Merry Christmas

Hello and Merry Christmas to everyone. I stayed home this year but did communicate with everyone in the family on Christmas day. I even did a web video with Kaitlin and Anna on their new Netbook computer. It was a lot of fun.

I wasn’t much for decorations this year. Here are a couple of pictures of my Christmas wreath and lights. Yes, I never put the wreath on the door and only 25 lights on the deck. It’s not that I don’t like Christmas but I guess I have become lazy!

Anyway, I do love Christmas and I believe Christmas is all about children. What a joyful time for them believing in the “Magic” of Christmas and anticipating all those wonderful gifts.

But I also believe Christmas has a much deeper meaning for us adults. Whether you are a Christian, Jew, Agnostic, Atheist or other belief, Christmas is about redemption and forgiveness. I never thought about Christmas this way before but recently I heard someone talk about it in these terms.

For the believers, Christ was put on earth to redeem and offer forgiveness for people. For the non-believers, you could still look at it in the same non-religious terms. To release, let go and forgive.

I thought about my life with all of the setbacks, knock-downs, hurts and challenges I had to face. How did I overcome them and move forward? After thinking about this for a while I realized a large part of it had to do with forgiveness. The other major part was removing negative thoughts and feelings from my thought processes.

No matter where a person is in life, each day offers a new beginning to move forward towards their dreams. But to take advantage of that new beginning, a person needs to do a few simple things.

First, you have to forgive others who did something to you that caused hurt or bad feelings. Do not give them the "PRIVILEGE" to continue the hurt, by you thinking about it on and on. It is like a sore that never heals. You have to release it so you can move on.

Next, forgive yourself of any hurt you have caused other people. Again you have to release it so you can move on.

Whether you think about these things consciously or not the thoughts and feelings are “burned” into your brain at a subconscious level. The human brain is a powerful “machine”, especially the subconscious part. It runs 24/7 and gives you instructions constantly. These instructions should always be positive and never negative. Negative thoughts hold you back. Negative thoughts can actually cause illness over time.

When my Florida children were young I would not let them use the word “Can’t”. Saying or thinking that you can’t do something programs the subconscious mind and prevents you from doing it. It’s that simple. So, always think positive. When you say or think of something negative such as “I can’t do that or I can’t change my life situation”, imagine yourself as a little person sitting on your shoulder and say “Is that what you want”? Then answer “No”. Then the little person will say, “Then don’t say it”! Remember, if you say or think something often enough whether it is positive or negative, your subconscious mind will program itself for that belief and keep providing those “instructions” to you. If the thoughts are negative, you will be kept in a place in life you don’t deserve to be at.

So, no matter what, if you don’t like your situation or where you are in life, you and only you have the power to change it. Start thinking differently tomorrow as it is a new day and new beginning for you.

Merry Christmas

Time to Catch Up

It's been quite a while since I updated the blog. I'm sure everyone has been waiting to see what's happening in my exciting life. NOT MUCH.

I did attend a Coast Guard Auxiliary Christmas social last Saturday and created a YouTube video of it with my new HD Camcorder. I think a few family members watched it but others have not responded about it.

Speaking of YouTube videos, my HD Camcorder review has had 438 views with 2 comments. I also received a 4 out of 5 Star rating. Not sure what that means.

Two other videos have received a 4 Star rating. Two Brothers Reunited with 178 views and Destroyed in Seconds with 168 views and one comment.

Interesting, is the Two Brothers Reunited has a YouTube warning that I am using copyrighted music (Yani). I guess I need to remove the video or redo it. Not sure what to do.

The next popular one is Deer Swimming in Lake Guntersville with 146 views. No star rating though.

Yesterday (Saturday) I was supposed to be in a Guntersville Parade representing the Coast Guard auxiliary with Buddy and Max but the Parade was cancelled due to weather.

I have finished all Christmas shopping and cards and everything will go out tomorrow (Monday).

Finally, my Micron Computer I bought in 2003 is on its last leg so I am replacing it with a new Dell Studio XPS 9000 with a 24 inch monitor. That ought to help with my eye site. I'm supposed to receive it the first week in January 2010.

Gosh, this year has gone by too fast.

Later Gator!

One of Those Days

I'm sure everyone has had a day that they wished they just stayed in bed. Well, today was it for me.

First it was raining and cold and the dogs don't like to go out in the rain so it is always a challenge for me.

Next, I had turned off my old PC for cleaning and when I turned it back on it would not boot up. I tried everything. there was a message screen that only showed for 1/2 a second and I could not read it. I finally took a video of the attempt to boot up in hopes that I would be able to stop the video and read the message. I put that aside and decided to have breakfast.

I haven't had "Sunny Side Up Eggs" for almost a year so I thought I would treat myself for having a bad start of the day.

Cooked em' and had a side of toast and sausage. I already had my OJ earlier so I decided to just drink some green tea with the breakfast. Well, for some reason unknown to me, I dropped the tea glass on my breakfast plate. The eggs, sausage and toast got soaked with tea. I thought I could still eat it but it was awful and in the garbage it went.

Next, I wanted to finish a video I was making to put on YouTube for all of you to watch. I kept having problems (My work Computer) and realized my 165 GB hard drive was almost full. I have a lot of "Stuff" on this computer that is work related and also personal things like photos, videos, and other software.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I was thinking about getting a HD camcorder. I did and took lots of test videos. The HD format creates huge video files and that has brought my hard drive down. So, I thought I would off load a 2007 and 2008 photos to a CD and remove some other things to get more storage capacity.

When I started my data CD copy program it kept crashing. Dang!, another problem. I had to reinstall it. Then I moved about 20 GBs off the computer. Things are looking better now.

Now to finish the HD video for YouTube. I kept trying to render the video into a final file and kept having issues with the output format. Finally, I finished it and uploaded it to YouTube (1.9 GB). The upload took a long time and when it was finished YouTube gave me an error indicating it did not recognize the format. #!&@%.

I tried other formats and back and forth. Finally I got it done, whew, there goes this day.

Anyway, here are a couple of links to view it in HD rather than the mini-player in the blog:

My review

I didn't have time for a nighttime test but here is a good demo of that:

Nighttime Test

I'm going to bed now, GOOD NIGHT!

Exciting News

I have some exciting news but first let me update you on the boring stuff.

This weekend I washed my Durango which needed it bad as well as Lights Out.

My Sony 50-inch wide screen TV has been getting dimmer and dimmer over the last year and I have been debating on whether to replace the projection bulb or just get a new TV. I was interested in a Vizio 55-inch for around $1500 at Wal-Mart but decided to just get a new bulb for the Sony at $150. This should give me a few more years of viewing before I replace it.

Now for the exciting news.

Brynne is being transferred temporarily to a World Market store in Birmingham which is only a few hours from me. It appears she will be there through December as the company wants her to turn the store around (It's in bad shape). I'm very proud of Brynne that she is such a good manager and her company has confidence in her to do a good but difficult job. Anyway, it looks like we will get to see each other a little more often. Also, I can provide the laundromat facility for her!

The next exciting thing is I started a new business. Actually, it started with my increasing concern about germs, especially H1N1 (Swine flu). I wash my hands a lot but the major body entry points for H1N1 is the nose and mouth. These areas are hard to wash with soap and water.

I did some research on the Internet and found Dr. Fresh Daily tooth brush packs. I ordered my first month supply as shown below.

The idea is you use one toothbrush for one day, then you throw it away (and all those nasty germs) and start with a new one the next day. Each toothbrush has a tongue scrubber on the other side of the bristles but I find it also works good for the nose to keep that entry point clean from germs. Each toothbrush pack includes a child brush that plays music when brushing. It also helps the child learn to keep the planet green. Turn up the volume as it has a cool beat.

Click here to listen to the Music. Music courtesy of Dr. Fresh

The retail cost runs $88 per month. I found out they also have a business opportunity. The way that works is you recruit people to join the opportunity and my cost for the brushes is reduce to $78 per month. Plus, for everyone I recruit to join the opportunity, the company sends me a free 6-pack of brushes. So, I decided to join and I will be setting up a website soon to help stamp out H1Ni and other germs we humans have to deal with.

If any of you want to join let me know so you can receive your toothbrushes quickly before the Flu season is over with.

That's about it for now.

Goodbye October

I can't believe it's November. October seemed to come and go in a "blink" of an eye. However the fall colors are great to see again.

As usual, I had no trick or treater's again. I buy a bag of Snickers every year since 2005 and no one ever comes. I end up eating all of them myself. Am I BAD!

Prepared the 3 boats and camper for winter this weekend just in case I get an early freeze.

Buddy and Max are doing good. Buddy decided to take over Max's bed for a few weeks and Max slept on Buddy's bed. Now they have switched back to their own beds. Weird.

I'm thinking of switching over my camera to HD wide screen so all future videos I create are in 1080i HD. I have been doing some research and instead of a primary photo camera with the capability to shoot standard video like I have now; I have an inclination toward a HD video Camcorder with 8 megapixle photo capability. I'm leaning towards a Canon as I have been very satisfied with my Canon photo camera.

It has many cool features plus it has an internal memory of 64 GB (Flash Memory). It can record up to 24 hours of HD video at Standard Play (SP) and up to 6 hours at the highest quality. If you want to learn more about it click on the link:

CamCorder

So if you all want an idea for Christmas, here it is. Ha-Ha, just kidding. If I get it it will be my Christmas present to Me.

My photo camera may be up for sale so if anyone needs a good high quality camera, let me know as I have a real deal for you.

Later Gator!

New Jersey Trip

I left last Sunday (18th) at 7am and headed to New Jersey for a business trip. The Huntsville to Atlanta flight was on time and here is an aerial shot of Atlanta.

The flight from Atlanta to Newark, NJ was delayed for hours due to bad weather in the NJ/NY area. I finally got there and by the time I arrived at the hotel it was 8pm. What was supposed to be a 6 hour trip turned into 13 hours. I Hate traveling by plane anymore!

Monday morning I headed to the office in Woodbridge.

RCC is the company I work for.

I spent most of the week in developer meetings as we are working on migrating all of the individual software packages into one software application that provides a common user interface for all software applications. It was a very tedious process and the time was mostly spent consolidating individual databases.

One day I provided software training for the current version of my software to a group of RCC engineers.

I was going to take some videos while there to make a spoof of "The Office" TV show but didn't have enough time to get them all. So I guess I'll have to finish the videos the next time I'm up there which will probably be sometime in December.

I left for home on the Friday the 23rd and picked up the dogs on the way. They were so happy to see me and I to see them. There was one incident while they were in boarding where Max provoked Buddy and Buddy attacked Max. Max has several bites on his ear and neck plus one on his head. The vet said they were superficial punctures and the lesions did not require further attention.

Max is taking an antibiotic to be sure there is no infection. I think it started by Max being stirred up from another strange dog and then took it out on Buddy as he was the only dog Max could get to. Of course Buddy won the battle. I thought that type of fighting was over but maybe the new surroundings made it occur.

Now I'm playing catch up this weekend.

National Radio Day

Today is National Radio Day. I just thought I would let you know (10-4). LOL

It's been a couple of weeks since I updated my blog and there is not much new to report. I did send several emails to my family members but haven't heard back on any of them. I hope I don't have the wrong email addresses.

I installed a burglar/intrusion alarm system on my house this weekend. It's all wireless so pretty easy to install. It has many features such as dialing up to 4 telephone numbers when an alarm sensor is activated. It also has a water proof pendent I can wear for those "Help, I've fallen down and can't get up" situations. You can record a message to send to one of the phone numbers and I will have it dial 911 requesting an ambulance. I checked with the 911 center here and they will respond to prerecorded messages.

The other numbers will be programed to my cell phone and Uncle Don as a backup as he is usually home most of the time. When I travel I can remotely dial into the system and check the status as well as turn on/off certain lights in the house. I can even monitor sounds in the house as well as have a two-way conversation with any one in the house, including the burglar!

The system can be further expanded at a future time with live cameras and I can view them over a secure Internet connection.

All-in-all, it's a pretty versatile system.

Speaking of traveling, I have to go to the home office (NJ) the week of the 19th. So this is another reason I put the security system in as I have some new valuables in the house (if you know what I mean) and I would not like them to get in the wrong hands.

This will be the first time the dogs will be boarded, so to reduce the stress for them, I will board them for one day b4 I go on the trip. This way they can get familiar with the boarding facility and learn that I will come back for them. The place has large kennels so they can stay together with each other.

I will send Uncle Don my itinerary in case anyone else wants to know my schedule.

That's it for now.