Hey, Hey, Telephone Line...

I travel for a living. As everybody knows, fuel prices have made traveling very expensive. The best way to keep costs down is to advance book all trips. How come none of my customers are calling me back? They know I have a schedule to set, they know I need to book in advance, yet nothing. What inevitably happens...I get the urgent call that they want a class tomorrow in Boise and I am in Tempe. How about a little planning folks?

Let's see what the haps are today...I just got a call from Gabi that my boy got sick on his playdate. Poor thing vomited on everything. Little people should not get sick. It just isn't fair.

I am supposed to call Vinny back...

The Posies must be back in town now. Bumbershoot is this weekend. I am taking off for San Diego. I will see them next Friday.

Heard from Tony last night. Good to hear from him. Now only if Mike would call me back!

Anyhow, I have a wagon to clean...

I wanna stay home...

And I am! I am doing an at home week for work, so here I am. I have to catch up on everything so that I can go to San Diego next week and not worry about anything but what time The Posies go on Friday night!

Ozzy Rules!

Good day,

#4

Everyone moves away...

I am from New York originally. I got tired of Winter. In 1989 I jumped in my car and headed west. I ended up in sunny San Diego. I stayed in San Diego until 2004.

While in San Diego, I met several good people that have been my friends for many years. Sadly, once they move or you move, you keep in touch, but it is not ever like it used to be...

First, there was Tony. Let me tell you about Tony. I met him after I chased the guys stealing the stereo equipment from his car into an alley. I could not catch them, but I did get a good friend out of it. Tony and I went to the 2000 Stanley Cup banner raising in NJ. I miss him a lot.
Favorite Hockey Team : Toronto Maple Leafs

Next, Scott. Scott was new to the San Diego area when I first met him. He was auditioning for several of us captains for our hockey league. Scott was definitely a talented goaltender. He was technically sound and belonged on a high division team. Unfortunately, every scrub begged him to be on their team. I got to talk to him last and said "We are in the higest division, are you interested?" He agreed almost immediately.

UH OH...Did I ever tell you about the time...We were gearing up for a big game against the top team in the division and were in pre-game warm-ups. Scott use to wear a Dominik Hasek style goalie helmet in which a goalie mask is attached to a standard hockey helmet. Unfortunately the standard helmet does not cover as much as a regulation goalie mask and during the warm-up, one of our forwards by the name of Aaron Diem launched a shot into Scott's ear. It immediately ripped his earlobe almost 2/3rd's of the way through. We all gathered around to see the damage. Scott said, "How does it look?", we all replied..."It looks just fine Scott, lets play!" Truth was, it was horrible and he really needed to go to the hospital, but, there were no goaltenders available that were even half as good as he was so the game was on. I play defense and was around Scott all of the time. I watched the blood stain on his jersey get bigger as the game wore on. It took over his entire shoulder and down his back. Thing was, Scott was feeling woozy due to the impact of the shot and blood loss and was totally unaware. Only later, after his wife took him to the hospital and he received 9 stiches, did he realize what we did. It is amazing he is still our friend.


Anyway, Scott continued...Scott has remained my friend above and beyond hockey since the first day we met. Our wives are friends and even though we haven't played together for over a year, we still see each other and do things anytime I get into town. Of all of the people I was friends with in San Diego, Scott is the one I miss most. If I do score the new job soon, I will see him less and that would suck. Anyway, who knows, we may end up back in So. Cal and I will once again get to accidentally kick shots into out net past him. Scott, I will see you for MM.
Favorite Hockey Team : Los Angeles Kings

Next, Vinny. My musical soulmate. He was put on my alternate hockey team during our first season. We won the championship. During the second season, Vinny would constantly remain offside negating any chance of hitting him with a pass. I finally blew up at him after a loss to a team we shouldn't have lost to. Anyway, I was an asshole and apologized after a few minutes. Being cool as he is, he let it slide, but then, it happened...as he was packing his gear he started singing a Jellyfish tune. Another Jellyfan in the world?! and he played on my team?! I started to talk to him about music...found out he was a rock musician for most of his adult life and had recently retired to be with his family. Thing was, his musical taste was almost identical to mine. Power pop, Glam, and any mix of the two were the order of the day. I got to introduce him to The Posies and he got to introduce me to King's X. Vin and I have been friends since, and go to concerts whenever we get the chance. He is definitely one cool cat and one of my very best friends.
Favorite Hockey Team : Los Angeles Kings

Next, Aaron. A hockey teammate who became a close friend. Aaron too, has drifted away due to moving. First he went to Phoenix (where I joined him for 4 months) and now he has just moved to Denver. I will try to keep in touch, but as time moves on, I feel I will see him less and less. I have a list of stories about Aaron that I will talk about some other time...
Favorite Hockey Team : Los Angeles Kings

Last, Cesar. Cesar is an odd bird. He has a quirky personality and says what ever pops into his head. He also changes words to songs into ridiculous shit. This is why I like him...because he is a lot like me. I do the same stupid stuff. If there is one thing you can say about Cesar, it is he is a genuine person and would give you his last dollar if you needed it. He is someone you can depend on and is a good friend. Luckily I get to see him when I am in town...
Favorite Hockey Team : None

Anyhow...That is all I have tonight. Goodnight friends.

She was the little old lady from Pasadena....

Thanks Sweetie, I needed something for this post.

My boy says "Cookie" now! Actually he says lot's of things now. It is going by way too fast. Are we going to have to send him off to college soon?

Six Feet Under is over! A former favorite, the last three seasons have been painful to watch. To think, whiny freakin' Claire lives to be 102! God help the people she must have annoyed for over a century. My honest opinion of Sunday night at 9:00???? Bring back Larry!

Greetings from Pasadena, CA. Not much to report, I'll check in tomorrow!

Nigh, Nigh!

Joining a fanclub....

Lemme tell you about The Posies...

The Posies should be stars. They are everything right about music. They have great voices, they write great songs and damn it, they are just nice guys. Ask anybody who Fred Durst is, they probably know. Ask anybody who Jon Auer or Ken Stringfellow are and you get a blank stare. What the fuck is that? Oh well, I guess Ken and Jon have to write songs about "Nookie" and "Breaking Shit" and they too can be stars. I have been a fan since 1990 and will continue to be a fan as long as they record albums. Even their demos that never got full band treatment were 10 times better than anything, and I mean any fucking thing Madonna EVER lip sync'ed or got faked in the studio.

Another great thing about The Posies is the fact they have a group of loyal fans that are amongst the finest people I have ever met. While most of the world jumped from Retro Rock in the early 90's to Grunge in the mid 90's to Electronica in the late 90's to Rap now. Some people actually had the audacity not to follow the latest trend and remain loyal to a band that consistently gave them great music.

Late last year and early this year I was fortunate enough to be able to do something for the fans (and The Posies themselves.) My musical soul brother (and hockey teammate), Mr. Vince Votel runs a screen printing shop. He was able to re-create the very popular Posies/Archies T-Shirt design from the Amazing Disgrace tour. I corraled some help from Taylor at posies.net and decided to do a fan only, no profit, run of shirts. Hoping to get 30 orders, I ended up with 70 in 3 days and about 30 people getting shutout. It was a huge hit.
Vin and my shirts are now all around the world.

(Special note: Vin and I have something new cooking. Will let you know soon......)

Here are some of the recipients :

































L to R Top : Chris, Mass, USA, Suzy, UK
L to R Center : Janne, Finland Ole, Norway
Bottom : Luis, Spain

You used to drive me around...

I was going to use another Beatles reference in the title of the post, but, a tribute to Jon Auer just sounds better.
I am coming to you live from Reno, Nevada. Sin City Jr. I will be here for a day or two and then off to Cali for a quick one day turnaround.
OK, tonights subject. Automobiles. Otherwise known as cars, rides, autos, rigs or transport. I have had a passion for cars since I was in my teens. Brought up in Upstate NY, I was tuned into the American Muscle Car scene to begin with and wasn't very interested, then, when I turned 18 I got my first car...A 1976 Triumph TR7...Yes, my passion with cars began with the British Invasion. Let me tell you about cars from across the pond...the British are very attentive to luxury and detail. From their dashboards to their seats they are a cut above the average car. Now, whether the car ran or not, was a minor detail. British cars break, alot. I managed in all of my years on the darkside (literally, not figuratively because the lights never worked) to modify and make the cars much more reliable. I still have a soft spot for British cars, but thankfully don't have a spot for one in my garage. Here would be my British hit parade from 1982 to 1996:

1976 Triumph TR7
1977 Triumph Spitfire
1975 MG Midget
1978 Triumph Spitfire
1986 Jaguar XJ6
1973 Jaguar XJ6
1977 Triumph TR7
1980 Triumph TR7 Cabriolet

Sometime during that time I dabbled in the Italian market for a while, owning an Alfa Spyder and driving several Ferrari's, Lambo's and Maserati's. I never fell in love with Italian cars simply because they are all flash, no reliability and worst of all, no comfort whatsoever. You better know yoga to prepare yourself to drive an Italian exotic. My Italian car ownership was limited to:

1973 Alfa Romeo Spyder

My Italian experience has included:

1994 Ferrari 348 Spyder
1983 Ferrari 308 GTSi
1967 Lambo Muira
1977 Maserati Bora

American cars were always just, to sum up in one word, bland. Excepting some models from the late 60's, this country is an automotive wasteland. I have had the misfortune of owning 2 Chrysler products and currently own a boring, but very reliable Ford Explorer.

1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited
2003 Ford Explorer

Japanese cars found their way into my garage more than once. Reliable as hell, easy to work on and very practical. I found it hard to be passionate about them. I like them, I would always consider one as a daily driver. My Japanese experiences:

1985 Toyota Celica GTS Convertible
1986 Toyota 4X4
1977 Toyota Corolla Wagon
1977 Datsun 200SX

1n 1990 I found my true love (both in cars and with my wife)...
German cars. The Germans could combine the flash of an Italian car, the reliability of a Japanese car and the attention to detail of a British car. All the while, staying away from bland old American iron. Germans by nature are perfectionists and their car design and manufacture are second to none. The drivability and performance is incredible. I bought my first Porsche in 1990 and my current Porsche in 2000. Absolutely fantastic cars. They are also very affordable to the regular guy. Now before anybody freaks out, let me explain. The longevity of a Porsche makes it an attractive buy 10 years down the road, for what you would pay for a new Mustang or Honda Accord, you could easily afford a low miles, super clean, used 911, 928, 944, 968 or Boxster. Believe me, the Porsche experience will far surpass the few years spent with that generic mass produced car experience. My German car ownership has included:

1984 Porsche 944
1990 Porsche 944S2 Cabriolet (Pictured below)

I have driven:

1980 911SC
1983 911SC
1984 911 Carrera
2000 911 Carrera
1983 928
1986 944 Turbo

When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide...

36 years ago today, the "Summer Of Love" officially ended. We found out all hippies were not peaceniks. Truly a sad day in 1969. My views are pretty moderate, but, if you want to see a distict bend to the right, here it is. Every last one of those people involved should have been long gone by now. California taxpayers are supporting these people who have contributed nothing but ugliness and sadness to this society. To top it off, idiots like Axl Rose have made their leader a cult hero. The death penalty may not be a deterrent, but it would guarantee these people would never kill again and maybe, just maybe, bring some peace to all of the families victimized.

Anyway...sitting here about 100 miles south of that incident and dying in the heat. Gave a class today and ended it early because they had an emergency so I got to go home early!

Once you get here, you learn to appreciate Washington more because we in Washington are surrounded by such beauty. Here in California, it is not only expensive, but, excepting the ocean, there is not much to look at and this is not much more than a desert with houses stuck all over it. Can't beat the year around climate, but at close to $700,000 for an older, small home...forget it.

Did I ever tell you about the time...My friend Tony and I went to NJ to catch the Devils raising the 1999-2000 Stanley Cup banner. We decided to go over to NYC the next day to check things out and went over to the 5300 block of Broadway. Right down 53rd and B'way, next to the CBS store is The Hello Deli. Being a fan of David Letterman, we popped in and I got my picture taken with Rupert Gee, the owner. For those of you that watch Letterman, you have undoubtedly seen Rupert in numerous bits with Dave. Rupert is as gracious in person as he appears on the show and he is a really funny guy. If you are ever in NY, a stop at the Hello Deli is a must!

Going down to San Diego. Driving past the nuclear t**s!

OK, getting everthing together for a trip is tough enough. Try doing it with a 17 month old baby needing every minute of your attention. We are off to San Diego tomorrow, maybe we can drop a cool million on a fixer-upper! Alex is going to see his Omi and we, hopefully will get a night to see a movie.

I am pretty shot, so let me summarize:

Going to SD.
Going to see Teenage Fan Club.
Going to see Omi and Opi.
Going to see Scott, Aaron and Cesar.

I will check in later.

Everybody's working for the weekend.

Well except for me. I just got home and have to scramble to pull everything together to leave again on Monday.

Good news : I get to bring my family, I get to see my old friends in San Diego, I get to see TFC on Monday night.

Bad news : I really need to decompress at home for a week and won't get to do that. My in-laws guest beds were taken directly off the set of "Papillion".

Gotta go.

Big old jet had a light on...carry me to my home.

I'm at at the airport going home to Seattle. Yea!!!! Not to much to report, so I might as well share my musical interests:

Can't Live Without : Posies, Jellyfish, Cheap Trick, Imperial Drag, Hollies, Beatles, Black Sabbath.

Love : Robyn Hitchcock, TFC,Redd Kross, Pogues, Get Up Kids, Fountains Of Wayne, Husker Du, Soundgarden, Sloan, The Dickies, Sex Pistols, Me First And The Gimme Gimmes.

Fan Of : Kings X, Jet, Moke, Better Than Ezra, Lisa Loeb, American Hi-Fi, Nirvana,Interpol, X, The Donna's, Bowie, Merrymakers, Iggy.

Loath: Any of the corporate money machines that don't actually sing!

Myself, Vince and the great Jon Auer (Posies)



I'm to the right and need to shed a few pounds as well as get a better haircut! Yikes!

Schools Out For Summer...

Still here in Las Vegas. It is too friggin' hot! 105 degrees at last look. Oh wait, the temperature has just rapidly dropped, can only mean rain. Not your Seattle, sprinlky, misty, can function in type of rain, but that Southwest desert downpour that causes flashfloods. etc...type of rain.

A couple of notes from today:

After 20+ years I am becoming a student again. Not an earn credits and graduate type student, but a specialized certificate student. I need to make a change where I can be home more with my family and over the past 20 or so years I have been either in the electronics security systems industry or in I.T. I liked my time in I.T. but learned things on the fly, so I have experience with no certification. In the security industry I have a crapload of certifications and a crapload of experience, but, the people in this business want it to be 1975 for their employees and 2005 for themselves. Let me explain : Working in the security systems field back in the 70's required minute skill. The systems were little more than a giant loop that, when broken, caused a bell to ring. This whole deal was turned on when you turned a key that applied power to a relay that would ring the bell if the loop was broken. You could train a technician and send him out almost instantaneously. This made them cheap and easy to replace. Fast forward to now. Security systems are now sophisticated processor driven units. Multiple single loops or addressed polling points are now the norm. Systems can be monitored via the internet or at host PC's within an intranet. It takes very skilled employees to ensure a proper and professional installation. Most states now require testing and multiple licenses to become a security systems technician. Well, the problem is the owners of the installing companies have let the times pass them by and as managers, salesmen and supervisors try keeping up with the technology, they are handcuffed because these owners think they can still pay, and keep, these highly skilled techs at less than the price of someone serving you a burger at your local Mickey D's. So the cycle begins...one company hires a rookie, who gains some skill, who moves onto the next company who will pay him more, who moves to the next company who will pay him even more, etc...what ends up happening is the techs end up working everywhere, get fed up, and get a new career or pick the best situation and stay with it. Anyhow, being on the manufacturing side of the industry, we feel the pinch of the owners also, resulting in hand to mouth sales instead of bulk sales, and while this provides a more steady income for our owners, it creates an unstable environment for we representatives (I am a technical trainer) because we don't always have the money to fund our projects. Bottom line? I took a large paycut to work in this field. I have decided to certify and get back to where the money is. I like training, but I also like I.T. and a Cisco certification will certainly be beneficial to me and my family.

In other news...When the Toronto Maple Leafs foolishly gave up their #1 draft choice in 1991 to the New Jersey Devils for Tom Curvers, the Devils took Scott Niedermayer behind major league busts Eric Lindros and Pat Falloon. In his 13 years with the Devils, Nieds hoisted the Stanley Cup three times and most recently won the James Norris Trophy as the leagues best defenseman. Eric and Pat??? No Cups. Today Nieds turned down the chance to be the highest paid Devil and instead decided to play hockey on his brothers team in Anaheim for 1.8 Million dollars less. As much as this pains me, I wish Scott good luck in Southern California. We Devil fans will miss him. I figure his new salary might just afford him a condo in Orange County anyway. : )

First Entry - I'm going in... to sin city

First Post coming to you live from Sin City. Not exactly a fan of this city, I find it to be superficial and having a smile on it's face while it has it's hand in your pocket.

Lets start with a brief description of me. I am 41 years old and live in the Seattle, WA area. I have several loves in my life and none greater than my little boy Alexander and my wife Gabriele.

I am the Western Training Manager for a company called DMP located in Springfield, MO. I have to travel from state to state training technicians on the operation of our equipment. Truth be told I am very tired of being on the road and would like to do something close to home. I will be obtaining my CCNA/CCND certifications very soon, so please, if you live in Seattle, help a brother out!


I'm calling it a day, but stay tuned, we will be talking Porsche, Posies and The New Jersey Devils and maybe, just maybe, I will share a "Did I ever tell you about the time..." story

Hugs and Kisses - #4