Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween, Trick or Treat

It is Halloween time again!!! Trick or treat.... Time to get out your treats for the little ones and those not too little. Halloween is an annual holiday observed on October 31st in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and United Kingdom. It is unknown in other parts of the world. It is also called All Hallows' Eve or All Saints' Eve. Halloween is thought to be the day when the dead can return to the earth.

Halloween typically is linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, whose original spelling was Samuin, pronounced sow-an or sow-in,. The name is derived from old Irish and roughly means "summer's end." I guess that makes sense since summer has ended and winter is almost here! Wow! I learned something new again today!! Do you think you are sooo smart??? No, just a smart aleck!!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! Thank Mr. Wikipedia!!!! Why Mr.?? Is it a he, not a she??? Who cares??? Plus it is easier to type Mr. and sounds better!!! That is discrimination!!! For heaven's sake...stop it! Let us go back to Halloween, okay???

Did you know that Halloween is the second largest commercial holiday in the United States, Americans spending $6.9 billion annually?? I can see that since people buy lots and lots of candies, chocolates, chips and other treats! Do not forget the costumes children use to go trick or treat and the costumes that adults use for Halloween parties!!!! How about the dentist? I wonder if there is a rise in dentist's visits after Halloween??? Any comments???

There used to be many children trick or treating, but for the last 2 or 3 years, the trick or treaters has dwindled down. I do not blame the parents for not letting the kids go from house to house, because there are some wackos around that does something bad to the treats! There are also a rise of malls giving out treats and parties for children so they do not have to go out! But it was sooo much fun to see the children in their costumes... some very pretty, some original and some that truly scared the heck out of me!!! Oh, well, gone are those safe, merry days.

Some houses even have decorations that is unbelievable and very scary!! My gosh, these people are really going though the roof scaring people in front of their houses!!! I guess the homeowners get a kick out of that, and passersby oggles at the haunted decorations!! How about the haunted house where you pay? That is really scary too!!! I cannot believe that we pay just to be scared!!! Isn't people weird??? And you are one of them!!! I went once to a haunted house, and I got really scared even though I know that it was fake. I held on to one of my companion's shirt as if I was hanging on to my dear life!!! Unbelievable!!! You are really a nincompoop!!! Ha! Ha! Ha!

How about the jack o lantern that people carve out of pumpkins??? Some are very artistic and pretty. I leave that one alone, because I tried once but it looked terrible!!! Then that is good, it scared people!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! You are crazy!!!!

Are you turning the porch lights on or off?? Are you prepared to give out treats??? Or are you giving out tricks??? Have a safe and Happy Halloween, everyone!!!!

Posted by vs at 10/31/2010 10:22 AM | Add Comment

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Survivor, 10272010

How did the Survivor go the other day? There was some manipulation of teammates. some idiotic moves, and a gross move of someone!!! What is the gross move??? Hold on! Hold your horses!!! Sorry, I do not have a horse, so I cannot hold on to my horses! You are sooo crazy!!! Okay, hold on to your butt!! Ha! Ha! Ha! You are a nincompoop!!!

The reward challenge consist of throwing balls while leaping into a man made pool. Each team had to choose a defender who stands on a platform in front of a goal and tries to stop the other team from throwing balls into the net! Fabio was the defender for La Flor, and Chase for Espada. Midway through the game, Fabio takes a pee break while submerged in the water!!!! Yikes!!! That was really grossed!!! He is like a 3 year old kid!!! Only kids do that!!! Wow!!! I was surprised that the game went on since the water was not circulating! Fabio! Fabio! Fabio! You are a moron!!!! Peeing on the pool!!! Yuck!!!!!

Who won? Espada won! The pee did not stop the mighty Espada even though they were grossed out! The reward took them to a horseback riding and home cooked breakfast in a Nicaraguan farm. Can you believe that all of them wore pants?? I did not know that they have pants there, do you??? Why then are they always wearing skimpy bathing suits?? NaOnka could have worn that when she was sooo cold in a previous episode! So, I think some of the scenes are made so the show will be more interesting!!! Do you all agree?? More drama, more viewers, more moolah!!!! In the farm, they had to milk a cow. NaOnka was terrible and remarked that she was not going to play with animal nipples!!! I did not know that milking a cow is playing with their nipples! Gross!!!! Naonka, those are wrong choice of words! It is a good thing the cows did not think of s-e-x...since everyone were playing with their nipples!!!
Ha! Ha! Ha! You are an imbecile!!!! How could you think of such a thing??? It is NaOnka's fault! She started it!!! Oh, well.

La Flor went to the tribal council. But before they went, Brenda and Sash already had a plan....Sash asked Marty for the immunity idol, in exchange for not being voted out! Isn't the idol the main ingredient for staying in the game??? Marty, you old fool, what were you thinking??? Giving up the idol is a very stupid, dumb, idiotic move, Marty!!!

Who was voted off? The votes were as follows: Marty - 2, Jane - 2, and Jill -3!! Jill Behm, 43, ER doctor from Erie, Pennsylvania was the next susvivor to leave!!!

What will be in store for Marty, the master puppet? Will he get back his idol? Will Brenda and Sash still control LaFlor? How about Espada?? Will Dan survive another free ride next week??? There are many things that are starting to unfold in Survivor! Now we see that Marty is not the greatest manipulator, after all! He is losing it!!! Will he regain control of his tribe??? That remains to be seen!!!

Posted by vs at 10/30/2010 9:27 AM | Add Comment

Friday, October 29, 2010

Brothers and Sisters

Are you close to your sisters or brothers? How many brothers and sisters do you have? I have been blessed with many brothers and sisters. Thank you, Mom and Dad!! They were really busy creating all of us, feeding, nurturing and sending us to school. We were truly blessed with great parents! And we are truly blessed with caring, loving and supporting brothers and sisters! Of course we have some frustrations with each other, but which family does not have occassional bickerings??? That is what makes it more exciting and enjoyable, is it not???

One of my sisters was with my family for 2 weeks - it never amazes me how much she knows and can do! Wow! I really have a lot to learn from her, and we enjoyed her company very much! Hip! Hip! Hooray! I had company to go shopping, hang out and just go anywhere!!! She never seize to amaze me! What a girl!!!!

My other sister and family just came back from California. They visited relatives and our relatives e-mailed me some of their pictures!!! Wow! Modern technology!!

My other sister and family just returned from Fatima, Portugal and Torremolinos/Malaga, Spain! As usual, they have so many stories to tell. I was amazed when they told me that to enter some churches in Portugal, you have to hand out 2 euros! My brother in law told the gatekeeper that he just want to go inside the church to pray. The gatekeeper did not even blink an eye. So what do you do? Either pay the 2 euros per person or do not go inside the church!!! Wow!! This is what I call a compulsory donation!!! They were also telling me that they stayed in a castle on top of a mountain that can be reached by car! Do you know what their car was? A standard small car, which they learned to drive very quickly. It was a very tiring adventure to them! After a few days, they were ready to come back to the States!!!! They said we have the best thing of everything here! Is that why many countries are trying to get rid of the United States??? We have freedom, and our food is really good and plentiful!!! We are all very lucky to be a part of the American and Canadian society! We should be soooo thankful to be citizens of these 2 great countries!!!! Back to my blog....

And how about me? Boo...hooo... we did not go to any far way place, we decided to mosey only to Niagara Falls. The weather was kind of gloomy, with the sun trying to peek in and out once in a while. The leaves are almost all gone! Where have the fall leaves gone???? I did not even see the turning of the leaves to its maximum peak, and now they are gone!! Oh, well. The weather was cold in Niagara Falls. What did we do? We went for a very short time to try our luck in the slot machines. My brothers were very lucky to get their money returned with a 5 times profit! My sister and I were not so lucky. So we decided just to hang out and eat in the Chinese restaurant inside Fallsview casino overlooking the falls! Wow! The food was sooo good! We even had fish skins that was sooo good and crispy! I do not see that in the States, have you? We had also fried rice, shrimps, lobster, beef, and vegetable dishes!!! Yum! Yum! Yum! Needless to say, we had a lot of doggie bags which will be eaten today!!!!

The drive back last night was okay. I did not know that there are many truckers on the road at night. That was good because their bright lights helped us on the drive back home. The wind was better in Canada than here in the States.I do not get it, what do you mean? That it was windy here than over there! Oh, okay, I thought you meant something else! Ha! Ha! Ha! How about gas??? Our gas is better pricewise, $2.79per gallon. Over there. it ranges from $1.04 to $1.06/liter..multiply that with around 4.5 will give you around $4.00/gallon, assumning that 1 gallon=4.5 liters!! Is that right??? Sorry, I am too lazy to look up the conversion. That is your homework, guys!!!! Ha! Ha! Ha!

That was a good venture yesterday which was a very satisfying and enjoyable day at Niagara Falls! Have you all been there? It is very nice, and I highly recommend visiting Niagara Falls especially during summertime!!!

Posted by vs at 10/29/2010 9:22 AM | Add Comment

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Dancing With The Stars, 10262010

Dancing With The Stars is down to 7 competitors. Another one will be saying goodbye! Who will be eliminated? Does anyone know? Can you take a guess? Come on, tell us, do not put us in suspense!!! Hold on! You have to be patient... Remember, patience is a virtue!

Let us take a look at the stars with their Tango and Paso Doble. Who danced the Tango? Kyle and Lacy, Rick and Cheryl, Bristol and Mark, Brandy and Maksim. Kyle and Lacey were better than last week and they earned a score of 24! It seems with Rick and Cheryl, Cheryl did all the work again, but the judges still gave them a score of 24! I can see that Rick's charm work his wonders with the judges! Bristol and Mark were better. I think Bristol is coming out now from her coccoon! She is more at ease and seems to be in control! Their score? 23! Go, girl!!!! Brandy and Maksim. What is wrong with Brandy? She is a cry baby! Always crying... did she get the judges sympathy with her crying??? Perhaps, because even though maksim lost his balance, they still received a score of 26!!! Wow!!! That was really good!!!!

How about the Paso Doble?? Audrina and Tony had a so-so dance, score:24; Jennifer and Derek made a mistake.. are they overconfident now??? Their score is a mere 20! How about Kurt and Anna? Kurt still seem awkward..score of 18!

Since it was a Rock n Roll night, the finale was a dance marathon that whichever team stays the longest in the dance floor will receive an extra score of 10! Kurt and Anna were the first to go out, and the winner was Brandy and Maksim!!! It must have been Brandy's night!!!

It was soooo shocking to see Audrina Patridge and Tony Dovolani go. I thought it should be either Rick or Kurt! I guess the sports fans are solid behind their sports idol!!!!

Who will be eliminated next week?? Who knows?? The public is hard to decipher!!! You never know what to expect! Hopefully, next week we will see better performaces!!!!

Posted by vs at 10/27/2010 8:42 AM | Add Comment

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Undercover Boss - NASCAR, 10242010

The undercover boss in this episode, which is the NASCAR, is not a CEO or the President! Why is that? The bigwigs claim that the NASCAR CEO and Chairman Brian France, NASCAR President Mike Helton, and ISC Chairman Lesa France Kennedy were too well known and will be easily recognized to go undercover! What do I say to that?? Phoey! There are other CEO's that went undercover and they used a disguised! Did the CEO's think they are too rich and too powerful to mingle and do the menial jobs with their employees??? I think so!!! Or where they are afraid to do the challenge, sweat and be ridiculed if they fail the tasks??? I believe, it is all of the above!!!!

What does NASCAR stands for? National Association for Stock Car Auto racing! Did you learn something new again today?

Who did the chicken bigwigs of NASCAR send to mingle with the employees? Steve Phelps, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing officer! Phelps was a product of the National Football League for 15 years and has just been with NASCAR for about 5 years. He commutes each week to Daytona Beach, Florida from Connecticut where he lives with his wife and 4 kids! At first, I felt sorry for him for doing that but someone reminded me that he probably rides the company's jet which should bring him to his destination in no time, and is probably earning an outrageous amount of money! After all, NASCAR, a family owned and operated business venture makes $2.2 billion a year!

Brian France inherited the company from his father in 2003 and transformed NASCAR globally in 39 states, Canada and Mexico! Wow! That is such an accomplishment! Their revenue this year is down because of the economy. I am not a race car enthusiast, so I do not know how much the tickets cost! Any comments???

Phelps worked in the different areas of the race track, ranging from the track maintenance, tire specialist and concession stand. He was working out with the crew to be in good shape. Goodness! I did not know that the crew had rigid exercises just to be a pit crew! Of course, it makes sense...they should be able to move quickly, change tires quickly and lift the heavy tires! In the concession stand, the crew had to struggle to get some customers to part with their precious dollars! Yikes!!! That does not seem right, trying to convince the customers to buy something! Oh, well, with today's economy, you have to do what you have to do to keep your business good! Isn't that the truth???

When Steve Phelps had to reveal his identity with the workers, I said oh, oh, Phelps will not be able to offer what the other CEO's offered in the other programs - he is not the big honcho in the company! His hands will be tied up because he is just the matketing officer! He made a good deed with one of his employer's son who has leukemia. NASCAR is going to pick up all out of pocket medical expenses for the son! That was really good!!

But like I said in the previous Undercover Boss episodes, how do they choose the employees that the undercover boss comes in contact with? Do they ask the life stories of the employees and chose the best and unique stories? How about the other employees that have similar problems? Will they also get the same treatment as the others?? Oh, oh, did I open a can of worms? Yikes!!! You have worms??? That will good dipped in chocolate! Chocolate covered worms!!!! Yummy!!!!

Posted by vs at 10/26/2010 8:41 AM | Add Comment

Monday, October 25, 2010

Amazing Race, 10242010

The Amazing Race episode started with the teams going to Norway, with the doctors, Nat and Kat arriving first in Narvik in search of a gondola to ride the mountain top to find the next clue. Their clue was the first Fast Forward of the race where they have to travel to a restaurant to participate in a traditional Norwegian Christmas ritual - eating an entire roasted sheep's head, with each member eating half! Once done, they can skip the other tasks and proceed directly to the Pit Stop! That is not too bad, except Kat has been a vegetarian for 22 years!!! They had to make jokes about it to be able to eat the whole thing! Did they succeed???

The other team members had to go from the gondola station to Skjombrua Bridge where one team member had to step off the deck on the bridge and rappel to the water below to signal a boat for the next clue. Then they had to haul themselves back up with a mechanical ascend, 130 feet back to the top of the bridge! Wow, the descend was no problem, but the ascend was painstaikingly hard for everyone! You really need strength, stamina, and guts!

The next clue was in Harvika where they have to choose between Bike and Boats! In Bike, teams had to ride mountain bikes in rough terrain until they find a board with the lock combination for their bikes which they have to memorize!!! On Boats, teams had to go to a fishing trawler and direct the captain to a marked spot on the shore. Then they must carry 2 large fish and a chain saw to a summer lodge. Once thes tasks were completed successfully, the teams can proceed to the Pit Stop!

Naturally, the Fast Forward team emerged as the winning team, the first one to arrive in the Pit Stop, in Ankenes Marina! Nat and Kat won another trip - this time to Costa Rica! The last team to arrive was the volleyball buddies! Katie Seamon, 23 from Rahway, New Jersey and Rachel Johnston, 24, Moorestown, New Jersey. So long, Katie and Rachel!!!!

Will the doctors keep their winning streak?? Who will be eliminated??? Stay tuned......

Posted by vs at 10/25/2010 2:26 PM | Add Comment

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Weak Dollar

The dollar used to be the currency sought internationally! Why? Because it was very strong. It was the currency of choice by people around the world! That is right! Used to be! Not anymore. Is that the reason why the economy globally went crumbling down? All the nations invested heavily on the US treasury securities? When the dollar went down, everything came tumbling down!

China's reserves is mostly in US securities. The value of the dollar has gone down, so China is diversifying by buying more Japanese bonds and finding other ways to move away from US securities.

The price for everything is going up including gold, oil, gas, corn, cotton and wheat...but the dollar is going down. Is the dollar still going down??? I do not know because I am not an economist! But if the dollar is low, is it not good for tourism and other things? Why do you say that? If the dollar is weak, other countries will be coming to the United States to sightsee, vacation and go shopping! Then that will be good for the economy, is it not?? People from other countries will be buying many things! How many businesses are owned by foreigners??? A lot of them! I read that there are very few businesses now that are US owned! Is this true, anyone???

i recently went to Canada. When I paid for the gas, my US dollar was less than the Canadian dollar! And to think that around 20 years ago, US$1.00 was equivalent to Canadian $1.50! Now it is reversed! I really do not understand how the money exchange work. When you go to Canada, your money is worth less...when you exchange your leftover Canadian money, it is also worth less! It seems that you lose some money either way!

How about the Euro?? Wow! That is more expensive! US $1.37 is equal to Euro 1.00! And if you go to the international money exchange, you add an additional fee which makes the exchange less!! I did not know that you can get a currency exchange in the local banks, but you have to do it ahead of time. The money will not be given to you right there and then, you have to wait for a few days!! I wonder why? Any comments???

So, what do you do? Stay home, just do a barbecue on your backyard and that will eliminate spending your precious dollars!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! You are sooo crazy!!! But that might not be a bad idea!!!! Right, guys???? Come on, start your grill, have fun on this fine Sunday afternoon!!!!

Posted by vs at 10/24/2010 3:02 PM | Add Comment

Saturday, October 23, 2010

One Fall Day

Today is another Fall day. It seems so dreary outside. Of course, it is, you dingbat! It is raining!! You are right, but Fall should be better with nice, sunny day. Dream on...pretty soon, it will be all white all over the streets, houses, trees, etc. Please do not remind me of the coming winter! Brrr.... Just the thought of it make me shiver!!!

A ride to the mall was kind of nice, not very many traffic, considering that it is Saturday! Maybe, the people decided just to stay in the comfort of their homes since it is dreary. Some of the trees have changed, but not all. Do you think all the trees will change colors?? Probably not, the leaves will just fall off to the ground without changing colors! Waht do you guys think??

How was the mall?? It is the same... not very many people! There are Christmas decorations already on display, but not that much. There are many sale on the stores but I do not see very many buying. Some are just looking, some are just talking and others are just jogging! I looked, and there are indeed good sale going on. I tried some clothes, but did mot buy anything!! Why? I was not in the mood... I just wanted to walk and talk! If you did not buy, you are not contributing to the country's economy! So, how about you??? Oh, oh, you got me!!! Well, for one thing, I did not really like the clothes, and I was trying to hold on to my cash! Do you have a problem with that?? Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Testy! Testy! Testy! Why did you not use your credit card??? You could have gotten a few percentage off from your purchase!! I told you that I was not in the mood of buying today!!! And credit card purchases... not if I could help it not to use it!!! Do you think people are cutting down on their credit card purchases?? Do you think people are getting smarter with their money?

Christmas is just around the corner. Do you think people will be buying a lot for Christmas, or will they cut down on their spending?? I think the people with money will still buy some things but not that much! The economy is still dreary, like the weather outside! Also, people do not know if they will still have jobs next year! Unemployment is still high, foreclosures are still going on, and the cost of groceries are going up! Salaries of people are not going up, it is going down! The seniors are not getting any increase in their social security, the health care premiums are going up. I could go on and on of what I see wrong with the picture of our country, but I am getting frustrated especially when I see homeless people on the streets! And some people are really struggling which is sooo sad!! There are some people that have become homeless because of the hard economic times, but they just are proud to ask for help! Can you blame them??? Not really. The picture is bleak, really bleak! Do you think the people that will be elected come November can help change the sad course for the better for our beloved country? All we can do is hope and have faith!!!

May God bless America! May God bless each and everyone of us and our families!!! Have a safe and pleasant weekend!!!!

Posted by vs at 10/23/2010 3:03 PM | Add Comment

Friday, October 22, 2010

Apprentice Season 10 Episode 6, 10212010

Is the Apprentice losing its appeal to the viewing public? For one thing, it is harder to watch it now since it comes on at 10:00pm! That is right, 10:00pm at night! It used to be in primetime but was moved to a later time slot! What is the matter, Donald Trump.... why was your time slot changed??? Did you lose very many viewers? Did your ratings go down??? Oh, well, let us move on since I was able to watch it....

The task for the team is to design, sell and operate pedicab tours in New York City. This also means passing the test to get the license to drive a pedicab! Wow! Unbelievable! Two women failed the test, Kelly and Mahsa! How hard could the test be?? The project managers were Kelly for Fortitude and Anand for Octane.

The women's team, Fortitude chose a colorful team selling sex. Whoa!!!! Hold on, that does not sound too good! Selling sex on Wall street??? Not really the real thing... just wearing skimpy outfits to lure the men with money on Wall Street! Do you think the rich men will part with their money??? They will say tough, and will go on their way! They will look...Oh, yes, look, but to ride a pedicab for a tour??? Come on ladies,what a stupid idea for the location!!!! Whoever thought of that location is a nincompoop!!! Stephanie was given that responsibility which she denied tremendously. Did she succeed in convincing the Trumps??? Another nincompoop is Lisa who was yelling free pedicab tours! Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, why did you say that? As a result, she was taken also to the boardroom! Oh, oh, sorry, I am ahead. Am I killing the suspense??? Okay, I will stop!

The men's team, Octane, led by Anand decided to have a gimmick and just be in front of Trump Towers!! They turned the rides into Roman chariots and focused on pre-sales, the day before the actual competition! Wow! The men are surely using their grey matter!!! I am impressed, especially they are down to 3 men!!! Wait a minute! There are 4 men! What happened to the 4th one??? You mean David??? Forget him, he is a basket case! All he does is brood, feel depressed and feel sorry for himself!! What a character!!!

Who won? The men did, even though they are dysfunctional and small in numbers compared to the women! The men earned $950.00, the women - a mere $300.00!!! Yikes!!! Women!!! Nenenenene... your skimpy, sexy outfits did not work for the rich Wall Street men!!! They did not see any $$$$$$$ on you, so they did not bother!!! As a result of winning, Anand had a meeting with Chuck Davis, CEO of Fandango and Daily Candy!

In the boardroom, the women were on each others throats especially Stephanie and Kelly. Stephanie was vehemently denying that she chose Wall Street location, and told Trump that she is from Chicago, and Canada, and she does not really know New York! How come she did not say that before to Kelly, the project manager??? What is the use? Kelly does not care. All the women thought that sex will sell at Wall Street! Little did they know that was a wrong assumption!!! Who was fired?? Kelly Smith Beaty, 30, from Georgia!! Sayonara, Kelly!!!!!

Will Trump shuffle the contestants since there are only 4 men? Will David Johnson finally get fired??? His teammates wanted him so badly to be fired! Clint Robertson, one of David's teammates was even begging Trump to fire David. Unfortunately, the men won! So, the men will have to learn to deal with the sorry, depressing, negative David!!! Ha! Ha! Men....deal with David!!!!! You guys do not have a choice!!!! Better luck next time!!!!

Posted by vs at 10/22/2010 3:06 PM | Add Comment

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Survivor Nicaragua, 10202010

Survivor is getting intense - lies,deceit, and what have you, have been emerging from the players! Anything to keep them safe from elimination! Take a look at Marty Piombo, the puppet master at La Flor. He got Fabio hook, line and sinker! Marty told Fabio that he is a Grandmaster at Chess, and he trained under Guillermo Vilas! Fabio was sooo impressed that he decided to stick around with Marty! Is there even a Guillermo Vilas in real life? Who knows and who cares? Marty even invites Fabio to be with him and Jill in the final three! Fabio! Fabio! Fabio! Can't you see... the puppet master is working on you, and he did not even work hard to get you under his spell!!!! Good grief! Wake up, Fabio!!!

Brenda and Sash of La Flor was concocting a scheme to get rid of Marty and his immunity idol. Did it work? Did the other tribe members listen to them? Have patience...let us go back first to their immunity challenge!

The tribe members received a big surprise again from Jeff Probst. The immunity this time is for individual ones, one for each tribe, eliminating 2, one from each tribe! The game was to dig up a rope ring, toss it over his or her shoulder to a basket on his or her backside. How hard could that be? Ask Dan! He did not even get one on his basket! Ha! Ha! Ha! I believe Dan is really getting by really good in the challenges! And someone said that he has been boasting about his expensive car collections!!! Watch it, survivors! Dan might walk off with the million dollars very easily since all of you do not think that he is a threat! Hmmmm... do I need to say more? Back to the game.... The first person to get 3 rings wins immunity and moves to the final round for the reward. Holly won for the Espada, and Jill for La Flor! Wow!!! Can you believe that?? Two old ladies won the challenge??? Nenenenene... young ones and guys!!! You let 2 smart, older women win??? Good job, girls!!!!

The final round is a ring toss. Whoever lands first all 3 rings on the target wins a feast of chicken and beef kabobs for their tribe! Jill wins for La Flor! Jill winning an immunity for herself messed up Brenda's and Nash's plan, which was to vote off either Jill or Marty, so Marty can play out his idol during the Tribal Council! Brenda and Nash decided to get Kelly Bruno out since she has a fake leg and people will symphatize with her and win the million dollars!

Espada went to the Tribal Council and it was a toss up between Dan and Yve. On the Tribal Council, Dan changed his mind and decided that he he wants to stay, so he fought really hard with Yve who he called arrogant! The young people at Espada voted for Yve at the end because they thought Yve was a smart player even though Dan is a liability for the tribe! Yve Rojas, 41, homemaker from Kansas City, Missouri went home because she opened her big mouth! People do not like that! When will people learn to shut their big mouths????

On La Flor side, Brenda tried to intimidate Marty so he will put out his immunity idol. It did not worked! Brenda, watch your back... now you will be the target of the master puppeteer!!! Brenda received 2 votes, Marty and Kelly B, 3 votes each. The tribe members had to re-vote since there was a tie. Kelly Bruno, 26, student from Durham, North Carolina was blindsided and went home!

Well, Marty still has his precious idol, and now has 2 followers...Jill and Fabio. Will Brenda get the wrath of Marty and be sent home next week? Or will there be another confrontation between the young and the old in La Flor??? Will Dan still dodge elimination, while doing nothing on challenges??? This episode is getting really juicy!!!! What do you guys think??? Any comments????

Posted by vs at 10/21/2010 2:19 PM | Add Comment

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Dancing With The Stars, 10182010

Another celebrity bid farewell to Dancing With The Stars! Can you guess who it was??? Bristol Palin, who had the lowest score, or Kyle Massey, whose dancing Len did not like! Why not? I think it was cute - a combination of foxtrot and disco!

Let us look at the dancers. Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Brandy. They danced the Quckstep to the tune of the theme from Friends. Their dance earned the highest score for the evening - 27! I thought it was an okay dance! Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya who danced the Bewitched theme. He earned a score of 24. I thought he has improved a lot and he was having fun!

Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer, who danced the Foxtrot to Charlie's Angels theme song. They garnered only 20 points because Len did not like the combination of foxtrot and disco. Len gave them a 5! What is wrong with you Len?? Don't you think outside the box??? Your vision is just like a tunnel, straight , no detours, no thinking outside the box!!! Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Len, where is your creative vision?? Is it because of your age?? Now, now, leave him alone! If he wants to give them a five, that is his prerogative! He is old fashioned, what do you expect???

Jennifer Grey and Derek Houghwith the foxtrot to the tune of Love and Marriage, the theme song from Married with Children. Before they danced, I had the prediction that they will not surpass the Tango from last week. Boy! Was I right!!! Their score? 25! Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke dancing the rumba to the Hill Street Blues theme song. Rick Fox looks always dashing whatever he wears! Never mind his dancing! Their score? 24!

Florence Henderson and Corky Ballas dancing the tango to the tune of the Brady Bunch. It seems they were having fun with the dance and music. The presence of Barry Williams, 56, Florence's oldest son in the Brady Bunch did not help them dodge elimination. why would he? I don't know! Anyway, they lack the intensity of the tango! Well, what do you expect? The Brady Bunch song is not a typical tango dance! Their score? 21. Audrina Patridge and Tony Dovolani with their rumba in the theme song of the Hills. What the heck is The Hills? Does anyone know? I thought their dancing was just so-so. their score? 23!

Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas dancing the Jive in the tune of the Monkees. They started with the monkey costumes which was really good. Then they stripped off their monkey costumes and it went downhill from there! They lost their timing. Bristol later said that she hates the Jive!!! Hmmmm.....Of course, you hate the Jive because you suck dancing it!!! Nevertheless, Bristol and Mark dodge elimination! Will they be safe again next week?? Bristol need to loosen up and have fun! She is sooo uptight and very proper! Oh, well, she does not want to embarass Mommy Palin, which I can understand! Any comments, anyone??

Who was eliminated? Florence Henderson and Corky Ballas! I do not think any oldies will ever win the DWTS trophy since there are so many young ones that can really dance! I wonder why they even include older celebrities that have difficulty moving!! So nobody can yell discrimination??? Goodness, gracious!!! This is a real dancing competition! The older generation can probably just watch, and not dance because it is not pretty to watch them! Oh, oh, that is not good - criticizing the older generation! If they want to dance, let them dance! That is true, if they can do it, let them dance!!! Right, guys????

Posted by vs at 10/20/2010 1:26 PM | Add Comment

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Undercover Boss - Frontier Airlines, 10172010

The featured undercover boss on this episode is Bryan Bedford, Chairman, President and CEO of Frontier Airlines. Bedford came to Frontier in 2009 when 3 airlines merged - Frontier, Midwest and Republic. The employees took a 6 - 10 % paycut which were a part of the bankruptcy proceedings from the previous management. Bedford was able to save the company and turned it around to be profitable again!

Did you see Bedford's mansion? Wow!!! It was really huge! He is a very religious person. When I saw that, I said to myself...no wonder God gave him a good life! He is really a very devout Catholic, and I wished I can be more like him! I commend him for that, because usually when people is up there, they forget about God who gave them the good fortune! Am I right??? Any comments???

His first stop was in Denver, Colorado with Sue who clean flights in between takeoffs. Can you believe that she has to clean the seats, seat pockets, bathroom and floor in 7 minutes!!! Are you kidding me??? So, next time you board a plane, be sure not to leave any garbage on the plane!!! Yikes!!! A mere 7 minutes!!!! That is sooo crazy!! When Bedford saw this, he thought that Sue and others should get more help! As usual, Sue gave him her life story. As a result, Bedford will name a plane in honor of Sue's son, and he sent her on a cruise with her 19 year old granddaughter!

Next stop was Oklahoma City, which has a smaller maket, only 4 or 5 flights a day! He met with Valerie, a cross utilization agent who unloads the luggage, marshals or direct the planes to their assigned gate and checks the passengers for boarding. Wow!!! That is what I call jack of all trades or really multi-tasking!!! I hope she gets paid really good!!! Bedford was so impressed with Valerie's religious devotion and charity with the homeless that he gave her $10,000 to give to her charity of choice and he will work with her on the streets to help the needy! At first, I thought the $10,000 was for her for all her work! He should have given her some money or a big, fat raise!!!

The next thing Bedford did was to be a flight attendant. Tui was his trainer who was very patient with him! Bedford sure is a talker...he slowed the boarding process with his nonstop chat with the passengers that the flight was delayed! Tui has 8 kids, and Tui is also a DJ and do luaus to make ends meet. Tui also mentioned to Bedford about their 10% paycut. As a result, Bedford made Tui the chairman of a new branding committee and gave him $20,000 for his kid's education. His eldest son is going to college and Tui was so grateful!!!!

The last thing he did was to be with Hector in Denver to do lavatory service. Oh, oh! This will not be a good job! Hector taught him how to hook up the disposal tubing and stayed 50 feet away from him! True enough, Bedford got sprayed with some junk coming out from the plane!!! Yuck!!!!! No wonder they only serve bland food on the airplane so the lavatory service will not be too bad!!! Ha! Hector got a new training position and a paid vacation for him and his wife who have not gone on vacation for 7 years! Good for him!!!

As a result of being undercover, Bedford decided to give back the 10% paycut to the employees for 3 years!! I thought it will be a lump sum for the employees! It is not! The wage cuts will be reimbursed over the next 3 years! Well, I guess, it is better than nothing, is it not? What is their pay cut? If the employees are making $17.90, it was cut to $15.90! The starting pay was cut from $10.28 to $9.50!! Are you kidding me??? All that work, and you get paid only $9.50?? Is that enough for a person with a family??? No wonder some people have 2 or 3 jobs!!!

I am always amazed about how the CEO'S give some sort of compensation to the chosen few that he comes in contact with. How about the other employees that work as hard as these chosen few... what do they get??? Tough!!! They did not get to work or train with the CEO!! That is not fair!!! Is there anything fair in this crazy world of ours??? Comments, anyone????

Posted by vs at 10/19/2010 2:59 PM | Add Comment

Monday, October 18, 2010

Amazing Race, 10172010

The nine teams remaining went back to the Asebi D/A Primary School to help with the renovation. From there, the first stop was to fly 4500 miles to the city of Kiruna, in the area known as Swedish Lapland, a very cold place. Ivy league acapella singers, Connor and Jonathan, were the first to depart.

From Kiruna, the teams had to go to Jukkasjarvi, home to the world famous Ice Hotel. In the summer, 10,000 tons of ice are frozen in a nearby warehouse where the team would get the next clue.

Michael and Kevin, the last ones to leave the Pit Stop borrowed the taxi driver's cell phone to call about earlier flights. Good move, Kevin!!!! Kevin was told by the agent to go to the Lufthansa office rather than the check in line. In the airport, Kevin and Michael saw father/daughter team, Gary and Mallory, who they shared the information they discovered. Miss Kentucky Mallory used her charm to get an agent get them the 2 hour earlier flight! Meanwhile, Nat and Kat discovered the earlier flight in the internet cafe!

Once in the Ice Hotel, teams had to decipher their next clue from the block of ice which led them to Fjellborgs Lodge. Since Michael and Kevin had the speed bump, they had to sit on an ice furniture for 10 minutes!!! Yikes!! Brrrrr!!! Kevin had so much discomfort sitting on the ice, but not his father! Kevin, you are a fool!!! You are only wearing shorts...what do you expect????

At Fjellsborg Lodge, each team had to use a summer training sled led by snow dogs to snatch 5 different flags. From there, they boarded the Vassijaur Train Station. In the next clue, the teams had to choose between Sleds and Beds. In Sleds, teams had to use an extreme sport gadget " techsled" to speed down a difficult course inless than 1' 58". If they fall, they had to start from the beginning of the course! There were some people that were unsuccessful, so they had to go to the Beds! In Beds, teams had to make a tent called "goahti," in the Sami camp, descendants of the Scandinavian nomads.

The Pit Stop was in the Norwegian border where Nat and Kat were first. They won a trip for 2 to Belize!! Jill and Thomas used the Express Pass to dodge elimination. Connor and Jonathan, the asapella singers were eliminated!!! Boy!!! These two can really sing!!!

Posted by vs at 10/18/2010 1:12 PM | Add Comment

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Rosary Rally continues.....

The Rosary rally yesterday across the United States was a huge success!! There were 5,958 rallies all over America that is praying for our country and the whole world! If there is at least 5 people per rally, there are 29,790 people praying at the same time!!! There are places though that have a big turnout! Isn't that wonderful?? I am sure that God was really pleased with this, and hope and pray that our country will turn around for better days ahead!!!!

Our rally was held in a park. The turnout could have been better, but we were just thankful for the 13 people that showed up! I heard that there were 2 rallies within a mile apart from us, which is a good thing! That means that there were more people in other parts of the community praying!

We couldn't have asked more for a better weather. It was not hot and it was not that cold! Although the wind was blowing, it was not too bad! We were able to finish our prayers successfully without any interruptions. It was indeed an excellent gathering of the kindest, warmest individuals!

After the prayers, we were able to socialize a little and had some refreshments! The prayers started promptly at 12 noon and lasted for about an hour and a half! We stayed in the park until 3:00 pm! Wow! That was fun!! The day started good with our prayers, which one of the ladies remarked, and it ended with knowing some of the "ralliers." Goodness gracious, is there such a word? Ha! ha! Ha! I do not know and I do not care. I told you before that I might have to make my own dictionary!! Wouldn't that be fun??? Sigh!!! I do not know about you!!! Oh, well

Next year, what will the rally aim for??? 10,000 rallies all over America??? Hmmm... If this continues like this, it might be! I hope and pray that God will allow us to have our rallies next year...same time 12 noon, same place for us, somewhere in October, the Saturday that is closest to October 13th, the miracle of sun in Fatima, Portugal!!!!

Posted by vs at 10/17/2010 4:48 PM | Add Comment

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Rosary Rally, 2010

Hi, everyone

Today is the Rosary Rally at 12noon for America and the world. Todate there are 5,958Rosary rallies across America. Come on and join thousands of people praying!

For more information on the Rosary rally near you, go to anf.org.

Posted by vs at 10/16/2010 9:22 AM | Add Comment

Friday, October 15, 2010

Survivor Nicaragua, 10132010

Jeff ProbstWhen the players , e.g, Marty thinks he can control the survivors in his tribe, here comes Jeff Probst and shakes up the tribe!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! Marty...are you still going to be the puppet master???

Brenda and Holly were the captains who picked the new members of the tribe because of the color of the stone they picked! Did they picked wisely??? When Brenda announced she wants Marty on her team, I yelled at her! Goodness gracious!!! You are crazy!!! Did you think she can hear you??? LOL. Sure enough, once they were in camp, Marty boasted that he has the immunity idol! Brenda thought he was dumb for his confession! Who knows what is on Marty's agenda for doing that??? The new Espada team were Alina, Benry, Chase, NaOnka, Dan, Holly, Tyrone and Yve. The new La Flor team are Jane, Jill, Marty, Brenda, Kelly B, Kelly S, Fabio and Sash. I think it is kind of even now. What do you guys think???

There was a raimstorm that hit the the place. Who do you think become depressed and beside herself??? NaOnka, of all people!!!! Wowie!!! NaOnka, the cry baby!!! Do you really think she was crying because of the rain? Or is it something else?? Like what? Now that they have shuffled the survivors, NaOnka does not have Kelly B to bully around!!! Nenenenenene... NaOnka, do you miss Kelly B and her artificial leg??? Is that why you desperately wanted to go home? I guess there are good hearted people out there that went to the rescue of NaOnka, the bully!!! NaOnka pointed out during tribal council that the rainy night was worst than her divorce and she wants now to stay since there are some compassionate people around her in Survivor!!!

The Espada tribe won the reward challenge which was 2 roosters and a chicken! Yummy!!! Back in the camp, Tyrone did not want any of the chickens to be killed. He wants the eggs that will be coming! Did Tyrone win? No! Once the chicken was cooked, Tyrone ate more than the others, which the team noticed! Tyrone! Tyrone! Tyrone! You are an old fool!!! Did you know you should not do that in the company of hungry people???

Who won in the immunity challenge? La Flor did! The challenge was yacky! Three tribe members had to be spun around on a giant wheel into the water where they had to grab a mouthful of water and spit into a tube! Yikes!!! Was the water clean?? Who cares??? Remember they are out in rough surroundings!!! Anyway, when the tube is filled, a ball was released which the other tribe members could use to break tiles! Espada tribe filled the tube faster but the La Flor tribe broke the tiles faster!

Who was sent home?? Tyrone Davis, who ate more chicken than his tribe members! Adios, Tyrone! That is what you get for being greedy!!! Comments, anyone????

Did you guys know that Jimmy T was a seafood ispector for the federal Department of Commerce for many years now?? And we thought he was a commercial fisherman!!! Surprised???

Posted by vs at 10/15/2010 4:44 PM | Add Comment

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Chatterbox

I cannot believe it is already October! Do you??? Time flies when you are having fun! Where did summer go?? You were not looking and it decided to just say poof! I am gone!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! You are really a nincompoop! Kidding aside, lazy, summer days are gone! Pretty soon, we will all again be in hibernation due to the cold weather!!!! Brrrr.... Just the thought of the cold winter months make me shiver!!!! Where is my blanket, mittens, boots and warm coat??? We better take it out! I heard that in some places, it is already snowing!!! It is only October!!! I do not know about you - earlier, you said it is already October, now you are saying that it is only October!!! What is it??? Make up your mind!!! I will go crazy listening to you!!! I thought you are already crazy!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! Sorry, I could not resist!

Well, come to think of it, pretty soon, it will be Christmas!!! What do do you think Christmas will bring us?? Snow!!! Dingbat! That is not what I mean!!! I mean will it be a good holiday season for people since it seems that many people are out of a job! No job, no money to spend except on necessities!!! Right??? We have to wait. There is still the elections first. Let us hope that the right people will be elected! People that will be more geared towards the well being of all people and this great country of ours!!! Now, now, leave politics alone!! Okay!

Next topic. Birthdays! I just love birthdays!!! Not for me because it means a year older... for others, so I could attend the birthday celebration and eat!!! I thought you are on a diet!!! Not if it is a Chinese buffet with lots and lots of different kinds of sushi, lots of chicken dishes, fish, beef, vegetables, etc.. etc.. And do not forget the long table of desserts!!!! Yum Yum! Yum!!! I think I gained 30 pounds today! I do not really know where the food went!! Can you believe that there were 3 people that celebrated their birthdays today? Wow! Happy birthday to all that has an October birthday! May you all have many, many more to come!!!

How about the fall foliage? Wow! That is another big word...foliage!! That is not a big word! I just do not use it very often! What do you want to know about it? Well, have the leaves changed? No, not all. It is starting to look pretty in some places. Maybe, it will really be at its peak in one to two weeks??? Or maybe three? Or maybe four??? Ay..ya...yay!!! Never mind!!! You do not know! Why did I even asked you??? Because you are crazy??? Let us go on, Ms. Chatterbox....

Oooppppsss... what did you call me??? You heard me... Ms. Chatterbox!!! Oh! Oh! You are making me sad, and you are hurting my feelings!!! Really??? Isn't there a song with that title??? Feelings.... Please stop!!! You cannot sing!!! Okay, since it is getting late, I think I will stop my chatter. I need my beauty sleep! Beauty sleep, my foot!!! You are hopeless!!! Ha! Ha! Ha!

So long, folks! Good night and sweet dreams!!!!

Posted by vs at 10/14/2010 9:32 PM | Add Comment

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Dancing With The Stars, 10122010

The week 4 of Dancing with the Stars is different. It is an accoustic show, and the stage is smaller which is a small, round platform with audience clustered around the edges. Hopefully, nobody will fall off from the small stage! Why did they do that?? To accommodate more people, or what?? What do you mean by an accoustic show?? Len Goodman keeps saying it before the show! You do not know what that means?? My! My! My! Accoustic show means that only guitars, violin and piano music accompanies the dance!!! You think now you are smart? Heck, no!! A smart aleck! Ha! Ha! Ha! I got ya!!!!

The scoring is also different. They have two categories: the first one is the technical merit of the dance, and the second score is based on their performance. Then the scores are added to get the total score! Whew! They should just stick to the previous scoring system!!! Why did they do that? The judges do not have anything better to do than to think of how much more they can humiliate the celebrity contestants! Whoa!! Those are rather harsh words! Damn right, you are!!! Giving the celebrities a score of 4 or 5??? That is too cruel!!! And their comments are very harsh also! They started with Michael Bolton and got away with it, so they keep on doing it!!! Maybe these judges started like that so now it is payback time!!! What do you guys think??? Well, for one thing, if there is drama, people liked it! More drama, more viewers, more moolah!!!! Right??? It is what keeps the show going, besides the celebrities!!!

Let us now look at the celebrities and how their dancing was! First, Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya. They did the rumba with the blessings of the wife of Kurt! Why did he need her blessings? Sigh! Don't you know anything?? It is a sexy dance, so there are some intimate touchings! For heaven sake!!! It is not like you are in bed doing something indecent!! Now, now! Kurt said it is against his Christian principle since both Anna and him are married!!! Anyway, he received 3 - 5's from the judges for technical, earning him a score of 34!!! Ouch! And it was Kurt and his wife's anniversary!! Thanks a lot, cold hearted judges!!!

Next was Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy dancing the rumba. What was Brandy wearing? It seems like she just draped a flimsy white sheet on her! Wait! Come to think of it, have I not seen that sheet on previous contestants? Their score was 48! It was an okay dance for me that started with a sort of dinner date to get Brandy in a romantic mood! No comment!!!

Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke who danced the Argentine Tango. Rick sure looks like Clark Gable with his mustache which Bruno remarked! Leave it to Bruno to notice it!!! Score: 39.

Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer who danced the rumba. I didn't know that Kyle is a young kid! He just turned 19! No wonder he acts goofy! But he can move, and he is fun to watch! Score: 40.

Mike"The Situation" Sorrentino and Karina Smirnoff in their Argentine Tango. He showed more of his abs this time! I think Karina did all the moves. True, The Situation was able to catch her and she came out unscathed on the duration of the show, but all he did was stand and walk! That is Karina's fault, not Mike's! The Jersey Shore star received 3 "4's" and stormed off backstage and said he was done with it and left Karina speechless!! I do not blame him! He was right that he worked his tail off to go to the dance floor and be given a mere 4!!! Ouch! Double Ouch!! The Situation's ego was clearly damaged, big time! This is what the celebrities get for signing up to be in the show... to get abused and ridiculed? Is it worth the million dollars they are paid to be in the show?? Is it only a million or more?? Any comments???

Florence Henderson and Corky Ballas. My! My! My! Mrs. Brady is showing off her bad side!!! She and her partner are full of sexy and dirty moves!!! Wow!!! What does that show??? Age does not matter with sex! He! He! He! Naughty! Naughty! Naughty! It earned them a 35 score with their rumba!

Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough with their Argentine Tango! That was excellent, and I think that was a good choice of music also! Derek really pushed Jennifer to her limit which earned them a score of 56!! Well done, Jennifer and Derek! It is always fun to watch them with her graceful, beautiful body and I am sure that she has a lot of fans out there!

Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas. I think Bristol's shyness is still there. She does not feel at ease in front of people considering she has been in the limelight a lot! Well, she exposed her legs this time!!! Whoopee!!! That is a first! You are right, she is not dressed like her grandma this time! Mama Palin was there watching her! Maybe that is why she cannot loosen up??? What is it with taking Mark's top off during the dance?? I thought she will take off her white shirt also! Their score? 32. Mama Palin should do something so her precious daughter will not be booted off next week! It will be nice to see her come out of her coccoon!!!!

Audrina Patridge and Tony Dovolani with their Argentine Tango. After Derek and Jennifer??? Not even close!!! Too bad they danced after the leaders of the night!! Oh, well. Their score was not bad: 46!!!

The Situation and Karina had to say goodbye after 4 weeks! Too bad!!! I still do not know why he is called The Situation! Anybody knows??? Will the judges stay mean?? Who will say goodbye next week??

Posted by vs at 10/13/2010 10:08 AM | Add Comment

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Undercover Boss - Direct TV, 10092010

The feature for this week's Undercover Boss is Mike White, President and CEO of Direct TV, a $23 million company, the largest in the United States and Latin America! Mike White did not start from the bottom of the barrel of Direct TV. He was recruited about 6 months ago from Pepsico management team where he worked for 20 years! So, the employees might still not know him! Are you sure about that? Because in my company, we always know who our CEO is, they always have news when a new CEO is named!! Anyway, let us go back to where I was.....

Direct TV is one company that is not hit by the recession. Why? Many more people are staying home and not going out. As a result, Direct TV have been adding jobs because of demand! Good for the company!!!

Mike is married and have 3 kids, 2 daughters and a son. He is managing 23,000 employees, and his goal for the company is to continue to innovate for the future generation! When he was on the field, he saw some things that can be improved with his company, which he told his management team. He posed as Tom Peter, an unemployed salesman.

His first stop was in the service training center in Bersamar, Alabama,where he met with Phil, a service technician. He found out from Phil that the GPS in the van was his, and not supplied by the company!! What? That is a million dollar company, and cannot even supply the GPS to their service technician!!! Hmmm...!!! That is peanuts compared to how much they earn!!! On the house they had to service, they needed an HD receiver which they did not have in the van! Phil quickly made some calls to find one and he got one in 20 minutes! Mike was so impressed with Phil that on the revelation time of his true identity, he told Phil that the company will provide GPS for all service technician! He also gave $5,000 to Phil to help his youth ministry. Nice!!!

He went next to Las Vegas, the Direct TV warehouse where he met with Ryan, a warehouse specialist. He was amazed how organized Ryan was. When the people came to get the orders, the CEO was overwhelmed and had problem finding where everything was. Well, I would too if this was the first day on the job!! Yikes!! You are making excuses for the CEO!!! Why not? He is also human!!! Mike also found out that delivery is only on Thursdays which is not good! Ryan told Mike that he has a degenerative disk and was out of commission for 7 months, amd he has a wife and 2 kids to support! Why does the CEO always seems to probe on the employees lives? That makes the program more interesting, so the people that the CEO had contact with can be rewarded!!! That is not fair! How about the other employees that did not have contact with him but still performing their jobs efficiently above and beyond? Who knows, and who cares??? What was Ryan's reward? He told Ryan to organize the best party for his 2 boys and he will pay for it!! That is good and dandy, but what about the long range reward? You can never be satisfied, can you?

Next place where he visited was the direct installation service in Birmingham, Alabama. The service technician was Tequilla who has been working with the company for 3 years! That is right, a woman technician who had been questioned by customers! Mike found out that Tequilla is a very strong woman and is really good with her work. During the installation, it was raining hard, and here was Tequilla on the ladder on the roof! My! My! My! I did not know that in inclement weather the installation had to go on! As a result of being slowed down by Mike, Tequilla missed her family reunion! Her reward? To be the first woman technician in the women's leadership skill team. She also had a family reunion all paid for by the CEO!

Last stop was with Chloe, customer support in Denver, Colorado. Mike was so impressed with how she handles customers that she is the first recipient of Direct TV $10,000 scholarship. She is also to meet with Mike twice a year for mentoring.

Comments, anyone???

Posted by vs at 10/12/2010 8:47 AM | Add Comment

Monday, October 11, 2010

Amazing Race, 10092010

Amazing Race proved once again to be full of action, nerves gone crazy and dissapointments! In this show the first usually is not the first throughout the show. There are so many hurdles the contestants have to go through and they are not easy tasks for some people. These show is full of physical challenges! Wow! Have you seen the show? Do you think you are physically fit to join the show??? This is one thing with the show....you will win only because of you and your teammate!! No outside votes, no peer voting, no judges, and no rose ceremony!!!

The teams have to travel from Accra to Jamestown to find Akotoku Boxing Academy. The first to depart was Brook and Claire. The task in the Academy was for one team member to properly wrap her hands before suiting up in a training gear. Then they had to successfully work on a speed bag for 60 seconds and jump rope for 60 seconds to get the next clue. Brook had fun completing her task!!!

The next clue was to travel by taxi to Dodowa district to find a marked supply depot, where they had to load a pair of wheelbarrow and load them with construction supply. The supplies had to be delivered to the foreman at the Asebi D/A Primary School where they will get the next clue. Some teams struggled with the wheelbarrow containing the supplies, some took only 1 wheelbarrow instead of 2 and had to go back. Others had trouble manipulating the wheelbarrow.

Once they completed the previous task, they had to enter a village classroom to test their knowledge of African geography! They had to correctly identify Ghana on the African map. Did you think everyone passed with flying colors??? Heck, no!!! That is a shame, they are there and they did not know where it was on the map! They must not have paid attention to where they were! A few teams though identified Ghana correctly on the first try! Once they are done with this task, they are set for the next clue.

The next task was a Detour, which the teams had to choose between Bicycle Parts and Language Arts. Bicycle Parts is a popular African game for children where the bicycle rim had to be rolled across a soccer field with the use of a stick. In Language Arts, the teams had to choose a proverb containing highlighted phrases . The teams then had to search for the corresponding symbol in the native visual alphabet known as Adinkra, which was on a large decorative cloth with hundred of symbols on it. Would you believe that there were only a few team that chose it? Only Connor Diemand- Yauman and Jonathan Schwartz, Ivy League ACapella singers stuck to to it and solved it really fast!!! How did they do it???

The bicycle parts game was harder than it look! Many of the teams got sooo mad because they had to do it several times! The father son team, Michael Wu and Kevin Wu were really having a hard time completing the task. The elder Wu succumbed to the intense African heat that he had to be seen by a doctor! But he had a fighting spirit! Once he got rested and got cooled off, he resumed the task! Way to go, Michael!!! Needless to say, Michael and Kevin were the last team to arrive!! But they received the biggest surprise of the game from Phil Keoghan... that was a non-elimination leg of the race! They had to undergo a speed bump though before they can continue, which the Wu's did not care. At least they are still on the race!!!!

Connor and Jonathan were the first to arrive on the Pit Stop, the home of a local villager, Awuso Nitso. They won $5,000 each!!!! That was a good prize! This show also is good in giving out prizes to the first team that arrives in the pit stop!!! They should, look at all the wear and tear on the bodies of the contestants! Plus they get the prizes free from the companies anyway, or their advertisers! Ha! Do you know how hard it is to ask for a donation??? I rest my case!!!

Posted by vs at 10/11/2010 9:23 AM | Add Comment

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Columbus Day, 2010

Columbus Day is observed on the second Monday of every October. It commemmorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus on the American continent on October 12, 1492. This year it falls on Monday, October 11, 2010.

In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day as a national holiday due to the intense lobbying by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization! It was originally observed every October 12th , but was fixed to the second Monday in October in 1971.

Who is Christopher Columbus? Oh my gosh, she is going to teach us and bore us again!!! Well, whether you like it or not, you are right! Do you remember in grade school about Columbus, being the son of a wool merchant from Genoa, Italy? No, I do not!!!! That is many, many moons ago!! I do not even remember what I had for breakfast yesterday!!! Hmmphh... very short memory, you have!! Darn right, you are!!! Let us continue.... Did you know that he went to sea at a tender age of 14?? Wow!!! He was just a boy!!! I bet he was really very ambitious and very brave!!! Anyway, he settled in Portugal until 1484 and moved to Spain where he saw that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella was interested in his adventures. With 90 crewman, they boarded the 3 ships, Niña, Pinta, Santa Maria, that were to make the first voyage to the New World!!! Gee, whiz, I remember the three names of the ships... it was always in the history exams!!! How could I forget? My! My! My! You really forgot what you ate for your breakfast yesterday, but you still remember the 3 ships that Columbus used on his voyage to the Americas??? Unbelievable!!! Why is that??? Who knows??? Ha! Ha! Maybe because it is part of the history?? And on October 12, 1492, Columbus first saw the new world! The rest is history.

How do we celebrate Columbus Day? There are some celebrations in some towns and cities, mostly in the Italian- American community, where they have parades and other forms of celebration. Most of the government offices and schools are closed, but businesses are open. Guess what?? The businesses are taking advantage of Columbus Day!! There are sooo many sale going on!!! Hurry and see what is on sale!!! Why am I advertising? I don't know! Supposed you do not have the green bucks, are you still shopping??? Nope, just go to the mall, window shop and walk!

What are you guys waiting for? Come on and enjoy the nice weather!!!!

Posted by vs at 10/10/2010 11:14 AM | Add Comment

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Apprentice, 10072010

The rating of the Apprentice must have dropped to give them a 10pm slot! Didn't the program used to be in the 8 pm slot? People must not like the celebrities that were vying as Donald Trump's apprentice!!! Now that they have ordinary, economically challenged people like many of the people out there, I wonder if it might get more viewers? And do not forget about the rising of several blabber mouth individuals. These are the people that will give Trump the viewers he needs!!! More drama, more viewers, more moolah! Right??? It is not that Donald Trump need more money, but I think he is more hungry with the publicity!!!

How about Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr? They seem to be good people, not like the other rich kids that is always in the limelight for the wrong reasons! Ivanka is a beautiful, creative and smart woman. I was wondering though, did she have a very large implant? In one of the last episodes, I was not sure if that was too much "boobs" or she was pregnant! Ha! Ha! Ha! You are sooo crazy!!! I almost fell on the chair!!! Didn't you know that the " boobs" and the belly are in 2 different places? How could you think that way??? You are an idiot!!! Well, that was my perception, I could not help it!!! Maybe it was her dress? Who cares? Leave her alone!!!

Back to the Apprentice. The task for this eoisode is making a viral video for Popcorn, Indiana! First of all, what is a viral video? According to Wikipedia, a viral video is a process of internet sharing through video sharing and e-mail. Viral videos often contain humorous contents and include televised comedy sketches. In plain English please.... Suppose you see a funny video or read a humorous e-mail, you forward it to your friends who in turn forwards it to their friends, resulting in endless forwarding! Why is it called viral? I do not know, but virus spreads rapidly, right? So maybe that is why it was named viral - from virus?? Does anyone know? And when did it start? Wow! I learned something new again today! Viral video!

The project manager for Fortitude, the women's team was Mahsa Saeidi - Azcuy; for the men's team, Octane, Clint Robertson. Mahsa and the women decided to do a viral video of the popcorn company in the gym. The use of the popcorn during the workout was sooo funny and hilarious, that at times, it was obscene!!! On the other hand, the men's team decided to do their viral video on the streets! The men will throw popcorn to an innocent bystander who might be lost in his or her own thoughts when suddenly, bam!!! Popcorn is all over them!!! It went on for several times and they ended with a popcorn fight on the streets! The end was showing the popcorn container with the company's logo! Hmmmm.... I wonder who cleaned that popcorn mess after all this??? I just hoped that no one slip and slid from the popcorn!! You always think of something, don't you? Anyway, who cares? These are smart people, so they should know what to do with all the popcorn they had spilled on the streets! Wow!!! What a waste!!! Do you want some popcorn now?? You are nincompoop!!!

Who won??? The men's team won!!! Tyana Alvarado said goodbye in the boardroom. Per the other women, all Tyana did was complain without contributing to the team!! As they said, people do not want a blabbermouth! Sayonara, Tyana! I hope you got something good from your mentor, Russell Simmons, that you can put to good use!!!

Posted by vs at 10/9/2010 12:48 PM | Add Comment

Friday, October 8, 2010

Blind Side, the Movie

Blind Side is a very moving, tear jerker movie! Sandra Bullock portrayed her role beautifully. No wonder she won 3 awards for this picture: 2010 Best Actress - Screen Actors Guild, 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Drama, and 2010 Oscar for best actress! Wow! That is a lot of awards in 1 year! This movie is different than what Sandra usually portrays which is in a comedy.

The movie is about Michael Oher, a homeless, traumatized teen who was taken in by a well to do family. He was offered a second chance at life who grows to become the star athlete and became the first pick at the NFL draft.

Wow, that is very rare to have a rich family take in a homeless boy, let alone a big kid! The family must really be commended that he was nurtured, and given the chance to be educated and become a very successful football player! And the parents and the two children did not care what color his skin was, they were very accommodating and nice to him throughout. He was very protective though of the family. And to think that he started with a very low GPA and ended up with a GPA of 2.5 to get to a university for a football scholarship!!! His IQ was something to be desired, but the family helped him throughout his struggle not only with the football, but also with the schoolwork! And Michael did not even take advantage of the family one bit! He was very appreciative of them!

It was really sad when they had flashbacks of where he came from, on the other side of town that all they know was crime, booze, and drugs. It was really something to have Sandra go to this place and had a confrontation with one of the thugs, really defending his "son, Michael" that he came to love and adore! Wow!! She was really brave to go alone in the other side of town!!! Wait! All I can hear from you is Wow! That is already three times that you said wow!!! Because that seems like an unbelievable story! I wonder how many more like Michael's story is out there? There are really good people out there! They did not even know him, but they went ahead and took him into their house without any fear! The adopted mother was an honest to goodness caring person who was sooo moved by Michael's living. I am really impressed with this family!!!!

This is really one heck of a good story and I am really glad I watched the movie. I will highly recommend watching the movie! A word of advice - bring tissues with you!!!!

Posted by vs at 10/8/2010 10:12 AM | Add Comment

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Survivor, Nicaragua 10062010

The Survivor is getting too hot to handle for both teams! Espada seems to be going crazy with the exit of Jimmy Johnson! There is no unity, no leader, and it seems they have a puppet master with the name of Marty Piombo! On the other hand, the La Flor tribe has a bully in the person of NaOnka Mixon! Did she think she can bully Alina Wilson and Kelly Bruno just because she found the hidden immunity idol??? Sure, she is one step ahead of the game, but that does not give her the right to be a big time bully!!!!

There was a terrible rainstorm overnight that there was extensive damage on the beach where Espada tribe is. The beach is washed out and the ocean is full of mud and debris. The bay where they had caught fish is gone, and the tribe is very concerned with the lack of food! Jimmy T tried to be the leader of the pack but he seems not suited to the role! For one thing, he talks too much!!! Will this be reason for his demise in the tribal council? Oh, oh, was I premature in saying this?? Too bad!!! Ha! Ha!

In the challenge for the immunity and reward, La Flor tribe used the Medallion of Power, so they only had to collect 8 items instead of 10. The items have to be collected in the field by 2 blindfolded tribe members while a caller gave them instructions! Brenda Lowe was the caller for the young tribe and Tyrone Davis was the caller for the older tribe! Older... that does not sound too good! What do you mean? They are older than the other tribe, so they are called the older tribe! Hmmph!! It still does not sound too good!!! Oh, well. And to think that the Espada tribe practiced with the caller before the competition!!! Does age really played an important role for their defeat?? Jimmy T claimed that he could not hear Tyrone's voice!! I saw that Brenda's voice was really louder than Tyrone's! Why didn't Tyrone yell louder???

Needless to say, the La Flor tribe won! They won the immunity and the reward which was a tarp, fishing gear and cookware from Sears! Hmmmm... I wonder how much Sears paid for the mention of their name??? That is none of your beeswax!!!! Hush... just stick to your blogging, will ya???

Chase Rice grabs the fishing tackle box, and whoa! What did he find? The clue to the immunity idol!!! He shares it with Brenda who blurted to Chase about NaOnka's immunity idol! Brenda, Brenda, Brenda! You are nincompoop! Why did you betray NaOnka's trust?? You know that she is a bully!!! Wait till she hears about this...

In the tribal council, the nominees were either James"Jimmy T"Tarantino, the talkative one, or Dan Lembo, the weakest in the group who has not participated in the challenges because of a bad knee! So, who did the Espada tribe voted off?? None other than who the puppet master wants to be voted off!!! Which is??? Jimmy T!!! Goodbye Jimmy T.....you should try to control your mouth!!! Is this really because of insecurity???

Will the bully continue on with her bullying??? How about the puppet master?? Who will lead the Espada tribe??? Too bad, but we will have to wait until next week!!!!

Posted by vs at 10/7/2010 9:38 AM | Add Comment

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Dancing With The Stars Season 11, 010042010

There is a new leader of the pack in Dancing with the Stars! Her waltz earned them a whopping score of 26, with one 8, and two 9's!!! How about that??? She was soo graceful and the choreography was so nice that even the three judges were impressed!!! Will she keep her crown next week??? Who knows??? I am talking about Audrina Patridgeand Tony Dovolani!!!

Let us take a look at all the dances. Each dance had a storyline which in some, I did not get it. I thought I was the only one, but the judges did not get it too!!

The Situation and Karina. They did the Foxtrot, a 2.0 version of the situation where they went to a time machine and their wardrobes were instantly changed! The Situation showed his abs with his see-through top to the delight of Bruno and others! I think there is still a lot of improvement that The Situation needs to do! He is still too stiff and no grace whatsoever!! Well, what do you mean??? He is a guy that has not been dancing like the professionals!!! You got that right!!!

Margaret Cho and Louis van Amstel. They had fun with their Samba but she was not really into the timing of the dance. Sad to say, but they earned the lowest score of 18!!! Margaret is older so she, of course will have a harder time manipulating her body! It will take time to get her body tuned in to dancing!!! She made a remark that she was studying ballet when she was younger, but someone commented to her that she was the fattest ballet dancer she has seen, so she kicked off her dancing shoes from then on!!! That is a shame! Kids can be very mean!!!

How about Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas? The storyline was a homeless guy that will dance for food! Their Foxtrot was something to be desired! Bristol was still very stiff and not graceful at all!!! And what is it with her outfit??? It seems tooo old fashioned!!! She is a young girl!!! Well, she does not want to embarrass her mommy!!! But she looks old with her outfits!!! She should try to loosen up!! She seems so uptight everytime she is on the dance floor!!! Have fun!!! You are only once in DWTS!!! Make the most of it!!! It is easily said than done!!! Let me see you on the dance floor watched by millions!!! Sorry, but we are not talking about me!!! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Jennifer and Derek with their Samba. It had a student/ teacher storyline, which showed how hot Jennifer is still is!!! I was dissapointed though when they seemed to have tangled on one of the spins!! As a result, they only earned a score of 24!!! Come on guys, you are better than that!!! Time to go back and reclaim your #1 status!!!

Brandy started the practice with a duct tape she brought to put on her mouth to listen to Maksim's teaching. If I am Maksim, I will do that on all practices from the beginning to the end!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! Brandy seems to be sooo opinionated and hard- headed??? Am I right??? The storyline was a bodyguard to a singer. I thought the dance was lacking something, but it still earned them a score of 24!!!

Florence and Corky with their Sound Of Music. Florence had trouble grabbing her skirt from time to time! What do you expect from a 76 year old dancing the waltz??? I think she was ok considering her age! At least she is still alert and can still dance!!! Their score was 20!

Kurt had to practice being graceful before their Foxtrot. He had a tea party with his 2 adorable daughters, where he had to sit on a small chair and drink tea in small cups!!! That was sooo cute!!! The storyline was turning a bad day into a good one, which earned the 6'2" Kurt and Anna a 23!!!! Every little things help....right Kurt????

How about Kyle and Lacey? Kyle's challenge was to find softness which he passed with flying colors!!! Their dance was with the Eagles which Lacey did not know who they were! Sorry, people, I don't know the Eagles also!!! Lacey can really dance too. It is just not noticeable because of his size! But he has the grace and moves of a good dancer!!! They had a score of 23!

Last but not least is Rick and Cheryl. Doing the Samba with the storyline of a basketball loser finding a hooker was not bad at all. I think Rick earned more points ripping his shirt! LOL. Score?24!!

The guest stars were Ne-Yo and Michael Bolton. Michael Bolton had to fill in for Susan Boyle at the last minute. Susan had a severe throat infection and was supposed to tape Leonard's Cohen's " Hallelujah" on the show. Last month, Susan was prevented from performing the 'Perfect Day" on America's Got Talent with a 100 piece choir because the rights to the song were not cleared in time for US audiences. Susan was left in tears and was upset when she flew back to Scotland. It was really commendable for Michael Bolton to cancel his engagement. His rendition of Hallelujah was really good!!! I was sooo impressed!!!! After the performance, Michael had to go back to Iowa for his gig!!! What a trooper!!! What can you say to that, Bruno????

Too bad, someone had to leave the show. This week it was Margaret Cho and Louis van Amstel. So long, Margaret!!!! Did you guys had fun watching the shows and wished you have the grace and a professional dancer to teach you??? Yup, but I guess we will just have to settle to watching!!!!



Posted by vs at 10/6/2010 8:35 AM | Add Comment

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Undercover Boss, Great Wolf Resorts, 10032010

The first female CEO of a company was the subject of the Undercover Boss this week! It was about time that they had a woman boss featured!!! As you can just imagine, she was more emotional and compassionate than the men bosses that were featured! Is that good or bad?? It is really good! That means she is more tuned in to the employees that supports and make her business thrive! She has deep appreciation of the value of family and the loyal employees that cared deeply for their customers that she rewarded each employee that she came in contact with! Well, that is the same as with the previous episodes with the guys! Yes, it is, but there were more compassion and emotions with her! That is the difference with a man and a woman! Men does not show their emotions, most of the time! You are absolutely right! Don't you wish they will show it more, to let you know they are human? You bet!!!

Kim Schaefer, CEO of a $330 million business with 12 facilities was featured on this episode. She is the head of the Great Wolf Resort, North America's largest family indoor resort. To do the undercover job, she cut and dyed her hair and put on large glasses! Then she bid goodbye to her 2 kids, a 15 year old daughter and a 12 year old son, and her stay at home husband.

Her first stop was the Cub Club in Texas, the facility's day care activity center. Bree, her trainer was very enthusiastic and energetic with the children. They cooked pizza and had a pet frog, which they showed to Kim. Kim stayed away from the frog! That was sooo funny!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! She was so taken by Bree with her commitment to the company that Kim created a position for her and a scholarship for her daughter to go to the veterinary school!

Next was the front desk in Grand Mound, Washington. She was greeted by Jackie who showed her how tedious the check in process was which took 10-15 minutes! Wow! That is a long time for a check in! Jackie also told her that her husband was recently laid off , that she had to work long, iregular hours with a knee problem and she cannot even be with her kids to watch them with their activities! What did Kim do? She gave Jackie a raise, paid for her knee surgery and recuperation time and gave her a 7am-3pm shift! Nice boss!!! In some places of work especially with the unemployment and economy, bosses do not care about you, they throw you in every shift they can. Am I right or not? I also wonder if she is going to do it for every women that has a similar problem as Jackie?? Will Jackie be the only one to get in the good grace of Kim??? Hmmm... Sorry, did I open a can of worms????

She was back to Texas again in the pool. She was being trained by aquatic supervisor Kelly when he got an AFR! AFR means accidental fecal release by a baby. Kim, being the lowest in the totempole was asked by Kelly to pick up the poop and scrub the smear at the bottom of the pool! That's it? They did not disinfect the water? Well, the water has chlorine all the time so the pool has a disinfectant already! Right??? Kim saw how Kelly and colleagues had to deal with that everyday plus the safety of everyone in the facilities. She was impressed with his competency and positive attitude that she gave a raise and a promotion and will send him to a flight school! I wonder if he knew who he was dealing with so he really worked to impress her???? Nonsense, you always have a remark! Wouldn't you know who the CEO of your company is?? I rest my case!

The last stop was in Mason, Ohio in the restaurant. There she saw how Deanna, the server, can serve several tables at the same time without mistakes! Kim was already asking a table if they want their bill, and they have not seen their food yet!!!! Oh, that is sooo hilarious!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! And to think that she had been a server before!!! Duh! She does not have any practice!! Needless to say, Deanna got a raise and a promotion and a 6 months paid vacation for her and her family!

So you see, it is the same storyline for all undercover bosses! At least, there are some employees that have changed their lives because of this program! I wonder though if these undercover bosses will do the same for everyone in the company?? Or it will be "tough, they were not with me on TV, so they lose!" What do you guys think?? Comments, anyone???

Posted by vs at 10/5/2010 9:14 AM | Add Comment

Monday, October 4, 2010

Amazing Race, 10032010

The Amazing Race next leg was held in Accra, Ghana in West Africa. The teams had to travel 3100 miles from London. The first to depart was Jill and Thomas.

In Accra, thay had to make their way to Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park built as atribute to the father of Ghanaian independence. Acrra seems to be a whole new world to the teams noticing the litter, the beggars, the vendors carrying their wares on top of their heads and taxi drivers that were very fast and daring as they darted though the traffic!

The next clue took them to the crowded Makola Market where 1 team member had to sell as many sunglasses as it took to reach 15 cedis, about 10 dollars. Brook quickly raked in the cash and got the next clue. They had to find Peace Motor Spare Parts for the next clue. Their next task was either Tune In or Check Out.

In Tune In, teams had to climb a ladder and install an antenna to the owner's specifications. Once successfully installed, the team will receive their next clue! In Check Out, teams had to go to a woodcarving shop where coffins are created to the lifestyle of their future occupants, e.g.,a piano, a fish, etc... Hmmmm....Is this not interesting??? These custom design coffins must cost a lot, unless their labor is cheap!!!! Once the coffin is chosen, the team had to transport to a showroom hauling the coffin through the street. There they will receive the next clue!

Wow!!! It is all girl power on this episode! Go, girls!!!! Home shopping hosts, Brook Roberts, 27, and teammate Claire Champlin, 30, were the big winners! They won a 10 day trip to Hawaii from Travelocity! The dynamic duo was closely followed by Katie Seamon,23, and Rachel Johnston, 24, beach volleyball players!!!

Who were eliminated? Sad to say, the birthright mother/ daughter team, Andie Dekroon, 43, a stay at home mom, and Jenna Sykes, 21, student. Well, at least they had some precious time bonding! It might not be the ideal location, but nevertheless, they were together for a few days or weeks!!!

Where is their next destination? Stay tuned.....

Posted by vs at 10/4/2010 11:05 AM | Add Comment

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Pizza, Pizza

Today is Sunday. Praise be to God!!!! Alleluia!!!! Weather is getting colder, it is time to put on the heater! Yikes!!! That will be the start of heating bills! Oh, well, it is cold, what can you do??? Why are you talking about the weather when your topic is pizza? Who knows? Crazy or what??? Who cares???

It is a good time to have pizza today... no cooking! Just relax and enjoy the day!!!! Why pizza? There are other fast food you can get! Chinese food, chicken, ribs, sandwiches....the list goes on and on and on.......like a choo..choo train??? Ha! Ha! Ha! You bet!! I like pizza because I have not had that for quite sometime now! When I say pizza, I do not mean the packages found in the grocery or the ones that tastes like cardboard!!! My! My! My! You really know what you want, don't you??? Of, course! But if you are short of the green dough, the $5.00 pizza can still satisfy the hunger. It is not as good, but it can do! Any comments???

It seems pizza is starting to become expensive, like other things. Two months ago, we went to a pizza place that advertised any size, any toppings for just $10.00! I opted for one of their specialty pizza. When I picked it up, I felt that the pizza was soooo light! There were hardly any toppings and it seems that the toppings just cruised in and out of the dough!!!! LOL. What???What do you mean, it just cruised through the dough? You are really ninkampoof!!! Needless to say, when I arrived home, the content of the box was a sorry looking pizza! Just like I said, there were hardly anything on it, that is why it was soooo light! The $5.00 pizza would have been better!!! They should not advertise if they cannot deliver a quality food!! Well, what do you expect with a $10.00 pizza??? I have never been back to that place since then! I was going to say something but I decided not to waste my breath!!! They just lost a customer!!!!

Well, I just bought a very good, deep dish pizza, Chicago style! It is a special spinach with mushrooms!!! Yummy!!! Just one piece is more than enough to satisfy your hunger! Have you ever tried spinach pizza??? It is soooo good!!! Try it, you will like it!!!! How about seafood pizza??? That is delicious too, but very e..x..p..e..n..s...i...v...e...!!! What do you expect??? Seafood is very expensive!!!! What does it have? Shrimps and crab meat!! Wow!!!! That will be really good!!!

Some people just like pepperoni and cheese, others pepperoni, greenpeppers, mushrooms and onions. Others prefer a Hawaiian pizza, barbecue chicken or a bacon, lettuce and tomato pizza!!!! BLT pizza??? That sounds gross!!!! Do not knock it until you have tasted it!!!! I really like it!!!! Yum! yum!

Do you like a specialty crust??? Ummmm.... garlic and butter please, or maybe jalapeno or cheesy crust??? There are endless varieties of pizza, from the ingredients to the crust to the thickness of the dough!!! Be thankful Americans are very open to anything in their pizza!!!!

In Rome, they have only thin pizza, and I remembered the pizza did not have any tomato sauce!!! It was really good though!!! Thin and crispy!!!! But I still love our pizza here, hands down!!!

So, come on, guys, do some exercises first... at least for 20 minutes, then order the pizza!!!! Get a blanket, water or any other drink and a good movie, and presto!!! you are in for a treat on a leisurely Sunday afternoon with your favorite pizza!!!! Isn't life good????

Posted by vs at 10/3/2010 10:05 AM | Add Comment

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Ligtbulbs - Incandescents, CFL, LED

Why am I blogging about lightbulbs? Who knows?? Who cares about lightbulbs??? Excuse me, do you not have any lightbulbs in your house??? I rest my case! Ha! Ha! Ha! I got you!!!!!

Do you have the incandescent lightbulb, the CFL, or the LED? What are you talking about? Okay, let me tell you about the differences between the 3 lighting. Now, you are an expert in lightbulbs? Not really, but I will try! Someone can correct me if I am not right, okay???

The regular lights we had for a long time is the incandescent light. Did you know that because of user preference and government regulations that GE will no longer make the "A-line" inverted pear shaped lightbulbs? Last September 24, 2010 at 8 pm, 200 GE employees were out of a job. It was the last day for them and the A-line lightbulbs! The only remaining US factory in Winchester, Virginia shut off the switch to make the 100 watt A-line incandescent bulbs! Monterey, Mexico will still make it but the use has been on a decline by 50%! Sure, the GE employees have an advance notice and a good severance package but they were still angry! Who wouldn't if you lost your job forever in the sorry state of economy and unemployment?

CFL or compact fluorescent lamp is supposed to be more efficient, average life 8 and 15 times that of the incandescent which is between 6,000 and 15,000 hours while incandescent lifespan is a mere 750 to 1,000 hours! CFL cost 3 to 10 times more but due to the low energy consumption and extended lifespan, the initial cost can save in electric bills?? Is this true...anyone??? There are 2 types of CFL, which are the tubular type or the spiral type integrated CFL. Did you know that the spiral type was invented by Edward E. Hammer, a GE engineer in 1976 as a response to the 1973 oil crisis? But because of the high cost of manufacturing, GE shelved the idea. The design was eventually leaked and copied by others, and in 1995, spiral lamps manufactured in China were available commercially.

How about LED or light emitting diode? It is a high efficiency lamp that consumes less than a quarter of electricity than incandescent light . It has been around since 1960's but is just beginning to appear in residential homes. LED is more damage resistant and rugged than CFL and incandescent bulbs. LED light do not flicker, but it is very heat sensitive. Excessive heat or inappropriate applications will drammatically reduce light output and lifespan.It does not produce heat like the incandescent bulbs and lasts 50,000 hours. Wow!! That is more efficient! Yes, it is, but quite expensive due to limited production.

CFL is energy efficient but it has a slow start to full brightness than incandescents. It is not as bright, as a result, it is very hard to read with the CFL... very hard on your eyes! It is toxic when it shatters since it contains mercury! Mercury thermometers were banned, so why are the lightbulbs with mercury okay to use??? Does anyone have an answer why the government let the CFL flood the market??? Hmmm... The government suggests a toxic cleanup when bulbs are shattered. CFL's are not supposed to be disposed in regular trash but given to Home Depot for proper disposal. Who, among us will make an extra trip for that alone??? CFL right now is made in China. GE is just now working on CFL and LED! GE missed their chance a long time ago to be the pioneer of CFL's! That is a shame! Maybe GE can invent something without the mercury??? How??? That is for their engineers to figure out!!!! But that is an excellent idea!!!! Good thinking!!! Hope GE can deliver!!!!

Some people do not like CFL's because of the dimness of the light and the mercury content, so they are stacking on the incandescents. Some people think that CFL's do not deliver it's claim of 15,000 lifespan. Personally, We use A CFL in the hallway. The hallway seems to be dim and it does not get any brighter. I do not know the lifespan because we just put it on. Any comments???

Even though the CFL's seem to be expensive, consumers are actually slowly doing what the government is asking to do. By 2012, 100 and 159 watts lightbulbs will be 30 % more energy efficient!

So, which would you prefer, a less energy efficient lightbulb or a lightbulb that has toxic mercury????

Posted by vs at 10/2/2010 12:13 PM | Add Comment

Friday, October 1, 2010

Apprentice, 09302010

Apprentice by Donald Trump has a new season! This time, the contestants are not celebrities but common, unemployed people!!! That is good! Wait a minute... you said unemployed?? There is one woman that is not unemployed when she started the apprentice season! Huh??? How did she passed the audition as unemployed??? I guess she can get away with things because she is very pretty!!!! Nevertheless, she is a liar and a selfish person!! She could have given her spot to a real person that is unemployed! Why did she do it? Did she not like her job? Who knows what her motive was! Who are you talking about? Mahsa Saeidi Azcuy, an assistant DA in Brooklyn, New York. According to the news, she took a 2 month leave of absence from her job to be on the show without the knowledge of her boss and colleagues! As a result of being exposed, she resigned this week! Wow!!! Is she a contender for being the apprentice??? I guess we will have to wait for the finale!!! Also, people are comparing her to Amarosa, a previous apprentice contestant. I am not really sure why.

The task that was given to them by Donald was to manage a hotel and spa for pets. They will be judge for execution, creativity and sustainability, and overall performance.

The Octane group was led by James Weir, 31, from New York, New York, an unemployed attorney for 1 1/2 years. During the meeting with the owner of the establishment, James made the owners wait while he talked to his peers! Yikes! James! What were you thinking???? That is a no..no..True enough, the owners did not like that looking at the expression on their faces! That was not the only obstacle that he has to overcome. One of the men continued to aggravate him, so he threw him out!!! Who are we talking about? David Johnson, who was fuming when he was fired by James and he promised that he will nail him in the boardroom!!!

How about the women, Fortitude, that was led by Tyana Alvarado, 41, Miss Cougar California, an unemployed sales representative? Their idea was really good, which they called " Tailwag Tuesdays." They came up with this idea since Tuesday is the slowest day for the hotel and spa. Every pet owner will get a bag of goodies and a report card for the pet. At the back of the report card is a picture of the pet! They won and Tyana's reward was a mentoring by Russell Simmons, a successful entrepreneur!

One of the judges was Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer. Who do you think the judges chose? They did not like Octane since they have so many leaders. They liked the video camera concept but it was not enough to win!!!

In the boardroom, James got an earful from David and others of how he lacked leadership skills and lack of respect by people in his team. He chose to bring back David Johnson, 34, from Portage, Michigan, a once successful account manager, and Wade Hanson, 33, from Woodbury, Minnessota, a thriving real estate mogul before the recession, to the boardroom, much to Wade's surprise! In the end, James was fired! According to reports, James landed a job in the attorney general's office in New York! He is a practicing lawyer again!!! Good for him!!!

The recession really hit hard on many people, including the apprentice contestants. It is good that Trump is doing this, and not the celebrities, except there is only one winner! Well, that will be one less person collecting unemployment!!!! Sad!!!! Really sad!!!

Who do you think will become the apprentice?? Will it be Mahsa??? I guess we will have to wait for a few more weeks!!!

Posted by vs at 10/1/2010 9:03 AM | Add Comment