My Top 5 Must Have Programs

Well there have been a few times where people have seen the applications running on my PC and have wondered why I have them, where I got them, and what benefits they provide to me.  Here is a nice list of my top 5 favorite programs that I have running on my PC, mind you these are in no particular order!

1. Digsby

AIM has always been the reigning king of the internet society, however backed by a wonderful network, their software suite has much needed tweaking, and less adverts to keep the honest user happy.  I used to use Pidgin which was a wonderful and simple IM client that interfaced with AIM and many other networks.  However, upon random browsing, I came across another wonderful messaging client, Digsby.  For those of you that enjoy messaging over AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, Facebook, and ICQ to name a few, Digsby is an essential program.  Being fully customizable, without ads, and with a beautfully skinnable interface, you feel right at home.  You can monitor your email accounts, log your conversations, even post a widget on your website so people can IM you.  If you are an avid instant messenger, get this now! http://www.digsby.com

2. MediaMonkey

Apple has it great with Itunes, unfortunately for us Windows guys we are stuck with a poor windows import of itunes.  Sure, it works as it should, but being the resource hog that it is, there has to be a better alternative.  This is where MediaMonkey comes along.  Being like an itunes that was built for windows, Mediamonkey does a great job of intergrating a “whole-package” media player for your large media collection.  Having a customizable interface by being able to drag and drop sections of the program where you want it, like cover art, the music player, playlist, and library.  Being able to sync your music tags to  Amazon’s library helps keep your tracks updated with the most current information.  With a nice clean skinnable interface and a ton of features, its unfortunate consumption of 50+ mb makes this program well worth it.  http://www.mediamonkey.com/

3. RKLauncher

Lets face it, everyone likes to have a nice clean desktop, less clutter, and a means to get to your favorite applications.  Apple does it best with their docking system that keeps icons off of the desktop, and in an easily manageable dock.  Well, developers have been developing various docks for the windows system.  Although all work in a similar fashon, most come at a cost.  RKLauncher provides all of the benefits of the macs docking system for the windows platform.  Drag and drop all of your favorite icons to the dock, skin the dock to make it look like a mac, or any other of the thousands of skins developed, and you are on your way to a cleaner desktop http://home.cogeco.ca/~rklauncher/

4. Firefox

C’mon, honestly what is a list without firefox?  I will make this description small and to the point.  Firefox is safer, and follows the internet html/css standard better than IE.  Granted IE started to compete a little bit more with Firefox with its tabbed browsing capabilities, Firefox still takes the cake with its security features.  Various plugins can be found online that make Firefox even better like ad blocking, spell checking as you type, and many more.  http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

5. Mailwasher Pro

Spam effects everyone, no matter how cautious you are online, to how many times you watch where you enter your personal information, you will get spam.  There are a ton of ways to help rid yourself of spam but there are very few that work very efficiently.  I have used various spam blocking tools like Thunderbird plugins, to norton’s antispam, even to the University of Hartford’s Baracudda Spam filter.  Granted the best one I have ever encountered has been UHa’s filtering, its mainly because it utilizes a hardware engine, and like other things like firewalls, hardware always protects better than software.  In any event, my favorite program to defend against spam is Mailwasher Pro by Firetrust.  With a strong “learning” engine, the program is already designed to filter out the most common spam messages.  Entering each of your email accounts into the program helped protect all of your active inboxes by first scanning the messages on the mail server, letting you know you haev new mail, and marking them either “Friend, Blacklist, or Origin Blacklisted”, the latter of which is a blacklisting by the Mailwasher engine itself.  If you notice certain emails that dont have a spam note next to them ,you may add the domain, or the sender to the blacklist and Mailwasher will watch out for these emals the next time they come through.  Clicking “Process Mail” will delete all of the spam messages, and then open up your favorite mail program, getting rid of all spam before it gets to your pc.  This program is a must have in my books.  http://www.firetrust.com/

If you have tried any of these programs, or think there are better alternatives, please post a comment!

I’mmmm Stokeddd!

Well I just got my shipment in yesterday, and started my stack today:

I am pretty excited to start this stack and see results!  A few months ago I actually tried the Activate Xtreme by itself and it definately helped me crunch some plateau’s, so I am hoping that this stack will help even more in my bulking phase.  The regimine consists of 2 pills of Stoked in the AM, followed by 4 pills of activate spread out throughout the day, ending with 2 more pils of stoked in the PM.  Along with the stack I am supplementing myself with GNC multivitamin’s (2 pills a day, one AM one PM) and some green tea extract to keep my metabolism flowing (about 3 pills a day).  I also ordered a new tub (5lbs) of optimum whey, rocky road flavor which I heard was one of the best flavors, so I will be giving that one a shot today too.  I’ll keep you guys posted on the results, but here are the supplement facts on the two test boosters.

Road Rage is One Step Away

So I’ve been out in the “working world” for about 2 months now, and honestly, I’ve been enjoying it a lot.  Granted I am not much of a morning person, I still manage to find a way to haul my ass out of bed, somersault my way to the bathroom, and roll into the shower and let the flood of water wake me up.  However, I must admit, that spending most of my weeks working, grocery shopping, and driving, I have noticed many things that society needs to work on:

1. Put Your Children on a Leash

I love children and respect mothers that are required to take their children out to shopping with them because there is no other alternative.  Granted there have been many occasions where I have walked by a family with well behaved children, cute and adorable, that you just want to play “mayor” and pinch there cheek, more often than not you run into mothers that need to see their children get slammed in the chest with a shopping cart before they learn to control them better.  Its never fun waiting in line at the deli at your local supermarket, and having the 5 year old son/daughter of satan running around screaming and making a scene because they require attention.  Bottom line:  Hey lady, if you dont want your child to end up with a mouth full of shopping cart metal, control them like every other wise parent would.

2. Time To Buy New Driving Glasses Asshole

What is one rule we were taught in drivers ed?  Blind spots, and to turn your head before you start to merge into the next lane right?  Well I can already count more times than fingers I have that someone has cut me off or nearly jerked their car into me on a 40mph road let alone a busy highway.  Sometimes I have been tempted to slam my car into theirs just to have the ability to later get out of the car, and jack their face though my windshield.  Bottom line:  Look behind you when you turn you ignorant asshole, or I will be force to get out of my car, smash your face through your driver side window so you have no excuses to look.

3. Locate the Gas Pedal, Use Accordingly

Ever have those times when someone will blatantly cut you off on a road, a road in which you were traveling faster than the speed limit (lets be serious, we all do it, 10mph over the speed limit is society’s “legal” limit), and then decides not only to drive the speed limit, but feels that acceleration is dangerous?  I swear it happens every day on my way to work.  I take Main Street in downtown Hartford to get to the highway, and mind you, the damn road is a 40mph road (i think, there are no signs, and you know the rule, no signs = 40mph).  Numerous times, I have had one jackoff streamline his way out of a side street, into my lane, blatantly going slower than I was.  So patiently I wait, as he merged into my lane, and slowly accelerates his way to the speed limit from a staggering 15mph.  Realizing what is happening here, I start to edge closer and closer to this “I-Drive-The-Speed-Limit-And-No-Faster” driver, hoping that he will see the vehicle behind him with a persian, bearded driver making faces of “what the f*** are you doing asshole?”  Of course, doing so makes them drive slower, and congratulations, you are now driving the speed limit the whole way to work…

Oh cool, there goes the oldest woman in the world in that large boat of an oldsmobile grandma car driving past us..

Bottom Line: Unless you want to be thrown out of your vehicle Grand Theft Auto style, I suggest that when you cut me off, you drive fast enough that I wont be able to catch up to you whilst running, or I will give you a traumatic experience that will force you to use public transportation for life.

4. Dont Work Where You Dont Belong

Ok, honestly, I dont have a problem with older working class individuals, I mean hey, they are trying to earn a living just as I am, but you wouldn’t expect an 80 year old man who needs an o2 tank to help him through his day running a jackhammer at your local construction site would you?  You dont belong there, you arent impressing anyone, get out.  Which leads me to this rant, the beautiful Deli line at the grocery store.  So ok, when I walked into the store last friday, I was headed towards the deli line, off to make my usual purchase of about 2lbs of roast beef and 2lbs of turkey.  Noticing the line was obsurd, I decided to make my rounds through the store and fill my cart with other things I would need.  Back to the deli line I go,

Oh nice, number 77 *looks at ticker* sweet, only 4 people ahead of me

So patiently I wait, while the 2 gentlemen take orders, eventually reaching my number.  He was an older man, no biggie, I am sure he is more than capable…..

Two pounds of roast beef please

- Uhh, is there anything else I can get because I have to grab it from the back

No problem, two pounds of turkey

- Ah, I will be back, both are in the back

Normally, I would be thrilled as this means I will be getting freshly packaged meat, but noticing that this man started ot have conversations with others before grabbing my stuff, I knew something bad would happen.  Eventually he grabs the deli meat, cuts it, and weighs it.  Of course, he had to make sure it was exactly two pounds, nothing more or less, and then proceeds to shove all two pounds in one small bag.  Realizing I have been waiting for about 30 minutes now, and noticing that the other gentleman managed to serve 10 others while I havn’t even recieved my first order, I got a tad angry

You dont plan on shoving all that in one bag do you?  Can I have two bags please?

- You have got to be kidding me

Excuse Me? First off I am not kidding you, second, look at my cart, its full of shit that has probably started going bad because you are taking your sweet ass time over here.  I should have dedicated a day to come see you for my damn deli meats, put it in two bags now……Two pounds of Roast Beef as well, 1 pound in each bag, lets go.

Of couse I managed to get a couple of laughs from bystanders who were also upset at the wait from this man, but hey Bottom Line: I dont expect an amputee missing both arms to be a waitress at a fast paced restaurant, it isn’t a good idea.  If you cant keep up with the pace with the deli line, the most demanding line in a grocery store, then get the hell out before I run your hand through the meat slicer.

It is about that time for me to make my trip to the grocery store, I am sure I will have more to add to this story in due time.  Enjoy

Gym + Paimon = yay!

Well I am finally on my last few days of my cutting stack.  For the past month I have been on a pretty good stack of Controlled Labs REDuction, along with green tea complex.  The stack was fairly simple, 2 AM pills in the morning before breakfast, green tea pills with each meal, and 2 PM pills before bed.  Sticking to a nice clean diet, and also consuming over a gallon of water a day, I have actually rid myself of quite a bit of fat while keeping my muscle/strength…thank god.

So yesterday I went off and tried my free day pass of the Downtown Hartford YMCA.  Its a spectacular facility, but they charge 50 bucks a month for a membership!!  So I am trying to haggle the price, hopefully they will bite, I wont find out till tomorrow though.

I am very excited for this bulking phase.  Now that I am living on my own, and making money, I can concentrate more on clean, protein rich eating.  I spend most of my money at the grocery store buying things like chicken, beef, fish, and eggs, with some peanut butter, cottege cheese, and deli meats thrown in there.  I also was able to restock on some supplements that have done wonders for me in the past, my staple Protein powder (optimum nutrition), and a testosterone booster which had done wonders for me in the past.  This time however, I am stacking the test booster (activate xtreme) with another test enhancing product (anabolic innovations stoked).  I am pretty damn excited to give this one a go.

I’ll keep everyone posted once I start the stack.

Man O’ Manny

If you have turned the TV on and casually flipped the channels past some news and sports channels, chances are that you had been seeing that Manny Ramirez has been the hot topic of discussion.  Most importantly, if you are living in the New England area, you were probably plagued with a “Breaking News” report on the story.  Of course, as with any sport related report, there are mixed opinions up the wazoo.  Bottom line:

The Ramirez Trade: Good For Boston’s Composure; Possibly Bad for Boston’s WS Run
Good For LA’s WS Run; Bad For LA’s Composure.

Let’s face it; I am a Boston fan….and lets face it, they are right when they say that Boston fan’s are ruthless.  Talk to majority of Boston fans, and you will hear phrases such as “good riddance”, “finally”, and “I never liked his attitude anyway.”  Heck, if you were watching last night’s game you probably even heard the famous voice of Jerry Remy state that he is tired of the situation and the Red Sox should just let him go and be done with it.  Chances are, the next time he comes back, he will be Boo’ed and heckled…but that should come as no surprise, just look at what happened to Johnny Damon.

All day I have been hearing comments and jokes about how the Red Sox are going to suck now because Manny is gone…tell a Yankee fan that they would be the worst team in baseball without A-Rod and you may just get your ear talked off with the “its not a one man sport” chatter.  Now granted if you came and watched a Sox game with me, you would have definately heard chants of “Manny” coming out of my mouth, but with a guy like that you almost need to “suck up” to ensure that he is going to play to his fullest potential…don’t we all remember his quote:

Forget about the trade, man. This is the place I want to be, man. It’s great, man. They love me here, man. This is the place to be. ‘Manny being Manny,’ he’s great, man… we’ve been through a lot, this is the place for me, I’m just happy to be here… I’m back!

This coming during a time that he was Boo’d two games straight for talking about getting out of Boston…but then after recieving a standing ovation when he needed him to get some runs.  Then again, we are talking about a guy who has the attention span of a 4 year old child in the middle of a toy store.  Lets look at his most note-able “changes in attitude”

December ‘01 – In his first season with Boston he claimed he was uncomfortable, and wanted his own room so that he could ease his way into the group

August ‘03 – He stated that he would like to go play for the Yankees

September ‘03 – Benched for a game because he refused to pinch hit

July ‘05 – More trade talks, stating he doesn’t want to be in Boston

October ‘07 – Stated that loosing a chance at the World Series wouldn’t be the end of the world

In any sport, you are motivated by your peers, and just imagine being on a team with a person who is always talking about leaving, speaking to the  media about how he hates it here, and finding ways out of playing.  Again, to put it in bigger perspective, A-Rod is commended for his composure during all of the recent media exposure….do you think the team would be doing as well if A-Rod showed up at the clubhouse upset, talking about not playing, stating that he hates living in NY?  Again, I use A-Rod not to express my distaste, but because he is on the other side of the spectrum when compared to Manny.

April ‘94 – As a rookie, hits a ground rule double, but runs the bases as if he hit a home run and was eventually tagged out

July ‘04 – Cuts off a throw from Damon, allowing a critical run to score for the opposing team

April ‘05 – In a bases loaded situation, Manny hits what would have been a single, but because of his lack of effort in running to first base, a double play is turned and the inning ended

October ‘07 – Hits a long double, but stands at the plate, watching what he thought would be a home run, thus getting a late start and grabbing a single base on a double base depth ball

July ‘08 – After making an attempt for a diving catch on a would-be-single, Manny looses sight of the ball, and rolls around trying to find it.  Upon finding the ball, he casually rolls the ball into the infield while laughing, thus turning a triple out of a single-depth ball

Manny is a great player, no doubt about that, but sometimes motivating a team to win championships isn’t all about the hitting, but moreso about leadership.  If Manny is the reason that we won Championships…imagine what we could do with someone who actually focuses more on playing the game, rather than having the game revolve around him…..will we possibly get our answer with Jason Bay?

Bay:
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
106 393 72 111 23 2 22 64 59 86 7 0 .282 .375 .519 .894

Manny:
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
100 365 66 109 22 1 20 68 52 86 1 0 .299 .398 .529 .926

Appearantly we believe in throwing money away here…

Seriously now, it seems like a monday trend so far.  This weekend Patrick and I recieved the electricity bill for the month of july.  Now a little history, thinking that we conserved energy, we were eager to open up our first electricity bill last month.  Expecting to open it up and see a piece of paper with a big smiley face on it saying “hey because you guys are so cool, how about we take care of this one for you”, we were laughing and giving eachother a thumbs up and smiling like a scene from a queer early 90’s sitcom (were we?, i’ll leave it up to you to decide).

Lets see, where is the….. oh, my, god …. 180 bucks?!

Yup, thats right, 180 dollars which equated to about 960kWh used in one month.  Now, for those of you who arent aware with average kWh usage…lets just say the average family uses about 600-700kWh a month.  Thats right, appearantly we are running a small concentration camp here at the Hartford 21 (my gf is jewish, so that comment is allowed).  Now, we split bills so thats about 90 dollars each, which when you look at it from that perspective, isn’t a lot of money compared to the other bills…but still…what the hell are we doing

Lets limit the usage of the dryer and the dishwasher

So for the month of July we decided to be more cautious, assuming that it was our frequent use of the dryer and dishwasher that was ranking up money.  I mean hey, its not like we were doing laundry and dishes everyday, but who knows.  So off we go through another month of trying to save some money.

Now the funny thing is, we really dont pay much here at the H21.  Our water bill is only about 5-10 dollars a month, mainly because hot water is covered.  We dont pay for AC technically, because its a force air system which means that the coolant runs through the pipes behind the walls in our apartment, however, the fans that force the cold air into the rooms utilize electricity.  But hey, I put my math genious to use and found that these fans are 1 amp fans that run at 115V….so, using cute little Ohm’s law we can assume W=VA (some people call it the w. virginia rule…wierdos), meaning we are using 115w with the fan on….congrats you’re an engineer.  Now 115w … ok ok so thats like having a few lights on….

So this weekend we were graced with the new bill.  Pat wasn’t around so I decided to satisfy myself with the joy of opening the fun loving envelope.

Son of a bitch, are you kidding me?!

One-hundred and eighty-five dollars ($185 for the blind-deaf-mutes…..wait a minute…)!??!  I was ready to boot open the door to the electric room here and check to see if our meter was connected to the local bars…because honestly, 978kWh this month?  Ok so time to re-evaluate….we relaxed on the dishwasher….on teh dryer….so what, are we going to have to eat sparingly, take showers together, and sleep in the same bed (what, im sure that saves some electricity)?

Wait a minute…….there are 4 AC units in the apartment…hrmm…..the 2 in the living room are on setting 3 24hours a day…..so wait….thats 115w x 2 … 230w …. plus the one in my room that is usually blasting on 2 or 3….so lets just add another 115w for good judgement….and another 115w for pats room…..so thats 460w running 24/7….meaning thats about 12kWh per day just from the AC…holy crap….weeeee are stupid.

Needless to say, we found our source of massive electricity usage.  So, we have shut off both AC units in the living room…and left our room AC’s on setting 1 last nite.  It’s actually very comfy in the apartment….hopefully it stays this way, and hopefully we wont have to live in darkness, naked, and hungry to save some money (my guess is as good as yours as to how nakedness would help).

Summer Goal, Fat Burning

Summers are basically my time to shine in the cardio world.  After spending most of the year trying to bulk up and gain muscle, it is a goal of mine to try and go a few months of trying to cut back some fat.  So far this summer I have been steadily made progress towards my goals, and I know that some of you are hoping to do the same.  With cardio excersizes at our disposal, we all look for additional ways to try to get that extra fat off, but what exactly, and how exactly can we help do that?

The Most Important

Of course the most important way is not from a supplement.  After testing various ways to try and boost my metabolism and cut some fat, I have finally found one method that has worked great for me, as well as others.  High Intensity Interval Training (or HIIT) is a great way to fire up your metabolism, shock your body, and make you sweat.  It’s great for those of us that dont really have the time to spend running for a couple of hours, but still would like the same results.  HIIT can be done in many ways, but the most common form is running (and on the treadmill).  Basically we start with a nice long stretch to get our muscles warm and ready for the workout, this is important because with the intense training we are about to go through, we dont want to get hurt!  Next, we follow this simple pattern, a 30 second walk, and then a full 30 second sprint (for those on treadmills, I usually go from a 3mph walk, to a 10.5mph sprint).  Doing this for 9 total minutes (so thats 9 walks and 9 sprints) for our first session, you should be ending both tired, and sweating like crazy.  Continue this process every other day, and tack on an extra minute after every 3rd session, peaking at a total of 14 total minutes, and you will see your goals being achieved in no time.

How does it work? By walking, then pushing a hard sprint (at a pulse of about 160bpm), we are shocking our body, and studies have shown that this process actually burns more fat than traditional running.  I wont go into all teh gory details of who did the research, when and how, but type in HIIT in google and you will be filled with info in no time.

H – Two – Ohhhhhh

Our bodies are constantly filled with water…actually, our bodies are mostly water. Water has many great benefits to our body, that EVERYONE needs, especially those of us looking to pack on some lean mass, or even loose some weight.

Wanna loose fat?? Without enough water, the kidneys can’t function properly. When this happens, some of the load is transferred to the liver. The liver metabolizes stored fat for energy. If the liver is doing some of the kidneys’ work, it burns less fat, so drink up!

Some are afraid to drink a lot of water because they are afraid to ‘retain water’. However, contrary to popular belief drinking water can actually help you shed excess water weight. When water is in short supply, the body, thinking there’s a shortage, begins storing it away for later use. This water is stored in extra cellular spaces. In other words, your skin starts looking soft and puffy.

Diet

Of course you dont need me to tell you another important thing is dieting, but with all of the diets out there, which is the best??  To be honest, its hard to tell because every body is different.  Some of us benefit from high fat, low carb diets, while some of us benefit from high protein, low fat diets.  Its crazy, from my experience, to think that one diet will work for everyone.  I have tried various different methods, and the one that has worked for me is staying with a high intake of protein, which I do anyway for retention of muscle mass, and keeping my carb intake low (no pasta, only multigrain bread).  My suggestion is to go a few months on one type of diet, and my suggestion is to try the low-carb diet first.  Eating 5 small meals a day will help kickstart that metabolism, and staying with a low calorie intake (about 2000 calories a day for normal healthy adults as advised by the fda) should take care of your dieting needs.

The most productive exercises are simple and compound

…Ah yes, the famous quote by IFBB Pro Markus Ruhl.  Summer time to most is a time to take vacations, relax, party, and take nights on the town, but to me, Summer is the important time of the year, where I strive to become more fit and start loosing weight that i purposely gained througout the year.  Now I understand some of you are re-reading that last line and wondering if I meant to write it, or if im just plain stupid.  I can assure you I meant to write it, and can contest with most that I am clearly not stupid.

A behavioural pattern characterized by compulsion, loss of control, and continued repetition of a behaviour or activity spite of adverse consequenses

It’s funny; you search the internet for a definition of addiction, and about 90 percent of the results have to do with drugs, alcohol, and negative uncontrollable behavior.  However, in my case, my addiction drives towards the composition of my body.

Being overweight in my adolescence, I was in desperate need of a change in my life, a need to start hacking away at the ice that had formed around my confidence.  I was active in martial arts, but it never was enough, as my habits prevented me from looking more like an athlete, and less like a tire.  Eventually I was turned on to bodybuilding by one of my friends, as well as one of my martial arts instructors, both of whom were deeply in love with the sport, and devote most of their life to it.  Eventually my cashflow started flowing out of my savings, and into weight lifting equipment….the journey began!

Strutting around my basement with short shorts and a colored beater was probably not the most flattering of sights, but hey I figure that eventually I would fill out just right, and when I looked down, I would see less belly, and more feet.  In an effort to not die my first time handling weights, I started doing whatever I remember seeing people in the movies do, of course that ment start bench pressing 100 times and doing curls, nothing more.  It wasn’t until the next morning, when i couldn’t itch my own butt when I realized that I should probably look more into what I was trying to do, and start doing it the right way.

What the heck, I just worked out yesterday, but I still look the same

Of course my ignorance had this glorified idea that I would wake up the next day a changed man, but after staring at my shirtless self in front of a mirror at various different angles I realized that i still was carrying around my duffle bag belly and cone shaped chest.  It is safe to say eventually I started doing more reading and research to find my way to bettering my life.  Eventually I lost weight, and started packing on some mass, and in turn, was gaining some more confidence.  It has been great, and has even given me the opportunity to get my friends involved, and for me to be able to train them in achieving the same goals that I have.

So what is the goal of this blog?  Fitness isn’t easy, and its always great to get some feedback on others on how they achieved their goals and how they plan to continue.  As I continue my journey, I want to share some feedback with you, and answer questions you may have, so stay tuned for some reviews on supplements, and a journal of my workouts!

Bubble Wrapped For Safety

Ok, so waking up today, I was scared of rolling out of bed…hey, with the way things have been going I would expect a down syndrome bear to jump up from underneath my bed and shoe me in the tushy.  But low and behold, I made it out of bed safely, showered, and didn’t even drop the soap….so far so good.

Off to making some breakfast!  Thinking twice about weather I should break out the fire extinguisher prior to toasting some bread, I figured “hey, ill press my luck today”, turned the toaster on, and walked away, checking behind me a couple times to ensure that things were going as planned.  Its crazy, how your whole outlook on the day changes when things start going wrong.

Did I do something wrong?  *Checks for a mishapen halo on head*

All in all today went pretty well, nothing out of the ordinary.  My collegues at work joked around, wondering if a “third” incident had occurred.  Luckily, my car was safe and sound this time around; Then again, it could be because I was driving like a granny, both hands on the wheel, staring at the road in front of me, checking for nails.

Hey now you dont have to be cautious, you have a warranty on the new tires

…Reassures one of the people I work with, as if I spent 800 dollars so that I could wake up the next day, drive like a one legged ape, and walk away thinking “oh good, if i kill a small child, at least my tires are covered”.  But hey, we have to have a positive outlook, and you figure that things can only get better after this *knocks on wood, really hard*.  Tomorrow I have my meeting that I had to reschedule.  Hopefully all will go well and things should start smooth sailing; same procedure, the CSC office until 1, then over to Pratt.

It was wierd, sitting at work today.  During some downtime you cant help but to evaluate the things that have been going on.  My dad actually called me a few times, making sure that all is well.  Makes you realize how important your family is, and that when you are away from them how much you miss them.  It would have probably been a different feeling, if instead of being at work, I got the flat tire outside of my house, being able to run inside, and be consoled by my parents.  But standing in a parking lot, realizing that there is no “mom and dad” to walk home to.  Granted they are a phone call away, but I think that makes it worse, hearing them try to console you over the phone, realizing that you are separated.  My dad keeps offering to pay for my tires, but I am not going to let him, they have helped me so much throughout the years, its time for me to take responsibility and handle situations as they come to me.  Maybe thats more of the “macho” mentality, but I guess thats another chapter in the book of “growing older”.

One of my favorite quotes of all time, from the wise Bruce Lee:

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.

Until tomorrow….

Wizzzzzz……

Yup, thats the sound of me just pissing money away.  Of course, you would think that after a near violent encounter last nite things would start going on the up and up, NOPE!  Today, and of course its the beginning of the week, I had a meeting scheduled for 1pm.  Things were going good, I was on my way to getting some work done, and then working up some excitement to head to this meeting, and to see my desk over at my new office.  So i grab all my crapo-la, and head out the door.

Now here is the situation, currently at the CSC building, parking is only assigned to associates that do most of their work there, but in my case, I will be actually working over at Pratt and Whitney, so, because things never really go your way, I am plagued by having to park down the street, and walking about 3-5 minutes in nice hot temperatures to the front door of the office.  So, on my way I go towards my parking spot, at 1pm, in 100 degree weather

Its so damn hot, I cant wait to get in the car, run the AC and drive to Pratt

Dont worry, I am not going to tell you my car was stolen (of course I wouldn’t put it past myself), but, at first glance, everything was fine and dandy.  I get in the car, turn it on, and immediatly get out because of how hot it was on the inside.  The AC blasting did justice after a while, and expelled all the hot air, so finally, i was all nice and snug in the car, getting an ice cold blast of air into my face.

BROOM BRROOMMMM, plop plop plop plop HARDSTEERTOTHERIGHT

Oh boy, this chain of events was all too familiar, even though my last encounter was back in 2004….I had a flat tire.  Grrrreeaaaaaattttt.  I start poking at the tire, thinking some ignorant asshold could possibly have just let the air out, which cmon, I’m in hartford, it could happen.  But nope, to my demise, i find a cute, shiny screw, flush against the tire.  Now at first, you are filled with rage that you dont really know who to get mad at.  So i stand up, flip off the tire, flip off the car, and then flip off the road….im sure one of those is at fault.

So of course, time to walk back from the parking lot, call the person I was meeting with, and cancel.  Luckily the GF wasn’t working at the time, so she gladly came to pick me up, and off I went back down the street to change my tire.  I have AAA, but lets face it, they would have taken about an hour to get there, made me stand there while they put on a spare, and then drove away, been there, done that, no thanks.  So I start jacking up the car

You son of a ***** I hate you you piece of ***** You’re lucky i dont $@#(&*$@&(@

Swearing because the rim seemed to be glued on the damn axel, I stood up, gave it a nice hard boot, and off it fell.  On goes that stupid looking donut, with markings printed all over it “DO NOT DRIVE FASTER THAN 40 MPH”.  It looks as if my car was plagued with cancer, 3 normal wheels and one shriveled up piece of garbage.

Eventually, I had to pay a cute sum of $802.00.  Ah yes, not only did I have to change 1 tire, but all 4.  Why?  Because these days, even when you take great care of your car, there are still some things that come jack you in the ass.  Turns out that the tires were wearing out their age (mind you the car is 6 yrs old, with only 23k miles on it, do the math, thats only about 4k miles a year, some people rank up 15k miles a year on average).

So yea, $802 out the window it goes, if anyone is around, and grabs some of it, please, feel free to walk it down to the bowels of hell where I will be sitting and waiting.