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Donate to the YMCA
Posted on December 27, 2014 by Brian under Life.
Please help us to raise money to support the YMCA.
Thank you.
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The Changing Times
Posted on January 26, 2014 by Brian under Life, Outfits.
Many years ago before I met my wonderful wife, back when I didn’t know any better. I professed that I would never own a suit. Back then I never thought I would ever need one. I had not needed one in the past and I never saw myself in a career path that would require me to wear a suit every day.
Fast forward to a few years after we get married. I find myself in a position that I need a suit. My wife, a firm supporter of the “Dress for the job you want” philosophy in life, persuaded me to finally “Man Up” and get a suit, and I did. I now own three suits: a dark gray one, classic black, and a pin-striped one. And, I can tell you with the upmost certainty, I look fantastic in my suits!
Now fast forward to present day. My wife has again persuaded me to do something that I told myself I would never want, need, or desire ever in my life… buy a tuxedo. Today I get to go and get fitted for a tux for an upcoming black tie event. I spent a good deal of time last night trying to convince her that I do not need a tux, that I can just wear my black suit and get a black tie (get it, black tie event, lol) but after a few moments and several web page searches that defined black tie attire, she made the decision that we would buy me a tux.
This morning I told her that when I’m 50 will probably be the next time I wear the tux and I will be one of those old guys that suck in his gut and are proud of the fact that they can still fit (though barely) into their old tux.
I guess I need to embrace change instead of fighting it. So in order to embrace this change, I’m going to take a series of James Bond inspired pictures when I get my tux. Stay tuned!
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Grandma’s ER Room Adventure
Posted on January 5, 2014 by Brian under Family, Health.
Shortly after the New Year my Grandmother fell in her apartment. When she called me she said she had fell and broke her wrist. I immediately called 911 and had an ambulance sent to her apartment. When I got there the EMS were already on site and I let them into her place. We stabilized her arm and got her to the emergency room. This is where the fun started.
Normally my parents are the ones who get called, but my dad works for Boeing and he now works in Oklahoma. So this was my first time doing this and I was unprepared. Once we got to the ER they got her in a room and started asking her questions. We went through the normal ones like what how many surgeries have you had, when was the last one and so on. Then they asked her about her medications and after we went through all of those she pointed out that she can’t take a series of pain killers because she has an allergic reaction to them. Then he asked if she drank. She said she likes a glass of wine from time to time. Then he asks if she does any recreational drugs, without missing a beat she said “Yes!” I started to laugh. The nurse looked at her strangely, then she took a moment and processed the question in her head and realized what he really asked.
You see, she thought she heard “Do you recreationally drink?” And she answered accordingly. When she processed the actual question she started back paddling to correct herself. Then we all had a good laugh. It’s good when you can take a moment like a broken wrist and hip and still have a good laugh.
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Goals for 2014!
Posted on January 1, 2014 by Brian under Life.
My wife and I decided a long time ago that we would not make New Years resolutions but instead make New Years Goals. In the past she has been better at achieving her goals than me. But in 2014 I wanted goals that we both could accomplish.
Here is a list of our 2014 Goals.
1. Eat Better: Last year we started off OK, but as the year progressed we slipped more and more, eating out a lot and not making health choices. The fall out has finally caught up with us in the form of weight gain. This year I want to eat out far less, No more than once a month. This means we will have to say no a lot. Hopefully our family and friends will understand.
2. Exercise More: In 2012 my wife and I both met our weight loss goals. However, in 2013 we slowly watched those goals wither away and the weight come back. I blame no one but ourselves. We both have busy lives with work and such and we both traveled a lot last year, so making time to work out was difficult. In 2014, we will need to overcome these hurdles. Make time to workout, even if it’s just doing push-ups and sit-ups in the basement at home.
3. Save Money: This is a big one for us. We have some money in savings but I really want us to build up a nice little nest egg. I grew up in a family that had little in the amount of savings. My wife and I were in a large amount of debt several years ago and we pulled ourselves out of it and have worked very hard to stay debt free. However, I think we have room for improvement.
4. Shop Less: This falls in line with the previous goal. In order to save more you will need to shop less. We let this get away from us last year (and a little the year before that) but in 2014 we need to reign this in and focus more on the saving and less on the spending.
5. Sleep Better: This is something that I personally struggle with. I tend to have a problem going to sleep, I just can’t seem t turn my mind off sometimes. I also struggle with staying asleep. I am one of those people that need absolute silence to sleep comfortably. in 2014 I want to see ups going to bed early (8:30 or 9:00 PM) and wake up early (around 5:00 AM), well rested and ready to tackle the day. I have learned that there are a lot of things that you can struggle with if you don’t get a good nights sleep. Memory is one of them and I have a really bad one.
Hopefully together my wife and I can achieve these goals. Some might find them silly or not worth the effort but we both feel that you should always have goals in life. It makes you productive, attentive and gives you something to work for.
What are your 2014 goals!
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Our New Roof
Posted on September 24, 2013 by Brian under Home Ownership.
Back in May of this year we had a really big storm that rolled through and damaged a lot of property around the city.
I had considered myself lucky because I didn’t have any visible damage, unlike some of our friends who’s homes looked like they have been perforated by a series of shotgun blasts. As the months progressed I had started to notice the gravel that covers the shingles had started to deposit in the driveway. It looked like I wasn’t so lucky after all.
My wife had been taking a Spanish class at the Rec center that she teaches Zumba at. During her classes she had made friends with a guy that worked for Dolphin Roofing, a locally owned and operated Roofing contractor. She recommended I ask him to come take a look at the roof. Me being a person that researches companies before I let them do any work for me decided to do a little research on Dolphin. They turned out to be a really good company. They are BBB Accredited and have an excellent history in the city.
From the start Dolphin was on top of things. They started by coming over and looking at the roof, they respected that I wanted to be there for it because I like to learn about this stuff. I think that learning about these things can help me be a better homeowner in the future. Plus, if I move and have to use a different contractor, they may not be as good and the knowledge I gain from the previous contractor can help me to see that.
Dolphin advised that there was indeed damage to the roof and that I should call the Insurance company and file a claim. Then Dolphin did something that I had never seen a company do before. They sat on the call with me while I talked to the Insurance company. Providing advice and insight as we filled out all of the insurance requirements. When we were done he laid out what was going to happen next with the Adjustor.
A few days later the Adjustor came by. Me being me, I was there for that as well. Again, Dolphin Surprised me. The owner of the company showed up to make sure that the adjuster was not only through but fair with his adjustment, this was something I had never seen from a company. Again, Dolphin explained everything and made me feel confident that not only was my roof going to get fixed, but it was going to be fixed right and that they would be there until the end and wouldn’t consider the job done until I was happy.
A few weeks later we were off and running with the roof replacement. The guys at Dolphin came out, and did an excellent job with the roof. I had lots of questions and they didn’t hesitate to answer them. It made me feel good that we had such qualified people working on our home.
Here are a few picture of the roof from my perspective.
Once the job was done they did an excellent job of making sure that there was no trash or nails left behind. With the exception of the new roof, you would never know they had been there.
I have to give it up to the guys that were up on the roof too. I went up there with one of the guys from Dolphin to look at the damage and just about didn’t get down. However, the guys at Dolphin are really nice. Instead of making fun of me fore being scared of heights, he showed me the safest and easiest way to get on and off the roof without hurting myself.
Here are a few pictures that the Dolphin guys took for me.
I really wanted to get some pictures of the work from up close and the Dolphin Guys knew I was scared of heights so they took some pictures for me and sent them to me later. I tell you these guys are not like any other company. They really take care of you.
This week the gutters are getting put in and their gutter guy called me and advised me that he had a color that matched my trim work better. I wasn’t sure so he left me a sample of the gutter along with a color pallet to look at so I could compare my current gutter color with the others he suggested. Most companies wouldn’t have taken the time to ask, they would have just thrown up the color you told them to and moved on.
I am so grateful that we found Dolphin Roofing. They have been professional, courteous, informative and an all around great company to work with. If you ever need anything on your house done call them first, they do more than just roofing.
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