Jay Gaulard Blog

Bull’s Bridge River Rapids in Kent, CT

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

As promised, I am posting some (well all) of the videos we took the other day when we were in Kent, CT.

I would say there are eight videos in all. I am posting them as I upload them, but as you might guess, YouTube takes a while to upload, especially when the videos range from 30MB - 130MB. In the videos, the cool part is how much water is going down the river. We have had a bunch of rain, so that really took its toll. Also, the weather was great, so there was some company during our hike.

Enjoy the videos.

Fife’n Drum and Bull’s Bridge, Kent, CT

Monday, March 24th, 2008

I know that I have told you in the past how much Laura and I like to eat lunch at the Fife’n Drum restaurant in Kent, CT every Easter. We have been doing it now for about four years. It usually is a very good time. Well, unfortunately, yesterday was our last visit to this restaurant.

I am going to try to keep this short and sweet and not too much like a restaurant critic. Let’s just say that it seems like there is some new management and a new chef at this place.

The wait was very long during each portion of our two course Easter lunch and the food was amateur at best. It seemed like the dish washing dude was back there cooking too. I swear it seemed like there were parts of my dishes that were from a can. To me, “warm potatoes” does not mean potato salad that tasted like it was straight from Costco. A vegetarian dish does not mean boiled vegetables. Oh well, there’s $80 down the drain. We didn’t even stay for dessert…my favorite part. We just left the money on the table and left. During the last 20 minute wait to have our plates cleared from the table, three different waiters walked by and looked at us at least seven times. We kept wondering if our waiter had gone home. Well, as it turns out, as we were leaving, Laura caught sight of this guy eating at the bar. What the hell? If you can’t tell, I am a little annoyed. To think, I still left a tip…A TIP. I didn’t have the patience to wait for any change. I swear, if we had stayed any longer, they would’ve started vacuuming the floor while people were still eating. Yes, we will have to find a new place to eat on Easter.

To simmer down, we went on our traditional hike at Bull’s Bridge. I have a few posts about our previous hikes. It’s a really neat place.

Since we have been down the same trail so many times, I thought it would be a good idea to check out the top part of the trails. Laura might have been a little disappointed because she wanted to go on a real hike. I will have to make it up to her. We took lots of pictures and video. I will upload the video today and post it here.

This is a photo of the front of the Fife’n Drum restaurant in Kent, CT. I don’t even know why I am showing this. Perhaps someone from the restaurant will read this post and mail me a refund check.

This is the monument in Kent, CT.

These are two shots of Bull’s Bridge itself. We got lucky with very good weather.

These are all shots of the river. The water was rushing very fast, due to all the rain we have been getting. We didn’t see any kayakers like we have in previous years. Maybe the water was going too fast. I sure wouldn’t get in there.

Today Certainly is Another Day

Friday, February 29th, 2008

Today was another busy day. I spent a good majority of the day organizing things online. I would tell you what they are, but I have this thing about telling people my secrets. Oh well. I will say that I find it simply amazing that I am able to wake up every morning of my life and work on the computer for at least eight hours straight. Mind you, those are the days I have nothing to do. Oh, I just love looking at the clock as it reads 3PM and realizing that I have been sitting here since 7AM.

As I get older, I find myself focusing on my “physical” self more than I used to. I always try to sit up straight in my chair, so I don’t get a bad posture, like I have been warned about when I was a kid. I also recognize that I need exercise these days. When I say need, I mean “need.” I mean, I am in good shape, but as anyone gets older, I think they become more aware of these things. I also feel my eyes going to hell. When I was a kid, I used to pride myself on not wearing glasses. Well, the years of staring at this monitor has taken its toll, I’m afraid. Last year, I bought computer glasses to help take the strain off my eyes. These days, I find myself having to focus a heck of a lot more. I can actually feel my eyes getting tired. People say that you should get up every so often to give your eyes a break. They say that you should look out the window every once in a while so your eyes can focus on something else, other than your computer screen. I do that, but I am just hoping that one day I will make enough money to pay someone to do my work for me as I sit in a chair behind them, telling them what to do.

So, what’s new in life…I guess it’s just day to day stuff. As I work, the cats take their turns using my lap as their bed. I am not working on adding any more websites to my portfolio…well, I had to pop a new one in there, I just couldn’t help myself. This is the year of marketing. I haven’t focused on that portion of the business all that much in the past few years, so it might be something I should do to boost the $$$. I believe I can do a very good job with that in the next ten months.

I also have been making beer, if you haven’t noticed. I think it’s a pretty rewarding thing to do. Paul came over to pick up ten bottles for a party he is having tomorrow. He is going to get back to me with the consensus. I hope he likes them.

Since I have been in college, I have been looking for the perfect place to live. Where we are living now isn’t perfect, by any meaning of the word. As my mother would say, we have decided to hate it. It’s painful to realize that, but it’s true. I have learned that it’s pretty useless looking on the internet for that perfect town. All it takes is one lousy picture of a town to ruin everything. On to the next perfect town with that one lousy picture, and so on. I think the only way I am going to make it is to get an “anchor” house somewhere up north, with another smaller home in the heat for weekends in the Winter. I have also learned that the perfect town may not even exist anymore. Back in the day, there was a quiet little main street somewhere in Indiana that you could walk up and down for the rest of your life. Now, you have to worry about tornadoes and the Wal-Mart they are putting up at the end of the block. You might think I’m kidding, but look around. The most pristine places are very unaffordable. So the quest goes on.

On Monday, Laura and I are making a trip to Washington, CT. We are going to have lunch at the Mayflower Inn. A few years ago, my mother got us a gift certificate for the Inn that we used for a perfect Valentine’s Day dinner. It was one of the nicest places on earth. We were thrilled with the little antique town, but it was kind of dark on our way in. We really want to see it during the day. You would be surprised what the Connecticut hills have to offer, for a price. I’ll let you know how it goes. YouTube certainly needs a video or two of Washington, CT.

It just started snowing. Laura proposed another walk in the snow. Who am I to say no? I have a feeling I will be putting my boots on at midnight again. I do want to say that I am getting a little tired of the snow. Every time I think the driveway will be clear for a few days, it snows. I admit that it keeps things exciting, but enough already. It’s been a snowy Winter. The next week looks warmer with the temperatures above freezing. Also, the sunset is much later now, so that January depression has lifted. Now, the sun is going down close to 6PM. In March, we set the clocks ahead, so that should be fun. I am going to try to really soak up the seasons this Spring, Summer and Fall. I think they are worth it.

Wow, what a post. This might actually be what blogs are for. I guess I have to write some real stuff when I am not busy buying things and writing about them. Hey look…it’s another cat on my lap. I think they are doing laps now. This one is Sexy Boo.

My New Sony Hanycam

Saturday, January 5th, 2008

I went out today to give my new Sony Handycam Camcorder a try. I have mad skillz and I know how to use them. I decided that a look at the engine of the new car would be cool as well as a drive down the road. I had to go drop off some clothes at the clothing drop anyway, so it was a good excuse to use the camera.

As you know, I have been putting some videos on YouTube. My Honda Accord videos have been getting quite a few views. I guess people out there are interested in the new body style. Get this - some little 19 year old posted a comment on one of my videos stating that the car I posted a video on wasn’t really an “EX” or a “V6.” Ok, then…just for him, I took some video of the engine…

…and this is me trying out the camera while driving down the road…

Received - Sony Handycam DCR-SR42 Hard Disk Camcorder

Saturday, January 5th, 2008

I was doing some work this morning when I noticed the FedEx truck backing into the driveway. I said to myself, “Ooh, my Sony Handycam Camcorder is here.” I got up and met the guy at the door.

So yes, as I mentioned before, I ordered a Sony Handycam Camcorder from Circuit City because Laura gave me a gift card for Christmas. I was happy about that. I can now stop taking 30 second clips with my camera and take nice, clear, long videos with this new toy.

I tried it out already and it’s pretty easy to use.

The zoom is huge. I was sitting on the couch and zoomed into the TV. Man, it gets close. One of the issues I hope this camcorder resolves is the lack of focus while I am taking my famous “while driving” videos. We’ll see how that goes. I have to run out today and you can bet that I am going to bring this little bad boy with me. I will post those videos later one today.

New Video Units For the Blog

Monday, December 3rd, 2007

If you’ll take a quick look to the right, you’ll notice a cool new feature for this blog…video units.

I have to say that this is pretty entertaining. I like that fact that when a visitor takes a look at one of my pages, they are offered the content that I wrote as well as some related videos (I have learned that they are relevant). So, if you are bored, take a look. I think the setup is neat.

Flying a Stearman PT-17 at Candlelight Farms Airport in Sherman, CT

Friday, November 23rd, 2007

This is another oldy, but a goody. These are some videos from the time Craig and I flew a Stearman PT-17 at Candlelight Farms Airport in Sherman, CT. yes, this is the same airport that the helicopter landed at in the movie, Mr. Deeds.

It was a great day. Unfortunately, I took these videos with my old camera. They are kind of pixelated and there is no sound. You get the idea.

Crossing the Newburgh - Beacon Bridge

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007

I continue to play with the video portion of my camera. I took a few more videos of the cats and dog, but I didn’t think any were worthy of the blog. I did get 18 views of the fat Simon cat one so far on YouTube.

I was going for a drive the other morning and I decided to take out the camera. I thought it would be neat to get a video of me crossing the Newburgh/Beacon Bridge. I am not sure why I did this…perhaps someone will think it’s cool. Either way, placing videos on YouTube is a great way to promote your website.

Here she is…

Video - This Is NOT Going To Be Good

Saturday, November 17th, 2007

Here comes trouble. I was talking to Craig this morning on the phone about maybe getting a video camera. He told me that his digital camera does a pretty good job of taking video. Ohhh yeah, I forgot mine does too.

Oh, this isn’t going to be good. I took a sample video this morning of Simon, the big, fat orange cat. Here, take a look…