Walking the streets of Downtown Brussels

Shops and resturants galore in downtown Brussels

The Belgium parliament Building in Brussels

One of many old buildings in Belgium, very nice view.

Dinner in Beveren at the Joules Verne

A cool resturant called the Jules Verne, dinner with the boys.

Walking the streets of Beveren

A picturesque town with cafe's out on the streets.

The Hotel has a Pool! Excellent!

Poolside, I went for a dip after a long hard day of meetings.

Relaxing, but look at those white legs!

Nice Weather, great view

View from the Hotel meeting room window

Two Days, 8 hours per day, same room, blah.

Meetings, meetings, glorious meetings

Fries with every meal in Belgium, can't beat that!

Ah, the fries yummm!

Diner at the Hotel

Dinner at the Hotel

More pic's from the Mall in Sint Niklaas

After lunch we took a stroll through the Mall, this is the largest mall in all of Belgium, however for US standards it is pretty average (about the size of the new Provo, UT Mall). The national language here is Flemish, or German, or French. The only difference between this mall and the US would be a cafe every few stores apart, which lends to a more casual and friendly environment compared to the food courts we have. The rest of the IT Sr. Management staff will get here some time tonight and we have a dinner scheduled at around 7:30pm (1:30pm EST).

Glance at the Mall, not very crowded today.

Lunch in a cafe in the mall in Sint Niklaas

We went across the street to the Mall to have lunch, I am with John and Steve and Tanja from the Belgium office. I had a lovely ham and cheeze sandwhich but it was very salty and the ham was all fat and a bit greesy. We are 6 hours difference so lunch is really breakfast.

Lunch in a cafe in the mall in Sint Niklaas

Red Eye flight - jet lag city

Got to Belgium without incident, the flight was fine but I could not get any sleep. I got to watch "Fever Pitch" for the movie, very funny comedy. I am currently sitting in a lone conference room trying to stay awake. Meetings don't start till tomorrow so I am free today.

I'm tired!

Hotel Beveren - where I will be staying for the next few days

Ah, the anticipation of a short 8 hour red-eye flight to Belgium (my home away from home). Never thought I would have to go back there again but oh was I wrong. You can get a look-see at the lovely hotel I am staying at this time, at least it is new.... Hotel Beveren

The only good news is we are divesting the Sint Niklaas facility over to Dymo at the end of the year as part of the seperation deal so perhaps this really is the last time I will have to go there. Oh, and look, the weather forcast shows rain the whole week, go figure that! Every time I go to Belgium it is raining, I think that is the only weather they get there. I will try and take some pictures of my boring meeting rooms while I am there so you too can enjoy the fun.

Stay tuned...

Isabelle's Babtism pictures as promised

Before I get busy and forget, here are some pic's from Isabelle's Baptism. Long story short, the Stake forgot to fill the font and as we arrived for the program we had a big problem on our hand. Most of us (myself and Heather's Dad included) voted to go down to the creek and perform the Baptism however a quick phone call and we were heading down to a pool. So my wish came true and hopefully Isabelle with never forget the unique experience.

Big Changes cometh, Esselte Corp

This week ended with a big announcement from my company. We have just signed a deal to sell off one of our major product brands. See the press announcement for the full detail. Pretty interesting stuff. This also means big changes and a lot of work worldwide. I have been summoned to Brussels in Belgium next week for a corporate meeting with the new owners and Esselte management to figure out how we are to proceed in transition. This does not affect my job per se within Esselte however this causes major ripples in the political structure of the company and overall direction, so stay tuned. Next week will also bring some major cuts in the Melville and North America offices so it should be a very exciting week for some people.

In the City for Training

Hey, yes I am a big slacker but I have good excuses anyway. This week I have been in Manhattan for Applied Management training. I am taking a course titled: "Influence, getting things done without direct authority". It is a very good class and I have learned many styles and techniques to manipulate my boss and everybody around me (Jedi Mind Tricks included). The training center happens to be on the 20th floor of the CBS building near Rockefeller Center. The only real bummer is the lousy hour train ride to get there and back every day.

Window with a view: 20th Floor CBS building, 52nd Street

My new Church Calling(s)

I was officially called and set apart in my new calling this Sunday. So I am now currently both the Ward Exec Secretary and the 2nd Councilor in the Bishopric in the South Shore Ward, Plainview Stake. Now that I am up on the stand the girls are on thier own.... although a normal Sunday consists of passing or blessing the sacrament, setting up chairs in the Primary room, or feeding the baby during sacrament so basically we rarely sit together as a family for more than 10-20 min anyway...

My first duty as the 2nd C. was to figure out the strange wet spot that is forming on the floor in classroom 15, looks like the AC ventallation in the adjacent maint room is sweating through the wall... or else somebody wet themselves and couldn't make it to the proper facility.... hmmm, I choose the first.

We have returned!

I'm back! I was unable to keep up my blog while in Southern Utah for the past two weeks (they have yet to discover the internet there). As soon as I download my pics off the camera I will update the highlights of the trip. Since this is a blog about life on Long Island you could say absolutely nothing has happened to the Adams' Family on Long Island in the past two weeks. The grass has grown, the Dog was spoiled, the cars sit idle no more....

The Curse of Dan....

I have been cursed to break everything I touch today. The day started out great! Sun shining, the 90% humidity has dropped to bearable levels, the lawn is dry and begging me to cut it. So I get out my beautiful new 7 HP craftsman automatic lawn mower and got about 1/3 of the front done and it started puffing out smoke and died right there on the lawn. Frustrated at this, I called the Sears number on the lawn mower and let's just say the service stinks. After a one-sided argument I convinced them to send out a service truck at their expense next Tuesday to look at the lawn mower. The lady kept saying "are you sure it has oil?" to which I explained that I put the quart of oil in the mower that came with it according to instructions "pour entire contents into lawn mower" as instructed. She then said that it must have too much oil in it as they sometimes ship with residual amounts, obviously I did not read the full manual. I then said I would gladly return the lawn mower with it's oil along with the unread manual to the store for a refund, prompting the free technition visit.

I then proceeded to get out the trimmer to clean up the long grass around the trees and trim the walkways and low and behold the thing jammed and took me 20 min to tear apart and repair. In the middle of all of this I get summoned to the house where the dog left a present under the kitchen table with my name on it, so apparently I broke the dog too. As a result of this I then had to bath the dog, but the blow drier stopped working half way through the exercise.

To continue this lovely day, Isabelle and I went to the grocery store and as we were checking out, the cash register jammed, something about a penny lodging into the door as she shut it so that it would no longer open, "don't look at me that way lady, I did not do anything!". 20 min later and a forcefully damaged drawer, I got my receipt.

As a side story, when we bought our kitchen cabinets 3 years ago they gave away free fridges as a promotion. I gladly accepted this medium sized fridge (Heather almost told them she didn't want it, crazy talk!) and it is now in my unfinished basement. It has lovingly become my soda fridge (I dreamed of such a thing as a little boy). I take great joy in stocking up my soda fridge.

Lastly, Aubree has decided to forgo sleep today and she was up from 4pm until 2am, and no, I did not break the baby.... I think.....

My personal soda fridge, isn't is glorious!

In the tradition of past Friday's... Bagels

It's Friday and there are no Bagels today because the office is shut down for the 4th (yes, a four day weekend, they do actually exist). So as to not to disappoint, I just so happen to have Bagels in the house and that is what we had for lunch. The lawn is still wet so I can't wait to cut with my new Lawn Mower tomorrow when the weather should get better. Heather just finished up her invitations and mailed them out (this is a whole story in itself but I shall refrain from comment or I jeopardize my marriage).

Nothing fancy, just a plain bagel with Ham and Swiss cheese.

Italian Soul Food

Our favorite Pizza place is in downtown Patchogue, a place called DelFiore Pizza Company. It is full of authentic Italians who know how to cook Pizza. Ah, and don't forget the Garlic Knots (we don't have silly breadsticks here in NY). I should have called this Dan's Food Blog, it would appear that I am obsessed with eating all the time, well... I guess I am haha.

Mmmm... Pizza from DelFiore

Isabelle's interview

Isabelle has been waiting all week to get her Bishop's interview so she can get baptized next week (the Ward Exec Sec is a real slacker) . She had her dress on all day Tuesday waiting for her appointment, we even had a family home evening lesson on all the tough questions that may come up in the interview like "what are the requirements for baptism according to D&C 20?", and "what is the symbolic significance of taking the Sacrament each week in relation to baptism?". I took her to the Church on Tuesday evening (which I scheduled and confirmed with the Bishop) but we got a no-show and had to reschedule for Wednesday night. Isabelle was very disappointed but a trip to dunkin doughnuts lessoned the suffering.

So we returned tonight to get the interview and paperwork completed (the Bishop is leaving town for a week starting Thursday, therefore the urgency) and Isabelle proudly passed. She may now get baptized and is very excited. I also collected all the records and paperwork for both the baptism and Aubree's Blessing so we are all set.

Just to get this on record as I was scoffed at for wanting to perform the baptism in Dad's pool, Bishop Ostler was baptized in the Long Island Sound and thinks the pool is perfectly fine. The only problem is the pool has not been dug yet.... but it was a good idea nonetheless.

Lunch on Uncle Esselte today

Ah, nothing quite like lunch on good ol' Uncle Esselte. Dave (one of my former staff members) and I went to Ruby Tuesday's for a lunch "meeting". I ordered a plate of thier hottest buffalo wings and then Dave and I found that the rest of our food was quite bland, hmm I wonder why. So I have not been to Ruby Tuesday in over a year or so and have been there twice within a week. Dave and his wife are in the process of purchasing a home in the Lake Ronkonkoma area and I can then pick him up on the way to work and drive in the carpool lane on the Long Island Stress Way. He should be in their home sometime in august or September.

Lunch at Ruby Tuesday's with Dave

Commuter Blues - Delays Ahead

I don't know about everyone else but my commute lately has been really bad. I have averaged over an hour to get to work all this week (for a lousy 30 miles). Yesterday I had to take local roads to get to work because of a rollover, which I don't understand how anyone can roll their car in Long Island when the average speed is 10 miles per hour on the roads in the morning. Going home is no picnic either, another hour or more. Don't people take vacations during the summer anymore? Why are the roads so bad? I don't think they change the silly signs anymore, they all say "Delays Ahead" permanently. I can't wait to get to the clean, crisp, wide open spaces of Southern Utah next week, although with all the stinky fires we might have to keep the windows closed ahhahah.

Delays Ahead!

Heber City, Utah on Long Island

Tonight we went to a Ruby Tuesday's for Lunch/Dinner that was just converted and reopened not too far from the house. The joint use to be a steakhouse called the "Ground Round" yeah, like I'm going to go to a place called that, no wonder it went out of business. It was new, complete with a "cooks wanted" sign which makes one wonder how the food got cooked. The waitresses didn't know what they were doing either, so it was pretty comical. Isabelle and I then went grocery shopping at "Walbaums" which is a major grocery store chain here along with "Pathmark", "King Kullen", "Stop and Shop", "Shopright", all funny names. We get a kick out of the fact that we can buy Bear Creek brand stuff here from Heber City, Utah. It's a Small world. They usually make soups but we found on the end isle this new product that makes slushies. Fond memories of Mom's Bacardi frozen mix slushies... without the rum of course... right mom.... ?

Heber City products on Long Island, haha!

The new Tractor Sprinkler Thingy

I must say that I was very sceptical when I payed 58 bucks for a heavy tractor thingy with a sprinkler head, but it has been well worth it's weight in iron. I can just lay out the hose and make a path of my choosing and let it go, it will even shut off when it reaches the special "ramp". It is more of a fun toy than a chore now. I can just set it up and forget about it and the whole yard get's sprinkled. I have it pictured here with the dumb dog, little does she know I gleefully have my hand on the spout ready to spring my trap. I was hoping for a funnyest home video moment here, either the sprinkler arm would fling her through the air or she would jump like a monkey. Alas, the dumb dog just sits there and get's wet... sigh.

The Tractor, sprinkler thingy with the Dog

Heather's final result - hairdo

The end has come, Heather's hair change is now complete. She went and got her perm early this morning. Ah, the sweet fresh fragrant lovely smell of a fresh perm, can't wait to snuggle up to that tonight (yuck!). You would think we can put a man on the moon or put a smart missile through your front door anywhere in the world, but make a perm smell good... noooo, can't do that, the technology is too advanced for this generation I suppose. Although Heather has corrected me, they no longer call it a perm, it is now called "movement waves" like that will make it smell different! Silly people. Anyway, I told her she now matches up with the Heather version in my dreams so I am very pleased (when I first met Heather she had long wavy hair just like this, gorgeous!).

Heather's new hairdo

Isabelle's new haircut

Another Friday, another Bagel

A couple of meetings and I'm out-a-hee-a. I love summer Friday's. The weather is Gorgeous today, I may get my yard work done early this weekend. Today is Isabelle's last day of school (although I would argue her last day was two weeks ago when the teachers stopped handing out schoolwork).

A Salt and Garlic Bagel, yummy

Happy Birthday Heather - 29th

Happy Birthday to Heather, this is the only time in her life when she can say, "I'm only 29", and it is actually true, haha. For her Birthday she got a new baby girl (yes, she also got a baby for Christmas, Anniversary, and Mother's day), I'll milk it for as long as I can, no pun intended. I left work at noon as a surprise to her and brought her home Pizza Hut dippin strips and a box of Krispy Creme doughnut holes (mmmm... yummy). I then took a long nap and read my SF book the rest of the day. Overall it was a great Birthday for Heather albeit she claims I got more out of it than she did... Preposterous! Who wouldn't want pizza, doughnuts, and long naps... wait, I guess that was all for me.. ooops. Anyway, happy Birthday!

Heather with her Birthday present... the gift that keeps on giving

Happy First Official Day of Summer!

Happy 1st day of summer! The weather is nice, the day is moving along. It's a nice quiet week to get loads of work done in the office. I have 4 month's worth of expense reports to get in before the budget meetings hit on Thursday, I'm sure I'll get to it by then.... So far my summer is going great, no complaints. The lazy dog was unable to find a summer home while we are on vacation so Heather took the initiative and found someone in the Ward who is willing to watch the dog while we are gone. They have a Shitzu so she will have a summer buddy to play with or to be eaten by, whichever comes first. The dog has given us her silent consent by shaking like a wet rat while Heather discussed her fate on the phone, funny how dogs know you are talking about them. Isabelle only has a few days left of school. She was hit in the ear by a whoofle bat yesterday and almost had to come home, Heather was getting ready to go get her when Isabelle called from the nurses station and said "I'm fine mom, I'm going back to class!"

On a sad note, Isabelle and Heather were going down the street to sign Isabelle up for her next year's tap dance class and she decided to get on her bicycle which she hasn't used since last year (we can't seem to get her off the training wheels). So she was scared to go up onto the sidewalk where it meets the street corner (gentle ramp were talking here) butHeather used her motherly charm to talk her into it. Well, she happend to have her Game Boy in the basket and of course it flew out and she hit her brakes and came to a crashing halt on top while dragging the Game Boy under the tire. The Game Boy looks awlful and is scarred for life, but it luckily still runs just fine, oh, and Isabelle is ok too (although the training wheels will never come off now, nice work Heather).

Busy day at the Desk at Esselte

The Big Dance Recital for Isabelle

So today was the big day for Isabelle, a chance to show off all of her hard work over the past year for Dance. The Recital started at 5pm and we fully expected it to get over in 2 hours. Instead it lasted for 4 hours and we did not officially get out of there until close to 10pm. The show was great and Isabelle didn't miss a step in her Jazz routine (she was the best dancer up there if you ask me). Just like last year, Heather, Aubree and I sat in the vaunted nose-bleed section of the theatre (tickets are given based on a lottery system, we always get a bum draw). The funny part was, we had another couple and grandparents sitting next to us and they had four month old twins sitting quietly in thier car seats. Naturally they did not make a single peep during the whole 4 hours, like innocent angels. Our three month old little demon child on the other hand was her typical Adams' self and could not sit still for more than a few minutes. Heather and I took turns standing next to the camera man in the back (yes, we were one row from the top). We made sure the sound guy got plenty of fussy baby cries and noises for the recorded production, that will teach them to put us in the back ha!

We gave Isabelle a dozen red roses and a little froggy named Bettina at the end of the show. She will get her four year trophy next year.

Isabelle's grand performance and rewards

Nosebleed Seats at the Recital

Aubree goin' for a stroll

Aubree is getting much better at traveling to the local stores. This is a picture of her in her car carrier in a grocery cart (or a Wagon as they say in NY) while we went shopping in Target. She is such a sweetie-pie.

Aubree having a stroll in Target

HAPPY 34th BIRTHDAY

Hey it's my Birthday. Thank you Mom and Dad for having me. I got to choose my dinner choice tonight and decided upon a new place called El Dorado. It is a steakhouse. I had Louisiana Ribs and Heather had a 1/2 pound BBQ hamburger with onion strings. The food was great. Isabelle insisted on telling the waitress it was my B-day so I got the royal treatment and annoyed the entire resturant patronage I am sure. We went to see a movie matinee, Madagascar, then Build-a-bear (see below) then dinner then Walmart and I found a really cool sprinkler, the old fashion tractor type that runs along the track of the hose and is really heavy with big spiky wheels. Anyway, I had a great Birthday today. Thank you Isabelle and Heather (and Aubree for being so good).

Happy happy birthday... Everybody now!

Isabelle's new buildabear

It's Bagel Day again, life is good!

Bagel of choice today was Salt bagel with plain cream cheese. I'm in jeans and am ready to go home at 1pm to play with the girls (whoever came up with casual, half day Fridays for the summer was a genius!) I got the official approval from my boss this morning to leave for vacation in July (whew). He will be in the US during that same week so I was concerned that I am leaving that same week when meetings are scheduled and some big happenings are going on. We compromised and I will just spend a day in Stamford, Connecticut on the 5th with the Sr. Management team and my boss can use my office while I am out. We are getting really excited to come home, everyone but the dog of course, who has no place to stay as of yet, tick tock, time is running out dog. I remind the dog every day that she better get working on finding a place, but she just sits around all day long doin noth'n, staring at me with those puppy dog eyes (I wish I were a dumb dog). Isabelle has just one more week of school, today is some kind of walk around the block-a-thon and Heather and Aubree get to participate.

Ah, the bagels

Play at church

The Bishop had an interview today late, so as usual I grabbed Isabelle and we went to the church and played in the gym for awhile (the Ward Exec Sec hard at work, magnifying my calling). The interview-ee was very late so we did not get out of there until after 9pm. Heather of course is not happy because it is a school night. I guess I will have to play with the big bouncy ball all by myself next time... sigh. The upside is, we missed dinner so I was alowed to pick up late night Micky-Dee's, mmm, spicy buffalo sauce with chicken strips (I'll be paying for that all night if you know what I mean, or shall I say Heather will be paying for it, hahah).

Waiting at the church with Isabelle

Early Father's Day card, and Isabelle's Nails

When I came home today, Isabelle had a nice surprise. An early Father's day card she hand made for me, what a sweatheart she is (daddy's girl). Although I have to preface this with what happened yesterday: I came home and there was a trail of hearts saying Happy B-Day leading to her room. Thinking what a selfless daughter I have thinking only of her Dad (and a day early at that), when I found out the real agenda behind the scam. She got a build-a-bear ad in the mail with a new limited addition Flamingo stuffed animal. Let's just say she buttered me up for this.... you can imagine how it went. So long story short, I will be taking the girls to the mall tommorow after work to Build a bear for my B-day.. for Isabelle. Ah well, she is a sweatheart as I said.

The Nails: We have a neighbor down the street who has a daughter Isabelle's age that she plays with all the time. Her mom does nails in her salon in the garage. Well Isabelle "scheduled" an appointment and set Heather up on the phone to agree to it. So Isabelle got her nails painted at no cost... without permission of course. You can see her pretty nails in the picture below.


Isabelle gave me a Father's day card today, what a sweatheart!

Hey, you can get updates now! Exciting!

I keep finding cool new tools to add to my Blog. You can now submit your email address and get updates whenever I add a new post to my blog. It is safe and secure and I am the only one who has access to your email address. So if you want to be updated, just subscribe at the bottom left hand sidebar. For those of you who are "spam-o-phobic" you can read Bloglet's privacy policy below:

Bloglet Privacy Policy
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Visit to the Eye Doc

I had my 3 month post op visit today with the eye surgeon. All looks well with my eye so far. They strap me to a particular machine that takes a topographical 3-D image of my cornea, the cone shape of my right eye is about 1/2 the size and steepness it used to be, so he still thinks it was a success (instead of looking like mt. everest, it now looks like a blown out mt. st helens). I honestly can't tell if it is better or worse than before the surgery, just different. On the bright side, at least I get a free eye exam every 3 months for a year with no co-pay (whoopie!). I take great pleasure in messing up all the buttons and settings on the eye gizmo machine in the picture while I am left by myself "unsupervised" in the room (does it look better here, or here, 1 or 2....). Amazing how many dials and settings there are... haha.

Eye Doctor gizmo thingy-ma-jig

New SF Book out

Nobody will find this interesting but Dad and my brothers. I think Dad has become a Science Fiction reading club (like Bookmobile, only limited to SF). I am currently reading "The Golden Age, Book 1" by John C. Wright (I checked it out of the Dad Bookmobile, he even sent it to me via mail instead of waiting for a visit), Probably the most interesting and difficult book I have ever read.... I'll let you know if I get through it.


Look, a new book by Alastair Reynolds (Redemption Arc, Chasm City, etc.)

View from my Office window

This is a view from my office window looking West. It's another unusually hot day today. I just finalized my dates for another visit to LA. I will be there August 19th for a weekend and a week. Now Heather can't say I did not warn her in advance, it is in writting for all to see, hee hee. We are moving offices from LA to Buenna Park and I need to be there to oversee the project from an IT perspective and make sure the Business is happy.

Office view

Hot, Hazy, Humid days of summer

It is roasting hot today. Or as Shawn Hannity would say, "it's the hot, hazy, humid days of summer" in NY. I went to Bertucci's pizza for lunch today with a couple of our IT VP's and Directors. I'm stuffed. I had a personal brick oven pizza and it had a lot of black crusty edges from the stove, so naturally I get this on my fingers and inadvertantly touch my face and let's just say I have been walking around all afternoon with charcoal face smears.... haha, jokes on me as usual.

Aubree has a new Mobile

Fishes, fishes, fishes in the sea. We drove into Baby's-R-Us tonight to get something for Isabelle's dance teacher who is expecting a boy shortly. While there I purchased a mobile for Aubree, she loves fishes and the sound of water. You will find Heather or I running the kitchen sink at 2am most mornings trying to get Aubree to go back to sleep, something about the sound of running water. Interestingly enough, Isabelle was the same way when she was a baby. Also Like Isabelle, Aubree hates driving in the car and makes us suffer whenever we go somewhere. Just yesterday Isabelle and Aubree had a crying contest in the car, the baby inadvertantly won of course (Isabelle was no match for the new lungs, her stamina needs some work).

New mobile

After the Cut

She is home with new hair. This is only part one of the experience, perm or color, that comes another day.


After the Cut

Before the Haircut

Heather is getting her Haircut today. This is to document her before and after (like extreme makover, but not so extreme). This also means that I will not get any yard work done this afternoon as I will be babysitting the girls. Isabelle has a swimming birthday party with one of her classmates up the street at 2pm, maybe I will get some work done then.... more importantly, what am I going to eat today and when... hmm, maybe the baby and I will sneak in some Micky Dee's while the girls are distracted. Stay tuned.



Before the Haircut

Having Fun on a Friday Night

Ah, Friday night. The picture says it all: Heather is cleaning her car (sheesh, all I did was drive it to work and back..), Isabelle is pushing Aubree around in the stroller with Nala in the bottom. The trunk is open because I got my shiny new lawn mower out and started mowing (sure, girls have fun, boys do all the work). The vacuum Heather is holding in her hand is my "Rhino" vac, not to be confused with the super duper "Tiger Shark" vacuum one would pay for in an infomercial. Anyway, I take great pride in my Rhino Vac as I found it with Dad one day while perousing Home Depot and payed a whopping 9 bucks for it. What a steal!! So Heather is cleaning her car with my Rhino and all the while she is complaining how it doesn't suck very good (what?! This is the super-sucking Rhino Vac, she must be mistaken!) and after about 20 min or so I walk over to her and she can't get it to turn on anymore (hmmm, maybe my Rhino is just sleeping a bit?). So I ask her when she emptied the vac last and got a disturbing answer "huh? nope, didn't do that yet". I then emptied vast quantities of car dust out of my vac and found the filter was completely clogged (Mr Dyson would have been proud of this clogged filter). I showed Heather the warning on the back of the Rhino which states "Do NOT run the Vac for longer than 3 min with a clogged filter!" alas, it is too late. The Rhino is DEAD now... sigh. What a lousy waste of 9 bucks. Moral here: You get what you pay for, or; Don't let Heather operate a clogged Rhino.


Having fun outdoors on a Friday night

Heather and Aubree

It's Bagel Friday!

Hey, it's Friday. This means summer hours, jeans at work, and Bagles and juice. I had an everything bagel - this way nobody will talk to me at work and I can leave on time at 1:15pm (can you say Gh-aaalic Breaheth). It is raining on Long Island this morning, which means I don't have to water the lawn. This also means that I can't play with my new lawn mower after I go and pick it up today. I rode the Pacifica to work today, what a sweet ride that is... I am now convinced that having a stick shift on Long Island is worthless (the Pacifica is automatic of course). I was priveledged to be allowed to take the new car to work so I can pick up the lawn mower (Heather's permission granted, cha-ching).

On a more unhappy note, Aubree and Isabelle are now coming down with the Summer cold that Heather and I are suffering with. This means baby is up every half hour and we get no sleep, misery breeds misery as they say, and oh are we miserable!

Today is bagel friday

Aubree's Smile

Aubree loves to smile, she is a cutie

Coming to Utah Soon!

Even with rising ticket costs we did the unthinkable and have booked plane tickets to get back to Utah this summer.

When: July 6th-July 20th
How: Southwest from Mcarthur (Islip Airport) to Las Vegas
Car: Yes, I reserved a car rental from Thrifty, so no pick up required

Activities Planned*:
Saturday 9th - Isabelle's Baptism (she turned 8 in May)
Sunday 10th - Isabelle's Confirmation, Aubree's Blessing

*Subject to change pending approval from the big boss (Heather) and availability of the font. I say let's do it the old fashion way and do the babtism in the pool!

My office

My office

I have setup my Mobile to send pic's directly to my Blog!

Very cool. This is me in my office. I have setup my mobile phone so I can snap a picture and send it to this blog directly. Very cool! It works!

Dan at work

The Summer sickness hath arrived!

Heather and I are both suffering from a summer cold. Perhaps allergies? Of course the weather on Long Island this week has gone from 60's to 90's and Summer had officially arrived for good. We are trying to figure out how to water our poor yard. Dad gave me some good recommendations on how to fix my front water tap which I lovingly broke this winter trying to close the faucet while it froze. I ended up buying an attachment hose, 6" long with a stop switch and flexible. We also purchased a new lawn mower becuase I killed my last one. I will go and pick it up tomorrow from Sears. I am very excited!

Isabelle's Dance Reharsal

Isabelle is going into her third year of Dance. This year she took Jazz. Her Recital is coming up and we went to a full dress rehersal. She is dancing to the toon of "I love New York" from the musical "Newsies". One of her good friends Katie-bear is also in her class.




Isabelle's Dance Rehearsal

Business Trip to LA

I went on a Business Trip to LA. Good eats, and I actually got to visit the old Knott's Berry Farm for a couple of hours (did I mention it was a business trip).


Yes, a full rack of Ribs and giant onion rings, yummy!