Volunteering for Habitat for Humanity

Posted on March 3, 2009 by Joel

Our Habitat for Humanity house today

On Tuesday, through my company, I volunteered for Habitat for Humanity at a site in Somerset.  I signed the waiver and showed up for my first ever Habitat event.  I’ve wanted to do it for years, and finally took a shot at it.

After fighting annoying traffic jams, and parking the car far away on a blustery cold (25 degrees) morning, I showed up at the house around 8:45am.  Another of my colleagues came as well.  We all stood around for a while waiting for instructions, and they started about 9am.  We were putting up drywall today, which I’ve never done.  It was pretty neat.  They broke us up into 4-5 person teams, and I was paired up with more experienced volunteers.  I helped with all the measuring, lifting, and sanding.  Best of all, I spent a lot of time working the powered drywall screwdriver, securing the drywall into the studs.

It was so cold in the house.  I had 3 layers on and gloves, and yet my fingers and toes were freezing.  They had a large diesel-powered space heater, which I took trips to visit in order to warm up my frozen extremities.  Dumbest part was when I was warming up my fingers (with gloves on), my fingertips started to get too hot.  I took my hands away, and my fingers were still burning.  Then I noticed the ends of my gloves had melted together.  I quickly took the gloves off. 

I'm happy to volunteer, but I wish it wasn't freezing!

Two women showed up later in the morning.  Turns out, they had benefitted with housing from Habitat for Humanity.  As a requirement, you have to put in, from what I heard, 500 volunteer hours at other HfH sites, so they were putting in their hours today with us. 

We went out for pizza at lunch, and I chatted with my small group for a while about the state of the company and the economy — what else should we talk about? By the afternoon, on the whole, we finished drywalling most of the house by the end of the afternoon.  I also did some odd jobs, such as taking down and moving scaffolding, and nailing a sign back up.  Good event, I’ll have to do it again sometime.

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Amazon.com selling U2’s No Line On The Horizon for $3.99

Posted on March 3, 2009 by Joel

Get it while it’s hot. Amazon.com – No Line On The Horizon for download…..just $3.99.  I’m listening to the snippets, trying to figure out if I like the new album.

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The first northeast snowstorm of 2009

Posted on March 2, 2009 by Joel

This snowstorm truly snuck up on me.  I knew there was snow coming this weekend, but we’ve only received an inch or two all winter.  Meanwhile, I’m sitting at Supercuts in the waiting area to get a haircut, and a fellow heading out talks about having to get home before the storm.  My eyebrows raised.  Storm? Of course, I’m the clueless one.

Monday morning, we had probably a good 8 inches on the ground but it was light and powdery, so not bad at all.  I would have gone to the office, but the kids’ school announced they were closed.  From experience, there was no way I was going to manage doing my work and taking care of two kids in the house, so I took an unplanned day off.  My wife ended up staying home as well, but we needed man-on-man defense that day to keep those kids occupied.

I tell you, every time we get snow, I always (ALWAYS!) think back to January 1994 in New York, when we got hit by that blizzard / ice storm.  The ice was so bad, every morning for a week, we got up to hear that school was cancelled.  We didn’t go to school for a week!  We lost so much time, midterms were cancelled.  I played in the snow a lot that week.

I shovelled the patio and around the cars (and cleaned them) in the morning pretty quickly.  In the late afternoon, I took Josh out for sledding, making a tiny snowman, and some other misc. running around.  We capped off the fun with hot chocolate.  Nice.

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Terminator Salvation theatrical trailer 2 is out

Posted on March 2, 2009 by Joel

Terminator Salvation theatrical trailer #2 is out today. Faith and begora, it looks interesting. This is certainly a movie I’m looking forward to with high expectations this summer.

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Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Posted on March 2, 2009 by Joel

After waiting two weeks, we watched Be Kind Rewind, a movie my wife added to our Netflix queue.  I had heard of the movie’s premise.  A couple of video rental store employees lose the inventory, and recreate each movie using schlocky homemade methods.  Starring Jack Black and Mos Def, I saved this type of movie in the “I’ll watch it on cable on a lazy Saturday afternoon category.  It was actually a decent little movie.  Some odd/humorous parts, with a  story thrown in about the town of Passaic’s backstory / community and saving the store.

Yeah, Passaic.  It takes place in Passaic, NJ, which is a hop, skip, and a jump to our old stomping grounds.

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

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Virgin Megastores Sacrificed, Report Says | NBC New York

Posted on March 2, 2009 by Joel

Wow.  I’ve never purchased any item from a Virgin Megastore, but I’m still shocked.  All five remaining Virgin Megastores in the United States — including the location in Union Square, — will close by summer of 2009. I thought it would be a lot, but it turns out that the chain operated only 11 stores around the country at the most.

Virgin Megastores Sacrificed, Report Says | NBC New York.

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9 phrases women use

Posted on February 28, 2009 by Joel

I got this as a joke email at work yesterday, and I thought I’d share it for fun.  Don’t get offended.  I chuckled at a few, because I got a few of these in the past week.  I’m not easy to live with.

1. Fine

This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

2. Five Minutes

If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

3. Nothing

This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with Nothing usually end in Fine.

4. Go Ahead

This is a dare, not permission. Don’t Do It!

5. Loud Sigh

This is not actually a word, but it is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing.
(Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)

6. That’s Okay

This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. “That’s okay” means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7. Thanks

A woman is thanking you, do not question it or faint. Just say you’re welcome.

8. Whatever

Is a woman’s way of saying F*&@ YOU!

9. Don’t worry about it, I got it

Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but she is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking “What’s wrong?”

For the woman’s response refer to #3.

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The weight is making its great escape

Posted on February 28, 2009 by Joel

I’m proud to announce that I’ve lost 4 lbs. in 4 weeks, which (if you can’t do the math) is 1 pound a week.  That is sustainable, doable, inscrutable, and not bamboozle-able.

I’m really happy for myself, and I’m gonna keep it going.  I was so thrilled that instead of walking before yoga today, I ran for 20 mins.  I was fired up the rest of the day.  Sure, I’m feeling it now — achy ankles and feet, sore leg muscles, but I reiterate.  “Yea!”

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Disney characters as Star Wars characters

Posted on February 28, 2009 by Joel
Minnie Leia

Minnie Leia? Ewww.

Ok, what is up with George Lucas? The man has been merchandising everything under the sun related to the Star Wars franchise.  As the owner, it’s his right, but shouldn’t he draw the line at the most ridiculous ones?  Case in point: Star Wars Disney character statues.  Mickey Luke, Minnie Leia, Goofy Chewie, and Donald in Carbonite? Why, George?  Why?

Minnie Leia does not do it for me.  It’s like seeing Ross’ mother dressed up as Leia all over again.

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U2’s new album “No Line on the Horizon”

Posted on February 28, 2009 by Joel

The first review is out on U2’s new album, No Line on the Horizon.”  The review is not that good.  It’s not terrible, but the reviewer felt the album was “mostly restless, tentative and confused. ”  🙁  I’ll wait for a few more reviews, and a chance for myself to hear some of the songs with my own two ears. U2’s 1997 album Pop was pretty well-maligned, but I didn’t think it was that bad.  I’ll take that back  — I’ll admit that I only liked, hmmm, three songs on the album, which is dismal.

After an almost five-year absence, during which Bono was named one of TIME’s Persons of the Year for his work on global poverty and the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the band returns on March 3 with an album called No Line on the Horizon. It offers up a few new hits for the wedding playlist, but No Line on the Horizon is mostly restless, tentative and confused. It’s not terrible, but it feels like the work of musicians torn between the comfort of the present and the lure of one last run into the adventurous past.

Let’s hope for the best.  No Line on the Horizon will be released next week on March 3rd.

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