Later Sunsets

As I was driving home yesterday after work around 5:30PM I noticed something strange - the sun had not set yet, there was still some daylight, the days are actually getting longer ! This winter has been blah for me. I stopped working out in November to let my elbow tendonitis heal and I really have not been able to get back into any type of consistent workout routine. My physical therapy sessions were $30 a session, even with my insurance covering the rest of it. I am not looking forward to my credit card bill next month. Shopping for winter clearance clothes is even depressing - everything is either black, gray, navy blue, dark green, or dark red. Winter colors are so boring. I need something to snap me out of the winter doldrums. Hopefully, more sunlight and an earlier Daylight Savings on March 9th will energize me.

Al Gore, No Inconvenient Truth Today

Al Gore, there is no"Inconvenient Truth" today, it is damn cold. Even though I should be acclimated to setting my thermostat at 69 degrees, it is a very cold 69 degrees. Here is a breakdown of what I am wearing today inside my house: Head - Nike baseball hat turned backwards; Upper Body - Reebok Play Dry compression T-shirt, Reebok Play Dry Thermal Long Sleeve Mock Turtleneck, cotton full zip front sweatshirt; Lower Body - Champion Duo Dry sports brief, Under Armour Cold Gear leggings, cotton sweatpants; Feet - wool socks, Nike running shoes.

Tennis Elbow Update

I saw my hand surgeon this morning for a re-evaluation of my tennis elbow after 6 weeks (12 sessions) of physical therapy. My Doctor measured my grip strength and said my strength had not dramatically improved. My Doc said it can take 6 to 9 months to fully heal. He gave me the options of allowing more time to heal by itself, or have a cortisone injection. He recommended the cortisone shot since my grip strength did not improve a lot. My physical therapist suggested 2 weeks (4 sessions total) of additional physical therapy and my doctor agreed to this. I will see my doc in one month to see if the cortisone shot worked. I will keep you updated.

Drive Time

No, this is not a post about being stuck in traffic on the Parkway. The second DVD drive that I installed in my PC died yesterday. It was a Sony DVD writer and only worked for almost 3 years. Of course, it only had a one year warranty, so I replaced it with a DVD writer drive that I was saving for my unbuilt new PC. I sent an e-mail to Sony tech support complaining about the quality of the drive. I doubt if they will even reply since I was not asking for tech support. The drive is dead, trust me. The very first DVD drive I installed 4 years ago was only a reader, not a burner. It was made by a no name company, Pacific Digitial, and died about one month after the one year warranty. My PC is seven years old and surprisingly the original CD writer drive still works. It is very slow compared to today's technology and makes a horrible grinding noise, but it still works. I also took some time to dust out my computer case, the cooling fans, etc. I will have to wait and see how long this drive will last.

Happy 2K8

Happy New Year to everyone!

Letterman Strikes Deal With Writers/Bloggers

Worldwide Pants, the production company for "The Late Show with David Letterman" and "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson", has reached an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America. So what does this mean? Most late night talk shows are scheduled to return to the air next Wednesday. These two late night talk shows will be the only ones with material written by professional writers.

What have the Late Show writers been doing since the strike began? Blogging of course. Here is a link to the Late Show Writers Blog. You will find the infamous "Top 10 Lists" along with a lot of short videos. If you have not guessed, yes, I am a night owl.

Private Practice

Being the day after Christmas, there was not much to watch on TV, so as I was channel surfing, I came across ABC's "Private Practice". I thought it was a good show. However, in real life, you will never find a private practice where the doctors, both male and female, are so good looking.

Annual Pitt Christmas Luncheon

I had lunch today with two buddies who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering. It is an annual tradition that started some time ago. I actually graduated the same year as Jim. Gerry graduated about 10 years earlier than Jim and I. Jim and Gerry grew up together and act like younger and older brothers. Jim and Gerry followed their engineering education and are actually employed as real engineers. I got my MBA Degree from the University of Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business, worked in Finance, then moved on to the IT field, my true calling, my gift, my curse. I have no regrets and am very happy working in the IT field. We have been lunching at a Pizza shop on Fifth Avenue for who knows how long. The conversation, pizza, and company was good - as it always is. We will probably get together again later next year for our annual Pirates game. Hopefully the annual tradition of a Pirates losing season will not continue.

Merry Christmas

Wishing Everyone a Very Merry Christmas !

Christmas LED Pics

Cynthia from My Brilliant Mistakes asked me how my LED Christmas lights look compared to regular incandescent bulbs. Here are a few pics I took with my Canon A520. This is the first time I have taken photos in the dark with my camera, so I am not sure how these will turn out. The LED lights were placed inside the window and not outside. The window glass kind of softens the LED's and creates some glare. They would look much better from outside, if they were placed outside. I enjoy viewing the lights from inside, and I think the LED's are just as bright as incandescent bulbs. I will let you judge for yourself. The lights are not perfectly straight, so I will never be able to compete with the Griswold's. This is a view from the street:






This is a view from the sidewalk:

This is an interior view from one of my bedroom windows:

When I bought these LED's at Wal Mart, another shopper spoke to me and said we live in a throw away society. He preferred to pay $2.00 for a 50 light incandescent set versus $10.00 for a 60 light LED set.

This year, the Capital Christmas Tree in Washington, DC was lit with LED lights.

Green Christmas

I decided to have a Green Christmas this year. Instead of the usual incandescent mini lights in my windows, I bought LED mini lights from my local Wal Mart. They were reduced from $10.00 to $7.00. Sure they are more expensive upfront, but in the long run, I will save money in energy costs. Just do not expect me to compete with Al Gore for the next Nobel Prize.

Let's Wait Till the Last Minute

In the winter, why do people wait until the first or second snowfall to figure out that their vehicle needs new tires? I took a day off from work today to get my physical therapy session, get an oil change for my car, and just catch up with stuff at home. I usually go to the local Wal Mart to get an oil change. This morning, around 10:15AM, there were six customers ahead of me. I think everyone was there to get new tires, wiper blades, or a new battery - all stuff you should take care of before winter. Everyone procrastinates, but when it comes to safe winter driving, I like to get prepared for winter in the fall.

Pay It Forward

I did my good deed for the day today. As I left the Target on Route 8 in Gibsonia, I saw two people in the parking lot talking on cell phones. One was a gray haired adult male and the second person was a female teenager. It was kind of strange seeing two people standing six feet apart talking on cell phones. As I was about to start my car up, the older gentleman asked me if I had a set of booster cables that he could borrow to help the young lady. The gentleman used his pickup truck to attempt to jump start the teenager's vehicle, but the battery was just too dead. The gentleman handed the booster cables back to me because he did not want to take too much of my time. I told him I was sorry that the booster cables were not able to help the young lady's car. The two did know each other, either from church or the girl's parents. The girl's car had a temporary vehicle registration in the back windshield, so I assumed she was driving a recently bought used vehicle.

Usually I do not like to help strangers, but it was a lighted parking lot with surveillance cameras, so I thought it would be safe. It was a nice feeling helping someone out, even if the outcome was not the best. You may have heard of the movie "Pay It Forward". It was based on the novel of the same name and there is actually a Pay It Forward Foundation.

10 Things I Love/Hate About Winter

Since we had our first taste of winter yesterday, I am reposting from last year 10 Things I Love/Hate About Winter:

Here are 10 things I like about Winter, in no particular order:

1. When I get home from work, it is dark, so I do not feel guilty about taking a nap.
   
2. Snow makes Christmas much more special.


3. I do not have to mow the lawn.


4. It is too cold to hand wash my car.


5. I can gain some weight and hide it with a baggy sweatshirt.


6. I like wearing boots instead of sneakers in the winter.


7. I like wearing a beanie/skull cap in my cold basement when I workout.


8. I can be late for work because of the weather.
   
9. I can catch up watching my collection of DVD’s because I spend more time indoors.


10. The Pittsburgh Penguins.
    

Here are 10 Things I hate about winter, in no particular order:

1. There are less hours of sunlight. I wake up in the dark, and leave work in the dark.


2. I have to shovel snow.
   
3. I have to drive in snow and ice.


4. Waterproof boots are never waterproof.


5. My car gets all salted up, and it is too cold to wash my baby.


6. My basement is cold, my workout equipment is in the basement, so I workout in a cold basement.


7. My head gets cold because I refuse to wear a hat which would ruin my hair.


8. I have to wear layers of clothes to keep warm, then I feel too warm because I am wearing layers of clothes.


9. My nose gets dry, so I get a lot of nosebleeds.


10. My skin gets very dry, so my fingertips crack. Very painful.
    

Weekly Workout Rewind - 11/25/2007

After a 3 week layoff, I am back to cardio and leg only workouts. It is a weird feeling trying to get back into any rhythm, even just fitting in cardio on a regular basis. I am also completing a series of exercises recommended by my physical therapist for my tennis elbow. I can mimic everything from physical therapy at home except for the ultrasound treatments. I have noticed a small improvement in my elbow. Shaking someone's hand is not as painful on my elbow as it used to be, so that is a good sign. My health insurance for physical therapy is not the best, so I am only going to take two sessions per week instead of three. I am in the middle of watching the Steelers game, posting here, and winding down the day to get up earlier than normal for work, so I am signing off now. Later.

Pitt Wins Backyard Brawl

Pitt just won the Backyard Brawl versus West Virginia. I am a Pitt Alum, so WOO HOO! I guess there will not be any couch burning celebrations in Morgantown this year.

NaBloPoMo-Results

So, how did I do with National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo? I found out about NaBloPoMo on November 10, 9 days after the official start, so I missed 9 posts. Since November 10, I have only missed one post. That was due to the WiFi not working at the hotel I was staying at while out of town on business. I have enjoyed the challenge of posting everyday in November. I am hoping this dedication motivates me to post more often.

Panera Post

My favorite restaurant for a salad at lunch is Panera. I am hooked on the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad. If the you at the nutritional info, it has more fat than you think it would. It is not the healthiest salad around, but it is very tasty. What do I like about this salad? The chicken, the wide variety of greens, the dehydrated apples, the almonds, the tasty dressing, and of course the Whole Grain baguette. Aside from the salad itself, I enjoy the atmosphere at Panera.

I eat a lot of salads for lunch, usually once a week at McDonalds, Wendys, and Panera. Of course, Panera is a bit pricey, but I like to treat myself once a week. The clientele at Panera is a little different than McDonalds. Mickey D's is usually full of Moms with kids under the age of 5. Panera caters to a different crowd - senior citizens, young and older professionals, not too many moms with kids. I will review my other favorite lunchtime salads in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.

GetGo WetGo Review

What is WetGo, a new diaper/undergarment to compete against Depends? No, WetGo is GetGo's name for it's automated car wash. A co-worker gave me a coupon for a free car wash at GetGo which had an expiration date of 12/3. I decided to try it out after lunch, so I went to the GetGo on Route 8 in Butler, PA. I assume my experience will be the same at other WetGo locations. I went inside and the cashier gave me a receipt with an access code printed on it. There was actually an attendant at the start of the car wash who keyed in the access code and gave very brief instructions. I was told to put my car in neutral as I drove onto a conveyor belt which ran under my driver side tires. The conveyor belt eventually grabbed my tires and pulled me into and through the car wash. It was a strange feeling being sucked into the car wash - the sounds, not being able to see out the windows. It was painless and at the end of the car wash, a green lit light indicating it was ok to put my car into drive and head on out. So, how well did it clean my car? My car was moderately dirty, and car wash actually did a good job of cleaning my car. I would rate it 7 of of 10. The rinse cycle was a little short so I was not as pleased with the rinse cycle. The short rinse cycle contributed to some streaking on the windows. My car is a hatchback and has a windshield wiper on the rear window that is a little loose. I was afraid that the car wash would knock off the wiper blade, but it did not. This may sound strange, but I have owned my car for 5 years and have always hand washed/waxed it. Until today. With winter coming, I may consider get more car washes at the WetGo at GetGo.

Van Halen Reunion Tour Rolls into the Burgh 3/21

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported that Van Halen will perform at the Civic Arena on March 21, 2008. I grew up listening to Van Halen, from high school, to college, to grad school. I have almost every album/CD they released. Ticket sale dates will be announced soon.