Because we wish to present the highest quality service to all our readers, we have now installed Google Analytics to the blog. This will allow us to track the volume and source of our readership and thus tailor our offerings in a more efficient manner.
For those of you Fourth Amendment / privacy-loving crazy liberals, have no fear. Your secrets are still safe with me, especially since I won't have access to them. Also, I'm not the government, so the Fourth Amendment does not apply here.
Special thanks to Cheryl Freiburg for her expertise in helping set this up. (However, this is not enough to merit an additional award at this time.)
Also, special thanks to Amanda Johnson. Your site is the #1 referrer!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
New Year's Resolutions
NONE!
(We here at The Best Blog Ever never admit to any of our deficiencies, and nor should you.)
Happy New Year to you all.
(We here at The Best Blog Ever never admit to any of our deficiencies, and nor should you.)
Happy New Year to you all.
UFC 92 Results
UFC 92 was last night. Kristin and I were out and about, so I didn't have a chance to watch it. But it was a truly great fight card:
ENJOY.
- Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans for the Light Heavyweight title
- Nogueira vs. Frank Mir
- Rampage Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
ENJOY.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Growth & Branding
Caution: This could be a very nerdy post.
I started this blog in early September with this post. Through word of mouth and some aggressive marketing (me begging people to read), blog readership is at an all-time high (20+ readers). Who knew this blog would have such a far-reaching audience? But with this blog touching all parts of the blogosphere, some issues obviously arise.
When you look at the corporate world, such rapid growth can lead to multiple problems. One is expanding so quickly that you build too much capacity. Then, when the industry retrenches, you have a lot of costly idle capacity. Fortunately, blogging is very scalable, so we don't have that problem.
The second issue is developing your market. Do you want to be a producer for the masses, or do you pick a niche and try to service that group extremely well? If you try to be a producer for the masses and be all things to all people, it's very possible that you serve none of them very well. You end up being in a low-margin business with high fixed costs. And when the market changes, you can't be very nimble. On the other hand, if you want to be a niche player, you have to do at least one thing better than all your competitors for one specific segment of the market. There can be high margins. But such high margins quickly attract competitors. And if you're entire business is dependent upon one small market, bad things can happen quickly if you lose that market, or the market shrinks, or whatever.
So, maybe you can see my quandary. I can either continue aggressively marketing this blog to all. In the short-term, I will likely gain more readers. But there's a good chance many of them won't like it, and they will spread bad word of mouth to other potential readers, thus diluting the brand. Or, I can be very selective in choosing prospects, discussing the blog only at the right time and only with the right people, and hopefully building up an audience that is smaller but more loyal (and creating great brand awareness and recognition).
The question is how I want this blog to be seen by (potential) readers. Do I want a select few to really love it, or do I want the masses to just like it? Obviously, this is an issue that someone in marketing should be able to solve. So I asked Kristin Pagano (Associate Brand Manager of Guitar Hero at Activision, and also my wife) what she thought about these branding issues, and she said "You're a dork." So this problem isn't going to be solved by a professional.
Oh well, all that for nothing. I guess I'll just keep doing what I've been doing. Never mind this post.
I started this blog in early September with this post. Through word of mouth and some aggressive marketing (me begging people to read), blog readership is at an all-time high (20+ readers). Who knew this blog would have such a far-reaching audience? But with this blog touching all parts of the blogosphere, some issues obviously arise.
When you look at the corporate world, such rapid growth can lead to multiple problems. One is expanding so quickly that you build too much capacity. Then, when the industry retrenches, you have a lot of costly idle capacity. Fortunately, blogging is very scalable, so we don't have that problem.
The second issue is developing your market. Do you want to be a producer for the masses, or do you pick a niche and try to service that group extremely well? If you try to be a producer for the masses and be all things to all people, it's very possible that you serve none of them very well. You end up being in a low-margin business with high fixed costs. And when the market changes, you can't be very nimble. On the other hand, if you want to be a niche player, you have to do at least one thing better than all your competitors for one specific segment of the market. There can be high margins. But such high margins quickly attract competitors. And if you're entire business is dependent upon one small market, bad things can happen quickly if you lose that market, or the market shrinks, or whatever.
So, maybe you can see my quandary. I can either continue aggressively marketing this blog to all. In the short-term, I will likely gain more readers. But there's a good chance many of them won't like it, and they will spread bad word of mouth to other potential readers, thus diluting the brand. Or, I can be very selective in choosing prospects, discussing the blog only at the right time and only with the right people, and hopefully building up an audience that is smaller but more loyal (and creating great brand awareness and recognition).
The question is how I want this blog to be seen by (potential) readers. Do I want a select few to really love it, or do I want the masses to just like it? Obviously, this is an issue that someone in marketing should be able to solve. So I asked Kristin Pagano (Associate Brand Manager of Guitar Hero at Activision, and also my wife) what she thought about these branding issues, and she said "You're a dork." So this problem isn't going to be solved by a professional.
Oh well, all that for nothing. I guess I'll just keep doing what I've been doing. Never mind this post.
Random Thoughts From Christmas
Christmas has come and gone. All that build-up, and it's over so fast. So with that, let's recap some of the major issues topics from the last two days:
- Prosciutto is the best of all the salted cured meats. This is not debatable.
The best Christmas gift I received was some packets of salt. They were wrapped, and from Santa. You really never know when you're going to be eating a steak, and there will be no salt on the table. And when that happens, the Nunnellys will mock you for years to come. It's best to come prepared with your own salt.- Guitar Hero World Tour is a big hit, if you can get someone to sing. Chris Corradini made an excellent singer on Christmas Eve. However, yesterday, I took one for the team and belted out "Hotel California" in a very unforgettable ear-splitting performance.
- Another phenomenal Christmas gift was from my cousin Domenic to my Aunt Lucretia. She came strolling in yesterday in her brand new Neil Diamond jacket. She wore it with great pride. Truly amazing.
The second annual Feats of Strength was canceled. Apparently, my cousin Steven had been sick the week prior and had not had a chance to practice. He was supposed to do 100 push-ups in 5 minutes, for $100. He bowed out gracefully. - My cousin Domenic seems to have consumed a whole bottle of Jack Daniels on his own. Good job, and keep up the good work.
- My cousin Pam is considering starting her own blog. I think she'll be using it mostly to post pictures of her kids Drew and Addison. Whatever the use, I'd like to think that I was her inspiration.
- For years, we have played Trivial Pursuit on Christmas. I can't believe it has taken so long for me to realize this, but it's a really bad idea to let a bunch of mostly Italians (who already yell at each other most of the time) try to play a game like this. There is always so much yelling going on, it's maddening. SERENITY NOW!
- Next year, we're playing Battleship.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Moms To Start Reading
I may have had a breakthrough in getting my mom and my mother-in-law to read the blog. Last night, I sent them both an email with the link to the blog. Now, there are no excuses (although I'm sure I'll be hearing shortly that they "accidentally" deleted the email). If only they could actually bookmark the site (assuming they know what bookmarks or favorites are). Anyway, the next time I see them, they will need to prove that they actually read the blog. So as to ensure their loyalty, I am including in this post a code word.
The code word is : tippy toe.
The code word is : tippy toe.
Happy Festivus
Last night, Kristin reminded me that I should wish all my readers good tidings during this holiday season. So as not to offend anyone and/or their religious beliefs/non-beliefs, we here at the blog need to remain a bit generic.
So we will wish you a Happy Festivus. If you don't know what Festivus is, shame on you! Go look it up right now! I can divulge that it includes a pole (as opposed to a Christmas tree) with a high strength-to-weight ratio, the feats of strength (likely a wrestling match), and the airing of the grievances (very common at an Italian family Christmas).
Happy Festivus everyone!
So we will wish you a Happy Festivus. If you don't know what Festivus is, shame on you! Go look it up right now! I can divulge that it includes a pole (as opposed to a Christmas tree) with a high strength-to-weight ratio, the feats of strength (likely a wrestling match), and the airing of the grievances (very common at an Italian family Christmas).
Happy Festivus everyone!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Adventures In Selling A Car
Kristin and I have been thinking about acquiring a new car. Both our cars are six years old. They both work. But they are requiring a little bit more in maintenance costs every year. Both would need new timing belts soon (or "training wheels," as Kristin calls them). So when all was said and done (car payment minus lower maintenance costs), it wouldn't be all that expensive to lease a new car. Plus, the joy of driving a brand new shiny automobile. But first, we'd need to see what my car would fetch.
On Sunday, I checked Kelley Blue Book, and the trade-in value of my car was $6700. This was a little disappointing, but not altogether unexpected. The private resale value was around $8-9k. This still wasn't what I wanted to get for it, but no big deal. I then went to the Infiniti dealership to look at the G35's. While talking to the salesman about my current car, he indicated that they could do a trade-in, but Carmax would give me a better deal, probably closer to the private-party resale value than the blue book value.
So after a little more car shopping that day, we went to Carmax. We went through the whole process, then waited while the appraiser did his thing. After an hour, the representative came back to the office where we were waiting and told us that the car was in great condition (great exterior, great interior, great structurally, great engine). So I expected a solid offer well above the $6700 quoted by KBB. He then proceeded to offer us $4000. I was appalled. Kristin was ready to throw something at someone's head.
Anyway, after getting an explanation from the appraiser, we left and drove to the Audi dealership. After talking with the salesman, and after he had "his guy" inspect my car, they came back and offered us only $2600 for it. Who knew I was driving such a jalopy?!?!?
(This isn't my actual jalopy, just a picture of one found on wikipedia. A picture of my car has not been included so as to protect its identity.)
Anyway, to commemorate my jalopy, please go here. This is an oldie but goody. It's uncensored, so if you don't like bad words, you shouldn't watch. If you do like bad words, you should watch multiple times.
To end, a decision has been made to keep my jalopy (I really like saying that word) for a little while longer and completely run it into the ground.
On Sunday, I checked Kelley Blue Book, and the trade-in value of my car was $6700. This was a little disappointing, but not altogether unexpected. The private resale value was around $8-9k. This still wasn't what I wanted to get for it, but no big deal. I then went to the Infiniti dealership to look at the G35's. While talking to the salesman about my current car, he indicated that they could do a trade-in, but Carmax would give me a better deal, probably closer to the private-party resale value than the blue book value.
So after a little more car shopping that day, we went to Carmax. We went through the whole process, then waited while the appraiser did his thing. After an hour, the representative came back to the office where we were waiting and told us that the car was in great condition (great exterior, great interior, great structurally, great engine). So I expected a solid offer well above the $6700 quoted by KBB. He then proceeded to offer us $4000. I was appalled. Kristin was ready to throw something at someone's head.
Anyway, after getting an explanation from the appraiser, we left and drove to the Audi dealership. After talking with the salesman, and after he had "his guy" inspect my car, they came back and offered us only $2600 for it. Who knew I was driving such a jalopy?!?!?
(This isn't my actual jalopy, just a picture of one found on wikipedia. A picture of my car has not been included so as to protect its identity.)Anyway, to commemorate my jalopy, please go here. This is an oldie but goody. It's uncensored, so if you don't like bad words, you shouldn't watch. If you do like bad words, you should watch multiple times.
To end, a decision has been made to keep my jalopy (I really like saying that word) for a little while longer and completely run it into the ground.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Kristin's One Post
There has been a lot of confusion about some remarks I've made about Kristin never having posted. Multiple readers have pointed out that Kristin did indeed post a single time. Actually, that was me.
I would hate for Kristin to be given credit for something she didn't do, and so would she.
I would hate for Kristin to be given credit for something she didn't do, and so would she.
Trying To Get More Parents To Read This Blog
Yesterday, we went to my cousin's daughter's baptism. Afterward, we saw Kristin's parents at their place in Newport. It was an excellent opportunity to re-advertise this blog to "the older generation."
At the baptism, I tried to convince my mom and my aunt that they should be reading the blog. My mom said she couldn't read the blog because she couldn't figure out how to find it. As I mentioned in last week's post, she wouldn't be able to figure out how to type in a simple URL. When I mentioned that she could just put it in her favorites, she had no clue what I was talking about. Then, to deflect criticism, she commented that I "must have too much time on my hands." Too predictable. As for my aunt, after she boasted that she indeed knew how to use the internet, she pretty much admitted that she didn't know how to use the internet when she mentioned that it would be too difficult for her to find.
At the Nunnelly residence, we pulled up the blog for Kristin's mother to read. Before, she indicated that it was just too hard for her to find on the internet. Anyway, she read through the blog and DID NOT LIKE IT AT ALL. (Actually, she kind of enjoyed Cheryl's guest post, but she didn't much care for mine.) Can you imagine the disappointment and utter shame her relatively-new son-in-law must have felt because his mother-in-law didn't like his musings? At that moment, I considered shutting down the blog for good. I mean, I can understand my mom's reaction: she's an Italian woman, and all she does is yell and have a bad disposition. But Carol Nunnelly, come on!
Oh well, I will try to lift my spirits and summon the courage to keep going. Hopefully, this blog will continue its rich tradition of excellence in perpetuity. But if it does not, you can trace its demise back to yesterday, December 13, 2008. And if that happens, I apologize, but you know ultimately whom to blame.
At the baptism, I tried to convince my mom and my aunt that they should be reading the blog. My mom said she couldn't read the blog because she couldn't figure out how to find it. As I mentioned in last week's post, she wouldn't be able to figure out how to type in a simple URL. When I mentioned that she could just put it in her favorites, she had no clue what I was talking about. Then, to deflect criticism, she commented that I "must have too much time on my hands." Too predictable. As for my aunt, after she boasted that she indeed knew how to use the internet, she pretty much admitted that she didn't know how to use the internet when she mentioned that it would be too difficult for her to find.
At the Nunnelly residence, we pulled up the blog for Kristin's mother to read. Before, she indicated that it was just too hard for her to find on the internet. Anyway, she read through the blog and DID NOT LIKE IT AT ALL. (Actually, she kind of enjoyed Cheryl's guest post, but she didn't much care for mine.) Can you imagine the disappointment and utter shame her relatively-new son-in-law must have felt because his mother-in-law didn't like his musings? At that moment, I considered shutting down the blog for good. I mean, I can understand my mom's reaction: she's an Italian woman, and all she does is yell and have a bad disposition. But Carol Nunnelly, come on!
Oh well, I will try to lift my spirits and summon the courage to keep going. Hopefully, this blog will continue its rich tradition of excellence in perpetuity. But if it does not, you can trace its demise back to yesterday, December 13, 2008. And if that happens, I apologize, but you know ultimately whom to blame.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Additional Award
Believe it or not, but we found additional dollars in the 2008 operating budget. Therefore, we can give out just one more award. So without further adieu:
Best (fill in the blank): Cheryl Freiburg
Congratulations, Cheryl, I always knew you could do it!
Best (fill in the blank): Cheryl Freiburg
Congratulations, Cheryl, I always knew you could do it!
Not Happy About Not Winning
Guest Post by Cheryl Freiburg:
Hey everyone, Cheryl (Cabigas) Freiburg, guest-blogger of the day :) Now, for those of you who have read the previous post, you see that my mother has won an award. So not fair! I think the awards committee (Chris) has a preference for CPA's or something. That or he realizes that my mom now works for the "Man" and is trying to get in good with the IRS. Hmmmm....
So anyway, I was given a chance to indicate why I deserve an award. So let's get right down to it.
1) My mom is your best new reader. Without me she wouldn't even know about your blog (let alone what the word "blog" means!)
2) Loyal reader - yeah yeah yeah, you're all loyal readers. But is anyone else as big of a dork as I am to put a feed of Chris's bog on your iGoogle home page? I know, I should be embarrassed, but I'm not. I'm that dork.
3) Quality trumps quantity - so yeah, maybe other people comment more than I do (I'm talking to you Logan!), but I'm telling you it's all about quality of the comment over the quantity!
4) A little history for those of you who are not as big a dork as I am (reference #2 above)... So yesterday I notice that Chris has posted a blog that there is an official name change from "Chris & Kristin Pagano's Blog" to "Chris Pagano's Blog" - so of course like the loyal reader I am, I click on the link to see that the blog post has been removed! Later that day, I get the following email from Chris:
"Was my blog post today that Kristin made me delete bad? Should I have left it up? Thanks for your objective opinion."
So of course, I'm thinking, well, if my objective opinion is important enough to be sought, then obviously I am like the Mr. Miyagi to Chris's Daniel-san! This alone makes me worthy of some sort of award!
5) And this is really the most important - this blog was birthed because we put it in his head! Over a nice long dinner conversation about starting a baby blog for our impending arrival, Chris was inspired to begin this wonderful literary masterpiece known as Chris and Kristin Pagano's blog (ok, so a little ass kissing might help, right?). So the blog wouldn't even be here if we never had the discussion about it!
And seriously if I don't get some sort of award after this, well, Chris, I would sleep with one eye open. I know people who know people!
Your loyal reader,
Cheryl
Hey everyone, Cheryl (Cabigas) Freiburg, guest-blogger of the day :) Now, for those of you who have read the previous post, you see that my mother has won an award. So not fair! I think the awards committee (Chris) has a preference for CPA's or something. That or he realizes that my mom now works for the "Man" and is trying to get in good with the IRS. Hmmmm....
So anyway, I was given a chance to indicate why I deserve an award. So let's get right down to it.
1) My mom is your best new reader. Without me she wouldn't even know about your blog (let alone what the word "blog" means!)
2) Loyal reader - yeah yeah yeah, you're all loyal readers. But is anyone else as big of a dork as I am to put a feed of Chris's bog on your iGoogle home page? I know, I should be embarrassed, but I'm not. I'm that dork.
3) Quality trumps quantity - so yeah, maybe other people comment more than I do (I'm talking to you Logan!), but I'm telling you it's all about quality of the comment over the quantity!
4) A little history for those of you who are not as big a dork as I am (reference #2 above)... So yesterday I notice that Chris has posted a blog that there is an official name change from "Chris & Kristin Pagano's Blog" to "Chris Pagano's Blog" - so of course like the loyal reader I am, I click on the link to see that the blog post has been removed! Later that day, I get the following email from Chris:
"Was my blog post today that Kristin made me delete bad? Should I have left it up? Thanks for your objective opinion."
So of course, I'm thinking, well, if my objective opinion is important enough to be sought, then obviously I am like the Mr. Miyagi to Chris's Daniel-san! This alone makes me worthy of some sort of award!
5) And this is really the most important - this blog was birthed because we put it in his head! Over a nice long dinner conversation about starting a baby blog for our impending arrival, Chris was inspired to begin this wonderful literary masterpiece known as Chris and Kristin Pagano's blog (ok, so a little ass kissing might help, right?). So the blog wouldn't even be here if we never had the discussion about it!
And seriously if I don't get some sort of award after this, well, Chris, I would sleep with one eye open. I know people who know people!
Your loyal reader,
Cheryl
More Awards To Give Out
Happy Friday everyone. I'm sitting here at my desk during lunch time, so I figured I'd do a quick post.
Now would be an excellent time to give out the second edition of my awards. However, we are now officially in a recession, and there's no money left in the budget to give anything other than a single award. What can I say, times are tight.
So I really put some effort into this, to try to determine who's most deserving. And after much thought, here's the award:
Best New Reader: Lynda Cabigas
Congratulations, Mrs. Cabigas, you have won a non-cash appreciation award from THE BEST BLOG EVER.
Thank you all for playing. As always, we appreciate your support.
Now would be an excellent time to give out the second edition of my awards. However, we are now officially in a recession, and there's no money left in the budget to give anything other than a single award. What can I say, times are tight.
So I really put some effort into this, to try to determine who's most deserving. And after much thought, here's the award:
Best New Reader: Lynda Cabigas
Congratulations, Mrs. Cabigas, you have won a non-cash appreciation award from THE BEST BLOG EVER.
Thank you all for playing. As always, we appreciate your support.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Chris & Kristin
This is my second post today. The first one displeased Kristin. I was trying to exert some pressure on her to post, and I mentioned it in the post. And I changed the title of the blog (to exclude her name). Clearly, she was not pleased. She made some threats, and I blinked. That post was deleted.
Anyway, on to tonight's post. I am stealing the idea for this post from Jennifer's blog. (Who knows, that may even garner her another award at some point.)
Things You Should Know About Chris & Kristin:
Anyway, on to tonight's post. I am stealing the idea for this post from Jennifer's blog. (Who knows, that may even garner her another award at some point.)
Things You Should Know About Chris & Kristin:
- Who's older: me (by three years)
- Who's taller: tie (or Kristin when I don't stand up straight)
- Who's smarter: Kristin (I can't remember anything anymore)
- Who's the bigger dork: me
- Who's the better driver: me
- Who's the better Dyson vacuum cleaner operator: me
- Who's the better cook: Kristin
- Who makes better chocolate chip cookies: Kristin
- Who makes better chocolate chip cookie dough: me
- Who eats more: me
- Who's the bigger fan of Kelly Clarkson: me
- Who's masculinity is now in question: probably me
- Who sings better: neither
- Who's a fan of the Tennesse Titans even though she now wants them to lose because Vince Young isn't playing: Kristin
- Who uses up 95% of the closet for her clothes while her husband gets two feet: Kristin
- Who cleans: me
- Who has more friends: Kristin (she always has about 15 more on facebook than i do, and i can't catch up)
- Who looks more like McLovin: me
- Who watches more crappy TV: Kristin (America's Next Top Model, Gossip Girl)
- Who's the better blogger: me
- Who's "the best blog(ger) ever": me
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
There's a lot of territory to cover in this post, so let's discuss all the major issues:
Kristin went to the mall yesterday. She came home with a new sweater which she had bought for me. Now, if you'll recall an earlier post, Kristin and I had agreed that we would not be exchanging gifts for Christmas. Therefore, she should not have gotten me this "gift." Kristin then indicated that it wasn't for Christmas, that I could have it now. Who knew that you could get around the Christmas gift ban by simply saying something is not for Christmas? So you can see what I'm dealing with when I try to make agreements with Kristin. In some respects, she's like a lawyer always looking for a loophole. From now on, every time we make an agreement, I'm going to need a contract that's two inches thick to cover every contingency so that she can't get around the basic spirit and intent of the agreement.
Then last night, we went to dinner with the Nunnelly boys, Garrett and Patrick. Normally, one might say that they were in rare form, but from what I've seen before, this was a normal game-day performance. We covered lots of ground. Here are some thoughts from the evening:
That's it for today.
Kristin went to the mall yesterday. She came home with a new sweater which she had bought for me. Now, if you'll recall an earlier post, Kristin and I had agreed that we would not be exchanging gifts for Christmas. Therefore, she should not have gotten me this "gift." Kristin then indicated that it wasn't for Christmas, that I could have it now. Who knew that you could get around the Christmas gift ban by simply saying something is not for Christmas? So you can see what I'm dealing with when I try to make agreements with Kristin. In some respects, she's like a lawyer always looking for a loophole. From now on, every time we make an agreement, I'm going to need a contract that's two inches thick to cover every contingency so that she can't get around the basic spirit and intent of the agreement.
Then last night, we went to dinner with the Nunnelly boys, Garrett and Patrick. Normally, one might say that they were in rare form, but from what I've seen before, this was a normal game-day performance. We covered lots of ground. Here are some thoughts from the evening:
- Both Pat & Garrett indicated that they were fans of this blog. (Seriously, though, can you really find someone who's read the blog who isn't a fan?)
- Neither of them were happy that they didn't receive blog awards from me a couple weeks back when I decided to acknowledge certain people. Who could have known that that would have created such a firestorm of controversy? Listen, people, this isn't T-ball; you don't get awards just for showing up! Awards are meted out for outstanding achievement in the field of excellence. If you step up your game, you may be recognized in the future. The question is, what can you do to to be recognized. We'll get to that a little bit later in this post.
- Based on last night's events, both Garrett & Pat indicated that today's blog post had to be really good. My apologies, but I don't think I can live up to that standard. I mean, there was a lot of good material from last night's dinner, but I'm not allowed to reproduce much of it (too much sensitive material). In fact, I even wrote down notes this morning of the important items to discuss, but I still don't think I can do enough of what it takes to meet such lofty expectations. So I apologize if I let the two of you down.
- With my readership growing to such great levels, I am quite proud of what this fine blog has achieved. More people are reading it than I expected (my expectation was that no one would read it, but it sounds like I may even have at least five readers). Anyway, the only people not reading it are some of the potential grand parents of our first child (TBD). They are either "busy" or not technologically competent enough to type in a simple URL. They even claim that I "have too much time on my hands." You know what, it's going to be their loss. When grandchild #1 comes along, they'll have no idea, as it will be announced here and only here. How do you think they're going to feel when they've been left out of the loop? And they'll have only themselves to blame.
- Get Kristin to post. We're getting up to 40 posts sooner or later, and Kristin has contributed exactly zero of them. This blog was set up to be for and by both of us. If it's just me, this blog loses a certain amount of credibility. This blog would be more "fair and balanced" if she wrote on a (semi-) consistent schedule. In fact, for every post I write, Kristin reads it, laughs, and comments that I'm a dork. Clearly, I need someone "cooler" than myself for balance. If you can convince Kristin to contribute, you will get an award.
- You can comment on my posts. Since I don't know anything about the internet, I have no clue how to see how many people are visiting the blog. So I can only tell who's reading it by your comments (either in the blog itself or via email). Comments within the blog are especially useful because we can generate a sense of "community" that is sorely lacking.
- You can guest blog. This blog is about presenting ideas, important ideas. As one man, I can only do so much. If you have something to say, you are more than welcome to say it here. Just send me an email with your post, and I will put it up and indicate that you are the author. You might even realize that you have a special talent and that you should start your own blog. (Garrett and Patrick, I'm looking in your direction.)
That's it for today.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Financial Karma?
Yesterday
I was reviewing our tax situation yesterday, and I had thought that Kristin and I were going to owe an additional $6k with our tax return. But as I re-ran the numbers, I remembered to add some additional deductions that I had previously forgotten. Those would save us $3k in taxes. So while I wasn't happy to be paying additional tax, I was feeling very good that our payment would be much smaller.
But then I got an email from AT&T regarding my new cell phone service. It indicated that text messaging was not included with my plan and that I was being charged $0.20 for each text (both outgoing and incoming). So I called AT&T to add $5 to my monthly charges so that I'd be covered. This new cost made me feel less happy.
Then, as I was driving home, I went to cash in my winning lottery ticket, and I received $11. Clearly, I was riding high. (And yes, per Logan's suggestion, I did let some of it ride, as the new jackpot is $146MM.)
Then, I went to pick up some dress shoes that I had left at the shoe repair store. I was thinking the total cost would be less than $40, which is more than what we ever paid in Santa Clara for having my shoes re-heeled, polished, and Kristin's shoes being fixed. I had two pairs of shoes there, and it cost $97 (for polishing, re-soling, and re-heeling). I was appalled, and my day was again ruined.
Then I needed to pick up our dry cleaning. The bill was $26. But they accepted coupons from a competitor, so that knocked off $4. So my day ended just a little bit better.
Today
I tried to sell one of Kristin's investments (a municipal bond from San Joaquin Hills). According to the Schwab statement, it was worth just yesterday approximately $13000. Today, when I called Schwab so that they could solicit bids on the open market, it would only fetch $7600. Again, my day wasn't going so well.
But five minutes later, a check for $50 arrived in my office. Apparently, a month ago, I had taken a survey for financial advisors, and they had promised a $50 check for completing it.
Conclusion
Clearly, on a dollar for dollar basis, things are not quite evening out right now. But it's good to see that for every loss, there's a gain. And vice versa.
I was reviewing our tax situation yesterday, and I had thought that Kristin and I were going to owe an additional $6k with our tax return. But as I re-ran the numbers, I remembered to add some additional deductions that I had previously forgotten. Those would save us $3k in taxes. So while I wasn't happy to be paying additional tax, I was feeling very good that our payment would be much smaller.
But then I got an email from AT&T regarding my new cell phone service. It indicated that text messaging was not included with my plan and that I was being charged $0.20 for each text (both outgoing and incoming). So I called AT&T to add $5 to my monthly charges so that I'd be covered. This new cost made me feel less happy.
Then, as I was driving home, I went to cash in my winning lottery ticket, and I received $11. Clearly, I was riding high. (And yes, per Logan's suggestion, I did let some of it ride, as the new jackpot is $146MM.)
Then, I went to pick up some dress shoes that I had left at the shoe repair store. I was thinking the total cost would be less than $40, which is more than what we ever paid in Santa Clara for having my shoes re-heeled, polished, and Kristin's shoes being fixed. I had two pairs of shoes there, and it cost $97 (for polishing, re-soling, and re-heeling). I was appalled, and my day was again ruined.
Then I needed to pick up our dry cleaning. The bill was $26. But they accepted coupons from a competitor, so that knocked off $4. So my day ended just a little bit better.
Today
I tried to sell one of Kristin's investments (a municipal bond from San Joaquin Hills). According to the Schwab statement, it was worth just yesterday approximately $13000. Today, when I called Schwab so that they could solicit bids on the open market, it would only fetch $7600. Again, my day wasn't going so well.
But five minutes later, a check for $50 arrived in my office. Apparently, a month ago, I had taken a survey for financial advisors, and they had promised a $50 check for completing it.
Conclusion
Clearly, on a dollar for dollar basis, things are not quite evening out right now. But it's good to see that for every loss, there's a gain. And vice versa.
Del Taco: A For Customer Service; F For Customers
So I decided that today would be a Del Taco day. I've been here in Pasadena for work for six months now, and this was only my second trip. So I walk over there just after noon, and there's a line 6 deep.
Near the end of the line is a group of three people who are about four feet behind the line and huddled in a group. Thus, they didn't seem to be in line. So I got in line just in front of them. Right after that, I hear a voice right behind me, and I realize they're now officially in line. So I felt bad, asked if they were in line, then moved behind them.
Eventually, they get up to the front. Instead of ordering as a group, one person orders for herself. Then the next two order. The problem is that they really don't know what they want. Then when they got charged, they realized that they don't want what they said they ordered. Then they start re-thinking their entire order.
At this point, the girl at the cash register opens up the second register to help me, while she's still helping them. She takes my order, then I pay. She goes back to help the other two at the first cash register, who are now complaining about how much change they should be receiving. Then the girl behind the counter takes the order of another customer at the second cash register.
Finally, I got my food and left, with the people who were in line in front of me still not able to figure out their own situation. I do hope the situation was eventually resolved to everyone's benefit.
Near the end of the line is a group of three people who are about four feet behind the line and huddled in a group. Thus, they didn't seem to be in line. So I got in line just in front of them. Right after that, I hear a voice right behind me, and I realize they're now officially in line. So I felt bad, asked if they were in line, then moved behind them.
Eventually, they get up to the front. Instead of ordering as a group, one person orders for herself. Then the next two order. The problem is that they really don't know what they want. Then when they got charged, they realized that they don't want what they said they ordered. Then they start re-thinking their entire order.
At this point, the girl at the cash register opens up the second register to help me, while she's still helping them. She takes my order, then I pay. She goes back to help the other two at the first cash register, who are now complaining about how much change they should be receiving. Then the girl behind the counter takes the order of another customer at the second cash register.
Finally, I got my food and left, with the people who were in line in front of me still not able to figure out their own situation. I do hope the situation was eventually resolved to everyone's benefit.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Happy Birthday to Jennifer
Since Jennifer is a past award winner of this blog, we here at THE BEST BLOG EVER would like to extend her the warmest wishes on her birthday. (Please note, all you non-winners, that it's time to up your game. Logan, good job so far.)
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
I Just Won the Lotto
I bought a $5 quick pick for the Mega Millions. The jackpot was something like $126MM. And I just happened to match the mega number plus two other numbers. So I will be collecting a cool $10 (for this 1 in 844 chance). What will I do with the money? I don't know. But I can tell you this - I will not be sharing it with Kristin. She didn't win this money; I did.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Water Bottles Everywhere
Kristin is a very organized person. She has spreadsheets for everything - mailing addresses, our checking account, etc. She keeps detailed records (brokerage statements, back account statements, tax returns, medical and dental records, car maintenance records, insurance statements, etc). She never throws away her credit card receipts. Our apartment is kept organized at all times. We even have a calendar going out six months to make sure we're not double-booked (I must say that we are pretty popular).
And yet, amazingly, she will never throw away her water bottles. There are currently two semi-empty water bottles in her car, one on her night stand, and one on the coffee table. And when I mention this, she says "Why don't you mind your own business?" When I say that it is my business, she says "Oh" and then proceeds to ignore me.
And then, when I pick up after her and throw away the water bottles (into the trash), she points out that we recycle, and the trash is not where the water bottles go.
That's it. There's no moral to this story. I'm short on material for the blog, and I thought I'd write something.
Re-enactment only. This is not one of Kristin's actual water bottles, as none could be found at the time of this writing. And yes, I am aware of the irony.
And yet, amazingly, she will never throw away her water bottles. There are currently two semi-empty water bottles in her car, one on her night stand, and one on the coffee table. And when I mention this, she says "Why don't you mind your own business?" When I say that it is my business, she says "Oh" and then proceeds to ignore me.
And then, when I pick up after her and throw away the water bottles (into the trash), she points out that we recycle, and the trash is not where the water bottles go.
That's it. There's no moral to this story. I'm short on material for the blog, and I thought I'd write something.
Re-enactment only. This is not one of Kristin's actual water bottles, as none could be found at the time of this writing. And yes, I am aware of the irony.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Awards
This blog has been up and running for a little over two months. So it's time to give out awards.
Best blogger: me (Kristin hasn't contributed anything, so I win this one by default.)
Best commenter: Jennifer Kennedy (I'm not going to say that I went back and reviewed all comments from all posts, but it seems like Jennifer is commenting at a higher level right now than anyone else.)
Best new reader: Winde Sciarra (I just heard last night that, although she started reading the blog late, she has gone gone back to the very beginning to read all posts. I was quite touched.)
Congratulations to you all. You win my praise, and maybe someday a toaster.
Clearly, we do not aim to leave anyone out, but there are only so many awards that can be handed out at any one time. So if you don't see your name here today, do not worry, as there will be plenty of opportunities for recognition.
Best blogger: me (Kristin hasn't contributed anything, so I win this one by default.)
Best commenter: Jennifer Kennedy (I'm not going to say that I went back and reviewed all comments from all posts, but it seems like Jennifer is commenting at a higher level right now than anyone else.)
Best new reader: Winde Sciarra (I just heard last night that, although she started reading the blog late, she has gone gone back to the very beginning to read all posts. I was quite touched.)
Congratulations to you all. You win my praise, and maybe someday a toaster.
Clearly, we do not aim to leave anyone out, but there are only so many awards that can be handed out at any one time. So if you don't see your name here today, do not worry, as there will be plenty of opportunities for recognition.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
One More Picture From Dallas
We went to Chuy's on Sunday for lunch. Jennifer and Monty came, and they brought Reece. The little man is cute. So that Kristin doesn't start getting ideas in her head, I think it's time to go buy a dog.
Pictures From Dallas
So I was informed this weekend that this blog needs more pictures. So what my readers want, I provide!
First off, the pre-party at Kristin & Nathan's place: Kristin, Amanda, Kristin, Tracy, and Kate
At the rehearsal dinner, which was held inside the death star.
The wedding cake. I had a piece; it was quite delicious.
The groom's cake: "Forbidden donut."
The first dance. The bride and groom were having a good time out there.
The father-daughter dance.
The Spazmatics.
Larry Jefferson, dominating out on the dance floor.
The following picture is the writer of the blog and his lovely wife, who has still not contributed anything to the blog.
The Nunnellys.
Tracy and Matt, just standing there.
First off, the pre-party at Kristin & Nathan's place: Kristin, Amanda, Kristin, Tracy, and Kate
At the rehearsal dinner, which was held inside the death star.
The wedding cake. I had a piece; it was quite delicious.
The groom's cake: "Forbidden donut."
The first dance. The bride and groom were having a good time out there.
The father-daughter dance.
The Spazmatics.
Larry Jefferson, dominating out on the dance floor.
The following picture is the writer of the blog and his lovely wife, who has still not contributed anything to the blog.
The Nunnellys.
Tracy and Matt, just standing there.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Today's Activities
The Nunnellys came out to Dallas for the wedding. So I spent the day with them. First, we went to the JFK museum, as today is the 45th anniversary of his assassination. It was very interesting to learn more about him, his presidency, and the events of that day. Then we went to lunch. But we almost ended up at Hooters, which could have been a little awkward.
Live Blogging From Dallas
We're here in Dallas for Kristin and Nathan's wedding tonight at 5pm. Congratulations to both of you.
Beyond that, I really don't have much to discuss, other than how I found this fantastic app for my iPhone which allows you to blog remotely. (And if you're annoyed that I'm still talking about my iPhone, then you probably don't have one.)
Beyond that, I really don't have much to discuss, other than how I found this fantastic app for my iPhone which allows you to blog remotely. (And if you're annoyed that I'm still talking about my iPhone, then you probably don't have one.)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
My Favorite Toys
So with my new iPhone, I got to thinking about what my favorite toys are. What recreational items could I not live without? The iPhone is certainly up there near the top, but is it the most important to me? And the answer is no. So I thought long and hard about this very important issue, and here’s my top four (only four because I couldn’t come up with five):
- Microsoft Excel: Yes, I’m a big nerd, there’s no doubt about it. Excel is the most wonderful tool I use at work and at home, and I honestly can’t imagine how anything got done in business without it.
- iPhone: Give me a couple more weeks, and maybe I’ll move this up to #1. This has certainly changed my life in the three days that I’ve been using it, and it will only get better once I figure out more of the features and download more apps.
- DFA Returns Program: This one probably makes me an even bigger dork. But since my current job involves investing, I have access to this fantastic software through the company that provides us our mutual funds. I can put together and compare portfolios, understand their historical returns and volatilities, figure out best/worst-case scenarios, etc etc etc. I even used it to create our current investment portfolio (REALLY risky). Of course, we’re losing a TON of money in the stock market right now, so maybe I should stop playing with the returns program. But at least we’re “long-term investors.”
- My Dyson DC-14 Animal vacuum cleaner: In our apartment, I’m the one who cleans. Now, normally, vacuuming is a woman’s job, unless you have this phenomenal piece of equipment.
That’s all I have. Again, no derogatory remarks about my interests, as I’ve already acknowledged how lame I am.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
My iPhone
My iPhone is here. My life is so much better. If you would like to get me a gift, I am registered at the Apple store.
Pictures of the happy family to be posted shortly.
Pictures of the happy family to be posted shortly.
BCS Standings - USC
So the BCS rankings currently look like this:
Is there an outside chance that USC could still win the National Championship? Of course there is. It starts this Saturday with Texas Tech beating Oklahoma, moving USC to #5. Then on Thanksgiving, Texas A&M beats Texas (although I will be watching this with the Nunnellys, and there's a good chance that objects could be thrown at my head if this were to happen). This would move USC to #4. Then Missouri beats Texas Tech in the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship game (during which you will see no less than 72 airings of the Dr. J / Dr. Pepper commercial). This is entirely possible because Tech runs a finesse offense, and it only takes the offense being a little out of sync to screw up. And on the same day, we'd need a blowout in the SEC Championship game. It wouldn't matter who won, just that it's not close. And all of a sudden, USC is #2, ready to destroy the SEC champ in the national championship game in Miami.
For that matter, all I'd need is a loss by Texas in the Holiday Bowl, and I might even get my carrot cake.
So how about Texas? What's it gonna take for them to get to and win the national championship? Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to express an opinion anymore, because I would have both Kristins, Amanda, Tracy, and any number of other UT alums ready to punch me in the face this weekend if I said something that they didn't like.
- Alabama
- Texas Tech
- Texas
- Florida
- Oklahoma
- USC
Is there an outside chance that USC could still win the National Championship? Of course there is. It starts this Saturday with Texas Tech beating Oklahoma, moving USC to #5. Then on Thanksgiving, Texas A&M beats Texas (although I will be watching this with the Nunnellys, and there's a good chance that objects could be thrown at my head if this were to happen). This would move USC to #4. Then Missouri beats Texas Tech in the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship game (during which you will see no less than 72 airings of the Dr. J / Dr. Pepper commercial). This is entirely possible because Tech runs a finesse offense, and it only takes the offense being a little out of sync to screw up. And on the same day, we'd need a blowout in the SEC Championship game. It wouldn't matter who won, just that it's not close. And all of a sudden, USC is #2, ready to destroy the SEC champ in the national championship game in Miami.
For that matter, all I'd need is a loss by Texas in the Holiday Bowl, and I might even get my carrot cake.
So how about Texas? What's it gonna take for them to get to and win the national championship? Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to express an opinion anymore, because I would have both Kristins, Amanda, Tracy, and any number of other UT alums ready to punch me in the face this weekend if I said something that they didn't like.
Friday, November 14, 2008
My Parallel Parking Skills Are Unparalleled
Tonight, I went to dinner with some friends. We went to El Cholo. Anyway, due to my extreme cheapness, I refused to pay for valet parking, even though Kristin and I determined that we should always valet when going there so as to avoid a repeat of the $47 parking ticket we got the last time we parked on the street. (Sorry for the run-on sentence.) So as I said, I was looking for a spot on the street, and I found it. It wasn't very big, but I am probably one of the best parallel parkers of all time. So I maneuvered my car into the spot in one attempt. It was truly a masterpiece, a work of art, if you will. (Just to put this into context, my car is a boat, and it doesn't turn very well.) That's it; that's the end of the story. I just thought you all should know just how good I am, since I do not excel at many other things.
Movie Review: Quantum of Solace
I saw Casino Royale when it came out two years ago. (Actually, a co-worker and I ditched work the day before Thanksgiving to go watch it.) And I finished up at my conference early today, so I walked over to third street promenade, paid $9.50 for the matinee, and then spent the next two hours wondering what was going on. Seriously, maybe I'm just stupid, or maybe I was just bored, but I had no clue about what was happening during the whole movie.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
A New Addition To Our Family
As was the purpose of this blog from the very beginning, you, our loyal readers, will be able to find the most important news of the Pagano family here as soon as it is released to our adoring public.
So without further adieu, there will be a new addition to our family soon. It is on its way. Yes, you guessed it, Kristin and I will be welcoming into our family a beautiful, brand new iphone in just a few days. Our lives will forever be changed for the better, and I hope you will join us in this wonderful time.
Actually, this is an early Christmas present from Kristin to me. We had made an arrangement this year that we would not be exchanging gifts (due to the cost of her 1-year anniversary ring), but Kristin ignored that agreement. She then decided and is about to execute upon her gift to herself. And then she decided on this gift for me (which I admit I really want but would never pay for). So the next time you see us, and we can't afford lunch, feel free to lend us a hand. Also, when you hear Kristin say that she wants to retire and I respond that she can't, please realize that I'm not just being cheap, but it's Kristin who has already spent all our money.
So without further adieu, there will be a new addition to our family soon. It is on its way. Yes, you guessed it, Kristin and I will be welcoming into our family a beautiful, brand new iphone in just a few days. Our lives will forever be changed for the better, and I hope you will join us in this wonderful time.
Actually, this is an early Christmas present from Kristin to me. We had made an arrangement this year that we would not be exchanging gifts (due to the cost of her 1-year anniversary ring), but Kristin ignored that agreement. She then decided and is about to execute upon her gift to herself. And then she decided on this gift for me (which I admit I really want but would never pay for). So the next time you see us, and we can't afford lunch, feel free to lend us a hand. Also, when you hear Kristin say that she wants to retire and I respond that she can't, please realize that I'm not just being cheap, but it's Kristin who has already spent all our money.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Finally...
I finally finished all the work Halloween candy. I won't lie to you, it was a real commitment. And there were times when I doubted that I could consume that many Baby Ruths, Twix, Snickers, Milky Ways, Butterfingers, and Reese's peanut butter cups. But when I commit myself to something, as I did in this case, there is nothing that can stop me. I want to thank everyone for their love and support during this difficult time. Without you, I still would have been able to succeed.
An Intervention
It sounds like the UT girls are planning an intervention. I won't reveal my source (so as to maintain my journalistic integrity), but it seems as if Amanda does not agree with my thoughts about Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and the rest of the Big 12 rivalry structure. Therefore, it seems she is colluding (is that the right word here?) with Kristin Jefferson, Kristin Pagano (the semi-co-writer of this blog), and Tracy Davis.
Apparently, I'm supposed to get on board with their point of view. I can only assume that the next time I see all four of them at the same time, they are going to ambush me and then start singing "Texas Fight" or the "The Eyes of Texas" while I cry and plead for them to stop.
I don't know what to do! Suggestions, please!
Apparently, I'm supposed to get on board with their point of view. I can only assume that the next time I see all four of them at the same time, they are going to ambush me and then start singing "Texas Fight" or the "The Eyes of Texas" while I cry and plead for them to stop.
I don't know what to do! Suggestions, please!
Monday, November 10, 2008
I Cannot Win
It seems all the ladies from Texas are ganging up on me right now. See posts below. Although they make a compelling point, I'm still not on board. I mean, what's wrong with having more rivals? Why not have every week be rivalry week? What's wrong with that? What are you guys afraid of?
Anyway, I think this blog has been too heavily dependent on the Longhorns for subject matter. I think we're going to have to redirect our efforts to more important matters.
Anyway, I think this blog has been too heavily dependent on the Longhorns for subject matter. I think we're going to have to redirect our efforts to more important matters.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Texas Tech Is Not Our Rival
Kristin here, with my first post ever:
I disagree with Chris in the prior two posts, and I agree with Amanda.
I disagree with Chris in the prior two posts, and I agree with Amanda.
Proof That Texas Tech and Texas Are Rivals
Pulled from comments from my last post:
Amanda said...
"haha...this post was hilarious! I validate Kristin's method in watching college football as it is the same method I use when I watch it. I think it makes it more exciting to yell at the TV and I also use the same words of "get him", "stupid", etc. Regarding your Texas Tech comment, they are in no way our rival...they are just an annoyingly lucky team to have made it as far as they have. They will be destroyed against our true rival of OU in two weeks!"
The fact that Amanda wants OU to beat Texas Tech in two weeks shows that she doesn't hate OU as much as she hates Tech. Someone would never want their true rival to win a football game. Ipso facto ergo, Texas Tech is now your true rival. Done and done.
Amanda said...
"haha...this post was hilarious! I validate Kristin's method in watching college football as it is the same method I use when I watch it. I think it makes it more exciting to yell at the TV and I also use the same words of "get him", "stupid", etc. Regarding your Texas Tech comment, they are in no way our rival...they are just an annoyingly lucky team to have made it as far as they have. They will be destroyed against our true rival of OU in two weeks!"
The fact that Amanda wants OU to beat Texas Tech in two weeks shows that she doesn't hate OU as much as she hates Tech. Someone would never want their true rival to win a football game. Ipso facto ergo, Texas Tech is now your true rival. Done and done.
Two Ways to Watch College Football
Before we get to the main topic of this post, I'd like to discuss another issue of significant importance. Last week, before and after the UT-Texas Tech, Kristin (and I'm sure many of her fellow UT alums) were claiming that it was stupid to think that Texas Tech could be their rival. Tech was just annoying, but certainly not a rival. Anyway, with Texas Tech winning last night (and solidifying the #2 spot for this week, if not #1), this has angered/frustrated/annoyed Kristin. Apparently, she cannot live in a country where Texas Tech is ranked #1; she's willing to move to Canada. So my question is this: How can Texas Tech not be your rival if their success has such a negative impact on you?
Therefore, I declare Texas-Texas Tech to be the biggest rivalry in college football! Period! Done! No arguments please!
OK, so let's discuss more important issues. There are two ways to watch college football, at least in our household. One way is to be on edge through every play, to get visibly upset and make negative remarks when your team is doing poorly, and to praise your school as the greatest ever whenever your team is playing well. These actions start with the opening kick-off, and increase in intensity as the game ends (assuming a close game). If not a close game, the comments still continue but aren't nearly as intense. The second way to watch a game is to just take it all in and to get excited (in the first half) only when there's a score. If the game is close at halftime, then you wouldn't have missed much, as it's the second half which will make all the difference, and you can start really getting into the game. If the game is a blowout at halftime, then you wish you hadn't wasted your time watching the first half, and at least you won't need to watch the second half.
So you can probably guess who is who in our household. Every play for the Longhorns is so very important to Kristin. The following phrases can be heard whenever Kristin is watching the Longhorns:
So, in conclusion, I'm not going to say that my method of watching college football is better, except that it is.
Therefore, I declare Texas-Texas Tech to be the biggest rivalry in college football! Period! Done! No arguments please!
OK, so let's discuss more important issues. There are two ways to watch college football, at least in our household. One way is to be on edge through every play, to get visibly upset and make negative remarks when your team is doing poorly, and to praise your school as the greatest ever whenever your team is playing well. These actions start with the opening kick-off, and increase in intensity as the game ends (assuming a close game). If not a close game, the comments still continue but aren't nearly as intense. The second way to watch a game is to just take it all in and to get excited (in the first half) only when there's a score. If the game is close at halftime, then you wouldn't have missed much, as it's the second half which will make all the difference, and you can start really getting into the game. If the game is a blowout at halftime, then you wish you hadn't wasted your time watching the first half, and at least you won't need to watch the second half.
So you can probably guess who is who in our household. Every play for the Longhorns is so very important to Kristin. The following phrases can be heard whenever Kristin is watching the Longhorns:
- "Get him!"
- "Stupid!"
- "Idiot!"
- "I love you Colt!"
- "Ahhhh, I miss Vince."
So, in conclusion, I'm not going to say that my method of watching college football is better, except that it is.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
I Voted
So I finally made it to the voting booth today. I went to St. Paul's Lutheran Church here in Santa Monica, three blocks from our apartment.
A few important notes:
1. I had to cast a provisional ballot, since my registration didn't show up on their voter rolls. I definitely registered, and got paperwork back to confirm my registration. I think I've been disenfranchised.
2. President - [redacted by Kristin, who believes political issues one way or the other are t0o controversial]
3. Rent board - My landlord had a sign promoting Kronovet. I don't know who this Kronovet person is or what their agenda may be, but I'm not supporting anyone my landlord is.
4. Public transportation - I voted yes on all propositions relating to more public transportation. I don't care how much more it costs in taxes (and I think I may have read $900MM, but those are just pesky details), but I want more public transportation here in Southern California. Kristin was appalled, as she thinks this is unregulated spending and a giant waste of money. I, on the other hand, am interested in investing in our future.
A few important notes:
1. I had to cast a provisional ballot, since my registration didn't show up on their voter rolls. I definitely registered, and got paperwork back to confirm my registration. I think I've been disenfranchised.
2. President - [redacted by Kristin, who believes political issues one way or the other are t0o controversial]
3. Rent board - My landlord had a sign promoting Kronovet. I don't know who this Kronovet person is or what their agenda may be, but I'm not supporting anyone my landlord is.
4. Public transportation - I voted yes on all propositions relating to more public transportation. I don't care how much more it costs in taxes (and I think I may have read $900MM, but those are just pesky details), but I want more public transportation here in Southern California. Kristin was appalled, as she thinks this is unregulated spending and a giant waste of money. I, on the other hand, am interested in investing in our future.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Texas at Texas Tech
I won't comment on the game yesterday, just Kristin's reactions to it. By midway through the second quarter, Kristin was already working through the third stage of grief. After a brief argument concerning her poor attitude, we stopped talking for a few minutes. As we made our way through the second half, she got through the next four stages, so much so that by the end of the game, she had already internalized the loss (even though victory had been SOOOO close).
I would like to add, for the record, that I had a piece of cheesecake during the second half, exactly when Texas started its comeback. If I had been allowed to have one more (or been authorized to have it this morning for the GP of Brazil), then I think Texas would have won.
Speaking of auto racing, the Brazilian Grand Prix was fantastic. For you auto racing haters (all of you), the race started in the rain, and ended in the rain, with dry weather in between. And when Lewis Hamilton needed to make up one position or else lose the championship, he made a pass on the driver ahead of him who was skating around in the rain on dry-weather tires. Simply amazing! Kristin was not impressed as I yelled in excitement at the TV.
I would like to add, for the record, that I had a piece of cheesecake during the second half, exactly when Texas started its comeback. If I had been allowed to have one more (or been authorized to have it this morning for the GP of Brazil), then I think Texas would have won.
Speaking of auto racing, the Brazilian Grand Prix was fantastic. For you auto racing haters (all of you), the race started in the rain, and ended in the rain, with dry weather in between. And when Lewis Hamilton needed to make up one position or else lose the championship, he made a pass on the driver ahead of him who was skating around in the rain on dry-weather tires. Simply amazing! Kristin was not impressed as I yelled in excitement at the TV.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Canceled: Cheesecake and Auto Racing
As per our agreement on Thursday evening (see the previous post), I was supposed to be allowed to watch qualifying for the Brazilian GP while having cheesecake for breakfast. As of now, Kristin has decided that "we" should have ham and eggs for breakfast. While I no doubt appreciate my wife's efforts to cook for me (and even keep me healthy), I must say that I'm disappointed not to be enjoying some of my favorite food while watching my favorite sport. I am also disappointed that Kristin has not honored her commitment in this situation. As such, I am not quite as excited about today's upcoming events as I was previously. And my ability to enthusiastically root for the Longhorns tonight may be compromised.
Weather prediction for tomorrow's race: rain.
Weather prediction for tomorrow's race: rain.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Cheesecake and Auto Racing, a Perfect Combination
This weekend is the finale of the 2008 Formula1 season. The championship is on the line. It's Hamilton vs. Massa, McLaren vs. Ferrari, good vs. evil. I don't want to alarm anyone, but THIS IS BIG.
Also, I still have two pieces of cheesecake sitting in my freezer. So I have made the decision that I will watch qualifying for the race on Saturday morning and have cheesecake for breakfast. And then on Sunday, I'll have another piece of cheesecake as I watch the race.
Kristin is appalled. But whatever. Seriously, what could be better than that?
(In unimportant news, Kristin will be getting overly emotional about every Texas Tech first down this Saturday evening.)
Also, I still have two pieces of cheesecake sitting in my freezer. So I have made the decision that I will watch qualifying for the race on Saturday morning and have cheesecake for breakfast. And then on Sunday, I'll have another piece of cheesecake as I watch the race.
Kristin is appalled. But whatever. Seriously, what could be better than that?
(In unimportant news, Kristin will be getting overly emotional about every Texas Tech first down this Saturday evening.)
Monday, October 27, 2008
Kristin's Contribution
So Kristin decided that her contribution to this blog would be reformatting the layout. So if you've noticed a change lately, that's due to her. I don't think she's happy with these changes though, so expect more to come.
Although this is not the kind of contribution I had in mind when "we" started the blog, it's a small step in the right direction. Someday, maybe, if she gets a better attitude, she will write her own post.
Although this is not the kind of contribution I had in mind when "we" started the blog, it's a small step in the right direction. Someday, maybe, if she gets a better attitude, she will write her own post.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
I'm Ready To Be A College Football Coach
We watched a very exciting Oklahoma State-Texas game today. For a time, it looked like OSU could not be stopped on the ground. Clearly, the OSU coaching staff came in with an excellent game plan. And that's why it seemed dumb that on OSU's last real drive of the game (when they had 3+ minutes), coach Mike Gundy (and/or his offense coordinator) called a pass play on third and about 8. OSU had been getting 6-8 yards per rush throughout the whole game. The Longhorns couldn't stop them. So when they knew that it was four-down territory, and Texas was playing the pass, why not rush on third down and get most (if not all) of the yards for the first down? So that was dumb.
Second, when Texas got the ball back after that series, Gundy wasn't using his timeouts to conserve time. Also, very dumb.
(None of the above should be construed as me not rooting for Texas.)
Therefore, I am declaring that I am ready to be a college football coach. And I don't mean special teams coach or even offensive/defensive coordinator. I mean I'm ready to be a head coach.
And while we're at it, I'm noticing that McCain is still polling nationally at about 40%. That means 40% of Americans think that Palin is qualified to be Vice President (and thus qualified to be President if McCain were to keel over). And since I'm fairly confident that I have a better command of the issues than does Palin, I declare that I am qualified to be President of these United States of America. So on election day, please feel free to write me in. I thank you for your support.
Second, when Texas got the ball back after that series, Gundy wasn't using his timeouts to conserve time. Also, very dumb.
(None of the above should be construed as me not rooting for Texas.)
Therefore, I am declaring that I am ready to be a college football coach. And I don't mean special teams coach or even offensive/defensive coordinator. I mean I'm ready to be a head coach.
And while we're at it, I'm noticing that McCain is still polling nationally at about 40%. That means 40% of Americans think that Palin is qualified to be Vice President (and thus qualified to be President if McCain were to keel over). And since I'm fairly confident that I have a better command of the issues than does Palin, I declare that I am qualified to be President of these United States of America. So on election day, please feel free to write me in. I thank you for your support.
Third Post of the Day
I don't have anything to add. But since it had been over a week since the last post, I figured I needed to do at least three posts today. So this is it. Even though I don't have anything new to add, you my loyal readers should be happy that I was thinking of you.
Cheesecake Is Good
Breakfast this morning consisted of mini-tacos (from Trader Joe's) and some cheesecake. It was unhealthy, but it was good, and just what I needed after a long run. (Kristin is not happy that I ate cheesecake for breakfast, but she knows that I cannot be stopped.)
Little Nicholas
This is our nephew, little Nicholas Pagano. Of course, he likes Kristin more than me, so that's lame. But otherwise, he rocks. And there is a very good chance that he'll end up kicking as much ass as his uncle.
And if you have baby pictures of your own, I'll post them as well on this awesome blog.
And if you have baby pictures of your own, I'll post them as well on this awesome blog.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
True Story
So I was at the jewelry store yesterday picking up Kristin's ring (I realize that I'm setting a bad precedent here), and I was dealing with senior gemologist Jw. Jw, by the way, is a dead ringer for NPH (that's Neil Patrick Harris, for you uninitiated), in more ways than one. Anyway, Jw sells me on the jewelry care plan for my ring, which has completely lost its finish. So I gave him my ring, and I've been without it since yesterday.
So today, all the ladies noticed that I was without my ring, and thinking I was still single, they couldn't help themselves. So I told them that I am in fact happily married. They all walked away very disappointed.
So today, all the ladies noticed that I was without my ring, and thinking I was still single, they couldn't help themselves. So I told them that I am in fact happily married. They all walked away very disappointed.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Red River Shootout Redux
So here are some random thoughts on the big game:
1. I rooted for Texas. I legitimately wanted them to win. Please remember that such a win was against my interests (at least as it pertains to me getting carrot cake). Also remember that Kristin would NEVER root for USC as long as a pair of jeans for her is at stake. So since I am the bigger person, doesn't that mean that I deserve some carrot cake nonetheless? (Kristin Jefferson, I'm looking in your direction. Back me up here.)
2. The second running-into-the-kicker penalty that Texas incurred was really stupid (even though it was debatable whether that was even a penalty). They had already had one earlier in the game, and it didn't hurt them at that time. But this one led to a first down and then Oklahoma's final touchdown. Mack Brown may be one of the best coaches in college football, but he and/or his special teams' coach had their heads up their asses on that play. If that hadn't happened, Texas might have won by 17, and they'd have a much stronger claim to #1 in this week's rankings.
3. Lewis Hamilton is on pole for the Japanese Grand Prix, with Filipe Massa starting fifth. This is excellent news for Lewis' chances for the World Driving Championship.
4. The play before Texas scored the go-ahead touchdown (to take the lead 38-35), Texas converted on third and long from about the 40, all the way down to the one foot line. But anyway, on that 40-yard play, one of the Texas players made one of the greatest blocks I've ever seen on #11 of Oklahoma. That player is now my favorite Longhorn. Who was that who made the block?
5. We went to The Parlor to watch the game. At the bar, there were a couple of OU fans. One in particular was quite annoying. Whenever OU did anything good, he was quite loud, and he single-handedly turned the rest of the bar against OU. Also, I just happened to go to the bathroom right after him, and I noticed that he urinated all over the toilet seat, and he didn't even wash his hands. So I don't know what kind of people most OU fans are, but this guy was certainly a bad apple.
That's it for now. UT fans, you can enjoy your win. Good luck the rest of the season. I am gracious now, but if you make it to Miami, and USC is there as well, I cannot promise to be so nice.
1. I rooted for Texas. I legitimately wanted them to win. Please remember that such a win was against my interests (at least as it pertains to me getting carrot cake). Also remember that Kristin would NEVER root for USC as long as a pair of jeans for her is at stake. So since I am the bigger person, doesn't that mean that I deserve some carrot cake nonetheless? (Kristin Jefferson, I'm looking in your direction. Back me up here.)
2. The second running-into-the-kicker penalty that Texas incurred was really stupid (even though it was debatable whether that was even a penalty). They had already had one earlier in the game, and it didn't hurt them at that time. But this one led to a first down and then Oklahoma's final touchdown. Mack Brown may be one of the best coaches in college football, but he and/or his special teams' coach had their heads up their asses on that play. If that hadn't happened, Texas might have won by 17, and they'd have a much stronger claim to #1 in this week's rankings.
3. Lewis Hamilton is on pole for the Japanese Grand Prix, with Filipe Massa starting fifth. This is excellent news for Lewis' chances for the World Driving Championship.
4. The play before Texas scored the go-ahead touchdown (to take the lead 38-35), Texas converted on third and long from about the 40, all the way down to the one foot line. But anyway, on that 40-yard play, one of the Texas players made one of the greatest blocks I've ever seen on #11 of Oklahoma. That player is now my favorite Longhorn. Who was that who made the block?
5. We went to The Parlor to watch the game. At the bar, there were a couple of OU fans. One in particular was quite annoying. Whenever OU did anything good, he was quite loud, and he single-handedly turned the rest of the bar against OU. Also, I just happened to go to the bathroom right after him, and I noticed that he urinated all over the toilet seat, and he didn't even wash his hands. So I don't know what kind of people most OU fans are, but this guy was certainly a bad apple.
That's it for now. UT fans, you can enjoy your win. Good luck the rest of the season. I am gracious now, but if you make it to Miami, and USC is there as well, I cannot promise to be so nice.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Red River Shootout
So this Saturday, at 9am (pacific), the Longhorns play the Sooners ("cheaters," as Randy might say). This game is HUGE! If Texas wins, that puts Texas on the road to the national championship, and my carrot cake is in danger. If Texas loses, Kristin will not be in a good for the rest of the weekend. So as you can see, this is a lose-lose situation for me.
Does anyone have any thoughts here? What are my options? Do I root for a Texas win, a Texas blowout, a Sooner win, or a Sooner blowout? And if so, why?
Also of note, the Grand Prix of Japan, for all you Eurotrash F1 racing fans (like me).
Does anyone have any thoughts here? What are my options? Do I root for a Texas win, a Texas blowout, a Sooner win, or a Sooner blowout? And if so, why?
Also of note, the Grand Prix of Japan, for all you Eurotrash F1 racing fans (like me).
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Road Rage
So I was carpooling with my friend Matt today. Traffic on the 10 was so bad that Matt made the snap decision to get off the freeway and take Venice all the way down. This requires a short trek through a not-so-great part of town.
Anyway, as we're leisurely heading down Venice, some guy tries to make a left-hand turn right in front of us, nearly causing an accident. So Matt hits his horn (totally justified), and the guy holds up before getting into our lane, and then gets in behind us. At the next light, we're sitting there, and he pulls up alongside us (two lanes over), and he's got his head out the window, yelling at us. He was kind of a scary looking guy, and I made the mistake of looking over at him and making eye contact, so that probably didn't help the situation.
As the light goes green, the guy takes off and pulls into the lane directly next to us. So Matt goes slow, trying to avoid confrontation. Matt eventually pulls in behind the guy, actually two cars behind. So the guy makes a quick right and stops, waiting for us to pass him. As we do, he's still got his head out the window, still yelling at us. And that was the last we saw of him.
But Matt seemed a little perturbed by the whole situation, maybe even frightened. I, of course, was not too much concerned about this. After all, I'm a veteran of road-rage incidents, having been punched in the face by a guy in a Ford Taurus in Santa Clara about two years ago.
The lesson: I am one tough dude, and Matt is not.
Anyway, as we're leisurely heading down Venice, some guy tries to make a left-hand turn right in front of us, nearly causing an accident. So Matt hits his horn (totally justified), and the guy holds up before getting into our lane, and then gets in behind us. At the next light, we're sitting there, and he pulls up alongside us (two lanes over), and he's got his head out the window, yelling at us. He was kind of a scary looking guy, and I made the mistake of looking over at him and making eye contact, so that probably didn't help the situation.
As the light goes green, the guy takes off and pulls into the lane directly next to us. So Matt goes slow, trying to avoid confrontation. Matt eventually pulls in behind the guy, actually two cars behind. So the guy makes a quick right and stops, waiting for us to pass him. As we do, he's still got his head out the window, still yelling at us. And that was the last we saw of him.
But Matt seemed a little perturbed by the whole situation, maybe even frightened. I, of course, was not too much concerned about this. After all, I'm a veteran of road-rage incidents, having been punched in the face by a guy in a Ford Taurus in Santa Clara about two years ago.
The lesson: I am one tough dude, and Matt is not.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Neil Diamond
Last night, we went to see Neil Diamond in concert at the Hollywood Bowl. We went with my parents. Also present were my cousin and my aunt and uncle. So clearly, Neil Diamond runs deep in my family.
Anyway, let me just say this: Neil Diamond was freakin' awesome last night. If you have never seen him in concert, you should go the next time he's in town. And if you don't like his music, stop reading this blog.
Anyway, let me just say this: Neil Diamond was freakin' awesome last night. If you have never seen him in concert, you should go the next time he's in town. And if you don't like his music, stop reading this blog.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
I Got Nothing
Ideas for the blog are drying up. I've had no new inspiration or motivation to write lately. Maybe I set the bar just too high. Maybe a blog of this caliber has a short shelf life. I can only wonder: Is this the last hurrah?
Any comments or words of inspiration would be helpful. Or maybe I just need a week to recuperate from such a high level of blogging.
Anyway, here are some upcoming events for C/K Pagano:
Thursday: Neil Diamond concert; recording the Biden/Palin debate because that is sure to be train-wreck caliber television
Friday: dinner at Capo to celebrate our first anniversary, and if you can extend us some credit, we'll be needing it
Saturday: USC vs. Oregon, where Cheryl and John owe me one bacon-wrapped hotdog from a street vendor
Sunday: Looks like Michael and Christina (my brother and sister-in-law) are in town with little Nicholas. Looks like the little man is already a Notre Dame fan. Well, I can tell you this: No Christmas present for him!
Any comments or words of inspiration would be helpful. Or maybe I just need a week to recuperate from such a high level of blogging.
Anyway, here are some upcoming events for C/K Pagano:
Thursday: Neil Diamond concert; recording the Biden/Palin debate because that is sure to be train-wreck caliber television
Friday: dinner at Capo to celebrate our first anniversary, and if you can extend us some credit, we'll be needing it
Saturday: USC vs. Oregon, where Cheryl and John owe me one bacon-wrapped hotdog from a street vendor
Sunday: Looks like Michael and Christina (my brother and sister-in-law) are in town with little Nicholas. Looks like the little man is already a Notre Dame fan. Well, I can tell you this: No Christmas present for him!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Tonight's Presidential Debate
As I mentioned earlier, I would comment on it. So let me say this. It was kind of boring and disappointing. Aside from the two slices of pepperoni pizza I had, the Weekend of Pags has been a slight letdown. Let's hope it picks up tomorrow.
A Solid Investment in a Shaky Financial World
As always, posts by readers are encouraged. We here at the blog believe in democracy and freedom of speech, so we promote all reasonable points of view. So if you would like to add something, please send it my way. Thanks.
Here is my friend Mike Yen:
Here is my friend Mike Yen:
Greetings Loyal Readers,
First of all, I must say that it's quite an honor to be the first guest writer on such an esteemed blog. However, I think he's asked me to step in for one of three reasons:
1) He's too lazy to write
2) Kristin's too lazy to write
3) I've been dubbed the Asian Pagano
How did I get such a moniker, you ask? Apparently, we both share the same anal-retentiveness and obsessive compulsiveness which we discovered while going to business school together. But I digress.
While I've could have posted random pictures from Hawaii or random USC - Texas ranking bets I have with my non-existent wife (Pagano, I sure hope that +8 spread cuts both way), he's asked me to write about this mess we call the financial markets.
So, in a time when billions of dollars in shareholder value disappear literally overnight and so-called financial bedrocks crumble before our very eyes, where is an investor to turn? I'm not going to lie, the investment landscape looks pretty grim. While the traditional fund advisors would suggest purchasing shares while they're cheap (and historically the stock market has returned around 8%), the game has significantly changed from those quaint historical times. Investors today dream of a 10% return and would settle for not losing any capital.
Now, I've thought about it long and hard, did many hours of research, and consulted with the finest investing minds. After much discussion, I've found one asset class that should appreciate in value over time - handbags. Not just any handbags - Birkins, to be precise.
DEAD GATOR
Now before you poo-poo the idea, hear me out. For those of you unfamiliar with the Birkin, it is a piece of (most of the times) dead cow with some 17th century saddle maker logo on it. I don't really understand the appeal, but hey, girls have bags, boys have fantasy sports. Whatever. Regardless, pure economics are at play. There's a limited supply and a virtually limitless demand. This indicates a premium pricing opportunity and hence, high returns.
Now, how does one make money from such an asset? 1) through an outright sale or 2) by renting the asset. Based on the increase in retail price (so my friends tell me) and the fact that you’re buying a bag from the 1960s, it seems like the Birkin market is generally robust. So you could potentially flip the bag for a quick buck.
The second option, renting present a potentially more difficult valuation. Based on the market rental rate, the net present value (“NPV”) is significantly positive while the internal rate of return (“IRR”) is an astounding 92.5%! Aside from drug dealing, where else can you find a 90+% return? Both valuation indicators dictate that a purchase should be made.
NPV
IRR
With that, I'm announcing that opening of the Birkin Fund. The objective of the Birkin Fund is to (duh) purchase as many Birkins as possible with an eye towards the renting and eventual resale. Investment horizon is 3-5 years. Best case scenario - a compound annual growth return of 100% (based on the increase in Birkin retail value from 2002 through 2007 and the IRR). Worst case scenario - we liquidate inventory. Which would you rather have, a piece of Lehman Brothers shares or a Birkin?
Signing off,
Mike Yen
Weekend of Pags
Today, Kristin is off to Las Vegas for Kristin Jefferson’s bachelorette party. While they will all be cavorting around town, I will be enjoying the “Weekend of Pags,” which is derived from the “Summer of George” (from Seinfeld): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Summer_of_George
Anyway, these action-packed bachelor weekends for me started in good old Santa Clara. I’d have a weekend to myself when Kristin was gone. I’d get all excited to be on my own, only to be bored by about 11am on Saturday. This is my first weekend alone in Santa Monica, and it is going to be action packed. Here’s the schedule:
Friday: Pick up some good cheap pizza for dinner; I’m carb-loading, of course. Watch the presidential debates. I’m guessing that John McCain completely overwhelms an overmatched Obama due to McCain’s total awesomeness, his being a POW, and Obama being a Muslim terrorist. (I’ll have commentary after the debate tomorrow.) After that, I’ll go to bed early.
Saturday: Go running, take a nap, clean the apartment, watch some episodes of “Lost” (season 4), then go to my old roommate’s birthday party.
Sunday: Watch the Formula1 race from Singapore, go to lunch with my cousin, then watch some football.
So clearly, I’m a big loser. But whatever, since I’m on my own, I get to eat pizza and hamburgers for every meal, so I’m really the big winner here. Anyway, the Weekend of Pags starts in just a day!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Long Time Reader, First Time Blogger
Hi, it's me, Kristin.
I just thought I'd do a post, since Chris has been asking me to do so for quite some time. So I really wanted to concentrate this post on Chris, my utterly brilliant husband who came up with the genius idea to start the best blog ever in the world.
Chris is just an amazing individual. He's super smart, a phenomenal athlete, possibly the funniest person I've ever met, and selflessly charitable. Really, what more is there to say? I'm just speechless thinking about him.
Anyway, I'm glad you're all enjoying the blog. Chris' intent was to bring joy and happiness to the world through his words, and it seems like he's making a difference, one reader at a time.
Since I am very busy playing video games at work all day, I will not be able to post all that often. But I leave you in the very capable hands of Chris. So please, enjoy.
Kristin
**This post may not have been written by Kristin.
I just thought I'd do a post, since Chris has been asking me to do so for quite some time. So I really wanted to concentrate this post on Chris, my utterly brilliant husband who came up with the genius idea to start the best blog ever in the world.
Chris is just an amazing individual. He's super smart, a phenomenal athlete, possibly the funniest person I've ever met, and selflessly charitable. Really, what more is there to say? I'm just speechless thinking about him.
Anyway, I'm glad you're all enjoying the blog. Chris' intent was to bring joy and happiness to the world through his words, and it seems like he's making a difference, one reader at a time.
Since I am very busy playing video games at work all day, I will not be able to post all that often. But I leave you in the very capable hands of Chris. So please, enjoy.
Kristin
**This post may not have been written by Kristin.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Pictures from Hawaii
So Kristin has graciously uploaded pictures from the digital camera onto the computer. (I would have done it, but I don't know how, and I don't intend to learn. She is simply better at uploading pictures, and so I will continue to defer to her.)
We stayed in a house in Poipu on the southern coast of Kauai. Here's the view from the patio.
On our first day, we made an "adventurous" trip onto the rocks to look for sea life. We didn't see much. Of course, we didn't look that hard.
On day 2, we took a monumental hike - six hours to cover just eight miles.
Here's the beach at the halfway mark (2 miles in).
And here's the waterfall at 4 miles in. It took us 3+ hours to get here; it was beautiful. And we stayed for about ten minutes.
Then on Wednesday, we took a boat ride to the other side of the island. We saw some dolphins, went into some caves, and did some snorkeling. The first picture is of our boat running over some dolphins. These dolphins may now be in the tuna you are eating at home.
And here are some pictures that Kristin and I took together. We took about 50 of these, so that Kristin could get the perfect Christmas card picture.
And finally, here are some action shots of Kristin's brother Garrett and his girlfriend Elizabeth. They serve no purpose at all other than that I find them amusing.
Someday, when I stop being so lazy and take the film from the underwater camera to the store, we'll put up some pictures from the innertube ride down the irrigation ditches.
We stayed in a house in Poipu on the southern coast of Kauai. Here's the view from the patio.
On our first day, we made an "adventurous" trip onto the rocks to look for sea life. We didn't see much. Of course, we didn't look that hard.
On day 2, we took a monumental hike - six hours to cover just eight miles.
Here's the beach at the halfway mark (2 miles in).
And here's the waterfall at 4 miles in. It took us 3+ hours to get here; it was beautiful. And we stayed for about ten minutes.
Then on Wednesday, we took a boat ride to the other side of the island. We saw some dolphins, went into some caves, and did some snorkeling. The first picture is of our boat running over some dolphins. These dolphins may now be in the tuna you are eating at home.
And here are some pictures that Kristin and I took together. We took about 50 of these, so that Kristin could get the perfect Christmas card picture.
And finally, here are some action shots of Kristin's brother Garrett and his girlfriend Elizabeth. They serve no purpose at all other than that I find them amusing.
Someday, when I stop being so lazy and take the film from the underwater camera to the store, we'll put up some pictures from the innertube ride down the irrigation ditches.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Missing Blogger
It has come to my attention that the other half of this dynamic duo is missing in action. One might postulate that she has nothing to say, or that she is just lazy, or that she is just too busy at work (she does, in fact, work quite a bit, or at least spends a lot of time at work playing video games, but that's another story for another time). But I am going to go out on a limb and say that she just doesn't care for this blog. And that, my friends, is a shame.
Please send your comments directly to kristin.pagano@yahoo.com and encourage her to contribute to this blog.
Thank you for your support.
Please send your comments directly to kristin.pagano@yahoo.com and encourage her to contribute to this blog.
Thank you for your support.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sports Commentary
I only really like three sports these days:
1. Football
2. Auto racing - everyone makes fun of me for this
3. Ultimate fighting - Kristin doesn't let me watch this whenever she's within a 10-mile radius.
This post will therefore reflect this weekend's events in the world of football.
Ohio State vs. USC: While everyone is talking about USC's dominating performance over the Buckeyes and all the Trojans fans are again talking about another national championship, I am fretting over #7 Texas. As some of you may know, Kristin is a proud alum of the Unversity of Texas. As such, we made a bet. Because USC started 8 spots ahead of Texas in both polls, 8 spots is the handicap for our bet. If Texas finishes 8 spots or less in the rankings behind USC, then Kristin gets to buy a new pair of jeans. If USC finishes 8 spots or more ahead of Texas, then I get a whole carrot cake for myself (I don't have to share, and I can eat it in as many or as few sittings as I so desire). But based on the current rankings, I am losing this bet. I need an improvement of three spots to be in the money on this one. I hope the cake gods are on my side on this one.
San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos: As a Broncos fan, I was happy to see my team pull one out yesterday. Of course, they won because of an erroneous call by the referee in their favor. Now, I do feel bad that the Broncos didn't deserve to win, but Chargers QB Phillip Rivers is a dick, so whatever.
1. Football
2. Auto racing - everyone makes fun of me for this
3. Ultimate fighting - Kristin doesn't let me watch this whenever she's within a 10-mile radius.
This post will therefore reflect this weekend's events in the world of football.
Ohio State vs. USC: While everyone is talking about USC's dominating performance over the Buckeyes and all the Trojans fans are again talking about another national championship, I am fretting over #7 Texas. As some of you may know, Kristin is a proud alum of the Unversity of Texas. As such, we made a bet. Because USC started 8 spots ahead of Texas in both polls, 8 spots is the handicap for our bet. If Texas finishes 8 spots or less in the rankings behind USC, then Kristin gets to buy a new pair of jeans. If USC finishes 8 spots or more ahead of Texas, then I get a whole carrot cake for myself (I don't have to share, and I can eat it in as many or as few sittings as I so desire). But based on the current rankings, I am losing this bet. I need an improvement of three spots to be in the money on this one. I hope the cake gods are on my side on this one.
San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos: As a Broncos fan, I was happy to see my team pull one out yesterday. Of course, they won because of an erroneous call by the referee in their favor. Now, I do feel bad that the Broncos didn't deserve to win, but Chargers QB Phillip Rivers is a dick, so whatever.
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