I was never too concerned with healthy living. That was until recently, when I had to give up coffee and smoking because of some condition doctors told me could severely damage my well-being. So, I thought it was better to listed to those professionals and tried to cook only healthy recipes, based mainly on vegetables, fruit and fish. After two months of eating like that, I discovered lots of benefits, so I’m going to stick to this kind of diet, although I might skip it during holidays and immediately after, because II just happen to know some great leftover ham recipes that I love to cook and eat after Christmas.

First of all, I feel more energetic and my depressions are gone, hopefully for ever. Then I see that I’m always in a happier mood, I feel lighter, it’s like I’m living a new life. I would have never imagined that some tiny pieces of broccoli, eggplant, pepper and tomato could produce such changes in a man’s life.

Posted: November 18th, 2009 under Life.
Comments: none

Are you too lazy to move your precious self to the window for opening or closing the blinds? Hey, I really can’t understand those guys who just want automation all over the place: electric blinds at all windows, electric garage door, remote controlled vacuum cleaners… and the list could go on. Good that they don’t want robots as kids. To all my friends who spend big money on automatic household items: guys, you’re playing with your life. I’ve heard this story of somebody who thought to install electric blinds in his bathroom, wired the whole thing by himself, made a nice hole in the wall and mounted a switch. Too bad he places the switch inside the bathroom.

The story goes on in a sad way, I’m not going into details, but all I can say is that he’s still alive, after a long while spent in hospitals. I think it would have been easier to just have a simple curtain at his bathroom window and a long cord to operate it from the bathtub by simply pulling it.

Posted: November 17th, 2009 under Hobbies.
Comments: none

If you’ve been wondering why I am not writing anything in my blog lately, now I’m going to tell you the secret: I’ve recently become a dad. Yes, that’s a moving moment in anybody’s life, or at least I felt it like that.

Being a dad is cool, except that sleep has become quite scarce lately, with wife breastfeeding to little Tommy five times a night. I don’t know how many times she’s feeding the little one during the day, because I’m at work, but I bet she feels like a milk factory already. At night, the process goes like this: she’s bought a nursing pillow, which is a kind of rectangular pillow with a curved edge and with a LED inside. When baby starts crying with hunger, mom takes the pillow, puts baby on top of it, the light glows nicely, they start the feeding thing, then in a few minutes, the pillow light goes off, so I’m supposedly not disturbed by the baby nursing process.

This is funny: if I was not disturbed, how comes that I know so well what my wife and son are doing all night long? I just pretend to be sleeping, so she feels comfortable, but I can tell you that I feel like falling asleep at the wheel or at my job, which is a dangerous thing to do, taking into account that I’m a heavy equipment operator.

Posted: November 17th, 2009 under Life.
Comments: none

I would have never thought that the day would come when I’d spend ten hours in front of the computer, with only small breaks every now and then. Well, I suppose I had to discover PC role playing games to finally understand my kid. Before that, I was so upset with him spending so much time inside the house, instead of going out and play with kids of his age. Now I know he was actually interacting with other kids, even if it was in World of Warcraft or in Age of Conan or in Quake, or in whatever other games he’s been a fan of for a while.

You may ask yourself what role playing game made me change my mind: it’s Indiana Jones and the Secret of Atlantis. I’m playing Indiana Jones and I have to recreate his adventures in choosing the best way of interacting with the other characters on the game. If I make the wrong choices, I may never be able to solve the puzzles that would allow me to discover Atlantis. The funniest puzzle so far was the one in which I, Indiana Jones, was driving the submarine and I had to enter a secret cave on the ocean bottom. The entrance was there, but there was no way I could get inside. Each trial ended with a message from the computer that “the entrance will reveal itself only to reverse minds”. And guess what? I had to move the submarine backwards in order to enter. When I did so, I was suddenly inside.

Now, I still have to find a way to open a very old gate in that cave, that’s why this post of mine is going to be short: I need to see what’s next in the story!

What’s your favorite role playing PC game?

Posted: November 2nd, 2009 under Hobbies.
Comments: none

I’ve got this friend of mine who got caught by the police while drunk driving. This is called DUI in the police jargon and it’s very serious, as it has implications in more areas than I would have ever imagined.

For instance, the fine is very high and it also comes with your driving license suspension ans with a court trial that may land you in jail. This is why you need to spend additional money for hiring a good lawyer to defend your case in court. Moreover, the auto insurance rates after DUI are considerably bigger than before. This happens because the insurer will consider you as a high risk driver, therefore you’ll have to pay more for exactly the same coverage conditions as you used to have.

When hearing my friend what he’s been through with the financial trouble, the trials and all related stuff, I’m happy that I don’t have the bad habit of drinking and driving.

Posted: August 30th, 2009 under Insurance.
Comments: none

Sorry guys, for not being able to update this blog for such a long time. I’ve been very busy lately, as I have to work really hard in order to keep my job. However, I found time for a new hobby: I’ve started playing golf. I like it very much, despite the fact that I miss a lot of hits. But you know what? That’s what golf training aids are for: helping you practice without having to pay a lot of money on golf vacations or on club memberships.

For this purpose, I’ve bought a cheap but durable golf hitting net and a big bunch of balls, and I’m now practicing my shots every day. That’s really entertaining and many times I find myself waking up in the middle of the night and being sorry for not having enough light to practice some more of this game. I won’t tell you what my wife thinks about my golf passion, but I hope that one day she’ll realize how much fun we could have together if she starts playing it too.

If only she understood why I do now need to spend a week’s salary on clubs and training guides

Posted: May 7th, 2009 under Hobbies.
Comments: none

Despite this crisis affecting pretty much everybody, I’ve just bought myself a car. It’s a used one, as I don’t see why to pay so much money only to get some car that smells awfully for about 6 months, when I can get it at half price and with no smells inside. Now that I’ve got it, I’m thinking to get some personal auto insurance. Somebody told me that New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance has great offers for auto insurance, so I believe I’m going to ask them for a quotation. Nevertheless, before doing that, I’ll check the internet to see some auto insurance quotes online, as conditions are different from state to state, and I want to make sure I have as many events covered as possible for my money. After that, I’ll meet some of the insurance agents in person, because you never know what deals they have for really interested potential customers. I’ll let you know how I closed the deal.

Posted: January 19th, 2009 under Insurance.
Comments: none

Believe it or not, I’m a big fan of Sudoku, the Japanese numbers game which his also known under a few names such as sodoku, soduko, or sudoka. It took me almost six months to learn how to play Sudoku, but I finally managed to decipher its mysteries. The game consists of placing figures from 1 to 9 on a 9×9 squares board, in such a way that each figure is placed only once on each horizontal, vertical and smaller 3×3 square. Some figures are already given when you start the puzzle. Depending on these figures, there are more levels of difficulty for the Sudoku boards. If you are interested, I can teach you how to play Sudoku and solve even very hard puzzles.

Posted: October 3rd, 2008 under Hobbies.
Comments: none

This is my first post and the first blog I’m making, so I think I’m going to tell you a bit about myself. I’m Ike, and I’m a heavy equipment operator. This is no big deal, although you may be impressed with the size of these machines like forklifts and gantry cranes, or with the heavy works they are able to do in such a gentle way, if handled appropriately. Indeed, in the beginning, operating such monsters was scary, but after I did an apprenticeship stage, I felt like I was in full control, so I was able to go out there and look for a job. I’m doing this job since 10 years ago, and I think many American people drive their cars over a piece of my work. That’s because I was in the road builders operations for quite a long time. What do I do when I’m not moving heavy things from one place to another? Like you, I like to watch TV, I collect things, I play with my kids and I surely enjoy a good beer after work and a barbecue on Sundays.

Posted: October 3rd, 2008 under Hobbies, Life, Work.
Comments: none