his own catchphrase? No. Well, here it is. And the reason that I am posting this is because I want to tell you about SpicyPage. I have just signed up with it and if you haven’t signed up your own blogs to SpicyPage then you should go and do that now. SpicyPage is basically a site where you add your blog and other blogger or other people in general come to the page and vote on your site, they vote thumbs up or thumbs down whether or not your site is Spicy. I have a few votes for this site and set up spicy counters on both this site and Flatwater Bookstore. So why don’t you sign up with SpicyPage (it is free) and give a spicy vote to The BenSpark and Flatwater Bookstore. Thanks, my voting widget is at the bottom of the page.

Photo-A-Day #658 01/26/07 These are the great awards that were given to the top marketing folks today. They were huge. Our theme was the Oscars and I had to make a Red Carpet themed video. Today was the big presentation at work. I completed the videos last night/early this morning/first thing this morning. Basically I am now running on adrenaline and the refusal to go to sleep right away. First off, my comedy of errors. Okay, yesterday I finished up all the filming of the videos. I came home and edited all the pieces into the show and then started a final DVD burn. The DVD finished burning at 1:00am. I then reviewed the DVD. And I discovered that my anal retentive nature paid off in this case. I found that the key video cut off two minutes too early. The key video by the way was an 11:37 video of two top VPs so I could NOT screw this up whatsoever!) I was incredulous. how could this have happened? Well I guess I wasn’t so thorough. I missed a step along the way. Basically this is how I...

So the other day I posted about my newfound favorite iTunes Podcast, Best Night Ever from the folks that bring you VH1’s Best Week Ever. And today I get a comment from Fred Graver. Who is Fred Graver? He is none other than Executive Producer and Creator of Best Week Ever. He also runs the BestWeekEver.TV website. So why would Fred comment on this blog. Well, he let me know that Christian Finnegan (whom I really enjoy on Best Week Ever BTW) is not introducing ever Best Night Ever Spot anymore. I guess my comment of You are warned, if you watch this over and over you will begin to loath Christian Finnegan because he intros almost every single podcast. It is the same clip over and over. was noticed. So this is a lesson folks watch what you say and say the truth. I would like to clarify that I enjoy Christian Finnegan’s comedy. He is very funny. It was just that same clip over and over that drove me nuts. I don't want to loath Christian Finnegan. So I am glad that clip was changed. Bu...

I have to say that I love my HP printers. I mentioned them in the post below and the inkjet cartridges at Office Supply Outfitters. I have always had great luck with HP printers. Each time I wear one out (and I am hard on my printers to it is my use and abuse of years and years that wears them out) I go out and get another printer. Actually some of my printers are still in good working order, I just wanted something new and exciting, like my HP Photosmart 245. That printer makes some excellent photo prints and has its own screen to review the images. Just an excellent product. I can take it anywhere.

I want to tell you all about fuelmyblog. This is a site where bloggers can submit their sites to The Great Wall. The Great Wall is a page of 625 blogs in a 25 X 25 grid (it is 625 I did the math, with a calculator, just to be sure). But fuelmyblog has three other grids ones for More, Business, and Life. That brings the total to 2500 possible spots for blogs. The good thing about this is that you can only have 1 square on the wall for each of your blogs. I hate it when there is no limit like that and the first people in the know get all the spots. And the spaces are not all taken either. I can’t believe that. You can still get a spot on the main page. Go to fuelmyblog now and sign up. I am listed with fuelmyblog for both this blog and Flatwater Bookstore, my entertainment and general consumer blog. I have the two spots in the bottom right hand corner of the main page. The Tiki Drew picture is linked here and the Viking Drew South Park picture is linked to Flatwater. I have gotten many h...

I have to post about the Great Wall of Blogs. You might have noticed the new Big Blue box on the sidebar that says “My Blog is On fuelmyblog “The Great Wall”.” Well what that means is that my blog is listed on this fantastic site. I have the bottom right blocks. There is one of my with Tiki drew Face and another with my South Park Viking Drew character. Tiki Drew links to The Benspark and Viking Drew links here. What I like about fuelmyblog is Kevin. Kevin created fuelmyblog and the idea is very unique. There are 625 squares on the Great Wall front page as well as 625 spots on the More page, the Life page and the Business page. That is 2500 Squares that are available. Each square has a 40 x 40 picture and each square links to a blog. There is still space on the front page for your blog. Kevin reads each and every blog and so does his wife. She selected my blog as Blog of the Day back on the 12th of this month. And Kevin and I exchanged some emails and I’m going to be interviewed for th...

Photo-A-Day #657 01/25/07 So today I had homemade French Meat Pie. This year my Mom, Ellen, Allison, Donna and Carissa worked on making meat pies. They made about 24 of them. We had one in the freezer and since it has gotten cold out we took it out the other day to have for dinner. Since the average pie has 8 slices we had it for dinner, lunch, dinner and lunch again.  Today I must have microwaved my piece too long because when I was done I ended up with the Glad logo imprinted on my pie crust. Actually this happened after the microwaving was done and as I walked to my desk (no rest for the weary had to do more video stuff. All done tomorrow) The container basically imploded and the Glad logo was squished into the crust. I sat down and took the cover off the container and saw this, so I had to take a picture of it. Tomorrow I will get the decorations in the auditorium because everything is decorated so nice.

I have just signed up for SpicyPage. Have you heard of it? Well it is a site that is similar to Digg in that people go to the page and vote on how spicy your page is. Spicy in this case meaning hot and interesting. So I signed up for both this site and The BenSpark. The Benspark already has 7 votes for spiciness. I am thrilled. If you want to vote on whether you think this site is spicy or not you can do so at the bottom left side of this site. You just click the vote button. But you have to be a member of SpicyPage to do so. Sign up, it is free.

I have to admit, I am a bad son-in-law. I am a day late with Birthday wishes for my mother-in-law, Marcia. I meant to have a post up yesterday to wish Marcia a very happy birthday, but this video that I have been working on took up about 18 hours yesterday. And my carefully laid plans to put up a very nice birthday wish for Marcia were quashed. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCIA!!!! I hope that all things come together and make this year one of your best years ever. And I hope you enjoyed your birthday. We’ll see you soon.

One podcast that I really have been enjoying is VH-1’s Best Night Ever. I downloaded all the podcasts from April till now. I am in June at the moment. If you like Best Week Ever where not quite made it comedians get to be snarky and snide and sound much more intelligent than the people they make fun of, then you will be entertained by Best Night Ever. Since I am a completist in my podcast watching I need to watch every episode. It doesn’t matter that the episodes I am watching are about the season finales of TV shows that are now back on current episodes.  My favorite Best Night Ever personality is Shea Hess. She is so cute and happy and not as snarky as everyone else. There are also some special podcasts of outtakes and the Sizzler and other things. I like the Mike Britt rants and Paul F. Thompkins. They are some of the funny parts of this podcast. You are warned, if you watch this over and over you will begin to loath Christian Finnegan because he intros almost ever single podcas...

Photo-A-Day #656 01/24/07 This is the office at the end of the night. Filming ran late (does it ever run early?) so I was at the office with the night-time cleaning crew and still had a drive home and about 5 hours of work ahead of me to complete this video project. The video has to be at the most 10 minutes long. I had over 15 minutes in the first cut. Then I paired it down to 10 minutes 16 seconds. That is going to have to do because it is 11:30 and I have to get back up at 5:30 to do a run through and film one more piece for the video. I would be lost without Adobe Premiere Elements however that does not mean that I had an easy time of this. Each clip had to be individually edited for length, audio and background noise. I didn’t get to the background noise yet. And the Sanyo Xacti C4 I have picks up everything. Well I need to check on my film to see if it rendered yet.

Photo-A-Day #655 01/23/07 Spent much of the day doing videos. So I took today’s photo of me working on editing the videos and my setup for the video editing. I am really enjoying using Adobe Premiere Elements. I am looking forward to upgrading to the next version. For the most part I am happy to be doing these videos but it gets a bit tedious. The edits the rendering and just basically the repetition. I didn’t get to the gym today. I’m going to start going to the gym in the mornings. I’ve got to get there much more often than I do now. Just been so busy.

Mo Tagged both Allison and I for the latest meme. Here it is. Once tagged by this entry, the assignment is to list 10 movies: your 5 Favorites & your 5 Guilty Pleasures. Then, pick 5 of your friends and tag them. No tag backs. This explanation should be included. Here is Allison’s List: 5 Favorites: 1. Pete’s Dragon 2. Serenity 3. Pirates of the Caribbean 4. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Dead Man’s Chest 5. Walk the Line 5 Guilty Pleasures: 1. Save the Last Dance 2. Bring It On 3. 10 Things I Hate About You 4. The Sound of Music 5. A Christmas Story Here is My List: 5 Favorites: 1. Transformer’s the Movie 2. Serenity 3. Pump up the Volume 4. Shawshank Redemption 5. Back to the Future 5 Guilty Pleasures : 1. A Christmas Story 2. Ready to Rumble 3. Rumble in the Bronx 4. Harold and Kumar go to White Castle 5. Night at the Roxbury I tag, Autumn, Stephen the Dog, Skeet, Laurie, and Cass

Since I am always on the lookout for new podcasts now that I have my iPod I have come across some interesting things to listen to. Like Podfitness, I found that through an ad on Google and it looks really interesting. You upload your music to iTunes and Podfitness will mix that with workouts from one of over 80 trainers. One of the trainers is Danny Bonaduce. I heard that he does a lot of working out. I think that was on the Breaking Bonaduce show that he was addicted to the gym or something. I bet his trainings were intense. I may look into how these things work. The other one I would like to check out is iTrain.

I found the perfect accessory to my recently purchased iPod. It is a transformer docking station. It is from Japan. In Japan they call Optimus Prime Convoy and this is the Convoy docking station. The trailer is a docking station and the cab is a G1 size transforming robot. It is white for a white iPod so I am holding out hope that a black one will be released to go with my Black iPod. I am anxious to see what else is going to be coming out for Transformers as the movie approaches this July. I can’t wait.

Photo-A-Day #654 01/22/07 Doesn’t this look like it was taken sometime in the seventies. Well, that is how I think it looks. I used a set of filters that my Great Uncle had. Unfortunately they are not the right size for my lens. So I held the filter over the lens and a little away from it because the lens needed to focus automatically. And when I took this I thought, man this looks like it was from the seventies. Duncan was a great little subject for me. Today was pretty busy at work. I made a couple more videos and this is finally the week when the latest videos will be shown. Then I can get back to focusing on everything else. I’ve got a pretty intense travel schedule in March so I have to get geared up for that. I’ve also been trying to get to the gym on a more regular basis and so far have been sticking to this. Heroes is back on TV tonight. So I’m all done with this post. I’ll let you know what I think of it tomorrow.

One of the TV shows that Allison and I really enjoy is Bones. The first season is now out on DVD and it is worth watching. David Boreanaz’s character of Seeley Booth is fantastic. And the main character of Dr. Temperance Brennan played by Emily Deschanel is one tough doctor. She is also bit socially inept and that makes for some funny situations and misunderstandings.  In the first season we get a look into the dynamic relationship of Booth and Brennan (nicknamed “Bones” by Booth). And I am very glad that this show survived to have second season. There is so much more for the characters to do with each other and create great character development. The website for the show also has some webisodes that you can watch that don’t have the main characters but rather a set of secondary, not even in the show, characters. Something to watch while waiting for the show to come back (I hate American Idol taking the slot for now) I guess. So if you like crime drama but with a little more humor ...

Photo-A-Day #653 01/21/07 Today Allison and I went to Mass this morning and then over to see Andy and Rondi. They have a Nintendo Wii. Actually they have one because I gave them the one I got at Target last week. You know nothing of this? Well that is because I kept it quiet because it was for Andy’s birthday. On Wednesday I had a Doctor’s appointment and then went up to the Camera Company to get my camera fixed and on the way back I stopped into Target to see if they had any Wii’s in stock.  I walked in and the usually un-stocked shelf was stocked with Nintendo Wii’s. So I bought one. Then I went outside and called Allison and asked her if she knew if Rondi was still looking for a Wii for Andy for his birthday. She was, so I went back in and attempted to by a second Wii. I was told that they had a limit of only one per household. And so I called Allison back and by the time she was out of work all of the Wii’s were gone. That is okay because I gave Allison the Wii I got and had he...

Photo-A-Day #652 01/20/07 Today I received my box of swag from PayPerPost. Included was a T-Shirt (Says Spreading Like Peanut Butter), the 13″ pen, a box of mints, the giant foam finger and $5.00 in Pingo cards. Not a bad deal. I sent them a framed picture of Allison and I for their Great Wall of Posties. Tonight Amy and Ryan and Mason came over for dinner. They lent us their video camera so I can finally get the wedding video loaded into the computer. I tried a few things and they didn’t work then Amy showed me that I was connected to the wrong port on the camera. Then things went a little better. So I let the whole first tape run all the way through. However that was too much for the computer to process so I am going to have to work with capturing individual clips. That will be the next project. I am excited to get working on this project though. I think many folks have been wanting to see it. Well that will have to wait till this week is done because I have three videos left to do f...

Last night I had dinner with our friends Autumn and Kenny. Kenny brought his new camera backpack. This thing was awesome. It had one large compartment for a laptop computer. Since I do so much digital stuff on a laptop this is a must for me. There was also a catch all compartment for he easy to grab stuff like my mini tripod and whatnot. But the best part is the padded, adjustable pocket for the camera and lenses and memory cards and spare batteries and all the things that I would need when taking the camera out on a photo shoot. I admit it I have backpack envy right now. I will have to save my pennies because even though the pack is on sale at Amazon it still is a bit expensive and I made all my huge purchases for the month with all the other stuff I got and ordered. But soon when I earn a bit more play money I will get myself a great pack like Kenny’s.

I have been so busy lately that I have not been able to do some decent posts about time wasters and fun stuff I have seen on the Internet or on TV. first off I got my iPod and have since been loading it with every available podcast I can think of finding for all of my interests. I have found podcasts for comedy, nature, Photoshop and much more. I am going to look for some on motorcycles and kayaking and cooking as well. This crazy thing we call iTunes has been a lot of fun to explore. I can’t believe I didn’t do this sooner, much much sooner. But I can change. I have embraced my previous Mac self. Yes, early on we had an Apple IIC and I loved that computer I spent hours working on Print Shop and animation studio and even a Toy Maker program. That was so much fun. I don’t think I’ll be trading in the PC computers anytime soon but I have forever disassociated myself with the notion of purchasing a Zune. It is all iPod for me now man. Last night brought back the return of one of my favori...

Photo-A-Day #651 01/19/07 Tonight Allison and I went to dinner with Autumn and Kenny. We went to the Fortune House and had an amazing meal. Dinner was fantastic, as always. It was really nice to see Autumn and Kenny, we have a great time talking through dinner and after dinner. We were there for quite a while and watched things slow down. Kenny brought his new camera bag and I brought my new tripod. We like to compare our toys and marvel at them whenever we catch up with each other. Kenny’s backpack is an adventure 9 photo backpack. It is awesome and has tons of pockets and they are movable to fit and protect all your photo gear. I have backpack envy right now.

Photo-A-Day #650 01/18/07 Today our Penguin arrived. The Penguin is a replacement soda maker. It came with six glass carafes and 4 carbonators. We’ve been without homemade soda for a while and are very happy to have some back in the house. Now we need to order some more soda mix. We are down to the flavors that we don’t like that much. If you are looking to get one of your own you can click here. You can also click on the banner on the sidebar. You can get so many different flavors and mix them however you would like. Good stuff and very tasty. Now when six friends come over with six different tastes I can whip up six different soda choices. What to do with the other one? Mo you should order some Fountain Jet reusable bottles. You’ll be getting a full carbonator and the Fountain Jet machine and some sample packs. Don’t say I never gave you anything. Remember you gotta reorder your supplies through this site. 🙂 Orange Mango and Grape. Delicious

Last week when I went crazy and started buying things from Amazon.com in large quantities I bought something pretty cool. No it wasn’t the iPod, that was pretty cool but I picked up a Gorillapod. What the heck is a gorillapod? Well it is a flexible tripod for digital cameras that can be mounted to the most unlikely places. The three legs are made up of many flexible joints that can be bent and rotated 360 degrees so you get eh perfect shape for your tripod. Suppose you are out in the woods and you want to take a picture of yourself but the only place to mount the tripod is on an uneven rock. With a standard tripod your camera is going to go tumbling into a ravine. However, with the flexible legs of a gorillapod you can place that camera anywhere on that rock and get a great stable landing to take that picture. I’ve been wanting to pick one of these up for a while now and haven’t made the time to buy it. I can’t believe I’ve waited so long. There are three versions of the gorillapod out...

I swear I’m gonna have to do a TalkShoe TalkCast soon. First there was the one that I heard about and participated in with Wes Molebash of You’ll Have That. Now I find out that three of the other webcomics I read are involved in a TalkCast of their own. Well, the creators are involved in a TalkCast. It is called the Triple feature, most likely because each webcomic focuses on the world of movies. We have Theater Hopper by Tom Brazelton, Joe Loves Crappy Movies by Joe Dunn and The Multiplex by Gordon McAlpin. I downloaded all five episodes through iTunes. That makes about 7 1/2 hours of these guys talking about movies, pop culture and comics. I’m hoping that my iPod arrives today so I can start loading it up with everything that I have downloaded so far. But first I have to have my yearly physical. Not looking forward to that as much.

This book and movie are wonderful. I first was introduced to this movie by my friend Marybeth. She later gave me a copy of the book. I think over my lifetime I have seen this movie about 15 times. It is a very quotable movie and full of great comedy. I love the parts with Billy Crystal. The sword fight on the top of the cliffs of insanity was incredible. Inigo always saying,”Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.” The rhyming of Andre the giant and Wallace Shawn made this movie so memorable. The book is filled with some fantastic things as well. And it ends in a much less happy manner. I love how the book reads and I think I could give it another read soon. I should have Allison read it too because she doesn’t like the movie but I bet she would enjoy the book more. I just found out that there are many versions of this movie, there is the Dread Pirate version, the Buttercup version and the special edition. And if you buy a movie from Amazon you get a free...

Photo-A-Day #649 01/17/07 Tonight I went to the Outlaw BBQ with the guys for guys night. We had wings and beers and whatnot. This photo is of the guys and me doing a U2 picture. Steve who is on the left is the one who introduced us to the concept of the U2 picture. Have you ever noticed that in pictures of the band U2 no one is looking at the camera. Take a look sometime. I used my new gorillapod to take the shot. Today I also had my yearly physical, things went pretty well. I’m down 11 pounds from last physical so that is decent. However the bright part of my day was the arrival of my iPod. I am so psyched. I loaded it up with tons of podcasts. I just keep finding cool stuff to put in this thing. I’ve already filled 20GB of space on podcasts alone. Could be all the Best Week ever stuff. I also took my Nikon D80 to the Camera company and they took care of the stuff on the sensor. So my camera is now on tip top shape. They didn’t even need to send it out.

My ipod was delivered today and I have iTunes running on both my home and work computers. I just discovered that I can only sync with one iTunes. That stinks. I will have to figure out if there is a way around this. I have been downloading podcasts like crazy for the past couple of hours. There are still over 110 episodes from various podcasts that I am downloading. Then I’ll sync them to the iPod. There is so much I have to learn about this program. I am very excited to give my new iPod a test drive. And I am very satisfied with how the dock that is built into my new monitor is working out. That Viewsonic VX2245 is fantastic!

Photo-A-Day #648 01/16/07 Why do I have a picture of a ratty old box, that smells. It smells like pee it really does. This is the box that arrived today with the rest of Allison’s birthday gifts. You see I got her the complete series of the Virginia Lanier books in hardcover. This was not something that I could go to Amazon and choose to buy directly just from Amazon. I had to scour the sellers to find those who had the hardcovers in good condition. A few are old library books but two or three were brand new. I got one directly from Amazon. That one arrived in perfect shape. I ordered another from a site near us and that one came in quickly and in great shape. However, the third seller is the smelly box seller. I got 4 books from this seller. I paid $13.96 in shipping to this seller for the 4 books. Please take note of how much it cost to actually ship the books in this nasty pee box. $3.99, that is a $9.97 markup on shipping. Hence the need to leave this feedback to the seller. 2 out ...

Wherever I go so does my iGo. What? Well an iGo is a product by Mobility Electronics. They have created this fantastic device. Why do I know this is fantastic, because I have owned one for about 5 years now. It is my go anywhere power source for my laptop as well as my PDA, Cell Phone, Allison’s Cell Phone and my soon to arrive iPod. In fact I have gone through 3 laptops and 2 cell phones since I purchased my iGo Juice 70. And I have had to use it to charge my devices on planes, in cars and in every hotel room I’ve ever stayed in during the last 5 years. This product is an absolute lifesaver. I will be very sad if and when it conks out on me, but for now it is strong and reliable. With the iGo Juice 70 I can power my laptop while simultaneously charging one of my peripherals. This has cut down on the number of things I need to take with my on my trips and fits neatly in a little bag that I take with me. I plan to get tips for a bluetooth headset when I end up buying one, and for a new ...

Yesterday I purchased a new monitor. The Viewsonic VX2245 with integrated iPod dock. I was walking through Comp USA looking for a new monitor that had integrated speakers and I came across this monitor. It is 22″ and flat screen. It has an integrated iPod dock with different holders so you have a custom fit for your iPod. The base is powered and houses a subwoofer, 4 USB 2.0 slots. One on the back, I plugged the webcam into that port.  The base also has a microphone and an 8 in 1 media card reader. I am all about saving space and this was the perfect monitor for me. I just wish I had the restraint to come home and check out what the price was on amazon.com because I would have gotten a much better deal. I hope that my iPod arrives soon so that I can take full advantage of this monitor.

Photo-A-Day #647 The other day I took a PPP opp that asked what I was doing with the money I made with PPP. Well, right after I put up that I bought an iPod and a new Soda Club machine I had to go to Lowe’s to pick up some insulation for my Dad. On the way to Lowe’s my car makes a “CLUNK” sound and the next thing I know my car sounds like a bad knock off of The Fast and the Furious. My muffler took that opportunity to give me a karmic kick in the nuts. So today I went to Midas and got a new Muffler. So you can guess what else PPP money will be paying for. But don’t cry for me just yet because I did go and get a sweet new monitor for Allison and I. It is a Viewsonic 22″ HD ViewDock LCD monitor. This thing is awesome. For one thing it has an iPod dock built right into the front of the powered base. It has integrated speakers, mic and subwoofer. There are 4 additional USB ports and an 8 in 1 card reader also built in. And all this plus the clarity of the Viewsonic monitor and the size of ...

Mystic River was a very good read. I started it last week while on the road and just finished it this morning. The plot was full of twists but as I got close to the end I could see how the final act would play out, for the most part. There were still a few surprises in the end but I could see a lot of it coming very clearly. I am anxious to see the movie now. I knew from the commercials or could piece together who was who as I was reading the book and it was hard not to picture Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins as I read it. I am interested to see how they play out the book. A lot of it was in the character’s heads and to see how that plays on screen will be interesting to watch.

Photo-A-Day #646 Today Allison and I went to Mass (and by the count of our envelopes we hadn’t made it in a while.) We always enjoy Mass when Fr. Dave is presiding. He gave a very nice homily today. On the way out of Mass he told me that one of my friends from childhood is getting married. I’m very happy to hear that. I wanted to catch her brother after Mass but he disappeared before I could flag him down. After Mass Allison and I had a late breakfast at JD’s, a local restaurant that has really good breakfast. Then we got home and finished putting away all of the books that had been on the table and I went through the files and consolidated, shredded and filed. Everything is in order now. We spent the late afternoon watching the Patriots beat the Chargers downstairs with my Dad. Mom got a last minute invite to go see Wicked. That is a play that I hear nothing but good reviews about. I hope she liked it. For the game Allison made Buffalo Chicken dip and it was fantastic. Very filling, I...

Michael Crichton has written another suspenseful thriller with State of Fear. The story centers around global warming and how there is one group trying to dispel it as a myth and another group trying to start catastrophes. I read this a couple of years ago on a plane and I was glued to my seat.  Well, you really can’t get up and go anywhere on a plane anyway, but I was glad to be entertained at least. This book also lays claim to one of the most disturbing images I think I have ever read. Other than that the book was classic Crichton. The unlikely male hero who is called upon to do impossible things but just possesses the exact knowledge needed to survive. And the estranged woman in his life. Yep, this was a very entertaining book, had many interesting theories which Crichton books always tend to have. I’d give it another read.

Ellis Paul recently released a greatest hits album called Essentials. It is a collection of 34 tracks from many of Ellis’ previous albums. Allison and I have been Ellis fans since we have been together, that is about 6 years and each year we try to see him at least once if not 5 times. We just love his music. He is one of the most talented singer songwriters that are out there now. His roots in the Boston area don’t hurt the major following he has out this way. I was actually introduced to Ellis more than 10 years ago I think. My Sister Tara was a big fan and she has seen him many more times than we have. She brought me to see one of his shows at a small chapel in Woods Hole. You have to at least go and listen to Ellis Paul’s sample tracks, you will be hooked.

Photo-A-Day #645 Today Dad and I worked on a project at the house. We spent most of the morning and afternoon working on it. Later on in the afternoon he sent me for more supplies and I found out that my exhaust in my car decided that it was all done. 92028 was as many miles as that exhaust system was going to take me. I was stuck in traffic heading to Lowe’s when I heard the car make a “clunk” sound and the next thing I know it sounds like I’ve added a tip to my muffler. The difference between 20 and 30 is that when you are in your 20’s or younger you want your car to sound this way. When you are in your 30’s you are embarrassed by your car sounding like this. I’m sitting in the car wondering, did the muffler fall off completely? Are people looking at my car to see if it has a tip on the muffler and saying, that guy is too old for that? So now I have a date with Midas in the future. This evening Neil and Andrea and Derek and Michelle and baby Nicholas came over for dinner. We showed t...

A while back PPP put out a call for pictures of Posties for their Great Wall of Posties. I went to my Kodak Gallery and selected a nice picture of Allison and I and had it framed and shipped to PPP. They received it yesterday. And they put up a post about it. I have been added to The Great Wall of Posties. So I am very excited. Also I am Blog of the Day on Fuel My Blog and I have been talking to Kevin, who runs the site. I may be on a radio interview with him for a radio show in France. How wild is that. UPDATE: I’ve been talking with Kevin at Fuel My Blog and here is the latest news about Fuel My Blog. “FYI I just got picked up by a UK magazine, your picture in the top spot of the JPG, it goes out to 30,000 communications directors in the UK!! Feb is the release date!”

I was selected by Fuel My Blog as their Blog of the Day. So if you are visiting via that link, welcome. Fuel My Blog is an interesting concept. Bloggers can submit their blogs to one of the squares of Fuel My Blog and that square will house a picture of that blogger (or whatever avatar they choose) and by clicking that square you go right to that blog. I have the bottom two squares on the right corner. Also when you mouse over an occupied square the blog information comes sailing in from off screen. It is a pretty cool setup. Check it out.

Photo-A-Day #644 Target still had a few items on major clearance. This remote control VW bus with an MP3 player hook up in the trunk was marked down from $60.00 to $14.00. I picked it up because I’d really like to repaint it some Buffett colors and fill my MP3 player with Buffett tunes and drive it around the next concert in the Tweeter Parking lot. Here is the rear view. The bus also makes me think of the A-Team for some reason even through the van and the colors are off. There is just something about it that makes me think A-Team.

Recently Allison and I purchased some Hallmark Card Making software. Allison loves it because there are so many cards to choose from and she is a card buff. She writes out cars to everyone and there is hardly ever a night when she doesn’t have at least one or two cards tat she writes out. She had boxes of cards for special occasions and is very excited at having an entire card shop on the computer. We did many cards for the family for Christmas with the Card Studio software. It is a very nice product to have. There is also special paper that goes with the card program.

A month or so ago I had to make an extensive video for work. I jumped at the chance because I could learn Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 while at work. Hey I’m not dummy. I wanted to learn he ins and outs of the program before I started working on videos for my family, including the wedding video that I am going to put together for our wedding. Should be ready by the 2nd anniversary. I’m not using the program for another work related video and I am using the green screen functions to make something truly interesting. Wish me luck.

Photo-A-Day #643 Anyone need a giant desk. This is a very efficient piece of furniture. I have had this desk since 1999 when I worked at Saint A’s. I even got the college to buy me a second one for my office when I worked in Public Relations. This was a very good desk. But it has served its purpose and it is time to retire the desk. I t is actually time to go back to something that is much older than that desk and that would be…. Back to the built-in that my father made. I moved our desk stuff from the desk in the living room to the new (for us) built in Desk area.There was quite a bit to move but now things are pretty efficient. I can scan things easier because the scanner is within reach without standing on top of a chair. I do need to pick up a different monitor however. I’m thinking about getting one with the speakers built in because there is nowhere for my current speaker system to go. We’ll be doing something about that wall paper too.

Once the new wall is finished in the house we will be hanging up some pictures including the 5 Photo-a-Day Collages that I created for the Staff Art Show. Traditional wall hanging options have always been a pain in the neck for me. When we do the living room over and make it the dining room we will find evidence of those difficulties. There are going to be holes all over the place. I think I am going to buy us a set of Hercules Hooks to use to hang many of the pictures, they look easy to use and seem to be pretty strong. I have heard good things about them and I think I will buy us a set of them. Check back in a month or so and I’ll let you know how they worked out for us.

Today Is Allison’s birthday. I love you hon! Happy Birthday. I’ll be home as soon as I can. Hopefully your luggage arrives via FedEx today.

This is coming out for Cingular around June. Announced today is Apple’s new iPhone and I am truly impressed. This thing is fantastic. Yes, I have been a staunch PC person for years and have balked at many things Apple (even though our first computer for the family was an Apple IIC and I loved it.) The announcement today of the iPhone is just an awesome revolutionary bit of technology. Here are the features. Phone – Easy Merging of calls. Voicemail – Visual Voicemail, choose which voicemail to listen to first, just like e-mail. SMS – Predictive soft keyboard that helps prevent mistakes. Photos – 2 megapixel camera with a 3.5″ screen, sweet. Can also sync with photos on your MAC or PC Internet – Web browsing with safari. E-mail – Rich e-mail client that can display text and graphics. Google Maps – Built right in. Widgets – stock reports and weather among other things. Multi-touch – a high functioning touch screen interface. Intelligent keyboard – QUERTY keyboard, more efficient ...

Photo-A-Day #642 This is Oliver in mid yawn. I love it because he looks goofy and lately he’s been looking a little to tough with the big scratch across his nose. Ollie was sitting and laying wrapped up in a green blanket and he looked so cute so I got my camera and started to take his picture. This is Oliver’s cue to get up and un-cute himself. But I got him back I put up a goofy picture of him on the Internet as Photo-A-Day. Why is it that when a plane arrives early to the airport this means that you are going to arrive in the terminal 20-30 minutes late. Yes, this happened to me today. I flew from Cedar Rapids to ORD and we arrived early. Cause for celebration, um no. This means we park for a while because there is a plan at out gate, them we take the scenic route to the gate after a 10 minute site. all in all my flight was supposed to get in at 8:00am and we got in at 7:50am but didn’t get to the gate and off the plane till 8:25am. I hate hearing that we got there early because eff...

Okay here is a brand new product that has just been announced. I got an e-mail today about it. You can now get your iTunes media on your TV with Apple TV. This new product is connected to your broadband connection and or your computer and takes your iTunes media and allows you to play it directly on your TV. So podcasts like Don’t Be That Guy, Best Night ever and many more can be played through Apple TV. What I am not thrilled about is that this is a 40GB product for 299. The 30GB iPod which you can connect to a TV is only $249. And the 80GB iPod is $340. If this was such a revolutionary new product I would expect the GB’s to be much higher for the price. Nope I’m gonna wait on this one.

Photo-A-Day #641 Peter would be proud of me. I saw a sign for the Iowa’s Largest Frying Pan on my way back from Waverly, IA. I had to stop. I got off the highway and made my way up to the Frying Pan. I was wondering if it was in a building and how I would see it. Well, no problem finding it. Sign said Frying Pan straight ahead and yes, it was straight ahead. It was cold so I took this picture from the car. Then I decided to take my trusty tiny tripod and rig it up to get a picture of me with the frying pan. It was windy if you couldn’t tell from ym tie. I’m 5’9 and the round part of the pan is 9′ to the handle is 14′. You can learn more about Iowa’s Largest Frying Pan. It is a fairly new thing too, only constructed in 2004. I got back to the hotel, changed and headed to Buffalo Wild Wings to get some lunch. Got some medium wings (not going for fire today going for a nice taste.), had a Mello Yellow (I love Mello Yellow) and some popcorn shrimp. Then headed to find the local target and ...