Wednesday, December 20, 2006

MOFO!

Got the new Zappa CD today that was ordered months and months ago. It's a 4 disc special edition available only through Barfko-Swill, and it arrived today. MOFO stands for "Making of Freak Out!", and this marks the 40th anniversary of that first Mothers of Invention album.
Anyway, haven't given the whole thing a listen yet, but thought I'd post pics of the cool packaging and the credits (of which I am included).

Here's the front of the closed package:


Here's the back:


The next four are of it opened, one disc at a time:


..>






And finally, here's the part of the credits with my name:



Anyone who preordered this early enough got their name in it. Also, notice the name in the upper left corner of the pic above.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Almost forgot!

One year, eight months, one day, 18 hours smober.
24430 cigarettes not smoked, saving $6,413.45.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Just wanted to wish you all (what...4 of you?) a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in case this is my last blog of 2006. Considering my usual posting frequency, that's very likely!
Here's an oldie but goody to get you in the spirit. Val and I are going to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra (the music behind the video) on Thursday. Should be an awesome show, and a great way to end a great year of concerts!

Happy Holidays!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Last weekend

I've been to quite a few shows this year, and I have to say that this past weekend was the most ass-kicking weekend of concerts to date. Friday night Val and I went to see Tool, whom I've never seen before. It was better than I had expected. It was little more than listening to the CDs on the ultimate sound system, but that's a good thing. Great performances and high energy.
Saturday, Val, her son Stephen, and I took a trip to Philly to visit her daughter Megan at Drexel U. After dinner with Megan's boyfriend, the 4 of us went to see Porcupine Tree at the Keswick Theatre. It was probably the best PT show I've seen (this being either my 3rd or 4th time seeing them). They played about an hour of brand new material, which was pretty good, but unfortunately it was at the expense of their older material (Buying New Soul being the oldest tune they played). Most of the second set was pulled from their latest albums, In Absentia and Deadwing.

Porcupine Tree | Keswick Theatre : Glenside, PA | 10.7.06
Photos ©2006 Joe del Tufo, Studio M Live



Another good thing was that the kids seemed to enjoy it...especially Megan.
All in all it was a great weekend of concerts...one that will likely not be topped for a while.

One year, five months, three weeks, five days
21770 cigarettes not smoked, saving $5,714.84

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Random Thoughts

-- Listening to Frank Zappa I notice that no matter how many times I've heard any given album, I still manage to find something interesting that I had not consciously noticed prior.

-- The older I get, the pickier I get about my coffee.

-- For some reason, rainy days make me appreciate what I have.

-- I really need to lose some serious weight.

-- The only person you can truly depend on is in the mirror. Friends and family can let you down.

-- Why did Marcia, Jan, and Cindy take on the Brady name?

-- This is currently the longest stretch of time I have ever quit smoking for (One year, five months, two weeks, three days, 15 hours. 21,425 cigarettes not smoked, saving $5,624.15).

-- The Miami Dolphins suck.

-- Really looking forward to Tool on Friday and especially Porcupine Tree on Saturday (they are performing yet-to-be-released material).

-- My mom is a good egg.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Get rich quick! Ask me how!

Don't smoke cigarettes! That's how!
I was in Walmart the other day, and noticed that cigs were selling for $6.60/pack!!
Damn, am I glad I've stayed off them!

One year, four months, one week, four days, 17 hours
19949 cigarettes not smoked, saving $5,236.79

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Active Summer

This has quite possibly been the most socially active summer of my adulthood. I don't recall ever having a stretch of time where I had something to do almost every weekend, and I don't think I've been to as many shows/concerts in one summer as this year. Of course, I have my significant other Valerie to thank, as the following text would not exist were it not for her.

The Spring/Summer season kicked off with a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure in April or May to get our first use of our season passes that Val bought for us and her kids. It was a little chilly, so the Hurricane Harbor part of the park was not an option (not even sure it was open yet). But having season passes takes the pressure off to try and do as much as possible in one day. It's much more relaxing knowing you can come back anytime for "free".

June 12th was our first concert, which was Zappa Plays Zappa in NYC. It didn't turn Val into a Zappa groupie, but I think it pretty well exceeded her expectations.
Two weeks later I went to Nearfest. See my other unfinished blog entry for details on that.
Somewhere in late June or early July was another trip to Six Flags, with Hurricane Harbor being included this time. Also sprinkled in there were a graduation party BBQ, two birthday BBQs, a "just friends hanging out" BBQ, and even a doggie birthday BBQ (apparently they exist).
July was capped off attending Ozzfest. It was an experience, I'll say that. I enjoyed the top 4 bands, but I also realized I'm way too old to do the entire day, to be a crowd surfing wave, and be a mosh pit boundary. I believe I've been to my first and last event at Randall's Island.

That brings us to the current month of August. Already we've been to another birthday BBQ, and went to Six Flags again yesterday. We're supposed to go peach picking today....weather permitting.
This Saturday we're going to the Opie & Anthony Traveling Virus Comedy show at the PNC Arts Center. That will wrap up August.

Labor Day weekend we have a BBQ to go to, and on 9/8 we're going to see Godsmack and Rob Zombie at PNC. So far that's it for September.

We kick off October with a Tool concert on Friday the 6th. The very next day, Val, her son Stephen, and myself will make a trek to Philly to visit Val's daughter Megan at Drexel University, then the 4 of us are going to see Porcupine Tree at the Keswick. We cap off the month on Halloween for another Zappa Plays Zappa performance at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden, which was formerly the Felt Forum where Frank played many legendary Halloween shows.
As a by the way, both Megan and Valerie have birthdays in that month.

November brings us Valerie's other daughter Lauren's 11th birthday on the 19th. For that, I bought tickets to see Disney on Ice on Friday the 24th. If Megan or Stephen is reading this (unlikely), this is meant to be a surprise for Lauren, so keep it zipped. ;-)

That's about it for now. A real social life....imagine that. :-)

One year, four months, six days, 5 hours
19728 cigarettes not smoked, saving $4,932.11

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Syd Barrett dies aged 60

SYD Barrett, the founder of Pink Floyd has died aged 60.

The wayward genius passed away from cancer last Friday in the scruffy semi-detached Cambridge home to which he retreated as a recluse more than 30 years ago.

A spokeswoman for Pink Floyd music publishers said: "I can confirm that Syd Barrett has died.

He died peacefully and there will be a private family funeral.

"We would ask that the family be left alone and be given space at this time."

The singer's funeral will be for family and no members of Pink Floyd are expected to attend.

Syd, who created, named and powered the pied pipers of the psychedelic rock movement, shunned fans and rarely ventured outside his front door following a psychedelic drug induced breakdown at the peak of his career. He was later immortalised in Pink Floyd's song Shine On You Crazy Diamond.

On his death certificate, his occupation was given as "retired musician".

Born Roger Keith Barrett on January 6, 1946, in Cambridge, he was given the nickname Syd aged 15.

During the 1960s, when Syd came of age, Cambridge played a very special part in the spiritual birth of modern pop music across Britain and American.

The local music scene was thriving with bands such as Geof Mott and the Mottoes, the Sundowners, the Swinging Vibros and the Redcaps all vying for popularity.

The Victoria Ballroom - where Marks & Spencer now stands on the Market Square - was one of the most popular hangouts. Musicians including Toni Santi, Clive Welham, Willie Wilson and Nick Barraclough
* now a BBC Radio 2 presenter - were the names on everyone's lips.

But the two Cambridge men who were to have the most lasting effect on British music were Syd, guitarist with Geof Mott and Mottoes, and Dave Gilmour, singer and guitarist with the band Jokers Wild.

Syd formed Pink Floyd in 1965.

His controversial departure was in '68 after he had penned the hit singles Arnold Layneand See Emily Play along with the songs on the first album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.

While the band went on to achieve worldwide fame, he lived in the basement of his mother's semi in Cambridge, where he boarded up the windows to keep out of the eyes of the press and fans. He recorded two solo albums.

Syd's withdrawal from public life led him to enjoy cult status among some Pink Floyd fans, with many websites and books dedicated to him. He was often described as the first acid casualty.

Clive Welham said: "I only knew Syd before his breakdown. He was a wonderful man - a nice guy with a lovely sense of humour. He was very likeable and had no malice in him.

"He was a very talented painter as well as a musician. How on earth he got mixed up with such awful drugs, I don't know, but he liked to try things and clearly went too far.

"I have often seen him around Cambridge but never talk to him - he was always in a world of his own.

It would have felt wrong and I think it would've been a disastrous things to do - I doubt he would've known who I was."

Last year, in the run-up to Pink Floyd's reunion for Live 8 - in which Syd did not take part - neighbours said the former rock star never answered his door to callers and remained a recluse. They said he found it hard to make eye contact.

At this point, his sister Rosemary Breen, who lived a few miles from Syd in Cambridge, told the News he had not spoken to his former band mates - Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright, or his replacement, Dave Gilmour - for nearly three decades.

She said: "That is another life for him, another world in another time.

He is not Syd anymore, he is Roger.

There is no contact (with the band members) and he does not want them to get in touch with him."

She added: "He does DIY, he listens to music and he goes out."

Mrs Breen helped care for Syd in the years following his breakdown.

She has declined to comment on his death.

Syd's brother Alan Barrett said from his home in Linton, near Cambridge: "Roger died on Friday.

There will be a small family funeral soon. We just wish to be left alone."

Syd's father died when he was still in his teens. It is believed this is one of the factors that led to his downfall.

The late Bernard Stubbings, who ran the city's main music shop with the legendary Cambridge jazz band leader Ken Stevens, remembered Syd in the early days as he played alongside him in Geof Mott and the Mottoes.

Bernard died in 2003. Before his death he recalled Syd: "Syd was a lovely bloke, pure and simple. We all loved him."

It is understood that Syd financed his modest lifestyle through royalties from his Pink Floyd and solo records.

Group's roots were laid in city's pubs and clubs

THE story of Pink Floyd is well- documented, but their roots lay firmly in the pubs, cafes and nightspots of Cambridge in the 1960s - a highpoint which the local music scene has never managed to live up to again.

Syd and Dave Gilmour dominated the Cambridge scene in the early 1960s.

Syd left Cambridge on receiving a scholarship to Camberwell Arts School in London in 1963 and joined a band with his old friend from Cambridge, Roger Waters.

Fellow Cantabrigian emigres Rick Wright and Nick Mason also joined the band and, after a succession of names including Sigma 6, The T Set, the Meggadeaths and The Screaming Abdabs, Syd eventually suggested taking the names of two Georgia bluesmen, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council, and combining the names to create Pink Floyd.

Syd wrote the hit singles Arnold Layneand See Emily Playalong with the songs on the first album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.

Two years later, his brain frazzled by drugs, he left the group, his legacy already assured.

Pink Floyd went on to achieve worldwide recognition with epic albums such as Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall.

In the 1980s relationships among band members soured and Roger Waters left the band.

He started a legal battle with the remaining members for the rights to the name Pink Floyd, but he failed in his attempt and went on to record solo work instead.

The feud, one of the greatest in rock history, ended for the Live 8 concert in July 2005.




12 July 2006
First appeared in the Cambridge Evening News

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

NEARFest 2006 (Pt 1)

Attended NEARFest this past weekend, and I must say it was the best one yet of the three that I've attended. I'm thinking that having a front row orchestra seat helped my enjoyment of it. Of the three years I've been to, this was the first time I actually enjoyed every band. Some more than others obviously, but I stayed the duration for each and every performance, including the solo spotlights.
First was the Friday night "pre-show", now referred to as the "Progressive Legends Showcase".
The Tony Levin Band kicked things off with an outstanding energetic show. In addition to many tunes from his solo efforts, they performed great renditions of Genesis' 'Back In NYC', Gabriel's 'On The Air', and Crim's 'Sleepless' and 'Elephant Talk'.


Next up was Hatfield & The North.
I was only vaguely familiar with their material, but I like National Health, which is almost the same thing.
I did enjoy the set, but it tended to get boring at
times. I think part of it was that I was tired. All in all, I really enjoyed the Friday night showcase.

Saturday was kicked off with KBB, a band from Japan. I was a little apprehensive about this one because I didn't care much for Kenso last year.
I was pleasantly surprised. They are a good fusion band that played with a passion and energy that would rarely be rivaled the rest of the weekend.
I bought their 4 Corners Sky CD, as well as the exclusive to Nearfest live DVD. It was a great start to the weekend and I enjoyed them thoroughly.

Next up was Riverside. This was one of the bands I was really looking forward to. I was very disappointed last year when visa problems prevented them from making it to Nearfest 2005. I was especially disappointed at their replacement, Knight Area, which I felt was the most unoriginal band to take the Nearfest stage. Anyway, Riverside did not disappoint in the least. In fact, I think they were better live than they are on their studio albums.
I love their albums, but I enjoyed the live performance much more. I wish they could make it stateside more often...I would definitely see them again.

I'll comment on both solo spotlights together here. Both Richard Leo Johnson and Michael Manring were interesting to watch them at their craft, but I'm glad the spotlights are only 30 minutes. One individual noodling on his instrument of expertise is interesting for only so long.


I was a bit disappointed that Johnson used every one of his half-dozen or so guitars except for the electric. Manring played a very interesting "hyper-bass" which has all kinds of switches and levers on both ends of it which allows him to adjust pitch and tone while he's playing. Like I said, I like both of their playing, but I prefer seeing bands.

After RLJ came FM.
I had seen them once before back in 1981 or 1982, and I recall enjoying them enough to buy one or two of their records (yes, records... not CDs). I also recall being very disappointed in the albums. It would seem that my opinion has not changed in 24 years. I have their 'Black Noise' CD, and am unimpressed by it, but I enjoyed their live performance at Nearfest. Not my favorite band of the weekend, but not my least favorite either. Somewhere in the middle I'd say.


Finally, Ozric Tentacles closed out Day 1 of Nearfest 2006. I knew very little of this band. I have maybe a handful of live shows which I listened to once a long time ago. I enjoyed it only to the extent that I like guitar driven space rock. But I didn't feel that they were playing as a solid unit. The keyboard player was little more than a drug-induced giggling idiot for most of the performance. I don't think she did all that much on her boards. Ed Wynne (leader and guitar player) commented that he's not used to playing in front of a seated audience. "That's right Ed...we're sober and are actually listening to what you're doing." Nevertheless, I enjoyed the set, and felt it was a very entertaining first day.

I'm tired now, so I'll wrap up with part 2 later.

One year, two months, three weeks, one day
17951 cigarettes not smoked, saving $4,487.97

Monday, May 29, 2006

Fun-filled weekend!

Wrapping up an event filled weekend.
Saturday, I went to see Spamalot with Val, my mom, Ed, and Donna. It was really good....pretty much what I had expected from what I'd read and heard. After the show, we went to dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
It was one of the best restaurants I've eaten at in a long time. The food was excellent, the staff was friendly & helpful (sometimes excessively so), and the prices were reasonable (especially for being located in Times Square). With the tip, it came to about $250, which included 4 alcoholic drinks ranging in price from $11 to $13 each (we got to keep the glasses).

Later that night, Val and I went to see Jim Norton at the Stress Factory. It was the most I've laughed in I don't know how long. He absolutely killed. I would highly recommend seeing him if he's performing near you. I know I'll go see him again.

Sunday was a relaxing day for the most part. I hung out with Val at her house. I helped her buy a new grill and we cooked out that evening before going for a nice walk with 3 of her 4 kids (okay, 2 kids and her dog Ozzy).
Today I got caught up with some personal stuff, and pretty much just chilled.

That's it for now I guess.

One year, one month, two weeks, one day.
16424 cigarettes not smoked, saving $4,106.20.
Life saved: 8 weeks, 1 day.

Blog stays

Okay, since not everyone has or wants a myspace account, I've decided to continue to post my blog here and maybe I'll just post a blog entry or bulletin or something on myspace to let people know I've posted again. I decided to keep it here because I like this interface better, and I don't want to lose some of the very few readers I have. :-)

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Blog moved

Just to let you know that in order to keep things neat and tidy, I've created a myspace page (mainly to read Mike Keneally's blog), and I've moved my blog to that location. The downside is that in order to read it you need to register on myspace. However, the only thing that's required is your name, email, age, and sex. Yes, it's free.
One advantage is that you can "subscribe" to my blog, so you will be notified via email if and when I post anything new so that you don't need to worry about checking in periodically. :-)

Friday, April 14, 2006

NJ Smoke Free Air

Finally, the NJ Smoke-Free Air Act goes into effect today. I've spoken to both current smokers, former smokers, and non-smokers that all think it's an unfair law to ban smoking in all public buildings, including bars, but the thing they don't understand is that the law is mainly aimed at protecting the waiters, waitresses, bartenders, etc., that do not smoke and should not have to inhale secondhand smoke while just trying to make a living. As a former smoker, I can say that I think the law is a good one, and certainly a motivator to quit smoking if you still do. I must admit that I agree that it is unfair that you can still smoke in casinos. I honestly believe that they would be hurt the least by the new law, because people who gamble are going to gamble no matter what.
No matter though...the law will extend to casinos eventually.
As a matter of interest, the new law takes effect pretty much on my one year anniversary of quitting myself. :-)

One year, 19 hours
14671 cigarettes not smoked, saving $3,667.94
Life saved: 7 weeks, 1 day, 22 hours

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Touching on politics

I was just reading my buddy Mike's blog and thought I'd add my own counterpoint to a few of his comments.
Go check out his blog here. Interesting blogger and all around swell guy, even when he's being a left extremist. ;-)

Anyway, here's a few of his comments (in italics) with my follow up after each:

3 bloody years later, what do we have?

A military operation called operation swarm, which is just a huge photo op to make us feel better about the Iraqi "military".

Save for the separatists, I'm sure most, if not all Iraqis would say they're better off now than they were when Saddam was in power.


A Democratic party which has no solutions to even offer for this quagmire.

Exactly. Plenty of bitching with nothing to bring to the table.


The beginnings of a true Civil War in Iraq.

I seem to recall a civil war a couple of hundred years ago after a country gained independence from a power. Democracy doesn't come without growing pains.


Extremist anti-American groups "democratically" elected in Palestine and Iran.

Not sure I understand what is meant by this. A country has to be pro-American to be democratic?


Still no WMD's and documents showing there never were any.

Really? On the daily show the other day, they had the former number two man in the Iraqi Air Force who reported directly to Saddam, who says that there were in fact WMDs (and still are) that were transported to Syria just prior to the inspectors arriving.
What are we doing about it? Got me.


Nice Job Mr. President. Whats the encore??

I'm with the rest of the country in thinking that Bush is an idiot, but I'm not so sure we would have fared much better with Kerry, which is why Bush got elected. Kerry also insisted that there were WMDs, and was totally supportive of the war. Sure, now he's recanted that and says he was wrong, but of course he's going to say that if he wants to save face in his party.
I honestly believe that Kerry is just as much of a dolt as Bush.


And for the record, had I a friend who was a right-wing conservative writing a blog, I would likely comment on his diatribe as well. :-)
I believe there should be a happy medium in politics. Neither party is any good in and of itself.
In fairness, Mike does have Democrat critiques on his blog as well. :-)

Peace

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Another Cameo

Not even going to bother trying to catch up on things, as it's been way too long since my last entry.
Not too much to talk about now either, but I figured 2 months was long enough, I may as well make an appearance just in case the few that read this are still checking in.

Had a real good night at bowling last night. In fact, the last few weeks have been good for me. Last week I shot a 687 series, and last night I bowled a 235, a 225, and a 266 for a 726 series. We also swept the other team in games which was an added bonus.
Next week we bowl the first place team, so hopefully I can continue my good run.
My average is up to a 202, and might go up to a 203 after last night. Not bad considering that as of my last blog entry it was a 198. :-)

In a previous post I mentioned signing up for the Nearfest patron program. I ended being number 119 in the lottery list. I snagged seat number A29, which is the first row of the orchestra, just after a 4 row "Pit" area.

I've been seeing Valerie again for the past 6 weeks or so. She's the one I was seeing last year around this same time. Both of us are in a different place emotionally this time, so things are going better now.
As for Romy....she abruptly cut all communication with me the day after Super Bowl. I have no idea why. Things seemed good. We were having fun. The last time I saw/spoke with her she was talking about future things we would be doing.
Funny thing is, we weren't really "dating", we were pretty much just friends (hence my starting to see Valerie...I'm not a polygamist, even in a casual sense). It's for that reason that I am so perplexed by her actions. You might ignore someone you don't want to "go out with" anymore (although even that is cowardly), but you don't just ignore someone you called "friend." Even if she was afraid to face me or even talk to me on the phone about whatever the issue was, I didn't even get the courtesy of an email. That would have been easier than ignoring me, because then I wouldn't have left phone messages and emails trying to get an inkling of what the hell was going on.
Whatever.

Anyway, I guess that's enough for now.

Eleven months, one week, 15 hours
13664 cigarettes not smoked, saving $3,416.65
Life saved: 6 weeks, 5 days

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Thank God it's Saturday!

What a day I had yesterday!

First off, the original plan for work (a plan put in place by the guy I'm working with) was to sleep in a bit and start at a Walmart between 8 and 9
. However, I got a phone call from the guy at around 7 saying that he was sick and asking if I could pack out the route by myself. That's fine...I need to see what it will be like by myself anyway.
If I learned one thing, it's that I will need to get an early start on Fridays if I want to get home at a reasonable hour. I got to my first store at 9, and finished my last one a little after 6. I didn't get home until almost 8. And no, my last store was not almost 2 hours from home. The reason it took so long to get home is because in my effort to avoid traffic, I used my StreetPilot to take the shortest way home, and on a very narrow backwoods road, at a point where another car was coming in the other direction, I hit a pothole so hard I blew a tire. So I had the wonderful task of changing a tire in pitch black darkness (note to self....get a lantern to keep in the car). Funny, my first thought was that I'm paying almost $100/year for the BP Motor Club, and I've never used it in 10 years, and I should call roadside service and use it. But then I considered two things that dismissed the thought. First, I probably would have sat there for a couple of hours waiting, and second, real men don't call roadside service to change a friggin' tire.
Anyway, now I have to get to the dealer and either get the tire fixed (maybe it just got the wind knocked out of it?) or replaced, and have them check and make sure I didn't fuck up the front end at all. It felt ok driving home...didn't even feel like it got knocked out of alignment. I have to say it's really cool having a full-sized spare, including it being the same exact tire that's on the car.

Nine months, one week, 5 hours
11289 cigarettes not smoked, saving $2,822.76
Life saved: 5 weeks, 4 days, 4 hours

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Quick update

Not much to report today.

Second week on the new job and so far so good. Physically, it's a breeze compared to Kraft. In 7 work days so far, I've probably only put in about 40 hours. It really is essentially a 4 day work week. Sure, I know it will have it's ups and downs just like any other job, but it's still a huge load off not having to deal with that damn truck.

Had another good night at bowling on Monday. I wasn't thrilled with the progression of the games...you're supposed to improve with each game, but I'll take it. I shot a 234, a 206, and a 197 for a 637 series. My season average will probably go up to a 199. I'd really like to finish with a 200 or above.

I signed up for the Nearfest Patron program lottery. It's a lot of money but it's something I'd like to do at least once, and the difference in cost is a tax write off.
Hopefully I'll get picked, and then be able to get decent seats. It seems that Nearfest is getting like Giants Stadium. Pretty soon all the seats will be patron seats.

I guess that's about it for now.

Nine months, three days, 23 hours
11198 cigarettes not smoked, saving $2,790.03
Life saved: 5 weeks, 3 days, 21 hours

Thursday, January 12, 2006

BucketStamp

Here's something cool. It's called a "BucketStamp" that's created with pics from your own photo albums on Photobucket.com

Job Update

Almost done with my first week on the new job. I think I'm gonna like this. I'm already ecstatic that I don't have to do anything dealing with a truck.
As a result, I'm not nearly as tired when I come home.
It's also nice not having to worry about back-door receiving times.
As it turns out, the District Manager likes to keep guys as close to home as possible, so I'll be taking over the route that I am training on right now. Even better, except for one cluster of stores in the Union, NJ area, it's essentially the same route I had with Kraft. Today, the first 5 stores we did were all within 15 minutes of my house. It was so nice to be able to service them without having to drive 48 miles to Perth Amboy first to pick up a truck.
I like the schedule too. You order on two days, pack out/merchandise on two days, and the fifth day is a "market day", which is the day that you either get ahead for another day, or do resets, or whatever. It's basically a free day...sort of like what study hall was in high school. I've been told that for most guys, this is a 3rd day off more often than not. :-) This past Tuesday, I was home by 11:30 AM. Sweet! ;-)
So Monday is a pack out day, Tuesday is my market day, Wed & Thurs are order days, and Friday is a pack out day.
Oh, and since the route is the same area that I already had, that means I know whether or not some stores have yet been serviced this week by the guy who took over my Kraft route, which means that I was able to "tailor" the shelf space to my benefit with the other guy being none the wiser. :-)
The thing that is the hardest to get used to is the incredible diversity of products compared to Kraft. With Kraft, I just had to worry about pizza (DiGiorno, Tombstone, California Pizza Kitchen, and South Beach Diet). With this job, I'm responsible for Freschetta, Red Baron, Tony's, Red Baron Breakfast pizza, Tony's Pouches, Red Baron Stuffed Slices, Pagoda Asian Sensations snacks (egg rolls and such), and Larry's Stuffed Potatoes.

But it seems a lot more fun so far. I think I made a good decision. Time will tell.

2006 is shaping up pretty good so far. :-)

Eight months, four weeks, one day, 11 hours smober
10939 cigarettes not smoked, saving $2,735.38
Life saved: 5 weeks, 2 days, 23 hours


Sunday, January 01, 2006

Happy New Year!

Quite a few things to follow up on today.

First, here's a pic taken on Christmas of me holding my newest baby cousin.
Her name is Sophie, and she's the first child in my family born of my generation.
But boy do I feel old....she happens to be the child of my now former "baby cousin".
Funny, it didn't really hit me until Christmas day, but we just recently lost the last of the "elders" of the family, and it occurred to me that my mom and her generation of cousins are now the elders of the family. It was a strange thought to say the least. The timeline has definitely shifted.

The job situation.....I finally cleared all the hurdles for Schwan's, so that's done. I gave two weeks notice at Kraft and I start Schwan's on the 9th. Considering that I had originally wanted to take this week off, I expect the next 4 days to be as minimally productive as possible.

Football....the Dolphins had their best finish in 20 years. They missed the playoffs, but finished 9-7 after starting 3-7, and ended up just one game behind division winner New England. Not bad for a team that went 4-12 last year. Btw, that Monday night game I went to a couple weeks ago was a fun time. The game sucked (48-3 blowout), but still a good time. The picture at left is of a portable "tap" of beer that they bring to your table. It was in the bar in the hotel in Baltimore. I never saw one before, I thought it was pretty cool.

Christmas was very good for me this year. Got some really nice gifts, with the best being a Garmin StreetPilot 2720. This thing is so cool. Not only is it incredibly accurate, but it also tells you how fast you're going and what time you will arrive at your destination at your current pace. One thing that really comes in handy is knowing the distance until your next turn/exit. I have said to people though, that with all this technology, if "big brother" really is watching, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Finally, I've been seeing a woman for almost a month now. She's really cool, and we have a lot in common. She likes sports and more importantly, has a genuine passion for music, which is something I've found to be incredibly rare in women.
Anyway, we have a lot of fun together, and I'm looking forward to some good times with her. The potential downside is that she's made it clear that she's the type that has no desire to ever "settle down" with anyone. That includes living with someone. She enjoys being self-sufficient and only wants to have someone to have fun times with and hang out with. Her long term goals are obviously different than mine when it comes to relationships, but hey, I respect that she's given me no misconceptions about it, and I figure I should at least enjoy it as long as I can. I don't think my feelings will ever change, in that I do eventually want to find someone that I can come home to, but there's no reason I should be lonely before I meet that person. :-) Besides, she's incredibly attractive, and even better, tells me how incredibly handsome I am. :-)

Happy New Year indeed!


Eight months, two weeks, five days

10528 cigarettes not smoked, saving $2,632.49

Life saved: 5 weeks, 1 day