I grabbed this baby on the way to work this morning. I would give it two more weeks before the leaves are changing in full force. I always say that the changing leaves are prettier after the second half. I mean, instead of half green, half colorful, the leaves look better half colorful, half bare. That’s when they really stand out.
Here is a great shot I got from Rt.52 of Sam’s Point, high up on the Shawangunk Ridge.
I was talking to my favorite brother, Jeff, yesterday. Apparently, Stephanie is having some issues with her car. Jeff is going to help out with parts and all that.
After talking about Stephanie’s issue, we started talking about what kind of car I want to get next. I have a year or two before I have to visit the dealer and trade my car in. I have whittled the choice down to two…The BMW 5 Series or the Toyota Camry Hybrid. I am really having a tough time with it.
I try to think of myself as “Green,” but it’s hard. I know that everything is “right” about the Toyota and everything is “wrong” with the BMW. One of the things I am looking at is the fuel mileage of each car. As we were talking, Jeff sent me a great link on how to find out your car’s gas mileage. I took a look at it and found out a few things. Basically, the BMW’s mileage is about 18/24 and the Toyota’s mileage is about 33/34. One is obviously better than the other’s.
Here is the problem…I know when I walk into the Toyota dealer, I will simply have to choose the color of car I want. I will already have read all I could read about the car. All I will have to do is negotiate on price. I will be sitting in a sea of Camrys. Not too exciting. Then, I will drive away in an even bigger sea of Camrys. When I walk into the BMW dealer, I will leave with a car. I know this, so I am hesitant about going there just to look. That’s the way I am. The Beamers are fast and sexy, and so am I. Yeah, right.
My brother seems to like his BMW and recommends that brand. He has a 328i…a little small for me. I want just a little more room. He likes the speed and handling. I am not a fast driver, but wouldn’t mind something that keeps up with my current Honda Accord V6. My Accord has some pep. The Camry is a four cylinder and I can’t imagine is being very fast.
The real issue is this…the Camry is very safe and kind of middle of the road. It’s quality, but not very exciting. Do I really want to be known as that boring computer dude? Oh, how techy. If I got the BMW, at least people would view me as something that I might not be. I like hiking, working and driving around to find new towns. That’s not too exciting, but at least people might think that I will run them over if they get in my way.
Can you see which direction I am leaning in? I guess we’ll see what my commute time will be in two years. That will be the big factor I look at.
I have been through it before…when Adobe discontinues a certain piece of software. The first one I lost was Adobe ImageStyler. That was back in 1999, when I was in college. The second one was Adobe LiveMotion. By this time, I can pretty much read the writing on the wall.
Recently, Adobe purchased Macromedia. I have been wondering what is going to happen to my favorite website editing piece of software…Adobe GoLive. I am not really sure if GoLive was ever my favorite editor, because it is quite bulky and has always been full of bugs. I remember back a few versions ago, the program would just disappear from my screen, right in the middle of my work. Where did it go? Oh, who knows. Then, the site file would get corrupted and I would have to figure out a workaround. Now, with my latest version (Adobe CS), the program is just really big and takes a long time to load, especially when the site is large. I dread opening it.
I took a look on the Adobe site and read that they are pushing the new Adobe Dreamweaver. They still offer GoLive, but aren’t talking it up like they used to. In my opinion, it’s history. Dreamweaver is the industry standard website editing program. I agree. I have seen it in action and like it. A few years ago, we purchased Macromedia Studio MX 2004, which included Dreamweaver MX 2004. Knowing where this whole thing is headed, I decided to purchase “Dreamweaver MX 2004 - The Missing Manual” from Amazon. I got the book for about $3.50 ($7 total). I started reading it and using the program (2004 MX, that is). I really like it. It is more intuitive than GoLive and has a few more things that I really like. Coming from GoLive, I know how to do most things, they are just in different places.
I figure that I will learn the program with this version and if need be, I will move up to the latest version. Sound good?
I actually read quite a bit last night. I don’t know…I guess I was inspired. My frontal lobe is getting a workout and, believe it or not, I feel better.
I am almost done with “Wobegon Boy” by Garrison Keillor. Let me tell you, this book had good reviews. Even what they said on the back cover was good. HAHA, what they say on the back cover is always good. When I first started reading this book, I was having fun. The story made sense and all was nice in the world. I think, about half way through, when “John’s” father died, things got a little weird. To me, the story lost track. It seems like Garrison is almost just trying to get all the punch lines he had in his head for all these years on paper. It almost doesn’t make sense. I have to admit that I have been only reading a few pages each night, but it is hard to get back into the story when I do decide to pick up the book again.
Have you ever read, “It” by Stephen King? That book is kind of fat. That is, “thick,” not “phat” with a PH. I think I got about half way through it when I looked deep into my soul and told myself I had absolutely no idea what this man was talking about. I was slightly sad about that because Stephen Kind is so famous and I really tried to enjoy his writing. I had to put the book down forever. Now, I am not saying that what I write makes any sense either, but then again, I am no author. All I can claim is that I am an amateur blogging hack.
So, back to the frontal lobe. Yeah, it feels better. It has been a while since I did anything educational-wise-ish and I miss it. I get so excited when there is something to learn. I have been very focused on business lately that I almost gave up on intellectual stimulation. The most I have done in the past year was to complain about my problem during dinner.
I can tell I am a new man. Can you believe that the whole transformation has happened in less than a week?
Did you know that Stephanie has an official quarter collection now? Yes, apparently, she had a secret quarter stash hidden somewhere in the house. Well, I shouldn’t say that…somewhere on the property, or in the car. I would guess buried in the back yard.
Anyway, this is her first book. I made a comment on her spectacular blog that she is sure to buy more books. I did just that. I am a person of excess. She is my sister, therefore she is excessive too. You have to see all the gold chains she wears around her neck. Just kidding, but the knuckle rings…oh whatever.
Anyway, since I just read her post, I thought I would grab my growing pile of quarters and open my books to see if I actually needed any of them. Yeah, I would say I popped about half of them into empty spots…maybe around ten or so. It feels so good when I have a quarter in my hand and I see that empty spot. Here is a picture of my collections. I have been working on collecting these quarters since 1999.
I did a little weaving today, but nothing too dangerous.
If I had a really good camera, I would love to pull over to take a picture of the Shawangunk Ridge. There are a few parts along Rt.52 that offer great views. One day I will do that…when I get some guts. Until then, here are today’s pictures of the beginning of Autumn in New York. Believe me, the leaves are changing now…
I just have to say…I love it. I really, really love it.
I long time ago, I saw the movie, “Dirty Dancing.” While I love certain parts of this movie, like when Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) says, “Nobody puts Baby in the corner,” I especially love the Eric Carmen video of Hungry Eyes at the end of the DVD.
You just have to respect Eric Carmen for managing all that hair. I can’t seem to locate the actual video that played at the end of the DVD, but this one will do. If you want to see the long hair, check out the second video.
Now mind you, the first line of the song is, “I run a comb through my hair.”
What was the American Civil War all about? I think if you ask a lot of people, they would tell you it was about slavery. I guess it was, but it was about a lot of other things too.
The whole reason I am thinking about this is because I saw a bit of the movie, “Cold Mountain” yesterday. It is always so depressing watching things like this. In many cases, you can’t help but to take the Southern side of things. I feel like this especially when I think of “Gone with the Wind.”
Anyway, I think that you, yes you, should read about the Civil War and tell me more about it.
Have you ever felt the perfect temperature? I have. It’s right now and a little breezy to boot. I don’t know what it is because I am far too lazy to get up and look, but trust me, it exists.
I am just sitting in the “Red Room” (you remember those curtains, right?) doing a little work. I bought a new server agreement yesterday, so I am transferring a bunch of sites around. This project will take me a few days. After this, I should have things in good order for a while, especially since the Christmas season is coming up. The websites get pretty hot around Christmas, so this should spread out the load. I think this is fun…I love a good project. I have some big plans for the future, so a good foundation is important.
Oh boy, I really need to clean this desk. I really need to do a lot of things, but for some reason, I just keep walking by them. I never used to be like this. I guess the taste of procrastination has stayed with me.
I just finished up with the latest mulching. I think it looks pretty damn good. I had some extra mulch, so I used it in the front yard where the dirt is like concrete. I covered that area right up. I put a bunch around the trees, so they are good. Now all I need is some water. I already watered a new bush and the new crabapple trees in the back, but the rest of the property needs some of the wet stuff.
This is the side of the front yard that I covered. This is along the property line.
This is a picture of all the white pines and blue spruces that I planted last year. I mulched all around them. The picture is on the side of the house facing down in the back yard.
Here I am, walking a little further towards the back yard.
This is looking up from the back yard. This area is the whole reason why I got the mulch in the first place.
Man, I am a little sore. I always forget how much ten yards actually is.
