Archive for September, 2010

Two Weeks Later

Two weeks ago we shocked by the sudden loss of my older brother from a natural but still unknown cause.

Our family of four had always been close with each other, but his loss has literally shook us to our core.  The amount of stress and grief that we have experienced has been nearly unbearable at times.

It’s amazing how just one innocent event, such as checking on a person, can completely turn your world upside down and send you spinning through a seemingly endless maze.  These past two weeks have just been a blur as we attended to the funeral business and began cleaning and organizing his house, preparing ourselves for the next step in the process.

I’ve found myself drifting in and out of shock when thinking about my brother and that Friday morning.  It’s partial disbelief that it really happened, and it’s also moments of joy and extreme sadness when thinking about all of the good times that we’ve had together.

I am extremely grateful for all of the times that we shared together.  My brother and I were often inseparable, going on many adventures, trading jokes and jabs that nobody else understood, and just hanging out at the local spots and having good times.  His loss has created this huge void in my life.

I could understand it if he was constantly sick in the hospital or pursued a dangerous hobby or profession.  You never want the worst case scenario to occur, but you’ve had time to mentally prepare yourself for that outcome.  But when something like this happens just out of the blue, it’s just a complete shock.  That’s it.  One minute you think everything is fine, and the next he’s just . . . gone.

The recovery process is going to be slow and still painful at times.  Things will eventually get better, but they will never be the same.

The Worst Day Ever

R.I.P.  Tim Miller

(Feb. 8, 1979 – Sept. 9, 2010)

I still cannot believe that you’re gone.

Family and friends from around the country are in deep shock.

Our parents and I should NOT be shopping for a funeral home and picking out days for your memorial and service.  You were living on top of the world with your successes in college, at work, and with your recent travels with Kristen.  You had nothing but the best in life waiting ahead of you.

I should not be typing this right now.  You’re supposed to be here, with us, telling us about the recent Tech game and your plans of being in Denver next weekend.  Instead, we’re grieving and trying our hardest to maintain our sanity in this most insane of times.  You still had way too much to live for.

Whatever it was that claimed your life the other morning, I can only hope and pray that you did not suffer.  Rest assured, mom and dad did not see you in that final state.  I found you in your home office, and I made sure that mom and dad stayed away from that room.  Right now they are full of your happier memories, and we will all see you again on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I cannot fathom how shocking it will be to see you lying there in the casket.

These next few days are going to be absolutely devastating for a lot of people.  It’s going to take the strength of everyone to make it through your services.

This should not be happening right now.  You’ve been taken away from us way too soon.

I’d give anything to have you back in our world again, my brother.  At this point we can only look back and remember the good times, which there were many of them shared by a lot of people.  Having you here throughout all of my life has been an absolute honor.  Having you leave so quickly has been an absolute nightmare.  I never wish for anybody to go through the incredible sadness that my family and friends are experiencing right now.

We will always love and remember you, Tim.

The Sharper Image® Super Juicer – A Marketing Review

When it comes to kitchen appliances and home cooking, juicers are beginning to become more and more popular in the modern kitchen.

My parents bought one in the early 1990s, and sure enough, it was pretty cool to extract the liquid and some of the nutrients from fruits and vegetables, making really fresh drinks.  The only problem was that our juicer was a bitch to clean, so we ended up rarely using the appliance.

But that’s where advances in designs and other improvements have made many juicers not only more affordable but also easier to use and much easier to clean.

The Sharper Image® Super Juicer – TV commercial

www.theSuperJuicer.com

As far as the Super Juicer, well, it strikes me as being weird that a juicer was being advertised in a TV commercial in this manner.  We’re not talking about a half hour infomercial with Jack LeLanne or Ron Popeil, but rather an extended TV commercial with a fast talking man talking to us like we’re complete idiots.

Let’s take a look at the TV commercial and see where it fails. Read more…

Hurricane Earl – update #2

As of the 8pm EST advisory by the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Earl is situated about 160 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and moving towards the north at 18 mph.  HURRICANE WARNINGS exist for most of the North Carolina coastline along with Cape Cod and Massachusetts Bay including the city of Boston.  TROPICAL STORM WARNINGS exist for most of the coastline between North Carolina and Rhode Island, including Long Island, New York.  TROPICAL STORM WATCHES exist for the coastline from northern Massachusetts to Maine to New Brunswick, Canada.

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to 110 mph, making Hurricane Earl a strong Category Two storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.  The storm is expected to take a slight turn to the northeast on Friday morning, most likely keeping the eyewall offshore and giving the North Carolina coastline a glancing blow and not a direct hit.  Hurricane force winds have been measured 70 miles away from the center of the storm, and tropical storm force winds exist outwards of 205 miles.

The NHC forecast is calling for Hurricane Earl to experience moderate weakening over the next 24 hours from a combination of wind shear and moving into colder water.  Right now it’s questionable if it’ll retain its hurricane status by the time it makes landfall somewhere over New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, Canada.  The main question that remains is if the storm will pass over Cape Cod, Massachusetts, or if it’ll stay out at sea until it reaches Canada. Read more…

Late Night Music

To me, when it comes to working on the computer late at night, nothing sounds better than a helping of progressive rock or 80s soft rock.

I’m not sure exactly why this style fascinates me so much.  Perhaps it goes back to childhood memories of summertime Florida trips and having the music playing in the car.  Perhaps because it sounds just as good when played softly or with the sound cranked on the speakers.  Perhaps it’s because more musicians from the late 1970s and early 1980s had more talent than most of the garbage that plays on the radio today.

I don’t know.

What I do know is that it’s still one of my favorite styles today.

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight I give you . . . . . . .

The Alan Parsons Project (live) – Sirius & Eye in the Sky

I love the whole ominous and Orwellian feeling to the song with the ever-present government eyes watching from above, complete with a great use of a helicopter as a prop.  The instrumental song, Sirius, is just excellent.  Of course, the actual song is about true feelings and a failing relationship between two people, and not about living in a land of cameras and constant surveillance though the album’s cover points in that direction.

“I am the eye in the sky, looking at you;

I can read your mind.

I am the maker of rules, dealing with fools;

I can cheat you blind.

And I don’t need to see any more, to know that;

I can read your mind.“

It’s a great song even better late at night.  Just like Rush’s Xanadu (1977), which sounds oddly familiar to Eye in the Sky (1982).

Rush (live) – Xanadu

Good night, folks!

Hurricane Earl – update

The National Hurricane Center has issued a HURRICANE WARNING for most of the North Carolina coastline and a small part of southeastern Virginia.  Part of the Chesapeake Bay and Delmarva Peninsula remain under a HURRICANE WATCH at this time.

As of the 2pm advisory by the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Earl is pushing its way through the Atlantic Ocean to the northwest at 17 mph.  Hurricane Earl is a very large storm and currently packs maximum sustained winds of around 125 mph, keeping it a strong Category Three hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

The short-term forecast is calling for slight strengthening of the storm, possibly bringing it up to Category Four strength over the next 12-24 hours.  The hurricane is also forecast to remain on path to the northwest, bringing it close to the North Carolina coastline before making a turn to the north and then the northeast. Read more…