Good Morning Baltimore!

Actually I took this on the evening drive home. Working the new job has me traveling up and down the 95 corridor like a champion. I enjoyed an overnight stay for training in Laurel, MD.

L.L. Bean Outlet

Now this is what I call fun at the outlets. I got a terrific bargain this day at the L.L. Bean outlet: 100% cotton oxford dress shirts for $3.00 a shirt. WOW! I picked up several.

A "Victor"-y celebration

Here is a shot of the Ben Franklin Bridge from the parking lot of The Victor Bar in Camden. The Mrs. and I were celebrating my promotion.

Typical

This is so typical of a windows product!

Phillies Game

Attending a game with friends is only half as fun as the "pre-game activities" in the parking lot.

RU Homecoming 2007

EMS stands by for the festive homecoming parade at Rowan. Just a mere 10 hours later, the campus would be shaken to the core by the tragic killing of a student.

Watch Your Head

Passing under the Verranzano Bridge on our cruise to nowhere in early fall.

The Red, White and Blue

Cool shot of an FDNY fire boat displaying colored water when our cruise ship passed.

I'M BACK!

It's been awhile...I know this. My last semester of school (ever) just took so much of my time, I had to give up blogging.

But how fitting to bring it back with this old picture of IKEA I dug up on my phone. No more free bags at IKEA, they are trying to stop deforestation or killing baby seals or something. So kudos to IKEA and welcome back to me.

Handicap Construction?

While driving home from school tonight, I witnessed something truly bizarre. A contractor's truck complete with ladder rack and tool boxes on the side pulled out of the driveway in front of me and flew past me in the other lane. Once this vehicle passed me I noticed the truck had handicapped plates. I thought to qualify for those plates you had to prove some sort of mobility disabling condition. I guess we learn something new everyday.

IKEA college event '07!

It's the IKEA college midnight madness event 2007! And guess who's first in line? Yup. Not renliquishing her spot in line, I take a picture to prove just how crazy we are about the Sweedes! True, it really is the first of many late nights in my future.

Return to youth

Here's me, Gina and Dana playing in a ball pit inflatable toy that Chris blew up for the baby to play in. She quickly got bored, but as you can see, we were quite amused.

JRZ Traffic

Here's some traffic in central Jersey. Surprised?? I'm not...but you can almost see a beautiful afternoon over all these stopped cars. It's good to look for the positive things in life.

Bad Cop - No Doughnut!

I could almost start another blog called "State Police vehicles that pass me at excessive speeds." Here are 2 of the FOUR that passed me in one trip home. I guess I missed that day in physics where they talked about how someone in a state owned vehicle (that I pay for in part) will not cause damage by going 85-100 MPH on the highway if they strike another car. Now, for instance, if I am going 80, that is a clear safety hazard and needs to be cited. Steer clear for now...they are in a hurry to get home after such as hard day's work at the desk.

Found Porn?

I am without words in very few circumstances. In this one, I prefer to let the image talk for me. It's almost found porn. This is a sausage stand outside The Home Depot in Lawnside. I, personally preferred when the Stewart's Root Beer stand was there...it seemed less tawdry!

Do U DSL?

So, here it is...

I've ordered DSL from Verizon and I figure that it'll be risk-free for 30 days so if I don't like it, what's the harm. I've simple gotten too tired of Comcast and their exhorbitant fees. I won't be on the system until October 4th, so I'm curious how it all will work. I'm taking a bit of a speed cut, but the price is less than half the cost of cable. With the frequency that I use the internet anymore...I think I can deal with it.

Sleep check

It's 10:07 PM, in the last 48 hours, I've slept about 3.5 hours. I'm really tired. I'm very much looking forward to sleeping tonight. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.................

AFLAC!

I was having kind of a crappy day a few days ago when I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed so to speak. I was tired and just didn't feel like doing anything. When I walked out my door, I was greeted by several ducks who were frolicking on the grass just outside my condo. This one little guy walked right up to me and shook this tail almost as if to say, "you should be having a ducky day." Alright, maybe that was a stretch, he was probably looking for food. I found some stale bread and threw it out to them to feast on. It's funny how sometimes nature causes you to stop and take a step back to a simpler mindset.

How I Spent my night (while I should have been sleeping)

It seems someone decided to drive through the traffic light on Haddonfield and Chapel - again last evening so I spent most of my sleeping hours blocking traffic. At about 2:45am I decided this would make a good picture, if only I had a real camera. So, you'll have to settle for this mediocre cell camera version. Still despite the lens flare from the bright lights, I'm pleasantly surprised at how well the cell phone did in the low lux environs of the dead of night.

Let It Ride!!!

I spent Sunday down the shore in Margate and AC with Gina and the McGrath & Basile family. We enjoyed the buffet and I think I might have taken the title for most food eaten at the buffet for this round anyway. Now my waistline will suffer for sure.

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend was spent on a mixture of getting caught up on things, trying to relax and a little work thrown in for good measure. Here's the AC skyline as seen from the showboat casino.

Are you smarter than a 1 year old?

Gina tries to figure out how Pooh knows the value of the coins you drop into the Pooh Talking Bank. It took me just about as long to figure it out...

(by the way, I created that logo on your shirt...mad skills!!!)

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Proof Positive...Mac Girls are Hotter.

I have recently embarked on a sociological question that has plagued me for some time. The answers I found are apparently self-evident truths. Are "Mac girls" hotter? While it may not have beleaguered academics in the finest institutions, this has kept me up late at night. Alas, I have concluded that Mac girls are indeed much hotter than their PC-using counterparts. I will eschew discussing my own hot g/f because well, let's face it, I'm definitely biased. I will cite, instead, my research of Apple Store browsing hotties, iPhone using cuties and "iJustine" as she calls herself (pictured above) the Mac using, graphic designer-turned blogger-turned environmental activist who recently gained my attention when she V-blogged about the AT&T 300 page bill she was sent after her first month with the iPhone. While Mac users have undoubtedly known for years they are the more creative, edgy, non-conformists, we can now add hotter to our lists as well. Rock on iJustine....you're just "thinking different!"

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Hey I'm on TV!

I really showed how hard it is to run on uneven rocks while faking a leg injury. At least I know that I have a future in acting if all else fails.

They say a hero could save us...I'm not 'gonna stand here and wait...

Today I was shot twice... In all likelihood, this is probably my last image in this life, lying on the cold and dusty floor of Bosshart Hall at Rowan University. It's eery in its coldness, the taupe standard lockers of academia moving down a hallway where just in front of that open door on the left side, another shooter stands waiting to ambush the police. While waiting for help to come, I thought about how the students who've been involved in things like this, but was brought back to my own little reality by the searing pain in my lower abdomen, radiating to the oozing hole in my leg. Of course, today, I was lucky enough to only be living a virtual nightmare, made real only by my participation in the active shooter response drill at Rowan.

This still grab from a movie I shot just seconds before the first arriving Rowan Police officers entered the first floor made me think of all those who actually lived through the terror of having someone enter the halls of someplace you consider safe, and some who didn't make it home that night. Today could have very easily been real to me because I forced myself to mentally be in that frame of mind. It was very sobering and introspective. And during the debrief amongst the ramblings of administrators and suits who tidy up the small details after the foot soldiers win the war was uttered some sense that took several hours to realize. The "war" isn't only being fought in some other country or foreign land, it's come home to our own back yards. It's in our streets...our schools. It's being waged by foreigners and red-blooded Americans alike. And that should scare each one of us just a little bit every day to appreciate what we have. To me though, it makes perfect sense. I identified with the thoughts and ideals of each one of those cops who stepped over me or pulled me out today. I don't want to make a million dollars, or have a parade in my honor, or even to have an "easy" job - I'll leave that for the sports players or pop singers. I want to do something I know makes a difference. I want to put my own fears aside when people need help like the heroes I see on the job everyday. And I want to take a minute to remember those students who lived through an actual tragedy.

I doubt most of my posts will be this serious. But I needed a catharsis from the emotions of the day and how that photo made them feel real.