I want to have a great nights sleep!!

After entering my room at the Hilton a few years ago while on vacation/business in Vero Beach, I became stuck on the perfect bedding choices for sleeping. It always seemed to be the best sleeping when I stayed at a Hilton or Hampton Inn that touted their fine beds. The problem is, what makes a bed so much more comfortable than anywhere else? My first item was a Goose Down Comforter. The solid white looks clean and inviting but also requires constant care. I typically prefer to be cold when sleeping and since the goose down comforter can get so warm, it requires constant adjustments during the night to maintain a comfortable temperature. When the temperature drops down during the winter though it makes for the perfect sleeping conditions. I’m thinking about a duvet cover to help keep the cleaning down. It’s always a battle with something white; it seems to attract anything that stains. The next order of business was to pick the perfect sheets. I was really impressed by the sheets at the Hilton. The high thread count and the numerous times they had been washed led to a silky soft finish. They aren’t cheap but offer the exact features I prefer in my sheets. I no longer use a fitted bottom sheet; instead I use oversized flat sheets for my bedding. The sheets are of course white and required many washes before they had the same finish as the hotel. I have four pillows, two where purchased at Sam’s and the other two I received as gifts from parents many years ago. The two pillows from Sam’s are Serta pillows and have characteristics of down and memory foam. They are very comfortable and are much better that the usual foam filled pillows found at motels. My other two pillows from my parents are goose down filled. I have a local cleaner that will empty, clean and add to feather pillows. They then put them in a new case/cover prior to pickup. This renovation is much less costly than trying to buy new quality feather pillows. I cover all the pillows with white cases that match the sheets.
The only thing left for bedding is the interest in a featherbed. I have looked at mattress toppers and haven’t decided on the best option. I always wondered how hot the goose down feather bed would make my bed. I don’t exactly live in a climate that promotes cold weather. If you’re interested in some quality bedding try looking at the Pacific Coast Feather Company. I also have had great experience with Woolrich Home Bedding from Target. One last recommendation for a great hotel sleeping experience, try to make window treatments as dark as possible. The hotel room always blocks out a ton of light when you’re there for the evening. Now go get some zzzzz’s…..

What gives Ford??

I was buzzing through my Google Reader the other day, trying to shorten the load of close to 433 new posts from an assortment of blogs and other news sites that I like to follow. Autoblog had an article on the new Ford Ranger being offered in the European market. I instantly was interested in the article because we have been cursed with the same Ranger in this country for what seems like a century. Each year the little truck is given a minor face-lift as its competition continues to innovate and improve upon their venerable platforms. Surely we must be getting this beautiful new truck in our soils, since this is a Ford where talking about….apple pie, baseball, trucks….America....Right? To my surprise the completely redesigned truck is not on the slate to be offered in our country for at least another year. Why? Why would Ford in these economic times not want to bring a new version of what is considered an economical choice in a sea of gas guzzling full size trucks. Obviously they have their reasons and I am certainly not one to judge how a multi-billion dollar business is being navigated. As I started to read the article I stumbled onto the details of the new trucks engine. See in foreign markets the choice of utility engine is a diesel. The Europeans have been advancing the diesel engine for years, it happens to be a little passion of mine. I had a Land Rover and one of my biggest irritations was that I couldn’t have the diesel engines available in the UK. They offer killer reliability, off-road torque, never over-heat, and better fuel economy. Anyways the diesel topic for me is another blog post all together. The new Ranger was being offered with two engines, and they both where diesels. The details indicated a range of 100km on 8.63 liters of fuel. After using Google for a little conversion I calculated roughly 31mpg. Now switch over to the US website for the Ford Ranger, and check the engines offered. Nothing gets over 26mpg and it gets worse from there if you want something that can pull a load bigger than a sack of dog food. See gas engines take more horsepower to get more torque. They aren’t the torque monsters that their distant cousins are the diesel engine. So why is it Ford that we are bringing a new version of a great truck with some fantastic engine choices to an area on Earth other than our states? Doesn’t this economy and current petrol situation warrant such a vehicle? Couldn’t these new innovative choices entice people to buy your vehicles? You need the money, right? I know I would love to have the choice of a strong, reliable and economic engine. Couldn’t a car stand to have such an engine, something that could get even better fuel economy? Audi recently drove a group of new Q7 diesels from Long Beach to the Detroit Motor Show, a truck the size of a Tahoe that gets about 25mpg. Not bad for the first run in the states, plus it has 406 lbs of torque. (That’s a big deal for a truck) The current lineup on the GMC website for a Yukon is 21mpg and nowhere near the power. Hmmm how much money do you need General Motors? -Play smart

Do you own a radar detector?

I can remember looking through the issues of my first Road and Track magazine at the wonderfully tempting ads of those sophisticated little boxes with lights and buzzers that would forever protect you from the dreaded speeding ticket. I could only imagine that anyone reading such a magazine obviously had some kind of cruise missile sitting in their perfectly organized garage. The kind of missile that would be painted in a high luster PPG, named “beluga caviar black”, sporting chromed logos with letters like P_O_R_S_C_H_E or intricate emblems with prancing horses. You clearly owned a car that was designed to be driven well past the limits posted on these highways. The only thing stopping you from exhausting every last bit of distance out of the gas pedal was the eventual overly expensive speeding ticket.
Car and Driver and many other publications started testing each of the most common detectors on the market. This was a supervised test to find which one really had the ability to find that officer before you came into contact with his radar gun. After the popularity started to rise with detectors, more and more manufacturers started showing up on the list of “best and worse”. There always seemed to be one manufacturer that ended up on the top of the list year after year. The prices also started to rise as new technologies where introduced and more sophisticated measures had to be implemented to prevent false alarms and detector-detectors. Then the advent of laser speed guns changed the way we felt about “safe speeding”. They required a new look at protecting yourself against an unwanted ticket. If you where shot with a laser gun, it was probably too late. Late means money….
Why do you want a radar detector? Are you promoting unsafe driving if you buy into the idea of owning such a device? Have you ever driven on I-75 in SW Florida? Have you crossed Alligator Alley? (possibly the best candidate road for no speed limit)
Escort has long been featured in the popular car magazines. I recently took a ride in a very fast car with the new Passport 9500ix and the abilities of today’s radar detectors are amazing. GPS now helps remember where false alarms are and helps log speed cameras. These pricey units can be the difference between a fun run to Key Largo or an expensive waste to St. Augustine. My Audi has the Passport 8500 and is considered by many to be one of the best radar detectors ever made. The red LED’s match my interior perfectly and it can sniff out a trooper from miles away. So I say, be safe but drive the way the car was intended, fast. ☺ I don’t believe in being unsafe so if you want to race go to a track. If you want to make good time buy an Escort. Cheers-

The advantage of aluminum confuses me Apple

I watched the keynote address from Macworld which was given by Phil Schiller. The excitement revolved around a new release of iLife, iWork software, the expected release on the uni-body 17" Macbook Pro, and long over due DRM free iTunes music. Everything was pretty, but nothing candy coated the fact that this would be the last Macworld that Apple would be directly involved with. Although this doesn't mean we won't be hearing from the good folks at Cupertino, in fact they probably will just shift there attention to another venue.
I am looking forward to testing the new face recognition on iPhoto with one of my Macs. The integration of Geotagging with digital pictures is still a nice idea in concept but I don't think I will adopt it until it arrives built into one of my DSLR bodies. I'm sure iWork is pretty but I still use Office as my defacto work center. Obviously the keynote can't release a game changing product every year(iphone). It is amazing when you see the people in the front row of the Moscone Center drop there jaws over a new way to move your mouse.
Without question the iTunes update is the most needed announcement. We need DRM free music on all of our purchase sites and with iTunes being the biggest retailer in the U.S. it only makes sense. I was personally excited to see the adoption of iTunes downloads through 3G network on my iPhone. I always wondered what the point was of fast data speeds if I can't even use it to download music.
Now for the aluminum. I was in Panera Bread the other day and noticed a fellow patron with an Aluminum Mac. The back casing had obviously been through a war with the floor. I have also been through several aluminum macs and all have had there fair share of dents and dings. I realize that aluminum is highly recyclable but isn't plastic a good "green" choice. I always feel like an old Mac looks like an old Mac. My Dell computers look pretty new regardless of there age. It seems silly but it doesn't make for good advertisement. I guess the aluminum is just to pretty to pass up, the Apple is officially the new sheik item to have at Starbucks.

Books A Million "I tried to find out and know one knows, but...If you can then it works, if it can't then it doesn't"

Just wanted to update my blog with a quick post. Be on the lookout for new things around the corner. I wish I could update this thing more often. I am chilling at BAM tonight with my Sis. We decided to have a few nights out a week away from the Mom and Dad. We are doing the internet thing. We had a little snafu when we first arrived trying to get on the free Wi-Fi. After several phone calls to tech support the answer we received is the title of this post. Buenos Noches....

Camera time! Click Click

I have been a fan of taking pictures for quite some time. I have wanted to move past the typical point shoot models that I have used for many years. The hang when deciding on buying a DSLR is the cost of lenses. I have been using high-end point and shoots that are often referred to as hybrid or high zoom models. In order to duplicate the lens range of these cameras you would need to invest in several expensive lenses with the DLSR. Over time after you have made the investment in glass you can continue to upgrade with newer bodies, but your lenses last forever. I finally decided on a Canon Rebel XTi. I have purchased one lens so far and plan on renting a couple of lenses for an upcoming trip to experiment with my options. Its a great way to check lens choices before dropping down the scratch on a piece of glass. I'll keep you updated on my camera stuff as time goes by. Get out there and shoot!!

it's cold in Florida, really its cold!!

My girlfriend recently won an all expense paid vacation to stay at the Trade Winds Resort in St. Petersburg for 2 nights before the end of January. The hotel was fairly booked for the rest of this month. We had to settle on a Sunday and Monday night that we could work out between our two schedules. We arrived in St. Petersburg yesterday to be greeted by some incredible weather. The temp gauge in my car said 59 degrees and the wind gave a nip at your face. This isn't the usual beach weather that you hear about in Florida while on the sweet beach vacation. We did manage to get somethings done on the beach despite the cool weather. We walked up and down the coast as the temperature continued to lower into the 40's. We snuggled into our room to keep from the abnormal temperatures. We listened to the howling wind through the windows as we stayed in the comforts of our cocoons. What an evening in beautiful sunny Florida. Actually this weather made for a wonderful weekend getaway. We are very used to attending the beach during the hot humid summers. This was a refreshing change of pace. We also found the most incredible place in St. Petersburg to get smoked fish! So the next time your in the area look for Ted Peters Famous Smoked Fish Inc. They served me up a 1 lb piece of smoked mackerel that was to die for, and then they paired it up with German potato salad and the most unusual cole slaw that I have eaten in a while.


Be Innovative!!
Joe

No more gas guzzler in my garage!!!!

In case you haven't heard. I finally got rid of my gas guzzling Land Rover for something I have wanted for a long time. Actually I still own the Land Rover but it sees more time on the inside of the garage than out on the road. I purchased an Audi A4 Wagon. The wonderful 4 cylinder turbo engine gets around 30 mpg. This is a huge improvement over the Land Rovers 11 mpg. I will try to post pics when I have an extra minute. My affinity for Audi comes from my love for German cars and a continued following of the 12hrs of Sebring for that past several years. Anyways I hope your car is drinking the fuel efficiently and have a great week! See ya soon.

What excites your senses?

This may seem to be a little but of an odd question, but it came to me this morning as I sat in the chair at JC Penney’s hair salon getting my hair cut. I was immediately relaxed as Becky (my haidresser) started to cut my hair as I usually do. This led me to think about other things that create a very relaxing feeling in my body and mind. In fact the first thing that came to my thoughts was the dentist. Yes, the dentist! I am one of those weird people that love to get my teeth cleaned at the dentist. In fact I also prefer to have a hygienist that doesn’t talk a lot while cleaning my teeth so that I can sit back and enjoy the process of my pearly whites getting scrubbed. I love to hear people complaining about the fact that they have to go to the dentist. I actually have my teeth cleaned more often than usual because I enjoy it so much. This brings me to my hair cut. The icing on the cake to getting my hair cut is the shampooing of my hair. I love to have my hair shampooed when at the hair stylist. Becky and I started talking about this with a story I told about a high-end salon I went to in Dallas where my two sisters frequented. This story of fancy to do salons led Becky to give me a hair shampoo/massage that lasted at least 15 minutes. I was in heaven. There is just something unexplainable about the relaxation of someone shampooing your hair.
I tried as I began to write this blog entry to think of other things that excited my senses, but nothing hit me immediately. I know there are more things, but most likely I take them for granted. So I pose you this question and request. What excites your senses? Do you take those things for granted? Lets all take a moment each time we get to experience one of these great enjoyments of life and really appreciate it. Its these moments that make everything come full circle for what this life is all about. I will be paying close attention to things throughout the day that bring me great enjoyment. I hope you do the same. 
P.S. As I sit and write this, I am at the local Starbucks enjoying a great cup of coffee. This excites me and I very much appreciate it!

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Here's the deal on the Pergo floor thing.

I recently decided to take on a project at Dina's in the form of some renovation work. Dina had some Pergo floor that she had ordered for one of the spare bedrooms quite some time ago. The kids had finally moved out of that area of the house, so it was time to enjoy a nice new floor. I volunteered to take on the project along with one of her daughters boyfriends who enjoy taking projects on with me. We started by pulling all the carpet and padding out of the room. WOW - what a dust and debris container carpet turns out to be! I would rather have a hard floor in my house any day of the week. It also seems to be perfect flooring for people with electronic gadgets. My computers and other devices seem to create a lot of dust. After removing all of the old carpet and the removal of the base molding we began to lay out the plan on the new floor.

We had to place a moisture barrier between the concrete floor and the new Pergo. This comes from Home Depot in 3 foot wide rolls and is essentially just plastic. We cut strips and overlapped them until the entire surface had been covered. The seems where taped with special tape that resembled the same material as the barrier only with sticky backing. It was time for the wood flooring. I expected the process of actually laying the floor would be much more complicated. You decide the direction and start laying the planks. Everything is interlocked using a proprietary tongue and groove system. When you reach the end of a row, you measure the length need for the last board. Cut to fit! You then start the next row with the leftover piece of the last cut. This helps create a random pattern so that one can not see the seems. Pretty cool. The only other exciting part of the project where some areas that required detailed cut ins form the jigsaw. We completed the entire project in 6 hours. Not bad for our first time.

Well, that was my exciting Thursday. Bye.

Another cellphone...huh?

As everyone knows the Apple iPhone was released yesterday at participating stores near you. You can stand in line to pick from two choices of iPhones that offer 4gb or 8gb of storage space. I have only the information on the web and other media resources I use to have any understanding of what the iPhone is capable of doing. It is certainly a beautiful product that Apple always manages to pull off. If money was not an issue for a product I really have no need for, I would love to go out to the store and pick one up. It has such an interesting interface that you can't help to want to get your hands on one. Rate plans on At&t are actually quite reasonable compared to my Blackberry through Alltel. Perhaps this will help drive competition with other companies. Two reporters on the local station here in Punta Gorda, Florida where showing off there iPhones on the morning broadcast. If this isn't the perfect example of hype, what else could get this type of play. The biggest excitement this new phone from Apple brings to me is a chance to see a new upcoming iPod. The iPhone offers the perfect interface for a large storage wide screen iPod. I don't need a new phone, but I would love to have a new iPod. I will be in line for the release of a new iPod, which I hope to see before the holiday season.

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Pirates 3....Come on Calypso.....

I recently went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean. I have been a big fan of the Pirate movies since there inception, this is partly do to my family obsession with Disney World. I really enjoyed the movie but realize that it was much different than the previous releases. Many people have ridiculed the plot line not offering more excitement. I am always entertained by a movie so I don't like to critique story's too much. The definite problem I had with the movie was with the character Calypso. Throughout the movie they depicted the story of Calypso and Davey Jones. I think they portrayed a larger than life creature from the ocean in Calypso's pre-human form. So as the movie ended and Calypso was released form her curse by the pirate board, I anticipated the arrival of what bad ass creature to reek havoc on the arsenal of boats on the seas that day. Up arose from the deck of the boat a giant version of Calypso's body, followed by a transformation into a hundred million crabs that descended there way off the boat into the depths below. What came of this transformation to battle all the pirates that did her wrong for so many years under the curse......a giant...whirlpool...... This is the only disappointing part of the movie for me, but was very anti climatic. Don't miss the chance to see it in the theaters, the visual experience is always better on the big screen! Till next time, yo ho yo ho, a pirates life for me.

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This is a test with Flock!! Very Cool

I just decided to try out a new web browser that I am using on my Powerbook. Its called Flock and one of the many features it offers is lots of extensions related too all the Web 2.0 stuff we do. ie: blogging. I can press a button for new blog and it opens a simple text window and posts it directly to my blog. Wow! It has many similar features to this for photos and other services. I know the blog has been a little boring lately, but I have been consumed with lots of other projects. Please check back, because I will be updating with more stuff. Bye!

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I have been consumed with Web 2.0 ....

I apologise with the lack of new posts, but I have been consumed with all these new Web 2.0 products that I have been learning about in my podcasts. The theme of the web is communication and these new ventures are exploiting this communication to the fullest! I have been dabbling with Jaiku. What a weird name, right? Well this is the example of Web 2.0 in the form of micro blogging. It allows you to be connected to friends and family with snip its of your day in the form of 200 characters or less. Its like instant messaging for the web.

I look forward to continuing with my frequent posts to the blahblahcrusade. I have some recent events that have provided me with some story ideas. Check back frequently as I will be updating soon! Until then, enjoy!

Well it took a little longer, but A+'d

I really wanted the time from beginning to end to be a bit quicker but I can't complain because its over. I have officially completed and passed the 2006 CompTia A+ Certification objectives. This basically indicates to an employer that I have a competent knowledge of computers. It covered areas in hardware, operating systems, laptops, printers, networking, security, and ethics. My next step is to begin studying for the 2003 CompTia Network+ objectives. I have decided to switch training companies for this new task. I felt a little under educated from the materials that I received from the first training. I will keep you updated on my progress. I am requiring a strict schedule for this test to improve my time to finish. If you have any questions about my fun please let me know. Till next time.....

Oranges, Lemons, Peaches, APPLE

Well I have taken on a new project. I have always wanted to learn the Apple line of Mac computers. I haven't been exposed to these computers very much, so there is definatley a learning curve ahead. The reason: just to broaden my abilities for future jobs I wanted to learn the basic ins and outs of the operating system. The easiest way for me to make this happen is to get my grubby hands on one of these beautiful machines. Well, thanks to my wonderful girlfriend who works for an Apple based company I have been blessed from her IT department with not just a Mac but a G4 Powerbook. Its a beautiful piece of art crafted from aluminum and sports a huge 15" widescreen display. I will admit that if PC's looked this good then you wouldn't have anybody looking at any other choices. I don't know why one of the mainstream PC producers hasn't copied the looks and tried to capture some of the people looking for a pretty PC. The computer in the PC world that even comes close would probably be the Sony VAIO. Anyways, I also have picked up my favorite starting book, Mac OS X for dummies. I find these books to be the perfect intro to any software because of the common language they use and the easy to follow outline. For the next two weeks I will be trying to do most of my work on this computer in order to force feed my learning. So as you read this post I am using the Powerbook for this very entry. It seems so foreign to me compared to my natural ability in Windows. However I can see that after just a short time I will be well on my way to enjoying the Mac life.

Cell phone carriers are unlike any other company.

I was hopeing to get a little information about everyones cell phone service. Its funny how cell service is one of those things that can still hold you prisoner with things like two-year contracts and expensive equipment without service sign-up. I wish cell phone companies had to compete the same way many other services do in our lives. Who would have there oil changed if they had to sign a contract and get there oil changed from the same place all year, or if you didn't opt to sign-up then the oil was $18.00 per quart. Or better yet, buy a new Saturn for $3000, with a contract to buy all your cars and service from us for the next 10 years. If you opt out, the Saturn is $91,000. I would prefer that all cell phones would be sold like phones for the house. You go into a store and pick out a model from all the different choices, you then could choose a carrier that offers features that you like ( this would drive new technologies) and sign-up over the phone. The cost on the phones would be regulated and discounted the same way plasma tv's, and dvd players. I enjoy changing phones when new technologies fit my needs but I can't do it as often as I would like because of contracts. This really URKS me!!

In addition please leave a quick response in the comment line about the quality of your service and the typical monthly charge for your service.

Have a great day.......

Need I Say More ..!?!?

This confirms why I am a huge Volkswagen Fan!!!

How many more Joe's are there?

I was looking at some of the domain names I own through registerfly.com the other day. I haven't done anything with these sites but have decided upon there renewal I will be transferring them too godaddy.com hosting. I have heard many good things about the company and enjoy there affiliation with IRL racing league. In case you don't know, they sponsor the car that Danika Patrick drives in the IRL. Yes, a smoking hot girl driving an Indy car, it doesn't get much better than that.

I currently do not own a domain name that features my own name. At some point I would like to have a web page based on my name that could link people to the different email addresses, blogs, and other such interaction devices. My first thought was to just try for josephschneider.com No luck that name is already taken. So after trying a few other choices I decided to take a look at the site for josephschneider.com It happens to be someones personal website. There is a limited amount of information on his site but enough to get a glimpse into his life. Its very weird to look upon another human that travels around there home as the same name as you. Each time this person introduces himself he uses the same name as me. Every time he starts to sign a receipt he thinks the same letter process as I do. I guess if I had a name like John Smith it wouldn't be so unusual but I have been graced with a name that I don't run into all that often. You might be thinking that Joe is a very common name, but in fact I have found that without the last name Schneider most Joe's are very different in nature. Joe seems to be a favorite name of Italians. The Italian demeanor is very different from my German lineage.

So have you looked up you name as a domain name to see if there is somebody out there operating just as you do. Its pretty weird stuff. The owner of josephschneider.com likes Star Wars, Disney, Cake Decorating ,and he is a web developer.

Until next time......

Are you ready?

It has been almost 3 years since the last release of Spider-Man. So when tomorrow the doors open to your local theaters we will have the opportunity to step back into the streets of New York City. The new Spider-Man 3 places our hero into the middle of even more super villains and a true battle with himself. This new mega film has surpassed the production of each super budget Spider-Man film prior to its release. What does all this money bring to the screen for this release? Well , I have heard rumors that some of the last scenes in the movie gives you a birds eye view of what it is like to fly through the streets as Spider-Man. How did they create this super shot? None other than a SpiderCam. Its these types of purpose built technologies that can run the budget up of a film of this magnitude. We are sure to be on the edge of our seats as our Peter Parker fights off the antics of villains like Sandman, the New Goblin and Venom. I can't wait to see this movie and how Spidey gets himself out of all of these crazy scenarios. I hope you have the same excitement as I do, so get your butt out there and see this film.

Be on the lookout for more blogs like this for the month of May! There is a lot of action in the month of May for Mega-Movies!!!!