Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Traffic Light

For the whole thing go to
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/31_An_odd_question_about_traffic_lights_and_the_Discover_Card.html

An odd question about traffic lights and the Discover Card

 

Here is a question. Whenever I leave my complex by car I have to go through a traffic light. Recently they installed a metering light to get on the Interstate. Since that happened the light seems to be missing turns on the rotation. For example I am waiting for a left turn signal and it skips this signal even if cars are waiting.

Drivers will either go through a red light or bypass the light by going straight and around. This could easily cause an accident.

My question is, who should I bring this up to get this fixed? If you know this, e-mail me at hydra1970@gmail.com


On another note, today is the last day for Discover to pay 5% back on Grocery and restaurant. The next three months are hotels, airfares and rental cars (which kind of sucks if you are not planning on much travel). You need to contact Discover to make sure you are registered. They count on people not bothering.

In the upper right hand corner of this entry is the french version of the Different Strokes theme song. I imagine a room full of people with stripe shirts in the studio in the late 1970's.








--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300




Sunday, December 28, 2008

Over Christmas....

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/28_A_proper_entry.html

First off the pictures from the last few days

http://gallery.me.com/hydra9#100109&bgcolor=black&view=grid



So one thing I am not a big fan of Mobile Me is if you are 1) away from your Mac or 2) not an iPod user then it is hard to update remotely (free product/service advice for Apple)

I am not going to go into a step by step detail about the last few days because it would be as fun as watching the second half of the Redskins season.
I am SO glad that Santa did not bring me Redskins/49ers tickets. For some strange reason I had this idea in my head to go to the game which would have ended not so well.


My grand plan for flying to the Washington area on Christmas day was an empty plane/airport. I imagined a leisure stroll down to the South San Francisco BART station and then an empty airport. Luckily I checked the BART schedule and public transit was not starting till 9:00 AM (my flight took off at 9:45 and that cuts it way too close). I HATE taking cabs. The meters and driving with a stranger I no like.  As soon as I step out of my warm apartment (this is a LIE) the rain starts pouring down like a Taylor Dayne video. Then all of a sudden a big tree cracks and falls down.


The plane is PACKED. I am sitting in the last row and I am seated next to some random. I tried to talk him into simply not going...


When I spoke to my sister Andrea, she mentioned how the roads were empty in Waldorf but once I got into the rental car the roads were full due to the demographics of Four Christmases.


The Texas crowd beat me to the Churchton compound. Andrea made a pizza out of the random items available.


Our family moved everything over a couple of days. To be honest I have no idea why more people do not do this. If you have boxing day as Christmas Eve and December 27th as Christmas (which is what we did)


Went to a Trader Joes in Annapolis and I asked about their beer and wine selection. For whatever random reason they are not allowed to sell beer and wine. If you are the governor of Maryland, this is silly and please stop.


When I travel to Maryland I do not want to check bags and I want to be light as I normally walk a mile and a half from the BART station. I was given a birthday present that was heavy and I was thinking of having to lug it but luckily it was something that was enjoyed at the compound

(if you ever need to get me a gift, you CANNOT go wrong with http://www.chimay.com/)

My non drinking thing starts in a few days. (January 1st to March 15th, did not plan on PSU being in the Rose bowl)


They are quite a few physicist that believe in parallel universes. I am glad I am living in the one that has me not going to the Redskins 49ers game. (but then again, the Redskins could have won or they could have ended ROTJ with Lando being blown up with the second death star)


My brother Jeff used some of the same material from my last trip.


Stelly is a good dog but screwed up. We all remember when Cosmo screwed up on Christmas!























Cosmo, the German Shorthaired Pointer is a reliable alarm clock. He is not a super model that "forgets to eat". He may trick you into eating twice.


This morning we had blue crabs for b r e a k f a s t. Too bad we did not have national bohemian and watching the Orioles lose 6 out of 10 games.


Am glad that I had Satellite Radio in the rental car because well, normal radio is boots.


When I checked into my flight, it showed that I had a middle seat. Luckily I was able to convince the nice lady how me sitting in the middle is well not an ideal experience. She earned an award for random of the day.


(this was in no meant to be a complete coverage of the last few days...)











--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Eve...

For the full experience go to
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/24_It_was_the_night_before_Christmas_and_another_twenty.html

It was the night before Christmas and another twenty

 

Before I get started with my rambling, here is a way to search my blog.




Simply type in something, like Standard Poodle and every mention of a standard poodle will show up. You could type in your name as well.

Based on my recent discovery that I love to travel on light travel days and since I am using United Miles for my trip (and I am dealing with blackout dates) I will be flying from SFO to IAD tomorrow (Christmas Day). I am far happier when I am not cramped onto a plane. So for the first time I am in California for Christmas Eve. If you are English and you enjoy the song, I am the Walrus, you would try to get your tan standing in the Bay Area rain.

Went to the 24 Hour Fitness as it is the day after Festivus and I need to train for next years feats of strength.

Urban Diversion was supposed to have a pot luck but that turned into dinner near the clubhouse. Quite a few people are going to Mexico or Tahoe.

At dinner we discussed various experiences with online dating as a woman at dinner met her new Gentlemen caller from e-Harmony. The way she described the website, it seemed like quite a bit of rigmarole

(On a side note, here is a discussion on the word

http://nz.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071001095426AAkdzAb)

San Francisco is a ghost town but I have not seen any ghosts. Most of the wharf was closed/shutting down.

On my way back to the Marcusmobile, I found a $20 and then someones credit card. I called the credit card company and they told me to shred the card rather than mail it in.

Checked out the Discover website and was disappointed with what is the 5% bonus cash for the first quarter (airfare/rental cars and hotels) I like it better when it is gas or groceries. Perhaps they will see this entry and simply extend 5% back on gas and groceries for the year to me.






--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


A Pretty Good Day...

To get the full experience go to
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/23_A_pretty_good_day.....html

I must either appear trustworthy or on some level the guy wanted me to steal his dog. I was walking along Chestnut and I complimented these people eating lunch on their lab. The guy said, do you want to take him for a walk and as taking a dog for a walk is one of the simple pleasures of life I agreed. The dog pulled a bit but we worked on it.
My run went well and it worked wonders on my mood. Was going to run four but pushed it to six (thanks to social pressure from Jenny Winston)
Made my way to trivia and found the adapter at some random Chinese store. The lady asked if I had cash because it was a $15 minimum to witch I said, you have one of two choices, and luckily they went along with me.
Went to the Bitter End for pub trivia and my buckets of useless knowledge was useful and we won!
What was even better was I split to get a ginger ale and I found $40 on the street and it was not a tacky advertisement  for an investment scam.
The video was from a Pabst Blue Ribbon commercial from 1980 which I seem to remember on Redskins Sidelines. It had nothing to do with what happened today.
Below is a custom search of You Tube for 1980's commercials. Simply type in a product.

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Resume Bucket

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/23_Resume_Bucket_as_a_good_resource.html

Resume Bucket as a good resource

 

I set this site up as a resource for job seekers

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/Getting_your_resume_found.html

Obviously it is a benefit to us all that more job seekers create home pages and place their resumes where we can find them using Boolean searches rather than Monster/Careerbuilder/Dice/Hotjobs etc.


I then came across this site

http://www.resumebucket.com

which makes the step of posting your resume on the open web far easier. In fact it is as simple as posting on one of the major job boards.


This is a great resource for posting of resumes (for those that are looking for their next gig) or those looking for candidates or both.


You can search from resume bucket OR from this interface

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/17_Resumebucket_to_search_for_resumes.html


Marcus Ronaldi

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264




--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Monday, December 22, 2008

Running and Matzo

Here is a reference I put together on running in San Francisco
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Blog.html
Sirius XM is having Radio Hanukkah. As I was not aware of that many Hanukkah songs and since Howard Stern is off till January I listened. Later when I went to safeway I bought Matzo Ball mix. Maybe there were some subliminal messages on that station?
On a side note (from Wikipedia) According to the IFOCE, gentile Joey Chestnut holds the world record for eating Matzo balls; he ate 78 matzoh balls in 8 minutes.
Based on the experience, I will not be opening up a Deli in the near future. Maybe an Indian place without Naan or Tandori.

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


The Greatest Blog

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Marcus goes Ice Skating

For the full entry with video go to
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/18_Marcus_goes_Ice_Skating.html
Ice Skating and/or Hockey was not a big part of my salad days. My knucklehead friends and I would play tackle football on the street but not much hockey. We did have some NHL players that lived in our neighborhood.
Anyway I had the chance to Ice Skate at one of those outdoor holiday rinks. I do not aspire to join the Ice Capades but after today my skating ability is actually in the top 33% of the general population or of the people in the rink. Now if I went to Minnesota or Canada or Alaska I do not think I would be saying the same thing.
But I am guessing if you take the entire population and made a skating test, I think I would be in the top 10% in ability.  This is all based on the simple fact that I did not fall down or collide with any of the other skaters.
Spoke to a jet set Gwen who told me of a book stolen from my blog. My pupils turned to dollar signs until she said it was , "The Curious Incident of the Dog at Midnight". Great book even though it starts with the death of a Standard Poodle.




--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Learning something new...

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/16_Does_an_electric_stove_turn_off_when_the_power_turns_off_and_then_comes_back_on_.html

Here is a question, if the power goes out when the electric oven is on, will the electric oven be on when the power comes back on?
This is the situation that I faced when I was making my dinner (Garlic/Spinach Pizza) and the power went out in Daly City.
Tried to call Home Depot but that was a hopeless cause.

Did not want to leave if the power would come back on and then turn the oven on.
So I went into the fuse box and made it so nothing would come back on when the power came on.

I talked to a friend of mine with a cool beagle and then turned to the Ethernet.
Then it kind of made sense that 1) for safety reasons it would not turn on 2) the oven has no memory and would not remember what it was supposed to be doing.

So to answer the question about the stove, it does turn off if the power goes off.

Another question came at 24 Hour Fitness in Daly City. Every day people work out on the various mac hines w/o towels. I complain, nothing happens so I have chosen to let it go.
Anyway after working out I went into the steam room. As I question the cleanliness of this room I stand up. One of the other patrons asked if I would remove my fred containers. This is not a posted rule. My question is, am I supposed to remove my fred containers?

I was not done learning new things. I may have mentioned that it was cold. Not cold in a Minnesota or even a Maryland sense but for the Bay Area, cold! I was wearing 1) gloves 2) my bright yellow jacket 3) My Green Lantern Sweetshirt 4) Long pants for my run. Turned out after a mile I was warm, 1.5 miles I was hot and ended up taking off the gloves and the hood. Earlier in the evening I won a trivia contest by correctly identifying the first person to run a mile in under 4:00 (submit your answer w/o looking it up). I ended up giving the arm warmers to one of the other runs as it was something that I would probably not use or lose or look silly wearing.

Went to the Bitter End but could not find anyone from the team from last week but figured today had enough questions and answers.

Finally check out the video above. I heard it on Sirius XM 26 Blog Radio.







--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Smart Drugs... (link)

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/16_Smart_Drugs.html

Smart Drugs

 

Would you take a drug to make yourself smarter? more creative? I have been seeing quite a few articles and news stories about the possibility of healthy people being able to take some sort of drug to make themselves smarter or more creative.

Here is another article

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1548910/Intelligence-drugs-could-be-common-as-coffee.html


Now there is a drug that is readily available but can easily make a user far less intelligent and a bit clumsy. It is advertised on television every day.


I could imagine a world where they come up with some that makes people far more intelligent without side effects and everyone takes it which leads to people being miserable because they are too smart for whatever hell they are doing.


I do know that you can be smarter through nutrition and exercise. Try going on a Pepsi/Twinkie/Taco Bell diet for a month and see how clear headed and creative you are. I think the process of doing your own cooking makes you smarter.


To a point, running makes me feel more clear headed but I would not want to take any pub quiz post half Marathon.


Questions of the day

  1. 1)Would you take a drug to make yourself smarter? more creative? more focused?

  2. 2)What drug am I referring to that is readily available that can make people less intelligent?

  3. 3)What would be the downside if suddenly the whole population was 16% smarter (if this could be measured)




--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Monday, December 15, 2008

telekinesis

Last night I had a dream where I had telekinesis. There was not a whole lot to the dream except I moved large objects with my mind.

Was in the mid-Peninsula (San Carlos/Palo Alto/San Mateo) area where I ran into three of my fellow former toilers.

Saw Katie and Gus. You may remember Gus as the tiny Golden. He is now about ten months old. He frolicked in the park with a greyhound. The guy with the greyhound said that somehow Poodles and Greyhounds are related but we all know that Standard Poodles without funny hair cuts came from the sky.

The weather was this weird combination of hale/wind and sun.

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


More details on the last few days...

So I was looking at some of my entries in the last few days and thought the Greatest Blog was not living up to its moniker.
Sort of like if the Beatles re-united to take part in the Disco craze.
 
Going back to Saturday Santacon was a big decision because I had to choose which one to take part in. I did not want to be like the guy who goes to Australia for a week and then travels from Sydney to the great barrier reef spending 64 percent of his time traveling and not ordering sandwiches.
 
So I had to make a choice and stick with it. So I chose the Mission route. Started off at the Phoenix and then down Market (not sure of when to see up or down...), later in Doleres Park where a load of snow was dumped and a snowball fight happened. Now I am not a big fan of snowball fights but since it was out of place, made it more fun. Sort of like if I time traveled back to the 1970's. Would not mind having three Marcus duplicates.
 
Rene and I met up with Jamie (from Mortified) and her friend.It was sort of like Wizard of Oz or Star Wars which was essentially very similiar.
 
Another park had a bouncy castle but did not have a go. I will admit that I was trying to sound British.
 
In Union Square it started to disapate and then we went into that new Shopping center for dinner.
 
Made our way back to the Mission. I was going to walk to the ugly sweeter party but luckily I checked the mileage on my phone.Two miles is not that bad but its through a dodgey neighborhood and I was wearing a Santa Suit (with the KISS T Shirt)
 
Made my way to Potreo Hill for the Sweeter party which was held in this loft thing. From the outside it looked like some nameless warehouse being used by villians to plot something involving the moon and a death ray and lava but the place inside was really nice. Somehow the host had a giant blow up snow man. Most of the people were from my Sunday kickball team. Next October we are going to vegas.
 
It was a full day. Would have been better had I had easy access to a time mac hine or some duplicator but you know how these things end up turning you into a fly.
 
Sunday Morning I ran with the FleetFeet training program. It was raining but I am glad I got i together to get through my aversion of running in the rain. Am sore now but thats good.
 
Saw probably my favorite movie of the year, Slumdog Millionare. Parts of it were shocking, some was funny (a much smaller bit), lots were wrenching. Should be nominated.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html

 

Running in the Rain (Link)

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/14_Running_in_the_Rain.html

I am doing the Fleet Feet training program for the Kaiser Half Marathon. The main thing I get out of doing these training groups is the positive social pressure to run when in reality I would choose not to. I ran yesterday prior to Santacon and was thinking I may skip it.

Drove out to the Park Chalet and was sitting in my car. It was raining fairly hard and was considering going back home but decided to run anyway. 

It was cold and rainy but I am glad I ran. (From the Park Chalet to the DeYoung). 


--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Santacon 2008 San Francisco

For the video go to
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/14_Santacon_2008.html

Here is a short video of a snowball fight in the middle of the 2008 Santacon in San Francisco. They were three different groups in the city.

For more pictures go to

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_7/2008.html




--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Sunday, December 14, 2008

Music to listen to

Mos def
alice russell
my lucky day

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Red Lobster

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/10_Red_Lobster_%24.89_and_%241.99_for_a_pineapple.html

So the Discover card sent me a coupon for $10 off a $ 10 purchase at Red Lobster. They probably thought I would gather up the whole gang much like the Olive Garden commercials but I drove down and ordered Crab Linguini Alfredo for $10.25. It was the first time in a while I had an Ice burg lettuce salad (I normally opt for Spinach)

In addition to the $.89 I left a $2 tip in a $2 bill (which is about 19%)

Later in the day I was in the Mission and I saw they had a Pineapple for sale for $1.99. I remembered hearing something about Pineapples so I purchased it and carried it into Elixer for Alpha Bar (which consisted of about half the trivia team from the prior night.) Was told that I will not be eating pineapple tomorrow.




--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Pub Quiz

For a better Greatest Blog experience
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/9_Pub_Quiz.html

Went to the pub quiz at the Bitter End. The first few rounds I thought that I had taken stupid pills and they were having a two for one sale. The music round I was useless but luckily the final round had a bunch of the nuggets of obscurity that cloud my brain like who wrote White Christmas and died in 1989. He also wrote Putting on the Ritz which was covered by Taco in 1982.

We ended up finishing 2nd. Not sure the number of teams.

Was able to answer the questions about the quarterbacks that threw over 400 touchdowns and it was not Heath Shuler and Alex Smith.





--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Gifting of a Senate Seat...

Gifting of a Senate Seat

Like many of you I am undecided about what to get those on my list for a gift. I thought, how about a seat on the United States Senate? The whole business of running a campaign seemed a bit much, like when you buy a cell phone for someone but then I heard this cat in Illinois, Blagojevich, was selling a Senate seat behind the Costco. Sadly he would not accept any of my coupons or discount codes so you will not be a Senator from Illinois. I would imagine you could get some really good Chicago Style Pizza with that gig.

So then I bid on the golfing with NFL Legend OJ Simpson but he got into some mischief in Las Vegas.




--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Sunday, December 07, 2008

Run + Sharon Jones + Carrots

Run + Sharon Jones + Carrots



One area of my life I think I am well above average is punctuality but for some reason I was well behind schedule. I made it as the group was stretching but I was happy with my pace considering I did not stop that much (except for water fountains). Felt way more clear headed post run.

When my readers are not searching for news on the BCS selection show, (even though I am a graduate of Penn State, based on the strength of schedule, I think they are ranked fairly but would support a football playoffs in college football) they turn to me for ideas on what music to listen to on their 8-track on their way to the Outback Bowl. I was reading the Sunday New York Times and read the article about Daptone records. It turned out I had downloaded Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings from eMusic in the past and figured it was worth a beginning to end listen which in this age of iPods is not how people listen to albums.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/magazine/07daptone-t.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink


On another note, I needed to buy loads of carrots to make carrot, ginger and apple juice. (started using the juicer again). I had made a plan to go to Clement but figured I should stop off at the Marina Supermarket and I was shocked to see they had cheaper carrots. So I got some Pizza dough.


It turns out that food motivated dogs are not that interested in carrots.


On another note I was surprised that the staff of the Apple store had not seen the Simpsons clip where they go to the Mapple store.

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Monkey ". . . truffles of truth created, as ancients surmised, during storm, in the instant of lightning blast. . . "

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/6_Monkey_in_the_Marina.html

Here are the photos from today.

http://gallery.me.com/hydra9#100101&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=11



So I met a monkey. We did not go to Las Vegas because I did not need a change of pace. It was odd the day before I was supposed to run the Las Vegas Marathon I ended up meeting a Monkey on Union Street.

I am not sure what the monkey was doing on the street but just the monkey being there on the street was good.

I am running tomorrow which equates to me being good the night prior.

In the past week quite a few of droogs from my college days at Penn State have contacted me. Maybe it was the similarity between my college nickname and the President elects last name.




--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Saturday, December 06, 2008

OJ is not the brightest....

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/6_OJ_is_not_the_brightest.....html

OJ is not the brightest....

 

Heard on the street that OJ Simpson, star of rental car ads and the Naked Gun movie, was sentenced in his debacle involving kidnaping and such. He is probably not the brightest star in the sky.


Had my monthly happy hour at Vertigo and I was happy with the turnout. This was my last happy hour of 2008.


In 2009 I am not going to drink from January 1st through Tuesday March 17th.


Earlier in the day was in a discussion about the Domestic auto industry and I cannot remember a point in my life when American cars were knocking them out of the park.  This was an industry born out of entrepreneurship and innovation and I do not look for them as market leaders. What percentage of the "domestic cars" are built in the United States? My opinion may be different if my experience with American cars was better or if I had a more car focused existence.







--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Droogs from the woodwork

Today I was contacted by not one but two of my droogs from my time as an idealistic young politician in the early 1990's.
James Blawas and John Pannizzo.
This internet fad thing is good for that...

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


Not running in the Vegas half...

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/3_Not_running_in_the_Vegas_half.html

Not running in the Vegas half

 

A few months ago I had signed up for the Vegas (half) marathon. I have been watching the prices on flights and hotels and such but kind of dragged booking a flight.

Then I thought, the whole idea of flying to Vegas, going to sleep at 8 PM, running 13 miles followed by a long nap and then a sore Sunday night in Vegas, seemed silly and pointless.

I like the concept of Vegas far more than actually going to Vegas. I do not like gambling or fancy pants restaurants or night clubs with roped off areas.

I am the guy in the Heartache tonight song who normally goes home fairly early.

Will probably use United Miles to book a flight back to Maryland for 1) Christmas and 2) My Mum's 70th. Hopefully she will know the lyrics of Total Eclipse of the Heart. Normally I do not use United miles to book a domestic flight but it has been expensive for around the Holidays.

On another note there is nothing wrong with Sasha which is good news.







--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html


A hard day for a tuxedo cat...

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2008/12/2_Sasha_had_a_rough_day.html


For the last couple of weeks my cat Sasha has been adding to her pie chart especially when I was in Maryland. So I decided to take her to the vet. She was not a huge fan of being put into a cardboard box and kept on trying to break on through while I was driving. When I got to the vet I remembered that I left the oven on (and I bet that none of you can guess what was being cooked) So I had to leave her and make sure that I did not burn the building down. I was a bit of a stress ball but a version of myself visiting from a few hours in the future should have told me to relax as everything turned out OK.
The vet was not able to tell me anything so they took blood samples and to be honest, I am a bix anxious. I should know something (or maybe nothing) tomorrow. The doctor said that Sasha is in good shape for an 11 year old cat.
On the way back we taped up the back and she kept on sticking her face in the hole. If she had a yelp account she would give me one star and write a scathing review of me.
On another note I went to Clement as I was doing the pub quiz with some of the kick ball crowd. I did well on the questions about 1988 and the music round. 
Found a place that sold five pounds of curry for $12. I need to re-package it into smaller packages and call it Marcus's Curry and make some sort of health claims.





--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
My LinkedIn  Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

twitter = hydra1970

My Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705175300

I am running 1000 miles in 2008 to raise money for Parkinsons
http://www.firstgiving.com/marcusronaldi1000miles

My resume
http://web.me.com/hydra9/Resume/My_Resume.html