Bird Pictures and Alligator Attacks.

One of the great things about hiking in NJ is that there are very few animals that could kill you. Yeah, there are bears and wolves but they generally avoid people. The snakes usually aren't poisonous or aggressive. 

So when I started hiking the trails in S.C., I was surprised to see signs pointing out varieties of alligators.  I decided to look up suggestions for dealing with alligators on trails.

1. Do not to approach alligators. OK, that made sense.
2. Do not feed the alligators. Really? What would you feed them? Body Parts?
3. Do not tease the alligators. How do you tease an alligator? What if an alligator thinks me turning and screaming, like a girl while running away, is teasing?
4. Alligators can sprint 20mph on land, not to worry, it is only for a short distance. O.K.,if this is supposed to make me feel better, epic fail. My guess is that the definition of a short distance is the distance between me and the alligator's mouth.
   
   
   For now, I'll watch my step and try to avoid dangerous predators.

  

So Much to Blog, So Little Time to Do It In (Disfruta de este ano como si fuera el ultimo.)

I haven't been posting lately. The last blog was about the kids and my trip to Cancun. I will write more about that eventually. My last few weeks have been a little hectic though. Two days after I got back from Cancun, I had to drive down to South Carolina. A friend and I are opening up a retail shop down there and the build out was starting.  Last business, I watched being built and joined. This business is much different. Starting a business from scratch requires a lot of different skill sets; a lot of sweat; a lot of tears and the ability to put yourself in financial jeopardy without having a complete mental collapse.

I digress.

The bad news is that I've been home for two days in the last month. The good news is that I've been staying in Hilton Head, SC. The weather has been nice, the beach is amazing.  My time though is taken up with business. Not a bad thing, except that I miss my girls.

I actually wrote this blog last week, but have been too busy to post.  Drove home from S.C. the night before last and got to see Emily and Lizzy today.  More posts coming soon... hopefully.

Going to Cancuun.

My dad and step mom go to Cancun every year for several weeks in November and asked the kids and me to join them this year. I decided this was a good year to do so and agreed. I made all the preparations in September and the kids and I had been anxious to go. The wait was over and it was the morning of the trip. The Driver came to the house at 8a.m. and the kids and I rushed our bags out the door. We were off to the airport. As we pulled off the exit for the airport, I realized I left Emily's camera and most of my lenses at the house. With Lizzy's and my camera, as well as the Kodak and waterproof we felt we were covered. We got to the airport and got in line for our tickets. I reached in my pocket to grab my cell phone and ended up grabbing my leg. I left my cell phone in the car, I quickly grabbed Emily's phone and called my number. Luckily the driver had just left the airport, so he turned around and brought the phone back.

The trip was starting rather poorly. Luckily we got through security quickly and grabbed some bottled water for the plane. We had rented some movies for the tablet from Amazon, so we started the Avengers and plugged in the headphones. The volume ended up being too low on all of the headphones but my noise canceling pair, so I gave them to Lizzy and I went to sleep as Emily played on her phone.

Arriving in Cancun, the kids and I were excited. Immigration was a well oiled machine and we made it through quickly. While waiting for our bags, we laughed at the beagles they used to sniff out contraband. That was until a lady next to us had to surrender a half eaten banana. We quickly made our way through customs. There was only 20 feet between us and the airport door. The exit was in reach when a man came up and asked what hotel we were staying at, he then corrals us to a map and begins to pitch a time share. The kids and I continue out the doors to the warm Cancun air.

It is my and the kids first trip to Mexico. We walk to the end of the vans and find the one that will bring us to the hotel. Getting in the van, I realize that I do not know enough Spanish to order a taco, none the less communicate in Mexico.

My stepmother and her friend greeted us as we got off the van. My stepmother helped us check in and we made our way to the suite. Wow, the suite was amazing! It was designed to sleep five, complete with two baths; two large bedrooms; one double queen with a balcony and one king with a large balcony; there were two Murphy beds in the living room and a full eating area as well as a kitchen.

As my stepmother was getting ready to go back to her suite, we heard a knock at the door. A young woman announced herself as Rachael. A representative of the hotel. She claimed to be there to help us plan our trip, but my stepmother rushed her out and told her we were busy. She then explained to me that it was just a 'time share opportunity person'. The kids and I settled in and enjoyed the views of the giant pool and clear blue ocean.

We explored our new territory and went to the shops located at the hotel. Back at our suite, we sat on the large balcony taking in the beautiful scenes before us. Lizzy went off to bed while Emily and I talked late into the night.

Lizzy's Sunset by Daddy

In the sounds of waves reaching the shore, I was asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. It was a deep sleep... until... “Daddy, there is a lizard in my bathroom!”. I opened one eye and and noticed it was Lizzy, she started, “Daddy I was going to the bathroom and there is a lizard on the wall!”.

I groggily looked at my watch, 5:30a.m., and replied, “So? Talk to your sister about it.”

“Daddy, I did, she won't get up. You have to get rid of him!”

“No, he lives here, you are his guest. Leave him alone.”

“Come see him, he's on the wall.”

In a slightly conscious move, I grabbed my camera and walked to the kids' bathroom. A tiny pink lizard was on the wall near the ceiling. I took a few pictures of it and began walking back to my room when Lizzy started again, “Daddy, what are you going to do about it?”.

“Nothing.”, I replied, “I'll hurt him if I try moving him. He'll leave on his own shortly.”

Lizzy didn't like the answer but knew not to argue it. We moved to the balcony and began to watch the sunrise.

Lizzy's Sunset by Lizzy

The sky began to change from dark, to cotton candy pink, to a fiery orange and the sun began to peek over the ocean. We grabbed our cameras and started taking pictures. It was an inspirational sunset. Lizzy and I played with the cameras' apertures and fired the cameras at will. Cameras still in hand, we decided to go shell collecting and headed for the beach. The sand was cool and inviting and the air warm and gentle; the waves were blue background noise to complete the scene. We walked and talked for about 45 minutes before heading back to the suite with cameras and shells in hand.

Back From Vacation.

Lizzy's Sunrise

I haven't written for a while because the kids and I were on vacation in Cancun. It was much needed time off and we had a lot of fun. We could have asked for better weather, but not a better time. We went zip lining, atv-ing, swam / rafted through a cavern, shell collected, body surfed and spent lots of time on the beach. I'm sure I will get into more detail but for now, just a quick update.

Life's a Beach.



Wipeout

Thank god for waterproof point and shoots

Cotton Cone

We miss so many things in life. There is so much beauty around us and we choose to ignore it or let it get sucked into the vortex of normality. While on a hike, Lizzy and I walked by a cottony looking plant. We took a few shots of it and continued around the brook. Luckily on the way back, we spotted the true intricate nature of the plant. This incredible plant releases it's future offspring with a spectacular ride through the air. We took a couple of shots knowing that this moment soon would be gone and we would have to find the same type of plant at just the right time on a subsequent year, just to see this spectacle again.

People say I'm a great dad. I try to be but am probably not.  I'm just a guy who understands some moments in life can only be seen once, after that you only see the results of those moments.
 

Happy Thanksgiving!

The holiday that celebrates thanking god we only have to stomach dinner with our extended family a couple times a year.

A Two Tassled Sleeve Grabber By Any Other Name...

The kids and I love naming things we see on our photo safaris. If we know what it is, we call it by it's given name. If not it is fair game. I think it started when we were all on a trail and Lizzy asked what a certain plant was called. I replied, I call it Fred. Since then, the kids and I have been making up outrageous names for plants, insects and animals that we see on our journeys. Today's example comes compliments of a trail run we did, at the brook, after the storm.

Lizzy was leaning over to take a picture of a flower when she realized a bunch of things stuck to her jacket. I pulled them off but a few feet later, they were back again. These little seeds from a plant had grabbed her twice. When we found the source, we took some pictures and started to work out a name for it, We tried out one after the other. Runners up were porcuplant and daffoporcudil. The winner though was, as you guessed it, the two tasseled sleeve grabber.

Windows 8 Review (On the ExoPC)

I've been in the technology game too long to not realize it's bad being an early adopter. It wasn't an impulse buy and I've never bought a Microsoft product until at least a year after it aired. Unfortunately, I had to buy Windows 8 on the first day.

Last Christmas, I bought myself an ExoPC slate(they now call them surface tablets) that ran Windows 7. The device was painfully slow on Windows 7 and the touch screen virtually useless. It was probably one of the worst tech buys I ever made. If it didn't run the normal Microsoft programs(albeit slowly), it would have been the worst.

The reason I bought it was because I needed a business machine. Android and IOS are useless for most business users. They are excellent for games, getting email or going on the web but their business shortcomings are too many to list.

So after Windows 8 was promised to be faster and easier to use in tablet form, I thought I'd try one last ditch effort to save my poor little tablet. I downloaded and installed Windows 8 shortly before the storm. The tablet seemed snappy. The comparison wouldn't be tortoise and hare, but rock and hare. All of the programs ran and ran fast. All of my old programs worked brilliantly. Shockingly, Microsoft had released a product that seemed, gasp, efficiently coded.

Well, Sandy came and without power, I did not have a chance to use the tablet much. After power was restored, I found my old windows 7 laptop was a casualty of the storm. It had multiple disk errors and took forever to do anything. With work to do and vacation coming up, I was royally screwed.

That's when I remembered the ExoPC. It booted up to Windows 8 quickly. I began downloading all of the programs I needed; attached my blue tooth mouse / keyboard and was up and working in no time flat.

After working with Windows 8 for several weeks, I've gotten to know it pretty well. The speed is excellent, but there are several drawbacks to getting or upgrading to a Windows 8 machine.

Cons:

1. The learning curve. I am a very advanced tech user and the learning curve sucked. Nothing on Windows 8 is intuitive. Finger gestures and the mouse work differently for most functions but not for all. Swiping from the right edge brings up a menu that allows you to search, share, start and change some settings. Swiping from the left edge cycles through open programs. Using the mouse, there is no swipe and you need to point to hotspots in a right corner for the above menu, but pointing to the left corner, does not cycle through programs. It shows you a small icon of the next running program. If you have more than one other program running, you have to slide the cursor upward to see all running programs to choose from. To close a program, you can swipe or mouse from the top to the bottom of the screen.
2. On the ExoPC and I'm sure other hardware, there are still some items that do not work. In my case, it is the auto screen rotate. Microsoft recognizes the sensor but will not work with it. I have to manually rotate the screen via button to change orientation, a minor inconvenience. The OS is still young and I'm sure will take a while to mature.
3. The Microsoft App store is horrible. The complaint is not the content but the layout. I could not find the Nook reader without doing a search. Even after following the store to 'all readers' and then looking through 'every program' available. I had this problem with several other apps too.
4. Though the Metro Layout looks great, it is designed for large tiles, so when small tiles are used, weird configurations of tiles occupy the screen.
5. Goes back to number 1. Learning the smallest hints and tricks takes experimentation. I don't think the average user will experiment enough to find practical procedures that should be intuitive.
6. The OS was definitely designed for touch screens. More things(but not all) are easier to use for touch screens than with a mouse.
7. Not per se, an issue for me, because my machine runs normal Windows 8 Pro. The issue is that Microsoft made two versions of Windows 8. Trying not to get technical, one version is designed to work on tablets, laptops and PCs. This version makes a tablet a laptop/PC replacement. The second version is for phones and certain tablets and is called Windows 8 RT or Windows 8 phone. This version looks and works like the pro version except for one thing. It DOES NOT run the typical PC programs. Actually, there are similar versions of Microsoft products like Office for RT, but legacy Windows programs or Windows 8 programs will not work on it. This version is a tablet/pad replacement. Where this becomes a big problem is customer expectation. Microsoft doesn't seem to explain what RT means to the customer. They simply sell it as a Windows RT device. If you shell out the money for a laptop replacement and it can't even replace your current phone, pad or tablet. You should be pissed. Due to the technology, devices can only run one OS or the other.
8. No Clock. Well, not no clock, but in the metro view, there is no static clock. If you want to see the time, you need to go through mouse or gesture gyrations. The only other option is to get an app that will display time on a live tile.
9. There is a desktop view that looks a lot like Windows 7. This desktop view automatically pops up whenever you run a legacy program or change a system setting. This could be a plus for some but certain applications, like Windows Explorer browser, are different applications then the ones that run in the metro view.

Pros:

1. Speed. I've seen several articles that say Windows 8 is a little faster than Windows 7. That may be true for a super hetrodyne processor and memory beast, but on a slate or tablet, Windows 8 blazes. Boot up is quick and programs starts fast.
2. Looks very cool and live tiles(buttons that change their pictures) work very well especially for news and weather.
3. Windows 8 Pro version runs all programs that run on Windows 7 and runs them faster.
4. There is an easy to get to Airplane mode. Easy to get to once you figure out where it is. Hint: It is in the side menu under wireless.
5. Touchscreen is amazingly snappy and accurate. I would not say the ExoPC has the best hardware, but it's touchscreen can keep up with the best of them and I give Windows 8 credit for that.
6. Once you get to know how the system works using the mouse, keyboard and finger gestures in rapid succession really makes navigation fast.
7. Only real OS that runs on a tablet form factor or touch screen. You can play, work and watch a movie all from the same machine.
8. Multitasking. When I said you could play, work and watch a movie all from the same machine, I meant, all at the same time.
9. FLASH/ all video and audio can be played on it. Any IOS or Android 4.0 user knows what it's like to not have flash as well as have video or audio files that will not play on your device.
10. Real web browsing. No mobile browser 'cut down sites' when surfing the web.
11. Though navigating the 'App Store' sucks, there are some excellent apps. Old time favorites (like the Ebay App) as well as all new touch apps.
12. Handwriting, Voice and Keyboard input.  The choice of inputs is great.  I can use my blue tooth keyboard, the on-screen keyboard, the accurate handwriting recognition or voice input.  Now if I want to write my blog, I can actually write it.

When I first dabbled with Windows 8, I liked the speed but was frustrated with the lack of intuition and difference in mouse and finger controls. After learning it though, I think it is a damn good OS. I would not tell someone to rush out and buy it but I would not recommend someone avoid it, if buying a new machine. Does Microsoft have a ways to go? Yes, but they have already made some great strides with the way the interface reacts. Like all Microsoft products, in time I'm sure they'll get it right. Probably right before Windows 9 comes out.

 

I think I need to take a moment to apologize for the review being all over the place. I have a tablet, so that was the functionality I was most interested in. Due to my laptop crashing though, the tablet now does double duty as a tablet and a laptop. When I originally bought the ExoPC, I had replaced my IPhone with an Android phone and had several android tablets. My initial goal for the machine was to replace my various tablets with this device. I now realize with Windows 8, the device is much more than a web browser/ gamer/ email getter. It is a full fledged business machine. That being said, my goal was not accomplished because even though this device could easily replace the others, those devices are still usable and have there place.

Focusing on What's Important.

It was a couple of days after the storm and Lizzy and I decided to go to the brook and the falls. I was working on some macro shots and the auto focus wasn't cutting it, so I decided to give Lizzy a quick photography lesson. Lizzy has been having trouble focusing objects through the lens the way she frames them in her mind. I switched my camera to manual focus and prompted her to do the same. She found it awkward at first and couldn’t understand why I wouldn't let the camera focus. That was until she reviewed her first few shots.
She still had trouble with minimum focus distance of the lens but the results were inspiring for her. 

The below pictures are all Lizzy's...

 

Friday After the Storm - Main Problem.

Friday I was woken from a sound sleep at 6:00a.m. by a banging at my front door. It was my neighbor. He explained that the water main two houses down had broken and was gushing water; debris into the road. I ran upstairs and filled a bucket of water for flushing the commode with the last that the bathtub faucet had to offer. Lizzy woke up with the sunlight.  I explained to her that our situation had gone from bad to worse.  We pulled a Parmilat milk out of the cupboard and had bowls of cereal. Lizzy wanted to play more trump, so we did. Around noon, we decided to go on a photo safari at the Swimming River Preserve. I was glad Lizzy was going to get a chance to use the new lens I bought her, before we went on vacation. We decided to start at the Northeast trails. There is a high and a low trail, the low trail follows the river.

Lizzy and I headed for the high trail. The woods had been severely thinned out by the storm. The great pine trees that had met us at the top had lost their battle with the wind. We made our way to the edge of the high trails and could not believe the amount of trees that were no longer blocking our view of the river.

With no leaves and none of the trees we were used to, we decided it was a waste to try and find the old trails, so Lizzy and I decided to make our own. I pushed Lizzy to her limits when I asked her to take a short cut down the hill that overlooked what had been the lower trails. After making it to the bottom, we found the old trail that would have taken us down easily. At one point recently, the trail we were walking had been under water. We followed the river to where the old path crossed a stream. We found the old crossing bridge pulled from it's pilings and lying sideways.


Lizzy's 'Surviving The Storm'



Realizing that the stream was too wide to cross, we decided to head back to the high trails. When we got there, we found what appeared to be a marked trail. We followed it to the back of a school a half mile from where we were parked. We met a man on the trail there walking a dog. He explained that all of the water crossings had washed away in the storm. We continued down the trail to where it ended behind a house.

I asked Lizzy if she was ready to head back. To my surprise, she wasn't. She wanted to take the winding river trail to the lower lands. Walking down the trail, we took several detours to take in the views. Reaching what appeared to be the end of the trail, we were slightly disoriented. The plateau we were standing on was way to close to the water. The trails we used to take were gone. The storm had cut a new path for the river. We decided to head back to the car. We had a long way to go and the stream would still need to be crossed.




Lizzy's 'Hanging On'



We got lucky and found a thin part of the stream with two rocks barely sticking their heads out of the water. It led to a lot of mud and leaves, but short of taking the high trail back, this was as good as it was going to get. Lizzy hesitated jumping to the first rock, but confidently navigated the second to the slippery ground beyond it. We followed what could have been the old trail, but the swollen river kept it a secret from us.

We got back to the Escape and with no lights and no water at the co-op decided to go to Tinton Falls. On the way, we saw that the deli was open and grabbed a bite for lunch. We ate at the parking area for the falls. Exiting the car, the condition of the falls could be seen on Lizzy's face. The hurricane and the tides left none of the trails we had known. I decided to take her to the haunted bridge. There was not a lot of walking to do, so we crossed the street to the Crawford house and the Slave Burial Grounds.

The trails there go from pristine to nearly impassable, after the storm, they were somewhere in between. Lizzy and I found some neat berries and trees to take shots of. While walking back to the car a large deer ran across the path in front of us.

Arriving home, my road was closed and the water main was being repaired. The ex drove Emily to the co-op; Lizzy, Emily and I played trump with our light rations and read Poe before bed.

A Memory To Trump All Others.

 Somehow I got the days of the last few posts screwed up. I think 'Hurricane Sandy Halloween' was supposed to be part of Tuesday. I wrote two entries that day at two different times and time during the outage was only delineated by day and night.

Wednesday(Halloween) morning, comcast, at&t and the storm all seemed like bad far off memories. I drove to see the kids, they were freezing. They hadn't used the gas fireplace at the house because the pilot light had gone out long before the storm and no one could figure out how to light it. I lit the pilot light and played with the kitten for a little while. Lizzy decided to come back to the co-op with me. We stopped at mom's to see if she was OK. She was fine but was going to need food for her dog by the weekend.

Lizzy and I got back to my place as it was starting to get dark. I explained to her that we had to ration the battery backup, so we decided to only use the lamp light from 7:30 – 9:00p.m.. We made cocoa with all of the candles and flashlights lit. At lights on, we grabbed a deck of playing cards and I taught Lizzy the game of Trump.

I explained to Lizzy that the game of Trump was taught to me by my Nanny. As a child, I would stay with my Nanny when I was sick and my mom had to work. Trump was my favorite game and I would ask her to play it over and over again.

I was glad that even though the storm took so much, it brought back so many great memories. Lizzy loved Trump and we played several full games until it was time for lights out. I found my extra Italian military blanket and Lizzy got ready for bed. In honor of Halloween, I read her Poe's 'Mask of the Red Death' by flashlight and she went to bed.

I went downstairs and washed dishes by candlelight while I relived old memories and planned on making new ones with a photo safari in the morning.

Hurricane Sandy Halloween.

Happy Halloween. Still no power, no heat, no cell service, water pressure started to diminish.  Our town happenings board read, 'Halloween Canceled'.  Though I don't think the actual holiday was cancelled, we all got the point.

A neighbor brought over some really good quiche for lunch. Rumors were that Seabright was closed indefinitely. Still no traffic lights. The roads were still cut off going south, so I couldn't see how the kids or my mom were doing. I was able to txt Emily. They didn't have any power and it was cold in the house.

I decided to have the neighbors over for a cookout. I had steaks in the freezer and a lot of them were starting to defrost. They brought over some bacon and mashed potatoes. We had a variable feast compared to the soups and canned foods we had been eating.

One neighbor ventured out for gas and after four hours in line was told no gas was left at the pump. With the gas she had left in her car, she barely got home. Luckily, another neighbor had a gas can and filled her car enough that she could eventually make another gas run.

In the evening, the weather started getting rougher. Dark clouds hung low as the sun disappeared and the moon struggled significance behind them. That night, the temperature got colder, the cocoa tasted better and the blanket never felt so warm.