Random Curiosity

I've never really heard of this happening and I'm curious if it actually does. Do people get addicted to cigars the same way that they can with cigarettes? I've never really heard about that so if not, then is it because cigars are less addictive or is it some other reason.

Yes, I know I really ponder the great questions of the universe sometimes. I've just never heard anyone say that they used to smoke like 10 cigars a day and then quit. Are cigar and cigarette people similar or are they different groups?

Bad Connotation

What is the first thing you think of when I say wrestling t-shirts? If you are like me, you are picturing a walmart full of people with Wrestlemania IV t-shirts.

It's unfortunate that REAL wrestling has to share a name with the crazy male soap opera on TV. It's a tough sport and some amazing athletes work very hard at it every day.

There is something pretty primal about physically wrestling someone else to the ground and this is clearly one of the more manly sports.

Strange Names

Sometimes a name can totally become a part of everyday language. Xerox for example. Everyone knows what you mean if you say, "Go xerox that". It's funny how some things transcend their area and others remain obscure. I heard something about apple bottoms today and I had absolutely no idea what that was.

I looked it up and to be honest I'm still not entirely sure. All I know is that it has something to do with women's pants. I plan to leave my knowledge at that point and not go any further. At this point I have no desire to learn more.

On Acid

It has been determined over time that folic acid is a very important pregnancy vitamin. It affects brain tissue directly and it is extremely important for any pregnant mother to be getting in the recommended quantity.

It's interesting that we are able to isolate something like that and it's direct affects. Rarely is diet or medicine that simple. It would be nice if there were a vitamin that could fix any malady, but we aren't there yet. Maybe someday we'll have it all figured out.

World Cup

I'm very bummed that today the US got turned down for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. At this rate I may be in the market for wrinkle serum by the time there is a cup on US soil again. The last one was 12 years ago, and I was unable to make it to any of the matches. Hopefully things will work out for 2026. One of the countries that was chosen has never qualified for a World Cup before. How does that happen? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but I imagine the rest of the world doesn't like the way most of us snub futbol around here so they are happy not to have to pay us there money. Oh well.

Needed or Not

I'm on the fence about protein powders. To be perfectly honest, I have noticed no real difference between the times that I have been using them regularly and the times that I did not. Perhaps my metabolism is just too high to take advantage of them, but I don't seem to gain a lot of size very quickly regardless of use.

I tend to think that just eating a well balanced healthy diet and working out regularly is going to do more for you then downing a ton of protein, but I'm not a doctor so what do I know. Frankly I need to just get myself back into the swing of things after a very lazy 2010 for the most part.

Too Much To Know

There is so much information out there now that it is very easy to achieve the state of paralysis by analysis researching just about anything. It is nearly impossible to ever come to a complete and confident conclusion about things because there is so much dissenting opinion on every topic.

Perhaps ignorance was bliss, when we could read one account and then just go with it. Take creatine powder for instance. Many people swear by it and others will say that it is dangerous and shouldn't be taken. The next article will tell you that it's completely natural followed by one that tells you that you'll rot your liver. How am I supposed to tell the truth from the fiction?

Scruvy Dogs!!

I read an interesting book recently that in part, described the discovery of vitamin c. At the time there were quite a few theories but little actual data about what caused scurvy in mariners.

All that was known was that sailors tended to recover quickly once back on shore. It also mentioned that humans and guinea pigs are the only animals that can't synthesize their own vitamin c serum. Why we share this strange quirk with the lovable pet is not currently known.

So eat your fruit on long voyages to distant lands, and don't forget to be nice to the natives.

Saving Money

There are plenty of things that I don't know very much about. I have no idea which is the best diet pill for women, or who would do the best job leading the Fed. There are a few things that I have picked up however.

For one thing, you CAN get a handle on your money. Dave Ramsey has a proven plan that I have followed and continue to follow. It has totally changed our view of money and how to manage it. We are so much better for having learned what his plan has to teach us.

Get rid of your debt and plan for the future. There is no need to be a slave to lenders.

The Rose Market

If all commodities were as easy to predict as roses, we'd all get rich off of the market. At certain times of year it is about impossible to fine places that have flowers from $19.99 down.

Other times you can get a full dozen for next to nothing. The nature of roses is such that you can't really stock up during the low periods and sell during the highs. This makes for a very interesting and captive market.

It can be frustrating paying a lot for something that you know is MUCH cheaper at any other time than the time you need it, but in this case there is really nothing you can do, except convince your Wife somehow that flowers are lame. (good luck)

Clothes Shopping

Shopping for clothes can be hard, especially when you are buying for someone other than yourself, such as now during Christmas season or buying for your kids. We have two little girls who each have very different ideas about what is comfortable so whether it's jeans, shirts, casual dresses, or what have you, we rarely can reuse outfits.

So we do our best to find the best possible deals. This can require a bit of digging around but we've found that saving the money over the long term really adds up.

Budgeting

I am a big proponent of The Dave Ramsey Plan for financial freedom. For the last few years we have been working really hard to pay off our debt and change our mindset about money so that we never get in debt again. Up until this year we had paid off quite a bit and our debt snowball was growing steadily. We took some time off of the plan to work on our basement. I'm guessing Dave would have disagreed, but I really want them to have their own rooms. Now that the windows are done I am starting to get serious about debt again. I'm expecting our tax return to cover the remaining basement expenses so we are back to snowballing our debt. So naturally we have put a stainless steel Schlage on the budget. One side effect of taking some time off to work on the basement was that we became a little lax with our spending. But despite that, I feel like, Lord willing, we should be able to be at a point very soon where we have no debt left other than our house and school loans.

Still a ways to go but when I think about where we were a few years ago, it amazes me that we have come so far. I can't believe we got ourselves into that mess in the first place, but I am determined to never go back.

Areas Of Study

We have become accustomed in this day and age to finding that every problem we come across has already been solved by someone else. If you look back in history you will find that this was obviously not the case until very recently. Most people had to assume that the problems they encountered were not solved and so went about trying to solve them. Now we just post on a message board and wait. Take acne for instance. Who would have guessed that someone had devoted time and study developing a body acne treatment that was not simply just called "a shirt"? But I'm guessing you will find it if you look.

Societal Norms

Kids crack me up because they don't understand the rules of social etiquette yet. They will say things that, to them, carry no perceived embarrassment for them or for the other people in the room simply because it is what they observed or thought that they observed.

Like the old joke about the man who took his young son to meet his boss, upon which the boy remarked, "Daddy, I thought you said his nose was brown?" For most adults, the filter would catch this sort of thing on the way out.

If we were more like kids I think the conversations could get a bit crazy. Public conversations about gross ailments, male enhancement cream, and back hair would not be a welcome addition in my mind.

Thanks goodness for filters!

Signs

I'm not terribly fond of the signs of age that are starting to appear. I'm only 33 but I realize that I'm not heading back to 25 anytime soon so those few gray hairs aren't going to retreat on their own. I am seriously tempted to fight that battle while leaving others alone. Thankfully men look more distinguished with wrinkles (how did we pull off that?). So I don't expect to be purchasing any wrinkle eye creams. However I do worry about gaining weight and losing muscle mass which is why I fret about my diet and exercise habits quite a bit. Either way I'm guessing the battle will get harder as I get older.

Eating Right

I am in the camp of eating as much natural stuff as you can. That is not to say that I don't ever eat things that aren't natural. On the contrary, I do more often than I should but I'm trying to be cognizant of eating right more often than not.

This, to me, is the best way to stay healthy and keep from gaining weight. I get nervous taking too many pills, whether it's an appetite suppressant or ephedrine diet pills. I feel like if I can win the battle at the table then I will be doing ok.

Cold Sores

I'm not sure I entirely understand these things. My understanding was that they were caused by the herpes simplex virus. If that is the case then why aren't they vastly more contagious than they are? You would think that everyone on Earth would have them by this point if they were that contagious. So either I do have the right virus and it's not as contagious as I thought or it's a different virus entirely.

Clearly I need to come up with some other things to wonder about when I have free time.

Web Pages

I am a developer. I have worked on a lot of web based apps but I am not a trained UI guy. I can attest to how hard it is to develop a nice looking web page or user interface. Given that I know how to use programming languages and know my way around the web you might think so, but it truly is an art all its' own.

So if you are need of a nice looking web page for your business then I would not suggest trying to tackle it yourself. There are a lot of great web page builders out there that can help you. It's worth the money. The web has evolved beyond the point where anyone can throw up some HTML and make a bajillion dollars.

There is a lot to consider. Usability, shopping carts, browser compatibility, and graphics are just a few of the things that you would have to learn how to deal with. Time is as valuable as money so why spend months or more learning something when you can hire someone that can do it all for you?

Rocky Terrain

My face in high school made the surface of the moon look like a smooth gym floor. I had terrible acne and nothing that I tried helped to get rid of it. I wish looking back that I could have gotten on some sort of prescription treatment because it did affect my confidence a lot.

With that in mind I plan to get the best acne treatment I can for our kids if they follow in my facial footsteps. Hopefully they won't but in the case that they do I hope we can do a lot for them to get rid of it.

Speed

I don't really speed much anymore. I did a lot when I was younger and frankly now that I am older can see a lot of things that I did that were pretty stupid. I think that most people feel that way as they get older.

I was thinking the other day that I don't see a lot of people using radar detectors anymore. Personally, I never owned one, but they were all the rage back in the day. I wonder why that has changed? Are people driving more safely or do they have some other reason for not wanting to use these devices.

I know that in some states they aren't legal which I'm sure has some effect. Perhaps I'm totally off base and they are just as much in use today as they were in the past but it just seems like I don't see them as often anymore.

Uncomfortable Commercials

Thank goodness for DVR. I'm so glad that I rarely have to watch commercials anymore. Sure I am missing out on the funny ones from time to time but that is what youtube is for. The nice thing, now that I have kids is that I don't have to accidentally expose them to things they aren't ready to see. For instance, commercials about erectile disfunction, male enhancement, or any of the other topics that are best left for a one on one discussion when they are much older. DVR allows me to skip whatever might be between the breaks of the shows we watch so I can better choose what I expose them to.

Software

Software is becoming a very specialized profession. It is getting to the point, and probably already there, where it is really not possible to know enough about every type of skill.

Web software, application software, mobile software, directory submission software, and many more. There are so many specialties that it is at the point where you really have to pick something and specialize in it.

That is easier said than done as well because you don't want to pick incorrectly. Just ask anyone who picked mainframe programming how they feel about their choice right now.

Medical Confidence

I have always been the type who said that pills shouldn't be feared because scientific advancements are here to help us. Why suffer when there is a pill that can make you feel better.

I'm starting to change that a bit now. I still take medicine but I try to take a lot less. I'm starting to worry about the long term affects of taking a lot. Not addiction, I know some fear that with sleep pills and other drugs but I'm talking more about side effects.

You just never know how the things you put in your body will ultimately affect you so the more natural it is the better.

Frustration

I'm starting to get back on track with my fitness goals. I pretty much took the whole summer off. I ate a lot of junk, and didn't work out as much as I should have. As a result I have about 10 pounds to lose and a lot of muscle to regain. I also have my age old problem of trying to burn belly fat. Even at my best when I had about 13% body fat, I still had a pretty flabby stomach by my standards. Perhaps it's just genes but I'm hoping that I can do a bit better. Hopefully as I get back on track I can incorporate more and better techniques to get into better shape.

Rewards

I'm one of those people that largely ignored the "rewards" that a lot of companies offer. My opinion was that most of the time it wasn't worth the time to apply for them. It was like the tickets at the arcade when you were a kid. "Only 6 billion tickets and you can get a new plastic pencil sharpener!".

I've since learned (or the system has changed) that there are some good deals out there if you know where to look. Coupons are a good thing and our bank even has a Visa reward card that accrues regularly and allows us to get some free stuff.

So maybe these things are worth looking into. Sometimes...

I Fumbled It

When I was getting ready for college I didn't do very much right. For one thing, I didn't work as hard on my grades as I should have in High School. My college GPA was almost an entire point higher. I was capable, just not dedicated. Also I didn't work at getting scholarships and I didn't do enough research about what schools to go to. I really could have done things a lot better. I took the ACT without even studying and did ok but didn't even take the SAT. You can bet that my kids will know better when they get to that point. A lot of sat prep is in their future as well as some college visits.

Thank Goodness for the Bucks

The Browns lost their opener in frustrating fashion. They showed all the signs of a team that will be picking first in the draft next year. Both of my fantasy teams, despite being packed with household names, underperformed and lost. If it wasn't for the Buckeyes, it would have been a total loss as a football weekend.

Thank goodness for the Bucks...

On The Water

I have been promising my wife a beach vacation for several years now and it keeps not happening. All for noble reasons but nonetheless we have yet to feel the sand between our toes or hear the surf pounding the morning shoreline. This is especially troublesome now that we have kids, because we would rather them not be 35 before they see the ocean for the first time.

The other problem is that with school summer vacation we now have a very limited window in which we can take a beach vacation that unfortunately is the same as everyone else's very limited window. This both increases the price and lowers the enjoyment.

A friend of mine and his wife travel to the Outer Banks every year. For them, it's become a tradition among their extended family. They share the cost of renting a house and buying food etc and it works out great to be able to enjoy the beach and keep the cost down.

We don't have an extended family that travels to the beach every year so I'm relegated to pining for handouts from well meaning businesses. My hope is that by using my considerable writing talent to help increase the profits of companies like Carolina Designs, they will in turn feel some form of obligation (or even pity) to send my family and I to the Outer Banks for free.

Regardless of the success of my little venture I hope to someday stand on the sandy shores and show my kids cool things like seashells, driftwood, and my incredible body boarding talent. (I consider myself talented in that my shorts have never yet been separated from my body)

Lastly, to my readers, please feel free to keep your beach vacation stories to yourself. Really, I don't want to hear about it, or look at the pictures. Sorry just saving us both some time.

Just fine thanks

I'm really happy with my insurance . I've never had a reason to switch and I don't plan to. And no, I'm not one of those people who has just never had to make a claim and thus figured out how bad it could be. I've made claims and I found it to be as painless a process as could be expected. I don't really think anyone else could have done much better. My prices are fine and I don't really see how some other company could save me a ton more without slashing my coverage to pieces. So why switch? I'm not going to.

I like it here

I like where I live. No, it's isn't the most picturesque place on Earth. It isn't a tropical island where stainless steel drums are constantly heard. It doesn't have mountains, or oceans, or other touristy things. The fact is I grew up here and I'm comfortable. There are nicer places to live sure, but there are much worse ones as well. It's pretty in it's own way and most of the people I care about are close by. I don't begrudge anyone who leaves for greener pastures because I can understand that, but I have chosen this place, and I intend to enjoy it.

Great Book, Scary Thought

Most of us have heard the term EMP before. Probably even know what it stands for, but I doubt that any of you know how much of a threat it truly is to our society and way of life. I'm reading a book right now called "One Second After", which chronicles the survival a small town after a very successful EMP attack on America.

Imagine living without your daily gadgets and luxury items. Pretty bad right? Now imagine not having a car, running water, or refrigeration for food. Not for a few days until they get the power back on but for months if not years.

It's a very real threat, and this book describes in very vivid detail what would happen. I've read enough basic psychology to believe that his assumptions about the dissolution of society are pretty accurate and very scary.

Check it out, and maybe like me you won't take the every day conveniences for granted so much anymore.

Demo

I decided to take my little man over to the fair tonight. Normally I think of the fair as being about as much fun as researching medicare supplement plans. But, with the derby going on, I have to think that my little guy will enjoy that quite a bit. He really loves cars and what little boy wouldn't enjoy watching them wreck into each other? I'm pretty pumped about it, so hopefully he will enjoy it as much as I think he will.

Last time I went we saw some pretty funny "antics". It was like watching a live taping of Cops. Never know what your going to get. Fortunately we will be sitting far enough away that the language should stay PG.

Weight

I am not as obsessed with my weight as I once was. For one thing it seems to have stablized where I am right now. I rarely go near scales anymore. This can be a good and bad thing. On one hand it's nice not to constantly have to fight to stay at the weight that I want. On the other hand, it gives me a false confidence that allows me to eat really badly more often I care to admit. I really need to get back to eating healthy again. I still do most of the time but it hasn't been the priority that it should be for a while now. I'm not sure why but I don't want to let this become a habit. Time to get serious again.

Once In A Blu Moon

I have finally entered into the world of Blu Ray owners. I put my birthday money to good use and bought one. I only have one movie so far but it was really cool to see it in high def. I spent a good portion of time researching them and there are a lot out there. Samsung, panasonic, sony, and many more. Ultimately I went with a refurbished panasonic model. I've never been that afraid of refurbished models because they have to work to be resold and you can save tons. I bought a model for $80 that cose $160 brand new. The only feature that I would have liked that I didn't get was the wifi connect feature. Mine can only connect via cable. Still, feeling pretty good about my purchase.

Dressing Up

I always hated dressing up as a kid. Scratch that, I hate dressing up period. Clearly there are times that warrant it, but I've never been a big fan. Therefore I don't have a problem with my son wearing a polo shirt and shorts to church. (He's two) Our girls don't seem to mind wearing dresses and even request them at times so I let them wear what they want as I have no experience in those matters. :)

I don't have this big desire to dress my little boy in a suit either like you see a lot of the time. I guess you won't find me shopping for kids ties any time soon. I just have a hard time pushing something on him that I myself don't even like.

Weight Loss

There aren't too many people out there with weight to lose that want to do it slowly so I guess technically quick weight loss is redundant. However, the down side to that is that by losing it quick, you tend to not have enough time to really change your lifestyle so it can lead to you putting the weight back on. So to some degree you need to work at a pace that you feel comfortable with what you are doing. Not too comfortable, but not in constant stress or hunger either. If you eat fast food every day, quitting cold turkey might be the right idea but in the long run you won't stick with it. Try getting the chicken instead of the burger a few times a week, and work your way down to the salad over time. Then maybe start packing your lunch when you feel you are getting more used to the new lifestyle. Keep making small changes and before you know it you will be where you want to be and it won't have cause you nearly as much stress.

Running

I'm thinking about running again. I know, I know, it isn't one of the best fat burners but I'm kind of disillusioned with weight lifting right now and I need to do something to stay active. I need a goal and I'd kind of like to run a race or two again.

The one I really want to run is unfortunately only a month and a half away but maybe I can make it. I'd love to run it again as I haven't done since high school. I just need to keep doing something and lately I haven' t been doing anything and that has to stop. If running gets me back into the active sect then that's better than nothing right now.

The Difference?

I am not a smoker and have absolutely no desire for it at all but I have noticed something strange. I know plenty of people that would never touch a cigarette but will occasionally smoke a cigar. Are cigars less addicting, or less dangerous in the long term?

Again, I know nothing about them. I couldn't tell the difference between Davidoff cigars and burning sausage, but I'm just curious why there seems to be something different about smoking them for most people. Perhaps I am just looking at the data from a skewed perspective but it just seemed odd to me.

Can anyone enlighten me?

LeBron is gone

Being a Cleveland sports fan is not very much fun. Frankly, every time we even have a chance to win it can be about as scary as an enzyte commercial (those things freak me out) due to all the past hurts. The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot (why do we care about a loss in the first round of the playoffs?) , The Move, The Hit, and now The Decision. I think we've had enough but there is nothing on the horizon that suggests that we are going to escape the doldrums any time soon in any sport.

Folic Acid

Folic Acid is one of those things that I'm so glad that medical science discovered. Thanks to that discovery, many babies have been bore normally that probably wouldn't have without it.

Many parents have taken the time to research the safest prenatal vitamins in an effort to give their babies the best chance at a normal life. I'm very thankful for that.

I know that science and technology, or progress for progress sake isn't always best for the planet (IE global warming) but sometimes our progress actually makes people's lives better. This is one of those.

Soccer Awards

The world cup is almost here and despite my country's lack of enthusiasm for the event, I can't wait. I love the world cup. The games are extremely well played and the athletes are amazing.

Not only are they great players but most of them are great actors. Someone will brush against someone else causing them to go down in a heap worthy of the worst injuries in history. They will be carried off on a stretcher and then sprayed with some sort of magic spray that looks like it should be an eczema treatment. Then magically they are totally fine and ready to reenter the game. The academy awards should recognize such great achievements.

Workout Fail

For the last month or so I have almost completely fallen off the workout wagon. Not because I am too lazy but too sore and tired. I just haven't been able to recover for some reason. It's frustrating because I don't like to be out this long because it always makes me feel like I'm starting over once I do get back in. At the same time though, sometimes you do just need a rest.

I need a goal frankly. I'm tired of looking like I spend too much time on www.bestslimmingpills.org, but I also don't seem to be able to lift heavy or eat heavy for long enough to gain a lot of muscle. Really, what do I want here? I need to make up my mind.

Fake Sports

It's really hard in this day and age to get truly excited about a great athletic achievement. You feel as if you are just waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under you. Sooner or later, you know without much doubt that the athlete in question will admit to using steroids or hgh supplements.

It's sad really. I truly do hope that some of the greats that are out there today got there legitimately. Unfortunately we will always be left to wonder if they were really good, or just really good at not getting caught.

Homestar Is Poor?

I've noticed that the brothers chaps have pretty much shut down operations on the Homestar runner site. It's a sad thing really because I loved their humor and really enjoyed watching it each week.

One thing I have been wondering is how they are paying the bills now? I know that neither of them had jobs outside the site and made their money by selling merchandise. A venture that is sure to dry up now that they are no longer updating the site.

I still wonder at their decision to not sell ad space on the site. Sure, they didn't want to be "sell outs" but that is something that people with no opportunity to make money say. What's so bad about a few "click here" ads on the page. You make a ton of money and if you do it right it doesn't annoy the people too much. Seems like such a wasted opportunity. I hope they are feeling really good about not "selling out", because that opportunity has stopped knocking.

Basement: Stage One Complete

This weekend was a busy one. We finally got started on our basement remodeling project. Stage one is putting in egress windows so that we will be allowed to put two bedrooms in there. We were able to get the hole dug, put in the drainage gravel, and pour the slabs that will form the base of the egress wells. A lot of work but we are finally on our way.

It will be very nice to finally have this stuff done. It will still be a while before the rooms are finished because we are trying to pay for all this as we go as opposed to racking up a bunch of debt. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can get the windows completely finished and then we will be home free to start on the framing downstairs. I can't wait.

Job Security

Some jobs will always be needed. Medical jobs for instance rarely go away. As long as we are all mortal, people will need hospitals. So if you have no idea what you want to do but you want to help people and have job security then consider medical assisting school, or if you are truly ambitious, med school.

Having a job in that industry probably won't always be easy but it should always be available. Something to think about in our current national situation.

Have A Nice Trip

Tubs can be dangerous. First, they are wet. Second, they are slick even when they are dry. So the combination of the two can be dangerous for just about anyone, but mostly seniors and toddlers. I almost always lift my kids out of the tub to limit the risk of injury.

Now they have walk in bathtubs. Not an easy thing to picture if you haven't one but they are great for solving this problem. Basically it's a tub with a door that allows you to get in and out without having to step over the side. What will they think of next?

Cushions

I love it that we have outdoor furniture on our deck. Frankly I'd like to have some more but there is one thing about it that annoys me. Unless I want our cushions to mold and smell bad after a while, I have to cart them in and out of the garage every time I want to use them.

Sure they are weather "resistant" but mold can grow on just about anything that gets wet so can't just leave that stuff outside. It would be a lot less annoying if I could. I'm sure that someone has solved this problem already so perhaps I will need to research it more.

Time To Get Clean

The disaster in the Gulf this week has me thinking. I've always been all about clean energy in the abstract sense. I don't have a solar powered home but I wish that I lived in a world in which the problem of fossil fuel reliance had already been solved.

I'm hoping that this disaster could spawn a new era in which we start truly caring about how we create our energy. I think we need to have a national energy auditor whose job it is to make sure that we are creating our energy as cleanly as possible and grant monies to those who want to try and make it cleaner. A Czar of energy if you will. Not sure if it would help but it would be a good start.

Credit Scores

Whoever invented credit scores is a genius. Firstly, it gives you a convenient excuse to discriminate when it comes to offering loans that can't be misconstrued to have anything to do with things beyond money.

Secondly, now that everyone uses this number, people want to know what theirs is, so you can charge them money to find out or even make them feel like you are doing them a favor by offering them a free credit score.

It's always amazing to me when people can not only create a product but create the market for that product at the same time. Rock salesmen, also known as jewelers are the prime example of course.

Internet Lists

For some reason people really like lists. Lots of people make lists to help them remember things. There are "todo" lists, grocery lists and even honey-do lists.

It's no wonder then that lists have become very popular on the internet. Almost as popular as putting the letter "i" in front of your product name. For instance, there is craigslist, angieslist, and even www.carinsurancelist.com.

People love lists, and they like it even better when other people do the dirty work and leave them to make their decisions. Internet lists are great for that.

Sony Loves Scrabble

I think the Sony execs are Scrabble lovers. Tough sell you say? Hear me out. Sometimes, when a product becomes a euphemism for itself (such as Kleenex), it can be used as a noun and not just a proper name. The Sony guys knew this and in hopes that their products would achieve this level of notoriety, chose names that would increase their Scrabble scores.

Don't believe me? Then why do we have the Sony VAIO, and the Sony WEGA? What other possible use could those words have outside of a game of Scrabble I ask you? Yes, clearly the Sony guys love Scrabble.

Brad Pitt

A few years ago, you couldn't go anywhere without seeing someone with a Bluetooth headset or ear bud on. They were pretty cool for a while there. Apparently, they have gone out of fashion because I almost never see them now.

I even saw a magazine cover with Brad Pitt wearing one, and the caption said. "He can barely pull it off, and you are not him". So that pretty much told me all I needed to know about what the fashion world thinks of them. Useful? Sure. Fashionable? No.

Clatu Verata Necktie!

I hate it when I can't remember someone's name. It happens to me all the time. I will see someone and know that I know them but have no idea how I know them and not remember their name to boot.

I have even started talking to someone in the store before and realized halfway through the conversation that it was not the person I thought it was, but it WAS someone ELSE that I knew. Whether your name is Jim, Dan, Euphrates, phentermine, or stan, it doesn't matter. I will more than likely forget.

Biggest Loser

It always cracks me up that they try to slip in ads throughout the show. First of all, it's a two hour show. There is already ample time for throwing in commercials.

But, you say, they do that so that they can still reach the DVR crowd. Do you honestly think that those of us with DVRs actually sit and watch the product placement segments? I like learning about the best weight loss products, but I don't like being sold. Plus, the majority of the placements is so "in your face" that it doesn't even count as subliminal.

Warm

We are about to start working on finishing our basement. It has been a long time coming and we are going to have to work on it in stages. The first step is to get the windows in. After that we will focus on the kid's bedrooms.

At some point we will be ready to finish our new living room. We may decide to put a fireplace in there. Either a gas log or one of those Amish fireplaces. In any case we may need the extra help in keeping it warm down there. It's a deep basement and it can get a bit cold.

Back

I feel like poop. Partly because I'm not getting enough sleep, and partly because the sleep that I am getting is on an antediluvian mattress. My back hurts every day except when I have been at a hotel and have slept on a more supportive base.

My problem is that mattresses are expensive and I haven't wanted to fork over the cash for one. It's not going to happen this month either because we have some other goals in mind but it's going to have to be soon.

Built In

I really love the counter tops now that have a built in sink bowl. Not only does it look better to have a stone sink but there is no risk of leaks between the sink and counter top. Plus there is no edge to keep water from running back into the sink when you want it to.

Sure they have sinks that are mounted on the underside to solve that problem but you still have the joint that can leak or just be a pain to clean. I definitely prefer the all one piece molded ones.

The State of My Farm

I'm pretty happy with the coverage I get with my current insurance carrier. I've never really been tempted to go looking around to save a few bucks. Granted I don't really know every detail about my coverage like some people do but it is so hard to be an expert at everything. It's nice to have someone whose job it is to make sure that you are taken care of, take care of it. I did compare life insurance policies though and found a better deal for my wife. It saved us a bunch of money but neither of the companies was the one that we use for car/home.

The Draft

Another year, another NFL Draft. I was actually pretty pleased with the Brown's draft choices. They addressed the areas that I felt they had the most need. Only time will tell if this draft will be the acneticin needed to wipe away the blemishes that have plagued this team for years but I'm optimistic for some reason.

I imagine it starts with having a credible president in Mike Holmgren. I'd love to see the Brown's win the Super Bowl but I'm ok with the logical next step of just fielding a competitive, credible team.

Here's to hoping.

Print?

I'm not a big business guy. I have never owned or even attempted to own my own business or even done stereotypical business work. I'm a programmer, and other than working for a business, I don't know that I could count myself among those that know much about business. Having said that, I imagine that there are a lot of people who use online printing services.

So do those types of businesses do really well? I'm sure they probably do, because who wouldn't need someone to handle the annoyances of document creation for them? Sounds like a good idea to me.

Writing Out Very Large Files

I recently ran into an issue in which I need to write out a very large file (upwards of 250Mb) in Groovy (could just as easily have been Java). In researching ways to do this I discovered the java.nio package which includes FileChannels. If you haven't played around with these yet, I encourage you to give them a try. They are super fast, and if you are doing IO and handling a lot of data, there really isn't another option.

The challenge that I had, was dealing with the heap size. Even with a FileChannel, I still had no way to hold the entire file in memory. So I came up with a pretty cool solution. It's simple but it seems to have hit the sweet spot for processing between holding a large object in memory vs. the cost of writing it out. I needed to do this because I was writing across a mounted drive and the writes were costly. With a local drive it wouldn't have been an issue.

I needed to print out each record in order to a file based on it's contents. I found that using a BufferedOutputReader was DOG slow, and the FileChannel write for each record was really fast locally, but struggled over the mount. Ultimately I decided on an approach that used a StringBuffer to store up records in order and then write them out once the Buffer got large enough. The interesting thing was that there was a significant point in which no further gain in processing time seemed possible. Basically once the Buffer reached a length of 150,000 characters.

So I had a loop that looked like this:

StringBuffer good = new StringBuffer()
StringBuffer bad = new StringBuffer()

records.each { rec ->
if (good.length() > 150000) {
ByteBuffer buf = ByteBuffer.wrap(good.toString().getBytes());
goodChannel.write(buf)
good = new StringBuffer()
}

if (bad.length() > 150000) {
ByteBuffer buf = ByteBuffer.wrap(bad.toString().getBytes());
badChannel.write(buf)
bad = new StringBuffer()
}

//read the next record and do my processing

if (goodRecord) {
good.append(chunk)
} else {
bad.append(chunk)

}

//Then print out whatever is left in case the Buffers aren't empty
if (good.length() > 0) {
ByteBuffer buf = ByteBuffer.wrap(good.toString().getBytes());
goodChannel.write(buf)
}

if (bad.length() > 0) {
ByteBuffer buf = ByteBuffer.wrap(bad.toString().getBytes());
badChannel.write(buf)
}


This worked extremely well for large file processing, given that I had to contend with the heap size. I wouldn't do this for most IO problems but for very large files, this is really effective.

Next Year Already

I'm not very optimistic about the upcoming Browns season. As far as I can tell, they are rebuilding again. They will either draft a ton of new players or trade all their picks to get Sam Bradford, but either way, next year is not going to be "the year". So we can go ahead and start the funeral planning for the Brown's 2010-2011 season.

My guess is that it will be a small service with few attendees, but I think in time we will all be able to move on. There is always 2047 to look forward to.

Flying Penguins

I was watching this show the other night about cool things you may not know about, and one of the things they had on there was this flying penguin. The idea was that these things were very efficient as they were modeled after how penguins work underwater. Basically they were just giant autonomous flying helium balloons that happened to be penguin like. They were computerized to be smart enough to avoid obstacles and each other.

But where is the market for these things? Personally, if I was in the front office of the Pittsburgh Penguins, I would have already been on the phone ordering these things to fly around my arena during games. Just paint tuxedos and a logo on them and they'd be ready to go. Got a better idea?

Worry

If I let myself, I could get really worried about a lot of things. Our food is full of chemicals, are homes are created with carcinogenic compounds that cause things like Mesothelioma Cancer. There is plenty out there to be worried about.

Most of us don't think about this stuff very often. Especially people without kids. Once you're a parent however, the world can seem like a very scary place as you try to keep your kids safe from every possible harm you can dream up. I'm worse than most in that I often get made fun of for being too safety conscious, but I can live with that reputation. My kids safety is more important to me than worrying about what others think.

New TV

I really want a new TV. I seem to be the only person left on the planet that does not own a nice HD flat screen TV. Clearly I'm not and I'm just being whiny but I do really want one, and have for a very long time. My hope is that soon we will be able to finish our basement and when we do I can put in some nice home theater seating and a really huge TV.

That will provide a really nice spot to watch sports and movies and play the Wii and I really look forward to the day that we have all that done. In fact I need to make some calls soon and figure out how we can make that happen.

Time Change

Honestly, I never really noticed the time change before this year. If you noticed my dark circles under eyes lately, it's probably because I have had a hard time adapting to daylight savings time this spring.

I honestly don't know why but for some reason it has been a very hard adjustment for me this time around. Normally it's one night of a little less sleep and then I forget all about it but that just hasn't been the case this time around.

Oh well, I'll get used to it.

Hard Work

The main reason that a lot of people choose to stay overweight is because losing it is not much fun. Exercise can hurt and wear you out and it's just easier not to do it for some people.

Obviously, if you have made the commitment to get in shape you want to maximize your results for the time you spend in the gym. Why go through the pain and discomfort if you aren't getting the best bang for your buck?

So what is the best fat burning exercise? Well first off, it isn't just one. Frankly, there is not one holy grail movement. If you tried to do the same thing all the time, your body would eventually adapt and you would get nothing out of it. You have to train with a wide variety of movements, and change them up often. Also don't minimize your rest breaks. Keep yourself moving, and keep your heart rate up. Circuit training and boot camp classes are great for this.

Tiger Is Back

Reports are saying that Tiger plans to return to golf at this year's Masters. Not terribly surprising given his love of the majors. I am a little surprised that he is not playing a warm up event first but as I thought about it more it makes sense.

Remember Martha Burke? You probably don't because the grand poo-pas at Augusta squashed her like a bug. She was the last person to try to create a media frenzy around The Masters that didn't involve golf. It didn't work. The head honchos there are like accutane for reporters.

So given that, it would seem that starting at The Masters will help cushion Tiger's landing a bit. It will be interesting to observe his and Steve Williams' behavior now that they are not demigods anymore though.

So what is the difference between a personalized gift and a regular gift? If you are buying the same thing for multiple people then I get the difference but what if you are buying one thing for one person? Doesn't it then qualify as both.

As usual this is one of the great questions of the universe that flood my brain for, literally, nanoseconds before I move on to the next one.

Clearly a great thinker of my caliber should spend my time solving the world's great problems like this. It's my way of giving back.

The Theory of Mass

I don't think Einstein discovered it but there is a pretty easy to remember weight loss formula.

if(calories_in < calories_out) then weight will decrease!

I'm not saying that eating less is easy. I have only been able to count for a few months at a time in my life, but I can say that it is effective. I lost 20 pounds in about 3 months. It was hard and no fun but it worked.

Now I combine exercise and eating healthy to maintain my weight. I can have the bad days but I try to eat well most of the time. My weight stays the same and I feel a lot better. You have to keep that ultimate goal in mind when you are starting because it is really hard to restrict when you aren't used to doing it.

Captain Obvious

You heard it here first folks! The best diet aid is still ......drum roll........

EXERCISE!!

Yes you do still have to exercise. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. In other news, junk food will not help you lose weight. Neither will eating more calories than you burn.

Next week we will examine a new found phenomenon called "gravity". Why you should learn about it and how it affects you.

Also, in a related story, humans can't live without oxygen. It turns out that you in fact do have to breath even if you have bad breath. Hard to believe I know.

That's all for this week folks. Keep tuning in for my nuggets of little known facts!

Worry

We all have things to worry about. To some the worries of others seem totally pointless. Others can relate but don't share the same concerns. Empathy plays a big part in how we see each other and how much of it you have can go a long way toward making you seem interested in other people's lives.

I don't need to worry about hair loss prevention for instance so I don't spend a lot of time thinking about how that affects people. I don't even notice half the time, but someone who is losing their hair might spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about it. One persons blip is another persons boulder.

Who Threw?

Cleveland in the last two days has released Derek Anderson, signed Seneca Wallace(why?), and put Brady Quinn on the shopping channel. I guess I should be happy that they are at least doing SOMETHING, but what is all this?

So who do they propose is going to throw the ball next year? Quinn needs more time but I think he still has some promise. Drafting a rookie means that next season will be about as exciting as tretinoin gel.

So what is the plan? As usual, I have no idea.

Shopping

I am one of the few guys that really enjoys Black Friday. Probably because my wife's family has always made a tradition of going out that day and it has usually been a really good time.

We tend to go to places that I don't normally shop so it feels special. Some years have been more fun than others but I always find myself looking forward to it.

On top of that, you really can find some good deals. Plus, the crowds aren't really as bad as people will tell you. I have rarely felt crowded out, because the people are pretty spread out among the different stores.

Economy

Things are still not that great out there. I have a friend who is painfully aware of this and until he can find a job, I'm going to have a hard time believing that things are really on the way up.

I really hope that it turns around for good soon because it is going to continue to affect people in a bad way. I really want to see things getting better again, and prices coming down. We have been working to get some of our debt paid off but we also really want to finish our basement.

It's tough to decide when the best time to do things like that is.

Figures

It seems that every time that I do an oil change and remember to put my safety glasses on, all goes smoothly. I only seem to get oil on my face/eyes when I forget. Does this register right up there with the idiom about buttered toast? I think so.

Now don't worry I'm not going to start throwing my cat around to see how often she lands on her feet but it's these kind of things that make some people feel like the world is out to get them.

So where your glasses and keep and keep looking over your shoulder.

Drive

I have seen a ton of stuff on the market, but nothing can ever replace drive and determination when it comes to weight loss. You can be using the best weight loss products known to man, hire the best trainers, and read the best diet books, but nothing is going to change until you decide deep down inside that you want it to. Not only that you want change, but that you want it more than the things that you will have to give up to get it. That is the key. The skinnier you has to be more important to you than eating junk and sleeping in. Until that happens no diet or exercise plan can save you. Only you can help you.

Silent Bob Can't Fly?

Despite what Jay said in "Mall Rats", apparently Kevin Smith can't fly after all. Apparently, he was thrown off of a flight the other day because he was considered too large for the standard airplane seat he was seated in. The airline has since apologized, but I can't imagine that that made him feel much better.

You may find him trying to get phentermine without prescription sometime in the near future, but if I were to suggest an option, I would tell him to start lifting weights in a circuit. That seems to be the way of the future for weight loss. Even if you just start with body weight exercises. There are plenty of folks that think that that is all you need, period.

Biggest Loser Game for the Wii

I recently bought this game for my wife who wanted to start using it as a workout tool at home. The reviews were good so I thought I would give it a try.

One day when I was stuck working from home due to five hundred or so feet of snow outside, I decided to use it for my workout that day. I chose the intermediate workout and went to work. I have to say that for someone who works out very regularly it was more of a challenge than I expected. I honestly doubted going in that I would even get tired from it at all. In the end it turned out to be a pretty good workout. Decent variety and constant movement. Obviously it was only one of the many workout options so I think it scores well in the variety column as well. Clearly it won't give you advice on the most effective diet pill, but I'm not looking for that info anyway.

For $30 it definitely is worth a try.

The Draft

The NFL draft is coming up. As I've said before it is my one chance a year as a Brown's fan to see my club as a "top team", since they normally draft really high and get talked about a lot because of it.

Most non fans would consider the draft about as exciting as the average acne remedy, and I bet a lot of the fans of the perennially good teams feel that way as well. There just isn't much to get excited about unless, like me, this is the only day that gives you any hope that your team might not be terrible next season.

I have some hope this year, which isn't always the case, so we'll see.

P90X?

I keep hearing a lot about a new weight loss product called P90X. It isn't a pill but a workout/diet plan. It touts a workout that can be done at home that will keep your muscles guessing and never allow them to settle into a routine, thus maximizing weight loss.

Sounds pretty sensible to me. The principles that it is based on seem sound and sometimes it is a lot easier to have someone else do the creative program building for you. So if you are interested in getting started and don't want to do the research yourself, I would give it a try.

Lebron

I'm not an NBA fan so the only thing that will get me to tune in these days is watching Lebron in the playoffs. I don't really know the guy but I am, sadly, a fan of Cleveland sports in general so I continue to hope that he will bring home a championship for the city.

His career is still mostly in it's infancy and I hear that they are trying to inject some prenatal vitamins in the way of acquiring Amare Stoudemire before the trade deadline. The thinking is that there would be no way Lebron could then say that he had a better chance to win somewhere else and thus stay put.

Here's hoping they're right.

Games

I have always loved to play video games. I don't have as much time as I once did but when I do have time now, I play my wii. I love the innovative controls and most of the games are perfect for me as I don't have tons of time to play really difficult and involved games.

Plus there are a lot of games for kids that mine enjoy and are able to play on their own. Hopefully as they get older we will all get to spend some really fun times together playing. Sure I would love to have an Xbox and some of the games they have out for it now, but the wii suits my needs just fine at the moment.

Need, or not

Sometimes you really think you need something only to discover that you really don't. I had one such experience with a dehumidifier. I bought one for our basement because it had smelled a tad stuffy down there but then I could never get the thing to work. No matter how long I left it on, no water was pulled from the air. In the time that it has been sitting uselessly in our basement, I have maybe smelled the musty smell once. So I'm guessing my basement doesn't really need it. I guess if I start to smell that more often, I'll reconsider buying a new one.

On The Soapbox

I hear a lot about weight loss products because I'm a fitness junkie and it is sometimes hard to differentiate what is useful from what is not.

I tend to focus on what I hear from experts, and most of the time they tell me to stick to the conventional training techniques. Exceptions include the TRX, and foam rollers to name a couple.

So keep your finger on the pulse of the system if you want to know what is good and what isn't. As a humble person might say, when in doubt, trust the experts.

Winter

This winter has been pretty annoying to me so far. Normally I don't mind it but this year I have found that I have no tolerance for the cold and despite my lack of brutally dry skin, I'm still constantly itching. I decided to go for my own preemptive eczema treatment this year by lotioning like crazy before the nasty stuff appears. So far so good. This time last year my hands made me look like I had just been bitten by a zombie.

Plus I miss golf. Hard to really play a lot of that at this time of year.

You Have To Wonder

You've got some talent so you move to Hollywood. You work hard making connections and trying to get your foot in the door. Finally you land a quick job to get you some experience and something to have on your resume. Then you sit back and see yourself on tv for the first time, and these words come out of your mouth. "I've finally found relief for hemorrhoids!"

I'm sure quite a few careers have ended this way with similar products, because I have to imagine that people with no hold on the ladder can't afford to turn anything down but also end up hosing themselves with stuff like this.

Alternative Medicine

I don't know much about AM. I honestly have always been a firm believer in modern medicine, and the advances that have been made. I have heard stories, however, that there are some old fashioned remedies that haven't really been matched by current equivalents. How much of that is true, I couldn't tell you though.

Recently I saw the term glucosamine sulphate in the news. I had to look it up, because I had never even heard of it. Probably a lot of us haven't but who knows, it may be worth researching some of these things, if even to understand how modern medicine got where it is today.

Problem Areas

I really attempt to do fully body movements in most of my workout routines. I try to stick to variations of the big boys like squats, deadlifts, push/press movements, etc, but occassionally I violate the preachings of the fitness guru's and actually do some isolation work.

If you read the experts closely, you will find that they do this as well. It isn't that the exercises are useless, only that they are useless if you aren't already doing the big stuff. So if you are like me and your arms aren't as big as you would like, add some curls, or if your chest is puny adipex exercise.

SD is cool

I recently got a new phone that has an 8 gig micro SD card included. I still can't quite believe that they can cram that much memory onto a chip that small. In my college days, you were a beast if you have a machine with 16 megs of ram, and now you are wasting your time having less than 2 gig. Insane.

I guess if I were younger these numbers wouldn't astound me as much, because I would be used to them, but having been there in the early days I'm just amazed at the progress. I mean seriously, my phone has about 32 times the memory that my first PC had! Amazing.

Oldies But Goodies

Like most of us, when I first started working out, I went straight to the machines in a lot of cases. They seemed like the technologically advanced way to work out. Why use the abacus when you have a calculator, right?

Well as we learn more and more about fitness it is becoming increasingly obvious that the best fitness equipment is still the old fashioned weights. You just can't replicate the stabilization that is required to lift real weights. I noticed this even in my early days when I noticed that I could bench about 30 pounds more on the smith machine, than a standard bench.

So stick with the free weights and you will see better results.