The Chaz Sheet

I'm here again

2011-09-12T12:59:00.000-04:00

Have not posted in quite a long time, but was eating lunch and remembered that I had a blog!
Today everyone is getting ready for Hurricane Irene. That means the dumb-asses who live in this area have stripped every store clean of water, batteries, bread and milk. Milk? Why milk? When the power goes out you'll be stuck with cheese. I on the other hand invested in a generator years ago, so I have that in the ready. I have my ammo stock piled for anyone that tries to take my generator, and I have my MRE's all set to go.
Let the zombies come!

Unkept Deadlines Lead to Unkempt Corpses

2011-09-12T12:58:00.000-04:00

It was hot. Real hot. But Larry the Snitch said he had a hot tip that something big was going to be breaking and we had to meet. He called this afternoon but wouldn't give me the info over the blower. He said it was too hot to pass over the wires and "you never know who's listening".

I left a note with my secretary Charlene so she knew where I would be. She's a good kid but she's a bit of a bubble brain.

Fact or Fiction?

2011-01-18T11:58:00.000-05:00

I've been reminded I should blog. I asked why? My life is not that interesting. Can I blog in a fictitious fashion to make it more interesting? Sure! Why not was the resounding answer. So, your mission for now on, dear reader of The Chaz Sheet, is to determine if what I'm writing really happened or really DIDN'T happen. In other words is it FACT or FICTION?
They say fact is stranger than fiction so you may be able to decipher the story's true genre by using that as your rule of thumb. However, my life and my mind are both very strange and surreal so you as the reader will drift between the two worlds of my factual life and fictionally desired realities. There's a sign post up ahead, your next stop The Chaz Sheet Zone!

The Pain

2010-09-07T11:50:00.000-04:00

It can always find me, no matter where I go
I never can hide from its long haunted reach
Always staying close to me and never far from my home
Pain is ever present, ready to teach.

It carved half of my sight from out of my face
Its searing hot crooked blades shot through my head
I'm slowed down alot now, I'm outta the race
But I have my reasons to rise from my bed.

But there's pain, always pain
It reminds you you're alive
That you're not yet gonna die
And that's pain.

They shot X-Ray through my sick and dying chest
And they pumped toxic chemicals straight through my vains
Pain had its fun, it made me a mess
Made me feel like my body was held down in chains.

But I got 20 years before it did its worst damage
My heart just gave me troubles, but nothing I can't manage

But there's pain, always pain
It reminds you you're alive
That you're not yet gonna die
And that's pain.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tour Review: Izod Show NJ Aug 24 2010

2010-08-25T12:47:00.000-04:00

Last night I returned to the Rock'n'Roll world of live music in a big way! I attended Tom Petty and the Heartbreak's Mojo Tour at the Izod Center in East Rutherford NJ and this morning still am stoked from the energy of the show.
Having never seen TP&THB's live before I didn't know what to expect. Was TP going to hit us with new stuff right away? Is he an artist that shuns the old and classic stuff and insist that his fan base move along with him as he releases new songs? Well, TP knows what brought him his fan base and he delivered right out of the gate! The set started with a classic, Listen to Her Heart. The crowd erupted when the guitar hit those familiar chords and happiness filled the arena because we knew we were in for a good night. The marijuana haze quickly rose with the cheers as You Don't Know How it Feels was the next song on the list for the band to play. The crowd was delighted with the choices so far and they were vocal about it. This audience ranged in age from 18 to 50 something. Mostly prevalent were the thirty-something crowd who were enjoying the serious rock and roll and classic R7B that the band was pumping out. Next in the set was I Wont Back Down, then (as Tom Petty said) for the girls backstage and in the audience, Free Fallin'.
The band then paid homage to Fleetwood Mac as they did an excellent rendition of Oh Well which really sounded terrific. After that, Last Dance with Mary Jane kicked the crowd into a fury. Here's where I lose track of the list a bit.I think I heard Kings Highway which was a surprise from the Great Wide Open album.
TP worked in new songs from his outstanding R&B rock album Mojo next with Jefferson Jericho. I liked this song, but the harmonica may be a bit to overwhelming in the piece. It should supplement and not dominate in my opinion. The next songs were The Running Man's Bible, which I didn't know but enjoyed and I Should Have Known It which Mike Cambell Killed on guitar! He was absolutely amazing on this an left the audience gasping.
After this song TP called for the house lights and the audience roared to life. TP then played an acoustic version of Learning to Fly that the audience practically sang, and he let them. Don't Come Around Here was next and the energy from this song was driving everyone to their feet and making people look silly dancing in their places. There was this cool strobe light effect they used at the end of the song that was wild. Refugee was next and the band hit this hard. They totally blew the place apart as they used this one to leave the stage when they were done. The crowd did their thing in demanding they come back and after a while the band returned. They played Running Down a Dream and used a very interesting laser show on the opposite wall. It really was a spectacle but the music was the driving force. The finale of course was his anthem, American Girl. The band played with enthusiasm and energy and the crowd soaked it up. The entire night was enjoyable from start to finish. TP&THB's are talented Rockers and excellent entertainers most of all. I would absolutely spend anther evening with them given the opportunity.

Dogged Progress in Training but we are Doggone Tired

2010-07-26T10:41:00.000-04:00

July 1st we received Hunter from The Seeing Eye organization. We volunteered to be puppy raisers for them. The deal is that we get a pup, we house break them, train them in some basic commands they need to know and then between 14 and 20 months The Seeing Eye comes back for them and takes them back to continue their training at the Morristown NJ campus. The program is amazing and the family is very interested in how these dogs can become trained to guide a blind person through so many dangerous obstacles. We attended Family day a couple of years ago and saw the intense training the dogs go through in preparation for becoming a guide dog. We heard from people who have received these dogs and how they have changes their lives. It was inspiring.
We also were fortunate to have seen the process first hand when our niece raised two of these dogs and we watched the progress of these animals.
Now we have Hunter. He's called a Cross, (or a X) because he was a mix between a lab and a golden. Everyone I have met so far tell me that this combination is very intelligent and that the program has great success with these animals. All I know is he came to us at 8 weeks and was very calm and already sat on command. He seems very responsive to training and seems willing to work. He is about 11 weeks old now and seems to be showing a rebellious side, but I think he is just being a puppy. Overall, he is focused and looking to please us. He isn't spooked by loud noises such as thunder storms or vacuum cleaners. He doesn't chase squirrels and rabbits. Isn't perturbed by traffic or lawn mowers. He has gotten a variety of exposure and seems very stable. I think this dog will be fine in the program. If he doesn't make the seeing eye program for any reason and they don't have another use for him, (such as law enforcement or therapy dog) we will get an opportunity to get him back. I think this is a long shot though. Hunter seems destined to help a blind person.

My Song List

2010-04-13T11:06:00.000-04:00

I never went to a karaoke bar, but if I did I have in my head a list of songs I would sing. They are in no particular order:

Roadhouse Blues-The Doors
Bat Out of Hell-Meatloaf
Drift Away-Dobie Gray
Big Weekend-Tom Petty
Damaged by Love-Tom Petty
Flirting with Time-Tom Petty (I like Tom Petty)
I Need You-The Beatles
Help-The Beatles
Feel a Whole Lot Better-The Byrds
Southbound-Allman Brothers Band
Simple Kinda Man-Lynrd Skynrd

I probably can think of more, but I'm sure people would be sick of me by then and tell me to sit down.

Easter Egg Coloring

2010-04-04T21:16:00.000-04:00

Easter Egg coloring is an adventure whe you have a bunch of wee ones. Dishes of dye ou on somebodys table and little kids can make your hair stand on end, but my wifes sister and her husband were cool as cucumbers as these kids colored egss and tables an chisrs and anything else within 20 feet of the area. I give them alot of credit.
Happy Easter everyone!

A Jarring Moment

2010-03-11T21:23:00.000-05:00

I don't know if you have ever had one of these moments happen to you. But when it does it is disconcerting and disorienting and really annoying at the same time. The moment I'm referring to is that which you catch a glimpse of yourself in a mirror, or window or some reflection of yourself, and you don't recognize yourself for a minute. For a brief moment you are puzzled at the person in the reflection. Then to your horror you realize it is you! I believe that this is something that happens to oneself as you age because you have this image of yourself as a younger person. The reflection you see is the reality. The aging you. I don't mind getting old but why does your mind take so long to get along with the program? Why does it lag behind and think we ae still that 28 year old? I guess thats wat keeps us going so long.

Well, this is MY Cougar Moment...

2010-02-23T09:31:00.000-05:00

Nothing happens in my life. Nothing. Do you understand? I get up. I jog. I go to work. They beat me up. I go home. They beat me up. I make lunches. I clean up from dinner. I get the coffee ready for the 4:30 wake up, (ahhh...coffee!), and thats it. Everything in between consists of running my kids around, (mostly the 15 year old) and watching The Yankees and the Giants and two shows on TV. (I follow 24 and Lost.) So now you know how boring my life really is! So something happened two weeks ago that was really surreal, crazy and interesting.
I had to work late (as it has been the case lately) and was leaving the building listening to my music. I was set to do a quick walk to the bus terminal and get the next bus as fast as possible so I could resume my boring life at home when a well dressed older woman approached me with a bit of an excited look on her face and was obviously asking me something. She was a nice looking woman who was probably somewhere in her early 60's. She had the look of someone who was in town for a show, or a night on the town. I figured she was looking for a theater or a restaurant and was seeking my help to find it. I had my music up pretty loud, (it had been a stressful day and I was decompressing) so I didn't hear what she was saying. I stopped and pulled one ear bud out of my ear and said, "I'm sorry ma'am. I didn't hear you. What is it you need?" She looked at me and said "Oh your listening to music? Oh that's nice. Music." Instantly I knew I had made a mistake. Another looney tune in the city and I decided to stop and talk. "Yes. I'm listening to music." I said to her. "What can I help you with?" She looked straight at me and said" I don't live far from here. I was wondering if you would like to come to my place and have a little fun. We could have some drinks and have some fun. What do you say?" My ears were hearing it, but my mind was processing it saying "Noooo way! Did this broad just proposition me?" Then she asked me again, "do you want to go? I really don't live far form here." Then I did something I probably shouldn't have done, but I couldn't help it. I laughed. Out loud. I couldn't help it. The whole scene was bizarre, surreal and just plain insane at the same time. I held up my ring finger and said "I'm sorry. I'm a married man." She sniffed and said "oh" and walked on.
When I got home I told my wife and she laughed..... hysterically. I suppose she isn't threatened by this.
I guess this was my "cougar" moment. When you're 48 years old the cougars would be about 60 something.
Maybe older...that's just plain scary.

Friday Night with a Computer

2010-01-15T22:18:00.000-05:00

Its Friday night at 10:00 and I'm stting in my basement reconfiguring my old desktop PC..and I'm having a good time. What happened to me? At one point in my life I was just getting done coiffing my hair, throwing on my old army jacket and slugging down a Bud on my way out to carouse until wee hours of the night looking for fun and women. Now I'm plotting a music server with an old Pentium chip XP computer I have and ripping some CD's while I wait for it to finish updating. Woohoo! I'm amazed at its speed when its stripped down and relieved of its office software and kiddie games and all the pictures and antivirus crap. I am a bit geeky now. Its very weird. I think I should drink something quick!

Its a Wonderful Life to Die Harder!

2009-12-25T21:59:00.000-05:00

I like to watch the Frank Capra holiday classic "It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve. I like it up to the part where that dotty old Uncle Billy brags to Old Man Potter about his nephew Harry saving a transport full of soldiers in the Pacific and being awarded the Silver Star for heroism and inadvertently drops the days receipts from the building and loan into Potters lap. Uncle Billy just deposits 8 grand into the richest man in the towns lap unknowingly and then goes about his business in the bank. Both men don't know what happened until the old coot Uncle Billy tries to deposit an empty envelope and the teller informs him of the missing dough. Then Old Man Potter opens his newspaper, and WAALAA! he's just found $8,000.00 in the sports section! Damn fine way to start Christmas Eve!
The thing that gets me pissed off about this part of the movie is that there's no retribution for Potter. All this crap happens to George Bailey, losing the money, the bank examiner being there, the authorities coming to the Bailey household with a warrant to take George to jail, George trying to commit suicide but being saved by an inept angel, and then seeing what the world would look like if he was never born because Potter never says, "oh hey Bill, you dropped your money in my wheelchair!". He lets this play out and bad stuff happens. Oh sure, all the lovely people in town bail out George and Clarence gets his wings, but Potter gets off scott-free. I think we need to inject Bruce Willis into a remake. After Clarence gets his wings, he should drop a note with George Bailey that Potter had the money all along. Then George and Bert the cop, and maybe Ernie the cab driver,
(cause he looks nuts) can get themselves some shotguns and dynamite and get over to Potters. First they take out that Lurch like man-servant that protects Potter. Then they can shoot up his house like Rambo did to that police station. Then once Potter is inside cowering and crying for mercy, they can strap dynamite to his wheelchair and blow the crap outta him.
Then all will be set straight in Bedford-Falls.
Merry Christmas

I Know My Stuff, I Really Do!

2009-12-01T12:24:00.005-05:00

Why is it when I try to describe what I do to others it sounds stupid. It sounds like I don't know what I'm doing! They sit and stare at me with this look on their face like "Huh??". I tell them its my job to produce the content on the website and over see the production of all recorded products associated with the programs. Additionally I produce programs for outside clients for their CLE needs and post them online and host them. Huh??
Then we get clients who want us to do for them what we do for ourselves. Management tells me, "Go ahead Chuck, tell them what you do.." So I start to explain about the two separate workflows that exist. The live , on-site audience that needs all of the presentation equipment and the sound re-enforcement for them to hear and see the conference, and the live webcast audience that needs to get the conference delivered to their PC's and all the equipment associated with that. Huh??
Am I making sense or do I just not communicate well any longer? I wonder sometimes.

The Inbox

2009-11-09T21:13:00.002-05:00

I get email at work and I read it, (sometimes) and then I have to do something with it. I hate to have it sit there in my inbox. I don't know. It must be some sort of compulsion with me. I like a clean inbox. I have to move the read email somewhere. Delete it. Reply to it Act on it Print it then delete it. It must never sit in my inbox or else it tortures me. Sometimes, if it must sit there, I FLAG it! Then I know I have to go back and either move it, reply to it, delete it print it or do something to it. And then there's the Blackberry inbox. That's a mess all ti itself. I'm constantly deleting that thing no matter if I read it or not! I really don't like email. It is a messy thing.

Halloween Stinks

2009-10-14T08:52:00.002-04:00

I hate Halloween. I despise adults who get excited about "what they are going to wear" for the day. Halloween is for little kids who go trick or treating for candy. It's not a day for grown men to act out their transvestite fantasies in public or couples who don their B&D gear for everyone to see. I think its a bizarre display of exhibitionism. Quite frankly, it's disturbing to me to see my 40 something year old neighbor in her daughters cheerleader outfit. Deep down I know she wishes she was that little kid again and perversely she is soooo enjoying the Halloween moment in front of us all. Yuck! Please people. Keep all your costumes locked up in your closets and just wear them for your spouses and loved ones who care for you. I hate to tell you this. You are annoying and you don't look as good as you think you do. Now get away from my door step or I'll have to get my peace-maker and blast your ass!

Being Martha or Being Mary

2009-10-08T12:10:00.003-04:00

I assume if you've attended church you might have heard this one before, but I think its important. I read the Bible in the morning. It helps me focus and gets my mind centered on life's priorities. I read the passage in Luke where Jesus was visiting a house and the two sisters, Martha and Mary were there. Martha was running around making dinner and tending to all the details for the guests, but Mary was just chilling listening to Jesus and enjoying his company. Martha was getting pissed because she was doing all this work and Mary wasn't doing crap and she said to Jesus, " Hey Jesus, do you think its fair that I'm running around doing everything and Mary is sitting there doing nothing?" Jesus turned to her and said, "Don't sweat the details Martha. Whatever will be, will be. Mary knows I won't be here forever and she's enjoying the time she has with me. You should chill too." Jesus is cool in my book. I don't think he was trying to put Martha down, but she has to know when to stop and enjoy life. Too often we get caught up in the details. We need to slow down and enjoy what life has for us, what God has given us and don't be in such a hurry to always do the work that we think has to be done or take care of the silly details. I think we should pay attention to the little things and enjoy them. The laundry and the garbage and the painting and the vacuuming can all wait. Be with your loved ones.

Furniture Shopping Continued

2009-10-02T11:56:00.004-04:00

Cathy and I finally pulled the trigger on some furniture. A leather couch, loveseat and chair for the room from Thomasville. See pics at this website I guess we can finally sit in our family room. Too bad that there's no money left to get a TV! Damn furniture! What good is a family room without a TV! What are we gonna do? Sit back there and read? Play the fiddle and square dance like we are Ma an Pa, Half-Pint and Mary in the Little House on the Prairie? Damn Damn Damn! I need to watch some football games in my room. I'm pissed.

Furniture Shopping

2009-08-28T10:21:00.003-04:00

I had a family room built (as you know if you have followed my blog-see pics in previous posts). It has been completed since about April or May. It stands empty. Why you ask? Because we need to go furniture shopping. We need to allocate funds for shopping and we need to come up with a floor plan for the furniture. These are all very hard things to accomplish apparently. Whatever happened to the good old days when you went out, looked at one store and bought a living room set for $900.00? Now everything is super expen$ive and the sales people are all interior designers, (how'd that happen?) who want to come to your house to see your floor plan and match your other peices. Huh? Everything is an "accessory" or an "investment". I just want a place to sit and watch the game. When did this becoame so hard. I feel like furniture shopping has become the new car shopping. It has that greasy feeling to it and it makes me sweat when I hear the financing terms. As a matter of fact, I think this next set of furniture will be as much as I paid for my first new car! Crazy stuff.

I'm Done with the Bus Observations

2009-08-26T09:32:00.004-04:00

No more about the bus...for now. Right now I want to talk about Facebook. I think I have to stop being on Facebook for awhile. I decided Facebook is narcissism. I'm starting to feel too self absorbed there. It's all about me and whats going on with me and here's some pictures of me doing stuff. Why do I think anybody gives a crap? My life is pretty damn boring as it is. Why would I want to bore others with this stuff anyway? It would only be interesting if I did interesting stuff! Maybe I should wait to post that stuff instead of camping pictures and land of make believe photos. I'm falling asleep thinking about it. Now If me and the wife vacationed at a nudist resort, that would be an interesting post. And quite narcissistic!
Anyway I'm going to take a FB break. I am digging this Twitter thing though twt.fm.com where you can share music and comment on it. I've been posting that to my FB page, but nobody either sees it or wants to comment on it. I am going try that for awhile and see if I can get a buzz on that. Maybe I can link it to this blog? hmmmmmm am I being narcissistic?

Bus Stories: Chapter Three

2009-08-20T09:53:00.002-04:00

Another interesting character is a man I liked to call "brief case seat man". I called him this because he seemed to revel in the times when the bus was full and was standing only. He would hop gaily upon the bus chuckling slyly to himself then walk down the aisle. Once he found himself an open spot, he would place his briefcase down and take out some sort of home made plank and wedge it into the briefcase. This would then act as a seat that would run across the brief case that he could sit on. He would happily plop himself down on that and smile as if he had just found money. Then he would take out of an expandable side pocket on the brief case a portable coffee mug that was wrapped in electrical tape and sip at it until we arrived into the city. I suppose the electrical tape gave it some extra thermal capabilities? He was quite an intriguing passenger on the old 165.

Bus Stories: Chapter Two

2009-08-18T09:55:00.003-04:00

Today I want to tell you about the Philipino lady that runs to the line no matter if there is a bus there or not. She is obsessed with beating you to the line and getting in front of you no matter what. You can be walking down the ramp to the bus line and all of a sudden a whooshing sound will go by you and a streak of black hair and white sneakers is all you can see as this crazy woman speeds past you to get one spot in fron of you in line. One day I saw her coming and started jogging. She started sprinting harder. I picked up speed and she started coming at me harder. I started running and before you knew it we were in a foor race. I had to start sprinting, but I beat her to the line. When I got there I put up my arms like a champion. She gave me a dirty look that seemed to say, I will get you again one day. What a lunatic!

Bus Stories: Chapter One

2009-08-17T14:07:00.002-04:00

The Parkway 165 is its own little world. There are people who take the train to Manhattan, then there are those of us who ride the bus to The City. We get on at our frigid or steaming or wet stops and smash ourselves into the 49 seats inside the atmosphere that is controlled by the driver. By sheer luck each day the pleasantness of your ride is determined by the hygiene and habits of your seatmates. Yes the bus is a different world from the train. Characters abound inside that tube of steel and padded foam seats. In the next few entries I will attempt to convey to you, the reader, the unique experiences bus riders endure when commuting to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City.
In order to give you an idea of the passenger that rides the bus, my wife once had the occasion to pick me up. Her car was facing the bus door as the passengers unloaded and she viewed each person as they dis-embarked from the bus. As I got to the car she was inside laughing hysterically. When I asked her what was so funny she said that she was struck funny because every person that came off the bus was funny looking or ugly. One after the other, the bus unloaded a carnival like freak show in front of her and it just struck her as funny.
She isn't exaggerating. I will start with the 5 foot tall man that sits on the bus each day and cowers whenever anybody sneezes, coughs or sniffles. This man looks as if he should have retired years ago. His portly self is squeezed into ill fitting, rather drab and dirty looking suits. He reads the free newspapers that are given out on the streets and generally looks as if he has sucked lemons all day. He has a nasty habit of digging in his ears with his pinkie fingers and pulling out gobs of sticky earwax. He then will proceed to wife it on the upholstery of the seat in front of him. This is a disgusting site that makes my stomach turn. People have audibly groaned when he does it, but he ignores them. He is a disgusting troll like being.

My Wife and her Butchered Sayings

2009-04-24T15:28:00.002-04:00

My wife has a knack for butchering famous sayings and phrases. Some of my favorites I will list below so everyone can enjoy them. The funny part is that I understand what she means when she says them!

1. "We will burn that bridge when we get to it" rather than Don't burn your bridges before you cross them.
2. "You get my goat going" rather than You get my goat!
3. "1 dozen of one and a half of another" rather than 6 of one and a half-dozen of another.
4. "Let the cat out of the beans" rather than let the cat out of the bag.

These are the interesting malapropisms of my wife.

Closing in on the end

2009-03-23T16:02:00.002-04:00

We are ending the final phase of the construction. It took longer than expected due to a brutally cold and snowy winter. The house was especially cold this year because it was open to the weather in spots where windows were missing, and pieces of the house were missing! I suffered in there this year. Usually its very cozy, but this winter was cold, damp and just awful. We spent the better part of the winter in the warmest part of the house...the basement. That's where we put the TV and the couch and that's the only place that there were no holes open to the outside. Well that is now behind us and the house is shaping up. What's left is painting and getting the outside back into shape. By the summer, it will all be a distant memory. I am actually looking forward to next winter when I can fire up my new fireplace and warm my old bones next to it. Hopefully we will have fond memories in the newly constructed family room.

Closing In on Construction

2009-01-18T15:19:00.003-05:00

Its getting closer now. We are framed. The windows are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. (If they are installed, thats to be determined). Inspections on framing and rough electrical on Wednesday, then insulation and sheetrock. After that, spackle, floor, paint trim and wah-lah! We are done! Keep your fingers crossed.

A New Tradition

2008-12-26T08:16:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was Christmas. Usually we spend it with my family. We get up in the morning, open presents then do this mad dash to get ready and get to the Christmas celebration. It usually involves travelling crowded highways and trying to make it to places at appointed times which translates into stressful events. Well yesterday I told my family that I was taking the Christmas holiday at home with my family. They were a little puzzled. Why would I do that? Christmas is a time to be with family! I explained that I wanted to stay home and enjoy my family and just relax with them on Christmas. I wanted to step back from the hustle and bustles of having to be here and be obliged to visit because its Christmas.
It was a great decision. We had the most stress free and relaxing holiday we have ever had. The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves right through to the evening. They play with their gifts, enjoyed a Christmas dinner served on fine china and just a relaxing special time together. We didn't have to be anywhere, or go anywhere, or have to do this or that....it was our time. It was special and it was great. It is a new tradition.

Making Good Progress

2008-12-26T08:09:00.002-05:00

We are finally making progress on the building project. The December of 2008 will go down as the wettest in the last decade. It made building next to impossible. There wasn't clear weather for more than a day and a half the whole moth. The the snows began to fly. What a mess. But some how they manage to get the family room framed adn today they are roofing. Monday I am told that the garage and mudroom are to be started. We are making good progress and should be framed and weather tight at least by the end of January I hope.

Building Blocks to Moving Forward

2008-11-29T15:43:00.002-05:00

The weather cooperated for one day and a crew of 15 masons arrived at the scened and built the foundation in one day! It was something to see. My yard looks like a bomb went off in it, but we are getting closer to getting the framing done. Can it be that the addition and garage will be buttoned up by Christmas? Now that would be an awesome gift from Santa!

What We Have Here is Just a Hole in The Ground!

2008-11-14T22:53:00.003-05:00

Well it's been two weeks and all we have is a demolished house and two very deep holes in the ground. We have unearthed an abandoned septic tank and had to have that removed, (a change order of course!) and we have discovered some things in the plans that may need to be added, such as a concrete pad in front of the mud room door way which was an option for later. It makes sense to do it now while the mason is pouring concrete. Also the entrance would be in a flower bed as it stands right now which would look really silly. So as usual, the surprises always come and the money always leaves us. Gotta love construction.

Demolition Begins!

2008-11-03T20:14:00.002-05:00

It has finally begun. Friday permits were issued and today, Monday November 3rd 2008 demolition of the Carport has begun. What has begun in our heads way back in 1991 has finally taken shape. It has taken a long time to get off the ground. Countless hours of talking, planning and pushing through variance meetings and building offices. Passing by contractors and bankers, but finally is under way. It is supposed to take about 3 to 4 months to finish. We shall see.

Apple Picking at Maskers Farm

2008-10-20T20:46:00.005-04:00

We went Apple picking at Maskers Farm on Sunday. It was a cool fall day. The wind was blowing, the leaves were turning a beautiful red and golden color and...there were hardly any apples left in the orchard! Hard to believe, but true! The place was virtually picked clean. It was the middle of October and the orchard was practically bare. We had invited my wife's brother and sister and their families up to this orchard that was about an hour's ride away and there seemed to be no fruit to be found. My wife was starting to sweat even though the temperature was cool. After awhile we started to find the apples though. It became a hunt, One had to use all of their senses to find the elusive fall fruit. The apples were tucked high in the trees and camouflaged in the leaves but, they were there. We ended up having a great time. My brother in law climbed trees and knocked apples down with a stick. The kids thought that was so funny. I never thought he could scamper up a tree, but he did it. It was a fantastic day and everyone want to go again next year. Go figure.

Taking a Time Out for Catarina

2008-10-12T19:48:00.007-04:00

I am taking a time out on the construction description, (of which there is not alot) to give a little notice on some family news. The christening of Catarina! My five month old niece was christened today. She is such a good baby. She didn't even let out a peep. She hardly ever cries. It was a lovely christening and father Joe did a wonderful job. He made everyone feel that they were a part of it and made them remember their baptisms. It was special. My brother in law and sister in law did a nice party afterwards that everyone enjoyed. It was a nice day.

Architect Finally Done?

2008-10-09T19:25:00.003-04:00

I spoke with the architect and it seems that he might have finally completed all of the revisions this town has asked him to complete. I think he is supposed to drop the plans of at my house tonight and the builder is going to take them to the town tomorrow and maybe finally get the permits for the job. One could only hope. Of course, Monday is a holiday so I'm sure that will delay the issuance of the permits by weeks. My sister who started this process after me is already starting her construction. Its always the same story with my jobs. I'm last.

Rules and Regulations Part 14

2008-10-01T13:35:00.005-04:00

The Township of Washington thwarts its citizens at every turn when they try to improve their residences. The latest saga is our submitted codes are not up to date and our smoke alarms don't show on the plans. It seems that the town eagerly adopt any changes to the codes as the State changes them so that they may charge additional fees and impose prohibitive regualtions upon its people. As far as the smoke alarms are concerned, they were installed years ago under code required by the town. You would think that they would have retained that info and referenced it. But i guess not. It's for the homeowner to provide again. A database would be a good idea for this town. So needless to say our construction job has been delayed another 15 to 20 days. We probably wont be breaking ground now until mid to end of October. It's getting mighty close to when the snow flys!

There is Nothing New Under This Sun

2008-09-22T21:22:00.002-04:00

Interestingly enough there is no construction news to report. We had a rainy weekend with hurricane Ike and I took the opportunity to move all the furniture out of the current family room and into the basement in preparation of it's demise, and yet there has been no demolition. Sadly we wait with the house one quarter empty and the basement stuffed with the TV and several couches and chairs. We huddle together there and watch television like a family awaiting a nuclear strike. One good thing is if we are attacked and a nuclear bomb is dropped or if a tornado hits while we are watching TV, we most likely will survive down in our bunker! So the wait continues. Destruction before construction. I will keep you informed.

Too Long Between Posts

2008-09-02T11:31:00.002-04:00

Yes my friends, its been way too long between my informative posts. I missed the whole dang month of August! Not that I did so much, but I was pretty busy at work and at home. We took a short vacation to Ocean City Maryland and enjoyed that very much. It was our first time there and we would want to go back. Nice beach and and a clean beach town with fun things to do for the kids. Of course the kids have been driving us crazy, so the wife and I have resolved that we have to do more for ourselves and less for those little buggers. Tomorrow school begins for them and they are each in a different school. I feel sorry for the little one as she is now on her own in the elementary school. But lately she has exhibited a nastiness that either says she is either nervous about it, or she is just turning plain old mean. I don't know which. It seems that I'm raising a bunch of crazy kids. Makes me and the wife really wonder and feel desperate and exasperated sometimes. Anyway, to make matter worse, I'm about to begin CONSTRUCTION on the house. I figure this will be a good place to chronicle the experience. We signed the contract last night and mailed the down payment. I will keep you informed on the progress.

The 75th Anniversary Party of PLI!

2008-07-16T10:47:00.006-04:00

The organization I work for just celebrated their 75th Anniversary. They have been doing business since 1933! Imagine that! When our founder started the business, he saw that once lawyers left law school, there was no formal training available to them to keep them abreast of changes in the law. He started a non-profit institution to address the continuing education needs of lawyers and in that he started an industry. Today there are hundreds of organizations that offer CLE and the competition in the field is fierce. We have to compete for every CLE dollar out there. We compete with local bars and huge national organizations like West. Here's hoping we have success for the next 75 years! Go PLI!

A Stressful, Busy Time Off of Work

2008-06-24T22:06:00.004-04:00

See this dog? This dog stayed at my house over the weekend. It was a seeing eye pup that needed watching over the weekend. My wife agreed to pet sit. This cute pup was a terror! She was a barker, a biter and had a bad attitude. That's how I spent most of my weekend. Keeping this cute pup in line. It nipped me good a couple of times and got my little girl a good one on the back of her leg. It chased my 13 year old around (which was actually funny to see) and generally terrorized the kids. And they still want a dog. Go figure!

I also advertised my 1998 Honda Accord. (You know. The one that was in the crash) I told everyone who came to see it that it was in a crash, but that it wasn't that bad and it was fixed. Nobody believed me. They all thought I was trying to unload a bad car on them. They all thought I was lying to them. The guy who finally bought it actually asked me if I told him the truth about the accident. Why would I tell him anything if I was trying to lie? The people who called me about the car and those who came out to see it were ALL weird. Each and everyone of them. It was like they were out of a freak show or a circus. Well, that was stressful too, but I sold it. For less than I wanted to, but I sold it. Never again will I do something like that. I never thought I'd say this but I'd rather deal with a car dealer.

Off the Rack Clothes

2008-06-04T09:25:00.003-04:00

Went to Macy's last night because the wife said my pants were too big and I needed new ones. I guess it's a good thing that I had to buy new clothes because they were too big. Usually its because they get too tight. Well I normally hate clothes shopping because I have limited availability due to the fact that I have to find larger sizes to fit me. This time it was easier though. Since I fit into normal sized clothes, there was more variety and I got to choose sale items. My wife gave me a pair of Haagar slacks to try on and I snapped at her that I don't wear those pants because they have elastic in the waist band. Homer Simpson wears those pants! I found a couple of pairs of pants two shirts and a belt and it wasn't all that much. I went down a size in my shirt too. I wear a Large now instead of an X-L. It feels good to go into a store and buy clothes off of a rack without rifling through them to find the big ones.

Car Crash

2008-06-03T10:24:00.002-04:00

Last weekend I got into a car crash. I was driving in my 1998 Honda Accord with my wife in the front passenger seat and two of my children Jack and Diana in the back seat. We were on our way to relieve a friend who had been babysitting my sister-in-law's newborn all day. We had picked up some Chinese and some KFC for her and the kids and we were planning to have a nice relaxing evening watching little Catarina. The kids were cute because we rarely order out and they were excited to help out babysitting. My oldest daughter was out at a birthday party for one of her friends, so this was their chance to step up and be the big helpers.
We were going along between 35 to 40 mph and going through an intersection. It was a green light and the intersection was clear. Suddenly this blue car travelling in the opposite direction turned directly into my path. There was no time to do anything but jam on the brakes. I locked them up and we collided. I think we slowed enough so that the impact wasn't bad enough to set off the air bags, but it was a real jolt. Her car spun into the intersection and hit another car. I was able to pull over. I looked back to see if the kids were all right. They were wide eyed but ok. Thank God for that. My wife was ok too. Everyone was wearing seat belts. It really makes a difference. I never go anywhere without making sure I'm buckled and the kids are buckled in as well. The other driver was not hurt either, but shook up. I walked over to her to make sure she was ok and she was babbling something like, "I don't now where I am". so I left her alone. The cops said she was in the wrong and there were three witnesses who said she drove right in front of me. I hope my insurance carrier sees it that way. This will probably mean the end of my car. I didn't even pay off the repair bill from last month yet. Oh well. Nobody was hurt. My kids were safe and we all walked away. That's what's important. The car can be replaced. My kids can't.

My Town's Shameful War on Critters

2008-05-29T14:34:00.002-04:00

Jogging this morning I realized that my town must be waging a war on critters in my town. On any given day there are at least three carcasses of squirrels, possums or skunks left strewn about on the road after they have been run over by a car or after they have met some other untimely end. Never does the town send an animal control officer to clean up the carcass. There it sits. Day after day. Becoming flattened and twisted by each passing car. It's body being turned into a gruesome display of festering guts and tanning leather until it becomes some hard piece of hairy disc that slides around on the road. Does my town leave these bodies strewn on the road as a warning to other critters? Do they mean to say, "Look what happened to this critter. If you stay here this could be you!!" Why don't we just remove their heads and place them on poles around town? They could place them by the signs that say You are now Entering Township of Washington. CRITTERS BEWARE! and have their head on a pole next to the sign. Or we could crucify them and stick them up by the side of the main roads. This would be more effective than just leaving them on the road.

My Family is Funny

2008-05-27T14:58:00.002-04:00

I was with my family over the Memorial Day Weekend. It's funny to listen to my sisters talk about their kids. They have older children than us and they are experiencing different stages than what we are going through with our kids. Its interesting to learn from them as they go through these stages. Its also scary. I hope I can handle it without killing them. My 13 yo daughter is already driving me nuts. This is a picture of me in a batting cage in San Francisco at AT&T Park. I still got it!

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-23T11:19:00.003-04:00

This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend. Here is a list of things I would like to do:

1. Bar-B-Q Ribs, Hot Dogs and Hamburgers and drink beer

Listen to music outside on the deck and have a catch with the kids, play bocci ball and frolic.

Laugh with my wife and friends until late into the night

Go swimming

Here's what I will REALLY do:

Stain the fence. All 750 square feet of it. Cut the lawn.

Grill chicken and have it over Romain lettuce and wash it down with a Diet Coke

Yell at the kids because they will be bored and bicker with the wife because I won't be doing enough around the house.

Collapse into bed sore and tired.

Yep. It's a sad, sad existence until the end.

Since I Started Reading The Wall Street Journal

2008-05-22T10:08:00.002-04:00

I started reading the Wall Street Journal for work. I needed to keep up on the business news. I felt it necessary to see what the heck all my colleagues were talking about. I mostly read The NY Post. I loved the headlines, like "Headless Body Found in Topless Bar". Absolutely brilliant. Nowhere else in New York would you get writing like that!! Also, the sports section was second to none. They always covered the Giants fully and I got all the info I needed during the season about the inner workings of the football team. But alas, I needed to grow up and read some real news. I needed political insight, business news and world news that was responsibly reported without the funny snide-ness that the Post reports with. But oh my goodness, its a scary world out there. In the past few months I have been reading the WSJ here's what I have been learning:

The price of oil has been increasing and there's no stopping it for the foreseeable future. In fact, we might be running out of the stuff and there really isn't any viable alternative in place.
Food shortages around the world is sparking riots. Countries are hording rice and prices are soaring
Bio-fuels may have caused food shortages and people may be going hungry because we turned corn and soybeans into fuel
Wind Power can't be a viable alternative in generating electricity.
The president and Congress can't get anything done and both should be put out to pasture.
The Federal Reserve bailed out Bear Sterns with tax money and that was supposed to be a good thing for the economy???
Now homeowners who were stupid enough to take loans they couldn't afford get the government to bail them out on the taxpayers dime. And the guy who never missed a payment gets what???? The worlds upside down
Cyclones, earthquakes and more cyclones don't discriminate. They just wreck and kill.
Despite bad economic times, Disney theme parks in the USA continue to thrive. That's mind boggling.
Politics keep going on and people seem to think it is going to be different. It doesn't matter.

Annoying Women on the Bus

2008-05-20T08:57:00.002-04:00

The 6:50 AM bus is usually a quiet commute into New York City. Most people shuffle into their seats and either open their papers and read or drift off to sleep for another 45 minutes before starting their hectic day. Today was not one of those days. Two women dressed in Gucci prostitute wear stepped into the bus talking loudly enough so everyone could hear them and decided to sit directly behind me. One had a voice that sounded like she had been smoking cigarettes and drinking whisky all night. The two of them discussed such banal topics it made my head spin. It was impossible not to hear them because they talked to each other so loudly. They were discussing how ugly the color of the MetroCard was for goodness sake! I couldn't take it anymore. I was tempted to say something, but rather than get into an argument with these mental midgets, I stuck my MP3 player earphones firmly in my ears and turned the volume way up loud and tried to drown the nonsense they were talking about out of my ears. I could barely hear them after that. I then didn't have to go Cyclops on them!

When You're Little

2008-05-19T08:58:00.002-04:00

When you're little life is really much easier. Your problems are smaller. My daughter Diana tells me that she hates being little because she isn't allowed to do anything fun. She can't stay up late and she can't go out by herself. She isn't allowed to cross the street or go down to the shopping mall alone. She told me it's not fair that she's so little. I told her it's good to be little because she doesn't have to do the same chores her sister and brother have to do. (I told this to her as they were clearing the dinner dishes and loading the dishwasher and washing pots.) She looked at them working and grinned at them. They looked at her and sneered. Then I let her crawl up into my lap and I told her that its good to be little because she can still fit into my lap. (She really is getting a tad too big for that but its OK.) She looked at me and smiled and snuggled into me. "So you see" I told her, "its not so bad being little. And you're not little for long." She just grunted at me and mumbled something about me changing her bedtime to a later hour. I gave the answer I always give.

We'll see.

The Impending Weekend

2008-05-16T10:09:00.002-04:00

The weekend should be spent relaxing and recuperating from the long hard work week. Not a chance! When you have a wife with ambitious plans and three children in sports, the weekend is anything but relaxing. I have resigned myself to the fact that Saturday and Sunday are just more days of work. So tomorrow I shall rise early again and get ready to do the chores and drive kids around and do those things that have to be done until I'm silly with exhaustion. Then I'll go to sleep and do it again. TGIF?

The Homework!

2008-05-16T09:54:00.002-04:00

I'm the first to admit that my wife does most of the homework with the kids every night. Every night the three kids have a bunch of homework that they have to get done. My 13 year old daughter takes care of most of her work herself. Sometimes I have to proof her essays and offer guidance, but for the most part, she can work independently. However, my 10 year old son needs total guidance through the entire process. My wife has been doing this since September. It's now May and he hasn't gotten any better at working independently. It is beginning to wear us down. Even my 7 year old girl works more independently than he does. I think it's a boy thing. He doesn't seem to pick up things as quickly as his sisters. I remember when his older sister was in fourth grade. She began working on her homework independently mid year. I'm looking forward to the end of school. I hate homework. It feels like the teachers give it out just to keep some parents quiet. I think kids need less homework and more downtime when they are out of school. It's not effective when after a long day at school they have to spend two plus hours doing more school work. Kids need to play too. And so do adults!

World Disasters

2008-05-15T08:56:00.002-04:00

The world is full of disasters right now. Cyclones killing 128,000? in Myanmar? That's unbelievable. The earthquake in China and all those people killed and so many others trapped in the rubble of buildings. Its horrible. Then there are the twisters that just happened in the Midwestern US that killed so many and dis-placed all those people. The pictures of those people wandering around the remnants of their homes while their neighbors stood untouched was heartbreaking. Nature can pack a punch on you that can make it hard to get up. Just when you think you have everything under control and its going along really well, something like this can take it all away. Each day you get is really a blessing. Use it wisely.

Taking a Breather

2008-05-14T09:41:00.003-04:00

Next week I'm going to shut down the department early in the afternoon and take the staff out bowling. The past several months have been extremely hectic here in our department. The demands of the day have been taking their toll on our usually cheerful department, so I felt it was time to blow off some steam and have some fun. I hope that this small gesture will give the staff a morale boost and invigorate them. It's been a long hard winter. We have been battling a tough economy and the organization has been leaning on us to produce. I think we need this little break just to lighten the mood here and get back to normal. Hopefully Between this and relaxing the cake rule we can have a happy group once more!

Cell Phone Tower Revisited

2008-05-13T11:40:00.002-04:00

Last night my Town Council held a public meeting. Most of the people there were interested in one topic: the cell phone tower. However, they allowed one person who had an issue with a neighbor making a second driveway on his property open the session. After he presented the council admitted that the ordinance that they crafted last year to address the problem of people who needed more driveway space parking on their front lawns was faulty. It allowed anyone who needed more space to dump gravel on their lawn and use that as parking. This was a loophole that some were using and it made for ugly properties and angry neighbors.
The next issue was the cell phone tower issue. The council tried to assure us that they were on top of the issue and that they were going to try to persuade the cell phone companies to use "distributed antennae technologies" or "non impact" technologies instead of a 125 foot tower. I am seriously incredulous especially after witnessing how they botched a driveway ordinance. How do they expect to stand up to cell phone companies?
HA!

Your DNA

2008-05-12T08:23:00.002-04:00

This weekend I wasn't feeling well. My wife and daughter went food shopping as I stayed home with my other two kids. As I was laying in bed at 7 pm and burping my peanut butter sandwich back up through my nauseous stomach for the hundredth time, it dawned on me that perhaps Alka Seltzer would calm my sick feeling. I picked up the phone and dialed my daughter's cell phone. When she picks up I said, "Can you please bring me back some Alka-Seltzer from the store?" "OK Dad", she answered, "we will get you lots of seltzer." "No!" I said back to her. I need ALKA-Seltzer". "Lots-a Seltzer?" She said back to me again. "ALKA SELTZER ALKA-SELTZER" I'm yelling into the phone. "Put your mother on. When my wife got on the phone and heard what I wanted she started cracking up. My daughter never heard of Alka-Seltzer before, so she didn't know what it was I was asking for.
The point here is that when she didn't understand me I yelled louder to her, as if that would help her somehow understand better. My father used to do the same thing. If you didn't understand that 7 times 6 was 42 he would yell it louder to you as if more decibels would get it across your cerebellum better. I should be more conscious of this trait that I have and try not to do this. But I guess its something that is etched into your DNA and is really hard to change. I'm working on it.

Trying to Stay Afloat

2008-05-08T21:55:00.002-04:00

Keeping your head above water these days is tough. What my wife and I had been doing was using the credit card to food shop, buy various items etc. Although we always pay off the balance, it was becoming a big bill. What I decided to do was take the money out of the bank before we use the card. In this way, we have the cash and we tend to spend less than if we use the card. Well we have hit some bumps in the road to say the least. I am trying to keep my marriage out of The Chaz Sheet, but let me tell you, finances put a strain on any marriage. I think in the long run, we will come out better off because we will be more conscious on what we are spending. with the credit card, you are more apt not to worry if the item is a bit more. With cash, it has to be the right amount or else yo can't buy it. I will let you know how it works out.

Talented People

2008-05-07T14:07:00.002-04:00

My San Francisco employee was in our New York office this week finally meeting his co-workers for the first time since he began working for me almost seven years ago. As he worked with them and talked about their jobs and their responsibilities, he said to me how impressed he was with all of them. He is right. I have quite a few talented people working for me. They are a blend of skills and knowledge that really do impress those who meet them. When I sit down and think what they have to do on a daily basis it is amazing. Not only do they have their skills, they share and teach one another. That mentoring, the sharing of skill sets each one may possess more of than the other, that is what impresses me most. They truly want to pass on their knowledge and teach what they know. They get satisfaction when their co-workers understand the job as well as they do. Managing them isn't about managing the people. It's about managing the environment in which they work. I just try to insure that they are able to grow in the workplace. In doing this my department benefits and so do I.

Yankee Game

2008-05-06T13:21:00.001-04:00

Today I'm taking somebody who is from San Francisco to Yankee Stadium. He has never been there before. That to me is really something! I have been to Yankee Stadium as a kid with my Dad to see the Giants play football. It was before they renovated and I remember getting to the seats and there was a big column in front of one of the seats. My Dad looked at the two seats and pointed to the obstructed view seat and said, "that's yours". I really didn't care. I had a great time and my Dad bought me this red plastic horn so I could blow the charge song. I have been to a few Yankee games there. A couple with my kids. So my co worker for SF is going to get a treat. He gets to see a game at Yankee Stadium on the last season they play in the old stadium. The stadium the legends played in. I think he will enjoy it. I hope the Yanks win.

The Birthday Girl

2008-05-05T10:02:00.003-04:00

Saturday was my daughter Diana's seventh birthday. She is the youngest child of my three. At 5 pm we had 17 little 6 year olds show up just waiting to be entertained for two hours. My wife and I decided to do a house party. We decided against renting out a party place or some type of entertainment because the costs were unbelievable and Diana wasn't thrilled with the activities she had to choose from. We chose to do a house party. We had one of our friends "style" the girls hair, our teenage daughter and her friends did their nails and then there were games. It went pretty well. The one thing I notice throughout the whole party though was my daughter. The way she conducts herself and how she interacts within her group is amazing. She is so confident and sure of herself. I think she is really something. I tell her I think she is a "pip". She is brimming with confidence and self assured-ness and I think she is destined to do some big things. Happy birthday Diana. Many more.

Worry

2008-05-02T08:43:00.003-04:00

Worry is a wasteful activity. My sister told me she spends 5 to 10 minutes a day worrying about the things she feels merit it, then she puts it behind her and gets on with the day. I guess that's a good attitude. I try to spend little time worrying about things I can't control. I feel that if I have done my best work, made my best decisions, then worrying is pointless. My wife on the other hand worries about everything. She tries to see each action through to every foreseeable conclusion. She can't fathom an outcome that she didn't calculate. Surprises are not something she relishes. She needs to know and control the event so that each conclusion is logically and neatly tied up and handily packed away, categorized and filed.
That's not the way life runs.
I roll with it.

Reconsideration on No Cake Rule

2008-05-01T16:08:00.003-04:00

It has been brought to my attention that my "No Cake Rule" may be viewed as overly harsh and unusually cruel to my fellow workers. I was especially made aware of this from my friend Kym who informed me that they have a rotating cake rule at her place of employment in Old Tweeds Bank! It seems that one person is assigned a person to buy a cake for on their birthday and when that birthday comes up they celebrate it. I will therefore temporarily lift my No Cake Rule and institute "Australian Birthday Cake Rules" to see how it goes. Heaven help us.

New Addition

2008-05-01T15:46:00.004-04:00

My sister in law had a baby on April 29th. She is really small, (as babies usually are) and really cute. I had a day off from work yesterday and visited them both in the hospital. They are both doing very well. Catarina is the babies name and she is a good girl. She is so quiet and she sleeps alot. Once in a while she opens her eyes and looks at the world around her, makes a really cute sound and then drops off to sleep. I hope for my sister in law and my brother in law's sake she stays like that for them. They have an active 2 year old at home and he keeps them busy enough. This baby will most likely be the last one born in our family as we are all getting on in years. It was nice to be holding a newborn again. It reminded me of when I had my kids. It just serves to remind you that as you read the bad news each day, there is hope out there with every single child born.

Feeling Better

2008-04-29T08:35:00.000-04:00

My oldest daughter had to get braces so that meant cutting back somewhere in the budget. I chose my health club. After about 6 years of going to NYSC, I dropped it and started working out at home. I knew I had to really start cutting back on my eating because I wasn't going to have the equipment I was used to using. Well, after about 8 months of home training and eating right I lost about 50 lbs. I feel better and I can jog longer than when I was at the gym. When I first started out at home I set out a 2 mile course on which to do my aerobic training. Well I could barely walk it never mind jog it. Slowly, very slowly, I was able to jog parts of it and then walk. Today I ran the entire way except for a steep incline in one part. But I was able to walk briskly up it and begin running quickly. I recovered quickly where as a month ago I was dragging myself up that hill and barely able to breathe. I was worried that my bypass was going wrong and my heart was regressing, but I feel myself getting stronger as I lose more weight. I want to continue this because I feel great!

Drawing Strength

2008-04-28T09:20:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I sat in church and listened as a guest lecturer talked to us about the lesson we read for the day. All in all, he was not that great of a speaker, but his message was interesting. It was about being able to draw strength and get through this world. He talked about how the Holy Spirit can work on us to continue to talk to Christ and get strength from him through prayer. Prayer isn't a one way call. It is a request and their usually is an answer. Sometimes it might not be what you want or expect, but God answers prayer and we need to recognize it.
I have been through much. I have lost an eye, endured cancer and its treatments. I have had heart bypass surgery because of the cancer treatment and yet I don't think I'm bitter or mad at God. I was when I was younger. When I first lost my eye I was mad at God, but I soon saw that this was something that didn't make sense. God didn't make that happen. It was something that just happened to me. It's how you react to these things that really shape you. I guess it is how you deal with these incidents that determine your life's path. If you ask for strength and guidance you usually get it. I get a sense of calmness and peace when others think I should be worried and in a panic. I guess that's how God has answered my prayers. I need to figure out what I do next with it though. I need to figure out my next steps. What would He want me to do next?

Poison Ivy

2008-04-25T08:32:00.000-04:00

I got poison ivy or oak or sumac in the crease of my arm pretty bad. I'm on steroids and antibiotics and pills to help you not itch. People are funny. They see my arm and ask me what happened. I tell them poison ivy and they jump back thinking they can catch it from me. You cant catch poison ivy from the rash. Only from the oil of the plant. That's my lesson to everyone today.

Things You Should Never Do

2008-04-24T11:36:00.000-04:00

Don't go into the woods to retrieve your foul ball. I did and got a bad case of poison ivy.
Don't sit next to someone on the bus who ate Kim Chi for breakfast. I spent the entire 40 minute ride into New York City gasping for fresh air at the buses air conditioning vent today. Phew! Rotting fermented cabbage (yuck)
Don't try to keep wearing clothes that you used to wear when you were 47 lbs heavier. I am wearing pants that can fall off at any minute. I told my kids I'm like the cool kids. I like my boxers to show.
Don't discuss politics at work...Ever!
Don't try to come to work when you have a terrible case of poison ivy. Go to the doctor!
You should never expect anybody to like reading a list of things they should never do.

Earth Day

2008-04-22T14:03:00.001-04:00

Today is Earth Day! HA! I remember when Earth Day was run by hippies and anarchists. Now its run by the likes of Annheiser Busch and Hummer. My how things have changed. Corporations have jumped on the band wagon to fly their green flag. The whole world has gone crazy! Food prices are rising because we are turning corn and soybeans into fuel. Go figure! People are starving, but they can drive their Subarus. I don't get it anymore.

The "No Cake Rule"

2008-04-22T08:34:00.000-04:00

I manage a department of 14 people. I consider myself a pretty liberal manager. I am reasonable about lateness and time off. I don't hound people un-necessarily. I understand that people don't make mistakes on purpose and I cut people a break. I do enforce a few rules. One of them is no cake celebrations for birthday parties. My stand is that if you want to celebrate a birthday, go out with your co-workers after work. Why is it that I have to go get a cake and stop work and let everyone stand around wishing somebody a happy birthday? It's dumb. Some people think I'm being unreasonable, but I have work to get done. Let their mommies give them cake. I have to get product out the door.

Friday Musings

2008-04-18T09:45:00.000-04:00

The 165 to New York was half full. Lots of people took off today. Passover begins tomorrow so that could be a reason. When there is a Jewish holiday commuting to New York is easy. Reading the Wall Street Journal is depressing lately. Rice hoarding causing riots, energy prices going through the roof, inflation recession stag-flation, whatever it is....No good news. They are mugging the Olympic torch runners for goodness sake. Enough with people's causes! It's an athletic competition and has no room for politics. I'm bored with people's politics. I wish we could swipe them away with a wave of our magic wand. I wish we could empty the House and Senate and fill them with people like us. Average ordinary workers who slog it out everyday. People who know the pain of eeking it out. Not these lawyers who have to listen to their big corporation contributors. Enough! We want honesty and integrity and people who work. That's my Friday stuff.

Meyer Lemons

2008-04-17T10:53:00.000-04:00

I had some Meyer lemons sent to me from my friend Bill in San Francisco. They grow in his yard. They are so pretty. The skin is so smooth and yellow. Canary yellow. The fruit is much softer than the type of lemons we are used to usually getting. My friend said that they are not as bitter and can be eaten. I cut a section and indeed I ate it. It was bitter and slightly sweet. Citrus truly. I wish I lived somewhere where a lemon tree could grow in my yard. I would build a lemonade stand for my daughter Diana and sell lemonade with her every Saturday. Thanks for the lemons Bill.

Cell Phone Towers

2008-04-15T09:04:00.002-04:00

Last night I attended a town council meeting about a cell phone tower that is supposed to go up in our town. It was originally planned to go up behind the tennis club in town. But the residents that live there (a upper class part of town) got together and got lawyers and got the town to move the cell tower to municipal property (behind my house, in a not so wealthy part of town). The meeting was attended by over 100 people. There was a lawyer there from the wealthy people who were getting the tower moved to my back yard and she presented to the town council. The council president was off-putting from the start telling the crowd that we were at the wrong meeting and that our comments and concerns were best directed to the Zoning Board. The lawyer was cool though because she pointed out that our town council should be our advocates in this situation. Instead of just sitting there with there thumbs up their asses and letting the cell phone companies screw them, they should have been pro actively y passing ordinances that would have required the cell phone companies to install distributed antennae systems. These are systems that don't require a 125 foot structure and can be installed without destroying our property value. The town council just looked at her blankly. They are a bunch of bone head jerks. What do they care. They don't have to live in the shadow of this stupid thing.

Resurrecting the Chaz Sheet

2008-04-07T19:42:00.000-04:00

Today I dusted off the old blog I started four years ago! It's amazing how this stuff never seems to go away on the Internet. It was still there, with the original post from Christmas Eve 2004. Miraculously there were four spam posts attached to it as well. Well much has happened since those days. What is tops on my mind? Well that's what this blog, The Chaz Sheet is going to put out there. It's going to be a forum of my thoughts and my feelings on a cross section of items. I thought to cover politics, but, its frustrating and booorrriinnggg! So I'm going to try to keep with things that lots of us deal with, work and family life. I hope if some of you find this that you read it and find some of it interesting and relevant. I hope that some of you make a connection with me. Maybe this can be a really interactive experience where some real learning can happen...or maybe not..Let's see where this goes.