Health Checkup

Since the first of December, I’ve been working on improving my overall health.  This isn’t the result of any medical condition, but just the realization that there aren’t very many 6’4″ old guys.  And there are even fewer 6’4″ old guys that were in the shape I was in.

So I’ve been eating better & getting some exercise.  Maybe I’ve taken that to a bit of an extreme as I’ve been to the gym every day for 40 consecutive days.  Okay, so I didn’t go on Christmas Day but I’ve been every day but one over the past 40 days.

Here are the results.

I don’t really have a goal for the weight I want to lose or the weight I want to get to.  I just want to get healthier and live to see my grand children.  Heck,  it might even be cool to see my great grand children.

Cheers,
Braddog

Top Tech for 2011

Every year at this time, I compose a blog post that lists the top few technologies that I’ve personally experienced for the first time during the year.  It never seems like I’ve acquired that many gadgets until I sit down and reflect on things.  This year is no different.  But on reflection, here’s my top 5.

iPhone 4S – I’ve been an iPhone user for a couple of years and now the entire family totes one of the revered side-arms from the folks in Cupertino.  This year, both Carie & I were “upgrade eligible” at the launch of the new 4S so we both availed ourselves of the opportunity to upgrade.  I, because I’m a gadget junky, and she because she’d been using a 3 generation old iPhone 3G and it was painfully slow.  The new camera and processor have been a nice upgrade and I don’t think either of us regret the upgrade.

Siri – Technically, Siri is the voice recognition that comes with the iPhone 4S.  But it’s worthy of a call out on its own.  I don’t think Carie is using it much if at all.  But I’ve begun to use it to not only impress folks with conversational voice interaction with my phone, I’ve also begun to use it to dictate text messages and emails.  This is especially handy when you need to respond to a message when you’re otherwise occupied….like while you’re driving. Now I don’t advocate texting and driving but if you have to do it, at least use Siri.
iOS 5 – Yeah, technically this is another upgrade that came along with the new iPhone but it’s also applicable to the kids’ iPhones & the iPad.  The features that come along with iOS 5 that are worth mentioning include iCloud for iTunes, Photostream, and the new notification system.  iCloud makes my entire music library accessible from anywhere and that’s pretty cool considering that it’s way too big to fit on my iPhone all at once.  Photostream makes getting my photos from my phone to my iMac a seamless experience.  By the time I get home, my photos are already there and waiting on me.  And the notifcation system is just plain better than it was previously.

Ghost Armor – For the first time in nearly a decade, I’m not toting my phone on my hip.  That’s because I had Ghost Armor applied to my iPhone and now I don’t worry about it getting scuffed up if ends up in my pants pocket with loose change or heaven forbid, my car keys.  $39 covers all 6 surfaces and has a lifetime guarantee.  I’ve had it on the phone since the second day and so far, I’m pretty happy with the protection that it provides and the fact that I don’t have that wart hanging off my belt.

MacBook Air – This is the hands down the best piece of technology that I’ve acquired since I switched to the Mac 5 years ago.  This little laptop is light, compact, and smokin’ fast due to the solid state drive or SSD.  Rather than a spinning disk to store the data on, the internal storage is solid state memory with access speeds that put the fastest hard disks to shame.  In short, I love this little machine.  It’s become my daily/primary computer, and displaced my MacBook Pro & iPad.  These days, this is the only computer that I leave home with.

Well, there you have it.  These are the technologies that I’ve acquired this year that make my top 5.  There are a few others that are worthy of honorable mention, but maybe I’ll save those for a follow up blog post.

Cheers,
Braddog

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,600 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 60 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

2011 Christmas

2011 Christmas, a set on Flickr.

Christmas has come and gone, but as usual I tried to perserve as many of the moments as possible. Here’s the Flickr set of Christmas 2011 around the Bradshaw house.I hope you had a glorious Christmas!Cheers,Braddog

2011 WInter Concerts

2011 WInter Concerts, a set on Flickr.

We’ve spent the last 2 Friday nights at the winter band and chorus concerts. The girls really enjoy participating in these events, but I think they like the chorus stuff better.Both had solos during the performance. I’m always blown away when I hear them sing. Of course I’m a little biased, but they sure can sing. Cheers,Braddog

2011 Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.  We made our annual trip to Pittsburgh to enjoy the holiday with Carie’s family.  They had arranged for a photographer to take some family photos.  I tried to capture some of the same photos from the staircase.  Here’s a slide show with those photos and a number of other snapshots from the weekend.

Cheers,
Braddog

Remembering Coach Harry Stewart

A couple of months ago, one of my high school coaches passed away.  He coached my sophomore basketball team and my varsity football teams.  A classmate of mine is putting together a tribute that will be shared during this year’s alumni game over the Thanksgiving break.  He asked me to provide a couple of thoughts or memories of Coach Harry Stewart.

Some of my friends and family will remember these stories and hopefully recall Coach Stewart with the same fondness as me.

Coach Stewart coached my varsity football teams my Junior & Senior years. He also coached my sophomore basketball team. I recall him being soft spoken for the most part. Unlike other coaches I played for over the years, he rarely raised his voice.

I can only recall a couple of times when he raised his voice. Once was directed at me personally during my senior football season. I can’t tell you exactly what he said, but he got the message across and I won back my starting job the next week. Let’s just say he definitely motivated me that night.

Of course if you’re in the mood for a chuckle, no one can forget the basketball game at Marion when he ripped the seat out of his pants during the sophomore game. He didn’t seem the least bit flustered. He simply wrapped a towel around his belt (it may have take a couple towels), and strolled across the gym floor and back to the dressing room after the game.

Then there’s the night that as we were preparing to take the floor for the varsity basketball game (oddly enough this was at Marion too I believe), Coach Stewart showed up in the dressing room before the sophomore game was over. Coach Herrin asked him what was going on. Coach Stewart did appear a little flustered and basically let Rich know that he’d been ejected from the game. I didn’t get to witness it as I was dressing for the varsity game, but apparently after being ejected Coach Stewart turned and bowed to the officials and the crowd as he made his exit. What I’d have given to have seen that.

Coach Stewart was a unique guy and I enjoyed playing for him. I look back at my sophomore basketball season and my varsity football seasons with great fondness. We often tell stories and chuckle about Coach Stewart’s coaching style. But as I’ve said before if there’s anything in life I could do over, I’d love to play football again. Heck, I’d love to play football for Coach Stewart again.

Godspeed Coach Stewart

Cheers,
Braddog

The Great BBQ Injury of 2011

After spending last weekend surrounded by awesome pork shoulder at the Kentucky BBQ Festival, I was ready for some brisket this weekend.  So I was up and at it early on Saturday morning, trimming 3 packer cut briskets for the Backwoods cooker.

Just as I was finishing up the last one, the knife slipped and got into my left thumb.  Now I’m not saying that I “sliced” my thumb, it was really more of a chopping blow when the knife slipped.  I jumped up, said a few choice words, and thought, “I’m sure it’s just a flesh wound”.  But when I bent my thumb and saw the gaping wound, I knew I was headed for the hospital.

A quick double-check with my wife to confirm my own diagnosis and a panic text to my neighbor and fellow pitmaster to finish up the brisket, and I was off to the ER.  I walked into the ER slightly before 7:30 in the morning and by 9:00am, I had 4 stitches and a tetanus shot.

So here’s my advice to all you BBQ’ers.  Slice “away” from you when trimming your BBQ meats.  Here’s the proof that I know what I’m talking about.

 

Before treatment During treatment The final result

 The good news is it was a sharp knife and a clean cut.  I should be healed up and ready to cook for Thanksgiving, but unfortunately my career as a hand model is over.

Cheers,
Braddog 

The National Anthem by Madison

Tonight, Madison performed the National Anthem before the start of the 8th grade basketball game. It takes some nerve to get up in front of the crowd, your peers, and your family and sing the National Anthem a cappella (it’s not an easy song to sing to begin with). She was a little nervous but she settled in and did a nice job.

Here’s the obligatory photo of the event.

Cheers,
Braddog

2011 World Series Game 6

Yesterday afternoon, a friend of mine contacted me with an extra ticket to Game 6 of the World Series.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m not a huge baseball fan.  However, a chance to see a World Series game has to be on any red-blooded, American male’s bucket list.  So I told him I was in.

The early part of the game was a little depressing as the Cardinals just didn’t seem to have their “A” game.  But by the 8th inning, things started looking up.  Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know that the Cardinals tied the game in the bottom of the 9th, and then won it in the bottom of the 11th with a walk-off home run by David Freese in what could be one of the most exciting World Series games ever played.

I can cross this item off of my bucket list.  Is it too much to ask for a chance to see a 7th game, at  home, while the Cardinals clinch the series?

A couple of photos:

Cheers,
Braddog