The Blessed Mother's Dream

This came home with some class material from my daughter's Catholic Elementary School---and I'm repeating it here.

It's important to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

I'll be doing that on Christmas morning at Mass while my neighbors, exhausted from decorating, climbing roofs and trees to place lights, shopping and other festive activities, are sleeping in.

The Blessed Mother's Dream

I had a dream Joesph.

I don't understand it, not really, but I think it was about a birthday celebration for our Son. I think that was what it was about.

The people had been preparing for it for about six weeks.

They had decorated the house and bought new clothes. They had gone shopping many times and bought elaborate gifts.

It was peculiar, though, because the presents weren't for our Son.

They wrapped them in beautiful paper and tied them with lovely bows and placed them under a tree.

Yes, a tree, Joseph, right in their house.

They had decorated the tree also. The branches were full of glowing balls and sparkling ornaments. There was a figure on top of the tree. It looked like an angel might look. Oh, it was beautiful.

Everyone was laughing and happy. They were all excited about the gifts.

They gave the gifts to each other, Joseph, not to our Son.

I don't even think they knew Him.

They never mentioned His name.

Doesn't it seem odd for people to celebrate someone's birthday if they don't know Him?

I had the strangest feeling that if our Son had gone to this celebration He would have been intruding.

Everything was so beautiful, Joseph, and everyone was so glad, but it made me want to cry.

How sad for Jesus---not to be wanted at His own birthday party.

I'm glad it was just a dream.

How terrible Joseph if it had been real.

Hand Warmers for Running in Cold weather

I mentioned Hand Warmers for stuffing into my Wells Lamont MechPro Gloves when I run in the morning.

I use a pair of Heatworks Air Activated Hand, Pocket & Glove Warmers. Open them up, and 2 minutes later they're warm--and they stay that way for about 6 hours. I love them.

They're produced by a company called AMMEX, in Tukwila, WA. Website is:

http://www.ammex.com

Their Product Code is HW1. Bar code reads

97383 92831

I ordered a box of 40 pair last year for $28.57 (includes $6 shipping) when I got tired of buying them piecemeal at the Army Navy Store.

I got them from a place called SurvivalCamping---here's their website

http://www.Campingsurvival.com

Washing Instructions---WELLS LAMONT MechPro Gloves

Washing Instructions are among my most popular blog postings....

I have a pair of Wells Lamont MechPro Insulated Gloves.

I use these gloves when I run in the morning--they're pretty warm, although when it's 20 degrees Fahrenheit or below, I will also stuff a heat pack inside.

At any rate, it's been over a year since I got them, and they need a good washing.

I just pulled out a magnifying glass, and found the washing instructions inside. Here they are:

Machine Wash Cold
Do Not Bleach
Hang Dry
Do Not Iron

Web Resources for the EFT Investor

Summarizing a Wall Street Journal article on ETF (Electronically Traded Funds)

http://morningstar.com/goto.etfs

http://finance.yahoo.com/etf

http://marketwatch.com/tools/etfs/html-home.asp

http://indexuniverse.com

http://etftrends.com

http://etfguide.com

http://etfdb.com

Have I mentioned why I hate the television program, the Biggest Loser?

Not the first time I've said it but...

I think the idea is wonderful, a group of overweight people trying to get healthy.

But as an exercise enthusiast, and someone who is always in training, the emphasis on this show is all wrong. Too much exercise, very little (to no) information on how many calories these people are consuming.

Some of these 'contestants' weigh over 400 pounds---a good diet could result in a loss of 10 pounds per week, something these contestants regularly do, but the producers make it appear it's a result of exercise--much of it coming during the 'last chance workout', something that when I see it literally makes me want to vomit.

This show is doing no one a favor my making exercise appear to be a punishment--a drill sergeant of a woman screaming over you and telling you to 'give me 2o more'.

My biggest hope--a contestant smacks that loud mouth right in her nose and cracks it.

Biggest Loser---do your fans a favor and show them what your contestants are consuming each week in calories, and give them a modest exercise program to follow.

And one more thing---knock off this elimination nonsense.

Let everyone stay 'in the game', and proclaim the contestant that loses the most weight (the winner---pounds or percentage, I guess it doesn't make a difference to me.

Top Ten---Pizza Parlors

I wanted to make mention of the fact that my family has been ordering a lot of pizza lately from Milanese Pizza in Riverton, NJ. The pizza is excellent, the staff (particularly Al) is very friendly. Parking is a bit tough around there though.

Tonight, as we picked up a pie for dinner, my wife found $12 on their step, and gave it to Al. He said if no one claimed it, he would give it to her next week when she stops by again. We'll see :)

This got me to thinking about some of my favorite, notable pizza parlors from the past, so I've compiled a list of my favorites.

1. John's Pizza Shack. Richmond St, Bridesburg section, Philadelphia PA. It was the first pizza I ever had. Not what most people would could their favorite, but it's still mine---I can still taste it. I used to eat it with my friend Dave on Friday night's when we were watching Astro Boy in the mid 60's (that was a long time ago)

2. Gearos on Bustleton Avenue in Philadelphia. I learned to drink beer there, as their peperoni pie was a bit spicy. I should say I learned to drink Genessee Cream Ale there. It was delicious.

3. New England on Bustleton Avenue in Philadelphia. My first 'English' Style pie. Delicious.

4. Napoli Village, Torresdale Avenue, Philadelphia. Very cheesey, very saucy. Very good.

5. Casa DiNapoli, Bustleton Avenue, Somerton Section of Philadelphia. Jack and his brother were great to me--I wrote a dBase III program for them to help them manage their shop. After we moved, I heard they moved to Atlantic City.

Some other great pies.

6. DeAngelos. Cinnaminson NJ.
7. Charlies on the Boulevard.
8. Celebres in South Philadelphia. This is distinctive. Nothing else quite like it.
9. Talianos. I believe this was the Adams avenue spot where we would occasionally visit after working at Sears. As I recall, it was very cheesy and saucy.
10. Tony's. Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia. It's a tomato pie (although you can order a pizza if you like.) The only problem with Tony's is that I can easily eat a pie and a half, and I'm in training.
11. Santucci's. Square Pizza. Juniata. A family favorite. The sauce is delicious. There are many locations.

Looking for more. I may refine my list.

iPhone Shortcomings

I bought my iPhone back in June. I really love it, but it's not perfect.

I've noticed some shortcomings, and I thought I would make a list.

It would be nice if...

1. I could sort Notes alphabetically
2. I could snyn my notes with my PC's Notepad application
3. I could do Internet Tethering, the way the online manual says I can
4. If there was Voice Recognition for texting
5. There were more ring tones

6. If I could designate special ring tones to certain senders of text messages
7. If there was a speed dial like there was with my Sony Erikson phone
8. If I could designate a group in my Address book


I'll think of more and update here...