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Thoughts of the day!

2010-07-16T04:57:00.000-07:00

BP Oil Leak

So yesterday brought the positive news that BP had finally capped the oil leak for the first time since April. My question now is why it took so long for BP to make this custom cap. While I do not know all the details, I know that it was only a matter of days for the installation of the cap and the oil to completely stop. It would make sense to me to have a cap ready for each drill site in operation just in case of another spill. That way the sill could be stopped within a week or two rather than months. Just a thought.

British Open

Rory McIlroy and John Daly had an unbelievable first round yesterday at the British Open. If both players are still in contention on Sunday, that would be an unbelievable final pairing. You would have Rory, a 21 year old, ranked in the top 10 in the world, who set or tied 2 course records this year so far (62 at Quail Hollow, 63 at the Old Course at St. Andrews) paired with John Daly. If you even remotely follow golf, you know about John Daly. Picture Rory and John walking down the 18th fairway. That would make for an entertaining Sunday.
Thanks for reading!

2010-07-12T12:25:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the delay's in the post. I had hoped to post a thought daily but that has not been easy. Currently I am going through the process of preparing for the CPA exam. 

I promise to start updating the blog on a more regular basis. Feel free to throw out some ideas.

Thanks for your interest

Thought of the day 7/1/2010

2010-07-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

On the way to work today I heard some of the alleged provisions of
Tiger Woods divorce. They included Elin not mentioning any details of
Tiger's affairs through books, movies talkshows, etc. This includes
after Tiger Woods is gone (passed away). The divorce also states that
none of Tiger's girlfriends can have any contact with the children,
unless they are married to Tiger. The divorce also includes an
estimated $750 MILLION DOLLARS. A dollar amount of that magnitude is
very hard to comprehend. The following figures should help show how
much money this really is.

- The average price of gas in the U.S on 6/28/10 was $2.75 a gallon.
Elin can buy around 273 million gallons of gas
- A decent set of golf clubs would run around $1,000. Elin could
purchase about 750 thousand sets.
- A 2010 fully loaded Cadillac Escalade runs around $75,000. She could
buy 10,000 Escalades.
- Assuming the average green fees are around $50 for a public course,
Elin could play 15 million rounds of golf.

It is very difficult to comprehend how much money this really is.
Tiger's net worth is right around $1 billion. This divorce payout will
take a significant amount of his assets.

Fun Fact - On July 1st,1982 Cal Ripken played in his first game.

Team USA keys to another win

2010-06-24T08:23:00.001-07:00

With the fantastic win yesterday by Team USA, they don't have a lot of
time to celebrate. Saturday afternoon (Eastern Time of course), Team
USA will face their next challange: Ghana.

How the teams got here:
Ghana
- 1-0 win over Serbia
- 1-1 draw vs. Australia
- 1-0 loss vs. Germany (Group D winner)

U.S.A
- 1-1 draw vs. England
- 2-2 draw vs. Slovenia
- 1-0 win vs. Algeria

Keys to Team U.S Victory-
1) DO NOT LET GHANA score early. Early goals could have easily knocked
the USA out of the World Cup. England scored within the first 5
minutes, Slovenia scored in the first 15 minutes and twice in the
first half, and Algeria nearly scored 6 minutes into the game. Now
that the elimination rounds are set to begin, the USA needs to get on
the board first. In both the draws, the USA was fighting from behind.
An early USA goal would allow them to play at a more comfortable pace
for the remained of the game.

2)Tim Howard. Tim Howard has played fairly solid throughout the World
Cup thus far. He will need to keep up his level of play this weekend.
He has registerd 10 saves through 3 World Cup games. He was also key
in the late goal yesterday for the win. Due to his quick thinking, he
was able to outlet the ball very fast which allowed the USA to lead a
fast attack and score.

3) Set Pieces - Make sure everyone knows their role and stays onside.
Set pieces have not been very successful this year (Some say due to
the ball). The USA will need to take advantage of all set pieces. Both
goals that were overturned started with solid set pieces. The USA will
need to keep this up.

4) Tighten up the Defense. The USA defense needs to pay attention to
where they are on the field. There have been a couple plays where the
opposing team has caught the USA defenders out of position or too far
into the attacking position. If the defense does not play solid, Tim
Howard could face a considerable amount of shots.

5) Set the pace. Team USA has had 2 games in a row where they have
played very solid in the second half. Against Slovenia, the USA scored
3 goals (only 2 were allowed) in the 2nd half. Yesterday, USA had a
lot of quality attempts and 1 goal. If the USA can get the 2nd half
intensity into the first half, they could be a very tough team to
beat.

Entertaining Tweets pertaining to Team USA:
@ussoccer - President Clinteon visiting with the team in the locker
room said he was proud of the amazing effort and even led a #USA #USA
chant

@OGOchoCinco - Beautiful morning, where is everybody, watching USA
play Algeria and this is to close, they've missed two close goals, I'm
nervous as hell

59Z97KG3PENX

Hell's Kitchen Update

2010-06-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

Wow. Another 2 hour episode of non-stop blue team domination. At this point in the competition, it is hard to see anyone one of the remaining ladies making a run for the chef position at Ramsey's restaurant. Ben is now in the drivers seat of the competition I believe. At the end of the second episode when Chef Ramsey called Ben up to switch to the red team, he said that the red team needed a true leader. I previously though that Scott would be able to help lead the read team but that was a complete failure.

The red team lacks any sense of team. It was clear in the competition tonight where each member had to select ingredients and no one could use the same. The blue team was well into cooking before the Red team even figured out who was using what. Individually there are a couple decent at best chefs on the red team. There is no team at all.

It will be interesting to see who can become a consistent chef over the next few episodes. Chef Ramsey looks for consistency and no one chef stands out in this category.

At the end of the show there was a tribute to Ron Stutzman, the technical director of Hell's Kitchen. RIP

GO USA in the World Cup match Wednesday June 22nd at 9:30 AM Easter Time

Monday Morning Thoughts

2010-06-21T04:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday Everyone! After an exciting weekend in the World Cup and
the PGA, I have a couple thoughts on everything that happend this
weekend

5. World Cup Refs - Friday during the USA game was another perfect
example of "human error" in sports. With the USA trailing 2-0 at
halftime, they essentially pulled off a stunning comeback. After
scoring 2 goals to tie the game, a free kick was awarded to the USA. A
very nice set play and the USA scores the game winning goal. But
wait...the ref called a foul on the US even though two US players were
in bear hugs from Slovania. NO GOAL. In stead of the 3 points for a
win, the US managed to get a draw instead. A terrible terrible call.

4. The Orioles continued their steller season this weekend against San
Diego. They lost yet another series. When will their season be over!

3. What were the Canadians thinking trading the goalie that clearly
helped them through the playoffs. The trade of Halak caught me
completely off guard. I was expecting a mega deal to be signed during
this offseason with the Canadians. Instead, we will see him next
season we will see him in a Blues Uniform.

2. BP CEO Tony Hayward was spotted at a yacht race in England this
weekend to watch his yacht "Bob" race. Is this a big deal? Not at all.
Even if the man was at work, would the oil spill have been stopped?
NO. The man deserves to spend a couple hours with his FAMILY during
Father's day weekend.

1. With a tie and a loss and a game vs. South Africa this week, what
is happening to France. Within the last couple of days, a player was
dismissed, the trainer quit, the players refused to train during
practice and the team director resigned. Is this the end of France at
this years World Cup, I think so.

Enjoy and keep checking for new updates!

Baltimore Ravens Outlook

2010-06-18T08:11:00.000-07:00

With the Orioles season all but over, it is hard not to start focusing on the Ravens. 66 games in the the MLB season, the Orioles have won 18 games. What is even worse is their home record. They are just breaking .500 at home.

On a much better note, The Ravens made another pro bowl pick up for this offseason. Safety Ken Hamlin signed a one year deal from the Cowboys. It will be interesting to see what kind of play time he gets and how he fits in with the Ravens defense. If Reed retires this will be an even bigger pick up. It seems to me Reed will be back for this year. It would be nice if Ed and Ken could get one year in together. Reed's experience and leadership will definitely help Hamlin settle in.

Hell's Kitchen 2-Hour episode review

2010-06-17T06:53:00.000-07:00

For those of you who watched the 2 hour episode of Hell's Kitchen Tuesday - WOW. This is the second season I have watched of Chef Ramsey and Hell's Kitchen and last night is the best episode that I can remember. Now a lot of people can't stand this show because of how Chef Ramsey treats the contestants. One episode has not been show yet where Chef Ramsey call's one of the contestants a pig. For those of you who don't like the show or Chef Ramsey, I will make 2 arguments to support Chef Ramsey:

1. The man has earned respect in the restaurant industry. He is has been in the industry for ages and a quick search on Wikipedia shows his numerous accomplishments throughout his career. Also, he owns some
of the nicest restaurants throughout the world.

2. Chef's on Hell's Kitchen are competing for a job at one of CHEF RAMSEY'S restaurant. Since Ramsey has established a very high quality for his restaurants, he wants to keep his reputation. He pushes the
competing chef's to their breaking point to see what they can handle. Ramsey wants to hire the very best chef to run his restaurants.

It is hard to pick the strongest candidate at this point because it seems like everyone has messed up in at least one dinner service. As awhole, the teams and individuals are beginning to progress significantly since episode 1.

At this point in the show, I am going to give Scott the slight edge. He has shown that he can be a leader and Tuesday night he showed that he can be a team leader. He also realized that he needs to focus on showing his own skills. It will be interesting to see what side of Scott we see in the next episode.

Stay Tuned and leave some comments on who you see as the leader.

Welcome

2010-06-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

I am new to blogging but it seems very interesting so I thought I would give it a shot. I am not completley sure what the blog topic will be about but the topics will most likely vary. Some possible topics include:
- Being Successful in College
- Buying your first home
- Becoming an Eagle Scout
- Personal Finance (Building a savings account)

If you have a preference or other suggestion, feel free to let me know. Check back soon for an update!

Thanks