This is the end...

I am putting my blog on hiatus for a while. I just don't have the time to keep it up to date. I may pick it back up in the future...

Rock You Like A Hurricane!

Well the Hurricanes certainly blew tonight! Actually my Devs looked really good and Marty was stellar as usual. 4-0 Devils on the road.

I promise to write some more later...really. I just wanted to plant this bookmark!

"It's Nothing Personal, Just A Lousy Memory"

This is not meant to be negative, so please don't take it that way. I am currently in Phoenix, Arizona. Yes, Phoenix. For those who don't know and for people to young to remember, we lived in Phoenix from August of '04 to December of '04 and I can tell you, personally, that was one of the lowest points of my life. Gabi, Alex and I went from our brand new home in Seattle to a two bedroom apartment in Phoenix. I went from a good computer science job to selling sub-prime mortgages. It was this surreal experience that I could not believe was happening. The only thing keeping me going was my family and The Posies CD "Success". It was one of those promises you make to yourself..."I will keep this CD in my player to not only keep me sane, but to give me a goal. Get back to Seattle." I finally got hired in my field by DMP, and started planning our return to Washington. By November 5th, I picked out our new home and by December 15th, I bought it. I moved us there December 21st and brought Gabi and Alex up on January 3rd. And the rest they say, is history.

I believe things happen for a reason, and more importantly even out over time. Had we been forced to stay in Phoenix, we would have paid close to premium price for a house. Instead, we got in a house in Washington near the bottom of the price ladder. Now looking back at it, since the Phoenix market has crashed, the Phoenix house would have left us upside down at this point in time and we are up over $75K in Seattle. Had I not been at DMP, Precor may not have happened. It just seems to work out for us somehow, and, for that I am thankful.

That all being said...I got to eat dinner tonight with my replacement at DMP, Thor. He didn't even last the year. He has a new baby and is too talented live with the DMP hassle. He is doing much better now and is happy to be home. I was nice to see him.

I MAY check in tomorrow, but who knows...

Suzy Is A Headbanger...

OK, this will be a Suzy-centric post. You have been warned.

Yesterday was a sad day. I took down Alex's pool for the winter. It brought back memories from when I was a kid. I was brought up in Upstate N.Y. and by the end of August, fall could be felt in the air, just like here in Seattle. We began school the day after Labor Day and before you knew it Fall was in full swing. Every year the same scenario played out...The Jerry Lewis Telethon would start on T.V. which was the first marker of the impending school year and the end of Summer. Then on Labor Day Monday, Suzy Gross(my neighbor)and I would climb into our pool and not get out all day. We always thought that if we stayed in, somehow summer would go on, and as usual our mom's would call us out for dinner by 6:00 and before we knew it, the following weekend, my dad would be draining the pool halfway and covering it up for the winter. As much as I love Fall and everything it brings, that time of the year always brought a strange sadness. That same feeling came back last night as I drained my son's pool. Another association I got later in life was The Posies song "Coming Right Along". For some reason that song, played at this time of the year fits like a glove. As I was taking the pool down yesterday, I was thinking about that song and that time period in my youth...it is funny how some things never go away or are forgotten.

On another note, Suzy Mills, no relation to Suzy Gross, sent me out a CD a few weeks back that I have listened to at least twice a day. It is by a U.K. band called The Ravines. Since the mainstream music scene has boiled itself down to "urban" music, awful jam band/smooth jazz garbage like Dave Matthews and John Mayer and Green Day/Blink 182 knockoffs, getting good new music is getting more and more difficult. I have turned alot to indie bands and labels to hear anything remotely interesting. Unfortunately for indie bands it requires their fans to spread the word and get people listening. I am so happy Suzy shared this band with me. I really enjoy their CD. I will be returning the favor soon...

...and I missed you...

Wow...It just hit me a second ago...I have had this blog for a year! Actually, more than a year, I missed the anniversary. I checked, and today, last year, I was in Reno, toiling for DMP. I was still a good month away from even interviewing at Precor!

I am far from Reno today...I am in Washington D.C. I have to go train some people at an Army base tomorrow. Then, I get to see my old Navy buddy Brian Keating. We met in 1983 and have been friends for 23 years now. After class, I am heading to his place in Maryland.

A few notes...

Travel sucks! The airports are a mess! I was there over 2 hours early and still barely made it. I have to go to Alaska (yey!) in two weeks. I have to fly (oh shit!)
Luckily I am Gold on Alaska and can cut the lines...

We just went through humidity in Seattle recently. Child's play compared to the East Coast. It is miserable here!

My friend Suzy sent me The Ravines CD...it is awesome. Get it.

I will write more later...

Rock Of Ages...

Have you noticed how some music has not aged well? I am not talking about some of those bad 70's and 80's acts. I am talking about respectable and formerly respectable bands. While Led Zep and Sabbath have held up well, other heavyweights such as Kiss sound downright horrible. In the past few weeks I have heard some UFO, Blue Oyster Cult and REO Speedwagon and boy does it sound dated! Even some of the older Aerosmith and Rush tunes sound just clownish. Then again...we did smoke out a bit more back then. I don't know why, lets say, Time Of The Season from The Zombies, sounds so fresh, yet Rock And Roll All Night sounds so old and dated. If you can answer that, let me know.

If It Takes A Lifetime...Random Thoughts...

- The new Cheap Trick CD is absolutely awesome. It is called "Rockford" please buy it. Since the late 80's Cheap Trick has tried to blend whatever was popular at the time into their recordings and the results were disasterous or mixed at best. Cheap Trick is just a rocking, melodic power pop band, plain and simple, and electronica and keys just did not belong. On the new recording, they ditched all of that and went back to what made them famous and the results are amazing. This is easily the best CD since "Dream Police" and I guarantee you will enjoy it.

- I am currently in Montana, and the scenery is nice, but, have you ever been to Alaska? Alaska is absolutely breathtaking. The mountains and bays combined with the abundant wild life is just unbelievable. I strongly suggest you visit our 49th state. Be prepared, food is EXPENSIVE!

- Why do people leave dated bumper stickers on their cars? OK, you voted for Kerry in '04, he lost. It is not a badge of honor, it means you voted for a guy that could not take down an unpopular President (and you had the majority of registered voters!). For all you "W '04" sticker wearers...OK you won, now, why am I paying $3.00 a gallon for gas? Why are kids dying overseas with no end in sight? You won, but you have nothing to be proud of. Maybe I could offer you a "Skid Row Rocks" sticker to complete your outdated set? Maybe a "Don't blame me I voted for Perot" sticker.

- World Cup Soccer...the premiere tournament in soccer decided by penalty kicks?!?!? What kind of shit is that? They play until someone scores. End of sentance. The day the Stanley Cup is decided by shootouts is the day I give up hockey.

- The new Cheap Trick CD rocks.

- The first two CD's by Better Than Ezra, are still great CD's.

- I am jonesing for a Posies, Redd Kross or Cheap Trick show. I need some power pop in my life right now.

- I love being a dad. I can now hold conversations with my son and he is just the center of my world. I would not trade this life for anything.

- Last and definitely least...My old company in San Diego is pushing hard to bring me back into the fold. They need someone who can fix both of their branches in Riverside and San Diego. They have no infrastructure in place to support their technicians and therefore can't keep them. They want me to pull together a training course and implement it, and then help recruit and retain good people. I would be given the freedom to fix payscales, offer incentives and build teams as I see fit, but, I am not sure I want to leave Washington quite yet. We have a brand new house that cost us under $300K and I have a job that I currently love. The San Diego job would definitely get me into the six figure range, but is all relative to everything else. A house in a regular neighborhood is still $700K. Gas is still way above $3 a gallon. The pluses would be proximity to family and friends. I don't know at this point, but, I will do whatever is best for my family.

I've been handed a curse...

I don't believe I ever have told you about my curse, have I? It is an odd one, I don't know where or when it started, but I noticed it a few years back (around 2000-2001). I have shared it with Gabi and a close friend or two, but, to prevent the spread, I have kept it encapsulated within that group. I was thinking about it the other day and decided that I would share it here...I am cursed by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Yes, the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynrd. I grew up in upstate NY. Very close to the town of Woodstock, Bearsville Studios and Bard College. "Classic Rock" or at the time I was growing up "AOR FM Rock" was king. 60's acts that crossed over into the 70's like The Doors and Stones as well as all of those 70's arena bands were the ONLY thing the kids at my school listened to. While I enjoyed some of that, I found myself leaning towards other bands that were not popular, or popular yet. I liked Cheap Trick before they broke with Budokan. I loved the Bon Scott led AC/DC. I was very into the first wave...Jam, Pistols, Pretenders and Cars, which did not allow me to fit in with my classmates on some levels. Right up there with Zeppelin and Aerosmith, the kids loved Lynyrd Skynyrd. I loathed them, I don't like the south in general, but southern rock, to me, really blew...fast forward to 2000...I started to notice Skynyrd in my life. Not just the occasional song every once in a while, but some reference to Skynyrd every single day!!! I started to notice not a day went by without something Skynyrd. A song, a photo, a story about them, someone talking about them, Muzak in the store, a reference to them from a comedian or on TV or even a kid walking down the street in a Skynyrd shirt! It was uncanny, I could be on the road, tuning the radio and I would, without fail, hit a Skynyrd song. When I finally shared this with my BSI replacement, Kevin, he at first dismissed it, but then noticed when we walked into a bar, it was only a matter of minutes before "Gimme Three Steps" or "Sweet Home Alabama" would play on the music system. He started to notice where ever I was, Skynyrd soon followed. As of today the curse is still with me...Everyone that knows the curse always stares me down when there is a random Skynyrd reference. As funny as this all sounds...it is true on every level and I have learned just to accept it. So, from Skynyrd central...have a great day! (and please, give me three steps, give me three steps mister...)