SOME APRIL PHOTO SAMPLES

Delaney has introduced a cat to the house and she appears willing to take over. She seems to pay no mind to Dewey's growls and would rather play with Molly than any toy she might have. Here are a few pictures of the animal house.

A RARE FLORIDA SIGHTING

When I go on my route around the neighborhood I like to take some pictures of the wildlife and different things I may see along the way. Usually I'll get a decent picture of some things that you would ordinarily see on the ponds around here like cranes, ducks or alligators, etc.

Today, I got a rare treat. I was able to take a picture of something you used to see all the time in Florida. But in the last few years the opportunity to see them in the wild has become more rare. Now I admit, there have been times when I thought I saw one but the moment was fleeting and I really couldn't be sure. Today I had my phone with me and was able to snap a couple of pictures. These are not the best pictures that could have been taken but I dared not get too close for fear that they may be scared away.

Because these have become so rare in Florida in recent years I believe they have protective status so I wanted to enjoy the sight but not take the chance that they would not come back. The positive thing regarding their preservation is that these two appeared to be in some type of reproductive dance or positioning. We can only hope that their spawn will flourish in these parts. Most of us would like to see them spread from the Tampa area to all of Florida.

I hope you enjoy the picture that I did get so that you too can pass the word that they do exist and they will be making a comeback right here in Florida.

MANAGING MEMBER

As the newly installed Managing Member of ELTEDE, LLC I thought it would be appropriate at this time to make a few announcements. As you may know there have been a few changes here lately and I thought it would be appropriate to let everyone in on what I have been thinking and acting on.  Most of these relate to sports in general but to life in particular (pretty deep, huh).

1. As a matter of public safety I will no longer be picking football games for this season after February 6th. This is being done for the good of anyone who might think I have any idea of what I am doing with these picks but mostly because the season will be over.
2. I will not be making a pick for the Pro Bowl game. Sorry.
3. Anything I say in this blog regarding the selection of any team in an NFL playoff game should be taken with a grain of salt. Hasn't it become obvious that I don't get it.
4. Starting Monday I will be officially looking forward to baseball. Maybe I'll even give my take on the off-season activity.

With that being said I need to make my picks for this week's Conference Championship. I'll try not to give too much analysis with these, but here goes without point spreads.

NFC Championship. Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears.
I like Green Bay. Both of these teams have some holes but I think Green Bay pulls it off.

AFC Championship. New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers.
Although I'd like to see a Super Bowl between two of the great dynasty teams I think the Jets will pull this one out. Defensively the Jets should wear down the Steelers injured offensive line and the Jets also have a way of looking like hell for long periods on offense and then pulling out a clutch performance in the end to get a win. So, begrudgingly. I will pick the Jets but cheer for the Steelers.

Good luck everyone, stay healthy so the Super Bowl will be entertaining and remember that there are now just over twenty days until pitchers and catchers report.

JOB CLICHES

I saw this top ten list of most overused buzzwords from LinkedIn profiles and wondered if I could make a personal job history using all of them. The list was compiled by Manu Sharma at Linkedin. I didn't check but I wonder how many of these buzzwords are in his profile. Manu compiled this list as an end of year Linkedin posting for the buzzwords of 2010.

Did you use one of these 10 most overused buzzwords in your LinkedIn profile this year?

1. Extensive experience
2. Innovative
3. Motivated
4. Results-oriented
5. Dynamic
6. Proven track record
7. Team player
8. Fast-paced
9. Problem solver
10. Entrepreneurial

My own buzzword-infested profile could look like this.

I am a Results-Oriented (4) team player (7) with extensive experience (1) and proven track record (6) as an innovative (2) problem solver (9) within entrepreneurial (10), fast-paced (8), dynamic (5) environments where motivated (3) groups delivered superior value-added enterprise solutions.

Should I post this to my LinkedIn profile?

Thorasic Thursday

I used the title "Thorasic (sic) Thursday" due to the fact that my arms are getting tired from being stuck in the air while cheering for the Patriots and Red Sox this week. So bare with me; typing is difficult today.
The week began with the Red Sox going back and forth with their new Minor League affiliate (San Diego Padres) over a deal for a hitter who can even hit homeruns in that big ballpark in downtown San Diego. I think he will pepper the wall with his swing and will benefit with extra base hits to his power spots of right-center and center. Adrian Gonzalez made the Red Sox even more dangerous than they were with Adrian Beltre in the lineup. I know Beltre's numbers were good last year but I think Gonzalez will duplicate those every year. So Sunday was back and forth until the deal was done. That gave us a break until the Monday night Armageddon that was coming with the New York Jets.
All I will say about the Patriots win Monday night is WOW!!!!.
This morning I woke up to the news that the Red Sox signed Carl Crawford to a seven year deal. WOW!!!. The only problem I can see with this deal is that now the Sox may be too-left handed. Is that possible in Boston? The Red Sox of my youth were known as the country club team for big, slow right handed hitting white guys who today would make for a good DH. Now the Sox have two of the best base stealers in the game in Crawford and Ellsbury. Two of the most hard-nosed players in the game in Pedroia and Youkilis, great hitters in Gonzalez and Ortiz as well as a hell of a defensive team in the field. School is still out on the catching staff and bullpen but the starting pitching can be matched against anybody. If the Yankees don't get Cliff Lee the argument could be made that the new "Evil Empire" is rising.
Arms up everybody!!!!!
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P.S. I also need to make an NFL pick for tonight. I have to selct between two teams headed in the wrong direction. Indianapolis and Tennessee have been through quite a year so far. Manning has no reliable weapons, his arm is sore and the Colts defense stinks but they seem to be world's ahead of the Titans whose quarterback quit, his replacement is old and slow and Randy Moss has been an invisible waste. I guess I'll take the Colts and give the 3.5 points, what the heck. That doesn't mean I have to watch it.

SOME NOVEMBER SAMPLES

TAKING IN SOME SUN

 HEY, LET ME IN ALREADY. IT'S COLD OUT HERE, IT'S GOTTA BE IN THE SIXTIES.

EXPERIMENTING IN THE DARK

THANKSGIVING

The One About Peyton Manning

I usually don't like to gush about my favorite teams' opponents but this blog will be the second time this month. The first was when Derek Jeter won the Gold Glove Award and I defended him. Even though I am genetically conditioned to despise the Evil Empire that is the Yankees I still think he is one of the best. Now I come to praise Peyton Manning, not bury him.

The Patriots may have beaten Indianapolis today but the fact that this game was even close is a testament to the greatness of Peyton Manning. Let me just say that the Colts stink out loud, with or without injuries. That defense was pathetic today except for one Patriots possession. If it weren't for a couple of drops the Pats could have run up the score. Did they have any negative yardage plays? The Colts offense is nothing to write home about as well without Manning. Could you imagine that team without him? As it was he had three interceptions and still almost pulled off the come back.

Although I don't think the Colts will go deep in the playoffs (if they make them) I think Manning should be handed the MVP trophy right now. Sure Brady, Vick, Rivers, Matthews and others are having great years but all of them at least have a competitive team to battle with.

When he was younger I always felt that Manning was guaranteed to give it away in a tight playoff situation. It usually was a certainty. That can no longer be said after they won a Super Bowl but I still have questions. However, in the regular season I've never seen anyone better. I wish him well watching the playoffs this year.

USF - Rutgers pix

My visit to Raymond James last night gave me an opportunity to experiment a little more with my camera. Some of these came out OK, others, not so much. The game was interesting and exciting if not a thing of beauty but the fact that USF pulled it out was a treat.

This call was reviewed for a Rutgers TD. Can you tell if he got in?

This is the same play zoomed in. This is when I think it would be nice to have a better camera.

EVERYONE COMPLAINS ABOUT THE POLITICAL ADS...

but they don't do anything about it. I say they shouldn't.

As predicable as the press complaining about the large number of themselves at the Super Bowl and the Boston writers over rating the next great Red Sox prospect, the political coverage of the last week or so is centered on the number of negative election ads.


Please stop!

This is not a rant about any of the parties involved. My rant is in favor of these commercials. Hey, everyone is complaining about the state of the economy. Did you ever stop to think that the obscene amount of money spent on these ads is serving a number of purposes? First of all it allows the politicians to spend their own and donors money which is a pretty cool way of spreading the wealth. They are, after all, making transactions to get these ads run. On the other hand it allows those who have more spend more, which again, create transactions that spur the economy.

My old Communistic Sociology teacher used to describe Capitalism as simply as the 'Economics of Beer', others call it 'Trickle Down'. Without getting into all aspects of the details his premise, which I'm betting he used for his doctoral thesis, was that Capitalistic (be it Market or Keynesian) spending helps to spur the sale of beer. Basically with additional capital available to producers, more construction is needed to fulfill capacity, which leads to the hiring of construction workers. Construction workers like to drink beer. When construction workers are paid they will spend money on beer, among other things. The purchase of beer needs to take place at a local store owned by a proprietor (in his case personally or state owned). Because there is greater demand for beer, the proprietor will order more from the distributor, who gets his take and passes the orders to increase demand to the brewer; and so the cycle continues.

In the case of elections that process takes place in a different arena but with similar results. The problem comes with election day. After that the process just suddenly ends and there is no major national election for another two years. Like Archie Bunker's solution to end hijacking by giving everyone on the plane a gun, I say let's have a national election referendum on something every six months. That way the money will keep flowing to those sign makers, videographers, political consultants, television stations and bartenders who profit from the election cycle. Of course we may need to take a break for the more important voting issues in this country; you know, things like American Idol.

SOME OCTOBER PHOTOS

I've been lugging this thing around for a couple of weeks.

The old and New Lowell.

Sunset in Lowell

The Hunter's Moon in New England.