The Mark Of Diego

When I get home I usually place my camera on my side table by the bed, I figure that's a safe place to leave it... Or is it? Many times when I am going to download the pictures in the computer I start seeing a lot of images that I know for a fact were not taken by me.

Some are interesting and some are not but for sure non of them were targeted at a specific subject. Call it abstract art if you will. I also find out that my batteries have been drained of their power therefore making my next great shot an imposibility. Trust me it has happened that I'm ready to take a picture and the damn camera shuts off.

So who is this this photography afficionado that takes so many of this shots? How come I can't ever catch him in flagrante? I would like to talk to him and maybe talk him into starting his own photo blog so that he can display his talents and show them to the world. Maybe even battle me in the BOTB against my Arizona... photo blog.

So far he has proven to be very elusive, it's obvious that he is quick and that his trigger or in this case button happy fingers are trully fast. He goes in does the job and gets out with a quick and well planned getaway plan.

Well his luck run out because the last time he went and used my camera he left his signature all over it and the evidence undeniably points towards only one culprit.

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Did You Say Bang?

"La primer metida de pata". For those of you that are not bilingual this is the story of my first snafu of the year last year. My niece started a family newsletter four years ago to be given out on Christmas Day and this story was part of that newsletter, therefore I could not published it before. Anyway here's the story as I remember it a year later.

It was payday weekend for Jr. and Michelle so they decided to go to the outlet stores in Casa Grande and spend some of their hard earned cash. Diego (my grandson) loved to watch the "Dora The Explorer" cartoons and as you may imagine some of his Christmas presents for that year were Dora related. So while shopping, Michelle and Junior found this inflatable Dora toy and bought it for him. As soon as Junior came home he blew it up and gave it to him, immediately Diego started playing with it.

Diego also had an inflatable hammer, and he was constantly banging it against everything in his path. So Diego tought he could do the same with Dora. Needless to say poor Dora's strenght gave up in a matter of minutes and that was the end of Dora the inflatable toy.

The following day "mi chica" treated the whole family (all nine of us) to go and have brunch at Cracker Barrel and some one brought up the conversation of the Dora toy. Because I saw how he punctured it I said outloud and let me stress this, I said this very innocently. "Oh yes, Diego was banging Dora all over the house", everyone started laughing and people sitting next to us kindda looked my way. It took me a few seconds to realize that my innocent statement fell into some very dirty minds. The guys laughed for the next ten minutes straight. I don't usually blush but that one Sunday morning I did.

True Story!

Cars Are More Than Just Transportation

Back in 1977 my sister used to own a black 1966 Mustang Fastback that was a dream to drive. It just so happened that she used to work exactly a short block away from where we used to live so she didn't have the need for a car. She used it mostly on the weekends and then she would only go out if she had my parents permission.


Being the good brother that I am, I told her that I would exerciese her car daily by driving it to school. I used to live in Los Angeles but attended high school in Huntington Park. I was required to take two buses to go to school so driving her car was the ticket. I was only 17 years old then.

One morning we woke up as usual, my parents used to leave the house before I did so when they came in running back into the house I knew something was wrong. They were bringing the bad news that my sister's car had been stolen over night, the thieves must have pushed it because the car had the loudest pipes around and nobody heard a thing.

Unfortunately it was never recovered, the cops told us as they were taking the report that cars as nice as the one we had are smuggled across the border complete, and not chopped in a chop chop. Since then I have had many cars but I always longed for the lost Mustang.

In 1999 "mi chica" and her dad took my van to Mexico and when they were driving back the engine gave up. I had to go pick them up all the way to Douglas, Arizona. The van stayed there and was fixed by some local mechanics, the van just barely runned so I started going to dealierships to scope what would be my next car.

I went to a local Ford dealer and saw a beautiful Mustang convertible, it was late on Saturday so I came home told "mi chica" about it and decided to go see it the next morning so we could test drive it. On Sunday we got there in the afternoon only to find out that the car had been sold and was gone.

Two weeks later I went to another Ford dealer and told the salesman that I was looking for a Mustang but had to be a certain price. The ones he had were too expensive and not really what I wanted. He said unless you have your heart set on this particular model, I can show you one that I have in the back lot, except this is an older model but it's very nice and has a 5.0 under the hood.

We walked all the way to the back lot and there at the end was a dusty but beautiful white 1993 Mustang convertible. I wasn't even close to it yet and I already knew this was going to be my car. The test drive was just a mere joyride because I was sold as soon as I saw it.

My 93 is still my only car, I drive it everyday and it has seen many miles with me, appeared in many local parades, been to several shows and actually won many trophies. Unfortunately it's starting to show it's age. The dream is that a 2005 will soon (soon can be a year or two) grace my garage, but for now my trusty 93 is still king.

Oh, I told "mi chica" that even if we decide to get a newer one my 93 will remain with us too.

The Finished Look

I know it has been a while since I blogged about our laminate floor and I also know that I promised to post some pictures of the finished job. Well I didn't have a camera but now I do, so last night I decided to take some pictures of it so without further ado here they are. Click on the pictures to see them bigger.

Remember "mi chica" decided not just to do one room but pretty much the whole house, by doing it ourselves we saved a ton of money as the professional estimates where totally out of our budget. So thanks to my two son-in-laws for providing most of the muscle to accomplish the job.

The next step is to install the joiners that will have to be custom made as they have to make them to match the color of the wood. It's taking a little bit to get used to the resonance since we still don't have area rugs but pretty soon we will get a couple of them, that will muffle some of the sound. All "mi chica" needs to do now is to accessorize because right now we don't have too many things.

It will all tie in pretty good once it's finish.

The next project is to build a wall unit that will display all my empty DVD cases, and a collection of die cast cars that I have.

Cold, Wind, Rain... but no snow!

Yesterday was very cold, very windy, and somewhat rainy but we didn't get what many other parts of Phoenix got... snow! Yes, Mesa, Scottsdale and Awatuki got enough snow that snow men were actually made, in my side of town I could probably make a "sandman". When I heard the news all I could think was...
Where is my snow?

Well there is no denying it, the weather is changing, I can see it now. California gets so much rain that it gets flooded. It's cold everywhere, even places such as Phoenix where we have sunny days 365 days out of the year. They say global warming will only change like one or two degrees over a 100 year period but...

In the meantime towns and cities continue to experience "post card" picture snow days. And white winters are still beautiful to look at. Me I'll stay on the West Coast and will continue to admire the white stuff through your blog pictures and stories.

Stay warm...

News Briefs

Alayna and Diego

I want to welcome my new co-pilot for the week. Domesticated Goddess is a blog that has been on my sidebar since it started. This blog holds information that is very dear and important to me and I want to invite you to click on it and read some of the posts in it.

Domesticated Goddess is Michelle's Blog and as many of you already know Michelle is my daughter. She had stopped posting because of the lack of internet at the house but now that we decided to join the 21st Century and had our cable installed again maybe, just maybe we will see more posts from her.

In the meantime help me in getting her motivated to write again and post new stories, click on her thumbnail and tell her that her daddy sent ya.

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It seems the curse finally lifted, I wen to to see the Phoenix Suns play last Friday and they won! It had been my luck that every time we went to see them play they lost. So it was a good game we had good food and good company and that made it for a great outing.

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In the progressive count of our family's celebrations we got together for celebration #3 for the year. Last Thursday another brother in law had a birthday and then on Saturday his daughter (my niece) turned 17. Originally they had planned a get together with coffee and sweet Mexican bread but in the end they decided to have a full-blown "Carne Asada" party.

The weather was too cold to be outside but he had a fire going plus the heat of the barbeque pit made it tolerable. To complement the meat chips and plenty of salsa was made by my sister. I said it once and I will say it again, we can't ever go wrong with "Carne Asada", I just can't get enough.

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Also, I have been posting some pictures on my Arizona... But It's a Dry Heat! Photo blog, be sure to click on the thumbnail on my side bar and start visiting once again. Hope to see you all there.

Mi Familia

When you get news of a noteworthy happening it probably makes your day. Yesterday "mi chica" sent me an email that made my day, the header read "Hola Granpa" I guess she wrote it the way our grandkids pronounce it. Normally her headers say something like "Hola baby" or "Scooby Doo where are you?" She changes the header often to reflect the mood she is in.

When I read the header I didn't think anything of it, after all I am a Grandpa of 5 beautiful buck-a-roos, but upon reading the email her message read "The reason for my header reading Granpa is......You will be a granpa again for the 6th time this year". My first reaction was where are my kids hiding these 5 grandchildren that were born this January? How come I have not been introduced to them yet?

Seems that my son and his better half will be having a baby this year and yes he/she (He has two girls already so we are hoping for a boy) will be our sixth grandkid. My son told "mi chica" that he wants another girl; he said he doesn't want to pay back for what he did to his mom. We keep telling him that paybacks are a bitch.

For me it's nothing but emotion and expectation. I love all my grandkids and I once told my mom that I was marrying young because I wanted to meet my grandkids. It seems to me God has been gracious at granting me that wish.

And so the family keeps growing, there are already packs of little kids running around the house when we have get-togethers and it doesn't seem like it's stopping anytime soon. It's official, "mi chica" and I have the biggest family already with 13 members soon to be 14.

A big congratulations to my son and Jen from Granpa and Jamma!

We love you guys.

It's a Small World After All

I'm in the warehouse minding my own business listening to the overhead satellite speaker that looks like a flying saucer but that sounds so good. The music has to be easy to the ear so that we don't get to disturbed by it and still be able to properly function with our duties. Blue Monday by New Order is playing and I'm humming my life away... bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum.. bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum, yeah if you grew up during the 80's and you know the song then you'll agree with me that it has those many bums.

A driver comes in to make a delivery and hears me humming, "Did you use to dance Disco?" is the first thing he asked me, usually they say "Delivery" or "I have a delivery for you" or "Where do you want this?" but not this time, homey asked me if I used to go Disco dancing. Instantly out of my mouth my reply was "I still do". He said, "that song is from the 80's isn't it?" Yeap, but the song isn't really Disco although it's very danceable. I could have stopped there take care of his delivery and go on with my work but...

I had to volunteer some information. "In California I used to listen to this radio station called K-Rock also known as the Rock of the 80's and this song used to play a lot back then" I said. "Yeah, I remember" he said. "Did you used to live in California?" he asked. "Yes I did" I said I also told him that we left California for Arizona back in 1990.

It turned out that he is only two years younger than I am; we started to talk about the different Dicotheques in the L.A area. When I asked him if he ever went to Gino's he immediately knew the place I was talking about. In case you wonder, Gino's was a tiny little gay discotheque in Hollywood, but us straight guys and gal were welcome to be there. Gino's was the place for us to go and get the moves before anyone else and then once we learned the latest steps we would go to other Discotheques and claim bragging rights, as we were always ahead of the pack when it came to dancing. I grew up dancing, that's one of the reasons I also like the show "So You Think You Can Dance" so much.

So this driver already brought back so many memories of days gone by, we could have stopped there but... "So what high school did you attend in California?" he asked. I told him I went to Huntington Park High School in Huntington Park. "The one on Soto and Slauson" he asked. "That's the one," I said. Well actually I went to Huntington Park but I really was supposed to go to Jefferson High. "I went to Jefferson High," he said...

Me: No freaking way
Driver: Yeah, I met my wife there; we were high school sweet hearts.
Me: No I met mine at the disco.
Driver: Why didn't you go to Jefferson?
Me: I was tired of looking over my shoulder
Driver: What do you mean?
Me: I went to John Adams Jr. High in L.A. and...
Driver: I went to John Adams; I used to live two blocks away near the milk plant.
Me: Knudsen
Driver: Yeah, that one except now it's been turned into a school.
Me: Wow
Driver: Do you remember being jumped in the tunnel?
(You must know that back in 1973 my neighborhood was 95% black and 5% Mexican)
Me: Hell yes, after the first time we never crossed that stupid tunnel alone.
(To go from the classrooms to the PE area you had to cross Broadway Street and since the school is fenced, there was a tunnel to cross to the other side.)
Driver: It's still there and it still sees plenty of fights.

So his delivery time extended itself to over an hour, it seemed that every comment we made we had something in common. Being from the same neighborhood we knew the same places, grew up listening to the same music, cruise the same boulevards and had tacos from King Taco. It is a small world indeed, a conversation that lasted just a little over an hour brought back years of memories.

To say goodbye he told me his name, the funny thing was that his last name is Figueroa the same as my second last name. I don't know if I will see him again, he was just covering for our regular driver but I thought it pretty amazing how a meeting that was just by chance turned out to be so in sync.

It's a small world indeed.

Suns vs. Trail Blazers

For a non-sports fan I certainly go to many sport related functions. I couldn't care less for sports but when your reps want to dine and wine you and then take you to a game, you just don't say no. The outing is usually a good time. Before the games we either go to a nice restaurant near the arena or we just go inside to The Lexus Club and eat there.

These are the spiffs of the job, it comes with the territory and since they hold four tickets it's usually two couples going out which makes it really fun, add to that a score in favor of the home team and it's even better.

There must be some sort of a curse because 90% of the games I attend we loose, but every so often I get to watch a winning game. This Friday "mi chica" and I will be going out to the basketball game to watch our Phoenix Suns battle the Portland Trail Blazers. It seems the Suns have been winning lately so let's hope for a win on this one.

Idol Tonight

Idol premiers tonight and the DVR is set to go. DVR has got to be one of the greatest inventions as of late. Mi chica and I watch the Mexican telenovela "La Fea Mas Bella" (The Mexican version of Ugly Betty) Monday through Friday and it happens to be on the 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. slot. We can't miss an episode so most of the shows we watch have to be recorded for us to watch at a later time.

I like American Idol more than any other reality shows because of the talent, but for entertainment value the auditions are fun to watch. Only American Idol can air so many times out of the week and get millions of people to watch it. I believe the gang is back too. I trully believe that if any of the cast gets replaced the show will loose some viewers. We need off the wall Paula, crazy Randy and Simon and to conduct the show Ryan.

Again if you like American Idol then visit idolbloglive.com it's a fun interactive blog that reviews each show live via East Coast feed.

I'm Not Used to This Cold!

What I thought would be an easy slow Monday turned out to the busiest of the year to date. I figured many people would stay home in observance of Martin Luther King's day. The freeway was just as packed and when I got to work a semi was already parked in the pit with a full load of product. To top it off the weather decided to show us what many of you in the east coast already know. I woke up to 19 degrees and that my friends for someone that lives in the desert and is used to the heath was just a tad cold, add to that the fact that my car's driver window only goes half way up and the heater took a dump and yes it definitely was an interesting morning.

We are not used to this kind of cold, call me a wimp but I bundled myself in so many layers that if I would have fallen I would probably roll all over the place. The small lake behind our house was partially covered with ice.

I was watching in the news how the cold wave that hit the country had many places without electricity and with busted pipes. New Your and New Hampshire had it really bad. They were showing how in Colorado cars on the road were not moving as the tires just keps spinning with absolutely no traction at all. Also cars would slide at will because the streets were covered with ice. My heart goes out to those of you that are experiencing the extreme cold.

Yeah, I guess we do have it good here in Phoenix as many of you would trade our weather in an instant and without hesitation.

So, wherever you are stay warm and say brrrrrrrrrr many times.

~~~~~~~~~~ $$$$$ ~~~~~~~~~~

Some people are actually taking advantage of the money making services and sites on the internet. Some just don't want to deal with it.

This week's co-pilot (even though the header with the Mustang are on a long trip without me) is a site called "My quest to make money on the internet". If you are one that is interested in this please visit my co-pilot. You will find many money making tips. If you are not interested still visit the site, because that's what we do, we visit blogs.

Life is a Celebration

This year I'm going to highlight our celebrations. Our family is so huge that there isn't a month that won't have at least one. We started the year by going to California to celebrate my brother in law's mom's 80th birthday. This wonderful lady raised six children all by herself and did an extraordinary job.

Her party included a picture slide show that showed her from her teens to the present time. Five of her six children were there and a plethora of grand children and great grand children. Ninety percent of the people in attendance were direct family the rest of us were very close friends of hers.

And so this weekend we will celebrate her sons birthday (my brother in law). On Sunday "carne asada" and "lengua" tacos will be the main dinner at the party. Did I say "carne asada", darn I'm getting hungry already.

Mi sister loves to karaoke, so after a tequila or two we may sings a few songs just to have fun. We will call this celebration #2 for the year.

To me there's nothing like family gatherings, some people hates them but I just can't have enough of them, in most cases there's usually something special to celebrate but I like to get the family together just her the heck of it. I am of the "enjoy them while you can" mentality and I intend to make every minute I am around them a good one.

American Idol - Season 6

The Grand Daddy of all reality shows is about to start. Just five more days for the premiere of "American Idol" Season 6. Let me hear your predictions before the show starts, will this year's winner be male of female. I predict that a guy will win again, but according to a poll taken by idolbloglive.com 80% of the readers predict it will be a woman while only 20% think it will be a guy.

The premier will be Tuesday, Jan. 16 (8:00-10:00 PM) Season Premiere - Minneapolis Auditions. I am excited already and for all those of you that love this show allow me to invite you to join idolbloglive.com. You will find this to be the best site to keep udated on anything and everything Idol, it is very easy and fun to use. To register just click here.

For pure entertainment value ther is no other reality show that even comes close to "American Idol". The reason that it is so succesful must be because we all love music and we all sing even if only in the shower. Just to think that there will be thousands of kids trying out and only 24 will be selected is mind boggling.

Here's the official schedulle, and if you want to see more info go and register at idolbloglive.com:

Tuesday, Jan. 16 (8:00-10:00 PM) Season Premiere - Minneapolis Auditions
Wednesday, Jan. 17 (8:00-10:00 PM) Season Premiere - Seattle Auditions
Tuesday, Jan. 23 (8:00-9:00 PM) Memphis Auditions
Wednesday, Jan. 24 (9:00-10:00 PM) New York City Auditions
Tuesday, Jan. 30 (8:00-9:00 PM) Birmingham Auditions
Wednesday, Jan. 31 (9:00-10:00 PM) San Antonio Auditions
Tuesday, Feb. 6 (8:00-9:00 PM) Los Angeles Auditions
Wednesday, Feb. 7 (9:00-10:00 PM) "Rest of the Best" Auditions
Tuesday, Feb. 13 (8:00-9:00 PM) Hollywood Round, Part 1
Wednesday, Feb. 14 (9:00-10:00 PM) Hollywood Round, Part 2 - Top 24
Tuesday, Feb. 20 (8:00-10:00 PM) Top 12 Male Singers Perform
Wednesday, Feb. 21 (8:00-10:00 PM) Top 12 Female Singers Perform
Thursday, Feb. 22 (8:00-9:00 PM) First Results Show (Live ET/Tape-Delayed PT)
Tuesday, Feb. 27 (8:00-9:30 PM) Top 10 Male Singers Perform
Wednesday, Feb. 28 (8:00-9:30 PM) Top 10 Female Singers Perform
Thursday, March 1 (8:00-9:00 PM) Results Show (Live ET/Tape-Delayed PT)
Tuesday, March 6 (8:00-9:00 PM) Top 8 Male Singers Perform
Wednesday, March 7 (8:00-9:00 PM) Top 8 Female Singers Perform
Thursday, March 8 (8:00-9:00 PM) Results Show (Live ET/Tape-Delayed PT)
Tuesday, March 13 (8:00-10:00 PM) Top 12 Finalists Perform
Wednesday, March 14 (9:00-9:30 PM) Results Show (Live ET/Tape-Delayed PT)

Oh Rats!

Some people will eat anything when they are hungry.

They Used to be For Free

Call me "Old School" but what happened to the simple nice time when I was growing up? Why are things becoming so complicated? I remember as a kid watching one channel on the TV that showed plenty of cartoons after school. Yes, cartoons and homework use to be in the mix.

So there were like 13 channels on the dial and maybe only five broadcasted shows, the rest were all snowy, however I never seemed to run out of cartoons to watch. From the classic Looney Toones to Marvel Comics they were all there every day and for free. My family was happy as long as we had one Spanish channel, we would watch "telenovelas" all afternoon.

But TV had a flaw, it had commercials so they invented TV that was commercial free but you had to pay for the service and cable TV was born. I remember when MTV was all music with no commercials, and the VJ's would only give hourly news updates related to music and the artists. Now MTV is not about music anymore and I believe they have commercials if I'm not mistaken.

So now some of us have cable, in my case we have digital cable, which gives us, over 400 channels and sometimes I can spend an hour switching channels without finding anything new to watch. Sometimes paying for cable can be a waste of money and yet we can't live without it anymore.

Now, they are doing the same for radio, apparently what we hear on regular radio is not good enough, now many people are paying for satellite radio. Why? Me I still have cassettes and CDs and regular radio is still OK and best of all it's free.

Don't get me started on cellular phones. I gave mine up about five years ago and I live perfectly happy without it. Definitely a bill I can do without, even though it is more affordable now. Nevertheless it amazes me to see people pay good money to have a certain ring tone, or to text, or to have a personalized screen, or to have some celebrity on your screen. A cell phone if not used properly can be worse than a slot machine.

Yes I know that many of you will challenge me on that one, but hey whatever makes you happy, right?

And then you have to pay for the Internet service; I say this one can be justified as the Internet is without a doubt one of the greatest inventions ever. Oh, and better get cable for the Internet because dial up sucks big time. Nothing opens up or it takes forever.

So what is next, eventually we are going to have to pay even to speak. It is getting to ridiculous. When I moved to Avondale in 2000 it wasn't that crowded but now with the city of Goodyear and Buckeye are growing like wild flowers and it doesn't seem to be an end to the growth. As a result traffic on I-10 is horrible, what used to be a 25-minute commute from home to work is now a cool 1-hour commute. And we still only have the one little freeway for all of us to use.

More cars means more traffic and I read somewhere that a solution is coming. Some cities are creating what high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, where solo drivers pay electronic tolls to use carpool lanes. Denver, Minneapolis and San Diego are already testing the concept.

The carpool lane on I-10 from my house to my work is already a bumper to bumper lane as well, which means that they would have to allocate at least two lanes for carpools but the way I see it pretty soon they will be charging us to use the freeway regardless of what lane is used.

Of all the important FREE things we have now, what do you think is next?

All I know my pocket is not that deep.

Evolution of Gina

You may have noticed that I have a new co-pilot. I hadn't given her the proper attention that she deserves because I accepted her blog as my co-pilot of the week while I was on my trip in California.

But now that I'm back let me invite you to go and visit Gina of "Evolution of Gina". Gina has been around on blogger since May 2006. I have read this blog on and off during the many BOTB battles. If you are looking for a good quote, there are plenty to read in this blog and based on her posts it seems to me that she visits a lot of you out there in blogland. So be kind and click on her thumbnail, you know where to find it and if you feel like it leave her a comment or two.

Greetings From West Covina California

Well the trip was not too bad, not too much traffic but best of all NO ACCIDENTS and NO CONSTRUCTION. It seems every time we come to L.A. there's some sort of construction on the freeway and the four lanes funnel into one as if California's traffic wasn't already bad enough. So we made it in about 5 1/2 hours and actually arrived an hour early as the time is different, Arizona does not move the time. Isn't that cool?

The only thing we had to be careful about was the wind. It was windy most of the trip and there were times the van was rocked pretty hard, specially when passing the big rigs on the highway. We always stop at this gas station that has slot machines and it's in an area that normally has high winds, so it was funny to see "mi chica" and my mom fighting the wind as they walked from the van to the store. After loosing their $10.00 each we hit the highway again for the last leg of the trip.

It was cold the whole way down here and with the high winds it felt even colder. In Arizona the houses have centralized AC and heating but in California the AC consists of open windows and the heating consists of a bunch of blankets if you are in your house. This are the things that make our trips unique and give us something to complaint obout or in my case to blog about.

We will be returning to Phoenix on Sunday, how's that for a short trip? The party tomorrow should be fun and I intend to enjoy it to the max, and since I don't wan't to fall a sleep while dancing tomorrow I better hit the sack.

Where's My Header?

No, it's not an optical illusion; my header went on vacation without my permission therefore I don't know where hell it is. I notice when I go blog surfing that other blogs too have no pictures but instead you find all those stupid little squares with the "X" in the middle. I would have my daughter look into it but we are computer deprived at home and so my header will continue to be lonely and empty until I figure out what the hell happened.

What a difference a header makes, without it people don't identify with my blog right away, sometimes when I am in a BOTB it takes forever for the challenge to finish. The last time I ordered a new thumbnail the header took too long to load so the thumbnail was submitted without it. I'm sure my friends know it but as it is right now I don't think I'm attracting new readers based on the look of my blog.

Still, I don't complain because Blogger is free and freeloaders can't be picky that way, hopefully my daughter will either come up with a solution to my missing header or will create a new template all together.

My header won't be the only one on vacation, my family and I will be traveling to California just for the weekend to join my brother in law's mother whom we love dearly on her 80th birthday celebration. If you have been reading this blog for a while then you know that we love making the road trip a part of our vacation. We stop everywhere and time is never of the essence, we figure we will get there when we'll get there. The weekend should be a nice one as we also get to see "mi chica's" brothers and their families.

Mad Photographer

You have to position yourself just right in order to take that perfect shot.

~~~~~ 2007 ~~~~~

Seems like we made it, and based on the comments I've read so far sounds like you all had a nice time receiving the new year. I too had a good time in the company of most of my family. We waited for the countdown and at the stroke of midnight we all hugged and kissed wished each other good things and at around 12:30 a.m. mi chica and I headed home. We stayed up until 4:00 a.m watching movies before we finally decided to go to sleep.

When we left my sister's house we looked up to the sky and the moon had a ring around it. It was breath taking to see it on the first hour of the first day of the year. I read somewhere that moon rings are a sign of bad weather to come but I live in the desert and these first three days have been beautiful, I'll give it a couple more days to see if there's any change in the weather. Me, I just want to think that seeing a moon ring the very first hour of the year is a sign of good luck.

On Tuesday I got to work and logged on, I decided to have my first BOTB of the year and when I looked at my tumbnail my record was 163 - 163. How is that for starting with a clean slate. For a while there I started to slip back but I'm back to being a contender. I call this my sign of good luck number two.

So what else is new? Not much I will just pick it up where I left if last year. Thank God the holidays are over though, as much as I like them I always dread gaining too much weight. I normally weigh 192 lbs., but with all the darn goodies that come with Thanksgiving and end with the New Year I am very close to hitting the 200 lb mark (Hint to "mi chica" -- Gym membership!!!). I'm not big on New Year's resolutions but this one is one that I will have to pay attention and really commit to. It's not cool when I run out of breath just to tie my damn shoe.

And talking about resolutions I got me a new camera so as soon as I get used to it I will continue posting pictures on my "Arizona... But it's a dry heat!" photo blog. I miss taking and posting pictures so look for some new ones in the near future.

Until the next one.

I Am Not Old!

Am I the only one that hasn't change to Beta? I am only 47 years old, so why do I feel conscious about my age when I log into Blogger? Could it be because now I have to choose how to log in and I always have to choose "Old Blogger", it must be. Anyway I have not change to the new format, those of you that have let me know if I should do it. I am just so used to this format and I am a creature of habit, but 47 is not that old so I wish I could log in by choosing "Young Blogger" instead of "Old Blogger".

Well, this is probably my last post for the year. 2006 has been a good year for my family and me; we had some meaningful celebrations including my Silver Wedding Anniversary. We had our usual trips to California for parties and what not and our yearly trip to Knott's Berry Farm for the Fabulous Fords Forever car show. But the highlight of the year was our 5-day cruise to Ensenada-San Diego-Catalina Island. This was our celebration trip for our Wedding Anniversary and 17 relatives including my Mom, my daughters and son and their spouses and my sister and her posse joined us. The trip was probably one of the best experiences of the year and one we are still talking about.

Work has also been good, this year marked my 16th year with the company, so far it has been a great partnership, and it seems that I will be here for a few more years.

One day surfing the net I discovered a web site called "Idol Blog", this is an interactive forum that talks about nothing buy "American Idol". In one of the many comments Angie from "Ficken Chingers" said she had her own blog, I visited it and found out how it worked and the rest is history, Joe Cool's Blog was born and so far I still enjoy the hell out of it. As you all know I have no theme, no meaning, no rhyme, I just write about anything and everything that I may be going through at any particular time, some of you have been nice enough to visit my blog over and over again and it's safe to say that I had made some very nice friends over the last six months.

I don't foresee my blog going into a particular direction, I will still continue to write and make no since, so far it has worked just fine. I will however ask my daughter just as soon as we get internet at home to come up with a different template, but that may still take a while. Thankfully I have Internet at work and that has allowed me to stay in touch with you all.

As my lunch hours is almost over and we are going to be kicked out of here pretty soon I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR, may you all have a safe and fun celebration weather you go out or stay home and I am so looking forward to "seeing you" in the blogosphere in 2007. I really appreciate all of your comments, I have made many changes in my blog as per your suggestions and input and I hope you will continue to help me with your suggestions in the comment section.

Our celebration will take place at my sister's house. I'm sure there will be plenty of food and for entertainment we will be karaoking our asses off so without anything further to say, I will just log off and say once again...

HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

YouTube Karaoke

If you have been reading my blog for a while then you probably know that I enjoy to karaoke with my family. Yeah I Know I can't sing that well but it's still lots of fun once you get pass the "I can't sing in front of people" syndrome.

My forte of course is singing in Spanish, I can do a decent Alejandro Fernandez or a semi-decent Luis Miguel but I also try to sing in English and that's where the fun begins because I have a strong Mexican accent. I really love to sing country music so you can just imagine me singing George Strait or John Michael Montgomery with a Latin accent.

So why am I talking about karaoke? Well if you look to your right on my side bar my new tenant or new co-pilot for the week is non other than "YouTube Karaoke". This is so cool I had to give it a try. The premise is that you click on a YouTube song video and then if you start scrolling down the post you'll find the lyrics for that song, put one and one together and you have the best chance to start practicing your songs for the next karaoke outing to your local bar or restaurant.

What? You don't like karaoke, it doesn't matter you can still click on my co-pilot and just enjoy the song videos posted on this site. Either way is should be a lot of fun.

Gotta go now, I'm going to try "Addicted to Love".

Health - What a Great Asset

I'm feeling pretty good overall, but when I think about the hassles one has to go through when something happens and the level of care that some medical centers give it kindda makes me sick too.

Last week my brother-in-law whom also happens to work with me had an accident as he was helping unload product from a truck, to make a long story short he tried to save a pallet full of product as it started to collapse. As he reached for it a chain of events happened so quick that before anyone knew it he had fallen from the loading dock into the pit, we are talking a good six to seven feet drop into nothing but hard cement.

I took him to emergency and thank God the x-rays showed no broken bones, but the pain from the impact had left him with no movement and walking was not in the equation. As he is currently taking medication they didn't really want to prescribe anything for the pain other than Tylenol, that is fine as Tylenol has been known to reduce pain. So they asked him what is it that you do at work, he told them he does the receiving for the company, that requires lots of walking, heavy lifting and lots of bending. They told him he could go back to work right away but to try not to lift heavy objects and to try to take it easy. Hello, how can he go back to work when he can't even walk or move his feet?

Hospitals and clinics sometimes make me wonder, my mom goes to the doctor and tells him that she is suffering from this or that and that it has been bugging her for a while, she describes the pain in detail and hopes they will tell her what's wrong with her. Well pretty much most of the time they come back to tell her that there's absolutely nothing wrong with her.

I hear that medical mistakes are the eight leading cause of death in the United States, and that medication erros alone kill 7,000 people every year. Recently we changed my mom's medicine supplier as the one we used to go to kept filling her prescriptions wrong, and wouldn't fix their mistake once we took the medicine home. My mom relies on us to go pick her medicines up when they are ready because she doesn't drive, that's why normally we didn't find out about these errors until later. Now I'm the one that picks her medicine up and I always open the envelope before I even pay for them. Yes we do have to do our part, so far this new place has made no mistakes yet.

Hats off to hospitals, clinincs and pharmacies that care about the patients, as sometimes there are not too many, but as for me my new year resolution will be to stay healthy, I know that it's not entirely up to me but hey I will definitely do my part.

Three Days Til' Christmas

Shopping? What is that? It's a known fact that the mall and I don't mix, every so often I go out with "mi chica" but my interest span only lasts for about five minutes and then it's all down hill from there. It never fails but when I go out shopping with the girls it's just a matter of time until I need to go to the restroom and since I refuse to use public restrooms (unless of course it's only number one) their shopping time has immediately been cut to about a fraction of their allotted time, that's why y being as smart as they are, they don't invite me.

It's funny because if the shopping involves a Harley Davidson dealership, I can browse for hours and hours without getting tired at all. At the dealers I scan just about every shelf, look for sales, browse at the ride flyers and calendars, and of course I have to try every bike in the showroom to see which one may be a suitable trade for my fatboy. Except after an hour or two of doing this I wake up and tell myself, "Self, your bike is paid for and it's beautiful, you don't need a new one" and I usually convince myself pretty easy, but to dream is free so why not.

Tomorrow we will be working only for a little over half a day and then we are all going home to start our Christmas Weekend, I'm really looking forward to being with my family. Our Christmas gatherings used to be the best but for a while there they got boring, our family is extremely big and it's hard to stay together as everyone has to visit two families, but in the past two years we have tried to revive the family unity and so this Christmas is a good opportunity to revive the good time we had in the past.

Our family does everything on Christmas Eve, get start getting together at around 8:00 p.m., once most of us are together we have a dinner, there is usually lots of different thing to eat, from tamales, to fruit salad and everything in between and then at midnight we do the present exchange and the kids get to open all their presents. Normally the whole affair ends at around 2:00 a.m. at which time we all go to our homes. In our case we still have another bunch of presents to open at home and normally nobody likes to wait until Christmas morning so we stay up a little more and take care of that, finally we go to bet knowing that we don't have to get up if we don't want to.

Our Christmas day is usually very quiet, the stores are closed so we just stay home and vegetate, but this year I asked "mi chica" if we can have some sort of Christmas Day dinner and she said that it was a great idea. So more food it is then.

This year we have been watching lots of Christmas movies, thanks to our DVR (what a great invention) we record as many as we can and then watch one or two every night, it's been great, specially because "mi chica" has tagged along every night, on any other night we are on different TVs because we like different shows but the holidays have brought us together every night, is that cool or what?

I know that I will have a nice Christmas because my family is with me and I hope that all of you out there have a very Merry Christmas too, take it easy on the eggnog and have a safe holiday.

Year-end Preparations

I know my posts have been few and far, that should all change as the New Year arrives. With year-end preparations at work, an upcoming inventory and general clean-up, and trying to close most of the loose ends is taking most of my energy. I know I must be gaining weight because the Christmas goodies come in just about every day, I will need to start formulating a diet plan that I can keep. And then as many of us are trying to use all of our remaining vacation days, skelleton crews are popular right now, so bear with me and hopefuly comes January I will be back on track with both my Joe Cool blog as well as my Arizona... It's a dry heat photo blog too.

Soul Blessings

Co-pilot of the Week

Please click on the thumbnail on the sidebar

~~~~~

The heading says it all, "The personal, political and reflective thoughts of an eclectic thinker" SOUL BLESSINGS is the brainchild of Tara. Please take a moment and visit this site, it has some kick ass postings, one that really got me thinking is the one called "A Moral Question" see December 15. Not to mention that I really like the name of her blog.

Christmas My Favorite Time

To me, Christmas is without a doubt the best and happiest time of the entire year and it has nothing to do with buying stuff, there are better presents that can be given than those that you have to pay for.

Think about it, if you are holding a grudge, during Chirstmas it's easier to let it go and let bygones be bygones. It's a lot easier to say I'm sorry and to ask for forgivenes. It's something in the air, it's the spirit of the season, the spirit and the meaning of Christmas. People come together and celebrate in many ways, and the mood is festive for the most part.

I love watching Christmas movies because they get me more into the spirit of it. It's obvious that I'm not the only person to have this feelings, every movie I watch has that warm fuzzy feeling and someone must have felt them to put them down in writing and then on the screen, sure it's show business but what I like is the principle of the whole thing. Also I get to fantasize as to what it would be like to spend Christmas in other places. It may sound crazy but I have never had a white Christmas. I have only lived in Southern California and in Phoenix and both these places don't get the white stuff, so hopefuly at least once in my life I'll get to experience a white Christmas.

The gifts are nice, but sometimes we blow things out of proportion, a gift doesn't have to be expensive, sometimes if you make it yourself it's even better. Give them from your heart and they'll be trasured forever.

I'm not one for wishes but as long as God keeps allowing me to have my health and my family near me, that's all I need, together we will take care of the rest ourselves.

Dear Me,

Dear Me,

Please don't forget to mention the new co-pilot for this week. This time we are cruising all the way to the Philipines where ivan resides. I have encountered this blog on and off and I believe I even have commented on some of her letters to herself.

Please visit her, by clicking her thumbnail on my sidebar and tell her I sent you to say hi. You too will find all of her "Dear Me" letters entertaining. she is absolutely worth the visit.

Dear all of you,

Now go and click, click, click, on her thumbnail, whatcha waitin' for :)

Beware Of The Prices

Well let me start by saying that today is Friday for me, yeap once again I will be out Thursday and Friday as I'm trying to finish my vacation time. Isn't it sad when you have days off and don't know what to do with them? Unfortunately our policy is use it, or lose it, so I will just go home and stay in bed or something.

Last week we finished installing the laminate floor, boy that was a big job but it was worth the effort and in the end we saved about $15,000.00. Sounds hard to believe? See when we first started contemplating on replacing the carpet that we had we called one of those companies that "specialize" in installing floors and the first estimate came up to $18,000.00. We pretended to be interested and told the representative that we needed to talk (my wife and I) and when we had a decision we would call them... Not!

Mi chica decided to give someone else a try and so again they came in and after measuring the house they gave us their estimate, keep in mind this estimates were for laminate floors not real wood floors. So after it was all said and done they told us that it would be around $11,000.00. I looked at my wife and she looked at me and again we told the guy we needed to talk and make a decision and that we would let them know.

One day mi chica and I had to go to Home Depot to buy some stuff we needed and while there we decided to check the prices for the floors. Well guess what, we told them how much we may need and after they did the math they told us it would be about $3000.00 and that if we wanted it installed they had their sub-contractors and they estimated another $3000.00 for the labor. Well now, that is a huge difference from $18,000.00 isn't it? So now we are excited, this is more realistic and more within our means.

We were ready to take the plunge and just a day before we were going to go and buy all the flooring our Costco coupon booklet comes in the mail and as we go through it what do we see in there? Yeap you guessed it, laminate floor was going on sale in about a month, so we decided to wait.

A month later mi chica and the guys went to Costco and bought the floor... finally! Since we already knew the measurements we decided that some 40 boxes or so would do the whole house, final tally $1,300.00 give or take. We were told that the floor would have to be inside the house for at least three days prior to installation for the wood to get acclimated to our house. We, well -- we played it safe and let it sit in our den for four months.

On Thanksgiving weekend my brother in law came from California and saw the floor and said that he would be glad to help us but was very short on time, so he opened one of the packages and basically told us how to do it. It sounded simple enough so the next day after all our guests returned home we started the project which only took us four days to finish, of course done over a three weekend period. Now our floor is done and the only thing left to do is to install the dividers that go between the tile and the wood and or the carpet and the wood.

So there you have it, that was our laminate floor experience, and the best part was that including the tools be bought such as electric saws and drills and some miscellaneous items the complete project just barely reached $2,000.00, come to think of it we saved about $16,000.00 from the original estimate... wow!

Faith!

La Virgen de Guadalupe (1531)




Today is her day.

We must respect the devocion diversity. For us Catholics today is a big day as we celebrate our Lady of Guadalupe. Thousands of people visited her last night at her temple in Mexico City. In a time where people are divided in Mexico, last night they were all united in one celebration and one faith.

Christmas Then & Now

I will be posting very little the remainder of the month as I will be on vacation and will have no access to the Internet. I will continue to give my Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you well because that's what I do. I'm Christmasy like that and I try to enjoy the whole month, I usually get in the Christmans mood right after Thanksgiving weekend, so I hope my posts don't get old.

Once apon a time in Mexico our Christmas didn't have gifts but instead we celebrated from December 16 through the 24th by having a posada each night. First many of us got together and then we were divided into two groups. Group 1 would represent Mary and Joseph and group 2 were the Inn owners. Then we started chanting going from door to door asking for "posada" and it wasn't until the last door that we were all invited inside. Posadas are fun and get the whole neighborhood involved.

After the posada we would go to a pre-chosen location to break pinatas and to get candy, after that fire crackers were lit and fired all night long. On the 24th we have the last posada and then some of us were taken to church for midnight mass.

Santa Clauss was only for the rich and I grew up in a poor neighborhood, us poor people would have to waint until January the 6th when "The Three Wisemen" would distribute toys to all the kids in the world... or so we tought. We were asked to write a letter to the wisemen the night before asking them for toys we wanted and then place it outside the door inside one of our shoes, however as wise as the three wise men were they didn't know how to read because they never brought us the toys we requested and always substituted with toys we didn't request. But year after year we still had hope and to this day we still love them.

Most families in Mexico have a nativity set and setting up your display was always a family affair as well, to this day this is still a tradition that is very much alive, again Christmas trees were more common amongst the rich or even the middle class people, that's why we had so much pride in setting the prettiest nativity scene for everyone to see and enjoy.

Sharing the joy with others, eating tamales and good food, going to mass, and learning about "El Nino Dios" (Baby Jesus) is what it was all about, a far cry from what we do now. Times change and beliefs vary but in my world Christmas is still Christmas and to me it is still the best and most festive time of the year.

Christmas Throught Their Eyes

GRANDKIDS

Sure, Christmas is highly commercialized but this bunch doesn't know any different so I will concentrate on seeing Christmas through their eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the casa, Not a creature was stirring -- Caramba! Que pasa?Los ninos were tucked away in their camas, Some in camisas and some in pijamas.

While hanging the stockings with mucho cuidado in hopes that old Santa would feel obligado to bring all children, both buenos and malos, a nice batch of dulces and other regalos.
Outside in the yard there arose such a grito that I jumped to my feet like a frightened cabrito. I ran to the window and looked out afuera, and who in the world do you think quien era?

Saint Nick in a sleigh and a big red sombrero came dashing along like a crazy bombero. And pulling his sleigh instead of venados were eight little burros approaching volados.
I watched as they came and this quaint little hombre was shouting and whistling and calling by nombre "Ay Pancho, ay Pepe, ay Chucho, ay Beto, Ay Chato, ay Chopo, Macuco, y Nieto!"

Then standing erect with his hands on his pecho he flew to the top of our very own techo. With his round little belly like a bowl of jalea, he struggled to squeeze down our old chiminea,
then huffing and puffing at last in our sala, with soot smeared all over his red suit de gala, He filled all the stockings with lovely regalos-- for none of the ninos had been very malos.

Then chuckling aloud, seeming very contento, he turned like a flash and was gone like the viento. And I heard him exclaim, and this is verdad, Merry Christmas to all, and Feliz Navidad!

Co-pilot of the Week

Tom Jackson Online
"The truth is the truth whether whispered or shouted. View online at www.tomjacksononline.co.uk"

Today I'm welcoming Tom Jackson to the co-pilot seat. I have never been to the other side of the pond so I couldn't tell you much about what goes on over there, but Tom is there so if you visit his blog you'll get a little insight on things happening in the U.K. Tom is pretty good at posting daily, at least he is trying so there is plenty of good stuff to read. Please do me a favor and go visit him, he is on my side bar just a click away.

~~~~~~~~~~

25 peeps

After 12 days, I'm still there, don't forget to keep voting for me. My goal was to last more than a day and at this time I'm well over that mark. Now let's just see how much longer I can stay on the front page.

Just click on the picture or on the link below and then click on my thumbnail and that's all, easy enough isn't it?

http://www.25peeps.com/r/2180

On Your Knees

So, "mi chica" had me on my knees all weekend long. No she didn't ask me to beg for anything nor was I asking for forgiveness you all know I am a good boy, what she had us doing was laying her new laminate floor. She is not doing the living room only noooo, she decided for the living room, the office, the den and the halls, that my friends is a lot of square footage to cover and an old fart like me can't take that kind of punishment any more. It's a good thing the in-laws are young and owe us more than they would like that they happily put in all the muscle required for the job.

The nice thing about tackling such a big job is that with the old carpet out it was easy to retouch the walls and the bottom borders without having to worry about spilling paint. Also a lot of the furniture and knick-knacks that were taken out are not coming back in. We will have to do a "clean sweep" kinda thing where we make the three piles: keep, throw away, and sale. In this household I'm the one that is a "rat pack" so throwing away stuff is not that easy for me, but I just have to take a deep breath, close my eyes and say see ya, bye! to a lot of the stuff that at this point is sitting in my garage not allowing me to park my cars in there.

This job should have happened a long time ago but it wasn't until last weekend that we started it and we hope that it will only take us one more weekend to finish the job. Tensions were high due to the long hours and at the end of the day we were all so tired that started arguing but in the end it's all going to be worth it, specially because I know "mi chica" will be very happy her house once again looks really nice.

Shit I'm Cold!

I say that if you live in Phoenix and you wake up to 27 degrees you are pretty much frozen. See, just last week on Monday the 20th, we had a record high for that particular day of 89 degrees; I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Fast forward to this morning, the attire to leave the house consisted of blue jeans, a muscle shirt, a t-shirt, a sweat shirt, a scarf, a face mask, a jacket, a "Fargo" kinda looking hat, and gloves. I would have been pretty warm but it just so happens that my driver's side window is busted and is only half way up, so when you are doing 75 m.p.h on the freeway it is very cold due to the wind chill. Normally I use these garments only when I ride my bike in cold weather, but it seems that until I get my window fixed I will have to layer up even for driving.

So, this morning I pretty much looked like the little kid on the movie "A Christmas Story" so bundled up that I couldn't even bend. If I would have fallen I could have cried for help saying "I've fallen and I can't get up", and then as some of you may know I wouldn't have been able to call anybody because I refuse to own a cell phone, and my daughters always ask me "what about in case of an emergency?" I guess I'm just stubborn that way.

While on the subject of cold weather, tonight is the Coyote's game I'll be attending. This will be the second hockey game I'll be going to, the first time I went was with my son. He took me to a game when the weather was pretty hot, so I wore shorts and a T-shirt and consequently I froze my ass off, luckily for me the gave us these nice big souvenir towels and I was able to kinda cover myself with it. Tonight I know different so I'll be prepared.

25peeps

Can you believe I'm still there, this is day 8 already. Thanks to all of you out there for your continued support in helping me stay on the front page. Don't be shy and keep clicking the thumbnail over and over.

http://www.25peeps.com/r/2180

What's In a Name

Monday the 20th was such a nice warm day that I wore shorts to work, what a difference a week makes, we are now wearing sweat shirts and jackets because it's cold and everyone is starting to catch the flu. It never fails, here in Phoenix we go from hot to cold without warning.

Well thanks to our Thanksgiving potluck get together at work, I won a pair of tickets to go see the Phoenix Coyotes play tomorrow night, it should be a good time specially since phase 1 of Westgate City Center is done, and the best part of all is that it's only 5 minutes away from home. How sweet is that?

Westgate is shaping up to be our version of the "Universal Studios City Walk", it won't look like anything you expect to find in Arizona, no adobe and or brown paints will be used, and instead vibrant colors Miami style will be used. A small fountain like the one at the Bellagio in Las Vegas has already been built, big screen TVs will be all over the place and restaurants and shops are starting to open.

As you know, Westgate is in Glendale Arizona and is home to the Cardinals, Coyotes, and I believe the Rattlers too. What I can't understand is why does a professional football team wait for so long to get out of a University football field and finally get one built just for them "Cardinal's Stadium" right? Wrong! They go and name it University of Phoenix Stadium; yeah it is food for thought isn't it. Like Rodney Dangerfield said... No respect!

Then the Glendale Arena is now Jobing.com Arena... give me a break! Remember when it used to be Dodger Stadium or New York Yankees Stadium or Angel's Stadium, well why am I ranting it could have been worse because they were actually considering for the football stadium to be named "Pink Taco" stadium.

So anyway, hopefully I will go and see the Coyotes play at their arena, which is called something else, and win tomorrow... Go Coyotes!

Wow - Day Six

Day six and I'm still there, so if you get the chance go and click my thumbnail again... and again, help me stay alive.

http://www.25peeps.com/r/2180

Soapbox Jury

I have used site reviewers in the past because it gives me an idea of what to add to my blog, what to take off, what's working and what's not. In all honesty I don't take the review to heart because only I know what goes through my head and that's how I write it, and if some of you out there read it too then I'm happy.

If it wasn't because my blog got frogged I wouldn't have added the missing profile which took a vacation when my daughter gave me the new template. Another suggestion I used was the one of making the links bold, for some reason when I link a word it shrinks so by bolding the font it becomes easier to read.

That said, my co-pilot of the week is "Soapbox Jury" and what they do is just that, review blogs for free. To quote their header "Random reviews relevant to you! No nonsense views on different websites, products, services and ideas. The truth is the truth whether whispered or shouted."

I don't know how many reviewers there are but I know of two: Tom & Sam. And they will cover your blog's organization, navigation and functionality, and will even touch on the subject of advertising. The will give you their comments and a rating on a scale of 10. They will say who reviewed your blog and all this for free, all they ask is that if your review is published you link to Soapbox Jury in return.

So be a good friend and click on their thumbnail, and if you so desire put your blog in the list to be reviewed.

The Countdown

Howdy ya all, I'm back. I hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving Weekend and that not only did you have some turkey and ham but also good company and many things to be thankful for.

So my goal was to last at the very least one full day on http://www.25peeps.com/r/2180 but to my surprise I'm still there, thanks to all of you that have been visiting and clicking on my thumbnail, should you feel so inclined to keep doing it be my guest, your clicks will be greatly appreciated.

Also my co-pilot seat is empty at the moment so don't be shy and bid.

Every year my wife's family comes over to our house to spend Thanksgiving with us, it's been a 15-year tradition for them to come from California and it is one of the holidays I really look forward to. We get along so well that I think this tradition will continue for many years to come. Now my side of the family is also here but it is almost impossible to divide ourselves into two so unfortunately we don't spend this day with them, however with the exception of my younger sister I see them all year long.

Now with the weekend behind us it's time to focus towards Christmas. Without a doubt Christmas is the best time of the year for me, I love what it represents and I love the fuzzy warm feeling that comes with it, granted the commercialization of it has twisted it's meaning but it is up to you to uphold what Christmas really means.

As far as the children go, I love to see them get all excited. My daughters set the Christmas tree up this weekend and the kids keep going back and forth to see it, if they didn't take grandpa (namely me) to see the tree about 20 times, then they didn't take me at all. The sparkle in their eyes tell me they are ready for Christmas, this year they understand more as Diego is now 3 1/2 and "Ducky" will be two in less than a month.

I look forward to watching all those Christmas movies that they show on Life Channel, year after year I love to see the repeats and every so often they surprise me with some new ones, I prefer the made for TV Christmas movies than the big theatrical releases.

So the countdown begins, so it's up to you. Love Christmas for what it represents and not for what it has become.

Boobs vs. Coolness

Click on the Picture

EXTRA! -- THIS JUST IN -- EXTRA!

I know I already posted today, so this is my second post. I just want to let you all know that I made it into 25peeps.com and your help is needed.

It is a know fact that men don't have boobs therefore men don't last more than a day in the front page, so I'm using my secret weapon or my lucky charm, if you look closely in the picture you will see my grandson riding with me, so help me stay there for more than a day that is my goal a whole day. You think it'll happen?

We shall soon find out.

http://www.25peeps.com/r/2180

Immediate Future

Some of the things that I want to do in the very immediate future are:

Eat "Carne Asada" again, even though I had it Sunday and Monday, yes that was two days in a row but I'm a meat eater and I want more.

I want to go watch the movie "Happy Feet" with "mi chica" and my 3 1/2-year old grandson Diego whom at this point in life after watching the movie "Cars" over 100 times knows the dialog and has asked him mommy if she can change his name to "Lightning McQueen". He's is a that perfect age where he can really appreciate cartoon movies. Watching his expressions is priceless.

And go home because it's finally time. Talk to you tomorrow.

Simpler is Better

Sometimes the simpler unplanned things turn out to be the best. "mi chica" had just finished telling me that it was time for us to have a "Carne Asada", with the beautiful weather we are having I couldn't agree more.

Sunday morning on our way to mass, "mi chica's" phone rang and it was her sister calling to invite us to have "Carne Asada" at the park by her house. Coincidence? I think not, it really was time for us to enjoy the "Carne Asada" tacos and BBQ chicken and so the two sisters communicated telepathically before they even picked up their cell phones.

We couldn't have asked for a better day, even though we are well into the month of November, here in Phoenix we are still having weather that invites us to wear shorts and t-shirts. Being that is was a small neighborhood park we were lucky to have it all for ourselves, the kids run up and down with no signs of getting tired, the swings and slide in the playground had no breaks.

This is a week that we all reserve to express our gratitude to God for the things that we have, for the great moments that he allows us to have such as last Sunday. Being a part of such a big family sometimes creates conflicts and what should be simple becomes complicated. I'm thankful that many of us have been working diligently towards keeping the family unity alive and well, the family needs to be nourished and well taken care of before anything else.

I'm thankful for the 25 years that "mi chica" has put up with me, I'm thankful because I still have my mom around, and I'm thankful that my daughters and son are conquering the hurdles that come with being married and having a family of their own. Granted they all live with us right now but eventually they will have to go on their own and when that happens I want for them to be prepared.

So I don't know about you all but I'm not only reserving Thursday for thanksgiving but I will use the whole week and the whole year as well, and remember that it doesn't matter if you think you are having it too hard, there's always others that have it worse than we do.

It's Friday

This is the third time I order my new BE thumbnail and the darn thing comes out incomplete. For some reason the thumbnail is created before my Joe Cool-Mustang header loads up and therefore it comes out incomplete and if you ask me that just sucks big time because now I have to wait for another week to pass before I can order another one. The thumbnail is the first thing we see to identify which battles to vote for or which blogs to read. Not having the correct thumbnail is like not having an ID, so hopefully next week when I order a new one it will come out complete. In the meantime just look for Jose918 to identify my thumbnail.

So, apparently we will be going to Manny's tonight after work for food, drinks, and possibly karaoke. I have been practicing a couple of songs that I want to belch out, and when I say practicing I only mean singing along to my CDs while driving, it's amazing how well I sound when I sing and drive, I sing almost just as good as the original artist, at least that's what I keep telling myself. I would practice in the shower where the acoustics are better but in the mornings when I take a shower "mi chica" is still sleeping and I don't have a death wish or the desire to take a cold shower, so... no singing in the shower for this kid. So anyway we'll see, once I get there I may not get my courage to grab that microphone, but at least I know the food is good there so I will be saving my appetite for sure.

If you get a chance don't forget to visit my co-pilot of the week CyberCelt of Texas RV Travel Blog, learn about some of the things to see and do during Christmans in Texas, don't forget to tell her I sent ya.

Oh and I want to publicly thank the BE Credits Fairy for throwing credits into my account when I needed them the most, and some you people think fairy tales and miracles are not true.

Lastly today, I was reading my local paper and they posted pictures of grown men camping outside Best Buys since Monday to get a PS3 play station unit. Why??? Does it really makes that much of a difference to get it first? You know they will make so many of them that supply and demand won't be a problem at all but camping outside any store that will carry it will give the suppliers the opportunity to gouche the prices. According to the article in the newspaper some of this Playstation buyers are willing to pay some $700.00 for a $500.00 unit, that to me (Must be because I am getting old) is just insane, but then again people payed insane amounts of money for the "Tickle me Elmo" doll not too long ago, yeap I'm definitely getting old.

Texas RV Travel Blog

I am honored to have CyberCelt on the co-pilot seat once again. The last time we rode together she told many ghost stories that travel up and down the state of Texas. This time she will delight us with a good ol' Christmas time Texas style. Please join me in welcoming for the second time Texas RV Travel Blog as my co-pilot for the week. Don't forget to click on her thumb nail and be a pal leave a comment and tell her I sent ya, my reputation depends on your clicks.

Culture Outing

As some of you may know my daughter is going to school and is majoring in Graphic Design. She is on her second year and so far she has learned so much and has done many cool projects that have shown me she'll be OK after she gets her degree.

The current look my blog has was designed by her in a matter of minutes and I think I will keep it for another while before I bug her with a new template.

She got an assignment that involved a trip to the museum, so yesterday her and I and little "Ducko" took a field trip and got some culture. I had not been to a museum in more than 30 years so going to Phoenix Art Museum yesterday was a nice change from the daily routine. Of course I had to play hooky from work but it was well worth it.

Art is definitely in the eye of the beholder, art comes in many shapes forms and sizes, there were so many pieces there that deserve to be admired but I the same time I saw many art pieces that left me saying, shit I can do better than that, but even if I could the chances my work would be displayed in a museum are zero to none.

The Native American Art section was one of my favorites. Indian art and displays are full of life and color, and every painting told a story just by looking at it. Another favorite of mine was the Children Art section, "Ducko" my almost two-year grandson displayed some talent, we left one of his masterpieces hanging in one of the walls, oh my little artist, it must run in the family.

So with a renewed outlook on what art is we came back home after walking for a good three hours through the different exhibits, we took some pictures but I don't have the jpegs with me so I can't share them with you at this time, but I'll try and post some of them as soon as I can. One thing is for sure, I learned that the blogging world is like one of the many wings in the museum. The blog is the canvas and what we put into it from template desing to writing input is the art. Everyday I see new template designs and it seems to me that the designers are constantly outdoing themselves.

Now that I have received a good doze of culture in the form of art I'm back to work, it was good taking the day off and spending it with my daughter and grandson.

A Day at the Races

Thanks to ABF and U-Pack Moving I was able to attend the "Arizona, Travel 200 NASCAR BUSCH Series" on Saturday at PIR. Our regular grandstand seat tickets were accompanied with admitions to enter "Corporate Village" and the pit area. A miscalculation on my part made us miss Jason Leffler as he was in the ABF's booth area signing autographs on the 1:24 scale ABF U-Pack die cast car models given to us in our goodie bags.

Saturday's weather could not have been better, it is actually a little hard to believe that we are into the third week of November and it is still warm, shorts and t-shirts were the perfect attire for the day.

It's always a highlight when the National Anthem is sang, and just as the last sentence was being sang four Air Force jets flew over the race track, I have no idea how they do this but the synchronization was just perfect, they did however released the fireworks a little earlier than they should have.

Going to the races is a good reminder to slow down in life; don't try to race each other. Life is not a race and there's no need to live so fast. It boggles my mind to see kids 12 and 13-years old holding hands and kissing on the street as if they were full-blown teenagers, and then by the age of 15 they become totally unprepared parents. Slow down, life is not a race. Another example of how we like to race each other is by trying to outdo each other. The "I can't see you buy something because I will buy the same but better" syndrome is widely used by us. The constant competition among ourselves is endless and just like at the races it has us going in circles.

It is not good to be complacent but know where your limitations are; life is not and should not be a race, slow down before you crash and burn. Learn to enjoy each day and be grateful for what you have.

On Veteran's Day

If you live with, ride with, party with, fight with, work with, play with, or just know someone that is a veteran please do not forget to tell them a heart warming:

"THANK YOU"

With This Ring I Thee Wed

Again!

Picture taken by Elena

And so in an intimate family gathering held at my mom's house surrounded by our son and his wife, our two daughters and their husbands, and our five grandchildren Sylvia and I said, "I do" all over again. Seems it was only yesterday when we said those two little words and yet a quarter of a century has passed.

God has given us so much that I am ashamed we have abandoned him so much. The ceremony performed by Father Helios was an eye opener, his words though beautiful said a truth we did not want to hear but that needed to be reminded, it was a good time to reflect on our past and to see if we need to make any adjustments or changes as we head to our future. Father Helios made us remember Sylvia's mom and my dad and made us feel as they were there with us blessing our renewed commitment to keep going on.

It certainly was a blessing to have my mom and Sylvia's dad present, Don Sixto looked just as good as he did 25 years ago when he walked Sylvia down the aisle except this time around he just walked her out the living room to the patio where the mass was celebrated.

Anybody that knows Father Helios will know that he is a very good priest that puts so much attention to detail, from his singing to his melodic sermons where he makes us repeat his sentences over and over again. The mass was about 40 minutes long but thanks to him it felt, as it was shorter.

A touching moment that will last in my mind forever is when he called our kids and told them to kneel in front of us so that they could receive our blessing. Both Sylvia and I took turns blessing each one of them, naturally some tears were shed but you can rest assured that they were tears of happiness.

What followed was also a beautiful moment as my niece Marya sang her rendition of "The Ave Maria" as we received communion. More than one pair of eyes showed that sparkle that only comes when a tear makes its presence known. Sylvia's and mine were just inundated with tears so if we looked like we sparkled now you know why.

Thanks to all of our family members and friends that joined us in such a joyous occasion, your presence meant the world to us, and to the ones that could not attend know that we still had you in our hearts thus making us feel as if you were there celebrating with us.

So as Sylvia and I head towards our future we invite you to keep being such a crucial and important part in our lives. With your help another 25 years should be a breeze.

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How Can You Not Like It?

I love country music, and I'm MEXICAN!, I sing country music too with a MEXICAN accent to boot (so Mushy if you didn't understand Carrie Underwood, I have no chance in hell), but what the hell is all in good fun.

So how is it that a Disco Kid learned to appreciate Country Music?

Well it was supposed to be a phase, it wasn't supposed to last but in my case it did. First there was "Saturday Night Fever", then "Thank God It's Friday", and then all of a sudden a twist in music throws us "Urban Cowboy" with John Travolta looking for love in all the wrong places. We are all wearing baggy pants, cowboy boots, and John Wayne shirts with little string ties around our necks. Yes, we were all turned into Urban Cowboys doing line dancing and the "bull shit" dance, remember that one "Bull Shit 1, 2, 3, bull shit 1, 2, 3".

Mickey Gilley was my favorite cotnry singer, to this day I know most of his songs which I'm preparing to karaoke next time I go out. Kenny Rogers with "The Gambler" and "The Coward of the County" and later on Willy the man. I was too young to go into "Gilleys" in Anaheim but the fashion made it into the discotheque even though no Country Music was played at the disco.

Later on I discovered Alabama, George Strait, Vince Gill, The Oakridge Boys, Randy Travis, The Judds (we saw them in concert at the Universal Amphitheathre) with Earl Thomas Conley Jr., and many others. With the exception of Willy Nelson I skipped the outlaws there music was to rough for my taste. And now there's a whole new generation of singers I like. Garth Brooks and "Friends in Low Places" was played in radio stations that had nothing to do with country music, he was that cool. Travis Tritt, John Michael Montgomery, Rascal Flats, Faith Hill, Shannia Twain, Montgomery Gentry just to name a few are among my favorites, and my country music library is pretty extensive.

So, Urban Cowboy came and went, but my love for the music remained. Those darn leather cowboy boots I bought for $200.00 back in 1980 are still standing in my closet today. (Hey Mushy how about that, my boots are "Standing the Test of Time")

So there, who knows next year they'll say at the CMAs and the best Country Music Karaoke singer is...

... and the winner is -- JOE COOL!

And the winner is Faith Hill... NOT!

And the nominees for Female Vocalist of the year are:

Sara Evans
Faith Hill
Martina McBride
Carrie Underwood
Gretchen Wilson

And the winner is:

Carrie Underwood

Faith Hill raising her hands in triumph and then saying WHAT! when she realized her name was not Carrie Underwood... Priceless!

Welcome Dead Silence

After a three day hiatus I am back, and I also have a new co-pilot, this one comes all the way from Maryland and it will be easier if I just quote her:

I'm a 23 years old female and live in Maryland. I've always been fasinated by serial killers and the like. I'm a fan of such shows a CSI, Cold Case Files, Cold Case, Without A Trace and Forensic Files. I'm not sure what drew me towards such a topic. I guess you could say it just kinda happened. Most of the books in my collection are about various killers and cases. Those books along with various websites will be where I get most of the information you see here. If you have any questions feel free to contact me.

She writes about things that most of us stay away from. Not too long ago we were worried here in Phoenix because of the Serial Shooter and Baseline Rapist, so sites like hers are not too far fetched, actually hers is very informative and interesting. Dont' believe me? Then try for yourself and click the thumbnail.

So please join me in welcoming "Dead Silence" as my co-pilot of the week.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

These are two of my five grandchildren (Diego and Alayna). I want to remember this picture for a long time because eventually these two will be fighting all the time... Well I hope not, but you know how brothers and sisters are.

~~~~~~~~~~

Picture taken by Michelle

Lety la Fea and Ugly Betty

There's a Mexican telenovela mi chica and I watch called "La Fea Mas Bella". Although in the latest episodes there some drama the telenovela is pretty much a comedy, which is refreshing as all the Mexican telenovelas reach to far into the unbelievable. So anyway, Lety is an ugly duckling with a huge brain, her smarts lands her in the position of President's Assistant of "Conceptos", a high profile advertisement house run by the newly elected president whom happens to be the son of the owner. In a matter of days Fernando (the new president) takes "Conceptos" to the edge and as bankruptcy is eminent him and Lety open another company, which in turn will save "Conceptos" from being taken over by the banks.

Most of the time the situations are funny, Lety's office is an old broom closet although she is now technically but not officially the owner of both "Conceptos" and "Filmo Imagen". "Filmo Imagen" is run by her nerdy but extremely smart friend Tomas and while "Conceptos" kept losing money "Filmo Imagen" kept making money.

All this was kept a secret from all the stockholders and only Fernando and his vice president Omar knew about this. While Lety fell in love with Fernando since the first day she saw him it was evident that her love could only be a dream. A Plan was made to make Lety believe that Fernando was falling for her even though Omar normally calls her "the monster" or "the little gargoyle" to make sure she wouldn't get any funny ideas and let them out to dry, as by now Lety is the one person that know anything and everything about "Conceptos".

It really is funny stuff and has captured a huge audience, so Salma Hayek saw the huge potential and is trying to fuse a Mexican telenovela into a weekly sitcom. "Ugly Betty" is "La Fea Mas Bella's" American Counterpart. I have been watching it and it is funny although a little bit different. If you haven't watch it yet give it a try, last week they touched on a subject that is second nature for us Mexicans, and that is the fact that Betty's dad has been living here in the United States illegally. Salma will make an appearance on the next episode and it promises to be a good one.