Wow its still here!

Life is as life does, and the blog suffers. I have moved on and at each turn I miss a great chance to come in and blog about it, why am I such a slacker? I know I know, life is so distracting. I mean I was at the mall the other day and all those lights and buzzers made me completely forget that I went in there to pick up some socks.....holy shit Old Navy has pants on clearance and all those window dummies in the need of molesting, I mean who could resist that?!?!

But I have been wrestling with the idea to just shut this bitch down but I just cannt bring myself to hit that delete button. So I decided to try once again to bring out the old shock paddles and the morphine and save this blog. Because all the video games have taught me morphine and shock paddles can save anyone from anything including bullets!

So, lets do a recap that is all over the place. Which is fine because that is how my life has always been any how so why should my blog be any different lol. Three more classes down, International Business (B), Principles of Economs II (B+) and Commercial Development of the Internet (?). Yeah still waiting on the last grade but I am pretty sure I passed :-D
I have less than a year to go before I and done with this shit, and then its off to find that dream job. But with my luck they will want a PhD or some other bullshit haha!

All the kids are doing awesome, absolutely no complaints there; Lucas is 5 and reading Seth is 8 and doing math that I cannt even do and Devon is 16 and is chasing girls like he is on a mission. So yeah all the kids are doing great, and Santa was good to them all!

The wife is still trying to get a job in Cali, we set a dead line for this year as the do or die for our move out of NJ. Its time to move on and this is the year we are going to do it, one way or another. She is trying to get into a graduate program to further her education in the HR field, one more thing to ad to the resume. You can never have enough when it comes to padding your resume.

I am moving up the ranks in my Masonry, the picture above was the party they had for all those who are moving up the ranks, I am now the Marshal. But as most people know, that is about all I can say about that. Its my special man club, and if you want to know more you will have to ask me on a more personal medium than my blog.

Work is work, its what I do to make money not define me in any other way. I have a job that is micro-managed to a 'T' and my attitude towards that has changed. To the effect that I will not allow it to get to me as much as it used to. When I leave work I leave it at work, enough said.

We took the kids to see the city this year, the typical touristy stuff, Rockefeller, the tree and the usual stuff that out of towners do when in the city. I love the city but there is no way in hell I would ever live there, its just to damn stressful. I mean one day of wandering around there and I wanted to kill someone! But we did have fun and the kids loved it, but I think Lucas loved the train ride above all. I swear that kid will someday have a job with trains, he is mental over anything trains!

See, he just loves Thomas!

You should have seen the line to get on the ice! I am not that big on ice skating but I would like to get on the ice just once so I can say I did it lol

They had these professional photographers out here taking holiday photos. But I was not about to ask what they were charging. Its NYC so you know they are robbing people blind for crap like this. I mean hell all you really need is photoshop people, and dont give the crap about the 'experience'! Its that type of mentality that lets these assholes charge so much for a damn picture.

We were going to take the ride up to the observatory deck but again we did not have to time to go to the bank to take out a loan for the elevator ride. Remember its the holiday season so everything gets a 70% increase in price.

I did take a picture of the corporate side of my company, a place I have lots of dealings with but never been there hahaha.

But in all life is still moving on, people have passed on and we miss them as we all move on. We lost a family member, Willie. My wife's little brother, he will be sorely missed but he will be with us always. He had a hard time in the lifetime but he was always smiling and will always be remembered that way.

I also lost an old friend, he lived his life like it was an 80's party to the very end. We had not spoken in years, he moved and we lost touch but I did hear from my mom that he passed. His mom and my mom are friends, and that is how I found out. It is hard to say how I feel about it, we were close for a time but life got in the way and we moved on. I am sad that I did not keep in touch and sad I never tried to contact him over the years. But, that is all I can say about that.

My ex-fatherinlaw passed away, Joe. He was a good man, hard working and loyal to a fault. He was one of those men that wanted to die with his boots on, and he almost got his wish. He was working just about up to the very end. He was a hard worker that just never seemed to stop but he also knew how to have fun and was a generous man with everything he had.

So in summing up this year we all have lived, loved and lasted. We lived our lives as all people should, loved everyone even though we know they wont stay with us forever and lasted in the since that we are all still here and moving on. Life moves on unless you made the choice not to allow it to, and for me that will never be the plan. They will all be missed but I will carry them all with me into the future, its almost 2012 and I am nowhere near done with this life. I hope all the best for everyone in this up coming year, lets see what it brings. For the good, the bad and even the ugly I cannt wait to see what it holds for all of us.

Absent and Broken

Times are hard all around so I just thought I would get my ass on here and bitch about my hard times. I know everyone is taking a huge bite of this shit sandwich, but I am here to describe what my mouthful taste like.
Like most people I have been spending on a borrowed dime. I cannot even call it the 'Wimpy Effect'. You know the old, "I will pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.' Yeah I am a little old school like that.
Well, we have been living like this and it has finally come down to this fact: We are working full time jobs just so that we can drown slowly. I am telling all this with sincere shame in my eyes. It is to the point that if we cannot get someone to co-sign a loan we will be moving back in with her parents.
And that isn't as bad as it seems but once you get a taste of having your own place it is hard to move back in with someone. Hell, I have had to do it......three times in my life! And it isn't because we have top of line cars or cloths, it comes down to the little things that have put us here. Our want to build credit and the lack of control to keep our spending under control. Ha, I feel like a government official except I don't have a scapegoat or a huge bail out.
But I think I have it all wrong, and in comparison to the rest of the world our debt is pennies. I mean last I checked the US owes soo much money I am not even sure where to put the commas in the number!
But yet that does not help me with the fact we are down to the last straw, and I don't want to file for bankruptcy again......yes I filed about 11 years ago. Its a long story filed with an ex wife, a lack of control and me not helping out with the finances in my world. And it sucks to know I am back in the same hole now just that this time I am not going through a divorce on top of it. I came here to clear my head and all I seem to be doing is making it worse.
I am in the last year of my college, which by the way sucks but whatever. I am trying to get this degree to help me get a job that pays more........so I can owe even more down the road. I mean if you are going to sin......sin big! No one cares if you owe tens of thousands of dollars. But get in over your head for a million and you could probably work out a talk show deal and maybe even a book. Getting into debt is easy but getting into a financial hole that would rival the problems in Greece, well that is a full time job!
I am to the point of even looking for a weekend job, which I really do not want to do. The weekend is the only thing I have let to keep me from losing my mind. It is my only time to let loose. I drink cheap beer and watch movies on Netflix. It is not much but its all I have the energy for. Once upon a time I worked out and I even try to start it up now and again, but I find I have noting pushing me for it. I have never been this tired and this stressed in my life. No where to go and no way to fix it. I know in time I will look back at this and shake my head, and I am soo looking forward to that day. Because the here and now is not where I want to be.

In closing I will say I just came here for some blogging therapy, I read the paper and see how bad other people have it. In the last big storm in Jersey, I got to read just how bad things can get. So I wont cry into my beer for myself, I will hold my head up and hope for a better tomorrow. For us all, for everyone that needs a hand because sometimes the things that we want are not the things that we need nor are they the things that we get. My life is stressful, its a whirl wind of unknowns, its uncertain, it brings me to tears when I know no one can see me but its my life. In a few years I will be able to stand a little taller knowing I made it through, and maybe with a little luck I will be little lighter too......because all this stress is killing my waist line!

I cannot end this with such a bummer. I will share with all a music video that has infected my brain and has helped me smile when I seemed to have lost my ability to smile. I must thank the members of the band LMFAO for this: I am Sexy and I Know it

Aftermath Irene in NJ

This post has been sitting in my edit box for way too long. Between school, work, life and my procrastination lifestyle it just has not been able to get out. As most people know NJ got slammered by a hurricane, that followed an earth quake, that was then followed by days and days of heavy rain.....man I hate to say it but 2012 here we come. Dont worry, be happy......because its almost over hahahaha.
But seriously Jersey was hit pretty hard. My general area, and I mean about a four block radius of my house, did not suffer too much. But the rest of the state did not do so well. In the town by my mom, Manville NJ, just about floated away. The town was hit hard, but that is what happens when a town is built up around a river, and then man builds canals all over the place. Just a side note here, look into the area you are planning on moving into. If they have had flooding problems in the past odds are they wont get better as time goes on. Example:

• Man buys house, hurricane comes and destroys his house, house is located in area nick named 'Hurricane Alley', why is man surprised a hurricane destroyed his house?

I am not trying to be mean or unsympathetic to people that lost so much in this past disaster, I just hope some people have learned from this. And that they had insurance, hell I live in an apartment and I learned my lesson about having insurance.......after I got robbed!

Here is a shot of one of the numerous side streets I passed in downtown Manville. Its hard to see because of that stupid car, but all the way down the street both sides are lined with people's belongings. Like I said before I sure hope they had insurance.

I tried to get a shot of the tree line as I went under an under-pass, but taking pictures while driving can be some what problematic. But you can see how high the water level had gotten. If I had been in this very spot 2 days prior to taking this, I would have been completely under water!



The town put up a sign to try and deal with anyone thinking of looting or garbage picking.....the town of Manville will prosecute you if you are caught touching anything that doesn't belong to you. Now if this was down south it might have read: "Touch my shit I will shot you, survivors will be shot again!"

Yeah that means you!

The water level here had to be almost 8 feet high! A river side restaurant sounds nice.....until a hurricane comes through!

The bushes show where the water level was at, I am going to in the area again soon and will take some 'after' shots.

Clean up was well under way, the whole town was in clean up mode when I was driving through. And again look at the bushes, I would not have wanted to be where I was standing 2 days ago!

But on the way out it was reassuring to see that the sticker car made it out. I see this car almost every time I drive through here. The owner is just a crazy looking and decorated as their car.



This last picture was taken at an under pass by my house. This area floods when it drizzles, so just imagine what happened when Irene came down! Well you dont have to imagine, I have a picture of it right here. This car remained here for almost a week before some removed it. Is it me or did this seem like a bad idea from the start?

We did get a little water in our basement but nothing in comparison to what others got. My job was without power for a week after the storm. There was a back up generator but the powers that maybe wanted to be cheap and did not hook up our office area to it. Yes it was in the original plan but the company I work for is all about band-aide solutions and stepping over a dollar to get a quarter. So they saved some money up front but lost in the end when disaster hit. Oh well, its not my problem I still got paid. Got paid to sit in the dark and sleep, I cannt complain it was a nice break before school started up haha.

Vacation is over and now its back to work

What an awful title to a blog post! But sometimes the truth hurts lol. I am starting my first real week of my last YEAR IN COLLEGE! It is going to one hell of a year, but I know it will be over before I know it. So lets GET IT ON! Its on like Donkey Kong!

But Lets not talk about those nasty tid bits of life, even though some of the up coming bits of life do suck. But lets start with the good parts and talk about our weekend camping get away with the kids:

We packed up the kids and gear and headed off to Stokes State Forrest out in Branchville, NJ. It has always been the place to go when the camping bug bites us. It was the one of the first places I took my girlfriend, now wife, on vacation. It isn't really roughing it but it is enough for us lol.

Who wants something to eat from Dale's? Dale's market is always our last stop before we venture into the land of bugs, ticks and bears!



Here is our site, the only real problem with Stokes is that it is soooo damn rocky. You cannot really stake down a tent right, there isn't any dirt!



The whole trip consisted of us telling the kids to stop running, because we knew what was going to happen. And sure enough Lucas was the first to get first aid because of fall. It only stopped him for a few minutes though lol



This year we went with a lean-to instead of a tent. Note to self: Bring more padding for sleeping on and some industrial wasp/bug/spider spray! I did love the stove they had in there, its the same type I would love to have in my house someday.



This year we went with our neighbors, we were supposed to have lean-tos right next to each other but that one had some problems with hornets. Don't you just hate it when mother nature gets in the way?



The best part about camping? The FIRE! I don't know what it is about chopping wood and burning it, but god damn it I love doing it!



My mom gave us some farm fresh pork chops and sausage to take with us. And I must say that stuff was 100 time better than any meat I have ever bought at the supper market!



And the next best part: Smores and camp fire stories. I don't know where they got the idea from but they wanted scary stories by the campfire. They must have been watching the same show or something. So we all took turns trying to scare them, I told a pretty good one. But while the wife was telling hers I 'went out to pee' and crept up behind them and scared the bah-jesus out of them. Memories that will last a life time hahahaha



I do love camping but I sure did love the shower I took when I got home. But I must say this time around we did not over pack. I am bad at that, I always prepair for every possible thing. So I end up with soooo much damn crap that I spend more time packing and un packing than anything else. I did forget a few items but nothing major.




Things to remember for next trip:

Spatula, I had to use my butcher knife this time.

A big bucket, luck for us our neighbors remembered one

My tackle box, again lucky we went with other people

No rinse camp soap

Hornet spray

And make sure the first aid kit is well stocked with bandages, we used them all up this time around :-D

Semi Product and day at the park

The wife bought these Topsy-Turvey planters, I know I spelled that wrong but most people know what I am talking about. She got the strawberry, the jalapenos one and the tomato planters. Well after much watering and care I will say not to bother with them. Planting them the old fashion way works better. The strawberries were an absolute failure, the peppers were so so at best, and as of now no tomatoes. We have some possible flowers that might become food but as of now we have not had anything worth bothering with. So if you ask me, dont bother with these things, you want to grow some food? Dont be lazy and go dig up a garden lol

Day at the park:
Took the kids to the Phil Rizzuto park in Elizabeth, NJ right on Morris ave, across the street from my nemeses....Kean University. It is odd that they have a park named after a baseball legend but there isnt a base field on it. Just a grassy area that has become mud because of the soccer games played there. They have tried keeping the grass but its just about impossible to keep people off the grass long enough for it to grow. It is a large field and the only one around that is perfect for playing soccer on, so I cannt really blame them.

But it has a nice park for the kids to play, a water sprinkler for the kids to run through and this nice soft rubber matting that if you fall on it, you get one hell of a nasty rug burn!

But that never seems to stop them for more than 2 seconds. And add water to a slide and what do you have? Even faster kids flying off the slide! Here we have Lucas coming down the slide:


And here we have him heading back to the top of it, like I said there is no slowing them down!


And then we have Seth the monkey. I swear he will be the first of my children in a cast!


I had to ask Lucas to stop for a second to take his picture.....yeah this lasted about a second!

Wild monkey man on the climbing thingie!

I am set to go on vacation in one week, no real big plans just day trips here and there. I just want some time off to do just about NOTHING. Ever notice that most vacations are more exhausting that going to work?

Product Evaluation #1

I am a huge sucker for new products, especially weight-loss gimmicks. I have been meaning to do some post on the numerous items I have tried, own and even use on a regular basis. So here is my first product evaluation, and its on this new food additive Sensa:

I saw the ad on a Facebook side bar ad, it had all the usual get skinny fast notions. It even had the 'order now and get your first three months free' catch phrase. Keep that line in your mind as you read what I have to say about this snake oil.
So, I order it and pay for the shipping and handling, no biggie. I get the product and read JUST about all the papers that fall out of the box. About how it works, why it works, how to use it and so forth. Like a kid at Christmas I open my new weight-loss weapon and hit the ground running. But as the days wear on I find one big flaw in the product, you have to carry it with you at all times. I am not always at home when I eat, like most normal working stiffs. So this means I have to remember to carry this item around with me at all times, so you know how that went. Hell I cannt even remember to take my vitamins....crap I forgot to take it again this morning, crap!
So, after about two weeks of half ass-ing it with Sensa I put it aside, I just could not remember to keep it with me whenever I ate. I tried I really did, and hell the product targeted my main problem with food....I just dont know when to stop! And this product claimed it could help with that, it was not a lack of wanting to use the product it was more of a lack of being able to keep it on me.
After I finally said, screw it my wife reminded me to make sure they did not put me on an automatic billing cycle. Ummmm what.....WTF is that? At first I was all like, 'Whatever' But then I was like, 'Ok, let me look into this'.
And sure enough, after going back and looking through ALL of the paper work that came with the shipment there was this one sheet of paper that had all those little nasty details.
Detail One:
You are put on an automatic shipment of this product every three months. And this shit isn't cheap! So, after following the direction on the paper I cancelled the automatic shipping. Which by the way was not an easy feat by any means.
Detail Two:
The 'Free Trail' is not free. I know shame on me, even the ad said, 'If you are not totally satisfied with the product just send us back the product and you pay nothing but the shipping.' What this means is that you have to call Sensa, talk to one of their reps that tries every way under the sun from keeping you from returning it, and get the return address.
Detail Three:
You have to get this charge back number from the Sensa that has to be put on the box you are returning it in. The first person I spoke to never said anything about this. I learned this after reading some more on what I need to return the product without paying the full $90 some smackers for this 'food additive'. So, I called again and asked for this number. I was a little less polite about my answers this time about why I was returning it. The phone drones they have there, work off a script and I had to cut this one off in mid sales pitch. I am an ass, sorry phone guy I heard the same pitch from the last guy whom seemed to have forgotten I needed this number for my shipping needs.
With all my ducks in a row I was able to return it and pay nothing but the shipping. To sum up the product itself I cannot say it worked or not, I could not remember to keep it in my pocket when I went out to eat.
They have a great gimmick that preys on the same notions that almost all the weight loss products use; Get them to take the bait of the 'Free Trial', keep the automatic billing cycle in plain sight but on page 15 of the 15th page of you product information and make returning the product so annoying that most people will not take the time to do it right. Because you miss one step and they got you for the full amount of the product.
In all I would avoid this product and their Tricky-Dickie billing department. Well, unless you are one of the few people that never forgets things and does not mind sitting in a restaurant and adding something to your food that you took out of your pocket........which by the way did make me feel a little creepy. I felt like some addict trying to hide the fact he was an addict lol,

Very late on this one

I have been trying to cure myself of my lazy ways on sooooo many levels. And this includes my blog. I am late on this I know so dont be to hard on me.
Uruguay beat Paraguay 3-0 for the win of the American Cup! Like I said I am late, kill me NOW!

Now I am not a huge fan of spectator sports for many reason, it does nothing for me, I could careless about what team beat this team or the fact that if one team wins over another my life doesn't change what so ever.
But my wife is from South America so you know what sport is well followed in my house.......that right soccer.....oh wait I am sorry Fotobul....or ball or whatever. And my stance doesn't change on this when soccer time comes around. I wont go into a rant about my dislike of this sport, which the sport itself is one hell of a sport to play, but I will say I have a true hate for the bullshit in this game.
What do I mean by bullshit you ask? The trick of pretending to get hurt by the opposite team in hopes of getting a flag called on the player or to get a free kick. Sorry but that is bullshit in my book. I have had to leave the room more than once after seeing this strategy being used over and over again.
Come on, is that all you got? Pretending you got hurt? Come on there are cameras everywhere and the whole world just saw you fake an injury, and very poorly at that. Imagine if they did this in boxing or rugby? You would be laughed out of the ring or the field. I am sorry for this rant over a rather well played match by Uruguay. Which by the way they only pretended to get hurt a few times.

This was goallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll number three which just about set in stone who was going home the winner


Sister in Law, Sharon and wife celebrating their country's win.


The wife wanted to go down to this Uruguayan bakery where all of the 100 or soo people from Uruguay where going to go to celebrate the win. Here we have Sharon showing that in all the excitement she forgot to fix her pants.


It was a hot and steamy day, the humidity jumped to about a %100 the moment we got into the crowd. It was wild but in a very controlled kind of way; no fights, no one vomiting, a few drunks here and there but in all a very good crowd.

Now when I said the 100 or soo Uruguayans were going to be in one spot I meant it! It was not a complete mob scene but there were alot of people in a very small area.

Here we have the wife and her sister showing their country pride.

Here is another picture of one of the drummers, and for the life of me I cannt remember his name?!?!?!

I am not sure if that was his truck he was standing on but the whole time we were there I did not hear anyone scream, "Hey asshole get off my truck!"

Well, all this noise did bring the cops out. At first they did nothing but as more and more peopled showed up they had to block off the street. And they even took time to take care of some police business with one of the locals. PS.....he wasnt part of our group lol

So much South American stuff going on in one small area!

Just some random crowd shot with a girl and her party cup!

Nothing says party guy like no shirt and a flag for a cape!

They were signing all kinds of songs I didnt know, but then again I dont speak Spanish haha

Well after a time the police did have to break us up and asked us to take to the park across the street. There was no permit for this celebration so technically we were all breaking the law. And even once we got to the park the cops kept harassing us, but we then learned that as long as we keep moving we could continue. Rules rules rules......they were made to be broken and bent to fit our needs and wants haha.

Oh and this guy, no clue i guess he likes women I dont know......

The popo making sure we all listened to the rules and that no one stood in one spot for too long. I wonder if jogging in place counted as well?

I took this one for one obvious reason.....I have never seen this one before. I had a friend that had the back of his neck pierced, this tongue, his eye brow and even that little piece of skin that connects the top lip to your gum line.....yeah that little piece of skin inside your mouth between your teeth and lip(And I know anyone reading this is tonguing it right now)....his nose and a good number of them in his ears as well. But he did not have this one! Sorry Dave she got you on this one!

I know this looks like the beginning of something very bad, but everyone listened and obeyed. We kept it civil and, as far as I can tell, no one was arrested that day.

In all everyone had fun and everyone went home knowing that even thou the other team tried Uruguay took home the cup. Better luck next year, may this time around you should work on your game instead of your acting.

Blue Fishing in New Jeresey

A buddy from work asked if I wanted to go blue fishing with him and some of his buddies from his firehouse. I would put the name of the firehouse on here but with my luck someone would google it and find my blog. Dont want to get anyone on trouble from the Oakland Fire house.......ummmmm oopps lol. We went on the night trip, 730pm to 230am.....oh yeah it was going to be a long night hahaha
Here we have a couple of group shots of the guys getting ready to catch some fish!



The guy in the bandanna is my buddy Vinnie.....that sounds like the name of a comedy lol. Oh yeah there was beer involved, what kind of fishing outing doesnt have beer?!?!?!



This is one of those party boats that does just about everything for you, which is good for me because I have no clue on what to do with anything I catch lol. Here we have the table of death already to chop and slice you fresh catch. It didnt stay clean for long......




I was soon informed that blue fish are very bloody and that they have very sharp teeth. Both of which turned out to be very true. One of the guys I was with got his finger bitten, nothing serious but it sure made for some good jokes at his expense.



These fish are real fighters, I only brought in one but fought with like 4 others that broke the line. Which was fine by me, I only wanted one. I mean WTF was I going to do with more than that, do you see how big these fuckers are?!?!?!



The boat Miss Belmar did just wanted we wanted it to do....it found us a great place to fish. It did take some time to find a good spot but it was well worth the trip. This one guy on the boat took home like 15 fish, this guy was dead serious about bring home some fish. I am curious as to what he did with all of them????? But if you are ever in the area and are in need of a boat, Miss Belmar is the one to pick in my book.




Krikey.....will you look at the size of dat ding!



There were some interesting characters on this boat. One was this skinny chick that was high as a kite and dressed for a jogging outing, not a night of fishing. She pulls up in a BMW, hops on the boat and then starts bumming smokes and beer off of the people on the boat. I swear I cannt get away from bums no matter where i go. And just in cast you are wondering, I didnt give her shit. Dont get me wrong I am a huge sucker for a sob story and give to almost anybody that asks, but this was just some leech bar fly. And I was not giving her squat.
Now the other strange ducks we had were these two young girls, which is probably normal in these parts, I am just not used to girls being into manly outdoors things. Sorry but the women I am used to dont fish, hunt or do chewing tobacco. Sorry for the blurry picture and sorry to the girl who is on the receiving end of this shot.....it had to take it I am sooo sorry.

Now, being the manly fisherman I am I took home the one fish I caught. And I must say I had no idea what to do with it, but luckily one of the guys working on the boat gave me some good advise. Soak the fillet in milk over night and then cook it how ever you want. The milk helps to get rid of the fishy smell and taste. I did it and it worked like a charm.

Fun was had by one and all, no one got sea sick and no one threw up.....well no one in my group anyway. We did witness one gut blow some serious chunks off the boat. I totally laughed at his pain, sorry I cannt help it I am an asshole after all. I have yet to ever get sea sick, I actually like the feeling of being on a rocking boat. Cannt say why, I did not grow up around boats and in all honesty I did not get on one until much later in life. I swear I was a pirate in another life hahaha.

We did not get off the boat until almost 3am and I did not get home until about 430am. I was tired, smelled so bad I had to get naked on the porch and leave my cloths there but it was fun and would totally do it again.