Ready for a cold winter?

Actually today here in C-town it's an indian summer. I think we were in the 70's today. However you have to go outside of my house to notice it. I live in this old brick home that was built in the early 1800's. You wouldn't know it, but old brick homes seem to have the same physical properties as the common beer cooler. If it's hot it's hot. When it's cold, it's cold. Also if you don't clean them out they get all moldy and start to stink.

The farmer's almanac has predicted a colder than usual winter for most of the country. You can see their forecast here. Evidently "shivery is not dead." That farmers almanac makes so much sense. Why would I waste my time checking the weather forecast day after day to only get a guess as to what the weather may be in the next 5 days when the almanac has predicted it already for the entire year! That's efficiency for you. Not bad for a publication that started in the early 1800's.

So if it's going to be a cold winter you must be prepared. Batton the hatches (what exactly does that mean?), tighten lids and get out your ugly sweaters. Stock up on hot chocolate, doughnuts and chinese carryout menus. Make sure you've filled up your coal pit, stocked the wood pile and practiced your hand rubbing. And make double sure your high speed internet connection is working properly.

And to top it all off, go out and get yourself some electronically heated pants. I'm not kidding, they really do exist. Check it out.

Charles Town News Updates

Well, not really updates about the whole town or what's going on in local politics or the weather here (which was very pleasant today). Just some updates of newsworthy events from my perspective.

News Item 1. Liz and I chaperoned a Halloween party for the youthgroup on Sunday night at our church. The party was held in what was probably the creepiest room you could ever imagine. You see, the party was in the church basement. You must realize that our church (click here) was built something like a thousand yearts ago, then burnt down around the time of the civil war. The building you see today therefore is only 150 years old or so. However, the basement is original! No kidding, there were actual old grave stones from the 1800's just lying around covered in real cob webs. The church yard is filled with really old graves. There's actually more Washingtons (George Washington decendents) buried there than any other place besides Mt. Vernon.

I don't really get into Halloween things for several reasons, but the party went well and the kids had a good time.

News Item 2. We also had a house guest in town for the weekend. Great time. It gave us reason to clean the house up a little bit and make some good dinners at home. It's always nice when the fridge is full of good leftovers.

News Item 3. I think my cat is sick. He's been sleeping in the same place since Saturday and now it's Monday night. He's alive. He moves every once in a while, but just to eat and go to the bathroom, then back to sleep. From my past experiences I'd say he had a night out with a rugby team and now he's recovering, but what would a cat be doing out with a rugby team....it just doesn't make sense.

It's begining to look at lot like....Christmas?

If any of you have been out in the stores recently you might have noticed that some retailers are already getting their Christmas stuff out. I can't believe it. What's next? The big holiday sales will be the day after Labor Day? Or better yet, why not start the season after July 4th? The Wharton School of Business has actually given this phenomenon a name. The call it "Christmas Creep". Fitting for Halloween I suppose.

I don't really do a whole lot of shopping unless you count Home Depot, where I went almost every morning this summer. I just noticed this holiday thing last week when I went to the dollar store at the mall. I was looking for a funky hat to wear at the Avon walk. No hat found there but luckily my cousin came through with the psychedelic Dr. Seuss hat. However, there where some funny things I noticed about the dollar store.

• Did you ever notice they have shopping carts? Not normal sized ones. They have these half size carts, but even they are too big to actually fit down the isles. Ever try to pass someone in a dollar store when they're using one of those carts? It's very tricky. And who actually uses a cart at a dollar store anyway? I guess the same people who complain that Wal-mart is too expensive.
• Have you ever seen something at a dollar store that you just bought the week before for 3 times the price you paid somewhere else? Yeah, I haven't either, but sometimes when I see an extension cord for sale for $1 I wonder....did I buy that same extension cord earlier this year for $3?
• Where do they get all that stuff that they can sell for a dollar? I bet there's a secret store in Hong Kong. It's probably called the 15 Cents Store and you have to own a dollar store in order to have a membership.
• And what about other countries? In Japan do they have the "Yen General"? Or the "Ruble Rummage Store"? The "Pound Store" sounds kind of neat. Or maybe the "Everything for a Lira" outlet.

So I ended up getting a package of dice and a deck of cards. Neither one of which I intended to get when I went in the store. Maybe I'll just give them away for Christmas.

Uncle Morty's Dub Shack Taoism Drunkard

I volunteered to create a kung-fu style video with bad dubbing for some friends of mine so I decided to do a little research on YouTube. Check this one out!

Homer Simpson

I have a new found respect for Homer. I know he gets a lot of flak for being stupid, but I had no idea he was so multi-talented. I thought my talents and abilities were numerous. Homer has set a new bar.

Check it out!

Avon Walk - Part 2

13.1 Mile Mark
We reached the half-way mark early in the afternoon. Not the half-way of the entire weekend, just the half-way of the first day. I think this rest was called the Buffet Brigade of Boobs or something like that. Not really much like a Jimmy Buffet concert, but they did have margaritas, without the tequila or the sour mix. Basically it was just Gatorade with a margarita sign on the cooler.

First signs of blisters started to appear at this stop. They gave me this “mole skin” patch. It’s kind of like a tire patch for your foot. So with my foot newly patched and another peanut butter jelly bar in my stomach I laid down on the grass for a 10 minute rest before we set off again. The whole laying down thing…big mistake

When we set off on the second half of the marathon day I started to feel really stiff. It probably took me about 2 or 3 miles just to loosen up. I did pass this guy with a T-shirt that said “I love boobies” which was pretty funny. The avon walk is probably the only place you can get away with wearing a shirt like that and not get funny looks.

18 Mile Mark
One of my few complaints of the walk was something one of the volunteers said to me at this rest stop. My feet and legs were really starting to feel tired at this point. I think I told Liz that I was feeling fine except for the fact that my legs were killing me. So this lady says to me as I drag into the rest stop, “Congratulations, you made it 18 miles! You’re almost done!”

“Did you hear that!” I said. “We’re almost done!” I could feel a renewed sense of energy. I started to believe that I could actually finish this thing. I ate some snacks, took a short break and filled up with more Gatorade and then set off to finish this walk. The problem was this: there is a HUGE difference between 18 miles and 26.2 miles. Almost done? That lady had no idea what she was talking about.

1 mile to go…till the end of Saturday.
Somehow I just kept going. The rest of my team were all walking much faster than me. So I started taking shorter breaks at the rest areas so that I could keep pace. They would leave 5 or 10 minutes after me and by the time I got to the next rest stop they had caught up with me. I looked like someone who was trekking across the desert. Kind of shuffling my feet in desperate need of something, though I’m not sure what. Eventually we got to the last rest stop, 1 mile before the end. I knew I’d make it at this point. Even if I had to crawl I wasn’t going to walk 25 miles only to stop a mile before the end.

Wellness Center (camp where we spent the night) aka Stiffness Center
We finished the marathon! Now for collapse on ground and lay there for about half an hour. Then go try to set up our tent. It’s a lot trickier when you can barely move. The did have hot showers which was nice. Pretty good dinner too. I went to bed about 8:00pm. That’s even earlier than my grandparents went to bed, but I did get up at 4:00am and then walk…ALL DAY. Didn’t sleep well. Go figure. I don’t exactly fit well in tents to begin with on top of the fact that I couldn’t move my legs.

Last Day
If I was nervous about being able to finish the walk on Friday night, I was downright skeptical that I could finish on Sunday morning. The Frankenstein walk was in full effect and I still had 13.1 miles to go. Ouch. Rainy and cold describes the weather. Luckily the coffee was hot and the breakfast was good. I do so much better with a full stomach.

To get to the point, we just kept moving. The pain got more intense, more tire patches were needed, but we kept getting closer. Eventually we made it. More walking than I’d ever done before in a weekend.

Some Conclusions
I wrote plenty about some the hardships of the walk, but now that I think about it there a bunch of cool benefits that will come out of this experience:

• If my car breaks down on the interstate the next exit is 10 miles away…no problem.
• If gas prices get too high…no problem.
• If I need some extra Avon products….no problem.
• If I need a pink T-shirt….no problem
• If I need to walk for 18 hours for some strange reason…no problem!

So would I do it again? Absolutely….but not for another year…or maybe two years.

Avon Walk - Charlotte, NC

We did it! Actually we accomplished 2 big goals this weekend.

1. We raised our goal of $3,600 for breast cancer research and health care assistance for underprivileged and minority women. Thank you to all our sponsors! Together we raised over $1.6 Million at this event alone.

2. Liz and I both completed the walk of over 39.3 miles! A marathon (26.2 miles) on Saturday and another half-marathon (13.1 miles) on Sunday.

You can either click the title or click here to see some pictures I took of the event.

I have so much material for this post, so I’ll probably just break it down into a couple different posts over the next couple days.

The Walk – 26.2 Miles - Saturday

I didn’t sleep all that well on Friday night. Perhaps I was just excited, or maybe I was a little nervous. In either case it was one of those night where just as you fall asleep it is time to get up. I don’t normally get up at 4:30am, but we were supposed to be at the stadium with all our bags packed by 6:00am. Generally, it takes me a good 15-20 minutes just to get moving so 4:30 seemed like a good time to get started.

Showering, packing, and eating some more of that coffee cake and we were off to the stadium where we would start the walk.

At the stadium

Imagine being just barely awake. It’s cold outside and the sun isn’t coming up for another hour at least. You walk into a stadium and suddenly it’s bright as day, there’s music pumping from a stage, and you’re surrounded by women wearing pink.

I know, I can barely imagine it myself and I was actually there. I woke up to say the least. One night perk about the even is that they took really good care of us. Given the fact that there were probably only 10 men participating in the walk out of 800 or so walkers I was worried that the portions given out for meals wouldn’t be enough. I know, thinking with my stomach again. I was wrong, all of it was all-you-can-eat. Cool.

We loaded up on coffee, bagels, bananas, granola bars and orange juice. Then everyone got down on the field of the stadium where we did some stretches and got a pep talk before starting on the walk.

Finally, at 7:00am we were off and walking. We started at what I would consider a fast walking pace though downtown Charlotte. About 45 minutes after we started we came to the first rest area. Another nice thing about how the walk is run is the placement of rest stops. They are located ever 2-3 miles. There are quick stops and rest stops. They both have bathrooms, water, and Gatorade. The rest stops also have food (usually bananas, oranges, chips, pretzels, food bars) and medical supplies where you can get a blister worked on or your ankle wrapped. They had these peanut butter and jelly graham cracker sandwiches that were incredible.

By about 10:00am we had come to our lunch stop at about the 10 mile mark. The first 10 miles were a breeze. We had been warned that we needed to be training for this event. Basically, we didn’t train. One of my rationales was that it was only walking. How much training did we really need? So, with a good lunch behind us (turkey sandwiches on a croissant with pasta salad and chips) we were off to finish this marathon. I really thought this was going to be a breeze. Oh how wrong I was. To be continued….

Going for a walk tomorrow

A big thank you to everyone who donated to the Avon Walk for breast cancer on behalf of either myself or Liz. We just got here to Charlotte this afternoon and checked in before the big day tomorrow morning. As of this blog entry I'm only $120 short of my goal of $1800. Not bad!!! I would not have come this close without a bunch of help from lots of people. Again thanks to all of you, you are really making a difference in the world. And I will walk proudly for you.

Also, if you want to give a little extra in the end to help me get over the hump and also promote your own agenda, I'm offering to write your website on my shirt for all the thousands of people to see. I'm only charging .50/mile for this and I already have one customer/donor who gave my $25. There's room for probably about 10 more. Also, I'll be wearing a big Dr. Seuss hat so I'll be sure to attract plenty of attention.

A few items of interest so far…

1. A nice guy named Dale who was volunteering at the registration said that it was good to see David and me here at the event. It seems that walking for breast cancer is not on the “favorite things to do” list of many men. Could you imagine a Gillette Walk for Testicular Cancer? You know, as long as you offered cheap beer and sports you could probably get a good turnout. In fact, I suspect if you offered cheap beer at this event and promoted that it would be filled with women you might draw more men here, though they may not actually finish the course and the $1800 fund raising would be a bit of a hurdle. Here's a picture of the many ladies all working on connected laptops to get the walkers registered.

2. We got the McCormick and Schmick’s restaurant where we had dinner to donate $50 to my fund raising efforts. Actually we negotiated $50 off our dinner bill if we promised to donate the money to the effort. Here’s a picture of me accepting the check from the manager. I know that I’m a big person, but some pictures really highlight the fact:

3. Also, at the same restaurant, I ordered carrot cake for desert and I got what is probably the largest piece of cake I have EVER received at a restaurant. I had no chance at finishing it, but at least I know what I’m going to eat for breakfast.

4. Did I mention that we have to get up at 5:00am tomorrow morning in order to get to the event on time? We should be walking on the trail by 7:00am and finished up by 6:00 or 7:00pm. Then we camp for the night and wake up and walk 13 more miles. Should be a piece of cake….speaking of which where are those leftovers….

Spam-a-lyzer 1.0

We all get spam. In fact most of us probably get tons of spam. I won't go over the statistics here, but somehing like half of all email is supposedly spam. However, some spam is more entertaining than others which is why I've decided to break down and analyze a spam that I received today. Many of you have probably received this exact same one. This is just my take on it.

This email showed up in my Outlook from David Smith [david_smith307@hotmail.co.uk]
Subject: I need your assistance (highly confidential)
I don't know what it is about spammers and using yahoo and hotmail email addresses from the UK. I guess in the US we ask people when they sign up for free email, "are you a spammer trying to rip off rich americans who don't understand how to read their email?" I think in the UK they just make you promise to only rip off Republicans.

Positive signs in red.
Cautions in blue.

FROM : DR DAVID SMITH <-- good credibility Doctor
MANAGING DIRECTOR, CITI GROUP ABIDJAN <--Citigroup does actually have an office here in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, another good sign. check it out.
01 BP ABIDJAN 01. <--address doesn't match the website.
REPUBLIC DE COTE D`IVOIRE
TELEPHONE +225 0788 4580
FAX +225 0788 4581
EMAIL ADDRESS; davidsmith360@yahoo.fr or Dr_Davidsmith@financemail.net <--I guess 2 email addresses are a good thing. In case you need one for backup. I know I have something like 5 email addresses. However, it is kind of funny that neither one of these are the same as the one i actually received the email from.

DEAR SIR/MADAM, needs my highly confidential assistance but doen't know if I'm a man or a woman evidently.

PERMIT ME TO INFORM YOU OF MY DESIRE OF GOING INTO BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU. Sounds like any normal business pitch to me. Though when I read it I think of Borat. I GOT YOUR NAME AND CONTACT FROM THE IVOIRIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY. How did they get my name AND my contact. Also, if he got my name he must be obeying some kind of cultural thing by not actually using it out of fear of offending me.I PRAYED OVER IT (well that's good. at least he is a praying man) AND SELECTED YOUR NAME AMONG OTHER NAMES (I'm confused. He prayed over my name and contact and selected me among the other names? Maybe he means he selected me AND the other names. I must be part of a larger group which passed Dr. Smith's prayer test) DUE TO IT'S ESTEEMING NATURE (I do think the name Cyrus Uible has an esteeming nature. Thank you Dr. Smith for mentioning it. That a plus for you.) AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS GIVEN TO ME AS A REPUTABLE AND TRUST WORTHY PERSON I CAN DO BUSINESS WITH (I got to hand it to you Dr. Smith. You really know how to stroke an ego. However, this is in blue because I don't know a single person in your country and in fact I really cannot think of any possible way that you would know someone who would be able to give you any information about me besides my email unless they were spammers in which case I don't even want to know how much they know.) AND BY THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS I MUST NOT HESITATE TO CONFIDE IN YOU FOR THIS SIMPLE AND SINCERE BUSINESS. I agree. He that hesitates is lost. Also, I'm all about businesses that are BOTH simple and sincere. So much nicer to be involved with than those complicated crooked businesses, like trading convertable debt on the bond market.

I AM DR DAVID SMITH, THE MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CITI BANK ABIDJAN. (He must not remember that he already mentioned this earlier in his email) I WOULD LIKE YOU TO ASSIST ME IN TRANSFERRING THE SUM OF 1.5 MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR INVESTMENT. How much assistance does this really require? And "Your Country" I'm starting to think that Dr. smith is a very forgetful person. He clearly know who I am and has listed to reccomendations of me and think of me as a highly trustworthy and honest person, but I don't think he knows what country I live in. ) THIS FUND WAS DEPOSITED IN MY BANK BY A LATE CUSTOMER, MR PHILIPS BANKS, WHO DIED IN AN AVIATION CRASH FEW MONTHS AGO. ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION WE HAVE IN OUR DATABASE, HE HAS NO NEXT OF KIN TO THIS INHERITANCE. I wonder if it's the same database that Dr. Smith got me email address from? Also, if you are very wealthy, make sure to be extra careful when aviating in west africa.

SIR, IAM HONOURABLY SEEKING YOUR ASSISTANCE IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS. It is nice to be honourable sought after. Maybe Dr. Smith is also a Samurai.

1) TO STAND AS THE BENEFICIARY OF THIS FUND( SINCE THE BANK IS OFFICIALLY UNAWARE OF HIS DEMISE). "officially unaware of his demise" good one. However, wouldn't the bank be willing to let someone be the beneficiary if they were aware of someone's demise? Maybe the banking regulations in West Africa are different than they are here in the states. However, next time someone asks me if I know if some old celebrity is still alive I will of course reply, "I'm officially unaware of that person's demise." And of course I'll chuckle to myself and have Dr. Smith to thank.

2) TO PROVIDE A BANK ACCOUNT WHERE THIS MONEY WOULD BE TRANSFERED TO FOR INVESTMENT IN YOUR COUNTRY. that shouldn't be too hard.

I AM DUE FOR RETIREMENT IN A FEW MONTHS TIME. I INTEND TO RELOCATE TO YOUR COUNTRY WITH MY FAMILY IMMEDIATELY AFTER MY RETIREMENT. THIS MAY WELL SERVE AS A RETIREMENT BENEFIT TOP BOTH OF US. Wow, a benefit that would TOP both of us? Wait a minute...I have no idea what that even means.

MOREOVER, SIR, I AM WILLING TO OFFER YOU 30% OF THE TOTAL SUM AS COMPENSATION FOR YOUR EFFORT INPUT AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER OF THIS FUND TO YOUR NOMINATED ACCOUNT OVERSEA. You know Dr. Smith, I think now you're being a little bit greedy. Not only are you probably trying to empty my bank account, stealing the lost inheritance of Philips Banks (whose demise the bank is unaware of) , and deceiving your employer. Now you only want to give me 30%?

FURTHERMORE, YOU CAN INDICATE YOUR OPTION TOWARDS ASSISTING ME AS I BELIEVE THAT THIS TRANSACTION WOULD BE CONCLUDED WITHIN SEVEN (7) DAYS YOU SIGNIFY INTEREST TO ASSIST ME. PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL ADDRESS; Dr_Davidsmith@financemail.net or davidsmith360@yahoo.fr I opt to not write Dr. Smith an email. I have a feeling it could lead to my demise. Worse yet, my bank may not even be officially aware of it.


YOURS SINCERELY,
DR DAVID SMITH( MANAGING DIRECTOR)
CITI BANK, ABIDJAN.

Thanks again Dr. Smith for thinking of me, but I will have to pass. However, I wish you luck in your future business adventures.

Ebay Sale-a-Thon

I started the day with a little analysis. I was thinking about how many items I could put on Ebay and what I could make and how much per hour that would mean for my time.

In other words, is it worth my time to put a bunch of stuff on Ebay. My comparison model for this is my old consulting gig. If I were to go back and consult for a living I could count on making $65-$100/hour. But to be conservative I'll say $65 since most of my jobs were for that amount. Only the arabs at Al-Jazeera International paid me more, but they had a sliding pay scale that went up with the price of crude and included bonuses every time President Bush said something stupid.

My goals for the day: List 30 items, make an average of $20 per item, and only take 15 minutes to put together each listing. That should take me 7.5 hours making roughly $80/hour. Not bad, ahead of the game.

End result: 30 items listed - check
make $20/item - good chance check. Some of the real estate systems are high value items that may fetch $100. Others are crap like the 2 old records my friend got for free off the back of a truck.
spend 15 minutes per item: took me more like 12 hours to do this today, but that included a couple breaks and lunch, so let's say it took me 10 hours. That's more like 20 minutes/item.

Overall Breakdown: $60/hour for my activities today. Not quite as good as the consulting, unless you count the travel/commuting time in which case Ebay wins. So go ahead and bid, there's some really good stuff for sale. There's also some crap. But isn't one's man's crap another man's treasure? We'll see how much some man's treasure sells for next Sunday night when all my Ebay activities today come to their conclusion.

Short Term Cash Flow

I just remembered that I really need to generate some cash in the next 30 days. We have 2 properties now on the market, but they are both located in markets where we are not totally sure when we can expect a buyer.

So, in light of my belief that I'm 100% responsible for my situation (actually God is in control, but that is another post) here's a list of possible solutions:

1. Computer consulting.
2. Get a job.
3. Sell BBQ sauce.
4. Become a real estate agent.
5. Work for my friend Frank buying houses.
6. Start a BBQ catering company.
7. Have a huge E-bay sale.
8. Start a success coaching consulitng company.
9. Raise funds from investors.
10. Make my blogs hugely popular and sell advertising on them.
11. Play music.
12. Make hilarious videos and direct people to my website through youtube.
13. Rent out a room in my house.
14. Become a jockey shorts model.

Anyway, that just some ideas to get me started. I'll let you know what I decided in the next few days. Tomorrow I'll be setting up my new website for the barbecue sauce. Don't worry, I'll pst the address.

If you must have a disease....

I don't really watch a lot of television. Partly because I don't have cable and my one TV only gets about 3 channels on the rabbit ears. There's no remote and the color is really starting to fade. I'll probably soon be the only person within a 100 miles who has a black and white TV.

But when I'm out of town and traveling that's a different story. One of my favorite things to do while staying in hotels is to watch cable. I figure about once a month I get to kick back and just flip through the channels and realize that I'm not really missing all that much.

So recently I saw this commercial by a pharmaceutical company that makes a treatment for a disease. But not just any disease. This disease can make it difficult to sleep at night, can cause confusion or disorientation during the day, and it is a genetic neurological disorder. On top of all that up to 10% of the US population has it and they don't even know it! This scary disease is Restless Legs Syndrome. Did I just say "scary". I meant "scary hilarious!"

I'm going to do a favor for my loyal readers and go through the questionnaire I got from the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation so we can all see if I qualify to be in that lucky 10%.

• When you sit or lie down, do you have a strong desire to move your legs? - Yes, especially if my legs are uncomfortable. I'm a tall guy at 6'6'' and so especially if sitting on the floor I get the desire to move my legs.

• Does your desire to move your legs feel impossible to resist? Yes, especially if I'm at a wedding and there's good music on the dance floor.

• Have you ever used the words unpleasant, creepycrawly, creeping, itching, pulling, or tugging to describe your symptoms to others? No, not generally.

• Does your desire to move often occur when you are resting or sitting still? Yes, sometimes, but isn't that the same question as number 1?

• Does moving your legs make you feel better? Yes, usually, especially if they are uncomfortable.

• Do you complain of these symptoms more at night? No, I really don't like complaining. In fact, I don't really like other people complaining either.

• Do you keep your bed partner awake with the jerking movements of your legs? No, not really, but the term "bed partner" is kind of funny. Can you imagine, "No we're not married, we're just 'bed partners' "

• Do your ever have involuntary leg movements while you are awake? No, my leg movements are always voluntary.

• Are you tired or unable to concentrate during the day? Yes, at the end of the day I am often tired and if there is a lot of noise or my niece is whining a lot I can find it difficult to concentrate.

• Do any of your family members have similar complaints? Not Applicable - I already mentioned that I don't like hearing others complain, so if my family starts to complain about something I just kind of tune it out.

• Does a trip to the doctor only reveal that nothing is wrong and there is no physical cause for your discomfort? Not Applicable - I haven't made a trip to the doctor about my leg movement.

So that's it. The questionnaire says that if a majority of my answers are YES then I may have RLS. I counted 5 yes's out of 11 questions. Phew, I guess I just barely made it. Anyway, I would recommend that my readers take this questionnaire just to be sure.

And if you actually have RLS and you find this post offensive then I am sorry for offending you and I wish you all the best in your leg movements.

Things To Be Thankful For

Imagine a gift that is totally free, only takes a few seconds to make, and makes it's recipients feel wonderful. It's better than most anything you can get in a store. It can lead to more clients, more business, and more friends. It can mend families and even mend fences. It makes you physically healthier whether you give it or receive it. And it makes you feel wonderful every time you give it.

Gratitude is one of the most remarkable things in the world!

This is just a short example of what will be an expanded list for a Thanksgiving post.

Things to be thankful for:

• The people that did their best to raise you
• This beautiful planet
• The people that are gifts in our lives
• Food. Especially good food
• Electricity
• Indoor plumbing
• Animals
  
• Beautiful music and art
• Hope for the future
• Being Alive!

Thanks be to God. (note to non-believers: the benefits of gratitude apply no matter what your views.)

"Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul." -Henry Ward Beecher

Best Burgers

I realized today that despite the name of this blog I have yet to post anything at all about burgers. Well, we're about to rectify that situation right now. Below you can find a list of the best burgers available in various categories. If you don't agree just leave me a comment and I'll be happy to go and do more "research."

Best $1 Burger: Wendy's Junior Bacon Cheeseburger

Best Specialty Burger: Frisch's Big Boy Sandwich

Best Fast Food Burger: Hardee's Thickburger

Biggest Chain Restuarant Burger: Ruby Tuesday Collosal Burger I ate one of these this summer when I was at a wedding in Syracuse. The waitress told me that she had never seen anyone finish the entire thing before. It was a proud moment.

Best Mom and Pop Restaurant Burger: Corner Bisto in NYC

Best Frozen Boxed Burgers: Bubba's Sweet Onion Burgers

Best Conceptual Burger: My bacon-infused burger

Best Chili Burger: Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street in DC

Best Steam Grilled Burger: White Castle's White Castle

This entry is making me hungry...maybe I'll go down the street and get something. I wonder what I could possibly get this time of night...

Weekend Update

What a great weekend!

I've been working on restoring a house here in town for a while now. We're getting down to the final touches. I probably should have been already done, but I've been working on a lot of other projects at the same time. I'll explain what those other projects are in another post. For now, let’s just celebrate that our Mildred Street house will be on the market again this week.

Saturday night: great dinner, better company, game of cash flow (I got creamed, but had a lot of fun) and then an Office Space viewing.

Office Space - Special Edition with Flair (Widescreen Edition)

Today was incredible. We went to church over in Frederick at the Cornerstone Church (or something like that). If you've read Personality Plus, then you will know what I mean when I say it is sanguine church. It's 180 degrees from the liturgical service I usually go to and it was such a fun experience. Part of the message today was about calling the harvest into being. We declared that the month of October was going to be the time. The pastor even mentioned that someone was going to sell some property this month. Woo-hoo! I'm all over that one pastor! I claimed that blessing right there.

So we get home and go over to the garage of the Liberty St. house where we used to live but now have rented out to a law office. In the garage we find 8 cases of XS and a replacement filter for our e-spring water filtration system. Looks like the harvest has indeed started in October. That was fast!

This evening my nephew Will is over for the night. We ate sloppy joes (one of my favorites) and played some kind of pirate game and now he's plugging away at Sim City while I'm blogging. Life is good. Let us give thanks.