Joe and Jamie's Blog

Around this time last year we had a robin make a nest in the back of the house. It found a little nook on top of a bend in the gutter leader that is next to a floodlight. Well we started to notice twigs and sticks all over the deck again. We looked up and there she was, same robin using the same spot. I guess it works well for her, she had three chicks last year. I had to clean off the top of the air conditioner the other day that was in a nearby window. I was able to go high enough up to see some eggs in the nest, about 2-4 of them I would say, I couldn’t see inside the entire nest. Didn’t have the camera for that shot, only some Windex and paper towels. You can view the post from last year here. I will try and get some shots of the chicks once the hatch.

Keep those babies warm!

On Sunday Jamie and I went to our third MLS game. It wasn’t as hot out as the last time we went there, so we didn’t really come back as lobsters this time which was nice. The NY Red Bulls had possession of the ball for most of the game and had really great opportunities, but they never put the ball in the net. Right at the end of the first half, with only about thirty seconds left, the Chicago Fire scored the only goal of the game. Therefore the NY Red Bulls lost 1-0. So far they are 2-6-3 for the season. You can watch the video highlights from the game here. I remembered to take some pictures this time to share with everyone, so enjoy.

Today I had a chance to go down to the registrar at the college and finally fill out my graduation paperwork. I don’t really know why I slacked off last semester and didn’t do it then, but here I am now and its filled out.

What does this mean? It means I can officially call myself a college graduate. I worked hard over these past four years going to school and work, more than one job during most of it too. I earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Computer Information Systems and an Associate of Science degree in Information Management. While I was at it, I earned a certificate in Web Administration too.

I have three other certificates I am working on. All I need is one class waivered per certificate and I will have all three to add to my list. They would be in Computer Networking, Computer Software Support, and Business Programming.  I know my professor will waive these classes for me, I have taken almost every class in his department (not kidding). Also it’s not really my fault that the courses I am missing haven’t run in over five years. I hope I can meet with him soon to go over things and don’t have to wait until August to see him again.

I am off to do a little celebrating, very minor scale. Today was a really good day. Nice and sunny with a feeling of accomplishment in the air.

I was rummaging through old posts and realized that around this time last year Jamie and I both stopped smoking.

Well we both have made it one full year with no slips. We went completely cold turkey and are still smoke free. I must say it feels good to stick to something this beneficial. It also helps looking at today’s cigarette prices, glad I’m not paying near $8 a pack.

Here’s a link to our post from day zero of no smoking. Congratulations to us!

This post is a little late, but this week was actually pretty busy. Sunday 4/26 we went to our second MLS game. I really enjoy going down there and thinking about getting an eight game pack of tickets for next year. The ride is an easy hour and fifteen minutes and the seats I have are really great, midfield-ish on the isle.

The NY Red Bulls faced D.C. United. First half was dull, 1-0 DC at the end. The Red Bulls came out in the second half and scored two goals within twenty minutes, taking the lead. One was a really cool header goal off a corner kick. Unfortunately in the last two minutes of the game DC tied the game up on a stupid goal that should have never went in. The goalie just watched the ball bounce in the goal, it was truely pathetic for a professional. Now we went into three minutes of extra time due to game stoppage, and guess what, DC scored again on another lame goal, winning the game. I couldn’t believe it, it was like they didn’t even try to stop them.

Maybe the next game they will win, they aren’t so hot this year, 1-4-2 so far. Last year they were the conference champions, go figure. You can watch this game’s highlights here.

Saturday night Jamie, her sister Casey and her husband Andrew, and myself drove down to Giants Stadium to watch the NY Red Bulls play against Real Salt Lake in an MLS (Major League Soccer) match. This was the first any of us had seen live, we have watched a few on TV before. The stadium wasn’t really packed, only about 8,500 attended which is apparently normal for soccer in this country. The Red Bulls won 2-0. You can watch the highlights of the game here. There was one amazing play by the Red Bulls defender. He stopped a goal by leaping into the goal and kicking the ball out before he or it touched the ground, negating the goal. Truly amazing talent right there, I couldn’t believe it when I saw it.

Overall the game was a fun experience. Our seats where almost midfield and half way up the section, so we were able to see almost the entire field without having to move our heads much. I was able to nab the isle seats as well so we were a bit more comfortable. Glad I purchased tickets to four more games. If you want to read up on the match you can here.

Saturday was an exciting day. Not only did we have the MLS game to go to, but Verizon came to install FiOS for our TV and internet. I am very happy we finally are getting digital cable plus consistent internet speeds with great upload speeds. You can view my post where I was very disappointed with Time Warner here.

The installation process took around four hours for completion. That includes the guy running the cable from the pole to the house, mounting and activating the box on the house, and then checking the signal strength to each TV before plugging in the cable boxes. We are lucky that the FiOS terminal is the pole right in front of our house, makes for an easy setup when you are the main pole for the area.

Our installer Darrell was very neat and knowledgeable. He did an excellent and thorough job. I have some pictures of him connecting the wire to the pole and the box on the outside of the house. I helped him where I could since I am interested in all that sort of stuff. Learned a lot about how they deliver the fiber that day.

I haven’t been home all weekend besides just being here for the install to know how great the TV service has been. I know its nice to finally put our HD TV’s to use. Today I really tested the internet. I have been uploading and downloading files all day to see if the speeds slow down at any point, and they don’t. We have the same download speeds as Time Warner, but ten times the upload speed. We got the internet bundle with the 20/5MB speeds. What is great is they can always increase the speed dramatically if I want and guarantee the speed consistently. Here is the new speed test from www.speedtest.net while on FiOS.

Time to head down to the Time Warner office now and return the equipment.

When we purchased our BlackBerry Storms earlier in the month we were both worried about scratching the screens. I was used to the Treo screen which wasn’t as sensitive as these full touch screens. I hate those peel away plastic pieces that you can replace, they just never look good and get dirty and messy quickly. Plus they cost about $10 just for three of them, what a rip off.

Invisible Shield by Zagg Inc for BlackBerry Storm

I ordered the Invisible Shield by Zagg Inc. to protect our screens. The Invisible Shield is a military grade film that is pre-cut to fit the device. Once applied and dried, it is 100% scratch proof for life. Don’t believe me? Check out the video. I have had this on for a week now and it is 100% invisible. The only reason I know its there is because I put it on. Truly a quality product.

Now I would never try that on my phone, but I believe it. So far any mark I thought I had on the phone I was able to just wipe off the Invisible Shield. It was really tough to get fingerprints off the screen before the shield, but now I just gently rub it with a towel or cloth and it comes off.

If you have a Storm and are interested in this product, it can be viewed/purchased here. Don’t have a Storm but want to protect your phone/iPod/laptop/etc? They have thousands of applications to fit almost everything. Check it out at Zagg’s website. This is not just a screen protector, it can also come with full body pieces to protect the entire phone/device. I chose just to get the screen protector because I can live with the back of the phone having a scratch.