Stories's Log
This log represents the Life and Times of the Las Vegas Dude.
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Mon 
04/06/2009 20:41:20
 becky  My Son, Dustin
He's is leaving home to join the Job Corps Program.
I'm so proud of him.
He's growing up to be a man. I read about the program and it sound's like a great opportunity. I love you Dustin and I will miss you. I know this is going to be a real change in your life. I know in my heart that you will do fine.
Have a great time in Reno.
It is a cool place.
 Kisses & Hugs
Love You
Mom
From Jim

Hey Dustin, I never had a son,
but if I did, he wouldn't be as buck ugly as you are.
haha...just kidding.
You know you're cute (especially when you're being tickled...with those arms and legs flying all around everywhere).
I'm already missing hanging out with you guys on the weekends.
I'm missing all those day trips we took. And I'm missing the camping.
All those good times will go with you when you leave for Reno.
And those memories, along with a piece of my heart, will go with you too.
I had a great time watching you grow up.
Love ya,
Jim
Mon 
04/06/2009 20:36:11
 becky  Snowing Here In Pa
I can't believe I'm seeing snow in April here. We had snow flurries today.
Getting more for the next two day's. I don't remember seeing snow in the
spring time. It is beautiful here when you see the snow flakes coming down.
I can't wait till it gets warm.
Sun 
04/05/2009 21:00:22
 jim  For Dustin - So Long. We Love you.
Best of Luck in Job Corps
I'm sure we'll be coming by to visit you!
Sun 
04/05/2009 17:10:38
 jim  Pittsburgh OliveGarden-20090405
Sun 
04/05/2009 00:00:00
 jim  Happy Birthday - Jen
Fri 
04/03/2009 04:51:18
 jim  Rainy Day Birds - Cardinal, Robin
Tue 
03/31/2009 14:19:06
 jim  Cranberry Atrias-20090331
Tue 
03/31/2009 13:40:52
 becky  HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE
Today is Jim's birthday he is turning 21 (LOL). Three of Jim's co worker's are joining us at
Atrias restruant at 5pm. This should be fun.
Tue 
03/31/2009 06:00:00
 jim  Wexford Apt Backyard-20081105

Bet you didn't expect to see my pic
with these trees! We've seen almost all of the seasons in Pittsburgh this year. I'll put some summer pix in this spot later.
Meanwhile, its my Birthday today
Yea, thats right! Spank me baby!
Gimme 53 and 1 to think about.
Tue 
03/31/2009 06:00:00
 SAE   (Reply).Wexford Apt Backyard-20081105
53? But you are 57....
Tue 
03/31/2009 06:00:00
 Guest   (Reply).Wexford Apt Backyard-20081105
good morning jim,happy b-day,are you guy's going to be out somewhere today or later this week? would love to buy some drinks,please let me know,larry (aka-drstem)...
Sun 
03/29/2009 09:31:50
 jim  Wexford Apt Robin-20090329
Thu 
03/26/2009 18:20:46
 jim  Life as always is good
As I was working with a fellow Support person (in training) today, a problem came up. We used my new Support Menu to check it out, which resolved the problem quick.
That was cool.
Also, his boss borrowed my electric cigarette to show other people.
He's all enthused. I told him, hey, you have an S-Corp in PA, I have one in NV, I also have the paper work, Lets market this thing!!!
I know I've when I've seen something good, and my electric cigarette is one of my latest gadgets.
Its pretty much unknown to the US, and there is no marketting for it yet. So, we could be on the ground floor.
On the other hand, I really like the way things are now. I wonder what I'd be if I had a lot of money.
We could get rich off of this thing...we're both go-getters as the term used to go. But...
Someone has to turn on the ignition and take the wheel.
Thu 
03/26/2009 17:29:54
 jim  Cranberry BarLouie-20090326
Wed 
03/25/2009 19:13:37
 jim  We hooked up with a Singles Group..
Now its not like you think!!!
These are professionals like myself, who are temporarily displaced here in Pittsburgh, and they all are both attractive, and nice or either or neither :^).
We went to an Irish Pub in Cranberry, where they had happy hour AND appetizers for $6 between 5pm and 7pm.
We got 6 stuffed mushrooms that were as big as my foot, and burgers as big as my head!!!
We had a lot of fun.
In other news, we just saw Las Vegas on national news
They were talking about people torching their cars for the insurance, however, I'd swear I've got pictures of the car and truck they were hauling off of Lake Mead Blvd near the lake. I took them over a year ago. I thought it was so interesting, I walked from the road down through a gulch to get to them...
Makes me want to say hmmmmmm about what we see on the news.
Tue 
03/24/2009 19:10:59
 jim  Pittsburgh MullaneyPub-20090324
Mullaney's is an Irish Pub
We've got a good group at my job site. Becky and I got together with two of my coworkers, to see/learn Ceilee dancing (bad spelling). We had fun, and the dancing lessons were interesting. My ears are still ringing from fiddlers tunes though.
I think it might have been happy hour for senior citizens when we got there. It sure made me feel younger! Oh Yea!!!
Sun 
03/22/2009 21:11:01
 jim  A good weekend - Its SPRING!
We went to Erie, Pa. Watched the sunset over Lake Erie. Hung out and at a local pub off of the lake. Drove around downtown.
We talked to Sonny almost the whole hour and a half back to Wexford on the Truck Phone. That was great.
Coming back through Cranberry, Pa, it was all lit up, and a lot more exciting than anything I'd seen in Erie.
I thought that was strange, that a small town like Cranberry could be so much more exciting than a city off of the Great Lakes.
Anyway, the rest of the weekend was about chatting, writing code and playing Wii. What a life. This weekend seemed to last a month.
Renee set up a three-way conversation with us and GMa. We enjoyed that a lot.
To cap off the weekend, we ate at the Outback, where we got a couple of steaks and a weeks worth of leftovers.
Just another weekend, but, we enjoyed every day.
Sun 
03/22/2009 13:47:50
 jim  Wexford Outback-20090322
The Outback in Wexford, PA
Winter has ended,
and we are still seeing snow,
but an Outback is an Outback
whereever you go.
Click on the pic below,
then right click, for an interesting background on your PC.
Sat 
03/21/2009 00:12:03
 Robert  Love You Mom
         Love you Mom
 
Mom I love you and miss you so much.
Please forgive me for the loss of words.
To express how special you are and always will be.

For it was you who taught me love and tenderness.
You have always been there for me mom.
You have always shown me that you love me so much.
There will never be one in this world
That comes close to having your touch.

The wisdom from your words and the knowledge from your heart
Is something that could never be bought.
I sit here in tears because I didn't hold on to the life of freedom which I sought

Forgive me mom for anytime I disappointed you
Or in the slightest let you down,
But I'll always remember something I learned.
It's thanks to you mom now I've found
I've found I've been blessed by God just to have you mom.

I now begin to change my ways
And be the son you can be proud of
And smile proudly about one day.

I love you mom.
It's your voice I miss.
It's like an angel from above.
And I'm hoping that someday soon
I can show you just how much you're loved.


Fri 
03/20/2009 23:48:11
 jim  Favorite Songs from the past on YouTube
Fri 
03/20/2009 15:47:30
 jim  Erie,PA-SloppyDuckBar-20090320
Fri 
03/20/2009 15:30:16
 jim  Lake Erie Sunset 20090320
Fri 
03/20/2009 15:28:46
 jim  Erie,PA-Bayside-20090320

After I got off work on Friday,
Becky and I decided to see Lake Erie. It's about 100 miles north from here. My step mother (Lottie Cutlar) passed away there last week, while we were in Vegas. It's amazing how much can be seen within a few hours of driving.
BTW-My Grandfather burned this into me. Every Sunday, we'd go to some park, or forest near Paducah, Ky.
Thanks Grandfather !
Fri 
03/20/2009 14:51:02
 jim  Erie Drive-20090320
Wed 
03/18/2009 12:34:18
 jim  North Park - 2009/03/18
Wed 
03/18/2009 06:42:14
 jim  Meanwhile: Back in Pittsburgh
I got up at 6 yesterday morning, drove to work and it was dark and foggy. I LIKED IT!
I had the same old problems to solve, sitting on my desk, and I LIKED IT!
I came home to my beautiful Becky, and saw some red breasted robins searching the new grass for worms. And guess what...I LIKED IT!
Some think I am crazy for wanting seasonal weather, but I don't.
As the weather changes, its like another year is being reborn, just to dye again. Snow, fog, rain, sunshine, those days when the sun just barely peeks through the clouds,
to me, they are beautiful. I can't wait to hear our first thunderstorm.
Oh, I told a white lie.
I actually picked Becky up at the store.
She grabbed her back pack, took the trail down to the creek's bridge, crossed McKnight Road, and went shopping at Giant Eagle (or as I like to call  it, the Big Bird).
Yesterday was a nice day for taking a hike through the woods.
Sun 
03/15/2009 19:13:06
 jim  Vegas,NV-Leaving
Sun 
03/15/2009 15:19:38
 jim  Vegas,NV-FlightToPA
Sun 
03/15/2009 15:19:38
 jim   (Reply)Vegas,NV-FlightToPA
Sun 
03/15/2009 15:13:16
 jim  Across the Skies - 2009/03/15
Sun 
03/15/2009 15:01:52
 jim  Vegas,NV-LeavingMcCarren-LakeMead
Sun 
03/15/2009 13:13:01
 jim  Vegas,NV-FlyingOutOfMcCarren
Sun 
03/15/2009 11:57:00
 jim  Taking off from Vegas - 2009/03/15
Sun 
03/15/2009 11:45:36
 jim  Vegas,NV-LeavingVegas-Sonny
Sat 
03/14/2009 16:13:46
 jim  Vegas,NV-GMas-Bedroom,Bathroom
Sat 
03/14/2009 13:31:24
 jim  GMas-Dustin,Jen,Becky,Robert,Em
Sat 
03/14/2009 10:56:08
 jim  Vegas People - 2009/03/14
Sat 
03/14/2009 10:56:08
 jim   (Reply)Vegas,NV-GMas,Jen,Dustin,Emily,Amy
Fri 
03/13/2009 14:57:41
 jim  Vegas,NV-Giving Sharon A Bed
Fri 
03/13/2009 12:07:22
 jim  VoTech Hill - 2009/03/13
Fri 
03/13/2009 12:07:22
 jim   (Reply)Vegas,NV-Condo,Views,Mustang
Fri 
03/13/2009 06:35:10
 jim  I just read an article about stocks
It explained that the value of a stock is based on what people think it is worth, so when it goes from $10 to $5, $5 hasn't dissappeared.
People aren't willing to pay $10 a share anymore. They think it is worth $5.
My problem with this analogy is this, if those shareholders who own most of those $10 shares sell high, then buy back the stock at $5,
they've created the perception of the stock both not being worth $10 a share, then being worth more than $5 a share.
The stock market isn't a car. Its perception of what that car is worth.
If you bought your Ford at $10,000, but now they sell it at $5,000, then you've lost $5,000 (if you try to sell it).
If it really was always worth $10,000, then its value will appreciate when it sells for what it is worth ($10,000).
The real question that needs to be asked is, why was it selling for $10,000, then for only $5,000.
Its the buyers. In the case of the stock market, the car is the same car...but it doesn't get devalued until people quit buying it.
With the stock market, the perception of what a stock is worth is created by the brokers, the news, and what has been going on with the stock.
If people are selling major shares of corporations for top dollar, the perception will be the stock isn't worth as much as what seemed to be.
I believe that is what happened to the stock market. I believe the perception of a failing economy has created one.

This is an except: MicrosoftMuch of the talk this past week has been around Microsoft's drop in share price since they made public their acquisition offer for Yahoo. SAI has a nifty calculator and tonight Techcrunch Editor Mike Arrington calls the deal a "$80 billion Headache". TC notes that the share price of Microsoft has dropped from $32.60 per share on January 31 to $28.56, a ~13% drop. I agree with Mike that the Yahoo deal might be a factor in the decrease in stock price, but I am not sold that it's the only factor. I am certainly no stock guy (go read Howard Lindzon for that) and will never give stock advice, but I took a look at some other technology companies to see potentially what the market did as a whole during the same time (January 31st - February 8th). Also, check Ashkan's coverage of the deal, it's very thorough.
Company Jan 31st Close February 8th Close $ Change ~ % Change
Baidu $279.95 $233.91 -$46.04 -16%
Google $564.30 $516.69 -$47.61 -8%
Apple $135.56 $125.48 -$10.09 -8%
RIM $93.88 $89.71 -$4.17 -5%
IAC $25.94 $22.11 -$3.83 -12%
Nasdaq 2,389.86 2,304.85 -$85.01 -3.5%
What do you think? Is Microsoft stock down because of the Yahoo bid, general market conditions, a combination or neither?
Thu 
03/12/2009 17:01:01
 jim  Vegas,NV-Luxor
Thu 
03/12/2009 17:00:14
 jim   Vegas Luxor - 2009/03/12
Thu 
03/12/2009 08:31:12
 jim  Too all of you out there losing everything
You are not alone.
Last year, I lost a fortune in stocks, I lost a fortune of equity in my home, and I too have a bad loan on my house.
Eventually I may lose everything I have.
But I have hope, that by not being alone, things will turn around.
There's a good chance I'll have to start all over again.
If I do, this time, I'll do everything better than I did the last time.
I'm not sure what happened to the stock market and the housing market.
But I have faith.
Kids will get their higher education somehow, houses will be sold, and people will somehow be able to retire, even though most of us have lost our savings.
Wed 
03/11/2009 20:00:55
 jim  Vegas,NV-Cannery-Becky,Jim
Wed 
03/11/2009 11:37:32
 jim  Vegas,NV-4703 Gabriel-Kitchen,LR
Tue 
03/10/2009 19:59:08
 jim  Cannery w/Emily,Amy,Becky,Sonny,Robert

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