Columbus Blue Jackets - More Twitter

I continue to find more and more uses for Twitter. I was watching the Blue Jackets hockey game tonight and set up a search on TweetDeck for "Blue Jackets" and voila! A stream of comments from fans and foes alike continued to fill my screen all evening long. It made for a different experience. Try it out and you may catch the Twitter addiction too. TweetDeck is a tool that you will want to check out to enhance your Twittering experience. What are you waiting for. Tweet! Tweet!

Twitter Thought Streams - The power of information bursts!

I attended a Logistics Technology Forum this week in Chicago and found that Twitter was alive and well behind the scenes. Roughly 6% of the attendees at some time or another sent Tweets during the conference. It appeared that most were new to the tool, but I can only imagine what Twittering will be like as the users mature. I can imagine a real time thought stream coming from multiple attendees during conferences. People that can't attend could subcribe to the stream and pick up valuable information even when time constraints keep them from attending. Short bursts of thought will educate the world.

Long live Twitter...

The Twitter Craze! Will it continue?

Now that the race to a million followers is over, will the Twitter craze continue or will it fizzle? Only time will tell. There are many Twitter tools out there to get more out of Twitter. Twitter can be used on your computer or on your mobile device. You can use it to send pictures and videos and you can use it to find people or search for things like what is currently going on in your city. Search for news, or find out what is being said about the TV show you are watching as you are watching it.

I am not sure that I have totally figured out Twitter yet, or how I can get the most out of it, but for now, I am still trying. How do you use twitter. Twitter me @UAKidsDad and give me your best ideas to keep the Twitter craze going.

Ashton Kutcher Kicked Ass

Mr Kutcher has made a statement to the world. That is, you all have a voice, so use it. You don't have to wait on someone else to tell you what the news is. You can decide it for yourself. You can censor your own news. You decide when you want it, how you want it, and where your want it.

We have become a world of robots. We listen and we do. Our actions are directed by what we hear from the mainstream. We have become robots. We don't have to be. Use Twitter to speak out. Be you. Be you. Be you. Use your mind. Speak your mind. Make a difference. TWITTER!

Twitter - Follow Ashton Kutcher to a Million

Unless you have been living under a rock, then you must have heard about Ashton Kutcher telling Twitterdom that he will Ding Dong Ditch Ted Turner if he gets 1 million followers before CNN gets there. Everyone is Twittering about it. If you don't know what Twitter is, then you need to check it out here. When you do, be sure to follow Ashton Kutcher. Not only is he going to Ding Dong Ditch Ted Turner, he is going to donate 10,000 mosquito nets. Fun stuff! We're pulling for you Ashton.

Another Ukulele Melody!

The Princess is at it again - Taylor Swift's Love Story

The Ukulele Princess

Wow! What talent this young lady has... She gets my vote. How about yours?

How to get 300 drops on Entrecard

300 drops in 24 hours. Can you do it? Not if you drop too fast. What is too fast? Good question. I am not sure what the criteria is, but Entrecard is like having a fast car with a governor on it. You click too fast and zap! With no warning, you get a message that says "Penalty". Along with all of their other cutesy messages, what should one think when they see this new one? Check your points, because if you see that message, your points will disappear faster than a glass of water on a desert island. If you make one drop every 5 minutes, it would take you an entire day to get to 300 drops. I don't know about you, but I sleep once in awhile and occasionally eat. Let us assume that I sleep for 8 hours and take two 30 minute meal breaks. In my remaining 15 hours, I would need to click once every 3 minutes to get my 300 drops. What am I missing... Why would you even need a "Penalty". They already limit you to 300 drops per day. What a joke! Entrecard, just what are the parameters for issuing a "penalty"? I would be afraid to put that one in writing if I were you.

Insurance Companies versus the Rich Doctor

Having insurance in this day and age is a very good thing. I can't complain because there are a lot of people that are less fortunate that I am and don't have any insurance. I have Anthem insurance through my company and they typically take the majority of the sting out of any medical bills that come about. Its when Doctor's decide the push the envelope and choose not to participate with insurance companies that things go array. They are trying to make the most that they can. Of course the insurance company is trying to pay as little as they can. Guess who wins in this little battle? They both do. Guess who loses? You know the answer. I am sure all of you that are reading this have been there. It just doesn't seem fair. There should be some way to make this a win win win, but I don't see that happening. There is no leverage on either the insurance company or the doctor. The hold all of the cards. We hold the bag.

Danica "GoDaddy" Patrick - Obscure Facts!

1. She was ranked 69th on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 of 2007 list.
   
2. She debuted as a swimsuit model in the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.
   
3. On May 21, 2007, she rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
   
4. She was listed 42nd on FHM (US) Magazine's "100 Sexiest Women for 2006".
   
5. Miss Danica received the Favorite Female Athlete prize at the 2008 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.
   

Ten things your neighbor doesn't know!

1. The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour is 61,000
   
2. A pig can never look at the sky
   
3. The shelf life of a Twinkie is 26 years
   
4. Dale Alexander won the American League batting title in 1933
   
5. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled
   
6. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were both left handed
   
7. Maine is the only state that borders only one other US State
   
8. No word in the English language rhymes with month
   
9. Fleas can accelerate fifty times faster than the Space Shuttle during liftoff
   
10. There are two golf balls on the moon
    

The Gas God says: Stick 'em up!

Gas pushed up to $3.99 a gallon for the holiday weekend. Imagine that! Just in time to take advantage of our propensity to travel on holidays. It is down 15 cents today, one day after the holiday weekend is over. Something is rotten with how this played out. No rhyme or reason other than the holiday creates an opportunity for the Gas Gods to stick it to us one more time! Over $50 to fill up your tank.

There are 46 gallons of gas that get processed out of a barrel of crude oil. Crude is going for over $128 a barrel. Divide that by the 46 gallons of fuel and you have approximately $2.78 a gallon. What makes up the rest? Federal taxes, state taxes, the cost of additives, and distribution costs to mention some of the contributing culprits. Everybody is getting a cut. Somebody is getting rich. Any guesses as to who that may be. Stick 'em up!

Where is superman when you need him?

Do you know how much the rising cost of gas is taking out of your pocket? Think of it this way. Every penny the price of gas goes up, it takes $6 out of your pocket for each vehicle that is used regularly in your family. That assumes you drive an average of 15,000 miles per year. If you have 2 vehicles, a 10 cent increase in the price of gas will cost your family $120 per year. From May of 2007 until May of 2008, the average cost of gas has risen from $3.14 to $3.81 per gallon. That cost each of us an average of $402 per vehicle.

But wait! It doesn't stop there. You have to consider the impact on the trucking industry. Virtually everything we buy as consumers has transportation costs factored into their price. The American Trucking Association claims that every penny that diesel fuel goes up costs the industry $391 million per year. The price of diesel has risen 49 cents per gallon over the past year. That amounts to $19,159,000,000. I am guessing that the trucking industry has not absorbed that absurd amount of incremental cost.

Any thoughts on where that cost is being paid for? You guessed it. You and I are paying more for almost everything we buy. It may be only a penny here and a nickel there, but I can assure you there are few products that have escaped the clutches of the fuel choke hold. We the people, certainly have not escaped that choke hold. Where is superman when you need him?

Gas cans and empty wallets...

At least in my family, I think gas prices have finally hit the proverbial nerve. Over the weekend I was lectured twice, first by my wife, and then by my 26 year old son, about how my driving habits were needlessly consuming gas. It seems that I tend to go from a dead stop at traffic lights and stop signs up to the speed limit in sling shot fashion. Also, my exercising of the 7 mile an hour safe zone over the speed limit is also creating some controversy in my family. Speed wastes gas. Quick starts waste gas. I know that, but it took a couple of subtle barbs from family members to snap me out of the bad habits that are sucking the dollars out of my wallet.

You too may be suffering from this slow draining of your financial well being. Drive slower. Accelerate slower. Coast when you can. Slow down when approaching a red light. You may be able to time the light so you don't have to come to a complete stop. Make sure your tires are properly inflated. These are small things, but they add up. Do your part! Take a look at your driving habits. Are they fueling the war?

We are at War! Make the right choice! Choose to Fight!

Today I paid the most I have ever paid for a gallon of gas, a whopping $3.75 per gallon. I am amazed that we, the people of the United States, are standing still for this slow and deliberate attack on our economy. We have been gradually pushed to our threshold of pain. Just when we are just about to go over the top, things stabilize just long enough for us to build up some more tolerance. What fools we are! Wake up America! We have got to break out of our hubris thinking and go on the offensive before it is too late. Individually and collectively, we need to cut our usage of the evil gas pill. Be it from car pooling, being better organized and eliminating wasteful extra trips to the store, letting our kids walk to school, if your job allows, working out of your home once a week, etc., etc. We have to get creative. Nothing is sacred! This is war my friends. War! Drive the speed limit for God's sake! Park your car one day a week. We can do it. Hit 'em where it counts. They are hitting us in the wallet. Hit 'em back. You have been challenged! You can choose to let it continue to happen, or you can make a difference. What are you waiting on????

Top 10 reasons to give your Mom flowers for Mother's Day...

1. Flowers come in all shapes and sizes
   
2. They smell wonderful
   
3. You can have them delivered almost anywhere
   
4. They can usually be delivered the day your order them
   
5. They come in all price ranges
   
6. Anyone can buy them
   
7. They will make your Mom smile
   
8. They don't need batteries
   
9. Flowers don't need to be walked 3 times a day
   
10. Every Mom loves flowers

Get the party started! Happy Cinco de Mayo...

I live in a great neighborhood with a great bunch of fun loving neighbors. After a long, cold, snowy winter, next weekend is our first opportunity to come out of hibernation and shake off the cobwebs. We are using Cinco de Mayo as our excuse to break out the Margarita machine, fire up the grill, and dust off the lawn chairs. Hail to our kingdom, known by those who live here as "Mortgage Hill". This is the second year for our Cinco de Mayo party. I guess technically it is Cinco de Mayo dos! Last year our break out was met with a cold rainy day, but thanks to our neighbor that has everything, three 10 x 10 party tents magically arrived in the front yard along with a portable fire pit. Plenty of food and libation was had by all. Everyone is looking forward to the weekend with great anticipation. This year will be bigger and better than last year. We have ordered perfect weather for this years party, but even if we have a foot of snow, our celebration will be unequaled! Spread the joy. Get the party started in your neighborhood. Happy Cinco de Mayo dos from the folks on the hill.

Feed the Green Monster...

Every year I pay my good friends at True Green to weed and feed my yard and what do I get? Of course I get a weed free yard. I get a nice green yard. I get a fast growing yard. And... I get to mow twice a week to keep the grass from taking over the neighborhood. Not exactly how I like to spend my leisure time. With the price of gas spiraling out of control, now I'm scraping up all of my spare change, er, I mean, spare dollars, to keep the mower running. That gallon of gas I used to go buy for my Dad when I was a kid that cost a quarter, now is costing me an arm and a leg. Wow! How does that make any sense. And the sad thing is that its not just me. I am sitting here as I blog watching two of my neighbors mow their green monsters. Hey! I have an idea. Maybe we should go together and buy a hybrid mower! Do they make such a thing? That would be the "green" thing to do. Look out Al Gore. Sam Speak is in the yard...

Billy Joel rocks Columbus!

Billy Joel rocked Columbus last night with a high energy performance that went far beyond this concert goer's expectations. No need for any opening act to set the mood as Billy hit the stage ready to get the party started. He performed all of his classics with the exception of Uptown Girl, which who could blame him for skipping over that? When his band broke into to Hang on Sloopy, the Buckeye faithful almost brought the house down! O H I O ! The concert brought out the best in this piano playing legend and one couldn't help but laugh at the playful comedic comments he laced the show with. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the show. I sensed that even Joel was surprised by the crowd's electrifying plea for an encore. He responded with multiple songs including Piano Man! He left it all on the stage... Bravo Mr. Joel! Bravo!