Garretts' World

7/28/2008 - I'm Listening to...

2008-07-28T17:33:49Z

I've been listening to a lot of music on Pandora recently and came across a band I'd not heard before:

Hinder - Extreme Behavior.

I especially like the track "Get Stoned."

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Citizenship Test on MSNBC

2008-07-02T13:44:00Z

Since my application is in the USCIS system; and I'm less likely to receive my interview notice before October 2008, I decided to keep this link for cramming later

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25461301/

Update: Here's a useful video:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/multimedia/A Promise of Freedom.wmv

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5/13/2008 - A long day

2008-05-14T03:37:00Z

Ugh - we recently upgraded to Windows Live Meeting 2007 at the office from Go-to Meeting. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of MS products, but in this case the transition from a solid, reliable 3rd party product to Microsoft's equivalent gave me a lot of problems. For some bizarre reason LM2007 just would not connect to the Office Communication Server. I tried all the usual diagnosis steps, and after spending 2-3 hours decided that a reinstall of my Windows profile was quicker than more fiddling.... a couple more hours later, after reinstalling my Office Groove 2007 profile, Outlook GTD settings, and One Note notebooks, I was back online and able to continue working.

The evening has turned out much better - my in-laws are in town, which means guaranteed drinking of what ever bottle of red is open. The kids were in high spirits because Nana and Nonno are here to visit, and gave no indication of annoyance that Dad wasn't reading them their bed time story tonight.

Tomorrow is half day off from work as Simon graduates from pre-school (I think "graduate" is bit of a strong term for completing pre-school, but hey, Simon's happy and his family are just as proud of his achievement). So, tomorrow AM we trek up to Simon's school for a quick service and party snacks.

Well... if this post makes it to my blog then I'll know that Windows Live Writer is configured correctly and working

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Leadership Steps

2008-04-24T02:54:00Z

A good friend of mine and I were chatting about leadership qualities desired in project managers within the Software/IT industry. He quoted me these following 11 steps, taken from his time in the military. I thought I'd share them, and leave a reference for myself for the next time I catch myself answering the question "what makes a good leader?"

The 11 Principles of Leadership

1. Know yourself and seek self-improvement.
2. Be technically and tactically proficient.
3. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions.
4. Make sound and timely decisions.
5. Set the example.
6. Know your soldiers and look out for their well being.
7. Keep your subordinates informed.
8. Develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinates.
9. Ensure the task is understood, supervised and accomplished.
10. Build the team.
11. Employ your unit in accordance with its capabilities.

BTW, leadership is not just limited to management, everyone in an organization, from the CEO down to the janitor has the potential to be a leader - if you have no "soldiers" in your command then apply rules above to yourself.

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2/26/2008 - A Great Vacation

2008-02-26T19:54:48Z

I have some time in Tampa Bay (Florida) airport whilst waiting my delayed flight and thought it a great time to post a journal entry (since I've neglected Garretts' World).

Lisa and the kids like to go to Englewood Florida with my in-laws every year to spend time on the beach, this year I got to participate for 10 days. After spending the last few weeks of January and beginning of February in the cold winter of Maryland it was nice to enjoy just over a week in 80 degree F weather. As I sit writing this in the airport I'm still in short-sleeves (resisted wearing shorts home) and not yet ready to go back to wearing winter clothing again.

The place we stayed is 25 ft from the Gulf of Mexico and we experienced sunsets daily, see the image of one such sunset I took when I arrived.

People are not the only inhabitants of the beach - the wildlife there is rather tame, pelicans and all sorts of other native birds of Florida are quite happy to visit within a few feet if bread or crackers are on the menu. Fish in the Gulf is plentiful and my father-in-law cooked fresh fish almost every night.

We spent most of the time relaxing on the beach with a good book or two, although Lisa, Simon and I (Bella is a little young still) did steal some time to go Geocaching and we found a number of caches.

Looks like my plane is boarding, so until the next journal entry (whenever that'll be)... Godspeed.

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2/26/2008 - I'm Listening to...

2008-02-26T19:26:00Z

Buckcherry - 15

I'm currently stuck in Tampa FL waiting for a plan to DC and listening to Buckcherry. I especially like the song "Sorry", see lyrics below...

Oh I had alot to say
Was thinking on my time away
I missed you and things weren't the same
'Cause everything inside it never comes out right
And when I see you cry it makes me wanna die.

I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry you're blue
I'm sorry about all the things I said to you
And I know I can't take it back
I love how you kiss, I love all your sounds
And baby the way you make my world go 'round
And I just wanted to say I'm sorry.

This time I think I'm to blame
It's harder to get through the days
We get older and blame turns to shame
'Cause everything inside it never comes out right
And when I see you cry it makes me wanna die.

Every single day I think about how we came all this way
The sleepless nights and the tears you cried
It's never too late to make it right
Oh yeah sorry

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Man Made Card

2007-10-03T13:59:00Z

My wife is into card making (and does a pretty good job of it). Today she sent me this video - man made card, which, as the title suggests, is an example of card making for men. I fell off my chair laughing at this video - I won't spoil it, see for yourself.

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Make Money on the Internet

2007-09-17T15:16:00Z

A new site, called DealDotCom, launches tomorrow, which claims that it'll make members money through commission on product sales. The system is tier based, so the quicker you sign up the the more percentage of the profits you make.

It's worth a look - Click Here

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9/2/2007 - Another day and a haircut

2007-09-02T19:21:19Z

My bushy head of hair finally got the better of me this morning (kept meaning to get it cut), so I headed into Flemington to get it cut. I found a coupon on my sister-in-law's paper for a cut and 10 minute back massage for $15 at the "Male Room". This place was awesome - strictly men only (no funny business), this place gives out free coffee, and pampers your every need. I went in for just the cut and massage, but on the menu is everything from full massage, manicure, pedicure and facials (do men really go in for these things?), as well as a pool table and beer while you wait. I'm not one for nail and facial treatment, but can always go a massage to pull the knots out of my back, and tend to my shaggy hair - when I came out I felt like a new man (honestly), and all for $15. Of course without the coupon it'd probably have cost a lot more

Male Room
35 Stangl Rd
Flemington, NJ 08822
(908) 788-9988

Meanwhile the kids hung out with a neighborhood kid, who has one of these real expensive battery powered jeeps. Simon just thought this was great, as he ripped up the turf out the back of his Aunt's house. Bella was a little put out that she couldn't drive (little too small) and started off walking for Maryland in disgust. Things turned around for her when Nana pulled out the pool in the back yard.

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9/1/2007 - Frenchtown, NJ

2007-09-01T20:37:41Z

It's September already - and yes, this is another blog on Garrett's World, hard to believe, but a friend wanted to know why I wasn't keeping up with my journal and only focused on the techie stuff.

I am writing this from the comfort of my sister-in-laws place, where the kids and are currently visiting to give Lisa a break on the long Labor Day weekend.

I recently installed new software on my PDA phone (WM6), which comes with built-in modem software, so now with my laptop I can blog from almost anywhere there's cell signal.

Today we all headed into Frenchtown center for a festival day, which was entertaining for a few hours. After we'd had our fill of artsy stuff, we headed over to the local play park so Simon and Bella could go play - guess what? They had a sand pit, which Bella thought just awesome. Dad had to clean both kids before they got in his nice clean car to go home.

It's only Saturday, and we're here until Monday, so who knows you may get another post out of me this weekend

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8/6/2007 - I'm Listening to....

2007-08-06T14:21:00Z

Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight. I especially like the track "What I've Done."

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Starbucks Frappuccino Recipe

2007-07-28T18:17:00Z

To lazy to run out to Starbucks? Got some stale coffee from the morning cold in the pot? Here's how to make a Starbucks style Frappuccino:

3/4 cup double-strength coffee, cold
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup low-fat milk
2 cups ice

Make double-strength coffee by brewing with twice the coffee required by your coffee maker: That should be 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per each cup of coffee. Chill before using.
To make drink, combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until ice is crushed and drink is smooth. Pour into two 16-ounce glasses, and serve with a straw.

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Man Shot by Police

2007-05-08T15:25:57Z

Local shooting...

http://www.nbc4.com/news/13275007/detail.html?taf=dc

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5/3/2007 - I'm Listening to...

2007-05-03T20:22:00Z

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Monday 4/30

2007-05-01T02:58:16Z

Crikey it's the start of May tomorrow, and the weather has finally warmed up (only a few weeks ago we had snow - no kidding), I can now head to the office sans coat and not have to worry that I might freeze to death on the way.

The new job is going well.. working for a private company is much more demanding than the laid back government job I just left - I miss that a little - but the pay off is much higher, in that I mean that I am working on 2 projects that have a deadline within the next couple of months, so there is no time to hang about, which makes for a fast paced productive work ethic. My boss is great and the rest of the team are awesome to work with, and so far the small company dynamic has turned out to work well.

This last weekend was packed full. I had promised Lisa that I'd mulch the garden with her, so last Saturday we all went out with shovels in hand and worked on a couple of the beds that looked worst for wear. Lisa pulled weeds and I dumped mulch (under strict supervision because plants and weeds all look the same to me). Simon helped with the mulch and collecting of pulled weeds from the ground and Bella.... well Bella, bless her heart, picked daises and played with rocks. When the neighbors kid came over to visit, Bella was overjoyed because her name is Lola, the same as her favorite TV show "Charlie and Lola."

I was very proud of Simon on Sunday - this was Simon's first swim lesson at the local pool. Simon is a little afraid of change, so Lisa and I had prepped him all week about him going swimming, and so on Sunday morning he didn't freak out when he saw the swimming pool. We arrived a little earlier, and I was hoping to take him into the water before lesson, but I was told that would not be possible since no life guard was on duty at that time - understandable. So Simon and I watched from the spectators gallery until it was time for the lesson to start.

Having never been to a kids swim lesson as a parent, and it having been so many years since I learned to swim at school, I was not sure what to expect. As it happens I was pleasantly surprised. The instructor was very nice, informative, and sensitive to apprehensive children. None of the kids had to do any of the exercises if they were scared, but were encouraged to have fun. To start with we all sat at the edge of the water and splashed our feet, that was followed by wetting our hair with plastic watering cans, and blowing of bubbles in the water with our faces. Simon wasn't too keen on putting his face in the water, but hey, my first lesson was spent sitting on the side of the pool , at least the lad was in the pool. The last exercise was quite clever, the instructor (Dorothy) gave out weighted colored hoops, which sank to the bottom of the pool, the object was to pick the hoop up with your hands by reaching down into the water. Simon, immediately figured out that he could hook the ring using his foot, but with a little persuasion from Dad was able to reach down and grab the hoop a number of times with his hand. All in all - a great first lesson.

After swimming, Simon and I met Lisa and Bella at an arbor day festival, which was entertaining for a few hours. Lisa could have stayed all day, but I had my fill of trees and horticulture after a couple of hours. Simon, Bella, and I all agreed that the free popcorn and tractor hay ride was much better than looking at trees.

I topped off Sunday afternoon by mowing the grass around the house, which pleased Simon no end, because he knows he always gets to ride the tractor when I am done. I do not think I have ever seen him smile quite as big as when he is driving my mower around the property - a few more years and maybe he'll be able to mow for me

Current Mood: calm

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