We spent last week in Miami, and somehow I managed to put on 12 pounds. This all despite the fact that I did the bike portion of Triathlon sprint relay on the first Sunday we were there. Of course, the bike portion only lasted about 30 minutes, but it still counts as exercise. So, I know you are thinking that I spent the entire time hanging out with friends at the bars, but I didn’t, which adds more to the oddness. I did manage to lose about 10 pounds over the last couple of months before going to Miami, but to put it all back on plus some in one week is mind boggling. Anyways…such is life.

So…Barbie and I got there on the red eye on Saturday morning, and proceeded to sleep the morning away. In all honesty, I’m not sure our bodies ever fully transferred over to eastern time since we slept in every morning. Well, the main reason for heading down there in the middle of Summer was not to see how much we could sweat, but so Barbie could see the family during the pregnancy, and could have a baby shower. Jan put on the baby shower, and she did one heck of a job. We are both so thankful to her, and to everyone that attended, not b/c of just being there, but because all the great gifts! (just kidding) Anyways, a quick recap of the week long festivities.

• Played two rounds of 9 hole golf with Dad and didn’t do too bad. Of course, it was an easy course, but still a good time.
• Rented “Glory Road,” “Fun with Dick and Jane,” and “The Matador.” The first two movies were good, and the last was absolutely horrible. Also rented “Collateral” but didn’t get time to watch it.
• Saw “Pirates of the Caribbean II” at the theater and thought it was quite enjoyable.
• Had a great lunch at the “Mandarin Oriental” hotel on the water on Brickell Key.
• Had a horrible dinner at a Boston Market where the food was decent, but the place was absolutely filthy.
• Got 2 good hours of basketball in on Thursday night…only lost one game!
• Barbie bought a ton of maternity clothes at wholesale from a family member’s girlfriend named Maria. Saved at least 50% on all these clothes. I told Barbie with all these clothes, we better have at least two kids
• Two great Italian dinners. One with my parents at “Oggi Caffe,” and the other at “Villagio” with Jon and Jan
• Went car shopping for a new car for me. Test drove the Honda Pilot, Toyota Sequoia and Lexus G470. Not sure what to get yet, but I’ll keep you posted.
• Went to my second cousin’s 5th birthday party. You’ve never seen a kid so excited…Happy B-Day Elisabeth.
• Got 3rd place in a Triathlon sprint relay as part of the soon to be famous “Red Eye Tri Team”…we got a trophy!

I’m sure there a few things I have left out, so I apologize if I left you out. All in all a great time with the family. You just can’t beat family!

p.s. Special thanks to Alan & Jeanne for picking us up at the airport.

If you know who Abbott and Costello are, you are going to appreciate this one…

In today’s world, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello’s famous sketch “Who’s on first?” might have turned out something like this….

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT . . .

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store.
Can I help you?

COSTELLO: Thanks.
I’m setting up an office in my den and
I’m thinking about buying a computer.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: No, the name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: Your computer?
&nbs! p; COSTELLO: I don’t own a computer.
I want to buy one.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: I told you, my name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: What about Windows?

COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?

ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?

COSTELLO: I don’t know.
What will I see when I look in the windows?

ABBOTT: Wallpaper.

COSTELLO: Never mind the windows.
I need a computer and software.

ABBOTT: Software for Windows?

COSTELLO: No. On the computer!
I need something I can use to write proposals,
track expenses and run my business.
What have you got?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office.
Can you recommend anything?

ABBOTT: I just did.

COSTELLO: Yo! u just did what?

ABBOTT: Recommend something.

COSTELLO: You recommended something?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: For my office?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!

ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.

COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows!
OK, lets just say I’m sitting at my computer and
I want to type a proposal. What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: Word in Office.

COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.

ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?

ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue “W”.

COSTELLO: I’m going to click your blue “w” if you don’t
start with some straight answers.
OK, forget that
Can I watch movies on the Internet?

ABBOTT: Yes, you want Real One.

COSTELLO: Maybe a real one, maybe a cartoon.
What I watch is none of your business.
Just tell me what I need!

ABBOTT: Real One.

COSTELLO: If it’s a long movie I also want to see reel
2,3,&4.
Can I watch them?

ABBOTT: Of course.

COSTELLO: Great! With what?

ABBOTT: Real One

COSTELLO: OK, I’m at my computer and ! I want to watch a
movie.
What do I do?

ABBOTT: You click the blue “1″.

COSTELLO: I click the blue one what?

ABBOTT: The blue “1″.

COSTELLO: Is that different ! from the blue w?

ABBOTT: The blue “1″ is Real One and the blue “W” is
Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: But there’s three words in “office for windows”!

ABBOTT: No, just one. But it’s the most popular Word in
the world.

COSTELLO: It is?

ABBOTT: Yes, but to be fair, there aren’t many other
Words left.
It pretty much wiped out a! ll the other Words out there.

COSTELLO: And that word is real one?

ABBOTT: Real One has nothing to do with Word.
Real One isn’t even part of Office.

COSTELLO: STOP! Don’t start that again.
What about financial bookkeeping?
You have anything I can track my money with?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: That’s right. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?

ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer

COSTELLO: What’s bundled with my computer?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?

ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.

COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How
much?

ABBOTT: One copy.

COSTELLO: Isn’t it illegal to copy money?

ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy money.

COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?

ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

A FEW DAYS LATER . .

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store.
Can I help you?

COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?

ABBOTT: Click on “START”……….

GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:

1) No matter how hard you try, you can’t baptize cats.
2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don’t let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don’t hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can’t trust dogs to watch your food.
6) Don’t sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
You can’t hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don’t wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10) The best place to be when you’re sad is Grandpa’s lap.

GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED:

1) Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.
2) Wrinkles don’t hurt.
3) Families are like fudge…mostly sweet, with a few nuts.
4) Today’s mighty oak is just yesterday’s nut that held its ground.
5) Laughing is good exercise. It’s like jogging on the inside.
6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.

GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT GROWING OLD

1) Growing up is mandatory; growing old is optional.
2) Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.
3) When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you’re down there.
4) You’re getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.
5) It’s frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.
6) Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician.
7) Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.

THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE:

1) You believe in Santa Claus.
2) You don’t believe in Santa Claus.
3) You are Santa Claus.
4) You look like Santa Claus.

SUCCESS:

At age 4 success is . . not peeing in your pants.
At age 12 success is . having friends.
At age 16 success is . . having a drivers license.
At age 35 success is . . . having money.
At age 50 success is . . . having money.
At age 70 success is . . . having a drivers license.
At age 75 success is . . . having friends.
At age 80 success is . . . not peeing in your pants.

The infamous Zidane head butt during the finals of the World Cup is now all over the news, but did you ever stop to think that people from around the world might have a different perspective on what they saw?

Read the rest of this entry »

Cisco (CSCO) is now one of the examples of stock quotes on Google’s finance site. It used to have Apple (AAPL), but they have been replace with a much better company. Again, Google is leading the way in providing the best content on the web.

Click on the image to the right to see what I am referring to. Look at the top center under where you would insert your stock symbol, and you will see the “CSCO” as an example.

Check out the author of Dilbert using some Cisco technology.

Dilbert on your Desktop

So, unlesss you are blind, you have noticed a new look and feel for my site. I am torn between using Wordpress and Drupal, so right now I am trying out Wordpress. It is a 100% blogging tool, whereas Drupal is an all encompassing tool, but much more complex. So, we will see what happens. Let me know what you think and if you find anything odd or missing.  I know the pics of the books I’ve read are missing, so I’ve got to try and resolve that, but everything else looks OK.

Unless you have been living under a rock that last few weeks, you probably knew that the World Cup of Soccer had been going on. Unfortunately for Barbie and I, it came a year to late as it is being hosted by Germany this year, so that would have been fun to be there for that. To give you an idea just how many people watch this, take this into consideration. Last year, the Superbowl, which is considered the most watched event in the US got approximately 100 million viewers. Now, during the selection of the World Cup teams, i.e. the drawing to determine which groups they were going to be assigned, the World Cup had 325 million viewers! And to top that, during the finals of the World Cup back in 2002, they had an estimated 1.1 billions viewers, 11 times that of the Superbowl.

So, now that you understand the importance of the tournament, and what a grand stage this is, you would think everything about the game itself would be at the highest level possible. Well, I personally think the entire soccer world should be ashamed of the events that unfolded. We all know that in every sport, people are going to make mistakes, or try to get calls from referees, etc., but in soccer, it is bordering on comedy. Players fall, scream, grab their ankle, get taken off by a stretcher, then the replay comes in and shows they weren’t even touched! Of course the referees fall for it over and over, so the players keep doing it. I saw at least 2 or 3 games where one of these catastrophies happened “in the box,” which means in the goalie box and will result in a penalty kick for the other team, which results in a goal probably 85-90% of the time. So, if you are the referee, you should be 100% certain there was a foul to call something in the box. Heck, I even propose that all fouls in the box be “under review” just like in the NFL, because a goal is just so valuable. Australia was absolutely robbed against Italy b/c of a horrible call. If you are a soccer fan, and these are your heroes, I feel sorry for you.

Now, let me say that the semi-finals and finals matches had the best referees in there, and they didn’t take anything from the players. Players were falling and flailing and complaining through the first 30 minutes of the game, but when they realized the ref wasn’t buying it, they actually started to play normal. Kudos to those 3 referees.

Of course, we can’t forget about the Final match between Italy and France. Great match all around, except for a bad call in the box which resulted in a penalty kick and goal for France (their only score), but the ref made up for it by not calling a legitimate foul in the 2nd half, so all is forgiven. Of course the highlight, or lowlight, depending on your view, was France’s best player Zenadine Zidane head butting an Italian player in the chest for apparantely making some serious derogatory remarks about his mother or sister or wife (who knows). Either way, it was unbelievable that a guy who was going to retire, would have his career ending go from possibly winning a world cup to being ejected and watching his team lose on PKs (penalty kicks).

Finally, I will give a token nod to the USA, who managed to tie the champions Italy during their group play with a score of 1-1. Of course, Italy scored on themselves, but it is still a tie in the record books.

And to all my Italian friends…congratulations on winning the 2006 World Cup!

A few friends and family of mine work at Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson (SWMWAS), and I just wanted to say congratulations to them and their firm for winning one of the largest, if not the largest, settlements in history. They initially won a $1.1 billion dollar settlement against EXXON, but had to fight against other law firms who were to split the “attorney fees.” EXXON had already paid their fee, now it was just a matter of splitting the attorney fees’ pie. Luckily, SWMWAS won the majority of the settlement, which ended up being $249 Million! So, congrats to them, and if you work there, I expect dinner on you next time I am in Miami!

Law Firm Scores $249 Million Payday in ExxonMobil Class Action

With the Tour de France on the horizon, I decided to read Lance Armstrong’s first book, “It’s not about the bike.” I had always been told this was his best book, and it didn’t disappoint. I thought the book was going to be a little bit about his fight with cancer, with the majority of it being about cycling, but it was the exact opposite. This is probably the reason why the book was such a success, b/c he didn’t focus on his athletic ability, but his struggles, which probably relates to a lot of families out there. Armstrong is one of those Type A personalities, who won’t be told no, and that is part of the reason he has been so successful in cycling, and formerly triathlons. I don’t know if it had something to do with his recovery from cancer, but I’m sure it didn’t hurt. The most amazing thing is that he went from feeling like an indestructible person one day, to having surgery 3 days later to remove the cancer. Talk about having your life turned upside down. One day you are on top of the world, and the next you are fighting for your life.

One thing that this book was able to show was that you should always look for a second opinion. Luckily for Lance, a doctor that was familiar with his cycling career, and just happened to mail him a letter offering any advice he wanted. Because of this, Lance was able to get a second, and even 3rd opinion, on the best way to treat his cancer, which eventually saved his cycling career. Apparantely, there are different levels of chemotherapy, most of which will totally wipe you out, rendering your lungs very weak, and they will never be able to recover. As a pro cyclist, this would obviously end Armstrong’s career, assuming he survived in the first place. Luckily for him, another doctor recommended a separate type of chemo which wouldn’t hurt his lungs as much, and thanks to this option, Lance was able to go on to become a 7 time back to back Tour de France winner.

The book is a very quick read, and one I’d recommend if you have any interest in cycling, or if you want to learn a little bit about cancer and the procedures that a patient must go through. It’ll help give you a good perspective as to what Lance really has gone through, which makes his cycling accomplishments that much more impressive.

In case you didn’t know it, Lance was a triathlete first. Here is a fun video of Lance competing in a national sprint championship back in 1989: Lance as a Triathlete