Time

"Spend eighty percent of your time focusing on the opportunities of tomorrow rather than the problems of yesterday." ~Brian Tracy

Reel Steel the Movie

I must say my son was glued to this movie. It's about the future of boxing as robots have replaced humans as the fighters. It's a great movie if you've got a little boy.

Psalm 147:3

He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.

True Love

The person who really loves you sees what a mess you can be, how moody you can get, how hard you are to handle. but still wants you in his/her life.

Be Strong

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Success

"Success doesn't come to you, you go to it." ~Marva Collins

Opportunity

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." ~Albert Einstein

Rainy Days

Being in Southern California we don' get a lot of rainy days. Todays rain is a welcome change in the weather for me. It will be nice to hang out with my kids by the fire and maybe watch an old movie while sipping some hot chocolate.

Strength

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." ~Mahatma Gandhi

Will Power

"The difference between a successful person and others is not the lack of strenght, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in lack of will." ~Vincent T. Lombardi

Imagine

"Dreams are extremely important. You can't do it unless you imagine it." ~George Lucas

Quote for today

"Sorrow is knowledge, those that know the most must mourn the deepest, the tree of knowledge is not the tree of life." © Lord Byron

Costa Concordia Disaster

First off my heart goes out to all the families who lost a loved one.
I'm a fan of a cruise vacation. It's a fun way to see parts of the world with family and friends. When I first heard the Costa Concordia hit a sandbar I thought man that sucks, the ship must be stuck and I can only imagine the work that would needed to be done to get the Costa Cruises ship back into action. I had no idea it was a rock they hit which ripped a 165ft gash on the boat, ultimately leading to a sinking cruise ship and people getting injured and lives being lost. I'm sitting there thinking how could this happen, they probably take this same route every week. The how, what, why are really irrelevant though. The worst part is people lost their lives due to this huge mistake by the ships captain. You just don't think in this day and age a cruise ship being on a course that close to this type of danger. Seeing pictures of the sinking ship have me completely mystified.

A website I follow has done a nice job covering the news if anyone is interested in learning more about the accident.
Cruise Critic

I'm hoping another website John Healds Blog might be able to provide some information on the Costa Concordia. John is the cruise director for Carnival Cruise lines which is the parent company to Costa Cruises. John writes a very good blog in my opinion.

This one frustrated me a little but there is good info. I just hate that it always comes back to Money.

Football Playoffs

Man yesterdays Niners vs. Saints game was one of the best football games I've seen in a long time. Maybe right there with the Pittsburgh vs. Arizona Superbowl a few years ago. I grew up a Niners fan and I still follow them but have become a Chargers fan since living more in Charger Country. It's so refreshing to see one of the great NFL franchises in San Francisco be relevant again after so many years of underwhelming play and a carousal of coaches. I don't know how they will play against Green Bay or New York but I'm really excited for next weeks game.

The Denver Vs. New England game was much more surprising. Denver had played great defense last week. They had just played New England and it looked like the same game all over again. I don't think anyone thought Denver was the better team or anything but they do have a pretty damn good defense and Tom Brady made them look like a high school team. I'm certainly anything but a fan of the Patriots but sometimes you just have to tip your hat, Tom Brady is an amazing QB. I was more surprised how great New England's defense played than anything. They had been not that great all year but Denver just couldn't muster up Tebow time yesterday. I have many doubts that the Texans could stand a chance against the Patriots but a game vs. the Ravens could be a really good AFC road to the Superbowl.

Harbaugh Bowl Anyone?

Long Time Friends

I want to talk about something I have always felt lucky about, Long Time Friends.

I am still very good friends with the groomsman in my wedding which was over twelve years ago. Now I had four people and one of them is my brother in-law so he does not count but I do have a great relationship with him too. The other three people I'm still very close with. One of them lives in Texas so I don't get to see or talk to him as much as I'd like, I'd do anything for him and I know he would do the same for me. The other two people I grew up with. We all have very different lives but one of them I get to play baseball with every week so it's always nice to get to hang out. The other I don't see much but I think that's going to change here real quick. Anyway the point I'm trying to make is I feel really lucky that these people are in my life still. It seems most people I know if you ask them if they are still friends with people that were in there wedding, most of them would say not really. There is one other really good friend I have that's been there for a lot lately and I owe him a ton.

Thanks Brothers.....

The 13th day falling on a Friday

Friday the 13th

The fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia (huh, say that 3 times fast)

• According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century.
• In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 Descendants of Muhammad Imams, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
• Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales,^[3] and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s.^[6][7] It has also been suggested that Friday has been considered an unlucky day because, according to Christian scripture and tradition, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
• The 12 films have grossed over $465 million at the box-office worldwide. Five of the twelve films in the Friday the 13th series, including the most recent (reboot of the series), were released on a Friday the 13th.
• There are 3 Friday the 13th days in 2012, January, April & July.
• Black Sabbath's eponymous debut album was released in the UK on Friday, February 13, 1970.
• The 13th book in A Series of Unfortunate Events was released on Friday, October 13, 2006 by Lemony Snicket, also known as novelist Daniel Handler.
• The renowned rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur was pronounced dead on Friday, September 13, 1996.
• The asteroid 99942 Apophis will make a close encounter with Earth, closer than the orbits of communication satellites, on Friday, April 13, 2029.
• On Friday, August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley slammed in to Southwest Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, the strongest hurricane to hit the United States since 1992.
• On Friday, 13 of January 2012, France had its credit rating downgraded by Standard & Poor's (this was today)

Work it out

So as life unfolds we all have our ups and downs.

Work it out

My Hollywood Treasure

 Heard this song today and wow did it hit me. Everyone hears songs differently of course but this one really made me think of one of the most important people in my life Kailynn. I know sappy post today.....

    Cinema

I could watch you for a lifetime                
You're my favorite movie
A thousand endings
You mean everything to me
I never know what's comin'
Forever fascinated
Hope you don't stop runnin'
To me 'cause I'll always be waitin'

You are my cinema
I could watch you forever
Action thriller
I could watch you forever
You are my cinema
A Hollywood treasure
Love you just the way you are
My cinema my cinema
A cinema a cinema a cinema a cinema

Stars spell out your name
Like in a science fiction drama
Romance growing
Like a flower in the summer
You always keep me guessin'
Forever my wonder
Hope you start undressin'
All my dreams and take me under

You are my cinema
I could watch you forever
Action thriller
I could watch you forever
You are my cinema
A Hollywood treasure
Love you just the way you are
My cinema my cinema
A cinema a cinema a cinema a cinemaa

Never know what movie you're playin'
Never know what movie you're playin'
Never know what movie you're playin'
Never know never know never know

You are my cinema
I could watch you forever
Action thriller
I could watch you forever
You are a cinema
A Hollywood treasure
Love you just the way you are
My cinema my cinema
A cinema a cinema a cinema a cinema

(Written By: Benny Benassi
BENNY BENASSI lyrics are property and copyright of their owners.
"Cinema" lyrics provided for educational purposes and personal use only.)

CES is Tech Geek Overload

It's one of the best times of the year for technology geeks like myself. CES 2012 has kicked off. I must admit the chicBuds booth (pics to the left and right) looks amazing from the pictures I saw. They are going to rock the show this year no doubt.

I've been checking my favorite websites for news through the application ChannelCaster (@OneLouderApps) which has made it nice and easy to follow CES through 2 of my custom channels Android 360 & Tech 360. I also use Pulse (@pulsepad) for direct feeds for some of my favorite websites like Android Central (@androidcentral) & The Verge (@verge) that don't incorporate twitter.

All the product announcements have me on information overload and it's fun to see what actually ever makes it to market. Last year was the Android abundance of tablets to go after the iPad that stood out to me. Looking forward to seeing everything and deciding what really sticks out.

I do know that the @chicBuds girls are on that path. Well thought out products designed for females by females, that's a concept that's sorely missing in women's electronics.

Bad People

So over the weekend my wallet was stolen out of my car. Now I learned the hard way because A) I left it in the car and B) I forgot to lock the car, which is something I never do. Although that may not have stopped the thieving bastards. Apparently there has been a run of this lately in my neighborhood as our local weekly paper the "Friday Flyer" had a story posted about it. Unfortunately it happened on Friday night before I saw the article.

This person (or these people) went and charged up a bunch of stuff from 2 different stores before I realized what happened and cancelled my debit card. The bank told me I have to let the charges go through before they can reverse them (are you kidding me). I had a couple gift cards from the holidays in my wallet, no cash, my license, AAA, Costco, Gym and POA cards. Could have been worse I know. The wallet (Brown Leather Coach) was a really nice gift from my wife so I'm probably most bummed about the loss of that than anything.

It's so frustrating when stuff like this happens at your home. Feeling violated is never anything I would wish for anyone to feel like. I hope this person knows that Bad Karma happens to Bad People.

So today I spent the day (had to take a day off work) recouping the things stolen from me. I was able to also take care of something from one of my other blog posts and talk to one of the college counselors and re-apply for school to get started on finishing the requirements for my Bachelors degree. I'm excited to get started even know I know it's going to be a long road. Next step is to re-take the entry tests because it's been so long and then pick some classes and head back. I just hope they have plenty of options because my current employer won't work with me on this.

Friendship today

Is this what friendship has become in today's world?

Minds

"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people."-Eleanor Roosevelt

Go Far

"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far" - T. Roosevelt

There's no excuse not to dream

I no longer wish to feel like it's unfortunate I have to go to work. I feel fortunate to have an employer but I am completely unfulfilled in my professional career. If you have ever seen the movie Wanted there is a scene where the main character has a panic attack when his boss confronts him with the NIN song Everyday is Exactly the Same playing in the background.

Long story short that's a snap shot of my work life for the last couple years. I got comfortable, settled and kept telling myself I am just happy to have a job in this economy.
I made an appointment today to speak with a college counselor next week. Have to start somewhere and this is my long term plan, next up is to focus on short term.
It's time for me to really work on my dreams. I've always had some bullshit reason in the past not too.

Back to the grind

The holidays are over, unfortunately it's time to go back to work.
My holiday season was actually much better than I anticipated they were going to be. I guess the stars aligned for a brief moment in time for me to see what I have with my family and friends. I have a lot of great people in my life. It's time for me to show them how much they mean to me.
For now it's time to get back to the daily grind.

Resolutions

My New Year Resolutions are simply:
Learn something practical
Read a book
Make appointment for a checkup
Go back to school
165 by 3/31/12 - dropped and kept off the 25 extra lbs I was carrying around, time for that last 10.
Open a savings account
Conquer a fear
Help someone else
Visit a new destination