Hello, How Are You??

I'm not sure how long this one has been out there, but I just found out about it today. Oddcast.Com has a text to speech simulation. Type any word you want and the women will say it back to you in any language you choose.

She will even say typical words you hear on the golf course!!

A Weekend In Vermont

The three of us took a trip up to Manchester, Vt for the weekend just to get away. Chris and I always love to go up there in the winter, and we figured now was as good as ever to get away.

Normally we always stay at the Marble West Inn in Dorset, VT. But since we had Charlotte this year, we figured we go to a more family oriented place...The North Shire Motel.

After checking in Friday afternoon, it was off to our favorite restaurant, The Ye Olde Tavern. Frequent readers to the blog may remember that this restaurant was the last restaurant the Chris and I went to before Charlotte was born. Well nothing change with the restaurant. The food was great, the staff was great and Charlotte enjoyed talking to the staff.

On Saturday, it was off to breakfast and then a nice leisurely ride to Stratton Mountain so Charlotte could get her nap in. After the ride, it was back to Manchester some shopping at the outlets and back to the motel so Chris and I could take a nap...yeah right!!

Later after the snooze, we tried dinner at Mulligans. Good food, Good Atmosphere and a good place for kids. Try it sometime if you are ever in town.

On Sunday, it was back home with a quick stop at Jensen's and Camelot Village.

Another fun trip to Vermont!!

Use the Force...But Not All The Time

Rooney beat me to the punch on this one, but it's worth bringing it up. I was on the floor when I saw this Friday Night up in Manchester, VT. I wish I could say things as good as the Daily Show. A classic.



Here are two more from Jon Stewart's take on Dubya's State of The Union address.

Delray Beach Is Giving Me The Willys

A women going through the belongings of her deceased parents in a Southeast Florida storage unit found a mummified body of a baby wrapped in 1950's newspaper.

The story gives me the willys, but I'm intreagued enough to read more about it. I guess I'm sick!! Actually, my mother sent me this story with the subject "This is a Story For CSI". Here is a update.

I Feel Like Pavlov's Dog

I now know what Ivan Pavlov's Dog felt like when the Russian doctor did some classical conditional experiments on him. In today's issue of the TU, it was announced that Fuddruckers will be opening its first restaurant in this area on Wolf Road in Colonie.

Chris and I are big fans of this restaurant. Every time we go to Myrtle Beach we make a point to go to the Fuddruckers. Although it is considered fast food, it is great for a family with kids and their burgers are much much better then McDonalds or Wendy's. More in line with Red Robbin in Latham.

The restaurant is scheduled to open in April. I'm salivating just thinking about it...mmmm...Hamburgers!!!

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Did your mom ever say those words when you were a little kid? I'm sure my Mom did once or twice. Probably when I swore in front of her and then try to say to her "Well you said it, so why can't I". Well, a parent can say this to their kids, because they are the parent. Parents don't have to give reasons, because they are the parents. And all that is fine.

But last night Dubya basically told the congress and a majority of Americans just this. No, he did not say it word for word, but when he talked about his new plan for Iraq, he did say "I ask You To Give It A Chance To Work".

So how is this related to the saying "Do As I Say, Not As I Do"? Well, four short years ago, when Dubya was demanding that this country invade Iraq, critics (like myself) asked him to give inspectors a chance to do their work in Iraq. We asked Dubya to give diplomacy a chance and let inspectors find the Weapons of Mass Destruction that his administration claimed Iraq had. If the inspectors didn't find them, then there was no need to go to war.

Obviously he didn't listen to us. He didn't give our plan a chance. Now, $361,000,000,000, 3,404 US Casualties, 22,728 U.S. Wounded and 0 WOMD later, he wants us to give his plan a chance!!! He wants us to trust him!!

He can do the "Do As I Say, Not As I Do" with his kids, but not with the American public and his plan is the same "Stay The Course" plan, just a different cover.

Get out now...It's our only choice.

Happy Birthday Dad - Monthly Family Dinner

This past Sunday was our monthly family dinner and Dad's birthday at Sue and Larry's house in Clifton Park. The food and cake were great as usual and thanks to my absent mindedness, Dad got the same book from us and the Sgambelluri's

-

Happy Birthday Dad! Next year is a BIG one. Here are some more pics of Dad's special day and from the last few weeks.

G-Mom & Charlotte

Happy Birthday Papa

Silly Charlotte

Charlotte practicing the Giraffe walk

Dumbo is in here somewhere
Here he is!!

Time To Buy Some Guns

According to the Times Union, 6,000 people along with 185 vendors showed up at the Empire State Plaza for the New York State Arms Collectors Association show to buy some killing machines.

Look how easy it is to get your hands on a machine who sole purpose is to kill something. Yet, if we see a boob on TV or say something sexual, it's immoral and we need to ban it.

Amazing!!

Gas Prices Are Too High...And We Don't Care

It was just a few months ago when a price of crude was $77 per barrel and people were going nuts. County's were making political moves like dropping the gas tax after $2.00 so people would feel good about saving money. Big oil, wholesalers and gas station owners and their record breaking billion dollar profits were saying that they have no control over the price of gas...If the price of crude goes up, the pump price goes up immediately to cover cost of the increase..

Now we jump forward to today when MSNBC is reporting that price of crude is at $51 a barrel. The last time a barrel of crude was at $51, gas was around $2.00 a gallon...yet according to AlbanyGasPrices.Com the lowest price per gallon is $2.24. Amazingly nobody is bitching, the public, politicians, the press...nobody. But Why???

It's simple, Big oil knew this would happen...They knew if gas prices went up to $3.00, when it stabilized at $2.25, people would be use to paying high prices so they would keep it at $2.25. Big Oil would make tons of money if the price dropped at the same proportion as the price per barrel. But they don't because people now think gas is cheap at $2.25. Yes, it may go down below $2.25...it may even go below $2.00...but it won't go as low as it should. It won't because we need it and the oil industry knows we need it.

We all know why Hillary, Charles, McNulty, Elliot, Dubya...they are paid off by big oil and as long as people aren't bitching, they aren't going to do a thing.

And the oil industry will try to play poor...Oh, the retailers only make 13 cents a gallons...it's not the retailers fault. And the wholesalers blame the fact that refineries were taken off line...so it's not their fault...And finally big oil says it's the market that is making prices go up.


Lets face it...I've known a handful of people in my lifetime that were or are in the oil/gas industries and guess what...they are all living very comfortable....And that's fine!!! But don't sit there and cry poor!! This industry has been sticking it to us for over 50 years, and we just take it. The entire industry from Big Oil to the retailers all talk to each other and plan how they can make the most $$$ from us.

So what do we do?? Well we start by asking the hard questions and demanding answers. We need to hold Hillary, Charles, McNulty, Elliot, Dubya and the rest of the clowns, I mean politicians accountable...Remember, they work for us. We need to insist that instead of spending $359,000,000,000 on a useless war in Iraq, we should be devoting billions to alternative fuel R&D. We need to insist on campaign finance reform to make it illegal to take bribes from Big Oil. We need break up the monopoly in the oil industry...Stop the colusion.

Finally, we need to wake up...We need to start caring

The Police are Coming?

Rumors are flying that The Police may reunite and tour this summer. According Billboard.com rumor reports are legitimate but wouldn't be released until they are final.

The police is one of those bands that I wasn't really into until after they broke up when I became a big Sting fan. Chris and I saw Sting a few years ago with Annie Lennox up at SPAC. That was some concert. We can only hope that the Police rumors are true and the tour stops some place nearby.

I'm Rich, I'm Stupid and Yes, I Need My Weed

Although Atlanta Falcons star quarterback has everything a grown man needs, he still needs his weed. According to the Smoking Gun and All Headline News Michael Vick tried to carry a water bottle onto a plane. After the TSA told Vick that water bottles were not allowed, Michael made a big fuss. TSA officials wonder why he would care so much about water and kept the bottle for futher testing instead of following procedure and throwing it into a recycle bin. It was later revealed that the bottle had a secret compartment where pot residue was found....Now the feds are investigating.

Vick is a clear winner of this weeks Moron award. I don't have a problem that he smokes pot, but how stupid can you be to take your drug smuggling container onto a airline? They may bring him up on charges.

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.

Big Brother Is Watching

John de Rosier of the Times Union makes a great point in todays issue!!

Time To Buy A Shovel

I never understood why every year before the first big winter storm people go running out to buy shovel for the upcoming storm. Some stores even report that they are sold out. Everybody needs a shovel if they live in this area, so are all these people new to the Northeast and don't have a shovel from last year? If they aren't new to the area, then how come they are waiting until January to buy a new shovel? Did they lose their shovel? Are they just clueless?

And why is the top story right before a storm always about people going out and buying shovels and salt? I can understand that the actual weather should be the top story, but why the salt and shovel purchases. It happens every year so is it really news. I just don't get it.

The Great Pacifier

I turned on Dubya tonight and all I heard was: Ho Hum..... BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH....Things haven't gone right...Blah Blah Blah...I take responsibility....Blah Blah Blah...I have a new plan...Blah Blah Blah!!!

A new plan...so what you are saying is you had some sort of plan up until this point....WOW!!!

When is he going to admit that he lied to the American people about the reason for going to war in the first place?

Let's get this speech straight...Dubya is trying to give the American people a big giant pacifier. He's hoping they will calm down and he can continue to "stay the course".

Dubya expects me to believe him when for 4 years he has been saying his plan is working and demeaning the critics. And now all of a sudden the plan is not working and he has a new plan, THAT WILL WORK...Give me a break!!

Get out now...It's our only choice.

This just in...Condoleezza loves the Republican Propaganda Machine...Another name for fair and balanced FOX News.

In The Air Tonight

Last week, as I always do before any road trip to Ohio, I throw about 25 CDs into the van for the 8+ hour trip (one way). As I was going through my ever expanding CD collection, I pulled out an old favorite that I haven't listened to in at least 5 or six years....Phil Collins, Serious Hits Live.

Back in High school, I actually saw the tour that this CD was recorded from up at SPAC. Yes, a lot of the songs were just 80's cheese...but it was good cheese and it brought back some great memories. In the Air Tonight, particularly, still gets me. Yes it is a somber song, but it also gives you the idea of taking drum lessons....Kick Butt Song...One of Phil's best.

Here is the video.

Back In The U.S.S.R

I know I have talked about this numerous times before, but this issue deems another rant. According to MSNBC, "A statement attached to postal legislation by President Bush last month may have opened the way for the government to open mail without a warrant". Of course, Dubya is saying this is nothing new. The Snowman states “All this is saying is that there are provisions at law for — in exigent circumstances — for such inspections. It has been thus. This is not a change in law, this is not new.”

EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES!!!! Cummon...When are people going to get fed up with Dubya's crap? My next question is what does Dubya consider a exigent circumstance? My guess (and this is coming from 12 years of working for the state and listening to the FCC) is that they will never make a clear definition of "exigent circumstance" or their definition will be so broad that they can rip open your mail whenever they want.

It is absolutely gut wrenching how Dubya and his goons have convinced people that in order to be a "Patriot" of this great nation, you have to allow the government to take away your rights. Yep, the feds can now listen to your phone calls, read your e-mails, invade your privacy and read your mail... all without a warrant. Oh...and lets not forget that he tries to call people like me unamerican because I question his "Patriot Act".

Give Me a Break!!!

Surge and Accelerate

Well...the holidays are over, so now it's time to get back to discussing the most important issue this country is facing...Iraq. According to the January 2, 2007 edition of NBC Nightly News, Dubya is expected to announce a new "Surge and Accelerate" strategy that involves sending and additional 20,000 troops to Iraq, temporarily, to fight insurgent and stabilize the country.

According to NBC News, Jim Miklaszewski, "Most of the increase would be achieved by extending the deployments of those troops already in Iraq by 90 days and accelerating the deployments for troops scheduled to deploy by sending them into Iraq sooner"

So let me get this straight:

- According to Polingreport.com, 70% disapprove with the way Dubya is handling Iraq

BUT

- According to Polingreport.com, 32% feel we should stay in Iraq as long as needed to get the job done.

AT THE SAME TIME THAT

- We aren't giving a much needed break to our soldiers.

WHY????

- Because the 32% of the people that think we should stay are saying only that. Why aren't these 32%ers joining the reserves to fight this war that they feel is so important?

I don't get it!!!

Christmas 2006

Charlotte's first Christmas was exciting. Although she is 11 months old and dosen't understand the whole Christmas concept, it was fun watching her attemp to open presents for the first time and then play with her new toys.

Christmas morning we were up at 7:30ish, and after a quick bowl of oatmeal it was off to the living room to tackle the presents. After presents and a quick nap it was off to my parents for the day...Complete with fun, TWO meals and more presents.

We got home from my parents around 9:30pm, but it didn't end there. Since we were leaving early on the 26th for Ohio, we had to pack the car and get everything ready for the 8 hour trip.



Tuesday the 26th it was off to Ohio to visit Chris's family for the week. It rained the whole way out there, but we still made it in 8 hours...Not bad considering we now take a few more stops then we use too. It was also a good thing it was rain and not snow...I think we would never made the party at Amy's house if it had snowed.

Our week in Ohio was pretty low key...played with Charlotte, visited the family, watched some football and we even stayed in on New Years for the first time since I can remember.

On New Years it was back to balmy NY and reality...Although this weather dosen't seam like reality. They are predicting 60 degrees on Saturday...Anybody up for golf? Naaa, I'll just sit back and watch some DVDs. I just joined NetFlix.Com, so Talladega Nights should be on it's way.
Here are some more pictures from the week:

Charlotte having fun with Sean
I love my G-Mom
Katie loves Santa
I love Mommy
Charlotte having fun with Allison
Getting ready to watch Indy
Is that the Phantom?