So web 2.0 it makes babies cry.

So I was talking to a friend the other day joking around about tricking out my bike, and discovered that Spokey Dokes are back! I would totally sport these on old school ones, the new stuff kinda sucks.  See below:

The only thing that would make them cooler is if they were now made from the recycled plastic ones that everyone junked back in the 80′s.

Since it was such a nice day yesterday, and I need to get rid of my “spare tire”, it was time to rock four new geocaches. Sadly, I only found two of them first. Then again, I was being nice! The first cache was semi-important to me as I had been unable to find it previously. So that was a nice little victory. Pictured below are some ducks from the third one, they really had great colors on them. It is just a shame that my phone kinda sucks for taking pictures, and I left the pocket digital camera in Delaware.

As we draw to the end of 2008, and I look toward 2009 it is that time to reevaluate my goals, and decide where I want to be this time next year.  As much as I say “when I win the lottery” I know that is not going to happen,  well at least I shouldn’t plan for it.   I have been spending the past week thinking about everything that has happened to me in the past year.  Including but not limited to the decisions that I have made, others have made, and how they have affected me.   Some decisions which I thought were minor, ended up turning out to be fairly major.

As a result, I have pretty much created a document which has a major goal on it, which is more of a general guideline.   Next I’ve written down a few minor goals, which blend into the steps to achieve those goals.  Which can be thought of as a set of realistic resolutions. Just a few of my many small steps include:

• Cutting back on the dark cola’s, and eventually commercial/chemical filled soda’s all together.
• Following up on the path I have been on to eat better, healthier and more organic food.
• Increasing my cardiovascular health, something I have been working on since quitting smoking last January.
• Increase my flexibility through my morning yoga sessions, followed by a few minutes of meditation.

Keep in mind that my resolutions are realistic, not delusions of grandeur such a save every penny, reinvest and make a mint in the stock exchange.  After all, I have a better chance of breaking even with the money I invested in Crox than I do of seeing a dime of that lottery money.

I thought this was really funny!

What Santa really says!

I was starting to get bored with the default theme so I decided to freshed things and and change to this one.   I dig the green and the bike, since I am working on being green and dig bikes. If that bothers you, you can always go back to the blueline, or pick one of the ones from the “Theme Switcher” on the bottom left hand side.

Google impressed me again today with their freshly updated iGoogle personalized homepage layout. While I like tabs on the top, cleaner selectable tabs on the side are much more efficient when you have multiple pages setup. With the new gmail plugins I’m able to scan/delete/respond to my mail without having to jump around too much.. It is worth checking out..

So we were discussing our travel arrangement at the last “Pre -Meeting of the Minds” meeting and it the price of checking luggage was mentioned. Of course, we know that some people are going to check bags regardless of the price and or horrific wait times which always seem to accompany flying back into Philadelphia International Airport. I feel as if a challenge was issued to travel down using just a carry on. I think I can do this, as I’ll only be there for a week after all.  These are the reasons I think this is a good idea/challenge:

1. I can save at least $30, well not really save, I’m sure I’ll drink it down.
2. One less bag on the plane, that much more fuel will be saved, the Earth won’t cry as much.
3. I can’t stand to wait in airports, esp when I’m arriving.  I’m planning on getting to Alabama Jack’s quickly.
4. There is a washer and dryer in the house, I can have plenty of clean undies even if I only pack a pair (ewe)

Really though, it is Key West, as you can see from last years pics, I don’t wear much more than a few tank tops and some tshits/shorts. The place is a great example of escapism, what more do I need besides a few articles of clothing and my wallet/phone? Most of the time, barstools are even optional! Besides, trimming the fat and cutting away the crap is a great way to see how much I really can do without.

Of course, my phone still won’t check my email, but there is no way I am taking a laptop with me. I can update my pics and this blog from the condo.

p.s. Today still appears to be a woot off, with some bad ass shirts too.

Peter Mucha posted over at the Philadelphia Inquirer:

A gas war in Gloucester County seems to have created the lowest gas prices in the country. As of about 10 a.m., the price was $3.169 a gallon for regular at two stations on Mantua Pike (Route 45) in Woodbury Heights. According to Mapquest.com, that was the lowest price in the country, a nickel better than places in Tennessee and Georgia.

Well, not exactly. That’s because WaWa No. 19 quickly dropped its price by a penny to $3.15.9. Cash or credit card. And that wasn’t even the lowest price. The nearby Pioneer had $3.149 a gallon (cash only), as of shortly after 11 a.m.

That is what’s up people, that’s MY Wawa, and the place where I get my propane filled for the supergrills.  And if you mess with my cousin who works at the Wawa.  I’ll have to beat ya.

Well first and foremost, geek chicks are indeed hot.. How come the only people I never see in storm trooper outfits resemble Jeff the comic book guy from the Simpson’s?

Alas, I’ve been busy. Not just normal modF busy either, but it feels like things are slowing down. I had been studying like a mad man for weeks so I could perform the Entered Apprentice degree (the degree of an Initiate, which makes one a Freemason) for my lodge on this past Saturday morning. I did pretty good, not as well as I had hoped, but a lot better than I thought I would a month ago. This being the largest piece of work I’ve ever done in front of the most amount of people, I learned a few things about public speaking:

1. People want to see you do well, they really do.
2. If you mess up a line or something, keep going it is not the end of the world.
3. Slowing down and pronouncing is a wonderful thing, plus it helps you breathe properly.
4. When going slow and breathing properly, you are better enabled to “Speak over the Wall”.
5. Enjoy it!

Now I’m starting to study future parts that I should already have under my belt, but we all know that I do my best work under (a lot of) pressure.

As for other things, minus about $30 in 2 months, I’ve been doing a great job of keeping track of my buxfer account. So far it has been an interesting journey and somewhat fun to track my progress. In just a few months I’ve really managed to figure out how I spend money, and in some cases how I spent too much money. One of my biggest gripes, as was all everyone else, the price of fuel and oil. I’ve been trying to drive better, keep the AC off, and watch those RPMs. Instead of keeping a series of receipts in the car, enter MyMileMarker. Now I’m not sure that I can go back and enter the receipts that I have in my dashboard console, but I’ll do my best to provide accurate results moving forward. Of course, yes, I can update via twitter.

I’m hoping to get home tonight and get some stuff done in the yard, I’ll make sure I water the plants so we are sure to get rain shortly thereafter. Hopefully I’ll have some time to get the big compost bin sorted out and screened and separated. I have a bunch of stuff that is ready to go into a pile, but I don’t want to add this much of it to the existing one. Hopefully I won’t make a mess or screw up the screening processes too badly, this is the first time I’ve done it.

On a side note I have a phone call into some guy selling *cheap* food quality plastic barrels that I found on CraigsList. I’d like to create a rain water reclamation unit off of the garage so that I can water at least my flowers and perhaps even the grass. I’ve been doing a bit of reading about how people work the water lines back into their toilet lines/grey water systems and I’m not quite sure that I’m ready for all of that. Besides, this is just a hobby project.

Since this is approaching one of my larger posts, I’ll pick it backup later and letcha know some more.

Being cooler than most smokers is a bold statement to make, but it is true my friends. Well, mostly just because I like to fill my own ego and to reassure myself that I’m better off not smoking.. Even though I do have a bit of a gum addiction still (two or three pieces daily), I do think I am doing the right thing. Just because I’m a person who likes numbers and results here are a few facts.

151 days, 11 hours, 3 minutes and 53 seconds smoke free.
4,544 cigarettes not smoked.
$1,368.00 and 1 month, 4 days, 17 hours of your life saved.

I have taken this a step further and found that I’ve not purchased 22.72 cartons, or 23 fewer trips over the Commodore Barry Bridge into Delaware saving me an additional $69 in tolls, leaving an additional 460 miles fewer on my car, used 15.6 fewer gallons of gas, saving me an additional $62.

I must admit, I am pretty proud of myself. Including cigarettes, gas and tolls, my total savings to date is about $1,498.33. Now I’m not too sure where I have spent that money, I’ll have to consult buxfer for a while. Besides the obvious health and fiscal savings, I have also done a little part towards not lining the pockets of the oil bastards. That alone is a nice step in being more green without even realizing it, or trying all that hard.