Life, etc.

Oh, Never Mind

Ok, I've decided I don't like the Facebook blog ap. So, I'm back.

Holiday Wishes

To All My Democrat Family & Friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.  I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee

To My Republican Family & Friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

(hat tip: Ben W)

I'm Still Here!

I just realized it's been well over a month since I've posted. I'm still around, life has just been kicking me in the teeth. Lots of travel for work and I've become somewhat of a professional blogger. I am now writing for two blogs for industry publications as well as one for my own company that we officially launched. (I try to keep some anonymity here, so if you're actually interested in links to those other finance-related blogs, email me).

So, a very belated Happy Thanksgiving (I was in Florida)!

Woot-Hoo!

Someone at the office turned me on to a super-cool site today: www.woot.com. Evidently, they buy stuff in serious bulk and then sell it at a deep discount. They have one special (and, hence, sell one product) per day. Today, I bought a 23" LCD HDTV for $300! Pretty cool.

A Funeral for a Friend

Yesterday, I went to the funeral for Steve. It was a really good send off for him. The church was absolutely packed and the procession to the cemetary had about 100 or so cars. The town police chipped in to provide an escort. On my way to burial I thought that Steve would be looking down thinking, "Man, that's cool!" Evidently, the wake was equally well attendend. I couldn't go because I was on a flight back from San Fran. But a friend of mine did and she said the line into the funeral home snaked around the corner and it took them an hour to get in. I think every postal worker in Westchester showed up.

Good send off for a good guy.

Steve Spina, RIP

As I was packing to fly out west today, I got a call from an old friend who I hadn't heard from in a while. She was letting me know that a mutual frined of ours from our high-school and college years was murdered. Here's the story, which has been all over local news.

This one really was hard to take. Steve and I knew each other in high-school (technically, I went to school with his brother), but he and I met when I worked at the local Haagen Dazs. He worked there as well and was a weekend manager. He and I got to be pretty good friends although we were two entirely different people from entirely different backgrounds.

While I was still in high-school, he and I would often go to some dance clubs in New Rochelle (which, if you at all know me, is pretty funny in and of itself). In those days, let's just say New Rochelle bars were pretty lax in their ID checking.

I ultimately went off to college and Steve didn't. He held a few menial jobs as he bounced around community college for a bit (not sure if he graduated). When I'd come back for the summer or during vacation, we'd often go to one of the local fire houses where he was a volunteer fireman. We'd shoot pool, drink beer, and talk about girls. No high faluten political discussions, just good guy talk. It was fun. For a few years, we fell into a little tradition of going to the firehouse after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, throw back a few beers and catch up on things.

We drifted apart a couple of years after I graduated from college - mostly because our lives were on two very different trajectories. He had ultimately become a post man, which I recall was a great move for him. It grounded him and he really seemed to enjoy it. I kicked around Mamaroneck for a year or so after college (my first job was in Portchester); but I then moved to Hoboken and we lost touch. Every now then we'd run into each other when I was in town visiting my parents, but then they moved to the City and I wasn't really around.

It's funny, a couple of weeks ago, I was in Mamaroneck (my parents keep their boat there) and I drove past the old fire house we hung out at. It had been torn down recently, and as I drove by I said to myself, "Huh. I wonder how Steve's doing." 

As different as we were, it really didn't matter. He truly was a nice guy. If you read the news story I linked to above (or any of the multitude on the topic), you hear people say that. Don't they always in these types of stories? It really was true, however. He was always willing to help out when needed. I remember one time in high school we had a contractor finishing our attic and Steve stopped by and ended up helping the guy bring sheet rock up three flights of stairs - for no reason. He was able to connect to different types of people - he simply didn't seem to care about social standing.

I wish I had kept in touch with him. Steve, you will be missed. RIP. 

Gotta get one of these

This just strikes me as cool:

http://www.usbcell.com/products

You Know You're Getting Old When...

...Your neighbor goes out of town and asks you to keep an eye out on their college-age son so that he doesn't have parties.

Yes, that happened to us today. I remember being that college-age son looking to have a few (several) beers  with a couple (several) friends at my parents house while they were away.  Sigh. When I go down to the Jolly Trolley and ask for a prune juice, will someone please put a bullet in my head?

Highs & Lows

I'm out on the west coast for the week visiting clients and attending a one-day conference for consulting firms and once again Life interrupts life. In the midst of client meetings that are very energetic and positive, I get news that my uncle has pancreatic cancer. I'm not particularly close with my uncle, but I am with my aunt and my grandmother who lives with them. This also comes on top of the news that my dad (with whom I work) has prostate cancer (this news came about several weeks ago, though I haven't posted about it). These are two opposite ends of the cancer spectrum: if you have to get cancer, the prostate variety is one of the most curable. Pancreatic cancer, on the other hand, is a veritable death sentence.

Right now, I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, other than that it seems to me that life can really display a cruel sense of irony. At one moment you can be going along fat, dumb and happy, and then BAM! it kicks you in the teeth. If I really thought about this, I might recognize a pattern: my mom died by a car accident when I was 9 (when 9 is supposed to be a care-free time in one's life); several years later my dad and I are building a thriving business and my daughter is about to be born and he has a heart attack; a few years after that he is diagnosed with prostate cancer. Now, in the midst of otherwise good times, my uncle is handed a pink slip from life. Weird. I don't mean to be a downer, and generally, I am an optimist. But events like this remind me that the checks and balances of life often appear when you least expect them. The way I synthesize all this is that it is important to live life as fully as you can but to maintain a balance - after all you never know how long you may have to set things right.

Overheard at Bedtime

On the way upstairs to put my son to bed:

Son: Daddy, are you practicing for a race?

Me: Yes.

Son: You want to win, right?

Me: At this point, I just want to finish.

That about sums up my half-marathon training!