Warm weather vs cold weather

Living in Massachusetts, we experience some crazy temperature swings (2 degrees in Winter, 97 degrees in Summer). We get to actually experience the four seasons. Which is a good thing for some people, and a bad for others, myself included. Having lived here for 26 years, the cold weather is finally getting to me. The hassle of putting 5 layers a clothes on. Clearing off my driveway every week, driving 20 mph when its snowing, falling on my ass when retrieving the paper, etc. Just having to endure literally 7 months of winter is getting really old.

Just last week I hit the button to open the garage door and heard this loud, "pop." The arm that lifts the door ripped off due to the fact the door was frozen to the ground. These types of things only happen when its frigid, and they annoy me to no end. Last year, my pipes froze, twice. Thanks to the consecutive days of -15 degree weather! Now I have anti-freeze running throughout my houses heating system. What made the winter time even more unattractive to me was the giant ice storm we recently had a couple months ago. We were without power for three days (10 days in other parts of town.) The destruction the heavy ice caused to trees was unbelievable. You can still drive around and see broken trees everywhere.

The cost of living in a climate that gets really cold is apparent also. Heating my house is roughly $200 a month as opposed to $70 with A/C. The higher cost of layers vs just t-shirts and shorts is obvious too. My car will last only 10 years with the salt eating away at it year after year.

I understand the saying, "the grass is always greener on the other side." But, for me its time to roll the dice and move to a warmer climate, because to me, there's no comparison. Then after 10 years of being at my new destination, I'm sure I'll start bitching and moaning there!

Wobbly Barn

After a long day of snowboarding/skiing at Killington Mountain in Vermont last weekend, my friends and I wanted to experience the nightlife Killington, Vt had to offer. With the town having a population of about 1100, there's really not much around. It doesn't really have your typical village feel for a ski resort, which is fine.

We did a little research on the Internet and quickly came up with the two "hottest" night spots. The Wobbly Barn and The Pickle Barrel. Supposedly, they're pretty much one in the same. We chose the Wobbly Barn for the fact of its closer proximity to our hotel. They also have a free taxi service as well. The Wobbly Barn has a steakhouse downstairs, for a nice added feature. We did eat there, while the food was decent, the prices were quite high. Which is to be expected at any ski resort town. The kicker for eating there, however, translates to getting into the bar portion, upstairs, for free. Rather than having to pay a $10 or $20 cover charge per person. The bar area was sweet, there's a stage set up for a band with seating on the outer edges. Also, there's like this balcony area above the dance floor/stage, where additional seating can be found. As I understand, the Wobbly Barn is pretty old. So, during its capacity, you could literally feel the floor moving (wobbling, no pun intended) up and down! All in all its a great place if you're looking to do some after skiing/snowboarding, boozing.

5 Hour Energy

I just came home from a weekend of snowboarding in Killington, Vermont with a few of my friends. I brought myself a 2 oz. bottle of 5 hour energy with me. Keep in mind I'm not a big energy drink person, so I've never had a 5 hour energy before. My idiot friends kept razzing me to take it, saying,"it's going to upset your stomach, "it'll give you a pounding headache", etc. The razzing persisted, and the fact is, consuming the energy drink now concerned me!

So, I arrive home this past Sunday, without drinking the 5 Hour Energy in Vermont. I'm now by myself and can dodge the ridicule I may have gotten if the energy drink affects me negatively! I'm exhausted, so I grab the 2 oz. shot, quickly read the "scientific" ingredients and down it. The taste is hideous, however, it subsides quickly. After about 10 minutes I started getting a bit jittery, which persists for about 30 minutes. Once the jitters were out, I felt rejuvenated, like I had just taken a 1 hour nap. What a sweet product. I've read that people actually get hooked on this stuff, so I should probably be careful. If you need a quick pick-me-up, give this product a whirl.

Michael, Michael, Motorcycle

As most of you will come to find out, (not like anyone reads this anyways),  Random nonsense pops into my head at any given time.  Take last night for instance, the old playground rhyme, Michael, Michael, Motorcycle came to mind.  It goes a little something like this, "Michael, Michael, Motorcycle, turn the key, and watch him pee!  Turn it back, and watch him crap!" (I know, I know, the last verse doesn't even rhyme.)  This gem was said to anyone named Michael back in the 2nd grade, for no other reason, than the fact that his name was Michael.

This got me to thinking about other playground rhymes, keep in mind, these were used by myself, 20 years ago.  My thoughts could be a bit cloudy.  Another doozy, was when there was a "couple", one would blurt out; "John and Cindy sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby's carriage!"  Oh man, the schoolyard would laugh hysterically if this was dropped on anyone.  This was one of the ultimate chants.

Another catchy phrase, "I see London, I see France, I see someone's underpants!" A classic, however, no where near as serious as the first two.

20 years later, thats all I can remember as the most popular ones here on the East Coast.  After having read this blog, I'm sure most of you would like  2 minutes of your life back.  Oh well, I'm sure some of you got a chuckle out of it!

House Train a Dog

Does it seem hopeless that your new dog will never learn to use the great outdoors for its bathroom?  First, let me start off by saying, "NEVER PAPER!"  Paper training usually involves newspaper set on the ground IN a designated part of the HOUSE.  While the dog quickly associates the newspaper as his/her bathroom, your dog figures that its okay to go in the house.  Which is the opposite of what the owner ultimately wants!  If a dog is trained in this way, its harder to break their habit if you later try training them to use the outdoors as their bathroom.  I like to use a combination of crate training, and the bell technique.

Crate training is pretty straight forward.  At night when its time for bed, put your dog in the crate.  Make sure the crate isn't too big or too small.  Your dog should be able to turn around comfortably.  You can also throw a safe toy in there for good measure.  Dogs will not soil themselves in their crates.  Its a natural instinct of theirs not to dirty their sleeping place.  A crate isn't cruel either, dogs are den animals, so the crate makes them feel right at home.  Just make sure they don't stay in their crates for unusual amounts of time.

When your dog isn't in the crate when you're at home, the bell technique is perfect.  The bell technique consists of hanging a christmas-like bell from the door (knob) you always let your dog out, at nose height.  The first few weeks you have your dog, you MUST keep your eyes on him/her like a hawk.  It's imperative to catch your dog in the act of going to the bathroom indoors.  A stern, "NO" will do, quickly walk the dog to the designated door and manually hit the bell with his/her nose and say, "outside." You MUST be routine with this step.  After a few weeks your dog will start running over to the door and hitting the bell with their nose on there own!  It's also VERY important to praise your dog when they're doing their business outside with a "good boy, or good girl," in a high pitched voice.  All dogs love/respond to high pitched voices!  With these techniques your dog will be using the outdoor soil as their personal bathroom in no time.

Panini Grill or George Foreman Grill

What do you know, another meaningless comparison. And again, another close call, which seems to be a theme of mine. I've owned both grills and I currently own a Panini Grill, which may make this a bit biased. In terms of the foreman grill, the consumer is basically paying a bit more money for the Foreman name. The grill I had was quite basic, no temperature control or on/off button, just plug in and grill. I will say that it grilled nicely for an indoor grill.

Cuisinart GR-1 Griddler Panini and Sandwich Press

The panini grill I have is the same basic looking grill, except there's an on/off knob as well as temperature control. The biggest plus is the price is probably 20% lower than a foreman grill (of that size) and does the same basic thing; it grills indoors.

I like to do whats called "spatchcocking" on the panini grill. Spatchcocking is when you take a whole chicken or cornish game hen and cut the back-bone out. This in turn allows you to open the bird like a book and flatten it out on the grill. This works great with game hens that are about 1.5 lbs. on the panini grill. Since the Grill, grills with both sides it cooks a spatchcocked game hen in 10 mins. flat. Delicious. The foreman grill and panini grill do the same thing. If you want to spend the couple extra bucks for a brand name foreman grill, go for it. If not, stick with a basic panini grill.

Billy Mays Vs Vince Offer?

Which infomercial salesperson is more popular?  There isn't a day that goes by that I get sucked into some infomercial I've seen 1000 times before.  With that said, Billy Mays easily has the most infomercials out there.  His most notorious infomercial is probably OxiClean, this product zaps the toughest stains out there!  Other Billy Mays infomercials you may be familiar with,  Samurai Shark, Lint-B-Gone, Gator Grip, and Buddy Putty, to name just a few.

However there's a new salesperson thats taking the TV broadcasts by storm.  I see Vince Offer, spokesperson for Sham-Wow, 5 - 6 times a day, and watch the infomercial in its entirety every time.  The "smooth talker's" delivery is unprecedented, which allows him to hook his viewers effortlessly.  I can see him taking over many other infomercials in the near future 

to put him on par with the god of informercials, Billy Mays.  At this time however, Billy Mays cannot be touched.  He's recognized in households across america, and maybe even the world.