Eric's Blog-o-rama

2008 Vacation Day 2

2008-07-01T10:43:00.003-04:00

More fun at the pool,

The morning started with Bloody Marys at breakfast, beers by the pool and then come the margaritas. Margaritas make my Mom mean! Trash talking Amal breaks out. My 61 year old Mom was jumping off the boardwalk railing into the pool and trash talking those who were too afraid to do it themselves. We also revived our family tradition of synchronized swimming...it's hilarious. Pee your pants funny.

For dinner we had spaghetti....my Aunt Jo has done a very excellent job of replicating Sittie's (grandmother for your non lebanese folks out there) recipe. Good food and good memories. The camera wasn't very active on day 2, so there wasn't all that much to record in the blog.....

2008 Vacation Day 1

2008-07-01T08:07:00.004-04:00

I have been looking forward to this vacation all year long and the day of the trip is finally here. I woke up at a way too early 3:30am to catch at 6:00am flight. After I got my bones moving and a cup of tea down my throat, adrenaline kicked in and I was ready to go. The arrangement was for Uncle Gary to pick my sister, Natalie, and me up at my townhouse and then the three of us would drive together to the airport. Uncle Gary and I were on the 6:00am United flight and Natalie was on the 7:05 USAirways flight. By 1:00pm, the three of us and Aunt Vicki from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida would all meet at Norfolk, rent a car and drive to Nags Head. That was the plan. That plan was altered at 4:45 am. I was amazed at how many people were at the airport that early on a Saturday morning, but undaunted, I plopped myself in front of the United Check In Kiosk. I punch in the required information and am greeted with: "SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE, UNITED FLIGHT 7800 HAS BEEN CANCELLED. THE SOONEST WE CAN BOOK YOU IS SUN, JUN 29 2008, DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?" I proclaim "WHAT!?!?!?!" Uncle Gary hears this and comes over and reads the bad news. A desk agent got my information and within 3 minutes he had us booked and confirmed on flights that would get us to Norfolk no more than an hour later than we were supposed to. So, we ended up on the same USAirways flight to Philadelphia that Natalie was on. So the three of us take a painfully long 2 hour Dash-8 flight to Philadelphia and arrive on time. We proceed to my sister's gate to see if we can get booked on her flight, but it was full and overbooked. We say "see you in Norfolk" to Natalie and head to a bar for a 9:00am boost of liquid confidence. My Bloody Mary cost a whopping $10 and I didn't feel a thing from it. With 2 hours to kill in Philadelphia International, one of the smelliest airports I've ever smelled, we decide to roam around and people watch. I catch up on a few phone calls and before we know it, our flight to Norfolk is boarding. It was an easy, uneventful flight, we meet my sister at the bar and pick up our rental. I was elected Designated Driver so the three passengers could get well lubricated. Aunt Vicki arrives shortly after 1:00pm, we grab her bags and we're well on our way. The ride down to Nags Head was fairly easy, hit some traffic on the bridge that takes you out to the Outer Banks.....a fender bender here, a broken down truck there, but we get here without any trouble. We are greeted by the other family members in the street who actually stop traffic for us to get in the driveway. Let the festivities begin!!!!

Party at the pool!! That's the theme for the week so far. Alcohol is flowing, the karaoke machine is blaring and folks are jumping in the pool with their clothes on.

The night ended early, as everyone was tired. Some folks left at midnight, we were on the way to the airport at 4:30am, another family left at 4:00 and another at 3:30am. Sunday, the craziness begins......

Steps to financial freedom

2008-05-29T12:42:00.003-04:00

Yeah, this one isn't going to be one of my funny laugh at life posts. I have made one very small step on my way to financial freedom today. I paid off my Macy*s balance and....

...cut the bitch up!!! Don't' get me wrong.....I did not have a love affair with my Macy*s card. The interest rate is really high, the deals weren't all that great. However, taking this step will make it easier for me to walk past that store, or even into that store, and say "I want that and I'll just put it on my Macy*s card!" One of my last purchases with this card is actually one of the tools helping me to better my financial picture. It's a front pocket wallet. This wallet clips CASH on the outside and only holds about 6 cards. Yes, a couple of those cards are evil credit cards, but not as evil as you may think. One of them is linked to my flexible spending account and can only be used toward eligible purchases and comes from TAX FREE money that I am saving. Two are debit cards....fairly harmless because I have enough self control to not overdraw my two checking accounts. A travel credit card issued to me by the federal government is in my wallet for the rare instances I may have to buy a plane ticket or book a hotel room or rental car on official US Postal Service business. My only true CREDIT card in my wallet now is my Kroger card which by virtue of having the card combined with my spending at the grocery store, allows me to save $0.15 per gallon of gasoline off the regular pump prices. I don't pay for the gasoline with my Kroger card...the debit card gets swiped for that.

I'm quite proud of myself right now and my journey is only beginning. I've yet to put together a budget, but I have started an emergency savings account that will pay for things that would have been paid for in the past by a credit card. I'm thinking I may make a collage of cut up credit cards....when and if I do, I'll post a picture of it.

Wish me luck, and pat me on the back the next time you see me!!!

Away Games

2007-11-22T13:51:00.000-05:00

Don't you hate away games? You know what I'm talking about. Those moments in your life when you have to "drop the kids off at the pool" but the pool is somewhere other than the comfort of your own home. I'm trying to avoid an away game right now. I'm waiting for someone to come to work so that I can have a home game at my own place. Plus, Dakota (my dog) probably needs to go too.

Avoiding an away game can be challenging. Especially when you know you can have a home game, you are close enough or whatever. The brain tends to tell the sphincter muscle down there, "relax man, you're home free!" So sometimes, there is premature relaxation. That can lead to a very embarrassing moment. The worst case scenario is an accident, usually less than a mile from the home. Now only babies and the elderly are supposed to have those types of accidents, so anybody between those ages just feels really stupid. Sometimes the only thing that comes out is a gaseous emission. Depending on the level of odiferous-ness, those too can be socially damning. You're forever branded as "the farter!"

Probably the worst situation in avoiding an away game is being far from home, but trying to keep it all in. Holding a fecal event inside you can be as strenuous as a workout. First begins the clinching. I call it the Kroger Clinch. You've been there. You feel the moment coming and you're not going to the gas station/grocery store/Target bathroom. Here's what I tend to do. I act like there's something REALLY interesting on the shelf. If you're lucky, you're in the magazine aisle. That way, you can squeeze tight and act like you're reading at the same time. Hopefully, if you're a guy, you're not in the feminine hygiene aisle at the appointed time. If you're in the meat department and someone you know comes up to you, you can always play it off by saying, "I......can't.........believe.........how..........much...........boneless.........skinless.........chicken..........breasts.......cost
.......these.................days!" Anyway, the Kroger Clinch is accomplished by squeezing your butt cheeks together, raising the chin just a bit, pursing the lips and concentrating on holding it in. It can take a couple of minutes to suppress the urge. If you're walking and are in a position where you can't stop, this is much more challenging. Some small steps and tip toe action are called for.

OK. Let's say you just cannot avoid the away game. You gotta go and you gotta go RIGHT NOW. Speaking from a previous HORRIBLE experience, use a toilet seat liner at all costs. Not only does it protect your cheeks from unexpected wetness, there are certain critters that just don't belong on your skin that can reside on toilet seats. Of course, my odds at bad luck are probably much better than yours, but please, play it safe. Use a seat liner!

Strange Dreams

2007-10-16T16:35:00.000-04:00

This blog is dedicated to Amy who says she's tired of reading my old blogs....

I made a visit to my family physician last week and described my symptoms of anxiety to him, among some other things I was concerned about. He decided to put me on an anti-depressant/anti-anxiety drug called Effexor. I remember a relative telling me how much it changed her life and her outlook and I figured, yeah let's try this. So, I get a starter pack and today I just completed my first week at the lower dosage. Tomorrow, I double the dosage and that'll be where I stay unless there are problems. So far, I've not noticed anything major. Some of the possible side effects are impotence (NO PROBLEM THERE!), nausea (none), flatulence (I'm perpetually flatulent), weight loss (bring it on), dizziness (none), insomnia (I wasn't sleeping well before), and abnormal dreams. BINGO on that one. I have had the strangest dreams, three of which I'm going to describe....

Strange Dream #1:
In this dream, I arrive at my house and find a very short, blond lady at my door trying to get in. I immediately become irate and question her. She said she was there to check my hot water pipes. I told her that I own this place and that she has no right to enter it unless I OK it first. She is persistent, so I let her in to check the pipes. She goes nowhere near the pipes so I become irate yet again. I tell her to leave immediately. When she goes out of my door (this is where the dream gets strange), she turns into a dog and starts vomiting profusely. This one is open for interpretation. My friend Lea had a pretty good idea of what it represents but I'm open to any and all interpretation.

Strange Dream #2:
This dream and another strange dream I won't describe here happened at the house I grew up in from age 12 on. My Mom had brought home all kinds of meat and our job was to cut and prepare the meat. I asked her why we were doing this and she said we were having a party. Well, as I cut the meat, I began eating it....raw. Oh...and I discovered I was cutting it wrong. Interpretations please???

Strange Dream #3:
This happened last night. I was given the job to do the preflight checklist on a Boeing 727. So, I examine the outside of the plane, turn a few knobs outside, close up a hole and then get inside. On the interior of the plane, I do something with the air system, turn a few more knobs and then finally get into the cockpit. It is then that I decide I'm going to fly the plane. Oh and I thought to myself how proud my friend Lois would be of me. Lois is one of my handbell friends and she has nothing to do with flying planes...unless she's a passenger. Anyway, I strap myself in, start the thing up and start "driving" it on I-64 Eastbound towards Charleston. At that point, I turn on the landing lights and decide I'm going to take off. But first, I must find the autopilot. While I'm searching for the autopilot (which happened to be on a turn signal stalk!!!) a tractor-trailer swerves out in front of me. I abort the takeoff, turn off the landing lights and try to gain control of the aircraft, however I veer off to the right of the road, crash and flip over. There was no fire and apparently I wasn't injured. The plane had no passengers or crew.

Do I feel better on this drug? It's really too soon to tell. My doctor says wait a month. I'm curious what the higher dose will do. I'm enjoying the dreams though! They are fun to relive.

Gadgetry

2007-09-09T21:43:00.000-04:00

I love gadgets. I always have. They promise organization beyond belief and the more flashing lights and neat sounds they make, the better. I have or have had many gadgets in my 34 years on Planet Earth. My favorite today is my BlackBerry! She's such a pretty berry. An old berry but a berry nonetheless. She's a FreeBerry. AT&T had it as one of my upgrade options a few weeks ago, and although she's refurbished, I still love her. You can't hate something that's free!!!Her little green flashing light tells me everything is OK. She flashes red when I have something I need to check out. My gmail goes to my berry at the same time it goes to my inbox. Sweetness!! I learn more about her every day. OOh...she just made the email noise!! I thought I would be all over the iPhone and while it is very nice and ooey gooey in the gadget-y way, I can't imagine my life without BlackBerry attached to my hip. She goes to bed with me...well beside me, and turns off by herself...kinda like going to sleep beside me. She wakes up before me usually but only wakes me up if I ask her to. So smart and caring. I think I'll buy her a ring.

Some guys like big screen TVs, home theater systems, lawn equipment. Give me a gadget and I'm a happy camper. Especially when these gadgets interact with car stuff!!! I learned today that if I had a Bluetooth GPS system in my car, I could send directions from my phone to my GPS system. Amazing crap!!!

Ok...I need to find a gadget that will allow me to tell people to read this blog. I don't know why I have it if nobody reads it. Hmmmmm......

PostSecret

2007-08-12T12:20:00.000-04:00

Shhhh....I have a secret. Everyone has a secret...oftentimes we have many. Secrets hide something we don't like about ourselves. Secrets add a spark of excitement in an otherwise dull existence. Have you ever shared a secret with someone? Did you feel the adrenaline from the release? PostSecret gives you such an outlet. I've drafted a few cards, but was disappointed with the lack of creativity I've seen on PostSecret. I invite you to visit my weekly addiction. New secrets are posted on Sundays...enjoy and share your secrets with the world!

Chips and Salsa

2006-09-15T22:42:00.000-04:00

Yeah..that's what I'm eating right now. Healthy? Hell no. Leftovers from Thursday night Chili's take out. If I blogged everything I ate, maybe I'd be more aware of the way I'm poisoning my boday. This salsa is probably alright. I don't taste any sugar, so I don't think there's any of that nasty High Fructose Corn Syrup in there. The chips are corn chips, which I think some consider a whole grain. That's the big thing now...whole grain this and whole grain that. I think my toothpaste is whole grain. But they are very very thin and very very fried. Chili's used to put their chips in a paper bag. Five minutes after being transported to their new home, the corn chips would begin to weep all the excess fat from their little corn chip eyes...fondly remembering how warm and safe they felt after being born from their hot oil bath and laying under a heat lamp. At that stage in their short lives, they never imagined being dipped in salsa, or taking a warm bath in a melted cheese dip only to enter the mouth of a human where they would be masticated (that's not a perverse act...it's the first stage of digestion) rolled around on the tongue only to enter the remainder of the digestive tract which only gets nastier the further gravity and peristalsis moves the blob that once was a corn chip through the human body. I've been eating really poorly lately.

I've come to two conclusions about why. One is mechanical the other is mental.

Mechanically, my sink has been broken for maybe 3 months now. When I run water through the sink, it does not go through the pipes. All the pipe connections have come loose, so waste water runs under my sink and onto my kitchen floor. I haven't had it fixed and I do not have the patience to fix it myself. This is where the mental starts to play...

I have this notion that the world has these cleanliness standards, and since I do not enjoy housekeeping, I feel my place does not meet those standards, so I won't let anybody through my front door. I've had offers to clean my house....I don't take people up on them. Yeah...I'm mental like that. Perhaps once I break through some of my other issues I talk to my therapist about, I'll bring that up to see what I can do about it.

So...my sink is broken, so I can't clean up the kitchen or pots and pans without taking them upstairs to the bathtub to wash. I've done that before and it's a pain in the ass. The bathtub can't be the cleanest place to do dishes...oh yeah...my dishwasher has been broken for a few years too...not fixed....you know why.

So the chips and salsa are tasty...not healthy. I had chinese for lunch...tasty..not healthy. And Lean Pocket for breakfast....healthy...not tasty. Yesterday...chicken tacos for dinner...steak and baked potato for lunch....probably a lean pocket again for breakfast. Shame on me..no wonder I've put on so much weight. I used to be around a buck fifty. I've gained about 40 cents. That's bad. Maybe awareness is the first step of changing my life....I sorta doubt it.

Ok this has been a bunch of fluff...I just had to write something to get back into blogging. Be good....

Busy?

2006-08-20T22:37:00.000-04:00

I must have been really busy to not blog for two whole weeks! Not really. I've found that this has to be a habit..especially when you don't have a fan base for whom to blog. I started writing a pen and paper journal today and I've hit it up twice today. I also plan to use it to record some of my strange dreams. And I go through periods where there are tons of those!

Last night I had a dream about some really dry grass. It was still green, but very brittle. I'm talking about lawn grass, not the mind-altering kind. For some reason, I thought the grass was on holy ground, so I was really mad that it had gone dry. This dream looks strange on the screen, but it's kind of normal in my dream land.

Oh my...I just saw an ad for a new season of Deal or No Deal. I'm a gameshow freak. I love them. I went to the Price is Right in Hollywood for my 30th birthday! I cannot stand Deal or No Deal. What a freakin' waste of time. And Mr. Germophobe Howie Mandell who won't shake hands with anyone...I thought he was annoying on St. Elsewhere back in the 80s....time has not changed him. Except that he has no hair. I used to love Who Wants To Be A Millionaire when Regis Philbin hosted it. He added an edge to it and Meredith Vieira cannot match it. Plus, it's only 30 minutes now where it was an hour with Regis.

I obviously have nothing of importance to talk about today. When I do, I'll be back.

Cars

2006-08-06T22:32:00.000-04:00

They are most people's second largest outlay of money. I am car crazy. I even give them names. My current car is Greta. Ask just about anyone who knows me...I'm usually talking about the next new car I'm going to get. But boy, can they drive you crazy! This is what my 7 year old VW Golf looked like on the 4th of July 2006:

Pretty isn't it? Here's the same car, exactly one month later:

It's not much cleaner either!! It's hard to believe that the same problem reared its ugly head one month to the day after it's first manifestation. The problem is with the window regulator clips inside the door. The fine folks at Volkswagen extended the warranty to 7 years to fix this problem...unfortunately, it happened 3 months too late. When this happened, I screamed at the top of my lungs using some expletives and dropping some F-bombs. That's the effect cars have on us.

Maybe I'm a little too particular about cars. When I first got it and for a few years after, I would park far away from other cars. The first time I got a rock chip, I ran to the dealership to by touch up paint specific to my car. A month or two after buying my car, I drove up to Pennsylvania for a wedding the same year the locusts came out. My poor car was bombarded with locust carcasses and a spot remains to this day. It was like my child had been injured and permanently scarred. I got very angry when a co-worker told me my then new car reminded her of a Dodge Omni she once owned! During her first scheduled maintenance, I had the service guy look at the windshield because it seemed a little wavy to me. Almost all windshields are like this. I wouldn't even pass gas in Greta. I had her valet parked one time at a hotel in Pittsburgh. When she came back, the driver's side mirror had swiped another car...a white one. I called hotel security to have it investigated. Yeah, I'm that crazy. I feel like I'm being unfaithful if I go to a car lot to check out what's new. And sometimes my car will be hard to start right after that.

Maybe this obsessiveness about my car has allowed it to remain in good condition for so long. But really, if you look at it, a car is just metal, rubber, plastic, foam and fluids all put together in a package that keep you relatively safe while travelling at speeds humans never thought they'd attain while still on the ground. We put total trust into these things, carrying precious cargo daily. They don't have a soul, yet it kills the soul when something bad happens to them. I have a strong emotional bond with Greta and the day I trade her in will be very sad. I'll feel like I've betrayed her. I don't get mad at my house when I have to get a plumber or a repairman. Car repairs have a totally different impact on me. I'll pace the waiting room at the service department anxiously awaiting word...like a parent or spouse or other family member would do while waiting for their loved one to come out of surgery. Or if I do leave her there, I'll constantly check my phone for missed calls or voice mails just dying to know what's wrong.

Are there others out there like this? I hope so. If not, maybe I need some help. So boys and girls, keep your autos maintained well and remember to give them words of encouragement when times get tough. They'll love you in return.

Breakfast Buffet

2006-08-03T22:21:00.000-04:00

So....

I'm killing a little time before work, and I'm hungry, so I go to Shoney's for their breakfast buffet. You can hardly go wrong with eggs, hash browns, gravy, biscuits, bacon and a bunch of other yummy breakfast goodies. Breakfast happens to be my favorite meal of the day. I'd probably pick a good hearty breakfast over lobster. It would be close but I think breakfast would win. So I walk in, get to my table, order the buffet and coffee and get up to get my breakfast. I go to the stack of plates which I note are much smaller than they used to be and now they are some sort of plastic instead of the fine china they were previously cast from. I start scooping some eggs onto my fine plastic plate when I see a girl I was in high school with. We weren't really close but she was close to a friend that was close to me...so there was some related closeness there. Anyway, she invites me to her table where her husband, her two children and her mother are sitting. I get the rest of my breakfast feast and go to their table and start eating and conversating.

Now the youngest child, 3 months old, is in her dad's arm while he is trying to eat. She gets a little fussy so dad passes her along to mom. This is about 20 minutes into our meal. I figure "she must know how to calm her down" or "I bet he wants to eat the rest of his breakfast so he gives the crying kid over to mom." Well, the next thing I know, my friend lifts up her blouse-shirt thing and discretely places her child's mouth onto her right bosom!! Let me insert a disclaimer here. I FULLY SUPPORT BREAST FEEDING AND DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT WHEN IT IS DONE DISCRETELY IN PUBLIC!!! That being said, I was not prepared for it and for a few moments I was in shock. I found it difficult to maintain eye contact, partly because I was afraid that if my eyes wandered, I'd be perceived as a pervert, but then I started thinking that if I didn't make eye contact while talking, it would be rude and she may take her child away from her little breakfast buffet. I mean we were having ours, she certainly had a right to hers. I've been around breast feeding before, but I usually knew what was going on and would turn my head or leave the room at the start or finish just to make the mother more comfortable and more at ease. Well, baby ate at her buffet for a good while and I eventually became at ease and the subject never came up. We all finished eating, including baby and they were off to doctor's appointments and I had to go to work. It was a great breakfast and I was really glad to be able to spend it with old friends.

When I decided to blog this experience, I googled La Leche League so that I could insert their logo into the blog. Well, while I was there, I discovered that this week is WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK!!! How neat is that?? So, the moral of this story is, we all gotta eat, whether its from the Shoney's buffet or the b.o.m.b (buffet of mom's bosom). It's all natural and all good. I'd much rather see a baby at the breast than one with a bottle of formula. Just one suggestion...let folks around you know that you are perfectly comfortable feeding your child in front of them and that you hope they are not uncomfortable and if they'd like to turn their head while you start and stop, that would be just fine!! So here's a shoutout to the league:

http://www.lalecheleague.org

picture it

2006-08-02T22:44:00.000-04:00

The following is an experiment. One of the first local blogs I've seen is that of Rick Lee. You can see it @ http://rickleephoto.blogspot.com/ He's bills himself as a commercial photographer and from what I've seen on his blog, he's very, very good. In the summer of 2005, I bought a digital camera that I'd been salivating over for more than a year. It's a Canon Digital EOS Rebel 6.1 megapixel beauty. I've yet to discover all that it can do, but even in it's most generic mode, it takes awesome pictures. I'd love to learn more about it and I bought a book, but books and I don't get along, especially if I'm the least bit sleepy. In this blog, I'm going to share with you a few of what I consider my personal best, and they'll be chronological, from the time I purchased the camera up to the spring. Again, I may border on putting you, the viewer to sleep, but hopefully you'll get something out of my pictures. So, here we go....

This was taken in Wilmington, North Carolina in June of 2005. I really like the lighting and the clouds and setting sun give a heaven-like appearance.

This is what I call "luck o' the Irish" I was fortunate enough to capture a rainbow my first hour or so in the city of Dublin. Awesome!!

This is not King's Island....it's the real deal and another lucky shot! The night sky was awesome...crisp and clear.

From one great city beginning with a P to another. Now we're in Pittsburgh, PA at Point State Park. The fountain, fed by an underground fourth river, is located at the convergence of the Monongahela and the Allegheny rivers forming the Ohio River.

I think this is enough for now. I've posted a lot more on flickr, a great photo hosting and sharing site. If you'd like to see more of my photographs, visit www.flickr.com/photos/jeghiz

Until the next blog......peace.

Random acts of blogness

2006-08-02T00:02:00.000-04:00

Way back in the early days of the internet, I had a blog. I didn't call it a blog. Blog wasn't even a word then. I called it a journal. In my journal...uh..blog...I posted a description and commentary on every flying lesson I took. I had a blast doing it and made friends from all over the world who had somehow found out about my journablog. So here I am again...this is my first post and I really don't have a lot to say. I know myspace is the big thing now and maybe I'll do that later. For now, I'll tell you about myself. Maybe it'll interest somebody...maybe it won't.

I'm 33 years old and have spent the last almost ten years of my life working for the United States Postal Service. I'm a supervisor for a computerized mail processing operation. It wasn't the work I dreamed of doing when I was playing in the sandbox, but it's a good job and a great company to work for and a big bunch of people who are like family to me. And we all know that family isn't always "The Brady Bunch!" When I'm not doing my paid work, I can be found taking pictures of something, or playing some sort of musical instrument. I've recently found handbells http://www.agehr.org to be my new favorite type of music to perform. By the way, that's my first hyperlink. Is hyperlink still a good term? It was in my first journablog.

Ok, I'm boring myself so I'm probably boring some reader out there who is getting ready to google something.

When I figure out how to make this a photoblog, I plan on doing a lot of that. For now, happy 1st of August and if you're so inclined, let me know what you'd like me to blog about. You, the content-hungry huddled masses yearning to eat from the buffet of yummy blogs. Ok..that's enough. Until the next time....peace!