Yesterday day we sent Baileigh to school with her lunch just as we do every day. Beth gave her some candy corn for her snack. She loves candy corn and can't wait for Halloween to eat them. We never let her eat more than a couple.
Last night she told us her teacher would not let her eat them. She goes the YMCA's Hazlet Children's Achievement Center and they have a "No Candy Policy". What the hell is that!! She is OUR child and we PAY for her to go there, so if we feel that she can have a few candy corn, that that is our business, not theirs. I think this whole health issue is going waaay too far. Now I hear a school in NY is banning home baked goods for kids Birthdays. I remember as a kid looking forward to birthdays because you knew you were having cake, cookies, brownies etc. And it is not like we send Baileigh to school everyday with candy, this was the first time.
I guess the drug problems and gang problems are no longer a problem and the education system is so top notch and needs no more fixing that we can now focus all of our attention to candy and baked goods. If you want to combat the obesity problem plaguing our children, why not start at the children's home.
Yeah, I may not be the healthiest guy around nor do I eat healthy but I make sure Baileigh does. That's the problem, for some reason these days, parents want society to raise their children instead of themselves. I am not sure when this started happening but it is getting out of control. 30 years ago if you got fat it was your parents fault, not your friend's mom for sending cookies to school. The best part of the whole health battle is that people were upset that fast food restaurants were not posting the nutritional value of their food. Helloooooo!!!! It's fast food people, it ain't supposed to be healthy. There is probably more nutrition in the wrapper of a Big Mac then the burger itself. Well, I guess next week it'll be something else.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Photo Project #2
I recently submitted my latest photo project for my course. Again I had to take 3 pictures each with a different technique. I also included the picture shooting info and the Evaluators comments.
I must admit that I almost didn't include the comments because I didn't want it to sound like I am bragging...because I am not. In fact it is quite the opposite. I wish I had looked at the first two pictures better then I might have had 3 perfect pictures. Oh well, I guess I'll have to try harder the next time.
Picture# 1- Rule of thirds- This is of course, Baileigh.
Picture info...
Shutter speed- 1/60 sec
Aperture- f32
ISO speed- 1600
Evaluators comments: The picture and composition are perfect, except that Baileigh is not in total focus. At first I did not see that but now I do. Hind sight is 20/20 as they say.
Picture#2- Framing - This is my friend Eddie at the farm we hunt.
Shutter speed- 1/125 sec
Aperture- f4.5
ISO speed- 100
Evaluators comments: Again, the picture is perfect except I didn't follow the rule of thirds. I did not realize I was supposed to on this picture and she agreed. The lesson was not clear enough.
Picture#3- Leading Lines- This is a picture I took on Rt 287 in North Jersey while Beth was driving.
Shutter Speed - 1/2000 sec
Aperture- f3.5
ISO Speed- 100
Evaluators comments: She said this picture is great and I could not have done any better. I guess because here I followed the rule of thirds AND used leading lines.
I must admit that I almost didn't include the comments because I didn't want it to sound like I am bragging...because I am not. In fact it is quite the opposite. I wish I had looked at the first two pictures better then I might have had 3 perfect pictures. Oh well, I guess I'll have to try harder the next time.
Picture# 1- Rule of thirds- This is of course, Baileigh.
Picture info...
Shutter speed- 1/60 sec
Aperture- f32
ISO speed- 1600
Evaluators comments: The picture and composition are perfect, except that Baileigh is not in total focus. At first I did not see that but now I do. Hind sight is 20/20 as they say.
Picture#2- Framing - This is my friend Eddie at the farm we hunt.
Shutter speed- 1/125 sec
Aperture- f4.5
ISO speed- 100
Evaluators comments: Again, the picture is perfect except I didn't follow the rule of thirds. I did not realize I was supposed to on this picture and she agreed. The lesson was not clear enough.
Picture#3- Leading Lines- This is a picture I took on Rt 287 in North Jersey while Beth was driving.
Shutter Speed - 1/2000 sec
Aperture- f3.5
ISO Speed- 100
Evaluators comments: She said this picture is great and I could not have done any better. I guess because here I followed the rule of thirds AND used leading lines.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
My little ballerina
Last night was the first ballet class for Baileigh. She was looking forward to this since we first told her about it last Spring. In fact, she wanted to get dressed in her tutu an hour and a half before we had to leave.
When we first got there she couldn't wait to get into the dance room but when we did, she got very shy. She became very clingy and didn't want me to leave. We can't stay in the room, we have to go to the waiting room in the front and watch the class on a monitor. So I told her I would wait by the door for as long as I could. Her teacher, Ms. Meagan, came over and brought her over to the group. She reluctantly sat on the floor with the other girls. I slowly made my way out of the room and down the hall to the waiting room to watch on the monitor.
At first she didn't even realize I was gone but when she did it seemed as if she didn't even care because she was having so much fun. I may be a little biased here but she did awesome!! In fact, most of the girls already took a ballet class with Ms. Meagan and Baileigh did just as good as all of them and this was her first time out.
We are not allowed to take pictures at the studio so these picture are at my mother-in-laws house right before we left.
When we first got there she couldn't wait to get into the dance room but when we did, she got very shy. She became very clingy and didn't want me to leave. We can't stay in the room, we have to go to the waiting room in the front and watch the class on a monitor. So I told her I would wait by the door for as long as I could. Her teacher, Ms. Meagan, came over and brought her over to the group. She reluctantly sat on the floor with the other girls. I slowly made my way out of the room and down the hall to the waiting room to watch on the monitor.
At first she didn't even realize I was gone but when she did it seemed as if she didn't even care because she was having so much fun. I may be a little biased here but she did awesome!! In fact, most of the girls already took a ballet class with Ms. Meagan and Baileigh did just as good as all of them and this was her first time out.
We are not allowed to take pictures at the studio so these picture are at my mother-in-laws house right before we left.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
September 11th 8 years later
I can't believe that it has been 8 years since the 9-11 tragedy. I am going to make it a point to not only remember those who died trying to save lives such as the fireman, policeman and other rescue personnel, but to also remember those who died just going to work. Not to take anything away from the heroes of the horrible day but I think we all lose sight of the innocence that was lost on that day.
Being a fireman or policeman brings with it a risk every day. Each shift beginning brings the chance of it being the last day and to me that takes guts. But what about the insurance salesmen, real estate agents, janitors and other civilians that perished on that day. There were many heroes among them as well. I, as I am sure most of you, knew someone that died in one of the towers. She was not firemen nor a policemen, but a very peppy, outgoing woman who finally landed her dream job...selling real estate in downtown Manhattan.
So today, when you see flags flown half staff, see tributes or hear songs played on the radio in honor of that day, try to remember ALL the victims of 9-11, both civilians and those in uniforms. God Bless the victims, their families, friends and most of all, GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!
Being a fireman or policeman brings with it a risk every day. Each shift beginning brings the chance of it being the last day and to me that takes guts. But what about the insurance salesmen, real estate agents, janitors and other civilians that perished on that day. There were many heroes among them as well. I, as I am sure most of you, knew someone that died in one of the towers. She was not firemen nor a policemen, but a very peppy, outgoing woman who finally landed her dream job...selling real estate in downtown Manhattan.
So today, when you see flags flown half staff, see tributes or hear songs played on the radio in honor of that day, try to remember ALL the victims of 9-11, both civilians and those in uniforms. God Bless the victims, their families, friends and most of all, GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Breaker breaker, got your ears on......
I have been feeling a little nostalgic lately and returning to my redneck ways. I recently bought a CB radio and installed it in my truck. I used to always have one in my trucks back in the 90's and early 2000's. My last one died and I have never replaced it until now. I got a Uniden PC78LTW Bearcat Pro Series CB with 7 weather channels.
My friend drives a truck and told me people still use them. It's mostly truckers but there are still some four wheelers (cars) that use them. I guess here in the north east it is not that popular but in the south and mid-west it still is. I could not find a CB shop anywhere. And the only place I know that sold CB accessories is Radio Shack but they don't sell anything in the stores anymore. It is all on-line ordering.
CBs come in handy when there is traffic because not all traffic gets reported on the radio. Here are a couple of pictures of my radio and antenna set up. When you enlarge the picture of the truck you will see twin black antennas mounted on the tool box in the bed.
My friend drives a truck and told me people still use them. It's mostly truckers but there are still some four wheelers (cars) that use them. I guess here in the north east it is not that popular but in the south and mid-west it still is. I could not find a CB shop anywhere. And the only place I know that sold CB accessories is Radio Shack but they don't sell anything in the stores anymore. It is all on-line ordering.
CBs come in handy when there is traffic because not all traffic gets reported on the radio. Here are a couple of pictures of my radio and antenna set up. When you enlarge the picture of the truck you will see twin black antennas mounted on the tool box in the bed.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Giants game
After Baileigh had so much fun at the Lakewood BlueClaws game, we decided to take her to a Giants game. Beth got 3 tickets from someone she works with and since it was only a pre-season game, we took Baileigh. Had it been a regular season game we would not have taken her because we knew we would be leaving early and I don't like leaving regular season games early.
After not living in North Jersey anymore I rarely get the chance to get up there, so when we got off the Turnpike it was like the first time I have ever been there. Beth asked me which way we have to go and I had no clue. The way they make you go around that place (and the surrounding roads) is ridiculous. Finally we found the right area for parking. Oh, and we got a parking pass with the tickets to boot. We got out of the car and the heat was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Although we were not "tailgating", we hung out at the car for a bit so Baileigh could get the whole Giants game effect. So far she is having a good time. As we starting walking toward the stadium, a breeze was blowing and it seemed as if the humidity was letting up. I thought maybe we were in for some decent weather....
As we got to our seats it felt as if someone cranked up the heat, as well as the humidity. We still had 10 minutes till kick-off and I was sweating my ass off. It was hotter then some Yankee games in the summer. I knew 5 minutes into the 1st quarter that heat was getting to Baileigh. I asked her if she was fun and she said yes but she was squirming around in her seat. I knew she was getting very hot so Beth got two Snapples for $5.25 each!! Wow, I guess they gotta pay for the new stadium that is not needed.
We had planned on leaving at 9:30 from the get go but by 9:00 Baileigh had had enough. She was very tired and hot, as were Beth and I. We left the game at about 9:15 or so. When we got back to the car I asked if she at least had a little fun and she "Yes. But I would have had more fun if it wasn't hot". I have to agree. Well ,at least she got to experience a Giants game, albeit 1 and a half quarters.
After not living in North Jersey anymore I rarely get the chance to get up there, so when we got off the Turnpike it was like the first time I have ever been there. Beth asked me which way we have to go and I had no clue. The way they make you go around that place (and the surrounding roads) is ridiculous. Finally we found the right area for parking. Oh, and we got a parking pass with the tickets to boot. We got out of the car and the heat was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Although we were not "tailgating", we hung out at the car for a bit so Baileigh could get the whole Giants game effect. So far she is having a good time. As we starting walking toward the stadium, a breeze was blowing and it seemed as if the humidity was letting up. I thought maybe we were in for some decent weather....
As we got to our seats it felt as if someone cranked up the heat, as well as the humidity. We still had 10 minutes till kick-off and I was sweating my ass off. It was hotter then some Yankee games in the summer. I knew 5 minutes into the 1st quarter that heat was getting to Baileigh. I asked her if she was fun and she said yes but she was squirming around in her seat. I knew she was getting very hot so Beth got two Snapples for $5.25 each!! Wow, I guess they gotta pay for the new stadium that is not needed.
We had planned on leaving at 9:30 from the get go but by 9:00 Baileigh had had enough. She was very tired and hot, as were Beth and I. We left the game at about 9:15 or so. When we got back to the car I asked if she at least had a little fun and she "Yes. But I would have had more fun if it wasn't hot". I have to agree. Well ,at least she got to experience a Giants game, albeit 1 and a half quarters.
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