After searching on Angie’s List to find a contractor that does pavers in my area, I came across BrickPaversFlorida.com.  They came out, gave me an estimate, set up an appointment, and knocked out the entire thing within 14 hours.  I mean in the 1st day, they ripped out the old deck and the laid about three quarters of the patio.  The 2nd day had them only finishing up the laying of the brick and putting down the sand.  They were done with the whole thing by 11:30 in the morning.  I was shocked how fast it took.

Thanks to my good friend Nicole Facciuto, I found a stone and a color that ended up turning out fantastic.  The stone is called New Miami and the color is called Marble Slate.  It reminds me of an old Italian courtyard.

I now have a beautiful, safe place to entertain family and friends.  Now if the Florida weather would just get cold enough so I could light the fire pit, that would be great.

When I was most recently the Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas, I met someone at my booth who told me that they use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to do all of their blog post. This really got me thinking. I thought to myself well if I could just sit around and dictate what I want to say I could save myself a ton of time and action for a lot of content onto my blog. I mean, I love to talk so it’s really not a problem for me to just sit here and talk to my Mac.

Of course, I was a little skeptical. I didn’t think it would really work the way was advertised. I figured, there would definitely be mistakes and I would spend more time correcting those mistakes than I would have if I actually just wrote the post using my keyboard. Much to my surprise, the software actually works remarkably well! I’m actually sitting here in front of my Mac using a headset with a microphone and dictating this blog post.

Now, it took me a little while to get it set up. I mean, I had to train it to listen to my voice and understand the way I spoke. I’m sure if I gave it even more training it would be even more accurate. Bottom line is, this is probably going to cut in half the amount of time it takes me to make a blog posting than it did in the past. This means, and I should start putting a lot more content on my blog then I did in the past.

I will say this, it’s definitely not cheap. I hopped onto Amazon actually paid $199 for it. Is it worth it? I think if I actually use it and actually start putting much more stuff on my blog and maybe making a little more advertising revenue because of all the new content, then yes it was. What I recommended to others? I think I would. I think that this can be a really useful tool for someone who finds himself writing a lot.

I’ve also decided to stop making excuses for not doing things I should be doing. Eating better, drinking less, and exercising more. Basically, there are things in my life that could be better and I’m the only one who can make them so.

This post is my first one back. I also woke up this morning and ran a mile. Day one is easiest, I know. There’s motivation and determination on day one. The test comes on day ten, day 40 and day 200. When it’s raining. And you’re tired.

But I’m recommitted… I think.

Now, understand this: I’m writing this post from my iPad while connected wirelessly to the Internet. Why, oh why, can’t I just have an electronic file of these documents (on a USB key? Downloadable from my Dropbox folder?) that I just hand to the nurse? The last 15 minutes worth of me filling out documents could have been completed in less than ten seconds.

The worst part is, the documents that I filled out are just photocopies or print-outs of the exact same documents from other offices. Some even show the remnants of White Out marks where a previous doctor’s name was removed and a new one added.

The question becomes: what’s the hang-up? Is it a format issue? Is it a price issue? I would have to imagine that keeping electronic records must be infinitely cheaper than paper ones. Hell, you could store of of them in the cloud, that way they can be accessible from anywhere.

I know Google is working on this and I hope they can make some headway. I’m tired of doing the exact same thing my parents, and even grandparents did. Ask me and this is one of the biggest drivers of outrageous medical costs and it needs to be fixed now!

In one motion, you press the shutter button halfway down and hold, which causes the camera to engage the autofocus. Once the camera has autofocused on the subject, usually indicated by a beep, you continue to press the button all the way down to take the picture.

While that seems simple and, to people who actually know how to use their digital cameras, foolproof, it’s amazing how many people screw this up. It seems that the majority of individuals that you hand your camera to and ask to take a picture of you with your friends/parents/girl or boyfriend/etc just point the camera and mash the button down. This cause the shutter to fire before the camera focuses, resulting in a blurry picture.

Interestingly enough, these are also the people who give you a look when you review the picture they just took in an attempt to check their work. Then you have to make the decision to ask them to take another picture or just say “thanks” and move on.

So please, for the sake of everyone on a vacation with their loved ones who would like to have everyone in the picture, halfway down to autofocus then all the way down to fire. One motion, no double tapping!

Rant over.

However, your username can also work against you. Include a little too much information and there’s a good chance that you’ll have a real hard time getting dates  I’ve posted a list of some usernames below that I believe will, um, hinder you from successfully finding a mate online (but what do I know, I’m still single).

Usernames guaranteed to keep you from meeting someone on internet dating sites (part 1):

For the guys

BigKnockerLuvr

DoinUrMom

14InchesofPain (that one might work, there’s some weird people out there)

ToeJam

Anything with 696969 following it

UMustBTite

NextStopBald

Last1sDead

ImBrokeRU

LivinWithMom

TaxCheat

ImOnParole

WhatJob

For the girls

BigSweetEater

NitPicker

TheNagger

PtheBed

TheAmazon

NeedaHorse

4thTimesACharm

ExactlyLikeMyMother

SocialLifeKiller

TheyllHateMe

NoUrWrong

OnceADude

PleasePleasePleaseDateMe

Caught dead using the wrong font

As some of my friend’s who will remain nameless (Jenn Mehlman) will tell you, I’m a bit of a font nerd. I believe that a font can make or break a design. A font conveys meaning and idea. It is one of the, if not the most, important things in a creative. I also watch documentaries about them.

That being said, I found this YouTube video that parodies Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”. It’s called “Neutra Face” which, if you’re unfamiliar, is a font.

Geeky? Yes. But funny too.

While I received an outpouring of birthday wishes today, there were a few notable absenses. Unfortunately, it was this time last year that I was at a completely different place in my life and I thought it was going in a completely different direction.  Yet, here I am, a year later, back in the same place I was before.  Starting from scratch.  Back on the hunt. While I truly believe that this is a better place to be, my mind can’t help but to reflect to a year ago.

I need sleep.

As my best friend loving pointed out, forty is rapidly approaching.  I think that 36 is an age when forty joins the conversation.  It’s not the featured guest, but it certainly has a seat at the table.  Forty. Where will I be then?  What will my life be like?  My head hurts to think about it.

What happened to thirty?

I don’t feel different.  Maybe a little bit more experienced.  Not apt to repeat some of the mistakes I’ve made in the past, yet poised to make new ones.  I don’t think that ever ends. Will I ever learn?  Not likely.

The family is celebrating on Wednesday.

My father’s birthday is three days from now.  We’re doing a dual-celebration dinner on Wednesday.  It will be nice to see everyone.  I wonder how reflective I’ll be then.  Maybe I’ll be more focused on my father’s remaining years than on my own.

Hopefully, I’ll be better rested.

Now, that’s a perfectly plausible story. Kids jump off things.  Hell, some even launch themselves in balloons, sort of. I truly hope that this kid is OK and he didn’t damage his noodle too badly… that is, if it really happened.

And that’s the problem with a last minute cancellation of a first date, it’s never believed.  No matter what the situation, no matter how dire, if you call to cancel a first date within 2 hours of the date beginning, you’re a liar. Sad, but true.

So, that being said, I find myself at home which, as a Dodger fan, is a good deal.  I’ve got a cold beer, a big TV, the Dodgers and the Phillies, and I don’t have to make small talk with a fibber.

This video.

So you know, I bought the mount so that I could use my GPS app.  It occurred to me yesterday that I could also mount the iPhone backwards and film myself while driving.

Yes, I do have too much time on my hands.