Old McDon’ald had a farm and he lives next door

So it’s been a pretty good week, but I gotta tell you my neighbors have certainly made it it even more interesting.

Forget the fact that they just already have a dog (huge) and then they bought a Horse (11+ years old), now they have a chicken coop with 10+ chickens. Yes Chickens. The chicken coop is right near my property fence and of course we know that chicken can’t fly but they sure can jump over fences.

In the first week, ALL of the chicken ended up under my deck and had to be “coaxed” out to their own coop!. As you also might know chickens are very territorial. One of these chickies (the black one) is going around pecking (and bruising/bleeding) the other chickens.

So I wonder what’s next? Pigs??

Oh BTW, I forgot to tell you the area we live in last summer had coyote and hawk sightings. How much u want to wager that by the beginning of spring/summer, these chickens are either eaten or scooped up by these predators?

I just don’t get it with these people. They have 3 kids, a dog, a horse and now 10+ chickens! They’ve been living next door for less than 1 year and they certainly have made an impact.

Don’t get me wrong, since my neighbors have such a large property (8 acres +) they are entitled to do what they want, but the only place I want to see chickens is on my plate.

Sounds kinda obnoxious, but I’m very annoyed right now.

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Rant and Rave

One of the things I wanted to do this year was start something new. I chose karate/kick boxing. Let’s see if that decision comes back to haunt me.

Tonight is my first session. Let’s see how that goes.

The past weekend I played my first USTA match and it was amazing, to actually play at a club level as opposed to a weekend warrior level!

Anyway, Work wise, same chaos as usual. I still can’t figure out how the group that I work with actually produce anything of value to the company. The lack of accountability is amazing, it’s like if you can’t deflect accountability, you are not doing your job!

I could write so much stuff about the characters, that knowing my luck, this blog will get read by someone and I’ll be escorted to the door. 😦

This is the week where all the big boys and girls go into a secret room and have “rant and rave” sessions so they can control how many extra pennies we get in our wallet. Sounds like so much fun when you control others future with just perception on their performance during the year.

I’m going to write next time about my neighbors who are building their own farm next door, including all the farm animals!

chow for now!

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USTA league play

So this past weekend, I played in my first USTA mixed doubles tennis league match. Now considering I’ve been playing for years and years, this was the first time, I actually played in a meaningful competitive league. Wow, what a blast. Even though my team lost the match, it proved that I can raise my tennis game to the next level.

My partner was awesome, she taught me some strategies that I would never have incorporated into my game. BTW, I’m still sore after 2 days. Shows what kind of shape I’m in.

I’ll tell you something, this is serious business, this league play. Players don’t mess around on the court. NO JOKES, NO HUMOR, JUST BUSINESS. I tell you playing really improves your focus and appreciation for the mental toughness part of the game.

Tennis is a big part of my life all year around. I have a casual league in work that I lead (called the tennis fanatics), and I also do some free lance teaching for my kids and a local high school student. The satisfaction I get from teaching (anything) is second to none. I know that the next time I get laid off, I can turn to tennis as a p/t instruction career? Hmm..

Tennis is an amazing outlet for my energy and due to the game, I’ve made some of my best friends at work. If you want to stimulate your mind and your body, Tennis is the sport for you. Look at this, I’m rambling now.

My older child is on the tennis team in HS, but she’s not really keen on the game (for now). My younger child “has the eye of the tiger”. Her new years resolution was —> “Improve my backhand”.

Got a good kick out of that.

This year my kids are going to take some formal lessons during the winter and we’ll see the improvement in their game (hopefully). I tell you, if I had gotten any formal lessons, I’d be a 4.5 to 5.0 player right now as opposed to a 3.5 to 4.0 player.

That’s all for now.

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Mr. Dad and loss in family

Another Saturday with plans for Mr. Dad to drive his girls around. One to the movies, other to her first Basketball game. How exciting!

When I think about it, most of my days are spent either entertaining his kids or driving them from point A to point B. I live and work in MT, NJ so there are weeks that I don’t even leave the township, except for driving one of my kids to a sleepover or a party!

Not that I dislike doing this.. I love it. If you look at my cell phone calls, they are to my girls. My older one, just loves to go through my call directory (for fun) and tell me how many times I called Mom and her. She thinks that I don’t really need a phone as I only made 7 minutes of calls last month! Funny!

Familial update:
Last night I got some bad news: My cousin sister (Shobha) died in India at the age of 59 of kidney failure and diabetes. Similar to the way I lost my Mom a few years ago. I had just met Shobha after many years (15) years during my visit to India in 2007.

I knew she was in bad shape but she’s only 13 years older than me! It’s a like a wake up call to me that life is too short to not really enjoy it. I was really shook up from this news, because I was very close to her and her kids. I remember when I was growing up, I looked up to her as my big sister and I was in awe of her for her humor and strength. Even when I met her last year, it seemed she knew she only had a short time.

She lived in a small city in India, but I always remember that when I visited India when I was growing up, she always kept me amused and took care of me. I’m going to miss her terribly. God bless her soul!

Feel kind of down today with this news and feel like I’m just dragging along. Need to cheer myself up. Going to see “I am Legend” (about the last man left on earth after a pandemic) for the second time today. This is of course the remake of the classic movie.

Oh wait, that movie is just as depressing, but my older one wanted a “daddy/daughter movie date”, so I’m obliging.

Anyway, sitting here reflecting on how can prevent something like this from happening to me! 🙂

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New Years Resolutions

So it’s a few days into the new year and I wonder how many of my resolutions I’ve broken already.

1. Be a nicer person – Now this one is tough. First day on back to work, within 30 minutes, I got annoyed and broke this one.
2. Lose Weight – Started to work out more, but the “See Food” diet is just not working.

Thank goodness this is a short week.

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New Year, New Hopes

So this is 2008! I sure hope this year is better than 2007 for me. 2007 was an absolute disappointment. Best part of 2007 was my trip to India in June/July.

Let’s see if this election year is better. I’m optimistic for now.

I’m going to use this site to talk about topics which cross my mind on a daily basis.

Take a look at these sites:

• Lifehacker – Tips for life
• Wisebread – Personal finance and Frugal Living
• Dealcatcher – Internet Bargains
• Techbargains – Techie Deals

  Lessons learned from India:

• The Money is flowing! Due to this, the Rupee flows like water. You can never have enough.
• If you are a shopper, the malls and choice in shopping is second to none. Anything and everything you need is available! Malls and Super stores (like WalMart) are everywhere!
• Technologically, all parts of India have equal’d or bypassed US in terms of technology (cell phone, Internet, Satellite TV). Take a look at the best Indian Websites as a starting point
• Infrastructure has NOT caught up to technology. Regardless of how much money you have, the probability that you will struggle with the corruption and the inability of the government to address the overpopulation and crowding.
• If you are a NRI (non-resident Indian) – Forget about getting access to wireless networks. Terrorism threats preclude us NRI’s from buying simple fixed wireless cards so we can utilize the Wireless network (subscription) available! Very very frustrating. Of course this has a workaround. Get a local to buy the card for you!

Financially for me 2007 was a disaster. Enuff said.

Dad’s Taxi and Favorites