Between living a full time job, and all the part time work, my days are full. Add the fact that there is so much family stuff going on and I’m not sure that there is anything that can be considered free time.

Jon is on the Junior Varsity Volleyball Team this year at East. Though they are not the strongest team out there, and it has been a pleasure watching him in the games that I have been able to attend. I don’t even really mind the full Saturdays lost because of it. He has grown on the team, and and because of that, has grown more as an individual. Another way to prepare for life.

Michele has an interview this coming week for an almost full time position at a Junior High School in Naperville for the upcoming school year. It would be a grand thing if she were to get it. She is so driven and wants so much to get back into the work force to use her skills as both teacher and mom to help students further reach their goals. I’m very proud of her and believe that she will soon reach her goals.

Devin isn’t in any sports currently. But he is becoming pretty good in technology, and and like his dad, and doing it on his own. In my mind, and that’s the best way to do things. Get some direction, and and then explore for yourself.

Work is going along. Last year, and I was one of the few chosen as Epsilon Excellence Award Winners for 2011. There is a dinner and a $5000 travel certificate that go along with it. Maybe the wife and I can go off and hide somewhere!

that i am able to start, and finish things in a more timely manner, and limit my distractions as much as possible. you would think that something like this is just easy… but it’s not. there are so many things that draw us to interruption. the want to help. the needs by others. people thinking that their need is more important than yours. and as much as you hate to admit it, sometimes yours really isn’t that important, and then you take it on. so my goal really ends up, working to get back to the original thing that i started that i need to complete.

now. i also wish that the folks in the united states, the land that i love very much, learn to come together. starting with the congress. last year was an embarrassment. the way that congress moves to what’s right for themselves and not really for their constituents.

i don’t really believe in polls. look what they have done to the republican party. do we really trust any of them? they say what we want to hear, and then say what someone else wants to hear. the wind changes direction less than our current flock of politicians.

president obama has tried to fulfill what his promises were. and we voted for him to do so. sure. some of the things that he took on were hard. some made me unhappy. but his attempts were valid. his ideas were some that have been floating around, within both parties, for years. yet because he was leading the charge, they became bad things. at least to some. why exactly was that? good luck with an answer.

i cheer for the president. i hope that congress can make amends. i know that with election season upon us, nothing will get done.

to all my friends out there… have a happy and safe 2012. may the year be filled with everything you want and hope for!

sincerely…

Members of the “super committee” charged with coming up with $1.2 trillion in budget cuts are focused on how to announce failure to reach a deal, Democratic and Republican aides confirmed to CNN Sunday.

While aides said no final decision had been made, they acknowledged that barring an unforeseen development, an announcement of no deal is likely.

Talks on trying to reach a deficit reduction agreement are essentially over and discussions are focused on a Monday announcement, a senior Democratic aide said.

To stave off automatic spending cuts known as a sequester, the super committee was tasked with proposing ways to reduce deficits by at least $1.2 trillion over 10 years. At least seven of its 12 members would have to approve a plan in order to send it to the House and Senate in the form of legislation.

Then, both chambers would vote on the bill without amendment by December 23. For the plan to pass, a simple majo rity in each chamber would have to vote in favor.

Failure to pass any agreement could result in $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts across much of the federal budget starting in 2013, evenly divided between defense and nondefense spending. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Congress this week that such cuts could cripple the American military establishment.

Since Congress made the law governing the sequester, it can also amend or repeal it, as some lawmakers are suggesting. 

why am i not suprised. 

On a Saturday afternoon.

here is a paper camera photo of my far better half, taken on my t-bolt…

michele

as well, my middle son turns 17 this month. 10.18.2011. not quite his golden birthday, but, only another year!

and lastly. my dad turns 81 on the 11th. 81. just think of the things he’s seen. from radio to satellite. cars with crank starters, to keys you leave in your pocket. to this day, it is still a thrill to listen to stories from then as compared to now.

here is a gallery of some shots from the month! enjoy!

we are into our second day of garage sale-ing. so far? it’s been ok. what’s left heads to goodwill this afternoon.

my moms boyfriend passed away a couple weeks ago. leaves my brother in a tight spot. but he’ll figure it out.

kids are in arizona. 2 weeks vacation for the parents. usually, after the first week, the missing them thing starts. i’m sure that will happen this time as well.

in june, the company i work for was sold. we belong to a global public company now. so far, very limited changes but the changes that i am aware of, will change my lively-hood. at this point, i don’t know if it will be for the better, or worse.

the elantra experience is still a great experience. i did a road trip towards the end of june to some automobile races in elkhart lake wisconsin. mileage was 40+ per gallon which was excellent. i still average 30+ round town, though with the heat we’ve had, 29 was my last.

got the windows tinted on it to cool it off a bit. the guy that did them did a superb job. i would recommend him to anyone that asks.

After the tint job was complete.

my better half is still looking for gainful employment. anyone see/know of a math or social sciences job in the area of aurora for 6-8 graders? please let she or i know.

still running with andriod. best new app? spotify. holy cow. mate that to a blutooth connection, and my car is now better than having an xm/sirius connection. makes me very happy. want my lists? srratcliffe. want to see a list of my favorite andriod apps? click on the andriod page above or click here if you are lazy…:)

we have a new puppy in the house. something we didn’t need, but decided on anyway. she’s cute and somewhat funny, but taking too much of my wife’s time as far as i see. they do keep each other busy.

wtf is with our politicians? why can’t we agree on anything? is the limit raising a hoax, or is it real? imagine if you were sitting at your kitchen table and having the kind of fights that the government is having now. as it is, nothing would get done. and so it is in our dysfunctional government. what a waste.

using the idiot gauge on the dash, I can play with ‘eco mode’. and so I do. my goal? get to 35mpg. where I am today? 33.4. in city travel. pretty good actually. and I kind of enjoy it.

here, probably for me, is a chart of the elantra and the altima. don’t get me wrong. I miss the altima (not quite as much as I miss the charger…). just to show the differences…

for the elantra, it was the month of march, 2011. for the altima, march 2010. bout as close as I can get to comparing apples. no. probably not exact, but still, pretty impressive.

the music was an add by me. the original was worse… trust me…

those were the days. weren’t they? you can go here to see…

do I look like a dork or what???

still in search of trying to find ways to cheapen my life, I looked into trading cars again. I started this in february. my wife had seen some adds and was enamored with the hyundai sonata. I like it too, but the mileage was the same as my altima. that makes no sense to move out of. but then I noticed that the elantra was very high in mileage. so I went and looked at one. pretty nice ride. lots of things for the money, and getting more things wasn’t that much more. I did want an upgraded stereo. I like my music.

so. march 1st, I traded the altima in for a 2011 elantra. you can view i t here:

it’s called titanium grey. the best part? right now, I am getting 28.1 to the gallon. the altima was a solid 22.5. I’ve stepped up. all this data is fed into an andriod app call acar. it gives me a real picture over time, and so far, the car is everything I could have expected. drives nice. has room for the kids. big trunk. will hook up with bluetooth. it’s a nice car. my insurance went down a hundred a year, and the payments went down as well. so far? a happy camper. less than $5 a day to drive to and from work, all in. nice…

I also upgraded phones as mine was up for a change. thank you verizon. I opted for an htc thunderbolt. so far, especially for the 4g:lte service, I like it. I have a problem with the placement of the power cord, especially when I am charging it and using it at the same time. the kickstand that comes with it is cool, but sucks for landscape, when being charged. I have no idea why they didn’t change that around somehow. maybe it’s because they are going to release a desktop dock, for somewhere in the neighborhood of $60. seems a bit steep to me. but the features of the phone are grand. some, better than the droid.

past that, march was a normal month. worked. played. laughed. cried. all things considered, except for the return to winter temperatures, things are grand.

hope this finds you doing well.

till then… peace…