Tuesday, December 31, 2002
There are some hilites. Son started college and is doing great, Daughter is smart, happy and excels in her sports. I lost over 40 lbs. this year and got into decent physical shape. It was my way of coping with all the crap going on around me. Thats about it... but I guess that is important stuff.
What does 2003 hold in store? Only time will tell. I have to say, that I am NOT very optimistic. Economy continues to suck, political climate is worse than ever, world situation is reaching critical mass... OYE! I am starting to depress myself, so I will end this commentary here.
To anyone who may be reading this... Have a great, happy and safe New Years. Will see you on the Brain Drain in Year 2003.
Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Friday, December 13, 2002
Monday, December 09, 2002
Just got back from RHS Volleyball Banquet. Rachel did herself proud! Here we go... Varsity Letter, All Academic Team, CCC East Championship plaque, JV Most Valuable Player Trophy... AND she emceed the JV paper plate awards... quite a public speaker. Pops was proud! oh yeah, her paper plate award was "asian obsessor"... but let's not go there.
Thursday, December 05, 2002
Tuesday, December 03, 2002
Thanksgiving is always a challenge on the weight control scene. I ate generously, now I realize there is no need to eat till you're ready to burst. First round of the Battle of the Holidays... Ken-1 Thanksgiving-0
Sunday, November 24, 2002
Incredible dinner tonite at Max Amore's. Hot Artichoke Dip, Arugula salad with orange slices and toasted almonds, Veal Saltamboca with baby carrots and roasted potatoes, Ganash Torte with Rasberry Sauce. Top it off with warmed Courvasier. Claire had a GREAT pan seared tuna... barely cooked... melt in your mouth good! David joined us for dinner... a very nice evening indeed!
Friday, November 15, 2002
Monday, November 11, 2002
Sunday, November 03, 2002
Saturday, November 02, 2002
"The clear message is that monopolists get a free ride, at least in this administration," said Donald Falk, a partner with the law firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, in Palo Alto, California, who specializes in antitrust law.
"I thought there was some chance that (the judge) might have entered a decree that actually tried to undo some of the harm that was done," Falk said. "What the opinion said basically was, 'You robbed a bank, you can keep the money, and you can do it again, but don't use exactly the same method.'"
Another legal expert said the judge's wordy opinion does little to ensure that Microsoft will be prevented from using its monopoly on the market for desktop operating systems to illegally harm competitors in new markets.
A far cry from the original decision that would have broken up Micro$loth into seperate OS and Application companies. That is what should have happened.
Thursday, October 24, 2002
Sunday, October 20, 2002
Friday, October 11, 2002
I was on the road today, and listened in the car to that asshole Rush Limbaugh completely lambast the Nobel Committee and Jimmy Carter. What a jerk!!! Carter has done more to make this world a better place, than Limbaugh could even dream of doing. Limbaugh made a complete fool of himself... as usual.
Sunday, October 06, 2002
"there are huge swaths of existence that would be impenetrable, indescribable, unprogrammable utterly unable to be represented - to a creature that could not eat or shit"
ROTFLMAO - Reading that in the middle of this intellectual diatribe made me laugh out loud...
Soooo... The LasterCam is back!
Wednesday, October 02, 2002
End of season also means end of Fantasy Baseball league. It was a good year with a photo-finish. Unfortunately, my team tanked in September, after spending a good portion of the year in-the-money. It will kill me to pay off the evil-doer. Maybe I'll just sit on the money for a few months...I think that is fitting under the current circumstances (state of my 401K).
Tuesday, October 01, 2002
Wednesday, September 25, 2002
Friday, September 20, 2002
Thursday, September 19, 2002
IMHO, Bush is too quick to sacrifice the lives of Americans and others in an obsessive quest to settle the score of Bush Sr.'s war. If Saddam were to be overthrown, who will rule? What government is ready to take Saddam's place and keep the peace? I say keep the diplomatic and economic pressure on with sanctions, boycotts etc. Those efforts are close to yielding the return of weapons inspectors. Our efforts should be focused on the war on terror. We can keep Sadam in check without the heavy costs of all-out war.
Sunday, September 08, 2002
Wednesday, September 04, 2002
Saturday, August 31, 2002
Sunday, August 25, 2002
Thursday, August 22, 2002
Its been downright sickening to watch the Mets overpayed "Stars" play piss poor baseball (talkin' bout Mo, Mike, Roberto, Jeremy, Roger....). On top of that, the players are moaning about the owners taking away their opportunity to make more money with the proposed Luxury Tax on big market teams. OH COME ON!!! How greedy can these guys get!! With an average salary of 2.4 million, and stars making tens of millions... I just don't have any sympathy. As a result of this, us fans will most likely not have a finish to this season, maybe no playoffs and world series. Hundreds of ballpark vendors, office workers, ticket agents and parking attendents, small businesses, etc., will be out of work. Shame, shame shame.
Saturday, August 17, 2002
Wednesday, August 14, 2002
Sunday, August 11, 2002
Saturday, August 10, 2002
Monday, August 05, 2002
Oh yeah... we get to do this all over again next weekend for the Girls 16 and under league. yipee! Pics here.
Friday, August 02, 2002
Friday, July 26, 2002
Sunday, July 21, 2002
Saturday, July 20, 2002
Sunday, July 07, 2002
Saturday, July 06, 2002
Sunday, June 23, 2002
Work - first week on the new job. With that comes anxiety, anticipation, meeting so many people and trying to remember their names, figuring out what my priorities should be when so much needs to be done. As with anywhere, there are some obstacles to overcome, but, I think I'm going to like this place. Some good people here including some old friends. It'll take a few weeks to get all this straight in my head, but with every day, I feel more and more comfortable.
Play - Chilled out after the intensity of my first work week. Saw the movie Minority Report with Tom Cruise. Great flick. Sorta Sci-fi with an incredible vision of the future. Then today, went to NY Mets game. Incredible, exciting game with the Mets winning 5-4 in a come from behind victory.
Other - Dave's graduation! He did it. Graduated HS with honors. Finished up on a high note. Very proud of him. Mom and Dad came up to attend, and so did sister Di and Andrea. Nice to have the family close to celebrate. They put on a huge party for the graduation class. Kids partied from 10PM to 4 AM. See pics here.
Finally, the damn DSL is down again, and I am fed up with SNET taking their sweet-ass time to keep this up and running. We were down for an entire week a couple of weeks ago, and we have been down all weekend, and they haven't even returned my call. Soooo.... it'll be out with DSL, and in with Cable modem. We'll see how that goes. Meanwhile, trying to get along with the dial-up modem speeds. Grrrrr....
Saturday, June 15, 2002
Well, what happened was Mets pitcher Shawn Estes threw at him, all right... threw so far inside, that the pitch actually went behind Clemens fat ass... missed him completely! I've got to wonder if that was done intentionally... show the fans and teamates that he was willing to throw at Clemens... yet do the right thing, and not actually try to hurt him. Then the Mets did the right thing and beat the crap out of Clemens on the baseball field. With Estes and Piazza hitting HR's, and having Clemens leave the field injured after sliding into 2nd base. Mets beat Yanks 8-0.
Monday, June 10, 2002
Sunday, June 09, 2002
His current quartet consisted of an incredibly fluent pianist Danillo Perez (first time I have heard him), the great John Pattitucci on bass, and Brian Blades playing drums. They played only about 4 or 5 extended compositions, for less than 1 1/2 hour. Leaving us yearning for more. The musicianship was just incredible. Perez in constant motion on piano, laying the groundwork for Shorters sparse yet perfect playing (especially his beautiful stoccato phrasing on soprano sax). Pattitucci's pyrotechnics and melodic acoustic bass added a full deep tone to the quartet, and Blades wild playing of his entire set, constantly changing between sticks, mallots, and even bare hands. It seemed they were all always soloing, yet never soloing...Very free, "out there" playing, yet within a compositional framework that often blended jazz, ballads and classical influences.
We ended up at Black-Eyed Sallys... a blues club in Hartford. Good food and drink. The group played a so-so blues set, that got a little tiring after a while. I guess it would be pretty difficult to follow up musically, after the incredible performance of Shorter's Quartet.
Wednesday, June 05, 2002
Thursday, May 30, 2002
The search for a new job was long and difficult, but at last a deal was struck. I was offered a position as Vice President of Technology at Sweet Waverly Printing. A fine company of good people, making sound business decisions, in need of getting to the next technological level... and I'm the guy to do it!
Good bye and good ridence to (the new) Miller Johnson... Hello, Sweet Waverly. I anxiously await meeting the challenge ahead. Its a new beginning for me, and I intend to make the best of it!
The full story has yet to be told. Perhaps it is best to wait till a clean break has been made... Stay tuned to the Brain Drain for further details!
Sunday, May 26, 2002
Saturday, May 25, 2002
Me hiding me head in the sand
You gave me the word
I finally heard
I'm doing the best that I can
I've got to admit it's getting better
A little better all the time (can't get no worse)
Lennon, McCartney - Beatles - Getting Better
Friday, May 24, 2002
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Said the joker to the thief.
There's too much confusion.
I can't get no relief.
Bob Dylan - "All Along The Watchtower"
Saturday, May 18, 2002
Monday, May 13, 2002
Start with this as my impression of Catholisism... add to that what we have learned about Priest's passions for violating young boys... and, I can't for the life of me understand why Catholisism remains so popular! I guess they have just mastered the art of brain-washing the masses, generation after generation. I will probably burn in hell for eternity for such blasphemous statements. Forgive me.
Saturday, May 11, 2002
Funeral... The priest really blew this one! This guy knew nothing about the family, of Bob's heroics, of what Bob meant to others (obviously, not even caring enough to find out beforehand). There was no tribute to Bobby in this ceremony, only sanctimoneous evangelizing of Jesus Christ. Thankfully Bobby's sister gave a heartfealt eulogy at the end of the service. It was a beautiful day at the cemetery, and his parachuting buddies did a flyover at the grave site. Touching and sad moment.
My tribute (and my way of dealing with the sadness) was to run in solitude, and push myself to the limit. I think that's what Bob would do in a similar situation. Can't get over that we will never see him again. So sad for Lisa and the Kids.
Tuesday, May 07, 2002
Thursday, May 02, 2002
Regarding that its getting more and more intollerable. I have a strategy for dealing with the situation, and I am dogedly pursuing that endeavor. I am being cryptic at the moment, but maybe someday the tale will be told on the Brain Drain.
I think my obsession with weight loss has been a mental diversion from the stress of my work situation. Now that I have reached my weight goal (and way beyond), I can't seem to let go... it has been a struggle to stop loosing weight, and go back to eating normally. Damn, a strange problem deal with.
Friday, April 19, 2002
Saturday, April 13, 2002
Been stepping up the excersize. Ran 2 miles, power-walked 2 more. I have found that this is the best stress reliever. Eating only lasts while your doing it, and drinking can provide relief untill you crash... but excersize really does melt away that stress.
Sunday, April 07, 2002
Of course, Fantasy Baseball in full swing. I am in 3 leagues, and commish 2 of them. Even started one up with all my Internet WW friends from the GoaD BBS. At the moment I am in 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 3 leagues... pretty cool.
ONE MORE WEEK till Vacation. Boy, I am looking forward to that. Already gettin ready. Bought some luggage, took out some clothes and bathing suits. Gotta cop some tix for a Marlins game. Wooooohoooo.
Saturday, March 23, 2002
Attended a breakfast at Rockville High to celebrate, as the principal said "The best and brightest" of RHS - Kids that made High Honors. And, do you believe it? Both our kids were being honored! Here is a picture from the event.
Took the afternoon off friday to go to Quinnipiac University. We were all impressed by the school. The small class size and community, the well equipped communications lab, the emphasis on student development. As opposed to UCONN, the large student population and class sizes, not really having the Communications program that Dave wants... maybe Quinny is a better fit for Dave. Quinny would be VERY expensive, it would be much more difficult to fund for 4 years. But, this might be the most important investment that we can make. This experience could shape his entire adult life.
Monday, March 18, 2002
Tuesday, March 12, 2002
Maybe... the upcoming vacation is what we need to snap out of this funk. I am really looking forward to it. Gotta wait another month though.
Wednesday, March 06, 2002
Sunday, March 03, 2002
Director Fernando Truebaâ's tribute to Latin Jazz is a joyous celebration of musicmaking by Paquito D'Rivera, Elaine Elias, Gato Barbieri, Tito Puente and many more. Sponsored by the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center. "This is one of the most infectiously joyous celebrations of musicmaking ever committed to film." TV Guide MovieGuide "A brilliantly conceived and elegantly realized documentary tribute to Latin jazz, it packs more drama into each of its 12 musical tableaux than most feature films manage in two hours." Washington Post, "it simply sizzles with sophisticated passion" Ottawa Citizen.
Really enjoyed this flick... went out and bought the soundtrack the next day, and have been groovin' to it all day.
Friday, March 01, 2002
Thursday, February 28, 2002
Spring Training games begin today! Should be a good year for the NY Mets. Started up my MJBL fantasy baseball league. Probably will need some teams to fill out the league. Interested? Let me know (gotta be local to attend the draft).
Wednesday, February 27, 2002
p = (c/50) + (f/12) - (r/5)
p=points, c=calories, f=fat grams, r=fiber grams (max. of 4 fiber grams)
Friday, February 22, 2002
Best part of the day was drivin' home with Dave, pumpin up the jams on his mega sub woofer thumpin boomin bass stereo system recently installed in the Jeep. Man, that electronica... Crystal Method, Chemical Brothers. Awsome tunes. Gotta get those loaded up on my MP3 player.
Monday, February 18, 2002
Saturday, February 16, 2002
Just hung out around the house. Bought the DVD Contact. One of my all time fav sci fi flicks. Its so well done. Opening sequence is amazing. Story centers around the conflict of Science v Religion, Fact v Faith. It all gets turned around in the end with the scientist relying on *faith* in the end. Great Flick... even better book (by Carl Sagan). Too bad they didn't add more content to the DVD (like SETI information).
Saturday, February 09, 2002
Monday, February 04, 2002
Wednesday, January 30, 2002
The least that Weight Watchers could do is to purchase the rights to this software from Mr. Withers, and distribute it to its members.
Thursday, January 24, 2002
Monday, January 21, 2002
Seen lots of movies. Gosford Park ... a bore. The Gift... a great suspensful flick. What Woman Want... some good yucks, but schlocky ending. Read my entire reviews of these films here.
This afternoon goin to Ladies Huskies Basketball at the Hartford CC, then another Weight Watchers weigh-in, so I'm going to excersize and shower now, then basically starve myself today.
Hey, its snowing like crazy again.
Monday, January 14, 2002
Sunday, January 13, 2002
Feel like crap. Damn cold and sorethroat have plagued me all week. Agravated, grumpy, sick....grrrrrr!
Sunday, January 06, 2002
Macworld Expo SF - Lots of exciting anticipation surrounding this one. Flat panel iMacs, iWalk, Gigahertz and much much more. I'll try to get to Apple Store in W. Hartford to see the keynote on the big screen. At very least, will try to watch it on the web.
Vacation
Booked flights for spring vacation with sis Barb in Fla. Thanks Barb... it's 3 months away, but I am really looking forward to it! I need a vacation.
Weight Watchers
Still obsessed with diet. I've done much research on the web at several diet and weight watchers sites (official and unofficial). I've tried to reverse engineer the points calculator to better understand the WW system. I ended up at the US Patent office web site and found Patent number 6,040,531. If you dig through the text and image pages you will find the formula:
p = (c/50) + (f/12) - (r/5)
p=points, c=calories, f=fat grams, r=fiber grams (cap the fiber at no more than 4 grams)
There it is. WW has asked several sites to remove on and offline calculators from various web sites, but with the above information (in the public record) and any simple spread sheet, you can easily make a Points Calculator.
Basically the system is based on points of low values which makes it easy to calculate and track. Simply divide the number of calories by 50, add 1/2 point for 6 fat grams and deduct .5 point for 3 fiber grams. The result is the number of points (round to the next number if .5 or greater). Keep within a range of points per day (22- 27 for me at 180 lbs), and you have the program.
What I have found from all this research, is that any diet is simply a function of calories in vrs. calories out. WW points is just another way of controlling calorie intake. The other half of the equation is to increase your activity level to burn more calories. So, I have been pretty good about "kickin' it up a notch" with excersizing on the bike, long walks on the trail, and just trying not to spend too much time sittin on my ass in front of the TV.