More Pics

We spent this sunday afternoon enjoying a picnic with some of our good friends, Mark and Holly, and their little guy.
I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of their son playing on the playground and having a great old time.

It's usually a challenge taking pictures of kids, cuz' they wont look at the camera for more than a second!!
An eye constantly glued to the viewfinder, and a quick "trigger finger" usually means you can end up with some great candid pictures.

They're a great family, with another on the way - Holly is going to have her hands full soon.

Click here

Rock of Ages

I have to put a quick blog up.
After some serious reminiscing of the 90's while watching a special on Def Leppard yesterday, I had to download their new album.
We'll the results are in kids.
It rocks my face off.
Really? You ask...
Yes, really.
Remember them? I bet you were thinking just a little while ago, "what ever happened to that band Def Leppard?" You know, that great rock band from eons ago that had such great hits as "Armageddon it" and "Love bites"
Well now you know, they are still around making great music.
Warning - "Music talk" ahead....
The new album sounds great, nice guitar tones, really tight production, great vocals, and above all great songwriting. I've been blasting it in my car all day today
All of you generation X'rs like myself will love it.

Whatever, just go get it
Its called "Songs from the sparkle lounge"

Say cheese

Marci bought me a new digital SLR for my upcoming birthday, actually I bought it and told her about it. For years I have been wanting to make the switch from film to a digital SLR, but have been patiently waiting for prices to get down to a reasonable level. Not to mention the fact I have a lot of money invested in my older and now mostly obsolete film equipment makes the transition even more difficult.
I have finally faced the fact that the digital medium has now come of age, and its usefulness, speed and image quality have surpassed that of film.
Many rolls of film have been sent through my old camera, capturing everything from weddings, trips abroad, family, black and white portraits. Oh well.

I have long had a passion for photography - I'm sure I get it from my Dad.

Anyway, so I made the plunge, and invested in a nice Canon 30D. Now, I cant put it down.
No looking back for me!! I love the fact I can shoot, and view instantly. No more dropping off film, paying for developing, changing rolls midstream or arguing with the 17 year old kid behind the counter who printed my pictures with the color completely wrong.

I get home and edit, crop and adjust to my hearts content on our Mac. Also, the added benefit of being able to fit hundreds of shots onto one card is pretty sweet.

So, today I dragged Marci up to the butterfly garden in Hershey to take a few pictures. At first I could tell she didn't want to go. Highlighted by the fact she told me "Sean, there's nothing but beautiful flowers up there!!" I know, why would anyone want to see that right?
She ended up loving it, and we had a great time. I took a few pictures of some butterfly's
Here they are for your viewing pleasure..Click on the link below.

Sean.

Butterfly Garden.

In memoriam

Marci and I are spending this lovely weekend enjoying the freedoms that we are so privileged to enjoy in this country.
How often we take for granted the little things in life that seem so insignificant.
Like the fact that yesterday we had a great time just spending some time together with good friends at a local park, or celebrating our neighbors' daughter's confirmation on Saturday.

Usually every year the arrival of memorial day brings a host of documentaries on TV, detailing the horrors of World War 2. I watched a few of these this weekend. This morning I told Marci that we really cannot comprehend the price that was paid for our freedom. How can one possibly wrap your mind around the fact that 405,399 American soldiers gave their lives during those dark days? How many generations of families were extinguished in the blink of an eye.

So when you are sick of all the media hype, and the commercial, advertising, and political information barrage, that we are all subject to each day, stop for a moment and think about the price that has been paid for you. Think about what really matters.

These things speak to the true ideals at the very heart and core of this country.
Integrity, honor, and freedom.

God bless America.

Sean.

Gas Pain

Are you suffering from gas pain? And I don't meant the kind you get after eating a can of beans.
I mean the kind you get when you fill up your car.
My time to comment on this topic has come. I have reached my limit people.
The start of the discomfort we are all now feeling at the pump, comes from the price of a barrel of crude oil. Oil is refined to produce (amongst many other useful things) gasoline.
The higher the price of oil, the more you pay for gas. Its that simple.
This week, oil reached a new price of $126 per barrel. To put this is perspective, a year ago it was half that price. In the 90's it was roughly $23 per barrel. To put it in Sean's words, "ridiculous price."
What is causing upward push in prices? Sad news for some of you - not the "evil oil companies."
The truth is that oil is traded on the free market. The price is not set by any oil company. They just pump it out of the ground and sell it. Much like a farmer takes his harvest to market, and the price is determined on the selling floor. So, there are 2 theories out there.
1: World demand for oil is outstripping supply. Economies in countries like China and India are booming, and as a result so is their appetite for crude oil.
2: Market speculation. What this? If I buy a widget for $2, and sell it for $4, I make a $2 profit on each widget. If I sense that in 6 months there is going to be a shortage of widgets, and they will sell for $8, I am going to buy as many widgets today for $2 as I can. That way, later on, I can sell them at a much higher profit. I am "speculating" that the price will go up. It's basically a calculated gamble. Now, what if a lot of people sense the same thing? They are all going to have the same idea as me, and buy up all the widgets they can now. And so, the price immediately goes up, as now widgets suddenly have more "perceived" value. It's the same with oil. Traders are betting that the price will go up in the future, and they will be able to bank the profits. So everyone scrambles to buy as much as they can, and you have a market rally.

What is my opinion? Which camp do I belong to?
I think its a combination of both. Yes, the world is using more oil, demand has increased. All those American jobs we "outsourced" in the 90's into India and China (you can thank unions for a lot of that) are coming back to bite us in the rear. As we exported our jobs, we spread the wealth. Now there are millions of people in once poor economies who have more money and want to live like we Americans do. They want cars, and material goods that are made from, and consume oil. Don't believe me? - next time you go to Walmart, have a look at how many products are "made in China." The upside of this is the emergence of a global economy, that is going to help more of the world's population move out of poverty into prosperity.

On the other hand, rampant speculation in the Commodities markets (particularly oil)
is pushing the price of oil beyond what it is worth. The NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange - where oil is traded) has become a casino. Hedge funds, and investment companies like Goldman Sachs - who trade heavily in the energy markets - are pouring billions of dollars into buying crude oil, because they predict demand will continue to rise, and they will lock in huge profits. As more people want in, up goes the price. Just like the widgets.
It has become a new "Gold Rush." The problem with this is that true basic market fundamentals, like laws of supply and demand are being completely ignored as everyone rushes in. Have we seen this before? Remember the Dot-Com boom in the late 90's? Look at current state of the housing market - that was a boom as well. In my opinion, the market is currently in a complete state of panic, irrational thinking, and greed. Just type in "crude oil" into google news at the end of the day, and try to follow the rationale for the "Skyrocketing, soaring, new record oil price" presented by our dramatic friends in the media. Any excuse is used to drive prices up.
One day it's this reason, the next day it's completely opposite.
You cannot tell any rational thinker that the world is using so much more oil than a year ago to justify the price doubling in 12 months. If that were true, we would have to be using twice as much oil globally. Has that happened? No.

We also got ourselves into this predicament by somehow believing that cheap gas is our "right"
It's not, as many of those who currently own a Ford Expedition (rated at 17MPG are suddenly discovering). Don't even get me started on ANWR - you know, the place where we have millions of barrels of our own oil we can't use.

Conclusion, and end of rant.
The days of cheap oil are over, however the market is currently way, way overbought, and due for a correction. We also need to get ourselves off of the "black crack" we have become addicted to - happily supplied to us from countries that hate our way of life, but love the color of our money.

Enough said.

Read this article for some perspective:


http://www.domain-b.com/industry/oil_gas/20080425_oil_boom.html

Update on the war against cholesterol

Here is a quick statistical update in my battle "of the bulge"
1. Lbs lost: 6
2. Days craving bacon: 26
3. Days craving bacon and eggs: 26
4. Days with no bacon: 26
5. Total Medical bills from various lab tests to tell me I have high Cholestorol: Approx $3200.00
6. Days spent thinking that the cost of medicine in this country is daylight robbery: 26
7. Days spent enjoying the newer "slimmer me": hmmm, about 10.
8. Number of times Marci has told me she doesn't want to hear how fast I have lost weight, because I am a guy and its "not fair:" at least 4
9. Number of Lbs to go: About 3
10. Inches lost on waistline: 1.74
11. Cholesterol score: Hopefully dropping.

Sean.